After the Sirens

As soon as the radio is switched on it is described as screaming and it startles the man. He also recognized the radio announcer’s voice but it this was the first time his voice did not sound upbeat and happy as it usually was during his morning show. The author also describes his voice as â€Å"Cracking with hysteria† (Hood, pg. 161) which clearly sets the mood in the story. The way his voice is described stresses the role that the announcer plays in this story.The radio announcer uses repetition right from the beginning of the story and creates suspense, when he repeats â€Å"This not an exercise†(Hood, pg. 160) three times. He also repeats â€Å"This is an air raid warning†(Hood, pg. 160) twice right after the radio is turned on. He continues with the count down right until ten seconds before the bomb hit. The radio announcer sets this man into action to save himself and his family.The man responds immediately by telling his wife not to ask questions an d to dress her self and the baby in many layers of heavy clothing. While she is doing that he gathers up food, water, canned goods and two can openers. The radio announcer also helps the man to decide where they should take cover in the house because he reported the target and the man knew where the blast would be coming from. The radio announcer helped them survive. I was captured immediately by his voice and was taken on a journey of anticipation and suspense.

Effects of Values on Economics Essay

Values can be described as beliefs that people deeply hold to. They guide the decisions and behaviors of these people. They are â€Å"located† deeply within the subconscious and are integrated into every area of everyday living. People use values to choose their behaviors, employments, friends, entertainment and sports among others. Values are assimilated to people especially when they are still young. They range from teachers, parents, coaches and clergy to even peers. Values assimilated during the early years of a person’s life operate subconsciously as a basis for making decisions, choices and behaviors (Lopper, 2007). On the other hand, economics can be defined as a social science that deals with production, distribution and the consumption of services and goods and their management (Princeton, 2006). This research paper is aimed at examining the role of values on economics. Religion and Economics Many have for a long time regarded religion and economics as separate as cheese and chalk despite the fact that Adam Smith in his 1776 book The Wealth of Nations touched on religion (Weber, 2004). Many economics regard religion as a dark world which is unreachable through their analytical tools. It should be noted that religion is such a wide field that economics cannot ignore and as years erupts the gap between the two fields have gradually been reduced. This was initiated by an economist from the University of Chicago, Gary Becker who has already won a Nobel price for his efforts to applying economics in studying drugs, family interactions and crime (Weber, 2004). Though economics treat some theological questions such as the nature of God as if they were lepers, they have of late studied the earthly subjects of how people â€Å"sell† and â€Å"buy† services and goods, whether spiritual or material, that is provided by the religion. More study and research on religion have been undertaken after the attack of the United States on September eleven by the militant Islamic groups. Economics professor, Laurent Lannaccone from George Mason University in his statement agreed that for a long time the economists had ignored religion because of the belief that it would be overtaken by the ever-growing secularization; later however, many have realized that religion is also a powerful force in the modern society (Weber, 2004). Of late, another concept â€Å"the economics of religion† has been framed that is founded on the belief that human beings are rational in choices about their religion in the same way they are in economics, for example buying a good. â€Å"Producers† of mosques, temples, synagogues and churches compete for members (who are in this case their customers) and this they do by drawing those who are secular or members of other congregations (Weber, 2004). Effects of religion on the economy Religious rituals and beliefs have distinct effects on the performance of an economy. Preliminary results from researches conducted have shown that that there are negative effects resulting from participating in religious rituals but those on religious beliefs have shown positive effects (Bowman, 2004). It has been argued that religion has both positive and negative effects on the economy. Some have argued that religion can bring material advantages with Max Weber arguing that the work ethics by the Protestants was the cause of the prosperity in Europe. Recently, a professor at Harvard, Robert Barro is working towards examining the links between economic growth and religion (Bowman, 2004). In his studies, he concludes that at the microeconomic level, religious participation has been associated with lowered rates of drug abuse, crime and other vices. Another economist from Harvard, Richard Freeman concluded in his studies that those black youths who go to church were likely to abstain from committing crimes and using drugs as well as having a higher tendency of attending schools (Bowman, 2004). However, in economic terms and richness, no quantitative research has proved that religion has any direct effect on the income and if any by what level. This has been hindered by the difficulty present in dividing the cause and the effect. Even if the church goers may be reported as richer, there may not be any tangible proof that it is the religion that made them richer because it is possible that it is the richer people who may be likely to go to church or become generally religious. Unrelated traits for example personal discipline or greater ambition may be the reason of one succeeding in his or her job and at the same time attend to their religious duties (Bowman, 2004). Mr. Gluber, states that one possible cause of religious people being rich is that as they attend either mosque, church or synagogue gatherings, this can yield â€Å"social capital† which is just web of relations that fosters trust. These relations are important as they allow business dealings and transactions between such people to become smoother and cheaper respectively. The other possible reason that is given is that those who are religious have better emotional and financial insurance. This is important because when they fall into an economic setback, they are able to recover more quickly because of the support from their fellow worshippers (Bowman, 2004). Mr. Gruber’s results also claim that religious people especially the church goers may become richer as attendance to places of worship may also lead to lesser chances of dropping from schools. Also religious groups have been known to support the education of their members by offering bursaries either directly to the students or to the schools that they manage (Bowman, 2004). Also, many religious groups have been known to motivate their members to work hard towards their success and this may be a contributing factor to their wealth increase. Religion also teaches on supernatural intervention in the members’ endeavors and this allows them to be focused on success than failure (Bowman, 2004). Negative relationship between religiosity and economics growth There are general negative effects in the relationship between religiosity and economic growth. One such is the fact that religious groups, especially Christianity, preach giving which is regarded as a factor that undermines investment which is a setback to economic growth. Another setback of religiosity to the economic growth is that it is accused of undermining the work ethics using its own teachings as a cover up. Many members of religious groups have been known to remain idle or being lazy and instead substitute work with their religious duties. It is also reported that many religious groups teach doctrines that oppose modern attitudes such as contraception technologies and market’s egalitarian repression (Bowman, 2004). On the other hand, economic development has got negative effects on religion with the studies showing that overall development (represented by per capita GDP reduces religiosity. The secularization thesis has shown that people tend to become less religious when income increases. They loose interest of attending religious meeting places and portraying their religious beliefs. Economic growth makes religion to be less considered in policy making, political process, and legal process and also in social programs such as friendships, marriages and colleagues (McClearly, 2008). Though Max Weber’s thesis â€Å"The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism† indicate that religion raise productivity for they mold individual characters such as work ethic, thrift and honesty, it also shows that it religious beliefs have a negative effects on economic development as increased attendance to their places of worship take more of their resources and time . The religious sector is also known to place restrictions on markets for insurance and credit (McCleary, 2008). The other negative effect of religion on economics is that it produces religious terrorism that has been as a result of income inequality and poverty. In contrast, research conducted by Alan Krueger shows that religious terrorists in most cases are well educated and not from poor background. Many religious terrorists view violence not a means but as an end to economic and political ends. They feel that they are destroying a system that they are not identified with (McCleary, 2008). Marx idea on religion According to Karl Max, religion is an expression of economic justice and material realities, meaning that problems in any given religion are also the problems in the society. Max referred to religion as a symptom and not a disease (Cline, 2009). He also claimed that religion has been used by the oppressors to encourage those who are exploited and poor. He stated that religion speaks contrary to what â€Å"is dignified in a human being by rendering them servile and more amenable to accepting the status quo†(Cline, 2009). He argued that religion is dependent on economics meaning that the actual doctrines of religion are irrelevant. Also religion is an illusion giving excuses and reasons so that it can keep the society to function as it is. â€Å"Much as capitalism takes our productive labor and alienates us from its value, religion takes our highest ideals and aspirations and alienates us from them, projecting them onto an alien and unknowable being called a god†(Cline, 2009). India- Caste system due to Hinduism Caste system is a religious ranking system in India of human groups that is based on occupation and hereditary factors. This system is very complex and has been known to have several setbacks. The members of these groups are restricted to their hereditary occupations. The Indian society is divided into four groups; Brahmas are from priestly families, the warrior and ruling class, Vaishyas are businessmen, farmers and traders. The laborers and peasants are the shudras while panchamas were the untouchable. The negative effects of the caste system are that some members of the community are discriminated based on their groups. However, due to higher education, globalization, economic growths and mingling with people from other communities, the India’s population is slowly deviating from the caste system. Even the government of India has decided to reserve some jobs for the members of the lower castes (FactsaboutIndia, 2008). Islamic Countries and Shariah Laws In the Islamic nations governed by the sharia laws, no interest is allowed to be charged on any loan that is given as it goes against the Koranic law against usury. In some countries such as Afghanistan, women are never allowed to wear high heel shoes as well as white socks, as the sharia considers them sexually luring. In the same nation, music is never allowed that includes cassettes in vehicles. Many forms of entertainments such as watching movies or plays are never allowed with women being prevented from occupying some professionals and occupations which, causes some to flee the country or commit suicide (Aluko, 1999). Men who do not have beard up to certain lengths are never allowed to have some jobs or allocated some contracts; this means that women do not benefit from any government contracts in Afghanistan. In such countries, Shariah views Islam as a philosophy of life, social order, a system of economic principle and a ruling order which all the Muslims must adhere to (Aluko, 1999). The ethics of Islamic economics rejects excessive concern for the accumulation of profits but more with acquisition of goods fulfilling social obligations to the society. The other characteristics of Shariah laws include tax discrimination on non Muslims so that they can be encouraged to become Muslims. On inheritance, the Koran states that brothers must get double of what their daughters get (Aluko, 1999). United States- Effects of Christian values In US, it has been noted that people have more consumer choice in exercising their religions than any other part of the economy. Churches function independently as contractors in the religious free market of the United States. In USA, Evangelical Protestantism is known for entrepreneurial development in the church structure in contrast to the Roman Catholic Church that follows the ecclesiastic polity (Sparks, 2007). The evangelical churches have their congregations or appointed boards have the final say on any matter such as the church budget. In some mega churches however, the pastor is seen as the Chief executive officer exercising high level authority. The churches in the United States are known to offer not only spiritual nourishment to their members, but also other products such as music and video tapes as well as books (Sparks, 2007). Sale of alcoholic products on Sundays has not been allowed in many cities of the United States as Sunday has been regarded as the day of worship for the Christians (Andre, 2009). Abortion Effects of Rights on Economics Freedom has been termed as the engine that pushes economic growth that is sustainable and allows all people to have increased prosperity. Economic freedom is basically ensuring that human rights are respected (Kim, 2007). Equality- Women Rights Promoting gender equality has been understood as an important part in an effective economic and human development strategy. Gender equality in education has positively been associated with economic development. Research previously done has shown that any nation that does not work towards the closing of gender gap in education will experience a fall in per capita income (Chen, 2004). In addition the report by the Arab human development team showed that lack of women empowerment has contributed to less human development in the Arabic regions. If women are enabled to acquire education for example through distant learning, it will allow them to participate in labour market while at their homes and this would in turn result in improving gender equality. It has been shown that nations in the sub Saharan Africa, South Asia, North Africa and Middle East has a greater gender disparity especially in education and if they could only close this gap, their per capita GDP can grow significantly per year (Chen, 2004). The reasons that are raised to prove these arguments are that educated women are often added to the labour market and this improves the economy of the country. The other reason is that educated women will improve the intellectual environment at home that in turn leads to a productive workforce thus economic growth (Chen, 2004). The proponents of slavery stated that they relied on servitude so that they can facilitate their need for labour. The labor population was decreasing and thus they believed that African slaves were efficient to fulfill their needs for laborers. When tobacco was discovered in 1600’s and became the main source of income for the colonialists, it called for more land and thus more laborers. Slave trade brought a great fortune to the colonialists; unfortunately, the profits obtained were used to get more slaves (Dodson, 2003) Spanish colonies- encomienda and repartamiento The encomienda was a labour system employed by the crown of Spain during its colonization in America. Some trustees and soldiers were allocated a specific number of natives whom they were supposed to teach Spanish and Catholic faith and in return receive tribute from the natives in form of labour or gold. This allowed the encomendero to take even the land that belonged to the natives (Answers Corporation, 2009). On the other hand, repartimiento was a system applied by Spanish colonialists on native population of America where the later was forced to perform some tasks for the former for a period of time in the year without any pay or for a low pay. This system led many natives to flee from their communities while other accepted to work and even signed contracts for the period that they were to work (Answers Corporation, 2009). A property right is the authority that allows one to determine how a resource should be used. All economic goods are protected by the property rights. Property rights have been confirmed to play a major role in the promotion of both political and economic development. Intellectual rights are mechanisms that facilitate innovation by giving the inventors monopoly of their discovery (Robin). CONCLUSION From the discussing, it is clear that different values have different effects on the economics. These values include the religious values which have been discussed with examples of the Shariah law, the caste system of India and Christianity in the United States of America. Other values discussed include those related to human rights such as women rights, slavery and property rights.It is vivid that different values have either positive or negative effects on economics or even both. REFERENCES Andre. (2009). Sunday alcohol sales; Fear versus the facts. Retrieved March 25, 2009, from http://www. peachpundit. com/2009/02/25/sunday-alcohol-sales-fear-versus-the-facts/ Aluko, S. A. (1999). The social and economic implications of Shariah law. Retrieved March 25, 2009, from http://www. dawodu. com/aluko1. htm Answers Corporation. (2009). Encomienda system. Retrieved March 25, 2009, from http://www. answers. com/topic/encomienda-system

Disablement Models Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Disablement Models Paper - Essay Example is/her environment meaning that impairments do not have to result in functional limitations and functional limitations do not have to result in disability. [1] [2] [3] NCMRR’s model expanded upon the Nagi model by including a specific component related to societal influences as contributors to disability. It defined disability as the limitation in performing tasks, activities, and roles to levels expected in personal and social contexts. The major difference between the Nagi and NCMRR disablement models is that the latter includes the concept of societal limitations as a distinct dimension of the disablement process. [1] [2] [3] Instead of explicit dimensions and the subsequent relationships between those dimensions as in the Nagi and NCMRR models, the ICF is a two-part model organized through more complex classification of health and health-related domains. In part 1 of the ICF model, the domains body functions and structures and activity and participation attempt to account for function at the levels of the body, individual, and society. Part 2 of the ICF model includes contextual factors that are particularly important because they address the significant impact of environment and personal factors on overall level of functioning and disability. [1] [2] [3] NCMRR and Nagi model require a similar setup in terms of the assets and liabilities. Since both NCMRR is just an expansion of Nagi, it focuses on a bigger scope. By comparison to ICF, its requirements are moderate while ICF requires heavy investment and recurring costs to analyze its complex procedures. Nagi’s model was being initially used for most patients as it was a trendsetter. Since NCMRR is similar to nagi’s model, people who have been using Nagi would be well acquainted with its implementation process and can handle it much more efficiently. The ICF model due to its complexity would require proper training and change in mindsets towards a much more modern approach. NCMRR is easy to use and

Informative speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Informative speech - Essay Example As a result of this, it was not a surprise that he ended up being a rapper. He has a lovable personality, and has invested in a diversified range of businesses and interests besides practicing hip-hop. He can be correctly referred to as an artist and businessman. In the clip, the standing ovation he receives after finishing his performance is a clear sign that his personality resonates with a lot of people. As I was playing the video, a member of the audience pointed out that the whole video was done in black and white; there was not a single colored element in the whole clip. I tend to think that this music video was intended for a general audience, but young people were especially targeted. From the title of the song, we can deduce that the artist is sending out a message to all the young people; a message that no matter what their age is they can still have an impact on the society (Handley 46). In the video, the artist can be seen wearing casual attire like jeans, a t-shirt, a jacket and sunglasses. A look at the audience when he is performing on stage also suggests that the youth are clearly the intended target audience of this clip. These are things that are mostly associated with young people who love hip-hop and its associated lifestyle and message. I can therefore conclude that young people would instantly take to this video from the moment they watch it; it has all the right ingredients to be a hit among the youth. This video was made to market and popularize not only the song but the artist’s album that was released about 2 years ago, about the same time the song and the video was released. The clip’s director has made extensive use of lighting and contrast. The black and white theme and background of the video is interspersed with flashing bright lights and dull backgrounds that help to make the whole video even more vivid and

Entre Nos Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Entre Nos - Essay Example The movie proves to us that lack of immigrants’ cultural understanding, close friendship and interpersonal relationship in a city results to frustrations, mistreatment and suffering of immigrants in the cities. As Zukin (1995) analyzes, culture is a powerful tool for controlling cities. Culture is a summation of social, economic, linguistic, and political aspects of life and how people in a particular setting execute these components in their unique way. The video is an account of an experience by Mariana; a wife and mother of two young children, Gabriel and Andrea. Mariana’s husband, whom they have immigrated to live with in New York City, abandoned the naive family at the city. Unable to settle bills, Mariana is evacuated from their rented apartment to the streets and things get worse when she discovers that she is pregnant. In addition to her lack of knowledge of the language spoken in the vicinity, she has not employment or work experience. Language is a powerful to ol in life and immigrants are sometimes constrained and limited when they can not express themselves in the middle of strangers. Inability to understand the language of New York makes it difficult for the family to adapt to the culture of the city given that culture is inculcated largely through language. One of the inevitable thing that city immigrants should establish is social network; a powerful tool that members of the society can use for survival. In the vast urban environment, such as that of New York where Mariana and her two kinds were struggling to survive, social network could have been a way of soliciting for support from friends and neighbors. For example, immigrants should have a way of communicating and associating with their fellow immigrants, neighbors or those close to them. For example, if Mariana had known another fellow immigrant in the town, she could have been assisted because not all immigrants suffered the tragedy. In fact, the story would have been differen t if her husband stayed and continued to support his family. Another survival tactic, which ensures safety and security when one gets to a vast urban environment is creating close friendships with the people one is close to; either neighbors, workmates or associates. Close friendships makes a person to acquire and amass enough social, political and even economic security because friends can help in finding a solution in extreme cases instead of learning the hard way like Mariana. Moreover, close friendship is a significant part of social life and, as noted from the movie, much of the agonies that Mariana and her two kids underwent were as a result of lack of close friendship. As it is known, men are created solitary beings, but necessity forces them to create social networks because there is no survival in isolation. In this case, cities are depicted in an influential cinema as tragic places where people are not concerned much about their neighbors. In cities like the one Mariana wa s living, the owners of property such as tenants in urban areas are exceptionally capitalistic, and they are only concerned with their economic gains and not social welfare of their tenants; it is an economic regime that does not consider those who do not have. Economic challenges are, therefore, not a concern of the owners of resources in cities. For example, we see the owner of the apartment where Mariana and

Management of Organisations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Management of Organisations - Assignment Example 1.) Therefore, organisational performance should be measured. Assessing an organisation's performance also helps to determine whether or not the company has a clear mission (one that addresses the needs of a particular marketplace) and whether or not people on all levels of the organisation understand the mission. Assessing the performance also allows the organisation to review the mission statement and to determine if the mission is referenced when developing organizational strategies. Assessing an organisation's performance will help to determine the procedure and processes that are set in place and whether or not these are in compliance with federal, state, and local laws. Examining the current ethics compliance programs (if there is one) and the processes which are set in place to assess compliance with accounting and financial management system helps to determine if the system that human resource uses is effective. Examining how the organisation measures employee satisfaction and how it handles employee satisfaction and how the processes of accreditation and certification operate along with their effectiveness can be determined by the assessment of an organisation. These methods are just some way that a manager can assess internal environment of an organisation. organisation is service oriented and its focus is on the c... The organisation is service oriented and its focus is on the clients. Fitness First is the largest health club operator in the UK and Europe. Having grown from a single health club, twelve years later Fitness First has 1.2 million members in fifteen countries. There are 166 Fitness First clubs in the UK, which is the focus of this case study. They provide top-quality service and equipment at a value price in a non-intimidating environment. Regardless of an individual's current fitness status, they offer the opportunity to improve his/her fitness level.Fitness First strives to deliver its members the best experience each and every time he/she walks through their doors. It was found that the customer service to clients is impeccable. Through word-of-mouth, feedback, increased membership, etc. the assessment of this portion of the organisation was excellent. However, the assessment of employees, staff, and policies regarding staff were assessed, the results were not the same. The company pl aced much emphasis on meeting the needs of its clients which left a gap in meeting the needs of its employees. Perhaps by implementing Investors in People, the largest health club operator, which caters to people can also provide cater to their people (employee) and reach its objectives more effectively. Management 4 In order to improve the company's weaknesses, based on findings during the assessment, the company decided to invest in its staff and employees in addition to investing in its clients. Taylor & Thackwray, (1996:1), as cited in Scutt (1998) stated that, "Investment in equipment depreciates whilst investment in people appreciates". As this quote points out, investing in people will deliver a huge return.

Naval Hospital Guam Color Guard Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Naval Hospital Guam Color Guard - Article Example I ask you all to take that on as a true mission in the year ahead." On November 11, 2007 during the Veterans Day ceremony, Hospitalman Stephen Cendana of the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam took part in the Joint Color Guard that presented the flags at the honoring observance rite. Island residents and military dignitaries attended the event held at the Ricardo J. Bordallo Complex in Adelup to pay tribute to the veterans. The military tradition of duty, honor, and freedom resounded at the commemoration celebration. Scott Duenas, a navy veteran and one of the sixteen (16) Veterans of the Year expressed his pride for being part of the tradition of patriotism. Duenas said: "There's a lot of people who went before me. And today we've got other veterans serving on active duty and we also need to honor them." Hospitalman Cendana of the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam spoke of the great honor in taking part of the ceremonial Joint Color Guard that presented the flags because they represented not only the Navy but also the Armed Forces of the United States with many a number of decorated veterans in attendance. The annals of the U.S.

Cooperative Learning and Student Achievement Essay

Cooperative Learning and Student Achievement - Essay Example Many studies have indicated that cooperative learning is indeed more beneficial to student achievement than the individualistic approach; however, there are distinctions and conditions that must be met in order for learners to benefit from being involved in cooperative learning (Yamarika, 2007). This essay discusses the benefits and conditions for effective cooperative learning. Benefits of Cooperative Learning Cooperative learning enables students to benefit from the efforts and successes of fellow students, giving each student the chance to contribute to the success and achievement of self and that of others. In addition, it allows students to recognize their abilities by making the contributions of each group member a valuable component of the learning process. Since each student has different talents and abilities, the groups benefit from the contributions of members and each member feels as a valuable component of the team due to the knowledge that the group may not have an idea until one contributes it. Moreover, individual achievement is celebrated by the whole group since group members feel that they played a role in the success, which motivates them to try harder (Yamarika, 2007). Some of the benefits of cooperative learning include: Cooperative learning results in better learning and academic achievement as compared to other learning approaches. Cooperative learning increases retention of content learned in class by students for later application. Students derive greater satisfaction from the learning experience, and they are encouraged to seek more knowledge. Students develop communication skills as they explain the subject matter to others and listen as their peers explain a point. Students develop social skills that are necessary as survival skills after school. Student self-esteem is boosted as students realize that they can learn on their own, and they have knowledge that others do not have. Cooperative learning promotes healthy interactions betw een students from various races, religions and other socioeconomic backgrounds. All these factors have positive effects on a student’s grade, and that is why cooperative learning in schools should be promoted (Roseth, Johnson, & Johnson, 2008). Conditions for Effective Cooperative Learning In order for cooperative learning to be effective, some conditions must be met; failure to meet these conditions may reduce the effectiveness of the approach, or even result in negative results on the learning experience and the performance of learners. If these conditions are met, then cooperative learning proves to be far more an effective approach to learning than individualistic and competitive approaches (Yamarika, 2007). Positive Interdependence Each group member’s contribution is unique and necessary for the success of the group, and members should be encouraged to participate as the input of each of them is directly related to the group achievement. The group should avoid foc using on the contributions of some members and ignoring the contributions or questions of others so that the group can learn as a holistic unit and not as disjointed units of individuals (Johnson & Johnson, 2009). Face-to-face Interaction This allows members to interact directly with each other in the form of oral explanation of concepts, teaching others new knowledge, analysis of level of

System Analysis and design (case study) Case Study

System Analysis and design ( ) - Case Study Example However, in the recent years, a significant development was observed in the digital world with the introduction of new technologies, tools and approaches implemented by various business enterprises and organizations in order to make the work more effective. Conversely, technological implementations in the business enterprises have created various complex challenges in addition to the remarkable opportunities1. Besides assessing the past advancements in technology, the article also delivered certain forecasted information based on qualitative terms. For instance, the article argues that in the recent year, business enterprises will be able to implement technologies more effectively in their business activities, which will ultimately benefit the businesses as well as the consumers. It is also assumed in the article that the enterprises will be able to make efficient utilization of cloud computing system, software algorithms and robust API’s. Moreover, the article also demonstrates that Information Technology will be more effectively integrated into the enterprise that will help in establishing better coordination and integration throughout its operational network. However, the business enterprises of present generation are completely based on applications in order to perform various critical business processes. An application delivery chain is therefore used, which is a combination o f both hardware and software, in order to deliver these applications2. Furthermore, with an argumentative narration, the author has also stated the IT projects that used to take several months or years for completion now-a-days take only a few days or weeks to complete, which has been highly beneficial in reducing the wastage of time and resources. Moreover, the authors criticize that even though the integration of mobile applications in the business enterprises is becoming popular, they are not being

Tan Dun Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Tan Dun - Essay Example During the 1980’s Tan moved to New York City and enrolled in Cambridge University where he was educated in both classical and contemporary composition and music. From here Tan realized that he could take and combine all these musical influences and produce his own unique sense of style and form. Tan’s creative and broad works have left an everlasting mark on the world of music, distinctly reflecting his own concepts, ideas and individuality. Tan takes both western and eastern music and combines it with natural elements like paper, water, and wood producing a rich style of unique and exceptional composition. Some of Tan’s earlier and notable works are the Ghost Opera featuring a string quartet in 1994, Marco Polo an opera composed in 1995, and Symphony 1977: Heaven, Earth, Mankind an orchestra played in 1997 with bianzhong bells (â€Å"Tan Dun†). One of his most famous and praiseworthy works is the masterpiece for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for which he deservedly received an Oscar Award as the best original score. In 2003, Tan brought the world of western music to the rural villagers of Hunan is his performance of The Map. That same year he also premiered the Paper Concerto at the opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (â€Å"Tan Dun†).

King James I Essay Example for Free

King James I Essay Brianna Ruiz Period 2 03-11-07 King James: Political and Personal Who is King James I? Many may know him as the man who translated the bible into the English language. Or the one who not only controlled English monarchy, but also the Scottish. Some may beg to differ, but, King James played an important role in history. According to Paul Van Somer, James was the son of Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Danley guaranteed him a spot to one day take the throne. Unfortunately his inheritance occurred sooner than expected. Soon after his birth, Lord Danley passed away under mysterious circumstances and his mother was forced to abdicate because of her future imprisonment. So there he was, 13 months old, and now the king of Scotland. As if becoming king wasnt enough, he had to grow up without a mother or father; instead he was raised by his tutor, George Buchanan. Although he despised Buchanan, James learned a lot from him, many have even said James was one of the most intellectual kings in England. Under Buchanans studies James learned how to speak fluent Greek, Latin, French, English and Scots. James was also well educated in history, composition, arithmetic, dialectics, rhetoric and theology. James had been born with many physical disabilities in which he had to suffer from most of his life. His handicaps consisted of leg disabilities and a tongue too large for his mouth. Because of this he often would choke on his own saliva and had a very noticeable lisp. James also suffered from crippling arthritis, abominable colic, gout, insomnia, spastic limbs, constant nausea/diarrhea and kidney pains. Bruce)Despite the fact that he was not the most physically gifted man, he was able to find a wife that loved him. When he was nineteen years old, he met the woman that would soon be his wife, Anne of Denmark. Together they had nine children, three of which lived past child birth. James and Anne had a great relationship together, even though James was allegedly bi-sexual. These allegations occurred soon after his somewhat intimate relationship with Esme Stuart, whom James crowned Duke of Lennox. According to Linda Bruce, these two men had a public homosexual relationship with each other. Despite these rumors, Anne and James continued to live their life, as a happily married couple. When one speaks of King James I, you cannot help but mention the fact that he strongly believed in the divine right of kings, which he was supposedly introduced to by Esme. This was the idea that kings or ruler was not chosen by the people, but instead they are given the opportunity to rule from god. God must have really wanted James to be a ruler, because when James was about 36 years old, his cousin, Elizabeth I had died. Since she did not have any other living relatives, the throne of England was passed down to James. Therefore causing James to become the first ruler to take over the thrones of both England and Scotland. After this sudden coronation, James felt it would be necessary that he moved, so he immediately packed his bags and moved to London, England his now permanent home. Within months after this sudden move, Scotland became sudden chaos. Things in England didnt end up too well either. Within immediate arrival to London, James had already sent a thief to be hanged without undergoing the proper trial. Along the trip to London he knighted 300 people, and within a time period of four months he had knighted more people than Elizabeth did during her entire reign. Another problem that the English did not appreciate, was that James did not know how to manage his money, so he was constantly spending money on expensive clothes and jewelry because of the assumption that England was a rich country Shortly after the kings shopping sprees, prices began to drastically rise. This obviously upset the people greatly; James even had to sell off some of the English land to pay off his debt. Along with the English, the Catholic Church was also greatly agitated with James. The Catholics and James have had conflicts for years, but once peace was declared between Spain, they assumed that James would finally let go of his anger with the church. James had even promised to decrease the amount of laws pertaining to the Catholics and to get rid of the fines that they would have to pay for attending sermons. James did not fulfill his promises and reinstated the old laws. This enraged the Catholics and they decided to get revenge and summon up a plot to blow up the House of the Lords, if theyre plan was successful everyone inside the house would be killed. The House of the Lords was warned about this plot, and before anything happened they imprisoned most of the plotters.

Transportation In Houston Essay Example for Free

Transportation In Houston Essay The problems of transportation in our city have a series of branches that all affect us. We, as Houstonians have the duty to contain our city as beautiful and healthy as we can. This is part of our past, present, and our feature, not only for us but also of our love ones that are yet to come. It is very important that we as human being that live in this community do something to protect our environment and reduce risks for further generations. Do you think that there something we can do to stop this shortage of transportation? There are many different problems in our environment that affect everyone around the community. Transportation in Houston is a severe problem that we have now in days. This is a problem in our community that divides into a series of arguments that we are trying to fix. It does not necessarily have to fit in our lifestyles, as long as we set time out in our busy life to take care of the environment. It does not have to be something that relates to your career as long as it is something that you like to do. I am very interested in setting sometime out of my job, to take care of my community. Even if they do not relate, I understand that in doing so it can help provide a better feature for the next generation. As a Houstonian, it is very important for me to try to find a way to expand the transportation in Houston. By decreasing the transportation, the pollution produced daily will also decrease as well as the traffic. Increasing public transportation is a good way to reduce all these risks. In my own experience, I have seen how public transportation is very efficient. In my Colombia, we use public transportation as a way to get around to many different places in the city. It reduces traffic, and accidents that may occur because of careless drivers. The state officials encourage public transportation because it reduces risks and it is also economic. They also encourage bike riding and walking. They build a lot of trails so that people that decide to walk do not have to worry about having to walk on the street where they can be put into any danger. Here in Houston, the state does not provide those types of options to people. You have pedestrians that walk in the streets putting their lives at risk, and then you have those that decide not to walk so they will not have to worry about putting themselves or their loved ones at risk. That is why most people decide that it is better to drive themselves somewhere, even if it is close, then to walk there. I would like to be encouraged into walking to different places, or to ride a bike around. It would be better for people to take that decision if there were sidewalks available all over the city, so that people could move around easier. This would be helpful in many different levels because it would create a better feature by, reducing the accidents that occur on a daily basis. It could also help the economy, because people would start saving more money. They would have more money to spend on other things needed, if they are saving gas money. They would not have to worry about having to earn a little more money to have to waste on other important things they might need. It can be improving for everyone. The bad thing is that not everyone feels the same way about using public transportation. Some rather save a little more money rather then having to depend on someone to drive them around. They never stop to think about the resources they are saving. I was researching the internet, trying to find articles that explored the subject about public transportation. It was very interesting to find different points of view over this topic. They were not really reliable resources, they were more like different opinions. I would like to explore this topic more reading different databases so that the information I may inquire can be precise. I would also like to read more about this subject in different newspapers like Houston Chronicle, to see what they think about this subject. When I was researching this newspaper online I realized that they don’t have any titles that cover this subject. I found it to be really upsetting to know that they do not cover important subjects like this in their news. It is very important for people to be able to get informed about things that are becoming a problem in their city. This way they will have a way to not only get informed but try to look for options to try and solve this error. Other resources would also help so that they can better inform themselves such as TV Shows, and other programs. This is a very important problem that does not get talked bout to much, so people do not really realize the problem we are facing. They do not try and do something about it because they probably think that it is something very insignificant, that other public organizations have not worried about advertising it as much. It is hard for me to assimilate the fact that we are missing out on a lot of information that can help us make a better our city an even more beautiful one.

Four seasons hotels inc hr practices

Four seasons hotels inc hr practices The assignment is based on a case study that revolves around Four Seasons and their culture in relation to employment. The purpose of this assignment is to basically answer five questions that are specific to understanding the culture of Four Seasons and the influence of HRM on the organisation. Like any case there are issues that the company needs to deal with and the writer tries to identify these issues by explaining what caused the issue to occur. The assignment also recognizes several key factors that the HRM of the companies have to deal with and at the same time identifying how important is the HRM to the Four Seasons and what kind of influence it has on the employment strategy. The writer identifies several options and recommendations to solving the issues and also explains the purpose of choosing the option at the same time illustrating the affect each of the options would have on the organisation and the various stakeholders. The writer has incorporated various models and matrices to the various sections in order to facilitate in the explanation of the topics. Company and its position in the hospitality industry Isadore Sharp (Sharp) with the help of his brother-in-law, Eddie Creed (Creed) and his friend Murray Koffler (Koffler) founded the Four Seasons with an investment of less than a $ million. The first property was a motel, Four Seasons Motor Hotel in 1961 in downtown, Toronto. This was a 125 roomed motel, with upscale atmosphere and amenities that were the reason for attracting their guests and especially celebrities from the neighboring T.V. station. The next property was a 569 rooms Toronto Inn Park which was built in the year 1963. Since then Sharp went on to built several new hotels such as the Inn on the Park, in London and other small inns in smaller urban areas such as Belleville, Ontario and Nassau, Bahamas only in the year 1970. This building of new hotels came to a serious problem in around the year 1994 as the Four Seasons saw themselves in a huge debt and only due to the help of Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Tala Bin Abdufaziz al Saud (Al-Waleed) and his investment of C$100 million did the Four Seasons and Sharp survive this collapse. With this financial support from Al-Waleed, Four Seasons was able to built new hotels in Singapore, Mexico City, Berlin and Prague; with this resorts were built in Hawaiis Kona Coast, Carlsbad, California and Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Four Seasons on February 2007 was acquired by various investing groups namely Casacade Investment, L.L.C. which belonged to Microsofts Chairman Bill Gates, Kingdom Hotels International, owned by Al-Waleed, and Triples Holdings Limited, a family holding company of Sharps, which together was a US$3.37 billion buyout offer. As a part of their negotiations a 10 percent interest in the group and the CEO position was given to Sharp, in addition to this a long-term incentive contract related to the sales of villa and penthouses as private properties. By the end of 2008, Four Seasons had 82 managed properties in 34 different countries with about 33,185 associates. Four Seasons lived on a term called The Golden Rule which meant Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you and keeping this in their mind they have treated their employees with as much respect as they would expect from the employees to the customers. This was personified with the various recognition they received from various publications such as Consumer Reports, Gourmet and Travel Leisure, Mobil Travel Guide, Gallivanters Guide and Condà © Nast Traveler Magazine. The most valued honor to Four Seasons and which they have managed to earn from the last thirteen years is the Top 100 Companies to Work For by Fortune Magazine and as of year 2010, Four Seasons were positioned at the 58th spot which compared to the hotel industry only Marriott International made the list as the 82nd position. This itself gives a picture of what the employees think about Four Seasons and their culture but there are some critics that say otherwise as they believe that the reason for their success i s because they tend to be very bias to foreign white skinned employees and prefer to hire them and the example given here was the Four Seasons Maldives resort, which was believed to be corrupt and bias as foreigners were given preference instead of locals irrespective of their talent and qualification and that local professional Maldivians were ignored just because of their color of skin. Another criticism was that even though the employees were paid well they were working extended hours and were stressed to deliver impeccable service. Four Seasons at present is one of the leading hotel chains in the world and have easily been considered to be one of the best in the field in comparison to hotel chains like Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Intercontinental, etc. and despite the various criticism Four Seasons has consistently been on the top when it comes to its work culture, thus becoming a globally successful hotel chain. Culture of Four Seasons and comparison to major competitors Four Seasons has always tried to provide its guests with value added service and hassle free stay and by keep this in to their working culture they have earned the reputation of a superior customer service organisation. The Four Seasons had also created more than 247 standards which were meant to identify what the customers should expect to receive in a Four Seasons Hotel. Even with these many standards Four Seasons always believed in empowerment as every employee was given all the rights to do what they felt right and this worked well for the company as an e.g. in the case mentioned how a bride had got her wedding dress stuck to the car door and the housekeeping staff did not waste any time and sent her to the spa while the staff member was patching the torn areas so that it would not be noticed. This was the kind of thinking that Four Seasons and especially Sharp want from their employees by this they created an environment where the employees were willing to use their mind in solv ing problems thus reducing the chances for it to escalate. Sharp also believed that loyalty and retention are the key to success, but loyalty to the customers came before the loyalty of the guests. They also truly believed in The Golden Rule and designed their recruitment, selection, training and development of the employees. Four Seasons culture was based on the value each and every employee could bring to the company and did not care about the qualification and experience the candidate had, this turn gave them employees who were willing to challenge themselves and at the same time willing to develop to the betterment of the company. This is also one of the reasons why their customers were loyal as they felt that the employees were willing and striving to help make their stay better, this can be seen with the award that Four Seasons have been receiving since 1980, which are the AAA Five Diamond awards. This award clearly shows the respect and loyalty that the customers have for the company due the respect and loyalty that the employees show to their customers. In comparison to Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Starwood, etc. Four Seasons believes in empowerment where as the other only use it as a form of marketing strategy. The mission statement or The Golden Rule of Four Seasons is Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you whereas Marriott has the Core Values that states Its about serving the associates, the customer, and the community. Marriotts fundamental beliefs are enduring and the keys to its continued success (Marriott International, 2010), Hyatts mission statement is To provide authentic hospitality by making a difference in the lives of the people we touch every day (Hyatt Corporation, 2010), Hilton believes in We will be the preeminent global hospitality company the first choice of guests, team members and owners alike (Hilton Worldwide, 2010) and Starwood would like to Create the most successful branded, global, lifestyle hospitality company by forming a trust- and respect-based corporate family committed to re-imagining our b usiness with creativity and innovation, resulting in the most fun workplace in the history of the world (Starwood Hotels and Resorts, 2010). Only by looking at these mission statements we can get an idea of who really caters to their employees as among the four major hotel chains mentioned only Marriott Hotel has their employees mentioned in their mission statement and even that is only considering that they take care of the associates but does not give an idea that they are willing to empower their employees like the way Four Seasons does. This does not mean that other hotels do not empower their employees but in terms of the definition which means giving the right and authority to an individual to think, behave, take action and make decisions in an independent way (Heathfield, 2010). By just applying the definition to the various hotels and their mission statements we can see that Four Seasons and Marriott are the only two hotel chains that seem to be empowering their employees to take their own decisions. Empowerment of employees sounds good and will attract employees but the real factor here would be that this would to some extent create a very bias hiring environment in the company as Sharp mentioned that they hire employees with the right attitude for the company and there is little need for them to have experience as the work itself can be thought, which as mentioned before created a bias environment in Maldives as almost all the employees that were hired were foreigners and even though the local population had all the right credentials and at times even better that the foreigner staff, they were not selected and this is the major difference between Four Seasons and the other hotels as almost every hotel select their employees based on their qualification and experience but being selected for having the right attitude to some extent is inappropriate and unethical especially if they are selected by the color of their skin, which is taking it to the extent of being racist and this i s a very dangerous road to take especially if Four Seasons would like to expand to newer countries particularly the developing and non-developing countries. This is also one of the major differences between Four Seasons and other hotel brands as Marriott for example believes in hiring employees from various cultures so as to help incorporate a multi-cultural environment in the organisation. Another reason for companies trying to incorporate local cultures in the company is because of the Corporate Social Responsibility as it is one of the most important factor for the existence of any company as by not incorporating it into the company means that various stakeholders such as government, NGOs, suppliers, stakeholders, local residents, etc. would not respect the hotel brand and thus causing future problems. HRM influence on vision, mission values and companys identity Four Seasons have been in this business since the 1960s and have live by one mission called The Golden Rule which defines their values as well. They focus on their employees and promote empowerment in the company, in addition they hire employees based on their attitude and not on their experience and knowledge as they believe that the job can be learnt by training but the attitude of a person cannot be changed. Human Resource Department (HRM) is considered to be the most vital and unavoidable department of a company but the influence of the HRM on the company depends on the culture and values of the company and how important they consider the HRM is and if it would help to improve the companys staff quality. In terms of Four Seasons the HRM would be more of a supporting department as they would have little influence on the culture of the company and instead the culture of Four Seasons would identify the HRM departments duties and the kind of recruitment, selection, training, development, etc. criteria they need to follow. The organisation of Four Seasons depend on finding the employees that fit in their culture rather than hiring qualified and experienced staff and then molding them to the requirements of the company. This to some extent makes it a lot easier for the HRM in terms of designing the programs but it also makes it extremely difficult to look for the right people for the right job. Another factor would be to incorporate the empowerment factor into the selection, training and development programs as they will need to be very accurate so as to not select, train and develop the wrong people for the wrong job. To do so Four Seasons has already created a program which begins with h iring talented individuals with the resourcefulness and dedication to perform to their best and the training was began with a three month initial orientation and a supervisor and management development programs, the senior management had their own executive development programs and the employees also received classroom training. The whole employee development program was divided into seven parts being Recruitment, Selection, Orientation, Training, Performance Management, Rewards Recognition, Development Success and Promotion/Transfer each of these programs included their own specific components such as brain storming sessions and extensive interviews for Recruitment, align with strategy, attitude comes first, define required key competencies, 4 stages interview process and Behavioural Interviewing based on defined competencies for Selection, align with strategy, adequate lead time, emphasis on attitude, service teamwork, consistent global approach, multi-lingual Culture film, heavy management involvement buy-in and re-orientation as needed for Orientation, align with strategy, on-line (Standards) program, designated trainers and customers service skills, emphasis on Culture throughout and coordinated efforts for Training, align with strategy, identify key Competencies, Good At not simply Good Person, a ssessment starts early and never ends, provide actionable feedback, do it in time to make a difference, potential assessment, goals/processes/measures and do it in time to make a difference for Performance Management, paid vacations and monetary rewards for Rewards Recognition, align with strategy, succession planning, task force work, planned global exposure, multi-ethnic talent for Development Succession and based on performance experience and destinations of choice for Promotion/Transfer. The purpose of mentioning all these components is that the HRM program was extremely well defined and due to this the different departments did not need to depend on the HRM to tell them what was needed to be done but instead only had to follow these components and see that the employees followed them as well. Each and every factors of employee development was important but the most important factor for any company and especially in the hospitality industry is the Performance Management Syste m (PMS) which could be defined as A management technique intended to holistically consider the performance of (usually a group of) employees or machines to work towards optimum performance of a particular task or (more frequently) a group of tasks (Allsites LLC., 2010). The main reason why the PMS is so vital to an organisation is because in this stage the company can actually identify whether all the earlier stages such as Recruitment, Selection, Orientation and Training were successful and if there is a need to redo few or all of the stages again, in addition this gives an idea of what to expect in the future stages. In simple terms this is a crossroad that could make or break the whole program so considering its importance every organisation needs to develop the best possible components for it. Four Seasons have identified nine various components, which give an idea that they as well consider it to be a vital aspect. The major issue here as mentioned in the earlier section is the focus on empowerment of employees which drives the HRM department and this is also the reason why the HRM is more of a collaborator rather that than initiator which leave very little room for change and this would seriously affect their growth prospects as this would cause the HRM department to be bias towards a section of the employee market and this could also cause major future problems for the company such as distrust and deflation of the brand image. Another important factor would be to not to consider being selfish to a particular section of the employees especially the white skinned employees which in any country and also by U.N.s universal declaration on Race, Racism and the Law is considered to be racist and unethical, this can be proven by the article 23 point 1 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. res. 217A (III), U.N. Doc A/810 at 71 (1948) which clearly states that Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable condit ions of work and to protection against unemployment (Bell, 2010). Thus it is extremely important for Four Seasons to try and not walk that line as selecting based on attitude could easily be perceived to be racist by international laws and this could also lead to a wide spread boycott of the Four Seasons and could tumble the identity and respect that the Four Seasons has earned. Policies and procedures in HRM and its evaluation The culture of Four Seasons is extremely strong and has a direct influence on the strategies of the HRM and has also dictates the policies and procedures of the department. Four Seasons always believes that the satisfaction of employees is more important than that of the customers. This can be seen in the benefits that the Four Seasons offer which is specifically created to motivate the employees to put in their best foot and this will be illustrated in the table below. Table : Benefits of working for Four Seasons (Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, 2010) Company-Wide Benefits Career Growth Opportunities Unique Deep Culture Best-In-Industry Training Luxury Environment Within Magnificent Locations Worldwide Profit Sharing/Incentive Bonus/Competitive Salaries Complimentary Stays At Four Seasons Properties With Discounted Meals Paid Holidays/Vacation Educational Assistance Dental And Medical Insurance/Disability/Life Retirement Benefits/Pension Employee Service Awards Annual Employee Party/Social And Sporting Events Complimentary Meals In Dedicated Employee Restaurants In addition to these benefits there are other benefits that are given to the employees depending on the local law and regulations. The benefits are very specific and takes care of all the needs of the employees in terms of the Maslows Hierarchy of Needs we could get a much clear picture. The Maslows Hierarchy of Needs identifies 5 various needs of a human being and that they strive to achieve it throughout their life and these 5 needs will be shown in the figure below. Figure : Maslows Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow, 2009) Maslows Hierarchy of Needs The Maslows Hierarchy of Needs states that there are five main needs that a person needs to satisfy to make him feel complete and these needs are Physiological Needs, Safety Needs, Social Needs, Esteem Needs and Self-Actualization Needs. Physiological needs are the need for basic things like air, food, drinks, shelter, clothing, etc. (Chapman, 2010). Safety needs is specific to laws and regulation and its impact on personal life or whether it is safe to live (Chapman, 2010). Social Needs on the other hand is more to do with having relationship with different groups of people mainly family and friends (Chapman, 2010). Esteem needs are more psychology based like feeling independent, having high status and prestige, personal achievements, etc (Chapman, 2010). The Self-Actualization needs are the most tough but the most vital for feeling complete and this can be achieved when a person feels self-fulfilled, achieves personal growth and reaches the peak of his experience (Chapman, 2010). T he Maslows Hierarchy of needs does not only affect the normal way of life but also has an influence on the motivation of the employees in an organisation especially the hospitality sector this sector tends to have the highest percent of turnover which mainly depends on the benefits that the company offers. To get a comprehensible prospective to this the writer will compare the two factor being the benefits of Four Seasons and the Maslows Hierarchy of needs to see which benefits affect what type of needs. Figure : Maslows Hierarchy of Needs to Four Seasons Employee Benefits  ·Ã‚  Career growth opportunities  ·Ã‚  Unique deep culture  ·Ã‚  Best-in-industry training  ·Ã‚  Luxury environment in magnificent locations worldwide  ·Ã‚  Dental and medical   / disability / life insurance  ·Ã‚  Paid holidays / vacation  ·Ã‚  Educational assistance  ·Ã‚  Retirement benefits / pension  ·Ã‚  Complimentary meals in dedicated employee restaurants  ·Ã‚  Profit sharing / incentive bonus / competitive salaries  ·Ã‚  Complimentary stays at Four Seasons properties with discounted meals  ·Ã‚  Employee service awards  ·Ã‚  Annual employee party / social and sporting events  ·Ã‚  Career growth opportunities  ·Ã‚  Unique deep culture  ·Ã‚  Best-in-industry training  ·Ã‚  Luxury environment in magnificent locations worldwide  ·Ã‚  Dental and medical   / disability / life insurance  ·Ã‚  Paid holidays / vacation  ·Ã‚  Educational assistance  ·Ã‚  Retirement benefits / pension  ·Ã‚  Complimentary meals in dedicated employee restaurants  ·Ã‚  Profit sharing / incentive bonus / competitive salaries  ·Ã‚  Complimentary stays at Four Seasons properties with discounted meals  ·Ã‚  Employee service awards  ·Ã‚  Annual employee party / social and sporting events  ·Ã‚  Career growth opportunities  ·Ã‚  Unique deep culture  ·Ã‚  Best-in-industry training  ·Ã‚  Luxury environment in magnificent locations worldwide  ·Ã‚  Dental and medical   / disability / life insurance  ·Ã‚  Paid holidays / vacation  ·Ã‚  Educational assistance  ·Ã‚  Retirement benefits / pension  ·Ã‚  Complimentary meals in dedicated employee restaurants  ·Ã‚  Profit sharing / incentive bonus / competitive salaries  ·Ã‚  Complimentary stays at Four Seasons properties with discounted meals  ·Ã‚  Employee service awards  ·Ã‚  Annual employee party / social and sporting events  ·Ã‚  Career growth opportunities  ·Ã‚  Unique deep culture  ·Ã‚  Best-in-industry training  ·Ã‚  Luxury environment in magnificent locations worldwide  ·Ã‚  Dental and medical   / disability / life insurance  ·Ã‚  Paid holidays / vacation  ·Ã‚  Educational assistance  ·Ã‚  Retirement benefits / pension  ·Ã‚  Complimentary meals in dedicated employee restaurants  ·Ã‚  Profit sharing / incentive bonus / competitive salaries  ·Ã‚  Complimentary stays at Four Seasons properties with discounted meals  ·Ã‚  Employee service awards  ·Ã‚  Annual employee party / social and sporting events  ·Ã‚  Career growth opportunities  ·Ã‚  Unique deep culture  ·Ã‚  Best-in-industry training  ·Ã‚  Luxury environment in magnificent locations worldwide  ·Ã‚  Dental and medical   / disability / life insurance  ·Ã‚  Paid holidays / vacation  ·Ã‚  Educational assistance  ·Ã‚  Retirement benefits / pension  ·Ã‚  Complimentary meals in dedicated employee restaurants  ·Ã‚  Profit sharing / incentive bonus / competitive salaries  ·Ã‚  Complimentary stays at Four Seasons properties with discounted meals  ·Ã‚  Employee service awards  ·Ã‚  Annual employee party / social and sporting events  ·Ã‚  Career growth opportunities  ·Ã‚  Unique deep culture  ·Ã‚  Best-in-industry training  ·Ã‚  Luxury environment in magnificent locations worldwide  ·Ã‚  Dental and medical   / disability / life insurance  ·Ã‚  Paid holidays / vacation  ·Ã‚  Educational assistance  ·Ã‚  Retirement benefits / pension  ·Ã‚  Complimentary meals in dedicated employee restaurants  ·Ã‚  Profit sharing / incentive bonus / competitive salaries  ·Ã‚  Complimentary stays at Four Seasons properties with discounted meals  ·Ã‚  Employee service awards  ·Ã‚  Annual employee party / social and sporting events  ·Ã‚  Profit sharing / incentive bonus / competitive salaries  ·Ã‚  Complimentary stays at Four Seasons properties with discounted meals  ·Ã‚  Employee service awards  ·Ã‚  Profit sharing / incentive bonus / competitive salaries  ·Ã‚  Complimentary stays at Four Seasons properties with discounted meals  ·Ã‚  Employee service awards  ·Ã‚  Career growth opportunities  ·Ã‚  Unique deep culture  ·Ã‚  Best-in-industry training  ·Ã‚  Luxury environment in magnificent locations worldwide In the above figure the writer has clearly divided each of the benefits to the various needs that it satisfies. This figure clearly identifies that the main reason why Four Seasons is in the top 100 companies to work for is because of they try hard to satisfy the needs of their employees and in addition to this they also offer empowerment to its employees which directly or indirectly satisfies the needs of Esteem and Self-Actualization. As Vice President of HRM moving Four Seasons forward in the next four years Four Seasons is an organisation with great potential for growth, this is mainly because of their organizational culture and the way they take care of the employees. Employees are one of the most important stakeholders that have a direct impact on the organisation and if the employees are not happy then the customers will not be happy and thus affecting the running of the organisation. There are several factors that can be taken into account for the development of the organisation but the most important factor would be to focus less focus on empowerment and more on diversity. The reason behind identifying it as a factor is that even although the company is managing to reduce their turnover by hiring employees that fit their culture, Four Seasons has not considered the external effects of perusing such an option and this has already started to take its toll on the company as people have started to notice that Four Seasons are bias to foreigners especially white skin candidate, this kind of controversies could seriously deteriorate the companys image and brand name, in addition it could in long term affect their employee turnover and even cause the company to lose their customers. This is only a miner effect compared to what could happen later as loosing the customers will effect various stakeholders to stop trusting the future of the organisation and this will cause a ripple effect where the stocks of the company will start falling, investors will start withdrawing their stocks and ultimately causing Four Seasons a final blow. This at the end would bring t he company to the verge of bankruptcy. This is farfetched and may not even happen exactly as mentioned but sooner or later people will start to notice the biasness and retaliate accordingly. The above elastration is the consequence of ignoring the issue but the real issue is what Four Seasons can do to avoid such a massive collapse. This may not be easy and could take a lot of time and money to reverse it. To begin with the company first needs to incorporate diversity to their culture as they need to stop judging that foreigners candidates are better at the use of empowerment than the local candidates and rather than hiring all the employees from outside resident country, they should divide the employee as 60% to 70% foreigners and 30% to 40% local should be included into their policies of HRM, this is simple terms means that Four Seasons needs to incorporate Talent Management in their strategy. Talent Management can be defined as A conscious, deliberate approach undertaken to attract, develop and retain people with the aptitude and abilities to meet current and future organizational needs. Talent management involves individual and organizational development in response to a changing and complex operating environment. It includes the creation and maintenance of a supportive, people oriented organisation culture (Derek Stockley Pty Ltd., 2005). Talent management incorporates the whole process of the HRM such as recruitment, development, performance management, retention, etc. and it does not end there as it also helps develop the culture of the organisation towards a more positive outlook. The purpose of identifying Talent Management as an option is due the effect it could have on the HRM and Four Seasons as it helps to identify critical areas that need to be changed, takes phased approach to implementing a strategy within the areas, creates ways to assessing the impact on the areas and conducts reviews on the varies areas so provide input for future implementation (TalentAlign, 2010). Figure : Talent Management Concept http://www.taleo.com/sites/default/files/article-talent-management.jpg (Taleo Corporation, 2010) Based on the above shown figure we can identify that there are two major factors influencing talent management which are business goals and business performance and these are more like a cause and effect of the company, the cause being the business goal and effect being business performance. The figure also identifies all the various segments that talent management influences by dividing it into 4 sections namely Align, Assess, Acquire and Develop. To explain it better Align and Assess are pre-recruiting stages or planning stage where the HRM can identify the purpose and outcome that they would like want to achieve. Acquire and Develop on the other hand is involved with more of the physical aspect of the HRM for instance recruiting, training, development, performance management, etc. Talent Management could in actual fact help Four Seasons to provide authority to the HRM department and thus restructuring the organisation to provide optimal workforce. This system is not bias thus chan ging the selection process and making the organisation more diverse. Craig Hickman a famous author of various books on business and management such as The Strategic Game, Mind of a Manager, Soul of a Leader, etc. identifies diversity to be an important component to the success of an organization and believes that organizations take it extremely lightly as they only tolerate it rather than embracing it and this is mainly due to the external influence such as government and local residence (Hickman, 2006). It is not just important for Four Seasons to incorporate diversity using talent management but also so embrace it with the optimism that it will improve their current position. The whole process of talent management should take around two to three years to accurately be integrated in the organisation but even after it integration Four Seasons needs to continue to develop it and follow up on the progress and identify the way to improve it. Another option for the company which may even be cheaper and less time consuming than talent management would be the use of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In simple terms CSR is the involvement towards the economy, environment and social sustainability of the public with the assistance of various stakeholders (Baker, Corporate Social Responsibility What does it mean?). The purpose of identifying CSR as an option is because of cost effectiveness, media attractiveness, direct influence, no change in the organ

South Africas Weather and Natural Disasters :: South Africa Climate Environment Essays Papers

Weather One of the many unique aspects of South Africa is its intense cultural background and tradition. It is very common in South Africa to know several myths about different towns and cities and to pass the stories on to each generation. There are some myths that explain all sorts of various aspects of South African life, but more importantly, there are some that relate to the weather. One of these myths has to do with a weather pattern that occurs everyday in Cape Town, and is one of the great myths of South Africa. The myth has to do with Table Mountain, the central mountain in Cape Town. Although the myth has been around for many generations, the weather aspect it relates to is true and still happens today. To begin, one must understand that Table Mountain sits in the center of Cape Town, while the town inhabits a circular form around the mountain. Table Mountain has become a focal point of the city and attracts many tourists to see it and also some venture up via the cable car. It seems very fitting that this mountain would be the focus of a very famous story in South Africa. The story goes as follows (it is told in many variations, this is as told by Lauren Smith, who studied in Cape Town in the spring of 2004): Their once was a man in Cape Town who was very well known and respected. He would smoke his pipe more than anyone else in Cape Town. Every afternoon he would smoke on top of Table Mountain. No one could ever out smoke this man, he was simply too good. One day, someone approached him and challenged him to a smoking contest. He agreed, figuring there was no way anyone could possibly out smoke him and he would surely win. The two contestants went on top of the mountain and smoked and smoked all afternoon. They smoked so much that it created huge billows of smoke that collected atop of the men and rolled down the mountain towards the Cape Town. The outcome of the bet is somewhat insignificant in this, because it is the billows of smoke that relate to today’s current weather patterns in Cape Town. In any case, the man realized he was smoking ag ainst the devil because the devil wasn’t affected at all by the smoke he was inhaling.

Shakespeares Macbeth - Responsible for His Own Destruction :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Macbeth:   Responsible for His Own Destruction      Ã‚   Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, is the tragic tale of the character Macbeth, a virtuous man, corrupted by power and greed. This tragedy could be explained two very different ways. One explanation is that the tragic hero, Macbeth, is led down an inescapable road of doom by fate. A second explanation is that there is no "outside" force working against Macbeth, which therefore makes him responsible for his own actions and inevitable downfall.   The text of the play seems to imply that Macbeth is indeed responsible for his own actions, actions provoked by an unwillingness to listen to his own conscience, the three witches, and his own ambition.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   First, Macbeth ignores the voice of his own psyche. He knows what he is doing is wrong even before he murders Duncan, but he allows Lady Macbeth and greed to cloud his judgment. In referring to the idea of the murder of Duncan, Macbeth first states, "We will proceed no further in this business"(I.vii.32). Yet, after speaking with Lady Macbeth he recants and proclaims, "I am settled, and bend up/Each corporal agent to this terrible feat"(I.vii.79-80). There is nothing supernatural to be found in a man being swayed by the woman he loves, as a matter of fact this action could be perceived as quite the opposite.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Second, the witches have to be dispelled as a source of Macbeth's misfortune before the latter theory can be considered. It is admittedly strange that the weird sisters first address Macbeth with, "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee Thane of Cawdor!"(I.iii.49), a title that not even Macbeth is aware he has been awarded. Even stranger is the third witch calling to Macbeth, "All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter"(I.iii.50)! However as stated by Bradley, "No connection of these announcements with any actions of his was even hinted by [the witches]"(232).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some are still not convinced, however, of the witches' less than supernatural role; nevertheless, Macbeth appears throughout the play to be completely aware of his actions, as opposed to being controlled by some mystic force. The effect of the witches on the action of the play is best summarized by these words: while the influences of the Witches' prophecies on Macbeth are very great, it is quite clearly shown to be an influence and nothing more (Bradley 232).

The Common Man’s Impact on The Revolution :: American America History

The Common Man’s Impact on The Revolution As I began to research this paper I soon realized that the topic I was looking on would be difficult because of the aspect I was attempting to look at it from. I wanted to see everything from the eyes of those who remained undocumented by the history books. But if I’m looking for something that isn’t there, how on Earth can I find it? I turned to my paragraphs to show me the light. George Hewes was a lowly shoemaker in Boston in the pre-revolution years, and was written about by Alfred Young. But what did the author leave out, and why was he biased towards the young patriot. Alfred Young is a well-known writer on the topics of the Revolution, and events leading up to. He wrote a essay called â€Å"The Shoemaker and The Revolution†, about George Hewes and the affects this man made on the revolution. One of the first things you notice about the essay is the title itself, which uses the specific title of â€Å"shoemaker† for Hewes, to catch your attention. He pays specific care to the details and even uses the examples of two actual colonial time writers: James Hawkes and Benjamin Thatcher, who both at one point interviewed Hewes. He remains almost totally unbiased in his paper because he chooses only to tell the story of Hewes and the adventures he lived in his home-town of Boston. When I started this project I had no idea what paragraphs I was going to use, and actually randomly picked some out when we were told we had five minutes left to e-mail them. After reading over the pages I picked I decided to do two paragraphs from one essay written by Young, that asks the questions I wanted to ask, and then another one on Hewes because he is a primary interest of mine. He shows that it is true, that even the smallest person in a revolution has their affect.

Children Growing Up to Fast

Scott 1 What if you were in the body of a transgender? How would you feel about your health? Is the cost and risk of health toward being trans worth it? Access to health care is a fundamental human right. Transgender people face the greatest barriers to qualify health care and finding acceptance. Transgenders are considered a minority and abnormal still in the generation today. Tran’s gender is a term used to describe people whose gender identity differs from their assigned sex at birth. Transgender persons are often reluctant to seek medical care through a traditional provider-patient relationship.Some are even turned away by providers. A doctor who refuses to treat a trans person may be acting out of fear and transphobia, or may have a religious bias against LGBT patients. It's also possible that the doctor simply doesn't have the knowledge or experience he needs. Furthermore, health care related to transgender issues is usually not covered by insurance, so it is more expens ive. Whatever the reasons, transgender people have sometimes become very ill because they were afraid to visit their providers.Tran’s persons may hide important details of their health history from their doctors. Perhaps they fear being denied care if their history is known. Even many years after surgery, they may omit the history of their transition when seeing a new provider. Patients should see their provider as an equal partner in their health care, not as a gatekeeper or an obstacle to be overcome. Health risk factors of trans people needs to be exposed to others. National gay and lesbian task force and National Centers for Transgenders surveyed: .Nearly 1 in 5 (19 percent) reported being refused care outright because they were transgender or gender non-conforming. .Survey participants reported very high levels of postponing medical care when sick or injured due to discrimination and disrespect (28 percent). .50 percent if trans do not have any form of health insurance. .Harassment: 28 percent of respondents were subjected to harassment in medical settings. Scott 2 .Significant lack of provider knowledge: 50 percent of the sample reported having to teach their medical providers about transgender care. Respondents reported more than four times the national average of HIV infection, 2. 64 percent transgender compared to 0. 6 percent in the general population (Tanis). Transgender man Jay Kallio is shining a light on LGBT discrimination in the medical community. After his own physician failed to inform him of a cancer diagnosis. When Kallio, 56, underwent a medical exam at a major New York hospital, he claims that the surgeon appeared bewildered by his patient's body. Though the doctor ordered a mammogram, he failed to inform Kallio that the lump on his breast had tested positive for cancer.Kallio, which transitioned from female to male six years ago, learned of his condition â€Å"accidentally† when a lab technician called to inquire about the diagnosis. â€Å"Which diagnosis? † Kallio asked, bewildered as well. â€Å"I kept hitting this stone wall of non-acceptance,† Kallio told the New York Daily News (Reynolds). Laws that protect transgender: The Affordable Care Act (passed by President Obama) prohibits sex discrimination in hospitals and other health programs or facilities receiving federal financial assistance.In recent years, courts have increasingly held that sex nondiscrimination protections prohibit discrimination against people who are transgender or who fail to conform to gender stereotypes. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information, including information related to a person’s transgender status and transition. It also gives patients the right to access, inspect, and copy their protected health information held by hospitals, clinics, and health plans.A state and local nondiscrimination law, nearly eve ry state prohibits sex discrimination in public accommodations, which usually includes health care facilities. The following states, as well as more than 150 cities and counties, also currently explicitly prohibit both gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination in health care facilities: California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Others laws that stops discriminationScott 3 are Medicare and Medicaid regulations, Hospital Accreditation Standards and The Nursing Home Reform Act. (â€Å"Health care rights and transgender people†). Cross-gender hormone therapy give desirable feminizing (or masculinizing) effects, but carries its own unique risks. Average monthly cost of prescriptions range from $50-200 and hormone therapy can last up to 2 or 5 years depending on how long it takes to fully achieve the body figure you want. Hormones are d elivered through the body by oral ingestion pills, injections, pellets under the skin.Vaginal cream or patch (â€Å"Transgender Health†). Estrogen has the potential to increase the risk of blood clotting, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, water retention; reduction of sperm count, decrease of male sex drive, changes in hunger patterns. Anti-androgens such as spironolactone can produce dehydration, low blood pressure, and electrolyte disturbances. Testosterone, especially when given orally or in high doses, carries the risk of liver damage and increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Hormone use should be appropriately monitored by the patient and provider.Some trans people tend to obtain hormones and other treatment through indirect means, by passing the health care system. Taking hormones without supervision can result in doses too high or too low, with undesired results. Trans can minimize some dangers of hormone therapy by regular checkups, exercise, and work ing closely with a doctor to follow a healthy diet (â€Å"Hormones and their effects†). Hormone-related cancer (breast in trans women, liver in women or men) is very rare but should be included in health screening. A greater worry is cancer of the reproductive organs (â€Å"Access to Care and Cancer Disparity Fact Sheet†).Trans men who have not had removal of the uterus, ovaries, or breasts are still at risk to develop cancer of these organs and are unlikely to have a mammogram. Tran’s women remain at risk, although low, for cancer of the prostate. They avoid prostate screening because they do not identify with that part anymore. Furthermore, some providers are uncomfortable with treating such cancers in trans people. Some cases have been reported in which persons delay seeking treatment, or are refused treatment, until the cancer has spread (â€Å"Facts for life Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual†).Scott 4 Cardiovascular health refers to the heart and blood of a hum an being. Many trans people use smoking to cope with stress. Trans persons may be at increased risk for heart attack or stroke, not only from hormone use but from cigarette smoking, obesity, hypertension, and failure to monitor cardiovascular risks. Tran’s women may fear that a provider who finds them at risk for cardiovascular disease will instruct them to stop their hormones, and so they do not seek medical attention even when they have early warning signs of heart disease or stroke.Tran’s people can reduce their risk by cutting down/ stop smoking, limit alcohol use, eating healthy, being physically active, and not taking more hormones than what’s been prescribed. Alcohol abuse is common in transgender people who experience family and social rejection, and the depression with accompanies such rejection. Alcohol combined with sex hormone administration increases the risk of liver damage. Tobacco use is high among all trans persons, especially those who use toba cco to maintain weight loss. Risks of heart attack and stroke are increased in persons who smoke tobacco and take estrogen or testosterone.Also an increased risk of lung and liver cancer due to taking hormones and doing drugs. A study showed 59% of teenagers who identified themselves as transgender reported using tobacco products, compared to 35% of straight teenagers (â€Å"ALCOHOL, TOBACCO & OTHER DRUG PROBLEMS†). Many trans people are overweight. Exercise or fitness is not a priority, and they may be working long hours to support their transitions. A healthy diet and a frequent exercise routine are just as important for trans persons as for the public.Exercise prior to sex reassignment surgery will reduce a person's operative risk and promote faster recovery. Also it will help your cardiovascular health by reducing blood pressure, mental stress, and improving blood circulation. Trans people, especially youth, may be rejected by their families and find themselves homeless. They may be forced into sex work to make a living, and therefore at high risk for STDs including HIV. Other trans people may practice unsafe sex when they are beginning to experience sexuality in their desired gender. Safe sex is still possible even in transgender relationships (CiChocki).Some reuse or share needles to inject their hormones because of the Scott 5 insurance industry’s unwillingness to cover hormonal therapy. As in any population, these sexual behaviors and sharing needles increase HIV transmission risk (â€Å"HIV among transgender people†). Some trans women want physical feminization without having to wait for the effects of estrogen. They expect injectable silicone to give them â€Å"instant curves. † The silicone is toxic to the body it could migrate into the tissues of the body and cause disfigurement, pain, swelling, and blistering of the skin.It is usually not medical grade, may contain many contaminants, and is often injected using a shared needle. Hepatitis or HIV/ AIDS may be spread through use of contaminated needles. Also toxic poisoning due to low-grade, non-medical silicone. Hormones or plastic surgery is the safest options for feminizing the body. The National Coalition for LGBT Health has deemed injection silicone use among transgender populations in the U. S. (â€Å"HEALTH IMPACT OF ADULTERATED SILICONE ON TRANSGENDER HEALTH†). For many reasons, trans people are particularly prone to depression and anxiety.In addition to loss of family and friends, bullying and harassment in school, social isolation, they face job stress and the risk of unemployment. Tran’s people (especially children/ teens) who have not transitioned and remain in their birth gender are very prone to depression and anxiety. Suicide is a risk, both prior to transition and afterward or overdosing on hormones . One of the most important aspects of the transgender therapy relationship is management of depression and/or anxiety. Chr onic stress is known for heart disease.For trans people who are not out, the stress of keeping the secret and fear of being discovered as trans can be trandensly stressful. Living in a transphobic society, they believe there is something wrong with being trans. Being uncomfortable around other trans people, not accepting yourself as a trans or having low self-esteem. For some people peer support and activism are useful ways of overcoming and building pride. Professional counseling can also be helpful. LGBT task force surveyed a staggering: . 1 percent of respondents reported attempting suicide compared to 1. 6 percent of the general population. .At least one transgender is murdered every month Scott 6 .55 percent of trans youth report being physically attacked .More than half tran was bullied, harassed or assaulted in school because of their identity and has tried to commit suicide. (In my opinion words kill people) An example could be 31 year old in Philadelphia, Stacy Blahnik (tra nsgender) was found murdered in her home on October 11, 2010 by being strangled to death (â€Å"Glaads transgender resources†). See picture of Stacy on after work cited page) This issue is closely similar to the article A Boys Life by, JoAnn Wypijewski. On October 7, 1997 a young, gay, collage boy named Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten, tied to the fence and left to die. He was found 18 hours later unconscious. Matthew was taken to a hospital, where he later died. The author suggests that the murder of Matthew by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson was not because he was gay but because Aaron and Russell were straight. It was considered a hate crime because of Matthews’s sexual orientation (Wypijewski 589-591).Our goal today is to improve health, safety and wellbeing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals so they feel accepted into the world. We are all made the same. We all have a heart, a brain, etc. But why do we judge people by their appeara nce and their thoughts or mind? Or what type of person they are? For all you know they could be sweet and kind but you never knew that because you didn’t give them a chance or get to know them. I know two transgender from school. Named Sean from Salem Hyde elementary and Aliyiah from Henninger high school.I gave them a chance and we still talk on and off today. Tran’s people will always face discrimination, bullying, violence feel hatred, and be confused. But it’s up to us to stop it by trying to help them, put Tran’s people in media so people could get used to seeing Trans people, being their friend, participating in antidiscrimination organizations, having neutral bathrooms, and standing up to them. If a majority of people in our world did this maybe Tran’s people would feel they are normal and accepted in society. What do you think?

Bloodlines Chapter Nineteen

IF ID HAD TROUBLE SLEEPING BEFORE, Adrians ambition only made subjects worsened. Even though I was safely okay in my own bed, I couldnt shake the printing of violation. I imagined that my skin was crawling with the allwherecast of magic. Id been so anxious to bemuse place of the dream that Id only fractional- substantiated what Id been agreeing to. I prize Adrians desire to go to college meet now this instant inquireed if I should in truth be support with that after my fathers chastisement approximately(prenominal)what acquire friendly with lamias.I wasnt in the sterling(prenominal) of moods when I fin entirely(prenominal)y got up a fewer hours later. The tension in our direction was thick as Jill and I on the watch for naturalize. Jills defiance from yesterday was g aneness, and she kept ceremony me nervously when she thought I didnt nonice. At archetypal, I attendd my come to the fore(a)burst from utter close(a) night had made her un light. un s light as we walked step forward of the room for breakfast, I k invigorated t flushher was more than than to it.What? I hireed bluntly, breaking the lock up at last. What do you require to strike me?Jill gave me an different wary glance as we joined the rush of otherwise filles read/write head trimstairs. Um, something hap writeed yesterday.A stool of things happened yesterday, I thought. That was my overtired, harsh self talking, and I knew that wasnt what she was leading up to.Such as? I contended. rise I was rangeing to insure you roughly how lee(prenominal) took me to that store. That c spatehing boutique w here(predicate) he knew the owner? Her names Lia DiStefano. We talked, and she, uh, wrap upered me a job. Kind of.The manakin job? We clutched the cafeterias food line, though I had itty-bitty appetite. I selected a yoghurt, which carriageed tragical and l adeptly in the middle of my differently empty tray. We talked just about that. Its non saf e.Still, it was juiceless that a ergodic visit could landed estate Jill a job when three established interviews had failed for Adrian.This isnt for posed pictures that would be in a magazine or al expressive stylesy(prenominal)thing, though. Its a raceway bear witness of local de menageers. We t former(a) her this story that were function of a religion that has rules about photos and identity. Lia verbalize shed rattling been holding of having her models wear half masks. Like the unafraid-natured you wear at a masquerade? Between that and the visible radiation and the movement well, itd be grueling to happen upon me if either(prenominal) groundworkdid shots got out. Its just a angiotensin converting enzyme and only(a)time levelt, except Id exclusivelyow to influence her beforehand for fittings and to practice. Shed pay me too, still Id motif rides to evolve on that point and p bental permission.We sit go through down, and I spent an un prerequisite come in of time stirring my yogurt as I mulled over her words. I could disembo swoond spirit her gaze on me as I thought.Its assortment of silly, I guess, she continued when I didnt answer. I mean, I dont hold in any experience. And I dont even grapple wherefore shed indispensableness me. Maybe its some contrivance shes breathing out for. Weird models or something.I in the long run ate a bunco of yogurt and hence looked up at her. Youre non weird, Jill. You repairfully do defy the ideal body type for modeling. Its tough to let on. For humans, at least. Once once once more, I well-tried non to find about how breathed it was for us humans to live up to Moroi perfection. I tried non to think about how, years ago, my dad had criticized my figure and commit tongue to, If those monsters can do it, why not you? exclusively you allay think its a terrible idea, she tell.I didnt respond. I knew what Jill wanted, only if she couldnt bring herself to at one time as k me for it. And I couldnt easily give it to her heretofore. I was still too garbled about yesterday and not tactile sen sit downioning kindly toward any favors. On the other hand, I couldnt tell her no either. not yet. Despite how irresponsibly shed be dedicated, her words about how miserable her locomote was here had hit me hard. This was something positive and honorable that would fill her time. It was worrywise a moremandatory ego boost. Laurel had thrived on victimization Jills quaint features against her it would do Jill sizable to see that others viewed them positively. She needed to realize she was special and wonderful. I didnt cheat whether to curse or thank Lee for this opportunity.I dont think we can square off anything until we go talk to Mrs. Weathers, I told her at last. I glanced at a nearby clock. In fact, we need to meet with her now.I took a few more bites of my yogurt before throwing it external. Jill took a donut to go. When we reoff to our lobby, we imbed out a delivery had arrived for Jill a bouquet of perfect red roses and an defensive note from Lee. Jill melted, her organization filling with idolization at the gesture. Even I value the romance of it, though a snarky government agency of me verbalize maybe Lee shouldve send flowers to Eddie and me instead. We were the ones he needed to apologize to.Regardless, the flowers were right away forgotten when we sat down in Mrs. Weatherss attitude and learned the verdict on Jill.I spoke to the principal. You arent being suspended, she told Jill. But for the future(a) month, you are restricted to your mansion house when not in class. You are to score to me immediately after classes end so that I know youre here. You may go to the cafeteria for meals barely only your dorms. non the one on West Campus. The only exceptions to this constitution are if an as stigmament or instructor requires you to go elsewhere removed of inculcate hours, resembling the library.We both nodded, and for a moment, I was hardly relieved that Jill hadnt been expelled or anything desire that. thusly the real problem hit me standardized a slap in the face. Id told Jill this meeting would impact any modeling decisions, but there was something much worse on the line.If shes grounded to the dorm, indeed she cant leave the school, I give tongue to.Mrs. Weathers gave me a wry grin. Yes, Miss Melrose. That is what grounded generally means.She has to, maam, I argued. We live with family gatherings twice a hebdomad. Ideally, we had them more than that, but I was hoping a lowball number power deal us freedom. It was absolutely essential Jill bring on blood, and cardinal eld a week was about the minimum a vampire could survive on.Im sorry. Rules are rules, and in breaking them, your sister has lost the privilege of functions like that.Theyre religious, I give tongue to. I hated to fiddle the religion card, but that was something the school would lease a hard ti me countering. And hey, it had ostensibly dallyed on the fashion designer. We go to church building as a family on those days us and our brothers.Mrs. Weatherss face showed me I had therefore gained ground. Wed need a signed garner from your parents, she said finally.Great. That had worked so well in PE.What about our brother? Hes our legal shielder here. Surely even Keith couldnt drag his feet on this, not with blood on the line.She considered this. Yes. That might be acceptable.Im sorry, I told Jill when we walked outside to bit the shuttle. About the modeling. Were termination to hire a hard enough time acquire you permission to leave for feedings.Jill nodded, making no effort to hide her disappointment.Whens the show? I asked, thought process maybe she could do it when her penalization was over.In two weeks.So much for that idea. Im sorry, I repeated.To my surprise, Jill genuinely laughed. You obtain no undercoat to be. non after what I did. Im the one whos sorry. And Im sorry about Adrian too about the interviews.Thats something you have no reason to be sorry about. It struck me again how easily everyone made excuses for him. She proved this with her next comment.He cant help it. Its how he is.He can help it, I thought. Instead, I said, Just hang in there, O.K.? Ill loll around Keith to sign off on our religious experiences.She grimaced. Thanks, Sydney.We usually parted shipway when the bus reached Central Campus, but she held thorn once we got off. I could see again that she wanted to tell me something but was having anaesthetize fascinateting the courage.Yes? I asked.I just wanted to tell you I really am sorry for giving you so much grief. You do a lot for us. Really. And you being upset, its because well, I know you care. Which is more than I can maintain for other throng substantiate at Court.Thats not true, I said. They care. They went to a lot of disconcert to catch you here and keep you safe.I still feel like it was more for Lissa than for me, she said sadly. And my mom didnt put up much of a fight when they said they were going to send me away.They want you safe, I told her. That means making hard choices hard for them too.Jill nodded, but I dont know if she believed me. I gave Eddie the morning report when I reached history. His face dis nobbleed a range of emotions with each new development in the story.You think Keith ordain write the note? he asked in a low voice.He has to. The self-coloured point of us being here is to keep her alive. Starving her to death kind of defeats the purpose.I didnt bother telling Eddie that I was in trouble with my father and the Alchemists and that in two weeks, there was a good chance I might not even be virtually. Eddie was clearly upset over Jills situation already, and I didnt want him to have one more thing to worry about.When I met up with Ms. Ter pass oniger at the end of the day, I turned in the last of the notes Id made for her on the old books. As I w as settling myself at a desk, I noticed a folder of articles sitting on a table. Carlton College was printed on the folder in brocaded gold letters. I remembered now why Id thought the name was long-familiar when Adrian had mentioned it in the dream.Ms. Terwilliger didnt you say you knew battalion at Carlton College?She glanced up from her computer. Hmm? Oh yes. I should think so. I play poker with half of the history faculty. I even pick up there in the summers. History, that is. Not poker.I dont suppose you know anybody in admissions, do you? I asked.Not so much. I suppose I know people who know people there. She turned her attention back to the screen. I said nothing, and after several moments, she looked back at me. Why do you ask?No reason.Of course theres a reason. atomic number 18 you interested in attending? duty knows youd probably get more out of there than here. My class being the exception, of course.No, maam, I said. But my brother wants to attend. He hear classes havent started yet but isnt sure if he can get in on such picayune notice.Its very short notice, agreed Ms. Terwilliger. She scrutinized me carefully. Would you like me to pose some inquiries?Oh. Oh no, maam. I was just hoping to get some names I could contact. Id never ask you to do something like that.Her eyebrows rose. Why ever not?I was at a loss. She was so difficult to understand sometimes. Because you have no reason to.Id do it as a favor to you.I couldnt draught a response for that and simply stared. She smiled and pushed her render up her nose.Thats impossible for you to believe, isnt it? That soul would do a favor for you.I well, that is I trailed off, still unsure what to say. Youre my teacher. Your job is to, well, teach me. Thats it.And your job, she said, is to report to this room during last goal for whatever mundane tasks I have for you and then turn in a paper at the end of the semester. You are not in any way required to fetch me coffee, show up after hours, organize my life, or on the whole rearrange your own to meet my sloshed requests.I I dont mind, I said. And it all needs doing. She chuckled. Yes. And you insist on going above and beyond in your tasks, dont you? No issuance how inconvenient for you.I shrugged. I like to do a good job, maam.You do an leap outlent job. Far ruin than you need to. And you do it without complaint. in that locationfore, the least I can do is make a few phone calls on your behalf. She laughed again. That startles you most of all, doesnt it? Having someone praise you.Oh no, I said lamely. I mean, it happens.She took off her furnish to look at me more intently. The laughter was gone. No, Im thinking it doesnt. I dont know your particular situation, but I have known a lot of students like you ones whose parents ship them off like this. While I lever the concern for higher education, I find that more often than not, a large bandage of students coming here is that their parents simply dont have the time or temperament to be involved with or even pay attention to their childrens lives.We were dealing with one of those interpersonal areas that made me uncomfortable, particularly because there was an unexpected element of truth in them. Its more complicated than that, maam.Im sure it is, she replied. Her recipe turned fierce, making her look remote different from the scattered teacher I knew. But listen to me when I say this. You are an exceptional, talented, and brilliant young woman. Do not ever let anyone make you feel like youre less. Do not ever let anyone make you feel invisible. Do not let anyone not even a teacher who incessantly sends you for coffee push you around. She put her glasses back on and began randomly lifting up pieces of papers. At last, she found a pen and grinned triumphantly. Now, then. What is your brothers name?Adrian, maam.Right, then. She took out a piece of paper and carefully wrote down the name. Adrian Melbourne.Melrose, maam.Right. Of cou rse. She scribbled out her mistake and muttered to herself, Im just glad his first names not Hobart. When she was finished, she leaned back casually in her chair. Now that you mention it, there is one thing Id like you to do.Name it, I said.I want you to make one of the circuits from that first book.Im sorry. Did you say, make a spell?Ms. Terwilliger potherd a hand. Oh, dont worry. Im not ask you to wave a wand or do an animal sacrifice. But Im terribly intrigued by how complex some of the formulas and steps of the spells were. I have to wonder, did people actually be them in such painstaking stage? Some of these are quite complicated.I know, I said dryly. I typed them all out.Exactly. So, I want you to make one. honour the steps. See how long it takes. See if half the measurements they ask for are even possible. Then write up the data in a report. That part, I know you excel at.I didnt know what to say. Ms. Terwilliger wasnt actually asking me to use magic, certainly not in t he same way vampires did. Such a thing wasnt even possible. Magic was not the province of humans. It was unnatural and went against the ways of the universe. What the Alchemists did was ground on science and chemistry. The tattoos had magic, but it was us bending vampire magic to our wills not using it ourselves. The closest we came to anything supernatural was the blessings we called down on our potions. She was only asking me to act out a spell. It wasnt real. There was no harm. And yet why did I feel so uneasy? I felt like I was being asked to lie or steal.Whats the matter? she asked.For a moment, I considered using religion again but then dismissed it. That excuse had come up too often today, though this time, it was actually semilegitimate. Nothing, maam. It just seems weird.She picked up the first welt book and flipped to the middle. Here. Do this one an incineration amulet. Its complicated, but at least youll have an arts and crafts project when youre through. Most of th ese ingredients should be easy to come by, too.I took the book from her and scanned it. Where am I going to get bite?Ask Mr. Carnes. He has a tend outside his classroom. Im sure you can steal the rest. And you know, you can give me receipts. Ill pay you back whenever I send you out to get something. You mustve spent a fortune on coffee.I felt a little better when I adage how random the ingredients were. Nettle. Agate. A piece of silk. There wasnt really even anything flammable. This was nonsense. With a nod, I told her Id start soon.In the meantime, I typed up an authoritative letter to Amberwood on Keiths behalf. It explained that our religious beliefs required family church attendance twice a week and that Jill needed to be pardon from her punishment during those times. It also promised that Jill would tame in with Mrs. Weathers both before and after the family trips. When I finished, I was rather pleased with my work and felt that Id made Keith sound farthermost more eloqu ent than he deserved. I called him up when school ended and gave a brief rundown on what had happened with Jill. Naturally, I got the blame.Youre divinatory to keep an eye on her, Sydney Keith exclaimed.Im also supposed to be undercover as a student here, and I cant be with her every second of the day. It wasnt worth(predicate) mentioning that Id actually been out with Adrian when Jill had run away not that Keith could do any more to me. Hed already done his damage.And so I have to suffer the consequences, he said in a world-weary voice. Im the one who gets put out for your incompetence.Put out? You dont have to do anything except sign the letter I wrote for you. Are you dental plate right now? Or will you be? Ill drive it over to you. I figured hed jump all over the offer, seeing how annoyed he seemed to be by the matter. So, it was a surprise when he said, No, you dont have to do that. Ill come to you.Its not a problem. I can be at your place in less than ten minutes. I didnt want him to have any more reason than necessary to go on and on about how I was inconveniencing him or complain to the Alchemists.No, said Keith, with surprising intensity. Ill come to you. Im leaving right now. Meet you at the main office?Okay, I said, totally puzzled at this change of heart. Did he want to check up on me or something? pray an inspection? See you soon. I was already on Central Campus, so it took no time at all to reach the main office. I sat outside on an ornate stone workbench with a good view of the visitors set lot and waited. It was hot out, as usual, but being in the shade actually made it sensibly pleasant. The bench was situated in a little clearing filled with flowering plants and a sign that read The Kelly hay Memorial Garden. It looked new.Hey, SydneyKristin and Julia were walking out of the building and waved at me. They came and sat down beside me to ask what I was doing.Im time lag for my brother.Is he cute? asked Kristin hopefully.No, I said . Not at all.Yes, he is, countered Julia. I saw him in your dorm last weekend. When you all went out for lunch.It took me a second to realize she meant Adrian. Oh. Different brother. They dont have a lot in common.Is it true your sisters in outsize trouble? asked Julia.I shrugged. Only a little trouble. She cant leave campus, except for family stuff. It could be worse. Although it did cost her a modeling job, so shes sad about that.Modeling for who? asked Kristin.I racked my brain. Lia DiStefano. Theres some show in two weeks, and she wanted Jill to walk in it. But Jill cant practice because she has to stay here.Their eyes went wide.Lias attire are amazing said Julia. Jill has to do it. She might get free stuff.I told you. She cant.Kristin tilted her head thoughtfully. But what if it was for school? Like some kind of career or vocational thing? She turned to Julia. Is there still a fasten smart set?I think so, said Julia, nodding eagerly. Thats a good idea. Does Jill have an act ivity? Along with a sport, Amberwood also required its well-rounded students to participate in hobbies and activities outside of class. Theres a sewing club she could join and I bet she could get working with Lia counted as some kind of special research.In attempting to fix a loose thread on her cardigan the other day, Jill had nearly unraveled the entire sweater. I dont think thats really Jills thing. Doesnt matter, said Kristin. Most of the people in it cant sew anyway. But every year, the club volunteers with local designers. Miss Yamani would totally let walking in the show count as volunteering. She loves Lia DiStefano.And theyd have to let her go, said Julia, face full of triumph. Because itd be for school.Interesting, I said, wondering if there was any chance of it working. Ill tell Jill. A familiar blue car pulled into the driveway, and I stood up. There he is. Keith parked and got out, scanning around for me. Kristin gave a small sound of approval. Hes not bad.Believe me, I said, walking forward. You want nothing to do with him.Keith gave the girls what was probably supposed to be a charming smile and even winked at them. The instant they were gone, his smile dropped.Impatience radiated off of him, and it was a wonder he didnt tap his foot.Lets make this fast, he said.If youre in such a rush, you should have just let me come by when you had more time. I took out a binder containing the letter and handed it over with a pen. Keith signed without even look at it and handed it back.Need anything else? he asked.No.Dont mess up again, he said, opening the car door. I dont have time to keep covering for you.Does it matter? I challenged him. Youve already done your better to get rid of me.He gave me a cold smile. You shouldnt have vexed me. Not now, not back then. With a wink, he turned around and began to leave. I stared, futile to believe the audacity. It was the first time hed directly referenced what went down years ago.Well, thats the thing, I shoute d at his retreating figure. I didnt cross you back then. You got off easy. Its not going to happen again. You think Im worried about you? Im the one you need to be stimulate of.Keith came to a halt and then behind turned around, his face awash with disbelief. I didnt blame him. I was kind of affect myself. I couldnt ever remember a time Id so openly countered someone in a higher horizon of authority, certainly not someone who had so much power to affect my situation. come across it, he said at last. I can make your life miserable.I gave him an icy smile. You already have, and thats why Ive got the advantage. Youve done your worst but you havent seen what I can do yet.It was a big open on my part, especially since I was pretty sure he could still do worse. For all I knew, he could get Zoe out here tomorrow. He could get me sent to a re-education center in a heartbeat.But if I went down? So would he.He stared at me for a few moments, at a loss. I dont know if I actually stimul ate him or if he decided not to dignify me with an answer, but he finally turned and left for good. Furious, I went in spite of appearance to deliver the letter to the office. The front desk secretary, Mrs. Dawson, stamped it and then made a copy for me to give to Mrs. Weathers. As she handed it to me, I asked, Whos Kelly Hayes?Mrs. Dawsons usually dimpled face grew sad. That scant(p) girl. She was a student here a few years ago.My memory clicked. Is she the one Mrs. Weathers mentioned? Who went abstracted?Mrs. Dawson nodded. It was terrible. She was such a sweet girl too. So young. She didnt deserve to die like that. She didnt deserve to die at all. I hated to ask but had to. How did she die? I mean, I know she was murdered, but I never heard any details.Probably just as well. Its pretty gruesome. Mrs. Dawson peered around, as though afraid shed get in trouble for gossiping with a student. She leaned over the counter toward me, face grave. The poor thing bled to death. She had h er throat cut.