Hiv (Si Heidi, Si Ivy at Si V) Draft

David Kyle N. Laggui BSM – 1A (CS) Reaction Paper # 1 HIV (Si Heidi, Si Ivy at Si V) Documentary film maker Gil Bustamante (Jake Cuenca) is commissioned by the Department of Health to create a documentary for their HIV / AIDS awareness program. By means of the San Lazaro Hospital as a backdrop, he weaves a story that combines the numerous stories of people who are infected with the virus. Among those having their story told are heterosexuals, homosexuals, prostitutes, and intravenous users of drugs. His documentary focuses on three major characters: Heidi (Ma. Isabel Lopez), an ordinary housewife who contracted the virus from her philandering former husband, an overseas contract worker who died in Saudi Arabia eventually three years ago. Leaving her alone to care for their 9 year old son, Victor (JP Mesde) is also a patient of HIV. Ivy (Iza Calzado), a young call center agent who discovers she is HIV positive when she tries to make a claim for work abroad. She's discombobulated how she contracted the virus. Though she has X feckless and relaxed boyfriend (Will Devaughn), Ivy is far from being reckless and promiscuous. Her plans for a new life in another country shattered, she must now play against the world, her work, family, and friends – a misstep from her past. Vanessa (IC Mendoza), a merry young gay and stand-up comedian who engages in a variety of sexual pleasures with manifold partners. He, with his very supportive parents, is geared up and raring to go to shares her story. Merrily though keen for the exposure, Vanessa is careless and still sleeps around with anonymous strangers. One day, he gets beaten by a band of thugs while cruising the streets. For his own reasons, Gil is gripped with finishing the documentary, even though some of his key subjects have either died or backed out of the project. He learns that the fight against HIV / AIDS is not just the responsibility of government – this is a fight that requires responsible action from each individual. In the end, he is exultant in finishing the documentary as well as being able to play against his own greatest fear†¦

Using Examples Compare and Contrast the Characteristics

Using examples compare and contrast the characteristics of both managers and leaders. Introduction: Leadership and management are two bipolar systems of worker administration in current business environment as defined by Kumle and Kelly (2000, 8). It is a topic most debated upon due to the similar characteristic of the roles they play in an organization which often intertwine. Leaders and managers are however disparate in their nature of act. As applied in a team-based organizational structure, the argument is that managers and leaders differs in the perceived entailment of authority they posses as viewed by their employees.However, they compliment one another and can be cultivated in order to be effectual. In this essay we will discuss how the traits of managers and leaders contrast one another by comparison. We will then analyze and evaluate how these differences can offset the other leading to the conclusion that both positions are highly congruent in order to achieve an effective situational leadership approach in an organization, eliminating the â€Å"false dichotomy† between the two (Adair 2005, 31).It is vitally important for leaders to posses not only leadership quality but also substantiated managerial skills, and vice versa, especially in today’s cutthroat business environment. Leaders and managers are often confused due to the stark similarity of authoritative position they entails but are different in their defining factors. They are the same because of their essential role of being the person in the lead of the employees and being their source of command.However they are different in the effect they play in an organization as well as the perspective they emanates to the employees as well as the world. Leadership is the aptitude to guide and direct the embodying team towards an end goal while management is the astute means of completing the targets (Kumle and Kelly 2000, 9). As the famous saying by Warren Bennis (1989), â€Å"managers do things right while leaders do the right thing†. It is essential to realize the difference because some managers might not possess certain leadership qualities, as it is that leaders might not necessarily be an ffective manager. Managers are more structural in nature through perseverance, consistency and knowledge while leaders on the adverse lean more towards an artistic and innovative mindset (Zaleznik 1992, 127). The difference lies in the nature of act. Managers often referred to the position of authority while leaders refer to an inspirational and far-sightedness innate trait of a person. The style of corporate management distinguishes leaders from managers. Being a leader refers to the possession of innate characteristics and trait models of visionaries.They are the source of inspiration as they posses illuminating qualities and attributes which would be the driving force leading the company towards success. Personality traits such as charisma, gusto, honesty, assuran ce and the ability to foster genuine connection with people (Adair 2005, 29-30) is the fundamental composition that will bring together the entire workforce to advance towards success. A manager on the other hand is the behavioral model that these leaders ought to undertake in order to be effective in committing their roles.One might be an effective manager but they may not be the epitome of a leader that will push an advance the organization beyond their limit. For example, Apple Corporation have had fair management control but they only attained its high innovative achiever status due to Steve Job’s charismatic and ground-breaking input that transformed the company (Shontell 2011). Thus, this highlights the empirical quality that is characteristically of leaders and not necessarily of managers.Therefore, the style and characteristics of managers and leaders differentiate them in terms of extend of success they produce. The nature of relationship with employee is an evident difference between leaders and managers. Leaders guide with the instinct of gaining â€Å"followers† while managers have â€Å"subordinates† (Storms 2011). Leaders do not abide the conventional mode of commanding control instead act on the ground of emancipating inspiration (King 2010) and ensuring the wellbeing and progress of the team as whole.This is because leaders are â€Å"more emotional† (Leadership Pages 1997) and are concern of the human aspect of their company. For example Phil Knight of Nike emphasizes highly on allowing mistakes and keeping a positive environment in spite of times of turmoil (Jay 2001, 92) and this train an effective pool of workers which is a result of Knight’s leadership quality of emanating inspiration and garnering trust of employees and genuine loyalty. Managers on the other hand act on a stern basis of control system.This hierarchical positioning in turn ingests a pseudo psychological disdain of workers to managers as th ey feel they are being treated with contempt as subsidiaries (Katcher and Snyder 2007, 52). This will in turn limit the willingness for employees to put in the extra effort and they will thus not produce exemplary results due to the lack of loyalty and dedication. Richard Brandson (2011) instills the importance of leaders being supportive of their employees that led the success of Virgin Company.The structural construction of the role played by managers instills this notion of quality difference of employee control in the effectiveness of managers compared to leaders. Comparing in this light, leadership must be incorporated in managerial control because to attain corporate success, it is highly essential to sustain the passion, assurance and ambition of stakeholders especially the workers as Narayana Murthy (2011), Chairman Emeritus of Infosys, suggests. Each individual have their own defining qualities and the personalities describing them might be an advantage for one in certain i ndustries.When these traits are combined with the managerial position, the personality traits would suit the respect the manager receive when they have high aspect of certain traits such as the Big Five Personality Traits (Waddell, Jones and George 2011, 133). It is important for managers, being in their position, to possess certain unique individuality to propel their quality and attractiveness as a leader especially in the magnificently transformed prospect of the current business environment.Personality type is the factor that separates leaders and managers as all personals can become good managers, but good leaders are ones who are privileged with the narcissistic personality whom people look up to due to their gripping attitude and incredible ideas that galvanize others (Maccoby 2000, 72-73). Therefore, it clearly prove that in a real world situational analyses the characteristics of both managers and leaders may differ, but they are needed to corroborate one another in order t o advocate and augment an effective form of leadership and management in an organization.The inherent individual traits of a manager determine the quality of a leader it makes. At the same time, inborn leaders without the technical qualification of a manager could not execute as an effective leader. The effectiveness of an organization is highly reliant on the synergy of leadership and management quality and this create an empowerment that will transcend the organization well beyond the competitors. Leadership quality of supplying the vision of an end goal when combined with the resourceful conscientiousness of managers would create a highly effective company that has high visualization.At the same time the common exchange of respect and inspiration they give as a leader would ingest the essence of teamwork that will propel the organization further forward as every member of the organization shares the common dedication and passion to attain their ultimate goals. This loyalty from e very contributing body can only be attained when their leader has the charisma and ability to unite the organization, at the same time possess a conscientious managerial role that would instill trust in the employees that their leader would bring success.Hence the synergy of inborn leadership traits and hardware managerial skills is the highly regarded form of leadership style that is highly respectable by the companies’ employees as well as other stakeholders and eventually become the driving force that will push the organization forward especially in the new age of business environment and ethics that is increasingly demanding and critical, as well as the democratic progress that inspire people to be more conspicuous of exercising their rights. Reference List Adair, John. 2005. How to Grow Leaders. London and Sterling, VA: Kogan Page Limited.Bennis, Warren. 1989. On Becoming A Leader. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Brandson, Richard. 2011. Richard Brandson: Ad vice for Entrepreneurs. YouTube videos, 0:04. http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=VH35Iz9veM0&feature=fvwrel Leadership Pages: The Difference Between Management And Leadership. 1997. ME96 Leadership Page. http://www. ee. ed. ac. uk/~gerard/MENG/ME96/Documents/Intro/leader. html Jay, Ros. 2001. Winning Minds. Oxford, United Kingdom: Capstone Publishing Limited. Katcher, Bruce L. and Adam Snyder. 2007. 30 Reasons Employees Hate Their Managers.United State of America: American Management Association King, William. 2010. â€Å"Distinguishing between Manager and a Leader, Are they Really Different? † Team Building Articles, August 2. http://www. 212articles. com/distinguishing-between-manager-and-a-leader-are-they-really-different/ Kumle, John and Nancy J. Kelly. 2000. â€Å"Leadership vs. Management. †Ã‚  SuperVision,  61(4), 8-10. http://search. proquest. com/docview/195590555? accountid=10382 Maccoby, Michael. 2000. â€Å"Narcissistic Leaders: The Incredible Pros, The I nevitable Cons. † Harvard Business Review, January – February Issue. http://edocs. ibrary. curtin. edu. au/eres_display. cgi? url= dc60009629. pdf©right=1 Murthy, Narayana. 2011. Narayana Murthy on Values & Leadership. YouTube videos, 3:26. http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=QBaCRu7by10&feature=related Senior, Carl, Robin Martin, Michael West and Rowena M. Yeats. 2011. â€Å"How Earlobes Can Signify Leadership Potential†. Harvard Business Review, November Issue. Shontell, Alyson. 2011. â€Å"The Legacy Of Steve Jobs: How He Took Apple From Near Bankruptcy To Billions In 14 Years And Changed The World. † Business Insider, October 6. http://www. businessinsider. om/the-legacy-of-steve-jobs-how-he-took-apple-from-near-bankruptcy-to-billions-in-13-years-and-changed-the-world-2011-10 Storms, Cherie. 2011, April 10. â€Å"Managers have subordinates, Leaders have followers. † Cherie Storms – Saving the world one day at a time. http://cheriestorms . wordpress. com/2011/04/10/managers-have-subordinates-leaders-have-followers/ Waddell, Dianne, Gareth R. Jones, Jennifer M. George. 2011. Contemporary Management. 2nd ed. Australia: McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd. Zaleznik, Abraham. 1992. â€Å"Managers and leaders: are they different? † Harvard Business Review, March – April Issue.

Hide and seek by Vernon Scannell Essay

‘Hide and seek’ by Vernon Scannell is about a young, excitable infant playing the childhood game of hide and seek. It begins by revealing the juvenile excitement experienced by a child when playing a game – ‘Call out. Call loud: I’m ready! Come and find me!’ Through the poets use of exclamation marks we can see the child’s joy at partaking in the game. It is exhilarating and fun time for the child, but it is also very competitive. The manner in which he hides shows this competitiveness; he meticulously hides under dirty sacking in the garden shed and makes sure that his feet aren’t ‘sticking out’ . Also when his friends are seeking him, they are portrayed as ‘prowling in’, and ‘whispering at the door’. This further intensifies the degree of competitiveness within the game. However he is determined to win the game, and after a lengthy space of time he thinks, ‘It is time to let them know that you’re the winner’. By know the child is supremely confident that he has emerged the victor, however it only exaggerates his betrayal and feeling of abandonment when he finds out the truth. Finally when the boy victoriously emerges from his hiding place, and shouts ‘I’ve won, I’ve won! Here I am!’ he is greeted by a scene of nothingness -‘The darkening garden watches. Nothing stirs’. His childish dreams of a grand procession in his honour are dashed immediately, and we begin to sympathise with the boy as he tragically realises that he has been betrayed and deserted by his friends. The most important theme explored in ‘Hide and seek’ is the individual status of one human being. The poem asks the contentious question, how much do we really matter? The poet divulges into this topic and comes to the conclusion that we are not individually important in the wider scheme of things than we think. ‘Half-past Two’ by U.A. Fanthorpe concentrates more on the idea of time and the ways in which it governs society. The poem revolves around a child being  punished for doing ‘Something Very Wrong’. The use of capital letters gives the impression that the act committed must have something very serious, and also describes the angered tone of voice that the teacher may have used when admonishing him. However the next line contrasts sharply with these thoughts by saying – ‘(I forget what it was)’. The punishment given by the teacher is to make him stay in the ‘schoolroom till half-past two’. However, the words ‘half-past two’ are meaningless to the boy because ‘She hadn’t taught him Time’, and he was too scared to remind her of that. The boy is always respectful towards the teacher, and their social difference is exaggerated by the capital letter at the beginning of the word ‘She’. The teacher is perceived as a god-like figure to the boy, who has no power or say in any of her imperatives. The unfortunate boy has no comprehension of time and therefore ‘half-past two’ is double-dutch to him. The boy’s definition of time comes from aspects of his own family life – ‘Timeformykisstime’, ‘Gettinguptime’ and ‘TVtime’. The child, although not pre-linguistic, is not practiced in the use of regular time and hence must use time by thinking of things connected with it. His compound ‘time-words’ shows his inability to associate with the ‘alien’ abstract time that the adults in his environment repeatedly use. As a result, he does not know when it is time for him to leave the schoolroom to return home. This causes him to forget that time exists, and he begins to dream about the ‘smell of old chrysanthemums’ and ‘the air outside the window’. This is a typical example of an epiphany, where the boy becomes unimpeded by the constraints of time, shown by the use of the words ‘into ever.’ He is liberated by the bounds of time for a short while, that is until his startled teacher returns to find him still there. The teacher is profusely apologetic and tells him that he can go home. The ensuing stanza is probably the most important – ‘And he never forgot how once by not knowing time/He escaped into the clockless land of ever/ Where time hides tick-less waiting to be born. A feeling of reminiscence is shown by the use of the words ‘he never forgot.’ The ending is particularly affirmative as it shows the happiness felt by the boy as his imagination runs wild and he eludes time into the ‘clockless land of ever.’ The most pertinent theme explored in ‘Half-past Two’ is that of time, and the way it governs our lives. The poem is articulates the adversities of time and contrasts it with the liberty and bliss experienced by the boy when he was freed from time. The cruel aspect is that all human beings eventually run out of time; we get old, lonely and eventually die due to time. Isolation is a major theme within both poems because it affects both boys concerned in a different but dominant way. The child in ‘Hide and Seek’ is purposefully forgotten and is left alone to his own senses: ‘floor is cold’. Isolation is a key element in ‘Half-past two’ because the child in question is forgotten about in detention and he begins to reverie in his own world. It is a more commanding theme in ‘Hide and Seek’ because of the harsh nature in which the boy is abandoned. One of the most foremost similarities in themes between the two poems is that they both concentrate profoundly on greater social forces. This is seen by the use of the words ‘She’ in ‘Half-past two’ and ‘They’ in ‘Hide and Seek’. The boy in ‘Half-past two’ is completely controlled by his authoritative teacher; and one may argue that the ‘prowling’ and ‘whispering’ are quite threatening thus causing the boy to hide because of his fear of society, not simply because he is playing a game. Time is a comparable theme explored in both poems, but more so in ‘Half-past two’. In ‘Hide and Seek’, time symbolically passes to show the transition of friendship to loneliness; and ‘Hide and Seek’ discusses how the world is restrained by the limits of time.

Telecommunications and Networking Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Telecommunications and Networking - Article Example The rise of ICT and electronics brought tremendous advancement to communications technology which had grown from the ordinary Morse code, to simple telephony, and recently through visual telecommunication, and finally to the advent of wireless systems. The impact of this progress hastened the speed and the convenience of delivering and receiving valuable information with vividness and precision. Modern society has become so agile with the fast pace of life, businesses, and the need for mobile technologies has also increased. Developments cope with these needs and telecommunications became mobile with cellular pagers, cellular phones, and recently with mobile videophones. Surely telecommunications is accessible wherever you are in the world. If this technology did exist during WWII, Pearl Harbor tragedy could not have happened. The pace of development along the field of ICT and telecommunication seems so fast that new technologies emerged and changes in monthly basis. Ideas keep coming out every single day and before you know it, what is in today is pass' by the end of the semester. Take for example the emergence of wireless communication technologies. Before we know it the once popular analog mobile phones has gone so far to integrate computing and mobile internet access in just a span of three generations. That is a lot of time if you think of it but to appreciate the progress its better understood in terms of what had changed so far since the first cellular communication device was introduced. We can even trace back our discussion of the history of wireless communications from 0G or Zero generations when telephone systems was still operator assisted with very limited channels. But we have to begin our exploration from First generation (1G) to third generations (3G) of modern mobile communications, a gro wing family of wireless technology. The First Generation (1G) "The big boom in mobile phone service really began with the introduction of analog cellular service called AMPS (Analog Mobile Phone Service)" (Shepler, 2005). The first generation technologies of wireless communications are analog cellular phones. Based on record the 1G era covers the 1980s. The first mobile phone systems, called as "cellular mobile radio telephone" used analog radio signals which are transmitted via a less developed networks of repeaters such as those used by amateur radio operators.. Analog signals are continuous electrical signals that vary in time and variations follow that of the original non-electric signal to make them analogous hence the name analog (Net Tel Information Center, 2004). In analog technologies, the voice signals are transmitted via a base carrier in a form of an alternating current which frequency is changed and varied to match the original signal, amplified, then transmitted via the networks. This system is still used in some landline telephon es and radio broadcasts today. Among the first 1G systems introduced was in 1979, with Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland's Nordic Mobile Telephone (MBT) system launched in 1981, and the Total Access Communication System (TACS), deployed in the United Kingdom in 1983 (Britannica Online, 2008). The Second Generation (2G) The birth of digital

Cost Drivers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cost Drivers - Essay Example Finally, cost drivers includes hours of time, number of employees, number of setups, number of wheel, number of enquiries, number of products produced, number of machines maintained, and number of hours of supervision. Cost behaviour normally relate to various activities as well as the consumption of resources ((Hansen et al. 2009). Such resources have costs which are either fixed and do not vary directly with resource usage in the short run or variable and varies in direct proportion to the resource consumption. Activities usually consume resources and the costs of such resources often follow various behavioural patterns (Needles et al. 2010). Since, the supervisors spend an equal amount of time with each employee they supervise, the costs associated with it are fixed, and they do not vary directly with resource usage. Since the building is allocated based on square footage, the costs are variable. There is a direct correlation between amount of space used and the rent. There is also a direct correlation between the Energy or electric power consumed and the number of units produced (Needles et al. 2010). In terms of labour, the costs are variable as they change in direct proportion to the number of units produced. The cost of equipment is fixed and does not vary directly to the units produced. The cost of materials varies in direct proportion to the number of units produced. There is an indirect relationship between amount of supplies and production time. The costs therefore vary in direct proportion to the resource consumption ((Hansen et al.

Nursing Knowledge Resources and Nursing Theory Essay

Nursing Knowledge Resources and Nursing Theory - Essay Example This makes them to collaborate with others and the conversations will be scientific when they work with the physicians. Generally it was observed that physicians are giving increased autonomy for the nurses, who follow evidence based practice. This results in willingness in increasing the accountability and professionalism. The research is capable of validating the care they provide when they use evidence based practice. The research on nurses has shown that they lack skills regarding the appraise of research literature. As a result they are not able to use the research findings. The concept of evidence based practice increased the nurses' professional skills. The aim of the research should be the awareness of the nurses about the EBN reports. If they are not, the system or organization should make them aware of them. The concept of evidence based nursing found to be more important among the nurses. Though this is the case a research by Christel Bahtsevani of Malmo University revealed that there are many nurses who do not have access to the literature regarding the access to the evidence based nursing practices.( Christel Bahtsevani RN, Azzam Khalaf MSc, Ania Willman RN, PhD 2005) The importance and benefit of the evidence based practice is that it answers the clinical questions due to the evidence it gathers. The skills of clinicians regarding the research can be developed, and this can give efficient access to the evidences. This results due to the collaboration with colleagues who can assist in getting to the evidence. Melnyk etal in 2004 and Pravikoff et al. in 2005 stated that the educators when consider the lack of searching skills in nurses, they have to adopt evidence based practice. (Sally Bennett, John W. Bennett, 2000) They need to collaborate with librarians, database creators, indexers and others to develop the basic skills needed in EBP. This results in fostering the need to find the mother lode of evidence to answers the clinical questions. This results in finding the best team, best equipment and the best techniques to get the results quickly. They can anticipate and embrace the challenges inherent in practice. (Ellen Fineout-Overholt RN, PhD, Sheila Hofstetter MLS, AHIP, Leslee Shell MLS, Linda Johnston RN, PhD 2005) 3. Nursing theories 3.1 Websites on Nursing: The http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/ceb/acts/ebcp.htm describes the evidence based nursing practice in the practical sense. It stress on the use of scientific literature to use evidence based nursing practice. It defines the clinical questions in a way the answers extraction will become easy. This enables the search for best information that enhances the evidence based practices in nursing. The clinical message should be extracted by the physician from the information. 3.1.1 In http://www.herts.ac.uk/lis/subjects/health/ebm.htm the definitions, references and conferences are available. The methodological filters and evidence based health web sources are there to explain the care of public health with health technology assessment. In this site the evidence based medicine health care is looked upon a new paradigm that is capable of replacing the traditional medicine practices. They are based on authority and EBM is based on scientific information. 3.1.2 In

Law issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Law issues - Essay Example Regardless of whether or not Alice’s estates pass under the rules of intestacy or as a testamentary disposition of property, Meg’s inheritance is also an issue as it appears that she died simultaneously with Alice and is survived by her son Phillip, who is presumably a minor and was a dependent of Meg’s. Thus the Inheritance (Provisions for Family and Dependents) Act 1975 may also affect the manner in which Alice’s property is divided, particularly as it relates to Meg’s inheritance. The Law, Legal Rules and Application of the Law to the Facts The formal requirements for making and/or rectifying a will are necessary for providing a method by which testators can dispose of their property as they wish in a way that either detects or prevents fraud.1 In this regard, Section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 provides that in order for a will to be valid it must be in writing, signed by the testator, and witnessed and attested to by at least two witnesses.2 It mus t also appear that upon signing the will, the testator intended to â€Å"give effect to the will† by his/her signature.3 On the facts of the case for discussion the signing and witnessing of the will do not appear to be an issue. Whether or not Alice intended to give effect to the will may arise since she made what appears to be changes to the contents of the will. However, the mere fact that the will was properly signed by Alice will suffice to satisfy the requirement that she intended by her signature to give effect to the will.4 The timing of the changes made to the will can be important for establishing the validity of those changes. For example, it was held in Re White that where changes were made subsequent to the making and execution of a will and were not re-signed, the testator’s previous signature cannot provide evidence that the testator intended to give effect to the revised will.5 Further guidance with respect to the effect of the changes made by Alice to the will is provided by the Wills Act 1837. Section 21 of the Wills Act 1837 provides that: No obliteration, interlineation, or other alteration made in any will after the execution thereof shall be valid or have any effect, except so far as the words or effect of the will before such alteration shall not be apparent, unless such alteration shall be executed in like manner as hereinbefore is required for the execution of the will...6 In other words, if a will is altered prior to its execution, the alteration will be deemed to be valid. However, where the alteration is made in the absence of attestation, it is presumed that the alteration was made after the execution of the will. However, this presumption can be rebutted by evidence such as sworn witness statements.7 Nevertheless, Section 21 of the Wills Act 1837 implies that when alterations are not apparent, it can be assumed that the alterations were made prior to the execution of the will. However, where the alterations and oblit erations are obvious, it is best that the testator execute the alterations in same manner as the will is executed. It was held in Re Shearn’s Goods that where the testator’s signature together with witnesses’ signatures appear in the margin or anywhere near the alterations, the alteration will be valid and admitted to probate.8 On the facts of the case

Financial Statement Ratio Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Financial Statement Ratio Analysis - Essay Example (basic raw material) plus an oven to bake the cookies (plant and machinery), and also a place to keep the oven (premises). Plus, not to forget, skilled labor (You've got to know how to make cookies OR hire someone who can.). Last but not the least, your have to find a way to sell the cookies - either hire a salesman with a fixed pay or hire an agent with a fixed share in profits (Selling and distribution overhead). All these factors would sum up to be the 'Cost' incurred on making the cookies. Based on this cost, you may decide your expected 'Selling Price' and thus the 'Contribution' per unit. (Activity Ratios) Also, to keep things going, you would need enough money readily available for your short term requirements (like buying more raw materials, paying rent, electricity bills, wages to employees, etc.) as well as for long term requirements (paying off debts, more money for further expansion, etc.). Also, you very well know that your creditors will supply you material on credit only if you are worthy of it. i.e. you are able to pay them in time. (Liquidity Ratios) In both the cases, money doesn't come free of cost. Business should be profitable enough. Both the parties would again, check your credibility as well as the worthiness of the business. In the first case, you would be liable to pay a fixed interest to your bank, regardless of what you make. In the second, you've got to make enough money so that you and your friend are glad that you invested in the business. Therefore, to be sure of what you are doing, at every moment you would be analyzing your 'profitability ratios', like you would constantly be calculating your earnings as against your investments (EPS) and comparing it with what ever was the next best use of your money (opportunity cost). Further, you could even decide your debt-equity ratio - how much share in the profit should be sacrificed for funds and how much should you borrow from the bank. And if you make handsome profits, how much of it should be invested back in the business (retained earnings). Or maybe you have better uses for your money and decide to take a further loan against your business from the bank so as to free your capital and maximize your returns on investment (leverages). Thus, organizing your 'Capital Structure' is a very basic and important decision. The point behind this entire example is that the smallest of small business would require analyzing their basic ratios to know how well they are doing. Without comparing various financial figures (ratios) we cannot make an informed decision. Without these, you will never know what can go wrong with your business. Before staring any business you must know in advance what you may expect from the business and what you should be expecting in return for your time, effort and investment. At any stage of the business you must know how much have you given to the business and how much the business can return back and what is the present condition as well

Considering Divorce- Smart Marriges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Considering Divorce- Smart Marriges - Essay Example Having been into a relationship with eight men so far in her life, Julie was able to make a checklist against which she would assess the qualities of men in the future. The one scoring full would be eligible to take her hand in hand. The list goes as follows: 1. He would be established in his life with a business worth at least $2 million 2. He would not have been into any relationship before meeting Julie 3. He would not be into a relationship with any woman in addition to Julie 4. He would love Julie by heart and would never leave her 5. He would not see his parents more than twice a year and would not spend more than twenty four hrs with them in the whole year 6. His love for Julie would not be driven by lust 7. He would love Julie for her personality rather than her body 8. He would be virgin †¦.and the list goes on! One day, Julie met Ben. Ben was from Holland and had come to Ontario for studies. Julie offered him to share her apartment. After spending a year with him, Juli e found Ben scoring full in her checklist. She had waited for so long for the right person to come into her life and there she had him. Julie had spent more than half of her youth in her search of the right man. At the age of 38 years, she resolved to marry Ben. But it only took Julie three days after marriage to file a case for divorce.

Beo-Gramscian Approaches and Marxist Thinking on International Essay

Beo-Gramscian Approaches and Marxist Thinking on International Relations - Essay Example Gramsci who was a leader of Italian Communist party in the fascist era did not ever write much directly on international relations. Gramaci did not see state merely as the government since its functioning is effectively constrained by the hegemony of the dominant capitalist class. Along with the government, he saw the role of "the church, the educational system, the press, all the institutions which helped to create in people certain modes of behaviour and expectations consistent with the hegemonic social order" (Cox, 1993, p.51). In brief, he clearly saw that "the hegemony of a dominant class thus bridged the conventional categories of state and civil society, categories which retained a certain analytical usefulness but ceased to correspond to separable entities in reality" (Cox, 1993, p.51). Gramsci's delineation of the concept 'passive revolution' is particularly useful in characterising the social formations in most of the third world countries since they are "caught up in a dia lectic of revolution-restoration which tended to become blocked as neither the new forces nor the old could triumph" (Cox, 1993, p.54). It means that since there is enormous pressure from the advance countries, the third world countries cannot remain stagnant although these societies are characterised by the dominance of old forces such as feudal and conservative forces. The crucial fact is that the industrial bourgeoisie in these countries cannot rule the society without allying with the reactionary forces. "Most of Gramsci's substantive work focused upon the analysis of national social formations in particular historic periods, particularly Italy" (Gill, 1993, p.3). Gramsci is significant in breaking the mould of orthodoxy in both Marxist theory and practice. Gramsci's ideas are so vital to develop a comprehensive understanding of the state- civil society relationships only in the West but also the rest of the world. Gramsci considered political economy as just the anatomy of civil society. Gramsci's works raise a number of critical questions on the nature of culture, the state, ideology, hegemony and civil society in advanced capitalist societies. It does not mean that his ideas have limited relevance to the non-Western contexts, rather denotes the particular milieu of his scholarship.In the realm of International Relations and International Political Economy, Gramsci's ideas are much used in understanding "the internationalisation of state and civil society, the international aspect s of social hegemony and supremacy, and the transnational class and bloc formations and economic forces, the role of organic intellectuals and of international organisations and other issues which help to define the nature of global politics in twentieth century" (Gill, 1993, p.4). There is dialectical relationship between the integration and disintegration of the world order, mainly due to the crises faces by the global system and the measures taken to overcome them. On the contrary, neo-realists presuppose that the international

Funding Higher Education Essay Example for Free

Funding Higher Education Essay In order to address budget requirements during revenue deficit years, other opportunities are available to the government other than simply raising taxes. One viable opportunity is opening research facilities in higher education to private use. Higher education institutions have various wet and dry laboratories that can be very useful to commercial and other private business entities conducting research. Some of these entities usually enter contracts with private laboratories. By opening school resources, government would be able to tap the finances of these private entities into the schools. In fact, the government can take this strategy one step further by constructing an internship curriculum for its students that involve working on private company projects (Gordon, 2000). Through such an internship program, qualified students would be sent to work in school facilities on research work required by funding entities. Of course, interns would be given an appropriate allowance. This provides an innovative and practical learning experience for the students as well as a minimal source of income. Furthermore, it creates linkages to the industry where they might be able to more conveniently find employment after graduation. Another possible strategy is opening campus grounds to private promotional projects. These projects set up booths and conduct activities that target the attention of students and/or faculty members to avail of certain products or services. Of course, entities that would like to promote their products would have to be screened thoroughly according to the academic institution’s mission-vision to ensure that no contradictions are present. These two strategies can raise revenue up to appropriate levels and allow the school budget to be funded for the revenue deficit academic year. Reference Gordon, J. (2000). Private Education Management. N. Y. : Doubleday.

Vaunting aloud, but racked with deep despair How does Milton Essay Example for Free

Vaunting aloud, but racked with deep despair How does Milton Essay Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ is not only an exploration of classical events detailed in the Bible, but also a development of them. A dangerous feat, considering the dominant hold that religion had on 17th century England, Milton’s epic poem dares to stray away from the literally believed stories of the Bible and delves into the unexplained and unknown. This is most apparent with his focus on Hell and its sovereign Satan, as these two focal points of Book One are, for the most part, unreferenced in the Bible. However, without any previous scriptural guidelines or knowledge to follow, Milton was granted free reign to develop the character of Satan as he wished, and this lead to him being used in a number of ways. As an epic poem, Paradise Lost requires the presence of a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a character of noble stature or greatness who experiences a downfall as a result of their own mistakes or flaws. This interpretation of the dramatic role demonstrates Milton’s inability to place God in this position as it would be seen as heresy, and as a result, he could not feature as the focal character of the poem. Therefore Milton required the use of a fallible character to act as the protagonist, so he cast Satan in this position. In satisfying the role of the tragic hero and protagonist in his poem, Milton resultantly had to equip Satan with the necessary tools to fulfil his function as the poems hero. This is seen in the hyperbolic descriptions of his character and attributes as Satan had ‘unconquerable Will’ and ‘courage never to submit or yield. ’ Like the heroes of epics before him, Satan is displayed as possessing characteristics that elevate his nature above the rest of the poems characters, and it is these traits that put him in a position to oppose God. So Milton uses Book One and Satan to establish his protagonist and primary focus of the poem, and although this choice seems insignificant in the grand scheme of the poem, it acts as the stage for the rest of Satan’s acts. Milton’s use of Satan as the elevated hero gives his poem, and more specifically the divine conflict he portrays, more credibility. This is because Milton’s heroic portrayal of Satan elevates him, in the reader’s eyes, to become a threatening opponent to God. Milton’s intention to use Satan in this way is exacerbated when it is considered that Satan in fact translates to ‘the adversary’ in Hebrew. As Sir Walter Raleigh argued ‘His very situation as the fearless antagonist of Omnipotence makes him either a fool or a hero, and Milton is far indeed from permitting us to think him a fool. ’ Raleigh’s argument is justified when the contextual elements are considered, as during the 17th century, religion was an unavoidable feature of everyone’s lives and God was seen as an unquestionable power, which resulted in many fearing him. Therefore, if Milton were to focus his poem on the confrontation and usurp of God’s rule, then he needed a strong character to lead the opposition. Milton’s desire to use Satan in this way is expressed through the character’s own admissions, as Satan, during his numerous speeches not only compares himself to God, but questions his power altogether. Satan states his plan to ‘deifie this power’ as he and his army are ‘in arms not worse, in foresight much advanc’t. ’ This clearly contradicts two believed truths of the time: that of God’s omnipotence and also his omniscience. This is because Satan believes that the army he has assembled before him, comprised of fallen angels, is sufficient to dethrone God and that now, God no longer has surprise in his favour. This suggestion is more subtle than the first but; I believe it conveys a more important point. In Satan’s mind, the only reason that he was initially defeated was due to the fact that he was unaware of the capabilities of God, but now he has experienced the ‘tyranny of Heav’n. ’ In doing this, Milton indirectly challenges the omniscience that was thought to be held by God, as he portrays Satan as having knowledge that exceeds God. Despite this opposition, Milton is careful to ensure he makes Satan fallible, to avoid any heretic readings of his poem. This is achieved through another pivotal feature of a tragic hero, their hubris. This is excessive pride or ambition that ultimately leads to the downfall of the hero. This pride, which is evident throughout the text, clouds Satan’s previous heroic claims and demonstrates to the reader that Satan is in fact not capable of challenging God effectively. This is exemplified on the very first page of the poem, as Satan ‘trusted to have equal’d the most High. ’ Here Milton uses a subtle paradox to convey the flaws in Satan’s character, as it is a logical impossibility to equal what is most high. In doing this, the reader is given the sense that Satan’s pursuit of retribution is futile, and this invokes pathos. This is because Milton’s use of dramatic irony preludes to Satan’s downfall in the poem. It also appears that Satan is somewhat aware of this flaw as well as he is described as ‘Vaunting aloud, but racked with deep despair. ’ The concept that Satan is attempting to conceal his disappointment and ‘despair’ is an inherently human characteristic, and this once again demands pity from the reader. This use of Satan as an object of pity allows Milton to introduce human characteristics to his epic poem, which is a difficulty when it is considered that his setting is beyond human realms. This is an important element for his poem to contain, as it is a necessary measure to engage the reader. So another use of Satan by Milton is to represent and resultantly associate with human characteristics, in an attempt to emotionally engage his reader. By portraying Satan as the most human character in Book One, Milton is able to use him as a vehicle to represent contextual issues. During the 17th century, the monarchy had a firm grip on politics and power, but Milton’s own beliefs and loyalties lay with Cromwell and the republican movement. This political ideology is represented clearly in Satan’s speeches, as he frequently refers to the oppressive nature of heaven. As demonstrated previously, Satan already believed in the ‘tyranny of Heav’n’ and these tyrannous actions are demonstrated by Milton. ‘That Glory never shall his wrath or might/ Extort from me’ is one reference to this idea, and it alludes to the role of the monarchy at the time. This is by suggesting that those with power use it to extort and corrupt. When considered in the context of the time, this can be interpreted as a criticism of the English monarchy, which had to be conveyed subtly in order to avoid treason. So as demonstrated, the use and functions of Satan are not limited to that of the ‘Arch-Enemy. ’ Through his elaborate descriptions, but subtle hints, Milton is able to set-up the epic battle between God and Satan, and in doing this in Book One he is able to effectively engage the reader in his epic poem.

Cybercrime Threat To E Commerce Information Technology Essay

Cybercrime Threat To E Commerce Information Technology Essay The growth of technology and the globalization of internet communication commerce have impacted significantly the way in which computer crimes are committed. However the widespread use of technology the internet for business transactions communications have exposed the industry to an increasing rate of cybercrime attacks. In this essay we analyze the security threats to e-commerce and look into the implications of cybercrime to online business. This essay also gives an overview of threat activity trends of the past years 2008-2009. Introduction Every era of business has yield new approaches and new ways of doing business. The internet has completely changed the way of doing business that the rules laid for corporate strategy from last 50 years have began to collapse. The role of internet has been vital and can be compared to that of the telephone. It is a technique for people to communicate with each other, a way for consumers to communicate with a service company without any human interference. The rapid growth of internet has opened many opportunities in every field in our daily life be it leisure, business, sports or education. However, internet also has its own disadvantages. One of the major disadvantages is cyber crime. It can be defined as illegal activity committed on the internet. There are several illegal activities that computer criminals carry out, i.e. e-mail spying, credit card fraud, spams, software piracy and others. In recent times companies have increasingly combine their systems with their vendors, suppliers customers. Thus, the risks they face increases. Companies prefer to shift toward self-service system within and among companies where they can get enormous opportunities for cost savings and other efficiencies in human resources, inventory, or billing. On the other side, this system makes the host companies increasingly vulnerable to security. Companies have become more conscious of maintaining their competitiveness and market leadership by giving more preference to e-commerce i.e. electronic way of doing business. The complexity of multinational companies, their reliance on technology, and the buildup interconnectivity among different system departments have led to the emergence of electronic-business: these are rapidly evolving developments that create widespread opportunities for theft, fraud, and other forms of exploitation by offenders both outside and inside and companies. The Definition of E-Commerce E-commerce deals with buying and selling of goods services by electronic means such as internet or other computer networks. E-commerce has captured the excitement and focus of todays emerging business. It is a paperless exchange of business information using electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic mail, electronic magazines, fax transmission and online fund transfer. It refers to online shopping, stock bond transactions, selling of software products, downloading (software, music, documents, applications etc) business to business transactions. Another example of e-commerce would be online banking, i.e. online bill payments, buying stocks, transferring funds from one account to another, and initiating wire payment to another country. Online shopping is widely famous as a part of e-commerce. Another hit business in the making over the vast world of internet is online shopping. This is done by companies that have the capacity to offer products to the public even if there are no actual shopping malls. Basically, the concept of e-commerce is all about using the internet to do business better and faster. Customers are given controlled access to company system and thus letting people serve themselves. As a result organizations are making a genuine online effort in integrating their website with the heart of business. In both regular commerce and e-commerce companies are always on the lookout for attracting potential buyers to their place of business. This is demonstrated by the organizations marketing tactics including advertising, word of mouth publicity etc. A companys website allows customers to find a good or service they desire. The customers pay accordingly and the product or service arrives at their doorstep a few days later. At such a high level of convenience more and more people are deserting high street shops to buy things on the Internet. This online shopping is essentially referred to be e-commerce. E-commerce sites mostly function in the same manner. Here customers search through lists and descriptions of products; they add items that they want to their Shopping Cart; they can remove unwanted items from their basket at any time; when they want to confirm their order, they click on a Checkout button; they must then enter their credit card details to pay for their order. Customers are then moved to a secure location to carry out online purchasing of their purchased order. To complete the transaction, they need to supply their shipping address and credit card number. E-commerce transactions generally take place through secure electronic connections and special merchant accounts for accepting payments. These are the fundamental processes of online shopping and online purchasing. Basically, the concept of e-commerce is all about using the internet to do business better and faster. The Definition of Cyber Crime Cyber crime can be defined as a crime committed over the internet by using computer as a tool or as a target. It is an illegal act committed by deception or misrepresentation by someone having a distinctive professional technical skill for the purpose of personal or professional gain or to gain an unfair advantage over other person. The rapid evolution of technology and internet among common masses has resulted in the growth of cyber crime. As business grows systems are becoming more and more sophisticated with less human interventions, although it is very important to monitor individual behaviors. Vulnerability to economic crime grows as organizations are still dependent on individuals as systems do not directly control. Lack of security enables criminals to disrupt the e-business process in several ways. Cyber criminals can be involved in denial of service attacks, fraudulent online applications for bank loans, extracting credit card information for resale or buying of more products etc. As internet has enabled doing business beyond or without borders it has become increasingly difficult to prevent investigate crimes. Like traditional crime, cybercrime can take many forms and can occur nearly anytime or anyplace. The only difference between traditional crime and cybercrime is that in cybercrime, computer or computer network are used to complete the crime, or is the target of the crime. The computer or device may be the agent of the crime, the co-coordinator of the crime, or the aim of the crime. The crime may take place on an individual computer or in addition to computers at other locations. Criminals committing cybercrime use a number of methods, depending on their skill-set and their goal. Cybercrime is, after all, merely crime with some sort of computer or cyber aspect. E-commerce threats The most significant issues of E-commerce threat are outlined as follows. Malware E-commerce operators have to be careful about worms, viruses other malicious software as they possess biggest threat to network systems. An infected system may affect the operations of the entire business services and may result in a revenue loss and may also possess the possible chances of identity thefts which happen to be of a greater concerned through customers perspective. An example of this was the Bugbear worm in September 2002; it had a keystroke logging capabilities which exposed the risk of capturing users personal details if a transaction was initiated from the infected system. A total of 28940 different malicious and potentially unwanted programs were detected on users computers in August 09. That is an increase of more than 8,000 on Julys figures and points to a significant increase in the number of in-the-wild threats. http://www.kaspersky.com/news?id=207575678 Denial-of-Service (DOS) It is the intentional breakage or blocking of legitimate access by unauthorized user by flooding the victim site with unwanted traffic. Perpetrators of DoS attacks typically target sites or services hosted on high-profile  web servers  such as banks,  credit card  payment gateways, and even  root name servers.  The most recent example was on 6th August 09 when millions of tweeter users were silenced by the DOS attacks which ultimately led to shutdown of Twitter for hours. Not only was the site down, but client applications that depend on the Twitter API could also not connect to the service, creating a complete Twitter blackout. Defacement An organizations website represents its E-business processes. It is always meant to convey the accurate information and to give the best impression to its users. Hence it is important to protect the site from vandalism unauthorized alteration of its content. Defacement have posed a significant threat to websites running unpatched Web server software, such websites have become a relatively easy target even for amateur hackers. The potential impact for an E-business could be greater for a site that is purely providing information services. For example, encountering a defaced site has the potential to cause lasting damages to the customers impression of the business, and in particular to the perception of its security. Datastreaming Datastreaming involves bulk theft of personal data (credit card details an individual) or groups hacking into specific systems which explicitly targets the E-commerce domain.

Foreshadowing in Anna Karenina :: Tolstoy Anna Karenina Essays

Foreshadowing in Anna Karenina      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Throughout life there are situations which arise that seem to have been hinted earlier. You might not have noticed the hint when it first appeared, but suddenly at one point it finally dawns on you. The same goes for the literary aspect of foreshadowing. The novel Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy has many instances where the situations are similar to the one described above. The following paragraphs will present the foreshadowing that is included in this novel.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Anna Karenina is met by her brother Oblonsky at the train station, a scene arises that clues into a valuable part of the story. She had just met Vronsky and as Anna and Oblonsky   were leaving, a train personnel was hit by the train. Anna burst into tears and exclaims that it is a bad omen. Her brother calms her down but it is clearly evident that this part of the story gives an inclination to the mess Anna ends up being entangled in.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Late one evening, the doorbell rings and Oblonsky goes and greets the visitor. As Anna is walking to her bedroom, she glances over to see who had called at such a late hour. She immediately recognizes it to be Vronsky and she feels 'a strange feeling of pleasure mixed with a feeling of vague apprehension suddenly stirred in her heart.'( page 90)This tells of what may be the conflict in the plot.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The day after the great ball Anna announces that she must leave. Dolly expresses her gratitude toward everything Anna has done to help her in her time of crisis. She tells Anna that she does not know of a person with a greater heart. Anna tells her that Kitty was depressed because Vronsky spent the evening with her. She exclaims that it wasn't her fault. Dolly remarks that Anna sounds exactly like Stiva. Anna appears to be offended and says that she is nothing like Stiva. In the end she ends acting similar to Stiva.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kitty was quite depressed and Dolly knew what was troubling her. She went to visit Kitty and told her that she was going through what all women go through at one point in their life.

Fountainhead :: essays papers

Fountainhead Fountainhead Book Report Roark and Keating Howard Roark and Peter Keating are two characters whose goals in life are similar, but the manner in which they go about achieving them differs greatly. Howard Roark, the protagonist of the story, is a man whose only passion is architecture and has wanted to be an architect since he was a boy. Peter Keating, the antagonist of the story representing everything Roark hates in society, is a follower in life and whose only prerogative is to get ahead in the world, no matter what the cost or who he has to use in the process. He too strives to be an architect, but his motives are more about money and power unlike Roark, who would work for free if he had to in order to build what he wants to see created as long as he was allowed to do things his way. Throughout the book, the success of the two men in their careers is compared to one another, as well as an analysis on how they go about achieving that success. While more obstacles may lie in the way of Roark's path than of Keating's, he consistently refuses to compromise his integrity no matter what benefits may come of it. Keating, on the other hand, has no concern about what means he has to use to accomplish what he's all about, money and power. In my paper, I will attempt to show how the differences in these two character's personalities affect how the world and individuals close to them perceive them and their actions. 2 Keating's mother, for example, is an overprotective, overbearing women with whom Roark and Keating both lived with while attending Stanton University. Keating's mother appears to be a woman that enjoys imposing her views on others by looking for weak spots in their personalities and creeping in through those venues. An example of this technique in action is displayed with her son Peter, with whom she consistently appeals to his desire for success in life by showing him what great things he could achieve if he would just do as she says, such as marry Dominique Francon, daughter of the owner of the best architecture firm in the country. Her ability to persuade Peter by imposing guilt on him and criticizing his methods of going about things is linked to a weakness in his personality; he really cares about what other people think.

Vonneguts Changing Women :: essays research papers fc

Vonnegut's Changing Women What follows is an argument to the effect that, in the novels written before 1973, Vonnegut's female characters generally are presented negatively, either as pro-authority anti-individualists or as helpless or male-manipulated victims who never "grow" in either a personal or literary sense. In addition I maintain that, in at least two of Vonnegut's later novels, certain female characters exercise individuality in their own existences and effect positively the awareness and attitudes of male characters. From the beginning of Player Piano (1952) through Slaughterhouse Five (1969), Kurt Vonnegut describes the characters of his various worlds in terms of their victimization at the hands of a dehumanizing, or perhaps a better term might be "deindividualizing," technologically fixated, industrial/militaristic society. Time and time again in these novels the role of the individual is subsumed in the miasma that passes for "social responsibility." Like the real world in which every human being exists, Vonnegut's literary worlds feature nameless and faceless authorities (when such authorities are offered at all) who seem to be the masters in local, regional, global, and sometimes interstellar chess games. Often, as is the case in Vonnegut's 1951 "All the King's Men," these "manipulators" move their all-too-sentient pieces in what at times, for the victims, must seem to be diabolical--and what certainly are tragic--maneuvers. In The Sirens of Titan (1959) and Slaughterhouse Five the "accidental" nature or intergalactic point of view of the authority that seems to be "in charge of things" serves to distance humans from personal responsibility for the results of such maneuvering--as such results are described in the novels. In Sirens, for example, the inappropriate and often asinine behaviors of Malachi Constant are shown to be products of the direct influence of the Tralfamadorians who for millennia have manipulated human societies simply to communicate with a mechanized messenger shipwrecked on Saturn's largest moon. The same excuse can be made for the ultimate human manipulator in the novel, Winston Niles Rumfoord, as it can for the actions and attitudes of Bee, Rumfoord's wife and the mother of Constant's son, Chrono. That the communications sent to Salo on Titan consist of such inane and, given the non-human nature of the receiver, unimportant content as, "Be patient. We h aven't forgotten about you," and, "You will be on your way before you know it" (271), only makes more pathetic the fact that Tralfamadore has influenced directly the rise and fall of countless human civilizations in order to deliver such messages.

Organizational performance Essay

Today’s society is diverse and rapidly changing and it is the organisation’s ability to adapt or be in fit with the external environment that will determine its overall performance. Ethical issues arise throughout all organisations daily activities but it is the continual debate about what is right or wrong that will shape ethical decision making now and for generations to come. This essay aims to investigate culture within the internal environment and how culture plays a role in an organisation’s ability to fit in with the environment. According to (Samson and Daft, 2003:80) the internal environment is â€Å"composed of present employees, management and business culture†. This essay will investigate how culture plays a role in the organisations overall success. In addressing the issue it will be shown how the external environment has changed in terms of how organisations are evaluated. How changing an organisation’s culture can help the organisation be in fit with the external environment and how the success of changing culture may depend on the level of employee moral development. It is argued that the organisation’s performance depends on a fit between the organisation and its external environment. Body Key point 1: How the external environment has changed in terms of how organisations are evaluated. The external environment has changed with respect to how organisations are evaluated today. According to ( Samson and Daft, 2003:79) the external environment is â€Å"all elements existing outside the organisation’s limitations that have the possibility to affect the organisation†. Companies around the world have started to realise that investors are not concerned exclusively with financial performance (Tschopp, 2003). The days of companies being  evaluated on their financial performance are gone and companies are now finding that they are being evaluated on a more overall perspective. Increasing the ethical obligations can help an organisation when adapting to the external environment. According to ( Samson and Daft, 2003:147) ethics is † the code of honourable principles and standards that governs the behaviours of an individual or group with respect to what is correct or incorrect.† If ethics is incorporated as part of the organisation this can lead to improvements in the workplace and towards society. The triple bottom line approach has been introduced as a way of achieving overall success both internally and externally throughout the organisation. Triple bottom line entails reporting on economic, social, and environmental issues. Corporate success should be considered not just by the traditional financial bottom line, but also by its social/ethical and environmental performance ( Samson and Daft, 2003). Triple bottom line has not only put the emphasis on managers to not only make a profit but to also consider the surrounding external environment that they could be affecting. Businesses now report annually on social and environmental performance as well as their financial performance because they know it provides a more complete measure of long-term value creation and strategic opportunity (Tuchman. J, 2004). Key Point 2: Organisations need to change to fit. They can do this by changing an organisation’s culture to fit in with the external environment. The external environment has altered and it’s the organisation’s ability to change to keep in touch with the external environment that determines its performance. One way an organisation can change to keep in contact with the environment is by altering it’s culture. According to (Samson and Daft. 2003: 94) culture is â€Å"the knowledge, beliefs, values, behaviours and ways of viewing shared among members of a society†. Organisational culture has been defined, in very simple but intuitive words, as â€Å"the way we do things around here† (Domenec, 2003). The notion that we can make others do what we want them to do by persuading them to want to do  it is one that has a long pedigree. This notion became formalised as an integrative view of organisation culture and became more ingrained after the publishing of the book In Search of Excellence in 1982 (Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr., 1982) Moving towards greater corporate responsibility may require culture change or at least cultural re-enforcement. The fundamental values that exemplify cultures at these and other organisations can be understood through the noticeable manifestations of symbols, stories, heroes, slogans and ceremonies. Any organisation’s culture can be interpreted by observing these factors (Samson and Daft, 2003:95). By incorporating symbols, stories, heroes, slogans and ceremonies into an organisation’s culture they will be able to adapt to the changing external environment. According to (Samson and Daft, 2003:97) slogan is † a phrase or sentence that succinctly expresses a key corporate value†. Hungry Jacks for example has the slogan † The burgers are better at Hungry Jacks†. They have incorporated this slogan as part of their culture to try and separate them from the other competitors. By incorporating the different types of culture into and organisation, may change the way managers and employees think to incorporate social and natural environmental responsibilities into the workforce. Key Point 3: The success of changing culture may depend on the level of employee ethical development. The success of changing culture can depend on numerous factors but the level of employee ethical development plays a role. The three levels of personal moral development could pose a problem for employee ethical development. The theory developed by Kohlberg goes through the different stages of employee development from pre-conventional to post conventional. Starting at the pre-conventional level which focuses on right vs. wrong and the behaviour is on one’s self to the conventional level which focuses on the  group rather then one’s self. Then lastly Kohlberg’s post-conventional level of individual development which focuses on abstract and self-chosen principles (Arnold and Lampe, 1999). Kohlberg’s theory brings attention to the fact that if employees are going in different directions it can hinder the success of an organisation. If there are employees who are focusing on what is right vs. wrong and other employees who are following self chosen principles even though they know people hold different views. In this sense, the greatest danger to modern organisations is the betrayal of â€Å"ambitious, selfish, untrustworthy people who care more for their own progression than the mission of the organisation† (Domenec, 2003). Since each person is unique, each one can focus on personal accomplishment in very different ways (Domenec, 2003). Conclusion This essay investigated culture within the internal environment and how culture plays a role in an organisation’s ability to fit in with the environment. In support of this argument there has been evidence supported to show how organisations incorporate culture to be in fit with the changes of external environment. Organisations are finding that they are being evaluated not only on their financial status but also their social and environmental performance. This has meant that organisations have had to change their culture to compensate in the change in evaluation. An organisation culture can be observed through such factors as slogans and symbols which now have to coincide with the external environment. The success of the changing culture can depend on the level of employee ethical development and at what stage everyone is at. If an organisation is united and following the same path or views they may find greater overall success. Views that link an organisation’s culture with its performance seek to shape managers and employees understandings in a common and coherent direction (Kolter and Keskett, 1992). Bibliography: 1. Samson, D., & Daft, R.L. (2003) Management: Pacific rim edition. Victoria: Thomson. 2. Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr., In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies (New York: Warner Books, 1982), 3. Tuchman, J. 2004, Big Owners Balance Triple Bottom Line [online], Available from URL: http://www.enr.com/news/bizlabor/archives/040809-1.asp 4.

Linguistics and Chomsky S Theory Essay

Chomsky believes that children are born with an inherited ability to learn any of the human languages. He thinks that certain linguistic structures that children use so accurately, must have already stuck in their mind. Chomsky believes that every child has a ‘language acquisition device’ or LAD. LAD encodes the major principles of a language and its grammatical structures into the child’s brain. Then the children only have to learn new vocabulary and apply the syntactic structures form the LAD to form sentences. He pointed out that a child could not possibly learn a new language through imitation alone simply because the language spoken around them is of a higher form. Adult’s speech is often broken up and even sometime ungrammatical. His theory applies to all languages as they all contain; nouns, verbs, consonants and vowels. Every language is extremely complex, often with subtle distinctions which even native speakers are unaware of. However, all children, regardless of their intellectual ability, become fluent in their native language within five or six years. Evidence to support Chomsky’s theory †¢Children learning to speak never make grammatical errors such as getting their subjects, verbs and objects in the wrong order. †¢If an adult deliberately said a grammatically incorrect sentence, the child would notice. †¢Children often say things that are ungrammatical such as ‘mama ball’, which they cannot have learnt passively. †¢Mistakes such as ‘I drawed’ instead of ‘I drew’ show they are not learning through imitation alone. †¢Chomsky used the sentence ‘colourless green ideas sleep furiously’, which is grammatical although it doesn’t make sense, to prove his theory: he said it shows that sentences can be grammatical without having any meaning, that we can tell the difference between a grammatical and an ungrammatical sentence without ever having heard the sentence before, and that we can produce and understand brand new sentences that no one has ever said before. Evidence against Chomsky’s theory †¢Critics of Chomsky’s theory say that although it is clear that children don’t learn language through imitation alone, this does not prove that they must have an LAD – language learning could merely be through general learning and understanding abilities and interactions with other people.

The Shadow – Creative Writing

The sun rose from behind the hill, at tower hill, as it climbed higher in the sky, its rays beamed through the window pains of the roof of the train station. Mr Hitchin's stood staring at the train schedule; he didn't know where to go, London, or Leeds? Mr Hitchin's was looking for work, tower hill just wasn't good enough, he had bigger and better things in mind, he wanted to make the money and give the orders, but this time he wasn't going to let happen what happened last time. He had decided, he was going to Leeds. He was wearing a black trilby hat, and a black pin striped suite, he was also wearing a long brown trench coat, that traipsed along the floor as he made his way to the ticket office. â€Å"One way to Leeds† he said to the ticket officer. â€Å"What time?† said the ticket officer? â€Å"12:35, please if that's the one that goes the earliest† questioned Mr Hitchin's â€Å"Yes sir, that is the earliest train to Leeds today sir, that's à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½12.50 please† Mr Hitchin's handed the officer the money â€Å"Thank you sir, you look familiar have we meet before? you remind me of somebody that I saw in the paper, but I can't remember what for, ow well was probably somebody else, have a pleasant journey sir† â€Å"Thank you† Mr Hitchin's replied. He made his was to the platform ready to catch the train, the time was now 12:39, 4 minutes late, two police officers walked through the entrance of the train station, Mr Hitchin's stood with his back to the wall, around the corner from the platform, wedged between the wall and a vending machine. The police officers were getting closer to him, as they walked down the platform asking people questions and showing them a piece of paper. â€Å"Excuse me sir, have you seen this man?† Mr Hitchin's looked at the sheet of paper there was a picture of him and the words ‘wanted, for attempted murder' on it! He quickly jerked his head down and slightly pushed the brim of his hat over the edge of his face. â€Å"No, sorry† he quickly replied. The train was now at the platform, and people were boarding it, one of the officers' looked him up and down. â€Å"Excuse me sir, do you mind if you come with us, so we can ask you some questions?† â€Å"Of course† Mr Hitchin's replied, as they made there way to the exit of the train station, Mr Hitchin's turned and ran to the doors of the train, the police officers stumbled behind him trying to catch him. As Mr Hitchin's jumped onto the train the doors firmly closed behind him. The train set off, as the police officers ran at the side of it trying to catch it, but the train carried on going, all the way to Leeds. Mr Hitchin's was scared; the police were onto him again†¦ Mr Hitchin's was awoken as the train jerked to a halt; people clambered over each other as they exited the train. He rose from his seat, collected his belongings, and left the train as well. Here he was Leed's city station, he looked around there was police at the entrance and still the wanted posters were around on the walls as well. He made his way over to a news paper stand, were he brought a copy of the Yorkshire post, were he had happened to make the front page, again, the headline read â€Å"convict on run for attempted murder†. He jerked quickly hading over the cash and makes a swift exit of the station, he turned out of the station, and made his way to the Queens hotel. He exited the hustle and bustle on the streets, and made his way into the reception of the queen's hotel. The warm air welcomed him with the smell of peaches, he swiftly made his way to the front desk, were he rang for some service. â€Å"Hello sir, and welcome to the queens hotel† said a man, who emerged from behind the counter, he was quite short and had jet-black hair. â€Å"Hi, I'd like a room for one, for 4 week's,† said Mr Hitchin's â€Å"Yes sir, the total will be a total of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2,100, when would you like to pay?† â€Å"On my departure† replied Mr Hitchin's â€Å"Very well sir, we do insist of a deposit of 10% sir† Mr Hitchin's handed the receptionist the money â€Å"Thank you sir, her is your room key, it is room number 24 it is up the stairs and is the first room on your right†. Mr Hitchin's made his way to his room, he opened the door and walked in, he paced over to the window and peered out, the streets were full of people making there way to work, what was he going to do? He needed a job, so he grabbed the Yorkshire post he bought earlier and started to look for a decent job. Half an hour had past, he still hadn't found anything. He needed a new identity, a now look, so he grabbed his phone and called Steve, â€Å"hi Steve, it's Greg, well I'm in Leeds and as you know in a spot of trouble and I need a cover, can you help?† â€Å"Meet me outside the royal armoires in 2 hours† replied Steve. Mr Hitchin's set off to meet Steve, he walked down bridge gate end, over the river Aire, and onto dock street, soon he reached armouries way and waited for Steve to arrive. He saw Steve inside, and sharply made his way inside, making sure his identity wasn't recognisable. He sat in an arm chair by the side of the door, Steve walked over and sat down next to him, he placed an envelope that he had in his hand on the arm of the chair, Steve then got up, leaving the envelope on the chair arm and walked away, Mr Hitchin's took the envelope and placed it in his inside pocket, and made his way back to the hotel. On his way back, Mr Hitchin's noticed that there was a black ford escort following him, with two men on foot, who also seemed to be following him, Mr Hitchin's quickened up his pace, he was just about to turn into the street were the hotel was, when a police officer stepped in front of him and said â€Å"Greg Hitchin's, I think we need to talk†

Scholarly Text Reflection

My scholarly text â€Å"How useful is plantations in learning anatomy' was written by a group of researchers. Some elements that helped me comprehend the text w as the vocabulary because it was anatomy terminology that is in my anatomy and physiology cal as. What also helped me was the texts formation because it was in order from the experiment .NET that was taken place. I was also familiar with the tables and charts in the article as well.Some key ideas from the text that I understood was the type of experiment the at was being made along with why and what it was for. Also knew what plantations was b cause of the surrounding vocabulary that helped me figure out what it meant, it means the hands on work with materials and cadavers. I believe that the plantations works well with lea ring anatomy or any subject with students learning about it. These contribute because it all reel dates back to anatomy and the human body and the subject of the article.One place that confused me or prov okes a question is the tables and charts. T here are some words and numbers on them that don't make sense because don't know w what they refer to. Although understand most of the table and its data, I don't fully get it. A s tragedy could use to address my confusion with is to reread the text that talks about the tables and charts, then go over the tables and charts again. If still can't figure out my confusion I would ask my teacher for help or from an expert.

Spirit Bound Chapter Nine

ROBERT DORU WAS EASY TO SPOT. It wasn't because he looked like Victor. It wasn't even because of any dramatic running-toward-each-other reunion type thing between him and his brother. Rather, it was Lissa's mind that tipped me off. I saw Robert through her eyes, the golden aura of a spirit user lighting up his corner of the restaurant like a star. It caught her by surprise, and she stumbled briefly. Spirit users were too rare a sight for her to be fully used to them. Seeing auras was something she could tune in or out, and just before â€Å"turning his off,† she noted that even though his had the brilliant gold she saw in Adrian, there was also a feel of instability to it. Sparks of other colors flashed there too, but they trembled and flickered. She wondered if it was a mark of spirit's insanity setting in. His eyes lit up as Victor approached the table, but the two didn't hug or touch. Victor simply sat down beside his brother. The rest of us stood there awkwardly for a moment. The whole situation was too weird. But it was the reason we'd come, and after several more seconds, my friends and I joined the brothers at the table. â€Å"Victor†¦Ã¢â‚¬  breathed Robert, eyes wide. Robert might have had some of the Dashkov facial features, but his eyes were brown, not green. His hands toyed with a napkin. â€Å"I can't believe it†¦. I've wanted to see you for so long†¦.† Victor's voice was gentle, as it had been on the phone, as if he were talking to a child. â€Å"I know, Robert. I missed you too.† â€Å"Are you staying? Can you come back and stay with me?† Part of me wanted to snap that that was a ridiculous idea, but the desperation in Robert's voice sparked a tiny bit of pity in me. I remained silent, simply watching the drama before me unfold. â€Å"I'd hide you. It'd be great. Just the two of us.† Victor hesitated. He wasn't stupid. Despite my vague claims on the plane, he knew the odds of me letting him go were nonexistent. â€Å"I don't know,† he said quietly. â€Å"I don't know.† The waiter's arrival jolted us out of our haze, and we all ordered drinks. Adrian ordered a gin and tonic and wasn't even carded. I wasn't sure if it was because he looked twenty-one or was convincing enough with spirit. Regardless, I wasn't thrilled about it. Alcohol muted spirit. We were in a precarious situation, and I would have liked him at full strength. Of course, considering he'd been drinking earlier, it probably didn't matter now. After the waiter left, Robert seemed to notice the rest of us. His eyes passed over Eddie quickly, sharpened at Lissa and Adrian, and lingered on me for a long time. I stiffened, not liking the scrutiny. He finally turned back to his brother. â€Å"Who have you brought, Victor?† Robert still had that oblivious, scattered air to him but it was lit with suspicion now. Fear and paranoia. â€Å"Who are these children? Two spirit users and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His gaze fell on me again. He was reading my aura. â€Å"One of the shadow-kissed?† For a moment, I was astonished at his use of the term. Then I remembered what Mark, Oksana's husband, had told me. Robert had once been bonded to a dhampir–and that dhampir had died, drastically speeding up the deterioration of Robert's mind. â€Å"They're friends,† said Victor smoothly. â€Å"Friends who'd like to talk to you and ask you some questions.† Robert frowned. â€Å"You're lying. I can tell. And they don't consider you a friend. They're tense. They keep their distance from you.† Victor didn't deny the friend claim. â€Å"Nonetheless, they need your help, and I promised it to them. It was the price for me being allowed to visit you.† â€Å"You shouldn't have made promises for me.† Robert's napkin was now in shreds. I kind of wanted to give him mine. â€Å"But didn't you want to see me?† asked Victor winningly. His tone was warm, his smile almost genuine. Robert looked troubled. Confused. I was again reminded of a child and was starting to have my doubts that this guy had ever transformed a Strigoi. He was spared an answer yet again when our drinks arrived. None of us had even picked up our menus, much to the waiter's obvious annoyance. He left, and I opened mine without really seeing it. Victor then introduced us to Robert, as formally as he might at any diplomatic function. Prison hadn't dulled his sense of royal etiquette. Victor gave first names only. Robert turned back to me, that frown still on his face, and glanced between Lissa and me. Adrian had said that whenever we were together, our auras showed that we were linked. â€Å"A bond†¦ I've almost forgotten what it was like†¦ but Alden. I've never forgotten Alden†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His eyes grew dreamy and almost vacant. He was reliving a memory. â€Å"I'm sorry,† I said, surprised to hear the sympathy in my words. This was hardly the harsh interrogation I'd envisioned. â€Å"I can only imagine what it must have been like†¦ losing him†¦.† The dreamy eyes grew sharp and hard. â€Å"No. You cannot. It's like nothing you can imagine. Nothing. Right now†¦ right now†¦ you have the world. A universe of senses beyond those of others, an understanding of another person that no one can have. To lose that†¦ to have that ripped away†¦ it would make you wish for death.† Wow. Robert was pretty good at killing conversation, and we all kind of sat there hoping the waiter would return this time. When he did, we all made halfhearted attempts at ordering food–except Robert–most of us deciding on the spot. The restaurant served Asian cuisine, and I ordered the first thing I saw on the menu: an egg roll sampler. With food ordered, Victor continued taking the firm hand with Robert that I seemed incapable of managing. â€Å"Will you help them? Will you answer their questions?† I had a feeling that Victor was pushing Robert on this not so much as a way to pay back us rescuing him, but rather because Victor's scheming nature was dying to know everyone's secrets and motivations. Robert sighed. Whenever he looked at Victor, there was such a strong expression of devotion and even idol worship. Robert probably couldn't refuse his brother anything. He was the perfect type to play into Victor's plans, and I realized I should possibly be grateful that Robert had grown unstable. If he'd been in full control of his powers, Victor would never have bothered with Lissa last time. He would have already had his own private spirit wielder to use however he wanted. â€Å"What do you want to know?† asked Robert blearily. He addressed me, apparently recognizing my leadership. I glanced at my friends for moral support and received none. Neither Lissa nor Adrian approved of this mission in the first place, and Eddie still didn't know its purpose. I swallowed, steeling myself, and directed my full attention to Robert. â€Å"We heard you freed a Strigoi once. That you were able to convert him–or her–back to their original state.† Surprise flashed on Victor's usually composed face. He certainly hadn't expected this. â€Å"Where did you hear this?† demanded Robert. â€Å"From a couple I met in Russia. Their names are Mark and Oksana.† â€Å"Mark and Oksana†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Again, Robert's gaze slipped away for a moment. I had a feeling this happened a lot, that he didn't spend much time in reality. â€Å"I didn't know they were still together.† â€Å"They are. They're doing really great.† I needed him back in the present. â€Å"Is it true? Did you do what they said? Is it possible?† Robert's responses were always preceded by a pause. â€Å"Her.† â€Å"Huh?† â€Å"It was a woman. I freed her.† I gasped in spite of myself, hardly daring to process his words. â€Å"You're lying.† It was Adrian who spoke, his tone harsh. Robert glanced at him with an expression amused and scornful. â€Å"And who are you to say that? How can you tell? You've bruised and abused your powers so much, it's a wonder you can even touch the magic anymore. And all these things you do to yourself†¦ it doesn't truly help, does it? Spirit's punishment still affects you†¦ soon you won't be able to tell reality from dream†¦.† The words stunned Adrian for a moment, but he kept going. â€Å"I don't need any physical signs to see that you're lying. I know you are because what you're describing is impossible. There's no way to save a Strigoi. When they're gone, they're gone. They're dead. Undead. Forever .† â€Å"That which is dead doesn't always stay dead†¦.† Robert's words weren't directed at Adrian. They were spoken to me. I shivered. â€Å"How? How did you do it?† â€Å"With a stake. She was killed with a stake, and in doing so, was brought back to life.† â€Å"Okay,† I said. â€Å"That is a lie. I've killed plenty of Strigoi with stakes, and believe me, they stay dead.† â€Å"Not just any stake.† Robert's fingers danced along the edge of his glass. â€Å"A special stake.† â€Å"A stake charmed with spirit,† said Lissa suddenly. He lifted his eyes to her and smiled. It was a creepy smile. â€Å"Yes. You are a clever, clever girl. A clever, gentle girl. Gentle and kind. I can see it in your aura.† I stared off at the table, my mind in overdrive. A stake charmed with spirit. Silver stakes were charmed with the four main Moroi elements: earth, air, water, and fire. It was that infusion of life that destroyed the undead force within a Strigoi. With our recent discovery of how to charm objects with spirit, infusing a stake had never even occurred to us. Spirit healed. Spirit had brought me back from the dead. In joining with the other elements within a stake, was it truly possible that the twisted darkness that gripped Strigoi could be obliterated, thus restoring that person to their rightful state? I was grateful for the food's arrival because my brain was still moving sluggishly. The egg rolls provided a welcome opportunity to think. â€Å"Is it really that easy?† I asked at last. Robert scoffed. â€Å"It's not easy at all.† â€Å"But you just said†¦ you just said we need a spirit-charmed stake. And then I kill a Strigoi with it.† Or well, not kill. The technicalities were irrelevant. His smile returned. â€Å"Not you. You can't do it.† â€Å"Then who†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I stopped, the rest of my words dying on my lips. â€Å"No. No.† â€Å"The shadow-kissed don't have the gift of life. Only the spirit-blessed,† he explained. â€Å"The question is: Who's capable of doing it? Gentle Girl or Drunken Sod?† His eyes flicked between Lissa and Adrian. â€Å"My wager would be on Gentle Girl.† Those words were what snapped me out of my stunned state. In fact, they were what shattered this whole thing, this far-fetched dream of saving Dimitri. â€Å"No,† I repeated. â€Å"Even if it was possible–and I'm not sure if I believe you–she can't do it. I won't let her.† And in a turn of events almost as astonishing as Robert's revelation, Lissa spun toward me, anger flooding our bond. â€Å"And since when can you tell me what I can or can't do?† â€Å"Since I don't recall you ever taking guardian training and learning to stake a Strigoi,† I returned evenly, trying to keep my voice calm. â€Å"You only punched Reed, and that was hard enough.† When Avery Lazar had tried to take over Lissa's mind, she'd sent her shadow-kissed brother to do some dirty work. With my help, Lissa had punched him and kept him away. It had been beautifully executed, but she'd hated it. â€Å"I did it, didn't I?† she exclaimed. â€Å"Liss, throwing a punch is nothing like staking a Strigoi. And that's not even counting the fact that you have to get near one in the first place. You think you could get in range before one bit you or snapped your neck? No.† â€Å"I'll learn.† The determination in her voice and mind was admirable, but it took guardians decades to learn what we did–and plenty still got killed. Adrian and Eddie looked uncomfortable in the midst of our bickering, but Victor and Robert seemed both intrigued and amused. I didn't like that. We weren't here for their entertainment. I tried to deflect the dangerous topic by turning back to Robert. â€Å"If a spirit user brought back a Strigoi, then that person would become shadow-kissed.† I didn't point out the obvious conclusion to Lissa. Part of what had driven Avery crazy (aside from normal spirit usage) had been bonding with more than one person. Doing so created a very unstable situation that rapidly led all people involved into darkness and insanity. Robert's eyes grew dreamy as he stared beyond me. â€Å"Bonds form when someone dies–when their soul has actually left and moved onto the world of the dead. Bringing it back is what makes them shadow-kissed. Death's mark is upon them.† His gaze suddenly snapped onto me. â€Å"Just as it is on you.† I refused to avoid his eyes, despite the chill his words sent through me. â€Å"Strigoi are dead. Saving one would mean its soul was brought back from the world of the dead too.† â€Å"No,† he argued. â€Å"Their souls do not move on. Their souls linger†¦ neither in this world nor the next. It's wrong and unnatural. It's what makes them what they are. Killing or saving a Strigoi sends the soul back to a normal state. There is no bond.† â€Å"Then there's no danger,† Lissa said to me. â€Å"Aside from a Strigoi killing you,† I pointed out. â€Å"Rose–â€Å" â€Å"We'll finish this conversation later.† I gave her a hard look. We held each other's gazes a moment, and then she turned to Robert. There was still an obstinacy in the bond I didn't like. â€Å"How do you charm the stake?† she asked him. â€Å"I'm still learning.† I again started to chastise her and then thought better of it. Maybe Robert was wrong. Maybe all it actually took to convert a Strigoi was a spirit-infused stake. He only thought a spirit user had to do it because he had done it. Allegedly. Besides, I'd much rather Lissa preoccupy herself with charming than fighting. If the charm part sounded too hard, she might have to give up altogether. Robert glanced at me and then Eddie. â€Å"One of you must have a stake on you. I'll show you.† â€Å"You can't take a stake out in public,† exclaimed Adrian, in what was a remarkably wise observation. â€Å"It might be weird for humans, but it's still obvious that it's a weapon.† â€Å"He's right,† Eddie said. â€Å"We could go back to the room after dinner,† said Victor. He had that perfectly pleasant and bland look on his face. I studied him, hoping my expression showed my distrust. Even with her zeal, I could sense the hesitation in Lissa too. She wasn't keen on following any suggestion of Victor's. We'd seen in the past how desperately far Victor would go in attempting to fulfill his plans. He'd convinced his own daughter to turn Strigoi and help him escape jail. For all we knew, he was planning the same for– â€Å"That's it,† I gasped, feeling my eyes go wide as I stared at him. â€Å"That's what?† Victor asked. â€Å"That's why you had Natalie turn. You thought†¦ you knew about this. What Robert had done. You were going to use her Strigoi strength and then have him turn her back.† Victor's already pale face went paler, and he seemed to age before our eyes. His smug look disappeared, and he looked away. â€Å"Natalie is dead and long gone,† he said stiffly. â€Å"There's no point in discussing her.† Some of us made an attempt to eat after that, but my egg roll seemed tasteless now. Lissa and I were thinking the same thing. Among all of Victor's sins, I'd always considered him convincing his own daughter to turn Strigoi to be the most awful. It was what had really sealed the deal for me about him being a monster. Suddenly, I was forced to reevaluate things–forced to reevaluate him. If he'd known he could bring her back, it made what he had done terrible–but not as terrible. He was still evil in my mind, no question. But if he had believed he could bring Natalie back, then that meant he believed in Robert's power. There was still no way I was letting Lissa near a Strigoi, but this incredible tale had become slightly more credible. I couldn't let it go without further investigation. â€Å"We can go up to the room after this,† I said at last. â€Å"But not for long.† My words were to Victor and Robert. Robert seemed to have faded into his own world again, but Victor nodded. I gave Eddie a quick glance and got a curt nod of a different sort from him. He understood the risk in taking the brothers to a private place. Eddie was telling me he would be extravigilant–not that he wasn't already. By the time we finished dinner, Eddie and I were both rigid and tense. He walked near Robert, and I stayed by Victor. We kept Lissa and Adrian between the brothers. Yet, even keeping close, it was hard as we cut through the crowded casino. People stopped in our path, walked around us, through us†¦ it was chaos. Twice, our group got split by oblivious tourists. We weren't too far from the elevators, but I was getting uneasy about the possibility of Victor or Robert running off through the mob of people â€Å"We need to get out of this crowd,† I shouted over to Eddie. He gave me another of his quick nods and took an abrupt left that caught me by surprise. I steered Victor in that same direction, and Lissa and Adrian sidestepped to keep up with us. I was puzzled until I saw that we were approaching a hall with an EMERGENCY EXIT sign on it. Away from the busy casino, the noise level dimmed. â€Å"Figure there are probably stairs here,† Eddie explained. â€Å"Crafty guardian.† I flashed him a smile. Another turn showed us a janitorial closet on our right and ahead of us: a door with a symbol for stairs. The door appeared to lead both outside and to upper floors. â€Å"Brilliant,† I said. â€Å"You're, like, on the tenth floor,† pointed out Adrian. It was the first time he'd spoken in a while. â€Å"Nothing like a little exercise to–damn.† I came to an abrupt halt in front of the door. It had a small warning sign saying that an alarm would go off if the door was opened. â€Å"Figures.† â€Å"Sorry,† said Eddie, like he was personally responsible. â€Å"Not your fault,† I said, turning. â€Å"Back we go.† We'd have to take our chances in the crowd. Maybe the roundabout detour had tired Victor and Robert out enough to make escape unappealing. Neither of them was that young anymore, and Victor was still in bad shape. Lissa was too tense to think much about being led around, but Adrian gave me a look that clearly said he thought this traipsing was a waste of his time. Of course, he thought this whole Robert thing was a waste of time. I was honestly surprised he was coming with us at all back to the room. I would have expected him to stay in the casino with his cigarettes and another drink. Eddie, leading our group, took a few steps back toward the casino down the hallway. And then it hit me. â€Å"Stop!† I screamed. He responded instantly, coming to a halt in the narrow space. A bit of confusion followed. Victor stumbled into Eddie in surprise, and then Lissa stumbled into Victor. Instinct made Eddie reach for his stake, but mine was already out. I'd grabbed it as soon as the nausea had swept me. There were Strigoi between us and the casino.