The Emerging Issues in Healthcare Finance Essay Example for Free

The Emerging Issues in Healthcare Finance Essay A few decades back, healthcare financiers believed that managed care with capitation was the best policy tool that would help control the ever-increasing health care costs. Instead of focusing on healthcare quality, the administrators focused on the cost per month or per member and the provider organizations which competed for the market share. However, this has changed in the new century as new payment tools have emerged due to innovations in the healthcare marketplace. Currently, healthcare is considered in terms of quality and efficiency as far as purchase and delivery of healthcare are concerned. Capturing these key features of the current healthcare provision, the main objectives of ensuring quality and efficiency has led to the new concept dubbed pay-for-performance. In other literatures, P4P is known as value-based purchasing. P4P is a healthcare payment system that rewards physicians, hospitals and various healthcare providers for their efficiency in healthcare provision. Efficiency in this case is defined in terms of higher quality of healthcare at a relatively low cost (Wu, Nishimi, Kizer, 2005). However, defining quality can be very hard and challenging to most players in healthcare provision and financing. And as various players in healthcare – patients, providers and financiers, seek more direct and timely measures for quality and value, the government has quickly moved in to help set the standards. Through the CMS, the United States federal government has been able to come up with quality indicators (QIs), which are continuously being developed and refined (Rosenthal Richard, 2006). These measures for quality and value are currently available in various Web-based portals which the government hopes will increase consumer awareness. Patients are encouraged to compare facilities used by healthcare providers with those available in the Quality Indicator Web portals. Moreover, services and treatment by providers can also be evaluated against those available in the web showing standard quality measures. As the oversight body, the CMS as mandated by the federal government has established a provider quality reporting system for healthcare. Empowered by the 2006 Tax Relief and Health Care Act, the CMS has put in place the provider quality reporting initiative which rewards physicians and other providers who successfully report their set of quality measures. As a reward the government may recommend bonus payment which is subject to a cap equaling 1. 5 percent of the total amount of Medicare costs within the six months period of reporting (Wu, Nishimi, Kizer, 2005).. The public and private payers have welcomed the value-based performance as an answer to soaring healthcare costs and also a means of ensure quality service to patients. By 2005, about 75 percent of all United States companies had connected at least some of their employee’s pay to work performance and also in healthcare. Currently, over 100 pilot programs undertaken by private and public payers are underway. The current healthcare payment system may reward less-safe services because most insurance companies refuse to compensate for new services and practices intended to reduce errors. Again, the system may also encourage poor workmanship, as hospitals and physicians are allowed to charge additional services required when a patient is infected or injured in the hospital. Pay-for-performance however, tries to avert such loses and has received a lot of support from both public and private payers. American insurance companies hope to save a lot from this program (Rosenthal Richard, 2006).. The healthcare financiers would not only be allowed to pay for quality services by physicians and hospitals but would not be required pay for additional services for unintended consequences of treatment and care like injury in hospital, negligence during surgery and many others as defined by National Quality Forum (Leape Berwick, 2005). The current payers like the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Leapfrog Group have learnt from the pilot programs that pay-for-performance greatly affects the outcome and quality of any work and increases performance. These companies are very much optimistic that they would not only reduce cost of healthcare but also ensure that their members receive the best healthcare services. This initiative is expected to attract more private insurance companies to invest in healthcare with hope of increasing the profits and capital base. Many insurance companies may be to offer more comprehensive healthcare coverage to various people as they have would a large capital base due to reduced healthcare costs and therefore a lot to re-invest (Wu, Nishimi, Kizer, 2005). The primary goal of pay-for-performance according to policymakers is to increase quality in healthcare while at the same time reduced financial burden of care (Dudley, 2005). These positives are all pointing to the patients and insurance companies all agree that pay-for-performance would benefit the patients. However, as physicians argue, the P4P system may not be in the best interest of the patient. Insurance companies and other healthcare financiers would be the greatest winners if the pay-for-performance is fully implemented. With the CMS initiative that calls for elimination of payments for negative effects of any medical practices that lead to injuries, other illnesses or even death, other insurance companies that are also willing to undertake such initiative, stand to gain a lot from the P4P system. Considering that doctors may not be perfect all the times and some patients are known to develop new infections even when the best known practices are applied, the healthcare payers would be positively affected by this new payment system (Grossbart, 2006). Lessons from the Research Despite the good intentions of the value-based performance program, the government still faces one of the biggest challenges in its implementation. Implementation of P4P faces challenges of having everyone agree on the quality standards. The quality measures as defined earlier are objective indicators used to evaluate whether physicians are providing high quality healthcare. For example, a doctor may be required to test the A1C levels in diabetic patients four times annually as a quality standard measure. In a pay-for-performance system, physicians who reach this threshold would be compensated appropriately. However, many health providers challenge such indicators by arguing that medical practice is not only an art but also a science and therefore setting up checklists as well as treatment algorithms would be a great disservice to the patients. Again, it is quite common to hear about physicians disagreeing with one another on the appropriate course of medication and treatment that should be adopted by the patients with similar diagnosis and the same medical histories. Therefore if the pay-for-performance system is to be successfully implemented, such disagreements would have to be ironed out first (Grossbart, 2006). It would be quite hard to say the specific impacts of the P4P system in the future as it is still undergoing pilot implementation. Nevertheless, because pay-for-performance is basically focusing on how doctors, hospitals and other various healthcare providers are compensated for their work, an individual patient may not be affected greatly in terms of costs. In the long run if the pay-for-performance is fully and successfully implemented, the greatest beneficiary would be the patient who would receive healthcare at a reduced cost. However, whether the quality of health care would improve quality or not is matter still debated.

Methodologies of Microwave Amplifier Design

Methodologies of Microwave Amplifier Design 2.1 ACTIVE DEVICE SELECTION This chapter discusses various methodologies used in the design of single stage microwave amplifiers. Reaching the desired goals of gain, power loss and noise performance requires first selecting a suitable active device (transistor) that meets these goals. The rapid advances in transistor fabrication have permitted the traditional Si transistors to operate in the GHz re- gion. the increase for higher frequency operation drove the innovation of new novel devices with new materials, architectures and geometries Possibly the most significant difference be- tween microwave transistors and the lower frequency ones is in the area of materials. Although low-frequency transistors are fabricated mostly from silicon, the use more costly compound semiconductors like gallium arsenide (GaAs) and indium phosphide (InP) proves to be more economical at microwave frequencies because of their performance advantages over silicon. The demand for higher frequencies also produced sophisticated material c onfigurations like the heterojunction transistors which have no low-frequency counterparts. At low frequencies, microwave transistors can be broadly categorized into: the bipolar junc- tion transistors (BJTs) and the field-effect transistors (FETs). At lower frequencies, FETs con- tains the junction FET (JFET) and the metal oxide FET (MOSFET), structural characteristics limits their high frequency operation. GaAs metal semiconductor FET pushed the frequency of operation well into the GHz region. However, in the intervening decades, bipolar device caught up and now it is common to find BJTs operating at the GHz region. The selection of a suitable transistor for the required application is based on the targeted goals of gain, noise and power loss performance. In the following sections, the GaAs HJ-FET transistor NE3210S01 from Renessa Electronics will be used to illustrate the various meth- ods for selecting the appropriate terminations used in constructing matching networks for both narrowband and wideband operation. 2.2 MATCHING NETWORKS TOPOLOGIES Impedance matching involves transforming one impedance to the other. This process is useful in circuits where the mismatch between the source (ZS) and load (ZL) prevents maximum power transfer. Theorem states that for a maximum transfer of power from source to load. Load impedance (ZL) must be equal to the complex conjugate of the source impedance. Complex conjugate is complex impedance having the same real part with an opposite imaginary one. For example, if the source impedance is ZS =R+jX, then its complex conjugate must be ZL =R-jX. For a pure resistive load, equations (2.1) and (2.2) aided with Fig.2.1 shows that a maximum 4 power transfer occurs when RL=RS. VO= VS L RL + RS RL (2.1) PO= V2 S(RL+ RS)2 (2.2) (a) (b) Figure 2.1: (a) Pure resistive circuit with VS=1V and RS=1à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦, (b) Maxim power is delivered to the load when RL=RS The same concept can be applied to AC circuits with complex load and source. Equation.2.3 aided with figure Fig.2.2 shows that a maximum power transfer to the load occurs when XL= XS. The value of the power delivered to the load is given by: 1|VS|2 RL PO= 2 (R + RL )2 + (XS + XL (2.3) )2 Where the resistance RS and RL and the reactants XS, XL are the real and imaginary parts of ZS and ZL. The target in applying impedance matching to make the load impedance look like the complex conjugate of the source impedance to attain maximum power transfer to the load. This is shown in Fig. where a matching circuit is placed between points a,b shown in Fig to transfer the load impedance to the complex conjugate value of the source impedance. Since we are dealing with reactances, which are frequency dependent, the matching can occur only at single frequency. That is the frequency at whichXL= Xand, thus, cancellation or resonance occurs. At the surrounding frequencies, the matching becomes worse. This is the main problem in broadband matching where perfect or near perfect matching along the required bandwidth is required. The methods for narraowband and wideband matching is presented later in this chapter. In Fig.2.3b, numerous topologies can be used as a matching network. The shape of the topology can vary from a simple L, Ï€or T networks to a complex ladder circuit or filter design. The concept of matching network can be explained using the two simple L-Matching topologies shown in Fig.2.4a,2.4b. Both B and X values in Fig.2.4 must be chosen to satisfy the condition ZL=ZS*. To achieve this condition, both analytical methods, mostly with the aid of a computer, and graphical procedures, using the Smithchart, can be used. (a) (b)(c) Figure 2.2: (a) AC circuit with complex ZS and ZS, (b) For XS=j5, Maxim power is delivered to the load when XL=-j5 (c) For XS=-j5, Maxim power is delivered to the load when XL=j5 For the case of RL  ¿ Ro, the topology of Fig.2.4a is preferred, where B and X are given by:   RL  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   22 XL ± B= ZoRL+ XL−ZoRL (2.4) R22 L+ XL X= BZoRL−XL 1 − BXL (2.5) For the condition of RL ¡Ro the topology of Fig.2.4b is used with B and X given by: 1  Ã‚  Ã‚   Zo−RL B=  ± oL (2.6) X=  ±Ã‚   RL(Zo−RL) −XL(2.7) In both topologies of Fig.2.4, B and X represent either an inductor (L) or capacitor (C). The result is four simple L-matching networks as shown in Fig.2.5. (b) Figure 2.3: (a)Circuit before the matching network(b) Circit after adding the matching network. (a)(b) Figure 2.4: L-Matching topologies, a) used when RL  ¿ Ro, b) used when RL  ¡ Ro 2.3 NARROWBAND DESIGN METHODOLOGIES Analytical Solution Graphical Solution CAD Solution WIDEBAND DESIGN METHODOLOGIES Analytical Solution Graphical Solution CAD Solution (b) (c)(d) Figure 2.5: Four basic L-matching Networks

Paul Cezanne :: essays research papers

When most people think of Paul Cezanne, they think of two words genius and painting. For these two words he is consider by far to be the Father of modern painting. Cezanne was born in Aix-en-Provence in 1839. He was to die in the same town in 1906. His life and art work was greatly influenced by this small town in France. He was the son of a shrewd business man, Louis-Auguste Cezanne. As a boy growing up in Aix, Cezanne loved to study Greek and Latin literature. At the age of thirteen, Paul met Emile Zola at the College Bourbon. The friendship was very important for both of the young men and lasted until the publication of Zola's novel L'Oeuvre in 1886, in which the writer portrays an unsuccessful artist whose character based upon Paul. Deeply hurt, Cezanne broke forever with his longtime friend. At school, the boys were nearly inseparable. Both were interested in writing and literature. Emile and Paul would write letters and rhymed verse to each other for the next decade or so in which they expressed their most intimate feelings and emotions together with information about their everyday life. Paul's father disapproved of Zola and his family especially after Emile's father had died. In February 1858 Zola moved to Paris together with his mother. Which made Paul want to go to Paris to join up with Emile. When in 1861 he finally obtained his father's permission to study art in Paris, Cezanne's first attempt to settle down there failed. Disillusioned with the art world, he returned to his family after only six months and entered his father's bank as a clerk. The following year he went to Paris again, and this time he stayed. During this years he lead a rather frugal life due to his father's meager allowance. Every year he submitted canvases to the artists' Salons, but was regularly rejected. Cezanne did his first show with a group named the "Society of Painters, Draftsman, Sculptors, and Engravers" comprised of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Pissarro and Cezanne himself. The group's first show was in April in 1874, they received bad revise. Cezanne did one more show with that group, third for the group, in 1877. That show went better than the first one. "Unlike his artist friends, he generally avoided depiction's of modern life and instead painted landscapes and still-lives of more classical conception"(Lallemand 10). Cezanne had many different characteristics of his work enigmatic quality, the look of someone who were essentially a sculptor, no seasonal variance in his landscapes. In the painting The House of the Hanged Man ,painted in 1872-1873, there is an eerie feeling

Use of Symbols and Symbolism in Knowles Separate Peace :: Separate Peace Essays

Use of Symbolism in   A Separate Peace  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   John Knowles uses the literary element of symbolism in his novel, A Separate Peace. Gene, a student at the Devon Prep School in New Hampshire, tries to understand the love, hate, and jealousy that he feels for his roommate Phineas, nicknamed "Finny." Knowles uses the Assembly Hall, the marble staircase, and the locker room to symbolize how Gene's spitefulness affects Finny, and how this effect leads Gene into adulthood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the effects of Gene's spiteful feelings toward Finny are developed, the Assembly Hall in which Gene's trial takes place is symbolic. Brinker, a classmate, leads some of Gene's peers to bring him to the Assembly Hall. At this time, Gene further realizes that he shook the limb on purpose, which causes Finny to fall out of the tree. Gene's peers are beginning to doubt his innocence. Finny has a burst of anger at the end of Gene's trial in the Assembly Hall. During this outburst, Finny says; "I just don't care. Nevermind" (168). Finny's outburst causes his second injury, which is rooted in Gene's spitefulness towards him. Gene's feelings and their effects are linked together by the Assembly Hall. Finny's anger toward the events of the trial eventually leads to his own death as he storms out into the corridor. As Finny runs down the corridor, the marble staircase that he approaches is symbolic. Finny storms out of the Assembly Hall in which Gene's trial is being held and begins running down the corridor. At this point, Finny fully realizes that Gene intentionally shook the limb, which made Finny fall out of the tree. Finny is in denial, thus causing him to storm out of the room. When Finny reaches the marble staircase, he falls, breaking his leg once again. This injury kills him due to the doctor's mistake while setting the broken bone. Gene's spiteful feelings can be directly connected to the events that took place during and after the Assembly Hall trial. Consequently, the marble staircase symbolizes how Gene's spiteful feelings ultimately cause Finny's death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At the end of the school session after Finny's death, Gene's cleaning out his locker is another symbolic act. Gene says, "Brinker went upstairs to continue his packing, and I walked over to the gym to clean out my locker" (193).

Cinematic Techniques in Nabokovs Laughter in the Dark Essay -- Movie

Cinematic Techniques in Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark    Vladimir Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark takes the movies for its style as well as its subject matter. In recounting the farcical tragedy of director Albinus and starlet Margot, Nabokov imports a wide variety of techniques and imagery from the cinema into the novel. But Nabokov's "cinematic" style is not analagous to that of a screenplay: the polished prose is always tinged with the novelist's trademark irony. Gavriel Moses notes that    Nabokov's most consistent reaction to popular films in their public context is his awareness that the film image... is overwhelming in its insistent claim to presence and, as a consequence, to truth. But in formula films perceived uncritically or absorbed inertly, film tends to displace... what is really important in life and to impose its own schematic simplifications upon life's teaming and idiosyncratic details. (62)    Virtually all the characters in Laughter in the Dark take their understandings of life from the film industry. Their ideas and impressions, therefore, tend to be rather banal, predictable, and superficial. Nabokov's people never surprise the reader, never think unusual thoughts, never reveal unexpected depths. In contrast to the complex psyches found in Tolstoy and Chekhov, for instance, Albinus, Rex, and Margot are cartoons, with speech balloons floating above their heads. Indeed, even their thought processes resemble the interior monologues of characters in Hollywood films. So, for example, when Nabokov transcribes Albinus's silent thoughts, he employs a standard voice-over template:    Albinus, his queer emotions riding him, thought: "What the devil do I care for this fellow... ...chcock: Fifty Years of His Motion Pictures. New York: An Anchor Book, Doubleday, 1992. Originally published by Hopkinson and Blake in 1976.    Works Consulted Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita. New York: Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, Inc., 1999. First published 1955. Raguet-Bouvart, Christine. "Camera Obscura and Laughter in the Dark, or, The Confusion of Texts." Translated from the French by Jeff Edmunds. Seifrid, Thomas. "Nabokov's Poetics of Vision, or, What Anna Karenina is Doing in Kameraobskura." Copyright 1996 Board of Trustees of Davidson College. Originally published in Nabokov's Studies #3 (1996). http://www.libraries.psu.edu/iasweb/nabokov/seifrid1.htm Simon, John. "Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years." From The New Criterion Vol.9, No.6, February 1991. http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/09/feb91/nabokov.htm   

Ap Bio Chapter 7

Name Period Chapter 7: Membrane Structure and Function Concept 7. 1 Cellular membranes are fluid mosaics of lipids and proteins 1. The large molecules of all living things fall into just four main classes. Name them. Explain what is meant when we say a molecule is amphipathic. 3. In the 1960s, the Davson-Danielli model of membrane structure was widely accepted. Describe this model and then cite two lines of evidence that were inconsistent with it. 4. Who proposed the fluid mosaic model of membrane structure? When? Describe this model. 5. What is meant by membrane fluidity? Describe the movements seen in the fluid membrane. 6. Describe how each of the following can affect membrane fluidity: decreasing temperature phospholipids with unsaturated hydrocarbon chains cholesterol 7. Membrane proteins are the mosaic part of the model. Describe each of the two main categories: integral proteins peripheral proteins 8. Use Figure 7. 9 to briefly describe major functions of membrane proteins. Function Description Transport Enzymatic activity Signal transduction Cell-cell recognition Intercellular joining Attachment to cytoskeleton and ECM 9. Membrane carbohydrates are important in cell-cell recognition. What are two examples of this? Distinguish between glycolipids and glycoproteins. Label the following structures: glycolipid, glycoprotein, integral protein, peripheral protein, cholesterol, phospholipid, ECM fibers, cytoskeleton microfilaments, integrins (go back to Chapter 6) Concept 7. 2 Membrane structure results in selective permeability Distinguish between channel proteins and carrier proteins. Are transport proteins specific? Cite an example that supports your response. 14. Peter Agre received the Nobel Prize in 2003 for the discovery of aquaporins. What are they? 15. Consider the following materials that must cross the membrane. For each, tell how it is accomplished. |Material |Method | |CO2 | | |Glucose | |H+ | | |O2 | | |H2O | | Concept 7. 3 Passive transport is diffusion of a substance across a membrane with no energy investment 16. Define the following terms: diffusion concentration gradient passive transport osmosis isotonic hypertonic hypotonic turgid laccid plasmolysis 17. Use as many words from the list above to describe why a carrot left on the counter overnight would become limp. Underline each word you use. What is facilitated diffusion? Is it active or passive? Cite two examples. Label the hypotonic solution, isotonic solution, and hypertonic solution. What is indicated by the blue arrows? Label them. Which cell is lysed? Turgid? Flaccid? Plasmolyzed? Apply all these labels. Why doesn’ t the plant cell burst? Concept 7. 4 Active transport uses energy to move solutes against their gradients 21. Describe active transport. What type of transport proteins are involved, and what is the role of ATP in the process? The sodium-potassium pump is an important system for you to know. Use the following diagram to understand how it works. Use the following terms to label these figures, and briefly summarize what is occurring in each figure: extracellular fluid, cytoplasm, Na+, K+, ATP, ADP, P, transport protein. On the diagram below, add these labels: facilitated diffusion with a carrier protein, facilitated diffusion with a channel protein, active transport with a carrier protein, simple diffusion. For each type of transport, give an example of a material that is moved in this manner. What is membrane potential? Which side of the membrane is positive? What are the two forces that drive the diffusion of ions across the membrane? What is the combination of these forces called? 26. What is cotransport? Explain how understanding it is used in our treatment of diarrhea. Concept 7. 5 Bulk transport across the plasma membrane occurs by exocytosis and endocytosis 27. Define each of the following, and give a specific cellular example. ndocytosis phagocytosis pinocytosis exocytosis receptor-mediated endocytosis 28. What is a ligand? What do ligands have to do with receptor-mediated endocytosis? 29. Are the processes you described in question 23 active or passive transport? Explain your response. Testing Your Knowledge: Self-Quiz Answers Now you should be ready to test your knowledge. Place your answers here: 1. _______ 2. _______ 3. _______ 4. _______ 5. _______ Reproduce the diagram for question 6, and draw arrows as instructed. 6b. ______ 6c. ______ 6d. ______ 6e. ______

Media and Democracy Essay

In 1990, the Americans faced a situation that badly calls for their attention. An all out war against Saddam Hussein and the country he governs named Iraq was the argument being raised by the Bush Administration to his people. The administration needs the support of the public and it is when they decided to make propagandas that may affect the decisions of the people. While sensationalizing news and even opinions about wars and things connected to these acts, people are drawn closer into being deceived and this news may cause them conflicts in developing their own side of the story. Furthermore, with the use of media, journalism and press releases, a major impact is formed that can affect the opinion of the public or the majority which can somehow be very threatening to the outcome, conclusion or result of the battle and the cause being fought for by both sides. During the Gulf War that lasted from 1990 to 1991, media, propagandas and press releases played a big role in forming the opinion of the people of the United States of America about the suggested war against Iraq proposed by the Bush Administration which resulted to an attack against Saddam Hussein and Iraq in a wider, different picture. Related Literature Before finally opening the discussion about the media censorship during the Gulf War, how about we first talk about the group, people and terms involved in the whole sharing of ideas and construction of a this research. War as the key topic that will connect media, public and the incident together will allow us to understand how important the participation of media during the Gulf War years was to the United States of America and at the same time, how it affected the both Iraq and Kuwait. War Defined A three-letter word that can change the whole story of our entire history, war is more like a problem, a conflict made to destroy not just places but also human lives. It is commonly described as a dangerous act and a conflict that would mostly cause problems and loss of human lives. However, the word â€Å"War† is a term that serves various meanings and uses. It could be a figure of speech which creates an allusion to serious strife, campaigns and even struggles. In so many ways, the word, vague as it is can be is used in identifying a certain issue or incident like â€Å"war on terrorism†, â€Å"class wars† and other occurrences that could definitely be understood easily with the presence of the word â€Å"war†. In Merriam-Webster Dictionary, War is defined as (1)’ a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations’, (2) ‘a period of such armed conflict’, and (3) ‘State of War which corresponds to the art or science of warfare like the weapons, equipment used in war, soldiers and equipped soldiers ready for the war’ . It is also the ‘struggle or the competition between opposing forces or for a particular end’. Although the word is used in many ways, the usual aim of war is to ‘overthrow the enemy’ which ‘does not always imply the complete conquest of the enemy’s country’. Media Defined There had been several definitions of media. People refer to means or medium of communication as media too. Talking in general, it ‘refers to various means of communication’ which stands for ‘television, newspaper and radio’. At the same time, Media is also a ‘collective noun for the press or news reporting agencies’. The same definition of media as a term is also used by Paul Hawken in his book to characterize the word. While this author mentioned the same purpose of media which is to identify the medium and tools used for communication, he also insisted that media ‘is a term that also applies to those people whose profession it is to discover, report and communicate information and news to the public’. Furthermore, we now understand that media is a term used to describe both the medium used in communication and the people who we also call press. They serve as our ears and eyes about what is happening in our surroundings. Through their news, reports and discoveries, we learn from them the truth and the reality. However, the role of media although is very essential in the lives of the people, in the existence of humanity and truth can also be misused and mislead us from the certainties. History of Gulf War It is said that the Gulf War, also referred to as the Second Gulf War is unique compared to other wars happened in the history of this century, probably in the rest of human race account and existence. In so many ways, this war has several features that make it different from other armed conflicts in the whole world. Compared to the Second World War and Vietnam War, there had been several, much more bombs thrown to the enemy country than the amount of explosives used to destroy Vietnam. Also, the treatment of media towards the incident is more intense compared to how they reported their coverage during the World War II and the War in Vietnam. On the second day of August in 1990, Iraq made a move to invade Kuwait. Kuwait, a small democratic country rich in oil and produces the needed amount of the United States of America. This incident of 1990 is not the first in the history of Kuwait. It was the third conflict between Iraq and Kuwait in just one century. The first one was in July 1897 and the second one was in June 1961. Aside from these two, there is also a semi-crisis between the two countries which happened in March 1939. These account of events show that the two countries had been rivals for a long time already and the conflict between them only grows bigger as the years pass by. The Complaints of Iraq According to Suzanne Murdico, there are three complaints that Iraq issued over its neighboring country which is Kuwait. Although some of the complaints of Iraq over Kuwait concerns the past events wherein both countries were involved. One among the several disputes was the money that Iraq borrowed from Kuwait which was used as payment for the Iran-Iraq War. Secondly dispute is concerned with the oil being produced by Kuwait. Since Kuwait, though small country can produce oil that is demanded by the oil market which even angered Saddam Hussein and accused them of producing oil more than the allowed amount as stated by Organization of Petroleum Exporting. The third dispute is about the border between the Iraq and Kuwait territories wherein there is enormous oil. The disputes between Kuwait and Iraq became the same reasons why the latter invaded Kuwait. In June 8, 1991, a victory parade was held in Washington. After almost a year of conflict, the United States of America was able to â€Å"save† Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. Media Coverage of the Gulf War As Dilip Hiro said in his book â€Å"Desert Shield to Desert Storm† the Gulf War had its share of popularity. Media coverage during the Persian Gulf War or the Second Gulf War can never be compared to the exposure given to World War II and Vietnam War. Censorship Media and People Media and the Gulf War Censorship during the Gulf War Western coverage of the Gulf War Demonizing Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein had been an ally of the United States of America for almost a decade before the former invaded Kuwait, an oil producing country which supplies the U. S. within eight years, Hussein, a dictator was able to kill 150,000 Iranians and around 13,000 Iraqis. There had been complaints coming from international human rights group about these killings but being an ally of both Reagan and Bush, he was not given enough attention for punishment. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, April Glaspie, Ambassador of the United States of America asked the media to allow the appearance of Hussein in television even for a few minutes. In this case, Hussein will have the chance to explain himself and also Iraq to the public. These words of the Ambassador served as a hint for Hussein that U. S. sympathizes with him and Iraq. He thought that if he will invade Kuwait, U. S. will not see it as a crime. However, the Bush Administration thought that Hussein’s crime is serious and it is not just killing refugees but it threatens the oil supply already. In 1979, Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s new leader took his post and changed the story of their country. A man with sheer desire for wealth and power, Fiske’s Argument Conclusion Incidents happen for a reason. Nothing exists without its motives and everything; all things in life have its purpose. At first we may find it absurd, crazy and foolish but in the end, what happened will be the biggest story we would want to uncover for the truth. War is a very huge word made by people dominating the entire world. While some people and probably most of the people prefer to have peace in the world rather than endless bloodsheds everywhere, others, especially those who have personal biases and some individual agendas over certain things that concern themselves and some other people existing in their world. Although the word is used in different situations and contains diverse meaning, war is still a word that is very dangerous to the innocent ones. In 1990, media and war finally met to destroy innocent lives and at the same time to hate each other. A story of destroying a nation and manipulating the emotions, feelings and opinion of the greater majority, the gulf war of 1990 was one of the tragic stories for the exercise of freedom of speech. In times of war and conflict between two opposing parties, the opinion of the people involved is very important that it may either serve as a better result or it may complicate things more. One of the most helpful tools in telling the truth, probably the mirror of reality is the media. However, Media and War became best of friends in some cases that together, these two may promote a fight worth dying for or may destroy lives of innocent people. Their companionship most of the time does not mean that they do help each other but because with the use of media, one side of the face of the war will win. Persuasion and propagandas helped a lot in promoting the means that the opposing parties were fighting for. In so many ways, media was both a tool in persuading the people of the United States of America to go in the war with Bush towards Saddam Hussein and at the same time was a battered medium of communication, a means that was used to tell a lie and to mandate what the people should feel. Bibliography Atkinson, Rick. Crusade the Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War. Houghton Mifflin Company. 1993 Center for Media and Democracy. Toxic Sludge Is Good For You, Chapter 10: How PR Sold the War in the Persian Gulf. Retrieved January 19, 2009 from http://www. prwatch. org/books/tsigfy10. html Clausewitz, C. , Graham, J. , Natusch, F. , and Willmot, L. On War. Wordsworth Edition. 1997, page 351. Dinstein, Yoram. War, Aggression and Self-defence 4th Edition. Cambridge University Press. 2005, page 3. Hawken, Paul. Blessed Unrest. Viking. 2007, page 267. Hiro, Dilip. Deset Shield to Desert Storm. iUniverse, 2003, page 4 Media. In TechTerms. com, Retrieved January 19, 2009 from http://www. techterms. com/definition/media Murdico, Suzanne J. The Gulf War. The Rosen Publishing Group, 2004, page 11. War. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved January 15, 2009, from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/war