The Hippocratic Oath is considered a rite of passage for physicians. It is widely believed Hippocrates or one of his students wrote it in the 4th century BC. The oath was not widely accepted when it was first written. The first code of medical ethics was written by English physician Thomas Percival (1740–1804). An updated form was adopted by the American Medical Association in 1846. AMA's code of ethics states that doctors have the responsibility to keep their patients' information and records private, and that the information revealed to a physician during the patient-physician relationship is confidential to the utmost degree. The goal is to encourage total honesty between doctors and patients for better treatment. The exceptions include when a patient threatens bodily harm to himself or another person. A confidence is breached when there is a disclosure to a third party without patient consent or court order. This disclosure may be either written or oral.
Manners and etiquette are social norms that include behavioral expectations within a given society or class of people. In the United States, etiquette is derived from a French origin out of the practices of the Louis XIV court. Etiquette depends on a specific place, and what is considered very polite in one society may be completely disrespectful in another. Emily Post's name has become synonymous with proper etiquette and manners. Her book, “Etiquette”, published in 1911, topped the nonfiction bestseller list, and the phrase "according to Emily Post" soon entered our everyday language as the last word on the subject of social conduct. Following in her footsteps are countless advice columnists and books. Modern interpretations of etiquette have found their way into new slang words, such as "netiquette."
Phone trees are usually used for emergency situations and were used more prevalently when people relied on land-lines as their primary phone. A phone tree allows you to mobilize the active members of your group quickly for events, actions and urgent meetings. It is a tool for group members to pass a message around the group without the need for a long phone session. Phone trees can also increase turnout to events by extending personal invitations. It is vital that all members complete their assigned calls. Having alternate numbers available where members can be reached is important to a phone-tree's success.
Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is a relatively new socio-economic model of farming and food distribution. A CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community's farm. The growers and consumers provide mutual support, sharing the risks and benefits of food production. CSA’s usually operate to produce weekly delivery or pick-up of vegetables and fruit, sometimes dairy products and meat. CSA's generally practice the production of high quality foods using organic or biodynamic farming methods. This kind of farming operates with a much greater-than-usual degree of involvement of consumers and other stakeholders — resulting in a stronger than usual consumer-producer relationship.
An honor code or honor system is a set of rules or principles governing a community based on a set of rules or ideals that define what constitutes honorable behavior within that community. The use of an honor code depends on the idea that people within the community can be trusted to act honorably. Those who are in violation of the honor code can be subject to various sanctions, including expulsion from the institution.
Take a penny, leave a penny refers to a type of tray, dish or cup often found in gas stations and convenience stores, meant for convenience in cash transactions. The small cup or tray near a cash register is designated as a place for people to place pennies they receive as change if they do not want them. Then, customers who, for example, need one cent for a transaction can take one of the pennies to avoid needing one of their own or breaking a higher-denomination coin or bill. The tray can also be used by cashiers when dealing with amounts slightly less than others easier to work with; the cashier may take a penny (1 cent) from the tray and then give the customer, for example, one quarter (25 cents) instead of 24 cents (two dimes and four pennies, or six coins in all).
A crossing guard is a traffic management specialist who is normally stationed on busy roadways to aid pedestrians. Often present to aid elementary school children, crossing guards temporarily stop the flow of traffic so pedestrians may cross an intersection. Crossing guards are known by a variety of names, which include "lollipop lady", "crossing guard", "traffic monitor", "school crossing supervisor", and "school crossing patrol officer".
Bartering is the exchange of goods or services for other goods or services without the use of hard currency. Before the modern era of collective monetary systems, the world economy was dependent on the barter system. An example of a barter transaction would be a person tending to another farmer's field one day a week in exchange for a predetermined amount of the year's harvest. Another example would be that same person trading their earned harvest to another neighbor for livestock. Bartering is an important trade system in developing nations, especially those with heavily inflated currencies. Although the first-world economy is dominated by a currency based on the fiat standard (wherein the government, by writ of law, guarantees the value of its banknotes), it is common for citizens to exchange goods and services without the use of printed money.
Blind people read with their fingertips using a series of raised dots called Braille. It is based on a code commissioned by Napoleon to allow his soldiers to communicate at night on the battlefield. The system proved too difficult for the soldiers to learn and was discarded. Louis Braille, a fifteen year-old student at the Royal Institution for the Blind in Paris, simplified, restructured and perfected the system in 1924. Braille typography is now the worldwide standard for written communication among blind and visually impaired people.
The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is a national organization that creates a forum for parents and teachers to discuss the well-being of children. The PTA is a multipurpose group that promotes the health and safety of children in schools, homes, places of worship and communities. The PTA establishes a relationship between students, teachers, parents and community leaders and aims to elevate the lives and experience of children. The PTA promotes a symbiotic environment where teachers and parents can voice their concerns, establish functioning relationships and understand the relative positions, values and responsibilities of one another. This is accomplished by making collective decisions regarding education, child welfare, government policy and the enactment of special programs.
The copilot, also known as the first officer, is the assistant to the captain on commercial flights. It is their duty to perform pre-flight checks and assist in take-offs, landings and general navigation. On Sunday, January 20, 2007, the pilot of a Continental Airlines flight became ill after takeoff from Houston's George Bush International Airport. The plane was landed by the copilot and the 210 passengers returned safely. The pilot, whose name was not released, died shortly after.
Sign Language is a series of hand motions that deaf and hearing impaired people use to communicate. American Sign Language (ASL) is used in the United States. It is a complete, complex language that employs signs made with the hands and other movements, including facial expressions and postures of the body. It is the first language of many deaf North Americans, and one of several communication options available to deaf people. ASL is said to be the fourth most commonly used language in the United States. British Sign Language (BSL) differs from ASL. Different sign languages are used in different countries or regions.
I'm Picking Up What You're Putting Down.
Adopt-A-Highway is a program in which volunteers pick up litter from the side of state highways (usually at a 2-mile stretch). Sometimes there is a sign that gives the organizations credit for what they are doing. It is a promotional campaign undertaken by U.S. states, Provinces and Territories of Canada and national governments outside North America to encourage volunteers to keep a section of a highway free from litter. In exchange for regular litter removal, an organization (such as Cub Scouts, or Knights of Columbus, for example) is allowed to have their name posted on a sign in the section of the highways they maintain.
Ithaca Hours is a currency system exclusive to Ithaca, NY. This provides the opportunity for the currency to stay local which then bolsters the economy of the town. Ithaca Hours are accepted by over 900 participants for goods and services. It is credited as the first modern local currency and has inspired similar systems throughout the world.
Shared space is a traffic engineering concept involving the removal of the traditional separation between motor vehicles and pedestrians and other road users, and the removal of traditional road priority management devices such as curbs, lines, signs and signals. The reasoning behind the idea is that it will result in improved road safety by forcing users to negotiate their way through shared areas at appropriate speeds and with due consideration for the other users of the space. This approach, which was pioneered and promoted by Hans Monderman, is based on the observation that individuals' behavior in traffic is more positively affected by the built environment of the public space than it is by conventional traffic control devices and regulations. The term 'shared space' was coined by Ben Hamilton-Baillie in 2003.