At war with my body :: Essays Papers

At war with my body The mind of a woman athlete is constantly fluttering with thoughts about what it is to be a woman athlete, how a women athlete should act, what she should wear and how she should look. Maybe not everyone’s mind is consumed by these thoughts, but at some point every woman struggles with the negative stereotypes about women. There I was again—out on the track, softball field, basketball court, ski hill, volleyball court—trying to prove myself. Prove that I was not just another girl who played sports. I was good, strong, unique—a pretty blonde girl who didn’t â€Å"throw like a girl† or â€Å"ski like a pussy.† I transgressed gender stereotypes, rejecting girls who fit into those negative stereotypes. Don’t ask me what I am eating again, should I eat now, does my butt look too big—thighs too beefy†¦how can I be a ski racer and maintain my smaller frame? No time to work out during ski season, am I getting fat? M aybe I shouldn’t eat as much. I need to go work out, let off some steam—get stronger, faster, harder, and more agile. I can lose 20 lbs.; I will still be healthy, right? But I don’t want to be too skinny, because if you’re too skinny, guys won’t like you, right?! Do my legs look too big in my G.S. suit? In the weight room—I am the only girl (as she is)—I like being â€Å"one of the guys,† but struggle when they talk to me like I am a guy. While benching 300 lbs, I hear them grunt—veins popping, sweat dripping, muscles ripped, listening to ACDC. I am running. Keep going—they’re watching. I go faster, harder. I run for 1 hour to prove myself. I max out on 210 lbs., squatting†¦I am strong. I want to impress them. For years and years, I try my hardest to throw like a man, run like a man, ski like a man, hit like a man, lift like a man. But, I am not a man. Leslie Heywood’s â€Å"Pretty Good for a Girl† highlights the war we, as women athletes, have with our own bodies. It stresses the fact that, â€Å"While the superstructure of women’s sports has improved in countless ways—better media coverage, more corporate endorsement of top athletes, and the breakdown of old stereotypes—the infrastructure of women’s sports remains precarious† (Heywood, xviii).

Communicable Disease Essay

Communicable diseases, also known as infectious diseases or transmissible diseases, are illnesses that result from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic (capable of causing disease) biologic agents in an individual human or other animal host. Infections may range in severity from asymptomatic (without symptoms) to severe and fatal. The term infection does not have the same meaning as infectious disease because some infections do not cause illness in a host. Disease causing biologic agents include viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multi-cellular parasites, and aberrant proteins known as prions. Transmission of these biologic agents can occur in a variety of ways, including direct physical contact with an infectious person, consuming contaminated foods or beverages, contact with contaminated body fluids, contact with contaminated inanimate objects, airborne (inhalation), or being bitten by an infected insect or tick. Some disease agents can be transmitted from animals to h umans, and some of these agents can be transmitted in more than one way. Non-Communicable Disease: A non-communicable disease, or NCD, is a medical condition or disease, which by definition is non-infectious and non-transmissible among people. Tuberculosis: Signs and Symptoms: A bad cough that lasts 3 weeks or longer. Pain in the chest. Coughing up blood or sputum (phlegm from deep inside the lungs) Weakness or fatigue. Weight loss. No appetite. Chills. Fever. Causes: Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that spread from person to person through microscopic droplets released into the air. This can happen when someone  with the untreated, active form of tuberculosis coughs, speaks, sneezes, spits, laughs or sings. Although tuberculosis is contagious, it’s not easy to catch. You’re much more likely to get tuberculosis from someone you live with or work with than from a stranger. Most people with active TB who’ve had appropriate drug treatment for at least two weeks are no longer contagious. Prevention: If you test positive for latent TB infection, your doctor may advise you to take medications to reduce your risk of developing active tuberculosis. The only type of tuberculosis that is contagious is the active variety, when it affects the lungs. So if you can prevent your latent tuberculosis from becoming active, you won’t transmit tuberculosis to anyone else. Measles Signs and Symptoms: A high temperature, sore eyes (conjunctivitis), and a runny nose usually occur first. Small white spots usually develop inside the mouth a day or so later. †¦ A harsh dry cough is usual. Going off food, tiredness, and aches and pains are usual. Causes: Measles is caused by a virus. It is spread when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or shares food or drinks. The measles virus can travel through the air. This means that you can get measles if you are near someone who has the virus even if that person doesn’t cough or sneeze directly on you Prevention: Measles vaccination has markedly reduced the incidence of measles throughout the developed world. However, measles cases still occur in low-incidence countries via importation by travelers. Therefore, maintenance of immunity is important even in countries with a low incidence of measles, since a single imported case can result in large measles outbreaks in the setting of waning immunity. Chicken Pox Signs and Symptoms: Fever (temperature), aches and headache often start a day or so before a rash appears. Rash. Spots appear in crops. They develop into small blisters and are itchy. They can be anywhere on the body. Several crops may develop over several days. †¦ Dry cough and sore throat are common. Causes: Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus. You catch it by coming into contact with someone who is infected with the virus. It’s a very contagious infection. About 90% of people who have not previously had chickenpox will become infected when they come into contact with the virus. Prevention: The chickenpox (varicella) vaccine is the best way to prevent chickenpox. Typhoid Fever Signs and Symptoms: fever that can reach as high as 104 °F (40 °C) feeling achy, tired, or weak. constipation. diarrhea. headache. stomach pain and loss of appetite. sore throat. Causes: Typhoid fever is an acute illness associated with fever caused by the Salmonella typhi bacteria. It can also be caused by Salmonella paratyphi, a related bacterium that usually causes a less severe illness. The bacteria are deposited in water or food by a human carrier and are then spread to other people in the area. Prevention: Preventing typhoid fever is to get vaccinated against the illness. Two  vaccines are available: a shot that contains killed Salmonella typhi bacteria and a vaccine taken by mouth containing a live but weakened strain of the bacteria. Avoiding risky foods and beverages (especially when traveling in the developing world) is another way to reduce your risk. MUMPS Signs and Symptoms: Fever. Headache. Muscle aches. Tiredness. Loss of appetite. Swollen and tender salivary glands under the ears on one or both sides (parotitis) Causes: The mumps are caused by a virus called the paramyxovirus. It’s spread from one child to another through direct contact with discharge from the nose and throat. Infected droplets in the air from a sneeze or close conversation can be inhaled and may cause infection. Prevention: Use of mumps vaccine (usually administered in measles-mumps-rubella [MMR] or measles-mumps-rubella-varicella [MMRV] vaccines) is the best way to prevent mumps. Children should be given the first dose of mumpsvaccine soon after their first birthday (12 to 15 months of age). Hepatitis Signs and Symptoms: fatigue. flu-like symptoms. dark urine. pale-colored stool. abdominal pain. loss of appetite. unexplained weight loss. yellow skin and eyes (may be signs of jaundice) Causes: Hepatitis can be caused by liver damage from excessive alcohol consumption. This is sometimes referred to as â€Å"alcoholic hepatitis.† The alcohol causes the liver to swell and become inflamed. Other toxic causesinclude overuse of medication or exposure to poisons. Autoimmune Disease. Prevention: The hepatitis A vaccine can prevent infection with the virus. The hepatitis A vaccine is typically given in two doses — initial vaccination followed by a booster shot six months later. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the following individuals receive a hepatitis A vaccine Malaria Signs and Symptoms: Fever. Chills. Headache. Sweats. Fatigue. Nausea and vomiting. Causes: Malaria is caused by the plasmodium parasite. The parasite can be spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Prevention: Malaria can often be avoided using the ABCD approach to prevention which stands for: Awareness of risk – find out whether you are at risk of getting malaria. Bite prevention – avoid mosquito bites by using insect repellent, covering your arms and legs and using a mosquito net. Check whether you need to take malaria prevention tablets – if you do, make sure you take the right antimalarial tablets at the right dose, and finish the course. Diagnosis  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ seek immediate medical advice if you have malaria symptoms, including up to a year after you return from travelling. Whooping Cough Signs and Symptoms: runny nose. sneezing. mild cough. low-grade fever. Causes: Whooping cough is caused by an infection with a bacterium known as Bordetella pertussis. The bacteria attach to the lining of the airways in the upper respiratory system and release toxins that lead to inflammation and swelling. Prevention: Preventing whooping cough. In the UK, whooping cough is now rare due to successful vaccination against it. The 5-in-1 vaccine. The whoopingcough vaccine is given as part of the 5-in-1 vaccine (DTaP/IPV/Hib), which also protects against diphtheria, tetanus, polio and Hib (haemophilus influenzae type b). Dysentery Signs and Symptoms: nausea. vomiting. abdominal pain. fever and chills. Causes: Bacterial infections are by far the most common causes of dysentery. These infections include Shigella,Campylobacter, E. coli, and Salmonella species of bacteria. Prevention: Washing one’s hands after using the toilet, after contact with an infected person, and regularly throughout the day; Washing one’s hands before handling, cooking and eating food, handling babies, and feeding young or elderly people; Keeping contact with someone known to have dysentery to a minimum Tetanus Signs and Symptoms: Headache. Jaw cramping. Sudden, involuntary muscle tightening – often in the stomach (muscle spasms) Painful muscle stiffness all over the body. Trouble swallowing. Jerking or staring (seizures) Fever and sweating. High blood pressure and fast heart rate. Causes: Tetanus is a condition caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium tetani, a cousin of the bacteria that cause gangrene and botulism. Prevention: You can easily prevent tetanus by being immunized against the toxin. Almost all cases of tetanus occur in people who’ve never been immunized or who haven’t had a tetanus booster shot within the preceding 10 years. Flu Signs and Symptoms: A 100oF or higher fever or feeling feverish (not everyone with the flu has a fever) A cough and/or sore throat. A runny or stuffy nose. Headaches and/or body aches. Chills. Fatigue. Causes: The flu is actually very different from a cold. While more than 100 different viruses can cause a cold, only influenza virus types A, B, and C cause theflu. Type A and B viruses are responsible for the large flu epidemics. Type C flu virus is more stable and usually causes milder respiratory symptoms. Prevention: If you are healthy but exposed to a person with the flu, antiviral drugs can prevent you from getting sick. The sooner you are treated with an antiviral, the more likely it will prevent the flu. Antiviral drugs are 70% to 90% effective at preventing the flu. Intestinal Parasite Signs and Symptoms: Abdominal pain. Diarrhea. Nausea or vomiting. Gas or bloating. Dysentery (loose stools containing blood and mucus) Rash or itching around the rectum or vulva. Stomach pain or tenderness. Causes: Intestinal parasites are usually transmitted when someone comes in contact with infected feces (for example, through contaminated soil, food, or water). In the U.S., the most common protozoa are giardia and cryptosporidium. Parasites can live within the intestines for years without causing any symptoms. Common Cold Signs and Symptoms: Sore throat. Mucus buildup in your nose. Difficulty breathing through your nose. Swelling of your sinuses. Sneezing. Cough. Headache. Tiredness. Causes: The common cold is a self-limited contagious illness that can be caused by a number of different types of viruses. The common cold is medically referred to as a viral upper respiratory tract infection. Symptoms of thecommon cold may include cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, runny nose, and sneezing. Prevention: No vaccine has been developed for the common cold, which can be caused by many different viruses. But you can take some common-sense precautions to slow the spread of cold viruses Pneumonia Signs and Symptoms: Nausea/vomiting Rapid breathing. Rapid heartbeat. Shaking chills Causes: Bacteria-like organisms, such as Mycoplasma pneumoniae, which typically produce milder signs and symptoms than do other types of pneumonia. Bacteria, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae. Prevention: Get a flu shot every year to prevent seasonal influenza. The flu is a common cause of pneumonia, so preventing the flu is a good way to prevent pneumonia! Get vaccinated against pneumococcal pneumonia if you are at high  risk of getting this type of pneumonia. Hypertension Signs and Symptoms: Causes: A stroke is an interruption of the blood supply to any part of the brain because a blood vessel is blocked by a clot or burst open. A stroke is sometimes called a â€Å"brain attack.† Prevention: A heart-healthy lifestyle can help you prevent high blood pressure. These changes are especially important for people who have risk factors for high blood pressure that cannot be changed, including family history, race, or age. Anemia Signs and Symptoms: Fatigue. Pale skin. A fast or irregular heartbeat. Shortness of breath. Chest pain. Dizziness. Cognitive problems. Cold hands and feet. Causes: Iron deficiency anemia. Iron deficiency anemia is caused by a shortage of the element iron in your body. †¦ Vitamin deficiency anemias. †¦ Anemia of chronic disease. †¦ Aplastic anemia. †¦ Anemias associated with bone marrow disease. †¦ Hemolytic anemias. †¦ Sickle cell anemia. Prevention: Many types of anemia can’t be prevented. However, you can help avoid iron deficiency anemia and vitamin deficiency anemias by choosing a diet that includes a variety of vitamins and nutrients Asthma Signs and Symptoms: Frequent cough, especially at night. Losing your breath easily or shortness of breath. Feeling very tired or weak when exercising. Wheezing or coughing after exercise. Feeling tired, easily upset, grouchy, or moody. Decreases or changes in lung function as measured on a peak flow meter. Causes: Asthma triggers are different from person to person and can include: Airborne allergens, such as pollen, animal dander, mold, cockroaches and dust mites. Respiratory infections, such as the common cold. Physical activity (exercise-induced asthma) Cold air. Air pollutants and irritants, such as smoke. Prevention: You need to know how to prevent or minimize future asthma attacks. If your asthma attacks are triggered by an allergic reaction, avoid your triggers as much as possible. Keep taking your asthma medications after you are discharged. This is extremely important. Migraine Signs and Symptoms: a headache that lasts anything from four up to 72 hours. pulsating or throbbing pain, often just on one side of your head. a headache that gets worse when you’re active or stops you from being active. feeling sick or vomiting. increased sensitivity to light and noise. Causes: Hormonal changes in women. Fluctuations in estrogen seem to trigger headaches in many women with known migraines. †¦ Foods. Aged cheeses, salty foods and processed foods may trigger migraines. †¦ Food additives. †¦ Drinks. †¦ Stress. †¦ Sensory stimuli. †¦ Changes in wake-sleep pattern. †¦ Physical factors. Prevention: Not all migraine headaches can be prevented. However, identifying your headache triggers can help to reduce the frequency and severity of migraine attacks. Cardiovascular Signs and Symptoms: Chest pain (angina) Shortness of breath. Pain, numbness, weakness or coldness in your legs or arms, if the blood vessels in those parts of your body are narrowed. Causes: Atherosclerosis is also the most common cause of cardiovasculardisease, and it’s often caused by an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, being overweight and smoking. All of these are major risk factors for developing atherosclerosis and, in turn, cardiovascular disease.

The Nacirema

In review of the article â€Å"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema† by Horace Miner, this was a very satirical piece on how Native Americans had a very ritualistic approach towards many religious ceremonies and how they interacted with each other at these ceremonies. Horace Miner brought up very appalling view points about the native Americans. The way he worded his synopsis of his studies was very dark and oppressive. Almost making the foreigners to him seem animalistic. When in real life they were doing things such as going to the doctor and getting their teeth cleaned but since he did not know the tools they were using it was foreign to him. This makes me wonder what I actually see in other cultures to be foreign or domestic. I may go to another country in a remote place and see very odd things and maybe be shocked but to those people it is the proven science to survival for them. Also in the satirical aspect of this paper it makes me think of how we should look at people. After reading through the article it seemed that the anthropologist went into this looking for something out of the ordinary. In studying each person seems to look and key on the interesting facts, but if you look to hard and over exaggerate it seems to imbelish what was actually happening. So actually it seems that even though this article was satirical in its purpose it over eggagerated the tools and purposes of medicine practices then and made people appear to be something that they actually were not.

Free Essays on Our Schoold And The Country

In our school election, Al Gore and Joe Lieberman of the Democratic Party beat George Bush and Dick Cheney of the Republican Party in a landslide. Of the 845 students and staff who voted, 56% voted for Gore, 22% for Bush, 17% for Ralph Nader of the Green Party, 3% for Libertarian hopeful Harry Browne and 1% for Pat Buchanan of the Reform Party. Seven hundred ninety-one of the people were students and 54 were staff members. Sadly, just more than half of the staff members voted. Coincidentally, in the national election only 50.7% of the eligible voters actually voted. The staff elected Gore by an even greater margin than the rest of the school. A whopping 80% wanted Gore to be the new president. Bush, Nader and Browne got 11%, 7% and 2% respectively. The students elected Gore with 54%, and Bush, Nader, Browne, and Buchanan received 23%, 18%, 3%, and 1% respectively. Al Gore won on every team and got more than 50% of the votes on five teams. George W. Bush did the best on 8 Red where he took 32% of the votes. George W. Bush came in second on every team except 7 Gold, 7 and 8 Blue. On those teams Nader came in second. Interestingly enough, 8 Blue also had the one of the smallest percentages for Nader. This probably happened because Gore and Lieberman won 8 Blue by the highest margin of 72%. Only 7 Green and the staff had a lower percentage for Nader. Harry Browne did not get double-digit percentages on any team but got the high ­est percentage on 7 Red with 7%. On 7 Blue no one voted for him. Pat Buchanan of the Reform Party had a lot of trouble at our school. He did the best on 8 Gold and 8 Blue with 2% of the votes. He got no votes from 8 Green, 8 Red and the staff. In total he only got 8 votes. Thanks to the students of 8 Blue who ran this election. Also thank you to Mr. Nolan and Ms. Vacca who coordi ­nated this election. Mr. ______won in one of the closest elections in history. This election should be called Indecision 2000 instead... Free Essays on Our Schoold And The Country Free Essays on Our Schoold And The Country In our school election, Al Gore and Joe Lieberman of the Democratic Party beat George Bush and Dick Cheney of the Republican Party in a landslide. Of the 845 students and staff who voted, 56% voted for Gore, 22% for Bush, 17% for Ralph Nader of the Green Party, 3% for Libertarian hopeful Harry Browne and 1% for Pat Buchanan of the Reform Party. Seven hundred ninety-one of the people were students and 54 were staff members. Sadly, just more than half of the staff members voted. Coincidentally, in the national election only 50.7% of the eligible voters actually voted. The staff elected Gore by an even greater margin than the rest of the school. A whopping 80% wanted Gore to be the new president. Bush, Nader and Browne got 11%, 7% and 2% respectively. The students elected Gore with 54%, and Bush, Nader, Browne, and Buchanan received 23%, 18%, 3%, and 1% respectively. Al Gore won on every team and got more than 50% of the votes on five teams. George W. Bush did the best on 8 Red where he took 32% of the votes. George W. Bush came in second on every team except 7 Gold, 7 and 8 Blue. On those teams Nader came in second. Interestingly enough, 8 Blue also had the one of the smallest percentages for Nader. This probably happened because Gore and Lieberman won 8 Blue by the highest margin of 72%. Only 7 Green and the staff had a lower percentage for Nader. Harry Browne did not get double-digit percentages on any team but got the high ­est percentage on 7 Red with 7%. On 7 Blue no one voted for him. Pat Buchanan of the Reform Party had a lot of trouble at our school. He did the best on 8 Gold and 8 Blue with 2% of the votes. He got no votes from 8 Green, 8 Red and the staff. In total he only got 8 votes. Thanks to the students of 8 Blue who ran this election. Also thank you to Mr. Nolan and Ms. Vacca who coordi ­nated this election. Mr. ______won in one of the closest elections in history. This election should be called Indecision 2000 instead...

The Ancient Maya and Human Sacrifice

The Ancient Maya and Human Sacrifice For a long time, it was commonly held by Mayanist experts that the â€Å"pacific† Maya of Central America and southern Mexico did not practice human sacrifice. However, as more images and glyphs have come to light and been translated, it appears that the Maya frequently practiced human sacrifice in religious and political contexts. Maya Civilization The Maya civilization flourished in the rain forests and misty jungles of Central America and southern Mexico ca. B.C.E. 300 to 1520 C.E. The civilization peaked around 800 C.E. and mysteriously collapsed not long after. It survived into what is called the Maya Postclassic Period, and the center of Maya culture moved to the Yucatan Peninsula. Maya culture still existed when the Spanish arrived around 1524 C.E.; conquistador Pedro de Alvarado brought down the largest of the Maya city-states for the Spanish Crown. Even at its height, the Maya Empire was never unified politically. Instead, it was a series of powerful, warring city-states who shared language, religion, and other cultural characteristics. Modern Conception of the Maya Early scholars who studied the Maya believed them to be pacifists who rarely warred among themselves. These scholars were impressed by the intellectual achievements of the culture, which included extensive trade routes, a written language, advanced astronomy and mathematics, and an impressively accurate calendar. Recent research, however, shows that the Maya were, in fact, a tough, warlike people who frequently warred among themselves. It is quite likely that this constant warfare was an important factor in their sudden and mysterious decline. It is also now evident that, like their later neighbors the Aztecs, the Maya regularly practiced human sacrifice. Beheading and Disemboweling Far to the north, the Aztecs would become famous for holding their victims down on top of temples and cutting out their hearts, offering the still-beating organs to their gods. The Maya cut the hearts out of their victims, too, as can be seen in certain images surviving at the Piedras Negras historical site. However, it was much more common for them to decapitate or disembowel their sacrificial victims, or else tie them up and push them down the stone stairs of their temples. The methods had much to do with who was being sacrificed and for what purpose. Prisoners of war were usually disemboweled. When the sacrifice was religiously linked to the ball game, the prisoners were more likely to be decapitated or pushed down the stairs. Meaning of Human Sacrifice To the Maya, death and sacrifice were spiritually linked to the concepts of creation and rebirth. In the Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Maya, the hero twins Hunahpà º and Xbalanque must journey to the underworld (i.e. die) before they can be reborn into the world above. In another section of the same book, the god Tohil asks for human sacrifice in exchange for fire. A series of glyphs deciphered at the Yaxchiln archaeological site links the concept of beheading to the notion of creation or awakening. Sacrifices often marked the beginning of a new era: this could be the ascension of a new king or the beginning of a new calendar cycle. These sacrifices, meant to aid in the rebirth and renewal of the harvest and life cycles, were often carried out by priests and/or nobles, especially the king. Children were sometimes used as sacrificial victims at such times. Sacrifice and the Ball Game For the Maya, human sacrifices were associated with the  ball game. The game, in which a hard rubber ball was knocked around by players mostly using their hips, often had religious, symbolic or spiritual meaning. Maya images show a clear connection between the ball and decapitated heads: the balls were even sometimes made from skulls. Sometimes, a ballgame would be a sort of continuation of a victorious battle. Captive warriors from the vanquished tribe or city-state would be forced to play and then sacrificed ​afterwards. A famous image carved in stone at Chichà ©n Itz shows a victorious ballplayer holding aloft the decapitated head of the opposing team leader. Politics and Human Sacrifice Captive kings and rulers were often highly prized sacrifices. In another carving from Yaxchiln, a local ruler, â€Å"Bird Jaguar IV,† plays the ball game in full gear while â€Å"Black Deer,† a captured rival chieftain, bounces down a nearby stairway in the form of a ball. It is likely that the captive was sacrificed by being tied up and pushed down the stairs of a temple as part of a ceremony involving the ball game. In 738 C.E., a war party from Quirigu captured the king of rival city-state Copn: the captive king was ritually sacrificed. Ritual Bloodletting Another aspect of Maya blood sacrifice involved ritual bloodletting. In the Popol Vuh, the first Maya pierced their skin to offer blood to the gods Tohil, Avilix, and Hacavitz. Maya kings and lords would pierce their flesh- generally genitals, lips, ears, or tongues- with sharp objects such as stingray spines. Such spines are often found in tombs of Maya royalty. Maya nobles were considered semi-divine, and the blood of kings was an important part of certain Maya rituals, often those involving agriculture. Not only male nobles but females as well took part in ritual bloodletting. Royal blood offerings were smeared on idols or dripped onto bark paper which was then burned: the rising smoke could open a gateway of sorts between the worlds. Resources and Further Reading McKillop, Heather. The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives. New York: Norton, 2004.Miller, Mary and Karl Taube. An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. New York: Thames Hudson, 1993.Recinos, Adrian (translator). Popol Vuh: the Sacred Text of the Ancient Quichà © Maya. Norman: the University of Oklahoma Press, 1950.Stuart, David. (translated by Elisa Ramirez). La ideologà ­a del sacrificio entre los Mayas. Arqueologia Mexicana vol. XI, Num. 63 (Sept.-Oct. 2003) p. 24-29.

The role of expectation, performance, and other elements Essay

The role of expectation, performance, and other elements - Essay Example As the primary research is to be conducted in two parts, the objectives for the different parts will differ from each other. At the first stage, a preliminary research is to be conducted that will endeavor to present a list of factors that go into making of customer expectations as quoted by the surveyed marketing managers. In the second stage, the survey is undertaken to collect the data on how the different people develop their expectations, and satisfaction. Customer satisfaction has gained prominence in the marketing literature as well as in marketing practice due to its impact on customer retention and long term revenue streams. Owing to the importance of customer satisfaction, there has been considerable effort made in researching the antecedent conditions of the same. Since very early times of developing the marketing literature, customer expectations have been considered as an important aspect of customer satisfaction

Club IT's Information Management Needs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Club IT's Information Management Needs - Essay Example To make it clear and execute effectively I visited the website of Club IT to get more information. It helped me to comprehend the basic structure of the informational technology resources available to them and to implement strategies that can attract more clients. With this in mind, I recollected the five strategies that companies use to achieve competitive advantage in their industries. They are, Cost Leadership strategy-produce products and services at the lower cost in the industry Differentiation strategy-It offers different products, services or products features Innovation strategy- introduce new products and services, put new features in existing products and service and develop new ways to produce them Operational effectiveness strategy: improved the manner in which internal business process is executed so that a firm performs similar activities. Customer-orientation strategy: It is to follow the basic principle of focusing on customers and be at the best.( Rainer & Turban, p . 52) After reviewing the place and its needs I have decided that the best strategy for competitive advantage for Club IT is to use the Customer-Orientation Strategy. The Club IT’s Mission is "We, Ruben and Lisa, offer you live music, DJ's, dance space and refreshments that suit your lifestyle. You are our friends, and we seek to build a community that meets regularly at Club IT" (â€Å"About Club It†, n.d.).This reflects that the club wants to provide friendly environment. The entertainment that they get from the live music and the dance space allows them to be a part of Club IT for a longer period of time. The primary clientele that I have come across is young aged to mid age like 20’s and 30’s.They are jubilant at the fun-filled place and mostly are music lovers with high spirits. It helped me to focus on this section and to enhance the IT resources that are available. The Club IT’s information include intranet resources and it can be well utili zed to the advantage of the clients. It can be managed by a Club In charge or a Manager who is well versed with the computer usage. I suggested that the software can be upgraded to upload the photos of the clients, e-mail address and so forth. It would be a good practice to enter the clients’ name and basic information at the entrance so that we can have track on the number of people visit daily and to give special preference to regular customers. This helps the management to avoid any discrepancy caused by under-aged drinkers. The best part would be to have track of the regular customer record and show them the gratitude and allow them to enter the place without any normal proceedings. They can have suggestions box in the website to get feedback once they visit the place. They can use around 2 to 4 computers as the place is small. The files have to be updated in an accurate manner. This type of software is a lifesaver for clubs, there is not much maintenance needed. The Cust omer-Orientation Strategy would be the right one to follow as its inclination is towards making the customer happy. The foremost step is to make the existing clients happy and to do so we can use the information that they provided and give them the details of the coverage of events through e-newsletters. The database that the club follows must have the information of the clients like the email