Pets Rights in Hawaii Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pets Rights in Hawaii - Annotated Bibliography Example The purpose of the research is to find out the level of the abuse of pets in Hawaii. This information will help in determining the best way towards protecting the rights of animals in the state. Many cases of the violation of pets' rights in Hawaii have been reported, and this research will come up with recommendations on how best to address issues of violation of pets' rights. There have been different discussions about the rights of pets in the US, but this research will offer solutions on how to reduce the cases of violation of the rights of pets. The research will rely on journal articles, news articles, documentary films and interviews to gather information about the rights of pets in Hawaii and other places. Many people have written scholarly articles that discuss the cruelty that animals have been exposed to and how their rights are being addressed in modern days. News articles and documentaries will offer current information concerning cases of mistreatment of animals and how animal activists have pushed for laws to protect animals. The researcher will interview 3 animals' activists in Hawaii and 2 others in other US states to give their views about animals' rights in the US.  The issue of the rights of animals has caught the attention of many people and authorities around the world. The research will try to find out some of these laws and groups that agitate for the rights of pets and the level of abuse of pets' rights in Hawaii and other states in the US.  

Analysis of the Credit Card Industry in Turkey Essay Example for Free

Analysis of the Credit Card Industry in Turkey Essay The current Turkish government is very pro western and secular, however its divided religious loyalties, issues surrounding Greek sovereignty rights and fundamentalist groups threaten the expected 5 year stability of this administration. Government involvement in banking The Turkish Government has a history of involvement in banking affairs which is of concern to international investors. The Turkish state owns and finances a number of its banks and provides artificial stability to the banking system through state funded initiatives. The Government has also tailored wages in line with inflation rates e. g. minimum wages rates. With recent IMF intervention the long term plan for Turkey is still not absolutely clear. EU Membership The Turkish Government is pro EU membership and this is potentially the biggest paradigm shift on the horizon for Turkey’s financial system, this factor is further dealt with as a key driver. Economic †¢ Interest Rates Low interest rates in Turkey fuel loan take-up and have caused increase in credit card issue. Historically higher interest rates led to more widespread loan default and meant that less switching occurred as consumers were â€Å"tied† to provider. Economic growth in Turkey, with higher levels of middle and upper income, urban dwelling professionals and better access to continuing education has undoubtedly increased credit card take-up. (This could also be construed as a social factor). †¢ Global financial crisis The effects of the global financial crisis will have a major effect on banking restrictions to lending and credit availability in Turkey. Turkey’s export markets will be likely affected by the ongoing crisis which has a major effect on GDP which in turn affects spending power. Social †¢ Higher standard of living Higher standards of living among consumers have a beneficial knock on effect for credit cards issuers. In Turkey 7. 5% of GDP is invested back into education thus consumers are more financial savvy. †¢ Urban/Rural Divide Urban dwellers have a much higher likelihood of credit card use given their potential for access of issue and probability of a regular wage earning role. As the economy develops Turks are increasingly moving off the land from poorly paying seasonal work to the cities that offer a better chance of regular income and personal development. Technology †¢ E –Commerce Worth in excess of 2 billion euro to the economy and with 16 million people accessing the internet E-Commerce is a huge growth area and potential distribution channel for the credit card industry. It is also a medium for information driven purchasing through advertising potential and its access is furthered through telephone technology integration. †¢ SMART Cards The security afforded to the credit card industry through use of SMART cards has a beneficial affect on usage through; 1. Increased level of merchants accepting the facility 2. Security for use in Internet Cafes (here large numbers access the internet) 3. Security of service has become a battleground for competition among issuers Coupled with the above technologies, the explosion in EPOS facilities mean more access to products and services through credit card use, homogenising the myriad of potential transactions and benefiting both consumer and merchant. ATM’s also have further facilities to enhance the benefits of using plastic such as bill pay, mobile kiosks etc. Legal †¢ Intervention of Government/Key official Institutions There have been widespread changes in the law in Turkey affecting the credit card industry such as; 1. Restriction on credit card limits . Illegality of altering terms without informing consumer 3. Increases in minimum payment required 4. The Central Bank’s lowering of the interest rate cap 5. Loosening of the frameworks around mergers and acquisitions All of these interventions alter the attractiveness of the market for the credit card industry, which was historically fraught with lack of reg ulation and anti-consumer practises. Identify the 4 KEY DRIVERS FACING THE CREDIT CARD SECTOR 1. Technological Advances 2. State Intervention in Financial Affairs 3. EU membership 4. Rural-Urban Migration Technological Advances The rapidly advancing technology in the field of mobile payment will have a lasting effect on the credit card industry. Companies that can stay ahead of the game with new technologies in security, risk management and will be best placed to benefit from increased A physical â€Å"credit card† is really only a vehicle to hold a magnetic strip containing coded information. In terms of technology this is already quite dated; †¢ Already systems are designed to â€Å"swipe† a card on a merchant’s mobile phone, this will allow for a myriad of services which will no longer require cash transaction e. g. street traders. Advances in retina scanning technology are also at an advanced level and it is envisaged that the future of mobile payments may be through facial recognition or retina scanning. †¢ Other technology such as what is used in â€Å"The Baja Beach Club in Barcelona† where they inject a rice-size â€Å"VeriChip† RFID device into the wrist or upper arm of its patrons whom pay by swiping their arm – adapted from http://www. creditcards. com/credit-card-news/credit-cards-of-the-distant-future State Intervention The level of further state intervention in Turkey’s financial affairs will be a key driver in Turkey’s future credit card success or decline. As we have seen, moves by the government to regulate the industry have impacted on the potential earnings of the banks through lowering interest rates. In turn this type of regulation has stabilised the markets and led to economic growth which impacts positively on numbers of consumers available to the sector. Whether the current â€Å"Republican Democracy† in Turkey will be in power going forward is obviously of importance to this argument. With elections due in 2011 the future of state intervention in banking affairs is unclear. EU Membership Turkey becoming a full member of the EU will be another key driver in the credit card industry. EU entry will mean the freeing of trade and access to a further 500 million consumers. It is most likely that Turkey would be a more attractive market for global companies, of interest here, financial organisations who would be attracted by the large numbers of â€Å"unbanked† consumers and those who see Turkey strategically as the gateway to Eastern markets. The credit card market would likely become much more competitive with new entrants who would most likely look to merge with/acquire existing indigenous banks. Rural-Urban Migration According to the case study the majority of people in the rural areas of Turkey tend not to be credit card users. As the economy improves larger numbers of rural people (especially male) will likely move towards the larger urban centres to participate in the industrial or service sectors. This in turn leads to greater numbers with the potential to use credit cards, in turn offering greater numbers of potential consumers to the sector. SECTION 2 – Porters 5 Forces 2. Use the five forces framework to identify the forces affecting the Turkish credit card sector a. Graphically illustrate the five forces (see overleaf) b. Draw conclusions from the 5 forces analysis to explain; 1. How attractive the sector is I consider the Turkish credit card sector to be an attractive market for a large multinational e. g. BNP or Barclays to enter. From my analysis I have concluded that consumers are fragmented and suppliers are concentrated. Rivalry is high, yet only among 4 suppliers, considering rivalry in an industry such as haulage this must be considered attractive. Capital requirements of entry are high, but not on the scale of industries such as mining might be. Economies of scale and experience exist, however for companies already in credit card markets in other countries by no means insurmountable. The threat of substitutes is relatively low as the credit card holds a relatively niche position. Product differentiation/loyalty is low among existing consumers; good offers would attract new business, as would strong internet presence. Turkey has; â€Å"40 percent of people who are bankable based on their socio-economic status and age in Turkey are still â€Å"unbanked,† having no accounts with any banks in Turkey â€Å" (www. mckinsey. om/clientservice/ /Credit_Cards_in_Turkey. ashx) This data identifies a large section of the Turkish population who are potential consumers for a new entrant; therefore the market could potentially grow significantly for all players involved. 2. How the competitive forces are changing/may change The competitive forces are currently changing most notably in areas such as consumer access to information. More widespread access and use of the internet will drive further competition in the market through portals such as comparison websites, industry reviews etc. This will ultimately increase bargaining power of consumers, leading to decreased profits for suppliers. EU accession would alter the competitive forces among the major players currently in the sector. Interest rates set by the ECB, participation in the single currency etc. would have a significant impact on the state financed banking institutions and would alter their relevance. One would suspect that in a free market system the Turkish government would relish the opportunity of divesting the burden to international organisations to increase competition. With increased market stability and better financial education, consumer’s use of substitutes may extend to less expensive forms of credit such as personal loans. Coupled with better economic conditions consumer’s use of debit cards may also increase; given that currently lower income workers struggle to maintain a balance sufficient to cover their living costs. 3. How the sector may change to reflect changing forces The credit card sector can move more of its marketing budget toward E-Marketing and target new and younger consumers through this medium. MBNA have used this marketing channel very successfully in the past. In order to combat increased uptake of personal loans and increased use of debit cards the credit card sector may look at collective lower interest rates, better offers through loyalty bonuses and customer kickbacks and better education of its customers as to how to better use their credit cards. In order for the credit card sector to prepare for increased competition post EU accession it may look to further differentiate its offerings to appeal to the Turkish people e. g. align the credit offering with cultural values or emotions. It might be necessary to offer further services aligned to credit cards such as life insurance to augment and differentiate the offering. 3. Scenario Planning Scenario 1 â€Å"Renewed Political/Terrorist Violence in Turkey† In recent years, terrorist bombings some with significant numbers of casualties -have struck religious, political, and business targets in a variety of locations in Turkey. The potential remains throughout Turkey for violence and terrorist actions both by transnational and indigenous terrorist organizations such as PKK, . Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) and AlQa’ida. Adapted from http://www. eubusiness. com/europe/turkey/invest) Given Turkey’s increasing dependence on foreign direct investment a return to more concerted campaign of political violence would spell disaster for the credit card industry. Large financial corporations, especially US owned would be deterred from entering the market, or potentially pull out of t he market thus decimating competition. Access to sources of international credit and lending would dry up therefore affecting consumer’s ability to purchase products and services on credit. Turkey’s export market would potentially be destroyed as Western nations would deter from transacting in case monies were being skimmed to fund further terrorist activity. This would further lower the GDP of the country affecting the spending power of consumers in turn negating the need for credit cards. Further knock on effects of violence include the loss of capital Governments have available to invest in its economy, on education and infrastructure. Government capital would have to be spent on further military and security projects. The tourism industry, a huge earner for Turkey would be decimated as travelers would fear the threat of violence. The black market economy would thrive under such conditions and regular banking functions would significantly cease with many consumers using cash/barter systems of attaining needs. With respect to the Credit card sector, this scenario would be highly detrimental to its future, as consumer confidence in the financial service sector would be decimated. The sector would have to pour vast resources into transaction security and marketing the brand safety and correct usage policies to consumers. Default numbers would likely increase due to instability and escalating interest rates. Scenario 2 â€Å"Turkey Gains Full EU Membership† â€Å"The EU is committed to supporting Turkey in its path for membership. The initial objective of EU financial support towards Turkey was the extension of an area of peace, stability and prosperity within and beyond Europe. Once the Union accepted Turkey as a candidate, financial assistance began to focus on supporting Turkey in its preparation for EU membership† http://www. eubusiness. com/europe/turkey/funding A study on the EU (http://europa. eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction. o) reported the following economic benefits of a country joining the EU; 1. An average of 2. 15% increase in GDP 2. Exchange rates for Turks travelling through Europe would be eliminated, as would the potential damaging effects exchange rate swings have on Turkish exports. I would assume that the credit card sector would become significantly more competitive in the light of EU membership therefore the sector would have to increase its marketing and branding spend, but would have a larger pool of consumers to choose from.

Differences in the Male and Female Brain Essays -- Compare Contrast Ne

Differences in the Male and Female Brain It is proven that the male and female brains differ, but can one prove that it affects the behavior? Many scientists would agree that ones behavior is determined by his/her gender. Although others are convinced that social conditioning is the cause for the differences between the male and female, it is very unlikely that biological differences play no role in behavior. The male and female brains differ not only by how they work, but also on the size. For example, Natalie Angier and Kenneth Chang, neuroscientists, have shown that the women’s brain is about 10 percent smaller than the male’s, on average, even after accounting for women’s comparatively smaller body size. Three brain differences that affect ones behavior are the limbic size, the corpus collosum size, and the amount of gray and white matter. Current research has demonstrated that females, on average, have a larger deep limbic system than males. Due to the larger limbic brain, woman are more in touch with their feelings, they are generally better to express their feelings than men (â€Å"Male-Female Brain Differences†). Women are the primary care takers for children because of their strong ability to be connected and bond well with others. Containing a larger limbic system also leaves a female more likely to become depressed. As stated in â€Å"Male-Female Difference†, women attempt suicide three times more than men, but men actually succeed three times more than women. This h...

Marketing proposal

The Iphone is not a phone. It is a revolution that has just started. Some have called it the next resting place of the mind. When we heard that Apple was creating a new product after iPod, we all held our collective breadths, what were Steve jobs up to? Built in the simple elegance that only Apple knows how to this work of arts most distinctive feature is its high-tech multi touch function that creates an amazing   user experience enables an individual to control everything using his or her fingers and type using a predictive keyboard and glade through the multi touch display to find photos, messages, friends easily. There is thankfully lees clutter and none of those confusing functions that get in the way. Yet the iPod lack one function in order to get it fully right. It doesn’t have a mirror, actually a magic mirror. This is the name I have given a feature that the iphone must have. It is an electronic mirror that a clear spread with your hand over the face of the iphone screens morphs up. Magic mirror can be a traditional mirror with a frame and also has drivers that allow you to talk to an animated character who gives an appropriate response by way of drivers that trigger this. It actively mixes video images while communicating via RS 239 and using the Creston automation system. Other functions includes enabling doctors to identify psychological, physical well being by looking at your magic mirror image along with heart beat and blood pressure sensors of patients and the elderly. The target markets for magic mirror are teenage girls, middle income globally. Because of the growth of the world, middle class there has been a parallel growth in affluent teenagers and young adults. No matter where they are in the world, they have similar desires, interests and consumptions. This has been influenced by the worldwide mass media. They watch the same shows, listen to the same music and watch the same movies and videos. They not only idolize the same musicians, dressing styles, mannerisms and attitudes and therefore have the same shared characteristics and preferences. We intend to have teenagers identify with iphone early in life because preferences and tastes formed now can influence purchasing trends throughout their lives. The social cause that I intend to support is the delinquency and lack of manners that is so prevalent in young adults today. While it has become a common practice for older people to ignore or not to give much thought to young people’s behavior and regard this as a passing cloud, I beg to differ. The recent incidents of fatal shootings all over America is the upper peak of a mountain of poor mannerisms that if not checked will result in lawlessness and societal breakdown. I would advocate a campaign for good manners starting at the very bottom. Children as young as three learning to say thank you and please , then moving up to pre-teens who will use the fulfilled and life lessons applications, games, quizzes and chats. Then focus on teenagers and on the other hand providing guidance, advice and support to parents. The slogan I would choose is ‘thanks a million’. This is a slogan that will be part of the campaign that initiates a state by state competition where a million teenagers’ text thank you messages to older people who have done wonderful and even simple things to make life better for others. Tyra banks are in my opinion the most suitable spokesman for the campaign. Her whole life story is an example for many teenagers about how to become a success in life. Born in a middle class background, she lived a normal life and was inspired by her mother who identified her talent in modeling and helped her develop it even through the most challenging times of her life. As a talk show host, Tyra banks have placed her energy towards developing the potential of young women. Her show provides information on fashion, dress, complexion and style. She especially focuses on teenage girls through the Tzone summer camp experience where independence, self esteem is taught to teenage girls at a mountainside camp for a week. Her energy and personality appeals strongly to young girls most importantly. Tyra banks are a modern woman and a role model with manners.   She has started her own campaign against use of derogatory words ageist women in rap videos and has a policy of not allowing swear words to be used during her show. She is the right person for the job. Magic mirror is just a start of the concept of capturing all the senses sight, sound and smell within the iPod. The next phase is to introduce a scent sensor to the iphone as well as a sound sensor. These two features will make the iphone the almost man’s best friend. REFERENCES Winer, R.S. (2007). Marketing Management, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Using teaching styles to make positive contributions in physical education

The usage of appropriate instruction manners makes an of import part to kids ‘s acquisition in physical instruction. Different instruction manners affect many facets of instruction and acquisition, including the acquisition environment and the instructor ‘s ability to run into single demands. As physical instruction has a broad spectrum of aims harmonizing to Macfayden & A ; Bailey ( 2002 ) instructors should utilize a broad assortment of learning manners to guarantee that students achieve the broad assortment of techniques and accomplishments that physical instruction has to offer. This survey will see the assorted definitions associated with the subject and pay specific attending to the spectrum of learning manners proposed by Mosston & A ; Ashworth ( 1986 ) . The survey will so specifically concentrate on usage of the productive and generative manners by analyzing my ain experience against findings from literature. The model for learning manners and behaviors came from work by Mosston ( 1966 ) . The thoughts that Mosston proposed hold changed and adapted since the first publication of the model. The interaction between instructor and pupil has been developed since his initial publication ( Mosston & A ; Ashworth, 1986 ) and have provided a model where the determinations are the chief component and the relationship between the instructor and the scholar has in doing those determinations. So influential was it that the work by Nixon & A ; Locke ( 1973 ) described it as â€Å" the most important progress in the theory of physical instruction teaching method in recent history † . A instruction manner is concerned with how an activity is delivered, instead than what is delivered, ( Macfadyen & A ; Bailey, 2002 ) . Research conducted by Siendentop ( 1991 ) has besides suggested that â€Å" a instruction manner is typified by the instructional and managerial clime that exists during the lesson which can be observed in the chief that the instructor interacts with the students and in some instances if there is an interaction at all † . The Spectrum incorporates 10 landmark manners based on the grade to which the instructor or the pupil assumes duty for what happens in a lesson. This describes a continuum, where at one extreme is the direct, teacher-led attack and at the other lies a much more open-ended and student-centred manner where the instructor acts merely in a facilitator function.Generative Teaching Manners:The generative or direct bunch includes the bid, pattern, mutual, self cheque and inclusion instruction manners ( Mosston & A ; Ashworth, 2002 ) . Direct manners of learning require the scholar to reproduce known stuff or cognition by retroflexing a specific theoretical account. This frequently involves capable affair associating to concrete facts, regulations or specific skills/movements ( Rink, 2002 ) . In order for students to animate specific accomplishments Derri & A ; Pachta ( 2007 ) identified that â€Å" scholars must foremost be provided with a right proficient theoretical account to emulate, sufficient clip to pattern the theoretical account and effectual feedback related to the original theoretical account † , with the right proficient theoretical account frequently being shown by the instructor. Research conducted by Pieron ( 1998 ) supports the usage of the bid learning manner as the writer argues that copying the most efficient manner ( that of the instructors presentation ) is extremely profitable. It is seen as more profitable because it saves clip as the instructor has the overall duty for rectifying mistakes and it ensures that students receive accurate feedback. The research conducted by Salvara et Al ( 2006 ) highlighted that â€Å" the direct instruction manners specifically the bid manner has been shown to hold a positive impact on category control and motor public presentation † . Within my instruction I have found that utilizing this manner of learning to be the most effectual for category control particularly when the category has a big figure of students and when the category requires a batch of behaviour direction schemes used to command to the category. However Pellett & A ; Blakemore ( 1997 ) conducted a survey of undertaking presentation and content public presentation of four instructors who all had difference degrees of experience and found that pupils taught by an experient instructor were more effectual at executing the accomplishments when compared to being taught by a instructor of small experience. My experience whilst on instructor preparation has besides supported these findings as I was able to show the undertakings more clearly to pupils when I had more experience in that peculiar activity. I was besides able to distinguish the undertaking to a higher degree with activities that I was familiar with as I had more thoughts and experience to pull upon, whereas with activities I had small experience of I found it more ambitious to be originative and come on the students. This has resulted in me taking actions towards seeking to better capable cognition in countries of the course of study where my experience is missing or deficient. Research conducted by Griffey ( 1983 ) has found that when practising accomplishments pupils of lower ability benefited more from the bid manner of learning as they had small old experience to pull from. This is something that I have besides noticed, when learning lower ability groups it is more good to give the direction or presentation of undertaking to salvage clip and when working with higher ability students leting the more able students to show the accomplishment to increase pupil motive. These findings have non been supported by Goldberger & A ; Gerney ( 1990 ) who found that under circuit preparation conditions the lower ability students seemed to profit more from the chance to do determinations about clip spent practising at each station. However within this survey the pattern manner of instruction has besides bee n examined. Harmonizing to Byra ( 2000 ) â€Å" in the pattern manner of learning the scholars work at their ain gait and complete instructor designed undertakings in the order they choose, the category is organised around Stationss and the instructor provides single feedback to the scholars † . The most effectual type of pattern manner of learning I have used whilst on learning experience was the usage of circuit preparation as I chose the activities/skills/tasks to be practiced at each station and the students chose the strength to which they performed as each station. In a survey by Beckett ( 1991 ) on college age pupils the pattern manner has proved to be really effectual in advancing motor accomplishment alterations. From my experience of utilizing this manner I discovered that it was non peculiarly utile at advancing larning when there was limited clip or big groups as different ability students will come on at different times and take longer with certain accomplishments. However th e ages of students should be taken into consideration as my experience is from working with students aged 11-16 who because they are more susceptible to development in motor accomplishments than college aged pupils. This may explicate why Beckett did non detect any alterations in motor accomplishments as the topic in his survey may hold already to the full developed. My experience has besides been identified and supported by Goldberger & A ; Gerney ( 1986 ) & A ; Goldberger et Al ( 1982 ) . However I did happen this manner of learning utile during a wellness and fittingness unit of work where the sum of accomplishment acquisition was minimum and the chief focal point on the lesson was for students to be active utilizing circuit preparation and the acquisition was aimed at students being introduced to new cognition or deriving a farther apprehension of current cognition on different types of exercisings instead than developing accomplishments. The mutual manner has besides been examined by Goldberger & A ; Gerney ( 1986 ) & A ; Goldberger et Al ( 1982 ) . These research workers identified that in this manner the scholars work in braces to accomplish the results. The instructor ‘s ability to give effectual instruction/information is of import when utilizing this manner as when one scholar performs the other observes and gives feedback to the performing artist particular to the direction that the instructor gives at the start of the undertaking and when the performing artist completes the undertaking the scholars switch functions. From my experience the most effectual ways of giving direction are in the signifier of a presentation or a criteria sheet, I besides found that presentations are really effectual when showing accomplishments that I can demo high degrees of competency. In add-on to improved skill public presentation Goldberger ( 1992 ) besides found that â€Å" scholars in the mutual manner provided more feed back, expressed more empathy, offered more congratulations and encouragement and requested more feedback from each other when compared to a control group † . However from my experience of this manner the coupling of students is of import as if you pair students of different degrees the feedback would either be to complex or excessively simple therefore impacting the sum of acquisition and skill public presentation. Besides when working with pupils/groups where behaviour direction is an issue it is more good for the instructor to partner off the students harmonizing to ability instead than allowing students pick their spouse as this tends to take to the students picking friends and being distracted and traveling off undertaking. I have besides found that the manner in which you give the direction besides can hold an consequence on the lesson as undertaking sheets frequently do n't work with groups where behaviour direction is an issue as they do non react good to the resource a nd see it as something to mess about with instead than an educational tool. Byra & A ; Marks ( 1993 ) conducted a survey which focuses on the mutual manner and the effects that different couplings had on students battle. This survey highlighted students who were identified as friends gave more effectual and specific feedback due to their comfort degrees being higher as they were working with a friend. The writers besides found that grouping by ability had no consequence on the sum of feedback given or the comfort degree which is in understanding with my ain personal experiences. This surveies findings suggests that student working with friends is good nevertheless this survey does non take into history the behavior of the group which I have experienced can be a major lending fact when partner offing students. I have experienced when leting students to work in friendship braces can sometimes be damaging when they feel the undertaking is non honoring or good as they distract each other and sometimes do n't finish the undertaking. I have found that to partner off students with friends is good merely when you have built a resonance with the students and are cognizant of how they react working with friends. My experience of this manner is that it is besides good to utilize when measuring students supplying they are cognizant of the rating standards they can have more feedback therefore bettering public presentation when compared to other direct instruction manners. In support of this Cox ( 1986 ) found that when comparing the mutual manner against the bid and pattern manners that the sum of accomplishment motions was really similar which was surprising as the mutual manner involves a batch more feedback. It was besides found that three times the figure of feedback statements were offered to performing artists utilizing the mutual manner ensuing in higher accomplishments and cognition additions along with the development of societal relationship accomplishments. Harmonizing to Byra & A ; Jenkins ( 1998 ) within the inclusion manner of learning scholars choose the degree of trouble within a undertaking and measure their ain accomplishment public presentation. With this in head the benefits of the inclusion manner are that it provides students with the chance to prosecute in activity that is to their appropriate skill/knowledge degree potentially increasing inclusion and battle. My experience of utilizing this manner of instruction is that I have attempted to include it in all of my lessons as guaranting all students are included is indispensable to any lesson. However when leting students to decided which skill degree they work at frequently resulted in students taking a degree that is non appropriate whether that be to simple or excessively complex. This goes against the spectrum theory which suggests that â€Å" the status provided by the inclusion manner should advance success for all scholars † ( Mosston & A ; Ashworth, 1994 ) . The findings of Goldberger & A ; Gerney ( 1986 ) & A ; Goldberger et Al ( 1982 ) has supported my experience and observed that the bulk of scholars made inappropriate and uneffective determinations for their accomplishment degree by taking degrees that were excessively complex for them to make success or the aims even when encouraged or prompted by the instructor. From this I have learned to put boundaries for those students that make the undertaking to hard so for illustration when throwing and catching puting a maximal or minimal distance they can throw the ball. My experience has besides taught me that this manner is most effectual when used with older students as they have a better ego construct of their ain ability and are less susceptible to peer force per unit area this was besides observed by Beckett ( 1991 ) . In survey of college aged pupils Beckett ( 1991 ) found that the inclusion manner to be every bit effectual as the pattern manner for scholar accomplishment public pre sentation when larning motor accomplishments. These happening do non back up the decisions of Goldberger & A ; Gerney ( 1986 ) & A ; Goldberger et Al ( 1982 ) and it was suggested that the difference in pupils ages as a contributing factor which supports my experience. My experience of the Inclusion manner has besides highlighted the importance of planning and appraisal for the lesson as I have already identified that students sometimes do n't do the right determinations. Therefore as a consequence of this I found it good to measure the students who set boundaries and ends that may be above or below their degree and students who do non work good together and so be after a scheme into the following lesson to guarantee that those students remain focussed and on undertaking.Productive Teaching Manners:When compared to the generative instruction manner the productive bunch of Mosston & A ; Ashworth ( 1994 ) spectrum of learning manners has small background research. The productive bunch requires the scholar to bring forth new cognition, from my experience the instructor needs a high degree of understanding and creativeness to make or plan scenarios. Harmonizing to Byra ( 2000 ) â€Å" within the productive manners of learning students should prosecute in cognitive operations like job resolution, originative thought, contriving and critical thought to detect new motions † . It is the duty of the instructor to supply clip for cognitive processing hence at that place needs to be a category clime focused on seeking and analyzing and feedback for bring forthing different solutions instead than the same generic response ( Mosston & A ; Ashworth, 2002 ) . Harmonizing to Mosston & A ; Ashworth ( 1986 ) â€Å" six instruction manners have been identified in the productive bunch they are guided find and convergent find which both require convergent thought from the scholars and divergent production, single plan scholar design, scholar initiated and self learning which require divergent thought from scholars † . The bulk of the research in this country has studied the effects of the divergent find, convergent find and guided find. In a survey by Cleland & A ; Gallahue ( 1993 ) divergent motion forms were observed to set up baseline information and to analyze the different factors that contribute to a kid ‘s production of divergent motion. The findings highlighted that scholars could modify, follow and unite cardinal motion forms to bring forth divergent motion. In a farther survey Cleland ( 1994 ) compared the divergent find manner against the bid manner and a no direction control group to analyze the scholars ability to brin g forth divergent motion. The findings of this survey were that pupils generated a greater figure of divergent motions under the divergent find status. The research worker concluded that using critical thought in the signifier of the divergent find manner positively effects scholars ability to bring forth a higher measure of divergent motion forms. My experience of utilizing this instruction manner is that the students age/maturity and experience degrees are major lending factors as scholars with low degrees of experience have limited capable cognition to pull from therefore impacting their ability to modify current skills/movement my experience has besides been supported by the findings of Cleland & A ; Gallahue ( 1993 ) . As the old research suggests a pupils ability to believe critically is of import within the productive bunch of learning manners, wish this in head Cleland & A ; Pearse ( 1995 ) conducted a survey which examined the methods that physical instruction instructors use to guarantee that students use critical thought. Critical thought has been defined by McBride ( 1992 ) as â€Å" brooding thought is used to do sensible determinations about motion undertakings or challenges † ( page 115 ) . This surveies conclusion lucifer with my experience which was that this manner was most effectual when using the pattern manner of learning to give instruction/deliver the topic cognition so following guided find and convergent find to let the students to believe critically. The survey besides highlighted that â€Å" the more experient instructors were able to make a more effectual environment for the students to utilize originative thought accomplishments † McBride ( 1992 ) . From my experience I have besides been able to hold with these findings as I felt more comfy making an environment that was contributing to creative thought when learning a topic I had more experience in as I was able to give more effectual feedback. The research presented to this point has seemed to favor the usage of the productive instruction manners particularly when making cognitive acquisition nevertheless there is conflicting research presented by Salter & A ; Graham ( 1985 ) . Salter & A ; Graham ( 1985 ) examined the effects of the bid manner, guided find manner and no direction on scholars skill larning, cognitive acquisition and accomplishment efforts. The consequences showed that although their was grounds that larning occurred utilizing all three manners the students in the guided find and bid manner recorded significantly better cognitive acquisition compared to no direction. For accomplishment efforts nevertheless scholars in the no direction manner made significantly more efforts at the undertaking than scholars in the other manners. The research workers went onto recommend that a longer pattern clip than 20 proceedingss may hold resulted in the guided find holding more skill acquisition, cognitive acquisition and accomplishment efforts as this manner requires longer pattern clip for the full benefits to be witnessed. From my ain experience this is something which I have besides observed as students respond better when they have longer periods of clip to experiment different accomplishment motions. My experience has besides taught me that to increase the pattern clip requires effectual direction bringing which has besides been identified by Cleland & A ; Pearse ( 1995 ) .Decision:In decision several research inquiries have been answered about the generative manners of instruction ; what the effects of the generative manners have on acquisition, how scholars of different ability degree are influenced by different manners, what consequence couplings have on students ability to give effectual feedback, what factors influence scholars determination devising and what consequence the different manners have on scholars ability to larn new cognition. The findings from the productive manner are ; can learners employ critical thought, what is the consequence of productive manners on scholars ability to bring forth divergent motion and how can teachers advance critical thought. The sum of research that is available for the productive manners of learning in limited when compared to the comprehensiveness of research surveies on the generative instruction manners. However, a survey by Cothran et Al. ( 2000 ) has identify that instructors reported utilizing a assortment of manner in their lessons yet merely one productive manner was in the top five manners used. Although it is promoting that instructors report utilizing a assortment these consequences must be interpreted as it suggests that instructors over estimate the assortment of learning manners used therefore impacting the sum of research there is available in relation to the productive manners of learning. Research conducted by Goldberger ( 1992 ) has identified that the ground that may stay unconvinced or unsure of the manners use is because of the deficiency of collateral research on those manners. Therefore farther research is needed into the productive manners of learning to supply instructors with a cognition base on how these manners can be effectual at advancing acquisition.Recommendations:These findings have provided an initial penetration into the usage of learning manners across a theoretically linked spectrum. One noticeable exclusion was that there is struggle within the research findings and non all research workers reported the same findings which identifies that there a re a important sum of variables related to spectrum research and that the variable that is being focused on should be decently investigated by utilizing the right research method. Spectrum research needs to go on as non all findings sing premises associated to the spectrum have non been supported. However, some premises have been confirmed within this survey for illustration the mutual manner does in fact facilitate the proviso of feedback, more so than any another manner and holding scholars chose their spouses based on friendly relationships helps better societal accomplishments ( Byra & A ; Marks, 1993 ) . Other premises like, the ego cheque and inclusion manners are the most effectual at advancing cognitive development and the inclusion manner is most effectual at bettering engagement of low, medium and high ability scholars still needs to be examined. Replication surveies besides need to be conducted in different environments as the research findings and my experience would pro pose that the mutual manner is an effectual manner at advancing feedback. However, would it be as effectual at easing larning with different aged students in different schools where behavior direction has a far greater accent in lessons. After reexamining the appropriate relevant literature and reflecting on my ain personal experiences I feel that the usage of appropriate instruction manners makes an of import part to pupils ‘ larning in Physical Education and should non be left to opportunity. Physical Education can supply students with the chance to believe critically, job solve and to better ain acquisition. Students will be able to believe about what they are making and do determinations independently and cognize when to utilize rules such as stage dancing, games schemes and job resolution. If students are to entree the full National Curriculum for Physical Education ( NCPE ) ( DfEE/QCA, 1999 ) and to accomplish the results of high quality Physical Education ( QCA/DfES, 2005 ) , instructors must use a assortment of appropriate instruction manners to ease the chances that Physical Education offers. It is because of this that both generative and productive instruction manners should be used to heighten acquis ition and motive.

Definition of a Public University

Definition of a Public University The term public indicates that the universitys funding comes partly from state taxpayers. This is not true for  private universities. Its also worth noting that many states do not fund their public universities adequately, and in some cases far less than half of the operating budget comes from the state. Lawmakers often see public education as a place to cut back on spending, and the result can sometimes be significant increases in tuition and fees, larger class sizes, fewer academic options, and longer time to graduation. Examples of Public Universities The largest residential campuses in the country are all public universities. For example, these public institutions all have more than 50,000 students: University of Central Florida, Texas AM University, The Ohio State University, Arizona State University, and the University of Texas at Austin. These schools all have a strong focus on faculty and graduate research, and all have Division I athletic programs. You wont find any residential private universities that are nearly as large as these schools. All of the schools listed above are major or flagship campuses of the state systems. The majority of public universities, however, are lesser-known regional campuses such as the University of West Alabama, Penn State University Altoona, and the University of Wisconsin. Regional campuses often do an excellent job controlling costs, and many offer programs suited for working adults who are trying to earn a degree. Features of Public Universities A public university has a few features that distinguish it from private universities: Size - The size of public universities varies widely. As mentioned above, however, the largest universities in the country are all public. Youll also find regional public universities of just a couple thousand students.Division I Athletics - The great majority of Division I athletic teams are fielded by public universities. For example, all but one member of the SEC (Vanderbilt) are public universities, and all but one member of the Big Ten (Northwestern) are public. At the same, time, there are numerous Division II, Division III, and NAIA athletic programs at public universities, and some public institutions that have no intercollegiate athletic programs at all.Low Cost - Public universities typically have tuition that is considerably lower than private universities, especially for in-state students. Out-of-state tuition can vary widely, and some schools such as those in the University of California System and the University of Michigan have out-of-state tuition that is as high or h igher than many private institutions. Also keep in mind that many public universities dont have the resources for robust grant aid that youll find at top-tier private universities, so if you qualify for financial aid, you may actually find that a top private university will cost you less than a top public university, even if the sticker price is tens of thousands of dollars higher. Commuter and Part-time Students - Public universities tend to have more commuter and part-time students than private colleges and universities. This is particularly true of regional public universities. The flagship campuses of state systems tend to be largely residential.The Downside - Read the profiles of universities carefully. In many cases, public universities have lower graduation rates, higher student/faculty ratios and more loan aid (thus, more student debt) than private universities. Public universities share many features with private universities: Undergraduate and graduate student focus - Large public universities have significant masters and doctoral programs just like top private universities.Graduate degrees - At large public universities, advanced degree offerings such as an M.A., M.F.A., M.B.A., J.D., Ph.D., and M.D. are common.Broad academic offerings - Students can often choose courses in the liberal arts, sciences, engineering, business, health, and fine arts.Faculty focus on research - At big-name public universities, professors are often evaluated for their research and publishing first, and teaching second. Teaching may take priority at branch campuses and regional public universities. A Final Word on Public Universities The most selective colleges in the country are all private, and the colleges with the largest endowments are also private. That said, the countrys best public universities deliver educations that are on par with their private counterparts, and the price tag of public institutions can be as much as $40,000 less per year than elite private institutions. The price tag, however, is rarely the actual price of college, so be sure to look into financial aid. Harvard, for example, has a total cost of over $66,000 a year, but a student from a family that earns less than $100,000 a year can go for free. For in-state students who dont qualify for aid, a public university will frequently be the more affordable option.

Free Essays on Emerson View Of Nature In Relation To Transcendentalism

Emerson Emerson’s ideals of transcendentalism are clearly expressed in Nature and â€Å"The American Scholar.† He alludes to the transcendentalist belief in the soul’s inherent ability to grasp the truth in Nature when he says: â€Å"Undoubtedly we have no questions to ask which are unanswerable. We must trust the perfection of the creation so far as to believe that whatever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy. Every man’s condition is a solution in hieroglyphic to those inquiries he would put.† Emerson at first seems to have had very contradictory ideas about the separation between man and Nature. To explain how the "me" can be shown by the "not me" Emerson makes examples of Nature, using such imagery as circulating currents of water and air. His less ambiguous references are metaphors about the interaction between man and nature through spirit. The basis and inspiration for the creative insights that Emerson desires come from being immersed in the revitalizing stream of Nature: "Embosomed for a season in nature, whose floods of life stream around and through us, why should we grope among the dry bones of the past...?" Emerson seems to be saying that Nature is an inner source of energy that fills us with power. This representation of nature as a river is of a being (apparently female, based on Emerson’s use of the word â€Å"embosomed†) detached from man and mostly impervious to his will. The idea of division between man and nature changes as Emerson explains nature as the Not Me. He defines nature as "in the common sense...essences unchanged by man." Yet later Emerson writes of feeling â€Å"the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me† and says, â€Å"The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and vegetable.† His use of the word â€Å"currents† to describe the â€Å"Universal... Free Essays on Emerson View Of Nature In Relation To Transcendentalism Free Essays on Emerson View Of Nature In Relation To Transcendentalism Emerson Emerson’s ideals of transcendentalism are clearly expressed in Nature and â€Å"The American Scholar.† He alludes to the transcendentalist belief in the soul’s inherent ability to grasp the truth in Nature when he says: â€Å"Undoubtedly we have no questions to ask which are unanswerable. We must trust the perfection of the creation so far as to believe that whatever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy. Every man’s condition is a solution in hieroglyphic to those inquiries he would put.† Emerson at first seems to have had very contradictory ideas about the separation between man and Nature. To explain how the "me" can be shown by the "not me" Emerson makes examples of Nature, using such imagery as circulating currents of water and air. His less ambiguous references are metaphors about the interaction between man and nature through spirit. The basis and inspiration for the creative insights that Emerson desires come from being immersed in the revitalizing stream of Nature: "Embosomed for a season in nature, whose floods of life stream around and through us, why should we grope among the dry bones of the past...?" Emerson seems to be saying that Nature is an inner source of energy that fills us with power. This representation of nature as a river is of a being (apparently female, based on Emerson’s use of the word â€Å"embosomed†) detached from man and mostly impervious to his will. The idea of division between man and nature changes as Emerson explains nature as the Not Me. He defines nature as "in the common sense...essences unchanged by man." Yet later Emerson writes of feeling â€Å"the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me† and says, â€Å"The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and vegetable.† His use of the word â€Å"currents† to describe the â€Å"Universal...

Basic Geography of Rivers

Basic Geography of Rivers Rivers provide us with food, energy, recreation, transportation routes, and of course water for irrigation and for drinking. But where do they start and where do they end? Basic Geography of Rivers Rivers begin in mountains or hills, where rain water or snowmelt collects and forms tiny streams called gullies. Gullies either grow larger when they collect more water and become streams themselves or meet streams and add to the water already in the stream. When one stream meets another and they merge together, the smaller stream is known as a tributary. The two streams meet at a confluence. It takes many tributary streams to form a river. A river grows larger as it collects water from more tributaries. Streams usually form rivers in the higher elevations of mountains and hills. The areas of depression between hills or mountains are known as valleys. A river in the mountains or hills will usually have a deep and steep V-shaped valley as the fast moving water cuts away at the rock as it flows downhill. The fast moving river picks up pieces of rock and carries them downstream, breaking them into smaller and smaller pieces of sediment. By carving and moving rocks, running water changes the earths surface even more than catastrophic events such as earthquakes or volcanoes. Leaving the high elevations of the mountains and hills and entering the flat plains, the river slows down. Once the river slows down, the pieces of sediment have a chance to fall to the river bottom and be deposited. These rocks and pebbles are worn smooth and get smaller as the water continues flowing. Most of the sediment deposition occurs in the plains. The wide and flat valley of the plains takes thousands of years to create. Here, the river flows slowly, making S-shaped curves which are known as meanders. When the river floods, the river will spread out over many miles on either side of its banks. During floods, the valley is smoothed and tiny pieces of sediment are deposited, sculpting the valley and making it even smoother and more flat. An example of a very flat and smooth river valley is the Mississippi River valley in the United States. Eventually, a river flows into another large body of water, such as an ocean, bay, or lake. The transition between river and ocean, bay or lake is known as a delta. Most rivers have a delta, an area where the river divides into many channels and river water mixes with sea or lake water as the river water reaches the end of its journey. A famous example of a delta is where the Nile River meets the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt, called the Nile Delta. From the mountains to the delta, a river does not just flow - it changes the surface of the earth. It cuts rocks, moves boulders, and deposits sediments, constantly attempting to carve away all of the mountains in its path. The goal of the river is to create a wide, flat valley where it can flow smoothly towards the ocean.

BUSINESS ECONOMICS COURSEWORK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

BUSINESS ECONOMICS COURSEWORK - Essay Example With cost-plus pricing, the firm can just increase the price. Price increase is possible due to the fact that at some point, the production costs of a product may not be clear in advance. This literally may have significant advantage in cases of supply contracts. Although cost-plus pricing strategy may have advantages, it also has remarkable drawbacks which include the following: ignoring the demand, image, and market positioning; favouring historical accounting costs rather than replacement value; applying standard output level to allocate fixed costs; offering few incentives for efficiency, as costs are passed off to customers; ignoring the role of customers and the value they drive; and creating a competitive disadvantage using average costs (Brickley, Smith & Zimmerman, 2009; BPP Learning Media, 2009, p.302; Holden & Burton, 2010). Perhaps, the most striking of all of these is on how the costs are clearly passed off to customers. Cost-plus pricing may therefore not that competitive in a marketplace where there are new entrants, especially those willing to compete with price by and lowering down their price offerings to generate a market share or acceptance. At some point, cost-plus pricing may trigger a less affinity (less demand) for a certain service or product offering in the long run as competition arises. Cost-plus pricing is a safer pricing strategy on the part of Bhagat Incorporated due to production costs that may not be clear beforehand. It is a natural practice that when a manufacturing company set the price of a good, the cost of labour is always taken into account (Brickley, Smith & Zimmerman, 2009; Krauss & Johnson, 2006, p.211; Campbell, 2003, p.167). Labour costs are categorised either direct or indirect (Sears, Sears & Clough, 2010, p.46). The indirect labour costs can be reduced (Appelbaum, 200, p151; Roderhorst, 2009, p.80). If Bhagat has so much increase in its indirect labour costs, then this could be

Organisational Change Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 18

Organisational Change Management - Essay Example The Suffolk County Council has not been changed since its inception time and continued to operate in more or less same manner since then. After recruiting as the new CEO of the SCC, Andrea Hill proposed for certain organizational changes which will lead it to a better horizon in the near future. The underline problem of SCC is the huge gap between its actual cost and the yearly turnover. According to Andrea Hill, the organization would not bring extra capital to invest in balancing the gap, but the cost of the service they produce would be out of the hand much sooner. To stand at the safe point, the organization can go for a huge redundancy program, but it would not be enough to pull up the profit figure in the comfort zone. The key issue that the organization is facing now is the wider old system implied through all the organization’s structure. For this reason, the day to day expenses is rising at the same pace too. Moreover, they have numerous service verticals which they p rovide their consumers. Merging or removing any service verticals would harm the organization’s image to the consumers. So, in this context Hill suggests to curb down the demand for their services in two ways that is – stating the root cause of the local and social problem a change for which will be implemented overall and would be acceptable for a longer period of time. On the other hand, building communities by gathering sufficient capital from the people also would help the organization to pull down the costs.

Are Sweatshops Good or Bad Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Are Sweatshops Good or Bad - Essay Example Some of the benefits include generating an added income for the family, discourages children from engaging in drug and substance abuse and enables production of low priced goods. There are positive and negative impacts of sweat shops and the essay concentrates on the disadvantages. The major argument against sweat shops in the US and world over is related to the working policies. It has been observed that the working conditions in these factories are poor. The environment is most sweat shops is damp, cold and dark and it may have negative health implications on the workers such as respiratory and sight problems. Secondly, the employees in sweat shops work for long hours and this can lead to fatigue or even depression (Kristof 114). In some situations the employees work for sixteen hours in a day and throughout the weak. Unfortunately, these employees do not get paid for working overtime. To make matters worse, these individuals work for low wages that is barely enough to buy food or cater for their basic needs. The second most important argument against sweatshops is that they make use of child labor. This is owing to the fact that sweat shops are focused towards maximizing their profits and children offer cheap labor thus minimizing the cost of production (Kristof 115). This is seen as a violation of the children’ rights as they should be given the opportunity to play and study. It is wrong to contract children to work in sweat shops as they are exposed to poor working conditions and for prolonged hours and at little pay. The final argument against sweat shops is that they take away jobs from the US citizens. Owing the current economic conditions in the US it has become increasingly difficult to find work (Kristof 115). It has been observed that most of the employees working in these factories are immigrants. Additionally, factories are

An analysis of the idea of measuring and reporting human capital in Essay

An analysis of the idea of measuring and reporting human capital in the balance sheet - Essay Example 77). Companies including human capital will improve the companies’ goodwill in the external and internal environment. The political economy of the firms will improve when the company illustrate its relationship with different skilled employees since the society will appreciate the move by the firm to treat its employees in the best ways possible since they are part of the society. The company that includes training of its employees in the financial reports creates better coexistence with the government thus increasing their good reputation and in return generate more profits since the government helps it in training and developing employees who are skilled to produce quality goods (Blair 1999, pg. 43). It is important for a company to include equity to portray it does not discriminate against the physically but skilled employees or recruits creates a better image that will shape the scope of the market stock prices. Gender equality will portray better correlation with the society, which is important in expanding their company on its improved goodwill (Wyatt & Frick 2010, pg. 213). The inclusion of human capital in a financial report is very beneficial to firms thus this essay shows the reason behind exclusion of such a beneficial factor in the financial reports of most companies. Financial reports are responsible to portray the company’s financial activities and the best way the company is able to allocate its resources. This information is important to the shareholders or investors, competitors and the society. The shareholders who invest money in the company should have the knowledge of the composition of the employees the company operates with to ensure they make justifiable judgments on the funds to invest (Sveiby 1997, pg. 137). If the company prove that, the employees are talented, innovative, skilled and self-motivated, the shareholders will invest more funds since they are sure the employees at hand will generate more profits making the

Instruction and target andience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Instruction and target andience - Essay Example e the existing instructions and borrow a few ideas from that or aim to make more improvements in order to make the new instructions effective and more likely to be understood by the target audience. If the instructions are for the children for example, they have to be written in larger font size and made very legible, the language used must be very simple to understand, the steps in the instructions very few like five at most to avoid them forgetting as well as use different colors to write the instructions in order to keep them interested. The instructions can even contain graphics in order to be remembered easily. Still targeting the children as the audience, it must be remembered that headings of the instructions are very important and should be written in bold letters as â€Å"Headings not only help chunk information into easily digestible parts but also guide readers through a page and signal the relative importance of topics (Terryberry

An analysis of the idea of measuring and reporting human capital in Essay

An analysis of the idea of measuring and reporting human capital in the balance sheet - Essay Example 77). Companies including human capital will improve the companies’ goodwill in the external and internal environment. The political economy of the firms will improve when the company illustrate its relationship with different skilled employees since the society will appreciate the move by the firm to treat its employees in the best ways possible since they are part of the society. The company that includes training of its employees in the financial reports creates better coexistence with the government thus increasing their good reputation and in return generate more profits since the government helps it in training and developing employees who are skilled to produce quality goods (Blair 1999, pg. 43). It is important for a company to include equity to portray it does not discriminate against the physically but skilled employees or recruits creates a better image that will shape the scope of the market stock prices. Gender equality will portray better correlation with the society, which is important in expanding their company on its improved goodwill (Wyatt & Frick 2010, pg. 213). The inclusion of human capital in a financial report is very beneficial to firms thus this essay shows the reason behind exclusion of such a beneficial factor in the financial reports of most companies. Financial reports are responsible to portray the company’s financial activities and the best way the company is able to allocate its resources. This information is important to the shareholders or investors, competitors and the society. The shareholders who invest money in the company should have the knowledge of the composition of the employees the company operates with to ensure they make justifiable judgments on the funds to invest (Sveiby 1997, pg. 137). If the company prove that, the employees are talented, innovative, skilled and self-motivated, the shareholders will invest more funds since they are sure the employees at hand will generate more profits making the

Financial Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financial Plan - Assignment Example Depreciation of truck is at 10% straight line method 2.50 vending machines were purchased 3. The selling price and the purchase prices do not change over the five years 4. On the third year we replaced 10 vending machines that were vandalized 5. The purchase price for meals, snacks and drinks are 4$, 0.75$ and 0.75$ respectively 6. The selling price for meals, snacks and drinks are 5$, 1$ and 1$ respectively 7. After every 6 months we increased purchases by half of the previous period up to the third year. For the fourth year and fifth year, the purchases were 400 units, 2000 units and 2000 units per month for meals, snacks and drinks respectively. 8. On the beginning of the fourth year were acquired a new truck for delivery. It is to be depreciated at 10% straight line method. A detailed description on how to plan the startup requirements I conducted an analysis of the places to start the business. This are places where people require fast foods and drinks. I located ten sites and f or each site five vendor machines are to be placed. The starting capital of the business is 300k, 100 from the team and 200 from outsiders. This amount is to be distributed equally among assets, labor, and maintenances among other expenses. Vending machine being the most important asset is the first to be purchased. A vendor machine cost 200 and purchases for fifty machines were made and distributed at each location. Products provide are; meals, drinks and snacks at each vendor. As I begin, drinks are bought at four dollars and sold at five dollars realizing a profit of a dollar per drink. Meals are bought at .75 and sold at a dollar similarly to snacks realizing a profit of a .25 dollar per meal and snack. The units per the product served rise at a half percent in semiannual basis during the five year period. After every 6 months we increased purchases by half of the previous period up to the third year. For the fourth year and fifth year, the purchases were 400 units, 2000 units a nd 2000 units per month for meals, snacks and drinks respectively. This help account for business growth and development of the business. At the starting periods many variable assets are inclusive thus the reason of lower starting stock, as progress is made profits are realized within the period thus on the third year we replaced 10 vending machines that were vandalized. CASHFLOW STATEMENT YR 1 Sources of fund Equity 100 Investors 200 Capital available 300 Sales 2205 Reserves 180 Expenditures Vending machines 100 Truck 10 CCTV cameras 10 Purchases 1725 Balance sheet after year 5 NON-CURRENT ASSETS Vending machine (50 units) 100 Truck (2 units) 20 Less depreciation 7 13 CCTV for security (50 units) 10 CURRENT ASSETS Bank Cash Stock 45 FINANCED BY Equity 100 Investors 200 Net profit 2901.063 Break analysis chart At the breakeven point revenue=expenditure References Williams Jade (2008). Finance and accounting. Stanford publishers, Canada Hilliard, V. E. (2007). Financial accounting 8t h edition. Oxford

The movie A Beautiful Mind Essay Example for Free

The movie A Beautiful Mind Essay The movie is titled â€Å"A Beautiful Mind† and the psychological disorder that is depicted in it is schizophrenia. In the movie, the main character is Josh Nash is depicted as being schizophrenic in the following ways. In one instance, he is revealed as being able to hear voices that other people could not hear. This voices are seen as controlling agents of the actions he does. The voices in the movie control his thoughts and to some extend seem like they want to harm him. His behavior is quiet terrifying to the people around Nash. The depiction of psychological disorder of schizophrenia is a true picture of the condition as it occurs in real life. Another symptom of the disorder that was evident in the movie is the fact the sitting for several hours without any movement or speech. Nash had bout where he could not move or speak for a lot of hours. This is the typical behavior of schizophrenic people. He seemed fine most of the time but as soon as he made a revelation of what was on his mind people were shocked on what was going on in his mind. The portrayal of an individual with schizophrenic disorder in the movie â€Å"A Beautiful Mind† was indeed a realistic portrayal of the disorder CITATION Bus03 l 1033 ( Buss Buss, 2003). My reaction after viewing the movie is that schizophrenia is a psychological disorder that affects families and societies in general. The people who are diagnosed with this condition find it quiet difficult to live a normal life as they rely so much on other people to help them in their daily activities. The only solution to it is by coping with the symptoms of the disease. References BIBLIOGRAPHY Buss, E. H., Buss, A. H. (2003). Schizophrenia: Seven Approaches. Transaction Publishers. Source document

Relationship Between Buddhism and Politics

Relationship Between Buddhism and Politics Hale, Hunter Power, Politics, and Buddhism Religion and politics are considered by some, like the founders of the United States, items that should remain separate. But try as anyone might as long as people believe in religions their personal beliefs in these religions will always help shape their decision making processes. Buddhism is no different and specifically in Southeast Asia many political policies and views have been shaped by the Buddhas teachings. Buddhism has a model in which the relationship of Buddhism practices, values, and institutions manage to influence the negotiation of power and politics and there are also different relationships between Buddhism, kingdoms and modern states dotted during different historical times in Southeast Asia. To begin, the discussion of a model that dictates all relationships between Buddhism and politics seems quite hard to believe in. This is because once the Buddha passed onto parinirvana and time took its toll, Buddhism branched out into different sects which have different ways of interpreting the dhamma. Although this is not to say that Buddhism did not have influences with politics and power while the Buddha was still alive. It can be safely assumed that Buddhism was supported by the social, economic, and political elites for social, political, and also religious reasons. (Swearer 2010: 71) Siddhartha was brought up within the ruling khattiya class and therefore as the legends of the past might infer, monarchs such as his own father were giant supporters of Buddhism when it was first beginning to bloom and it is noteworthy to mention this. Royal and religious institutions supported each other in South and Southeast Asia on mutual terms; for the royal patronage of the order found in Buddhist monasteries was â€Å"reciprocated by institutional loyalty, and the construction of religious cosmologies and mythologies that valorized the king as the propagator of the Buddhas religion (sansa) were regarded as essential to the peaceful harmony and well-being of the state.† (Swearer 2010: 72). Now if there was a model to speak of that would help bring a strong example for how to rule for future Buddhist monarch it would be Asoka, The Exemplary Buddhist Ruler. Buddhism traditionally uses Asoka as the archetype of the cakkavattin, which is mythic Buddhist ruler who would personify the dhamma and rule by it, Asoka personified the dasarajadhamma or what is also known as the ten royal virtues. These royal virtues are, â€Å"generosity, moral virtue, self-sacrifice, kindness, self-control, non-anger, nonviolence, patience, and adherence to the norm of righteousness.† (Swearer 2010: 73) Asoka, was the grandson of Candragupta (the founder of the Mauryan dynasty which lasted from 317 189 B.C.E), and he took on the approaches of expansion shown by his forefathers and soon amassed the farest stretching political unity India knew before the coming of the colonial period. He ruled this immense empire starting from 270 B.C.E. until 232 B.C.E. and most of our understanding of Aso ka comes from pillars of that commemorated Asoka. The pillars were not the only things that show us into the history of Asoka but The Story of King Asoka, written in Sanskrit and three different Pali works named The Island Chronicle, The Great Chronicle, and commentary by Buddhaghosa on the Vinaya. (Swearer 2010: 73) When Asoka converted to Buddhism he changed history in a meaningful way which included the forming of Theravada Buddhism. King Kyanzittha of Pagan) and King Tilokaraja of Chiang Mai were two rules whom followed the ways of Asoka. They themselves became part of the history of Buddhism for, â€Å"The religion they support literally has its roots in the person of the Buddha, whose physical presence magically resides in his relics, and their political rule is grounded in the mythologized career of Asoka who, in turn, is represented as the historical embodiment of the first world ruler.† (Swearer 2010: 73) Narratives of Asoka, although somewhat a problem in historical terms with the different texts not always supporting each other, is something other rulers (like the previous mentioned ones) let them be guided by. Asoka in his ninth year of reign had a war break out within Magadha, which was the heartland of the Mauryan, and the Kalinga which the kingdom with the most power in India that still was not under Asokas rule. Asoka was moved by the horrors he inflicted upon the Kalingans which included the forced disruption of noncombatants, including priests and monk. Events such as these paved a way for his conversion and he transformed his beliefs into believing that true conquest could not be won over by arms but instead be won by the dhamma. Although some legends say that Asoka became extremely religious and even was a monk in his old age, the pillars provide us with a less figure much less religious and someone who promoted more by idealistic, humanitarian philosophy as opposed to Budd hist doctrinal interests. Rock edict number seven said that Asoka urged fidelity, purity of heart, self-mastery, and gratitude. Buddhas life story is mirrored by the story of Asokas conversion to Buddhism where one method (nibbana) replaced the other (samsara) and the prior then presupposes the rearmost. Asoka went from one who promoted things such as disorder and wickedness to someone who promoted positived things like order and righteousness. (Swearer 2010: 74-75) Asoka was the center point of the founding of the Theravada Buddhism and according to chronicles by the Theravada in Southeast Asia successful rulers, according to those who created the chronicles were the ones who emulated King Asoka. Those who did emulate Asoka built edifices especially stupas which were the centers for Buddhism in Southeast Asia, as well as purified the dhamma and the sangha. (Swearer 2010: 82) Buddhist monarchs in Southeast Asia emulated Asoka frequently. Especially in Asoka’s frequent building of the stupas. One such example is King Anirruddha who made Pagan become the dominant kingdom in Burma. Although the monuments in Pagan cannot match Angkor Wat or Borobudur, the sizes and extents are wondrous. Anniruddha brought to Pagan a relic from a stupa called the Baw-baw-kyi that was within the Pyu center of Thaton. Anniruddha’s successors also helped complete the stupas that he began and were even given more wondrous titles than him. (Swearer 2010: 94) Another king, called King Ramkhamhaeng helped foresee the Manansilapatra which was a stepped pyramid with which the king granted assemblies and then the monks were there to preach the dhamma. (Swearer 2010: 98) Buddhism has continued to influence political leaders and power even in recent times for example U Nu of Burma in January 1948 was elected the first prime minister of the freshly independent Union of Burma. He preached an dogma that mixed socialism and Buddhism basically stating that a community on a national level could only be built only if each person within the nation could overcome their selfish interests. He also argued against material goods saying that they were not meant to be saved or used for personal comfort but only for the necessities of life in the journey to nibbana. (Swearer 2010: 110) U Nu’s own lifestyle used elements of the traditional ideal of the righteous Buddhist monarch for example six months after he had taken up office the government was nearly toppled by an insurrection in which he responded with a vow of sexual abstinence. Another example of Buddhism effecting modern politics is S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike who was became the prime minister of Ceylon in the year 1956. Similar to U Nu he used the institutional power of Buddhism and symbols to gain office, however things such as a call by a monastic political party to make Sinhala the national language le d animosities which ended Bandaranaikes life in assassination. (Swearer 2010: 116-117) Bandaranaike also like U Nu promoted Buddhism rooted within socialism and although his lifestyle did not follow the righteous Buddhist monarch ideal the same as U Nu he used the Buddhist Middle Way to appeal to the masses in international as a well as national party; to many he is considered a national hero. In conclusion, Buddhism is deeply rooted within the political kingdoms and modern societies of Southeast Asia. Using the model Asoka set as a righteous ruler many rulers within Southeast Asia have emulated him. There has been a chain reaction of relationships between Buddhism and politics starting from the Buddha and his early monarch supporters, to King Anirruddha and in recent times U Nu and Bandaranaike. Bibliography Swearer, Donald K.The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia. Albany: State U of New York, 1995. Print.

Jewish Perceptions of Jesus Christ Essay -- Judaism Christianity Chris

Jewish Perceptions of Jesus Christ Christianity and Judaism are major world religions which, though they worship the same God, have marked differences which have caused two thousand years of strife and animosity between the two religions. In his book We Jews and Jesus, Samuel Sandmel likens the link between Judaism and Christianity to a type of parent-child relationship, saying, â€Å"Early Christianity was a Judaism; within a century after the death of Jesus it was a separate religion. It was critical of its parent, and hostile to it, and elicited from its parent reciprocal criticism and hostility.†1 Opposing views of Jesus Christ caused the initial rift between Judaism and Christianity and is the primary source of the tension between the two religions which has continued for the last two millennia. Therefore, in order to understand how Judaism and Christianity relate to one another, it is essential to understand the way Jesus is perceived in each religion. The way that Christians view Jesus is quite well known, but Judaism’s view of him is much lesser known, so it is important to explore Judaism’s perceptions of Jesus, beginning with New Testament times, and to examine the ways in which these feelings and opinions have changed over time. Although the New Testament is the main source of information regarding Jesus’ life, Jews often disregard it as a reliable source of information. It was not written until two to three generations after Jesus, hence it cannot be considered a primary source. Also, from a Jewish perspective, the aim of the Gospels is not to give an accurate account of Jesus’ life and teachings; the Gospels served as missionary documents containing accounts recorded by biased evangelists. They reflect the aims of the church rather than actual facts, and their writers were more concerned with the advancement of Christianity than the transmission of factual historical information. For these reasons, it is impossible to separate the historical Jesus from the divine Christ presented in the Gospels, and Judaism regards the Gospels as unreliable and irrational. It is not known exactly when Jesus was born, but according to the Christian calender, his birth year was circa 4 B.C. Christmas, the day of Christ’s birth, is celebrated by Christians on December 25, but the actual day and month of his birth are unknown. Rachel Zurer, a followe... ...-40. 42. Votaw, C.W., "The Modern Jewish View of Jesus." The Biblical World, 1905. 26(2): p. 102. 43. Votaw, C.W., "The Modern Jewish View of Jesus." The Biblical World, 1905. 26(2): p. 102. 44. Votaw, C.W., "The Modern Jewish View of Jesus." The Biblical World, 1905. 26(2): p. 115. 45. Votaw, C.W., "The Modern Jewish View of Jesus." The Biblical World, 1905. 26(2): p. 106. 46. Votaw, C.W., "The Modern Jewish View of Jesus." The Biblical World, 1905. 26(2): p. 106. 47. Votaw, C.W., "The Modern Jewish View of Jesus." The Biblical World, 1905. 26(2): p. 117. 48. Votaw, C.W., "The Modern Jewish View of Jesus." The Biblical World, 1905. 26(2): p. 109-110. 49. Votaw, C.W., "The Modern Jewish View of Jesus." The Biblical World, 1905. 26(2): p. 102. 50. Votaw, C.W., "The Modern Jewish View of Jesus." The Biblical World, 1905. 26(2): p. 110-111. 51. Votaw, C.W., "The Modern Jewish View of Jesus." The Biblical World, 1905. 26(2): p. 110, 112. 52. Votaw, C.W., "The Modern Jewish View of Jesus." The Biblical World, 1905. 26(2): p. 102, 114. 53. Sandmel, S., in We Jews and Jesus. 1965, Oxford University Press: New York. p. 47.

Characterization of Hamlet, Gertrude and Ophelia Essay

Hamlet is a character of extraordinary complexity and depth. No simple formula can serve to solve his mystery. A different Hamlet might have killed his uncle Claudius on the strength of the Ghost’s accusation, ascended the throne, married Ophelia and lived happily ever after . But such a typical hero was not likely to be of interest to Shakespeare. We can also say that in Hamlet Shakespeare presents a murderer and revenger who is both ruthless and reluctant and his death is the ultimate result of his being charged by the Ghost to carry out instructions which were offensive to his moral principles. Like other tragic heroes of Shakespeare he is also endowed with exceptional qualities like royal birth, graceful and charming personality among his own countrymen. He has a high intellectual quality as Ophelia observes: O what a noble mind is here overthrown! / The courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s eye, tongue, sword, / Th’ expectancy and rose of the fair state ,/ The glass of fashion , and the mould of form ,/ Th’ observed of all observers. [Act III, Scene I] In spite of possessing all these high qualities which rank him above the other characters the flaw in his character leads to his downfall and makes him a tragic hero. The tragic flaw in the character of Hamlet is that he thinks too much and feels too much. He is often disturbed by his own nature of ‘self analyses’. What is required of Hamlet is prompt action, whereas he broods over the moral idealism which leads to his delay in action. When he gets an opportunity to kill Claudius, he puts aside the thought because he cannot strike an enemy while he is at prayer. Several causes account for his inaction . By nature he is prone to think rather than to act. He is a man of morals and his moral idealism receives a shock when his mother remarries Claudius after his father’s death. Chance too plays an important part in shaping his character. Chance places him in such a position in which he is incapable of doing anything. He becomes inconsistent and is no longer a person who reaches a conclusion only by reasoning. Like other tragic heroes Hamlet too has to face conflict, both internal and external. The internal conflict is between his moral scruples and the act of revenge which he is called upon to perform. Love of his father, the dishonor of his mother and the villainy of his uncle prompt him to take revenge while his nobility, his moral idealism, his principles and his religion revolt against such a brutal act. The result is that, torn within himself, he suffers mental torture. Hamlets wants to take revenge against Claudius, the murderer of his father, the usurper of his rights to the throne and the seducer of his mother . In Hamlet Shakespeare presents a revenger who is both ruthless and reluctant . As a revenger he must act, on behalf of outraged virtue, to restore a violated order, set right what is ‘out of joint’. But the act he is impelled to do, involves him in evil of the kind which he would punish. As the ruthless revenger he exemplifies in his own person the evil which is inseparable from the good in human nature; as the reluctant revenger he can symbolize the good’s abhorrence of it. As compared to Fortinbras and Laertes, Hamlet is slow in taking revenge because of his habit of thinking long and deep. Bradley clearly describes this condition and says he suffered from melancholia, a pathological state which may well develop into lunacy. (p. 121) There is an another aspect of Hamlet’s characterization i.  e. his madness. T. S Eliot argues that ‘the madness of Hamlet lay in Shakespeare’s hand; in the earlier play a simple ruse, and to the end, we may presume, understood as a rule by the audience. For Shakespeare it is less than madness and more than feigned. ’ (p. 102) By pretending to be mad, Hamlet kept open the safety valve and could speak order to relieve the pressure on his mind. This is what T. S Eliot means when he uses the words â€Å"more than feigned. † Samuel Johnson (1765) also considers his madness as fabricated even in his (Hamlet’s) treatment of Ophelia. Johnson says in this regard, ‘He plays the madman most, when he treats Ophelia with so much rudeness, which seems to be useless and wanton cruelty. ’ (Johnson, 1765) Shakespeare’s characterization of Gertrude and Ophelia in Hamlet is paradoxical as it challenges as well as complements the contemporary social traditions and norms. Gertrude is the best example of this paradox that is manifested through her extraordinary supremacy over all the major characters of Hamlet, her influence in the court matters and state affairs and her blind obedience to Claudius. Ophelia is also active in her domestic domain but her interest are restricted to amorous and matrimonial maters only and they are further directed by his father Polonius and brother Laertes. She is an epitome of traditional feminist expressions of the age that require chastity, compliance and acceptance of male dominancy from women. Ophelia remains passive in the domestic and emotional domain. Ophelia has no identity of her own and all her domestic and amorous matters are directed by her father. Polonius endeavors to fashion the life and attitude of Ophelia according to his own wishes. He considers his desires as her desires and tries to tailor her approach by various means. Ophelia is further guarded by his brother against any potential threat to her chastity and virginity. At Ophelia’s entry into Hamlet, her brother, Laertes escorts Ophelia advising her on her relationship with Hamlet. So right from the very start, Ophelia is under the sway of Laertes and Polonius. So her character is in complete conformity with the traditional values of that time. Polonius always responds from a position of authority over Ophelia, emphasizing his power as the decision-maker for her. Both her father and brother have a self assigned task of directing Ophelia how to act properly in every domain of her life. Although Shakespeare has characterized Ophelia as inferior to male characters, but characterization of Gertrude has dual characteristic. Sometime it challenges the traditions of the conformist society and sometime it itself become conforms to the values of the society by acting passively.

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 2~3

Two The Sea Beast The cooling pipes at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant were all fashioned from the finest stainless steel. Before they were installed, they were x-rayed, ultrasounded, and pressure-tested to be sure that they could never break, and after being welded into place, the welds were also x-rayed and tested. The radioactive steam from the core left its heat in the pipes, which leached it off into a seawater cooling pond, where it was safely vented to the Pacific. But Diablo had been built on a breakneck schedule during the energy scare of the seventies. The welders worked double and triple shifts, driven by greed and cocaine, and the inspectors who ran the X-ray machines were on the same schedule. And they missed one. Not a major mistake. Just a tiny leak. Barely noticeable. A minuscule stream of harmless, low-level radiation wafted out with the tide and drifted over the continental shelf, dissipating as it went, until even the most sensitive instruments would have missed it. Yet the le ak didn't go totally undetected. In the deep trench off California, near a submerged volcano where the waters ran to seven hundred degrees Fahrenheit and black smokers spewed clouds of mineral soup, a creature was roused from a long slumber. Eyes the size of dinner platters winked out the sediment and sleep of years. It was instinct, sense, and memory: the Sea Beast's brain. It remembered eating the remains of a sunken Russian nuclear submarine: beefy little sailors tenderized by the pressure of the depths and spiced with piquant radioactive marinade. Memory woke the beast, and like a child lured from under the covers on a snowy morning by the smell of bacon frying, it flicked its great tail, broke free from the ocean floor, and began a slow ascent into the current of tasty treats. A current that ran along the shore of Pine Cove. Mavis Mavis tossed back a shot of Bushmills to take the edge off her frustration at not being able to whack anyone with her baseball bat. She wasn't really angry that Molly had bitten a customer. After all, he was a tourist and rated above the mice in the walls only because he carried cash. Maybe the fact that something had actually happened in the Slug would bring in a little business. People would come in to hear the story, and Mavis could stretch, speculate, and dramatize most stories into at least three drinks a tell. Business had been slowing over the last couple of years. People didn't seem to want to bring their problems into a bar. Time was, on any given afternoon, you'd have three or four guys at the bar, pouring down beers as they poured out their hearts, so filled with self-loathing that they'd snap a vertebra to avoid catching their own reflection in the big mirror behind the bar. On a given evening, the stools would be full of people who whined and growled and bitched all night long, pausing only long enough to stagger to the bathroom or to sacrifice a quarter to the jukebox's extensive self-pity selection. Sadness sold a lot of alcohol, and it had been in short supply these last few years. Mavis blamed the booming economy, Val Riordan, and vegetables in the diet for the sadness shortage, and she fought the insidious invaders by running two-for-one happy hours with fatty meat snacks (The whole point of happy hour was to purge happiness, wasn't it?), but all her efforts only served to cut her profits in half. If Pine Cove could no longer produce sadness, she would import some, so she advertised for a Blues singer. The old Black man wore sunglasses, a leather fedora, a tattered black wool suit that was too heavy for the weather, red suspenders over a Hawaiian shirt that sported topless hula girls, and creaky black-on-white wing tips. He set his guitar case on the bar and climbed onto a stool. Mavis eyed him suspiciously and lit a Tarryton 100. She'd been taught as a girl not to trust Black people. â€Å"Name your poison,† she said. He took off his fedora, revealing a gleaming brown baldness that shone like polished walnut. â€Å"You gots some wine?† â€Å"Cheap-shit red or cheap-shit white?† Mavis cocked a hip, gears and machinery clicked. â€Å"Them cheap-shit boys done expanded. Used to be jus' one flavor.† â€Å"Red or white?† â€Å"Whatever sweetest, sweetness.† Mavis slammed a tumbler onto the bar and filled it with yellow liquid from an icy jug in the well. â€Å"That'll be three bucks.† The Black man reached out – thick sharp nails skating the bar surface, long fingers waving like tentacles, searching, the hand like a sea creature caught in a tidal wash – and missed the glass by four inches. Mavis pushed the glass into his hand. â€Å"You blind?† â€Å"No, it be dark in here.† â€Å"Take off your sunglasses, idjit.† â€Å"I can't do that, ma'am. Shades go with the trade.† â€Å"What trade? Don't you try to sell pencils in here. I don't tolerate beggars.† â€Å"I'm a Bluesman, ma'am. I hear ya'll lookin for one.† Mavis looked at the guitar case on the bar, at the Black man in shades, at the long fingernails of his right hand, the short nails and knobby gray calluses on the fingertips of his left, and she said, â€Å"I should have guessed. Do you have any experience?† He laughed, a laugh that started deep down and shook his shoulders on the way up and chugged out of his throat like a steam engine leaving a tunnel. â€Å"Sweetness, I got me more experience than a busload o' hos. Ain't no dust settled a day on Catfish Jefferson since God done first dropped him on this big ol' ball o' dust. That's me, call me Catfish.† He shook hands like a sissy, Mavis thought, just let her have the tips of his fingers. She used to do that before she had her arthritic finger joints replaced. She didn't want any arthritic old Blues singer. â€Å"I'm going to need someone through Christmas. Can you stay that long or would your dust settle?† â€Å"I ‘spose I could slow down a bit. Too cold to go back East.† He looked around the bar, trying to take in the dinge and smoke through his dark glasses, then turned back to her. â€Å"Yeah, I might be able to clear my schedule if† – and here he grinned and Mavis could see a gold tooth there with a musical note cut in it – â€Å"if the money is right,† he said. â€Å"You'll get room and board and a percentage of the bar. You bring 'em in, you'll make money.† He considered, scratched his cheek where white stubble sounded like a toothbrush against sandpaper, and said, â€Å"No, sweetness, you bring 'em in. Once they hear Catfish play, they come back. Now what percentage did you have in mind?† Mavis stroked her chin hair, pulled it straight to its full three inches. â€Å"I'll need to hear you play.† Catfish nodded. â€Å"I can play.† He flipped the latches on his guitar case and pulled out a gleaming National steel body guitar. From his pocket he pulled a cutoff bottleneck and with a twist it fell onto the little finger of his left hand. He played a chord to test tune, pulled the bottleneck from the fifth to the ninth and danced it there, high and wailing. Mavis could smell something like mildew, moss maybe, a change in humidity. She sniffed and looked around. She hadn't been able to smell anything for fifteen years. Catfish grinned. â€Å"The Delta,† he said. He launched into a twelve-bar Blues, playing the bass line with his thumb, squealing the high notes with the slide, rocking back and forth on the bar stool, the light of the neon Coors sign behind the bar playing colors in the reflection of sunglasses and his bald head. The daytime regulars looked up from their drinks, stopped lying for a second, and Slick McCall missed a straight-in eight-ball shot on the quarter table, which he almost never did. And Catfish sang, starting high and haunting, going low and gritty. â€Å"They's a mean ol' woman run a bar out on the Coast. I'm telling you, they's a mean ol' woman run a bar out on the Coast. But when she gets you under the covers, That ol' woman turn your buttered bread to toast.† And then he stopped. â€Å"You're hired,† Mavis said. She pulled the jug of white cheap-shit out of the well and sloshed some into Catfish's glass. â€Å"On the house.† Just then the door opened and a blast of sunlight cut through the dinge and smoke and residual Blues and Vance McNally, the EMT, walked in and set his radio on the bar. â€Å"Guess what?† he said to everyone and no one in particular. â€Å"That pilgrim woman hung herself.† A low mumble passed through the regulars. Catfish put his guitar in its case and picked up his wine. â€Å"Sho' 'nuff a sad day startin early in this little town. Sho' 'nuff.† â€Å"Sho' 'nuff,† said Mavis with a cackle like a stainless-steel hyena. Valerie Riordan Depression has a mortality rate of fifteen percent. Fifteen percent of all patients with major depression will take their own lives. Statistics. Hard numbers in a very squishy science. Fifteen percent. Dead. Val Riordan had been repeating the figures to herself since Theophilus Crowe had called, but it wasn't helping her feel any better about what Bess Leander had done. Val had never lost a patient before. And Bess Leander hadn't really been depressed, had she? Bess didn't fit into the fifteen percent. Val went to the office in the back of her house and pulled Bess Leander's file, then went back to the living room to wait for Constable Crowe. At least it was the local guy, not the county sheriffs. And she could always fall back on patient confidentiality. Truth was, she had no idea why Bess Leander might have hung herself. She had only seen Bess once, and then for only half an hour. Val had made the diagnosis, written the scrip, and collected a check for the full hour session. Bess had called in twice, talked for a few minutes, and Val had sent her a bill for the time rounded to the next quarter hour. Time was money. Val Riordan liked nice things. The doorbell rang, Westminster chimes. Val crossed the living room to the marble foyer. A thin tall figure was refracted through the door's beveled glass panels: Theophilus Crowe. Val had never met him, but she knew of him. Three of his ex-girlfriends were her patients. She opened the door. He was dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a gray shirt with black epaulets that might have been part of a uniform at one time. He was clean-shaven, with long sandy hair tied neatly into a ponytail. A good-looking guy in an Ichabod Crane sort of way. Val guessed he was stoned. His girlfriends had talked about his habits. â€Å"Dr.Riordan,† he said. â€Å"Theo Crowe.† He offered his hand. She shook hands. â€Å"Everyone calls me Val,† she said. â€Å"Nice to meet you. Come in.† She pointed to the living room. â€Å"Nice to meet you too,† Theo said, almost as an afterthought. â€Å"Sorry about the circumstances.† He stood at the edge of the marble foyer, as if afraid to step on the white carpet. She walked past him and sat down on the couch. â€Å"Please,† she said, pointing to one of a set of Hepplewhite chairs. â€Å"Sit.† He sat. â€Å"I'm not exactly sure why I'm here, except that Joseph Leander doesn't seem to know why Bess did it.† â€Å"No note?† Val asked. â€Å"No. Nothing. Joseph went downstairs for breakfast this morning and found her hanging in the dining room.† Val felt her stomach lurch. She had never really formed a mental picture of Bess Leander's death. It had been words on the phone until now. She looked away from Theo, looked around the room for something that would erase the picture. â€Å"I'm sorry,† Theo said. â€Å"This must be hard for you. I'm just wondering if there was anything that Bess might have said in therapy that would give a clue.† Fifteen percent, Val thought. She said, â€Å"Most suicides don't leave a note. By the time they have gone that far into depression, they aren't interested in what happens after their death. They just want the pain to end.† Theo nodded. â€Å"Then Bess was depressed? Joseph said that she appeared to be getting better.† Val cast around her training for an answer. She hadn't really diagnosed Bess Leander, she had just prescribed what she thought would make Bess feel better. She said, â€Å"Diagnosis in psychiatry isn't always that exact, Theo. Bess Leander was a complex case. Without compromising doctor-patient confidentiality, I can tell you that Bess suffered from a borderline case of OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder. I was treating her for that.† Theo pulled a prescription bottle out of his shirt pocket and looked at the label. â€Å"Zoloft. Isn't that an anti-depressant? I only know because I used to date a woman who was on it.† Right, Val thought. Actually, you used to date at least three women who were on it. She said, â€Å"Zoloft is an SSRI like Prozac. It's prescribed for a number of conditions. With OCD the dosage is higher.† That's it, get clinical. Baffle him with clinical bullshit. Theo shook the bottle. â€Å"Could someone O.D. on it or something? I heard somewhere that people do crazy things sometimes on these drugs.† â€Å"That's not necessarily true. SSRIs like Zoloft are often prescribed to people with major depression. Fifteen percent of all depressed patients commit suicide.† There, she said it. â€Å"Antidepressants are a tool, along with talk therapy, that psychiatrists use to help patients. Sometimes the tools don't work. As with any therapy, a third get better, a third get worse, and a third stay the same. Antidepressants aren't a panacea.† But you treat them like they are, don't you, Val? â€Å"But you said that Bess Leander had OCD, not depression.† â€Å"Constable, have you ever had a stomachache and a runny nose at the same time?† â€Å"So you're saying she was depressed?† â€Å"Yes, she was depressed, as well as having OCD.† â€Å"And it couldn't have been the drugs?† â€Å"To be honest with you, I don't even know if she was taking the drug. Have you counted them?† â€Å"Uh, no.† â€Å"Patients don't always take their medicine. We don't order blood level tests for SSRIs.† â€Å"Right,† Theo said. â€Å"I guess we'll know when they do the autopsy.† Another horrendous picture flashed in Val's mind: Bess Leander on an autopsy table. The viscera of medicine had always been too much for her. She stood. â€Å"I wish I could help you more, but to be honest, Bess Leander never gave me any indication that she was suicidal.† At least that was true. Theo took her cue and stood. â€Å"Well, thank you. I'm sorry to have bothered you. If you think of anything, you know, anything that I can tell Joseph that might make it easier on him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I'm sorry. That's all I know.† Fifteen percent. Fifteen percent. Fifteen percent. She led him to the door. He turned before leaving. â€Å"One more thing. Molly Michon is one of your patients, isn't she?† â€Å"Yes. Actually, she's a county patient, but I agreed to treat her at a reduced rate because all the county facilities are so far away.† â€Å"You might want to check on her. She attacked a guy at the Head of the Slug this morning.† â€Å"Is she in County?† â€Å"No, I took her home. She calmed down.† â€Å"Thank you, Constable. I'll call her.† â€Å"Well, then. I'll be going.† â€Å"Constable,† she called after him. â€Å"Those pills you have – Zoloft isn't a recreational drug.† Theo stumbled on the steps, then composed himself. â€Å"Right, Doctor, I figured that out when I saw the body hanging in the dining room. I'll try not to eat the evidence.† â€Å"Good-bye,† Val said. She closed the door behind him and burst into tears. Fifteen percent. She had fifteen hundred patients in Pine Cove on some form of antidepressant or another. Fifteen percent would be more than two hundred people dead. She couldn't do that. She wouldn't let an-other of her patients die because of her noninvolvement. If antidepressants wouldn't save them, then maybe she could. Three Theo Theophilus Crowe wrote bad free-verse poetry and played a jimbai drum while sitting on a rock by the ocean. He could play sixteen chords on the guitar and knew five Bob Dylan songs all the way through, allowing for a dampening buzz any time he had to play a bar chord. He had tried his hand at painting, sculpture, and pottery and had even played a minor part in the Pine Cove Little Theater's revival of Arsenic and Old Lace. In all these endeavors, he had experienced a meteoric rise to mediocrity and quit before total embarrassment and self-loathing set in. Theo was cursed with an artist's soul but no talent. He possessed the angst and the inspiration, but not the means to create. If there was any single thing at which Theo excelled, it was empathy. He always seemed to be able to understand someone's point of view, no matter how singular or farfetched, and in turn could convey it to others with a succinctness and clarity that he seldom found in expressing his own thoughts. He was a born mediator, a peacemaker, and it was this talent, after breaking up numerous fights at the Head of the Slug Saloon, that got Theo elected constable. That and heavy-handed endorsement of Sheriff John Burton. Burton was a hard-line right-wing politico who could spout law and order (accent on order) over brunch with the Rotarians, lunch with the NRA, and dinner with Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and wolf down dry banquet chicken like it was manna from the gods every time. He wore expensive suits, a gold Rolex, and drove a pearl-black Eldor-ado that shone like a starry night on wheels (rapt attention and copious coats of carnuba from the grunts in the county motor pool). He had been sheriff of San Junipero County for sixteen years, and in that time the crime rate had dropped steadily until it was the lowest, per capita, of any county in California. His endorsement of Theophilus Crowe, someone with no law enforcement experience, had come as more than somewhat of a surprise to the people of Pine Cove, especially since Theo's opponent was a retired Los Angeles policeman who'd put in a highly decorated five and twenty. What the people of Pine Cove did not know was that Sheriff Burton not only e ndorsed Theo, he had forced him to run in the first place. Theophilus Crowe was a quiet man, and Sheriff John Burton had his reasons for not wanting to hear a peep out of the little North County burg of Pine Cove, so when Theo walked into his little two-room cabin, he wasn't surprised to see a red seven blinking on his answering machine. He punched the button and listened to Burton's assistant insisting that he call right away – seven times. Burton never called the cell phone. Theo had come home to shower and ponder his meeting with Val Riordan. The fact that she had treated at least three of his ex-girlfriends bothered him. He wanted to try and figure out what the women had told her. Obviously, they'd mention that he got high occasionally. Well, more than occasionally. But like any man, it worried him that they might have said something about his sexual performance. For some reason, it didn't bother him nearly as much that Val Riordan think him a loser and a drug fiend as it did that she might think he was bad in the rack. He wanted to ponder the possibilities, think away the paranoia, but instead he dialed the sheriff's private number and was put right through. â€Å"What in the hell is the matter with you, Crowe? You stoned?† â€Å"No more than usual,† Theo said. â€Å"What's the problem?† â€Å"The problem is you removed evidence from a crime scene.† â€Å"I did?† Talking to the sheriff could drain all of Theo's energy instantly. He fell into a beanbag chair that expectorated Styrofoam beads from a failing seam with a sigh. â€Å"What evidence? What scene?† â€Å"The pills, Crowe. The suicide's husband said you took the pills with you. I want them back at the scene in ten minutes. I want my men out of there in half an hour. The M.E. will do the autopsy this afternoon and this case will close by dinnertime, got it? Run-of-the-mill suicide. Obit page only. No news. You understand?† â€Å"I was just checking on her condition with her psychiatrist. See if there were any indications she might be suicidal.† â€Å"Crowe, you must resist the urge to play investigator or pretend that you are a law enforcement officer. The woman hung herself. She was de-pressed and she ended it all. The husband wasn't cheating, there was no money motive, and Mommy and Daddy weren't fighting.† â€Å"They talked to the kids?† â€Å"Of course they talked to the kids. They're detectives. They investigate things. Now get over there and get them out of North County. I'd send them over to get the pills from you, but I wouldn't want them to find your little victory garden, would you?† â€Å"I'm leaving now,† Theo said. â€Å"This is the last I will hear of this,† Burton said. He hung up. Theo hung up the phone, closed his eyes, and turned into a human puddle in the beanbag chair. Forty-one years old and he still lived like a college student. His books were stacked between bricks and boards, his bed pulled out of a sofa, his refrigerator was empty but for a slice of pizza going green, and the grounds around his cabin were overgrown with weeds and brambles. Behind the cabin, in the middle of a nest of blackberry vines, stood his victory garden: ten bushy marijuana plants, sticky with buds that smelled of skunk and spice. Not a day passed that he didn't want to plow them under and sterilize the ground they grew in. And not a day passed that he didn't work his way through the brambles and lovingly harvest the sticky green that would sustain his habit through the day. The researchers said that marijuana was only psychologically addictive. Theo had read all the papers. They only mentioned the night sweats and mental spiders of withdrawal in passing, as if they were no more unpleasant than a tetanus shot. But Theo had tried to quit. He'd wrung out three sets of sheets in one night and paced the cabin looking for distraction until he thought his head might explode, only to give up and suck the piquant smoke from his Sneaky Pete so he could find sleep. The researchers obvi-ously didn't get it, but Sheriff John Burton did. He understood Theo's weakness and held it over him like the proverbial sword. That Burton had his own Achilles' heel and more to lose from its discovery didn't seem to matter. Logically, Theo had him in a standoff. But emotionally, Burton had the upper hand. Theo was always the one to blink. He snatched Sneaky Pete off his orange crate coffee table and headed out the door to return Bess Leander's pills to the scene of the crime. Valerie Dr. Valerie Riordan sat at her desk, looking at the icons of her life: a tiny digital stock ticker that she would surreptitiously glance down at during appointments; a gold Mont Blanc desk set, the pens jutting from the jade base like the antennae of a goldbug; a set of bookends fashioned in the likenesses of Freud and Jung, bracing leather-bound copies of The Psychology of the Unconscious, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), The Interpretation of Dreams, and The Physician's Desk Reference; and a plaster-cast bust of Hippocrates that dispensed Post-it notes from the base. Hippocrates, that wily Greek who turned medicine from magic to science. The author of the famous oath that Val had uttered twenty years ago on that sunny summer day in Ann Arbor when she graduated from med school: â€Å"I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but I will never use it to injure or wrong them. I will not give poison to anyone though a sked to do so, nor will I suggest such a plan.† The oath had seemed so silly, so antiquated then. What doctor, in their right mind, would give poison to a patient? â€Å"But in purity and in holiness I will guard my life and my art.† It had seemed so obvious and easy then. Now she guarded her life and her art with a custom security system and a Glock 9 mm. stashed in the nightstand. â€Å"I will not use the knife on sufferers from stone, but I will give place to such as are craftsmen therein.† She'd never had a problem with that part of the oath. She was loathe to use the knife. She'd gone into psychiatry because she couldn't handle the messy parts of medicine. Her father, a surgeon himself, had been only mildly disappointed. At least she was a doctor, of sorts. She'd done her internship and residency in a rehab center where movie stars and rock idols learned to be responsible by making their own beds, while Val distributed Valium like a flight attendant passing out peanuts. One wing of the Sunrise Center was druggies, the other eating disorders. She preferred the eating disorders. â€Å"You haven't lived until you've force-fed minestrone to a supermodel through a tube,† she told her father. â€Å"Into whatsoever houses I enter, I will do so to help the sick, keeping myself free from all intentional wrongdoing and harm, especially from fornication with woman or man, bond or free.† Well, abstinence from fornication hadn't been a problem, had it? She hadn't had sex since Richard left five years ago. Richard had given her the bust of Hippocrates as a joke, he said, but she'd put it on her desk just the same. She'd given him a statue of Blind Justice wearing a garter belt and fishnets the year before to display at his law office. He'd brought her here to this little village, passing up offers from corporate law firms to follow his dream of being a country lawyer whose daily docket would include disagreements over pig paternity or the odd pension dispute. He wanted to be Atticus Finch, Pudd'nhead Wilson, a Jimmy Stewart or Henry Fonda character who was paid in fresh-baked bread and baskets of avocados. Well, he'd gotten that part; Val's practice had supported them for most of their marriage. She'd be paying him alimony now if they'd actually divorced. Country lawyer indeed. He left her to go to Sacramento to lobby the California Coastal Commission for a consortium of golf course developers. His job was to convince the commission that sea otters and elephant seals would enjoy nothing better than to watch Japanese businessmen slice Titleists into the Pacific and that what nature needed was one long fairway from Santa Barbara to San Francisco (maybe sand traps at the Pismo and Carmel dunes). He carried a pocket watch, for Christ's sake, a gold chain with a jade fob carved into the shape of an endangered brown pelican. He played his front-porch, rocking-chair-wise, country lawyer against their Botany 500 sophistication and pulled down over two hundred grand a year in the bargain. He lived with one of his clerks, an earnest doe-eyed Stanfordite with surfer girl hair and a figure that mocked gravity. Richard had introduced Val to the girl (Ashley, or Brie, or Jordan) and it had been oh-so-adult and oh-so-gracious and later, when Val cal led Richard to clear up a tax matter, she asked, â€Å"So how'd you screen the candidates, Richard? First one to suck-start your Lexus?† â€Å"Maybe we should start thinking about making our separation official,† Richard had said. Val had hung up on him. If she couldn't have a happy marriage, she'd have everything else. Everything. And so had begun her revolving door policy of hustling appointments, prescribing the appropriate meds, and shopping for clothes and antiques. Hippocrates glowered at her from the desk. â€Å"I didn't intentionally do harm,† Val said. â€Å"Not intentionally, you old buggerer. Fifteen percent of all depressives commit suicide, treated or not.† â€Å"Whatsoever in the course of practice I see or hear (or even outside my practice in social intercourse) that ought never to be published abroad, I will not divulge, but consider such things to be holy secrets.† â€Å"Holy secrets or do no harm?† Val asked, envisioning the hanging body of Bess Leander with a shudder. â€Å"Which is it?† Hippocrates sat on his Post-its, saying nothing. Was Bess Leander's death her fault? If she had talked to Bess instead of put her on antidepressants, would that have saved her? It was possible, and it was also possible that if she kept to her policy of a â€Å"pill for every problem,† someone else was going to die. She couldn't risk it. If using talk therapy instead of drugs could save one life, it was worth a try. Val grabbed the phone and hit the speed dial button that connected her to the town's only pharmacy, Pine Cove Drug and Gift. One of the clerks answered. Val asked to speak to Winston Krauss, the pharmacist. Winston was one of her patients. He was fifty-three, unmarried, and eighty pounds overweight. His holy secret, which he shared with Val during a session, was that he had an unnatural sexual fascination with marine mammals, dolphins in particular. He'd confessed that he'd never been able to watch â€Å"Flipper† without getting an erection and that he'd watched so many Jacques Cousteau specials that a French accent made him break into a sweat. He kept an anatomically correct inflatable porpoise, which he violated nightly in his bathtub. Val had cured him of wearing a scuba mask and snorkel around the house, so gradually the red gasket ring around his face had cleared up, but he still did the dolphin nightly and confessed it to her once a month. â€Å"Winston, Val Riordan here. I need a favor.† â€Å"Sure, Dr. Val, you need me to deliver something to Molly? I heard she went off in the Slug this morning.† Gossip surpassed the speed of light in Pine Cove. â€Å"No, Winston, you know that company that carries all the look-alike placebos? We used them in college. I need you to order look-alikes for all the antidepressants I prescribe: Prozac, Zoloft, Serzone, Effexor, the whole bunch, all the dosages. Order in quantity.† â€Å"I don't get it, Val, what for?† Val cleared her throat. â€Å"I want you to fill all of my prescriptions with the placebos.† â€Å"You're kidding.† â€Å"I'm not kidding, Winston. As of today, I don't want a single one of my patients getting the real thing. Not one.† â€Å"Are you doing some sort of experiment? Control group or something?† â€Å"Something like that.† â€Å"And you want me to charge them the normal price?† â€Å"Of course. Our usual arrangement.† Val got a twenty percent kickback from the pharmacy. She was going to be working a lot harder, she deserved to get paid. Winston paused. She could hear him going through the glass door into the back of the pharmacy. Finally he said, â€Å"I can't do that, Val. That's unethical. I could lose my license, go to jail.† Val had really hoped it wouldn't come to this. â€Å"Winston, you'll do it. You'll do it or the Pine Cove Gazette will run a front-page story about you being a fish-fucker.† â€Å"That's illegal. You can't divulge something I told you in therapy.† â€Å"Quit telling me what's illegal, Winston. I'm married to a lawyer.† â€Å"I'd really rather not do this, Val. Can't you send them down to the Thrifty Mart in San Junipero? I could say that I can't get the pills anymore.† â€Å"That wouldn't work, would it, Winston? The people at the Thrifty Mart don't have your little problem.† â€Å"You're going to have some withdrawal reactions. How are you going to explain that?† â€Å"Let me worry about that. I'm quadrupling my sessions. I want to see these people get better, not mask their problems.† â€Å"This is about Bess Leander's suicide, isn't it?† â€Å"I'm not going to lose another one, Winston.† â€Å"Antidepressants don't increase the incidence of suicide or violence. Eli Lilly proved that in court.† â€Å"Yes and O.J. walked. Court is one thing, Winston, the reality of losing a patient is another. I'm taking charge of my practice. Now order the pills. I'm sure the profit margin is going to be quite a bit higher on sugar pills than it is on Prozac.† â€Å"I could go to the Florida Keys. There's a place down there where they let you swim with bottlenose dolphins.† â€Å"You can't go, Winston. You can't miss your therapy sessions. I want to see you at least once a week.† â€Å"You bitch.† â€Å"I'm trying to do the right thing. What day is good for you?† â€Å"I'll call you back.† â€Å"Don't push me, Winston.† â€Å"I have to make this order,† he said. Then, after a second, he said, â€Å"Dr. Val?† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Do I have to go off the Serzone?† â€Å"We'll talk about it in therapy.† She hung up and pulled a Post-it out of Hippocrates' chest. â€Å"Now if I keep this oath, and break it not, may I enjoy honor, in my life and art, among all men for all time; but if I transgress and forswear myself, may the opposite befall me.† Does that mean dishonor for all time? she wondered. I'm just trying to do the right thing here. Finally. She made a note to call Winston back and schedule his appointments.