Effects of Verbal Communication Essay Example for Free

Effects of Verbal Communication Essay Verbal Communication Communication of all types can be found everywhere. It does not necessarily have to be spoken or oral, it can be found in verbal and nonverbal forms. This is especially true in the areas of the criminal justice system. Communications can be found in equipment, reports, phones, in roll call, or everyday operations. For police officers and other members of the criminal justice system, communication in some form or type can always be certain. It may be in the form of verbal communication, such as roll call, talking with the public, talking to peers, inmates, administration, or supervisors. It is said that nearly 70 percent of one’s time is spent communicating (2009). Officers or those appointed by the department, talk to the media on a daily basis. Whether it is the television, the newspaper reporters, or the radio, it is on a daily basis. For law enforcement officials there is the need to communicate with the press from time to time. This could be to talk about public affairs, providing information about a situation that the police are involved in, or to make announcements. It is common in most areas that law enforcement appoints a spokesperson for the department. This person chosen represents the community and the department, along with all officers. This person must have the intelligence and the ability to speak clearly and in a concise manner, and have the ability to understand questions if asked. He or she should have some clear understanding of what the media only needs to hear. One way to assure this is to him or her draft a statement, before making the announcement to the press. When drafting the announcement and when reading the announcement, the person should avoid using what is called police jargon or codes. Using such language can be confusing to the general public and may cause confusion with the press. When talking to the press he or she should be able to avoid being distracted and should keep eye contact with those who he or she are talking to. Nonverbal communication between the press and officers can also have a confusing effect at time. â€Å"Sometimes nonverbal messages may contradict verbal; often they may express true feelings more accurately than the spoken or written language (Murphy Hildebrandt). For nonverbal communication, the situations that he or she may want to be careful with can include the stance. There should be no slouching or leaning on the podium. This gives an appearance of the press seeing that he or she either does not want to be there or it could show disinterest. The spokesperson choose vocabulary carefully also. He or she may want to use a friendly tone also, and avoid using emotions during the press release. This must remember that the press usually ahs cameras somewhere that records everything that is said verbally and nonverbally, which may cause some confusion. The courtroom is another place that communication is done daily. Within this setting the law enforcement officer or other personnel, may be called to testify for the prosecutor. Communication in the courtroom setting for police, prosecutors, defense, the suspect, judge and jury, all play a crucial part. The officer when called to testify, should have the ability to understand the questions clearly, is able to listen effectively, and be able to explain the facts written in his or her report. The affidavit is based on the facts that have been written in the officers’ incident report. There may be situations or times when an officer feels uncomfortable, while sitting or standing in a group of other people. Or he or she may fill uncomfortable when having to be in front of the others in the courtroom. The officer should never let emotions or nonverbal cues cloud his or her testimony. During cross-examine; the reputation of the officer could be misinterpreted. Before testimony officers should try to talk to the prosecutor to learn what to expect. He or she may want to practice the testimony also. Being able to communicate verbally and use less nonverbal cues like emotions, could make the difference in the testimony. When testifying the officer should be able to answer in a clear and audible voice with recalling or stating just the facts. He or she may also want to remember to present themselves as a professional and to look and act as one. Not only is his or her reputation at stake, but the department also. For law enforcement personnel who work inside the correctional facility, communication techniques can be a critical part of the job. Officers must be able to talk to their peers, and inmates. The ability to be an active listener, understand, read and write clearly and to follow verbal and nonverbal orders are very important. There may be issues at time among inmates that may cause a barrier of communication. Some of these barriers could include the disruptive inmate, a language barrier, such as a foreign language or a deaf person. There may be the inmate that may cause tension between the officers and others. There are many factors to consider on how to communicate within the correctional setting. There is the use of daily reports that must be filled out by officers. There has to be a clear understanding by the officers and other employees of operating procedures. Incident reports that are fact based must be filled out by officers involved. As with police the correctional officer must also confront inmates and vice versa. The officer should at all times be careful of the nonverbal clues used. This would include his or her emotions at the time, the way he or she stands, or the tone of voice. Most correctional officers are trained on the use of verbal and nonverbal methods of communications before being assigned to the facility (2010). For the peer to peer communication the officer must be able to understand the assignment given, whether it is verbal or nonverbal communications. Assignments are usually given at the beginning of the shift, and it is the responsibility of the officer and peer to have a clear understanding of what it is. If the officer does not understand it is his or her responsibility to ask questions. Another form of peer to peer is among the officers themselves. Communication is a key role inside of the correctional facility when working with the inmates. He or she should be able to understand clearly the instructions that pertain to an inmate or surroundings. He or she must be able to read nonverbal cues from other officers and to be able to read nonverbal cues from the inmates. Within the Juvenile facility, there is a great need for communication of nonverbal and verbal. Like any other facility the officers must be able to understand the importance of filing out the report, whether it be an incident, daily, or new arrival. Each officer must have the intelligence and ability to be able to communicate with a juvenile in custody. Like inmates in the adult correctional setting, juveniles may also become belligerent at times and want to cause problems. The officer must be able to talk with the juvenile as well as be able to listen. Officers must also be able to read the nonverbal cues that are given by the inmates. These could include actions such as throwing of things, language, the stance, eye contact, vocal sounds, and emotions such as anger, sadness and more. Juveniles have a language that seems to be something that they have learned. Most people call it street slang and signs. Most officers are provided continuing training on problems involving juveniles, as well as training to understand the signs and slang used by them. For Officers and other employees of the juvenile facility there is the need to understand clearly the written reports, the operational procedures, releasing of information to outside agencies and families and the ability to talk clearly to peers. Officers and other employees may be called on to answer questions over the phone, concerning a juvenile. They may have to work on computers, and other equipment, or spend hours doing paperwork. This is all an important part of communicating within the facility. When an officer’s peer assigns the officer to a certain department in the facility the officer must have a clear understanding of what is expected of him or her at the time. The one way for the officer to make certain of the assignment, is to ask the needed questions if any should arise. The officer must be able to take orders on a continuous basis and be able to understand the details. When working with other officers there has to be a clear line of communication between the officers. Nonverbal cues, as with any other law enforcement facility should be easily read. The officer must have the ability to do so, in case something should happen. These nonverbal cues could be eye contact, a facial expression, or a nudge, or a physical gesture such as the wave of a hand. As with any other situation officers that work in a juvenile facility must show professionalism and act accordingly. The officer must be careful when using nonverbal communication. These include keeping the emotions from getting away from him or her, keeping the tone of his or her voice from becoming too loud, watching the stance and posture when talking to other employees, inmates, and peers. Communication can be seen in many different forms. These can include fact based reports by law enforcement officers, correctional officers, reports to the press or other media, juvenile facilities and courtrooms. There may be barriers for the officers at times, such as language, ineffective listening, a misunderstanding, or miscommunication. Whatever the reason, for one to communicate properly there must be the ability to understand, listen actively, ask questions when needed, and to speak clearly when asked to. For law enforcement and others in the criminal justice system the need to recognize nonverbal communication is essential. An officer must be able to identify cues given by a suspect, or by an inmate in custody. The law enforcement official should always act and speak in a professional matter when facing the public or fellow workers and supervisors or administrators. He or she must remember that they represent not only themselves but the departments and states they reside in. Effective communication is the key to an effective organization such as the criminal justice system.

Sensory Perceptions Essay Example for Free

Sensory Perceptions Essay â€Å"The brain, a complex structure, allows a human being to perceive and react to their environment, contemplate the big questions, and experience a myriad of emotions. The brain controls the body and maintains the delicate internal balance needed to sustain life† (Smith, 2010). If fortunate enough, we humans all have five senses: vision, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. All of these senses that we have, work together to give us a conscientious picture of the world and where we belong in it. The statement, â€Å"There is nothing in the mind unless it is first in the senses† (Kirby Goodpaster, pg. 54), means, that our brain would be empty without our senses. Our senses consolidate to make us understand who we are, where we are, and what is happening around us. Because our brain feeds and processes information about our five senses, we put meaning to our sensory experiences, thus, we are able to respond and behave accordingly. We rely on accurate observations. Our senses prove its accuracy on a daily basis and â€Å"act as our lenses, amplifiers, particle detectors, and pressure and heat gauges† (Kirby Goodpaster, pg. 54). Our vision allows us to be aware so we can stop at red lights, wait for cars to pass, and know when it is safe to walk across the street. Hearing is another powerful sense that we use to listen to words, is crucial in communication, and is interactive with our thinking. When we hear a very loud noise close to us, we become startled and our senses might kick in and tell us to be aware of our surroundings. The touch sensory is circulated throughout our body. When we feel heat on a pan on the stove, our senses alert us to the danger of being burnt, and we proceed with caution before receiving further injury. Smelling uses the noise that sends sensations to the brain. When we smell smoke, we instinctively know there is a fire or something is burning. Then our sense sends a message to our brain that we need to take care of the problem or leave if it is too dangerous. â€Å"Our senses feed our brain much as food feeds our body; without their input, our brain would be almost empty†Ã‚  (Kirby Goodpaster, pg. 54). I believe that our senses, in most cases, are accurate. There are elements in life such as being sick or sleep deprived, that may distort the accuracy of our sensory perceptions temporarily, but in most cases they are accurate and the information they provide us with is essential in establishing our thinking. There are also other cases where what we think we see is not really what it is, â€Å"habits, interests, and biases, focuses and thus limits our perceptions† (Kirby Goodpaster, 2007, pg. 56). I believe that our sensory information in most regards is accurate, without any sort of accuracy we would not depend on them as much as we do in our thinking and decision making. When it comes to the accuracy of sensory data, there are various things that can cause an affect. Clearly, the brain needs food. Just like the rest of your body, it requires energy, protein, and vitamins for the brain to function correctly. Without a proper diet, our brain will have an effect on the sensory data. Drugs and alcohol also play a huge part in contributing to sensory accuracy. Certain types of drugs such as nicotine, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines and ecstasy can affect the brain as well. â€Å"All of these drugs interact with the brain at the synapse, increasing or decreasing the brain’s natural chemical activity. Even though their pharmaceutic effects are different, they all have in common the ability to disrupt our cognitive abilities; and in some cases the deficits seems to last after the drug is discontinued, leaving open the possibility of permanent cognitive damage† (Kirby Goodpasters, pg. 72). Last but not least, sleep is inevitable. We need sleep to think. Perhaps that is why we spend one-third of our lives sleeping. â€Å"Sleep, like diet and exercise, is important for our minds and bodies to function normally. In fact, sleep appears to be required for survival. Rats deprived of sleep die within two to three weeks, a time frame similar to death due to starvation† (â€Å"Why Sleep Is,† 2008). Sleep is a natural part of everybodys life, but many people try to get by with a little amount of sleep. Sleep is something our bodies need to do, it is not an option. â€Å"Sleep debt can negatively affect mood, motivation, memory, decision making, concentration, problem solving, and logical thinking† (Coren, 1996; Kirby Goodpasters, pg. 73). The nature-nurture controversy is defined as, â€Å"A traditional and long-standing disagreement over whether heredity or environment is more important in the development of  living things, especially human beings.† The relative contribution of nature (genetic and biological inheritance) and nurture (environmental factors) in developmental processes have been, and to this day, continues to be a debate. Both nature and nurture influence behavior. Some things are obviously nature. Eye color, for example, is genetic, and cannot be influenced by environment, although people could use colored contacts to change their eye color. On the other hand, language is a matter of nurture, ultimately by where someone is born and raised. We may not see the world as it is, but that is where accuracy of sensory information is concluded. Three reasons to believe in the accuracy of sensory information are the ability to use our senses to provide data so that our brain can identify the truth, using our senses to help connect the brain and emotions together, and lastly, senses give the mind the potential to determine what reality is. References Smith, A. (2010, April 11). Functions of the Parts of the Brain. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/104669-functions-parts-brain/ Kirby, G., Goodpaster, J. Thinking. (Fourth ed.). Why Sleep Is Important. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Parents_Why_Sleep/

Religion The Sacred And Rituals Theology Religion Essay

Religion The Sacred And Rituals Theology Religion Essay This paper will discuss the challenges of both the Islamic and Catholic religion in terms of defining the rituals, how members practice their religion and the overall terms of their devotion. Comparing is not an easy task as Islam and Catholicism are complete ends of the spectrum. For both religions claiming to be peace loving people, who share some of the same religious texts, and have many common beliefs they often cannot get along. Neither religion will tolerate or begin to accept the other religions if strictly and literally practiced by either Islam or Catholicism. Religion is a personal choice and as much as it is a choice, it should be respected by other religions as well. It does not matter what your beliefs are, if you are truly devoted to your faith, you will understand the need for religious tolerance. Religious tolerance is something that is borne out of a complete devotion to your faith. You will honor and accept your religion as something personal; however, in the same regard, you will accept the teachings, practices and traditions of other religions as well In some ways, Islam and Catholicism parallel each other. Although the rituals, prayers and history are different, they basically mirror each other in the basic aspects. The word Islam means submission or surrender in Arabic. To be submissive, means to be submissive to the will of Allah. Catholics hold a Trinitarianism belief that God is three persons in one, the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit. Muslims, or followers of Islam, maintain that Allah is one God and has no equal and no partner. (Dolphin, undated). Islamic doctrine is based on four separate principles or sources: the Quran, ijtihad (individual thought), the Sunnah (traditions) and ijma or community consensus. The Quran is to the Muslims, the Word of God, as the Bible is to Catholics. Unlike the Bible, the Quran was believed to be delivered from Allah, to the Angel Gabriel. The Quran is divided in to 144 surahs or chapters. Each of the early readings revealed in Mecca, are ethical and spiritual. The early readings also include the Day of Judgment. The surahs in later chapters, teach social, political and moral teaching for the communities. (Dolphin, undated). Muslims are uncertain as to whether they will go to heaven or not. However, like the Catholic religion, there are certain steps that must be taken to ensure eternal life. The 5 Pillars of the Islam faith are: Confession of Faith (Shahada), Salat (prayer), Sawm (fasting during the month of Ramadan), Zakat (contributing tithings) and Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims recite the Shahada or, Confession of Faith: La ilaha illaLlah; wa Muhammadun rasuluLlah. There is no God but Allah; and Muhammad is Allahs prophet. The Quran has six main teachings and like the Catholic faith, each must be adhered to in order to receive a final reward. The first teaching is that you must believe in Allah. To believe in Allah is to believe in the teachings of the Quran and no other. The word of Allah comes directly from the Quran and there is no room for interpretation by man. Muslims believe the message delivered to the Angel Gabriel is unadulterated and therefore implicit. The second teaching is belief in the Angels who are the messengers of Allah. Although Muslims do not submit to Allah, they submit to the teachings of Allah. Allah is not to be questioned. To question Allah or his existence is to deny the existence of his will. The third teaching is belief in the Books, you must believe in the Messengers, you must believe in the Day of Judgment. Although there is judgment at the time of death, the final judgment comes at the end of time. The final belief is that Muslims have to believe implicitly in fate. The Quran teaches that God has determined both good and evil. By acknowledging the teachings of the Quran, one acknowledges there is no other religion. To consider worship in another religion is to blaspheme Allah. The Quran does not recognize Jesus as the Son of God. Muslims do not acknowledge Jesus death or Resurrection. Fundamental Islam teaches that Jesus was nothing more than a mere prophet and denies the existence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as a Trinity. Allah and his will are the final word. In essence, Allah is the Master (abd) and Muslims are his slaves (abd). To submit totally to the Master is to have complete faith in Allah. (Robinson, 2012) The Catholic faith can be just as confusing and just as intricate as the Islamic faith. The Catholic Church is full of rituals and traditions that are questioned by many. The Catholic Church recognizes that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered and died on the Cross for our sins. To many, the existence of a virgin birth is inconceivable. Catholics recognize God as Our Father. However, that does not mean that God and the Virgin Mary conceived Jesus. The Catholic religion teaches that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and became man. The conception of Jesus was Immaculate and therefore, The Virgin Mary is recognized as our Mother. (The Holy See, 2012). Mary is not worshiped on the same level as Our Father. Mary is revered as the Mother of Jesus and although Catholics do not specifically pray to Mary, they ask for her intercession through Jesus Christ, her Son. The Hail Mary is the prayer most often associated with reverence for the Virgin Mother. The word Hail is used not as a title to acknowledge Mary as being on the same level with Jesus or the Father. It is merely used as a greeting. The word, Hail was used in biblical times much as we usethe greeting, Hello today. Catholics also recite the Rosary, which is another form of ritualistic prayer. The Rosary is not mentioned in the Bible, it is not a mandatory teaching or tradition. It is a man-made prayer which when said properly, allows Catholics to reflect and meditate on the teachings and life of Jesus Christ. From the Annunciation by Marys cousin Elizabeth that she was going to be the Mother of the Most Holy One to the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Rosary is used as a teaching tool. The Catholic Church was founded over 2000 years ago on the Pentecost. This was the day the Holy Spirit appeared to the Apostles. As Muslims recite the Shahada, Catholics recite the Apostles Creed: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified; died and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. The Apostles Creed once again, is a historical account of the life of Jesus. It is the basic belief that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, became man and ultimately died for our sins. One interesting concept that differs between the Catholic, and Islamic faith is tolerance for killing. It specifically states in the Ten Commandments, Thou shalt not kill. The Ten Commandments were given to Moses on Mount Sinai and are the framework of a Christian life. The Ten Commandments are basic rules for every Christian and/or Catholic to pattern their lives after. There is no room for interpretation of the Ten Commandments. Although the Commandments are depicted in a particular order, there does not seem to be a Commandment which, when broken, is more severe than the others. Islam has tolerance for killing non-combatants. The Quran calls for the elimination of all and any non-Muslim invaders. If the result is death of the invader(s), the Quran considers it to be collateral damage. In order to keep the Muslim faith pure, it is considered perfectly acceptable to extinguish the lives of any person who does not accept the Quran and the Muslim way of life as their own. The teaching of some radical Imams additionally allows for the killing of Israelis who could as adults join the Israeli army, once again based on the belief that the Quran allows for the elimination of anyone who may interfere with the teachings of Islam. Teachings from the Quran that incite the radical Muslims result in the acceptance of suicide bombings, suicide missions such as the September 11th attacks on the United States and every other form of terrorism that radical Muslims have engaged in over the years. In the Catholic religion, there is zero tolerance for the murder of anyone opposed to the teachings and beliefs of the Church. At this juncture, the Catholic religion deems abortion as murder and will excommunicate any woman who, for whatever reason, opts to terminate a pregnancy. There is no exception for a pregnancy that is a result of rape, incest or any other act that results in the fertilization of the egg by the sperm. In the Catholic view, human life begins at conception. In this sense, it could be viewed as a radical opposition to the choice of a woman to choose whether or not to carry a fetus to term even in the mother is incapable of performing her duties as a nurturer. One example of this type of pregnancy would be for a severely mentally disabled woman to become impregnated. In the eyes of the Catholic Church, it does not matter that the quality of life for the child may be severely diminished. It is not a concern if the life of the mother is endangered either. Like the T en Commandments, there is no room for interpretation. Human life begins at conception. For Muslims and Catholics to coexist, there has to be some form of religious tolerance. Although the basic teachings are similar, when the beliefs and traditions are altered from their original state, that leaves room for views that become tainted by man to conform to his personal, political and self-righteous beliefs.

Fair Trade Coffee Starbucks Marketing Essay

Fair Trade Coffee Starbucks Marketing Essay Fair trade is a structured social movement that applies marketing approach whose goals and objectives is to help producers and farmers in developing countries get better trading deals for their produce and thus produce sustainably. The social movement campaigns for better pay, higher prices, better social and environment standards to the farmers in developing countries (Valkila Nygren, 2010, p. 321; Weber, 2007, p. 112). The main target is mainly on exports that are delivered to developed countries from developing countries where minerals, farm produce are targeted. Farm produce such as; cotton, fresh fruit, cocoa, coffee, chocolate, sugar, wine, honey, bananas, tea, and flowers where producers benefit from free trade movements (Davis, 2008, p. 22). Fair trade ensures responsible coffee production and trading in terms of product quality, economic accountability, social responsibility, and environmental leadership. Fair Trade Certified coffee has ensured that small scale farmers remain empowered while they are organized in cooperatives to invest in and develop their farms and society, look after the environment and equip themselves with business proficiency that will help them compete in a global setting (Valkila, Nygren, 2010, p. 324; Davis, 2008, p. 23). Thesis Statement In view of the fact that Starbucks were seen as exploitative due to their unfair handling of small scale producers of coffee in third world countries e.g. Ethiopia; this paper tackles fair trade movement and mainly focuses on fair trade coffee practices with respect to Starbucks Company. Fair trade Governance systems related to global production and trade have come under intense criticism from broad coalition of social movements which have been branded as distorted and lack justice (McDonald, 2007, p. 794; Fridell, 2009, p. 87). The social movements have tried to mobilize societies to end exploitation by firms that buy the products from farmers and campaigned for poverty eradication procedures and social justice. The coffee industry has been most hit where farmer and workers in the farms continue to survive and work in terribly poor conditions and adverse poverty levels. The social movements through Fair Trade Systems have enabled the stakeholders especially the companies that trade in coffee to be accountable to the society that produces the coffee. As cited in FINE 2001 by Weber, 2007 p.109 Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers- especially in the South. This means that any company willing to trade globally must act responsibly and ensure sustainable development in the developing countries and see to it that the lives and conditions of living of the marginalized in the trading society are improved. An example of coffee injustice is the Nicaraguan case where coffee is a major export accounting of 30% of the total export in income; on the other hand poverty levels among the workers and farmers remain very high (Valkila, Nygren, 2010, p. 324; Weber, 2007, p. 110). The farmers are faced with low, undeserved, unstable prices coupled with inadequate infrastructure, rampant insecurity, poor housing, and sanitation, poor health services access, poor social structure, and poor educational provisions (Weber, 2007, p. 110; McDonald, 2007, p. 793; Reed, 2002, p.226). Even those workers on large scale farms complain mainly on harassment and poor pay from their employers. In the developed countries where the coffee is traded the persons enjoy huge profits from the coffee that has been bought at low prices in developing countries. Minimizing this disparity is the role of Fair Trade systems. They tend to instill discipline and justice in the global coffee market especially for small scale farmers that are in democratic cooperatives. The bargain for fair price for the producer and better living conditions and other social benefits are pushed for by the free trade organizations. Free Trade coffee is certified by the Fair-trade Labeling Organizations international (FLO). Weber, 2007, p. 112 in his article Fair Trade Coffee Enthusiasts Should Confront Reality indicates that free trade organizations linked to coffee have fairly achieved improved living standards for farmers but the system remain unsuccessful in delinking promotional material and the real situation on the ground, excessive supply and marginalization of the producers and groups that are economically disadvantaged. Starbucks and CAFÉ The success of Starbucks which is a global coffeehouse chain with its headquarters in Seattle Washington can be linked to the trade of coffee from developing countries. With over 12440 stores in 37 countries and 145,000 baristas (employees) the company boasts of $7.8 billion net revenue and a yearly profit of $564 million in 2006 (Davis, 2008, p. 21; Valkila, Nygren, 2010, p. 325). It has remained at sustainable growth and can boast of serving 40 million customers globally. Since its inception in 1971 it has expanded year in year out with many joints being set up to serve high quality coffee (Davis, 2008, p. 21; Fridell, 2009, p. 86; Starbucks, 2004 para.3). Its success can be traced with the collapse of the International Coffee Agreement in 1989 where prices started declining and Starbucks maximized on the low prices with its growth at 5% annually since 1991 (Anonymous, 2003, p.22; Davis, 2008, p. 23; Fridell, 2009, p. 87).Despite this tremendous growth of the company workers in the company and farmers in the producing countries continued their outcry of poor prices and poor living conditions (McDonald, 2007, p. 794; Fridell, 2009, p. 88). The middlemen have also participated in fleecing the farmers who buy the coffee at reduced prices and resell at higher prices. Starbucks on its part never did anything at the time. Public outcry from the farmers in producing countries and workers was not enough to reverse the situation at the time. The establishment of the Coffee and Farmer Equity (CAFE) standards also seemed to be unfavorable to farmers in that only an approximate 30% met the Starbucks standards of the CAFÉ guidelines (Starbucks, 2004 para.4; Reed, 2002, p.224). This meant that the benefits trickled down to other sources other than those producing the coffee. In addition the standards were vague to implement and just acted as a blinding of the farmers. The CAFÉ has sets of product quality, economic accountability, social responsibility, and environmental leadership for farmers to qualify. For the product quality they must meet the green preparation and cup quality (Starbucks, 2004 para.6; Fridell, 2009, p. 89). For economic accountability they must demonstrate financial transparency, equity of financial rewards, and be financially viable. Social responsibility is graded in wages and benefits, freedom of association, working hours, child labor discrimination and forced labor avoidance, access to housing, education, health services, and work safe practices. The environmental guidelines include; protecting water and soil resources, biodiversity conservation, managing the environment and monitoring, waste management, effective energy use, and water conservation (Starbucks, 2004 para.7; McDonald, 2007, p. 795). Other companies such as; Nestle, Procter Gamble, Kraft, and Sarah Lee also contributed to the misery of farmers by buying coffee way below the production costs (Davis, 2008, p. 21; Reed, 2002, p.221). Farmers remained exploited without fair trade that will ensure the fair treatment from the companies dealing with coffee and other farm produce. Fair trade has given hopes to farmers and producers and societies in the producing regions of mutual benefits for their efforts to produce any cash crop (Reed, 2002, p.224; Fridell, 2009, p. 85). Starbucks and the CSR strategy According to Fridell, 2009 p. 87 in the article The Co-Operative and the Corporation: Competing Visions of the Future of Fair Trade major coffee companies have over the past few years started dealing in fair trade coffee that is integrated with their programs of Cooperate Social Responsibilities (CSR). The standards given by the FLO to the south have also not been applied in the north and regulations such as (a guaranteed price and social premiums, advanced partial payments, licensing fees and long-term commitments have been at times evaded in the north. Fair trade is mission driven while CSR is money driven; this explains the need for fair trade since it will help achieve society needs while still aiming at better trading terms. While CSR represents a shareholders move toward ethical business fair trade yearns for a stakeholders approach that benefits all stakeholders. CSR are seen as personal driven objectives that pursue business goals which is referred to as self regulatory while free trade aims at a integrated approach that is highly domineering to improve the well being of the stakeholders. During the start of the millennium only 1-2% of Starbucks coffee was from free trade, the company adjusted to a passive way of supporting free trade then but has currently changed. Starbucks has become successful in the coffee industry buying 1% of the worlds green beans and approximate 10% specialty green market coffee beans. Its acceptance to free trade was necessitated by immense pressure by the US/ Guatemalan Labor Education Project (US/LEAP) for the companies to put into operation a code of conduct for the Southern coffee producers (Fridell, 2009, p. 81; Valkila, Nygren, 2010, p. 326). The company was still passive to accent to the agreement but after a sequence of protest globally they agreed. This commitment would not be compared to its huge sales that it was enjoying at this time and thus selling FLO certified products would ensure the benefits went back to peasant farmers. But Starbucks was reluctant to such moves and as Fridell, 2009, p. 82 quotes When it comes to support for fair trade, Starbucks commitment is limited to the minimum needed to keep public criticism at bay. Starbucks management saw more importance in concentrating on its CSR rather than engaging in free trade; but the CSR was mainly done to improve its brand image as an alternative of benefiting society (McDonald, 2007, p. 797; Davis, 2008, p. 27). They have developed an atmosphere of a trendy cafà © where customers can hang around and read thus portraying a local community. This atmosphere has necessitated concentration to interior design, customer service, and public relations that make the customers feel at home at the expense of producers, workers and farmers (Fridell, 2009, p. 82; Valkila, Nygren, 2010, p. 327). The most awful bit is that this image has been widely accepted world over. Further it has invested in CSR that tend to neutralize negative publicity from neo-liberal reforms. The CSR build in on the self regulatory approaches that are effective in sustaining the brand image prominence in the market and building of the shareholders and stakeholders trust. The company aims to employ cheap labor such as prisoners who require low wages and fewer benefits and are dispensable at any time with minimal consequences while they hide in CSR (Fridell, 2009, p. 84; McDonald, 2007, p. 797). Comparing the wages of the Starbucks employees, services workers are paid very minimal wages while the management is among the highly paid in North America. Starbucks has the lowest employee turnover rate in the fast food industry which is a strategy embedded in the CSR and the brand image (Fridell, 2009, p. 85). Despite better benefits such as; basic medical, dental, and vision coverage, short-term counseling and basic mental health and dependency treatment than other service industries Starbuck employees are remunerated with low wages thus many opt out in less than one year. Other benefits the employees enjoy include a free pound of coffee per week free beverages while working, and financial assistance that is based on payroll deductions for emergencies which are all gimmicks of boosting a corporate image that ensure profitability at the expense of the workers. The 2000 case between Canadian Auto Workers, Local 3000 (CAW 3000) and Starbucks bring into the spotlight the commitment of the company to its employees since CAW 3000 tried to negotiated for a third phase of increased wages for workers while Starbucks still maintains it is an anti-union employer; the commitment to fair trade proves otherwise in view of the above fact (Davis, 2008, p. 25). Starbucks in 2002 imported 1.8 million pounds shade grown coffee that was certified by Conservation International (CI); 1.7 million pounds certified coffee and 1.1 million pounds of fair trade coffee this was a very small proportion i.e. 1 to 2% of fair trade (Fridell, 2009, p. 87; Davis, 2008, p. 24). Working with CI is a major cover up to fair trade since CI is mainly involved in conservation of trees in areas where they are extinct but they have no clear social role. Also CI cannot be ethically cleared since it works with other major environment destroyers globally such as; McDonalds, Chiquita, Mobil Foundation and Exxon; therefore it can be not be trusted as a corporate identity of fair trade (Davis, 2008, p. 27). It is clear that Starbucks have relied on the CSR for a successful implementation of its profits strategies. This method may however be risky for the sustained growth of the business (Fridell, 2009, p. 91; Davis, 2008, p. 28). Disadvantages and advantages Despite fair trade call there are issues that revolve around it that must be ironed out. Firstly include identifying the culprits of the process. Fair trade organizations may be blaming organizations who only work on profits as exploiting the society but the companies may be profiting through legal means. They may then blame corporations of breaking free trade agreements while they have used stretched resources to survive (Topik, 2010, p. 146; Fridell, 2009, p. 89). The participation of successful firms in transforming society may work but major issues such as a large gap divide may shift the advantage to the producer, therefore the producers expect more from firms which is unfair. Also a major concern on what signifies a living wage is a problem as firms make sales to improve the living income of the producers; in this case fair trade cannot guarantee anything to farmers (Weber, 2007, p. 109; Davis, 2008, p. 27). Fair trade is pegged on cooperatives of producers and thus the individual producer may be left out; the cooperatives mediate the prices and thus the producers only get what is quoted by the contracts. The prices quoted must meet or surpass fair trade limits with a deduction of the expenses incurred by the organization. The organization eliminates intermediaries and thus costs of sorting, processing and exporting may surpass the expected prices before payments to farmers. These costs may be so high to make fair trade markets be unreasonable (Weber, 2007, p. 111; Fridell, 2009, p. 88). Hired laborers are also believed to receive minimal wages somehow, since the fair trade agreements dont apply to those hired. The fair trade has also adequacies of trying to control the markets by establishing minimum prices; this however doesnt work since most fair trade certified produces trade only a fraction of their produce. This translates that farmers are never induced to grow more coffee in a bid to earn more from the dominant prices. This creates an imbalance between supply and demand and as Weber, 2007, p. 112 reports it has go on for more than 10 years. This was so grave that in 2002 FLO had to temporarily close out new members. Excess certified coffee in the market does not lead to dumping but rather increases barriers to entry and consequently increased producer competition for the limited contracts. And this can lead to exclusion of marginalized farmers that are purportedly supported by fair trade (Weber, 2007, p. 112; Davis, 2008, p. 26). With increased quality standards in the market FLO resulted to charging more to producer organizations this increases expenses and creates barriers to the market; this locks out young organizations that have no funds. Also they need extra funds to pay for inspections and other expenses thus the fair trade objective is not achieved since marginalized farmers are locked out (Weber, 2007, p. 113; Davis, 2008, p. 27). The main aims and objectives of fair trade are to bring change to the lives of the producers and workers that suffer in the farms, but the bad implementation has made the farmers be left out of the benefits (Fridell, 2009, p. 89). With good implementation fair trade can be expressed in its benefits to the society where there will be no exploitation of the farmers. There will be better living conditions, improved well being, and better working conditions for the workers (Valkila, Nygren, 2010, p. 326; Weber, 2007, p. 114). The benefits that come with fair trade are yet to bear fruit especially when markets are not regulated properly and farmers become marginalized. Conclusion Starbucks being the leading coffee server in the world has a mandate to transform the lives of peasant farmers who live from hand to mouth by sharing the huge profits they make annually. They can contribute to the welfare of the producers and workers through providing better prices, adequate infrastructure, security, better housing and sanitation, better health services access and better educational provisions in the producing areas to ensure sustained growth. In conclusion Fair trade certified coffee has brought about reforms to the society in certain areas but in other areas it still remains an elusive dream due to the management of the organizations that govern coffee. Standards of transparency and accountability should be established at all levels so that the coffee produced by farmers can contribute to their social well being rather than making huge profits in developing countries leaving the producers fleeced.

Increase in cigarette tax would reduce the cigarette consumption

Increase in cigarette tax would reduce the cigarette consumption 5.0 Introduction The results of our analysis demonstrate that increase in cigarette tax would reduce the cigarette consumption or quit smoking among lower income smokers and heavily addicted smokers, thus it upheld the hypotheses four and five. However, the tax factor does not prove to be significantly related on younger smokers, female smokers and less educated smokers. Chapter 5 includes a summary description of descriptive and inferential analyses and discussion of major findings that validate our research objective and hypotheses. Next section provides the implications of our study toward the society. Following section will discuss several limitations that are apparent during the progress of the study, as well as to provide some recommendations for future research. Then, an overall conclusion of our entire study is presented at the end of this chapter. 5.1 Summary of Statistical Analysis The demographic profiles of respondents are analyzed when the data are collected. Smokers are categorized by different races, gender, smoking degree, education and age and the data is presented in pie charts. Besides, the central tendencies statistic of the variables is also calculated in the analysis. Cross tabulation tables are presented to show responses of each subgroup. Statistical method used in the inferential analysis is multinomial logistic regression. This statistical method presented the predictability relationship between the dependent and independent variables in the form of odd ratio [i.e. Exp(B)]. When the significant level is less than 0.05, the alternative hypothesis is accepted. In this research, alternative hypothesis for age, gender, and education level are rejected as these factor do not affect the likelihood of the responses towards cigarette tax. The alternative hypothesis for smoking degree and income level are accepted as the significant level is less than 0.05. Therefore, smoking degree and income level are more likely to predict a certain type of responses from the smokers. Multivariate analysis is also performed by inputting all independent variables as covariate factors in the SPSS program. Multivariate analysis is to ensure the relationship is not significantly affected by other independent variables. 5.2 Discussion of Major Finding Table 5.1: Summary of the Inferential Analysiss Results Hypothesis Result H1: Younger smokers are more likely to quit smoking than older smokers given cigarette tax increase. Rejected H2: Male smokers are more likely to give no response to cigarette tax increase than female smokers. Rejected H3: Highly educated smokers are more likely to quit smoking than less educated smokers given cigarette tax increase. Rejected H4: Lower income smokers are more likely to cut cost than higher income smokers given cigarette tax increase. Accepted H5: Heavy smokers are more likely to give no response to cigarettes tax increase than light smokers. Accepted Source: Developed for the research According to rational addiction theory in terms of the variable age, rational young smokers should be more likely to quit smoking given that their longer life remaining compared to older smokers and their comparatively lower income. Younger smokers who might develop lung cancer right now would lose much more (time) compared to an 80 years old smoker with lung cancer. Our empirical research does not confirmed this because we had shown that younger smokers are not more likely to quit/cut smoking than adult smokers. Past studies by Lewit and Coate (1982) and Sylvain (2007) also contradicted the result we had. The possible reason leading to this result might include the small number of young smokers in our sample. The alternative explanation is that since we perform our data collection in urban areas, young smokers tend to be more affluent, therefore they are not affected by increase in tax. Interestingly, Decicca, Kenkel and Mathios (2008) stated that since most smoking initiation start s during youth, therefore, the existing young smokers who quit/cut smoking due to taxes could be higher. The study also finds that gender is not a factor in determining the decision to cut/quit smoking given cigarette tax increase. However, rational addiction theory predicts female is more likely to cut down cigarette consumption due to traditionally being poorer than male. This contradiction happened because, we suspect, the income gap between the genders is fast closing. Therefore, any tax increase will not significantly create any reduced consumption of cigarettes among the women. Our finding is in line with the mixed results of previous literature. Chaloupka (1990) discovered that men are more likely to quit/cut smoking while Stehr (2007) found that women are more likely to quit/cut smoking. We find that education has little impact on the decision of smokers in response to cigarette tax increase. According to rational addiction theory, smokers with less education incur much cost than highly educated smokers for smoking because they have generally lower income. Our findings did not support rational addiction theory. Previous research by Madden (2007) partly supported our finding, he found that highly educated smokers are less responsive to cigarette tax. However, Tansels (1993) findings in Turkey (a middle income country) partly supported our conclusion. He found a positive and significant relationship between education and cigarette tax elasticity meaning that the higher the education, the higher the sensitivity towards cigarette tax a smoker will be. The reason behind is that highly educated smokers also tend to cut down smoking when taxed are raised, not because of the money issue, but because they are fearful of the health consequences. They have utilized the tax incr ease as the opportunity to go cold turkey. Therefore, when both higher education and lower education smokers choose to smoke less, none is more likely than the other. Lower income smokers are more likely to cut cost than richer smokers because the cost of continuing the habit of smoking is higher. Each RM increase in cigarette price will affect their quality of life, even creating shortages of money for childrens education, food and other daily expenses compounded to the future. This result conforms to previous research done by Biener et al. (1998) which says that poor smokers are 3 times as likely to either switch to cheaper brands of cigarettes or reduce consumption. Townsend et al. (1994) findings also brings forth similar conclusion. As expected, heavy smokers are more likely to give no response towards cigarettes tax increase than light smokers. Adjacent complementarity explains that within a certain time frame, the more a smoker smokes now, the more he would like to smoke in the future. Unless the pain of higher cigarette price is more than the pain of giving up the smoking addiction, smokers will tend to continue to smoke in the future. Previous research done by Lee (2008) does not conform to our findings. Lee et al. (2004) whose result shows that heavy smokers increase smoking consumption when tax is increased supported our result. Overall, the article that Biener et al. (1998) produced matches our results almost entirely. Other studies that contradict our result normally utilized national cigarette sales data. Therefore, their studies are not entirely comparable to our individualistic survey-based study. 5.3 Implications of the Study Whether cigarette tax effectively achieves the governments goal in reducing cigarette consumption is a significant issue that needs to be carefully considered from time to time in order to better determine the direction of future policies. Hence, identifying the effect of tax increases on cigarette consumption is an essential part for regulating proper governmental policies on the tobacco use. Generally, the progressive increase in cigarette tax rates may provide a powerful contribution toward the governments taxation policy which would boost the governments income tax revenue, as well as to improve economic efficiency of the country. In our study, we found that highly addicted and high income smokers do not respond to cigarette tax well. They still purchase same quantity of cigarettes. Therefore, government should devise a method of targeting cigarette taxes towards these groups of smokers to maximize tax revenue. According to Tsai et al. (2003), portions of extra revenue which was derived from the cigarette tax would be earmarked to the governments effort for implementing tobacco control program against the tobacco use such as anti-smoking media-campaigns. Still, other portion of the cigarette tax revenues would dedicate into funding healthcare for under-insured population, lung cancer research and other health related activities. Apart from that, our study also contributes to public health by identifying that education does not play a significant role in reducing consumption of cigarette due to taxes. This implies that our education system is not emphasizing the danger and health hazard of smoking. This, however, agrees with the rational addiction theory because highly educated people are likely to be wealthy. Therefore, they do not suffer as much because of tax increase. In contrast, wealthy people also suffer more because of health problems because they have much to enjoy in life (holidays, entertainment, longer life etc.) compared to low income smokers. Therefore, in devising a public health policy, our study implies that we should educate people on the danger of smoking while at the same time increasing cigarette tax so that in the end, the rich and the poor both smoke less. During the process of conceptual foundation, our research has contributed extensive amount of empirical evidence that have reviewed the relationships between various demographic and smoking degree factors and the response to cigarette tax increase. Through our study, we can better understand the effects of taxation on cigarette consumption which will result in different consumption patterns. For instance, smokers may cut cost either by reducing the number of cigarette they smoke or change to a cheaper brand, choose to quit smoking, or maintain their original level of consumption. According to the fundamental law of economics which specified that as the price of a product rises, the quantity demanded for that product would fall. However, we found that there is an exception to this most basic law of economics because of the nature of rational addiction. Since we viewed the cigarettes smoking as an addictive behaviour, therefore it could be expected that increasing cigarette tax would h ave smaller effect than normal product in reducing peoples consumption of cigarettes. Alternatively, increasing cigarette taxes too high and the government would risk creating a black market or the emergent of smuggled cigarette. 5.4 Limitations of the Study Limitation of this survey-based research is that smokers may not always do what they say they would do in the questionnaire. They may choose to answer quit smoking, cut cost in the questionnaire but may act to smoke next week, next month or some other dates. On the other hand, they may answer no response to cigarette tax but choose to quit smoking the next day. However, they are not necessarily been telling lies. It is just that future behavior is hard to predict even for smokers themselves especially those who are highly addicted to cigarettes. Warner (1978) had showed that self-reported consumption in questionnaire significantly underestimate the actual sales data taken at the national level. Apart from that, the small numbers of samples of young smokers age 11 and below may not be sufficient to produce any strong evidence for that age group. The reason for such low numbers is that it is illegal for them to smoke in Malaysia. Besides, retailers are not permitted to sell cigarettes to minors age 18 and below. Besides, comparably smaller numbers of female smokers compared to male smokers may have distorted the results. Female smokers are historically and nationally lower than male smokers. Therefore, each female smokers responses to cigarettes tax have larger impact per person to the end result as compared to individual male smoker. Wasserman, Manning, Newhouse and Winkler (1991) had observed that using individual level data may incorporate ecological bias into the study. There may be other variables affecting the tobacco use that are not incorporated into the determinant. Example might include, family size, social statuses of smokers and profession (e.g. doctors may possibly smoke less). Another example would be the existence of societal culture that disapproves the habit of smoking. The respondent going through the survey questionnaire cannot choose to answer the questionnaire in any other way than was included in the choices of answers. The smoker only can fill in their answer according to the objective answers set by the researcher beforehand and all the answer categories are based on nominal or ordinal. If the questionnaire is asking about question such as how would you response to a RM1 increase in cigarette price and the respondent wish to answer that he would quit for 1 month and only continue smoking if his income has increase accordingly, it is not possible. These will result in inaccurate result as the researcher has already set the chooseable answers, namely to quit smoking, cutting cost and choose not to respond. Another limitation of the research is that it does not consider smuggled cigarettes and cigarettes sold in tax free zone. Tsai et al. (2003) and Lee and Chen (2006) had proved in their studies that smokers tend to purchased smuggled cigarettes to avoid the high cost of legal cigarettes in Taiwan. Respondent who purchase tax-exempted cigarettes from these two sources may not be hurt by the tax and therefore our result will be biased towards No Response. Moreover, although we know that the main effect of rising price of cigarette due to tax would reduce smokers cigarette consumption but we do not know whether it is cigarette tax that has actually play an important role on the demand of cigarette. Perhaps the reason for reducing cigarette consumption may be due to some issues other than taxation policy such as concern over the health consequences of cigarette smoking since they know that smoking will lead to lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, etc. Another issue that could influence on the demand of cigarette may be the tobacco control policy, for example advertising restrictions or ban on smoking in public places, as well as anti-smoking media campaigns could induce smokers to quit/cut smoking as well. Besides that, law policy also plays a major effect on cigarette consumption which limit smoking in public place and restrictions on youth under 18 years old to purchase the tobacco products. Since there are a lot of other issues than t axation in affecting their smoking behaviour, therefore it is recommended that future research in those issues need to be conducted to verify its actual effects. The final limitation of our study is that we seek our respondent mainly in the Klang Valley area. Therefore, it may not truly represent the whole population in Malaysia. We know that Klang Valley populations are urban dwellers and the result may deviate a little if we include smokers from rural areas. Urban dwellers normally had higher education level and higher income level compared to non-urban dwellers. However, since majority of the smokers live in the city and most of the tax revenue collected comes from them, it is acceptable to neglect smokers from rural areas. All limitations are acknowledged but they do not detract from the significance of finding but merely provides platforms for future research. 5.5 Recommendations for Future Research As we use cross-sectional method in our research, we highly recommend future research on this topic conducted in the longitudinal method. Future researchers can conduct the research on the change of cigarette tax in Malaysia in the time period of few years or longer. It is similar to the way conducted by Hamilton, Levinton, Pierre, Grimard (1997) and Hanewinkel and Isensee (2007) in their studies. Based on our knowledge and finding, Malaysia has not conducted the research on this topic by this method. By conducting the study in longitudinal method, the result will be more accurate and reliable because this method can overcome the limitation of cross-sectional method as discussed in the first paragraph of limitation. Actually, there are even little research on the topic cigarette taxes itself in Malaysia. More research on this topic is highly recommended because the consumption behavior of Malaysian smokers may be different from overseas smokers. Many researches on the cigarette consumption were focused either on the effect of cigarette tax/price to the cigarette consumption such as Lee (2008) or the effect of anti-smoking campaign/health information on the cigarette consumption such as Warner (1977) and Lee and Chen (2008). Future researchers should find ways to integrate and study both the effect of cigarette tax and anti-smoking campaigns together on the cigarette consumption. This is because cigarette tax and health information do affect the cigarette consumption at the same time. The only difference between them is whether price or health information plays in a bigger role on the change of cigarette consumption. By studying the effect of cigarette tax and health information together on the cigarette consumption, the result can be more reliable and usable for government to implement its tobacco policy effectively and efficiently. Besides that, researchers can examine the fairness principle on the tobacco policy in Malaysia. Many researchers such Gospodinov and Ian Irvine (2009)) and Warner et al. (1995) had discussed the issues of fairness principle in the tobacco policy in their studies. One of the arguments is the tax imposed is unfair to lower income group. Lower income group often will consume lower priced or smuggled cigarettes when cigarette tax is increased as proved by Evans and Farrelly (1998), Farrelly, Nimsch, Hyland and Cummings (2004), and Tsai et al. (2003). Often, lower priced or smuggled cigarettes contain higher tar and nicotine substance. The consumers health will be more affected by smoking these types of cigarettes. Moreover, future research can focus on whether tax should be imposed based on the quantity of nicotine and tar instead of quantity of cigarette in Malaysia. The impacts of implementing tax based on quantity of nicotine and tar need to be researched and determined. Youth is the most valuable assets for the country. Future research can focus on the access of youth to cigarette or exposure to smoking environment/ habits in Malaysia. This type of research can provide important data and information to our country and the world since the younger generation of smokers has increased many folds throughout the world during the past century. More effective tobacco control program to the youth can be implemented based on the data and information. In addition, future research can focus on what is the optimal tax rate for cigarette in Malaysia and its impacts. 5.6 Conclusion Smoking has been a prevalent epidemic in the modern world. It remains one of the top killers of human on the 21st century. Fortunately, excise taxes on cigarettes continue to be our last line of defense against smoking and many countries including Malaysia has been increasing taxes on cigarettes for many years. In the beginning of our research, we had set out to answer the questions. We want to know given the socio-economic factors and addictions degree, whether it will affect the likely responses of fellow smokers following a significant increase in cigarettes tax. The principles of rational addiction theory predict that lower income, younger, low education, female and lightly addicted smokers are more likely to respond towards cutting down on smoking consumption and quitting altogether given a tax increase. Conducting a self-administered questionnaire survey in Klang survey with samples of 300 smokers, we have found out the following results. Gender, education and age do not affect the likely responses of fellow smokers. The reasons might be caused by relatively small samples, closing gaps of income between genders and tendency of highly educated smokers to cut down smoking due to health reasons. However, research found that low income smokers are more likely to cut cost. Highly addicted smokers are more likely to maintain same level of consumption. Both income and addiction factors is accurately predicted by the theory and previous research. Our research has wide implications. They include helping government devise better taxation policy, public health policy and smoking awareness campaigns. Besides, we have also contributed significant empirical data towards rational addiction theory. Limitations of this research includes incongruence between smokers actions and smokers intended action and ecological bias. Small samples for certain age group and the availability of smuggled cigarettes are among the limitations. Therefore, we highly recommend that future longitudinal research on cigarette taxation be conducted in Malaysia. Besides, research on the differential effect of taxation vs. anti-smoking campaign, fairness of cigarette taxation and access of youth towards cigarette can be conducted to supplement this research area. Overall, our research has been a success. Although the hardship we have encountered during the data collection process and data analysis process is painful, it is worth it and has paid off to the team. We hope that the result that we had produced is truly helpful to other researchers as well as to the society as a whole.

Management of Maxillary Sinusitis of Endodontic Origin

Management of Maxillary Sinusitis of Endodontic Origin A case report ABSTRACT: Endodontic implications of the maxillary sinus include extension of periapical lesion into the sinus. Though the actual cause of sinusitis is difficult to determine accurately, majority of the cases occur through a dental cause. The purpose of this paper was to present the management of maxillary sinusitis of endodontic origin. A 48 year old generally healthy male patient reported to the dental clinic for the implant placement in the area of missing #26. During the procedure, the dental surgeon noticed a thick granulation tissue in the deep area with painful sensation. Further endodontic consultation revealed the tooth #25 was endodontically treated 9 years ago and CBCT showed periapical lesion perforated the maxillary sinus. Extraction and enucleation was done and the biopsy sent to the histopathological lab revealed periapical granuloma. After 2 months, patient was asymptomatic and ENT examination showed the floor of maxillary sinus with reduced hyperplasia. Symptoms of m axillary sinusitis can evoke pain of dental origin, and a careful differential diagnosis is important when dealing with pain in the maxillary posterior area. Keywords: maxillary sinusitis, mucositis, odontogenic origin Introduction Endodontic implications of the maxillary sinus include extension of periapical lesion into the sinus. The literature mentions many cases of extension of periapical infection to the maxillary sinus 1-2-3-4. Stafne estimated that 15–75% of the sinusitis cases occur through a dental cause although the actual cause is difficult to determine accurately 5. Sinusitis can be divided into acute, subacute and chronic types. Symptoms produced by acute or subacute maxillary sinusitis can be mistaken with those of pulpal origin 6. A comprehensive examination of the patient’s medical and dental history will draw the attention of the clinician to endodontic implications of odontogenic origin. The purpose of this paper was to present the management of maxillary sinusitis of endodontic origin. Case report A 48 year old generally healthy male reported to the dental clinic for the implant placement in the area of missing #26. During the procedure, the dental surgeon noticed a thick granulation tissue in the deep area and the patient started feeling painful sensation even with repeated anesthesia. The surgeon then put bone graft material and closed the flap for further consultation. Patient was then shifted from implant clinic to the diagnosis clinic for examination of tooth #25 that had periapical lesion (figure 1). It was revealed during the examination that the tooth #25 had undergone root canal treatment 9 years ago. The pre-operative radiograph had revealed a large periapical lesion with interrupted lamina dura around the tooth #25 with previous root canal filling material and filling on the crown (Figure 2). The periodontal probing was within normal limits for all teeth in the upper left region and the teeth #24 and #25 was restored with amalgam. (figure 3 and 4). The tooth showed no response to cold and electric pulp testing and it was tender on percussion but not on palpation. The tooth was diagnosed as previously treated with symptomatic periapical peridontitis. After the clinical examination, CBCT radiography was taken to check the maxillary sinus involvement. CBCT revealed a periapical lesion that perforated the maxillary sinus with thickening of the maxillary sinus floor (figure 5, 6 and 7). Patient then referred to ENT department for consultation. They advised (i) extraction of the involved tooth to remove the source of infection and the thickening of the floor will get resolved upon follow up, or (ii) to inoculate the lesion completely through endoscope under GA. Patient presented to the endodontic clinic for treatment plan and decision making. The endodontist advised root canal re-treatment of #25 followed by surgical root end resection and retrograde filling along with enucleation of the lesion with precaution to the maxillary sinus perforation. But after consultation with prosthodontist, it was decided to extract the tooth #25 as it was questionable in restorability (figure 8 and 9). So, the recommended treatment was extraction and the final diagnosis was maxillary sinusitis of endodontic origin. Patient referred to OMF department where extraction of tooth #25 and enucleation of the lesion was performed (figure 10, 11 and 12). The biopsy was sent to the histopathololgy lab. Post-surgical instructions were given to the patient and was prescribed cap. amoxicillin 500mg tid, tab. brufen 600mg, Rhinocort along with anti-histamines and decongestants. Biopsy report showed periapical granuloma which confirmed the diagnosis. On follow up after 2 months, patient was asymptomatic and PA radiograph revealed socket space (figure 13 and 14). ENT examination showed the floor of maxillary sinus with reduced hyperplasia. Discussion Radiographic examination of the maxillary sinus includes periapical, occlusal, panoramic and facial views7. Panoramic radiography provides a wide overview of the sinus floor and its anatomical relation with the tooth roots allows the determination of the size of periapical lesions. The symptom associated with maxillary sinusitis is dull pain, mostly unilateral and during mastication, or a feeling of ‘fullness’ around the upper posterior teeth. The patient may complain of pain exacerbated when lying down or bending due to increased intracranial pressure from blood flow and the affected sinus may be tender to palpation8. The teeth in relation to affected sinuses will be moderately or extremely sensitive to palpation and/or percussion. Nasal discharge is considered to be important sign of sinus infection. The use of a topical nasal decongestant may help in differentiating pain from sinusitis or from dental origin. On the other hand, the pain of dental origin ranges from the rmal sensitivities to continuous sharp pain which may be associated with localized swelling. Radiographic changes in sinusitis show thickened sinus mucosal membrane and air-fluid filled. The first time that showed the direct extension of dental infection into the sinus was in a study by Bauer in 1943. His study was done on cadavers and revealed the pulp of involved teeth with histological evidence of extension of infection into the maxillary sinus. The local hyperplasia of dental origin in the mucosa of the maxillary sinus could be removed by conservative root canal therapy. Selden and August in1970 also managed maxillary sinusitis after the treatment of a periodontal-endodontic lesion in first and second premolars. For the refractory cases after a conservative management, the surgical approach was recommended10. In this case the restorability of the tooth made the final decision. At least 70% of bacterial contamination of sinusitis is caused by Streptococcus pneumonia and Haemophilus37 influenzae11. Antibiotics are a significant part of management in acute suppurative sinusitis. Pinheiro et al recommended amoxycillin as a first-line of treatment aimed to cover both gram-positive and gram-negative organisms. Topical decongestants are beneficial for oxygenation and facilitate the sinus drainage of pus by decreasing the edema. Analgesics, such as paracetamol and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are beneficial for the control of pain. Conclusion The close anatomical inter-relationship of the maxillary sinus and the roots of upper posterior teeth can lead to endodontic complications. Periapical inflammation can lead to maxillary sinusitis of dental origin with resultant inflammation and thickening of the mucosal lining of the sinus in areas adjacent to the corresponding teeth. In such cases, the conventional endodontic treatment or re-treatment is the treatment of choice with surgical intervention. But there are chance of refractory cases which requires extraction to remove the source of infection. An adequate diagnosis and appropriate treatment with antibiotics, decongestants and analgesics are indicated for the treatment of sinusitis.

Essay --

â€Å"No one comes home from war unchanged. But with early screening and adequate access to counseling, the psychological and neurological effects of combat are treatable.† (Williamson & Mulhall). Deployments to war zones change service members and their families. Some of the changes are positive and some combat experiences can be traumatic and leave a long-lasting emotional wound. Exposure to traumatic combat and operational experiences affects service members and veterans spiritually, psychologically, biologically, and socially. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and major depression are increasingly recognized and potentially preventable conditions. Certain factors, especially the severity of the trauma, obvious lack of social support and disconnection have been associated with its development. A recent study found U.S. veteran suicide rates are as high as 5,000 a year. Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, have reported symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slight more than half have sought out treatment, according to a new RAND Corporation study. In addition, researchers found about 19 percent of returning service members report that they experienced a possible traumatic brain injury while deployed. (Williamson & Mulhall) In military veterans and service members, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal thoughts are a problematic and common issue that has become closely linked to one another. If these illnesses are causing a mental issue with our military personnel, why are they less likely to seek out care? Many service members do not seek treatment for psychological illnesses bec... ...when it came to the topics that were being discussed, such as the injures they experience, the process and what the service members undergo in the home front that may be some potential triggers. The article is very detailed and it is a good recommendation for my fellow classmates to read, as it provides knowledge and awareness on this topic. Our military personnel and veteran clients remind us every day that extensive resources are needed to provide an equal playing field in the mental health care system, that we have much more to learn, and that the more we understand the illness in veterans and personnel, the more we can do to reduce their suffering. References Williamson, V., & Mulhall, E. (n.d.). Invisible Wounds: Psychological and Neurological Injuries Confront a New Generation of Veterans. Retrieved from http://iava.org/files/IAVA_invisible_wounds_0.pdf