Compare and Contrast for Montana 1948 Essay

Is it right to say a man with wealth and power can do whatever he wants? From the viewpoint of the novel â€Å"Montana 1948†, the answer is absolutely no. The novel has drawn a picture of Hayden family, the most respectful and dominating family in town, being thrown to chaos just because of the crime a family member committed. Even though two main characters in this novel, Frank and Wesley, share some similarities from their childhood environment, the three main contrasts between them lead them to different endings. Frank and Wesley grew up together and shared the same education background, therefore they are alike in their appearance, credentials, spouses choices, and prejudice attitudes. They are both tall, broad-shouldered and pleasant-looking. They are all intellectual people as Frank is a doctor and Wesley is a law school graduate. They both marry to two beautiful and highly-educated women from another town. We can see how alike they are from David’s observation: à ¢â‚¬Å"From that height I noticed something I had never noticed before. I noticed how the two men were brothers in posture and attitude (page 73)†. The significance of this quote is they resemble each other so closely that it’s not strange if they share the same attitude towards some matters. One specific example of this attitude is that they both have prejudice against Indian people, just like their father. Despite their similarities, David still respects and admires his uncle Frank more than his father Wesley. David claims: â€Å"It was the way I always felt when the two of them were together. Brothers naturally invite comparison, and when comparison was made between those two, my father was bound to suffer (page 24)†. From this quote, we understand that the more David admires about Frank, the more he feels sorry and disappointed in his father.. David has this feeling towards his father because as being compared to Wesley with his severely injured leg, Frank looks more well-built with an athletic grace that Wesley lacks. Moreover, Wesley doesn’t fit neither David’s ideal of what a sheriff should be nor his mother’s ideal at all. On the other hand, Frank is a genuine war hero, a dedicated doctor, his father’s favorite son, and a proud of Hayden family. Another difference between Wesley and Frank is the degree of their racism towards Indian people. Wesley doesn’t like Indian people because he thinks they are ignorant, lazy, and irresponsible. His racist reaction stops at the level that he forbid David to wear the moccasins that he received in his birthday. Regardless of that attitude, he treats Indians like human beings with generosity, kindness, and respect. Unlike Wesley, Frank doesn’t express any discrimination on the surface; he accepts treatments for all white and Indian patients. However, his racist attitude is expressed at a higher degree; he took advantage of his occupation to sexually molest many Indian women and even committed murder. The most important difference between them is that Wesley is brave and courageous to execute justice while Frank is too coward to take his responsibility. Facing Frank’s horrific crime, Wesley chooses to go after the truth by investigating the accusation. Although he is placed in a complicated situation that compromises his position as a sheriff and his position as a son and brother, his final decision is to stand up to his father to execute justice. Wesley states clearly his opinion: â€Å"David, I believe that in this world people must pay for their crimes. It doesn’t matter who you are or who your relations are; if you do wrong, you pay. I believe that. I have to (page 150)†. This quote explains how Wesley is thinking about the whole situation and why his final decision is to choose justice over family. Furthermore, it also indicates his opinion towards the rights and wrongs that Wesley wants David to understand. Contrary to Wesley, Frank doesn’t take any responsibility for what he did at all. When he molested those Indian women, he doesn’t think about the impact to his family at all. When his crime is revealed, he doesn’t even try to confess to either his parents or his wife. On top of that, he shows his cowardice by choosing suicide instead of being punished. He has never concerned about the shame and pain he might have brought to his family. Although Frank and Wesley grew up under the same childhood environment and had some similarities in characteristics, the contrasts between them set them apart. Frank committed crime and ended up with his death, while Wesley chose justice and ended up losing his family. Obviously, a man has to pay for what he did, no matter how powerful, influential, or wealthy he is.

Bad Cafeteria FoodFinal

However, this only my opinion bout how feel about public school nutrition, but I will get more in-depth with this issue later in this research. The History Poor nutrition has been a problem for years in the public school system and contributing to childhood obesity. Before childhood obesity became an issue and what kind of nutrition a child was receiving from outside the home, people would come home from school/work to have lunch with their family. However, the concept of cafeteria school lunch choice did not exist in the early years (1930-1960).While time continued to move forward, the ideal of installing vending machines begin to emerge in a few public schools. Cafeteria's today lean more towards federal nutritional recommendations, regional culinary preferences, and portion sizes to cut down on food cost for that particular school district. The question often comes up â€Å"how health is cafeteria food in public schools? † There are numerous factors that points to the fact there is unhealthy eating in school. However when the food is prepared, the cafeteria has a large crowd to feed, therefore; nutrition is their least worries.I think that the school system wouldn't spend the extra money on better nutrition foods for the students. In recent surrey, taste cost and convenience were the main factors in why students choose to eat this unhealthy food. Environmental Stance From an environmental prospective, most public school systems are reaching out to local farmers and producers for their products. By getting their products from local farmers and producers, this will cut down on cost and slow down global warming through transportation.The public schools that continue to outsource their products, it has a high chance of bringing in parasites and other insects. I think school food environment plays a huge role in society and contributes to childhood obesity. There a many health risks that is associated with childhood obesity. The school cafeterias allow the students to purchase junk food and extras doing lunch hours. Although the students make a big transition from grade level to a higher grade level, their appetite gets bigger and requires more food consumptions.As the student gets older, they will become more particular on what they want to put in their body, and without the practice of eating healthy, this could promote health risks. This exemplifies that practicing eating healthy can contribute to an ongoing healthy lifestyle. What Can Be Done? I think that I have concluded that cafeteria food is unhealthy for students in public schools. However, think this could be change with the correct steps and strong support from the parents and staff. Once the correct changes have been put into place, I think the public school system could also promote a healthy eating lifestyle.So now the question is â€Å"what is the solution to this problem? † Finding a Solution We know that cafeteria food is bad for the students in the public sch ool systems and the contribution to childhood obesity. The Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, set nutrition standards for all food served in schools (school Nutrition†) to promote an early healthy lifestyle. However, since the problem has been revealed, the next thing to do is to put in a solution and advantages. There are a few options that I will discuss later during this research on different solutions that may prevent this ongoing problem.Hunger-Free The Hunger-Free Act of 201 0 improved the health of 32 million children that ate school lunches the whole time during their enrollment. (school Nutrition†) A lot of these improvements came from shrinking the meal size that the students were receiving. For example, some schools offered the students fruits instead of extra meats. The government released new changes in the duration such as, low calories meals and whole grain breads. Because of the government stepping in, a campaign was put in place to reduce the number of overwe ight students through exercise and a healthier lifestyle.Advantages From a political stand point, the government has organized programs to help the growing problem of childhood obesity as I stated earlier. The program will add more fruits and green vegetables to breakfast and lunches with less salt usage. (school Nutrition†) Therefore, the government also added to reduced starchy foods like rice and potatoes. The government estimates that the rules will add about 33. Billion in costs to the program for an efficient use. (â€Å"Cafeteria Food and Economic†) think that the improvements that the government is doing will decrease the rapid rate of childhood obesity. From our perspective, the new rules improve school nutrition, but at the same time give schools flexibility to serve a variety of foods to meet the standards,† said Carrey Henry. Some school districts are turning to their local farmers and producers to cut down on global warming. This is an advantage becau se, by getting the products locally the gas usage that is use doing shipping and which toxic chemicals are been release into the atmosphere. Another advantage is that there will be fewer chemicals used to preserve the produce as it's been shipped to the school.An estimated 25 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by people in industrialized nations can be traced to the food they eat Cafeteria Food and Global Warming' 2008). I think that this is a reasonable solution to help the environment while food is being disbursed throughout the school system. School meal programs across the country are run somewhat like restaurants, relying on federal and state subsidies that often make decisions for them. â€Å"Cafeteria Food and Economic†) However, when the federal government is involved more money can be moved around quickly and put to its proper use or plans. The federal government provides $2. 7 per meal for students eligible for a reduced-price lunch and 23 cents for st udents who pay full-price for their lunch. By lowering the price for meals, I think that will the student more money to eat a reimbursable lunch and breakfast during enrollment in school. The federal government helps the school system by providing funds and brightens up the economic side of things. Finding a Weakness There are many things that could be done to improve the food that's being served of the public school cafeterias. However, there are only so many ideals that can be brought up to a discussion about ways to make the food healthier.The federal government tends to oversee these things in the public systems, but its up to the student parents to enforce these rules and make sure their kids are getting the proper nutrition. Therefore, if there are some advantages, I am quite sure that there are some disadvantages among these solutions. The Disadvantage When you hear the word â€Å"disadvantage† what is the first thing that comes to our mind? However, school cafeteria f ood line may contain a number of unhealthy choices, most school cafeterias do include nutritious foods as well. I think most of the unhealthy food that is provided by the school, operates of the government budget which equals poor quality food for the students that attend that particular school district. Earlier in this research, I stated a few advantages that I feel may guide this situation in the correct direction. I hope that the disadvantages that I will state later in this research will not change your thoughts on the advantages. Stated Disadvantages Obesity is rising in the school system because of the poor nutrition that the students are receiving.Economy sits and psychologists are developing a new set of tools that promise to help relax the tension between these two competing views of school lunches. (â€Å"Cafeteria Food and Disadvantages†) However, one economic disadvantage is limited budgets for purchasing ingredients that go into a meal. Public schools are in the direst shape with only $1 per plate available for actual food costs. (â€Å"Cafeteria Food and Disadvantages†) By the school being limited on what ingredients to by, that old be a disadvantage to supplying poor nutrition to students.

The Address by Marga Minco

Analysis of a Key Passage The Address by Marga Minco In The Address by Marga Minco, the author suggests that people do not realize what they take for granted until they do not have them anymore. In the excerpt, the narrator is in a house with all her possessions, and the daughter of the woman who took all these possessions has no idea what is going on. Long ago, the narrator’s mother had given all her worldly possessions to a strange lady, who always took everything away with a look of greed.The narrator has come to the house with all the possessions, and it suddenly hits her that all her memories are just through the doorway. When she enters, she sees all of her possessions, â€Å"in a room which I both knew and didn’t know†. This one simple line describes how she feels, how though all her memories are in the room, they are not place in the right spot, as if the chronological placement was off, and all her memories are mixed up. I found myself among things I had wanted to see again but which oppressed me in the strange surroundings† describes her confusion, because though everything looked normal, (similar to the way she acts as if nothing is happening) it’s the inside story of every object that is scaring her; how it has her memories imprinted in it, and yet, they are not there anymore, because this is not her house, and she does not own any of this anymore.I scarcely dared to look around me anymore† symbolizes her fright of looking at everything she had and lost, and now they do not belong to her, though she has a slight longing for them in order to have a sense of normality. â€Å"Somewhere on the edge there should be a burn hole in which had never been repaired† this line, when read closely, depicts the hole as a sort of ledge, where her mind is clinging onto, so she may find some familiar feeling in all this strangeness. It also depicts a large bottomless pit, where she wants to throw all the bad feelings and memories away, throw them deep into this hole.The daughter does not notice anything wrong, because she is like a newborn baby: she does not know where any of this comes from, but she does not question it, because she has been raised with these objects. But she is also the opposite of her mother; while her mother stole all the possessions without a worry or a care, she is sweeter, gentler. The daughter is innocent and unknowing of what happened, while the mother is guilty and knows exactly why the narrator is here. When prompted, she (the daughter) talks of how everything in the room is nothing important, how they are all antiques and nothing special.But the narrator then offers a retort of passion and sadness â€Å"you get used to all these beautiful things at home, you hardly look at them anymore. You only nothice when something is not there, because it has to be repaired, or for example, because you’ve lent it to someone†. This small speech shows how she never thoug ht of these possessions and memories as important, but now that they are not with her anymore, now that she knows she cannot take them all back, she feels they describe her life. But it is too late.Near the end of the excerpt, the narrator mentions how, when she was younger, she thought her cutlery was made from silver, but never really thought of it. The daughter laughs, but when she goes to check her own cutlery, the narrator rushes out, to â€Å"forget the address† and everything she ever remembered. This is because she wants to leave every memory she had behind, to start anew. It is her sudden realization that she does not possess these memories anymore that causes her to change and force herself to forget everything from the past.

American History - 'Reconstruction succeeded in reintegrating the Essay

American History - 'Reconstruction succeeded in reintegrating the union, but the attempt to grand civil rights to the country - Essay Example The presidents that assumed office thereafter continued with the same trend though they were more sympathetic to the white South. The Republican Radicals were not happy with the presidential Reconstructions hence decided to take over the mandate themselves through the congress. Although congressional Reconstruction was moderate it managed to secure some civil and political rights for the blacks especially through the push of Republican Radicals. The issue of most contention during this period was the social rights which most of the Americans believed should be earned through hard work and not through legislations. In the end, the question that needs to be answered is; were Reconstruction goals achieved? This paper will argue that although Reconstruction succeeded in reintegrating the union, the attempt to grant civil rights to the country’s black population was already lost by 1877. This is because although Black rights were afforded through the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the US constitution and the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875, much of it was reversed by the Jim Crow laws with the blessing of the Supreme Court. The terror groups such as Ku Klux Klan, Red Shirts and White League also did not give opportunity to the blacks to enjoy their rights. This was further worsened by the union of Northerners and Southerners at the expense of black rights. 100 years after the end of slavery, racial inequality still persisted and continues to haunt Americans to date. Abraham Lincoln in his inaugural speech stated clearly his plans for Reconstruction of the South even before the war had ended. By 1863, the confederates had already accepted defeat and were waiting to be reprimanded by the Union. However, civil the war ended in 1865. Lincolns Reconstruction was very moderate and lenient. In December 1863 he made a proclamation of amnesty and Reconstruction granting pardon to those who took oath to support the constitution of United States and the Union of s tates.1 He also established provisional governments which were to be under executive control. The only individuals exempted from amnesty were those who aided in the rebellion especially confederate army and navy. Conspicuously missing in oath-taking, voting and holding office in the new governments were the blacks. This is despite his declaration that â€Å"the restoration of Rebel states to the union must rest upon the principle of civil and political equality of both races†.2 This clearly indicates that the intention of Reconstruction from onset was the unity of the union while the black rights were relegated to the background. The emancipation proclamation of 1863 freeing all slaves had given hope to the blacks that their condition would improve but this was just rhetoric. According to Kenneth Stamp a great historian, Lincolns hope was to persuade a great mass of blacks to leave the country although his views had changed by 1865 when he was assassinated. By this time, he b elieved blacks could become integral part of American life.3 He faced his death due to his insistence on abolition of slavery especially in the south. After him came Andrew Johnson in 1865. The reign of Johnson was filled with many gains as well as losses. Many Republicans had high hopes that he would deliver the promise of racial equality and punish the rebel states. His hatred for the South planter class was apparent and in

Managerial economics individual work week 12 Essay

Managerial economics individual work week 12 - Essay Example However, saying that you will open a given type of business because you are good in one thing would be a myth. That is because they do not always lead to successful ventures as other factors such as demand, opportunities and resources also affect performance of the venture. It is a myth to say that the customer is always right. In as much as the customer may be right in how he or she feels, they are usually wrong on many occasions. Businesses just use the statement to bend to the customer’s demands. However, the best approach would be to win the customer over and try to convince them to make a purchase. Thinking that you can open a store, and people will walk, is a thought founded on a myth. For customers to visit a shop, they must first be aware of its existence. Therefore, one needs to create this awareness through marketing or advertising. Also, customers do not just walk in unless you have what they need. Coming up with an idea and concluding that everyone will love it forms a myth. An idea may be great, but not everyone will love it. An idea will succeed if it meets the needs of people and also if the timing is good. Everyone loves quality. However, it would be a myth to say that quality guarantees success. That is because apart from quality, success also requires other factors such as a good marketing strategy, pricing strategy and even good customer relations. It is a myth to say that more people increase the speed of a project. On the contrary, more people may slow down the project. A large number slows down decision making as there is need to consult every time. Also, there may be conflicts during execution as the people may have different ideas of how to carry out the execution. To say failure is bad would propagate a myth. Failure is not the opposite of success. In fact, it is one step towards success. Failure helps us learn our weaknesses and mistakes. It makes us reflect on our decisions that led to the failure. One can,

ADVENTURE FACILITATION AND EDUCATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

ADVENTURE FACILITATION AND EDUCATION - Essay Example Similarly, as a means of determining overall viability of the social media outreach plan that has heretofore been utilized, the discussion will be concentric upon seeking to define the plan that best promotes the interests of the firm while seeking to maximize the exposure per pound spent on marketing that lies at the core of any and all successful marketing analyses. As a way to provide answers to the overarching question of effectiveness which has been outlined above, this report will seek to lay out the results of a pilot study. As such, the pilot study will have the express intention of providing insights into whether or not the social media outreach which is being performed has a positive contribution to the viability of the firm, to what extent, and whether or not the expense to operate such a program is worth the yield that it generates. As with any pilot program, the scope, time frame, number of individual results weighed, and an analysis of the contributing factors have all been weighed (Tuten et al 2012, p. 203). The following section will briefly detail how each one of these was undertaken within the confines of the given pilot study. For purposes of the pilot study, the account activity, posting ratio, overall number of hits, total number of sign ups generated and percentage of clicks garnered were analyzed. With respect to the period of time that was employed, a period of 2 months of activity was analyzed (Rodriguez et al 2012, p. 371). The raw data itself was made available to the requesting entity by statistics and tracking software provided free of charge to the firm via Facebook’s statistics software. For purposes of brevity and the absence of bias, the software was employed as a way to readily generate a plethora of data and habits with relation to the web habits of those within the target demographic. Through an analysis of the time period mentioned, the

Remote Sensing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Remote Sensing - Assignment Example The assignment "Remote Sensing" talks about the topography maps and what colours are used to describe different areas on this kind of maps. The bright color of the area A on a map shows an area on the earth surface without vegetative cover. Featured area A is possibly a snow-capped area in the landscape. Featured area A may also represent a well that has liquids such as natural gas or body of water. The feature A is visible around mountain areas in a streaming shape that shows the flow in the direction towards low altitude areas. Featured area A reflects light to produce a different color from the area B and C. Assuming Landsat scale resolution of 1800 by 1200, the length of the feature at A is 3 miles. The Bright dots beside B show areas of that do not have vegetation cover. Exposed areas appear brown in the satellite image compared to areas at B that have vegetation cover. Although the bright spots do not appear very similar to feature A, they depict relations. Bright dots are a small representation of feature A. The white color suggests C is an area at the mountaintop; the bright color is because of sunlight reflection. The area at the tip of the mountain has no vegetation. The region consists of bare rocks that reflect back sunlight. The topography of the area is mountainous the altitude rises towards C with region C suggestively mountain top with no vegetation characterized by the bright colors. Towards regions A and B, the altitude falls with regions B representing a flat base of the low altitude region.

Investigation of factors affecting the adoption of mobile shopping Essay

Investigation of factors affecting the adoption of mobile shopping (DBA, Dissertation) - Essay Example The chapter is organized into six sections. In section 2.2, the definition, enabling technologies and current development of mobile shopping is briefly reviewed. The Technology adoption theories and research on factors influencing online shopping and mobile shopping adoption of consumers are described and discussed in detail in section 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5. The gaps in the previous literature are identified in section 2.6. A preliminary conceptual model for this study is developed in section 2.7 with the associated hypotheses developed based on supporting literature to be further tested in the current research. Finally, conclusions are presented in section 2.8. 2.2 Overview of Mobile Shopping With the integration of web browser functionality in mobile telephones, the benefits of virtual storefronts have become inevitable for consumers. With the development of the mobile Internet since the use of 3G networks, despite its high expectations, mobile shopping has not received an extremely fav orable response from the market so far. Only those digital products like ring tones and mobile application are popular. The transaction activity of real products still failed to attract the customer's attention. 2.2.1 Definition There are different definitions of what is mobile shopping. The simplest definition of mobile shopping is the purchase of product at mobile site or portal through the mobile network. A more broaden the definition of mobile shopping is the usage of wireless Internet service for shopping and purchasing by the consumers through their cell phones (Ko et al. 2009). Varshney and Vetter (2002) classified cellular business applications in eleven categories, based on the mobile characteristics. The categories are wireless data centers, mobile inventory management, proactive services management, mobile entrainment and gaming services, wireless re-engineering, mobile offices, mobile public sale and reverse sale, mobile distance education, mobile advertising, mobile sho pping, and mobile financial applications. This classification is based on the traditional view that shopping is viewed as a multi stage process instead of the single payment action at the cashier counter. The buying cycle comprises the shopping approaches and policies of end users. This also explains the reason behind the searching objectives by means of the internet can be a precursor of e-shopping. It has been identified that end-users set criteria and action plans for shopping so that to execute composite shopping behaviors (Darden & Dorsch, 1990). As per Funk, â€Å"early mobile shopping was driven by sales in packaged music and videos and fashion, where the latter includes clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, accessories, furniture, and health-related products† (Funk, 2007). Improvements along mobile technologies accelerate the physical dependency over the virtual side. Nowadays, traditional retailers also think in a multichannel way because their customers are cross-channel. A s per dealers, current attractive, potential, advanced and congregated cellular products are diminishing the positions that split shopping channels. Mobile shopping is being integrated into the in-store shopping experience. Mobiles can be used not only to check product features including competitive offers, but also to take suggestions from friends to make a better and confident decision. Innovative retailers have been taking advantage of m-commerce to pledge the benefits of in-store and online store, with competencies including barcode scan for cellular analysis as well as for cost evaluation, along with in-store cellular vouchers (Westenberg anzd Bethlahmy, 2009). Cisco IBSG Connected Life Market Watch research illustrates, nearly seventy percent of users

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Human Resource Management - Essay Example It is also needed that the expectations of employees be taken into consideration before adjusting psychological contracts in order to create an optimum working environment. Introduction Problems arising in workplaces are common issues and can be of varying degrees. Therefore, a single type of approach may not always be the solution. An unpleasant working environment can cause stress among employees thus leading to low overall performance which can hinder the fulfillment of the organization’s goals. The need is to understand the common issues in workplace so that the atmosphere can be improved. Proper application of strategies and basic intelligence can solve the problems or can be avoided all together. In this paper, I will share the problems that I face in my workplace and how it affects me and my team members. Problem in workplace It is a proven fact that encouragement from the seniors like managers or other executives reduces the level of stress amongst employees. My experi ence in office has so far been pleasant regarding my relation with my colleagues and team members. However, the management team fails to establish positive communication bond with the employees. This is a major reason of de-motivation among all employees. The manager to whom my team is answerable has opened forums for employees to voice their concerns, but he hardly ever takes any kind of remedial steps. He is always changing strategies and plans without informing us or taking our opinions into consideration. Although my team members are hard working and often stays overtime to complete their assigned tasks, our manager offers little or no recognition for our hard work. Violation of psychological contract The overall environment in my office is de-motivating since our manager fails to establish a healthy psychological contract with his employees. Lack of a healthy psychological contract between an employee and employer is extremely important to get positive results like integrity fr om employees, positive relationship between employer and employee, motivation and job satisfaction. All of these elements encourage an employee to give his best performance which can benefit the organization in realizing its goals and objectives. A psychological contract between an employer and employee is not established in a written contract, and is concerned with â€Å"implicit expectations, obligations and promises that both parties believe have been made with regard to what each owes and expects to receive from the other† (Preston, 2012, p.17). Expectation of monetary rewards and promotions after hard work is a common feature of psychological contract. However, my team manager overlooks the extra effort put in by any individual team member. This gives rise to the feeling that we are not being treated fairly. This reduces our feeling of commitment and deflates our motivation. There is also a fair number of absenteeism amongst my team members. This is a direct measure of h ow employees are demotivated at work. The current situation is quite grave, and it is needed that the management should take immediate steps to replace our current manager who has so far proved to be inefficient. This is because the level of absence is high among my team members and this means they need temporary leave from work or are suffering from stress-induced illness (Preston, 2012, p.18). Need of proper management policies Since, in this

12 years a slave Essay Example for Free

12 years a slave Essay The movie is based of the life and times of a man named Solomon Northup, who was born a free man in Minerva, New York, in 1808. In the movie, the book, and his life, little is known about his mother, because they never gave her name. However in all three we know of his father, a man named Mints, who was originally enslaved to the Northup family from Rhode Island, but he was freed after the family moved to New York. In the movie, a now young man, you saw that Northup helped his father with farming, chores and even worked as a rafts on the waterways of upstate New York. He married Anne Hampton, a woman of mixed black, white, and Native American ancestry, on December 25th, 1829. They had three children together. During the sass, Northup became known as an excellent fiddle player. In 1841, two men offered Northup large sums of wages to Join a traveling musical show, but unfortunately soon after he accepted it they drugged him and sold him into slavery! He was sold at auction in New Orleans in 1841. Now Northup had to serve a number of masters, some of course were brutally cruel and others who were more humane. After several years of slavery, he met with an outspoken abolitionist from Canada who sent letters to notify Northup family of Northup current situation. A state agent was sent to Louisiana to reclaim Northup as a slave and he was successful through a number of chances. After he was finally declared a free man, Northup pressed charges of kidnapping against the men who had drugged him and sold him, but the length of the trial was dropped because of legal inabilities, and he received nothing for it. Little is known about Northup later life after the trial, but he is said to eave finally passed away in 1863. Twelve Years a Slave was recorded by David Wilson who is a white lawyer and legislator from New York who claimed to have presented. The story is sometimes believed to have been dedicated to Harriet Beechen Stows and is even said to have introduced another key to Uncle Toms Cabin. Northup book was published in 1853 which was maybe less than a year after he was set free. It sold over 30,000 copies and is therefore not only one of North Americas many slave books, but also one of the most popular ones.

Operating systems in Nokia phones

Operating systems in Nokia phones Introduction: Operating system basically acts as interface between user and hardware. A mobile operating system also known as mobile OS or a handheld operating system controls the mobile device. It works on the same principle as the operating systems in windows which control the desktop computers. However the mobile operating systems are simpler than that of windows operating systems. Various operating systems used in smart phones include: Symbian OS, Iphone OS, RIMS Blackberry, Linux Palm webOS, Android Windows mobile operating system. Various operating systems along with their detail are: 1) Symbian OS:Symbian operating system is designed for mobile devices with associated libraries, user interface, and framework. It is used in various models of the phones around 100 models use this. It consists of kernel and middleware components of software stack. The upper layers are supplied by application platforms like S60, UIQ and MOAP. This is NOKIA N92 with Symbian OS. Reasons for designing Symbian OS: To ensure the integrity and security of data, Utilize the user time, All resources are scarce. Designing of Symbian OS: It uses a microkernel which has a request and call-back approach to services. It maintains the separation between user interface and design. Mobile view controller is the object oriented design used by the applications and the OS. This OS is optimised for low power battery based devices and for ROM based systems. The Symbian kernel supports sufficiently-fast real time response to build a single-core phone around it—that is, a phone in which a single processor core executes both the user applications and the signaling stack. Structure of Symbian model: UI Framework Layer Application services layer Java ME OS services layer Generic OS services Communication services Multimedia and graphics services Connectivity services Base services layer Kernel services and hardware interface layer. It uses microkernel architecture i.e., it includes only the necessary parts in order to maximize the robustness, responsiveness and availability. It contains scheduler, memory management and device drivers. Symbian is designed to emphasize compatibility with other devices, especially removable media file systems. There is a large networking and communication subsystem, which has three main servers called: ETEL i.e, EPOC telephony, ESOCK i.e, EPOC sockets and C32 which is responsible for serial communication. Each of these has a plug-in scheme. All native Symbian C++ applications are built up from three framework classes defined by the application architecture: an application class, a document class and an application user interface class. These classes create the fundamental application behaviour. Symbian includes a reference user-interface called TechView. It provides a basis for starting customization and is the environment in which much Symbian test and example code runs. Versions of Symbian OS: Symbian OS v6.0 and 6.1 Symbian OS 7.0 and 7.0s Symbian OS 8.0 Symbian OS 8.1 Symbian OS 9.0 Symbian OS 9.1 Symbian OS 9.2 Symbian OS 9.3 Symbian OS 9.4 Symbian OS 9.5 2) Iphone OS: It is internet and multimedia mobile phone designed by apple Inc. The Iphone functions as a camera phone, a portable media player, and an internet client. Iphone OS is an operating system that runs on Iphone. It is based on the same DARWIN operating system used in MAC OS X. It is responsible for the interfaces motion graphics. The operating system takes up less than half a GB of the devices total storage (4 to 32GB). It is capable of supporting bundled and future applications from Apple, as well as from third-party developers. Software applications cannot be copied directly from Mac OS X but must be written and compiled specifically for Iphone OS. Like the iPod, the Iphone is managed with iTunes. The earliest versions of Iphone OS required version 7.3 or later, which is compatible with Mac OS X version 10.4.10 Tiger or later, and 32-bit or 64-bit Windows XP or Vista. The release of iTunes 7.6 expanded this support to include 64-bit versions of XP and Vista, and a workaround has been discovered for previous 64-bit Windows operating systems. Apple provides free updates to Iphone OS through iTunes, and major updates have historically accompanied new models. Such updates often require a newer version of iTunes — for example, the 3.0 update requires iTunes 8.2 — but the iTunes system requirements have stayed the same. Updates include both security patches and new features. For example, Iphone 3G users initially experienced dropped calls until an update was issued. 3) Android OS: Android is a mobile operating system running on the Linux kernel. It allows developers to write managed code in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries. The unveiling of the Android distribution on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 47 hardware, software, and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. 4) Palm webOS: It is a mobile operating system running on the Linux kernel with proprietary components developed by Palm. The Palm Pre Smartphone is the first device to launch with webOS, and both were introduced to the public at the Consumer Electronics Show. The Palm Pre and webOS were released on June 6, 2009. The second device to use the operating system, the Palm Pixi, was released on November 15, 2009. The webOS features significant online social network and Web 2.0 integration. Features: WebOSs graphical user interface is designed for use on devices with touch screens. It includes a suite of applications for personal information management and makes use of a number of web technologies such as HTML 5, JavaScript, and CSS. Palm claims that the design around these existing technologies was intended to spare developers from learning a new programming language. The Palm Pre, released on June 6, 2009, is the first device to run this platform. 5) Rims Blackberry OS: A proprietary multi-tasking operating system (OS) for the BlackBerry is provided by RIM which makes heavy use of the devices specialized input devices, particularly the scroll wheel or more recently the trackball and track pad. The OS provides support for Java MIDP 1.0 and WAP 1.2. Previous versions allowed wireless synchronization with Microsoft Exchange Servers e-mail and calendar. The current OS 4 provides a subset of MIDP 2.0, and allows complete wireless activation and synchronization with Exchanges e-mail, calendar, tasks, notes and contacts. Third-party developers can write software using these APIs, proprietary BlackBerry APIs as well, but any application that makes use of certain restricted functionality must be digitally signed so that it can be associated to a developer account at RIM. There is only the guarantee of authorship of an application but not of the quality or security of the code. This is blackberry 7250 displaying the icons provided to it by the use of a proprietary multi-tasking operating system (OS). 6) Windows mobile operating systems: Windows Mobile is a compact operating system developed by Microsoft, and designed for use in smartphones and mobile devices. It is based on Windows CE, and features a suite of basic applications developed using the Microsoft Windows API. It is designed to be somewhat similar to desktop versions of Windows, feature-wise and aesthetically. Additionally, third-party software development is available for Windows Mobile, and software can be purchased via the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Originally appearing as the Pocket PC 2000 operating system, Windows Mobile has been updated multiple times, with the current version being Windows Mobile 6.5. Most Windows Mobile phones come with a stylus pen, which is used to enter commands by tapping it on the screen. Windows Mobiles share of the Smartphone market has fallen year-on-year, decreasing 20% in Q3 2009. It is the 4th most popular Smartphone operating system, with a 7.9% share of the worldwide Smartphone market. The figure showing windows operating system used in smartphones.

Essay --

At the beginning of this century the German nation was, in all respects, one of the more civilized worlds. However, under the rule of Hitler, he came to use all their skill and strength to split support and extend a tyranny that mocked all the values of the civilization. The followers of Hitler, the Nazis, despised freedom tolerance, reasoned dialogue and simple human decency; they made use of the lie, mass hysteria and terror; they tortured, enslaved and wiped out millions of innocent people. If Hitler had won it is possible that it would have ended with the civilization in Europe and, although he died defeated, the atrocities that took place between 1933 and 1945, under Nazi rule, have been copied, too often, by others. National Socialism (or Nazism) had many points in common with fascism. However, its roots were typically German: authoritarianism and expand military of Prussian Heritage; the German romantic tradition opposed to rationalism, liberalism and democracy; various racist doctrines that Nordic peoples - the pure Aryan called - were not only physically superior to other races, but they were also their culture and morals; as well as certain philosophical doctrines, especially those of Friedrich Nietzsche, who idolized the State or uplifting worship superior individuals, which is exempted from abide by the conventional limitations. Among the theorists and planners of National Socialism was General Karl Ernst Haushofer, who exerted a great influence on the Germany foreign policy. Alfred Rosenberg, editor and leader of the Nazi party, formulated the racial theories based on the work of the writer Houston Stewart Chamberlain. The financial Hjalmar Schacht was responsible for develop and put int o practice much of the economi... ... socialist doctrine, containing in addition, propaganda techniques, and plans for the conquest of Germany and, later, Europe. Mein Kampf became the ideological foundation of National Socialism a few years later. This book, which would later give it to all German couples on their wedding day, as if was an outside of the Bible, consists of a series of rhetorical speech on a few issues such as nationalism, racism and the anti-democratic theories, together with a series of projects of future actions. This last part describes his intention to manipulate the masses by means of propaganda, always emphasizing that to achieve power, is worth everything, predicting a great global battle by the superiority of the race with a cynical frankness. Germany had to get rid of the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles; it had to attack Russia to destroy communism. The truth is that

The Problems of Cloning :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

The Problems of Cloning Since March 1997, the birth of a cloned sheep, named Dolly, has caused a great sensation around the world. Though it was not the first time that the experiment using cloning succeeded, the reason why Dolly shocked the world was that she was the first clone from a cell of an adult mammal, something previously thought to be impossible. This meant that the possibility of cloning human beings was increased. For fear of realizing human cloning, a lot of countries have taken necessary measures to regulate the study of it. Some people, such as scientists in this field and certain infertile couples, are now arguing against banning it. But I think we should ban human cloning because it has a possibility to reduce the value of our life, to take away individuality in our society, and to destroy the moral and social systems human have long cultivated. Richard Seed, a physicist who supports human cloning, said in a radio interview that he would open a clinic of human cloning for infertile people and make a big profit (Hotwired Japan). If human cloning is allowed, there would be so many people such as Seed, who use cloning technology to make money. The business operating the technology looks so profitable because according to a report, there could be 100,000 or so women in the U.S. who would like a similar chance to use cloning to have their own babies (Watson). Probably, they do not care how much money they pay to have their own blood-related babies. To allow human cloning creates a world where we could get life with money. Buying life reduce the value of it because we cannot respect things which we can get easily. It could lead to the increase of murder. And it would be possible that someday at a department store we can buy life that is labeled, "ON SALE!" There are many people in the world who do anything for the sake of money. As a result, cloning technology is in danger of being abused. First, I think I should explain how to clone humans. In the simplest language, cloning is the process in which the DNA from some cell of a body is put by electrical shock into a female egg cell whose DNA has been removed. Then the egg cell is implanted into a womb, and after that it grows as same as a natural baby does.

Serious Errors within Rene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy :: Philosophy Religion Essays

Serious Errors within Rene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy One of Rene Descartes’ major culminations in Meditations on First Philosophy is â€Å"I must finally conclude that this proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind† (Descartes:17). This statement can be explicated by examining Descartes’ Cartesian method of doubt and his subsequent discovery of basic truths. Even though I do believe that Descartes concludes with a statement that is accurate: cogito ergo sum, there are areas of his proof that are susceptible to defamation. These objections discover serious error with Descartes’ method used in determining the aforementioned conclusion. In the first meditation, Descartes makes a conscious decision to search for â€Å"in each of them [his opinions] at least some reason for doubt†(12). Descartes rejects anything and everything that can be doubted and quests for something that is undeniably certain. The foundation of his doubt is that his opinions are largely established by his senses, yet â€Å"from time to time I [Descartes] have found that the senses deceive, and it is prudent never to trust completely those who have deceived us even once†(12). First, Descartes establishes that error is possible, employing the example of the straight stick that appears bent when partially submerged in water, as mentioned in the Sixth Replies (64-65). Secondly, he proves that at any given time he could be deceived, such is the case with realistic dreams. Further, Descartes is able to doubt absolutely everything since it cannot be ruled out that â€Å"some malicious demon †¦ has employed all his energies in or der to deceive me† (15). The malicious demon not only causes Descartes to doubt God, but also sends him â€Å"unexpectedly into a deep whirlpool which tumbles me around so that I can neither stand on the bottom or swim on the top†(16). Descartes has reached the point where he must begin to rebuild by searching for certainty. In the second meditation, Descartes is searching for an Archimedian point on which to seed a pearl of certainty. By doubting everything in his first meditation, Descartes consequently doubts his own existence. It is here that a certainty is unearthed: â€Å"If I convinced myself of something then I certainly existed†(17). However, Descartes â€Å"does not deduce existence from thought by means of syllogism, but recognizes it as something self-evident by a simple intuition of the mind,† or in other words, by natural light (Second Replies:68).

Business Strategy Simulation Analysis

The actions build into my strategic plan to achieve competitive success with my strategy were to: 1. Offer a wide variety of products in order to give consumers more choices and appeal to the diverse preferences of a larger consumer base. This was to be accomplished by increasing the number of models produced at both the North American (NA) and Asia-Pacific (AP) plants for sale in the internet and wholesale segments in all four regions. 2. Offer attractive, high-quality products that will hold up to wear and tear in order to provide consumers with increased value.This was to be achieved by using a higher percentage of superior materials versus standard materials for production, incorporating more enhanced styling features into the products, and investing heavily in Six Sigma/TQM programs to improve the quality of the workmanship that went into the products and to reduce the number of defects. 3. Offer products at a price that is reasonable and considerably lower than that of rivals o ffering shoes of similar style and quality.This was to be accomplished by managing production costs and  setting a lower profit margin. To manage production costs, the majority of the products were to be produced at the AP plant and shipped to the other regions. Due to the lower production costs at the AP plant, the company would still be able to achieve the target profit margin even with the additional costs of shipping the products to the other regions. Since the costs of production in the NA plant were significantly higher, the additional costs of shipping to the other regions would not allow the company to offer the products at the lower cost. Therefore, most of the product from the NA plant were to be sold in that region to avoid the additional shipping costs.Additionally, production costs were to be managed by increasing the number of products produced per employee and reducing the number of rejects through investment in best practices training, higher base wages, and increa sed incentive pay to the employees for improved and increased production. The selling price for each product was to be kept the same and increase only slightly each year in order to increase and maintain a loyal customer base through consistently reasonable pricing.The actions built into my strategic plan to achieve financial success with my strategy were to: 1. Reduce production costs through improved efficiency of operations. This would be accomplished by investing heavily in Six Sigma/TQM programs in order to improve the quality of workmanship that went into every product. Better quality production reduces the likelihood that customers will end up with defective, low-quality products that could severely damage the company's image.Additionally, by investing in best practices training for the employees and offering higher base wages and incentive pay, the plan was to increase the number of products produced per employee and reduce the number of units ultimately rejected. Increasing employee production allows the company to create more product with the same amount of resources and improving the quality of their work reduces the amount of resources wasted on rejected units. 2. Take a conservative approach in financing operations. This was to be achieved by reducing the amount of debt and not taking any unnecessary financial risks.To reduce the amount of debt, the plan was to have the company pay off loans early in order to save monthly interest expenses. To avoid taking financial risks, the company was to use financial resources to improve the capacity and performance of the existing NA and AP  plants rather than invest in new plants in other regions. The other objective of these action plans was to increase the company's financial rating so that future financing could be obtained at reduced interest rates should the need arise to finance the construction of a new plant.†¢ Why you selected the strategy you usedThe reason I selected the Best-Cost Provider Strategy for Kix Footwear was two-fold. First, the competitive strategy of offering a wide variety of attractive, high-quality shoes was based on what consumers, such as myself, would like to see from a shoe manufacturer. As a middle-income consumer, I work hard to earn the money I have and my disposable income is limited. When I shop for shoes I want to have a variety of shoes to choose from that are well-made and will last without sacrificing style or having to secure a loan to purchase them.The large majority of consumers are also middle-income and I wanted to target the largest market. Therefore, I decided that my strategy would be to provide consumers more value for their money. I planned to achieve this by producing and offering a large number of models to satisfy the need for more choices and to incorporate more enhanced styling features into each model, use higher quality materials, and invest in Six Sigma/TQM programs in order to improve the attractiveness and quality of t he shoes produced.My strategy to maintain reasonable prices was to invest in best practices training and offer higher base wages and incentive pay to employees in order to increase the number of pairs produced per employee and reduce the number of rejected pairs, thereby reducing the production costs per pair.Secondly, the financial strategy of reducing production costs and taking a conservative approach to financing operations was based on improving profit margins and managing risks. Therefore, my strategy to reduce production costs and improve profit margins was to invest in best practices training and offer higher base wages and incentive pay to employees in order to increase the number of pairs produced per employee and reduce the number of rejected pairs, thereby reducing the production costs per pair.With lower production costs per pair, the company would be able to retain more of the  revenue generated from sales resulting in an increased profit margin. My strategy to manag e risks was to reduce the company's debt obligations by repaying loans early and not incurring any further debt unless absolutely necessary. To avoid further debt, the strategy was to maintain a cash flow sufficient to pay expenses as they came due without having to obtain short-term financing and to increase production capacity by improving or expanding existing production facilities rather than by constructing new facilities in other regions.1. Evaluate the effectiveness of your strategy.The effectiveness of my Best-Cost Provider Strategy to provide consumers with a wide variety of attractive, high-quality products at an affordable price by using better materials, improving efficiency, and taking a conservative approach to financing operations was fairly successful. With the exception of the first and final years, Kix Footwear was one of the top three companies in the industry.As the game began, Kix started out in 5th place overall with slight increases in Earnings Per Share (EPS) of $0.02, Return on Equity (ROE) of 1.3%, and Stock Price of $0.42/share. By the end of the second year (Year 12), the company had more moderate increases of $2.33 in EPS, 8.3% in ROE, and $56.15/share in Stock Price, putting me 3rd place overall with a +13 point change from Year 11.Kix maintained its standing in 3rd place throughout the game until the final year, occasionally sharing it with Company E. The final EPS for Kix Footwear at the end of the game (Year 18) was $9.08, an increase of $6.39 overall; ROE increased 4.2% to a final score of 19.2%; and the Stock Price in the final year was $172.67/share which was an increase of $140.67/share.While my strategy for Kix Footwear was fairly successful, I believe that the company’s performance could have been better if I had been more willing to take financial risks. My attempts to increase production capacity were not as effective as I had hoped, causing my company to lose many sales to my competitors with the foresight to bu ild additional capacity at the onset of  the game.Additionally, I underestimated the competition's aggressiveness in obtaining celebrity endorsements and was too risk-averse to bid high, which resulted in my initial bids to be incredibly low compared to those of my competitors. Ultimately, I was not able to obtain celebrity endorsements immediately due to my low bids, which hurt my image and cost me sales.Due to my setbacks in failing to adequately increase capacity and obtain celebrity endorsements, I lost focus on my original deliberate strategy and began implementing a reactive strategy based on mimicking the actions of the 1st and 2nd place competitors. I reduced the number of models I offered and raised my prices substantially, both of which are directly in conflict with my initial strategy. Mimicking the strategy of a rival is rarely successful and did not prove to be so in this situation.As a result of this change in strategy, the company slipped slightly in Year 14, with E PS falling from $5.08 to $4.57, ROE decreasing from 20.4% to 16.0%, and Stock Prices slipping from $96.87/share to $83.20/share. I immediately realized my error and returned to my original strategy by offering more models at lower prices. The outcome was that I was able to regain my competitive advantage the following year (Year 15) and my scores reflected this as EPS rose to $6.03, ROE to 18.7%, and Stock Prices to $105.63.C. Evaluate your ability to identify competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and strategies during the simulation.My ability to identify my competitors' strengths, weaknesses, and strategies during the simulation were at first not as good as I had hoped they would be. My focus at the beginning of the game remained only on those companies that were ahead of me or directly below me. The other companies did not factor into my strategic decision-making and, as a result, I lost out on a vital purchase of additional capacity at the beginning of the game which set me back slightly.Additionally, because of my failure to monitor my external environment, I was taken by surprise when Company E gained ground in Year 13, coming from 6th place to being tied for 3rd place with me. I realized at that point, that it was necessary to watch all of my competitors, not just the ones that I wanted to surpass. An ambitious company can make significant  changes to their strategy and overcome rivals quickly. For a company to maintain a competitive edge, it is important to closely monitor the external environment in order to identify competitors with the ambition, capabilities, and resources necessary to pose a real threat and prepare a strategy to protect against that threat.As the game continued my ability to identify competitor strengths, weaknesses, and strategies improved. I watched the behaviors of all of the companies, not just the most successful ones, and made strategic decisions based on taking advantage of weaknesses in my competitors in order to gai n their market shares and adjusting my strategy to take advantage of consumer preference trends. For example, I noted that there were a lot of sales in the wholesale segment were lost in all of the four regions by companies that were offering products for the private-label segment. I decided to avoid the private-label segment because the profit margin was less than in the internet and wholesale segments and to provide as much product as I could to those segments in order to gain the market shares of those companies supplying the private label segment.Additionally, there was more production capacity available than there was demand and this continued to be more pronounced each year. Therefore, rather than create more capacity through new construction, I decided to increase my capacity by purchasing it from other companies. With this increased capacity, I was able to better meet the demands of the wholesale and internet segments in all four regions without the monthly interest expense of a construction loan. The results were that I had fewer lost sales in the wholesale segment than those companies offering product for the private-label segment, achieved higher levels of sales revenue, and received an A+ credit rating.1. Discuss how successful you were in predicting your competitors’ next moves.My success in predicting my competitors' next moves was initially very good and then began to lag as the game continued. I believe that my initial success was due to the fact that every company was starting out in exactly the same position and faced with identical market conditions. Therefore, I simply predicted that my competitors, in reviewing and analyzing the same market conditions as I, would come to the same or similar conclusions and react in much the same way as I would. Regardless of the strategy each company wanted to execute, the fact remained that production costs were less in the AP plants than in the NA plants.So I predicted that most of the companies w ould concentrate their production in the AP region and ship to the other regions. I also assumed that most of the companies would raise their prices, a few would keep them the same, and that none were likely to lower prices. My predictions were accurate enough during the first two years that I received bonus points for being so close.As the game progressed, I was not as successful in predicting the moves of my competitors. I believe the first cause for this outcome was the fact that I was focusing only on the actions of the companies that were ahead of me of just below me rather than monitoring the entire external environment. I failed to recognize the importance of watching all of my rivals in order to identify potential threats to my market share.My predictions, therefore, were essentially my predictions for only those 3 or 4 successful competitors as a group, not the entire industry as a whole. Additionally, as the game continued, I found it difficult to find enough time to analy ze each company properly given the time constraints. There was very little time between years for analysis and decision-making and, coupled with working full-time and family obligations, I only had enough time to perform a cursory review and analysis before entering my decisions in order to meet the deadlines. I believe that given more time, I would have been able to more accurately predict my competitors' moves within the game. D. Discuss how sustainable the most dominant competitive advantage achieved by any company within your industry was.I believe that the most dominant competitive advantage achieved by any company within the industry was very sustainable. The top company within the industry, Company B, achieved competitive advantage by building capacity within the first two years and continuing to build throughout the game in all four regions; winning and maintaining celebrity endorsements year after year; and by investing significantly in advertising.This strategy was about  taking significant risks and it resulted in increased buyer demand, product differentiation, and perceived value. Company B had the capability of producing more product in all four regions than any of the other companies in the industry and enabled them to better meet the increasing demand for their product due to their successful advertising campaigns and celebrity endorsements. They were also able to eliminate all costs associated with shipping product from one region to another, which the other companies were not able to do. This company was able to maintain a 1st place standing overall throughout the game, with the exception of Year 13.By immediately increasing capacity and doing so in all four regions, Company B was able to increase production to meet increasing demand and eliminate the additional operating costs of shipping product from one region to another, keeping production costs down and increasing profit margins. The company also managed to successfully win bids for ce lebrity endorsements by the second year and maintain a high level of celebrity contracts throughout the game by bidding high. These celebrity endorsements, along with significant investments in advertising campaigns, allowed the company to boost consumer demand, increase product differentiation, enhance consumer perceived value, and command a higher price for their product.This company shot to the top of the industry immediately by taking advantage of market conditions through aggressive strategy and risk-taking. Once at the top, the company was able to sustain their competitive advantage by building on their strengths of increased capacity and demand. Increased capacity allowed the company to gain market shares from those companies unable to meet demand and demand for their product was created through numerous celebrity endorsements and considerable advertising.E. Compare the selected strategy to three following tests of a winning strategy:The generic competitive strategy that I se lected for Kix Footwear was to provide consumers with a wide variety of attractive, high-quality products at an affordable price by using better materials, improving efficiency, and taking a conservative approach to financing operations. A winning strategy can be determined by applying three tests; The Fit Test, The Competitive Advantage Test, and The Performance Test.The Fit TestTo pass The Fit Test, a company's strategy must fit the current situation, both internally and externally. Internally, the company must be able to execute the strategy with their available resources and current capabilities. For a good external fit, the strategy must be aligned with the current market conditions.I believe that my strategy passed The Fit Test because it was a good fit internally and an adequate fit externally. Internally, my strategy was based on improving the resources available to me and building on our capabilities, such as existing facilities and current employees. My strategy consisted of investing in improvements to existing facilities in order to increase capacity and investing in enhancements to my labor force through best practices training and higher base wages and incentive pay in order to retain their valuable knowledge and experience.My strategy from an external standpoint was only adequate. As it turned out, industry demand rose much higher than I expected and my strategy to increase capacity through improving existing facilities was not enough to keep up or get ahead. As a result I lost sales to those competitors with enough courage to take risks and build additional capacity.The loss of sales due to being out of stock damaged my company's image and affected future sales. My reactive strategy to loss of sales due to insufficient capacity was to purchase capacity from other competitors in the industry. This allowed my company the ability to better meet demand and lose fewer sales due to being out of stock. As a result, my company was able to regain the 3r d place position in the industry and remain there until the final year. †¢ The Competitive Advantage TestFor a strategy to pass The Competitive Advantage Test it must be capable of  helping the company achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. To be considered sustainable, a company's competitive advantage over rivals must be long-lasting and not just a brief period of exceptional performance. My company's strategy throughout the game was to provide a wide variety of high quality shoes for a reasonable price, which was followed each year with the exception of Year 14. During this year, I lost focus and changed my strategy to mimic those of the companies ahead of me, resulting in considerable losses.I returned to my original strategy in Year 15 and saw significant increases, returning my company to its former position in 3rd place where it remained until the final year. The ability to remain within the top 3 companies in the industry for the bulk of the game and have steadi ly increasing sales revenues each year speaks to the sustainability of my company's competitive advantage and, therefore, I believe that my strategy passed The Competitive Advantage Test.  The Performance TestThe Performance Test requires that a winning strategy result in strong company performance. Indications of strong company performance are profitability and market standing. I believe my company's strategy passed The Performance Test because it resulted in excellent profitability and good market standing. In terms of profitability, my company experienced consistent increases in net revenue each year and, with the exception of Year 14, showed a steady increase in EPS. Additionally, ROE met or exceeded investor expectations every year and unit sales in both the internet and wholesale markets increased steadily each year with the exception of the final year. In terms of market standing, my company maintained a global market share of between 8% to 10% throughout the game, met or e xceeded investor expectations for image rating every year starting in Year 14, and remained one of the top 3 companies in the industry until the final year.F. Explain how effectively you applied value chain analysis during the simulation.My effectiveness in applying value chain analysis during the simulation was fairly good, but I failed to recognize the reasons for my competitor’s success in the beginning and it cost my company image points, resulting in less market share.As the game began, I analyzed what my competitors were doing to add value for their consumers and my conclusion was that they were increasing capacity so that they could provide more product in each region without the additional costs of shipping from one region to another. What I failed to realize is that, in addition to building capacity, they were also building demand for their shoes through product differentiation and increasing consumer perceived value. This was accomplished by investing heavily in adv ertising and placing high bids for and winning celebrity endorsement contracts.Since I was unable to secure any celebrity endorsement contracts immediately and my competitors were offering the same number of models with the same S/Q rating as my company, I tried to create more value for my customers by increasing the number of models I produced, increasing the amount of enhanced styling, and raising my product’s S/Q rating.My analysis of my competition also revealed that they had an advantage in that they were able to provide better value to consumers by producing locally in order to avoid shipping charges and costs lower. To create more value for my consumers in this activity, I purchased more capacity in the AP region because the production costs there were much lower than those in the NA region and, even with the additional costs of shipping product to the EA and LA region, I would still be able to provide my customers with high quality shoes at a reasonable price as well as achieve a healthy profit margin.G. Evaluate how effectively you addressed three important issues in order to achieve competitive and financial success for your simulation company.Model availability My effectiveness in addressing model availability in order to achieve competitive and financial success for Kix Footwear was very good. I initially kept the number of models consistent the first year (Year 10), but quickly realized that without the advantages of having celebrity endorsements I needed to offer something to consumers that would differentiate my product, provide more value to my customers, and give me a competitive edge. To achieve these objectives, I increased the number of models I produced and offered for sale as well as increased the style and quality above that of my competitors. As a result, despite not being able to obtain very many celebrity endorsements, consumer demand and sales rose enabling Kix Footwear to come from 5th place in Year 11 to 3rd place in Year 12 , remaining there until the final year, and showed steady increases in sales revenue throughout the simulation. Corporate CitizenshipMy effectiveness in addressing corporate citizenship in order to achieve competitive and financial success for Kix Footwear was dismal at first and improving only slightly by the end of the simulation. When I began the simulation I did not pay much attention to the corporate citizenship aspects of decision –making, but due to my falling image rating and inability to obtain celebrity endorsements, I turned my attention to corporate citizenship.I invested in using recycled materials throughout the simulation, then began making small charitable donations, increasing it slightly each year. Towards the end of the simulation, in an attempt to further boost my image rating I began investing in ethics training and enforcement. While the efforts did boost my company’s image slightly, I believe I could have demonstrated better corporate citizenship and realized better competitive and financial success by increasing my attention to this area.Fiscal responsibility My effectiveness in addressing fiscal responsibility was very good during the simulation, but not excellent. I was very focused on eliminating all outstanding debt to avoid the monthly interest expenses and achieve an A+ credit rating in preparation for the possibility of needing capital in the future at a lower interest rate. While this aspect of my strategy was quite effective and I believe that my credit rating helped boost the company’s attractiveness to investors in that the credit risk was very low, my company  should have been putting the available capital to use to increase investment earnings. Rather than simply sitting on the available capital, the company should have invested it in order to increase investor’s return on equity. In that respect, I feel that I was not effective in addressing fiscal responsibility.

Children Therapy Vs Adult Therapy

Counseling children/adolescents can look very different than counseling adults due to many aspects. Adults have their way of life set In a way that Is hard to change as they get older, but kids are learning who they are and are more open to change. Children start their life depending on others as adults have learned how to live independently. Children and adolescents also cope with their hardships and do not realize that they need help as they have not learned who they can go to if they are having problems.Counseling children/adolescents need certain training and skills to each a level of success that we are looking for in a session. The way of thinking for an adult and a child are deferent in so many ways. The adult brain in adults is fully developed and they are set in their ways that can be hard for a counselor to change. It is hard to transform an adult person when they have gone their whole dealing with issues In a way that may be harmful to themselves or others. Adults have gon e their whole life learning who they can trust and who they cannot trust which makes It difficult for the counselor to gain that trust In an adult client.Children have an easier time trusting as It often takes Just a few minutes to open up to a counselor. Changes in the brain structure and function occur during childhood and adolescence (Henderson & Thompson, 2010). Since their brain is still developing they have not learned their way of handling certain emotions as mentioned in Jean Piglet's four stages of cognitive development. Counselors have to work In a different way when dealing with the thinking processes of adults versus children. Dependency changes to an independent frame of mind as a person gets older.Kids depend on their parents for the basic needs as stated in Measles hierarchy of needs which are physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, self-esteem, and self- actualization. These needs must be met for us to become self-actualization and reach our full poten tial In all areas of development (Henderson ; Thompson, 2010). Adults that did not meet the lower level of physiological needs such as food, shelter, water, and warmth, may not have met their higher order needs such as self-esteem or love and belonging.People that do not have their basic needs met when they ere younger, may have a hard time with their feelings about themselves or others later on in life. Adults realize that certain things in their lives are not going as they would like, so they wonder whether a counselor could help them. If they realize that they have a problem, they decide on their own to request a counseling session. Children however, never realize that they are having trouble and never think of asking their caregiver to request help for them.Children live with their issues, no matter how serious they may be, and they don't have the Ingenuity to go see a oneself. Instead, the parents or other people close to them notice something Is wrong. Counseling children that do not realize that they need help, makes It harder for the counselor to explain to the person why they are In the session. This can place. Adults usually go to counseling because they have made the choice to go there on their own. Having the client realize that they need help makes it easier on the counselor in the session, but this can come with some push back when dealing with children.Counseling children can come with some adversities which unsolder new to the profession may not be ready for and lack the skills needed to take on these challenges. I feel that building a solid foundation with a kid is important early on in their counseling experience and I would like to learn more about strategies and conversations that would help build that relationship. I have built great relationships with my students at school, but that did take some time which I will not have that much time in a counseling session.Having conversations about their troubles may be hard for a kid to put into wo rks or expressions, so I need o learn how to have a conversation with a child that allows expressing their feelings. I would also like training on the legal issues on what needs to be reported to certain agencies so that I know what to legally do in certain situations. Kids these days are getting their hands on drugs that are new developed each day and I would like training on drugs that I need to be aware of so that I am keeping up with the latest drugs that a client may be trying out. In conclusion, counseling children and adults have their differences.

Greek Life Essay

Greek Life Since the Kappa Alpha Society was founded in 1825 at Union College, all but three United States Presidents have been members of a fraternity. The Greek system now contains nine million members across 123 chapters of fraternities and sororities. Nine million people have taken advantage of the opportunity to better themselves and their universities through a fraternity or sorority. However whenever a Greek organization is featured in the media, it is usually for reasons of an out of control party or hazing allegations.The media ignores the millions of hours dedicated to community service, as well as the millions of dollars raised for charity annually. Hazing makes headlines, philanthropy does not. The Greek system is frequently criticized for instances of members breaking the non-hazing policy of every chapter across the country, and is regularly condemned for it. Hazing is an illegal part of many organizations, including the military, sports teams, marching bands, fraternit ies and sororities. Hazing again is illegal in all of these organizations and is specifically addressed in the handbook of many Greek organizations.For some, hazing is seen as a rite of passage, and is expected when pledging a fraternity. Regardless, this practice is actually less popular than the media makes it seem. I personally am pledging a fraternity here at Salem State University, and have never been told or forced to do something I did not want to do. Hazing does happen though, and it sadly it hurts the image of the Greek system as a whole. Dartmouth College, the school where the famed fraternity film Animal House is set, has been notorious for their brutal hazing practices.In an article written by an ex-fraternity member at Dartmouth, Andrew Lohse recalls the horrible acts he had to perform in order to gain acceptance into one of the 17 chapters. â€Å"I was a member of a fraternity that asked pledges, in order to become a brother, to: swim in a kiddie pool of vomit, urine, fecal matter, semen and rotten food products; eat omelets made of vomit; chug cups of vinegar, which in one case caused a pledge to vomit blood; drink beer poured down fellow pledges' ass cracks†¦ mong other abuses. † This type of behavior does indeed happen at some chapters. Those chapters however, are quickly discovered, investigated, and when evidence of hazing is clear, the national chapter of that fraternity shuts down the chapter at the college. The members involved can also be tried in court, and face jail time and heavy fines. The purpose of pledgeship is not to humiliate and demean future members; it is to build a strong bond with one’s pledge brothers and fraternity brothers.As told to me by a brother when I asked if we were ever going to be hit, he answered, â€Å"no, this fraternity is made up of my friends and I don’t know about you, but I don’t hit my friends. † Throughout pledgeship we are told to look around at each other and r ealize that the gentleman in our fraternity are not just college buddies, they are going to be standing beside us at our wedding and looking over us at our funeral. As my pledgeship winds down and my initiation approaches, I can honestly say that I am much different than I was a few months ago.My leadership ability has increased immensely; I was elected the president of my pledge class and have taken on more responsibility than I ever thought myself capable of. I find myself not afraid to take on a challenge, or step up as a leader in my classes and activities. A fraternity does not just benefit an individual on a personal level, in the professional world; it is a huge advantage over competition for a job. Right now, 85% of Fortune 500 executives were a part of Greek life. The vast network of alumni branching across the world opens up numerous possibilities for employment.The Greek community takes care of each other, and when an employer sees that a potential employee was Greek in c ollege, they automatically have an advantage. If the employee was in the same chapter as the employer, that advantage becomes even bigger. Being in a fraternity opens up doors for thousands of college graduates every year. Warren Buffett, named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine, was a part of my fraternity, Alpha Sigma Phi. Buffett has also been on the list for the richest man in the world numerous times.Many successful businessmen, politicians, and community leaders since 1825 are the products of Greek life on their college campuses. The public frequently condemns the Greek system when members choose to break the law, however the system is rarely commended when the same members raise thousands of dollars for charity. Personal leadership and responsibility is a skill that not many have, and cannot be taught. A fraternity or sorority does teach this and more, and develops wide-eyed freshman on a college campus into successful adults in a very short amou nt of time.The Greek system has been doing this since 1825, and will continue to mold model citizens for the world. Works Cited â€Å"Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy: Inside Dartmouth's Hazing Abuses. † Rollingstone. com. N. p. , n. d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. . â€Å"Examining the Benefits of Greek Life | USA TODAY College. † Examining the Benefits of Greek Life | USA TODAY College. N. p. , n. d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. . â€Å"The Fraternity Advisor. † The Fraternity Advisor RSS. N. p. , n. d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. . â€Å"Hazing Information. † Hazing Prevention. N. p. , n. d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. . â€Å"Seeking an End to Hazing Deaths. † CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 05 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. .

Environmental Distractions to Study Habits Essay

Every student is required to study the lessons given by the teacher. By means of proper time management, a student becomes successful in his entire intellectual endeavor. But what if there are environmental distractions in his study habits? What will happen to his learning activities? Environmental distractions in study habits make a student at a disadvantaged position if it cannot be fully determined and avoided. Therefore, environmental distractions are a hindrance to the intellectual development of a student. Environmental Distractions In order to avoid environmental distractions, it is required that a student must identify the things that gives problems to his studies. After all, how could he be successful in avoiding environmental distractions if he may not be able to identify them? Hence, correct identification of environmental distractions that might hinder the student from studying should be done. The environmental distractions to study habits may include emotional, physical and external distractions. Learning Support Center Paradise Valley Community mentioned that physical environment of the study area of a student relates to external distractions (â€Å"Improving Your Memory†). In other words, if the environment is noisy and unorganized, study habits of a student may be hampered. Since we are aware that studying includes memorization, a student cannot effectively study when there television is opened or used within his environment, when there are any people chatting around him and when sound effects around him is very disturbing. Therefore, the best way for a student to avoid external distractions is to find a place conducive for learning like a noise-free room. Learning Support Center Paradise Valley Community also mentioned that the study area of a student must have quite surroundings or those places that really intended for studying (â€Å"Improving Your Memory†). Moreover, Glendale Community College stated that a good study environment must be free from distractions that might hinder memorizing and understanding reading materials (â€Å"Study Skills†). There should also be rules to follow like having a desk intended totally for studying; not using television, radio and telephone while studying; closing the door of the study room so that people passing by it cannot distract a students attention; the study area should not be cluttered and unorganized and that the study environment should be clean and spacious (â€Å"Study Skills†). If all these can be followed, there is no doubt that a student can study properly. Lastly, a student must not dwell long to problems of the family and friends and even personal situations that can surely affect study habits. The environment should be free from emotional distractions so that the mind of a student will remain fresh and able to absorb new ideas being studied daily. Conclusion   A student needs a study area that is free from environmental distractions. This paper mentioned that environmental distractions involved emotional and physical distractions as well as external ones. Emotional distractions include family problems while physical and external distractions include television, radio, noisy environment and unorganized study area. Finally, the best way to attain an environment that is free from distraction is to identify the things that can distract a student and avoid them all. References Glendale Community College. (2008). Study Skills. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from   http://www.glendale.edu/new/services/counseling/study.htm. Learning Support Center Paradise Valley Community. (2008). Improving Your Memory. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/lsc/services/tips _improving_memory.htm.

Mumbais Dabawalahs - A World Class Service Coursework

Mumbais Dabawalahs - A World Class Service - Coursework Example This is the extent of the power and pervasiveness that modern multinationals have in our world. They dictate many of our choices in everyday things as well as specialized activities. As Annie Leonard has pointed out in her ‘The Story of Stuff’ (2007), 51 percent of the world’s largest economies are those of corporations (Leonard, 3). The case study of the Mumbai Dabawalah’s tiffin delivery service is an excellent example of human endeavour in action. Achieving accurate and fast delivery to over 200,000 hungry office workers every day is no small feat- and that too in an extremely fast turnaround time of twenty seconds of stoppage by the trains-to collection and reversal of the entire process after the lunch break, to reach the dabba home before the worker arrives at the end of the day- is nothing short of phenomenal. With just a code to guide them, the delivery is as unerring as Six Sigma or one defect in a million deliveries (Mullins, 326). Theme from Sect ion A: Attracting and Retaining the Best Staff When it comes to a question of how to attract and retain the best staff, we have to look at the various theories of motivation proposed by different thinkers and writers over the ages. In ancient times, management used the carrot and stick approach or what McGregor calls Theory X and Theory Y (McGregor, 1960) to get the desired results within the organization-some firms still do. Motivation is anything that induces one to perform or do something. Most basic of these is Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory, in which he has defined human needs as being in a ladder or hierarchy from the lowest to the highest points- or from the basic physiological needs of food, clothing and shelter to the higher needs for safety and security, further to esteem needs and ending at the point of self actualization needs, where man has achieved his life purpose through his actions and work (Mullins, 257). Very few of us are fortunate enough to re alize this in our lifetimes. Herzberg gives his Two Factor or Hygiene Theory (Mullins, 261) as an explanation on how and what motivates workers based on an actual field experiment that he conducted. He concluded that there were a group of satisfiers and dissatisfiers in every work environment- which could be anything from strict and unyielding work policies or the lack of management attention to the needs of the workers on the negative side, to a fair and equitable wage and hygienic conditions that took into account the health and safety of the workers on the positive side. It is the removal or mitigation of negative factors, and the enhancement of positive factors that would keep the workforce happy and looking forward to returning to work. Quite often we see labor action as a result of management’s apathy to a situation requiring redress such as better working conditions, more rest between assignments, or the need for better pay and benefits. Herzberg was therefore able to prove that money is not the only motivator. The Expectancy Theory developed by Vroom (Mullins, 266) indicates that people will do something if they think it is worth their effort and there are benefits both to themselves and the organization. McClelland mentions that among managers it is the need for Power, need for Affiliation and need for Achievement that are the most important factors (Mullins, 264). It is still debatable whether or not money is the chief motivator, or whether worker treatment and participation and improving the work life balance and quality of working life are more important. Mostly it

History of the Dominican republic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History of the Dominican republic - Essay Example Being a close ally to Trujillo, Belaguer was appointed the President of the Republic. He wanted to run politics in his own way and allied himself with various political groupings in the Armed Forces but he failed to overthrow the government and sought refuge at Nuncio’s residence. Bosch took over power in 1962. The subsequent regime that took over after Bosch was also marred with widespread corruption and dictatorship. Balaguer was the leader of Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC). As a president he imposed semi-dictatorship rule and he was an undisputed authoritarian ruler. Balaguer was a major intermediary between the national elite, the Dominican people, and the United States. Blaguer only enjoyed support in the local regions. On the other hand, he was never popular in the capital that had the largest concentration of population. The city was dominated by PRD as well as other leftist political factions. Balaguer’s regime was characterized as a feeble democracy since it undermined the consolidation of democracy. He controlled the national budget, the Congress, and the security forces, in addition to skillfully manipulating the political process. Balaguer was only concerned with power in spite of the means necessary to attain it. He assassinated his opponents and instructed his security forces to fire at protesters. The reformist middle classes and militant working classes supported the establishment of liberal democracy. Therefore, Balaguer’s Bonapartism was due to the political vacuum that was created by the failure of the Dominican elites to face the rise of a contentious society. The political history of the Dominican Republic is marked by fragmentation and disorganized civil society. Besides that, the conservative elites dominated the exclusionary political regimes that suppressed democracy. Joaquin Balaguer has been active in the Dominican politics

Respiratory failure Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Respiratory failure - Case Study Example A fall arterial oxygen tension (Pa, O2) of 6.0 kPa (45 mmHg) or both, is indicative of respiratory failure (Roussos and Koutsoukou, 2003). Respiratory failure may be acute or chronic. In case of Wilson, the respiratory failure is acute and this is indicated by the drastic change in the acid-base status (pH= 7.3). The cause of respiratory failure in him is the right lower lobe collapse-consolidation secondary to pneumonia. Lower respiratory tract infection is known as pneumonia. The pathology lies in the parenchyma of the lungs which consist of alveolar sacs. There are several causes of pneumonia, the most common of which is bacterial (Stephen, 2009). Bacterial pneumonia can be community acquired or hospital-acquired. In case of Wilson, the pneumonia is hospital acquired. Â  Decreased oxygen saturation: Acute respiratory failure occurs when the body is unable to maintain gas exchange at a rate on par with the demands of the body like in pneumonia. The damage to lung parenchyma in pneumonia results in the release of inflammatory mediators and fluids because of which intrapulmonary shunting, ventilation-perfusion mismatching, hypoventilation and diffusion defects occur (Stephen, 2009). All these eventually lead to hypoxemia which is evident in the blood gas analysis of Wilson (Ranjit, 2001). In ventilation-perfusion mismatch, areas which have lower ventilation as against perfusion contribute to hypoxemia.

History 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

History 3 - Essay Example America aimed at the reconstitution of society by means of eradicating the existent monarchial society and its basics, which included the robust aspects of kinship, patriarchy, patronage, domination and so on. The eradication was to be accompanied by the substitution of the eradicated aspects with the elements of love, respect, consent, and equality. The dynamic target set by the American Revolution was the establishment of a moral government whose spillover effects would seep around the globe. The primal task of Americans was to introduce the idea of equality with respect to labor. In this respect the statement of Woods bears special significance, and it can be referred to as follows: â€Å"Perhaps nothing separated early-nineteenth-century Americans more from Europeans than their attitude toward labor and their egalitarian sense that everyone must participate in it† (qtd. in Launius). Divergence between these two revolutions can be related to their political extravaganza. The American political elites were highly experienced in their practical political experiences, and the leaders suggested more moral sophistication. In contrast with this, the authority of the then French government trickled down from the court and at the juncture when the French revolutionaries rose to power was driven by their speculations, and in this case the statement of Alexander Hamilton can be mentioned: I dread the reveries of your Philosophic politicians (qtd. in Brookhiser). The value placed on the national unity can be said to have varied, and with rigorous experimentation they built the government divided into the Republicans and Democrats. In this respect the statement of Governor Morris can be mentioned: â€Å"will act as an outward conscience, and prevent the abuse of power† (Brookhiser). In contrast, the French, who were uncertain about themselves, opted for a unitary state and that of a community of feeling. The National