Slavery In the Chocolate Factory Essay Example for Free

Slavery In the Chocolate Factory Essay â€Å"Quality is the measure of excellence or state of being free from deficiency, defects, and significant variations, (Nader, 2009). Quality of a product can be mainly assessed from a manufacturer and a customer point of view. From a customer point of view, product quality is perspective as each individual perceives quality differently. Ultimately, product quality is the capability of the product to fulfil customer expectations as required from the users. Quality from a manufacturer’s perspective depends on company size, culture, financial resources, human resources, market pressures and company strategy. Due to the availability of a large number of products in the market, different industries have put forward different parameters that allow a product to be judged against the competition. For example, an electronic product may have quality parameters such as performance, reliability, safety and appearance that has to be met (UNIDO, 2006). Process quality Process quality targets the life cycle of a product from the beginning, design, development, roll out, updates and product support. Both product and process quality are combined together and quality control measures put in place to ensure the final outcome is of a high quality. Interaction between product quality and process quality In order to produce a quality product it requires a quality process. This involves maintaining the process operating at a level that complies with required quality criteria. When the quality of a process varies it will have a direct impact on product characteristics and hence product quality. For example, a metal producing plant has processes such as cutting, machining, bending and coating. The smoothness, hardness and thickness etc of the metal are directly impacted by the quality of the processes. Once the metal is manufactured, the customer will judge it against the product specification and make a judgement on quality. (McGraw-Hill, 2002) Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker is a company that prides itself on product quality. As a result of this it led to an increase in customer demand and an increase in market share. To maintain the high quality of the end product while meeting demand, Jim Harris and co. put in place procedures that assisted them to retain quality throughout the different stages of the production process. The following table provides a summary of the quality techniques used in the production line: Table 1 Quality Techniques in Production Line Production StageQuality assurance and quality control techniques used to maintain quality of the process Bean Cleaner†¢The precise process associated with separating the waste from beans. †¢Once cleaned, storing the beans under specific climate and humidity controls Roaster†¢Roasting different types of beans separately. †¢Human tasting Winnower†¢Precise process associated with separating cocoa beans from the shell Melangeur†¢Quality testing of the product for texture, taste and physical properties Conche†¢Quality testing of the product done through a scrape gauge to measure the level of smoothness Tempering and molding†¢Human testing for texture, snap and taste Packaging†¢Check quality after the production line General†¢Blind tasting at different stages †¢Hiring skilled operators †¢Calibration of equipment All the above processes will assist in maintaining the quality of the final product. While using third party companies with the productions process, product quality is maintained by random sampling and testing to ensure the product meets required specifications. Quality process analysis Quality control measures are put into place before and during the production process to ensure the raw materials and processes are of acceptable quality. To ensure a high quality product at each stage of the production process quality techniques can be used such as quality assurance (QA), quality control (QC) and through means of continuous process improvements. By implementing these strategies business risks with regard to quality can be managed. However, a cost benefit analysis is required to be carried out to determine if the extent of quality assurance and quality control is beneficial to the business. The final inspection of the product is used for quality assurance as well. There is a fine balance between quality and cost of any product. If the product maintains a higher than required quality and the cost is high due to this very requirement, demand will decrease. Therefore, quality should be maintained at a level where it is sustainable so that a the product can be cost effective to face a competitive market. In the case study, Harris’s team experiments with different techniques to reduce the time required to prepare the chocolate at different stages of the process of chocolate making. It is clear that with the changes in the processes of chocolate production, the final quality was sometimes so much affected that the pioneers of the factory refused to endorse the change. This proves that there is an undeniable interaction between product quality and process quality. However, the decision was made to make changes in the process only after so many trials, testing and tasting. This demonstrates that, In order to make a good quality product a series of quality processes are required. To maintain quality process a series of quality control systems are required. In a process quality control scheme the sequence of the steps is very important as some processes will be critical which would reflect largely in the quality of the final product. The following table details each process where Harris and his team have incorporated quality control schemes to minimise variation. Table 2 Harris’s Quality Control Schemes in the process Process sequenceQuality control Raw material quality controlPurchase BeansFind the farmers who grew the highest quality bean Ferment beans properly before dried and shipped to US Process quality controlBean CleanerThe precise process associated with separating the waste from beans. Once cleaned, storing the beans under specific climate and humidity controls. RoasterRoasting different types of beans separately to optimize the flavor. Operator monitor the temperature and taste the sample. WinnowerPrecise process associated with separating cocoa beans from the shell. MelangeurUse historical melangeur to perform task. Operator determined the time of completion based on look, feel, and taste. Ball MillIt provide quality benefits by decreasing the amount of flavor degradation. The resulting chocolate be tested and evaluated for quality. ConcheAeration was an important step for the quality control as bubble will created when blades moves. Quality testing of the product done through a scrape gauge to measure the level of smoothness Tempering and moldingHuman testing for level of stability, glossy surface, smooth feel in the mouth and snap. Quality control when transporting liquid chocolate to third-party molding. Finished product inspectionPackagingOwn packing in order to keep a close eye on quality. Third-party pacing as they have better equipment and quality control. Quality control at when re-melt and re-temper procedure. Check quality after the production line. Critical control points (CCp) can affect the quality of the finished product. However, not all steps in the process are considered as critical points. Specification or guidelines can assist in maintaining quality of certain products. These set regulations and standards such as to ISO 9000 and ISO 9001 that need to be complied with in a process. Transport or shipping becomes critical points because for example, the basic problem with transporting chocolate in containers is its relatively low melting point. Solar radiation and other external influences (heat sources, such as double bottom tanks, engine rooms) may cause the temperature in the container to rise considerably and exceed the melting point, so making enormous quality degradation inevitable. Process Bottlenecks. A bottleneck in project management is one process in a chain of processes, such that its limited capacity reduces the capacity of the whole chain (Wikipedia, 2012). The capacity of the production process is determined by the slowest chain task. These slow tasks are referred to as bottlenecks and they have an impact on the throughput of a manufacturing process. Bottlenecks in a manufacturing process refer to resources that requires the longest time in operation to meet demand. One of the characteristics of bottlenecks is that it makes the operating rate of the non-bottlenecks operate below 100%. Hence increasing capacity of the bottlenecks helps to reduce the time required for the entire process. However when one bottleneck is eliminated then another bottleneck is usually formed (Imaoka, 2009). The bottlenecks in the process can inhibit flow, cause inventories, and prevent throughout from matching customer demand. This chapter identified the capacity of bottlenecks throughout the process, analysed the management and improvement methods in order to make progress towards Scharffen Berger’s goal. Process flow diagram. The first step to create a process flow diagram is to define the process boundaries. The process boundaries are the entry and exit points of inputs and outputs of the process. The input of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker process is the raw chocolate bean and the output will be packaged chocolate ready to sell. Once the boundaries are defined, the process flow diagram is a valuable tool for understanding the process using graphic elements to represent tasks, flows and storage. Figure 1 is flow diagram represents Scharffen Berger Chocolate maker production process at earlier 2005: Figure 1 Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker Production Process The symbols in a process flow diagram are defined as follows: Rectangles: represent tasks. The equipment capacity, process capacity, duration and flow time are listed under each of the task. Arrows: represent flows. Flows include the flow of material and the flow of information. In this case the flow represents flow of raw bean, roasted bean, waste, Nibs, and chocolate. Triangles: represent storage (inventory). Storage bins commonly are used to represent raw material inventory, work in process inventory, and finished goods inventory. The process flow diagram linked tasks in series are performed sequentially. Tasks drawn in parallel such as two Conche machine and different packaging options are performed simultaneously. In the above diagram, raw bean is held in a storage bin at the beginning of the process. After the last task, the output also is stored in a storage warehouse. Scharffen Berger typically kept on to two monthes of inventory in stock for each of its major products. Process performance measures. In order to identify the bottlenecks in Scharffen Berger Chocolate manufacture process, the process performance measures become essential, this aspects include: Capacity – The capacity is its maximum quantity that the equipment capable to perform in once. This parameter can affect the process rate and utilisation of equipment. Process capacity – The process capacity is its maximum output rate, measured in units produced per unit of time. The capacity of a series of tasks is determined by the lowest capacity task in the string. The parallel tasks is the sum of the capacities of the two strings. Flow time – The average time that a unit requires to flow through the process from the entry point to the exit point. The flow time includes both processing time and any time the unit spend between steps. Duration – The duration is the total running time of each of the task in a week unit, it can be one shift a day, seven days a week. The inventory in the process is related to the throughput rate and throughput time: WIP Inventory = Throughput Rate x Flow Time This relation is known as Little’s Law, named after John D. C Little whos proved it mathematically in 1961 (Barton et al, 2002). The process bottleneck improvement. The process bottleneck occurred at the slowest flow rate of the series task in the process. The bottleneck can be found by comparing the process capacity. Saving time in the bottlenecks activity saves time for the entire process. Saving time in a non-bottleneck activity does not help the process since throughout rate is limited by the bottleneck. If the next slowest task is much faster than the bottleneck, then the bottleneck is having a major impact on the process capacity (Starnes, 2000). Operating hour The first bottleneck of production capacity throughout process was identified as operating hour. Before Harris manage the Scharffen Berger, in order to avoid overtime payment to employee, the business only operating one shift per day. The equipments such as Conches, Melangeurs, were not efficiently used. Harris calculated each completed conche could be worth over $30,000 in sales and industry average 40% in contribution on sales. It would be worth to pay overtime and increase productions. Conche operating The second capacity bottleneck throughout the process can be identified as conche operating hour. Scharffen Berger owned two Conches used to refine, mix and aerate the chocolate. The disadvantage of this machine is time consuming, each 1400kg bath of chocolate liquor typically spend 48 to 72 hours inside of the conche machine. Figure 2 indicate the identified bottleneck task (red colour) in the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker process in earlier 2005. Figure 2 Conche Bottleneck in Scharffen Berger Process The production rate of Conche is the slowest compare with other tasks. The total capacity for two Conche is 2800kg, and it’s requiring 40-60 hrs to finish each operation, Conche working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The capacity of the melangeur is 115kg and requires 1. 25hr to finish the job. The working duration of melangeur is 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. By applying production rate formula: By comparing the production rate, the bottleneck of the process can be identified as conche task. Two conche working 24hours a day compare with melangur only work 16 hours a day, the maximum working hour of melangur can not be reached as it constrained by slow operation of conche. In order to improve bottleneck of conche, the ball mill has been introduced as it can perform most conche tasks effectively. Instead of 40-60 hours, the ball mill can grain particles from 100 microns to 25 microns in three hours. The conche would still be needed for its aeration mixing function. The total operation time for ball mill and conche can reduce to 15 hours instead 40-60 hours. Melangeur operating After the company decided to use ball mill instead of conches, melangeur becomes the capacity bottleneck throughout the process. The capacity of the ball mill and conche is 1400kg and requires 15 hours to finish the job. The working duration of melangeur is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. By applying production rate formula: Since the production rate of melangeur only 1472 kg/day, the melangeur becomes the capacity bottleneck throughout the process. Figure 3 show the new flow chart as the ball mill introduced. The melangeur was used to grind the nibs; this released the cocoa butter and turned the dry nibs into chocolate paste. The company recently located a used melangeur that could be purchased and refurbished for $50,000. Figure 3 Melangeur Bottleneck in Scharffen Berger Process Molding process The last bottleneck affect the production capacity process could be modelling process. The larger, faster modelling equipment would be prohibitively expensive, and several third party co-packers had excess capacity and would be able to model more Scharffen Bergers chocolate. Harris thought Scharffen Berger might avoid the resulting duplication of the tempering and modelling steps by transferring the liquid chocolate directly to the co-packer. Figure 4 shows the operating process when the modelling and packaging task been given to the third party and co-packers. Figure 4 Third Party Molding and Co-Packer for Scharffen Berger Process In this stage, the process boundaries at output point will change from chocolate ready to sell to liquid chocolate. The modelling and packaging task has been withdrawn from operation process. But the challenges is transporting liquid chocolate was a very tricky, expensive and require high level of quality control with third parties. Future improvements The following lists some methods that can improve the operation process for Scharffen Berger Chocolate maker: Add additional resources to increase capacity of the bottleneck. For example, an additional Roaster or Cleaner machine can be added in parallel to increase the capacity. Reduce work-in-process inventory. Reduce the lead time such as reduce the cooling time after roasting the coffee bean. Move task away from bottleneck resources. Increase availability of bottleneck resources, for example, increasing the daily operating hour for melangeur from 16hours a day to 24 hours a day. Minimize non-value adding activities. Such as reduce transporting time, rework, waiting time, testing and inspection time. Redesign the chocolate type for better manufacturability – can improve several or all process performance measures. Quality Process For a Premium Quality Product The main aim of any organisation is to provide customer satisfaction by providing product and services. Quality of an end product requires production design based on customer feedback which not only minimises loss but also provides competitive advantages. In Scharffen Berger Chocolate maker case study Scharffen berger prioritises specific areas to achieve a high quality product . These areas are as follows Raw material- Scharffen Berger prided itself on using the highest quality beans available from countries such as Ghana, Trinidad, Jamaica, Domician Republic, Madagascar, and other countries. Scharffen Berger blended up to 9 varieties of beans to make each type of chocolate unlike other companies that used only 2 different types of beans. Steinberg and Scharffen travelled to remote regions near the equator to find farmers who grew the highest quality beans and to ensure that these farmers allowed there beans to ferment properly before shipping them. 2) Cleaning Prior to being roasted, beans were poured into a large bean cleaner machine that separated cocoa beans from objects like dust, small stones and twigs 3) Roaster To enhance the flavour all cocoa beans were roasted before they could be sent to make chocolates. Scharffen Berger roasted each kind of bean separately in order to optimise flavour. The sample was tasted by them regularly in order to check whether the roasting is complete. According to Harris, â€Å"practice of tasting† is the best methods of measurements at each stage of the chocolate production process. Once beans were roasted they were used within a few days in order to optimise flavour. 3) Conche Once the chocolates left the melaunger there were still some small nib pieces that needed to be ground further. This was done in the conche. Other premium quality products were also added in the conches which broke all the ingredients down to microscopic pieces. Experiments were also done with powdered sugar in order to reduce the time for Conching but found the taste unacceptable. 4) Tempering and moulding This process was to be done in a specific sequence with a certain degree of stirring. It was used to avoid duplication of the tempering and moulding steps by transferring the liquid steps to co-packers 5) Quality Control This was the most important step performed in order to get a premium quality product. Operators measured the quality of the product by examining its look and texture, breaking it and tasting it. At least once in 15 days, Scharffen Berger management and machine operators got together to calibrate their perceptions and standards for acceptable quality by blind testing the beans and chocolate at various stages of production. 6) Equipment Balmill : using Balmills can increase the capacity of production at least 75%. In addition, it will be extra beneficial for the products with high sugar content by decreasing the amount of flavour degradation that can occur when a premium product is over-processed and excessively manipulated. New equipment such as ball mill will assist in increasing capacity and efficiency of the process. 7) Quality Control: Operators measured the quality of chocolate by constantly examining its appearance, texture, tasting and breaking it. The quality of the product is checked at various stages to test if it is good to be sold. As a result of these quality checks the number of defects in the final product is reduced and will also lead to an overall increase in organizational performance. In addition this will also have a positive flow on effect on customer confidence and customer satisfaction of the product which will yield further increase in demand. 8) Every two months, management and machine operators calibrate their perception and standards for acceptable quality by â€Å"blind testing†. 9) Operating time: Increased conformance to legislation such as carbon emissions by reducing operating time. For example the existing conches are operated 24 hours a day and seven days a week. By replacing the conches with the new ball mill, Harris (Chief operating Officer of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker) and his team will reduces the operating time of machinery and increase the efficiency of the process. Adantages of high quality product Advantages of developing high quality products are, Increase in demand needs increased supply. Addressing the bottlenecks of the production process and improving stages of the process will assist with increasing supply. Increase in customer satisfaction and improving the business output. Using Quality Assurance techniques to check the product at various stages by tasting or testing to ensure that the final product obtained is of premium quality and meets customer expectations will lead to increase in business growth as the customer numbers will increase. Quality improvement is a planed managerial activity. It involves identifying potential improvements, prioritized potential areas of improvement and planning and the implementation of projects and improvements’, (Foster, 2010). Scharffen Berger prioritized potential areas of improvement. Then these improvements were planned and implemented in several stages in order to achieve a premium quality product. Every year, more than 30,000 people toured the factory and many of these visitors bought the products during these tours. By demonstrating how good the quality of the processes was, Scharffen Berger won the confidence of his clients. Moreover, quality processes can be used to manage risks in the production line. As a result quality processes can be used as a risk mitigation strategy by business. In the case of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker, the types of risks that can be minimized by quality processes are quality of raw material, appearance, texture, snapping and tasting. In addition to risk management, customers in general are willing to pay an additional amount of money for a premium quality product. Hence there is a niche market for these chocolates. In order to satisfy customers in this market the business needs to follow high quality process development techniques and produce an end product that will satisfy their high expectations. Innovation leads to high quality process development in the long term and an increase in system efficiency. Hence overtime this will result in competitive advantages over the other products and a greater market share in the industry. Another benefit of high quality process development is that it will lead to standardization or bench marking. Benefits of standardization includes for instance, increase in cost effectiveness (e.g. decrease in manufacturing cost), improve negotiating power with third party companies, simplify support and training, simplify purchase of raw materials, procurement, upgrade and disposal of plant materials and economies of scale in manufacturing, training and testing. High quality process development will also minimise the failure costs of the product, both internal and external. Reasons for using a high quality process The aim of Scharffen Berger chocolate maker is to produce premium chocolates. In order to produce premium chocolates Harris and his team requires high quality process development. Some of the reasons for using a high quality process development are as follows: Another benefit of maintaining supply to future demand is the perceived quality of the product by the customers will improve due to an increase in customer satisfaction. It also improves aesthetics of the Scharffen Berger Chocolates such as taste. Increases reliability of the production line with automation for example the use of the ball mill. It gives the company the opportunity for continuous improvement. For example Harris and his team carried out many investigations to reduce bottlenecks and to increase capacity of the existing production line. As an outcome of their investigation they decided to incorporate a new ball mill. Quality management is incorporated into the production line to ensure consistency of the quality of the product is maintained. This can be reflected in the case study by Harris and his team employing a skilled workforce. Quality assurance is maintained throughout the production line to ensure the high quality of the end product. For example Harris and his team undertook extensive testing and tasting of the product at various stages of production. This report aims to explain the issues underlining the Cocoa industry mainly in South Africa. It relates to child trafficking and the actions that corporations such as Nestles and Mars are taking in order to tackle this issue. Lastly it will conclude the actions one can take as a manager in order to resolve these issues using different theories and approaches. Child Trafficking Child Trafficking is in direct violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948-2008 which states that all humans have a choice to work to just and favourable conditions of work. It also states that everyone should be paid fairly and equal to their work. Lastly it states that everyone has the right to rest and limitation on working hours. Children in South Africa. India and other countries in general arent given any of these things. It is the duty of the people high in power to enforce these rights onto their people by putting strict restrictions which can lead to punishments if broken. Dealing with an issue on a large scale is difficult as it is extremely difficult to keep an eye on such small areas of an operation. Due to the high number of production and harvesting it is easy for companies such as SAF-CACAO to keep their secrets hidden from their buyers e.g. Nestle. However Chocolate manufacturers arent bothered by these issues as their main objective is to maximise profits. Due to the high volume of Coco they buy even a small percentage of increase in price per kg of coco can lead to a huge rise in costs in production. Nestle signed an agreement to end child labour in 2001 however they have failed in this because they didnt carry out checks on their suppliers in South Africa. Reports show that 1. 8 Million children are currently in danger of being used as slaves (Humphrey Hawksley, 2012). Companies such as Nestle and Mars can still deal with this issue by boycotting SAF-CACAO and other companies using child labour because this can reduce their profits and pressuring them into bankruptcy. â€Å"The world must shift the focus of trade from being driven solely by profits to serve people-cantered development† (Yash Tandon Executive Director of South Centre). If Nestle stops buying from unfair suppliers then this in return promote a better image of their business which will likely to increase their sales and customers will be more happy with Nestles actions. According to McGregor’s theories X Y SAF-CACAO is currently following the Authoritarian Management Style . This is because they are irresponsible and dont take into account the views of their workers and the conditions they are living through. Cultural differences are also playing a major role in this because South Africa is mainly collectivist based and due to this children are trafficked into slavery and even though this is bad they dont really have a choice because if they return to their parents they will probably be punished for not bringing them any money. Due to the lack of education in areas around ivory coast there is a misunderstanding and unethical views on the age at which a child should work. Parents expect children to work and pay their families regardless of their capabilities and the dangers of them being kidnapped. Dealing with these issues wouldnt be possible unless us as customers boycott Nestle and other firms that are buying chocolates from unethical companies. Buying Fair-Trade products is an alternative which we can all resort to even though it is more expensive it is at least ethical. There are many other firms that promote anti-child trafficking such as Freedom Matters , Anti-Slavery. These influence people to replace their normal purchases with fair-trade products. However there is no strict action that anyone can take to stop child trafficking. As a manager of a firm that uses suppliers in Africa it would be wise to set main priority to fight child trafficking, first step would be to enforce the Human rights law in all the companies operations in order to make sure all the operations within the business as well as the businesses that the firm is dealing with all are following this law. Secondly monitoring the origin of cocoa will be carried out to check exactly where it is made and whether the farms are using children to harvest the crops. If this is the case then social services and the police will be notified. Another way to deal with this issue will be to reward suppliers who operate ethically by offering them higher prices for their cocoa. These suppliers can also be monitored on a monthly basis to check if they are working under the human rights act. In majority of growing countries it is very easy to buy someone by offering them a lot of money to do something bad. Due to this it will only be wise for someone high in power to carry out checks on a businesss production because they will likely to be the only people that will give truthful information. Bibliography FairTrade. (2013). What is Fairtrade?. Available: http://www. fairtrade. org. uk/what_is_fairtrade/default. aspx. Last accessed 1st December 2013. Foodispower. (2013). Slavery in the Chocolate Industr. Available: http://www. foodispower.org/slavery-in-the-chocolate-industry/. Last accessed 1st December 2013. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (1945). Preamble. Available: http://www. un. org/en/documents/udhr/. Last accessed 1st December 2013. Douglas Mcgregor. (1960). Douglas Mcgregor Theory X,Y. Available: http://www. businessballs. com/mcgregor. htm. Last accessed 1st December 2013. Humphrey Hawksley. (2012). Nestle failing on child labour abuse, says FLA report. Available: http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/world-africa-18644870. Last accessed 1st December 2013.

History of Food Preservation Methods

History of Food Preservation Methods Yasmine Dabash The Sustainment of Foodstuffs Over the Years Isn’t it nice to go home and microwave a frozen TV dinner after a long day of work? Without the invention of food preserving technologies such as the refrigerator or the freezer, such would have never been possible.This is because both technology and science are interdependent on one another. Since ancient times, food has been preserved in a number of ways including refrigerating and heating, drying and salting, and canning and jarring. Over the centuries, the human race has been equipped with superior knowledge thus enabling us to continually improve technology. It is common to see technology morph to adequately fit updated knowledge, A common example of this is cell phones which often update with more features in more condensed models. Food preservation today is the result of many hundreds of years’ worth of work towards the sustainment of foodstuffs. Most mediocre households contain a refrigeration and freezer unit which is used daily to preserve foods for an allotment of time. Refrigeration has a particularly long history’ for many centuries, people would carve large blocks of ice from nearby fresh water sources and put it iceboxes, which they used to keep their food cool. Even today in remote Amish-culture societies, people use this technique of refrigeration. Around the same time, people would store their produce in 30-40Â °F root cellars. It wasn’t until 1918 that the first Frigidaire was created then mass produced. Then twelve years later, the eco-friendly, Freon-less refrigerator model we used today, patented by Albert Einstein and a colleague, was introduced. (findingdulcinea.com) Twoother modes of food preservation which have a long history, primarily in hot climates of the world include drying and salting. The methods of drying and salting to preserve fish, meat, and vegetables were been predominate in dry, hot climates (ie. the southern states of America) for hundreds of years. One of the most common ways of curing meat is salting, which has been carried out since ancient times by packing meat in heavy amounts of salt in barrels; this method of meat preservation was not replaced until the times of advanced freezing and refrigeration. Drying meat, another popular mode of meat curing, has a goal of simply evaporating the liquid content of the meat. This is because microorganisms need a certain amount of moisture to survive in an environment, so by removing the water content from the meat you are thus making the meat unlivable for the bacteria which causes spoilage. (fao.org) This is also the same reason dried fruits (raisins, dried apricots, Craisins, etc.) last a longer time than its fresh form. Food can be preserved for long term storage through the methods of canning and jarring. By canning and jarring food you are sterilizing then inhibiting bacterial growth in the food, therefore lengthening the longevity of the food’s shelf life by far. Usually vegetables and meats are packages in sealed tin cans rather than jarred; some common examples of canned foods are corn, tuna, processed beef, and soup. Jarring is also a ordinary way of conserving pickles, jams and jellies, baby food, and tomato sauce. Fermenting foods by storing them in a vinegar and salt brine within a sterilized glass jar is called pickling. Pickling is an endeavor practiced to preserve mainly vegetables (most commonly cucumbers). Unfortunately this method increases the salt content and lowers the vitamin content of the foodstuffs preserved. Preservatives can often times be added to foods to foods to make them last longer. Sometimes, when processing foods, preservatives are added to help conserve the foods by killing bacteria or slowing bacteria activity. These preservatives come in four major categories; benzoates, nitrites, sulfites, and sorbic acid. Sodium benzoate is a salt commonly combined with acidic and carbonated products including juices, sodas, salad dressings, and others. Sodium nitrate, although controversial now, is a naturally occurring food preservative found in salt, sugar, vinegar, and alcohol. Sulfites, although banned from fresh, raw eaten produce, is used when preserving dried fruits and dried potato products. Sorbic acid is the most used food preservative in the industry as it is considered the safest of the four common preservatives. It is known to prevent the growth of fungi, yeast, and mold. Sometimes preservatives are dismissed and limited by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to improve the overall health of our foods, which is the number one concern when it comes to food and food preservation. There are a variety of organizations and universities that support and research into the study of food preservation. The National Center for Home Food Preservation, based at the University of Georgia, primarily focuses on the preservation of produce and what safety regulations and methods should be carried out to ensure safe, convenient preserved foods both domestically and industrially (nchfp.uga.edu). Even the most unexpected can contribute to a cause; the United States Atomic Energy Commission majorly brought the rise to the use of irradiation to preserve food, especially for NASA (The NationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministration) astronauts to eat whilst in space. Although it may seem ridiculous, the Mayflower Trading company is the largest online store for long-lasting, storable foods, emergency preparedness, and alternative power. It may seem like the go-to site for the impending zombie apocalypse but its contributions towards the longevity of preserved foods (mainly canned) are remarkable. On the topic of contributions to the field of food preservation, there is a whole list of remarkable indiv iduals who have majorly impacted food preservation as we know it. Many people have contributed to food preservation as will including the renowned Louis Pasteur. Louis Pasteur created the method of pasteurization which ensures the sterility and safety of our milk and other milk products even today. Nicolas Appert might as well be known as the ‘Father of Jarring’. Nicolas Appert came up with the concept that by heating and sterilizing a product then placing the substance in a sterilized, air-tight jar would make is long-lasting and sterile after a decade of experimentation in the hopes that he would gain recognition by Napoleon for his works. Napoleon awarded Appert with a good deal of money for his findings and used this new knowledge to his advantage by sending sterilized, preserved foods with his armies. Another recent man to make his name in history for contributing to food preservation was Daniel Farkas, a former food scientist. Farkas discovered high-pressure preservation which kills bacteria and pathogens. This method of preservi ng food is also known as pascalization and bridgemanization (oregonstate.edu). Over time, methods of food preservation have improved vastly to conform to our modernized world. Now more than ever we are able to store foods for years upon years without it going rancid. Plus, it I simple to use and effective, it is easy enough to store your food in the refrigerator, whereas in the eighteenth century you would hve to keep your food in an iebox outside of your house. Even so, Food producers should aim toward maintaining not only the food itself but also its nutritional value. Most means of food preservation, such as pickling, salting, and freezing diminish the nutrition of the food you eat. The more fresh foods we eat, the closer we may become to optimum health; hopefully in years to come we will be able to not only conserve food but also nutrients.

Relationship Between Stress and Physical Illness

Relationship Between Stress and Physical Illness Nadine Thompson Outline and evaluate research investigating the link between stress and physical illness. The presence of stress has been identified as an important attribute to psychological well-being. However, through a considerable quantity of research, Psychologists have suggested that psychological encounters are capable of altering various aspects of the immune response. Supporting this, Frese (1985) suggested that stress is frequently involved in 50-70% of all physical illness (McIlveen, Gross, 1996, p.171). Therefore, it will be deliberated that Seyle’s research led to the development of psychoimmunology; which is an area of study investigating the relationship between psychological factors and the immune system of the body. (Hayes, 2000, p.404) This essay will analyse and combine empirical knowledge referring to psychological stress and the human immune system while emphasising relevant psychological research and composing evaluative conclusions from the information provided. To begin with, one must be required to consider what is meant by the term â€Å"stress† and the significance this component has on an individual. As stated by Lazarus and Folkman (1984), the definition of stress is â€Å"a pattern of negative physiological states and psychological responses occurring in situations where people perceive threats to their well-being which they may be unable to meet.† (McIlveen, Gross, 1996, p.169) Subsequently, Lazarus and Folkman’s definition of stress is largely accepted by those active in the area of research in this field, thus admitting further research by psychologists to establish the psychological effects of stress. While considering this, the consequences of stress induced on the body must be investigated. The immune system is a mechanism designed to protect and defend the body against antigens such as viruses, bacteria, toxins, and parasites. (Cardwell, Flanagan, 2012, p.136) To guarantee maximum performance, this intricat e system is attained through the release of two types of lymphocytes; B cells and T cells. (Cardwell, Flanagan, 2012, p.136) Therefore, the purpose of the B cell is to produce antibodies which will destroy invading viruses, and the T cell assists the B cell in making antibodies, therefore, destroying invading cells which have initially survived an attack from the B cell. (Science Museum, 2014) As a result, when an individual is stressed it will leave them more susceptible to infection because the immune system is unable to eliminate antigens. Seyle (1956), who was predominantly interested in the body’s resistance to prolonged exposure in stressful situations, either through physical illness or psychological causes, identified the response to long-term stress through humans and animals. To do this he used a model known as the ‘General Adaptation Syndrome’. (Hayes, 2000, p.403) As a result of this, Seyle categorised three key stages of bodily reaction during stressful occurrences. The initial stage is the â€Å"alarm† stage which stimulates the body to release adrenaline, which is then followed by a state of â€Å"resistance†, where the body’s resources are used quicker than they are restored. Consequently, as the individual enters the final stage of â€Å"exhaustion† or also known as the â€Å"burnout† stage, the probability of developing a stress related illness significantly increases. (McIlveen, Gross, 1996, p.170) Although Seyle’s findings were based upon st ressors, internal and external sources of stress, (Lawton, Gross, Rolls, 2011, p.1115) produced in non-human animals, therefore making the results non-applicable to human beings, they were still exceedingly recognised to offer a useful approach for other psychologists in their research into the interpretation of the physiological responses to a stressor. Alternatively, Merson (2001) states that the three stages which the body reacts to, is a result of the presence of a stressor. Additionally, Merson suggested that the performance of the immune system remains at a regular level throughout the onset of stress. (Bartley, 2013, p.27) Consequently, if the stressor continues, then the immune system’s ability to perform reaches its maximum point. However, performance is at its lowest point if the stressor becomes chronic. In support of Merson’s theory, several psychological studies have emphasised the observation that short-term stress does not always decrease the functioning of the immune system, but can in fact sometimes enhance it. One of these studies, performed by Dhabhar and McEwen (1997, 2001), ascertained that the immune system is roused as a result of the â€Å"fight or flight† response. (ncbi, 2006) A term signifying an individual’s psychological innate energised response to an intimidating situation, t o either fight or run away, basically meaning an overall state of readiness. In an experiment exposing mice to mild stress over a two hour period, Dhabhar also revealed, that large distribution of immune cells was composed by three hormones released by the adrenal gland. These hormones were norepinephrine, epinephrine and cortocosterone. (Wood, 2012) Following this, he discovered a pattern of choreographed changes in blood levels within these three hormones, exemplifying how the immune cells from areas such as spleen and bone marrow were compelled to move to â€Å"front line† organs. Therefore suggesting that, short-term stressors can in fact boost the performance of the immune system. However, the psychological responses of a non-human animal cannot be used to explain human performance. Additionally, Evans et al. (1994) studied the activity of an antibody known as slgA, which helps prevent infection. (Cardwell, Flanagan, 2012, p.137) Evans et al. organised a talk to be given to students by other students, resulting in mild but acute stress. Although these students showed signs of an increase in slgA, they reduced during examination periods extending over several weeks Furthermore, Malarkey et al. (1994) proposed that marital arguments lead to weaker immune system functioning, following the study of 90 newly-wed couples. As a result, it was suggested that stress has two effects on the immune system; acute stress enhances it, whereas chronic stress reduces it. However, Kiecolt-Glaser et al (1984) carried out a natural experiment to examine the effects of long-term stressors and find out if there was a difference in the immune response of individuals in low and high stress conditions. It was predicted that immunosuppression, measured by the quantity of natural killer cell or T cell activity, would reduce when stress levels were increased. (Lawton, Gross, Rolls, 2011, p.120) Therefore, blood samples were taken from 75 volunteer first-year medical students, 26 females and 49 males, one month before their final exams and again on the first day of their exams, following two examinations. (Lawton, Gross, Rolls, 2011, p.120) These were presumed to be periods of low and high stress. The students were also provided with questionnaires, such as the Social Readjustment Rating Scale [SRRS] (docstoc, 2010) to assess any psychological symptoms which may have been present. As predicted, the findings emphasised that the blood samples taken after the exami nations, contained a declined number of T cells and the immune response was suppressed in participants who suffered from psychological variables. Consequently, Kiecolt-Glaser et al concluded that the examination stress alone did in fact weaken the functioning of the immune system as the participants had a reduced amount of natural killer cells. It had also become apparent that life events, depression, loneliness, and anxiety were all results of a weakened immune response and therefore can be contributed from stress. As a result, it is important to highlight that although Kielcolt-Glaser’s study is a natural experiment, and thus high in ecological validity, which is a term that refers to whether or not a study can generalise from reserved conduct in a laboratory to natural behaviour in the real world, (Hartas, 2010, p.77) it also lacks control over confounding variables, such as caffeine, nicotine, medication and so on as it’s carried out in natural surroundings. As a result, it cannot be guaranteed that stress led to the immune response as elements that were not controlled could be accountable.

Capital Punishment Essay -- essays research papers fc

Capital Punishment Murder, a common occurrence in American society, is thought of as a horrible, reprehensible atrocity. Why then, is it thought of differently when the state government arranges and executes a human being, the very definition of premeditated murder? Capital punishment has been reviewed and studied for many years, exposing several inequities and weaknesses, showing the need for the death penalty to be abolished. Upon examination, one finds capital punishment to be economically weak and deficient. A common misconception of the death penalty is that the cost to execute a convicted criminal is cheaper than to place a convict in prison for life without parole. Due to the United States judicial system, the process of appeals, which is inevitable with cases involving death as the sentence, incurs an extreme cost and is very time consuming. The cost of a capital trial and execution can be two to six times greater than the amount of money needed to house and feed a prisoner for life. "Studies show incarceration costs roughly $20,000 per inmate per year ($800,000 if a person lives 40 years in prison). Research also shows a death-penalty ease costs roughly $2 million per execution," (Kaplan 2). Capital punishment is extremely expensive and depletes state governments of money that could be used for a wide range of programs that are beneficial. As Belolyn Wiliams-Harold, an author for the jour nal Black Enterprise, writes that county governments are typically responsible for the costs of prosecution and the costs of the criminal trial, including attorney's fees, and salaries for the members of the courtroom. All this money is spent at the expense of the corrections department and crime prevention programs, which are already is strapped for cash (Williams-Harlod 1). These "financial constraints," such as capital punishment, do not promote a healthy, commercial society, but actually cost and harm the public. As well as being economically unsound, the death penalty is socially biased. A class system appears to be present in the United States of America this day in age, and the lower classes seem to almost be discriminated against by the higher classes. This is also true of capital punishment. Ed Bishop of the St. Louis Journalism Review , writes on how these members of a lower class can not escape the death penalty. At the height of the... ...l punishment as a just and morally sound method of justice. After all, "An eye for an eye" seemed to be a rationale that many embraced as fair. Now there is an era of closer examination of what is truly just and morally ethical, as well as economically sound. A consequence needs to be fair, humane, and effective. Does capital punishment meet these criteria? There are compelling reasons to change the system we have blindly acclaimed. Hopefully we are in the process of implementing a new way of dealing with an age-old dilemma. Works Cited Bishop, Ed. St. Louis Journalism Review, "Anti-death Penalty Stance." V29, March 1999. http://source.unco.edu/. Cummings, Ryan. The Economist, "Most Advanced Countries Have Abolished Capital Punishment." V351, May 15, 1999. http://source.unco.edu/. Kaplan, David A. Newsweek, "Capital Punishment." V129, June 16, 1997. http://source.unco.edu/. Kile, David. The Christian Century, "Death Penalty Doubts." V116, Feb. 24, 1999. http://source.unco.edu/. Williams-Harold, Belolyn. Black Enterprise, "Facts and Figures: a costly matter of life or death." V29, Sept. 1998. http://source.unco.edu/.

Leukemia Essay -- Health Medical Cancer

Leukemia Leukemia is a disease that affects blood-forming tissues, mainly bone marrow. Leukemia also affects the lymph glands and spleen. Leukemia causes the body to produce an extreme amount of abnormal white blood cells. This causes infections because the abnormal cells cannot stop infections like the normal cells do. Leukemia also causes anemia. Anemia is a disease in which the body makes less blood cells. This happens because the leukemic cells crowd the system. Leukemia also causes excessive bleeding. This happens because the amount of platelets will decrease and clotting will not occur, Researchers think a change in genetic structure causes leukemia. Changes in gene structure could be caused by environmental problems. Some of these problems could be: birth defects, radiation, viruses, and chemicals. Leukemia is not inherited and is not contagious. There are two major types of Leukemia, Lymphocytic and Granulocytic. In Lymphocytic Leukemia white blood cells known as Lymphocytes, which are made in the Lymph glands and bone marrow are abnormal or immature. In Granulocytic Leukemia this causes an increase in white blood cells known as granulocytes. Granulocytes are made in the bone marrow, and other tissue. Granulocytes that are affected by leukemia cannot fight of infections. There are two ways in which leukemia can occur. One is acute, and the other is chronic. Acute leukemia is found most in children. It progresses r...

Cell Bio Lab Report Essay

The purpose of this lab was to test the biological activity of ConA by performing a hemagglutination assay. If ConA is active then agglutination will occur due to ConA’s free receptors being able to bind to the glucose residues on the sheep’s red blood cells. If ConA is not active then no agglutination will occur. To test the hemagglutination reaction, two types of ConA solutions were compared, a purchased control ConA solution in buffer as the positive control, and a purified solution of ConA in buffer previously purified in lab. Each solution was at a 2mg/ml concentration of ConA in ConA buffer, which is necessary for ConA’s biological activity. Two variables were added, Galactose and Mannose, to the ConA solution to compare the effects each had on the hemagglutination reaction. I hypothesize for ConA to be able to agglutinate the red blood cells if in the adequate concentration and if in the presence of Galactose, not Mannose. Mannose will inhibit the ConA fro m binding to the red blood cell’s membrane, preventing agglutination. RESULTS The reaction plate containing the ConA dilutions was incubated over the weekend and resulted in all wells being pink, appearing as if every well had agglutinated. There was a vague outline of the non-agglutinated cells in various wells. The last agglutination was observed at titer 0.0625 (1/16). Agglutination was seen in rows A, B D, and E (row A contained the control ConA, row B contained the control ConA + Galactose, row D contained the sample ConA, and row E contained the sample ConA + Galactose). In the well rows C and F which contained control ConA + Mannose and sample ConA + Mannose, agglutination did not occur at any concentration of ConA. Row G, the negative control appeared to have agglutinated as well as Row H, which contained only ConA buffer. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The results did not support my hypothesis for the biological activity of ConA. There are some sources of error that could explain the results obtained. It’s possible there was a problem with either the ConA buffer or the sheep red blood cells to allow for all wells to turn pink and appear agglutinated. Another explanation of the irregular results was there might have been cross contamination from not changing tips when transferring to different ConA concentrations, or if bubbles were introduced while diluting the ConA, making the results difficult to interpret. For wells A, B D, and E as ConA became more diluted or decreased in concentration, it became more difficult for it to effectively crosslink and agglutinate the red blood cells. Well D, the positive control that contained the purchased ConA resulted in agglutination of the first couple wells, then no agglutination as the ConA concentration decreased, similar to Row A. Wells B and E that had the Galacatose additive obtained the same titer of the control ConA because ConA does not bind Galactose. Galactose doesn’t interfere with ConA from binding to the sugar residues on the red blood cells. Mannose on the other hand, is an inhibitor to ConA’s binding sites. The Mannose in solution competed with the ConA and did not allow to bind to the sugar residues on the red blood cells as seen in rows C and F. Row G, the negative control, should have resulted in non-agglutination, similar to the rows containing the Mannose additive. The results observed showed agglutination formed in this row. Lastly, Row H should have shown non-agglutination through out because the well contained only ConA buffer, not ConA protein. In conclusion, the results did not clearly explain the biological activity of ConA with the hemagglutination assay. The experiment contained too many anomalies to get a clear determination of ConA’s functionality post purification. The results did show that a change in the concentration of ConA would alter the strength of the reaction. Also, ConA’s ability to bind to sugar residues can be affected if ConA has to compete or is inhibited to bind to a cells membrane. LITERATURE CITED Cell Biology 3822 Lab Manual, Cell Surface Glycoprotein Receptor Analysis Using Concanavalin A Lab 7. Pearson Learning Solutions. 2012: 147-154. Madeleine Zaechringer. Cell Biology 3822 Analysis of purified ConA via Hemagglutinatino Assay Lab 7: Powerpoint. 2014.

Project On NCO Essay

INTRODUCTION I have worked for the army as an NCO for the last 13 years and I have always tried to be accountable as much as I can, to live up to the standards of this base and carry out all my responsibilities abiding in the set out rules and regulations. As an Non Commissioned Officer I must be empathetic and positive.   And, as always, must set the standard for integrity and character. However in the recent past I found myself on the wrong side of the matter when over speeded in the base. ABSTRACT The script uses a global array to filter, consolidate, and sort the timing violations. The contents of the global array are then presented in a report of consolidated timing violations. There is illustrated a block of an exemplary global array. The global array includes a plurality of records. Each record includes fields for warning type, time of event, data events, setup time limit, hold time limit, amount of violation, time of last warning. Because experience teaches us that there are some people that only learn by stripping them of their funds. There are others that the mere threat of that loss will keep them on the straight and narrow for 20years to come. And the officers that I know that are the biggest benefactors of professional courtesy deliberately disobey laws because they believe they can do so with impunity. A warning isn’t going to do it for them. An example is a Passaic County Sheriff’s Office incident. The Virginia deputy stopped them, advised them of the applicable law, asked them to obey it, and did not cite anyone. Everyone agreed that he was polite in doing this. The guys pulled back onto the highway resumed doing exactly what they were doing before, and then tried to get the deputy fired when they got home. I hereby submit my Post Violation Report due to my misconduct. Over speeding is the main cause of so many accidents in the army base and other areas in the United States of America. I strongly believe that I was not supposed to go against the ethics, rules and regulations in the base. As an NCO am supposed to set out a good example to all other ground men. However in every day world, we sometimes find ourselves in such situations. In most cases it is not due to our own will but we accidentally find ourselves between a rock and a hard place and therefore try to get ourselves out of it. This being the first time I have done this, I know I have not done such a big criminal activity. I never said that I don’t commit traffic violations. I think I’m pretty careful, but I have missed stop signs, exceeded the speed limit, failed to signal a turn, etc., like everyone else. So far, either I have been lucky or my violations were not so flagrant that they merited a stop. But after pushing a patrol car around for 13 years, I have to say that I can’t remember even once forgetting which car I was in, the patrol car or my personal car. And even in the patrol car, if I committed an intentional traffic violation, it was to accomplish some job-related task, like get turned around to chase a violator or in the field and have to ignore some rules to in order to hit the target. It has never occurred to me to try this in the field of work nor in my private missions without a good reason. If your situational awareness is so poor that you can’t remember whether you’re on or off duty or which car you’re driving, your problems go way past an officers’ discretionary decision making, and your head is definitely â€Å"in the clouds.† I think it’s interesting that you claim that you would have no problem with ignoring a lawful direct order from a superior officer, but you would fear retaliation and would decline to take enforcement action on a clear violation of the law if an officer was involved. If this is truly the situation you’re working in, your agency is in serious trouble. Maybe so, but so what? You never had a brain fart, or were on automatic pilot, you unfortunately can’t control all this. I admit however that on several occasion, when driving off duty in my private vehicle I have driven in the midnight hours because I forgot I was driving in my personal vehicle. Missed to obey the signs and instructions to the drivers. I am not advocating for over speeding in any way, and never have advocated for the same, writing every Amy officer you stop. That is just as much an abuse of discretion as not writing anyone who is an NCO. RESPONSIBILITIES OF AN NON COMMISSIONED OFFICER The duties and responsibilities of NCOs has remained the same for quite a longtime.As an NCO I should be responsible for the following:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Should know where your soldiers live and how to contact them Use the unit to accomplish, as many missions as possible and at all cost never give out volunteer troops. Managing a specific launch vehicle System administration with decision-making authority. Training new Operations Safety Technicians In fact sometimes it has never been a prudent thing to do some of the following: Sending food back to the kitchen. Telling your significant other you have had better. Commenting in front of your boss â€Å"I can find a better job tomorrow!† Dating a co-worker/boss/bosses daughter. At one point I found myself over speeding just because I could not let it go or because I needed to hit some deadlines. Because most of the violations were not all that grave and my impression was that I had a wake-up call from the stop itself. Was I driving safely? Mission accomplished. But the guy that clearly knows what I was doing got me stopped, and who will resume that same activity as soon as we’re done because we thought he had the right to do that, if not a ride in the back seat. As I qualified many times prior, anyone can talk themselves into a ticket. Just because you are military or physician does not mean I don’t run your driving license. I never said that every one of these members gets a pass, I have written military, physicians and other army officers. Here are the facts, I would like to assume that a member of our armed forces is a reasonably decent individual service that few would undertake and regardless of station they deserve my respect and appreciation. Discression is a funny thing. Where you might exercise it, I might not. Where you think me lax, I might think you unnecessarily harsh. Though you are correct in the spirit of your argument, its execution is not so easy. If this were easy, anyone could do it. I made discretionary decisions every day, and I don’t think I was harsh with them. The difference is that I used criteria that were relevant to the situation and that I could defend to anyone that questioned why I had done what I did. You want to bring in criteria of your own choosing that are based on your fears and biases. Overcoming fear and bias is something every one of us has to do in order to be an army officer. , or you get out. I could have shined on any or all of these people, and no one would have known except them and me. As for is Fort Jackson SC cop that I didn’t know was a cop until after I had issued the ticket, he probably deserved a warning, as he was an out-of-towner who was unfamiliar with the intersection and turned left in violation of a posted sign. The cop part of it had nothing to do with whether it was a bad decision or not. One of the sergeants tried to condemn me within the department for comforting another ground officer and that upset me very much. One more thing: say you’re driving around tomorrow in your private vehicle running errands, and you run a red light. No intent to break the law; you just got distracted for a second, make decision without influence, and accept whatever consequences follow your conduct. Some examples where premeditation discretion, in and of itself, doesn’t make sense: there comes a time when you have to attend to an emergency, and here is where our perspectives diverge. All of those applications of premeditated discretion to use your term are enacted pursuant to due process of law and legislation, formulated in compliance with the set out rules and regulations in the base, and is promulgated to the citizenry. As noted above, a large number of substantially contemporaneous timing violations in a particular module can be the result of a single cause. The violation time is the difference between the given speed limit and speed you have exceeded, and is calculated from the limits (setup or hold) and the difference in time between the clock and data events. The first warnings are used by the script to report consolidated information regarding multiple timing violations that occur at a particular module. ACCOUNTABILITY OF AN NCO Senior leaders, must afford these to junior troops: Responsibility, to instill a sense of worth, pride and accomplishment; Authority, to effectively carry out tasks they are responsible for; Accountability, for actions right and wrong; and Assistance, to help junior troops learn from leaders’ experience and expertise. Such actions by leaders are vital to developing junior troops who will be tomorrow’s leaders. Senior leaders must â€Å"coach, teach, mentor and train† subordinates to effectively replace the leaders in the future. EXPECTATIONS Looking at what American military officers expect from their senior NCOs and vice versa. Officers in the U.S. military expect their senior enlisted leaders to be tactically, technically and strategically proficient; to be â€Å"professional beyond reproach†; and to be â€Å"the eyes and the ears for the commander† – the voice of service members and their families. Senior NCO leaders should expect several things from their commanders and carry out the following: Trust and accord respect. Direct and open communication. â€Å"No one has permission to stop me from seeing General Pace These are not a right, but must be earned through consistently professional and proficient actions. Freedom of movement throughout the command. â€Å"You need to tell that commander, ‘Sir, I need to have freedom of moment throughout my area of responsibility. The only way I can advise you is if I see it, Senior U.S. NCOs are empowered in many ways. However, empowerment is not about having power per se, but about influencing junior troops to do the right things. Infact power is not an issue; the big concern is how leaders exercise influence over their subordinates. Maintaining good order A person assigned as an NCO should be responsible for a defined common area within the barracks, e.g., hallways, laundry rooms, dayrooms etc., in writing and post this NCOs name. Conspicuously in the vicinity of the assigned area. This NCO will, at a minimum, be responsible for reporting common area deficiencies to the Battalion R&U NCO. This person will sign for any furnishings and other accountable property located outside of individual soldier rooms. Maintain room assignment rosters for the barracks. Assign soldiers to barracks by requesting that the FMO issue barracks furniture to occupants. Units may appoint a barracks manager or similar person to assist in managing this function. Non-commissioned Officers (NCOs). NCOs have the primary duty of maintaining the health, safety, welfare and discipline of the soldiers assigned to them. These duties extend to: Ensuring that their soldiers have a healthy and safe living environment that complies with the Army values and enhances unit readiness and discipline. NCOs are the key element of command. Presence in the barracks. NCOs may exercise this leadership as common area NCOIC, SDNCO, And CQ. NCOs will also exercise this leadership as first line and higher supervisors of soldier’s Living in the barracks. At a minimum, NCOs will: Conduct inspections IAW Chapter 4 below. Monitor all barracks activities to ensure compliance with the letter of this regulation and the spirit of the Army values. Ensure the barracks are the safe, healthy environment for soldiers and other NCOs. Inspect barracks furnishings for accountability and serviceability. Barracks Commanding Common areas. Assign an NCO to be responsible for a defined common area within the barracks, e.g., hallways, laundry rooms, dayrooms etc., in writing and post this NCO’s name conspicuously in the vicinity of the assigned area. This NCO will, at a minimum, be responsible for reporting common area deficiencies to the Battalion R&U NCO. This person will sign for any furnishings and other accountable property located outside of individual soldier rooms. Maintain room assignment rosters for the barracks. Assign soldiers to barracks by requesting that the FMO issue barracks furniture to occupants. Units may appoint a barracks manager or similar person to assist in managing this function. Supervision Under supervision the NCO is required to motivate and control the following: Counsel soldiers and maintain counseling records. Conduct corrective training when required Keep soldiers informed during their work and events taking place and exercises. Enforcing the equal opportunity program in the forces CONCLUSION As a Non Commissioned officer I understand that by over speeding in the base posed a srious danger to me and also to the other officers on duty. This was actually putting my life at risk. Also as an officer who is supposed to be a good example to my subordinates, I acted in a manner trying to suggest that is not a good example. I strongly  believe that this was a great mistake and am determined to rectify any harm that may have been caused by my misconduct    REFERENCES. Robert Sterling Rush (2006) Non Commissioned Officer Guide Stackpole Books, United States. 2. United States Court of Claims, (1988) Federal Reporter, West Pub. Co 3.Braham Clark Freeman, The American states report,   Ã‚   Published 1895, Bancroft-Whitney Co. Publishers 4.By Lawyers Co-operative, (1905) Lawyers’ Reports Annotated, Publishing Company Lawyers’ Co-operative Pub. Co.