Logistics and Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Logistics and Operations Management - Essay Example Replacement Costs on the rise due to poor quality Quality Costs Cost of control Prevention costs include Quality planning and Engineering, New product review, Product and process design, Process control, Cost of Burn in tests, Quality training and workforce development. Appraisal costs include Testing and Inspection. Cost of Failure of control Internal failure costs include Scrap, Rework, Retest, Failure Analysis, down time, Yield losses and down grading. External failure costs include Warranty Charges, Complaint adjustment, Returned product/material and Liability costs. Q2. In consideration of your response to part 1 and your experience in Aerials, i. Propose and explain what options a business and/or a supply chain has to cope with fluctuating demand. Options 1. Make or Buy decisions The most popular decision that a Business takes to cope with the fluctuating demand is whether to Make or Buy. A business must analyze their various costs of production involved in producing a product and compare it with cost of buying the product from an external supplier. If the cost of buying is less than cost of producing the product, then companies can opt for buying the product. This could be extended to each phase of the production cycle. 2. Forecasting Demand Companies plan and forecast the demand according to the future needs of the market. Forecasting demand assists in decision making with respect to investment in plant and machinery, market planning and future sales. Some of the popular forecasting methods include Time series methods Judgmental Techniques Causal methods (Econometric forecasting) 3. Quality management Companies strive to achieve quality standards like ISO 22000:2005, Six sigma, Deming awards...A business must analyze their various costs of production involved in producing a product and compare it with cost of buying the product from an external supplier. If the cost of buying is less than cost of producing the product, then companies can opt for buying the product. This could be extended to each phase of the production cycle. Companies plan and forecast the demand according to the future needs of the market. Forecasting demand assists in decision making with respect to investment in plant and machinery, market planning and future sales. Some of the popular forecasting methods include Companies strive to achieve quality standards like ISO 22000:2005, Six sigma, Deming awards etc. Total quality management along with Japanese techniques is widely practiced ensuring the continuous delivering of quality products. Nowadays a product without quality cannot exist in the market i.e. if a company is surviving, then quality is inbuilt. Quality forms the basis of survival of a company or a business nowadays. Quality audits and a lot of quality management practices are a means to ensure that the customer receives good quality product. Inventory control is a planned approach of determining what to order, when to order and how to order and how much to stock so that costs associated with buying and storing are optimal without interrupting production and sale

UNWTO Analysis of a press release Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

UNWTO Analysis of a press release - Essay Example On the other hand, other nations refused to join the cause to agitate for a safer environment hence increasing more emissions into the atmosphere. This has in turn led to deterioration of water bodies and rain-forming clouds hence the increased drought and lack of food around the world. There are several ways in which green innovation in tourism can trigger major economic, social and environmental benefits. This is when the situation is through the assessment of a nation and possibly a single hotel. For example, in a country such as South Africa, fundamental shifts in its tourism sectors would propel it to greater heights in terms of green innovation. This is possible especially when the spotlight is on the major economic benefits (Dahlstrom, 2010). First, it will cut costs of maintaining pollutants that always become irritants in main tourism hotels. Therefore, it is imperative to focus on sustainability whereby the eco-friendly ventures of the green innovation project create and expand jobs. This is attainable through the increase of competitive merits for other existing organizations in South Africa. Additionally, there should be an emphasis on destinations in different roads that lead to a major tourism hotel found in South Africa in order to boost the experience of visitors. Another better way for green innovation to trigger economic benefits is through production of low-carbon economy products. This is because they retain their eco-benefits when imported from other nations. On that account, the supply of these commodities will increase a demand for eco-friendly products in a hotel such as Blue Star in South Africa. In the same breadth, green innovation also inculcates the reverse innovation system whereby there is innovati on in a developed market in response to a pressing need (Ottman, 2011). Therefore, in a big hotel such as Blue Star, it is essential to use a few technologies that boost investment and development in the tourism industry. Moreover, it will propel sales revenue in terms of the number of tourists visiting the Blue Star hotel. On the other hand, green innovation may also trigger social benefits for the tourists who visit Blue Star hotel. For example, such development will ensure that tourists have awareness in the conservation of their surroundings. Similarly, sustainability of policy integration in the sectors that affect tourists in an African country such as South Africa is also beneficial in green innovation. However, it is crucial to observe that the supply chain and other industries that implement eco-friendly practices in hotels bring exuberance. This suggests that green innovation inspires tourists through engaging in eco-friendly practices such as suggesting designs that augur with their interests. In the same view, tourists will have the opportunity to report their waste and water consumption, hotel energy and even benchmarking on other similar eco-friendly. It also improves on the health of the tourists especially for those who do not smoke because it’s a green innovation implemented in the rooms within the hotels. However, other arising social needs that enhance the life of tourists in the Blue Star hotel entail purification of water and utilization of energy-efficient lights bulbs (Cohen, 2010). For example, they should also practice the recycling of bottles and materials discarded in the

Consumer Decision Rule Are Procedures Marketing Essay

Consumer Decision Rule Are Procedures Marketing Essay Introduction Consumer purchasing process theory is a critical component of marketing strategy. Consumer purchasing behavior can be complicated and understanding it is the essential working of effective marketing management. Before consumers make decision to purchase products, they estimate carefully about their thinking. Managers can guess consumers decision process such as Problem recognition, information search, and evaluation criteria. Body The first step is Problem recognition or Need recognition. Problem recognition is that consumers decide problems to be solved and have desires that they wish to satisfy. The consumer considers a significant difference between his or her current state of affairs and some desired or ideal state (Solomon Rabolt, 2003)1. Consumer try to compare between their desired consumer lifestyle that would like to live and feel, and current situation that is temporary factors affecting the consumer. If the consumer has a big gap between desired consumer lifestyle and current situation, they will purchase a product for satisfying the desire. However, if the gab is no different or they do not care about the problem, they will not purchase the product. Nowadays, telephone companies are attracting consumers to purchase by their new products which provide many kind of function. For instance, Businessmen tend to need using mobile phone nowadays in the society and the companies provide many useful functions for them. The new functions can help them to check business e-mails or checking business information on internet. If businessmen do not have a mobile phone, they will not be able to contact other business partners and other people think the businessmen is a dropout. Therefore, having a mobile phone is necessary for them, and having new phone can be fashion and trend for young businessmen. So they will consider purchasing the mobile phone as smart phone. Nowadays, we also can see other case of purchasing the phone in the school. According to Amanda Lenhart, 23percentage of all those ages 12-17 mention that they have a smartphone and ownership is highest among older teens: 31% of those ages 14-17 have a smartphone, compared with just 8% of youth ages 12-13 in America(Amanda Lenhart, 2012)2. If many class mates are having a mobile phone, it can highly affect the students who do not have a phone to desire having smart phone. One of them might be able to ask their parents to purchase it. On the other hands, desire of buying mobile phone and smart phone for most old people will be lower than the young people because they are not used to have mobile phone. Having a mobile phone and new functions in smart phone are unnecessary for them and they can be satisfied their life without mobile phone. It means the old people satisfied about their actual state as their old phone will not consider about it. Like these three different groups has different desire and thinking about the same product. If the Businessman and the students parents consider buying a smart phone, they will move to next stage is information research. Next stage is information search. Information search is when the consumers search the needed information for solving problem or desire. The consumer recollects their own past experience in their memory and it might provide the consumer with adequate information to make the present choice. In addition, The making decisions are based on the personal experience is internal source, and marketing and noncommercial information is external sources. For example, the businessman will remind what they know about new smart phone, compare brands of smart phone. If they do not have enough information or they have not had the phone, they will collect information from external sources as family and friend, internet, and advertisements. Their collect information value and spending time for collecting the information is depending on their free time to search, and how mobile phone is important and interesting to them. Finally, if the businessman is satisfied with information of smart phone, they will move to next stage. However, sometimes searching information also can be negative effect. If the students parents can spend long hours to check and collected many information, the parents can see negative side of smart phone like there are a lot of game application in smart phone, and the phone influence student to spend a lot of time for chatting with their friends whenever they want. The parents will be able to tend to consider about the negative sides and not to purchase it to their children. There is one more negative side of information research it is a failure. According to Leon G.Schiffman, search regret can have a damaging effect on retailers, because in this pilot study store blame and self-blame were not significantly correlated with each other(2010, Leon G.Schiffman, Leslie Lazar Kanuk)3. Thus, information search can be both negative and positive. Next stage is alternative evaluation. After consumer collect information, they compare the relevant and feasible alternatives has been gathered, the decision can be made. The evaluative criteria is the various features a consumer looks for in response to a particular problem. According to Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard, evaluative criteria is defined as the standards and specifications used by consumers to compare different products and brands. Evaluative criteria play an important role in the evaluation stage of the decision making process (Engel J.F, Blackwell, R.D and Miniard, P.W, 1993)4. For example, before purchasing a smart phone, the businessman might want to evaluate cost, function, design, display size, brand, and warranty. Evaluative criteria can differ in type, number and importance. If the businessman can decide to purchase a smart phone, they terminate information search, and they make a list of brand or models from which they plan to make their selection. The criteria t hey will use to evaluate each brand or model as Evoked Set, Inert Set, and Inept Set. Evoked set is the specific brands or models a business man considers to purchase within a particular product category. Inert Set is second choice of brands or models of smart phone because they are felt to be unacceptable or they are seen as inferior. Last list is Inert Set, which consists of brands or models the consumer is indifferent toward because they cannot obtain any advantage from smart phone like a smart phones for student, or silver phone for old people. The two kind of smart phones are not suitable to the businessman and the phones can be in list of Inert set. But, if they are still not sure which one they want to buy, they will search information again. If the businessman decides to purchase a smart phone Conclusion We can understand that consumer has different taste, and want depend on their occupation. Their decision ways is very complex. However, marketing managers can guess consumers purchasing decision by the purchasing process. Question2 Introduction Making decision to purchase a product is the last step for consumers and the consumers can use Consumer decision rules such as Compensatory and Non-compensatory decision rules. Consumer decision rule is procedures used by consumers to facilitate brand or other consumption-related choice. These rules provide consumers decision guidelines or routines to reduce the burden of making complex decisions. Body According to Leon G. Schiffman and Lesilie Lazar Kanuk, there are two consumer decision rules. Compensatory decision rules are that allows a positive estimate of a brand on one attribute to balance out a disadvantage point on other attributes. Non-compensatory decision rules are that do not allow consumers to balance positive evaluations of a brand on one attribute against a negative evaluation on other attributes. In addition, there are three Non-compensatory rules such as the conjunctive rule, the disjunctive rule, and the lexicographic rule. The Conjunctive decision rule is consumers evaluate a separate, minimally acceptable level such a cutoff point for each attribute. If a product a negative point, the point is ignored from future consideration. The disjunctive rule is the same with the Conjunctive rule. In applying the rule, the consumers evaluate a separate, minimally acceptable cutoff level for each attribute which should be better than the one normally established for a conj unctive rule. If a point meets the cutoff established for any one attribute, it is accepted. The Lexicographic decision rule is that the best ranks the attributes in terms of the single attribute that is considered most important. If an option scores sufficiently high on this the best rank attribute, it is chosen and the process ends (Leon G. Schiffman, Leslie Lazar Kanuk, 2010)5. In my case, I purchase a product by the lexicographic decision rule in Non-compensatory decision rules. For instance, there are four different brand of mobile phone as IPhone 4Gs, Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc X12, Samsung Galaxy S3, and BlackBerry Torch 9860. I will check Price, CPU in General, Camera video, 3G/4G Speed in Connective, and Screen. According to GadGetbook, the most expensive price of mobile phone is IPhone around RM2199~RM2799 and the lowest cost one is Blackberry around RM1400~RM1600. Therefore, I marked each mobile phone, Samsung Gelexy3 is 7 point, IPhone4Gs is 6 point, Sony is 9, and Blackb erry is 10 point. Price of the Sony and Blackberry is much cheaper than Samsung Geluxy3 and IPhone. However, Both the Sony and the Blackberry does not have other special feature. The two mobiles CPU, Camera Video, and Connective get low marks among the phones. Especially, Sony provides a poor quality of connective. High speed of Connecting 3G and 4G is the most important point for me because I need to use applications such as Skype which provide free call and video call. If speed of connective is slow, I will get a lot of lack while I am doing the calls with my family and friends (Gadgetbook ,2010)6. Conclusion As my result show chart of hypothetical Ratings for mobile phone*, both the highest connective performance and the highest total mark is Samsung Galaxy3. Hence, I will purchase Samsung Galaxy 3 without *Hypothetical Ratings for Mobile phone IPhone 4GS Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc X12 Samsung Galaxy3 BlackBerry Torch 9860 Price RM2199~2799 ( 6 ) RM1550~1650 ( 9 ) RM2050~2150 ( 7 ) RM1400~1600 ( 10 ) General(CPU) dual-core 1GHz (9) 1GHz scorpion (7) Quad-core 1.4 GHz (10) 1.2 GHz QC 8655 (8) Camera Video 8MP 32642448 [emailprotected] (10) 8MP 32642448 [emailprotected] (9) 8MP 32642448 [emailprotected] (10) 5 MP 2592ц¦1944 720p (7) Connective HSDPA: 14.4 Mbps HSUPA: 5.8 Mbps (8) HSDPA: 7.2 Mbps HSUPA: 5.8 Mbps (6) HSDPA: 21 Mbps HSUPA: 5.76 Mbps (10) HSDPA: 14.4 Mbps HSUPA: 5.76 Mbps (8) Screen 640 x 960 3.5 inches (9) 480 x 854 4.2 inches (8) 720 x 1280 4.8 inches (10) 480 x 800 pixels 3.7 inches (7) Total 42 39 47 40 Question3. Introduction There is no debt that mobile phone is very important for people and me. Most people, nowadays, cannot live without a mobile phone in the society and Mobile phone supports our life to be better with their many functions. Body When I was in Korea, mobile phone was not a so important thing for me and I thought I do not need to buy an expensive high function of mobile phone as camera phone although most of my friend was having them. Therefore, I had a cheap and classic phone as no color phones. However, after coming to Malaysia, my thinking about mobile phone was totally changed because of my situation it is studying abroad. First day in Malaysia, I did not have any friend in here and I realized I need a mobile phone for talking with my family and friends who are in Korea. But I could not call to them whenever I want because of too high phone bill. Thus, I desired to solve the problem. One day, my sister introduced about IPhone that I can use free call and free message through using IPhone application in WIFI zone. The function made me to be excited about smart phone. Actually, I had not thought that I would purchase smart phone that is expensive. Finally, I bought Iphone3 and my life was changed by IPhone a nd the special functions. The first change thing is that I can have more talking and chatting times with my family and friends thanks to the free call and free message application. Even father learnt using smart phone and he often send me message. If I did not have a mobile phone, I would not be able to contact my family, and Korean friends. It seems to me that it is the greatest wonderful advantage for me. Second change thing is that I use other a lot of applications and functions as camera and video in mobile phone and they are very helpful for me. I can take a picture by the mobile phone and upload on Facebook. I can read electronic books and playing games for time killing whenever I want. Conclusion The mobile companies improve their technology and they catch what consumers want and need for attracting customers to purchase. Having a mobile phone becomes one of new culture in the society. I am also affected it. When I was young, having a mobile phone was unnecessary for me and I could not know about advantage of mobile phone. It means that Classic phones could not attract me to have. However, I cannot live without my phone now because of new functions of mobile phone and I need them for my modern life. 1. Solomon, M.R., Rabolt, N.J. (2003). Consumer behavior in fashion (1st ed.). Upper , Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. p.356. 2. Amanda Lenhart, 2012, Teens Smartphones Texting, http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Teens-and-smartphones.aspx 3. (2010, Leon G.Schiffman, Leslie Lazar Kanuk)2. Consumer behavior- prepurchase search, P.486.) 4. Engel, J.F., Blackwell, R.D., Miniard, P.W. (1993). Consumer Behavior (7th ed.). P.51. 5. Leon G. Schiffman, Leslie Lazar Kanuk, 2010, Consumer behavior, Consumer decision Rules, page 491~page492 6. (Gadgetbook ,2010) http://mobilemegamall.com/gadgets/Mobile-Phone-Price-Malaysia-10.html

Confinement vs. Escape in Madame Bovary :: Madame Bovary Essays

Confinement vs. Escape in Madame Bovary      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A theme throughout Flaubert's Madame Bovary is escape versus confinement. In the novel Emma Bovary attempts again and again to escape the ordinariness of her life by reading novels, having affairs, day dreaming, moving from town to town, and buying luxuries items. It is Emma's early education described for an entire chapter by Flaubert that awakens in Emma a struggle against what she perceives as confinement. Emma's education at the convent is perhaps the most significant development of the dichotomy in the novel between confinement and escape. The convent is Emma's earliest confinement, and it is the few solicitations from the outside world that intrigue Emma, the books smuggled in to the convent or the sound of a far away cab rolling along boulevards.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The chapter mirrors the structure of the book it starts as we see a satisfied women content with her confinement and conformity at the convent.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At first far from being boredom the convent, she enjoyed the company of the nuns, who, to amuse her, would take her into the chapel by way of a long corridor leading from the dining hall. She played very little during the recreation period and knew her catechism well. (Flaubert 30.)Footnote1      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The chapter is also filled with images of girls living with in the protective walls of the convent, the girls sing happily together, assemble to study, and pray. But as the chapter progresses images of escape start to dominate. But these are merely visual images and even these images are either religious in nature or of similarly confined people.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   She wished she could have lived in some old manor house, like those chatelaines in low wasted gowns who spent their days with their elbows on the stone sill of a gothic window surmounted by trefoil, chin in hand watching a white plumed rider on a black horse galloping them from far across the country. (Flaubert 32.)      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the chapter progresses and Emma continues dreaming while in the convent the images she conjures up are of exotic and foreign lands. No longer are the images of precise people or event but instead they become more fuzzy and

The Evils of a Broken Bone

Finally, the wait was over. Finally, after nine never-ending weeks, I could climb, swim, play, and once again partake in the numerous activities that fill the lives of six-year-old girls. The hard, bright orange constraint around my arm had been weighing down my life, and keeping me from being the carefree child that I knew should be. Finally, as I sat in the back seat of the car headed towards the doctor's office, looking out the window at the soft snow, I knew this weight would be removed once and for all. I wondered what it would feel like to move my arm again, and I smiled at the thought of such freedom. I hadn't been so free since that dreadful day nine weeks ago. Mrs. Thompson had just dismissed us for recess, and I sprinted through the doorway into the sunlight. The world was wonderfully bright with fall colors, and I ran out to the playground with the leaves crunching beneath my feet. I looked around the playground, trying to decide where I would play that day. Every piece of equipment was a colored a different vibrant shade. The blue monkey bars were closest to the school, with the yellow and orange wavy slides behind them. Then there were the green swings and the huge black tires sticking up from the ground. None of those things seemed very enjoyable to me, so after some consideration I walked over to the dome-shaped jungle gym to the left of the swings. It was huge, with shiny red bars criss-crossing like a spider's web. I was feeling extra adventurous that day, and my goal for those twenty minutes of recess was to reach the top of the dome by climbing from the inside, suspended upside-down from my arms and legs. I stepped through the dome, grabbed on to one of the bars with my hands, and swung my body upward so that my feet were supported against one of the lower bars. I slowly began climbing, reaching up to the next highest bar with my right hand, and moving my right foot up to where it had been. Then the left side of my body followed suit. I continued this process until, sooner than I had expected, I had reached the very top of the dome, facing the bright blue sky and the clouds above. I moved my feet through the top bars and wrapped my knees around them. I decided to let go with my hands, so that I was simply hanging upside down from my knees. I looked down at the woodchips below; by this time they were a mile away. I tried not to get intimidated, and was sure I must be invincible if I'd made it this far, so I began to swing back and forth from my knees. I was having a wonderful time of it, but suddenly something wasn't right. My mood changed from content to panicked when I swung too hard, my knees came loose from the bar, and I found myself plummeting face-first towards the ground. The woodchips below became more defined as they grew nearer and nearer, and I knew I would soon come into contact with them. I tried to break my fall with my arms, and when I hit the ground, I heard a loud crack as a sharp pain shot through my right arm. Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at my arm. My wrist didn't look quite straight and I couldn't move it. Cradling my hurt arm with my healthy one, I walked over to the teacher who was nearby. I was determined to be a big girl, and, trying not to cry, I told her what had happened. She immediately helped me inside to the nurse's office. That fifty yards to the nurse seemed like a thousand miles, and each step I took was more painful than the last. I didn't understand what was happening. Why did it hurt my arm to put weight on my legs? As I reached the doorway to go inside, I sadly glanced over my shoulder to take one last look at my beloved playground. Suddenly it didn't look as inviting as it always had. The bright colors had faded into dull and dreary in my mind's eye. I had experienced countless joys on this playground; it was my friend that had always made sure I was happy and safe. At that moment I felt like my friend had betrayed me. I reached the nurse's office in the school, and soon my mom was there to rush me to the hospital. When we got there, the emergency room was jam-packed. The waiting room was full of people with various problems, and nurses and doctors were frantically running around. Some of the other patients in the waiting room included an elderly lady in a wheel chair, a middle-aged man taking sharp intakes of breath, and a young man with a bleeding ankle. Why did everyone in the world choose this day to get injured? I needed the doctors to focus on me. In all I waited for about an hour. That hour was one of the worst I've been through. I still hadn't had any pain reliever to speak of, and the pain in my arm was dull, agonizing, and unrelenting. At last, one of the nurses paid me some attention and gave me some thick, syrupy liquid pain reliever. She took me into a dark room and took an x-ray of my arm; it was confirmed that I had broken two bones in my forearm. The next thing that happened was excruciating. The doctor took me into a room without my parents, and explained that he needed to reset my arm since it was crooked. He flat out told me that this was going to hurt, and not just a little bit. I sat up on a table, and the doctor gave a hard yank on my wrist. I heard another crack! exactly like the one earlier that day, and agonizing pain again shot through my arm. The pain was unbearable, and this time I couldn't keep back the tears. I couldn't understand that the doctor was only trying to help me, and I was angry with him for prolonging my suffering instead of ending it. The worst was over†¦ at least as far as physical pain. I got my cast and was on the road to recovery, but the majority of the pain came after my arm stopped hurting. I was normally such a bright, happy, little girl; but with a broken arm I was constantly feeling sorry for myself. I kept asking God why I was the one who had to go through this. Why did I have to sit at home while my dad took my sister to the indoor pool? Why did I have to sit and watch while my friends played softball? I soon felt like my life and my freedom had been ripped away from me as soon as I heard that crack on the playground. This could never happen again. Nine weeks later, sitting in that waiting room, I thought to myself. My cast would be off in just a couple of minutes, and I would have my freedom back. But I couldn't abuse that freedom. I would always be more careful now; I would never again subject myself to the evils of a broken bone.

Sandy Hook Elementary Paper

On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot twenty children and six adult staff members in a mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. It was the second deadliest mass shooting by a single person in American history, after the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre. At some point before Adam Lanza, 20, arrived at school, he killed his mother Nancy Lanza. He grabbed three guns from the house – a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle and 2 pistols – and went to the elementary school wearing black fatigues and a military vest. Classes were under way at the school.Approximately 700 students were present (CNN, 2012). Earlier this year, the school principal, Dawn Lafferty, ordered a new security system installed that required visitors to be visibly identified and buzzed in. As part of the security system, the school locked its doors each day at 9:30 a. m. The door was locked when the gunman arrived. Authorities now know the gunman used â€Å"an ass ault weapon† to â€Å"literally (shoot) an entrance into the building (CNN, 2012). When Principal Lafferty heard loud pops, she, school psychologist Mary Sherlach and Vice Principal Natalie Hammond went out to investigate.Only Hammond returned from the hallway alive. She was wounded. At 9:30 a. m. , as announcements were read over the loudspeaker to the students, shots were heard across the school. Students described being ushered into bathrooms and closets by teachers after hearing the first shots (CNN, 2012). Lanza moved toward two classrooms of kindergartners and first-graders, police said. In one classroom was Lauren Rousseau, a substitute teacher who was filling in for a teacher out on maternity leave. The gunman shot all 14 students in the classroom, law enforcement officers said (CNN, 2012).In another classroom, Victoria Soto, 27, moved her first-grade students away from the door. The gunman burst in and shot her, according to the father of a surviving student. Six stu dents were killed in that classroom. At the police station, dispatchers began to take calls from inside the school. Officers say the first emergency call about the shooting came in at 9:30 a. m. Police and other first responders arrived on scene about 20 minutes after the first calls. Police report that no law enforcement officers discharged their weapons at any point.The gunman took his own life, police said. He took out a handgun and shot himself in a classroom as law enforcement officers approached, officials said. Twenty students, ages 6 and 7, and six adults were killed at the school. Police secured the building, ensuring no other shooters were on site. Police then escorted students and faculty out of the building to a nearby firehouse (CNN, 2012). As reports of the shooting made their way around town, frantic parents descended on the firehouse where the children had been taken.By nightfall, the firehouse became a gathering point for parents and family members whose loved ones would never walk out of the school (CNN, 2012). The shootings prompted renewed debate about gun control, the ban of certain types of semi-automatic firearms and magazines as well as the effect violent video games have on society. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California introduced legislation that would ban the sale and manufacture of 157 types of semi-automatic weapons, as well as magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.The goal of the bill, she said, is â€Å"to dry up the supply of these weapons over time. † Unfortunately Senator Feinstein’s bill was killed in the senate and no gun control laws passed (Steinhauer, 2013). The attention has also turned on restricting violent video games from being sold to children. Researchers found that typical college students who played violent video games for 20 minutes at a time for three consecutive days showed increasingly higher levels of aggressive behavior each day they played.Other researchers have conducted a com prehensive review of 136 articles reporting 381 effects involving over 130,000 participants around the world. These studies show that violent video games increase aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, physiological arousal (e. g. , heart rate, blood pressure), and aggressive behavior. Violent games also decrease helping behavior and feelings of empathy for others. The effects occurred for males and females of all ages, regardless of what country they lived in (Whitaker & Bushman, 2012). The effects of these games go beyond making players more aggressive.People who played first-person shooting games were more accurate than others when firing a realistic gun at a mannequin and more likely to aim for and hit the head. Gender is also an issue when it comes to violence. Males are largely responsible for more than 99% of mass shootings. Being a male does not mean that one will become a killer but being a male in a culture that has some measure of gender inequality and links masculinity wit h violence does make it likely. (Raskoff, 2013) To date, no women have perpetrated such mass killings using guns.Women are usually less socially isolated than men. They are raised to be more connected to others and to share their issues while men are encouraged to figure things out on their own and hold in their emotional distress. (Raskoff, 2013) Social class is also relevant when analyzing why these mass shootings occur. The shooters tend to be young men from middle or upper middle class backgrounds. This could explain the access they have to legal automatic weapons, along with their invisibility to law enforcement and the hyper visibility to the media.Vandalism or acting out behaviors are perceived and dealt with differently at the different social classes. Shootings occur much more in working class or poverty stricken. (Raskoff, 2013) According to recent research, a link has been suggested between anti-depressant pharmaceuticals, depression and violence. Antidepressants are supp osed to make people feel happier and more at ease, but a study has linked several prescription antidepressants to an increased risk of violent behavior, including physical assault and homicide. In addition, they can lead to addiction and serious withdrawal symptoms.The United Kingdom has banned nearly all antidepressants in kids in 2004 due to the increased risk of suicide. The United States, however, is still allowing big Pharmaceutical companies to rake in the profits from these deadly, mind-altering drugs (Dr. Mercola, 2008). Entertainment is also an issue when it comes to violence. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, television programs display 812 violent acts per hour. Further, the typical American child will view more than 200,000 acts of violence, including 16,000 murders, before they turn 18 (Chou, 2013).According to Jane Brown, a professor at the University of North Carolina, The more violence children see in the media, the more violent vi deo games they play, the more likely they are to be aggressive in their own lives. She adds that watching the movie â€Å"Kill Bill† may not make people want to kill someone in real life, but young people who are naturally aggressive see violence in the media and think it's an appropriate way to solve conflict (Chou, 2013). There are many different factors that contribute to violence and we need to address them in order to curb the amount of murders and shootings in the United States.