How the Trans Alaska Pipeline Affected the Lives of the Alaskan Essay

How the Trans Alaska Pipeline Affected the Lives of the Alaskan Nativesand the company itself - Essay Example The single 48-inch (1.22 m) diameter pipeline was built between March 27, 1975 and May 31, 1977 at a cost of around US$8 billion. Five different contractors employing 21,000 people at the peak of work constructed the pipe in six sections; 31 were killed in accidents during construction (Trans Alaska Pipeline). during the course of the project (qtd. from Cowans). The obstacles faced and overcome in building the trans-Alaska pipeline are simply astounding. The harsh temperatures, rough terrain, lack of Arctic pipeline building knowledge at this time and the environmental concerns of a pipeline had to all be considered in making this project a success. In 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers named the Alaska pipeline one of the "Seven Wonders of the United States". Their list includes the Panama Canal, Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam, the Kennedy Space Center, the Interstate Highway System, and the World Trade Center (qtd. from Cowans). Along the pipeline, there are eleven pump stations, each with four pumps. Diesel or natural gas generators power each electric pump. Twelve pump stations were planned but Pump Station 11 was never built, though the southward numbering system for the pump stations retains a place for this nonexistent station. Usually only around seven stations are active at one time, and plans to replace the existing pumps with newer high-efficiency pumps may reduce the number of active stations even further (qtd. from Trans Alaska Pipeline). In areas where thaw-sensitive permafrost exists but the line must be buried, such as highway crossings or avalanche-prone areas, the pipe is encased in an insulated, refrigerated ditch. Nearby refrigeration, plants pump cold brine through 6-inch (15 cm) pipes, which absorb heat and keep the soil cooled. Other areas of burial are either conventional covered ditches or unrefrigerated but insulated ditches, depending on the sensitivity of the surrounding soil (qtd. from Trans Alaska Pipeline). The pipeline was completed on June 20, 1977 and the first oil was pumped into the pipeline. On July 8, 1977, a huge explosion destroyed Pump Station Eight. The explosion killed one worker and injured five more. Human error was attributed to the cause of the explosion. On July 19, 1977, a loader damaged a valve just south of Prudhoe Bay. Approximately 2,000 barrels of oil spilled onto the ground before the leak was stopped and repaired. On the next day, the first attempt of sabotage occurred. A section of insulation from the pipeline was torn off and supporting pipe brackets were torn from the line just north of Fairbanks. The pipeline itself was not injured and the oil continued to flow south towards Valdez. Several people were later arrested and convicted for malicious destruction of property (qtd.

Personal Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal Statement - Essay Example Immediately, I went back to China to try and help him and on arriving, the doctor told me that the hepatic cancer was already in the late stages, hence there was no much hope. In fact, the doctor told me that my grandfather had no more than six months left to live. Due to work related issues, my parents had to leave me with my grandparents at a very young age, which made me get strongly attached to my grandparents. I couldn’t believe that my grandfather would leave me in a few months time and so I tried my very best to save him. Everyone in my family was searching everywhere for possible treatments for hepatic cancer. One day, my friend advised me to look for an acupuncturist, and told me that he had successfully saved a patient who had a very similar condition as my grandfather. My grandmother was very enlightened with hope after he heard this. I still remember the first time when I met the acupuncturist, who introduced himself as Dr. Li. He was in his sixties at that time, a nd looked very kind and patient. He carefully applied about one hour of acupuncture therapy to my grandfather. During the entire therapy, I starred at Dr. Li’s fingers and the long and thin needles he was using. I kept imagining the magic of these needles and thinking how could these little needles save my grandfather’s life. ... We still take my grandfather to see Dr. Li every three months. Although my grandfather’s cancer did not go away completely, it has been well controlled by Dr. Li and this has kept my grandfather’s life much longer than we expected. With the years long experience with Dr. Li, I started to consider becoming an acupuncturist, who is able to reduce patients’ pain and save people’s lives. I now clearly understand that patience and care are the two of the most important characteristics for doctors; therefore, I’m trying my best to develop my skills and build up my personality. I worked as a kindergarten teacher at the Bright Seeds Academy, which helped me reduce my temper and boosted my willpower. For the two years I spend teaching children, I became more and more patient with children, and learned how to deal with them amicably. I will complete my AA degree with communication major by this summer. I believe effective communication skills and critical thi nking are also essential skills for acupuncturist. I’m sure this background can help me reach my goal, of becoming an easy going and a persuasive acupuncturist. Last year, I injured my arm accidently and went to see an Acupuncturist- Dr. Zhu. After expressing my background experiences and my goal to become an acupuncturist, Dr. Zhu offered me an opportunity to become a volunteer in his acupuncture and herbal clinic. This was my very first time to have a close distance to my goal. From this opportunity, I learned how an acupuncture clinic runs, and the essential skills and personalities that an acupuncturist must have. One day, an old Chinese woman came into the Clinic, and she couldn’t speak English or Mandarin (Both Dr. Zhu and I only speak these two languages). She could only speak Cantonese and we

Describe The Strategy Of Inflation Targeting Economics Essay

Describe The Strategy Of Inflation Targeting Economics Essay In recent years, policymakers realized the weight of the inflation cost on the economy and started to pay more attention to the price stability goal. The latter is increasingly considered as the most important goal of monetary policy. Inflation has detrimental effects that could lead to a low economic growth, making the future hard to anticipate (Mishkin, 2007). The need to adopt monetary policies that can subsequently overcome the inflation issue had emerged in many countries. Central Banks had different options of strategies to implement in order to achieve long-term price stability including the inflation targeting and the monetary targeting also known as money growth targeting. In the first case, Central Banks target an explicit value of inflation while in the second case, they aim to reach a certain level of growth of a monetary aggregate. An increasing number of countries have chosen the inflation targeting to achieve price stability (Genberg, 2002). Some of them have moved away from monetary targeting to inflation targeting. A question arises: why are the Central Banks using inflation targeting over money-growth targeting? To address this question, this paper will confront these two monetary policies and try to understand the reasons of the decline of monetary targeting in favour of inflation targeting. MONEY-GROWTH TARGETING Definition The money-growth targeting refers to one of the monetary policy strategies where central banks targets an objective of an annual growth rate of a monetary aggregate (M1, M2à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) in order to maintain price stability. A set of variables called intermediate targets such as money supply are used in order to have an impact on the level of inflation. These variables have to satisfy three conditions that are: measurability, controllability and ability to predictably affect the goal that is price stability. For instance, the Central Bank can announce that it will attain 5% growth rate of M2. This is an indirect way to control the final target of inflation (Mishkin, 2007). Money-growth policy was adopted in 1975 by the US Federal reserve to answer the request of Congress about setting monetary targets. Germany, United Kingdom, France and many other countries also implemented the money-growth policy in late 1970s. Examples of countries that adopted money-growth targeting In the 1970s, many countries chose this monetary targeting policy; some of them such as Germany succeed in its implementation whereas others such as the United States failed to reach their growth target range. The German success relied on two main elements: first, the flexibility of their policy rule that targeted a money aggregate but allowed it to fluctuate within a tight interval; and second, the good communication by the Bundesbank to the public. Conversely, the United States failed in implementing this monetary policy mainly because of a poor monetary control and a priority given to interest-rate movements to control inflation (Mishkin, 2007). Many cases of failure of money-growth targeting led Central Banks to change their monetary policy in favour of inflation targeting. INFLATION TARGETING STRATEGY Definition of inflation-targeting Inflation targeting was firstly adopted by New Zealand in 1990, then many countries followed such as the United Kingdom in 1992 (Mishkin, 2007). It is a monetary policy strategy that aims to sustain an explicit target level of inflation to achieve long run price stability. It is based on five key elements: publication of the numerical targets for inflation institutional commitment to sustain price stability as a principal goal information-inclusive strategy with many variables that are used for deciding the setting of monetary policy instruments communication to guarantee the transparency accountability of the Central Bank for hitting its inflation target (Mishkin, 2000). Although these five key elements are common to many countries, the way they are interpreted and applied should be country-specific. Indeed, even if countries have similar goals, they are different in their level of sensitivity to shocks and in the way they transmit mechanisms. Thus, they may imply different reactions to the same event (Genberg, 2002). The successful case of Chile The Chilean example illustrates a case where implementing the inflation-targeting was successful. In 1990, the inflation rate of that country was almost 30%. The Central Bank decided to adopt this new strategy by targeting a certain level of inflation (more than 20%) for the following 12 months. Year after year, the Chilean Central Bank reduced the inflation objectives until reaching 3.5% at the end of the decade. The Consumer Price Index inflation followed the tendency of the inflation target as it decreased from almost 30% in 1990 to 3% in the end of 1999 as we can see in the graph below. Thus, targeted inflation rates were remarkably achieved (Valdà ©s, 2007). Consumer Price Index Headline Inflation and Inflation Targets, 1985-1999 (%) The success of this gradual disinflation is due to the actions and the independence of the Chilean Central Bank but also thanks to two main supportive policies: the good fiscal policy avoiding large deficits and the healthy financial system encouraging regulations (Mishkin, 2000). Why many countries shifted away from money-growth targeting to inflation targeting? The decline of money-growth targeting One of the major disadvantages of money-growth targeting is that the achievement of the inflation objective depends on one essential condition which is the strength of the relationship between the targeted monetary aggregate and inflation; otherwise the desired result will not be reached. If this connection is weak, it would be difficult to use money-growth targeting to communicate, and this will alter the transparency of Central banks policy. Indeed, this unpredictable and instable relationship between targeted monetary aggregate and the goal variables led several countries in the 1990s to shift from money-growth policy to the inflation targeting strategy. In the 1980s, the financial innovations combined to the deregulation of the financial markets harmed the reliance on monetary targets by reducing moneys controllability (Granville, 2010). Furthermore, in the same period, the gold standard system was abandoned because of the ascent of immaterial economy. The monetarism was degraded which promoted the rise of inflation targeting. Moreover, exchange rates were also used as a target from mid-80s to mid-90s but their efficient as means of stabilizing economy were suspected especially after the currency crisis of the 1990s. Thence, inflation targeting became the most reliable substitute to these declining instruments. Advantages and disadvantages of inflation targeting The inflation targeting policy counts several advantages and disadvantages; this paper will focus on the main ones. Unlike money growth targeting, the inflation targeting success is not based on the relation between inflation and money. Indeed, a Central Bank can use other variables to conduct properly this monetary policy. Central Banks frequent interaction with governments, which are in charge of making public announcements, drives the inflation targeting strategy to be more transparent. These settings allow the public to get a better understanding of the policy (Bernanke et al., 1999). By stating an explicit numerical target of inflation, its evolution is clearer and easily understood and followed. For example, the Chilean Central Bank maintained its credibility by announcing on each September an annual targeted inflation rate for the next year on its Report to Congress (Valdà ©s, 2007). Thanks to this transparency, Central Banks accountability increases which reduces the occurrence of time incompatibility when the Central Bank applies an expansionary monetary policy in order to increase employment in the short run (Mishkin, 2007). However, inflation targeting has major disadvantages. The first one is the delayed signalling due to the inability of inflation target to send instantaneous signals. However, this issue cannot be overcome by the money-growth targeting as the signal of the monetary aggregates is not strong. The second disadvantage concerns the rigidity of inflation targeting because of the inflexible rules of the policy and the restricted capability of the policymakers to react to unpredictable events (Mishkin, 2007). Nevertheless, in practice, inflation targeting is flexible, as it does not impose mechanical directives. Indeed, this monetary policy enables Central Banks to adapt its implementation to different situations. For instance, during its first adoption of the inflation targeting strategy in 1991, the Chilean Central Bank decided to rely on inflation projections rather than formal inflation targets as suggested by this monetary policy. Few years later, after achieving and reducing its inflation projections, the Central Bank started considering hard inflation targets and started being accountable for hitting them (Mishkin, 2000). According to Valdà ©s (2007), the Chilean case shows that inflation targeting raises the possibility of self discovery, improvements and learning. Also, the fact that inflation depends on several variables makes it hard to control. Indeed, inflation integrates the impacts of these variables that are not disclosed in the short run. Finally, inflation targeting may not guarantee fiscal order. In fact, when fiscal deficits occur, they can be financed by either devaluating or printing money. In the two cases, inflation increases. CONCLUSION Adopting the appropriate monetary policy is vital for the progress and the prosperity of an economy. Many cases of money-growth targeting failure led Central Banks to change their monetary policy in favour of inflation targeting. The Chilean case represents a successful implementation of inflation targeting. Indeed, the inflation targets were remarkably reached. However, the example of Chile does not allow us to deduce that inflation targeting may succeed for all countries. Although countries have similar goals, they may have different reactions to the same event.

Oliver Twist :: essays research papers

OLIVER TWIST CHARACTERS  Harry ~ He is Mrs. Maylie's son, and he is in love with Rose.  Rose ~ She lives with Giles and Brittles, and is unsure on how she feels about Harry until the end.  Oliver ~ Represents the misery and poverty of the poor during the 1800.  Bil ~ He is a professional thief, a very mean person, an alcoholic, and is boyfriend of Nancy.  Toby ~ A thief (he is Bill’s assistant).  Nancy ~ A kindhearted woman who unfortunately pays for being that in the end. She is also Bil's girlfriend (who she is very scared of).  Brittles and Giles ~ The people whose house was broken into by Sikes, Toby, and Oliver. Also the people who took care of Oliver after he came to them almost dead.  Mrs. Bedwin ~ Housekeeper for Mr.Brownlow.  Mr. Brownlow ~ Oliver's first apprentice, he and Mrs.Bedwin took very good care of him.  Fagin ~ Teaches children how to become thieves, but all he does is make the children steal for him so that he doesn’t have to do it himself or an so he wouldn’t get caught doing it.  Doctor Losberne ~ Doctor that helps Oliver after he get shot in the arm.  Mr. and Mrs. Bumble ~ Preppy and Snobby people, and they dislike Oliver.  Mrs. Corny ~ Mr. Bumble's wife, it was her maiden name before she was married to him.  Mr. Monks ~ He was also known as the stranger, but he was really Edward Leeford (Oliver brother).  Mrs. Maylie ~ She is Harry's mother. SUMMARY Bil Sikes, Toby Crackit, and Oliver robbed Brittles and Giles. In the process of the robbery Oliver is shot in the arm and so Sikes wouldn't get caught he left Oliver in a ditch to die. The next morning he walks to Brittles and Giles house and took him in and called the Doctor. When the doctor came he said that he was very excited to see the boy. After Oliver's arm is taken care of Brittles, Giles, Rose, Mrs. Maylie, and the doctor decided not to tell the police, but what they decide to do is take care of him and give him a home. When Oliver told them his story they felt very bad for him, so they left him alone to recover.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Oliver did recover he finds out that Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Bedwin had moved to the West Indies.

Theme of Duplicity in

THEME OF DUPLICITY IN THREE SHORT STORIES OF HENRY JAMES: THE LIAR, THE REAL THING, AND THE BEAST IN THE JUNGLE Nazan Gokay Theme of Duplicity in Three Short Stories of Henry James: â€Å"The Liar,† â€Å"The Real Thing,† and â€Å"The Beast in the Jungle† The genius of Henry James manifests itself in duality of meaning in both his shorter and longer works. Appearance and reality provide for two levels of expression. On one level the theme is explicit as told by the narrator, but underneath lies the ambiguous meaning which is in a sense the main theme of the story. The ambiguity is usually embedded in the narrative; it is the task of the attentive reader to seek it out, understand it and enjoy it. James does not make this task easy for the reader. His style is subtle, vague, and demands a lot of attention. One clue to the real meaning of James’s stories is the irony employed. Most of James’s narrators are unrealiable in the sense that they are deceptive. Their unreliability is either a result of their blindness or unawareness of their situation and environment, or an egotistical engagement in their own affairs so as to distort reality. The unreliable narrator misleads the reader. The Jamesian irony clarifies the story, brings out the real meaning beneath the apparent and reveals the unreliable narrator. â€Å"The Liar† is a perfect example of the use of an unreliable narrator and the existence of two levels of meaning, the real and the apparent. Although the story is not told from a first person point of view, the narrator confines himself only to the mind of Oliver Lyon, a painter and former suitor of Mrs. Capadose. The events are recorded through Lyon’s mind and we perceive people through his eyes. According to Lyon, Colonel Capadose is a villainous liar who has to be exposed. Lyon’s conception of Capadose as a liar and his envy of the Colonel have blinded Lyon to appreciate him as an amiable human being which in fact he is. Lyon treacherously plans to expose the Colonel in a portrait he will paint as â€Å"the liar† and eventually renew his friendship with Mrs. Capadose. Lyon’s account of the event is the apparent and superficial meaning of the story. Colonel Capadose is the liar and he has corrupted his wife through their years of marriage, for at the end of the story she, too, lies in order to save her husband. Lyon, as the disillusioned hero, watches them depart from his life, thinking that â€Å"he had trained her too well. † On a deeper and more significant level, Oliver Lyon is the real liar. Although Colonel has been known as a liar, he is a harmless man who is only engaged in a social game. In society, in human relationships, one has to wear a mask. Lyon himself points out at the dinner party that people like others not because they are strictly honest but because they are skillful in deception. Lyon’s treachery is much more significant than Colonel’s social games. Lyon tries to violate the integrity of another man’s character; moreover, he plans to expose him to the public. Subtle but definitely present Jamesian irony brings out the essence of the story. The most obvious ironical device is the name Oliver Lyon, who is the real liar. The exposure of the couple at the end is ironically at the expense of Lyon who loses forever any chance he might have had with this ideal woman, the woman that he has loved for so long. Through the story Lyon plots against the Colonel, but in fact he is bringing about his own disillusionment. In this manner, the real meaning of â€Å"The Liar† emerges as a result of Lyon’s self-defeat, not from humiliation of Colonel Capadose as Lyon had anticipated. The circumstance of â€Å"The Real Thing† is slightly different than the â€Å"The Liar. † Although the theme of duplicity, dichotomy between the apparent and the real is still the central issue, there is no unreliable narrator. In â€Å"The Liar† the superficial is conveyed through accounts of the unreliable narrator and the real is embedded in the ironical and false character of Oliver Lyon. In â€Å"The Real Thing† the dichotomy between the real and the apparent is explicitly stated. In this story James is concerned with the mission of the artist who seeks for expressive and imaginative realism in potential nothings rather than in concrete, conventional real things. Mr. and Mrs. Monarch, as their names imply, are types or norms of a superior humanity. They are ideal, real, and aristocratic in life, but they are not right for art. When the painter tries to paint them, their portraits materialise as rigid, photograhic images. The painter-narrator discovers that Miss Churm and Oronte who are socially nothings prove to be the real things for art. They can adopt aristocratic poses better than those who are really aristocratic in life. On a social level Mr. and Mrs. Monarch, â€Å"a gentleman and a lady† as the porter’s wife announces them, are the real things. The social institution, their married life is perfect, they are devoted to each other. On an aesthetic level, the artist’s imagination is the real thing. On this level the reality of Monarchs is no longer valid; Miss Churm and Oronte replace them. The irony of the story rests on the fact that for the artist, the represented subject is more essential than the real thing. The Beast in the Jungle† is the story of a man who is haunted by fear and expectation simultaneously that something will happen to him. John Marcher is the typical blind hero of James. His self-indulgence prevents him from seeing the reality, thus his view, through which the story is narrated, is unreliable. John Marcher is similar to Oliver Lyon in that his self-deception resul ts in inflicting pain to others, although his motives are not aggressive like Lyon’s. Marcher is not a villain as Lyon is. He causes May’s and his own unhappiness unwittingly. His flaw is his blindness, but certainly not treachery. His situation is as ironic as Lyon’s in that he tries to be ordinary and hide his uniquenesss, while he is unaware that his uniqueness is that he is, in fact, ordinary. The double meaning is conveyed through the two characters of the story. John Marcher manifests the superficial and apparent aspect, while May Bartram presents the real and underlying theme. Most of the story is related through John Marcher’s point of view as the â€Å"The Liar† was told through Lyon’s point of view. The underlying theme is expressed in the dialogues with May Bartram, who is a very perceptive and intelligent woman. Soon after she has made his acquaintance, she sees his real issue. She comes to love him, but he is too engrossed in his expectations to notice her unquestioned presence and friendship. As years go by she sees â€Å"it† not happening. Finally, before she dies she tells him that â€Å"It has come†, but he is still unaware. His moment of recognition comes when he visits her grave and realizes that he has lost her forever, and that he is â€Å"the man, to whom nothing on earth was to have happened. As in the other two stories, the names of the characters are significant in stressing the theme of duplicity. Marcher is winter; May is spring. Marcher is fear; May is love. Marcher advances in a stately manner, but never reaches May in her lifetime. In â€Å"The Liar† and â€Å"The Beast in the Jungle† unreliable narrators are used to convey and st ress the double meaning. In â€Å"The Real Thing† the dichotomy between the real and the apparent is presented as a problem confronting the artist. In either case the theme of duplicity is employed to add richness and depth to the meaning of the stories. The double meaning, irony, and unreliable narrators have become indispensable elements of Jamesian fiction. BIBLIOGRAPHY Matthiessen, F. O. Henry James: The Major Phase. New York: Oxford University Press, 1963. Powers, Lyall H. Henry James: An Introduction and Interpretation. New York: Holt , Rinehart and Winston, Inc. , 1970. Stone, Edward, ed. Henry James: Seven Stories and Studies. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. , 1961. Tompkins, Jane P. , ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Turn of the Screw and Other Tales. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. , 1970.

Nonprofit versus For-Profit Healthcare and Organizations Essay

Abstract This paper explores articles and research conducted on nonprofit versus For-Profit Healthcare and Organizations. There are three types of entities that own hospitals, which are: nonprofit, for-profit, and government. However, it can’t be determined if they specialize in different medical services or how their service profits affect certain specializations. More than likely, the for-profits offer profitable medical services that benefit the organization, which would lead to believe that the nonprofits are in the middle, leaving the government with offering the unprofitable services. The for-profits are also quite responsive to the changes associated with service profitability than the nonprofit or government entities. Therefore, it would be necessary to evaluate the value of nonprofit hospital ownership and differentiate between the service offerings amongst the hospital types. Looking into the ways that for-profit hospitals make profits, it would be necessary to take into consideration the geographical location versus the well insured citizens that are located within the area. This paper also looks into the assumption that all general hospitals are relatively alike in the services provided, regardless of ownership†¦. but also that these entities would vary in their patient mixture. In my research, this paper is for the recognition of profit making and to introduce the idea that for-profit healthcare and organizations are more opt to decide on which medical services to offer based on the service profitability. In our country nonprofit hospitals account for a major portion of the urban areas, while the remainder being for-profit or governmental ownership operating under different legal rules. When we evaluate the interests associated within the healthcare industry, we must take into consideration the value it has on today’s society and economy. This issue has been heavily debated in that there have been raising questions as to the fact of the similarities between non-profit organizations and for-profit organizations. In analyzing these issues, it must also show relevance as to the accountability of the evidence and material that supports the policies regarding ownership. From our standpoint here in the United States, hospitals take the foremost credit as being the largest healthcare organization in the country. When we look into classification however, it can be noted that private hospitals have the ability to be classed as for-profit or non-profit organizations due to independent regulatory rules that separate the two. From a non-profit standpoint, these type organizations are not required to pay sales, income, or property tax. And to further introduce the non-profit organizations, it is within reason to understand that they were established with the intention of providing specific social services to meet the needs of poor citizens. For this reason, is why not-for-profit healthcare and those hospitals and organizations that are associated within its boundaries†¦ are exempt from paying taxes. This is a major factor as to how and why these type organizations operate. When realizing the importance of non-profit healthcare and organizations, it is fair to say†¦ that although they are deemed to be prestigious organizations, they are often not regarded as such. For-profit, nonprofit, and governmental organizations operate under different legal rules. These rules would explain how profits are shared and distributed to shareholders in for-profit organizations, and how government and nonprofit hospitals are tax exempt. Although these rules impact operations, they provide the basis as to the similarity in healthcare services rendered†¦ contracting with the same insurers and government payers†¦ operating under the same healthcare regulations†¦ and employ with similar if not the same training and ethical obligations. Just because an organization may be for-profit, does not mean that they traditionally provide lower quality services and higher costs. However, in some cases where this is a factor, it causes a change in operations in that it creates a negative effect on the availability of healthcare. Nonprofit organizations such as hospitals, often switch to for-profit due to the issues related with their financial instability to operate in that status and remain open. This change allows them to improve their financial standings, reduce Medicare costs, and generate higher revenues. It also allows the investors and shareholders to have a bigger impact on operations and funding. Due to the rising high costs associated with healthcare, the United States has had an increase in the amount of nonprofit healthcare organizations converting over to for-profit. Since those changes have been made, it has allowed more facilities to remain open, continue offering healthcare to citizens, and functioning to service communities. This also shows face as to why and how nonprofit healthcare organizations offset costs by charging more to their patients that have the ability to pay for services. On the other hand, for-profit healthcare organizations exploit these means as a profitable turnkey business necessity. However in this case, it makes the profits visible which in turn keep costs down for all patients, and not differentiate between social status. In conclusion, when evaluating avenues for improvement of the financial and operational performance of nonprofit healthcare organizations, it is impertinent that these organizations monitor the contributions required to be made in order to operate under the tax exempt status. When this does not occur, is when fines, closures, and investigations take place ultimately contributing to additional costs and substandard performance. Just as well when evaluating avenues for improvement of the financial and operational performance of for-profit healthcare organizations, it is impertinent that the options provided to citizens covered by healthcare plans, are up to standards. In doing so, they are provided the best care at reasonable costs due to donations, stockholders, and board members that have a particular interest in the care of the citizens which reflects on the success of the organization and the level of care given. References Anika Clark (2012). Nonprofit vs. for-profit health care: Debate hits home. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120503/NEWS/205030347. [Last Accessed Nov. 20, 2012]. Steven Hill (2011). Non-Profit vs. For-Profit health care: How to Win the Looming Battle Over Cost Control.