Spa – Cr. to the Rightful Owner

This chapter presents the discussion of reviewed related writing of authors that the researchers collected during the course of the study. Material reviewed came from different books, studies and other professional writings from both foreign and local books. Conceptual Literature The worldwide spa industry is worth in the region of US $40 billion and has grown at a phenomenal rate in the past ten years (Haden, 2007). The growth of health food, gyms and the investment in leisure facilities proves that consumers are looking for more than relaxation during a break or holiday; this is unsurprising given time is so precious to contemporary consumers (Lynch, 2002). Harmsworth (2004: p. 173) claims that â€Å"the spa market is one of the fastest growing leisure sectors, where societal trends and aspirations find instant reflection in the developments on both the demand and supply sides. The market is very fragmented, each segment catering for different customer needs, which continuously change in line with social and lifestyle changes. † According to Libosada Jr. C. and Bosangit C. (2007) stated that spa is a resort with mineral or thermal water used for drinking and bathing. The term is derived from the name of a town in Belgium and has been applied to similar resort worldwide. The Kentucky-based International Spa Association (ISPA), an organization which claims to set the standards for the spa industry makes no mention of water in its definition, arguing that â€Å"a spa serves as an educational and cultural institution that promotes and integrates individual wellness, health and fitness as well as social well-being, harmony and balance through wellness, prevention, therapy and rehabilitation of body, mind and soul† (Loverseed, 1998: p. 48). Later, the ISPA offered an all-encompassing, holistic definition, claiming that spas are entities â€Å"devoted to enhancing overall well-being through a variety of professional services that encourage the renewal of mind, body and spirit† (Mintel, 2005). It is claimed by Jenner and Smith (2000) that visiting spas is one of the earliest forms of tourism. Spas found their beginnings thousands of years ago, when ancient civilisations used them for their healing properties and as an important part of their social structure (Vierville, 2003; Spaa, 2002). The therapeutic use of baths was remarkably long-lived; such popularity was no doubt partly due to the fact that baths were both pleasant and, by the Roman imperial period at least, comparatively freely available (Jackson, 1990). It was after this time that public interest in baths began to peak (Spaa, 2002). Spa tourism has many varied definitions; there is no â€Å"officially† agreed upon definition of what a spa should or should not be – what makes it such? Many believe that the word ‘spa' is an acronym based on the Latin phrase â€Å"sanitas per aquas† – meaning ‘health through water', in fact the Oxford English dictionary’s definition of a spa is from the Latin â€Å"solus per aqua† or â€Å"health by water† defined as â€Å"a place with mineral springs considered to have health-giving properties† (Loverseed, 1998). Thornton and Brutscher (2003) maintain that the word and the concept of spa actually originated from the time of the Roman Empire when battle weary legionnaires tried to find a way to recover from their military wounds and ailments. Therefore suggesting that traditionally, water is not only inexplicably linked to the definition of spas, but that it is the water which defines it. The European Spas Association’s (ESPA) definition of a spa is also dependent upon the water element; they define a spa as „a mineral spring or a place or resort where such a spring is found? (Jenner and Smith, 2000). Unlike the ESPA, the British Spas Federation (BSF) reviewed its definition with regard to widening its membership, which at that time consisted only of the municipal authorities of spa towns. However, the BSF was later replaced by the Spa Business Association (SpaBa) who in turn redefined the spa, returning the centrality of the role of water by defining a spa as â€Å"an establishment providing a minimum of one approved water based treatment using water of known composition. The spa should be staffed by appropriately trained therapists and have minimum standards of furnishings. The water should be enhanced with minerals, either naturally or with an additive† (Mintel, 2005). Others, especially in the USA, hold a far less rigid view of what constitutes a spa. The Kentucky-based International Spa Association (ISPA), an organization which claims to set the standards for the spa industry makes no mention of water in its definition, arguing that â€Å"a spa serves as an educational and cultural institution that promotes and integrates individual wellness, health and fitness as well as social well-being, harmony and balance through wellness, prevention, therapy and rehabilitation of body, mind and soul (Loverseed, 1998: p. 8). Later, the ISPA offered an all-encompassing, holistic definition, claiming that spas are â€Å"devoted to enhancing overall well-being through a variety of professional services that encourage the renewal of mind, body and spirit† (Mintel, 2005). It is claimed by Jenner and Smith (2000) that visiting spas is one of the earliest forms of tourism. Spas found their beginnings thousands of years ago, when ancient civilisations used them for their healing properties and as an important part of their social structure (Vierville, 2003; Spaa, 2002). The therapeutic use of baths was remarkably long-lived; such popularity was no doubt partly due to the fact that baths were both pleasant and, by the Roman imperial period at least, comparatively freely available (Jackson, 1990). It was after this time that public interest in baths began to peak (Spaa, 2002). By the medieval period, the idea that thermal springs could have medicinal properties was firmly established. But in the 18th and 19th centuries, taking the waters? began being a fashionable pastime for Europe?s upper classes. In fact, the popularity of this habit is what established places in the UK, such as Bath, Brighton and Harrogate, as early tourism destinations (Jenner and Smith, 2000). Today’s spa is an interesting combination of ancient traditions and modern facilities; in recent years, the value of prevention, healthy lifestyles, and relaxation has been embraced by many and the spa is again finding its place in modern society as a place uniquely geared to address these needs (Register, 2005). In one of the major formative tradition for current pattern of health and well-ness spa tourism worldwide, the Roman Empire left behind a long list of spas all over Europe, which they built while they were occupying new territories. With the demise of the Western Roman Empire in 450 AD, so too came the demise of the Roman bath tradition in Europe, although Spain, North Africa, and the Middle East maintained a highly developed bathing culture. This was a result of the influence of the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire and the subsequent Arab conquests and maintained the influence of Roman bathing tradition in those countries (The Spa Association, 2005). The City of bath in England provides an example of the fusion of Roman history with later trends in spa and wellness demand and supply in Europe (White, 2000). After the springs had been abandoned as a bathing resource in 1978 (although not touristically or respect of their mineral waters), the Bath spa project was launched by the City Council in 1997 in order to restore bath to the leading spa town of England, with the expectation that the project would stimulate the revival of spa culture in the UK. The hew spa facilities in Bath are just a short distance from the original Roman bath site and they used natural hot spring water drawn from the same springs that have served visitors for at least the last two thousand years. The new facilities are designed to offer relaxing and extended therapeutic treatments. Although they will not act as a cure for serious illness they will act as a cure for the human spirit, as outline in reference to the conservation statement for the adjacent Roman Baths (Clews, 2000). In countries such as Hungary the change from centuries of thermal bathing culture to modern wellness facilities has been slower than in countries without a history of hot or mineral hot springs. In Budapest the increase use of day spas builds on the ancient way of relieving stress and physical ailments through hot water treatment, and day spas and wellness facilities are now being established in a society that is becoming more conscious of the importance of healthy lifestyle (LaForest, 2004). In Budapest the locals congregate in public thermal baths such as the Szechenvi to relax, swim and take many of the cures and treatment on offer. They are also known for taking the national pastime of playing chess into thermal pools (The age, 2005). And further to the east in Russia the Soviet era thermal baths were an integral part of the national health system. In Europe Austria was one of the first countries to adopt the more recent concept of wellness and to act upon quickly. The country affectively appeals to key tourist target groups by positioning itself to offer wellness treatments that unite the body, spirit, personal desire, culture, and natural resources embodied by the spring (Nahrstedt, 2002). Australia has an unmatched infrastructure when it comes to wellness holidays and health-related tourism, and was ranked number one in the world for quality of life and its healthcare services in the early 2000s (Garalli, 2002). According to Nahrsetedt (2002) Austria boasts an intact natural environment in conjunction with its wellness spas, an association that is also very popular in the Japanese tourist market. In Japan itself though, with literally thousands of geothermal springs and the Japanese preference for authentic and unadulterated hot spring water, wellness centres are not yet developed to quite the same extent, leaving the European style wellness facility as a potential favorite for the Japanese while on holiday. In Japan, in tradition hot springs have been developed into days spas known as kuahausu derived from the German word kurhaus, providing separates bathing areas for men and women with thermal mineral pools at different temperatures, a cold pool area with fountains and waterslides, bowling alleys, gyms, saunas and steam rooms, massage services, restaurants and bars, relaxation rooms, music rooms, and video games (Altman, 2000: 07). But the main bathing attractions are the traditional hot springs called Onsen. Often used by groups of people who enjoy sharing a bath after leaving the world of corporate work behind? As well as families and couples, a trip to an Onsen is classed as the ultimate bonding experience because all are equal once they shed their designer clothes and other status symbols. The captain of Iceland, Reykjavik, has been designated on official spa city by the European Spa Association (Iceland Express, 2006). This seems well deserved a quite logical, because the Icelanders have many facilities where they can take care of their health, well-being and leisure. Several active Volcanoes and high temperature geothermal field provide natural hot springs all over Iceland and most towns have at least one public geothermal swimming pool. The Health and Wellness Spa Industry Having said that, rising customer expectations concerning health and wellness are the foundation in which the modern health and wellness spa industry is building an ever-increasing supply of facilities for the medical and general (wellness) visitor, to the extent that this form of tourism is now worth in excess of 250 billion US dollars per year and attract some 150 billion active spa-goers world-wide (ISPA, 2007). Caution is needed here though, because for example these figures are said to include 19. 1 million Japanese spa-goers. Japanese data (Beppu International Tourism Office, 2007) suggest that there are over 150 million Onsen users alone in that country (Chapter 9). This discrepancy would appear to relate to the varying definitions of wellness and spa use that were discussed earlier, where the Japanese tradition is more about simply bathing in hot water than about the American tradition of beauty spa that underlies the research undertaken by the International Spa Association. As a result of this, many Japanese users may not be counted if the data are concentrating on analyzing the spa experience rather than the totality of health and wellness tourism based on the use of hot and mineral springs. The trend toward indulgence in a relaxing environment, which began after World War II (Foster & Keller, 2008), has thus turned into a global movement but one that is a significant departure from the original concept of health spa that mainly specialized in rehabilitation of recovering from illness and injury. The new emphasis lies in prevention of disease and maintenance of good health more that cure, with high expectations regarding health improvement even if there are no particular health problems. Along with the body, mind and soul are also catered for in many spas in a holistic approach of creating harmony for those in need. This often includes new-age treatments as well as the more traditional water-based therapy. The key element in all such facilities is water. Be it apart of the natural landscape surrounding a facility (ocean, rivers, lake and waterfalls), decoration in the background (pools, fountains) or an active treatment component, water is a very important element in the world of spas and wellness. More and more spas without a natural hot springs are investigating the possibility if tapping into mineral geothermal water resources to enhance their business. The trend towards natural looking environments or setting is also evident in many spa hotels and resorts where swimming pools and thermal bathing facilities are designed and built to looks are natural as possible, with rock pools the most typical and widespread design. The development of these spa and wellness water resources can be divided into two broad types: Hot spring: These are usually well known and general appreciated for their curative value and their therapeutic benefits based on both water temperature and mineral content; Mineral springs: These can be cold or warm water from a nature spring, with curative value based on the type and concentration of minerals in the water. Often, the water can be taken internally too and is bottled and distributed (Cooper, P. nd Cooper, M. , 2009). Current International Trends in Spa and Wellness Tourism The trends of indulging in a relaxing environment has turned into a global movement but one with a significant difference from the original concept of health and natural hot and mineral spring spas, which mainly specialized in rehabilitation. The new emphasis lies in the prevention of disease and in the maintenance of good health instead of cures, with high expectation regarding health improvements even i f there are no specific problems. Mind and soul are usually catered for long with the body in many spas using holistic approach of creating harmony for those in need, including new-age treatments as well as the more traditional rehabilitative therapies. The main center of attention at present appears to be a natural healing method incorporating Asian treatments accompanied by the esthetic appeal of Eastern lifestyles and culture, which are in great demand. Therapies of Asia origin are often combined with European balneotherapy and hydrotherapy as well as sport and fitness facilities to offer diversity of options in order to attract as many customers and client as possible. Nearly all spas cater for aspects with special signature treatments to ensure that there are no missed opportunities (Cooper, P. and Cooper, M. , 2009). Characteristics of Spa Tourists Traditionally it has been women who have primarily used spas. However, a consumer research conducted by ISPA in 2003 determined that 29% of spa tourists around the world are men; this figure rose to 30% in 2004. As men continue to represent a significant proportion of the spa market, more spas are offering special treatments for them and men-only spas continue to open in cities around the world (Grihault, 2007; Mintel, 2005; Messerli and Oyama, 2004). The Baby Boomer generation (45-60 years old) continues to be the core consumer base for the global spa tourism industry. According to Haden (2007) industry analysts have long known that health conscious Baby Boomers have been the main driving force behind the worldwide boom in the spa industry. However, some argue the appeal of the industry reaches a larger age-range; Swarbrooke (2000: p 78-79) claims that most visitors to spa sites are in the social classes A, B and C1 and are between 30 and 65 years of age. Mintel (2005) have a similar view, claiming it is the 25-64 year old market who dominate the customer base for spas; this group tends not to be at the family life stage, and their members are as likely to be male as female. The average age of visitors to spas is currently 49 years (ETC, 2002). Yet Hudson (2003) argues that by 2050, 20 percent of the world’s population will be sixty years or older; and by 2150, this figure will increase to over 30percent. These claims seem dramatic; however it is clear from all the statistics available that the population is aging and that this trend is set to continue. Latest research by International Database, US Census in 2007 confirms these figures and shows the number of people aged over 55 years is projected to reach 2. 6 billion or approximately 27. 7% of the world?s population by 2050. Thus, the number of individuals aged 55 and over is forecast to grow at a rate of about 4% per year over the next 43 years (Haden, 2007). According to a survey carried out by the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB), 70. 8% of those aged over 45 years had been on holiday in 2006, compared to 64. 9% of the general UK population. A Mintel study of US travellers in 2005 revealed that those over 55 years are more inclined to take holidays lasting five days or longer. Maintaining health in retirement has become a top priority. In a 2006 study of US health and fitness clubs in May 2006, Mintel found that those aged over 55 years were far more likely to participate in some form of strenuous exercise five or more times a week than other segments of the population (Haden, 2007). If such predictions are dealt with wisely, the outlook for the industry appears to be positive; it will help to drive tourism’s growth in general and health-related travel in particular. Taking this into consideration, such a shift will clearly have substantial implications for the international health and spa tourism industry. Research Literature Health spas had their origin in Europe and many resorts had name that were associated with spas. The popularity of mineral springs carried over to Northern America and the springs were the location of some of the earlier resort. It is important to differentiate between spa hotels and resort spas. Spas hotels cater only to spa clientele and all guests must participate in the meals, treatment and exercises. On the other hand, resorts spas are amenities that are available to the guest, and charges are made for the various usage of spa (Liguori, S. and Gray, W. ). Administration of spa hotels heavily involves people with a medical background, whereas resort spas are merely operating departments of the resorts. Exercises-oriented facilities are swimming pools, tennis court, handball and racquetball courts, jogging trails, hiking and weight and aerobic training. Spa program include dietary program, massage, herbal wraps, exfoliation, that also therapy, facial and hydrotherapy. Under both scenarios, staffing involves people experienced in the program and administrative personnel. Ways for boosting revenue The method presented in the previous section illustrated the overall contribution of resort spas to resort revenue, in order to offer more insight into how spa managers can increase their spa revenue, the author of this study conducted to an interview with a spa director of one of the leading resorts spa in Southwest Florida. The director state that resorts should first focus on guest experience to increase their sales. In that director’s case, she mentioned that her resort was able to increase the incremental spending from $658 to $985 per night by packaging spa and other activities together. The director also stated that pre-arrival process is a critical component for revenue maximization. She offered a case as an example where she use a system called â€Å"power booking† in which a spa front desk agent was calling guest two to three days to prior to the spa reservation date and providing the opportunity for upgrades and additional bookings base on availability (Rutherford, D. and O’Fallon, M. 2011). According to O’Fallon M. and Rutherford D. (2011) stated that spas are booming such a significant component of the service menu for resorts and full service hotels that their absence, especially in amenity- rich resort environment, is glaring obvious. Within the leisure industries in 2003, revenues related to spas ranked number four behind golf fees and dues ($19. 7 million0, cruise lines revenues ($14. 7 million), and health club revenues ($14. 1 million). At $11. 2 million, spa revenues outpaced amusement park revenues ($10. 3 million), box office receipts ($9. million), and vacation ownership sales ($5. 5 million (Thacker, 2004; Audi and Wright, 2004). In this section, we first examine trends that support a sea change in North Americans’ attitude toward spa demand demographics; we discuss the type of spas currently popular in the industry, development and operational considerations, the components of a spa experience, compensation issues, and trends in the spa industry. Spa demand According to the International SPA Associations research, between 2002 and 2003, 11% of the national population over the age of 16 made one or more spa visits. This statistics shows that in xten Americans visited a spa during that period. Additionally, of these, 41% were visiting spas for the first time, indicating a larger population embracing spa usage. Age demographics show that 145% of clients are between the ages of 16 and 24, and over 50% are in the 24 to 44 age bracket. An emerging national statistics is the number of male visits to spas. 23% of spa visits and 29% of spa goers were men in 2003, trending toward special gender oriented treatments and male- only spas being opened worldwide. Spa selection criteria are determined by a number of factors. An established and known environment for instance, as part of an established resort, club or destination spa often influences the decision, and does atmosphere, quality of treatment, and friendliness of staff. Additionally, among spa goers nine out of ten respondents report they would return for a similar experience. Most spa customers believe they receive good value for their spa dollar. On a 10 point scale, services were given an average of 8 for value; with massage generating 8. 8 on the value such as Canyon Ranch are opening in the day spa market, adding new competitive pressure on the independents. Non-traditional players are also adding product supply. For example, corporations are creating in house spa environments, hospitals are adding wellness as part of their repertoire, and medi-spas, with a primary focus on cosmetic surgery, are adding spa business as an additional profit center. Health club are also trying to capture a piece of the pie by adding spa practices. The rationale in this market is that time-crunched patrons can benefit from the one-stop-shopping approached to fitness and wellness but the health club operator also uses the spa as an enticement to join the fitness centre. As the day and destination spa markets become saturated, it will become imperative for survival that each operator differentiate itself from the competition. The necessity for market segmentation to ensure clear communication with consumers will be a key to success in the maturing spa market. Another component of success will be a branding strategy that the consumer can immediately identify with respect to spa performance and the consumers personal comfort travel (Rutherford & O’Fallon 2011). Health Issues and Spa Demand. Increasingly, spa goers are looking to create prolonged wellness that integrates and renews body, mind and spirit. To that end, Eastern and Western lifestyle issues related to medicine, philosophy, and spiritual are becoming a mainstay of many spa/wellness experiences. To best deliver this, the wellness spa (located at day, destination, or resort environment) supports guest’ needs by creating an experience, not just a series of treatments. All the guest amenities, treatments, and programs must be seamlessly integrated into a personally tailored guest experience. This experience should be targeted toward couples, parents with children, and teenagers. In the early 1990, spa were considered a natural outgrowth of fitness facilities and focused primarily on treatments related to body wellness. As market sophistication evolved, the body mind connection attracted consumer focus. In the beginning of the twenty- first century, spas and marketers are overtly addressing body, mind, and spirit connections in order to respond to emerging market sensibilities (Rutherford & O’Fallon 2011). Spas as an Operating Department. Historically, spa operations were treated by management similarly to other revenue departments, like catering and restaurants. These departments were simply perceived as an amenity needed to attract guest to the hotel. As long as the department broke even, or didn’t lose too much money, their ability to increase occupancy was deemed sufficient justification for their existence. However, in the late 1990’s, hotel spa followed the path of other operating departments and were transformed from support to profit centres. This trend is strong and continues today (Rutherford & O’Fallon 2011). Spa Trends: On site industry trends Anti-aging treatments and products are driving much of spa menu and retail development. This calls for devoting a treatments room to outpatient medical procedures. Programming and spa menu items include sun damage treatments, chemical skin for renewals, and other rejuvenation techniques that build on repeat procedures. Commensurately, spas are developing retail product lines so that clients can take the spa experience home and continue the wellness regime. Global Industry trends Trends in day, destinations and amenity spas influence each other. According to Susan Ellis (2004), president of Spa Finder, a spa marketing company, after the rise of the medical spa and broadening spa participations by men and teens, spa use is expected to become more popular in the future. Spa Finder’s trends to watch for are: those personal elements that make the spa experience special will find their way into the design of personal living spaces in private homes; private, gated living communities will develop around central spa facilities, much like golf and sly-in communities. Managing visitor’s expectation and experience. Visitor’s expectation of a wellness centre or spa will differ greatly according to which country they come from, their language and their experience of wellness facilities generally. For example, the British or Americans would have a very different understanding of what they would expect to find in spa (i. e. luxury, pampering, and beauty) from a Central or Eastern European (i. e. healing waters, physical health checks, and medical treatments). Information provision and marketing is therefore extremely important in managing visitor expectation. In some cultures, nudity in spa is the norm or even a requirement in some areas (e. g. suanas and steam rooms). This is true of Austria, Germany and some spas in CEE and Scandinavia. However, for some visitors (e. g. American, British, Asians, and Southern Europeans) this can be unexpected and even embarrassing. In some cultures (e. g. Finland and Japan) men are separate from women when using sauna or spa facilities. In other cultures, mixed nudity is accepted. Some nationalities are used to doing activities in groups and are not used to enforced silence (e. . Southern European). This can create a certain amount of tension in countries, where spas and wellness centers are seen as quiet, restful, sometimes even spiritual spaces (especially in sauna and steam rooms) Help may also be needed to guide visitors around spas, as it could be their first visit or rituals and traditions may differ from those in their home country. Language may be a barrier where there is little or no translatio n, especially in countries where language can seem completely unfamiliar (e. g. Finland, Japan, and China). Visitors sometimes have problems knowing which entrance to use if there is more than one, which ticket to buy when there are many options, and might not understand the cloakroom system (e. g. in Hungary, where a cloakroom attendant usually has to be approached for a locker and key) or the new technology (e. g. in Austria when the locker system can be operate using a wristband). Knowing just how long to stay in medical, mineral or thermal waters is not clear to the inexperienced. Even if 20min is the recommended time, bathers need to know how long to rest or whether they should go to a cool shower after. Just a small information panel outside a bath, sauna or steam room can be enough to inform visitors, what the recommended length of time should be. (Smith & Puczko 2009). Atmosphere Creating a relaxing, clean, and pleasant environment is a paramount importance for all wellness facilities, but most especially for spas and spa or wellness hotels, which may also need a touch of luxury (spiritual or holistic tourist may accept more basic facilities). The use of design, colour, lightning, and location of furniture, degree of natural light, greenery, views, music or scents can all contribute to creating a harmonious atmosphere. Certainly, most of these qualities are determined during the planning process. The management may face difficulties when the services and/ or the surrounding environment do not support or accompany each other. These mismatches certainly result in sub-optimal satisfaction and consequently lower the optimal revenue level 9 (Puczko & Smith 2009). Spa Tourism Spa tourism is arguably the best known form of wellness tourism and is sometimes treated as being synonymous with wellness tourism. ISPA (2007) defines spa as ‘places devoted to enhancing overall well-being through a variety of professional services that encourage the renewal of mind, body and spirit’. ISPA also defines the key elements of the spa experience: relax; reflect; revitalize; and rejoice. It is difficult to distinguish between spas and more general forms of wellness (e. g. holistic retreats); however, it also shows clearly the diversity of the spa sector. There are now numerous sub-sectors within spa tourism and it is no longer enough simply to use the label ‘spa’ and assume that tourist will know what to expect. Perceptions differ greatly, for example, tourist in Central and Eastern Europe are very similar with the concept of historic medical spas, whereas other visitors (e. g. from the United States or United Kingdom) with expect something similar to a beauty salon. Spa are now of a highly complex and diverse nature. This diverse nature starts with the name and its likely meanings. Bath, bano, bad, therme/ terme, grotto, spa, kupele, furdo – all mean a thermal water-based spa, in various languages. The translation of the name from the original language often uses the term ‘spa’, but these establishments are not really always spa. Spas may differ widely in terms of what they offer, that is their services or treatment supply, and however, they have one thing in common, which is the aspiration to improve health and well-being. Most spas have some form of water-based treatments; however there is a difference between mineral, thermal, and healing waters: mineral waters; it has at least the set amount of dissolved mineral content which is minimum 500mg/1 or 1000mg/1; thermal waters: natural waters that are at least 30 C or 32 C at source (this can vary country by country); healing waters; the healing affects have to be proven, that is evidence-based. The International Spa Association (ISPA, 2007) has defined the ‘ten domains of SPA’ or segments of the industry as: the waters; food, nourishment, diet, and nutrition; movement, exercise, and fitness; touch, massage, and body work; mind/body/spirit; aesthetics, skin care, natural beauty agents; physical space, climatology, global ecology; social/cultural arts and values, spa culture; management, marketing and operations; time, rhythm, and cycles. Not every spa contains every domain. The rejuvenation of the spa concept has generated several attempts to categorize spas. Since the modern concept of spas were established in the United States, one of the most comprehensive categorizations comes from the International Spa Associations (ISPA, 2007 and the Spafinder Magazine, 2007): club spa; day spa; spa hotel; holistic spa; medical spa; bath; resort spa; sport spa and structured spa.

External Communication Audit Essay

Social media applications are being used every day by people all over the world. These applications such as Facebook and LinkedIn are even used by employers to generate potential personnel. These two sites both provide businesses with information they need to better their impression of the applicant. As kids in college look for jobs some don’t understand that what you post can hurt you in an interview process. â€Å"56 percent of employers said that they were likely to check out the social media presence of potential employees† (Protalinski). This statistic shows that it really does hurt you if you have inappropriate pictures on your social media sites. Overview: Facebook – Social media has been around for a long time and in 2004 the world was introduced to Facebook. It was created by Mark Zuckerburg along with the help of a few of his college friends who also attended Harvard. At first it was only available to Harvard students and moved to a few other college campuses. This was not just a website for people to meet and communicate over the internet; it was also a chance to get a closer look at businesses. In 2007, there were more than 100,000 business pages allowing companies to attract potential customers and tell them about themselves. Facebook took off and in 2011 over 350 million users accessed Facebook through their mobile phones. LinkedIn – LinkedIn was founded in December 2002 by Reid Hoffman and launched in May 2003. LinkedIn is considered a business-oriented social media service that allows you to add business connections to your contacts, find potential jobs, search companies, and even add a resume. This type of socia l media is benefited by not having the ability to add inappropriate photos to hurt your chances in an interview. Having a more resume format allows potential employers to view your past work, applied skills, and education. Project Goal: Facebook – When you apply for a job most companies now-a-days will do a  background check on you before giving you the job. This means they can look at your Facebook page at any moment. Whether that’s because you have embarrassing photos or if you have posted comments that the company views negatively. Many people lose their jobs over a Facebook issue; Caitlin Davis was the youngest NFL cheerleader for the New England Patriots and in 2008 after a picture of her was posted to Facebook she was fired just six days later. The photo was of a guy passed out after a Halloween party and Caitlin was holding a marker, acting like she was drawing on him. This is just one example of how Facebook can be damaging to your career. It also is not just about pictures Facebook allows you to post comments and those too can be more damaging than any photo. Once you post a comment it is out on the internet anyone can see it and must of the time people are insensitive to others and can be very cruel on Facebook. I have read numerous fights between people where they are being completely rude and crude to other people’s feelings. Facebook give its users the ability to like bands, companies, and social figures. Going through interview employers can look at these likes, which means if you have liked any inappropriate figures they can be viewed. An example would be an underage student liking the pages or alcohol companies or illegal drugs can hurt them in an interview. LinkedIn – LinkedIn gives people the ability to set up a professional social media site that helps them create a professional network. Creating and establishing a successful network can help immensely in finding a job. Through the LinkedIn profile you can connect with other professionals and it will show them your interest. Having applied skills in certain fields will give you an advantage when employers are looking over applicant. LinkedIn allows your connections to endorse these skills, which means they have been proven of those skills. Many employers look at references of an applicant and LinkedIn allows connections to post a reference statement, this eases this process. Only being able to upload one main profile picture reduces the risk of having any inappropriate pictures. Conclusion – The better social media site for a business setting is LinkedIn. With a resume formatted profile it allows potential employers to better understand their applicant or even search for employees. More recruiters  look at LinkedIn to hire people than any other social media site. A point that we want to emphasize is that people, especially college kids need to clean up and watch what they post on Facebook. Employers will view your profile content whether you let them or not. LinkedIn is more popular in the business world and students should start to build this profile and network as they prepare to graduate. References Bersin, J. (2012, May 21). Facebook vs. LinkedIn – What’s the Difference?. Forbes. Retrieved April 26, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2012/05/21/facebook-vs-linkedin-whats-the-difference/ Facebook vs LinkedIn. (n.d.). – Difference and Comparison. Retrieved April 26, 2014, from http://www.diffen.com/difference/Facebook_vs_LinkedIn Protalinski, E. (n.d.). 56% of employers check applicants’ Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter | ZDNet. ZDNet. Retrieved April 26, 2014, from http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/56-of-employers-check-applicants-facebook-linkedin-twitter/7446

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

Dismission - Case Study Example It would be proper to ask then what the managing director feels would be "appropriate" in terms of a Director of Health and Safety's commercial awareness. The act of making a decision is a process that is intangible. Being granted the post of Director, Di was legally mandated to make decisions in relation to Health and Safety. The way her mind came up with those decisions are not privy to anyone unless she makes it otherwise. All that can be assumed is that she was making those decisions in performance of the task she was hired to do. It would therefore be safe to assume that unless Di explicitly knew what "appropriate" commercial awareness meant to the company, she was then performing her task as Director of Health & Safety in what she supposed as the appropriate way. * the employer must send a letter to the employee setting out the nature of the conduct, capability or the other circumstances, which have led the employer to contemplate dismissing them or taking disciplinary action. The employer must also include information on the basis of the complaint. * in instances where the employee appeals, the employer must arrange a further meeting held by a more senior manager, where possible. Following the meeting the employer must inform the employee of the final decision." (Duncan 2005) In connection with the m... The employee must be offered the right to appeal. * in instances where the employee appeals, the employer must arrange a further meeting held by a more senior manager, where possible. Following the meeting the employer must inform the employee of the final decision." (Duncan 2005) In connection with the management of grievances and disciplinary issues, the Employment Act 2002 made essential and radical changes to amend relevant sections of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Breach of statutory disciplinary procedures means dismissals that do not follow these procedures will automatically be "unfair". It also provides for an increase of between 10 and 50% in employment tribunal compensation. "The minimum levels of notice which an employer must normally give to an employee are laid down in the Employment Rights Act 1996 and depend on the length of time continuously employed, as follows: * Less than 4 weeks continuous employment - 24 hours' notice * 4 weeks to 2 years continuous employment - 1 week's notice * 2 years to 12 years continuous employment - 1 week's notice for each complete year of continuous employment * more than 12 years continuous employment - 12 week's notice" (Employment Dismissal) Since there is mention of only Di's first week at work and none of when she was sacked, I am assuming the dismissal is less than the minimum required for the employer to give notice. There are exceptions to the 1-year rule and an example of one exception is the relation of Di's job to Health and Safety. From the provisions of the law, Di is justified in claiming that she was entitled to a warning or a notice before dismissal. Although

Figure from American History Ronald Reagan Scholarship Essay

Figure from American History Ronald Reagan - Scholarship Essay Example The paper says that security is key to the stability of the American economy. This had an overall effect of increased economic prosperity. However, with the recent trends of Arab uprising and American intervention, there arises a security concern directly linked to terrorism. The motive behind US intervention is unknown, but arming locals to topple governments after which the recovery of such weapons becomes impossible is a serious issue which calls for a decisive solution to the problem of terrorism. Global inflation is another issue with which I would want Reagan to give me his views upon. America plays an important role in its involvement in international affairs and a curious issue I would want to discuss with him is the increasing Chinese presence in developing countries and whether this issue undermines American interests abroad in any way and if so what policies would he have implemented to contain china’s increasing influence in those spheres. To sum up, I think Reagan is unique in that he is able to elaborate on the issue of security more amicably than anyone else. His policies would be much effective in solving the current global problems that the world is experiencing such as; inflation, global warming, terrorism and the proliferation of arms in the unstable Arab world. Security has always been on top of the priorities of America, thus it would be prudent to get involved in an intellectual discourse with someone well versed in security matters. That person would be Ronald Reagan!!!

Ethnography and the interpretation of cultures Essay

Ethnography and the interpretation of cultures - Essay Example being studied However, for a social scientist the laboratory is the culture being studied and it is impossible to manipulate parts of it without destroying the culture itself. Furthermore to gain insight into the whys of cultural practices researchers must often ingratiate themselves with the people studied. However the argument is that too much emotional attachment can affect the researcher’s objectivity and thereby call into question his research conclusions. This article traces the history of changes in anthropological approaches to ethnographic studies over the years. At first blush this is a confusing phraseology, but as I understand it from the author’s explanation, the difference is that in participant observation the researcher participates in the culture’s practices but observes for study only the culture’s symbols, status relationships, norms, values, etc. to determine their significance in relation to how the culture functions (Tedlock, B. 1991) On the other hand under â€Å"observation of participation† the researcher is also more aware of the effect his participation may have on the culture and therefore tries to broaden his observations to himself as well as the culture being studied. In other words in an effort to achieve a greater degree of scientific validity he attempts to be more aware of for example any notions of cultural superiority which might color his perceptions and make him appreciate less how the practices he observes play roles in enabling the culture studied to function effectively in the context in which it operates. The author makes the point that that the recent broadening of the pool of recruits doing ethnographies to include both genders, different races and socioeconomic levels, etc. are more likely to study cultures objectively in context in th â€Å"observation of participation† methodology than their largely male, white, upper class forerunners many of whom had the â€Å"baggage† of considering themselves as members of

Homicide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Homicide - Essay Example However, Daly and Wilson state ‘we lose the conceptual unity of intention that was the rationale for including attempted murders by defining homicide in this way’ (1988:14). Richards (1999) provides a clearer definition of homicide and refers to it as the interpersonal assaults and other acts directed against another person (e.g. poisoning) that occur outside the context of warfare, which prove fatal. This definition is supported by The Law Commission (TLC) who indicate homicide as ‘the unlawful killing of a human being by another human being’ (2005: 3). Homicide offences include murder, manslaughter and infanticide. In England and Wales, the structure of law concerning homicide centres on two broad offences; murder and manslaughter (TLC, 2005). Murder is classed as the most serious form of homicide, and has traditionally been associated with pre-meditated thought on the part of the perpetrator. However, TLC (2005) states that there doesn’t have to be an intention to kill or even a pre-meditated intention to kill to class a person guilty of committing murder. The Homicide Act (1957) introduced the concept of conviction for manslaughter and a person can be convicted of committing manslaughter rather than murder if they intentionally kill a person as a result of losing self-control through being provoked or if a ‘reasonable person’ would have reacted in the same way. ... nlawful killings whose offender intended to cause harm unlawful killings whose offender realised their actions involved unjustified risk of causing death but went ahead with their actions offender provoked, diminished responsibility or duress Manslaughter Comprises unlawful killings where the offender ; kills through conduct that is gross neglect (involuntary) kills though intending to cause harm (voluntary) How is Homicide Reported by Police Statistics? Richards (1999) claims that homicide is one of the few crimes that really get under-reported, and so homicide rates reasonably provide accurate measures of crime levels. However, it is also important to note that how government data counts homicide rates varies between Scotland and England and Wales. In Scotland for example, a single offence is counted for each act of homicide, regardless of the number of victims or offenders, e.g. Lockerbie in 1988 is closed as one act of homicide, rather than 270. In England and Wales however, each act of homicide is counted as an individual act. Richards (1999) also notes that a homicide case is generally presented in official statistics in the year in which the police record it. This however isn’t always the year in which the crime in committed, or when the accused is brought to trial, or when the suspect is either found guilty or innocent of homicide. During the past 50 years Parliament has barely touched the law of murder (TLC, 2005). The irregularity that exists in the way a person is convicted (as either murder or manslaughter) has resulted in seriously flawed homicide laws, which lack proper structure to convict people appropriately. However, police statistics relating to homicide rates do provide a number of useful information. For example, they let us measure murder and

US History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

US History - Essay Example It even had parallels to other existing societal trends in other countries such as the United States. In fact, there were a handful of Nazi groups in the United States that enjoyed free rein before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. During his imprisonment in 1925, Adolf Hitler came up with his theories for a political movement that placed the Aryan (German) people at the top of a hierarchy of races. This movement, later called the Nazi movement, aimed for Aryan supremacy and a central Aryan government that would eliminate â€Å"impure breeds† such as Jews and other races. Hitler’s philosophies mirror the American policies of the 1920’s. During this period, America adopted an isolationist policy and had a general popular sentiment that looked down upon immigrants, Catholics, Jews and Blacks (Kennedy et al., 382). Hitler himself admired America during this period and commended them for their immigration policies and popular sentiment that did not favor people of different races. He specifically noted the â€Å"race-based anti-immigration laws and for the subordination of the "inferior" black population.† and attributes their success to their efforts at keeping themselves racially pure (â€Å"Nazi†) This view, however, did not last as he denounced the United States as â€Å"a mongrel nation †¦half Judaised, half Negrified† following America’s adoption of greater racial freedom and rights. He believed this would cause the United States’ early defeat during the war (â€Å"Nazi†) Before the bombing at Pearl Harbor, Nazi groups, while vilified by most, existed in the United States. However, the handful that did demonstrate publicly in the United States melted away in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. America, in the face of outright hostility from Germany, did not join the fray after Germany’s advances in Europe. This was due to its isolationist policy, and its reluctance to be dragged into the war. Although, they believed the

Crime mapping Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Crime mapping - Essay Example Clustering is indicated by the nearest neighbour index (NNI) and the NNI value from the table are 0.5746, 0.4679 and 0.4838 for shift 1, shift 2 and shift 3 respectively. An NNI value of 1 indicates random clustering and therefore the above NNI values are less than 1 and this indicates clustering of occurring offences. The P values for the three shifts is p value = 0.0001 and because this value is less than 0.05 then the clustering of occurring offences are statistically significant. From the table shift two has NNI value 0.4679 and a standard deviation distance value of 2887.5 and this is the lowest NNI value meaning that this shift is more clustered than all the other shifts, shift 1 has the highest NNI value of 0.5746 and a standard deviation distance value of 3039 meaning that this shift is less clustered. Shift three has a median NNI value of 0.4838 and a standard deviation distance value of 3104.7. Shift two has the lowest NNI value and this is an indication that given that shift two time is from16Hours to 24Hours there are less police officers and security agents available during this time of the day and therefore higher clustering of occurring offences. Shift one has a NNI value of 0.5746 which is statistically significant at 0.05 level of tests and this is the highest NNI value meaning that there is less clustering of occurring offences, this shift time is from 9 hours to 15 hours and during this time of the day more police officers and security agents are available and therefore less clustering of occurring offences. Shift three has a median value of NNI and this means that this shift has less clustering of occurring offences than shift two but higher clustering of occurring offences than shift one. This means that during shift three we have higher clustering of occurring offences than shift one but less clustering of occurring offences than shift two. From the above discussion it is evident that during the first shift which is from

Performance Measurement Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Performance Measurement Systems - Essay Example This paper presents an understanding of performance measurement systems and their effectiveness in enhancing employee performance. It also discusses the way performance measurement systems should be implemented so as to achieve desired outcomes and motivate employees to perform accordingly. Performance measures are of critical importance to all organisations, public and private both. Organisations are increasingly being focused on devising and implementing sound performance measurement techniques and systems so as to direct employees' behaviour and efforts towards the achievement of organisational goals. Performance measures are generally concerned with gauging the extent to which an organisation achieves desired or planned outcomes out of all the efforts and investment put into the operation. Adcroft propounds that "central to pretty much all measures of organisational performance is an understanding of the relationship between economic inputs and outputs" (2005, p388). An organisation, whether private or public, is said to be performing well if the performance measures or means to gauge the level of employee performance verify that the efforts have led to the desired outcomes in the favour of the organisation. Public and private sector organisations both have different objectives behind formulation and implementation of different performance measures. De Bruijn says that "a public organisation formulates envisaged performance and indicates how this performance can be measured by defining performance indicators" (2002, p579). Public organisations for instance NHS, public libraries and universities gauge their performances by setting standards against which actual performance can be measured. Due to the fact that most public sector organisations do not operate for profit motives, these organisations cannot set performance goals on the basis of achievement of profit targets. The public organisations have therefore different objectives and purposes for performance measurement as compared to private sector organisations working for the achievement of profit goals. In public sector organisations, performance measures are generally intended to achieve the objectives set out primarily by government and local bodies. It is because these organisations are not motivated by profit targets, they can not measure performance through budgeting etc. Parker says that in public sector organisations, "performance measures should be designed to inform all of the stakeholders of the effectiveness of their service, reflecting the objectives of Government and Local Authority" (2006, p35). In this way, performance measures in public sector organisations will not inform the sectors on profitability of operations, rather the efficiency of services they provide to the customers for example efficiency of health services in NHS and services in public libraries. Performance Measurement and Organisational Structure: The increasing focus on performance management to emphasise control issues and achievement of organisational purposes has led to an evident shift in organisational structure and approach towards control systems. It has diversified the focus of control systems

Legal and Ethical Implications Essay Example for Free

Legal and Ethical Implications Essay In the classroom there is responsibility and duties for the teachers, students, as well as the parents. These responsibilities help the classroom to run smoothly and they help to build a well-managed classroom. Of those responsibilities teachers, students and parents need to understand legal and ethical issues in classroom management. This paper will discuss two articles and address the legal and ethical issues for classroom management. It will address how the articles relate to the rights and responsibilities of students, teachers, as well as the parents. Lastly, I will discuss how each article will make a difference in the way I will manage my classroom in the future. Article One: Untangling Legal Issues that Affect Teachers and Student Teachers This article discussed legal issues and focused on child abuse, safety in the art room, freedom of expression and religion, and special education and how these topics affects art teachers as well as student teachers. From the article I learned that the Tenth, First, and Fourteenth Amendments hold significance for educational law in the Unite d States. Next, from the article I read that it is required by law that a teacher reports child abuse. The article defined child abuse as a non-accidental, patterns of injuries, sexual abuse, neglecting treatment, physical or mental injuries, or mistreatment of a child under the age of eighteen (Untangling Legal Issues that Affect Teachers and Student Teachers, 2009, page 48). Child abuse is a federal crime and teachers could be held responsible if they don’t report it. If it is not reported a teacher can receive a misdemeanor and the penalty could range from spending time in jail to being fined. Safety in the art room is another topic discussed in this article. From the article I learned that a teacher could be held liable for injuries if the injuries are found to be negligent. An example of a negligent injury is teacher not demonstrating to students the proper care and handling of materials and tools. Art teachers should not assume that materials are safe and they should send out permission forms that let parents know what material students will be working with, have parents lists their contact information, and any know allergies the child may have. The article states that the art room should be set up properly, hazardous materials should be labeled, and teachers should lock up hazardous materials. This article discusses how children with exceptional needs cannot be excluded public education. Also, I read in the article about freedom of religion and how teachers cannot preach their beliefs in school nor have religious conversations with student and I read how students have freedom of expression but it is the art teacher responsibility to make sure the students art work is displayed in a way that is appropriate. Then the article goes into detail to discuss the liability of student teachers. From the article I read that student teachers are responsible for the same duties as full time teachers and the liability is the same as also. After reading this article it has impacted how I will manage my class. It made me realize how important it is to get to know all of my student and their parents, how to pay careful attention to my students, how to set my classroom up appropriately, and make sure I demonstrate how to use materials appropriately. It definitely made me realize the importance of freedom of expression and religion. I will respect all my students and never try to force my religion on them. Also, I will report child abuse if I see it. I didn’t realize how important all these things were but this article made me aware and my outlook on classroom management is differently. When managing my classroom I will make sure it incorporates all these things like freedom of expression, religion, and I will make sure the classroom is set up in a way that I am able to monitor my students for things like child abuse and to make sure they use certain materials appropriately. Article Two: Using Time-Out Effectively in the Classroom In this article it discusses how to use time out effectively and how it could lead to legal problems if used ineffectively. From the article, time out is defined as a procedure or form of punishment where students are denied access to all opportunities for reinforcement and it is used when inappropriate behavior is displayed (Using Time Out Effectively in the Classroom, 2007, page 60). Time-out has been used by many teachers to address inappropriate behaviors in the classroom. There are four different types of time-out and they are: inclusion time-out, exclusion time-out, seclusion time-out, and restrained time-out (Using Time-Out Effectively in the Classroom, 2007). Inclusion time-out involves removing the reinforcement from the student. Some variations that involved in this type of time-out are ignoring and removal of materials. Exclusion time-out is when the student is removed from the enhancing setting that caused the behavior. Exclusion time- out requires a student to be removed from instructional activities. Restrained time-out which is the most preventive form of time-out requires both a restraint and restriction. Restrained time-out is when the teacher places the student into a time-out position and maintains the student and position using physical restraint (Using Time Out Effectively in the Classroom, 2007, page 62). Isolation time- out better known as Seclusion time-out involves the teacher removing the student from the classroom and places them in a room or assigned area where he or she is restricted from leaving until they serve their time in this area. From the article I read that time-out becomes ineffective when typical pitfalls include classroom environments that are insufficiently reinforcing to the students or when time-out procedures lose their punishing qualities and take on reinforcing qualities (Using Time-Out Effectively in the Classroom, 2007, page 62). Also, I read over some recommendations on how to make the classroom reinforcing, use effective teaching strategies, how to come up with a time-out plan, and how to develop a hierarchical behavior management plan. I learned that we as teachers should be trained in methods of controlling behaviors. I learned some ways time-out is used inappropriately. For example, a teacher used it for a mild behavior. By doing this it could result to legal problems. After reading this article it has definitely changed my view on how I will manage my class in the future. When I manage my class, I plan to apply time-out effectively and use it in a way that is appropriate and will reduce the misbehavior within the student. Next, I will make sure I develop a hierarchical behavior management plan as well as a time-out plan so that the behavior and time-out is managed properly. Next, I will document when I use time- out which includes important information like the student name, date, behavior, duration, etc. By doing this, this can assist staff in determining if time-out was effective an d this could reduce chances of legal problems. I will make sure I establish a time out policy and I will go over this policy with my students on the first day of school and send a copy home to the parents to make sure they understand the time-out policy. Conclusion There are many responsibilities for parents, teachers, and students when it comes to managing a classroom. Teachers need to make sure they take the proper precautions and follow the state laws and schools policies when managing a classroom, and students need to make sure they understand the rules, policies, and procedures in the classroom. Also, parents need to be notified of these rules, policies, and procedures. Understanding and communication needs to co-exist between parents, students, and teachers so that legal and ethical issues don’t arise. References Bain, C. (2009). Untangling legal issues that affect teachers and student teachers. Art Education: TX. Katsiyannis, A., Ryan, J., Sanders, S., Yell, M. (2007). Using time-out effectively in the classroom. Teaching Exceptional Children 39(4), 60-67.

the history and background of teaching homophones

the history and background of teaching homophones Introduction: Grammar teaching in schools is usually approached from a rule learning perspective and this leads to lessons that are boring. In the past, the teaching method that was adopted was mainly teacher-centered and this lead to the â€Å"drill and kill† type lessons, especially when it came to language and grammar. There is a common misconception that all learning should be serious in nature and that if one is having fun while learning, it is actually not learning (Lee, 1995). In fact, â€Å"many experienced textbook and methodology manuals writers have argued that games are not just time-filling activities but have a great educational value† (Uberman, 1998). Most language games make learners use the language instead of thinking about learning the correct forms (Lee, 1986). There are many advantages of using different techniques such as games, pictures, group work etc. in the classroom. These techniques can lower anxiety which makes the acquisition of input more likely and in a relaxed learning atmosphere learners remember things faster and better (Uberman, 1998). They are highly motivating and entertaining, and they can give shy students more opportunity to express their opinions and feelings (Uberman, 1998). Different techniques are an excellent way to break the usual routine of the classroom (Lee, 1995). In this essay different techniques to teaching language structure and/or vocabulary will be explored. To illustrate how these different techniques can be used examples will be given. The language structure which will be focused on in this essay is homophones. Homophones are words which sound the same but are spelt differently and have different meanings (homo = same, phone = sound). Due to this it is a language structure that many learners misuse and misunderstand. Homophones can be taught in a number of fun and exciting ways. This essay will explain how to teach homophones to a grade three class over four 45 minute lessons. Each lesson will act as a follow up of the previous lesson. This will be the introductory lesson to homophones. The purpose of this lesson is to introduce homophones to the learners in a fun way that will keep the learners interested. This lesson involves group work. Group work is good technique as it involves the learners themselves and all learners participate, giving everyone an equal opportunity to aid in their and their peers learning experience. In this lesson the teacher acts as a facilitator which means that learners are not merely given the answers but need to find them for themselves. The teacher will introduce the lesson by handing out a flash card to each learner in the class. These will be handed out upside down so learners cannot see what word they have received. Once all the learners have a card the teacher will ask learners to look at their word. The teacher will then ask learners to find the person in the class that has the same sounding word but that word means something else (i.e. homophone). This activity will be noisy but the teacher must keep it as controlled as possible. Once the learners have found their homophone partner learners must sit on the mat with their partner. The teacher will check that learners are partnered right and if not they must keep looking. A time limit of five minutes should be kept in order to keep control. Once all learners have found their partners and are settled on the mat the teacher will call one pair up at a time. The learners will show their words to the class and say them out load so they can hear they sound the same. T he learners will then be asked to give the meaning of their word so they can see that even though the two words sound the same they have different meanings. This activity can be done with bigger classes by adding pictures to the word pairs. This will mean that four learners will need to find each other. For example: the word son/sun and a picture of a young boy with a parent and the sun in the sky. To conclude this lesson the teacher will explain that in each group/pair the words that they have matched up are called homophones and this will be explained to the learners. This lesson will make use of pictures as a technique. â€Å"Pictures are versatile and useful resources for teaching aspects of grammar that require a structure-meaning match† (Celce-Murcia Hilles, 1988). Pictures add fun and enjoyment and make the understanding more solid as learners can see the actual object being discussed. To introduce the lesson the teacher will recap what a homophone is. The teacher will show a blown up picture to the class. This can be a picture of the beach, for example, where a lot of activity is taking place. Some examples of this could be a picture of a bear on a beach ball and a bare child. The homophones in the picture will not be obvious to the learners which will pique their interest and make them think. The teacher will then ask the learners to draw up a table listing the different homophones they can find. A time limit can be placed in order to create a little competition for the stronger learners. Once learners have completed this, the teacher can go through some of the answers the learners came up with. After the answers have been discussed, a worksheet will be handed to each learner which they will need to complete. See appendix 1. This lesson will make use of stories as a technique. â€Å"Stories are traditional in almost all cultures †¦ [which] provides a realistic context for presenting grammar points and holds and focuses students attention in a way no other techniques can† (Celce-Murcia Hilles, 1988). Learners are inclined to listen to stories more inventively and therefore remember the story and knowledge learnt long after the lesson has ended (Celce-Murcia Hilles, 1988). The teacher begins the lesson by reading the story from appendix two to the learners. The teacher will then handout the worksheet to the learners (appendix 3). The teacher will then read the story with the learners again while the learners follow. The learners will then be given a few minutes to read the story again by themselves. Once the learners have read the story they must follow the instructions on the worksheet. The second part of the worksheet requires learners to continue the story some of the homophones provided. Learners â€Å"are marvelous storytellers† (Celce-Murcia Hilles, 1988) and this creativity should be encouraged. As a homework activity, appendix 4 will be used. This will consolidate what was done in the lesson. Due to the fact that this is the last lesson on homophones for the week it will be more of a relaxed lesson as games as a technique will be used. Games â€Å"enable learners to acquire new experiences †¦ which are not always possible during a typical lesson† (Uberman, 1998). It has been said that games are â€Å"a good way of practising language, for they provide a model of what learners will use the language for in real life in the future† (Uberman, 1998). The game that will be played is called â€Å"Homophone Hop†. This game has been taken from Primary Resources (2010). This is how the game works: In pairs or small groups learners work their way around a board using a dice and counters. When they land on the star squares they have to pick up a homophone card. One of the other children will read out the card which will say, for example, â€Å"Which spelling is required for ‘their in this sentence? ‘The children rushed to get their coats? Move an extra 5 spaces if you got it right†. The child must identify the correct homophone by spelling it aloud to their partner. If they get it correct, they will move 5 spaces. If they do not, they stay where they are. The object of the game is to reach the finish line first. This game is a great way to consolidate all the homophone knowledge that was learnt during the week. It gives learners a chance to have use the knowledge that they have dealt with and can use it in real life terms. Conclusion: As seen from the above activities there are many different ways to teach homophones. This therefore means that other language structures and/or grammar can also be taught using these different techniques. By using these techniques, lessons will not be boring and learners will be more interested in learning new things. Language is very complex and often not an easy concept to get across. If teachers plan ahead and take the time to think of new ways to teach language, they will find there are many reasons to why language teaching does not have to be from a rule learning perspective, but rather from a interesting, and appealing perspective.

My Teaching Philosophy Statement Essay -- Philosophy on Education Teac

My Teaching Philosophy Statement There are many teachers, with many different teaching styles. There are teachers who are strict and do not allow for any disruptions in the classroom. Then we have teachers who do not even really care what is going on in the classroom. The way that these teachers, and so many more, teach is a result of their personal philosophies on education. Before you can decide how you want to run your classroom, you need to remember that not all students learn in the same way. Some learn by doing things on their own, while others learn better in groups. Some students learn with rote memorization and others learn from doing. Every classroom has students of every kind. So, when you are thinking about classroom management, you always have to think of what is best for the students and not just for you. Just like you have to think about the students, you have to think about what you are teaching and what the best way to go about teaching it is. If you are an English teacher, you would not want the students to write papers as a group and likewise, if you are a science teacher students should not have to do experiments on their own. Education is very important for a person to succeed in life. The purpose of education is to prepare a student for life and to discover themselves. As a teacher, I hope to help students not only learn what is required but I hope to make them want to discover more on their own. I want them to want to learn. As for the students, I only expect them to put forth their best efforts and try. Not everyone likes everything and I would not expect someone to. As for the way that I want to teach, I want to use a combination of pragmatism and idealism. Students shou... ...t to me, but I feel that the way that I will teach best suits me and best suits the interests of my future students. I want to be the best teacher that I can be and this is the way that I will do this. By being open and democratic. I plan on teaching science and I feel that it is one of the most important subjects that a student will have during his or her high school career. Science is the foundation for everything that we know. Without it, we would live the lifestyles that we do today. As for my future, I hope to become a teacher that is respected and liked. I want to learn from my mistakes and continue to grow and learn. Right now, I do not see myself as going on to receive a masters or anything, but that could always change. The future is hard to decide on but I do know that I want to be a teacher and make a difference in at least one persons life.

The Limitations of Gender Roles and Gender Equality :: Equality Feminism Discrimination Essays

The Limitations of Gender Roles and Gender Equality Just how different are men and women? Everyone acknowledges that there are significant differences between males and females, even if they are only physical. Others see not only the physical but also the social, emotional and intellectual differences between male and female. Gender roles by definition are the social norms that dictate what is socially appropriate male and female behavior. In early American culture it was common for a women's job to be a submissive homemaker in clear contrast to the males aggressive breadwinner role. The seventies marked the beginning of the Woman's Movement and the end of the ideals we held on what it is to be a "man" and what it is to be a "woman". Women were no longer like the stereotypical homemaker, always offering a hot meal for her family, but were instead out burning bras and protesting inequality. No one disputes that the Women's Movement began but there is a disagreement on whether or not it should come to an end. One of the Women's Movement primary goals was to invalidate gender roles in the sense that women were secondary to men. The fact that gender roles exist is indisputable. Gender roles influence women and men in virtually every area of life including family and occupation. Early into childhood girls and boys are treated differently in families, schools and other institutions. Girls are encouraged to play with dolls and playhouse type of toys while boys will often play with trucks and army toys. Boys are played with in a rough manner and told to "tough it out" when they get hurt. Girls are taught to be more passive and expressive with their feelings. Whether these gender roles are fair or not, is where the argument begins. Does the fact that we are treated differently based on our sex prevent us from reaching equality or are we treated differently because we are different by nature? We are indeed raised differently, but does the fact that a boy is given a blue room and a girl is given a pink room mean that a girl is being sleighted? The outdated, sexist gender roles that dehumanize women are extinct, the ones that presently exist are the ones that are true. "Males are better in math while females are better in English.

Essay --

Introduction Although tempting, rapid weight loss that's not monitored by a doctor can have serious consequences. In addition to dehydration, nutritional deficiencies, heart problems, and developing gallstones and overtraining syndrome, the drastic measures required to lose weight fast are hard to maintain. MayoClinic.com states that fast weight loss is often gained back quick, and tends to be water weight and muscle tissue, not fat. They recommend losing no more than 2 pounds a week. (See References 1, 2 and 3) How Much, How Fast Fast weight loss at the expert-recommended rate of 2 pounds a week, requires that you accumulate a daily deficit of 1,000 calories. After one week, this adds up to 7,000 calories, and since there are 3,500 calories in 1 pound of fat, you will lose 2 pounds. This means that you can lose 10 to 15 pounds in about 5 to 7 weeks, give or take a few days. Gradual weight loss at a rate of 2 pounds a week gives you time to get used to the lifestyle changes you're making, which should pertain to diet and exercise. (See References 1) Effective Dietary Changes Reducing...

Radisson Blu Methodology

The capacity of the hotel is 188 different types of rooms (economy, business class). Also, the toll offers the opportunity for business meetings or special events in the 9 meeting rooms including help of coordinator and personalized menus. These 9 meeting rooms are capable to accommodate up to 220 people. The Radiations Blue Elmsford Hotel cooperates with three other service enterprises: restaurant Ever Gusto that serves Italian cuisine, Sunshine Piano Bar which offers various selections of cocktails and Casino Labor.The Radiations Blue Elmsford Hotel enterprise offers facilities such as 1 2-hour room service, free high-speed wireless internet, sauna and car parking. Nightly rates in Radiations Blue Elmsford Hotel are from 876 DECK (1 17 EURO). 2 The purpose of this project is to analyze what problems Radiations Blue Elmsford Hotel is encountering and be able to conclude with reliable solutions. In this project we are going to focus on two main topics: service delivery system and cus tomer's satisfaction as they are inherent from each other. We will use both primary and secondary data.The primary data consists of information from questioners that We asked visitors of Radiations Blue Elmsford Hotel to answer. The secondary data will be based on reliable books, customer's reviews and official weapon of the hotel. Also we will use two theoretical frameworks in order to make our project valid and make an objective conclusion. The first one will be SMS model (service management system model), which consists of five elements: market segment, service concept, service delivery system, image and culture and philosophy.Precise description of five elements of SMS model will help us to characterize the service enterprise of Radiations Blue Elmsford hotel. The second model is The Gap Model. Main purpose of using this model is that it is orientated directly on customer Hotels in Denmark 2014, available from: http://www. Radiation's. Com/hotels/ mark, accessed on 16 of Decembe r RADIATIONS BLUE ELMSFORD, LABOR 2014, available from: http www. Radiation's. Com/hotel-labor accessed on 1 7 of December 3 satisfaction. We will take a closer look on all the possible areas where problem could be at by analyzing each area with five gaps.Finally, we conducted anonymous survey among hotel clients as we tried being close in contact With the one decision maker – the guests – providers of reliable information. In our project we decided to balance the value of primary and secondary outcome data to prove we took in consideration every possible aspect of customer satisfaction. Therefore we decided to take in consideration customer ‘ s reviews on page www†. Trapdoors. Com considering this page as a reliable source. Applying critical thinking by evaluating customer satisfaction was essential for us.The reason why our project is going to be based mostly on secondary data is the flexibility of it. All data that is going to be used in our project will be specified at the end of it. We chose to write our project about Radiations Blue Elmsford Hotel in Labor because we found this topic interesting. We want to find out how it is possible that four-star grand chain hotel can have so many complaints. And also, we think that this issue is relevantly serious because it is important that customers expectations would be similar to what hotel can actually provide. 2.Delimitation As a part of our delimitation we delimiter ourselves from doing qualitative research with the management of the hotel as We did not get the opportunity to talk to the manager of the Radiations Blue Elmsford Hotel, as the topic of our project is mostly about customers complains, we understand that the manager was not interested and did not give us an opportunity to interview him. We delimiter ourselves from budgeting how much the renovation and Seibel changes would cost Radiations Blue Elmsford Hotel. It is not possible for us to calculate possible budget in this s tage as we are not in direct contact with the management of the hotel.Other fact is the prices for materials and labors are also unknown for us. 3. Problem area We were interested to find out what is the reputation and how does Radiations Blue Elmsford hotel deal with the customers. According to the reviews that we managed to find on the weapon www. Trapdoors. Com the hotel had 1 80 reviews and in only 50 visitors rated the hotel as â€Å"Excellent† (1 1 travelers) Very good† (40 travelers). This gives us information that only 4 28. 33% of actual customers that rated the hotel were satisfied with the provided service. The most of visitors rated hotel as â€Å"Average† (76 travelers) which is 42. 2% and the part that made us focus on service delivery system and customer satisfaction in this hotel was the number of people that rated hotel as â€Å"Poor' (39 travelers) or â€Å"Terrible† (14 travelers) which also gives approximately 29,44% of unsatisfied cus tomers. Despite the fact that it is a famous chain hotel, which is represented as a luxurious hotel, it has a lot Of complaints. The most common complaint is that the Radiations Blue Limned Hotel is old and due to that customers are experiencing sleeping pattern disorders because of noises. The hotel from outside looks renewed, but inside it needs capital renovation.For example, as Hotel is next to the famous street Comfort Anne Gad with all bars and clubs of Labor city, guests can hear everything through old, non-sound proof windows. Another complaint would be related to service delivery system. Customers are complaining about the staff and its attitude to hotel's guests. They are complaining that employees are rude, impolite and that they do not perform heir job. And other very common complaint was the price. Most of the customers that rated Radiations on BMW. Trapdoors. Com said that the price does not match with the service that hotel actually provides. Our goal is to find the s olution how Radiations Blue Elmsford Hotel could improve their service delivery system and manage to match the expectations of their customers to what they actually receive after visiting the hotel. 4. Research questions In Order to keep our project well coherent, we will develop three research questions, on which will be based our whole report and which we will answer later. 1. What are guest complaining in Radiations Blue Elmsford Hotel in Labor? 2. Why are customers of the Radiations Blue Elmsford Hotel in Labor complaining? 3.How should the service delivery system be improved in Radiations Blue Limited Hotel in Labor in order to reduce guest complaints? Radiations Blue Limited Hotel, Labor 2014, available from: http:// www. Trapdoors. Co. UK/Hotel_Review-g189529d206747-Reviews- accessed on 18 of December 5 5. Methodology As already mentioned before, in this project the main focus will be on service delivery system and customers satisfaction. Our main goal is to represent the Rad iations Blue Elmsford Hotel in Labor by using primary and secondary data and two theoretical frameworks.Furthermore, based on our gathered information we are going to analyze what exactly customers are complaining about. And finally we will try to make a solution of which the hotel could benefit. We will concentrate on service delivery system and how it should be improved. Theoretical Frameworks In this project we are going to use two theoretical frameworks. The first one is Service Management Model (SMS model), which will help us to represent precisely the Radiations Blue Elmsford Hotel in Labor and also present what toll has to offer to their potential customers.The second one is GAP model – Diagnosing Failure Gaps in Service Quality. By using Knowledge Gap, Standards Gap, Delivery Gap, Communications Gap we will be able to diagnose where is the main problem and it will help us to conclude with reasonable solution. 4 5. 1 SMS Model The SMS model (service management system m odel) has the character of a system consisting of components and emphasizing the relations among them. 5 Thus now we are going to use SMS model, which consists from five elements: service concept, service delivery system, market segment, image ND culture and philosophy.Precise description of five elements of SMS model will help us to characterize the service enterprise of Radiations Blue Elmsford hotel. The market segment Radiations Blue Limited hotel does not have a precise market segment. However, according to www. Trapdoors. Com, 96 customers was visiting hotel for business purpose, which is 53% of all 180 reviews. Besides, in the official website of the hotel it is emphasized that there are available rooms for business conferences. So, we can make a conclusion, that the common guests in hotel are business travelers.Nevertheless, families, couples and people who travels alone, also chose Radiations Blue Limned hotel. 4 4th edition Services Marketing -? page 327-328 , Diagnosing F ailure Gaps in Service Quality 2nd edition Service management: Strategy and leadership in service business – page 58-60, SERVICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 6 The location of the hotel is very convenient as it is located in the city center, where customers can use public transport. Besides, Labor train station is 750 meters away and Labor airport is 6 kilometers away, which says that market segment focuses not only on local visitors, but on foreign as well.Radiations Blue Elmsford hotel is a part of Radiations Hotel Group, which makes the enterprise of hotel to be the part of international group. 6 Speaking about customers visiting enterprise, they are expecting what hotel says it can provide. However, Radiations Blue Elmsford hotel does not meet customer's expectations and that is way hotel has complaints. The service concept The service concept often consists of a complex set of values, where some products are more important and may be called core services, while others are periphera l.Also there are both tangible and intangible services, which is he reason why often it is difficult to specify them in concrete form. The service enterprise Radiations Blue Elmsford hotel sells the rent of the rooms, food and drinks at the restaurant ‘Ever Gusto†, play of the games (e. G. Blackjack, poker) at the â€Å"Casino Labor† and other hotel facilities, such as wireless internet, room service or sauna. All of these services are intangible, except food and drinks at the restaurant. The core product in Radiations Blue Limned hotel is the rent of the rooms. This is the most common service that customers of the hotel buy.Meanwhile customer's interaction with other customers can be seen waiting in the line in reception, playing games in casino and eating at the restaurant. In conclusion, customer's copulation operates through complaints, reviews, recommendations and interaction with other customers. The service delivery System Service delivery system depends fr om three subcomponents: personnel, client and technology and physical support. Service organizations are personality-intensive, which means they are focusing on developing human resources.Client plays and complex role in the service 7 5th edition Marketing for hospitality and tourism – page 231, What Is A Product? 8 organization, since he not only receives and consumes the service but also serves as a component in Its production and delivery. Thus, in a service business, clients must be selected and managed as carefully as employees. Finally, services almost always involve social interactions and physical tools are critical to the functioning of such interactive systems. It is difficult to describe this part due to it is the biggest problem in Radiations Blue Elmsford hotel.In this part we will describe how hotel is represented in the official website of the hotel. Physical evidence and technology plays a big role as it is grand chain hotel. Exterior of the hotel is good-look ing, but interior needs renovation. However, hotel from the inside on the official website looks attractive as well. Customers claims (www. Trapdoors. Com), that in certain rooms smell is not pleasant and because of the street Comfort Anne Gad it is noisy during the nights. On the website it is emphasized, that rooms are modern. Also it states that room services are available 12 hours per day.Service delivery system does not meet needs and expectations expressed by the customers. Customers interact with service delivery system while ordering the room, buying food and drinks, during check in and check out and during room services. However, guests are complaining about employees. It means that personnel have a lack of knowledge how to deliver sciences, when there should work well-trained employees. The image The image mainly depends on what company actually provides and who the customers actually are. Although, deviating from current reality, image can be used as toll for the creation of a new reality.Radiations Hotel Group has a good reputation worldwide, however it's part Radiations Blue Limited does not have a positive opinion from the customers ho has visited this hotel. Considering all information on official website, we think that this hotel is presented as luxurious grand chain hotel and this image is attempted to be establish in the market. Logo of this hotel says â€Å"Radiations Blue, Hotels & resorts†. â€Å"Radiations† is the name of the founder of this group. â€Å"Hotels & resorts† is the name of one of the brands that Radiations group owns. And â€Å"Elmsford† is the name of the fjord that is next to the hotel. The weapon Of Radiations Blue Elmsford hotel is well-design, it is easy to use. There is provided all information about hotel (e. G. Rooms, services, history ND price), where guests can search for 8 Radiations History 2014, available from: http://www. W. Radiations. Com/section/ about. Story/about. Sidemen, acces sed on 1 2 of December 9 other Radiations Blue hotels as well. The service enterprise wants their customers to recognize them. And it is already achieved – Radiations Blue operates more than 230 hotels in the whole world and it is worldwide known group.The culture and philosophy The efficiency of the service organization depends on its culture and philosophy, which shape and rejuvenate the very values and ethos on which the company thrives. The main value for Radiations Blue Elmsford hotel is customer satisfaction. As already mentioned in our project, Radiations Blue Limned Hotel is a part of Resized Hotel group, which is working with â€Å"Yes Can! † special customer satisfaction pogrom since 1995. It is a core service philosophy, reflecting and powering commitment to always offer alternatives taking in to consideration guests, supplies, personnel and community.This programmer is applied to all Resized groups and it is a tradition of innovative and contemporary servic e concepts, based on customer needs. 9 5. 2 GAP model In order to explain the GAP model itself, it is easier to start with defining and explaining the basic knowledge needed to successfully understand the model. The main purpose of GAP model is to define the service quality that is provided by certain company or organization towards their customers or clients. Logically we should start with explain what the quality and service quality is.There are many definitions of what service quality is, so in this case we decided to not stick with only one but many other theories of different researchers and scientists as we think it suits for our project the most. Many scientists and researchers are trying to develop certain definition of service quality and service perspective. Gar ¶morons presented his research about service quality which focuses on a model that is a comparison between customer expectations of the service and their experience of the service they have received before. This model is named â€Å"total perceived service quality'.He puts the main focus on what customer is really looking for and what they evaluate, the service quality is 9 OUR CULTURE 201 3, available from: http://move. Resized. Com/ accessed on 1 7 of December 10 based on two dimensions. The first dimension is the technical quality and this dimension refers to the outcome, what is delivered or what the customer test from the service. The next dimension is the functional quality which refers to the manner in which the service is delivered or how it is delivered. Both dimensions affect the corporate image and the perception of quality in various ways.

Yale Kamisar uses the term “heater cases”

Question OneYale Kamisar uses the term â€Å"heater cases† in his article In Defense of the Exclusionary Rule.   Unfamiliar with the term, it was researched and determined to be a phrase used to refer to cases that are so controversial or unpopular that they are the subject of both media and public attention. (Bogira, 2005)   Author Steve Bogira provides one example of a heater case.   It is referred to as the Bridgeport case and involved the trial of three white men who had brutally beaten a 13-year old black male.   It was alleged that the reason for the beating was to convey the message that the black boy would not be tolerated in the white neighbourhood. (Bogira, 2005)Kamisar describes the heater case’s impact on the exclusionary rule. According to Kamisar, should a defendant escape conviction because the exclusionary rule prevents the admission of evidence crucial to a conviction.   Such a scenario has the potential to inflame public passions with the res ult that the judge is under pressure to allow the evidence notwithstanding the illegal method employed to seize it and will â€Å"find a way† to admit it. (Kamisar, 2003, 119-140)Question TwoKamisar does not refute each of Judge Calabresi’s arguments as to why the exclusionary rule should be abolished.   He agrees in principle that many of the alternative remedies are ineffective, such as the remedies in criminal sanctions and civil complaints. (Kamisar, 2003, 119-140)   Kamisar takes issue with Calabresi’s suggestions that the exclusionary rule could be effectively replaced by the introduction of a points system following conviction with a view to lightening the sentence imposed and the institution of some penalty with respect to the offending police officer. (Calabresi, 2003, 111-118)Kamisar rejects these suggestions noting that with respect to the imposition of a points system which would effectively reduce the sentence would have no impact on police cond uct. (Kamisar, 2003, 119-140)   This is so because police care about convictions and the negative fallout should a suspect escape conviction.   Therefore any alternative to the exclusionary rule that does not impact upon conviction will not act as an incentive for police to conduct orthodox investigations. (Kamisar, 2003, 119-140)Moreover, Kamisar argues that Calabresi’s proposal for a sanctions hearing in respect of police officers who allegedly acting illegally in obtaining evidence is fraught by the same difficulties that impact upon civil or criminal remedies. (Kamisar, 2003, 119-140)   The entire case will either stand or fall upon the credibility of the accused person, which as Kamisar argues is tenuous at best particularly following a conviction. (Kamisar, 2003, 119-140)Question ThreeYale Kamisar primarily relies on balancing two conflicting policy issues in his article â€Å"In Defense of the Exclusionary Rule.†Ã‚   The first policy consideration is the n eed to allay the general public’s fear of crime and the second policy consideration is the need to protect suspects from police abuse of constitutionally protected rights, particularly the fourth amendment right to privacy and due process as contained in the fourteenth amendment. (Kamisar, 2003, 119-140)In determining the value of the exclusionary rule Kamisar considers the impact of its abrogation on both policies.   He submits that its abolition would result in defeating constitutional rights since alternatives to the exclusionary rules are ineffective.   He goes on to argue that although the exclusionary rule does not entirely protect constitutional rights against police misconduct, it is the only feasible remedy available since police do care about convictions.The likelihood of the exclusionary rule setting a suspect free is more likely to deter police misconduct than not. Since judges are always mindful of the consequences of allowing a serious criminal to escape con viction, the exclusionary rule will not undermine public policies with respect to getting tough on crime.   In other words, the exclusionary rule is the best method for balancing policies against criminal conduct and safeguarding the constitutional rights of an accused person.Question FourYale Kamisar’s arguments for the retention of the exclusionary rule has substantial merit.   If police conduct hinges entirely on the desire to obtain convictions and drives the police officer to offend constitutional rights, it logically follows that if evidence obtained in that manner is excluded police would be less likely to infringe upon constitutional rights. Kasimar readily admits that the exclusionary rule is not perfect, but it is the best police regulatory method available.(Kamisar, 2003, 119-140)Arguments that serious criminals escape conviction as a result of the exclusionary rule are not supported by empirical research studies.   (Kamisar, 2003, 119-140)   More important ly, judges can be trusted to exercise their discretion properly and fairly with respect to the exclusionary rule.   Those who argue against the effectiveness of the exclusionary rule fail to take account of the experience and intelligence that judges manifest in criminal trials.   It is highly unlikely that a judge will permit either a police officer or a criminal to manipulate his discretion.   He is more likely than not err on the side of caution.BibliographyBogira, Steve. (2005) Courtroom 302. New York, Alfred A. Knopf.Calabresi, Guido. (2003) â€Å"The Exclusionary Rule.† Harvard Law Journal and Public Policy. Vol. 26, 111-118Kamisar, Yale. (2003) â€Å"In Defense of the Exclusionary Rule.† Harvard Law Journal and Public Policy. Vol. 26, 119-140