Quality Management in Education

Introduction Improving the quality of education around the world has become an important activity as many institutions of higher education (colleges and universities) struggle to create better educational opportunities for their current and prospective students. According to various stakeholders in the education sector, quality management has become one of the fundamental components of higher education in the 21st century.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Quality Management in Education specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The access to education is no longer an important fundamental component of education as quality education continues to gain centre stage in many educational institutions. Basic education is now deemed insufficient or incomplete if it is not accompanied by quality management in teaching and learning strategies. Quality education has gained a lot of importance as it is used in the development of excellence, knowledge and expertise which are vital aspects in the growth of an economy (Ali Shastri, 2009). Many educational institutions around the world have developed strategies that will be used in the establishment of higher education to ensure that there is quality in education provision. This has mostly been possible as a result of the increasing importance and value placed on leadership and leadership skills within organizations. Gaining good leaders to be established in the world is only possible when there are developed systems of higher education that will ensure efficiency and effectiveness remain as the sole criteria of evaluating performance (Ali Shastri, 2009). The purpose of this study will be to determine what institutions of higher learning have to do so as to achieve quality in their educational objectives, missions, visions, goals and strategies. The study will first discuss the aspect of quality and quality management in a general sense and then focus on how quality management is applied in educational institutions. Quality Management Quality management is part of the management strategies that are aimed at achieving quality goals within organizations through the execution of organizational activities such as planning, monitoring, control and quality assurance to ensure quality has been achieved in the business processes and operations of an organization.Advertising Looking for term paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Quality management is based on principles such as customer focus, cost leadership, product/service development and the continual improvement of a company’s operations so as to achieve a competitive edge in the market. The most commonly used quality management technique in organizations is the total quality management (TQM) approach which aims at improving the total quality of business operations within an organization (Cua et al, 2001). Other a pproaches that are used in quality management include ISO performance improvement standards (ISO certification), quality management systems, quality function deployment and the six-sigma quality management technique. The main objectives of all these quality management approaches are to organize the efforts of employees within organizations so that their work performance produces outputs that are of a high quality and standard (Anand et al, 2010). The main component of quality management is quality which is defined as the degree to which a certain group of intrinsic properties satisfy certain requirements. The term intrinsic properties refer to the innate or permanent properties that exist in certain aspects, matters or situations where these properties meet the expectations of outlined standards or requirements (Dahlgaard et al, 2002). Quality applies to products, services, business operations, organizational systems and interdependent processes that exist within an organization. Qu ality within organizations ensures that the products or services developed by organizations have met the requirements set by the organization’s managers or by the ISO standards that are used to determine the quality of an organization’s products (Cummings Worley, 2008). The concept of quality is based on positive and dynamic ideas that involve achieving the design of meaningful investments rather than negative aspects that lead to product or service defects. Because quality is both a dynamic and positive idea, it has the ability to continuously evolve making the concept an endless journey that has a deliberate purpose which is that of improving the standards of an organization.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Quality Management in Education specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Quality and quality management are both customer-focused approaches that are meant to improve the processes of an organiz ation through the use of interdependent systems such as planning, evaluation, control and quality assurance (Mukhopadhyay, 2005). The current view of quality management in today’s modern organization is that it is a system made up of interdependent processes that have been linked in a lateral way meant to create a network of internal and external collaboration between suppliers and customers. These interdependent processes have been connected to represent the company’s mission and purpose so that it can be able to achieve its objectives and goals (Bilen, 2010). Another view of quality management is that the people (employees or workers) of an organization are the tools that give organizations a competitive edge over their rivals. It enables employees to contribute to the overall growth and success of the organization by allowing them to participate in leadership activities, creativity and intelligence building as well as managerial capacity building (Daft Marcic, 2008 ). Quality Management in Education Quality management in education is a fairly new concept as the main focus of education in the past has been on ensuring that there is a general accessibility to education by all. This focus has however shifted as more and more educational institutions focus on ensuring that there is accessibility to education that is of a high quality. According to Simin and Xuqing (2005), there are two views that exist on education quality with the first one stating that the quality in educational activities is usually reflected by the quality of students an institution of higher learning is able to churn out to the job market after it has measured their performance against the institutions objectives and goals. The second view of quality education is based on whether the products offered by educational institutions are able to fully maximize the potential and ability of students so that they can be contributing members of the society. These views propose the idea that education is based on the transformation of students so that they can be contributing members of the society (Sallis, 2002). Quality in the education sector is therefore measured on the type of input and output processes that take place in educational institutions. The input in education according to Ming and Hualin (2011) refers to teaching and learning strategies that are used to instill various concepts and methodologies to students while output refers to students who have actively been transformed through teaching and learning strategies.Advertising Looking for term paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The transformation of students does not only depend on the amount of teaching, training or research they have been given but also on their level of active involvement in the transformation process. This means that the same instructors or teachers working for the same educational institution cannot be able to produce the same cadre of students once the transformational process is over. Also, the active involvement of students in the transformation process varied in nature as every student has their own individual expectations of the learning exercise and also the type of outcomes that will be gained from once they have undergone educational transformation. Quality in education therefore refers to the type of educational activities that will be used to satisfy the requirements of the society by building and nurturing the intellectual capacity of students (Ming Hualin, 2011). Tribus (2010) developed quality principles based on the works of Edwards Deming to reflect quality in educatio n. According to Tribus, the first principle in quality education refers to the redefinition of education where the role of faculty advisors, deans, lecturers and student advisors is translated to reflect quality provision of educational services. This principle discusses how various educational providers work within a system similar to that of an organization. The job of the faculty head or vice chancellor of the institution is to work on the system so as to constantly improve it continuously with other members of staff. Constant improvement refers to finding better ways of improving the quality of education with institutions of higher learning (Tribus, 2010). The second principle of quality in education according to Tribus (2010) is that quality improvement is the answer to any educational problem that might be experienced within the educational institution. This principle involves determining the customer’s perceptions of quality and using this perception to develop educati onal programs that will meet their expectation. According to Pfeifer (2002), the quality of any process is usually defined by the type of customers included in the transformation process. Quality management views the customer as the person who is next in line to receive a service or purchase a product and quality will therefore depend on the type of process that is used to meet the expectations of the customer. This according to Tribus (2010) gives rise to an internal customer which in the education context refers to students who are customers of course instructors. The third principle proposed by Tribus (2010) in explaining quality in education is the process over product principle where attention is placed on the process that is used to develop or improve the product. In the educational context, this principle can be translated to mean that if the student’s performance is to be improved, attention needs to be focused on the teaching or learning process and not on the passin g of examinations. This means that the individual potential of students needs to be discovered so that the level of development in the student can be used to develop suitable learning or teaching strategies. Attention is therefore not focused on evaluating and defining the potential of the student but on developing learning techniques that will be used to develop problem-solving abilities. The application of this principle in the quality management of education in higher education institutions involves both the teacher and the learner working together to improve the educational process of the student (Tribus, 2010). The fourth principle of quality in education is the perversity principle which involves improving the performance of a system of people, processes, procedures and practices where goals and objectives are developed for the individual parts of the system. The most commonly used quality management technique in implementing this principle is the management by objectives (MBO ) approach where the manager and subordinate agree on what the subordinate needs to accomplish so as to meet organizational targets. In the educational context, the course instructor and student agree on the course objectives that the student needs to achieve for them to be able to excel and meet their educational requirements (Tribus, 2010). These principles demonstrate quality management in education is depicted in terms of its impact on the students who are targeted by educational programs. Quality management in education targets the improvement of teaching and learning processes so as to transform students during the learning process. Quality management is therefore an inevitable factor that will be used by institutions of higher education to shape their teaching processes so that they can be able to satisfy the various expectations of stakeholders such as parents, students and the society at large. Quality management will ensure that educational goals and objectives developed b y academic institutions have been met and satisfied (Sahney et al, 2004). Application of Quality Management in Universities The basic roles and functions of higher education include seeking and cultivating new knowledge that will enable students to engage in the vigorous pursuit of information, providing the right kind of leadership skills that will help individual learners to develop their potential, equip society with competent individuals who will be trained in various professions and also promote equality or social justice to reduce any instances of social and cultural differences that might arise without any form of education. Higher education in universities and other institutions of learning also seeks to foster teacher student relationships that will instill certain attitudes and values that are needed to develop individuals as well as bring universities/colleges closer to the society at large through the extension of knowledge (Ali Shastri, 2009). Quality management in hig her education is made up of dimensions such as consistency where the education process seeks to provide quality that is consistent in nature, fitness to purpose where quality meets the customer’s specifications, value for money where students pay for course programs in return for efficiency and effectiveness and transformative educational dimensions where education is viewed as an ongoing process that is meant to transform and empower students. Quality management in education therefore seeks to incorporate the above-mentioned dimensions to ensure that there is quality higher education (Becket Brookes, 2008). To be able to achieve total quality management in higher education, universities and colleges need to first create an awareness of the need for quality improvement in their educational programs. This will involve identifying the various segments of teaching or learning programs that are in need of improvement and then informing the relevant actors of the need for change or improvements. Once this is done, goals need to be developed and set to ensure that there is a continuous improvement of the educational programs within the institutions of learning. Once the goals have been set, the next step will involve building organizational frameworks and institutions that will be used to achieve the set out goals (Borahan Ziarati, 2002). These frameworks will include establishing quality councils and selecting project teams for these councils that will be used to achieve quality goals. These frameworks will then be used for quality training where course instructors and lecturers will be trained on how to provide quality education to students. The progress made in quality educational improvement will be monitored to note if there are any inconsistencies in the improvement exercise and also any successes in the programs will be recorded for future developments and improvements. Such strategies and steps can be used by institutions of higher learning to impro ve the quality of education so that students can be able to achieve excellence in their studies (Bogue Bingham, 2003). When it comes to determining how these strategies can be used to improve the quality of education, certain aspects need to be considered for quality management to be successful. These aspects include the inputs, processes and outputs that make up the educational system where inputs include the transformational processes used to in part knowledge to students. Inputs are used within the transformation process to be transformed into outputs that are released back into the external environment. In the context of education, inputs are the human, physical and financial resources needed to make higher educational courses successful and they include students, faculty members and administrators (Hodson Thomas, 2003). Processes on the other hand refer to various operations or actions that are used to transform the inputs into outputs that can be measured against set out goa ls and objectives. The educational process involves a series of actions that are used to train, teach and transform students through educational programs, courses and classroom sessions. The transformational process within an institution of higher learning involves activities that are meant to disseminate knowledge while at the same time conduct research which will be beneficial to the learning process. Outputs are the tangible outcomes of the transformational process and they can either be value addition outcomes which include student employment, examination results and earnings or intangible outcomes which include educated people, contributing members of the society and contributing members of research work (Koslowski, 2006). These three aspects need to be considered when designing quality management systems that will be used to improve education in higher institutions. Once the suitable frameworks have been identified for improving inputs, processes and outputs, extension activit ies will be developed to apply these frameworks in the real educational context. Since the educational system does not operate in isolation, the extensional activities have to incorporate certain factors that exist in the external environment such as socio-cultural factors, economic factors, technological and political factors. These factors need to be considered as quality education ensures that the various problems within society can be solved. Extensional activities will therefore ensure that quality management in education has been directed towards promoting the development of the local community (Pratasavitskaya Stensaker, 2010). Conclusion The purpose of this study has been to assess the concept of quality management in higher educational institutions and also what strategies can be used to achieve quality management in educational programs. The discussion has focused on the aspect of quality in the general context and also in the education setting by identifying the various aspects that are used to improve organizational operations and processes. Quality in organizations involves ensuring the goods, services and processes used within organizations have met certain requirements or standards such as the ISO quality standards. Quality in education on the other hand involves transformational processes that will be used to improve the outputs of the learning process. The study has propagated various techniques and steps that educational institutions can use to improve the delivery of educational content to their students. References Ali, M., Shastri, R.J., (2009). Implementation of total quality management in higher education. Asian Journal of Business Management, 2 (1): 9 -16 Anand, G., Ward, P.T., Tatikonda, M.V., (2010). Role of explicit and tacit knowledge in six sigma projects: an empirical examination of differential project success.  Journal of Operations Management, 28(4): 303- 315 Becket, N., Brookes, M., (2008). Quality management practice in higher education: what quality are we actually enhancing? Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and  Tourism Education, 7(1): 40-54 Bilen, C., (2010). Total quality management in higher education institutions: challenges and future directions. International Journal of Productivity and Quality  Management. 5(4): 473-492 Bogue, E.G., Bingham, H. K., (2003). Quality and accountability in higher education. Cincinnati: Praeger Publishers Borahan, N.G., Ziarati, R., (2002). Developing quality criteria for application in higher education sector in Turkey. Total Quality Management, 13(7): 913-926 Cummings, T.G., Worley, C.G., (2008). Organization development and change. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning Cua, K.O., McKone, K.E., Schroeder, R.G., (2001). Relationships between implementation of TQM, JIT and TPM and manufacturing performance. Journal  of Operations Management, 19(6): 675-694 Daft, R.L., Marcic, D., (2008). Understanding management. Mason, Ohio: South Western Cengage Le arning Dahlgaard, J.J., Kristensen, K., Kanji, G.K., (2002). Fundamentals of total quality  management: process analysis and improvement. London, UK: Taylor and Francis Hodson, P., Thomas, H., (2003). Quality assurance in higher education: fit for new millennium or simply year 200 compliant. Higher Education, 45(3): 375-387 Koslowski, A.F., (2006). Quality and assessment in context: a brief review. Quality  Assurance in Education, 14(3): 277-288 Ming, L., Hualin, Z., (2011). Research and discussion on the education quality  construction for colleges and universities. Zhengzhou, China: Zhengzhou Institute of Aeronautical Industry Management Mukhopadhyay, M., (2005). Total quality management in education. New Delhi, India: Sage Publications Limited. Pfeifer, T., (2002). Quality management. Munchen, Germany: Hanser Verlag Pratasavitskaya, H., Stensaker, B., (2010). Quality management in higher education:towards a better understanding of an emerging field. Quality in Higher Ed ucation, 16(1); 37-50 Sallis, E., (2002). Total quality management in education. London, UK: Kogan Page Limited Sahney, S., Banwet, D.K., Karunes, S., (2004). Conceptualizing total quality management in higher education. The TQM Magazine, 16(2): 145- 159 Simin, W., Xuqing, Z., (2005). Educational quality and control modes of mass storage of higher education. Journal of Technology College Education. 10: 105-106 Tribus, M., (2011) Quality management in education. California: Exergy Incorporated This term paper on Quality Management in Education was written and submitted by user Eileen Obrien to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Chernobly essays

Chernobly essays The Causes and Effects of the Nuclear Accident At the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant A meltdown has occurred. Millions will feel the effects of this disaster. An accident has occurred at Chernobyl nuclear power station. One of the atomic reactors has been damaged. Measures are being taken to eliminate the consequences of the accident. Aid is being given to the victims. A government commission has been set up. This was the first report given to the Russian people following the worst nuclear accident in history. By the time this report was broadcast, hundreds of thousands of people had already been unwittingly exposed to high levels of radioactivity and millions more would soon be affected. The disaster at Chernobyl was caused by gross human error, which has resulted in catastrophic damage to the environment and to the health of those exposed to the fallout. Many mistakes were made before, during and after the meltdown. It will be shown that if all of the precautions had been taken during the testing of Reactor No. 4, this whole disaster may not have occurred. Because of the lack of safety, millions of curies of radiation have been expelled into the environment. The water supply, farms and animals used for food have been effected by this pollution. The environment is not the only thing that was effected. Many people have suffered from many different types of medical conditions. The three main ones were: radiation sickness, thyroid disease and psychological disorders. Thyroid cancer has become prevalent among those who were children when the accident happened. Many misfortunes have come about because of the meltdown at Chernobyl. The meltdown of the core of Reactor No.4 at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (the actual name of the plant was V.I. Lenin Nuclear Power Station) began as a routine shutdown procedure. It was ordered that a newly installed rundown unit would be tested in conjunction with the shu...

Literature review (Analysis and design of Steel lattice

(Analysis and design of Steel lattice telecommunication tower - Literature review Example â€Å"In the very beginning, more than 100 years ago, the first steel lattice towers for telecommunications were produced of flat-sided profiles like the angular profiles since it was easy to produce and... assemble† (Packer and Willibald, 2006, 45). Since the phone was invented in the 1870s, with the twang on June 2, 1875 and the famous â€Å"Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you† issued on March 10, 1876, this means that steel lattice towers have been used almost since the start of modern telecommunications, only thirty years or so after the invention of the phone (Bellis, 2011). The early steel lattice telecommunications towers were things of pure efficiency, designed purely for cost-saving and speed (Smith, 2007, 75). Transmission lines make any cost-saving useful because the line requires numerous standardized elements, so the steel lattice towers were often used as a line to run cable (Smith, 2007, 75). However, even in the earliest days of steel lattice constr uction, extensive testing was used, with testing stations pushing the towers to the point of destruction (Smith, 2007, 75). This helped lead to design curves on angle sections. Early towers were far from precarious, but were vulnerable to wind stress. Modern free-standing steel lattice towers have tended to adopt a tubular profile design because of wind stress and material costs, particularly in Northern Europe (Packer and Willibald, 2006, 45). They tend to â€Å"vary in face width from top to bottom† and use different bracing patterns (Smith, 2007, 75). Heights have varied from a mere 10 meters to 200 meters. Steel lattice towers are one of the more common low-lying telecommunication towers design, eclipsing guyed masts until around 150 meters (Smith, 2007, 75). This is because, below 150 meters, the cost â€Å"increases more rapidly with height† since there is a large ratio of height to base width which guyed towers do not need (Smith, 2007, 75). Modern steel free-st anding lattice towers have fallen out of favor in developed countries because of environmental impacts (Urbano, 2001). â€Å"Currently available design solutions with acceptable appearance are not employed in the developing countries, mainly for cost reasons. In the developing countries the use of the traditional lattice transmission towers will continue employing steel angles† (Urbano, 2001, 36). This is not to say they are not in use, but that other alternatives, particularly concrete, have pushed them out of the way. Currently, the tallest free-standing steel lattice construction in the world is the Kiev TV Tower, which was built in 1974 while the Iron Curtain was in full force (Construction Week, 2010). â€Å"The tower weighs 2,700 tons and is unique in the fact that no mechanical fasteners were used in its construction†; every single piece is welded together (Construction Week, 2010). The tower rests on a 100 meter four-legged base, after which is the microwave tr ansmission equipment; at 200 meters, TV and FM transmitting equipment begins. Ironically, the Kiev TV Tower could have been even larger, but it was decided not to be placed in Moscow, and the Moscow tower uses prestressed concrete, though it remains free-standing (Construction Week, 2010). The Kiev tower would have been 30% larger had it been built in Moscow. Another classic of steel lattice design is the

Behaviour Policy in Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Behaviour Policy in Schools - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the dynamics of educational policy-making keep changing due to changes in the environment. Contrary to previous years where the national government made policies regarding education, nowadays there is more input from other actors both in government and private sphere. The state and local governments are involved as well as the entrepreneurs, consultants, professionals, teachers and school leaders. Furthermore, modern education has been marketized to suit economic interests thus bringing into the context other actors. According to Hulme, R., and Hulme, M., the spaces in which policy is thought and done have also changed. The use of technology has changed the context in that now education can not only be offered at schools but also at home and across national boundaries through e-learning. Policymakers, therefore, have to take into consideration such dynamics. Ainley also observes that education system has evolved from â€Å"national system locally administ ered to a local system nationally administered.† In the United States, there has been a push for more standardized reforms to enhance cohesiveness, fairness, and equity. It is a requirement for schools by the Education and Inspections Act of 2006 to have a behavior policy which includes school rules. This policy is part of the wider national education policies. The aim of this paper is thus to discuss the policy process in schools in relation to behavior policies. To accomplish this, the paper will discuss the standards, institutional contexts and the key actors in policy making.

Unsustainable Tourism Essay

Unsustainable Tourism Essay Tourism Industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Tourism has long been a central component of the economic, social and cultural shift that has left its imprint on the world system of cities in the past two decades (Dumond; 2005 cited in Beben; 2006;1). According to the statistics of World Trade Organization, there was 693 million tourist arrivals across the globe in 2002 (Beben; 2006). Moreover, WTO and the World Tourism and Travel Council announced a possible increase in the number of tourists to close to 1 billion by the end of 2010 (Massound; 2010). Mass tourism is seen as a large number of people participating in tourism as well as inflexible and packaged standardized holidays (Poon; 1993). Starting from the 50s a new tourist demand leaded to a new stage in this evolutionary process. Tourism industry just like other Fordist industries has been supplying mass products, mostly considered under the label of mass tourism (Conti; Perelli; 2004). According to Conti and Perelli (2004;3), Thomas Cook created the tourism packages in the 19th century as the pioneering forms of mass tourism and the opportunity for the definitive shift from the aristocratic forms of vacation to the mass mobility of workers spending their paid holidays travelling. The concept of Cookism was used in a place of Fordism to express the era of mass tourism. Others seen mass tourism as consuming places by the large number of visitors (Urry; 1995). More recently mass tourism consumption experience has been linked to the ideas of a McDonaldization, Disneyfication o r McDisneyfication of societies (Ritzer and Liska; 1997 cited in Conti and Perelli; 2004;3). The impact of those consumption patterns has been considered as the typical Fordist leading to a reduction of the cultural diversity by mean of the demand of a tourist experience that will be more and more reproducing the everyday life patterns of consumption (Contti and Perelli; 2004). Mass tourism is strongly linked to seasonality. The impact of schools closure for the holiday periods as well as companiesÂÂ ´ work programmes and the destination specific weather conditions, all that aspects are gathering great number of tourists at the same time (Shaw and Williams; 1995). Before tourism was a luxury, available mostly for higher class but after the introduction of packaged holidays and development of mobility and technology, travelling became more accessible for everyone. Tourism has aroused on the market as a forceful industry making changes which have both positive and negative economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts. The development of tourism industry is very important for economy of the country especially for less developed countries as it increase foreign exchange earnings and generates employment. According to UNWTO, tourism stands for 8% of employment and 9% of global GDP and by the year 2019 will provide 296 million jobs (UNWTO cited in MercoPress, 2010). Tourism can have a powerful and beneficial direction for both economic and sociio-cultural change but at the same time it can be destroying. Do actual benefits from tourism go to the host community? Is governmentÂÂ ´s priority in development are to provide the needs of the tourists instead of local community? The government blinded by the opportunity of the country to generate the money from the development tourism is forgetting about the negative aspects that the industry ca n bring. Most of the attention has been made to economic aspects of the tourism growth and environmental and socio-cultural issues have been swept out to the second plan. Although to make tourism sustainable it is very important to look at those aspects. As mentioned before tourism enables the development of the destination although, the lack of own capital and a weak economy of some underdeveloped destinations makes foreign investors to build a new hotels that makes tourism being beneficial mostly for the developed countries. The same is with employment. It seems like tourism would give jobs to the local community but in the meantime the investors from developed countries employed the workers with a better education and abilities so the developing country stays with almost nothing. When the development is lower than the position of a country is worse. Leakage is an amount of money that escapes from the local economy (France; 1997). According to Kripperdorf(1982;136), tourism planning is usually in the hands of outside promoters the local population are regarded merely as landowners or as a reserve of labour, not as people entitled to participate in decision making. For example, tour operators owning resorts and sending the customers to the destination which mean that local community wont benefit much from those tourists. They export food for the tourist and employ British stuff. How tourism can be sustainable if itÂÂ ´s breaking the basic rules of it. The tourism control and planning strategy is crucial in developing sustainable tourism but how can it be done if even government is closing their eyes on the unfair practices in the Tourism sector of that region. The uncontrolled tourism in Goa has a strong impact on host community who has to face the food and water shortage (Almeida; 1996). Moreover, Goan has to face with electricity problems, there is a severe water shortage. The water pipeline that was originally meant for the villagers is now being utilised by the hotels. The transport too is insufficient to transport both locals and tourists (Misquita, 1996a cited in Noronha;1999;101). Very fast process of urbanisation has changed Goa into the concrete jungle. Police is closing their eyes on the drug fulfilled parties. Barely 10 % of Goans have benefited from tourism development, moreover, the foreign investors are buying large amounts of lands in the region (Almeida; 1996).All those examples illustrate how unsustainable tourism it is. Moreover, as suggested by Wall and Wright (1977); physical impacts to the tourist destination include alterations to the natural environment, including air, water, soils, vegetation and wildlife as well as changes to the build environment (Mathiesen and Wall; 1999; 38). Mass tourism affects strongly beaches, cliff-side, environment and degraded landscape. In some mass destinations ground water is in an alarmingly low level which is largely consumed by agricultural sector, by the irritation of a great number of gardens constructed due to the development of new summer houses and second homes and golf courses (Molz; 2004;5). Also the beaches have been extended in order to meet tourist demand. The unlimited constructions and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources will lead to the serious environmental problems. Recreational activities organized for tourists have also strong impact. Tourists by touching reefs when diving and snorkeling are damaging them. Also by the great number of boat trips tourist are disturbing marine animals. According to Kripperdorf (1982;135), the mass phenomena of modern tourism have initiated the paradoxial process Tourism destroys tourism. The landscape loses its tourist value through its use, or rather over-use, by th e tourist. Mass tourism is not only a problem of coastal regions but also the winter season is strongly connected to mass tourism. In Alps the number of tourists doubles every 7 years (Dziedzic; 1998). In Tyrol the ski slope is going through the endangered forests. Every year more than 500 hectares of agricultural land is used to make new skiing resorts and slopes (Dziedzic; 1998). Environmental degradation destroys the meaning of existence of tourism itself. The number of tourists is growing every year. According to the World Travel report (cited in Hickman; 2006) by 2020 the natural features of some of the wonders of the world will be damaged by global warming, while other resorts will become seriously overcrowded. The carrying capacity has been described as greatest number of people who can use the place without any damage to the natural resources and without degradation of the environment (Wall and Mathiasen; 1999). The attrition of historical buildings and the saturation of the coasts are one of the problems were carrying capacity has been overtaken. Changes in tourist destinations are inevitable but the concept of carrying capacity has the chance to indicate the amount and the way of change and to assess to which point those changes are acceptable (Mathiesen and Wall; 1999). The socio-cultural impacts are the other aspect of a great importance when looking at the changes in tourism as it strongly changes the way of life of the local communities. Mass tourism is causing displacement of indigenous population by tourists. For example in Hawaii there are about 1 million of indigenous inhabitants, which is a quarter of the whole population (Dziedzic; 1998). In human relationships, the disappearing traditional hospitality is a very important aspect. Especially in the big tourist resorts, these relations were long ago converted into a commodity for sale. Kuhn (2007; cited in Hanna; 2010 HHhhKKKK) argues that sustainable tourism attempts to preserve traditional cultures in a way that the western tourist deems as authentic. If sustainable tourism will lead into that direction it will not be very successful. Tourist resorts also offer its guests a more refined, but a fake version of its folklore and traditions, adapted to the stereotypical images of the visited country. According to Mathieson and Wall (1992; 4) the commercialization of culture, through the marketing and sale of artefacts, may revive traditional art forms or modify them so that they are scarcely recognizable. Which in a long term might create a phony folk culture but at the same moment it can lessen existing unemployment problems and create more jobs. The Tourism authorities are pleased of the fact that tourism is developing in the country but some of the local communities have different opinions on that. According to Ignacio Cembrero in View from Fez (2006), the countrys Islamist party frequently rails against hotel casinos, restaurants that serve alcohol and the growing gay club scene (Ranger; 2006). The tourist must accept the cultural differences of other countries. The most of Moroccans are very religious and tourist has to respect it. Even more tolerate Moroccans can become tired of tourists when seeing nudity on the beaches or tourists wearing t-shirts or short trousers in the churches. It insults their believes and rules. A lack of consideration by tourists for local norms, culture, people or the environment of tourist receiving destinations is leading to unsustainable tourism practices (Poon; 1993 in Wahab and Pigram; 2004;51). This point was also commented by Obrador et al (2009;3) who suggest that local cultures are see n as eroded by a homogenous inauthentic, consumer culture. Moreover, overcrowding and growth of the bad reputation of the destination by breaking ethical rules can be destructive for the destination. There are many places in the world which have been spoiled by mass tourism and after the development of low cost airlines many cities has lost their shine. As most of the products also destinations have a lifecycle. It was clearly presented by Butler (1980) in his model of lifecycle of a tourist destination. He evaluated six stages a destination goes through when tourism development takes place: exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation, concluding with either rejuvenation or decline. At this stage the destination is visited by small number of tourists who are keen to explore cultural and natural beauty of the place but the number of visitors is limited due to accessibility difficulties and lack of facilities. Here the attraction of the place yet remains unmodified by tourism. In the next stage of involvement advertising and local initiatives are seen as the element of promotion of the destination which results in increase of the tourist number with the pressure on the public sector to develop infrastructure. Next step in the cycle is development in which further initiatives for development of facilities are made by national and multinational companies. In this stage the control of the public sector is necessary as the popularity of the destination and increasing number of visitors may not only be the reason of success but also cause failure and the destination may suffer a change in quality through problems of over-use and deterioration of facilities (Butler; 198 0;92). The consolidation is the next level of tourism life cycle when tourism becomes a great part of the local community. Next step of stagnation occurs when after reaching peak numbers of visitors the destination is no longer popular and only conservative visitors are still coming back. In this stage the environmental, economical as well as socio-cultural problems can be seen as the reason. The last stage is decline where effort is need to maintain the tourist arrivals by introducing new types of facilities like for example casinos. Prague is only one of the examples of the life cycle destination. The city has become one of the most visited cities in Europe after Czech Republic became a member of EU and after the growth of mobility (Global Travel Industry News; 2010). This beautiful, full of historical monuments city was rejuvenated in the last two decades. The commercialization of the city took place and the old town became surrounded by souvenir vendors, Irish pubs and beer gardens losing its authenticity. Also the prices have gone up and all locals who couldnÂÂ ´t afford been forced to move out of town. Its one of the examples when the way of making quick cash has prevailed over the unspoiled charm of the historic Prague. Mass tourism has led to the development of sustainable tourism in order to reduce negative impacts of tourism growth. Later in time the concept of Post Fordism was seen as the customers seem to acquire more power in determining market tendencies. According to Contti and Perelli (2004;9), this change also tend to meet the new demand for environmental friendly tourism products, being new tourists generally perceived as more educated, interested in local communities culture and in a real interaction with the surrounding environment. Since 1980 the sustainable tourism has began to be an important issue in the tourism industry (Swarbrooke; 1999). By creating a new infrastructure, hotels and businesses the employment is increasing. By travelling people have a chance to experience new cultures and traditions, although not every tourist is keen to do that and some visitors are not interested in it and ignore host communities. Sustainable tourism development is directed especially to create a better understanding of tourism, of how to achieve balance between economic, cultural and environmental aspects of tourism development. It is necessary to encourage people to take responsibility for the environment. Moreover, fair distribution of tourism benefits is necessary and the bigger involvement of local community in the tourism development decisions of their region has to be improved. The sustainable tourism directs to reduce negative impact on environment by introduction of quieter, more fuel efficient aircraft to start from to maximizing economic benefits for the host community rather than the visitors countries. Mass tourism is strongly connected to the high seasonal tourism caused by the great demand of 3s tourism tourists all over the world (Bramwell; 2004). That is why diversification of tourism like development of rural tourism has been developed to minimize saturation of the beaches in the high seasons and to avoid mass tourism. The development of sustainable touris m in very important for the countries where tourism industry is a main element of the local economy because the traditional beach holidays will decline caused by the saturation if the mass tourism will be increasing with that speed (Swarbrooke; 1999). According to Perry (2001), the climate change caused by humans will result in future modification of the climate conditions for example in the Mediterranean area, whereas the northern and western Europe climate will be improved. In 1992 on the conference in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil the first strategy document on sustainable tourism has been announced Agenda 21 as the basic economic model of tourism in XXI century (Hanna; 2010). Although, the Agenda 21 has meet various criticism mostly due to its non-binding treaties allowing most of the recommendations surrounding climate change and various other cultural issues to be ignored by the international community (Hanna; 2010). Nowadays, alternative forms of tourism have been emphasized but taking in account that even small group tours can be damaging the sustainable tourism is hard to accomplish. Latest debate of Tourism Concern came to a conclusion that all-inclusive holidays, arguably the epitome of mass-packaged tourism consumption should be banned (Farrington; 1999 cited in Sharpley and Telfer; 2002; 304). For example Gambias tourism authorities have banned all-inclusive holidays in 1999 (Sharpley and Telfer; 2002). It is an effective contribution to the development of destination. This could be a possible solution of applying sustainable tourism into a real life but it is doubtful if it would work for every country. Another alternative solution suggested by France (1997;89) is the development of holiday complexes which provide artificial ÂÂ ´sun-warm water` environments (e.g. Center Parc villages), located at points of maximum market access which could be an exit for achieving sustainable tourism just if the great number of people would choose it instead of normal holidays. In conclusion, the growth of tourism seems to be inevitably unsustainable. Tourism is giving employment and economic benefits but for example in the Third World countries the division of money is unequal. The powerful developed countries are always going to be stronger than less developed countries if management will not be carefully planned. So even if tourism is bringing money, it is not always bringing it to the right place. Nowadays people blinded by money forgetting about more important things like passing their tradition to the next generation by conserving it. Mass tourism is termed as a neo-colonialism which can be compared to army forces where instead of their invasion we have an invasion of the tourist influx (Dziedzic; 1998). There is no solution to stop people from travelling. The great understanding of negative impacts would lead to better sustainable tourism development but this need a high number of people involved in it which is hard to accomplish as nowadays people donÂÂ ´t think much about the future risk related to the planet because not to go away is like not possessing a car or a nice house. It is a marker of status in modern societies (Urry; 1990;4). There is a lack of sustainable understanding and adequate tourism control to develop sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism will not eliminate negative impacts of tourism but it could be a way to minimize its impact. Because if the growth in mass tourism will continue as fast as it does now the global warming will be arising and some destinations will suffer unbearably hi gh temperatures with an increase in the risk of fire. All those changes will lead tourists to changes in their holiday destinations, which not necessarily means stop of mass tourism. Tourist will continue with transport use even if they will reduce their travels, it will be still environmental damaging. All the facts are coming into conclusion that the best way for sustainable tourism would be staying at home.

African Americans health disparities Essay

In 2011, the diagnosis rate for HIV cases in the United States was 15. 8 per 100,000 population and 60. 4 among Blacks. Of 197,090 diagnoses of HIV-infection from 2008- 2011, Blacks/African Americans accounted for: ?47% OF THE TOTAL ?64% OF WOMEN ?66% OF INFECTIONS ATTRIBUTED TO HETEROSEXUAL CONTACT ?67% OF CHILDREN, AGES < 13 In 2010, the death rate for blacks was higher (25. 0 per 100,000) compared with any other racial ethnicity group (3. 0 whites). Blacks represented 49% of all deaths with HIV in 2010. A recent study showed that blacks diagnosed with HIV are less likely than other groups to be linked to care, retained in care, receive antiretroviral treatment and achieve adequate viral suppression. African American Males African American men accounted for 42% of HIV cases diagnosed among men in 2011. A majority (72%) of African American men with HIV contracted the disease by male to male contact while 19% contracted HIV through heterosexual exposure. African American Females Among African American women, high risk heterosexual contact was the most frequently cited mode of transmission, accounting for 89% of cases diagnosed in 2011. More Information: ?HIV/AIDS TOPIC SITE ?HIV/AIDS AND AFRICAN AMERICANS ?HIV/AIDS STATISTICS AND SURVEILLANCE Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) Gonorrhea In 2010, 69% of all reported cases of gonorrhea occurred among blacks. The rate of gonorrhea among blacks in 2010 was 432. 5 cases per 100,000 population, which was 18. 7 times the rate among whites (23. 1). This disparity has changed little in recent years. This disparity was larger for black men (22. 2 times) than for black women (16. 2 times). Chlamydia In 2010, the overall rate among blacks in the United States was 1,167. 5 cases per 100,000, a 4.0% increase from the 2009 rate of 1,122. 2 cases per 100,000. The rate of chlamydia among black women was over seven times the rate among white women (1,536. 5 and 205. 1 per 100,000 women, respectively). The chlamydia rate among black men was almost 11 times the rate among white men (761. 8 and 69. 9 cases per 100,000 men, respectively). Syphilis During 2009–2010, the rate of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis among blacks decreased 8. 7% (from 18. 4 to 16. 8 cases per 100,000 population). In 2010, 47. 4% of all cases reported to CDC were among blacks and 31. 0% of all cases were among whites. The overall 2010 rate for blacks was eight times the rate for whites, while the 2009 rate was 9. 2 times the rate for whites. In 2010, the rate of P&S syphilis among black men was 7. 1 times the rate among white men; the rate among black women was 21 times the rate among white women. In 2010, the rate of congenital syphilis was 33. 1 cases per 100,000 live births among blacks. Race/ethnicity for cases of congenital syphilis is based on the mother’s race/ethnicity. This rates was 12. 3 times the rate among whites (2. 7 cases per 100,000 live births). More Information: ?STD TOPIC SITE? STDS AND HEALTH DISPARITIES ?STD SURVEILLANCE REPORT ?STDS IN RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITIES Viral Hepatitis Acute Hepatitis A During the past 10 years, there has been little difference between the rates of acute hepatitis A among white non-Hispanics and black non-Hispanics. The 2011 rates for these groups were 0. 29 and 0. 27 cases per 100,000 population, respectively. Acute Hepatitis B In 2011, the rate of acute hepatitis B was highest for Black non-Hispanics (1. 4 cases per 100,000 population). Acute Hepatitis C During 2002–2010, the incidence rate of acute hepatitis C remained below 0. 5 cases per 100,000. The rate of hepatitis C among Black non-Hispanics increased 27. 3% (to 0. 14 case per 100,000 population in 2011). More Information: ?VIRAL HEPATITIS TOPIC SITE ?SURVEILLANCE REPORT FOR VIRAL HEPATITIS Tuberculosis (TB) In 2010, 84% of all reported TB cases occurred in racial and ethnic minorities. Non- Hispanic blacks or African Americans accounted for 24% of TB cases in 2010. African Americans make up approximately 14% of the U. S. population, but accounted for 40% of TB cases in U. S. -born persons. Overall, 11,182 TB cases were reported to CDC from the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2010.

The Chronicles of Do My Powerpoint for Me

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