Community and Population Health Essay Example for Free

Community and Population Health Essay Introduction I currently reside in Denver County, Colorado. I have chosen to assess and analyze this community for this assignment. Denver, Colorado is located east of the Eastern Foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Denver County is centrally located within the city of Denver, Colorado and includes the Denver International Airport located north-east of the city. The elevation of this county is 5,277 feet and therefore is nicknamed the â€Å"Mile-High City†. Denver County contains 154.9 square miles of land with a large amount of parks and rivers, of which 1. 4 miles is water. (City and County of Denver, 2011). Population Economic Status According to the 2010 census, Denver County has a population of 600,158 people with a median age of 33.7 years old (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010a). Denver County’s population is approximately 50% male and 50% female (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010a). The ethnicity of Denver County is predominately White (52.2%), with Hispanic (31.8%) and Black (9.8%) ethnic groups comprising the next largest population groups (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010a). The median household income in Denver County from 2008-2012 was is $49,091; compared to $58,244 for the entire state of Colorado (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010b). From2008-2012, 18.9% of households were at or below poverty; compared to an average of 12.9% for the entire state of Colorado (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010b). The average reported unemployment rate for persons ages 16 + in Denver County was 8.6% (with a +/- 0.4% margin of error) (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010a). Denver County has a high percentage of educated workforce. In 2008-2012, 36.7% of the population age 25 + had obtained their Bachelor’s Degree, or a higher level of education; compared 28.5% for the entire US (U.S. Census  Bureau, 2010b). Although Denver County has a large percentage of educated residents, it also has a high number of homeless residents. In a survey taken in January 2013, an estimated 11,167 people were homeless in Denver (including employed homeless) (Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, 2013). Of those individuals, 43% were women and 62% were adults with children (Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, 2013). The birth rate in Denver County in 2012 was 9,236 (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 2012). This was average compared to the previous two years – in 2011 there were 9,431 births compared to 2010 where there were 9,584 births (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 2012). Denver County’s death rate in 2012 was 4,220 (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 2012). This number was average compared to the previous two years as well – in 2011 there were 4,156 deaths and in 2010 there were 4,210 deaths. The number one cause of death in Denver County from 2010 – 2012 was cardiovascular disease (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 2012). The majority of deaths related to population was individuals age 85+ (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 2012). Denver County offers two primary basic food assistance programs. These programs are called SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and WIC (Women, Infants, and Children). For the fiscal year of 2013, Colorado had an average of 47,636,090 persons from a total of 23,052,396 households were signed up for SNAP benefits (USDA, 2014a). This number had increased by approximately 1,027,016 persons from 2012 fiscal year (USDA, 2014a). For the fiscal year of 2013, Colorado had an average of 8,662,591 persons (including women, infants, and children) were receiving supplemental nutrition from the WIC program (USDA, 2014b). This number decreased by 245,249 persons from 2012 fiscal year (USDA, 2014b). Cultural Assessment The population size and sex of the cultural group I interviewed was of twenty white women. Out of the twenty women I interviewed, ten women were between the ages of 20-29 years old and ten women were between the ages of  30-49 years old. All twenty women are currently registered nurses on the internal medicine/oncology floor at the hospital I am currently employed at. The amount of nursing experience these individuals have ranges from two years to 29 years of experience. All twenty individuals interviewed have health insurance. The attitudes toward age and aging of the twenty individuals surveyed varied with a similar goal of staying healthy to prevent the onset of diseases. The younger group interviewed felt it was important to eat healthy and exercise to promote internal health and longevity of life in general. The older group interviewed were more specific with their answers and felt it was important to maintain low stress lifestyles to promote good mental and physical health, to exercise to promote strong bones/balance, to perform mental exercises to help prevent the onset of dementia, and to regularly attend appointments. Both groups agreed that positive vs. negative attitudes directly affect physical health and one’s quality of life. When I asked both groups of their opinions regarding what age adolescents are considered adults, I received drastically different answers. The younger group felt as if ages 18-19 years old are considered adults related to society’s description of an adult, the independency promoted with high school graduation, and the onset of college. The older group felt as if ages 22-23 years old are considered adults primarily related to maturity, life experiences, and the beginning of an entry level career after completion of a college degree. Both groups felt as if college education was an expectation. All of the individuals interviewed currently have their degree in nursing with an active nursing license. Approximately one-third of those interviewed have their Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and several of those interviewed possess recognizable specialty healthcare certifications. As an entirety, the group interviewed is healthy. Over half of those interviewed have no prior diagnoses regarding their state physical of health. The most obvious physical characteristic that both groups share is being overweight with eleven out of the twenty women interviewed currently being overweight according to their projected BMI. The entire population interviewed shared the mental challenge of overcoming the stress presented at work regarding difficult/challenging patients and all women interviewed believed they have compromised their safety while caring for a patient at one time or another in their career. When I asked this group what the usual sources of stress are, work was number one for all twenty women interviewed. The younger population interviewed stated that children/family and educational goals are some of their secondary sources of stress. The older population interviewed stated that aging/retirement and the health of other family members are their secondary sources of stress. Both groups primarily use the mountains/nature and outdoor activities, such as skiing and hiking, to cope with stress. Five of the individuals drive nearly sixty miles to work (one-way) daily, related to owning a home in the mountains to escape the â€Å"rush and chaos† of the city and helping to find a â€Å"balance in life†. Out of all twenty individuals interviewed, over 3/4 of the woman are married and/or have a significant other. When asked what their number one priority in life was, family was consistently number one. Most all other interests and goals were related to benefiting or bettering the family. Some of the answers named were continuing educational goals, buying a new home, having a baby, planning retirement, and helping their parents with activities of daily life. Of the cultural group identified, all of them share a team attitude while still exhibiting individualist perspectives unique to personal preferences and opinions. Neighborhood/Community Safety Denver is divided into about 80 different official neighborhoods within Denver County (City and County of Denver, 2011). Those 80 different neighborhoods have been divided into seven police and fire districts; including Denver International Airport with has its own district (Denver Police Department, 2014; Denver Fire Department, 2014). The average response time for the Denver Police Department varied in 2013 from 14.9 minutes to respond to urgent, emergency calls (from the time a 911 call was received to the time an officer arrived on the scene) to 16.9 minutes for an officer to respond to a non-emergency call (Maass, 2013). According to Lt. Matt Murray from the Denver Police Department, these slow response times  have been directly correlated with a lack of officers (Maass, 2013). According to Murray, the Denver Police Department can have as many as 1,426 officers and as of October 3, 2013, the Denver Police Department had only 1,350 officers (Maass, 2013). A new class of 70 recr uits are currently in training in hopes to decrease the department’s response times in 2014 (Maass, 2013). The Denver Fire Department maintains 34 different fire stations that are strategically split into seven districts (Denver Fire Department, 2014). Firefighter’s each work an average of three 24-hour shift with an average of 180 firefighter’s on-duty per shift (Denver Fire Department, 2014). The Denver Fire Department responds to a variety of calls including Fire Suppression, Rescue Operations, Hazardous Materials Response, Technical Rescue, Urban Search and Rescue, Water and Ice Rescue, High Angle Rope Rescue, Confined Space and Trench Rescue, Wildland Firefighting, and Emergency Medical Services. They also perform thousands of building inspections annually, daily training and certifications, public and community education, school fire drills, and organize other special events (Denver Fire Department, 2014). According to the Denver Fire Department 2012 Annual Report, there were a total of 101,531 alarms/calls made in 2012 that required the response of the fire department team (Maass, 2013). Out of those 101,531 calls made to the fire department, 54,350 were for medical calls, 8,103 were for auto accidents, 2,248 were for fires, and approximately 37,000 calls required other services or rescues (Maass, 2013). Denver County has a significant amount of violence, crime, and gang activity within the community. In January/February 2014 there were a total of 7,268 crimes captured by the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) (Denver Police Department, 2014). According to this reporting system, the crimes are broken down into four categories; (1) crimes against persons, (2) crimes against property, (3) crimes against society, and (4) all other offenses (Denver Police Department, 2014). The top two offenses in Denver County per category included (1) simple assault and aggravated assault, (2) larceny and criminal mischief/damaged property, (3) drug/narcotic violations and prostitution, and (4) disorderly conduct/disturbing the peace and  criminal trespassing (Denver Police Department, 2014). These figures are slightly elevated from a total of 6,822 crimes in January/February 2013 (Denver Police Department, 2014). There is a variety of different gang activity in Denver County. In 2003, Denver police estimated that there were 14,000 gang members in Denver who were affiliated with 220 different gangs (Gang activity in Denver, 2013). The Denver Police Department has since created gang prevention programs including education, a gang hotline, outreach programs for former gang members, crime stoppers anonymous tips hotline, and the Denver Police Department Gang Bureau (Denver Police Department, 2014). Even with gang prevention involvement in the community and with these prevention programs in place, from January-September 2013 there was a total of 143 total crimes that could be directly related to gang activity (Gurman, 2013). These crimes included homicides, sexual assault, robberies, and aggravated assault (Gurman, 2013). Denver County is also populated with a high level of alcohol and drug abuse. The availability of marijuana with the recent legalization of recreational marijuana makes marijuana the most widely abused drug in Denver County (Mendelson, 2014). Alcohol, methamphetamines, heroin, cocaine, and prescription drugs are all found within the city limits of Denver as well (Mendelson, 2014). Denver County is centrally located between two interstates; I-25 and I-70. These interstates have many different entry and exit points to and from the city that provide easier access for drug trafficking and other illegal activities. Denver County has many different programs protecting its air and water quality. The Environmental Quality Division (EQD) is responsible for a variety of measures including conducting compliance inspections of air emissions, monitoring pollutant levels, issuing permits, and constructing models of air pollutant levels in the Denver area (Department of Environmental Health, 2014a). In February 2014 Colorado became the first state to regulate methane emissions from hydraulic fracking (Kroh, 2014). This new regulation will directly increase water quality and decrease smog in the Denver area. The Department of Environmental Health (DEH) is responsible for monitoring the quality of water in Denver’s lakes and  streams. The DEH collects an average of 13,000+ water samples and conducts more than 50,000 tests annually to ensure that Denver’s drinking water is clean and safe (Department of Environmental Health, 2014c). The goal is for the city of Denver to have fishable and swim mable waters in all the lakes and streams by 2020 (Department of Environmental Health, 2014c). Denver’s Departments of Environmental Health, Public Works, and Parks and Recreation are all work together to ensure that the City meets this goal (Department of Environmental Health, 2014c). Denver’s current number one pollutant is trash and litter. Urban Drainage and Flood control district alone collects approximately 100 tons of trash from the streams and rivers in Denver annually (Department of Environmental Health, 2014b). There are several health risks living within Denver County. These risks include earthquakes, hazardous materials, winter storms, and severe thunderstorms with hail, lightening, tornados, and/or flooding (Office of Emergency Management, 2014b). Hit and run injuries have become an epidemic in Denver County with an increase in fatal crashes in Denver County. Denver police reported 18,662 hit-and-run accidents, both sustaining injuries and sustaining no injuries, during 2011-2013 (Hubbard, 2014). At least one person in Denver metro area is injured every day by a hit-and-run driver and nearly three times a month a pedestrian is fatally injured by a motorist who flees the scene (Hubbard, 2014). Colorado legislators have recently increased the potential prison sentence for hit-and-run cases resulting in bodily injury and/or death. They have also formalized an alert program to inform the public on suspects, vehicles, and/or license plate numbers in an attempt to help in track down perpetrators (Hubbard, 2014). Disaster Assessment and Planning The state of Colorado and city of Denver has worked hard to organize a variety of disaster and emergency preparedness plans within the community. One source of information, READYColorado, offers a variety of data sources for the community. Their website, READYColorado.com, offers awareness and disaster preparedness for a variety of natural disasters, technological disasters, and human caused disasters. The website also contains statistics, facts, and a calendar list of current events and training exercises. It offers links for volunteer opportunities regarding community involvement and educational classes and it also lists ways to stay informed of emergencies  from such sources such as radio, television, text, live twitter feeds, and blogs. Three critical facilities in Denver County include three specific venues; Coors Field with 50K capacity, The Pepsi Center with 19K capacity, and Sports Authority at Mile High Stadium with 76K capacity (City and County of Denver, 2011). The most vulnerable populations to these disasters are the 22.3% of households with children less than 18 years of age, the approximately 23,000 individuals 65+ that live independently, and the residents in 51 long term care facilities within Denver County (City and County of Denver, 2011). The primary disaster of concern for the Denver County is winter weather. Winter weather is an expectation living in Colorado. READYColorado contains information for home and vehicle preparation, emergency communications planning, proper dress for indoors and outdoors to protect the body from hypothermia, and hypothermia/frostbite warning signs. One can also find more information at Ready.gov, Colorado Department of Transportation, NOAA watch, and the American Red Cross regarding winter weather and the risks involved. Avalanches are of great threat to the mountainous regions of Colorado but do not pose a threat within Denver County. The risk of earthquakes is low in Denver County. However if an earthquake was to occur, the city would be very susceptible to extensive damage. Residencies and some of the older buildings in Denver are not made to withstand earthquakes and would most likely suffer damage to their structures (Office of Emergency Management, 2014b). Severe thunderstorms bringing hail, lightening, and tornados pose threats to the Denver County annually. Residents of the Colorado’s Front Range area are located in the heart of â€Å"Hail Alley† which begins mid-April and lasts through mid-August. The Front Range and Denver County receives a high frequency of large hail annually, averaging three to four hailstorms a year, and costing at least 25 million dollars in insured damage for each event (READYColorado and the State of Colorado, 2014b). Lightening poses the greatest threat to areas where the mountains and plains intersect (READYColorado and the State of Colorado, 2014b). Three deaths related to  lightning strikes have known to occur in Denver since 2001 (National Weather Service, 2011). Tornados pose a threat to all areas of Colorado; however tornados to not typically get high intensity ratings within Denver County (City and County of Denver, 2011). Flying debris from high winds cause most injuries. NOAA weathe r radio, telephone alerts, and television sources provide alerts severe thunderstorms and the destructive events that they bring. Denver County also has an outdoor warning siren system consisting of 76 electro-mechanical sirens that sound when there are tornado alerts and warnings (Office of Emergency Management, 2014a). Wildfire ignition by lightning is a bigger concern rural Colorado areas compared to the city. Respiratory problems can still result from the inhalation of smoke spread by wind. Wildfires burn thousands of acres and destroy hundreds of structures annually in Colorado. These fires are generally ignited by lightening or human causes and can easily be fueled by drought conditions, insect infestations, and heat. READYColorado offers information on risk assessment, home preparation, evacuation plans, and shelter information. More information regarding wildfires can be found at Ready.gov, Ready, Set, Go!, Surviving Wildfire, The Red Cross, US Fire Administration – FEMA, and Colorado State Forest Service websites. Colorado Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal is also a useful tool in determining fire risks. Currently, Denver’s fire risk is between lowest intensity and moderate intensity risk (Colorado State Forest Service, 2014). Flooding has a big impact on Colorado and in 2013 challenged many residents in the Denver area. NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, television, and internet sources provide information on flood watches and warnings, including flash floods in Denver County. Flash flooding along streams such as Cherry Creek, Clear Creek, and Harvard Gulch pose the greatest threats within the Denver area. The Corps of Engineers, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District websites provide 2013 flood information, current projects, and resources for flooding preparation and damage control in Colorado. Health risks involved from flooding include contamination from bacteria (ie. E.coli), parasites (ie. giaria), and viruses (ie. Hepatitis A), respiratory infections from mold and other irritants, and bodily injury from swiftly moving currents, electricity hazards, and hypothermia. It is very important for all Denver County residents to be up to date with Tetanus  vaccinations. Terrorism poses a rather unpredictable threat to Denver County. Denver County has a large metropolis population and houses both government buildings and military installations, contains large sports stadiums and an international airport. It is known that failure of the Cherry Creek Dam would cause catastrophic damage to both life and property within Denver County (City and County of Denver, 2011). There have been known international and domestic terrorist groups identified in Colorado during previous years (City and County of Denver, 2011). Education regarding the â€Å"eight signs of terrorism† can be found at multiple terrorism related websites including READYColorado.com. Denver also has specialized units including Denver Police Department Mounted Patrol, S.W.A.T.(Special Weapons And Tactics) who’s primary objective deals with hostage negotiation, drug busts and counterterrorism (City and County of Denver, 2011). Hazardous material spill have an increase potential in Denver County related to the many different companies storing hazardous materials within city limits. There are approximately 400 facilities storing reportable quantities of hazardous materials on properties located throughout the county (Office of Emergency Management, 2014). Each company is regulated by law to hold emergency plans that would go into effect if an accidental release of substance was to occur. The interstates bring added risk to Denver County related to the traffic along I-25 and I-70. These two interstates pass through densely populated areas of Denver County Denver fire and police have Hazardous Materials Response teams in place that are trained to respond to such an event(s). Denver County has nearly a dozen different hospitals with a vast amount of public transportation options such as bicycle, RTD bus and light rail services, taxi cabs, car2go, and Lyft services. Denver County has excellent communications and response teams in the event of a disaster with a vast amount of online education; however this information is published mostly in the English language. With such a large population of homeless in Denver County and 18.9% of all households at or below poverty level (U.S. Census  Bureau, 2010), the internet is not a good primary option for learning. Also, approximately 28% of all households speak a language other than English (City and County of Denver, 2011). Community Diagnosis Denver County is a very strong community regarding the number of educated workforce, median household income, number of hospitals, amount of public ground transportation, the protection of air and water quality, and the number of fire and police with specialty training teams and programs operating within the community. There is a very small percentage of residents 65+ who live independently and slightly over 1/5 of all households have children less than 18 years of age. The primary language is English and the community culture has a good overall team mentality. Denver County’s birth rate double the death rate with the leading cause of death cardiovascular disease in a primary death rate existing in the population 85+ (Colorado Department of Public Health, 2012). Denver County has many open avenues regarding opportunities and readiness attitudes within community. The population of Denver County is approximately 50% male and 50% female with a median age of 33.7 years old (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010a). This provides the community with the opportunity to explore young ideas and diversity among sexes. Denver County has a large number of homeless population with approximately 1/5 of the total population at or below poverty. These numbers exceed the national average. Denver County has two specific food programs being utilized greatly; SNAP and WIC benefits. There is a high number of crime, violence, and gangs within Denver County. There is a high level of alcohol and drug abuse within the community as well. Specialized police teams and community resources/programs assist with deterring these types of activities and assist in recovery efforts for those individuals. Colorado has recently legalized recreational marijuana which could be positive in terms of tax revenue for the state and future funding of programs and resources for the community. There could also be negative consequences regarding adolescent drug use and the increase of impaired drivers on the streets; however these statistics have not yet been measured and studied. Denver County is  contains a 100% urban population. This is both a strength and weakness to the city in terms of emergency evacuation. There are three critical facilities that exist in Denver County at specific venues with a capacity between 19K and 76K (City and County of Denver, 2011). Denver County is centrally located between I-25 and I-70 which can be an opportunity for evacuation or a barrier regarding avenues for drug trafficking and other illegal activities. There is a high ratio of hit-and-run injuries and fatalities within Denver County. Colorado legislators have recently increased potential prison sentences for hit-and-run cases resulting bodily injury and/or death. They have also formalized an alert program to inform and involve the public as an attempt to help track down perpetrators. The formulation of a city-wide educational program focusing on the prevention of hit-and-run occurrences may be beneficial in reducing these numbers as well. It is important for the Denver Police Department to have quicker response times to both emergent and non-emergent calls. Hopefully with the addition of new recruits for the force who are currently in training, Denver County will see quicker response time to all calls made. This will also hopefully decrease the amount of gang-related crimes and deter community activity in general. It is evident that Denver County has a large trash and litter problem. The initiation of more trash cans and recycle containers parallel with city-wide education would be beneficial in decreasing this problem. It would also be of benefit to the community and the court systems to enact a community service program that revolved around helping clean up the neighborhoods and streets. Denver County has good disaster and emergency preparedness plans within the community; however educational resources to the public need to be explored with a variety of different materials and other languages for maximum effectiveness. The primary educational method is by internet with most of the materials written in the English language only. Nearly 1/3 of all households in Denver County speak a language other than English. References City and County of Denver. (2011, Oct). Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment. Retrieved March 8, 2014, fromhttp://www.google.com/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource =webcd=1ved=0CCUQFjAAurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.denvergov.org%2FPortals%2F428%2Fdocuments%2FDenver%2520Hazard%2520Identification%2520and%2520Risk%2520Assessment.pdfei=AvEtU6etF8OJogSh5oDwDwusg=AFQjCNEEQhg_2-JDt_OVeX3pIyYSKGcx9gbvm=bv.62922401,d.cGU Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. (n.d.). Health Statistics: 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from http://www.google.com/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=s source=webcd=1ved=0CCUQFjAAurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chd.dphe.state.co .us%2FResources%2Fvs%2F2012%2FDenver.pdfei+I14tU9zPA-SNygGZ-IDYBwus G=AFQjCNH_VbyYxdRvmxNekgRu-y0LhIgrzwbvm=bv.62922401,d.aWc Colorado State Forest Service. (2014). Colorado Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from http://www.coloradowildfirerisk.com/map Denver Fire Department. (2014, January 7). In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_Fire_Department Denver Police Department. (2014, January 6). Reported Offenses In The City And County Of Denver By Month. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.denvergov.org/police/ PoliceDepartment/CrimeInformation/CrimeStatisticsMaps/tabid/441370/Default.aspx Denver’s Water Quality Program. (2014, February 14). Sampling Results. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from https://www.facebook.com/DenversWaterQualityProgram?sk=app_190322 544333196app_data Department of Environmental Health. (2014a). Air Quality Program: Our Role In Protecting Air Quality. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http://wwwdenvergov.org/environmental Health/EnvironmentalHealth/EnvironmentalQuality/EnvironmenatlAssessmentPolicy AirQuality/tabid/444649/Default.aspx Department of Environmental Health. (2014b). Water Quality Program: Trash and Litter. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http://wwwdenvergov.org/environmentalhealth/ EnvironmentalHealth/EnvironmentalQuality/WaterQuality/tabid/444650/Default.aspx Department of Environmental Health. (2014c). Water Quality Program: Water Quality In Lakes and Streams. Retreived March 9, 2014, from https://wwwdenver.gov.org/environmental health/EnvironmentalHealth/EnvironmentalQuality/WaterQuality/tabid/444650/Default. Aspx Gang activity in Denver. (2013, August 17). In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_activity_in_Denver Gurman, Sadie. (2013, October 15). The Denver Post. Denver Police: Gang violence rises this year, involves more victims. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http://www.denverpost.com /breakingnews/ci_24309448/denver-police-gang-violence-rises-this-year?source=rss Hubbard, Brent. (2014, Feburary 17). Rocky Mountain PBS. Hit-and-run fatal crashes rising in Colorado. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from http://www.coloradoan.com/article/201 40217/WINDSORBEACON01/302170069/Hit-run-fatal-crashes-rising-Colorado Kroh, Kiley. (2014, February 24). Climate Progress: Colorado Become The First State To Regulate Methane Emissions from Fracking. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http:// thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/24/3322651/Colorado-methane-fracking/ Maass, Brian. (2013, October 3). CBS Denver. Denver Police Response Times Worsen, Complaints Rising. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/ 10/03/denver-police-response-times-worsen-complaints-rising/ Mendelson, Bruce. (2014, Feburary). National Institute on Drug Abuse. Drug Abuse Patterns and Trends in Colorado and the Denver/Boulder Metropolitan Area – Update: Jan 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/organization/work groups-interest-groups-consortia/community-epidemiology-work-group-cewg/meeting- reports/highlights-summaries-january-2014-4 Metro Denver Homeless Initiative and National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. (2013, January). The Gathering Place – Homelessness and Poverty Statistics. Retrieved On March 8, 2014, from http://www.tgpdenver.org/homelessnessfaq?printable National Weather Service. (2011, June 21). Colorado and National Lightning Casualty Statistics. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pub/?n=/Itg/Itg_stats_index. php Office of Emergency Management. (2014a). Alert and Warning Systems. Retrieved March 10, 2014, https://www.denvergov.org/AlertandWarning/tabid/391430/default.aspx Office of Emergency Management. (2014b). Potential Threats. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http://www.denvergov.org/Redirect_404/tabid/391429/Default.aspx? READYColorado and the State of Colorado. (2014a). Retrieved March 10, 2014, from https:// www.readycolorado.com/ READYColorado and the State of Colorado. (2014b). Severe Weather/Thunderstorm. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from https://www.readycolorado.com/hazard/severe-weatherthunder storm READYColorado and the State of Colorado. (2014c). Tornado. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from https://www.readycolorado.com/hazard/tornado READYColorado and the State of Colorado. (2014d). Wildfire. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from https://www.readycolorado.com/hazard/wildfire

A Comparison of Social Classes in America vs. 1984 :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Social Classes in America vs. 1984 If you have ever read the book 1984 by George Orwell, then an interesting topic may have crossed your mind. The way the classes of people break down can be quite similar, and very different at times. In the United States, we have classes like the lower class, the working class, and the middle class. In 1984, there were such classes as the Proles, the Outer Party, and the Inner Party. The way the classes are broken down in 1984 reminds me a little bit of my old history class. When I studied medieval times and the classes back then were broken down into the nobles, the bourgeois, and the serfs. It is really interesting to break down the separate classes and find their similar details and their different details. Obviously the differences are greater in number and some of them fairly extreme. But that is to be expected. In my opinion, the way Orwell wrote the book makes his world seem more like a dystopia than a utopia. The only community that I have seen that I would even consider calling a utopia is "Star Trek." I just can't see Oceania as being a perfect vision of happiness. Everyone is constantly being watched, people aren't allowed to have their own thoughts, their past history is entirely made up. I don't see how it could get much worse than that. Unless you are a member of the Inner Party. They can have their own thoughts and aren't watched all the time. The lowest class in Oceania, the Proles, can also have their own thoughts. But "Nobody cares what the proles say"(Orwell, p11). So their thoughts never really get heard or paid any attention to at least. The Inner Party basically runs things and they only do what they want. They have no reason to listen to the proles. To more clearly describe the classes in 1984, I will describe some of the characteristics of the three parties. Each member of the Outer Party had a telescreen in their home that monitored every move they made. The telescreen could not be turned off. They were forced to wear an expression of quiet optimism when facing the telescreeen (Sheppard). The party members had to wear blue overalls and were given a limited number of coupons to trade for clothes, food, and other things such as that.

Who Is an Entrepreneur

Common/different aspects of the paper2 Conclusions6 References7 â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? † Introduction â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? † is a question that aroused many controversies and debates. Among many articles that talks about the entrepreneur and the process of entrepreneurship I will focus on three articles that tried to answer this question or demonstrated the uselessness of the question. Analyzing many different points of view will conduct to a better and deeper understanding of the phenomena.Therefore, this is not an exact science, like for instance mathematics or physics. It leads us more to interpretation, which means that, there will always be a need of debate. Short Summary In the article â€Å"Differentiating Entrepreneurs from Small Business Owners: A Conceptualization†, Carland et al. tries to answer the question by focusing on the characteristics of an entrepreneur and they go further with comparing him to a small business owner. They settl e a definition for each and then, they apply the main ideas to a larger scale and differentiate an entrepreneurial venture from a small business.Gartner criticize their point of view in his article â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? Is the wrong question† and considers that it is improper to define â€Å"the entrepreneur† because it would mean that an entrepreneur fits a certain type of person, which is not true since the views are not homogenous. That is why Gartner considers a more suitable approach for the concept, to analyze the entrepreneur’s behavior. In the article â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? Is a question worth asking†, Carland et al. tries to respond to Gartner’s critique and in the end, he argues that indeed entrepreneurship is a complex and dynamic concept.Common/different aspects of the paper In the article â€Å"Differentiating Entrepreneurs from Small Business Owners: A Conceptualization†, Carland et al. , in terms of entrepreneur and small business owner, focus on intentionality and characteristics. In their opinion, an entrepreneur’ purpose is profit and growth and he is characterized as an innovative person who will employ strategic management practices, while a small business owner’s purpose is furthering personal goals, and to whom the business is the primary source of income which will consume almost all of his time.In terms of differentiating Entrepreneurial Ventures form Small Business Ventures, they focus on the same ideas applied to a bigger scale. However, this attempt to define the concepts, and especially their arguments were hardly criticized by Gartner in his article â€Å"Who Is an Entrepreneur? Is the Wrong Question†. He brings into discussion the situation when â€Å"an individual personal goal is to establish a business for profit and growth†. He considers that Carland et al. are rung, first by focusing on intentionality, instead of creation, and second by focus ing on the person instead of the act of entrepreneurship.He argues that, by referring only to intentionality rather than to concrete things like articulated strategies or observed behaviors, they increased even more the ambiguity. In my opinion, Carland et al. ’s attempt to define a small business owner as an individual whose main characteristic is achieving its personal goals is a vague statement. To be more specific, I will take as an example a farmer, who lives in the country, has no job, owns 10 hectares of vineyards, and decides to start a business in wine industry. For him, this will be the primary source of income.To help me set his goals, I will analyze Maslow pyramid. According to Abraham Maslow we will start from the base. Our farmer’s first goal will be to sell as much wine as to be able to sustain his physiological needs, like buying food, water and so one. After satisfying his basic needs, he will want to assure the need of safety and therefore, he will ne ed to earn more money. So how can he do that? Growing his business and raising his earnings. This means that his goal will change into growth and profit while his business remains his principal source of income. And so one, we can continue to higher stages in the pyramid.Therefore, I consider that, the desire of achieving its personal goals cannot be a specific characteristic for a small business owner. I also believe that the two terms, â€Å"entrepreneur† and â€Å"small business owner†, are so close related that the transition between them can be made very easy and therefore I again disagree with Carland et al. because of their attempt to totally separate the concepts. For instance, if we take the farmer, on the the first stage of Maslow pyramid, according to Carland et al. , he fits the description of a small business owner, by having his business as his primary source of income and furthering his personal goals.But, what if we add that he discovers a secret recipe of wine, a new type of product, and he is able to put it into practice? This last feature belongs to an entrepreneur; therefore, the farmer will have both characteristics from a small business owner and an entrepreneur. So is he really a small business owner or he had become an entrepreneur? Gartner tries to show what differentiates an entrepreneur from non-entrepreneurs and it demonstrates that behavioral approaches are the ones we should concentrate on, for analyzing future researches in entrepreneurship, than trait approaches.He also recognizes that trait approaches and behavioral trait approaches are two related concepts that cannot be treated separately. Gartner explains that if we talk about behavioral and trait approaches, we analyze the entrepreneur’s characteristics through its activities undertaken to create an organization. For instance, Arthur Cole tries to take a behavioral viewpoint of an entrepreneur and then analyses his traits and specific characteristics (j udgment, perseverance, knowledge of the world and business).Jenks and Kilby disagree with studying the personality of an entrepreneur and they encourage researchers to study the behaviors and activities of an entrepreneur. However here, I consider that we can analyze equally, both the traits and the behavioral of an individual, because are strongly connected, and can be related in both ways, but the focus should be on the behavior. First, the behavior of an individual can be determined by its characteristics, as if for instance a person who most often takes hasty decisions he could be an impulsive person.And second, if we analyze an individual characteristics, we can suppose that he will behave in a certain way, like if he is very confident in its believes he could assume more risks than a person who does not trust its own ideas. Still we have to analyze each person as a simple, because everyone is unique and behaves in its own way. Gartner uses researches that focuses on the person of the entrepreneur, and tries to settle an entrepreneur’s qualities (traits), like: need for achievement, locus of control, risk taking, values, age, and others.Then he explains that these are worthless to differentiate entrepreneurs from others, because in the trait approach, an entrepreneur is considered a particular personality type with certain characteristics, but if we look at the studies, we can see that few entrepreneurs employ the same definition, so the views are not homogenous. In the article â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? Is a question worth asking†, after analyzing a compilation of Gartner’s studies of entrepreneurship, Carl et al. demonstrated the fruitlessness of his trait research.They considered that he used inconsistent definitions, samples that are not homogeneous or comparable and most important, he created an inconsistent entrepreneurial profile, which is often not significantly different from the rest of the population. Van de Ven finds it also important to analyze the traits and characteristics of a leader. However, Carland et al. considered that there are not so many classification schemes involving complex human behavior and that is one reason why they have excluded it.According to Gartner, we cannot talk anymore about â€Å"entrepreneurs† in general without referring to characteristics of the sample. In their continuous attempt to separate the term of â€Å"entrepreneur† from â€Å"small business owner† Carland et al. uses also psychology literature and considers that one’s personality is defined by all aspects of life and is largely set during the formative years. However, Gartner still believes that it is impossible to settle certain traits for an entrepreneur because everyone is different from other.Gartner also disagrees with the last part of Carland et al. entrepreneurial definition, which ties the state of being an entrepreneur to innovative behavior, and he brings up the problem of identifying if only the first firms in each industry are the innovative ones and all other subsequent would be small business owners. I consider that an entrepreneur is an innovative person, so in this respect I disagree with Gartner’s opinion. In addition, this does not mean that only the first company in each industry is innovative, like Gartner believes.Even if two firms are competing on the same industry, the second firm appeared on the market, could have products with the same utility and some similar characteristics, but the product can also contain an extra new, special, different, and innovative characteristic. Like for instance when it appeared the beer with lemon, I consider that is was a result of innovative thinking, because although it has the main utility of a bear, to quench the thirst, and has similar characteristics, it can also be seen as a new and different product.In this respect, Bhide, in his article â€Å"The questions every entrepreneur must answe r†, considers that in the same industry, the option that suits for one entrepreneurial venture can be completely inappropriate for another. In addition, he gives as an example companies like Microsoft, Lotus, WordPerfect, and Intuit, which are competing in the same industry but had a very different evolution. In his research â€Å"What is entrepreneurship? , Davidsson analyzes entrepreneurship through competitive behaviors. He agrees with Gartner. He does not consider innovation as an example of entrepreneurship. On the one side, he manages to avoid more the risk of ambiguity by restricting the entrepreneurship concept to a market context which gives a more precise characterization to the process and on the other its permissive because it has no restriction to innovation, organizational context, risk taking and others.He sees entrepreneurship on a small level, which has important effects on a bigger scale, because it influences the whole market. In addition, it is brought int o discussion the problem of differentiating a product from its similar product that constitutes innovation. Moreover, but not lastly we confront with the dilemma if new methods of manufacturing, marketing, distributing the product could be also considered as innovation and here, Gartner brings into discussion, the debate on which are the truly innovative methods.In the end, Gartner tries to change a long held viewpoint of entrepreneurial process by identifying it as the creation of new organizations. After that, he debates if the entrepreneurship ends once the organization creation is over. In his opinion the entrepreneurship ends once with the creation stage of the organization. In these respect, Greiner (1972) and Steinmetz (1969) considers that any organization can survive on past its creation stage to all the possible stages like growth, maturity, and decline.Therefore, if we look at the process itself and analyze each stage, when the individual creates an organization he takes different roles like innovator, manager, small business owner and many others and each is characterized by specific behaviors. But the order of these stages aren’t always the same. I consider that when the creation of the organization is on its end stage, we cannot say that entrepreneurial process it’s necessarily over. In certain situations, some firms extend their business by discovering a new revolutionary product.To be more specific, if we take in consideration a company which produces milk, and it discovers a new product that haven’t existed before, let’s suppose it’s butter, than the company will have to develop only some extra operations to make the revolutionary product. Therefore, the milk company will support a creation of a new sub organization in this section (technology, marketing, sales, management, and so one). Moreover, here come into discussion the habitual entrepreneurs, who, after creating a business, they are still identifying n ew business opportunities and put it into practice when they are able to do that.An interesting polemics, we can find on the article of Ucbasaran et al. , â€Å"Does entrepreneurial experience influence opportunity identification? †. After using data and research methodology among individuals engaged in entrepreneurial acts, they conclude that, on the one side, there are some differences between inexperienced novice entrepreneurs and experienced habitual entrepreneurs, but on the other, they also have some similarities in their behavior.Both habitual and novice entrepreneurs are in continuous searching for knowledge and development. One difference between these two categories is that with their experience, habitual entrepreneurs, identify more business opportunities, and one explanation could be that they use different sources of information like financiers, employees, and consultants. In addition, their attitude to business opportunity identification is different. They consi der that one opportunity often leads to another but it can also emerge in connection with some problems.Experienced entrepreneurs are also convinced that it is crucial to obtain the necessary resources and capital to implement a good idea, and they underline the importance of spontaneity and alertness. In addition, experienced entrepreneurs often identify business opportunities with higher level of innovativeness. One explication could be their ability of choosing the best person for the right activity, based on their experience, which gives them more time to develop more business opportunities. Wright et al. brings into discussion the risk of habitual entrepreneurs to repeat same ideas but in different or changed environments.I believe that habitual entrepreneurs indeed find more easily business opportunities because of their experience in the changing of the market needs, and most important customer’s needs. They have a better understanding of the market mechanism and how v ital is the spontaneity. They also understand better the consequences of doing or not doing something. However, entrepreneurship cannot be treated as an independently concept so therefore it can be related to areas like for instance mathematics, statistics, economics and many others.We find an attempt to prove the importance of having a complex model, in Bygrave and Hofer’s research, â€Å"Theorizing about Entrepreneurship†, where they try to highlight that entrepreneurship is a dynamic concept, which can’t be analyzed very good, using simples models like regression. They consider that we need a model with much more variables, such as: discontinuities in entrepreneurial process, changes of state (changes of phase in organization, including start-ups), sensitivity to initial conditions and multiplicity to anterior variables.In my opinion, using mathematics or some other exact sciences offers us a less subjective approach but if the model is not complex enough, we can also miss some details that could lead us to a rung conclusion or interpretation. Conclusions After analyzing opinions from several authors of articles, who tried to understand the concept of entrepreneurship and â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? †, we can conclude that there are many points of view in this respect and that’s why we cannot reach to a general valid and accepted definition of the concepts.Some tried to establish the differences between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs, others tried to differentiate even the entrepreneurs between them, focusing on experience, and some tried to measure the concept through statistics, all having the same aim, to understand deeper the concept. However, there will always be the need of debate because the concept itself is a subjective one. So it remains to our discretion what opinion do we agree with, or we may very well create our own concept of an entrepreneur and entrepreneurship.In my opinion, a better understanding o f the entrepreneur concept, needs a more suitable question, than â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? †, like â€Å"What does an entrepreneur do? †. I believe that if we are able to establish his behavior, this will lead us to its characteristics, on the one side, and on the other, it could also give us a vision of his potential future behavior. After analyzing all points of view, I finally created my own concept of an entrepreneur.Therefore, first I believe that an entrepreneur should be able to create an organization, based on an original innovative idea, and sustain it. Second, he is concentrated on anticipating the need of the person on long term and finds the most efficient way of satisfying it. Third, he takes huge risks in order to fulfill its goal and he is able to adapt easy to changes. Moreover, most of all he identifies itself with the organization. Therefore, on an entrepreneur all these characteristics and behaviors complement each other.References Bhide, A. 1996 ) The question every entrepreneur must answer, Harvard Business Review, 74(6), 120-130 Bygrave, W. D. & Hofer, C. W. (1991), Theorizing about entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Theory an Practice, 16(2), pp. 13-39 Carland, J. W. , Hoy, F. , Boulton, W. R. , & Carland, J. A. (1984). Differentiating entrepreneurs from small business owners: A conceptualization.Academy of Management Review, 9(2), 354-359 Carland, J. W. , Hoy, F. , & Carland, J. A. C. (1988): _’Who is an Entrepreneur? _Is a question worth asking’, American Journal of Small Business, 12(4): p. 3-39. Davidsson, P. (2004) What is entrepreneurship? Chapter in Researching entrepreneurship. Boston, Massachusetts: Springer. Gartner, W. (1989)

Examples of Radiation (and Whats Not Radiation)

Radiation is the emission and propagation of energy. A substance does not need to be radioactive in order to emit radiation because radiation encompasses all forms of energy, not just those produced by radioactive decay. However, all radioactive materials do emit radiation. Key Takeaways: Radiation Examples Radiation is emitted whenever energy is propagated.A substance does not need to be radioactive to emit radiation.Not all isotopes of element emit radiation.Common examples of radiation include light, heat, and alpha particles. Radiation Examples Here are some examples of different types of radiation: ultraviolet light from the sunheat from a stove burnervisible light from a candlex-rays from an x-ray machinealpha particles emitted from the radioactive decay of uraniumsound waves from your stereomicrowaves from a microwave ovenelectromagnetic radiation from your cell phoneultraviolet light from a black lightbeta particle radiation from a sample of strontium-90gamma radiation from a supernovamicrowave radiation from your wifi routerradio wavesa laser beam As you can see, most of the examples on this list are examples from the electromagnetic spectrum, but the energy source doesnt need to be light or magnetism to qualify as radiation. Sound, after all, is a different form of energy. Alpha particles are moving, energetic helium nuclei (particles). Examples of Things That Are Not Radiation Its important to realize isotopes are not always radioactive. For example deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen that is not radioactive. A glass of heavy water at room temperature does not emit radiation. (A warm glass of heavy water emits radiation as heat.) A more technical example has to do with the definition of radiation. An energy source may be capable of emitting radiation, but if the energy doesnt propagate outward, its not radiating. Take, for example, a magnetic field. If you hook up a coil of wire to a battery and form an electromagnet, the magnetic field it generates (actually an electromagnetic field) is a form a radiation. However, the magnetic field surrounding the Earth is not typically considered radiation because its not detached or propagating outward off into space. Source Kwan-Hoong Ng (October 2003). Non-Ionizing Radiations – Sources, Biological Effects, Emissions and Exposures (PDF). Proceedings of the International Conference on Non-Ionizing Radiation at UNITEN ICNIR2003 Electromagnetic Fields and Our Health.