U.S. in the New World Order's Affairs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

U.S. in the New World Order's Affairs - Essay Example The very famous use of the term new world order was in the speech made by President George H. W. Bush Sr. on September 11, 1990. â€Å"The leitmotif of modern American presidential politics is unquestionably an imperial theme, most blatantly expressed in his slogan, The New World Order and for 1991, the pax universalis† ( Tarplay, and Chaitkin 9). The main theme of his presidency is the formation and unification of a solitary and widespread empire that very much reflects the different stages of the Roman kingdom. In his speech, George Bush senior said, â€Å"The war in Iraq is a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times...a New World Order can emerge" (National Archives). To add to that, in his September 21, 1992 speech addressed to the United Nations he also urged the nations to develop and train military units as peacekeepers. He added that to be able to achieve this goal, each nation should work, train together and have coordinated efforts. These efforts refer to having a centralized command, control and operations on all aspects of any operation and communication. Through G.H.W Bush’s speech the Commission on Global Governance was created by the United Nations. Through this organization, a controversial report, Our Global Neighbourhood, was brought out in 1995. The report states reforms that will give the United Nations absolute power. It was also predicted in the report that there would be a world court, a unified tax system and a global police force. In short, world leaders are calling for a one world government. These were greatly criticized by many people but also, many people are unaware of these facts. Amazingly, after a decade from the George H.W. Bush speech, the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001. Adding to the mystery, it was during the presidency of George Bush senior’s son, George W. Bush, that the attacks accord. To many people, this is the continuation of the goal to establish a new world order by world leaders. Aside from the political aspects of the new world order, economy is also put into focus. This includes the control of oil, an international currency which would replace the US dollar. Moreover, there would be a world development fund that would provide equal finances to communist and free nations. This is where the World Bank and the Bank of International Settlements come into play. Some say that the global monetary crisis we are experiencing now is intended to institute a worldwide debt-based currency organized by global investors and distributed to individuals alongside biometric identification cards. Religion is another factor that is included in this new world order. It has an aim of introducing a new world religion. Some would postulate that the establishment of the World Council of Churches and the Parliament World Religions is to gain control of the world’s religion. Consequently, Barack Obama has been popularly linked to a new world order as well. Authors suggest that his administration has been building an international order. This is through empowering certain institutions and connections across the globe. If the Bush administration was assessed through the infamous Gulf War, the Libyan War functioned as an assessment of Obama’s governance. â€Å"The current dangerous situation in Libya has become a serious test for the international community’s resolve and credibility, especially in the context

Graphic design Essay Example for Free

Graphic design Essay I have been surrounded with art my whole life. My aunt is a photography major and my father started out in graphic design but now does more of the business side than creative. I grew up in a home that had a love for art. When I was little I used to sit for hours and hours and watch my dad work on his projects. I just loved watching how he created the beautiful picture and wanted to learn how I could do it too. I took art classes in elementary and junior high school and loved being able to create pictures with pencil, oil pastels, paint, or create a vase with broken pieces of glass. Once I got to high school I took digital photography, drawing, web design, and interior design and loved it all. I knew graphic design was what I wanted to do when I looked at all the classes required for the major and couldn’t wait to take all of them and learn all that I could. The beauty of art has always attracted me and I have always loved being able to create it myself. Sometimes I kind of struggle with the whole inspiration or â€Å"what do I draw† thoughts, but with graphic design there is more of a need where a client needs a logo, or a web page, or play bill to be designed. There is already the need and I am here to fulfill that need with my creative ideas and it has more of a purpose than to just make somebody feel something. It is to catch the viewers’ eye and intrigue them to come to your event or buy your product. I love being able to help people. Knowing that I can both create art and help someone with graphic design is just the perfect fit for me.

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Process: A computer Process means a program which is being executed. some are administrative, providing ancillary services for the remainder of the system and some are application processes. Each process has its own address space, or memory allocated to it A program may contain more than one process. E.g. we open MSWORD & then we may work with copy, paste, cut etc commands which are its sub processes or child processes. Some times a process is also called a task . A thread is a light process of executes during program execution through a program. E.g. Error messages, Alerts etc , which may appear during program execution. Multiple threads can exist within a process, but they all share a common address space. A process can be in one of three states: Running Blocked Ready (or Queued) There are five different states of a process New - The process is being created. Running - Instructions are being executed. Waiting - Waiting for some event to occur. Ready - Waiting to be assigned to a processor. Terminated - Process has finished execution. Processes must communicate with one another in computer environment e.g. we may open a MSWord & MS-Excel we perform a copy operation in MSWord & then use Paste Special function in MS-Excel , here inter process communication is being performed. That is why it is very necessary for a processes that must coordinate activities to achieve a common objective. we can also define Inter Process Communication as a set of techniques for the exchange of data among two or more threads in one or more processes. Processes may be running on one or more computers connected by a network. IPC techniques are divided into methods for message passing, synchronization, shared memory, and r... ...he scheduler,& Algorithm it uses is called the scheduling algorithm. The following are the main objectives of Scheduling: Make best use of available system resources, Give preference to those processes which are holding the key resources. Give preference to processes which are having good behavior. CPU Scheduler basically selects the process from the different processes which are residing in the memory and are ready to execute, & then allocates the CPU to one of them. The Scheduling may be Preemptive or Non-Preemptive: Non-preemptive Scheduling Once CPU has been allocated to a process, the process keeps the CPU until Process exits OR Process switches to waiting state Preemptive Scheduling Process can be interrupted and must release the CPU. Need to coordinate access to shared data E.g. when we use â€Å"Ctrl + Alt + Delete† to terminate the process forcefully.

Archetypes In Raising Arizona :: essays research papers

Raising Arizona   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the movie â€Å"Raising Arizona† a lot of Archetypes (a pattern consisting on literary elements found in all literature regards) are used throughout. Ethan and Joel Coen turned a serious subject like kidnapping, into a hysterical comedy. The use of archetypes are strong, the movie is basically one big archetype. The uses are archetypes are found within the language, plot, and character. When looking at the different archetypes they all seemed to fall under the category of characters. The three characters that are the strongest points of archetypes are Linard Smalls, Nathan Arizona, and H.I. McDonnough.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Linard Smalls has a rough edge to him. He is the evil guy of the story, or the biker â€Å"of the apocalypse.† The outfit he wears is tired and worn. It contains furs and leathers off all sorts of animals, and a hawk skull is worn around his neck. Along with the worn outfit he wears a layer of caked on dirt and debris that tell of where he has been. In introducing himself to Nathan Arizona he calls himself â€Å"a man hunter, or tracker of sorts. Some say even part hound dog.† â€Å"When some dink breaks out of the joint or skips bail I’m the one they call.† This evil bad guy is willing to turn good for a small price of fifty-thousand dollars. If Nathan Arizona wont pay, someone in the black market will. in the end Linard is killed by one of his own grenades. He lead to his own death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nathan (Huffhinds) Arizona is a funny character. Even while his son is missing â€Å"business is as usual at Unfinished Arizona.† While he is being interviewed in the beginning he isn’t even sure of which of his children where taken. When asked which child was taken his responds was â€Å"Nathan Jr. I think.† All through the movie it seems that all Nathan is concerned about is his business. When Linard offers to help he refuses his help and threatens him with the cops.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  H.I. McDonnough has the most going on. he is bad gone good, and then gone good to gone bad again. We start off in the beginning with his introducing himself. He is â€Å"a repeat offender† of the law. he robs convenient stores and somehow always manages to let himself be caught. When he is brought to jail he finds â€Å"a pretty desert flower† Ed (Edwina). The bad guy, H.

Comprehensive Analysis of Staples

Comprehensive Analysis of Staples Harding University Angela Maloch Ashley Perez Keith Miller Ricky Griffin Abstract This paper will review Staples, Inc. comprehensively. The authors will discuss Staples’ visions, missions, and objectives, in addition to outlining the firm’s internal strengths and weaknesses and their external opportunities and threats. Several matrices will be included to provide visual aid and better observations of the operations and current practices of the company. Recommendations will be provided on new courses of action that may benefit the company and help increase sales and brand awareness.Vision and Mission Staples, is the world’s largest office product organization, and a reliable source for office solutions. The company products and services include office supplies, copy and print supplies, and technology to support these products. Staples, also provides supplies for facilities, break-room, and furniture (Staples, Inc, 2012). Staples c onceptualized the office superstore in 1986. It has more than 88,000 associates worldwide, in 26 countries, and fosters annual sales of 25 billion (Staples, Inc, 2012).Many organizations foundations began with a vision and an organizational mission. The vision and mission are set to be accomplished by setting objectives, and implementing strategies to achieve the goals set by the organization. According to Business Improvement Architects: Creating a compelling vision and developing the strategies to achieve it is one of the organization's most difficult challenges. The vision is more than a dream; it must convey a larger sense of organizational purpose, so that employees are able to picture themselves â€Å"building the dream company† rather than â€Å"laying the stones. It is an ambitious view of the future that everyone in the organization can believe in, one that can be realistically achieved, yet offers a future that is better in important ways than what now exists. (Bus iness Improvement Architects, n. d. ) Staples mission is â€Å"to make it easy to buy office products (David, 2013). † The mission is simple yet it encompasses what the organization strives to do with the products and services it provides to its customers throughout the world. Staples, does not have a written vision, but he the organization utilizes a unique approach in identifying the future direction of the company.Staples Soul program is a program designed by Staples, Inc. to help make the organization an employer and neighbor of choice, and sets Staples brand apart from competitors. The program is also aimed at allowing Staples to grow profitably and responsibly (Staples, Inc, 2012). Objectives and Strategies In Staples 2011 Annual Report, Ron Sargent who serves as the organization’s Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer stated: At Staples, we take great pride in our consistent execution and our ability to evolve and meet the changing needs of our custo mers.Throughout our 25 year history we’ve succeeded by setting aggressive goals, acquiring and retaining customers, and being accountable for our performance. We took the same approach in 2011 and made progress on many of our key initiatives, despite the challenging economic environment. (Staples, Inc, 2012) Staples has established goals and objectives to keep the organization viable in the fast changing market, and the sluggish economy. The Staples Soul program, separates the organizations objectives into four pillars, and outlines the strategies to obtaining those objectives.The four pillars of focus of the Staples Soul Program are community, ethics, diversity, and environment (Staples, Inc, 2012). Staples Community Objectives and Strategies Staples is dedicated to bring education, hope and opportunity to the communities of where their customers live. The community efforts are strategically approached through local grassroots programs, and large scale initiatives that build ties in the global community (Staples, Inc, 2012). Staples has donated more than $17 million to nonprofit organizations, in the United States, and around the world in 2011.Through its Choose a Charity program, Staples has enabled associates to donate nearly $1. 9 million to organizations, in which they care about (Staples, Inc, 2012). Staples has also been established volunteer programs, and associate volunteer programs which has led to more than 33,000 hours of volunteer work to being performed in 26 countries (Staples, Inc, 2012). Staples and Ethics and Strategies Staples 2011 Annual report discusses their objective to meeting the ethical component of the organization.The report states: We believe that doing right is just as important as doing well. We hold ourselves to the highest standards of honesty, fairness and integrity, and continually implement strategies to ensure ethical conduct from the boardroom to the supply chain to the store. Our strong ethical foundation, demonstr ated in the daily relationships with our stakeholders, and ensures our continued success. (Staples, Inc, 2012) Staples stress the importance of ethics in the business organization. The good business ethics must span throughout the entire organization.In efforts to achieve and maintain an ethical environment Staples has done the following: * Ethics, helpline, and training and awareness program in every business unit and function worldwide (Staples, Inc, 2012). * Established a new Ethics scorecard that allows senior leaders and the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors to monitor compliance with program requirements (Staples, Inc, 2012). * Created and established a monitoring and measurement framework to assess how well we are preventing, detecting and responding to ethics and compliance risks (Staples, Inc, 2012). Updated the Staples Suppliers Code of Conduct, by adding an Environmental and Business Ethics section, while modifying other sections (Staples, Inc, 2012). Staples, the Environment and Strategies Staples Annual Report focused on environment as its third organizational objective. The organization’s 2011 report states: At Staples, our vision is to generate business and environmental benefits for ourselves, our customers and our communities by leading the way in sustainable business practices. his vision through a continued focus on sourcing more sustainable products; improving our offering of recycling and other green services; maximizing our energy efficiency and renewable energy use; and eliminating waste. In 2011, we communicated several new global sustainability goals and continued to work in several program areas to help move us closer to our sustainability vision. (Staples, Inc, 2012) As mentioned before the environmental pillar of the Staples Soul programs is beneficial to the organization, the environment, the community and the customer.Staples has been instrumental in environmental progress by: recycling more than 67 million ink and toner cartridges, and 13 million pounds of technology waste in the United States. Staples has continued the implementation of its Race to the Top Initiative, which is focused on key suppliers reducing the environmental impact of their product (Staples, Inc, 2012). At the end of 2011, Staples had 286 facilities in the U. S. that have received the ENERGY STAR ® for buildings certification. By the close of 2011 Staples had 36 solar installations at 33 facilities and purchased a large sum of renewable energy certificates.Staples has a goal of reducing operational electrical intensity by 25%, and global carbon emissions by 50% by 2020 from a 2010 baseline (Staples, Inc, 2012). Staples, Diversity and Objectives Staples believes that being a successful company is dependent on people with rich backgrounds and diverse views. Staples commitment to diversity and inclusion opens the doors for the people of different races, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, physical ability, background and thinking styles. This in turn allows the company to be more innovative, because the organizations associate base reflects the diversity of the customers.Staples’ diverse workforce and suppliers help to build and enrich relationships with customers. While building upon these customer relationships, the organization is able to adapt to the ever changing global market place (Staples, Inc, 2012). Although Staples does not have a written vision statement, the Staples Soul Program has outlined the path, in which the organization wants to proceed over its business life. Fred R. David states: â€Å"A vision statement should answer the basic question, â€Å"What do we want to become? † (David, 2013, p. 45) David also states that a comprehensive mission statement is formulated by a clear vision.It is suggested that the vision statement be established first, and should be short approximately one sentence (David, 2013, p. 45). Many organizations have both a vision and a missi on statement. David states that an organization’s mission statement distinguishes one organization from another in the same industry. An organization’s mission statement is â€Å"its reason for being. A mission statement is important for effectively establishing objectives and forming strategies (David, 2013, p. 45). It is important when formulating a vision and mission statement, it is important to include the managers and the employees.When employees and managers work together to formulate the organizations vision and mission, the statements will reflect the personal visions that employees and managers alike feel passionate towards, and sets the foundation for the future. The shared vision leads to a common objective and can motivate employees and remove the mundane atmosphere in the work environment (David, 2013, p. 47). An organization’s vision and mission statement can: * Ensure unanimity of organizational purpose * Provide a standard for allocation of org anizational resources * Establish organizational climate or general tone Serve as a focal point for people to identify with the organization’s purpose * To help translate objectives into a work structure assignments and task * To specify organizational purpose and translate those into organizational objectives (David, 2013, p. 48). The Staples Soul Program sets the tone for a vision statement for the organization. Staples vision statement could read: â€Å"Staples vision is to be a world leader in providing easy assessable office supplies while being committed to improvements in ethics, environment, community, and diversity for those we serve. The Staples mission as stated before states that the company’s mission is â€Å"to make it easy to buy office products. † (David, 2013, p. 69) Staples mission and vision projected through its Staples Soul Program has set then foundation for the organizational to expand and utilize its strengths and opportunities to contin ue to be a leader in its industry. The organization can also utilize this foundation set to identify weaknesses, and potential industry threats. Eternal Opportunities and Threats External Opportunities Opportunities can give an organization an edge over the competition. Staples, Inc. isplays the potential to increase its growth in additional countries. Currently Staples has 300 stores internationally. An international expansion would increase the profits for the organization. According to David (2013) â€Å"Growth is forecast to reach almost $88 billion by 2013, reflecting a five-year average growth rate of less than 1 percent† (p. SM-66). The advancement in technology can provide Staples with a balanced diversity for its shoppers. New technological gadgets continue to bring additional efficiency for individuals in a number of ways such as online shopping, reading books, and playing games. Staples, Inc. artnered with Barnes and Noble to offer an alternate color reader commonl y known as The NOOK. This technological device competes with Amazon’s Kindle and the Apple’s iPad. The partnership with Barnes and Noble will provide Staples with the opportunity to expand within the digital era. External Threats Threats are external and could occur at any time. Threats most often occur from other competing companies. Staples, Inc. continually competes with a number of organizations in regard to price competition and retail competition. Price competition occurs with equal ground stores such as Office Depot and OfficeMax. Staples, Inc. s the largest office supply company compared to Office Depot classified as the second place organization. David (2013) stated the following interesting fact, â€Å"Staples is larger than Office Depot and OfficeMax combined† (p. SM-76). The three organizations display similar challenges in regard to the reduction of sales because of businesses going paperless. The retail competition includes stores such as Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Target. These organizations display the need to obtain additional market share. As stated earlier, Staples, Inc. began the route of digital services with the latest product from Barnes and Noble commonly known as The NOOK.With the consumer trend of digital services reduces the need for traditional supplies. Green initiatives continue to be another factor for the reduction of traditional supplies, which reduces the need to stock a lot of cases of copy paper in the distribution centers. Competitive Profile Matrix External Factors External Factor Evaluation Matrix (EFE) Key External Factors WeightRatingScore Opportunities International growth (only 300 stores overseas). 12 4. 48 Trends towards digital items. 12 4. 48 New partnerships (Barnes & Nobles). 11 3. 33 Implement research/development. 15 4. 60Threats Price competition. 10 3. 30 Retail competition. 12 4. 48 Unemployment rates. 06 2. 12 Oil prices. 06 2. 12 New technologies reduce need for traditional supplies . 10 3. 30 Green’ initiatives might shift demand for products . 06 2. 12 Totals12. 04 The External Factor Evaluation Matrix (EFE) demonstrates how opportunities and threats may affect the company. Similar to the IFE, this gives a visual rating of the importance of external factors that may contribute to or inhibit the success of Staples. Seen in the matrix above, new opportunities can greatly contribute to the success of Staples.With such broad expansion opportunities, it would be easy for Staples to make new connections overseas, whether in creating new locations or promoting online sales. New partnerships should be looked into as well. Staples has already teamed up with Barnes & Nobles, but opportunities with other major brands might impact Staples’ sales in a positive way as well. Implementing a research and development team can give Staples the opportunity to study consumer patterns, marketing techniques, and what products to offer to better meet the needs of society.Comp eting companies that offer similar products are the greatest threat the Staples. To best combat this, Staples needs to be prepared to offer the best customer service and technologies to stay in the competition. New technologies are changing what consumers need in regards to office supplies. For example, most consumers have switched to computer filing, rather than paper filing. This reduces the need for so much paper, files, folders, and filing cabinets. While some may still need this, Staples may want to look at reducing their inventory of these items and offering a larger supply of more current and modern items.Internal Strengths and Weaknesses Internal Strengths Strengths refer to the factors that exist within the company and exhibits formations of competitive advantage. The organization has dominance worldwide in more than 22,000 locations to include China, Australia, Germany, North America, and a number of other countries. Staples, Inc. is an established organization with a well developed infrastructure that offers business services such as supplies, technology, furniture, and office machines inside the stores as well as online. Staples, Inc. has a competitive advantage with the use of its online sales market.Instead of keeping a large inventory, the majority of the retail store locations stock approximately 7,000 products. When customers do not find a particular item inside the store, he or she can receive next day service at the local store when ordering from Staples. com. This avenue provides customers the option to review over 30,000 products in approximately 125 distributions. When the customer orders a product, he or she can request to receive shipment at the local store, at work, or at a home address. This type of service provides convenience for Staples, Inc. shoppers. In addition, Staples, Inc. ade an investment in regard to its delivery system with a purchase of small fleet of electric trucks. The purpose of this investment was to improve the org anization’s efficiency and cost minimization by reducing fuel cost by 75% compared to diesel trucks. Internal Weaknesses Weaknesses are the areas an organization needs to try to correct imperfections for improvement. Understanding potential weaknesses can help an organization to both manage and remove possible threats. In contrast to a limited inventory as strength, this concept can be a weakness in regard to customers not wanting to wait for a specific product.Customers may go to a competitor to purchase the needed product or purchase it online. A number of challenges exist because of the advanced technological era. For instance, Staples, Inc. reported a seven percent decline in stock prices according to its 2010 Annual Report. Internal Factors Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix (IFE) Key Internal FactorsWeight RateScore Strengths Strong international growth and partners. 12 4. 48 Advertising and marketing. 12 4. 48 Strong Online sales market. 10 3. 30 Many convenient Locatio ns. 10 3. 30 Staples Delivery System. 11 3. 33 Weaknesses Only 1. % increase in Sales (2010). 06 2. 12 Stock price fell 7% (2010). 06 2. 10 Poor executive compensation plans. 12 4. 48 Poor inventory management. 11 3. 33 No research/development Budget. 10 3. 30 Totals13. 19 As seen above, the Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix (IFE) is used to provide a numerical and visual score of key factors of the internal strengths and weaknesses. This gives management an idea of how to prioritize any issues that may be affecting or attributing the growth or success of the company. With more than 1500 locations throughout the United States, Staples is easily accessible to the population.Their advertising and marketing campaigns are successful and catchy; this creates brand awareness, and can potentially bring in more consumers. The internal weaknesses have caused such financial stresses on the company that it is very important that these issues are addressed. For instance, in 2010, there was only a 1. 1% increase in sales and stock prices fell 7%; however, the CEO of Staples, Ron Sargent, took a 41% pay increase. Moves like this can set Staples up for failure, so it is important for management to be aware of these internal issues through the use of an IFE.With no research and development budget, Staples is falling behind the trends of fast-paced society. They are not current on what is popular and what issues may be hurting their sales. * SWOT Analysis According to Thompson, Gamble, and Strickland (2006), â€Å"A SWOT analysis is a simple but powerful tool for sizing up a company’s resource capabilities and deficiencies, its market opportunities, and the external threats to its future well-being (Chap. 3, p. 85). A SWOT analysis is a significant portion of the strategic planning model.An organization uses a SWOT analysis that consists of strengths as internal forces of the organization to accomplish the objective; weaknesses are internal forces of the organization t hat harm the objective; opportunities are external forces that can expand the organization; threats are external forces that can destroy the organization’s success. In developing a strategic plan, leaders must ask if the current strategic plan is adequate to achieve the goal and are there allowances for contingency plans if the current plan is not working.Therefore, an effective strategy will consider the internal and external factors of the SWOT analysis by looking at the big picture of what an organization will face in the course of goal achievement. SWOT Matrix Space Matrix Current Strategies Inventory Staples is looking to reduce physical inventory in stores and offer a wider variety via Staples. com (Donoher as cited in David, 2013). In doing this, they can limit the size of store locations and be able to cut building costs, utilities and floor space on new locations.In addition, research done by Shankar, Rangaswamy & Pusateri (1999) indicates that online shopping is mor e convenient than offline shopping and allows consumers to find products to best fit their needs. This strategy, once fully implemented may promote more business to the website and offer better selections. The only issue that may arise is not having an item in stock that competitors might have. It would helpful to research buying trends and patterns of this industry and keep those items stocked. Prices Low prices have been the ultimate focus of Staples.This is understandable in retail today, however customer service and loyalty programs are just as desirable to consumers. Indicated by Shankar, Rangaswamy & Pusateri (1999), customers are not sensitive just to price increases, but rather a mixture of factors that contribute to the overall buying experience. Slightly raising prices and focusing more on customer service can produce a better experience for in-store shoppers and may encourage them to return. Also, in some cases, low prices can correlate with low quality.When Staples offer s their own brand items for extremely low prices, consumers may consider the price in relation to the quality. Recommended Strategies Based on the case study, Staples, Staples has seen gradually declining sales and profits in recent years (Donoher, as cited in David, 2013). In order to turn that around and be a successful office supply company, they need to implement new strategies. Staples is not a competitor with other office supply companies. They cannot maintain desirable inventories of what consumers are looking for and they cannot beat the prices and leverage that other similar stores offer.If left alone, Staples will go out of business. Suggestions on strategies that may offer aid to Staples are outlined below. Retrenchment â€Å"Retrenchment occurs when an organization regroups through cost and asset reduction to reverse declining profits† (David, 2013, P. 146). If Staples would try this strategy, they might be able to save the company and turn it around. In order to implement this strategy, they would stop opening new stores, and perhaps even close stores throughout the United States. Closing stores throughout the United States can greatly reduce costs and increase revenues.It would be most logical to close the locations with the lowest annual sales. In addition, by reducing the number of store openings would allow for more focus to be within what Staples already has. This means there would be more time to focus on customer service, inventory management, product display, management, and online sales. Online sales are such a large portion of their business, it may be more effective to put more efforts into obtaining sales through that medium, rather than brick and mortar locations. Related DiversificationIn order to remain in the competition, Staples must be open to diversifying the products they currently offer. Staples needs to revamp their current inventory and look at what it is consumers want today. With such a boom in technology, there is a consumer desire for new and up-to-date items. The items they rarely sell need to be taken off the shelves or offer a very limited inventory in stores. That clears up space for new items, and a greater inventory capacity. By stocking items that customers want can increase the traffic flow through the store.Often, consumers know competing stores, such as Office Depot and Wal-Mart have more of what they need, so Staples is eliminated completely. Recommended Annual Objectives and Policies Organizational Annual Business reports are a vital tool in making recommendations for annual objectives, and policies. The annual report identifies the company’s short falls, but more importantly it shines the light on the organizations achievements. The annual report also illustrates the plans and strategies to rectify its weaknesses, and refute potential threats.According an article by Jill Leviticus, an annual report; â€Å"provide information on the health of your company to shareholders, stakeholders, the media and your community. † (Leviticus, 2012) The article also states that the organizational annual report provides financial information, highlights achievements, promotes the organization, and other key information to the stakeholders (Leviticus, 2012). Staples 2011 Annual Business Report outlines the organization’s recommended annual objectives and policies, which is based on the needs of the employees, shareholders, and customers.Annual Business Reports and meetings cover a broad range of objectives and policies. Staples 2011 Annual Business Report covered topics on beneficial of ownership of common stock, corporate governance, and election of directors, employee stock plans, and long-term cash plans (Staples, Inc, 2012). Adjustments to these specific objectives and policies will specifically impact the viability of Staples, Inc. The aforementioned Staples Soul Program has been instrumental in making the organization the â€Å"employer and neigh bor of choice. † (Staples, Inc, 2012) Staples has been proactive in implementing policies and objectives to acilitate the organization in achieving goals centered around the four pillars of the Staples Soul Program, which are community, ethics, diversity, and environment (Staples, Inc, 2012). Strategy Review and Evaluation Defining a strategy is an educated guess. The guess is a key process in any organization. The changes that occur in today’s society can make or break an organization. Strategy, as any other process improvement, cannot be determined unless it is measured. There is an old saying that says it is hard to know where you are going until you know where you have been.Strategy has to be evaluated to determine if the direction of change is favorable or unfavorable to the organization. There are acronyms of famous cycles to help lead an organization to improve. PDCA, PDSA or DMAIC are some of the well-known cycles. These cycles define a basic process of evaluati ng changes made to determine if the actions taken reflect the desired results. A similar process of planning, doing, studying and acting has to be defined in each organization. Organizations can vary in the data used but the process will be the same. DataThere are a number of inputs that need to be included into strategy development. External inputs include items such as customer needs, customer survey results, industry trends, regulatory requirements, technological advancements, market risks and competitive intelligence to name a few. Internal inputs include company vision, mission, goals, philosophies, employee survey results, SWOT analysis and balanced scorecard results. These inputs will help determine what a company’s balanced scorecard should be. The balanced scorecard could be used by location moving up to the organizational level.It could also translate down to specific goals and objectives for individual performance management. Measure Once the balanced scorecard has been developed then it is time to capture the results. In most cases these results are measured monthly. There are some cases where the time frame may extend to a longer period of time depending on the metric being measured. For instance, financial information would probably be calculated monthly by an internal team. An external assessment could be used to challenge or protect your company such as Sarbanes-Oxley audit. These measurements help determine direction.Review Periodic reviews of balanced scorecard information are required to determine if the actions taken are effective or not effective. These reviews can occur at different time intervals. Changes or actions taken can immediately take effect or it could be a period of time before the change is realized. An example of immediate effect could be actions taken to reduce inventory levels. Depending on the action the company may see the results on the following month. An example of a longer term effect may be implementing an â⠂¬Å"open door† policy which involves a cultural change that may not be seen immediately.A general understanding of the metric and the anticipated impact time should be rationalized during the review process. Adjustment Once the review has been analyzed actions should be taken to correct metrics that are not performing to the desired results. There are several methods of problem-solving that can be used to help work through the possible contributors of poor performance. The A3 process was derived by Toyota. The process is a collaborative problem-solving tool used to manage individual issues from beginning to end.The A3 process identifies the team, the problem, the metrics used to measure the issue, potential causes, countermeasures to potential causes, responsible party assigned and results. The cycle starts again similar to the Plan, Do, Study and Act cycle mentioned earlier. Recommendation The recommendation for Staples is to have monthly reviews as well as annual reviews. Th e monthly reviews would consist of A3’s developed for each of the metrics. The A3’s would be reviewed to see how the countermeasures are impacting the metric. This type of review will help monitor performance in the short-term time frame.Annual reviews should be conducted on the internal and external inputs and balanced scorecard results. The annual review would be designed to develop the strategic plan for the following year or longer. References Business Improvement Architects. (n. d. ). Understand the organization's vision. Retrieved November 22, 2012, from www. bia. ca: http://www. bia. ca/vision. htm David, F. R. (2013). Strategic Managment: A Competitive Advantage Approach (14 ed. ). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Leviticus, J. (2012). What Is the Purpose of Company Annual Reports? Retrieved November 23, 2012, from www. smallbusiness. hron. com: http://smallbusiness. chron. com/purpose-company-annual-reports-57428. html Shankar, V; Rangaswamy, A. & Pusateri, M. (1999). The online medium and customer price sensitivity. Penn State School of Information Sciences and Technology. Staples, Inc. (2012, April). 2011 Annual Report. Retrieved November 22, 2012, from www. thomson. mobular. net: http://thomson. mobular. net/thomson/7/3218/4642/document_0/SPLS_2011AR. pdf Staples, Inc. (2012, November 14). Corporate Profile. Retrieved November 22, 2012, from www. staples. com: http://investor. staples. com/phoenix. zhtml? c=96244&p=irol-IRHome

Ethics and Values in Social Work Essay Sample

Ethics and Values in Social Work Essay Sample Social Work Values and Ethics Essay Ethics and values often go hand in hand. There is always some form of correlation between one’s actions and a doer of actions. It is a combination of the two that can play a crucial role in the determination of one’s values, standards, and subsequently, morality. Social work, to a great extent, entails the interaction between individuals. In social work as a field, the code of ethics always plays an important role. It forms the basis of everything that the field is all about. A value carries various meanings and definitions but generally, entail the combination of reasons and drive that are behind every action that an individual does, be it right or wrong. Values in social work can be exemplified by respect to everyone, as well as the aspect of self-determinism. Since social work traces much of its existence in the various interactions between people, it also recognizes the complex nature of such interactions, especially when it comes to doing with human beings and the surrounding. It has taken a great deal of its knowledge body from such complexities, in order to influence individual change in one way or another. Subsequently, such values play a key role in helping the social worker to be able to make wise decisions when it comes to sociocultural challenges and injustices. Social work professionals aim at empowering members in the society who are vulnerable, oppressed or impoverished. Ethics and values in social work outline that social work entails various core values for instance dignity, social justice, integrity, valuing human interrelationships and competence. The core of the social work profession is the social work code of ethics and values which helps the workers make sound judgments while handing clients if caring ethnicity, race or religion. Value and actions link directly, and thus we are judged according to the values we express through an action once we perform it. Ethics and values in social work dictate how we can interpret and resolve dilemmas between different values in a professional manner. The article grants guidelines on some ethical practices and their roles in the determination of actions basing on the social work significance. Ethics and values in social work illustrates how we can access the ethics concept and show how it is employed to examine daily operations in the social work practices. These two aspects of social work also allows us to analyze the major role of governance among the representative bodies within the social work activities. Ethics and value in social work describe values as set guidelines and rules in the wrong or right decisions individuals make. It’s evident that values facilitate the recognition of the actions as valuable or worthy and thus we can evaluate what is vital and what is less important in case a conflict of values erupts. Ethics and values in social work explain that the core values within a social work practice inform our understanding of diversity. The values and ethics in social work are not just part of the whole field, they actually constitute the entire field. They literally dictate how social workers interact with real life problems or challenges, by providing them with the set platform through which they can use to do it. From a sociocultural point of view, this helps in understanding the complexities of human interactions, while helping to make sense out of it.

Teen prostitution in U.S.A Essays

Teen prostitution in U.S.A Essays Teen prostitution in U.S.A Essay Teen prostitution in U.S.A Essay Name: Instructor’s name: The course name and number: Class time: Date: Teen Prostitution in the USA 1. Teen prostitution is a part of child prostitution because a teenager has not attained the age of consent; therefore, he/she is considered a minor by the law. Child prostitution refers to the sexual exploitation of a child for financial gain. In most cases, the children in question engage in sex in order to raise money for their upkeep. Teen prostitution in the USA is rapidly gaining prevalence in the USA. The teenagers who take part in this activity are mostly between the ages of thirteen and nineteen. A majority of these children have run away from home. Cases of orphans who have left the foster care system are escalating rapidly. After they leave home, teenagers have to fend for themselves in order to obtain the basic needs. Education is not relevant to them, and most of them drop out of school in order to engage in this trade. The number of teen prostitutes has increased significantly in the past ten years. The number of these children has almost doubled since 1995. In the USA, harsh laws against teen prostitution have been set up but they have not had a lasting impact on the vice. This is because the teenagers in question have become cleverer, and now they do not work on the streets. Alternatively, they make visits to the customers’ homes or use facilities like hotels and motels. This makes it difficult to arrest them due to the provision of the right of privacy. About 95 % of the teenagers who take part in prostitution are females while only 5 % of the remaining number is male. This paper will address teen prostitution in its entirety, namely the causes of the vice, the laws against it, and even how the citizens view it.

Power in the Film Thirteen Days Essay Example

Power in the Film Thirteen Days Essay Example Power in the Film Thirteen Days Paper Power in the Film Thirteen Days Paper Essay Topic: Thirteen Reasons Why Amanda Nasca November 20th 2011 Power â€Å"Thirteen Days† Legitimate power  stems from the belief that a person has the right to influence others by virtue of holding a position of authority, such as the authority of a manager over a subordinate or of a teacher over a student (ENotes. com). In some respects, everyone has power- the power to either push forward or hinder the goals of the organization by making decisions, delegating decisions, delaying decisions, rejecting decisions, or supporting decisions. However, the effective use of power does not mean control. Power can be detrimental to the goals of the organization if held by those who use it to enhance their own positions and thereby prevent the advancement of the goals of the organization. In the film â€Å"Thirteen Days† the aspect of power is displayed from the president of the United States, John F Kennedy. The president is considered by many people to be the most powerful man in the world. I disagree with that statement, and here’s why. While technically the president of the US has almost absolute power because according to the Constitution he is the commander and chief of the armed forces, therefore, the president can make a decision on his own without getting approval of anyone in the United States. This is an example of the president’s formal power because the constitution, which is the overriding law of the land, states that he is commander and chief of the armed forces, While the president has formal power it is not unlimited power. The Cuban Missile Crisis is what the film is centered around, and during this crisis the president could have done what he wanted to do and be legally correct without the consent or approval of congress. Without needing the consent of any political party, he could have decided to do a first strike against the Soviet Union, but he did not make that choice. While his power seems to be absolute, in reality he does need a certain amount of consensus and approval before he can act. For example, in the in the film he needed to listen to the opinion of his advisors, the secretary of state, secretary of defense, the joint chiefs of staff, and our allies around the world, before making any final decisions. He could come up with a plan of action, but then he needed these groups to agree on what they want to do. Though his power seems absolute, no man is an island. In further support of my opinion that the president power is not absolute we need to look at the personality of JFK. He did not just look at a situation and make a decision on his own, he sought out the options of others. Some of the reasons for this can well be because of President Kennedys age, he was younger and less experiences than his secretary of state, secretary of defense, and joint chiefs of staff. To JFK’s credit he realized that the greatness of a leader comes from the greatness of the people that he surrounds himself with; a great leader depends on great advisors. The role of his advisors is to provide him with accurate information to help him make the final decision. Despite his absolute power, to some degree, he is also dependent on the information his advisors provide him in order to make a decision. Throughout the film there were numerous times when the President and all of his advisors were sitting in a room together debating what the next best course of action is. President Kennedy did not make the decision himself, he seemed to just step aside frequently and allow his advisors to come to a conclusion that himself and everyone else could agree on. The knowledge that the joint chiefs of staff had concerning the power of the American military and the effectiveness of the Soviet military gave them power because their input was crucial to President Kennedy’s decision making. In a sense JFK was dependent on the knowledge of the military strategy that the joint chief of staff possessed. While the president had the formal power, he had to depend on the information provided to him by the joint chiefs, who had less formal power than he had. (Chou) In conclusion, what the Cuban Missile Crisis demonstrated is that while the president had the formal power his advisors showed the level of power and influence they possessed in their role with their president. They didn’t have formal power or legal power, but their power comes from their knowledge and their experience in their position, this power would be called personal power. The president’s advisor’s knowledge created a sphere of influence for the president, this knowledge can be known as informal power. Their opinions carry weight and importance, but yet they have no formal authority. The president who had all the formal power needed to rely on those with informal power to guide his decisions. Sources: Management: Authority and Responsibility ENotes. com.   ENotes Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. enotes. com/management-authority-responsibility-reference/management-authority-responsibility. Thirteen Days. Dir. Roger Donaldson. New Line Cinema Presents, 2000. Chou, Andy. Power and Politics. Lecture/Slides.

Analysis for the article The touch screen generation Essay

Analysis for the article The touch screen generation - Essay Example She also analyzes the changing mindset of parents at the new development, who instead being skeptical, have chosen to promote their children to adept themselves to digital technology (Rosin, 2013). The article starts with the author’s visit to a digital media conference of the children game developers in California. It is clear from the opening dialogue that the app developers’ clientele are babies, which is a cause of concern to the author (Rosin, 2013). Rosin cites American Academy of Pediatrics concern over the excessive exposure of electronic media on the growing children (Rosin, 2013). The author interacts with parents to know their views on the interactive media technology. A parent who is a teacher tells her that she has proscribed rules for game playing for her children. She has fixed â€Å"no screen time,† (Rosin, 2013). The fixing of game playing times has caused her to ask many others about ground rules of playing e-games. The most shocking revelation was that the parents were willing to give not more than â€Å"half an hour a day,† (Rosin, 2013). Thus, parents seem to be worried about the effects of the new age technology (Rosin, 2013). The term â€Å"digital natives† (Rosin, 2013) coined by Marc Prensky is discussed in the context of new developments such as iPads and touch screen technological devices (Rosin, 2013). The devices have now been seen in the hands of toddlers as means to â€Å"mollify, pacify or otherwise entertain them,† (Rosin, 2013). Jane Healy has gone to the extent of calling this situation a â€Å"zombie effect,† (Rosin, 2013). However, the researchers such as Kirokorian from University of Wisconsin at Madison, are dismissive of the alarm raised. Now the experts say children have become so adapted to the medium that at the age of two children become â€Å"very cognitively active,† (Rosin, 2013). The other way of looking at this development may be that digital technology is furthering

Introductory Microeconomics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Introductory Microeconomics - Assignment Example c) The concern is that the observation of falling prices of shipping could instead be caused by increase in supply since number of operators has increased. This is shown in the diagram below. Since there has been an increase in supply of shipping services for each given price, this implies an outward shift of the supply curve. As a result the Price drops from P1 to P2. The concern is that this may have been the reason behind the observed drop in prices. Q2. a) No, this would not be enough information to identify that the reason for the observed movements were entirely due to demand side factors. The rise in oil prices could increase wine prices through supply side effects as well. For instance if the increase in oil prices leads to a significant increase in transport costs, then this rise will be reflected in wine prices as well. But this is a supply side effect. However, since the correlation was as strong as 90%, it should be suspected that there was both a demand rise as well as a decline in supply together to generate the effect. Particularly, it should be noted that a rise in the CPI implies a steady rise in the prices of inputs for production of wine as well. Thus, taking these factors in consideration, it is not possible to conclude that the observed correlation stems entirely from demand side factors. ... However, we could take more educated guesses given this set of information. For instance, if the observed transactions data showed that a negative relation ship between prices and quantities traded, it would be evident that the traced curve was a demand curve. Thus the changes that have caused the prices to fall were supply side effects. On the other hand if we observed a positive relationship, i.e., if we observe as prices rise, so do the traded amounts, the conclusion will be that it is the demand that is changing. But, it should be noted that such clean and precise one-to-one mappings are unlikely, and the only realistic conclusion can be that the observed changes reflect a combination of both demand and supply side factors. Q3.a) The situation may lead to a market crash since there is an excess supply of permits. This excess supply will lead to falling prices. And since demands are not rising for permits given the situation of the economy, if there is sufficiently high excess sup ply this will drive the market price down to very low levels and thus cause a market crash. Q3.b) The idea was to create high enough prices so that switching over to low carbon fuels. However, because of the low demands and excess supplies, market prices of permits have not risen to the degree that would make it profitable for producers to switch to low carbon fuels. As a result, the ETS has been unsuccessful in inducing firms to switch from using high-carbon to using low-carbon fuels. Q3.c) As shown in the diagram, assume that the government sets the reserve price at Pr. If the market operated freely, the equilibrium price would be Po and the equilibrium quantity would be Qo. By setting the reserve price at Pr, the

Sociology Human Services Review 1200words or less - Materials Provided Essay

Sociology Human Services Review 1200words or less - Materials Provided - Essay Example In the business of caring, the first phase – caring about - involves the recognition that there is a need to render care for somebody. Someone who is suffering from AIDS, for example, may be too debilitated in the latter stage of the disease to be able to do things on his own. At this stage, that person will need another to do things that he would have normally done personally like shopping for his basic needs, prepare his food, and do his laundry. The first stage of caring involves the recognition and understanding that the AIDS victim is helpless and needs caring – a stage called caring about that person. The next stage called taking care of involves deciding and assuming the responsibility of taking care of a particular person in need of caring. In the illustration of the AIDS victim, the second stage would involve deciding to take on the responsibility of taking care of the needs of the victim like doing his grocery and shopping, preparing his food and helping him g et on with the his daily basic chores. The third stage or care-giving involves the actual care being given to the person identified as needing care. Thus, the person or group who has decided to assume the responsibility of helping the AIDS victim at this stage now actually and physically renders the necessary help. And the final stage which is care-receiving, involves the recognition and the acceptance of the object of the care of the care being rendered to him (Tronto 1993 pp196-107). Normally, the different caring phases come one after the other and interconnect smoothly. However, there may be instances and cases when these phases conflict with each other. In the care of the aged for example, there are issues which complicate care for the aged although it is understood and accepted that these sector of society really need care. Some of these issues include the participation of the labor force and the maintenance of

Banking - International expansion of commercial banks Essay

Banking - International expansion of commercial banks - Essay Example However, despite the benefits associated with this trend of internationalization such as the availability of funds, risk diversification and enhancement of efficiency in the local banking sector, it also has the demerit of causing financial shocks to an economy as observed in the recent financial crisis. Considering the increased expansion and growth of international trade and business networks, internationalization of banking sector has become very important to our current global economy. This is because through international banks access to funds has been eased especially to credit-constrained firms and households; in addition, this has introduced competition in the local banking sector that has led to increase of consumer surplus due to decreased rates of borrowing and increase on interest rates paid on deposits. Furthermore, this competition has led to local banks being more efficient and as a result enhancing economic stability Internationalization of the banking sector has the benefit of facilitating capital flows especially from the economies rich in capital to the poor ones where the returns are perceived to be higher (Mullineux & Murinde 4). This in turn enhances the growth of the poor economies by boosting their savings and investments as well as reducing their capital costs. In addition to this, internationalization leads to the stability of the highly volatile interest rates owing to the convergence of local interest rates with those in international markets. However, this benefit has been doubtful and elusive following the recent financial crisis. On the other hand, despite the increased numbers of banks turning international, those that have successfully turned their exploits to profitability have been very few owing to the risks associated with the venture. Capital flow despite being a benefit of commercial bank internationalization, it is also one of the leading causes of the liquidity risks in an economy associated with internationalization. Th is is usually associated with the cross-border outflow of capital that greatly influences and affects the economic stability of a country. Moreover, considering there is interest rates differences amongst countries capital will flow to those economies where there are high returns expected and those whose central banks have low mandatory deposits with commercial banks. In addition, due to the capital inflow from these foreign banks increases liquidity in a country this may negatively affect the monetary measures undertaken by central banks in combating economic and monetary issues in the given economy. This implies that as a result of commercial bank internationalization has led to lack of autonomy in the application of monetary measures and policies in a given economy that has international banks. Furthermore, the entry of foreign banks may bring about equity problems hampering the local completion to the disadvantage of the local or domestic banks that cannot access equity as easil y as the foreign banks. Moreover, despite the allure that banks find when internationalizing often comes with the disadvantage of exposing themselves to uncertain political and economic risks associated with different economies country risks (Schoenmaker 35). This is because the process of internationalization exposes a bank to an economy’s market specific and inherent factors for instance regulatory frameworks, unfamiliar

Industry Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Industry Project - Assignment Example g, the company experienced exponential growth due to the high demand of their products that had cutting edge technology occupying the largest segment in the market. Recently however, Samsung expects a decline in the demand of their product due to the increased competition brought by more players in the industry selling cheaper smartphones who have comparative technology to Samsung. The things that affect the supply for smartphones is the sales projection of a company for it to be able to deliver profit for its shareholders. For example, Apple and Samsung have profit projections for a certain period that would improve its performance from the previous period delivering profit to its shareholders and also to project a positive image for the company so that its value and shares of stocks will increase. They will in turn stimulate demand in the market through their marketing campaigns so that the available supply will be bought and them realizing their sales objectives. Another would be the discovery and introduction of a breakthrough technology in their products that is not present in competition. For example, if Samsung can make its smartphones wearable just like watch because of its bendability, consumers will be surely be interested to have the new smartphone. Samsung would in turn increase its supply and jack up the price due to the increased demand. The demand for smartphones this product is elastic. It is elastic because the consumption and use of the product can be influenced by certain factors such as competition and price. Smartphones can also be replaced by cheap cellphones without drastically impairing one’s connectivity or by less known brands that have similar features. Concretely, this was evident when Samsung announced that the company expect a lower sales in Q2 of 2014 due to the increasing number of competition and availability of cheaper smartphones and indeed the company posted a poor sales performance (Triggs, 2014). The presence of

Banking - International expansion of commercial banks Essay

Banking - International expansion of commercial banks - Essay Example However, despite the benefits associated with this trend of internationalization such as the availability of funds, risk diversification and enhancement of efficiency in the local banking sector, it also has the demerit of causing financial shocks to an economy as observed in the recent financial crisis. Considering the increased expansion and growth of international trade and business networks, internationalization of banking sector has become very important to our current global economy. This is because through international banks access to funds has been eased especially to credit-constrained firms and households; in addition, this has introduced competition in the local banking sector that has led to increase of consumer surplus due to decreased rates of borrowing and increase on interest rates paid on deposits. Furthermore, this competition has led to local banks being more efficient and as a result enhancing economic stability Internationalization of the banking sector has the benefit of facilitating capital flows especially from the economies rich in capital to the poor ones where the returns are perceived to be higher (Mullineux & Murinde 4). This in turn enhances the growth of the poor economies by boosting their savings and investments as well as reducing their capital costs. In addition to this, internationalization leads to the stability of the highly volatile interest rates owing to the convergence of local interest rates with those in international markets. However, this benefit has been doubtful and elusive following the recent financial crisis. On the other hand, despite the increased numbers of banks turning international, those that have successfully turned their exploits to profitability have been very few owing to the risks associated with the venture. Capital flow despite being a benefit of commercial bank internationalization, it is also one of the leading causes of the liquidity risks in an economy associated with internationalization. Th is is usually associated with the cross-border outflow of capital that greatly influences and affects the economic stability of a country. Moreover, considering there is interest rates differences amongst countries capital will flow to those economies where there are high returns expected and those whose central banks have low mandatory deposits with commercial banks. In addition, due to the capital inflow from these foreign banks increases liquidity in a country this may negatively affect the monetary measures undertaken by central banks in combating economic and monetary issues in the given economy. This implies that as a result of commercial bank internationalization has led to lack of autonomy in the application of monetary measures and policies in a given economy that has international banks. Furthermore, the entry of foreign banks may bring about equity problems hampering the local completion to the disadvantage of the local or domestic banks that cannot access equity as easil y as the foreign banks. Moreover, despite the allure that banks find when internationalizing often comes with the disadvantage of exposing themselves to uncertain political and economic risks associated with different economies country risks (Schoenmaker 35). This is because the process of internationalization exposes a bank to an economy’s market specific and inherent factors for instance regulatory frameworks, unfamiliar

How governmental entities will be affected by GASB pronouncement Research Paper

How governmental entities will be affected by GASB pronouncement - Research Paper Example This is done by several different types of documents and mechanisms that together comprise what is better known as GAAP hierarchy for governments. However, not all the mechanisms and documents used by the GASB to set accounting principles and standards have the same weight and importance, hence the need of the term hierarchy which implies that some are going to be more important than others (Fischer et al, 127). In the absence of a pronouncement or another source of accounting literature, the financial statement preparer may consider what is termed as â€Å"other accounting literature.† In this category of â€Å"other accounting literature†, it includes a variety of different sources ranging from GASB Concepts Statements that are often GASB documents that describe the conceptual framework from which GASB statements arise on the more authoritative side to accounting books and articles on the less authoritative side. Accounting for leases is one of the more technically ch allenging areas in accounting including governmental accounting. The following explanation aims to describe the accounting and financial reporting requirements for lessees (Ruppel, 68). Essentially, these accounting requirements depend on whether the lease is classified as a capital lease or an operating lease. This classification is made in the same manner by governmental entities as well as commercial enterprises. However, the difference between the two is whether the lease is accounted for by a governmental fund, or by a proprietary fund. Nevertheless, the reporting requirements differ significantly. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board provides guidance to state and local governments on applying the requirements of SFAS in a manner consistent with that of governmental accounting. In other words, governmental funds need to account for the capital assets and long-standing liabilities resulting from accounting for a lease as a capital lease consistent with how capital assets and long-standing liabilities are otherwise accounted for by governmental funds. The effect of recording capital leases on the state -wide financial statements must also be considered. The requirements of GASB can be applied by proprietary funds and in the state-wide financial statements directly, since these funds and financial statements use the same basis of accounting and measurement focus as commercial enterprises. This often results into identical accounting treatment for these leases. The accounting for leases is derived from the view that a lease that transfers substantially all the benefits and risks of ownership should be accounted for as the acquisition of an asset and the incurrence of a liability by the lessee (Fischer, 118). In recording capital leases by a lessee, there are significant differences in the accounts used by the Governmental Accounts Standards Board and proprietary funds. In the case of GASB, the primary emphasis is on the flow of financial resources, an d expenditures are recognized on the adjusted accrual basis of accounting for leases. Therefore, if a lease agreement is to be financed from general governmental resources, it must be accounted for and reported on a basis consistent with governmental fund accounting principles. Furthermore, capital assets used in governmental activities acquired

Overseas empire Essay Example for Free

Overseas empire Essay Suppression of the Muslim threat in North Africa was less successful though. The area was one of important economic and commercial advantage to Aragon and so seizure of large areas would have been of significance. Perhaps the key reason behind the policy though was the increasing Turkish influence in Naples and Sicily. Ferdinands failure came in an expensive garrisoning project, which held little authority and merely contained the problem. Perhaps the reason behind the lacklustre campaign was his preoccupation with Italy. In 1485 he successfully defended Naples from France and then the Holy Roman Empire. Despite careless disengaging of troops during the illness of Louis XII the policy in Italy was on the whole regarded as a success. Taking advantage of French involvement in the North, Ferdinand reclaimed Rousillon and Cerdagne. Then in 1512 following the death of Germaine de Foixs father, Ferdinand annexed Navarre. Isabellas fortuitous support of Christopher Columbus and hence the involvement in the New World had an increasingly significant impact on the economies of Castile and Aragon. Columbuss discovery opened new trade links and resources. In particular the trade of gold and slavery were of great economic benefit in future years. Furthermore Pope Alexander VI settled the rivalry with Portugal without conflict and expense with the division of the Americas. Isabellas piety determined that the extensive period of convivencia, which existed prior to her reign, would end. Since the pogrom of 1391 there had been sporadic anti-Semitic outbreaks largely born out of a resentment of rich Jewish families. For Isabella however the growing trend of conversos practising Judaism in private was of the greatest concern. Therefore in 1478 an Inquisition into conversos was established in Castile and then one in Aragon in 1481. As a result Jews became confined to ghettos and forced to wear yellow badges. Those suspected of heresy were put on trial and punished. In 1492 conversion was then made compulsory with emigration the only other alternative. Whilst only around 3% of the total population actually emigrated a significant social and economic impact was felt. The commercial welfare of the two Kingdoms was severely damaged and perhaps more crucially the policy disillusioned much of the wider population. The assessment of Isabella and Ferdinands social, economic, religious and foreign success reveals that the period in Spanish history is not as clear cut as contemporary chroniclers have suggested. They failed to curtail the nobility, failed in implementing economic growth and embarked on unwise foreign conquests. In saying this however they also achieved numerous successes such as securing the throne, conquering Granada and increasing the overseas empire.

A Study On Theoretical Perspectives In Maladaptive Behavior

A Study On Theoretical Perspectives In Maladaptive Behavior Maladaptive behavior is known as behavior that is different than normal. There are many ways to define behavior that is unusual. Antisocial Disorder is also known as abnormal. There are many perspectives known to help define and explain these behaviors. Scientific theories have been created to organize our thoughts and our beliefs to explain what it all means (Sarason, 2005). Biological Perspective explains the relationships between our brain and our behavior (Sarason, 2005). This would also cover heredity and genetics (Sarason, 2005). This perspective assumes that our bodily maladaptive behavior is due to a problem in our body (Sarason, 2005). Behavior genetics is known as a study of the effects of our genetic inheritance of behavior (Sarason, 2005). Psychodynamic Perspective is the idea that thoughts and emotions are important causes of behavior (Sarason, 2005). In most cases biological factors are important in the diagnosis of a patient. Most medical conditions require biological factors, (Sarason, 2005). Equipment such as the position emission tomography scan and the computerized tomography (CT scan) are starting to be used to demonstrate studies between the brain and behavior, (Sarason, 2005). In research of genetics and heredity it has shown that chromosomal defects are the cause of metabolic disorders that may lead to mental retardation, (Sarason, 2005). Phenylketonuria is an example of such a condition, (Sarason, 2005). Body refers to organs, muscles, bones, and the brain; mind refers to attitudes and feelings or thoughts, (Sarason, 2005). The separation between the two is intellectual intervention (Sarason, 2005). Although many people believe the separation to be complete. Cognitive and bodily functioning are closely working together (Sarason, 2005). It is known that maladaptive behavior is because of a dysfunction in the body and the way it functions (Sarason, 2005). Maladaptive behavior is a joint product of three major components; in the body or a hormonal deficiency, in physiological functioning or a tendency towards shyness, and in a social environment (Sarason, 2005). Chromosomes are threadlike that are present in the cells that make up our DNA (Sarason, 2005). Anomolies in the chromosomes are likely to cause abnormalities in our brain (Sarason, 2005). Someone with Down syndrome usually has 21 of these chromosomes as opposed to the usual 2 (Sarason, 2005). Each of these genes contains their own characteristic positions (Sarason, 2005). 60% of these genes are responsible for brain functions, (Sarason, 2005). 4,000 diseases are caused by abnormalities in these chromosomes, (Sarason, 2005). Psychologists study these genes; this is called behavior genetics (Sarason, 2005). As humans we inherit behavior (Sarason, 2005). This study is called pedigree studies. Here are some of the common studies of genetic research: Gene- Parts of your DNA that contain proteins that carries out tasks in your body (Sarason, 2005). Alleles- Variants of the same gene in a species(Sarason, 2005). Genome- All DNA processed by a person (Sarason, 2005). Genotype- the DNA makeup at the moment of conception (Sarason, 2005). Phenotype-Characteristics resulting from environment and genetics (Sarason, 2005) Heritability- A statistical estimate of characteristics affected by genetics (Sarason, 2005). Nervous System and the Brain The nervous system and the brain are also affecting who we are as humans. The nervous system is the brains control area and very important in the functioning of the brain (Sarason, 2005). The nervous system consists of neurons which have very special purposes (Sarason, 2005). The brain is now known as the most complex structure in the entire world (Sarason, 2005). The nervous system is split into two parts: the central nervous system, including the nerve cells or neurons, brain and spinal cords (Sarason, 2005). The Peripheral nervous system includes all the neurons that connect the central nervous system with the glands, muscles, and sensory system (Sarason, 2005). The Peripheral nervous system has two parts; the somatic system and the Autonomic system (Sarason, 2005). The somatic system transmits information from sense organs to the muscles that help us move (Sarason, 2005). Autonomic system directs activity of the glands and our internal organs (Sarason, 2005). It is said that the brain has a lot to do with our behavior. The way it functions and the way we perceive things when the brain is trying to transmit the information can also get lost in translation. There are so many ways that information can be misinterpreted when the brain is not correctly functioning. The behavioral state of a human is usually best observed through an EEG machine. This machine can measure alertness through tracings of the brain and its activity. It can measure if someone is alert or awake, resting, eyes closed, light sleep, deep sleep, or dreaming (Sarason, 2005). A healthy brain will also react to new experiences where a damaged brain might not react (Sarason, 2005). This can also be measure on an EEG machine. Freuds Theory of Personalities Sigmund Freud was a great neurologist from 1856-1939 (Sarason, 2005). He was also one of the most influential writers in the twentieth century. Freuds theory of Personality is also one of the most influential writings. It seems very complex to some. One of Freuds theories consists of psychic determinism. This states that behavior is determined by prior mental events in ones life (Sarason, 2005). Freud believed that there are two levels of consciousness. One is consciousness itself and the other is precociousness (Sarason, 2005). This means that if someone were thinking of one thing, they could easily store this in mind and move back to a previous thought. Freud found that this had a lot to do with overt behavior. He also believed that the greater the mental conflict in the conscious stayed there, the greater the stress would become (Sarason, 2005). Behavior Perspectives and Genetics The behavioral perspective focuses on behavior as a response to stimuli in the environment of the organism, (Sarason, 2005). An American psychologist names John B. Watson created was the founder of behaviorism (Sarason, 2005). Watson created this as a thoroughly mechanical affair, (Sarason, 2005). The complete personality was created for overt behavior and was built up out of the conditioning process (Sarason, 2005). Many psychologists did not believe Watson. They believed that behavior was much more complex. They believed that it is truly a hard process. Watson just believed that a little time would bring on a dynamic behavioral change. Behavioral Perspective was also created because psychologists found that Freuds ideas about the mind were too complex enough and very vague (Sarason, 2005). Psychologists believed that this could be explained in an easier way to understand. Many of them were having problems understanding so this led them to creation of their own theories. Both the psychoanalytical and behavioral approaches are deterministic but can be found in different places, (Sarason, 2005). Psychologists that use this type of behavioral perspective focus on what the patient is learning (Sarason, 2005). They view any type of behavior as stimuli-response and relationships (Sarason, 2005). In the process of changing someones behavior, they concentrate on altering the environment and rewards (Sarason, 2005). Early behavioral perspectives lacked certain elements. In the process of classical conditioning psychologists are watching for a response that an organism is automatically stimulated and transferred to a new one through an association between the two (Sarason, 2005). Ivan Pavlov was one of the most famous classical conditioning experimenters. Pavlov placed a hungry dog in a harness and turned on a light at certain intervals (Sarason, 2005). The dog did not salivate in response to the light making the light conditioned stimuli (Sarason, 2005). After a few times of trying this, meat powder was delivered after the dog was stimulated. Since the dog was hungry, he salivated an unconditional response (Sarason). Pavlov found that although there was no food delivered at certain points of the experiment, the dog was still salivating. Pavlov also tried the ringing of a bell as a stimulus (Sarason, 2005). In some cases there are unpleasant, avoidant or escape responses (Sarason, 2005). For example, the experiments that entails a mouse moving through a maze to find food. They use the electric charge to pulse through the mouse to help them find the food. Eventually the mouse is able to get to the food every time without the stimuli of the electric charge to show him the way. When these conditioned responses are reinforced during the process of conditioning, these responses dissipate (Sarason, 2005). The disappearance of early responses is called extinction (Sarason, 2005). Many students of maladaptive behavior begin to become fascinated with classical conditioning when they realize it explains a lot about many types of emotional responses (Sarason, 2005). There is also such a thing as accidental conditional responses For example, I almost drowned when I was 4 years old. Since that day I have been terrified of any body of water. If I were to tell a psychologist this, they might recommend systematic desensitization (Sarason, 2005). Here is a diagram of how this might work (Sarason, 2005). Unconditional Unconditional responses Drowning Fear Conditional Stimulus- Conditional response Pool or another body of water Fear Breaking down the steps of stimuli between the conditional stimuli and conditional responses could alleviate the fear of water or drowning. Operant response is also called instrumental conditioning, when the organism must make a particular response to the actions before the reinforcement starts to take affect (Sarason, 2005). The organism reflects its environment (Sarason, 2005). B. F. Skinner was the first psychologist to demonstrate this type of conditioning and its effectiveness (Sarason, 2005). He was also one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century (Sarason, 2005). Skinner created an experiment named Skinner box where a rat will press a bar repeatedly if this activity is reinforced by pellets of food falling into a dish (Sarason, 2005). Operant conditioning is responses that occur less prior to being reinforced (Sarason, 2005). Reinforcement, punishment, and extinction are all steps of operant conditioning (Sarason, 2005). A reinforce is an event that increases the possibility of a stimulus responding in a certain way (Sarason, 2005). A positive reinforce increases the possibility of the outcome being something good (Sarason, 2005). A negative reinforce increases the outcome being something negative (Sarason, 2005). Punishment is another way of changing behavior that is hit or miss. Sometimes it will be effective and other times it will not. Here are a few examples of a schedule of reinforcements used to research learning. Continuous reinforcement schedule- every response of a particular type is reinforced (Sarason, 2005). Partial or Intermittent reinforcement schedule- only some of these responses are reinforced (Sarason, 2005). Fixed-ratio schedule- reinforcement is given after a fixed number of these responses (Sarason, 2005). Variable-ration schedule-reinforcement varies around an average 10 responses (Sarason, 2005). Fixed-Interval schedule- reinforcement follows the first response that occurs after certain time intervals (Sarason, 2005). Variable-interval schedule- reinforcement occurs after a variable interval of time (Sarason, 2005). Psychodynamic Perspective The psychodynamic perspective the idea that thoughts and emotions are important causes of behavior, (Sarason, 2005). Many psychologists believe that rational thinking will produce personal and social adjustment (Sarason, 2005). In the 19th century this began to attract more and more attention. People were drawn to the fact that maladaptive behavior was not normal. The organic approach to psychological behavior is influenced by physiological and the anatomy of a human being (Sarason, 2005). Mental disorders are a direct reflection of what is going on in the brain and how we function with this (Sarason, 2005). People began to believe that brain cells were what were making us unhappy (Sarason, 2005). The bad thing about this belief system is that there is much more to it. We needed to dig deeper to figure out what the stem of the problem was. Psychologists were finding it harder to convince people that there was really something wrong as opposed to someone just being crazy. People wanted to believe what they wanted to, making it difficult for psychologist. Psychologists hope to find evidence that behavior was a reflection of the brain (Sarason, 2005). An interact ional or biopsychological approach currently directs the work of most clinicians and researchers, (Sarason, 2005). Coping, skills due to this perspective result in stress and vulnerabili ty (Sarason, 2005). Think of these as a coping mechanism (Sarason, 2005). Antisocial Disorder Anti-social disorder is typically associated with violence, delinquency and violence ( Sarason, 2005). Critical features of this disorder would be: Failure to conform to social norms, (Sarason, 2005) Deceitfulness or being manipulative (Sarason, 2005) Failure to plan ahead or being impulsive (Sarason, 2005) Irritability or being aggressive (Sarason, 2005) Disregard for other; being reckless (Sarason, 2005) Consistently being irresponsible (Sarason, 2005) Lack of remorse for their actions (Sarason, 2005) Anti-social disorder is inherited and it is not yet clear how (Sarason, 2005). Impulsive physical violence is related to low levels of serotonin and one of its metabolites in spinal fluid, (Sarason, 2005). Anxiety has also been studied. It has become a very consistent component of Anti-social disorder (Sarason, 2005). People with anti-social disorder lack the ability to feel for others and will most likely hurt the people that are closest to them without remorse (Sarason, 2005). People with anti-social disorder are very difficult to diagnose and help. Their tendencies and personalities are very hard to understand (Sarason, 2005). In conclusion, our behavior is not only altered by genetics but is also altered by our brain and our nervous system. It is very difficult to find a direct diagnosis of a person without all medical history. There are numerous things that could affect a humans train of thought and the ability to cope in day to day life. Freuds theory shows that people are able to be aware of their ability to consciously think. We are constantly thinking on two levels, giving us the ability to make choices. We are able to think on a level of good or bad. We are able to capacitate many types of brain alterations. The brain is so complex making it very difficult for us to truly understand. We have the basis of how behavior can affect us. We can chose to listen to our preconscious as opposed to the conscious that is telling us to do the wrong thing. Or we can run through life with reckless disregard for others. We have the ability to make these choices for ourselves, given that we are aware of the malfunct ioning of our brains. Despite this, technology and diagnosis will continue to expand and diagnosis will become easier and easier.

Political Views Essay -- Politics Government Ideologies Essays

Political Views â€Å"Which political side are you on?† You probably heard this question before and said you really didn’t know. I really didn’t know what political side I was on before I did some research on the three major political philosophies; Liberalism, Libertarianism, and Conservative. The civic stance I agree with the most is the liberal’s point of view. Liberals protect; individual rights to choose, government programs like Medicaid and welfare that help the needy, and that sex education programs that teach safe sex and prevent teen pregnancy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The liberal philosophy is the one I agree with the most. Liberals believe that the federal government should protect individual liberties and promote the general welfare. Contemporary liberalism is rooted in the Declaration of Independence as well as social and economic programs that began in the 1930’s and extended into the 1960’s. Today’s liberal tends to value individual rights and to be wary of restrictions on personal behavior. Equality is very important to liberals. Liberals believe that everyone should be treated equally. Liberals believe that the government shouldn’t control sex or religion, and that women have the right to choose. Liberals protect individual rights for many people and for women they included the right to choose, only a women knows what problems she has to face by bringing a child into this world. Government programs like Medicaid and Welfare afford people the simple rights to feed their...

Mans search for meaning Essay -- essays research papers fc

REACTION TO VICTOR FRANKL’S MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING Frankl attains as high a level of humanism in his writing as one would think possible of any scientist. His psychology is based on empiricism. His experiences as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp, stripped of everything but his bare existence, led him to explore the ultimate sense of meaning in human life. In own privileged western world we don’t have to struggle for life and its essentials, like food. Furthermore, there is plenty to keep us busy, whether it be work or other forms of entertainment. In such an environment it is easy to forget or procrastinate in the search for life’s meaning. In Frankl’s account, the search for meaning had life-and-death implications, like the need for food and water. Having formed a theory so based on experience, Frankl is much less schematic or cerebral than even the most humanistic of psychologists. Some of his conclusions are not unlike those of Abraham Maslow and Erich Fromm. This is clear in the importance all three give to transcendence. He asserts that â€Å"the more one forgets himself†¦the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself† (133). This assertion reminds one of Maslow’s definitions of â€Å"peak experiences† as those of transcendence. Maslow claims that it is possible to learn from such experiences in order to become more conscious of being. This idea firmly correlates with Frankl’s. The main concern for mankind is fulfilling a meaning. It is in this point that Frank...

Gore’s movie, “An Inconvenient Truth” Essay

Former Vice President and former Tennessee Senator Al Gore discusses the correlation between carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and global warming. Gore’s movie, â€Å"An Inconvenient Truth† is constructed to look as though the majority of it is taking place in a college lecture hall, thus implying that his information is indeed fact. Better yet, before the end of the movie, Gore attempts to prove that global warming is not an environmental theory, but is a fact and that it is being caused by things that man is doing. His simple conclusion is that mankind is creating more greenhouse gases and that is causing the earth’s temperature to rise at a rate that might soon be catastrophic. Gore spends a great deal of the movie in front of a double line graph comparing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and the earth’s temperature. He explains where his personal interest in the concept came from, a research professor when he was an undergraduate student, and how the professor’s work has predicted the climbing earth temperatures. Gore never specifically illustrates how mankind is contributing to the greenhouse gases, but he does make allusions to heavy traffic and coal-fired energy plants as the cause. Instead, he uses a very effective melding of classroom instruction and beautiful natural footage of his farm in Tennessee and the ice flows of Antarctica. He even compares the need to do something about global warming to his family’s failure to do something about smoking. Gore points out that until his sister died from lung cancer, his father raised tobacco on their Tennessee farm. It wasn’t until his daughter’s death that he made the connection between his action and her illness. Likewise, Gore said, he is afraid that we will not make the connection between our actions and global warming until our children are dying from it. The use of analogical reasoning is impressive through the film as is the use of pop culture to define his arguments, relying on a clip from the cartoon sit-com Futurama as his explanation of why greenhouse gases lead to heating the environment. The biggest failing of the movie are Gore’s lack of an answer for the problem he presented. He points to the ever-rising global temperature and the melting ice flows in the Arctic, Antarctica and Greenland, but only as the final credits roll are there any suggestions for what to do about it. And these claims are the ones that are least supported. For example, the credits proclaim the advantages of switching to mercury-based florescent light bulbs instead of traditional incandescent light bulbs, claiming that the energy saved by making little changes like that can help offset the growing carbon problem. But he never backs up those claims with facts and never discusses other issues which might be a factor in choosing light bulbs, such as quality of light provided and the fact that fluorescent bulbs contain mercury, a potentially lethal heavy metal. Gore’s explanations seem sound and reasonable, but that may also be due to the way they are presented. With an ice shelf breaking apart before your eyes, it is hard to demand answers about why the shelf is breaking apart. And, no one in the movie ever challenges Gore’s opinions or facts. He claims that when opponents to the global warming theory make objections that he researches them and adds the answer to his lectures, but there is no evidence of this. Instead, it appears that Professor Gore has used his training in academia and politics to make it look as though he knows all the answers, but the real â€Å"Inconvenient Truth† is that the movie leaves you with more questions than answers.

Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 17

Well, she wasn't telling humans anything-but she did defy the authority of the Night World,† Ash said in his most lazy, careless voice. Quinn said succinctly, â€Å"How?† It was late Monday afternoon and the sun was streaming through the western windows of the Burdock farmhouse. Ash was wearing a brand-new shirt bought at the Briar Creek general store, a turtleneckwith long sleeves that covered the almost-healedscars on his throat and arms. His jeans werebleached white, his hair was combed over the scabon the back of his head, and he was playing the scene of his life. â€Å"She knew about a rogue werewolf and didn't tell.anybody about him.† â€Å"So she was a traitor. And what did you do?† Ash shrugged. â€Å"Staked her.† Quinn laughed out loud. â€Å"No, really,† Ash said earnestly, looking intoQuinn's face with what he knew were wide, guileless eyes-probably blue. â€Å"See?† Without taking his eyes from Quinn's he whipped a pink-and-green country quilt off the bundle on the couch. Quinn's eyebrows flew upward. He stared for a moment at Aunt Opal, who had been cleaned so that you'd never know she'd ever been buried, and who had the picket stake carefully replaced in her chest. Quinn actually swallowed. It was the first time Ash had ever seen him falter. â€Å"You really did it,† he said. There was reluctant respect in his voice-and definite shock. You know, Quinn, I don't think you're quite as tough as you pretend. After all, no matter how you try to act like an Elder, you're only eighteen. And you'll always be eighteen, and next year maybe I'll be older. â€Å"Well,† Quinn said, blinking rapidly. â€Å"Well. Well___ I have to hand it to you.† â€Å"Yeah, I just decided the best thing to do was cleanup the whole situation. She was getting on, you know.† Quinn's dark eyes widened fractionally. â€Å"I have toadmit -I didn't think you were that ruthless.† â€Å"You've gotta do what you've gotta do. For the family honor, of course.† Quinn cleared his throat. â€Å"So-what about thewerewolf?† â€Å"Oh, I took care of that, too.† Ash meandered over and whipped a brown-and-white quilt off Exhibit B. The wolf was a charred and contorted corpse. It had given Mary-Lynnette hysterics when Ash insisted on pulling it out of the car, and Quinn's nostrils quivered when he looked at it. â€Å"Sorry, it does smell like burnt hair, doesn't it? Igot a little sooty myself, keeping him in the fire†¦.† â€Å"You burned himalive?† â€Å"Well, it is one of the traditional methods†¦.†Ã¢â‚¬ Just put the blanket back, all right?† Ash put the blanket back. â€Å"So, you see, everything's taken care of. No humans involved, no extermination necessary.† â€Å"Yes, all right †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Quinn's eyes were still on the quilt. Ash decided the moment was right. â€Å"And by the way, it turns out the girls had aperfectly legitimate reason for coming. They just wanted to learn to hunt. Nothing illegal about that,is there?† â€Å"What? Oh. No.† Quinn glanced at Aunt Opal, then finally looked back at Ash. â€Å"So they're coming back now that they've learned it.† â€Å"Well, eventually. They haven't quite learned it yet†¦ so they're staying.† â€Å"They'restaying?† †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†Right. Look, I'm the head of the familyon the West Coast, aren't I? And I say they're staying.† â€Å"Ash†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. â€Å" â€Å"It's about time there was a Night World outpost in this area, don't you think? You see what's happened without one. You get families of outlaw werewolves wandering around. Somebody's got to stay here and hold down the fort.† â€Å"Ash †¦ you couldn't payNight People to strand themselves out here. Nothing but animals to feed on, nobody but humans to associate with †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yeah, it's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it.Besides, wasn't it you who said it's not good living your whole life isolated on an island?† Quinn stared at him, then said, â€Å"Well, I don't thinkthis is much better.† â€Å"Then it serves my sisters right. Maybe in a few years they'll appreciate the island more. Then theycan hand the job over to someone else.† â€Å"Ash †¦ no one else is going to comehere.† â€Å"Well.† With the battle won, and Quinn simplylooking dazed and as if he wanted to get back to LosAngeles as fast as possible, Ash allowed himself a small measure of truth. â€Å"I might come visit them someday,† he said. â€Å"He did a beautiful job,† Rowan said that evening. â€Å"We heard it all from the kitchen. You would have loved it.† Mary-Lynnette smiled. â€Å"Quinn can't wait to get away,† Jade said, in tertwining her fingers with Mark's. Kestrel said to Ash, â€Å"I'd just like to be around when you explain all this to Dad.† â€Å"That's funny,† Ash said. â€Å"I feel just the opposite.† Everyone laughed-except Mary-Lynnette. The big farm kitchen was warm and bright, but the windowswere darkening. She couldn't see anything in the gathering darkness-in the last two days the effects of her blood exchange had faded. Her senses were ordinary human senses again. â€Å"You're sure you won't get in trouble?† sheasked Ash. â€Å"No. I'll tell our dad the truth-mostly. That anoutlaw werewolf killed Aunt Opal and that I killed the werewolf. And that the girls are better off here,hunting quietly and watching out for other rogues. There's sure to be some record of the Lovett fam ily†¦. Dad can check out the history all he wants.† â€Å"A whole family of outlaw werewolves,† Kestrel said musingly. â€Å"Ofcrazy werewolves,† Ash said. â€Å"They were as dangerous to the Night World as any vampire hunters could be. God knows how long they've beenhere-long enough for their land to get named Mad Dog Creek.† â€Å"And for people to mistake them for Sasquatch,† Mark said. Rowan's brown eyes were troubled. â€Å"And it wasmy fault that you didn't know,† she said to MaryLynnette. â€Å"I told you-he couldn't be the killer. I'm sorry.† Mary-Lynnette captured her gaze and held it. â€Å"Rowan, you arenotgoing to feel guilty for this. You couldn't have realized. He wasn't killing for food like a normal werewolf. He was killing to protect his territory-and to scare us.† â€Å"And it might have worked,† Mark said. â€Å"Exceptthat you guys didn't have anywhere else to go.† Ash looked at Mark, then at his sisters. â€Å"I have a question. Is the territory around here going to be enough foryou?† â€Å"Of course,† Rowan said, with gentle surprise. â€Å"We don't always need tokill the animals,† Jade said. â€Å"We're getting it down pat now. We can take a little here and a little there. Heck, we can even trythe goat. â€Å" â€Å"I'd rather try Tiggy,† Kestrel said, and for a moment her golden eyes glimmered. Mary-Lynnette didn't say it, but she wondered sometimes about Kestrel. If maybe, someday, Kestrel might need a bigger territory of her own. She was a lot like Jeremy in some ways. Beautiful, ruthless, single-minded. A true Night Person. â€Å"And what about you?† Ash said, looking at mark. â€Å"Me? Uh†¦ Well, when you get down to it, I'm kind of a hamburger guy†¦.† â€Å"I tried to take him hunting last night,† Jade interpreted. â€Å"You know, just to show him. But he threw up.† â€Å"I didn't actually-â€Å" â€Å"Yes, you did,† Jade said calmly and cheerfully. Mark looked away. Mary-Lynnette noticed they didn't stop holding hands. â€Å"So I take it you're not going to become a vampire,† Ash said to Mark. â€Å"Uh, let's just say not any time soon.† Ash turned to Mary-Lynnette. â€Å"And what about the human end of things? Do we have that taken care of?† â€Å"Well, I know everything that's going on intown-by which I mean that I talked with BunnyMarten this morning. I'm so glad she's not a vampire, incidentally Mark said, â€Å"I always knew it† â€Å"Anyway, here's the quick version.† MaryLynnette held up a finger. â€Å"One, everybody knowsthat Jeremy is gone-his boss at the gas stationmissed him yesterday and went up to check the trailer. They found a lot of weird stuff there. But all they know is that he's disappeared.† â€Å"Good,† Rowan said. Mary-Lynnette held up another finger. â€Å"Two,Dad is sorry but not surprised that the stationwagon blew up. Claudine has been predicting itwould for a year.† Another finger. â€Å"Three, Mr. Kimble doesn't have any ideawhatkilled his horse-but now he thinks it was an animal instead of a person. Vic Kimble thinks it was maybe Sasquatch. He and Todd are very spooked and want to get out of Briar Creek forgood â€Å"And let's have a moment of silence to show howwe'll miss them,† Mark said solemnly, and blew a raspberry. â€Å"Four,† Mary-Lynnette said, holding up a fourthfinger, â€Å"you girls are eventually going to have to mention that your aunt hasn't come back from her ‘vacation.' But I thinkyou can wait awhile. Nobody comes out here so nobody will notice she's gone. And I think we can bury her and Jeremy safely. Even if somebody finds them, what have they got? A mummy that looks about a thousand years old and a wolf. They won't be able to connect them to the missing people.† â€Å"Poor old Aunt Opal,† Jade said, still cheerful.†But she helped us in the end, didn't she?† Mary-Lynnette looked at her. Yes, there it is, shethought. The silver in the eyes when you laugh about death. Jade is a true Night Person, too. â€Å"She did help. And I'm going to miss her,† she said out loud. Kestrel said, â€Å"So everything is taken care of.† â€Å"Seems like it.† Ash hesitated. â€Å"And Quinn is waiting down the road. I_ told him it would only takea couple hours to finish making arrangements and say goodbye.† There was a silence. â€Å"I'll see you off,† Mary-Lynnette said at last. They went together to the front door. When theywere outside in the twilight Ash shut the door be hind them. â€Å"You still can come with me, you know.† â€Å"With you and Quinn?† â€Å"I'll send him away. Or I'll go and come back tomorrow and get you. Or I'll come back and stay†¦.† â€Å"You need to go tell your father about this. Make everything right with him, so it's safe for your sisters. You knowthat.† â€Å"Well, I'll come back afterthat,†Ash said, with an edge of desperation to his voice. Mary-Lynnette looked away. The sun was gone. Looking east, the sky was already the darkest purple imaginable. Almost black. Even as she watched, a starcame out. Or-not a star. Jupiter. â€Å"I'm not ready yet. I wish I were.† â€Å"No, you don't,† Ash said, and he was right, of course. She'd known ever since she sat there by theroad, crying while her car burned. And althoughshe'd thought and thought about it since then, sitting in her darkened room, there was nothing she coulddo to change her own mind. She would never be a vampire. She just wasn't cutout for it. She couldn't do the things vampires hadto do-and stay sane. She wasn't like Jade or Kestrelor even Rowan with her pale sinewy feet and her instinctive love of the hunt. She'd looked into the heart of the Night World . . .and she couldn't join it. â€Å"I don't want you to be like that,† Ash said. â€Å"Iwant you to be likeyou. â€Å" Without looking at him, Mary-Lynnette said, â€Å"Butwe're not kids. We can't be like Jade and Mark, and just hold hands and giggle and never think about the future.† â€Å"No, we're only soulmates, that's all. We're onlydestined to be together forever†¦.† â€Å"If we've got forever, then you can give me time,† Mary-Lynnette said. â€Å"Go back and' wander a little. Take a look at the Night World and make sure youwant to give it up â€Å"I know that already.† â€Å"Take a look at humans and make sure you wantto be tied to one of them.† â€Å"And think about the things I've done to humans, maybe?† Mary-Lynnette looked at him directly. â€Å"Yes.† He looked away. â€Å"All right. I admit it. I've got a lot to make up for†¦.† Mary-Lynnette knew it. He'd thought of humansas vermin-and food. The things she'd seen in hismind made her not want to picture more. â€Å"Then make up for what you can,† she said, although she didn't dare really hope that he would. â€Å"Take time to do that. And giveme time to finish growing up. I'm still in high school, Ash.† â€Å"You'll be out in a year. I'll come back then.† â€Å"It may be too soon.† â€Å"I know. I'll come back anyway.† He smiled ironically. â€Å"And in the meantime I'll fight dragons, just like any knight for his lady. I'll prove myself. You'll be proud of me.† Mary-Lynnette's throat hurt. Ash's smile disappeared. They just stood looking at each other. It was the obvious time for a kiss. Instead, they just stood staring like hurt kids, and then one ofthem moved and they were holding on to each other. Mary-Lynnette held on tighter and tighter, her face buried in Ash's shoulder. Ash, who seemed to have lost it altogether, was raining kisses on the back of her neck, saying, â€Å"I wish I were a human. I wishI were.† â€Å"No, you don't,† Mary-Lynnette said, seriously unsteady because of the kisses. â€Å"I do. I do.† But it wouldn't help, and Mary-Lynnette knew he knew it. The problem wasn't simply what he was, it was what he'd done-and what he was going to do. He'd seen too much of the dark side of life to be a normal person. His nature was already formed, and she wasn't sure he could fight it. â€Å"Believe in me,† he said, as if he could hear her. Mary-Lynnette couldn't say yes or no. So she did the only thing she could do-she lifted her head. Hislips were in the right place to meet hers. The electric sparks weren't painful anymore, she discovered? and the pink haze could be quite wonderful. For a time everything was warm and sweet and strangelypeaceful. And then, behind them, somebody knocked on thedoor. Mary-Lynnette and Ash jumped and separated.They looked at each other, startled, emotions still tooraw, and then Mary-Lynnette realized where she was. She laughed and so did Ash. â€Å"Come out,† they said simultaneously. Mark and Jade came out. Rowan and Kestrel werebehind them. They all stood on the porch-avoiding the hole. They all smiled at Ash and Mary-Lynnette in a way that made Mary-Lynnette blush. â€Å"Goodbye,† she said firmly to Ash. He looked at her for a long moment, then looked at the road behind him. Then he turned to go. Mary-Lynnette watched him, blinking away tears.She still couldn't let herself believe in him. But there was no harm in hoping, was there? In wishing. Evenif wishes almost never came true†¦. Jade gasped. â€Å"Look!† They all saw it, and Mary-Lynnette felt her heartjump violently. A bolt of light was streaking acrossthe darkness in the northeast. Not a little wimpyshooting star-a brilliant green meteor that crossedhalf the sky, showering sparks. It was right above Ash's path, as if lighting his way. A late Perseid. The last of the summer meteors. But it seemed like a blessing. â€Å"Quick, quick, wish,† Mark was telling Jade eagerly. â€Å"A wish on that star you gotta get.† Mary-Lynnette glanced at his excited face, at theway his eyes shone with excitement. Beside him, Jade was clapping, her own eyes wide with delight. I'm so glad you're happy, Mary-Lynnette thought. My wish for you came true. So now maybe I can wish for myself. I wish †¦ I wish †¦ Ash turned around and smiled at her. â€Å"See you next year,† he said. â€Å"With slain dragons!† He started down the weed-strewn path to the road. For a moment, in the deep violet twilight, he didlook to Mary-Lynnette like a knight walking off ona quest. A knight-errant with shining blond hair and no weapons, going off into a very dark and dangerous wilderness. Then he turned around and walked backward, waving, which ruined the effect. Everyone shouted goodbyes. Mary-Lynnette could feel them around her, her brother and her three blood-sisters, all radiating warmth and support. Playful Jade. Fierce Kestrel. Wise and gentle Rowan. And Mark, who wasn't sullen and solitary anymore. Tiggy wound himselfaround her ankles, purring amiably. â€Å"Even when we're apart, we'll be looking at the same sky!† Ash yelled. â€Å"What a line,† Mary-Lynnette called back. But hewas right. The sky would be there for both of them.She'd alwaysknow hewas out there somewhere,looking up at it in wonder. Just knowing that was important. And she was clear on who she was at last. Shewas Mary-Lynnette, and someday she'd discover a supernova or a comet or a black hole, but she'd doit as a human. And Ash would come back next year. And she would always love the night. [The End]