Social action plans: drugs and alcohol

Social action plans: drugs and alcohol Table of Contents Background Objectives Proposed Actions Anticipated Outcomes Key roles and responsibilities Timelines and resources required Key risks Evaluation Method References Background Drugs and alcohol is a major social issue (J. David Hawkins, Richard F. Catalano, and Janet Y. Miller, 1992). It is not something that can be solved by the law (Lee P. Brown, 2008). Throughout history, many attempts have been made to try and legalize and control alcohol and drug addiction but has failed. It requires education, international awareness and a lot of work to resolve. Whilst alcohol and certain drugs are not illegal, the potential dangers are well documented. It is in many regards, worse of a problem than other social problems such as smoking. Not only does it create health problems, but creates a habit from a young age that is hard to avoid (Kabir Ayub, 2011). This affects families, schools and the larger part of society. It creates a burden for law enforcers, violence, accidents and a lot of other side-effects. Drugs and alcohol have especially been a major issue in NSW full of pubs and night life. Major incidents of violence at many locations have been recorded. The number of police officers required to monitor and deal with incidents have greatly increased since 2011. New laws, curfews and extreme measures had to be put in place (NSW Government, 2014). This shows that inaction is a major cost to society and is a major burden on the government and law enforcers. Local Christian Churches have been chosen to address the issue. Drugs and alcohol is an international social problem that is very hard to tackle. The local Christian communities serves as a good attempt to address problems in the local community. Studies have shown that peer influence is a major factor in drugs and alcohol abuse (Karl E. Bauman, Susan T. Ennett, 1996). The church will be able to put a positive influence back to society to help change this issue. The church (religion) is and has been a major influence to society. Religion helps shape lives. Objectives The key objectives in this action plan are to raise awareness about drugs and alcohol and to create a series of events to reduce the consumption of drugs and alcohol. In raising awareness of the adverse effects of drugs and alcohol, we hope to increase public understanding of what they are, the potential harm and the damage it has caused to our society. Local churches often run campaigns to promote Christianity and raise awareness of their religion. It would be viable for them to continue as is, but include flyers and other advertisements that target alcohol and drugs. Through a series of special events, such as alcohol free nights, we create incentives for those addicted to drugs and alcohol to attend and make it a habit to reduce consumption of drugs and alcohol. These events are aimed at providing the first steps for affected people to adjust to life without harmful substances. It is business as usual for local churches as they already run local community events. Running alcohol and drug themed campaigns fits in with their schedule and aim to promote and improve the greater community. For example, a family bbq gathering can include an extra clause of being alcohol exempt. The key theme is to use religion and the major influence of the church to shape lives, stop alcohol and drug abuse and to increase awareness. Proposed Actions Use of social media to link and highlight key media that raise awareness. Through official Facebook, Twitter and other accounts of the churches, social media is a strong platform to push information. Door to door knocking and handing out pamphlets is part of a Church’s day to day activities (Archie Poulos, 2010). Within the advertisements, the church can embed information on drugs and alcohol to further increase awareness. Anti-drug and anti-alcohol posters can be posted within the premise. Each time people visit the church they will be able to see these media items and gain awareness to the drug and alcohol problems. Preaches every Sunday can be used to influence the followers on reducing consumption of alcohol. Religion is known to have a major influence and the voice of god is very useful. Prayers will help those guilty of drugs and alcohol be persuaded to change and move away from these harmful substances. Alcohol and drug free events can be introduced as part of normal family events and gatherings. Prizes and other rewards can be introduced as an extra incentive. Families can get together and share their experiences. Anticipated Outcomes The anticipated outcome is increased awareness in drugs and alcohol. Social media activities such as Twitter and Facebook can easily be measured by likes, replies, retweets and other common statistics. This can provide numbers on the number of people have read and reacted to the postings. The local community will be more aware of its harmful effects. They will be able to spread this out to other local communities via word of mouth to further increase awareness. The community will be educated to stop alcohol/drugs based violence and help report/resolve any incidents. Parents will be able to educate their children to prevent the next generation early on. Another anticipated outcome is reduced consumption of drugs and alcohol. Alternatives such as soft drinks and replacements can take its place. Alcohol and drugs driven violence should be reduced. Families will increase in happiness. This will reduce load on the community and even local council/government. This means funding and resources can be better spent elsewhere and further improve lives. Key roles and responsibilities Within a church, many of the staff are volunteers, including the door knocking staff. Different staff will be required for each action point. The organization structure is rather flat. The media advisor will be in charge of coordinating the social media activities. They will be spreading the message via the church’s social media account. Door to door knocking events will coordinated by the normal door knocking organizer. Posters will be reviewed and signed off by the priest. Alcohol and drug free events will be reviewed by the events coordinator. Preaches and prayers will be reviewed by the priest. The key is to add extra roles and responsibilities to existing staff. Timelines and resources required The church anticipates that the promotional campaign will run for a month and based on feedback may be extended. Most of the action points are ongoing and will be held in part every Sunday as part of the Church gathering and extended events. Social media, posters and door knocking will be incorporated with day to day activities. The idea is to enhance and set the theme for the staff to work on – to add their current jobs. No extra resources are anticipated except a potential external graphics design company to create the promotional poster. All other efforts are conducted by current staff of the church, such as priests and other volunteers. Families are encouraged to help out as they normally would. Extra funding is anticipated and this will be sourced from the church’s annual budget. The church does not expect a huge burden on the budget. The staff may have to put in extra hours to meet the deadlines to get this kick-started. The local social worker can be contacted for further assistance and to attend special events to help the church out in assisting any attenders that do have actual problems in life with drugs and alcohol. Local doctors would also be a useful resource in helping with providing material and assisting with drug and alcohol effects on the body. Key risks A key risk in raising awareness about drugs and alcohol is that it may get some people that were previously never interested to try the mentioned products based on curiosity. Many people may be unwilling to identify themselves as an addict to drugs and/or alcohol. This may be due to peer pressure, family issues and others. This will make it difficult to convince these people to join the events created especially for them. Preaches may be seen as some as propaganda campaigns and a way to control and restrict an individual’s freedom. Care must be taken at the wording, how it is addressed and it must be linked back to Christianity. Lack of attendance or feedback may also be an issue. Over time people could be back to their old lifestyle. Evaluation Method An attendance count can be used to evaluate how many people are interested in the series of events. An anonymous informal survey can be used to further gauge the situation. This helps to evaluate how effective the proposed actions are and also direction for further action. A follow up survey months later can be used to see if lifestyle has changed. Informal discussions and interviews can be had to see what effects it has had on lifestyle of people. Social media feedback is the most evident and can generate huge discussions. There are many statistics used to measure the success of a social media campaign, such as the number of retweets. The local police stations can be contacted before and after to determine if the number of reported incidents related to drug and alcohol abuse has decreased. References Lee P. Brown, 2008, Two takes drugs are a major social problem we cannot legalize them, US News, 25th July, 10th May 2014, http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2008/07/25/two-takes-drugs-are-a-major-social-problem-we-cannot-legalize-them Kabir Ayub, 2011, Drug addiction: A Social Problem!, 24th March, 10th May 2014, http://pamirtimes.net/2011/03/24/addiction-a-social-problem/ NSW Government, 2014, New measures rolled out to target drug and alcohol fuelled violence, 21st February, 10th May 2014, http://www.nsw.gov.au/news/new-measures-rolled-out-target-drug-and-alcohol-fuelled-violence J. David Hawkins, Richard F. Catalano, and Janet Y. Miller, Risk and Protective Factors for Alcohol and Other Drug Problems in Adolescence and Early Adulthood: Implications for Substance Abuse Prevention, Psychological Bulletin Vol 112, 1992, 10th May 2014, http://adai.washington.edu/confederation/2008readings/Catalano_86.pdf Karl E. Bauman, Susan T. Ennett, On the importance of peer influence for adolescent drug use: commonly neglected considerations, Vol 91, Issue 2, pages 185-198 Archie Poulos, 2010, Doorknocking is fun?, 25th Match, 10th May 2014, http://sydneyanglicans.net/blogs/churchlife/doorknocking_is_fun Social Action Plan: Group Name Social Action plan: Team members: Description of the Issue: 1 | Page

Orange County Essay

After California passed a proposition limiting revenue generated from local property taxes, pressure was put on local governments to raise enough money to fund services. Orange County, like many others in the US, attempted to raise revenue without increasing taxes. Their treasurer, Robert L. Citron, decided to get involved with a high risk high reward product. He chose to invest in derivatives and gamble with public money. Because interest rates were low at the time, Citrons portfolio was returning at an average rate of 8. 52%. This was 5% higher than what the state of California was earning. Orange County was enjoying the benefits of their treasure’s investments. In 1994, 35% of the county’s revenue was from the portfolios returns. The county continued to increase earnings and therefore no one looked into Citrons practices. He did inform the Board of Supervisors that the value of the county’s portfolio depended on interest rates remaining stable or decreasing. So when interest rates rose, the value of the portfolio diminished, eventually leading to bankruptcy. In December 1994, Orange County announced a loss of $1. 6 billion, the most significant loss recorded by a local government investment pool. This also displayed the negative side of the high risk investments made by Citron who was gambling with a $7. 5 billion portfolio made up of players such as cities, school, water works, and regional transportation. [1] There were many factors that led to the bankruptcy of Orange County. A Board of Supervisors member stated that there was a lack of oversight (not an accountable system) and failure of disclosure to investors. Citron also never met with the investment oversight committee that did exist, and as treasurer he had control over Orange County and their trust. Many have questioned if Citron was ever qualified to hold his position in office. Some even blame the state government. Originally they used to fund local governments, but when they started taking back they were taking $6. 5 million more than they were giving them. Before the county declared bankruptcy, an investor; First Boston, was selling its collateral because they saw that the county’s portfolio was declining. This was a hint that problems were around the corner because soon many investors would realize this and pull out. In response, bankruptcy was declared so that the funds would freeze and banks would not be able to liquidate the collateral. Another responsible party was Merrill Lynch, the county’s financial advisor. The purpose they serve is to protect the interests of the county. They did warn Citron about the volatility of the investments however they still bought him the same funds and underwrote a bond issue for $600 million. The warning was only sent to Citron and not to the Board of Supervisors. A lawsuit was filed in 1995 against Merrill Lynch by Orange County. [2] Besides the power he held over the county, another reason for the bankruptcy was Citron’s use of leveraging. As a leveraged fund, it could borrow money to increase its securities portfolio. Citron was able to leverage $7. 57 billion into $20. 5 billion. In essence, when the investment produces a high return rate, the stockholders will have a very high rate of return. On the other hand, if the investment produces a low return rate, the stockholders will have a very low return. They also used longer term maturities which makes it more sensitive to changing interest rates. So there is a high leverage risk as well as interest rate risk. [3] Duration is interest rate sensitivity and because Citron’s portfolio depended on interest rates it is a good measure. Because the portfolio used median term maturities over short term maturities to increase their return, the duration increased. In December 1994 the duration was 2. 74 years. With the leverage ratio at 2. 73, the actual portfolio duration was 7. 4 (2. 74*2. 73). When the interest rates rose in 1994, the estimated loss using duration was $1. 85 million, a little more than the actual amount. interest rates went up about 3. 5 and 5 year bond yield was 5%) VaR could also have been used to find some risks of the portfolio. VaR is a statistical technique used to measure and quantify the level of financial risk within a firm or investment portfolio over a specific time frame. Value at risk is used by risk managers in order to measure and control the level of risk which the firm undertakes. The risk manager’s job is to ensure that risks are not taken beyond the level at which the firm can absorb the losses of a probable worst outcome. investopedia definition) The portfolio was sensitive to interest rates so a change in the rate can be used in 3 simulation methods and the only impactive factor. Using a historical simulation approach, the VaR equals $1. 24 billion. This is lower then the actual value but it is also using past prices to determine the future. In the delta normal method VaR is calculated as $1. 21 billion. This is a little less accurate then the historical method. The best way in theory to calculate Var would be using the Monte Carlo Simulation. However in this situation it treats the portfolio as one asset and equals about $1 billion. Because none of these prove to be reliable enough, a exponentially weighted moving average can be used to improve the accuracy of VaR. What it does it give more weight to recent data then older data. [4] As a result of the bankruptcy many unfortunate consequences arose. Of course there was the $1. 6 billion in debt that needed to be re-payed to investors. Additionally the lawsuit against Merrill Lynch was draining funds from the community with no promising chance of recovery. The once perfect rating that Orange County held was now downgraded to a default rating by Standard & Poor. There were also many political consequences regarding the county and county officials. If the risk of the portfolio was taken into consideration by the appropriate parties, the entire situation could have been avoided. Unfortunately the power to stop Citron was in the hands of Merrill Lynch who did not take the appropriate action. The County also failed to monitor and assess the deal which puts several more people at blame for the bankruptcy.

“A Young Birch” by Robert Frost Poetry Analysis Essay

In the poem â€Å"A Young Birch†, Robert Frost establishes the futility of existence despite having beauty through the use of symbols, structure, and imagery. Although the birch tree is beautiful, its life is meaningless and its death is unavoidable. The speaker describes the birch tree’s life, but in the end, the struggles that the birch tree faced were pointless. Frost establishes the birch tree’s beauty through the use of symbols in the colour white. The colour white symbolizes beauty and purity. Frost compares the birch’s beauty to the sun’s ability to be bright. â€Å"Soon entirely white / To double day and cut in half the dark† (ll 4-5) The speaker comments on the birch’s ability, being beautiful, to make the days twice as bright, establishing the blinding beauty of the birch tree. The colour white symbolizes not only beauty, but death. Frost uses this symbolism to establish the inevitability of death. â€Å"†¦crack it’s outer sheath / Of baby green and show the white beneath† (ll 1-2) Frost uses the speaker’s comment on the growth of the birch tree to establish the beauty that was always within the tree, but also death, which is apart of every natural living being. Frost establishes the birch tree’s beauty, but also the inevitable death in his use of symbolism in the colour white. Frost establishes the futility of existence through the use of symbols. The speaker describes the growth of the birch tree through the comparison of its size to different man-made objects, the cane and the fishing pole. The cane and the fishing pole are symbols of the birch tree’s growth. â€Å"At first to be no bigger than a cane, / And then no bigger than a fishing pole,† (ll 14-15) The cane and the fishing pole also represent the birc h tree’s inevitable death. These man-made objects are made of wood, which are essentially dead trees. The speaker describes the ever-present force of death, even in the growing stages of life. Frost establishes a sense of futility in the birch tree’s growth. Frost establishes the lack of meaning in the birch tree’s life. The use of the word ornament represents the birch tree’s meaningless life, although being beautiful. This symbol establishes that the only purpose of the birch’s life is to be a beautiful object and nothing more. â€Å"To live its life out as an ornament† (ll 22) The speaker comments that the birch tree’s life is fruitless. Frost establishes the futility of existence in growing and living because of a purposeless existence through his use of symbols.  Frost establishes life and growth as futile through his use of structure. The poem, â€Å"A Young Birch†, is divided into two sections through the tense that is used, present tense and past tense, establishing that life is only a small part of existence and that death is the overpowering force. Frost uses sentence structure and length to represent the birch tree’s growth. Each sentence, with the exception of the transition sentence and concluding sentence, is slightly larger than the last. As the birch tree’s growth is described in the poem, the length of the sentences grows too. The sentence lengths reach a climax of 10 lines and it is cut short abruptly, representing the way death cuts life. Frost establishes death as dominant to life through his use of structure. Frost establishes the birch tree’s imminent death through his use of imagery. The speaker describes the sound of the birch tree breaking out of its outer cover, a stage in its maturity and growth. â€Å"The birch begins to crack its outer sheath / Of baby green and show the white beneath† (ll 1-2) The breaking out of the outer layer of the birch provides a vivid description of the birch tree’s struggles in life. Frost emphasizes the futility in the struggle of life, as death is unavoidable. Frost establishes the ever-present possibility of being killed in his vivid description of death. The speaker describes those that were killed around the birch and the ease in which the birch itself can die. â€Å"He spared it from the number of the slain.† (ll 13) The image of death emphasizes the loneliness of the birch tree, despite having beauty, and the inevitability of death in the birch tree as well. Frost establishes the vulnerability of living things and the benefit in accepting death through his use of imagery. Frost establishes the dominant nature of death to life and the lack of purpose and meaning in life. He establishes that even in growth, purity, and beauty, death is unavoidable and acceptance of death is beneficial. Frost establishes the imminent nature of death and the futility of existence in â€Å"A Young Birch† through his use of imagery, structure, and symbols.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Essay - 1875 Words

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is located at the southern end of the Windward Islands, between Saint Lucia and Grenada, in the Caribbean Sea, north of Trinidad and Tobago. The country comprises the island of Saint Vincent and seven smaller inhabited islands and numerous islets and cays that together constitute the Grenadines. These smaller islands are Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Mayreau, Union Island, Palm Island, and Petit Saint Vincent. All together, the islands cover 389 square kilometers. The main island of Saint Vincent is the largest, covering 344 square kilometers. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has over 84 kilometers of coastline. The climate is tropical, with little seasonal†¦show more content†¦The Caribs became the sole masters of the islands until the arrival of the Europeans in the late 15th century. The Carib islands, including Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, were among the last to be colonized by the Europeans as the dense Carib population made it hard for the Europeans to gain a foothold. In 1626, the French were in possession of Saint Vincent. In 1627, the British took over. In 1675, a slave ship sunk in the Bequia/Saint Vincent channel and some slaves managed to reach the shores. They were welcomed by the Caribs and soon intermingled, and their children were called Black Caribs. In 1748, when the European nations found that they could not compromise with the Caribs, Saint Vincent was declared a neutral island by the Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle. Changing hands again as both the British and French fought for possession, finally in 1783, by the Treaty of Versailles, Saint Vincent was once more under British rule. The last open rebellion by the Caribs took place in 1795. By 1797, however, the war was over with the Caribs losing for the last time. 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