Argument for the Use of Consensual Relationship Agreements (Cras) Essay Example for Free

Argument for the Use of Consensual Relationship Agreements (Cras) Essay Argument for the use of consensual relationship agreements (CRAs) in my current (or future) workplace Consensual Relationship Agreement (CRA) is a contract that both employees involved a romantic relationship sign to acknowledge that their relationship is voluntary and that they will abide by the policies of the company regarding anti-harassment and anti-discrimination. (Hellriegel Slocum ,2011). Office romance should be addressed in a more constructive and professional way just like behaviors such as attendance, dress codes, and non-disclosure agreements. If one can argue that it is perfectly acceptable for employees with personal challenges (such as death in the family, childbirth, sick family member) to receive assistance and, support in the form of personal time-off from work then it must be reasonable for other employees who become romantically involved to get some type of support from their employers. The risks of office romance can better be mitigated if the risk factors are known and managed. So, for example, lawsuits from employees who claim they were coerced into an office romance and disadvantaged by it would be avoided because employees signed the CRAs of their own volition. Allegations from other employees of real or imagined favoritism from a supervisor to a subordinate with whom he or she is romantically involved would be averted because HR would have already taken steps to ensure this does not happen. By creating a mechanism which provides specific and detailed guidelines for professional workplace behavior, HR professionals are able to educate and caution employees about appropriate or inappropriate workplace etiquettes. Privacy issues or lack thereof, as related to dating in the workplace would also be appropriately addressed with the employees involved so they cannot claim that were unfairly treated. Another compelling reason why one should argue for CRAs in their workplaces is that in light of the legal ramifications of the rights of employees in the workplace, CRAs become an expedient and prudent way to protect the interest of an organization and simultaneously provide safe and meaningful ways for employees to freely explore and express their sentiments for others who might feel the same way. Organizations spend a lot of time and resources on strategic planning and forecasting. The purpose of such planning is to position the organization to accomplish two major goals: stay abreast with, or ahead of, the competitive marketplace and change current processes and approaches that are not yielding desired, or expected results. These are proactive steps to assure progress and success. CRAs facilitate and enhance such strategic plans by staying ahead of a changing workplace in the modern age and ensuring that valuable human resources will not be lost and thereby jeopardize more important organizational goals and objectives. CRAs provide a framework for responsible behavior by employees, particularly, supervisors. It fosters a win-win work environment for employees who happen to be romantically involved with each other and for employers to provide guidance and direction for appropriate workplace behavioral expectations. By bringing the relationship into the open the employees involved would not feel pressure to go to great lengths to hide their relationship and could focus on being productive. Conversely, these employees would become pre-occupied with finding ways to hide their relationships if the company did not encourage workplace romance. Create a counter argument against the use of CRAs in your current (or future) workplace. Office romance must be forbidden in the workplace because it simply raises too many avoidable issues in the workplace. By its very nature, office romance predisposes employees involved to compromise their rational objective behaviors because their non-objective emotional senses tend to dominate their thoughts and actions. Romantic relationships are the result of spontaneous human behavior; they are not preconceived and therefore cannot be regulated or contained by contracts. Making CRAs a condition for employment is also not a good idea because, over time, the restrictions become unbearable and the parties involved find out that they are better off in different organizations where their actions and whereabouts will no longer be scrutinized by an assigned HR person. CRAs are tantamount to indirect employment agreement in that they indirectly impose restrictions on the individuals involved in the relationship and seek to protect the interest of the organization at the expense of the people who happen to be emotionally attracted to each other and choose to express those sentiments in an open and liberating way. CRAs simply become ineffective tools because the employees who even agree to sign them often find ways to secretly engage in behaviors that result in lapses in judgment because they are emotionally charged. In many respects, CRAs are intrusive and inherently designed to discourage workplace romance. By their very nature they put restrictions on a human behavior that is designed to be spontaneous and natural. Organizations are not equipped to handle issues of the heart and neither should they start now. Organizations need to focus on what they do best, increasing shareholder value and accomplishing other strategic goals and objectives. Discuss the ethical principles involved in the use of CRAs. There are many perspectives and convictions about what is, or is not ethical. However, there are no universally accepted principles and rules for resolving all ethical issues (Hellriegel Slocum ,2011). In a country with such great freedom of expression, one can only imagine the diversity of opinions and positions regarding the factors that drive people’s decisions and formulate their ethics. The range of such factors is as wide as the differences in people and this is reflected in the diversity of ethical principles. However, for the purposes of this paper only a handful of relevant ethics based principles Utilitarian, Professional Standards, Disclosure and Distributive principles will be considered: Utilitarian principle focuses on the magnitude, extent and impact of harm versus good of decisions that are made. The final decision is predicated on the weight of good versus bad – the greatest good for the greatest number (Hellriegel Slocum , 2011). On the basis of this principle, CRAs are believed to generate more good than harm for those who choose to engage in office romance. Disclosure Principle – This principle focuses on how most people in society will react to the details of a decision when it becomes public knowledge. Most organizations take social responsibility very seriously and will do their very best to garner positive public image. Consequently CRAs are viewed favorably by such organizations. Distributive Principle – This principle is predicated on fairness. The thrust of CRAs is a win-win arrangement for both the organization and the individual because most organizations generally perceive CRAs to be fair. Create at least one (1) other option besides CRAs that would address workplace romances. The only other option for workplace romances that may be plausible is for the organization to develop a set of policies based on the organization interest principle which focuses on the basis of what is good for the organization (Hellriegel Slocum , 2011). With this option, employees are expected to disclose any potential or actual conflict interest to the human resource professional within the organization. Conflict of interest covers a broad range of behaviors; however, this paper will focus on personal conflict of interest which stresses zero tolerance for discrimination and sexual harassment. This alternative approach to workplace romances would requires that an employee may not supervise someone with whom they have a close personal relationship such as anyone in their family, household or someone with whom they have or had a romantic relationship or other close personal relationship. Additionally, if one were to supervise someone even indirectly with whom they had one of the relationships described above, one must disclose the relationship promptly. Any acts of discrimination, sexual harassment or other harassment based on race, color, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation would be addressed under a zero tolerance policy.

Affordable Housing and Income Inequality

Affordable Housing and Income Inequality Liz White-MacDonald Abstract Nurses are faced with daily challenges to deal with an increased in acuity and complexities in regards to patient health outcomes. Nurses participate in advocacy and policy making in adjusting affordable housing to meet the demands of their patients. Policies by nurses have seen drastic changes in the housing communities which has seen an upsurge of low income families managing to secure affordable housing. These drastic changes are in realtion to the exceptional work done br registered nurses in adviacting and offering teacjing to these patients. Nurses are aware that health and poor hosuing had detrimental facets to our patients, and by provind hope and resilience to patients who are low income and lack hosuing security, we are forging an excellent nrand of nurisn gpreactice Keyword: communication, caring, interaction, therapeutic relationship Affordable Housing and Income Inequality Access to affordable housing is a serious concern facing many households in Canada, particularly for low incomes households that are trying to keep up with the high rise of housing costs. This concern with the issues related to the supply of affordable housing have focused their approach to income inequality, unfair housing markets, lack of a national housing strategy in Canada , lack of growth in affordable housing options relative to low income families. In this paper, I intend to examine the link between income inequality and affordable housing in Canada and its effect on the quality of life of the residents using a family systems approach. An important aspect of the current Canadian economy is that of the dual income family. Many dual income families in Canada require both partners to work in order to provide secure housing, childcare and food security. Most Canadians that have a decent job and roofs over their heads and the income to afforde groceries do not hesitate to argue for affordable housing. However, for low-income families, whose income can be gone in trying to keep their family sheltered in an appropriate and acceptable home, this can be faced with many economical and health issues. Consequently, many families are working full time far below the poverty line in jobs that are unstable, without security, benefits or flexibility for family related responsibilities. To qualify for subsidized housing in Edmonton , an applicant must have a gross household income of atleast $48,000 for a two bedroom, 59,000 for a three bedroom and $64,000 for a fourn bedroom, besides the gross household income potential buyers must also possess a vefication letter of job and successfully pass a criminial background check, have thhe downpayment, and credit rating. In addition, during my interview, the interviewee insisted that if housing prices fall within a decent price range for a 3 bedroom house , she will be more than happy to adjust and prioritize her list of wants/needs to fit what they can afford, however housing costs are fluctuating every year in Edmonton, and recently the Canadian Mortgage and Hosuing Corpation( 2015) stated that, â€Å" Effective June 1st, 2015, the mortgage loan insurance premium for homebuyers with less than a 10% down payment will increase by approximately 15% (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation [CMHC], 2015). This new change will make it tougher for low income families to access first time homes. Despite the relatively attainable steps in achieving homes in Canada, families are still facing economic issues in accessing homes. This is due to the fact that mortgages and hous ing policies have not been flexible in modifying their approach to allow low income households better options to buy newer homes. Nurses Role Nurses can be advocates in helping patients achieve affordable housing and a safer health status by connoting policies or engaging in design standards that enable families of diverse economic means, racial/ethnic backgrounds or family compositions to live in housing and neighborhoods that enable then exercise to the fullest extent possible personal choice in housing, education and employment. This choice enables families to enjoy equal opportunity for economic and social mobility and enables communities to smoothly adapt to inevitable changes over time in employment, infrastructure and demographics .Affordable housing and income inequality involves nurses participation at all levels of their scope of practice, in doing so, nurses recognize factors that prevent and/or are detrimental to their patient’s health and attempt to address the social, economic( salary and wages) and environmental aspects ( neighbourhood and services available). In their article, Anderson et al. (2003) supports the idea that Affordability of housing is linked to the health and well-being of individuals and families. When a market lacks a sufficient supply of affordable housing, lowerincome families are often forced to limit expenditures for food, medical care, and other necessities in order to pay rent.The lack of affordable housing within a community can contribute to family residential instability, as families are forced to move frequently, live with other families in overcrowded conditions. (Anderson et al., 2003) To be effective advocates, Registered Nurses will need to rely on their education and self-reflection on their own beliefs and practices surrounding income and poor housing and the effect it has on health. Nurses also need to bring awareness of poor housing and its complication on their patients’ health to the policy table. For the purpose of understanding our patient’s health it critical to advocate through policies on behalf of our patients. Advocacy presents a benchmark where health issues can be forwarded to the appropriate municipal, regional or government offices which may require policy changes. According to Goodman (2014), Opportunities for advocacy abound. Whatever one’s personal interests, commitments, and skills, there is an opportunity for every nurse to participate actively in shaping the future of nursing (p. 668). Despite the lack of affordable housing crunch, federal, municipal and government agencies have attempted to address issues related to af fordable housing. However, polies or market changes have not been met to prevent the housing crunch. Nurses through advocacy can be an important mediator in this emerging issue. Role of Advaocacy In nursing Nursing Advocacy has been one of the most vital and basic roles of the nursing profession. Despite bring intricate in nature it promotes a form of representation for our patients, supports autonomy and respect for our patients regardless of their diagnosis. In addition, advocacy acts as a mediator between the patient and the health system. In our nursing profession, advocacy is guided by CARNA through its ethical codes. These codes influences the profession in a organize and professional way. In nursing literature and research on the subject, Cole, Wellard Mummery (2014) states, â€Å" advocacy in nursing is defined as a nurse actively supporting patients in relation to their rights and choices, clarifying their healthcare decisions in support of their informed decision-making and protecting basic human rights such as autonomy. (p. 577. Nursing advocacy is usually discussed within the realms of patients right and the philosophy of nursing as a whole, however, it is critical to recognise that nursing advocacy can also be discussed as a professional approach that falls outside the therapeutic nurse patient relationship . There is always a constant call for nurses to be advacates in affordable hosuing for their patients, however most nursing advocacy are done within the span of the unit and hospital, Affordable housing advocacy encourages nurses to go beyond their normal physical space to municipal, government and federal meetings. To achieve this nurses must possess emotional strength and the right education to perform the needs of patient advocacy successfully. Using a family center approach, Nurses must work with the family to develop strategies that provided opportunities for patients. By looking at factors that affect each family member and also be able to identify each family member strength and which helps in the sustaiblity of good hosuing. Despite the strength of the Canadian housing market, affordable housing and stable vvibrant communities remain unequally distributed. These inqualities stems from the shortages of affordable hosuing communities, income inequality and current state of the country’s economy. Bryant (2003) in his article argued that , â€Å" The availability and affordability of housing plays an important role in relationship to other social determinants of health. People can go without many things, but going without housing is potentially catastrophic. If citizens are required to spend increasing proportions of available resources on maintaining a roof over their head, the resources available to support socia l determinants of health such as food and educational resources are diminished. (Bryant, 2003, p. 55). Practice Development Research by Krieger Higgins (2002) supports the increasing body of evidence that has associated housing quality with morbidity from infectious diseases, chronic illnesses, injuries, poor nutrition, and mental disorders (Krieger Higgins, 2002) . Affordable living and low income is a critical need in mitigating the devastating effects of poverty. People that lack adequate income fall prey to many diseases such as chronic diseases, hypetension, tuberculosis etc. For nurses to be successful advacates for patients in having affordable hsouing policies impemting. Nurses need to be educated and seek further nursing practice development.

Business Ethics Essay -- essays research papers fc

Introduction Background The literature being studied is an article written by Hellen O’ Sullivan, the Director of Scientific Methods Australia. The article entitled â€Å"Business ethics are set to set to stage a comeback† was published on the 75th page of The Australian Financial Review on the 6th February 1990. Literature Review   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Basically, the article discussed several important issues about business ethics. One of the most prominent was the remark she made about business ethics making a comeback. The conclusion was made upon the fact that business ethics are becoming more and more popular among business practitioners as the era of ‘Me-generation’, and its obsession with greed and profit at any cost draws to a close.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Besides that, another notable issue addressed was the positive correlation between business ethics and corporate performance. She suggested that recent corporate failures resulted from a singularly motivated strategy of making profits. She also noted that the 1990’s avalanche of corporate collapse could be all attributed directly or indirectly to the decline in business ethics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The third issue raised was the role of managers or business leaders to actually uphold business ethics. She suggested that the formulation of a sound ethical code of practice should be a part of every company’s strategy and that it is the first responsibility of every business leadership. Procedures   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have made a research regarding the issues identified in the literature mainly through a computer-assisted research service - LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe at http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe. From this particular research I have gathered altogether sixteen (16) articles. These articles are published in various journals, namely The Economist, Harvard Business Review, Time, Newsweek, Information Week, Accounting Age, PR Week, Business Mexico, The National Journal, Fleet Owner as well as Malaysian Business. All these articles are written by reputable authors, who are either academician or practitioners.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Besides that, I also did some library research. From here, I have chosen two (2) books on Strategic Management, which have sections and topics relevant to the issues addressed in the main literature. ... ...R., PR Week, 11th December. 8) George, T., (2001), Managers, Staff Differ (Slightly) on Ethics, Information Week, 19 February, pp. 140. 9) Harvard Business Review (1996), The Culture and Ethics of Software Privacy, September/October, pp. 52 10) Harvard Business Review, (1996), Values in Tension: Ethics Away from Home., September/October, pp. 48. 11) Hill, C. W. L. & Jones G. R. (1998), Strategic Management; An Integrated Approach, 4th Ed., Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, New York 12) Klien, R., (2001), Torn Between Profit and Purity, The Times Educational Supplement, 16th March, pp. 22. 13) Malaysian Business, (1997), Eliminating the Parasites, 16th January, pp. 1 14) The Economist (1999), US Edition, Sweatshop wars, 14th February, pp. 62 15) The Economist, (2000), US Edition., Doing Well by Doing Good., 22nd April. 16) Wallace, B., (2001), Cell Phones Trigger Litigation Risks and Ethical Choices, Information Week, 19th February. 17) Wheelen, T. L. & Hunger, J. D., (1995), Strategic Management & Business Policy., Addison-Wesley Publishing Company Inc. 18) Zaino, J., (2001), Companies Give Back to Their Communities, Information Week, 12th March, pp. 163.

bob dylan Essay -- essays research papers

The Hurricane   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bob Dylan’s song, The Hurricane, brings to surface several of the themes covered in class this semester. The song explores general themes like community and responsibility, while also focusing on many of the sub-themes, such as justice and injustice, appearance and reality, and loyalty and abandonment. Throughout the song, the main characters constantly battle with the above themes in attempt to frame an innocent man. While the song brings up many of these themes, Dylan’s characters show little consistency with the texts covered, as the texts tend to try to find reconciliation in the characters, while Dylan’s characters feel no remorse in their actions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The song starts as â€Å"Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night,† and the manager arrives to see the bartender in a pool of blood. â€Å"Here comes the story of the hurricane,/ The man the authorities came to blame/ for somethin’ that he never done,† Dylan continues. The hurricane is an up-and-coming middleweight boxer by the name of Rubin Carter. The song details his wrongful imprisonment, and exposes the injustice and irresponsibility of a community in Paterson, New Jersey.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The bar’s manager, Patty Valentine, acts as an enabler for this irresponsibility, allowing it to continue although she knows it is most likely not the truth. â€Å"Three bodies lyin’ there does Patty see/ And another man named Bello movin’ around mysterious...

The Problem of Lack of Exercise for Children Essay example -- Children

The Problem of Lack of Exercise for Children 10 years ago, many Parents didn't have to work at getting young children to be active. Most children were constantly in continual motion. But these days even young children are inactive and more dependent upon adults to provide them with different forms of exercise such as sport. Lack of exercise is a major reason for the growing rate of obesity among children. One cause of this is the new modern day technologies which have boomed in this generation and therefore have created ‘couch potato’ children. Examples of these ‘distractions’ are computer games and television. Watching TV for even as few as two to five hours per week is linked to being overweight and as a result of this, the percentage of overweight children had doubled in the last 30 years. Dr Aric Sigman, of the British Psychological Society explains that most of the unpleasant health affects recognized that are linked with TV viewing are related to duration of viewing. He quotes that â€Å"There's nothing to be lost by watching less TV but a great deal to be lost by continuing to watch as we do†. Another Cause of obesity is unhealthy junk food. The varieties of foods have also changed in the last 10 years. Nowadays, children are excessively eating more fatty foods such as chocolate or chips which therefore increase the figures of obesity in children every year. 2o percent of British children are overweight and 10 percent are obese. Benefits of exercise: Exercise can help strengthen children's bones now as well as later in life. Children who partake in weight-bearing, impact sports such as running, gymnastics a... ...PA's (The British United Provident Association is a global health and care organisation) assistant medical director Dr. Paula Franklin says: "With the growing problems of childhood and adult obesity in Britain it is vital that we inspire young people to exercise regularly and eat healthily. Research also suggests that regular exercise affects overall well-being and can even have a positive impact on academic grades." In conclusion, yes it is a problem that our children aren’t enough exercise due to all the health problems they could face in the future. Daily exercise has many positive factors which is why adults should encourage physical activities such as sport as much as possible, especially because of all the modern day unhealthy distractions that children face.

Repression of War Experience

Personification in Siegfried Sassoon’s â€Å"Repression of War Experience† After wartime, soldiers can suffer from not only physical injuries, but from psychological damage as well. They become victims of PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which, according to Medicinenet. com, is â€Å"an emotional illness that develops as a result of a terribly frightening, life-threatening, or otherwise highly unsafe experience. † Considering the horrors that these soldiers are witnesses to, it is no wonder that PTSD can overcome them.In Siegfried Sassoon's poem, â€Å"Repression of War Experience,† Sassoon uses personification to emphasize the psychological damage sustained by soldiers after war. In the first two lines of the poem, Sassoon starts off by painting a rather dismal picture. He begins lighting candles and pauses to watch a moth, which he then describes to the reader. He finds it ridiculous that it flies toward the candle even though it's headed right f or the flame and will end up dying. He expresses this thought by commenting on, â€Å"What silly beggars they are to blunder in, /And scorch their wings with glory, liquid flame† (lines 2-3).Of course, moths are not beggars; they are not poor citizens, but Sassoon uses personification to further develop the moth's behavior. These lines imply that moths beg for their deaths by flying toward the flame of the candle, just as soldiers beg for their deaths by signing up to fight. Moths are drawn to the flame of a candle because of the light, but do not realize that they are headed towards their death. Perhaps soldiers are attracted to war in the same way–they are tempted by the false promise of glory and honor for their country–but unknowingly march toward their own deaths as well.Sassoon links both moth and man by making such comparisons, and suggesting that both end up embracing death. Further along in the poem, and this is a very short part of the poem, indeed, Sa ssoon comments on the rain and asks, â€Å"Why won't it rain? † (line 12). Without warning as to why he does so, Sassoon changes topic and says, â€Å"Books; what a jolly company they are, /Standing so quiet and patient on their shelves† (lines 16-17). One can guess as to why he suddenly goes off about books–he cannot bear any reminders of war, and desperately tries to keep his mind occupied with the things he sees around him.The mentioning of books being a â€Å"jolly company† indicates that Sassoon is alone and perhaps has just a few objects with him in his room. It is strange to address books as though they are people or companions, as if they can carry a conversation. Sassoon then develops this unusual view further by commenting on how the books are â€Å"Dressed in dim brown, and black, and white, and green† (line 18). Perhaps this is another accidental reference to war because it hints at the soldier's camouflage-colored uniforms of green and â€Å"dim brown† but one cannot be sure.In regard to the books â€Å"standing so quiet and patient†; it is true that books can stand on their own, perhaps on a shelf or a desk, but how can they be patient? Books cannot feel anything, nor can they have opinions. This personification suggests that Sassoon's mind is slowly moving away from clear thought and logic, and that war has negatively affected his mental state. Sassoon continues comparing normal everyday sights to living things. He writes that â€Å"in the breathless air outside the house, /The garden waits for something that delays† (lines 26-27). The comment of the â€Å"breathless air† is again, strange.Air cannot be breathless because it does not breathe. Only people and animals breathe air, and without it, they will die within minutes. However, during a war, poison gas is often released into the sky, making it impossible for soldiers to breathe properly. Such attacks were especially common in Wo rld War I, which Sassoon fought in from 1914 to the end of the war in 1918. His line was most likely a reference to the poison-filled air in which no one could breathe. In the last few lines of the poem, Sassoon has failed to completely ignore thoughts of war thus far, for he says that â€Å"You'd never think there was a bloody war going on! (line 34). He abandons all attempts to repress his memories and continues his monologue about â€Å"Those whispering guns–† (line 37). Obviously, guns cannot speak, and strangely, Sassoon writes that they â€Å"whisper† rather than yell or scream.The latter would be more sensible, considering that there are no quiet gun attacks. However, the description of the hushed weapons suggests (even further) that Sassoon is haunted by his memories, perhaps every night, and can never fully forget them. He himself seems to â€Å"lose control of ugly thoughts† (mentioned in line 7, in which Sassoon pities those oldiers who cannot repress their memories) and again, seems unable to distract himself with what he sees around him, as he had done throughout the entire poem until this point. He makes the exclamation of â€Å"O Christ, I want to go out, /And screech at them to stop† (lines 37-38). At this point, Sassoon has indeed lost control of himself and wants to scream at the guns to stop firing. Guns do not fire by themselves, nor can they fight a war without soldiers pointing the guns–Sassoon would have to screech at the soldiers to stop fighting–but this personification of the weapons further emphasize the psychological damage from which he suffers.Personification is a major literary element in â€Å"Repression of War Experience,† and it lets the reader understand just how psychologically wounded Sassoon has become. His comparisons range from moths to books to guns, and he jumps from subject to subject in order to show Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. His various personified objec ts are scattered throughout the poem, and they allow the reader to truly understand how he has suffered from his experience at war.

International Communication Focusing on Fifa 2014

Vuvuzelas sound and it fills the stadiums with a noise that is still heard ringing in the ears of millions days later, even months after it has ended. The overwhelming feeling of excitement spreads through the veins of everyone watching and those on the edge of their seats just waiting for the next goal to be scored, determining who wins the world cup and takes home the famous gold â€Å"FIFA World Cup Trophy. † The World Cup is a tournament that comes every four years and lasts a month long with tournaments every day from June 13th- July 13th The World Cup brings in a whirlwind of excitement and emotions. This victorious event will be held in Brazil in the year of 2014 but before June 13th hits, there is a massive amount of planning to be done. With all the preparations leading up to the World Cup we will capture the trials and tribulations through the eyes of four locals in Rio de Janeiro. First, we will film one year before hand and capture everyday life without the World Cup. We will take a look at how Brazilians live their lives on a day to day basis without the chaos and media attention of the event. We will do this by following four individuals, interviewing them about how they feel about the World Cup and how it is affecting their daily routine. Our second round of filming will place our crews with the same four peole on the day of the first game in Rio de Janeiro. The World Cup takes the world by storm every four years. While in America, soccer has just recently gained a large following, it has been a way of life for generations in many countries throughout the world. We can identify with this phenomenon somewhat if we relate it to the impact of the Olympics when they were held in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996. An event of this scale becomes all-consuming and places the city and country under a worldwide microscope. The World Cup produces a whirlwind of excitement with years of preparation that costs and generates millions of dollars. Many sports in America have a strong following and fan-base, but nothing can truly be compared to that of soccer overseas. Countries such as Mexico, Spain and Brazil look at soccer, its players, and the games, as a way of life. Brazil especially has been known for its talented and renowned soccer (â€Å"futebol†) team throughout the years and they have won five World Cups. From the outside looking in, Brazil has been known as one of the powerhouses, if not the powerhouse of soccer worldwide. The fact that FIFA and all of the other governing and deciding bodies have chosen to place the World Cup 2014 in Brazil generates further excitement, but also places this country under close watch from viewers worldwide. As we saw with the World Cup 2010 in South Africa, a country can be drastically altered and affected by such a large-scale event. We want to create this documentary to shed light on the impacts, trials and jubilation of such an incredible event. While many see the benefits of hosting such an event, there are plenty of drawbacks as well. We want to create an in-depth look of this phenomenon, the World Cup, and show also how it affects the country that is producing the event. So much goes on behind the scenes and many lives are impacted, whether negatively or positively. By following four real people with everyday jobs and average, normal lives, we hope to inform the public of the on-goings of the preparation for the World Cup, as well as how individual lives are impacted. We want to follow four people; a ticket scalper, police officer, a fan and a street vendor. Through this we hope to achieve a more personal view of such an immensely grand event. We want to inform the public of the preparations involved in the World Cup as well as the madness that ensues once it all begins. We will chronicle this massive worldwide soccer tournament through the eyes of normal everyday Rio de Janeiro citizens in the attempt to show a real-life perspective of a fantastical and media-centric event. While there are documentaries aplenty, ours is unique in that it shows the impact on a country and its citizens, something many viewers of the World Cup never consider. By creating a personal and impactful narrative that comments on economic repercussions, nationalism and pride, we hope to appeal to viewers who want to see a cultural view of soccer that has never before been created. Nicknamed â€Å"Cidade Maravilhosa† — Portuguese for â€Å"marvelous city† — Rio de Janeiro conjures many images including Ipanema Beach and the famous Cristo Redentor statue atop Corcovado Mountain. But in 2014, one of the most important global sporting events, the World Cup, will arrive in Brazil where soccer — or futebol as they know it — is the lifeblood of the culture. After FIFA announced Brazil as the hosts of the 2014 World Cup on October 30, 2007, a different set of images would materialize for the population of Rio de Janeiro. Once upon a time it was the site of the final match of the 19 50 World Cup in Maracana Stadium. Uruguay came from behind to beat its host 2-1, even though Brazil was heavily favored after eliminating previous opponents Spain and Sweden. Since then, Rio de Janeiro has been home to some of Brazil’s most popular soccer clubs: Botafogo, Fluminense, Vasco da Gama and Flamengo. With a past and present such as this, tensions and expectations will undoubtedly be high, especially where soccer is so inter-meshed with their culture. Choosing to film in Rio de Janeiro will capture much of this drama associated with the World Cup as we follow our four subjects: the police officer, the fan, the street vendor and the ticket scalper. In general, we want to keep the area surrounding Maracana Stadium as our locus of interest, but this isn’t necessarily realistic. The subjects have dynamic lives each and every day, especially as the World Cup draws closer, so it may be difficult to remain under the shadow of the venue. As each subject travels through different areas of the city, the camera crews will have to make critical judgment calls about when to uncap the lens. Our film crews can expect to capture the best footage in some of Rio de Janeiro’s most exciting sites. The city is known for its soccer, tourism, night life and beaches, but we will want to focus on the North Zone. It contains several neighborhoods and important tourist attractions, including our primary filming location, Maracana Stadium, which is located in the Tijuca neighborhood. It is home to many of the middle class residents and also the lower class favelas, which are crime-ridden neighborhoods filled with poorly built shanties. Our police officer will certainly be answering calls from this poor section of Rio de Janeiro where our ticket scalper is a resident. Our street vendor and soccer fan will also be residents of the Rio North Zone. It is there in the North Zone that we will want to follow each of our characters into their homes. Once inside their homes, our camera crews can film the effects of the World Cup on the Brazilian household unit. We will discover just how the home family life is transformed both demographically and psycho-graphically. Questions can be answered such as: a) Has new disposable income, as provided by the World Cup’s economic opportunities, increased the family’s standard of living? b) Has Brazilian pride in its national sport entered the home life? c) Has the importance of home security changed due to the hysteria associated with the World Cup? Once these questions are answered, a more complete view of the character is revealed and analyzed by the audience. Another set of important sites will be public centers for transportation. The primary modes of transportation are by municipal train and bus lines since driving by car is very difficult. Due to a great deal of highway congestion, cars often move at a snail-like pace. Important themes will manifest themselves as we travel to and from each location. These places, which are usually replete with a colorful culture, will be amplified in the presence of the World Cup. The documentary will actively connect the dots between Brazil’s national pride and their national sport at these various locations. The Maracana Stadium will be the most important site. There we will capture each of our characters’ paths intersecting outside and inside the venue. The fan will obviously be destined for the stadium itself; the street vendor will set up shop as close to the stadium as possible so as to snag the most consumers as possible; and the policeman will have critical interactions with the ticket scalper, who will be acting against the law. Many memorable characters exist in a documentary just like any other genre of film. The goal is to capture reality but there is no need to move away from the act of story telling. The idea behind the characters of our documentary is that they are all connected through each other by the duties they perform throughout the documentary.. Our first character to appear is the police officer. Juan Sminho is 38 and works for the Rio de Janeiro tourist police. He performs regular policing in the streets of Rio by assisting tourists and pointing them in the proper direction to where they are headed. Juan also performs similar duties to what the united states police force does but he is not as involved with crime as our police forces are. He lives on the north side in a two bedroom apartment with his wife and brother. He does not come from a wealthy family but did inherit some from his parents when they were murdered 10 years ago in a robbing which pushed him to become part of the Brazil police force to keep things like that from happening to other families. He will show the audience what it is like in everyday life as a tourist officer, then there will be a dramatic change of pace a year later on the chaotic streets of Rio where his duties are truly put to the test with all the tourist in town for the World Cup games. Juan’s duties will be to perform crowd control, assist tourists and seek out ticket scalpers; this is a highly illegal offense in Brazil. Most everyone has seen a ticket scalper before, but if not, they are the ones that stand on the corners of concert/sport venues and sell those last minute tickets needed for the fans. Ticket scalping is very illegal in Brazil and punishable by jail time, but that does not stop our scalper from risking it all for some extra cash. We will follow Gustavo Silva, a thirty-four year old Rio native who has never left the North region. He works as a ticket scalper primarily, but during the slow months tries to make ends meet by helping out at his parents' modest fruit stand in the outskirts of Rio. The popularity of soccer as a sport, particularly in Brazil, directly effects his livelihood and well-being. Seeing Gustavo in his element both before and during the World Cup will create a dynamic story for the viewers. Viewers will identify with Gustavo's endearing and persuasive personality because of his hard-working attitude. Ticket scalping just became illegal in Brazil, which is obviously a threat for Gustavo. The documentary will show the discrepancies in this law as it is not seriously enforced until the World Cup in 2014. The effects of this on Gustavo will prove to be detrimental. With money being tight and having to find work wherever possible, some residents of Rio do not have a choice. Our team has high hopes for our scalper that he will sell a ticket to our next character, the fan. What is a team without its fans; similar to a sandwich without bread. A sandwich does not exist without bread much like a team would be nowhere without fans. Soccer fans have been seen taking their â€Å"fandom† to the extreme, but the more extreme it is, the more the team feels honored and welcome. Brazil soccer fans are famous throughout the world for their enthusiasm and carnival atmosphere at the World Cup. Many soccer managers will often claim that soccer fans can act as an extra man or the infamous â€Å"12th Man† and this is certainly the case when Brazil plays in front of over 100,000 soccer fans at the famous Maracana Stadium. The fans are not always as supportive though, in fact, they can be rather harsh. This was shown when the team came home after the 2006 world cup without a win, according to Kevin McNally of E-zine Articles. We hope to capture all this excitement while following around our dedicated fan, if Brazil loses then it is possible that our film gets even more interesting with the outrage that the country will have on them. Choosing a fan for our documentary was tough but we have found one who truly shows the spirit needed to connect with our audience. Paulo Cardoso is originally from Rio and lived there until he was 18. Once old enough, he moved to the United States to attend college but soon wanted to return to his home country after graduating. Paulo is a business major but is currently working at his parents coffee shop as a manager to help them out. He is 28 and has been an avid futebol fan since he was born, according to him. Every four years he gathers around the big screens in Rio to watch Brazil triumph, or try to, over their competitors. He will take us through the festivals in Rio including â€Å"Fan Fest Rio 2014. † His grandfather attended the World Cup in 1950 when it was last held in Brazil followed by the World Cup in 1978 held in Argentina and this time Paulo’s father went alongside. Paulo has been saving as much money as he can to be able to hold the tickets that so many others strive to have. He does not plan on buying a ticket before the games due to hopefully cheaper prices on game day. He will be a huge help on guiding us around Rio due to our unfamiliarity to the city. Paulo brings to the documentary the familiar language of English but with the Brazilian traditions that we could all stand to learn from. He as well as many other fans will interact with many people but as always, he will buy some form of merchandise from a street vendor before the game. This will allow for our fan and street vendor to interact with one another. There will be a numerous amount of street vendors trying to sell anything they have that represents the world renowned Brazil â€Å"Futebol† Team. Our film crews will follow around one vendor who sets up shop close to the stadium in hopes of catching the most business. Gearing up for the World Cup takes a lot of preparation, which is why it is imperative that we catch her one year before hand before she starts ordering merchandise and preparing for the mass amounts of fans to flood the city of Rio. Claudia Trigoso, 26, lives in the favelas in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro. Under normal circumstances Claudia deals with irregular employment due to his low socioeconomic standing, but the arrival of the World Cup will give her the opportunity to transform her situation. She has applied to Eurosport catalog to sell some of their merchandise near Maracana stadium. Soon, with the proper licenses, she will be cleared by Rio’s municipal administrators to set up in this area. Claudia hopes she can make enough profit to start a business of her own after the World Cup and its excitement wane. With this in mind, she might someday have the opportunity to move out of the North Zone favelas into a safer, more affluent neighborhood where she hopes to start a family of her own. In addition to highlighting the changes from life before the World Cup to life uring the tournament from the perspective of our four main characters, our camera crew will venture out into the streets and local pubs. Our crew will conduct first-hand interviews with everyday citizens to get a better grasp on the impact of the World Cup on the people of Rio. The filming crew will ask the public questions pertaining to how the World Cup has economically impacted their businesses, their transportation around the city, and whether or not they will be watching or attending the World Cup. There are many components that go into making a documentary outside of the characters, locations and themes. While the overarching themes will make a large impact on our viewers, the intricate details disbursed throughout the film will contribute drastically to the overall feel of the documentary. Throughout the documentary our characters and locations will be introduced using typewriter text as it is typed across a blank screen. The segments will not necessarily be rigidly formatted but the characters will be introduced as they fall into place in the documentary. Aside from the interviews included in our film it will primarily remain in the observational category of documentary film making. By taking a third-party neutral approach to the film the audience will get a realistic and personal view into the lives of the residents of Rio. Our documentary will target a large demographic due to the emotional and sports aspects as well as the excitement generated from the FIFA World Cup overall. We hope to target ages eighteen to fifty by placing this sixty minute documentary on a major network such as ABC. We initially contemplated airing the documentary on ESPN because of its sports focus, but eventually agreed that ABC would be the best choice. Not only is it a well-respected major network, but our aim is to capture the World Cup viewers for our documentary. By airing Joga Bonito on the network that is already broadcasting all of the World Cup games, we will grab the attention of the avid soccer fans who will hopefully already be watching ABC (the World Cup games will be used as somewhat of a lead-in for our documentary). In order to generate even more viewers, we will air advertisements throughout the month of the World Cup tournament to create buzz and excitement. Throughout this month, the public will have plenty of time to hear and read about our documentary. The documentary â€Å"Joga Bonito† will air as a prime-time special a few days before the World Cup finals. The title of our documentary, Joga Bonito, is meant to evoke the spirit and essence of soccer and of Brazil. This term is Portuguese for â€Å"The Beautiful Game† which is commonly used to describe Association football, also known as futebol or soccer. When soccer was originally created and rules were formally established, it was referred to as â€Å"The Simplest Game†. This eventually evolved into The Beautiful Game, or Joga Bonito, when a famous Brazilian player named Pele named his biography The Beautiful Game. Because this term is now widely used when referring to the sport of soccer, and because of its roots and foundations in the country of Brazil, we saw Joga Bonito as a fitting title for our documentary. Joga Bonito will, as previously stated, offer to its viewers a discourse of national identity and the impact of the World Cup on the citizens of Brazil within the context of an emotional adventure through the streets of Rio. The juxtaposition of a personal look at the four characters and the mainstream international media event known as the World Cup will create a unique and powerful documentary. This concept appeals to the masses because it addresses a worldwide event. Within this discourse, however, we visit the personal implications of such an event and the role of nationalism and pride within an international context. By contrasting life before the World Cup with life during one of the first games, the drastic cultural and societal changes that occur in preparation of such an event will be highlighted. The emotional appeal of this documentary will intrigue viewers while informing them of international life and the results of an event that thrusts a nation into the international spotlight.