Respond to All Questions With Academic Paragraph.

1. What is conspicuous consumption? How does conspicuous consumption influence purchasing decisions? Think about a high priced item that you have bought or would like to buy. To what extent does conspicuous affect your decision?
It is public enjoyment of expensive properties, while exhibiting one’s ability to pay for such things. It serves as a means of maintaining an individual’s social status. If a buyer values his status in the society then he is more likely to buy expensive items afforded only by the elite. One expensive item that I bought is my mobile phone, a Samsung Galaxy S4. Conspicuous consumption played an important role in the purchase of this document since I wanted to own a mobile phone that is admired in the society.

2. What is conspicuous leisure? Examples of conspicuous leisure are abundant on television. In what ways are leisure activities informed by social and economic class? Provide an example of a popular leisure activity. What assumption can you make about the participants of the activity?
This luxurious activity requires expensive elements such as playing golf. Largely, golf, tennis and polo are examples of games that fall under conspicuous leisure due to financial implications that they involve. This is not the same in basketball that only requires a ball and a playground. The participants in golf require a ball, a golf club, tees and golf ball. All these are expensive to acquire. The rich play golf and the class association that exists often sticks even in recruitment of members.
3. Define the term globalization. What effect does globalization have on popular culture? Provide an example of how American popular culture has influenced other countries, or how the United States has imported popular culture from other countries.

Globalization is the predisposition of industries, skills and ideologies to spread all over the world or the processes of making this happen. It involves the interconnection of marketplaces unhampered with time zones or territorial borders. Globalization has a standardized effect on popular cultures. It aims at making cultures alike across cultural boundaries; this means that there is diffusion of cultures. American music, movies from Hollywood and even trending fashion is available in almost all cultures in the world. Restaurants such as McDonalds and theme parks such as Disneyland play an essential role in the definition of fun activities across the globe. America also imports foreign cultures into its economy such as outsourcing of American jobs. This move has heightened to competition level among the U. S nationals and the foreign workforce.

4. Choose an advertisement. Analyze the ad for its media message. Answer the following questions based on that ad.A. Who created the media message? Why?
The message is a Guinness advert aimed at promoting the beer brand. B. Who is the intended audience? What do you know about the intended audience- age, race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background, hobbies, profession?
The target audience are persons of all races and all professions. However, the intended audience comprises only those individual that fall in the category of grownups, which is 21 years, and above C. What type of lifestyle is presented? Is it realistic? Why or why not?
The type of lifestyle is that of sportsmen playing basketball in wheelchairs this is a normal and realistic lifestyle that man people liveD. What is the text, written or in another form, of the message? What do you see and hear: written or spoken words, photos, drawings, logos, design, music, sounds, and so on?

The advert is in form of a video. There are men playing basketball in wheel chairs. They are muscular and the game is so masculine. At the end of the game, all men except one stand up to leave. They were helping one of them, who is disabled to feel accepted. Later they rejoice with a round of Guinness as a manly voice reminds audiences “The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character.”E. What is the hidden text? What is unstated or implied in the message?
The hidden message is the essence of games in uniting individuals and strengthening existing ties between members of the society. It also stresses on the role of Guinness in ensuring this unityF. What values are expressed?
Unity
Friendship
Trust
Dedication
Loyalty
G. What groups of people are empowered in this message? What groups are disempowered? How so?
The disabled group is empowered by the fact that disability is not a disease but just a condition. The advert also empowers nondrinkers because of the words that motivate. This advert does not empower those that are resilient to change and initiative.H. What part of the story is not being told? How and where could you get more information about the untold stories?
The information not shared in this advert includes the price of the beer and the quantities available. However, this information is available on Guinness website. I. Can these messages affect how you think and feel? Why or why not? Provide examples.

These messages have an impact on how someone feels. For instance, the words “The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character,” affect the way one makes decisions knowing that their character is at stake. The choice of friends is an example of a choice that is exploited in this advert. The type of friends that an individual associates with defines his or her characterJ. Can these messages affect your behavior? Why or why not? Provide examples.
The messages can affect the mode of relationship between individuals. This is because of the motivating and inspiring nature of the messages. In addition, the messages can also persuade an individual to alter his choice of beer.K. Can the messages affect the cultural values in society in general? Why or why not? Provide examples.

The messages in this advert portray diverse belief systems and means of thinking that are indoctrinated into the public minds. These ideas pump an enduring sense of discontent and the urge to purchase beer that will ensure lasting satisfaction and delight.

SURNAME 1

Why is Re-election Rate in the congress so high?

The congress candidates keep on going for re-election even when the public approval is so low over such candidates. In the year 2012, nine members of every ten of United States Congress House and Senate members who vied for electro seats, were actually on a re-election candidature. According to BGOV Barometers, voters of congress party members are most likely to vote in back their candidates to office despite the public having a dim opinion over the entire legislative twig. In 2012, over eighty five percent of all congress candidates who sought their re-election managed to get back their seats.

In the year 2004, four hundred and one persons of the four hundred and thirty five congress members sought re-election and from all these, only five of them who did not succeed (NICHOLS 11).
There are several factors in congressional elections that are responsible for the ‘incumbent advantage’ for many years of U.S elections. One of the reasons that these candidates are most likely to get back in the office is because they have their own office and budget allotment. Thus, they are able to hire staffs that assist them with their efforts. They are also able to afford travel allowances to reach many people inside and outside their constituencies, states and districts. They have ease of sending information especially due to the benefits of using free-postage (NICHOLS 12).

Congress members work on a full time basis in which they are actually paid for. This allows them to reach many people on air, meetings as well as using other avenues that bring them together with the voters to convince them. Visibility nature of congress members helps to sell them easily to voters. The fact that they spend a lot of time in the office makes their appearances common to the voters. The congress members have an experience of how to organize their campaigns due to frequent office sitting and being re-elected. These members are also able to collect huge sums of money for their campaigns contributions and all these contributes to their chances of being re-elected after convincing their voters (Everett 599).

Works cited
Everett Young, et al. “The Electoral Costs Of Party Loyalty In Congress.” American Journal Of Political Science 54.3 (2010): 598-616. Academic Search Premier. Web. 31 May 2013.
NICHOLS, JOHN. “The Battle For Congress.” Nation 295.16 (2012): 11-14. Academic Search Premier. Web. 31 May 2013.

Surname: 3

ECONOMICS OF THE UAE

Introduction
UAE like any other country in the world have been in the process of enhancing the use of electronic links to enhance its operations and to speed up the rate of service delivery within UAE and also with international partners. E-government has been implemented as it helps the government; to focus on the end user requirements, helps in the improvement of internal coordination and efficiency within the government departments and the people. E-government aims at installing a greater service oriented culture in the public sector, it also helps in the delivery of services from a customer centered point of view leading to high quality service and promoting greater access, better training and improved services in the public sector.

Requirements for an economy to deploy effective e-government services
For an economy to be able to deploy the services of an e-government, there are various methods and modeling tools that should be availed. These may include.
There should be a reliable source of network that is responsible for transmitting information from one point to another within the government offices and the public domain. Programs and processes capable of interpretation by the internet media should also be availed so that they may aid in the customization process (Al-Khouri 87-107). The processes model are required and should be able to provide the relevant degree of freedom for those who are expected to visit the sites and should not be too complicated for the users.

The benefits of e-government programs to citizens, companies and government
There are various benefits that are associated with e-government in the United Arab Emirates. These benefits relates to:
Benefits to citizens
E- Government has been of great benefits to the citizens in the sense that, the citizens have had the opportunity to access wider range of channels that can be used to address the government. This has therefore enhanced better and faster service delivery. It has also led to convenience ways to access government information and offices as well as availability of more personal services from the government.

Through the e-government services, the citizens have been more aware of the services available and the policies that the government undertakes and has thus reduced the costs that would have otherwise been consumed when transacting such information.
It should be noted that availing the information through the electronic media has created better and greater participation of the public and has also created openness of the government towards its citizens thus creating transparency.

Benefits to businesses
Businesses and companies have advantage when using the e-government portfolio in the sense that they offer support programs, advice the government and also do contribute to the government taxation program. This being the case, the electronic support helps in reducing the transaction costs like in the e-procurement and there is also better management of inventory and shared data between these departments.
At the same time, with the e-government linking, there are faster interactions, leading to reduced time and transactions costs. This leads to better quality service and efficiency in the management of procurement procedures and taxation compliancy.

Benefits to the government
The government operations has been boosted by the introduction of the e-system in that it has created an interactive portfolio like downloadable tax payments forms, internet application for license renewals (Mohd 1-13) and other government publications. There is also efficient and enhanced transactional means within government ministries and the public in terms of information (Alshehri 81-83). In this the government stays connected to the citizens and can therefore meet the requirements of the citizens easily

E-government applications in the UAE
The united Arabs emirates has been in the forefront in the use of e-government application some of the applications where the e-government has been used include:
Identity card issuance
Under this method, eligible persons register online in case for the identity cards. Those who are first time holders, those who want to renew or to replace lost card register their details through the internet by creating their accounts via EIDA website, and then they submit those details to the relevant authorities. Afterwards, the emirates identity authority (EIDA) liaises with the concerned persons on how they could avail themselves for photographs and thumbprints (PR, Newswire para).
E-visa application and Abu Dhabi e-Government Gateway
This is an application process where the government through its appointed agents provides various information concerning various information and transactional services via the internet. Like in the issuance of the national identity cards, a person fills in details online and then is directed to the necessary department in case there is query to be solved. For visas and passports, the application is done online and one avail him/herself only for photo session and collection of the service ((Mohd 1-13).

E-procurements
The government has taken the initiatives of making the process of procurement more open and competitive by allowing online bidding and tender submission. In this process, the applications and bidding are done online, selection and the notification of the winner of a given government tender are conveyed through the print and internet mediums.

Conclusion
E-government is an advanced way in which government’s uses to reach the public faster while enhancing delivery of services. Through e-government, a government is able to service the citizens, the business and itself efficiently and effectively. This being the case, proper mechanisms that promote effective link and delivery of services should be employed by the government so that speedy delivery of services can be achieved.

Work cited
Al-Khouri, Ali M. “E-Government In Arab Countries: A 6-Staged Roadmap To Develop The Public Sector.” Journal Of Management & Strategy 4.1 (2013): 80-107. Business Source Complete. Web. 3 June 2013.
Alshehri, Mohammed, and Steve J. Drew. “E-Government Principles: Implementation, Advantages And Challenges.”International Journal Of Electronic Business 9.3 (2011): 255-270. Business Source Complete. Web. 3 June 2013.
Mohd. Yusof Hj.Abdullah, et al. “Government To Citizen: Advocacy Of Government On-Line Systems And Their Acceptance Among Citizens.” Innovation Journal 16.3 (2011): 1-13. Business Source Complete. Web. 3 June 2013.
PR, Newswire. “Entrust National ID Solution Selected by United Arab Emirates to Enhance Security of all Citizens, Expatriates.” PR Newswire US 25 May 2011: Regional Business News. Web. 3 June 2013.

Surname 2

How to succeed in an interview

Interview preparation requires exemplary techniques for those seeking to succeed. Anyone preparing for an interview needs more time before the interview date. During the interview date, interviewees need only few hours of preparation. Interviews involve knowledge-gathering techniques. Any person attending an interview should have good grasp of company information such as vision, mission and core values. However, knowing the direction of any company is healthy for mind during an interview process. Interviews for many people often are life changing opportunities, and thus the need for adequate preparations in order to stand out from the rest. People wishing to attend interviews should rely on several tips.

Interviewees must possess positive perceptions throughout the interview. Proper preparation will motivate one into attending an interview. However, being positive does not encourage a “know it all” attitude or behavior. Additionally, before attending an interview one must have enough reasons on why he/she should work for a particular company extending job offers through an interview. Annual reports and various data channels like websites will assist in bringing out the values of the company. The best answers shall come after reading, and understanding the job description.

During an interview moment, one should control his/her pressure. This will allow logical flow of explanations about relevant academic, and work experience. Panicking often disqualifies even bright people seeking employment. Attending an interview is all about creating a striking impression. First impressions must be good since they determine the overall response from the interviewers. One should perform his/her own self-assessment thoroughly. When asked about strengths and weaknesses, an interviewee must provide answers accordingly.

Interviews require proper documentation of academic and work history to support ones’ assessment during an interview session. They prefer telephone calls because they are quick and cheap, and provide instant results about attendance, and commitment on the interviewee part. In some cases, copies of invitation letters may be necessary to validate the attendance. These documents help in preparing well for an interview.

Referees contacts should be updated to avoid unnecessary doubt. Interviewers in some rare cases can contact referees before interviews are over. Updated reference often keeps away unnecessary embarrassments because at time referees keep changing their contacts for their own reasons. Besides knowing the venue, an interviewee must know the exact location. This will reduce panic that comes due to being lost. Interviewees must never be late at any instance to the venue. This will calm the mind since it allows enough concentration.

Finally, interviewees should avoid those chores that exhaust the body before the scheduled date. Interviews however are remarkably vital since they are lifetime opportunities, and as a result they that demand respect, and full preparation. All the considerations should be made to avoid inconveniencing the process. The interviewee uses little time display some features that will offer rare job opportunities in life. With that in mind, an interviewee must set aside enough time, and resources to make the interview process successful.

Surname 2

Self-wondering or thinking

Self-actualization is one way a person can make the best out of his or her abilities. Self-actualization goes in hand with how one identifies and reflects upon his or her areas of strengths as well as area of weaknesses in various aspects of life. Every morning we wake up, the idea that clings into our minds is how best we can make our day end. The reality is that our achievements in life entirely rely on knowing who we really are and the capacities or productive activities we can involve ourselves in without feeling worked or our status diminished for that matter.

It all starts by asking a simple question, who are you? Have you ever stopped and thought about who you really are, or if the same question were posted to you, what response would you give? To many people, the response would involve giving a description of their names, where they come from or perhaps their likes and dislikes. How well do you reflect upon yourself, your capabilities and down falls? Are you a kind of a person who is slow to anger or emotionally built up? Can you identify yourself as a failure and accept the fate or are you a person who never recognizes failure and any form of disability as part of life? Such questions build and make a person’s performance in various areas of life complete.

Unless one recognizes or identifies areas of his or her life that need much attention, a person may not perfectly make positive contributions with the dynamics of life. The ability to live well and in good relation within the society calls upon the need to understand yourself and the environment that forms part of your everyday life. In other words, a reflection of oneself is the key to success.

Surname 1

Ethnographic essay of “The Parlor Billiards & Spirits”

Music is dynamic in melody, style and culture. Regardless of the differences, music enables people to express their feelings, emotions or even cultural origin. The Parlor Billiards & Spirits proves this fact. Friday 11th May, 2012 was my memorable weekend. My visiting friend Nick and I spent our night in this club. The club organized a unique festival with a jazz showcase graced by big names in the music industry such as Booker Jones. The club is famous for regular live performances ranging from rock to jazz even reggae from renowned musicians. DJ Kemal spun favorite hits all through the night. We found this entertainment gig the perfect joint to kick back, relax and enjoy our evening at Ultra lounge.

The event started at 8.00pm although the gates were open as early as 6.00pm. As we walk into the brightly lit room after paying for our tickets, we are instantly welcomed by loud music lingering on my ears. Secondly, there is a big crowd, mostly teenagers in their early 20s and young adults. It is no doubt that the concert is well attended by about a thousand revelers; college students, young families, black and white. Bellevue High Band heads the performances. Originally designed as a jazz concert, producers and organizers spiced up the occasion with other varieties of music; reggae, hip hop and rock. This superbly satisfies my taste of music. The increasing fan base in the concert plays a major role in increasing the popularity of jazz in America. Notably all tickets are sold off and the Ultra Lounge is packed to capacity.

Aside from music, fans indulge in other activities. Due to over indulgence, others are embroiled in unpleasant verbal exchanges at the dance floor. The security men are forced to restrain two men from a battle. Some revelers result to playing pool away from the loud music. The atmosphere is filled with merry although with scents of liquor and cigar. Most of the girls dressed in backless shirts, pants or short skirts and high heels while the men are dress in baggy jeans, tight sweaters and low-cut sketcher boots. Generally clothes make up a good fashion experience in the club.
At about 12.am, a time when the entire neighborhood is quiet, the patron’s night is however getting started. A spectacular feature of these people is not in the numbers, but behavior. Couples dance to the bits closely knit together with a lot of physical interaction. The bright lights of all colors harmonize the slow music. It is almost clear that most of these revelers are under some kind of influence. Everyone seems indulged in the pleasures of the world.

As I leave the club at 2a.m with my friend Nick, I am left breathless, a group of girls stager outside as they wait for their sober friends to drive them home. Today, night clubs are both a social and cultural experience. Sounds, smell and sights fill people’s senses with ecstasy. Summer breaks create an ideal opportunity to enjoy music at The Parlor Billiards & Spirits. Whether hip-hop, rock or reggae, music is the most fundamental aspect of clubbing at The Parlor Billiards & Spirits. It defines the club and makes people move on the dance floor with a feeling of euphoria. Simply put, my first visit to the club is a worthwhile experience that will not be forgotten.

Insert surname here2

How to Run a Successfully Business

There are some paramount factors that ought to be considered before anyone jumps into any business venture to guarantee success and prosperity. Learning a successful business requires certain fundamentals to be taken into cognizance and used as a checklist to ensure a success track is adhered to. The following are some of the essential factors to be considered on how to run a successful business.

It’s important to offer what people want to buy and consume rather than want a business person wants to sell. Many are times people jumps in new business ventures with products or services they think they will be successfully rather than what has already been proven to posses market. Its important noting that, any success of a business depends with the cash flow; hence it’s paramount to get sufficient liquidity to run the business. Cash flow forms the life blood of any business forming the essentials to support the bottom line profits. This can be achieved if for example the business is in professional service, deposits on work upfront plays a vital role in creating the necessary cash flow.
Costs are known to be greatest hindrance for success of any business venture. Therefore, a business focused on success should always find and devise new ways and means to operate at minimum costs whatsoever without compromising on quality of products and services delivered. Higher cost expenditure reduces the liquidity and cash flow of a business hence redundancy to growth and prosperity of a business. Hence cash flow should always be positive if possible all through business operations.

Another essential strategy for a successful business is planning process beforehand which should overestimate the expenses while underestimating revenues. Conservativism with number in regard to revenues and expenditures doesn’t necessarily imply your acceptance but arming the business with caution information to work with. In business ventures, nothing happens until a sale is achieved; hence it’s paramount to focus on sales and marketing manically and maintaining the sales level above the break-even point. Every business focus is to earn profits; therefore every mean and way ought to be explored to ensure profit margins are high. When the five profit drivers are checked which includes, getting more business leads, converting leads to serious customers, increasing customer turnover, increasing average prices with regard to sales and finally increasing profits margins, then this forms a guaranteed foundation for a successful business.

Value addition to your products and services is a successful path worth following rather than discounting. When the latter is done, money is directly taken from bottom-line profits of the business downsizing operations which adversely affects business success. Having a business coach is vital to the success of any business. Someone outside business operations for guidance especially in planning and operations is a vital tool for success. Lastly for a successful business requires a vision with a plan tied towards realization of the vision. Market realization is vital in shaping the directions of a business and its profitability level.

An example of a successful business is the MacDonald food chains. The business has used the above described models to emerge top of other fast food chains across the globe. They concentrate on low-priced hamburgers as well as French fries. They know their markets hence provide quality products; they are consistent, cheap and convenient. Over time, the restaurant has concentrated in value addition living up to their vision while operating at low cost expenditures. This has resulted in huge profits which have witnessed massive expansion to cover huge networks across the world.

Successful Business 1

College iIs Not For Everyone

Introductionn
It all begins during the early socialization: Almost every parent, teacher, and adult who comes into contact withis exposed to a child reemphasizes the same message, if one is to become successful in life, education to college level is imperative. Thus, to a child, success in life is defined by the level of education one achieves; the more the education, the greater the success. Such an erroneous definition of success in life, relating financial prosperity and the kind of jobb one secures, misguides learners to working against all odds to acquire college education.

However, as much as college education may be good, it is not necessarily meant for all; some peoples’ dreams and success in life have nothing to do with post-secondary education. The worthiness of college education varies dramatically, depending on diverse factors including the graduation rate, type of college, field/type of study, and future endeavors. Through this speech, I hope to convince everyone that not all people are candidates to college education. I have highlighted two major reasons why college education is not for everyone. Success in life is not limited to the definition of pursuance of education for economic gains.

Bad Investment
It is apparent that the cost of education is quite high across many states. According to an article by “MSN Money Partner” in 2012, college education has witnessed a dramatic rise in cost over the last three decades, sometimes increasing with more than 1,000 percent, thus by far outpacing the general inflation. Actually, if other products’ price would have increased with the pace at which college costs have been increasing, the cost for a gallon of gasoline would not be anything less than $13 and that of milk $22. An education researcher, Megan Breinig (2013) noted that by 2010, the average tuition fee for public universities was almost $15,000. After a four-year course, most graduates had to pay between $60,000 and $81,000, not including the other costs for accommodation and meals. Besides the college education being unaffordable for many people, its rewards are not always as promising: Most graduates do not secure well-paying jobs to comfortably foot their loans.

Low Incomes
As the cost continues to increase every single year, it is becoming extremely challenging—if not impossible—for graduates to realize descent returns for their heavy investments, unless they go for technical courses, or pursue degrees in law or medicine. This is why we have so many shell-shocked graduates with nothing to show for their hard labor in colleges. According to the works of Breinig (2013), some incomes resulting from such degrees are only slightly above those of high school graduates. For example, a graduate social worker’s entry level salary ranged between $33,000 and $41,000 per annum, which is almost the same range of loan officers who never attended any university.

Joblessness
Of equal concern is the situation of joblessness in most countries. Most students spend so much money as they attempt to secure the education at college level, only to graduate and face the reality of joblessness in their respective careers. There are millions of college graduates in different fields who seek alternative means of survival because they could not secure any jobs related to their profession. If students were to realize that securing their dream job is not guaranteed upon clearing their studies, they would seek alternative means of livelihood upon graduating from high schools. Having explained college education as a bad investment for some people, let us look into the issue of absence of the necessary characteristics for a college student.

All are Not College Materials
As much as all children are encouraged to pursue their studies to college level, thus become successful in life, it is good to understand that not all students are college materials. Numerous students join college as a norm, but along the way they realize that such was a wrong decision, leading to the high dropout cases. Being a college student requires lots of motivation, hard work, determination, and commitment to one’s studies. However, some people are just not prepared for the task, thus need to seek alternative avenues to secure their livelihood, rather than spend a fortune only to graduate with the lowest score, or even worse, drop out along the way.

College Time Could be Better Spent
Instead of wasting time in college only to drop out along the way or score the worst grades, the time would be better invested in acquiring the experience required by most employers. As stated earlier on, significant populations of students enroll to college because it is a norm and the society requires them to do so, but in realityreality, they do not require the degree to realize their dreams in life.

Some College Contents are Irrelevant
Often, employers have to train some graduates afresh upon realizing most of the contents of their college studies are inapplicable or irrelevant to their professions. Some of the courses in colleges are ridiculous in the modern society, but students still pursue them so as to fulfill the norm of attending to college. There is a huge disconnect between what many students are learning and what employers are looking for, thus many employers claim to have job opportunities but no one qualified to take them (Kessler, 2012). Thus, it would be better for some students to spend time seeking for experience instead of some irrelevant courses in colleges.

Conclusion
Success in life is not limited to the definition of pursuance of education for economic gains. I have highlighted two major reasons as to why colleges are not for everyone. While to some people college is a bad investment with the situation of joblessness and low incomes, others lack the necessary traits for college students, thus to them seeking job experience would be a better investment.

Summary
Although all children are oriented into seeing education as the key to success, there is more to success than the limited definition. Not all people are meant to attend education to college level. In the modern society, some students’ attendance to college is a misplaced investment, where they waste their precious time and money, only to face frustrations later with low incomelow-income jobs and joblessness situations. Further, not all people are college materials, thus some people should invest their time in acquiring experience required by employers, rather than acquiring unnecessary certificates.

References
Breinig (2013). Why College Isn’t For Everyone. Insiyr Live Better. Retrieved from http://inspiyr.com/why-college-isnt-for-everyone/
Kessler, A. (2012). Is College a Waste? [Video file]. Retrieved from http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post.aspx?post=7432d686-f2e7-482b-a2e7-b5a630e2bec8
MSN Money Partner. (2012). 4 reasons college isn’t for everyone. Retrieved from http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post.aspx?post=7432d686-f2e7-482b-a2e7-b5a630e2bec8

Running head: COLLEGE IS NOT FOR EVERYONE 1

COLLEGE IS NOT FOR EVERYONE 6

Suicide and the Risk Factors

Introduction
Life is a gift that ought to be treasured because one cannot recover it once it is lost. As such, people value life and the society will make every effort to grant an individual a right to live. Although life is a treasured possession one can get, some people normally find it a burden and go an extra mile to eliminate it through suicide. Suicide is currently considered a public health problem in the United States. People possessing certain risk factors are at a greater potential for suicidal behavior. On the other hand, people possessing certain protective factors are at a lesser risk for suicidal behavior. This paper focuses on suicide and its risk factors.

Risk Factors for Suicide
Suicide is a deliberate act of taking one’s own life. One can choose to take his or her won life because of various reasons that may range from mental issues to a physical situation forcing an individual to commit suicide. This means that one does not just wake up one morning and commit suicide, but he/ she is rather exposed to the tendency to commit suicide, as a result of various risk factors. Risk factors for suicidal tendency can be grouped into three broad categories. They include mental or physical disorders, life events or circumstances, and historic or demographic factors (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2010).

History and Demographic Risk Factors
History and demographic factors exist as dynamic elements. They result from birth or are based on past events. The first risk factor in this category is the history of suicide attempts. Anyone who has ever attempted suicide is likely to do it again in the near future, if proper measures are not taken to avert it (Bongar & Stolberg, 2010). The second risk factor is parental history. If the parents have been involved in any form of suicidal behaviors, including drug abuse, mental disorder, violence, and divorce among others, the offspring are likely to be involved in suicidal behavior. Age and sex also enhance one’s chances of committing suicide. Women make more attempts than men. However, men are more likely to commit suicide than women. People aged 65 and above are likely to commit suicide more than the general population (Bongar & Stolberg, 2010).

Life Events and Circumstances
Some events in life are likely to push an individual to the edge. Such an individual is likely to commit suicide in such situations. They include aggressive behavior, agitation, and psychological pain resulting from rejection, defeat, and loss. The person experiencing unfortunate events, such as psychological pain resulting from rejection may not see the need of living. Such view of life may push him or her to the point of committing suicide (Hawton, Casey, Bale, Shepherd, Bergen, & Simkin, 2007).

Physical or Mental Disorders
The American Psychological Association provides a list of mental and physical factors that expose an individual to suicidal tendencies. The first one is psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, disorders resulting from substance use, and conduct disorder. The second risk factors under this category are dysmorphic disorder of the body. This disorder results from acute anxiety caused by an individual’s excessive concern about perceived defeat or rejection. The third factor is the low self-esteem, which makes an individual to lose confidence in life, thereby losing the taste for life. In such a situation, the person may commit suicide (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2010).

Predictive Risk Factors for Suicidal Behaviors
There are various pointers to suicide as discussed in the above section. Some of them are predictive if analyzed well. Risk factors falling under the category of history and demographic risk factors are more predictive because one can analyze them statistically. The first one in this case is the patient’s history of suicide. A person who has once attempted suicide is likely to make such attempts again. The study by Hawton, Casey, Bale, Shepherd, Bergen, and Simkin (2007) indicated that people with a history of suicide attempts are 25% likely to attempt suicide. This risk factor is predictive because one needs to study the past behavior of patients who have attempted suicide.

At the same time, risk factors in the category of mental and physical disorders are predictive. Such factors manifest in the physical and behavioral disorders, and thus, can be analyzed statistically. Physical disorders are observable to the victim, and thus, the victim will seek to eliminate such disorders through suicide. Mental disorders imply that the person is not in the right frame of mind and, therefore, such a person can attempt to remove his/her life. Mental disorders, such as depressions, schizophrenia, and anxiety can be clinically detected and predicted. As a result, suicide attempts resulting from mental and physical disorders can be predicted.

How to Approach a Lethality Assessment
A lethality assessment is the assessment of risk of suicide in an individual. Before assessing a suicide case, a psychologist should be aware of warning signs of suicide. Warning signs manifest verbally, physiologically, or behaviorally. If an individual makes a comment regarding life and mentions suicide directly or indirectly, he or she should be assessed because these are verbal suicide warning signs. Behavioral signs include feelings of worthlessness or hopelessness in life whereas physiological signs include changes in sleeping patterns.

The first step in risk assessment is to question the victim about any tendency to commit suicide. A question, such as “are you having thoughts of killing yourself?” can be asked. The questioning process can be combined with instruments of assessment, such as a pencil and a paper to note down and confirm the intent of suicide. There are requirement forms whereby the psychologist can use to confirm the suicide intent in the victim. The form in essence is the scale of assessment and one needs to ascertain the information derived from the questioning to the scale of assessment. Unfortunately, there is no single assessment scale, thus, one needs to select one scale from the available ones (Hawton, Casey, Bale, Shepherd, Bergen, & Simkin, 2007).

There are three tools for assessing lethality in an individual. The first one is the DIRT/SLAP model. Assessment using this model is based on the meaning of the acronym DIRT/SLAP. DIRT implies Dangerousness, Impression of the degree of risk, Rescue, and Timing. On the other hand, SLAP implies Specifics, Lethality, Availability, and Proximity. The psychologist determines the immediate suicidal risks using this acronym. For instance, dangerousness implies that, the psychologist has to determine the level of lethality of the risk. The second assessment tool is the use of suicide assessment checklist. In this method, the psychologist uses a prescribed checklist to assess the lethality. Lastly, assessment of lethality is done using a type of scale called SAD PERSON. This assessment is also based on the meaning of the acronym and each letter in the acronym stands for an item that must be assessed in an individual (Bennett, Bricklin, Harris, Knapp, VandeCreek, & Younggren, 2007).

Generally, lethargy assessment follows a certain pattern. A psychologist needs to have a pencil and a paper to assess the lethality through questions and observation. First, one needs to plan the assessment considering time, method, availably, and location. The plan is based on whether a case is severe, medium, or low. The assessment thereafter begins with the mood. The psychologist assesses if the victim is upset, depressed, or agitated. Thereafter, the psychologist assesses the behaviors of an individual. In this case, the psychologist assesses eating patterns, general health of the body, sleeping patterns, recklessness, isolation tendencies, jokes or talks about death, and possessions. Thereafter, the psychologist assesses the feelings of the victim. Feelings, such as helplessness, worthlessness, restlessness, and suicidal are investigated (Gambotto, 2004).

The next assessment is done on the individual’s use of chemicals. In this case, the pattern of use of alcohol and drugs is investigated. Thereafter, suicidal history is investigated to ascertain the risk. The number and time frame of suicidal attempts are investigated. The next item considered is cases of trauma, such as, great loss. Lastly, the psychiatric cares, both the past and the present if any, are investigated (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2010).

What to Do When Suicidal Cases have been Identified
In case the risk assessment in the previous section reveals that the victim is prone to suicide, various steps should be taken. In the first place, the case should be taken seriously. Only about 50% of people can tell about their suicide intention, thus, they should be taken seriously. Thereafter, the psychologist should ask questions. The questions should aim at showing concern and ascertain if the victim is undergoing some professional help. The questioning process should not result in arguments (Bongar & Stolberg, 2010).

The next step is to encourage professional help for the victim. In most cases, people who are considering suicide cases may not seek for professional help, thus, they should be encouraged to find help. The psychologist can help the victim to locate the best professional help available. Thereafter, the psychologist should take action. The first action involves removing any suicide objects, such as drugs, firearms and sharp objects from the reach of the victim. The next action should involve taking the victim to the hospital. If there are no hospital facilities in the nearby, one should call the hotline for the national suicide prevention lifeline. Finally, the follow-up plan should be made with the victim to ensure that he or she recovers well (Bongar & Stolberg, 2010).

The Relationship between Risk and Protective Factors in Counterbalancing Suicidal Behavior
Protective factors are behaviors an individual develops to resist suicidal attempts. They are both internal and external factors. Internal factors include religious beliefs, tolerance to frustration, and the ability to cope with stress. External factors include social connectedness, positive therapeutic relationships, and responsibility to loved ones. Protective factors help an individual to fight suicidal risk factors. This means that the protective factors balance the risk factors thereby preventing suicidal tendencies. For instance, an individual with a great love for his or her children may fight off suicidal thoughts. Such an individual will be driven by the desire to take care of his/ her loved children and this will prevent chances of him/her committing suicide. However, protective factors are not a cure for suicide risk factors.

Application of the understanding
The fact that protective factors help in suppressing suicidal acts means that they can be a great step in fighting suicide tendencies in an individual. At the same time, protective factors can be used for assessing suicidal risks in an individual. If an individual lacks any of the mentioned protective factors, it means that the person is likely to commit suicide than an individual with protective factors. At the same time, a clinician can use protective factors as a means of designing a setting for fighting suicide tendency. For instance, love for pets and family members are one of the protective tendencies. As a result, a clinician can recommend the creation of such environment. This will imply family members showing great concern and love to a person with suicidal tendency.
Ethical, Legal, Individual and Socio-Cultural Implications of Treating Clients at High Risk of Suicide
When treating an individual at high risk of suicide, there are various legal, ethical, individual, social, and cultural implications.

Legal Implications
No European countries consider suicide as a criminal offense. However, Islamic countries consider suicide as an offense. In the US, suicide is not a criminal offense, but it can be associated with various penalties. However, it is an offense to assist an individual to commit suicide (Bennett, Bricklin, Harris, Knapp, VandeCreek, & Younggren, 2007). This implies that a psychiatrist has no legal ground to force his/her client to submission. Instead, the psychiatrist risks legal action from the client’s family if the client commits suicide. This is because it can be alleged that the client was assisted to commit suicide. The psychologist is also governed by various laws that need to be observed during the process of treating the victim. One such legal requirement is the right of informed consent whereby the client’s guardians have the right to information about the treatment method applied to their loved one. This means that the psychiatrist is bound by the law to follow some strict guidelines when treating a client.

Social-Cultural Implications
The rate of suicidal behaviors differs among various ethnic groups when placed in various contexts through which suicide occurs. This means that suicide rates differ in terms of help-seeking patterns, reactions to suicide behaviors, manifestation of protective factors, and the reaction to suicidal behaviors across various ethnic backgrounds. For instance, a study by Willis, Coombs, Cockerham, and Frison (2001) discovered that Asian Americans and African Americans could not verbalize suicide intent or interpret it as readily as the Whites interpret. In addition, the study discovered that the church belonging to the Blacks was seen as protective. As a result, members of the Church belonging to the Blacks developed suicide protective factors compared to members belonging to churches of other races. This implies that suicide intervention strategies should take into consideration the social and cultural backgrounds of an individual, which is based on the ethnic background. A psychologist must, therefore, study and understand the social and cultural background of a client before prescribing intervention measures. If possible, a client should be linked to a clinician from the same social cultural background.

Ethical Implications
Bennett, Bricklin, Harris, Knapp, VandeCreek, and Younggren (2007) argue that providing intervention measures to suicidal patients is becoming challenging for clinicians. Ethical issues arise in the process of administering treatment to suicidal patients thereby causing dangers to both the patients and the psychologists. Issues have arisen during the application of various strategies, such as risk management techniques and performance competent assessment whereby the strategies applied have not been effective. This means that the psychologist is supposed to put into consideration some ethical measures when dealing with suicidal victims. The clinicians should consider improved standards of care, and diversity of patients. In addition, the clinicians should ensure that they provide informed consent sufficiently, and perform a competent assessment of suicidal risks effectively (Jobes, Rudd, Overholser, & Joiner Jr., 2008).

Individual Implications
Many cultures have central values called collectivism. The degree of collectivism differs from one culture to another, but it generally gives an individual a sense of belonging. Such a sense of belonging may help mitigate social risks, such as suicide. However, within a collective group there are individuals with various preferences and affiliations. As a result, there cannot be a generalized conclusion within a collective group and the clinician should be aware of this. For instance, the study by David, Sherry, Leslie, Jessica, Luis, and Gordon (2009) revealed that Black churches increase suicide protective factors. However, it cannot be generalized that everyone from the Black church is resistant to suicide because the degree of faith varies from one person to another. This means that clinicians should deal with a patient on an individual basis and collectivism should not be emphasized.

Conclusion
Life is precious, thus, should be guarded jealously. However, this paper has established that some people tend to do away with their lives if they posses certain factors termed as “suicide risk factors”. Suicide risk factors are grouped into three groups including life events or circumstances, mental or physical disorders, and historic or demographic factors. Each category contains a number of risk factors whereby some are predictive whereas others are not. Predictive suicide risk factors can be recognized easily based on statistical analysis of historical and medical records of an individual. Generally, risk factors under the category of history and demographic factors are predictive because one can statistically analyze them. Once identified, the severity of suicide risk factors is ascertained through lethality assessment. Asides from risk factors, some people develop inner qualities called protective factors, which resist suicide tendencies. Protective factors are grouped into internal and external factors. External factors include positive therapeutic relationships, social connectedness, and responsibility to loved ones.

Internal factors include tolerance to frustration, religious beliefs, and the ability to cope with stress. Protective factors act as a check on risk factors, thus should be encouraged because they suppress risk factors. Suicide risk factors can be treated clinically. When treating the victims, various legal, ethical, individual, social, and cultural implications should be considered.

References
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. (2010). Suicide Facts and figures: National statistics. Retrieved August 12, 2013, from American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: www.afsp.org
Bennett, B., Bricklin, P., Harris, E., Knapp, S., VandeCreek, L., & Younggren, J. (2007). Assessing and managing risk in psychological practice: An individualized approach. Rockville, MD: The Trust Press.
Bongar, B., & Stolberg, R. (2010). Risk Management with the Suicidal Patient. Retrieved August 12, 2013, from National Register of Health Service Psychologists: http://www.e-psychologist.org/index.iml?mdl=exam/show_article.mdl&Material_ID=100
David, B. G., Sherry, D. M., Leslie, B. W., Jessica, L. M., Luis, H. Z., & Gordon, C. N. (2009). Cultural Considerations in Adolescent Suicide Prevention and Psychosocial Treatment. Am Psychol, 63 (1), 14–31.
Gambotto, A. (2004). The Eclipse: A Memoir of Suicide. Sydney, Australia: Broken Ankle Books.
Hawton, K., Casey, D., Bale, E., Shepherd, A., Bergen, H., & Simkin, S. (2007). Deliberate Self-Harm in Oxford. Retrieved August 12, 2013, from University of Oxford Centre for Suicide Research: http://cebmh.warne.ox.ac.uk/csr/monpubs.html
Jobes, D. A., Rudd, M. D., Overholser, J. C., & Joiner Jr., T. E. (2008). Ethical and competent care of suicidal patients: Contemporary challenges, new developments, and considerations for clinical practice. Professional Psychology Research and Practice, 39 (4), 405-413.
Willis, L., Coombs, D., Cockerham, W., & Frison, S. (2001). Ready to die: A postmodern interpretation of the increase of African-American adolescent male suicide. Social Science & Medicine, 202 (55), 907–920.

SUICIDE AND THE RICK FACTORS 11

Running head: SUICIDE AND THE RISK FACTORS 1

Creating a Multicultural Women’s Community

Project rationale/ essay
People migrate from one geographical location to another due to various reasons. Some migrate due to professional work engagements while others migrate in the spirits of adventure to have a taste of life in a different cultural setting and geographical region. There are other reasons such as academic pursuits, escape from disasters such as wars and hurricanes. This is not an exhaustive list of reasons why there are many immigrants in Australia. Migration and cultural integration process is fraught with challenges for many people (Easteal, 1996). In the case of Australia, immigrants from non-English countries face a lot of cultural hardships in terms of communication and all other efforts of social integration (Tastsoglou & Miedema, 2000).

Different people react differently to the new world upon migration. Some get torn between the forces of learning and adapting into a new culture and retention of their culture. Some choose the middle ground of integrating the two. That is, retaining their cultural heritage while learning the new one. Women are the worst affected in this struggle to adapt to change since they are expected not only to adapt to a new world for themselves but also facilitate the adaptation of their children. As an international immigrant woman from the former Soviet Union, I can recount how hard it was to establish myself in Australia. First, my first language of communication is Russian and as a result, I had to confound with communication challenge in the Anglophone country. I had to facilitate my two little kids to adapt in a new English culture. It was very hard for them to socialize with others and to continue their education in English instruction without interruption. There was also a big problem of finding the right people to relate to without the feeling of stigma.

I wallowed in isolation and persecution perception for a number of years before settling. At first, the experience started with a lot of excitement to visit and learn new places and ways of life before the feeling of isolation, loneliness, and separation took a centre stage in my life. I know that there is quite substantive proportion of immigrant women who went through the same experience as mine; perhaps others had the worst of the situation. Immigrant women face a lot of challenges in Australia. The situation is worse for those with low professional skills and those who move to Australia as spouses to immigrants. These general challenges include low wage labour force participation, poor terms in health care provision, and poor access to other essential services of life. The inner urge to associate and socialize with people who had gone through the same experience as mine formed the basis of my project which is to create a multicultural women’s community for non-English immigrants in Australia.

In this new situation, I had to devise a new way of survival. The implications of the challenges I faced meant that I had to adapt to the situation by assimilating the Australian culture in my way of life, despite diverse differences with my Russian culture which is more social. I also had to content with the meager health care provision terms accorded to immigrants and raising my children in the new challenging environment. I wanted to develop a comprehensive understanding of the fate of other immigrant women and built the basis of addressing my change on it. I started this by reaching out to those in Gold coast, a town where I lived.

It was not that easy and as a result, I opted for the social networks; Facebook twitter to locate to locate Soviet immigrants in Gold coast. I created social groups to invite the aforementioned group to join membership and within a couple of weeks membership had swollen to hundreds. Through the social charts, I discovered that we all faced similar circumstances except a few who had come to Australia as professional expertise. Loneliness was common to all of us and as a result, we spent our evening times on social charts to pass time. We also organized a few evening outings during weekends to catch up with our old experiences in the Soviet Union.

It was during one of these weekend meetings that I introduced the idea of my project. The project sought to create a community of immigrant women from where every member of the former Soviet Union would find a continuity of Russian culture and a home. Among the tenets of the dream community included identifying ourselves with specific Russian festivals such as Old Style New Year’s Eve Extravaganza, dress disco, Maslenitsa, and Masquerade Ball among others. I considered such events as good occasions of socializing and recognising ourselves with our heritage and also to serve as moments of recollection and charting a collective way to expedite our challenges as foreigners. Other tenets included taking English classes in adult education programmes to improve our English proficiency, identifying with soviet immigrant entrepreneurs, setting up social and recreational homes for our children, and setting up a flexible business enterprise club from our collective contribution to better our financial needs.

The project idea generated a lot of suggestions and new ideas which led to integration of the all immigrants into the plan. Following this, it became necessary to re-define the scope of meaning of an immigrant. An immigrant woman was defined as a woman who has refugee status or permanent residence and is a member of visible minority group or has difficulties in speaking English, or speaks it with another accent other than Australian, America, or British.

Appropriateness of the project idea to the multi-lingual women’s community
The project idea would be very important in addressing some of the common issues faced by women immigrants in Australia. First, the project was expected to form a domestic violence forum from which domestic family matters can be addressed. From our shared discussions, it emerged that many immigrant women are battered in their marriages and their voices go un-heard because of the complex legal process involved in expediting the problem. One risked deportation due to such matters of domestic violence and as a result many women found in such cases kept it to themselves (Easteal, 1996). The community will provide solace to the victims of domestic violence and also sent representatives to the affected family to help in resolving the matter. It also envisioned the community acting as a force of constitutional change in addressing the plight of foreign women in Australia.

Secondly, the proposal of learning English in a bid to promote our spoken proficiency will be critical in eliminating the immigrant stigma defined by the accent of non-English immigrants. It emerged from our online charts through social media that we are easily identified by our English accent and discriminated on first contact, especially in medical health provision centres (Algan, Bisin & Verdier, 2010). This has had a lot of effects on the quality of services we receive at such places. So by improving our spoken English, we won’t be easily identified, unless one went beyond verbal communication to inquire our origin. This will help reduce the immigrant stigma and promote our cultural integration into Australian way of life.

Thirdly, the idea of setting aside dates to identify ourselves with Russian cultural heritage through festivals is essential in promoting the pride of our culture and ensuring that our children do not lose their identity. It will be very hard for these children to fit back into various cultures of our mother countries if some of us went back there someday without having offered them an opportunity to identify with it. Such festivities are also expected to provide recreation and an occasion of meeting new international friends and bonding with them. It is through such occasions that we will learn other people’s culture and how to accommodate them in ours.

Fourthly, the community of immigrant women will create a day care social home for our children while we go to our work places. Such a social amenity will create a forum for our children to interact with each other and in so doing learn to integrate their various cultures into their lives while still retaining theirs. Cross culture integration is important to them as it will teach them to learn how to live with others and not discriminating them.
The fifth benefit of the community is the enterprise club which in hoped to be created from our collection funding. Considering the big number of immigrants in Australia, it is evident that we can create a substantive market for our merchandise drawn from our diverse cultures. This enterprise will accommodate and support business ideas of members and thus help each one of us to grow financially.

Possible challenges and their implications
We all come from diverse cultural backgrounds and meet in Australia for different reasons. The social dynamics of life have weakened the bonds of civic life now to the extent that people no longer reason as members of a wider social spectrum but as individuals who must strive every day to meet the daily challenges of their lives (Alcorso, 1989). These factors are expected to weigh into the functionality of the community and as a result act as a setback in achieving its goals. Considering the dynamics of the community membership, some immigrants come from cultural backgrounds where foreigners are not easily admitted and this greatly influences their way of life and their functionality in the community in bridging our cultural diversity. Others consider themselves sufficient to handle their family matters and as a result, they may not see the essence of joining the club. Another issue that may arise concerns the legality of the club in a foreign country. The operation of the community may attract the government’s attention leading to disbandment.
In view of the above expected challenges, it is important that the scope of membership and activities of the club are creatively set within the confines of the Australian code of ethics and law to ensure its survival.

First, membership to the community has to be voluntary; this will ensure that only those women immigrants who identify themselves with the vision of the community join its membership. Second, membership will be structured as active and passive to accommodate the day time working members who may not have sufficient time to involve in its activities. Such members will be advised to join passive membership which does not require them to participate actively in minor events of the club. However, the resolutions and various activities of the club will be posted to them from time to time to ensure that they are updated appropriately.

Thirdly, concerning the mosaic of our cultural dynamics, the club will develop practices through consultation among its members that will accommodate our differences. Such practices may include setting aside days of holding joint celebration of our cultural differences (Nakae, 2005). During such occasions, various talents and cultural artifacts reflecting our differences will be displayed and celebrated to demonstrate the strength of oneness generated from our differences. Specific events will be scheduled for different cultures and ethnicities to enhance continuity of the pride of our cultures. During such specific events, willing club members from other cultures will be free to join them.

The fourth practice which I consider as paramount in ensuring cohesiveness of the club concerns differences in our entrepreneurial ideas and the expected support from membership. It is expected that there will be as many ideas as the number of members. Some of them will not make sense to other and their disregards may lead to such members leaving the club. To ensure the club operates without membership friction, the club will adopt a collaborative approach that values and integrates the ideas of all members. The club will set up an entrepreneurial academy for nurturing various business ideas from its members to execute this approach. The academy will evaluate the viability of business ideas and contribute more suggestions related to it before its approval or discard. In the event of rejection of a member’s idea, the affected will be well advised on the reasons as to why it has been dropped and other ideas that deem viable will be proposed for her. The amount of financial support that one receives from the club will depend on her membership contribution which will be flexible enough to accommodate everyone.

The project outline
Problem statement
The advent of globalization and the quest to create one global community has increased migration and settlement of people of various parts of the world to places too distant from their countries. While the spirit of globalization is to create one homogenous culture in which all people are respected irrespective of their diversities and differences, it has not been the case as various people face different forms of discrimination in different places as immigrants. Australia is one of those countries where immigrants suffer loneliness as they struggle to integrate themselves in the new way of life. Various forms of discrimination that immigrants face are on the basis of sexism and racism.

The worst affected in many cases are women. Perhaps the case is so because of their emotional nature and the immense social-cultural responsibilities bestowed upon them. In this situation, many women have often devised ways of survival to find homes away from their mother country homes. Many immigrant women in Australia suffer challenges such as lack of friends, isolation, motherhood challenges, the demand to adapt to a new way of life, and domestic violence among others.
Research indicates that various immigrant women from different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds have played instrumental roles in organizing exile communities in social, economic, and ethnic constructions to uplift their standards of life (Tastsoglou & Miedema, 2000). On the basis of this insight, this project recognizes the challenges immigrant women face in Australia and seeks to address them through setting up of a multicultural women community to address them.

Who are immigrant women?
An immigrant woman can simply be described as a woman who moves from his country to settle in another country, either on permanent or temporary basis. This status guarantees the woman in question the same rights like any other Australian woman. However this generalized definition has been dropped and replaced with a customized one in this project in order to narrow the scope of research and to address the plight of those who are negatively affected by the immigrant stigma. The social status of an immigrant woman is considered differently in Australia.

The term is used to discriminate rather than to associate with them because of their English proficiency and other social factors. In this project, the customized definition of an immigrant woman is a woman who has refugee status or permanent residence and is a member of visible minority or has problems with spoken English, or speaks it with accents other than American, British, or Australian. This definition has been chosen to narrow the scope of membership because an immigrant woman from England who speaks native English is granted equal social and civic status as a native woman in Australia. The same rights are accorded to an American woman, except those of color.

The community membership voluntarily draws from all foreign women in Australia who suffer from immigrant stigma. It is worth noting that the above definition does not exclude American and British citizens. Community membership is open to any member of the two communities who feels that she is discriminated on the basis of her country of origin or treated negatively compared to the natives.
Methodology of identifying members

It is not possible to go out in the public to ask people about their nationality in the quest of recruiting members to the group. Instead easier and cost free approaches have been proposed to address the problem. We are going to use social media through the internet to establish connections from which we will draw club membership. Identified social networks are twitter, Facebook, bloggers, and other online chat forums. Various groups will be created in aforementioned social networks seeking members of different cultural and geographical backgrounds to sign in their membership to identify with each other. From those membership groups, chats will be initiated with a view of integrating different groups into one common group of immigrant women. Various opinions raised by the groups will be taken into consideration in the formulation of the framework of operation of the larger group. Members signing in those groups are requested to give their authentic details including contacts for ease of contacting them in the event of arranging for a meeting

Aims of the community
There are many reasons as to why immigrant women who meet the above criteria should join membership to this community club. The main aim of the group is to provide a forum of expressing their challenges and sharing the plight of their status as immigrants in Australia. The group recognizes that there are diverse challenges faced by its prospective members such as domestic violence and as such it purposes to establish itself as a forum of mediating family differences and bridging peace and harmony. The group also purposes to form a social forum to provide those suffering from isolation and loneliness with friendship and a place to unite with others who come from their similar cultural backgrounds. The third aim of the group is to explore ways of bettering financial standings of each member by setting up an enterprise club to nurture business ideas and lobby for funding from its capacity. The group will accommodate each member’s business ideas and views to ensure that all members benefit from the common pool of resources raised through member contribution which is varied depending on each member’s capability.

The minimum contribution for each member is $5 per month. Besides using the common pool of funds from membership contribution to finance members’ business ideas, the group will make a joint investment in various business enterprises such as cosmetic shops and boutiques to earn an income for its members. The business idea is sustainable considering the large market created by the group members for its products. The fourth objective of the group is to provide a forum of multicultural interaction and promotion of the pride of cultural heritages of its members. It will accomplish this by scheduling events and festivities which are aimed at bringing together its members to interact, socialize, and learn from each other. The fifth objective is to explore the possibility of setting up a platform of voicing and championing for the rights of minority immigrant women in Australia. The six and most critical of the aims of the group is to promote cultural integration between the natives’ and the immigrants’.

How can we help each other?
There are many ways through which members of the group will help each other. The way, type, and amount of help will depend on the nature of challenge experienced by the victim. The issue of isolation and loneliness is a common case for all of us. The community will act as a forum for the lonely and isolated women to share their new experiences in a bid to tame boredom. This will be done through routine organized forums and events and through online chats with members. These are avenues of meeting group members from various part of the country and interact with them to find out places of visit. The group will also start programs for training its members on English proficiency. This will help expedite immigrant perception which is normally associated with our poor proficiency in spoken English. This will help us interact freely with other women, including natives without being identified on the basis of our spoken utterances. The third way of helping each other is seen in cases of domestic violence (Gwatirisa, 2004).

The community will provide solace to the victims and try to establish the root cause of the problem and send members to talk to the spouse in a bid to procure peace and harmony in the affected family. We can also help each other through fundraising to meet expenses of a member in times of hardship. A typical case is when a member is unable to meet medical bills. In this case, members will be expected to contribute voluntarily towards absolving the situation. Generally, the succinct way of helping each other is through sharing of our experiences. It is a fact that we all came to Australia at different times and others are still coming in. We all faced similar challenges before settling but braved them differently. This body of varied experience can be utilized in helping new comers to settle in the new cultural setting.

Planned activities of the group
There are many activities which the group is expected to engage in them depending on the membership size. Among the planned activities are: cross-cultural extravaganza. This event is planned to accommodate women immigrants from diverse cultures in Australia. During this occasion, various artists, musicians, and other performers reflecting our diverse cultures will be invited to entertain the occasion. There will also be many artifacts and items from different cultures on sale during the event. The event is designed to promote cross-cultural integration amongst ourselves.
Another planned activity is sports day. This event is aimed at promoting cultural integration through sporting competition. Many games and sporting events will take place during the day. The participants will be women and our children from our diverse cultures. The event will be much beneficial to our children as it will help them learn that our differences are our strength. This will be displayed in the final games between them and native children towards the end of the day. They will form various teams for different sporting events and games to compete the native ones. We are hoping that they will win most of the games as this will be very important in reminding our native brothers and sister s that there is strength in cultural diversity.

The third planned event is a family day. This event is scheduled to take place in Gold coast where majority of immigrants leave. We are all expected to come with our families including spouses to participate in this interactive session in which the attendants will be sharing their different experiences in the new Anglophone country. This rich expense is important in helping new comers to settle in Australia and as a result, they are highly encouraged to turn out in large numbers. It will be an occasion of meeting your fellow country men and women and starting a new network of friends. Those with family challenges and willing to share will benefit from the pool of guiding and counseling from the attendants who are successful in family matters.

How to contribute
Besides the business enterprise club is dependent on member contributions. The group has opened a bank account through which membership share contribution will be collected. Each member is expected to deposit her contribution into the account and retain the banking slip which will be submitted to the finance committee of the group for updating members’ shareholding rights. Your contribution is well secured and in the event of pull out, the total contribution accrued since joining the club will be refunded back to you. Besides monthly membership p contribution, each member may be required to pay sum amount of money from time to time to support such scheduled events described above.

Sustainability of the club
The future of the club is sustainable due to the following reasons: First, the minimum membership contribution of $5 has been chosen to accommodate all members with various income rates. This will ensure that members do not strain to contribute. Also membership share contribution is not consumed up in the club activities; instead it is regarded as an investment which will earn a dividend from the common investment ventures of the group. The second sustainable strength of the group is the benefits of its social events which will be organized routinely. It is a fact that many of us go through similar challenges as immigrants and as parents in this country. We all suffer a common discrimination on the basis on our non-English cultures. The group purposes to form a forum of addressing these challenges.

The third sustainable strength of the group is its voluntary membership and collaborative administration which takes into account all the views of its members. The main reasons why such organization fail is because of sidelining some members’ ideas and imposing on them autocratic ones generated from its leadership. To avoid such a situation, the group has set up a business academy for nurturing ideas of members and advising them in a way that they will feel valued.
The last sustainable strength of the group is the large market created by its members for its business products. It is advisable that all members purchase from the group’s enterprises to support its sustainability. There are thousands of immigrant women in this country and if all of them were converted to provide a market for its enterprises, then the future of the club is bright.

Conclusion
A customized definition of an immigrant woman has been adapted to narrow the scope of membership and objectivity of the group. An immigrant woman has been defined as a woman who has refugee status or permanent residence and is a member of visible minority or has problems with spoken English, or speaks it with accents other than American, British, or Australian. The principle method of membership recruitment is through social network sites such as Facebook, twitter and other online blogs. The group exists for many reasons such as provision a forum of expressing the challenges of its members and sharing their plight in Australia, provision of solace and bridging of peace and harmony in matters of victims of domestic violence, provision of social fora for cross cultural integration, nurturing and financing business ideas of its members through a professional academy within its existence, and offering financial and moral support to members it times of hardship. There are many scheduled events for the group such as cross-cultural extravaganza, sports day, and family day.

Membership contribution is through direct deposit in the group’s bank account. Members are also expected to contribute voluntarily to support routine social event which will be organized by the community.
The group’s sustainability is based on affordable minimum monthly contribution of $5, collaborative administration which integrates and nurtures members’ ideas, and a big market created by its club members for its enterprise products

Bibliography
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Algan,Y, Bisin, A &, Verdier, T. (2010). Perspectives on Cultural Integration of Immigrants: An Introduction. pages:2-38.from: http://econ.sciences-po.fr/sites/default/files/file/yann%20algan/Introduction.pdf
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Gwatirisa, P. R. (2004). National Issues for Immigrant and Refugee Women: What Do We Know? Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia , pages:1-9.from: conference.awhn.org.au/downloads/0099_GwatirisaReSaved.pdf
Nakae, K. (2005). Cultural Change: A Comparative Study of the Change Efforts of Douglas Macarthur and Carlos Ghosn in Japan. Massachusetts Institute of Technology publication , pages:15-120.from: dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/32114/63201635.pdf
Tastsoglou ,E & Miedema, T. (2000). Immigrant Women Organizing for Change: Integration and Community Development by Immigrant Women in the Maritimes. Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration , pages:1-92.from: publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/H21-149-1999E.pdf

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