Week 4 – Discussion 1

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Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read Chapter 7 in your textbook.Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

 Public Health Disasters and Preparedness [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 4, 5]

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read Chapter 7 in your textbook.

Read through the emergency disasters below and select one to address for this discussion:

Imagine you are the director of FEMA using NIMS when this disaster occurs. Complete the following steps using the scenario you selected:

• Develop a video, using the instructions below, delivering a public announcement that informs the population of what will be done to resolve the issue. Your video should be at minimum 4 minutes in length. Address these elements in your video:
  • Describe the nature of the situation.
  • Explain what FEMA and others are doing to mitigate the situation.
  • Explain what people need to do to stay safe or to get help in order to reduce panic.
• Use an appropriate vocal tone to reduce panic and provide a solid explanation of the above elements. Review the Writing Center’s Presentation Tips (Links to an external site.) to maximize your results. Preparing and delivering a clear message, like you would for a PowerPoint presentation, is also important in video presentations.

Instructions to record video:

In order to complete this discussion, you may use the native video tool in your classroom. Please review the Canvas Video Submission Instructions (Links to an external site.) in order to get started. This guide will familiarize you with the tool and review how to record your video to the classroom.

As an alternative, you may use an external platform called Screencast-O-Matic (Links to an external site.). Please review the instructions provided by the Screencast-O-Matic Quick-Start Guide (Links to an external site.) to get started. This guide provides information about using the tool and includes directions to upload your video to the classroom. You do not need to develop a PowerPoint presentation. This discussion is meant to assess your communication abilities; therefore, the audio portion of the video or screencast is essential. If you elect to use the screencast option, you may simply use a picture of yourself or an image that is both professional and aligns with the topic to report the above information in lieu of a PowerPoint. If you choose to use another video recording tool for your submission, please follow the guide instructions to upload an MP4 video file into your classroom using the same steps.

If you have approved accommodations through the University and need an alternative option, please contact the instructor.

All submissions require an upload of the video to the classroom. Submission of a link to a video does not fulfill the submission requirements.

Think about the following questions while formulating your response to the public:

• What are the issues you will address first?
• Which organization is responsible for what? Where will you allocate your resources?
• What public health concerns are the results of each of these events?
• Which populations might be most at risk?
• What are some of the long-term health effects of these events?
• What other health concerns may arise from these events?
• What will you say to the people, who are desperately awaiting your direction?

Scenario Response Due by Day 7: Imagine that you are the recipient of the public announcement made by your classmates. In responding to at least two classmates who used a different scenario than you, explain how you would respond and react to your classmates’ public announcement. Address these questions specifically:

• Explain how you felt your needs were or were not taken care of based on the FEMA director’s statement.
• Examine a few elements that you would add or remove from the announcement.

 Congratulations! You have recently been promoted and are the company’s new Human Resources Manager! You have offices in several countries, so how would you evaluate different compensation packages for employees who are located throughout the world?

Your discussion is to be submitted in 12-point Times New Roman font using APA format with a minimum of two sources, should be at least 250 words

Use your selected company from Weeks 1-2 for this week’s assessment.

A primary technique of deeper analysis of an organization is the Porter’s Five Forces Model. This technique is often used when looking at your competitive advantage. Looking at your competitive advantage is important to aligning your operational needs with your business strategies.

Review sources on your company.

Write a 700- to 1050- word proposal to the company of your plan to align the operational needs with business strategies based on your analysis. Include the following in your proposal:

• An analysis of the company based on Porter’s Five Forces
• An analysis on the effectiveness of the leadership model the company is currently using
• Consider the current leadership style or styles in place at the company.
• Determine the effectiveness of the leadership style/s and whether an alternative style/s would be more impactful.
• Assess how to determine effective leadership. What makes a leader effective or ineffective?
• Consider sources of managerial power when leaders are effective.
• Recommendation for the following actions:
• Leadership model changes
• 2- to 3- actions needed to align operational needs with business strategies identified in Week 1

Include and cite and reference 1 other resource besides the text.

Format your citations and corresponding references according to APA guidelines. Utilize the Center for Writing Excellence and the Reference and Citation Generator for assistance with APA style formatting.

Submit your assignment as an attached Word document.

Instructions
Pick one (1) of the following topics. Then, address the corresponding questions/prompts for your selected topic. Use at least one (1) documented example of the corresponding primary source in your writing.

Option 1: McCarthyism and Anti-Communist Campaigns
The Cold War brought about an irrational fear of communism and communist activities in the United States. As we are learning this week, one of the most vocal instigators of this paranoia was Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy delivered a speech about the imminent threat of communism on February 9, 1950. Perform a search on the internet and locate and read Joseph McCarthy’s speech given in Wheeling, West Virginia on February 9, 1950. Copy and paste the following keywords into your Google search bar: “Joseph McCarthy, Wheeling, West Virginia.” The speech is also referred to as “Enemies from Within.”

Construct the case study by responding to the following prompts:

• Explain how Senator Joseph McCarthy defined communist nations within the speech. What specific threats did these nations pose?
• Assess if Senator Joseph McCarthy charges were accurate.
• Analyze anti-communist sentiments during the Cold War era, were these sentiments valid. If so, how? If not, why not?
• Explain if there are other examples of events similar to the Red Scare that have occurred throughout history and modern day.
• Examine what happened to people who invoked the Fifth Amendment, refused to appear or were found in violation of the law as defined by the Congressional Committee.

Option 2: The Civil Rights Movement
Using the Internet, locate and read Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech given in Washington D.C., August 1963. Copy and paste the following keywords into your Google search bar: “I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr.” Feel free also to locate and incorporate additional scholarly sources to respond to this case study, including information on the Civil Rights Movement.

Construct the case study by responding to the following prompts:

• Explain if the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s effectively changed the nation.
• What effect would the Civil Rights Acts have across the continent on minority groups?
• Do you think that the tactics and strategies that civil rights activists used in the 1960s would apply to today’s racial and ethnic conflicts? Why or why not?
• Do the ideas of the 1960s still have relevance today? If so how? If not, why not?
• Analyze how the Civil Rights Movement would impact diversity in America today.

Option 3: American Domestic and Foreign Policies (1953-1991)
Complete a search either in the Chamberlain Library or internet for domestic and foreign polices of four (4) of the following Presidents. Please incorporate at least one primary source of either a policy or act that you have chosen to write about.

• Eisenhower
• Kennedy
• Johnson
• Nixon
• Ford
• Carter
• Reagan

Then, compare domestic and foreign polices of your four (4) presidents by answering the following prompts:

• Explain how your selected presidents worked to improve the United States economically and socially. Give at least one example of each president.
• Assess if the policies of your choice of presidents strengthen or weaken the United States.
• Explain how you see your choice of presidents served the public interest and further the cause of democracy.
• Determine if it is constitutional for the United States to fight preemptive wars.
• Determine if human rights and morality should be the cornerstones of United State foreign policy.

Writing Requirements (APA format)

• Length: 4-5 pages (not including title page and references page)
• 1-inch margins
• Double spaced
• 12-point Times New Roman font
• Title page
• References page
• In-text citations that correspond with your end reference

Case Assignment:

Please read the following case study. Once completed, please utilize the information to discuss, in a 5-8 page paper, the following:

1) which substances are involved

2) how might you assess further

3) whether this appears to be characteristic of abuse or dependence and why

4) the likely course of the addiction if treatment or untreated

5) any concurrent psychiatric disorders to consider, if so, how might it be
assessed and addressed

6) your recommendations for treatment.

THE CASE:

Al Santini, a 39-year-old restaurant owner, is referred by a marriage counselor to a private outpatient substance abuse treatment program for evaluation and treatment of a possible “cocaine problem.” According to the counselor, attempts to deal with the couple’s marital problems have failed to produce any signs of progress over the past 6 or 7 months. The couple continues to have frequent, explosive arguments, some of which have led to physical violence. Fortunately, neither spouse has been seriously injured, but the continuing chaos in their relationship has led to a great deal of tension at home and appears to be contributing to the acting-out behavior and school problems of their two children, ages 9 and 13.

Several days ago, Al admitted to the counselor and to his wife that he had been using cocaine “occasionally” for at least the past year. The wife became angry and tearful, stating that if her husband failed to obtain treatment for his drug problem, she would separate from him and inform his parents of the problem. He reluctantly agreed to seek professional help, insisting that his cocaine use was “not a problem” and that he felt capable of stopping his drug use without entering a treatment program.

During the initial evaluation interview, Al reports that he is currently using cocaine, intranasal, 3–5 days a week, and that this pattern has been continuing for at least the past 2 years. On average, he consumes a total of 1–2 g of cocaineweekly, for which he pays $80 per gram. Most of his cocaine use occurs at work, in his private office or in the bathroom. He usually begins thinking about “coke” while driving to work in the morning. When he arrives at work, he finds it nearly impossible to avoid thinking of the cocaine vial in his desk drawer. Although he tries to distract himself and postpone using it as long as possible, he usually snorts his first “line” within an hour of arriving at work. On some days, he may snort another two or three lines over the course of the day. On other days, especially if he feels stressed or frustrated at work, he may snort a line or two every hour from morning through late afternoon. His cocaine use is sometimes fueled by offers of the drug from his business partner, whom the patient describes as a more controlled, infrequent user of the drug.

Al rarely uses cocaine at home, and never in the presence of his wife or children. Occasionally, he snorts a line or two on weekday evenings or weekends at home when everyone else is out of the house. Al denies current use of any other illicit drug but reports taking 10–20 mg of an antianxiety drug, Valium (diazepam) (prescribed by a physician friend), at bedtime on days when cocaine leaves him feeling restless, irritable, and unable to fall asleep. When Valium is unavailable, he drinks two or three beers instead.

He first tried cocaine 5 years ago at a friend’s party. He enjoyed the energetic, euphoric feeling and the absence of any unpleasant side effects, except for a slightly uncomfortable “racing” feeling in his chest. For nearly 3 years thereafter, he used cocaine only when it was offered by others and never purchased his own supplies or found himself thinking about the drug between episodes of use. He rarely snorted more than four or five lines on any single occasion of use. During the past 2 years his cocaine use escalated to its current level, coincident with a number of significant changes in his life. His restaurant business became financially successful, he bought a large home in the suburbs, he had access to lots of cash, and the pressures of a growing business made him feel entitled to the relief and pleasures offered by cocaine.

He denies any history of alcohol or drug abuse problems. The only other drug he has ever used is marijuana, which he smoked infrequently in college but never really liked. He also denies any history of other emotional problems and, except for marriage counseling, reports that he has never needed help from a mental health professional.
During the interview, Al remarks several times that although he thinks that his cocaine use “might be a problem,” he does not consider himself to be “addicted” to it and is still not sure that he really requires treatment.

In support of this view, he lists the following evidence:

1) his current level of cocaine use is not causing him any financial problems or affecting his standard of living

2) he is experiencing no significant drug-related health problems that he is aware of, with the possible exception of feeling lethargic the next day after a day of heavy use

3) on many occasions, he has been able to stop using cocaine on his own, for several days at a time

4) when he stops using the drug, he experiences no withdrawal syndrome and no continuous drug cravings.

On the other hand, he does admit the following:

1) he often uses much more cocaine than intended on certain days

2) the drug use is impairing his functioning at work because of negative
effects on his memory, attention span, and attitude toward employees and customers

3) even when he is not actively intoxicated with cocaine, the aftereffects of the drug cause him to be short-tempered, irritable, and argumentative with his wife and children, leading to numerous family problems, including a possible breakup of his marriage

4) although he seems able to stop using cocaine for a few days at a time, somehow he always goes back to it

5) as soon as he starts to use cocaine again, the craving and the preoccupation with the drug are immediately as intense as before he stopped using it.

At the end of the interview, Al agrees that although he came for the evaluation largely under pressure from his wife, he can see the potential benefits of trying to stop using cocaine on a more permanent basis. With a saddened expression, he explains how troubled and frightened he feels about the problems with his wife and children. He says that although marital problems existed before he started snorting cocaine, his continuing drug use has made them worse, and he now fears that his wife might leave him. He also feels extremely guilty about notbeing a “good father.” He spends very little time with his children and often is distracted and irritable with them because of his cocaine use.

Case retrieved from:

Spitzer, R.L., et.al, (2002). DSM-IV-TR Casebook: A Learning Companion to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. American Psychiatric Publishing. Arlington, VA.

1910 Words

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APA Format