Professional Philosophy Essay

Kellie Boudreaux kab1631 9/12/13 HLTH-214-S4A (Personal Professional Philosophy) Health is a very important lifestyle choice. It is not only physical but also a mental way of thinking. Being healthy can change ones perspective on life in a positive manner. Health helps you achieve balance and tranquility. Health in general can bring a community together and enforce positive behaviors. I believe health educators can mentor individuals to make choices that would enhance their life style. Health Promotion and Wellness stresses prevention techniques and being conscience of ones state of health. It is valued because it directly affects ones daily lifestyle. Health promotion employees may work from schools, any work environment, or within the community to spread health promotion. As a health promotion and wellness major we should be a role model to the community. We are the example and should â€Å"practice what we preach†. Just with any other profession, a cardiovascular doctor would not promote smoking or anything harmful to the body to cause illness. With this major you can work in many environments such as a hospital, school, community center, and businesses. Health promotion is necessary in all aspects of the community. It is important that a community maintains a healthy value to restrict illness and viruses from spreading. You could serve as a personal mentor to someone who is searching for help with their health. Or you could work for a business promoting healthier lifestyles dealing with their work ethnic. Health education can be both formal and informal. Meeting scenario or classroom environments can be a type of formal education. An informal type of education can be just a one-on-one conversation in a relaxed environment. In the profession you are dealing with peoples health, so you need to be ethical and respect peoples privacy. It is your job to understand and respect peoples health history. Everyones health is equally important no matter of race, age, or social background. As a health educator, I need to always remember each person I work with will have a different attitude and out look on life. Supporting ones health is a major key to lead someone to their healthy life. I must always respect ones background and beliefs. If  they are willing to improve their health then that is what matters. It is our job to highlight the importance of ones health. It is not just going to the gym, it is managing stress and mental prosperity. I believe that health is an important aspect of life. Many things involve mental and physical health. I hope to contribute to individuals well-being by providing healthy lifestyle choices. I want to work with the client and also any outside support systems that would contribute to their success. I believe supporting my clients is an important factor in ones goal set for a healthier lifestyle. Health promotion also involves with an on going relationship with your clients. I believe in being committed and connected with all of my clients in all environments I work with. No only being committed, I also want to be a mentor and role model to show my clients what it takes to live a healthy lifestyle. Each individuals have different plans to manage their health according to their belief system and goals they want to achieve. Teaching my clients how to integrate healthy living into their daily lifestyles will be a goal of mine throughout my future career. I can achieve this goal by establish ing personal relationships and creating a personalized health plan for each of my clients.

Applications of seven habits by Steven Covey Essay

This classic best seller for management, organisations and personal development encapsulates Steven Covey’s research on 200 years of success literature since his doctoral program. It is perhaps the most influential book for managers and organizations to learn the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, as the title suggest. It begins with the concept that people perceive the world differently, and we form our own paradigm – how we view the world with our own unique â€Å"lens†. Covey explains that paradigms are the source of our attitudes and behaviours. Part of achieving insight involves making a â€Å"paradigm shift† which causes us to perceive things differently. Our paradigms will affect how we interact with others, which in turn will affect how they interact with us. Covey argues that any effective self-help program must begin with an â€Å"inside-out† approach, rather than looking at our problems as â€Å"being out there† (an inside-ou t approach). We must start by examining our own character, paradigms, and motives. Hence, character and principles are keys to success, effectiveness, and happiness in life. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People points out: â€Å"Principles are guidelines for human conduct that are proven to have enduring, permanent value.† The seven habits divided into two main groups: private victory (independence) and public victory (interdependence). Habits of Independence: Habit 1: Be Proactive We must use our resourcefulness to work toward our personal goals. Everyone has both a circle of influence and a circle of concern. Worrying endlessly about things outside of our circle of influence isn’t particularly productive. Working within our circle of influence is productive. Further, the more effective we become, the more our circle of influence will expand. Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind What do we want people to say about us at our funerals? How will we be remembered? To succeed, Cov ey suggests visualization. Every successful outcome is created twice; first one plan and second on implementation. Habit 3: Put First Things First The key to putting first things first is to understand that we have many things we can do which will have a significant, positive impact on our lives. Covey stresses that we must balance Production (P) with Productive Capability (PC). We must keep the golden eggs, but also maintain goose. Prioritization is the essence of time management. Interdependence The remaining habits in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People are habits of interdependence. Rather than being dependent upon other people, or trying to be totally independent, we learn how to be more effective by effectively working with others. Habit 4: Think Win/Win Thinking Win/Win means seeking mutual benefit in our human interactions. To be successful in the long run, we should learn to consider other’s win factors besides our own. Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood Most people talk more than they listen. Until we listen actively and seek to understand others, we would not be understood. Active listening is about sensing the three modes of communications, i.e. visual, vocal and verbal. Habit 6: Synergize It means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Combining the strengths of each individual yields multiple outcome beyond expectations, simply ‘1+1>2’. Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw Just as a machine will wear out quickly if not properly maintained, the same is true for our own personal productivity. We must take care of ourselves. The four dimensions are physical, mental, social/emotional and spiritual renewals. To me, the first concept on paradigm is profound. I agree that when we change our perspectives, our attitudes and behaviours will change. To achieve enrichment in life, we need to understand our own paradigm, crystalize and anchor our principles. I have adopted these principles and find peace in self-awareness, social relationship and professional communications. Covey has successfully synthesised the successful habits of leaders, crystallised and organized them into two progressive segments. In line with child development from birth through death, one indeed grows from dependence to independence in early childhoo d to adolescence. We then mature to adults, where we progress from independence to interdependence. The seven habits are indeed proven to be critical for any individual to attain private and public victories. Hence it is no surprise that whenever I business leaders within my network on which are some books they would read to enrich their management knowledge, this book is voted as the most influential book that changed their lives. I have personally adopted these habits in my personal and professional communications and testify their effectiveness. I have sharpened my strengths in strategic thinking and leadership by adopting the habits of ‘Begin with the end in mind’ and ‘Synergize’. For instance at the Polytechnic, I mooted the idea of Young GEMS(Go-the-Extra-Miles-for-Service) camp for upper secondary school students to build our prospects for future enrolment. Upon approval from management for the Young GEMS camp, I formed a program team and successfully lead it to implement the camp through skilful synergy of the individual’s competence. This book has provided comprehensive coverage on the why and how of each habit. The only gap I see is that the context are US-based. It would be better if there is an Asian version with case studies of local enterprises and leaders, for the benefit of Asian readers. For instance, unlike Americans, Asians are generally weak in questioning skills to ‘seek to understand’ others. It would be helpful if there are some recommended strategies in questioning to gain insights of other’s perspectives. Also, Asians tends to individual and less apt to working in teams, particularly in appreciating individual strengths, expressing diversified opinions openly. Asian case studies on ‘Win-win’ and ‘Synergize’ would certainly be helpful. There is no doubt that all seven habits are pivotal in today’s managers and organisations. I personally have benefited as an account manager in Hewlett-Packard Singapore Sales when I was sponsored to attend the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People one-week course. It has significantly increased my self-awareness, strategic thinking skills, time-management skills and revolutionizes my perspectives in life. I can testify that the Habits are practical prescriptions for building trustworthy and lasting relationships, hence empowering managers to be effective leaders who could develop the most conducive working environment that attracts and retains like-minded talents for the good of society.

Identify the statutory and voluntary agencies who may work together at the scene of an emergency incident Essay

P3 – identify the statutory and voluntary agencies who may work together at the scene of an emergency incident Statutory and voluntary agencies: Statutory agencies are services like the police, fire and ambulance. These will always join an emergency incident. However at some incidents they will be helped by voluntary agencies like: St John Ambulance – St John Ambulance is a charitable organisation staffed by trained volunteers. The organisation responds to hundreds of emergency incidents (including major incidents) such as floods, fires, road traffic collisions and train crashes. The service supports and assists those in need, and is an excellent resource in terms of trained staff, medical aid and emergency vehicles. It can also provide evacuation centres. The St John ambulance has helped the statutory agencies during the floodings 2007 in York. â€Å"Throughout June and July 2007 our volunteers worked tirelessly to help support communities hit by heavy flood waters. We have provided a 24-hour support with volunteers and vehicles in a bid to help people struck by the disaster and set up many rest centres for those evacuated from their homes†. As you can see St John Ambulance makes a huge difference when they help the other emergency services at a major incident as it says above ‘set up many rest centres for those evacuated from their home’. By them doing that they have helped out the police services which saved them plenty of time. British Red Cross – The British Red Cross is a voluntary organisation that provides all sorts of things for example: First Aid, Emergency Response, Heal and Social Care, finding missing family, preparing for disasters and last but not least refugees support. During an incident the organisation can provide emotional support, support with the care of children and pets use of  shower and toilet facilities, provision of toiletries, clothing, light refreshments, use of a telephone and last but not least first aid. â€Å"As a leading voluntary organisation for emergency response, the Red Cross has thousands of specially trained volunteers who provide a range of services to people in emergencies, including practical and emotional support and first aid services. The Red Cross also has well-equipped fire and emergency support service (FESS) vehicles which play a vital role in supporting local fire and ambulance services. Before the flooding began, we launched a co-ordinated response to help vulnerable people across areas threatened by flooding in the UK. Our response included: Evacuation, staffing rest centres, support to the statutory services, distribution of emergency provisions, support from across the organisation, supplies and information. The British Red Cross have done a huge favour not only to the public but to the statutory agencies by supporting them on first aid and evacuation ECT. In my opinion without the British Red Cross it would of been ten times harder to solve the major incident, not only that hundreds more of casualties would of died if it weren’t for the British Red cross. Mountain rescue – Mountain rescue, a voluntary service that is train to rescue people who may have an accident it the mountain or lake area where there is limited ways to contact anybody for help. The Mountain Rescue team has supported the statutory agencies during the Grayrigg train crash at 2007. â€Å"Mr Farron, MP for South Lakes, said: â€Å"It’s only fitting that Network Rail’s fine goes to help those who were first to provide assistance on the night. Sadly it is all too true that these wonderful volunteer services do have to hold out a hand for windfalls and without them they could not survive†. As you can see the mountain rescue team was a huge support. It been said above without them they could not survive that proves a point that mountain rescue team is a hard working and organised organisation. Bibliography Bourley, A. (2012, May 24 ). GIVE MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAMS GRAYRIGG FINES CASH, SAYS CUMBRIAN MP. Retrieved october 8, 2013, from newsandstar: http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/give-mountain-rescue-teams-grayrigg-fines-cash-says-umbrian-mp-1.957516?referrerPath=# Dymond, H. (n.d.). Emergency response. Retrieved 10 8, 2013, from sja: http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/what-we-do/emergency-response.aspx Gray, D. (2010). oublic services level 3 btec nationals book 2. Society, T. B. (2007, august 2). How the UK floods crisis unfolded. Retrieved january 10, 2013, from redcross: http://www.redcross.org.uk/What-we-do/Emergency-response/Past-emergency-appeals/National-Floods-Appeal-2007/How-the-crisis-unfolded

Charges against 'sexting' teenagers highlight legal gaps by Alexandra Essay

Charges against 'sexting' teenagers highlight legal gaps by Alexandra Marks - Essay Example While the government is doing its best to protect young people from exploitation in ways it believes are most appropriate, some strongly hold the contrary view that teenagers of today would grow up fine, the same way those before them did, without the need of arbitrary laws that often stereotype and brand them as something they are not or, worse, turn them into something that society abhors-criminals. The article, moreover, elucidates that many of today's minors are being punished to suffer a penalty for something that some members of society do not even essentially consider as sin. According to them, there are certain things whose magnitude demands for formal social controls (in the form of laws controlling such behavior), yet there are things that are best dealt with within the family, as they have always been dealt with in the past few years. This issue connects with every facet of social structure by triggering differing opinions on the gravity of the matter as an issue of right and wrong, legal and illegal. Indeed, what is legal does not necessarily mean to be also moral, and vice versa. It is to be noted that every social strata, group, organization, and institution has its own perception of good or bad that, as expected and is but natural, would often come at variance with that of other units of society as explained by its differing social orientations. It is to be remembered that each of these units have influenced in one way or the other the shaping of these teenagers, as well as the shaping of laws and society's general sentiment on the issues. What the Issue Says about Our Society This issue tells us that society is a complex web of differing individuals that shape it and, in turn, are likewise shaped by it. The complexity of how society works is founded on the interplay of several aspects, such as power, values and norms, and shared or differing views of life in general. Societal values and norms, for example, determine what ways of doing things are acceptable to society and is often the main basis upon which laws are founded, though some concepts pertaining to power and influence cannot be discredited as well. Indeed, some are more powerful and influential than others; thus, they are more able to impose their perceived values and norms upon the entire society. Also, there is often, always a variation in what people may perceive as a shared view among everyone in a society. While most people agree that teenagers need moral guidance or protection, some prefer stringent measures, while others believe that such things are best resolved within the confines of the home and should only be discussed between parents and children. For in society's effort to save these children, it could instead lead it further astray, which takes a herculean effort to reverse. The Relationship between the People Involved and the Larger Society or Community While the people involved may not feel strongly that this issue is of a matter public concern, still there are some who believe that they exercise a moral responsibility to society as a whole. The latter feel that it is their bounden duty to protect the morals of society. It, however, should be noted that while a teenager may only look at the issue of sexting from his or her viewpoint, our

Historical analysis of football contracts Essay

Historical analysis of football contracts - Essay Example The relationship between players and clubs changed fundamentally through the years. Contemporary football is caught between two very powerful concepts: the freedom of movement of players on the one side and contractual stability on the other. The international governing body FIFA attempts to provide a universal guideline on how to deal with contractual stability and international mobility. A it was shown in this research project, freedom of movement is the consequence of many social, cultural and, not at last, political developments which have caused an increase in international mobility of players in the recent past. The focus of this article centered on playing contract conditions, analysis of power determinants in the football labor market. The football labor market, as this paper will demonstrate, is a site for power contestation between football authorities and players and the ‘transformation of circumstances’ with regard to playing contract conditions throughout the history of the game is central to this paper. The paper uses agency-structure as a framework and consequently adopts the view that football players perform their labor in an occupational workplace that is governed by football’s authorities (that is, the game’s rules, governing bodies, regulating authorities and clubs). In this sense, the players are considered to be the individual agents (agency)while the football authorities are the structure whilst the power battle between the players and authorities – as part of agency-structure – regarding playing contract conditions over time is the f ocal point of this paper.

Kidney Failure Scenarios Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Kidney Failure Scenarios - Essay Example Lack of insulin leads to the high sugar levels in the kidney and therefore, the body tries to balance such high levels of sugar by retaining large amounts of water in the body, hence low output of urine. This causes the kidney disease. Since her case seems to be in the early stages, the best option is to undergo treatment for renal dysfunction (Stein, 2007) A Mr. Hodges kidney is affecting the rest of his body because it is associated with heart failure. The poor circulatory function retains a lot of wastes and other toxins that then affect the other body parts. The heart is what controls all our body parts by supplying it with blood and oxygen. Therefore, other body parts are likely to be affected when one suffers from congestive heart failure. As his renal failure worsens, other symptoms and signs that might occur are high urine levels in blood, nocturnal urination, abnormal heart rhythms, memory problems, difficulties in breathing, and slowed digestive process ((Amgen, 2009). Mr. Hodges kidney disease is being caused by prolonged and uncontrolled hypertension. The best treatment option for Mr. Hodges is a complete kidney transplant (Stein, 2007) since it happens to be either in stage four or five (Fadem, (2008). However, it is difficult to find a donor, besides ensuring the compatibility of the kidney with his

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Economics - Essay Example The main reason for the differences coming short may so be given by the treasury was the previous failings of monetary policy. In their description of the new monetary framework of October 1999, the principal argument was that previously there had been that numerous shortcomings in the design and conduct of monetary policy. Objectives were often inappropriate or unclear, while decisions were often poorly coordinated with fiscal policy or were made too late to prevent inflationary pressures from building. Roles and responsibilities were also ill-defined, creating the impression that policy decisions could be based on short-term political considerations. A lack of transparency hindered accountability and meant that policy-makers were unable to build credibility (Balls, & ODonnell, 2002). Given that the Treasury was conducting both monetary and fiscal policy prior to giving independence to the Bank, this is a remarkable statement. It seems to be either a vote of no confidence in the Treasury, or in the incoming government. It was argued that previous governments had often accompanied an apparently tough budget with an interest rate cut, only to raise interest rates again shortly afterwards, when the budget proved more inflationary than expected. As a result, they proposed that a test of fiscal policy was whether an independent Bank would change interest rates following a budget. Their finding under the new monetary policy arrangements was that interest rate changes did not seem related to the previous budget (Goodhart, 2006). A possible test of what type of policy the Bank is pursuing may be possible when the Bank is faced by a supply shock. Interest rates control inflation through their effect on aggregate demand. Since a positive aggregate demand shock raises demand and inflation, the correct monetary policy response would be to offset the increase in aggregate demand by higher interest rates. In contrast, a negative supply shock- say an oil price increase,

Drug-trafficking in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Drug-trafficking in the USA - Essay Example The Sinaloa Cartel supplies all five illicit drugs to expanded areas of the United States including cities and regions in the South. Los Zetas, Gulf Cartel, and Juà ¡rez Cartel mainly sell cocaine and marijuana to regions including New York, Florida, Southeast, Southwest and so on. BLO supplies cocaine, heroin, and marijuana while the remaining two cartels – LFM and Tijuana Cartel – sell cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine in almost the same primary regions. Overall, Mexican TCOs have their presence in more than thousand cities of the United States (US Department of Justice 2011, 7). Columbian TCOs also operate in various cities of the United States but mainly as remains of larger drug cartels. Columbian TCOs are involved with producing two illicit drugs, heroin and cocaine, as well as its transportation across the Columbian border. Transportation occurs primarily via smuggling pathways involving both air and sea channels often transiting through the Caribb ean. The primary regions of their operations are eastern markets of the US including major cities like New York and South Florida. Columbian TCOs also sell their drugs to Mexican traffickers and supply drugs to European markets.Ethnic Vietnamese TCOs, based out of Canada, are also active in the drug trade. They deal in MDMA and marijuana produced in Canada and smuggle them out of the country via the US-Canada border. The Northern Border acts as the main transportation route for the Canadian-based Asian traffickers.

Abortion Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Abortion - Article Example The author points out that forcing an unwilling mother to have a child is like forcing the kidnapped person to stay connected to the violinist for as long as he needs it. This scenario immediately strikes us as unfair, why should any-one be unwillingly obliged to spend nine years on a bed so that some-one else can live. The point is that even though the violinist has the right to live, he does not have the right to make use of your kidneys when you have not willingly agreed to it. A similar argument can be drawn up in the case of the mother and the fetus. The fetus has a right to live but does he have any rights from the mother that she is unwilling to give. This argument is specially powerful in the case of a rape pregnancy or even in the case of a pregnancy that is unwanted and has happened despite appropriate precautions. An important crux of the argument given by the author is that even if the demands are small and it would be almost indecent and despicable to refuse that still does not imply a right over the mother if she is not willing to take on the responsibility. Although the Good Samaritan principle might be used by anti-abortionists the author points out that it is only in this particular scenario that we are forcing a human being to act as a Good Samaritan and not leaving it to their

Deluxe Corporation Essay Example for Free

Deluxe Corporation Essay What should Singh recommend regarding: * Target bond rating * Level of flexibility * Mix of debt and equity * Other Issue As for what should Rajat Singh recommend regarding target bond rating, level of flexibility or reserves, mix of debt and equity and lastly any other issues. So, firstly look into the target bond rating, in our opinion DC needs to position itself to obtain a AAA rating. At AAA grade bond rating shows that AAA bond rating is higher in unused debt capacity so at AAA bonds rating Deluxe company has a lower unused debt capacity. So, that means if the shareholders start to sell, this company may not rebound since it is in a dying industry. The company will be an acquisition target by growing electronic payment companies because of the drops out of the premium ratings. For your information, for the level of flexibility is the amount of debt DC can take on before you lose the investment-grade bond rating. Based on the financial analysis, the B level is where the cost jumps the most. There is a 26% increase in costs from a level BBB rating to a level BB. As for mix of debt and equity, DC is targeting an aggressive share buyback plan. They are increasing their equity in the company by reducing shares. But because of the future of the company, they will also need to take on debt. Based on the financial analysis, they are better off taking on debt. Debt is cheaper for DC. Cost of debt ranges between 5. 47% to 12%, and that does not even include the 38% tax shield. Cost of equity is more expensive, it ranges from 10. 25% to 14. 25%, and there is no tax shield. Cost of debt after the tax change ranges between 3. 39% to 7. 44%. Lastly, for other issue knows today is 12 years after the case, and DC is still in business. CONCLUSION As we know, prior to the 1990s, the  Deluxe  Corporation  (DC), the world’s largest printer of checks as well as a provider of electronic products and services to financial institutions and retail companies, was characterized as a generally stable, family oriented business. This relatively calm situation was unsettled in the 1980s by deregulation of the banking industry and changes in technology. Deluxe is forced to adopt a business model and implement strategic objectives to stay alive. Therefore, based on the all the calculation and explanations, we have finally fulfilled all the statement of problems. As for the foreseen financial requirement for the coming years, which back then was the year after 2001, it shows that DC needs additional financing for working capital, capital asset purchases, possible corporate acquisitions, repayment of short-term debt, interest payments on long-term debt, dividend payments to shareholders and possible stock buybacks depending on the state of the stock they own. Moving on as for the financial flexibility of Deluxe Corporation, it can be concluded that the debt level of DC seems to be not appropriate which is only 5. 71% from the total capital. As what it stated in Ehibit 8, DC could borrow more debt since it cost of debt (Kd) is lower than its cost of equity (Ke). Besides, the minimum WACC is obtained at bond rating AAA (9. 86%) and the same goes the optimum debt level for Deluxe would borrow which is USD 807. 50M again at bond rating AAA. From there, by maintaining bond rating AAA, it can be seen that the minimum interest or total cost that DC need to bear is only USD 83. 81M. In a nutshell, again, it shows that DC can generate its fund in its lowest cost if it maintains AAA bond rating because through that type of bond rating, DC can generate funds by paying minimum cost of capital, quickly reach the breakeven point and can easily gain profit after that. However, this company has to diversify its business in order to stay around in this business world.

European Union Countries

European Union Countries Introduction European Union itself reflects globalization by changing laws of European countries, and also European Union is very important in worlds economy strategies. What does globalization mean, indeed? By definition, globalization is a process of change in some kind of area such as technology, trade market of war, which affects the whole world. Sometimes globalization can bring a great gift for the people of the world, sometimes not. The main idea of the European Union means to bring the peace to the whole world by respecting human rights and by uniting people together. As I said above the globalization has to affect at least few countries or whole world, other wise it is not globalization. The point is that European Union consists of twenty seven sovereign countries. And decision which comes from the European Union affects all this twenty seven countries. Also European Union has big influence in world trade market, because of the currency of the European Union is in the second place in tra de market. Also, economy of the European Union stays on the second place by the worlds rates. In addition, the European Union has voice in United Nations organization, and it can change most of the decisions either in good way or bad. The history of the European community is incredible, and it had experienced almost everything. European community had experienced wars between neighbor countries, revolutions, colonialism and many other things. However, now European community is one of the strongest economical powers in the world. Most of the time the European Union was an international organization, but now it has big influence in military services, also it functions in monetary system of the European countries, and it has big importance in economy. The European Union is a part of the government for each European country. Also, the monetary system of the European Union is one of the significant systems in Eurasia, which provides economic stability in European Countries. European Union All the great and powerful unions were not made at once. Unions were made step by step, and improving their visible and weak factors. In our days one of the powerful and influenced unions is European. â€Å"Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single, general plan. It will be built through concrete achievements, which first create a factor of solidarity†. (Robert Schuman). With this words Schuman declaration accurately predicted the way in which the Community has become the Union today. When the European countries created the European Union, the first target of the union was to gain a peace between European countries. In 1950 the European organizations such as European Coal and Steel Community started to unite countries, because this organizations wanted to keep the peace between European countries, and also it was big benefit to European countries in economical and political spheres. Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg and the Netherlands were the countries which formed first European Union. The speech given by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman inspired European countries to unite. (The history of EU). One of the successes which European Union gained was stopping of custom charges between European countries. Also, the member countries of the European Union made contract between each others to control production of food. This decision was made to improve agricultural structure, and the European Union wanted to produce enough food for the member countries. (The ‘Swinging Sixties a period of economic growth). â€Å"1962 The Council of Europe adopts the first directive. It establishes the EEC global foodstuff regulation by defining which colorants can be added to food.† (BBC News, 5 December, 2000). In 1967 the European Union had united the main ruling institutions, such as European Parliament, Commission and Court. (History of the European Union). Which meant that European institutions work as one system, and each member country of the European Union had a person who presented the countys interests. In 1992 the Treaty of Maastricht offered to have one single army, which in the situation of the threat they can protect each others interests as one power (History of the European Union). The European Union consists of twenty seven sovereign countries. Member countries of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (Member State of the European Union). As the facts shows there are more countries which want to join European Union, and one of the main candidate is Turkey. The main achievement of these counties is democracy. Democracy means to protect human values, and it means freedom. These are the main values which European countries store. For over half a century, the European Union has: delivered half a century of stability, peace and prosperity within its member countries. European Union raised its citizens standards of living to unprecedented levels, and even strengthened Europes voice in the world. The European Union has given its member countries citizens many different benefits in different aspects of life. It has made life easier and more convenient in many ways. It has even promoted peace and a spirit of brotherhood between old rival nations. Another benefit of the European Union is a single currency. Joining European Union has many benefits, such as political, economical, social, and environmental. Republic of Poland, for example, gained all these benefits joining the European Union. The political benefit of Republic of Poland is to participate in acceptance of the laws in European institutions. Also, joining to the European Union provides Polish people to travel without visa in Europe, and Polish people can f ind the jobs in any part of the European Union. In addition, Republic of Poland can count on European Armys support in a situation of war conflict. The economical benefits are open market, changes in agriculture, and Poland can stabilize their inflation. Open market will provide Poland to sell their products in every European country, which will help to increase competition between companies, and it will decrease the prices of goods. (Joining European Union, List of Benefits) The social benefit which Poland gained was European standards of life. Also the Polish students who study in other parts of European Union can get scholarship, and they can provide their knowledge about Poland to student abroad. Another important benefit is environmental benefit which Republic of Poland gained joining European Union. The Poland should follow the environmental aspects of European Union, which means they will improve their environmental problems. (Joining European Union, List of Benefits). The European Union has given its citizens greater freedom of movement. Traveling within the European Union nations is now very convenient. In most of the European Union you can travel without carrying passport and without being stopped for the checks at the borders. A citizen of the European Union can travel, study and work wherever she or he chooses to in any of the European Union countries. Departments and policies of European Union The European Union has a very complex system. It has different bodies carrying different important jobs that make the system work properly. Each job has its significance. While all the member countries of the European Union work as one, and its system function well as one body, they become very successful as they take on many difficult tasks of accomplishing a united, integrated Europe. The countries that make up European Union are all committed to the same fundamental values, such as peace and democracy. And in this bases all ruling institutions has been made. The main institutions of the European Union: the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice and the European Court of Auditors. (EU institutions and other bodies). The European Parliament is one of the main institutions of the European Union. The main job of the European Parliament is to introduce the new legislations. Also European Parliament gives opinions on new legislations, and it makes decisions about new legislations together with the Council of Ministers. The final decision of the new legislation has to be taken by the European parliament and the Council of Ministers. In addition, the name of the European Parliament is â€Å"watch dog† of the European Union. They named European Parliament as â€Å"watch dog† because it monitors all operations in European Union. Also European Parliament monitors budget of the European Union, because the money of the EU budget has to be distributed lawfully. The locations of the European Parliament are Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxemburg. The Members of the European Parliament are elected by the people whose country they represent. Also, the European Parliament is elected every five years by the citizens of the European countries. (The European Parliament) The Council of the European Union is a main institution which takes final decisions passing new legislation. The Council of the European Union consists of twenty seven ministers. Every minister represents the country in which he or she has been selected to represent country. When the Council of the European Union is going to accept new legislation which can affect sphere of transportation, then the Minister of Transport will attend, and so on. (The Council of the European Union) The European Commissions main job is to prepare new legislation and laws before the legislation will be accepted in the European Parliament. The European Commission also does a job as the peacemaker. When the member countries of the European Union argue between themselves the European Commission will solve their problems. Every member of the European Commission has to put the interests of the European Union first, rather than their own country. When some kind of problem or situation happens in European Union the members of the European Commission have to solve these problems as uniform system. (The European Commission) The European Court of Justices location is in Luxemburg. The European Court of Justice consists of one judge from every member country of the European Union. Most of time thirteen judges take part in court to solve the problem. The main job of the European Court of Justice is to monitor the laws. Every citizen of the European Union has to obey the Court of Justice and laws of the European Union. (The Court of Justice) The European Court of Auditors work is to monitor the budget of the European Union. This organization makes sure that documentations of the taxpayers are legal and right. In some cases if the documentations are wrong the European Court of Auditors have right to investigate any types of economical operations. In additions, the European Court of Auditors doesnt depend on other institutions; however, it keeps touch with other institutions. (The European Court of Auditors) European Union Monetary When the European Union created monetary system for whole European countries, the first target of the monetary system was to prevent economic damage, and stabilize economic situation in a moment of need. When the European Union created European Monetary Institute the first target of it was to create uniform currency for European member countries. (European Monetary System). The main idea of the European monetary system is to create more jobs for citizens of the European community, and to make European economy function better. On 1st January, 1999 the European Union has let out uniform currency, named Euro. The number of the first member countries of European Union which made Euro their national currency was eleven. On the other hand, member countries such as United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden did not adopted Euro as their national currency, they decided to keep their own national currencies. After the adaptation of the Euro, it did not show the success compared to other currencies. In addition, at the beginning the Euro felt down to 30% in world trade market. (BBC News, 5 December, 2000). â€Å"The Euro symbol @ -, developed by the European Commission, was inspired by the Greek letter epsilon and also denotes the first letter of the word â€Å"Europe†. The two parallel lines refer to the stability inside the Euro area.† (The Euro) Every system has its weaknesses and benefits. According to the economists of the United States and Europe the last analyses shows that European Monetary Union has advantages. The first benefit is that European countries do not need costs of current exchange. The second benefit is exclusion of the currencys destabilization between member countries of the European Union. The third benefit is the fast growth of economy of European Union countries. The fourth benefit is the solvency of the more complicated monetary problems. (â€Å"Benefits and Costs of European Economic and Monetary Union†, Gerhard Fink; Dominic Salvatore) With the advantages every monetary system also has problems, such as inflation. Inflation is a rise in the general level of prices overtime. It may also refer to rise in the prices of a specific set goods or services. In either case, it is measured as the percentage rate of change of a price index. According to the â€Å"EuroStat† statistics the inflation has made 2.3% in European Union in August. Compared to 2006 the inflation norm was 2.2% in 2005. In 2006 the norm of inflation rose 0.1 percent every month (Gian Luigi Mazzi and Rosa Ruggeri Cannata, August 2006). In a low inflationary spheres have got countries such as Finland, Sweden, and Poland. The inflation average in these countries was 1.5 percent. (2006). In a high inflationary sphere have got countries such as Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia and Spain. The inflation average in these countries was 4.9 percent. (2006) The European Union always wanted to avoid the misunderstandings between member countries, and it always wanted to advance the unity of European community. Also, the main raisin of the European Union is the European Monetary System. On the other hand, todays trade market showed to European community that it is difficult to maintain current single currency. In addition, the main problem of the single currency for the European community is instability of Euro. When the leading companies of the Europe invest money abroad it can change the income of the companies, because when the currency is unstable it will change the amount of the money when they expressed to Euro. (Richard W. Stevenson, July 31, 1993) Conclusion In conclusion, the European Union is one of the powerful organizations in the whole world. It has influence in military, worlds economy and so on. Before the unifying Europe had gone through the difficult times, such as war, economic disasters, and unemployment. European countries gain many benefits by unifying. European countries realized that they can not succeed along, the unity of these countries was the great step which they gained. The economy of the member countries of the European Union increased to many times after the unity. Still remains the question will the European Union stay the same or will it change the directions of unity. People of the Europe has big pessimism about European Union, people say unemployment is still stays unstable. However, Europe would never gain these kind of success if they were not united. Can you imagine what European countries could gain if they had been united in ancient times. They could have avoided the wars between European countries. However, European countries are united now, and this is a huge success in a history of Europe. â€Å"A day will come when all the nations of this continent, without loosing their distinct qualities or their glorious individuality, will fuse together in a higher unity and form the European brotherhood. A day will come when there will be no other battlefields than those of the mind open marketplaces for ideas. A day will come when bullets and bombs will be replaced by votes† (Victor Hugo, 1849)