Education and Common Core Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Education and Common Core - Research Paper Example They rank the countries based on their performance in mathematics, sciences and reading. Since 2000, the USA has been falling below average in the three subjects and this year it was ranked 17th among the 34 countries of the OECD. USA scores poorly in mathematics and in a recent research, they were ranked 26th out of the 34 countries. From the test given by the OECD ranking researchers, only 9% of the USA students proved to be top performers in mathematics as compared to 61% in other countries such as china (OECD Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/unitedstates/CN%20-%20United%20States.pdf). According to a report by PISA, USA spends the highest funds on education and are in the same rank with Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland. However, their spending does not translate into better education since USA lags behind the countries whoa similar amount in education. Social classes and economic differences in the USA have played a part in their low education performance. Other countries such as Finland, japan and Norway, who have high-income disparities, did not show a difference in education levels based on income. However, in the USA, income levels determine the quality of education that one student get. PISA confirmed that most resilient students in the USA proved to have low educational performance. The USA education is lower than expected due to poor systems and lack of consideration to low-income earners. When the common core standards were developed, there were intended to prepare students for college education. However, the system has terribly failed due to a number of reasons. Moreover, the system only focused on students who could make it to college and did not consider those who failed to go to college (Beck 59). The system is a shared set of standards for English, mathematics and art that identifies the learning outcomes needed in order help students prepare for careers

Unmasking the Meaning Essay Example for Free

Unmasking the Meaning Essay In, â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† by Edgar Allan Poe, Prince Prospero believes he has the ability to escape the inevitable plague through the use of his social and economic power. After encountering a â€Å"masked figure† of the Red Death, Prince Prospero falls into rage of the mysterious man who interrupts his masquerade. Because of his reckless and foolish acts, Prince Prospero and the guests of his masquerade fall into the hands of death. Poe creates a passage describing Prince Prospero’s palace, adding several descriptions of its color and order orientation. In this passage, Poe uses adjective clauses and simple compound sentences to develop a symbolism towards the objects in his allegory. In one of the lines of the, Poe writes ‘†The second chamber was purple in its ornaments and tapestries, and here the panes were purple†, describing the subjects itself and enhancing them with the addition of an adjective clause. Poe’s addition of the adjective clause â€Å"here the panes were purple† creates an in-depth meaning of the object. Poe moves on to emphasize the final room by obscuring description, stating that â€Å"The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls.† Poe clearly acknowledges these specific sentences compared to his others. He progresses, going as far to extend the sentences by adding several more adjectives to specify a hidden meaning. Furthermore, Poe shifts to draw more attention towards the seventh apartment, developing separate sentences to enhance the last sentence â€Å"The seventh apartment was† The adjective clauses are most likely Poe’s intention for readers to attract interest in the seventh apartment and for them to uncover its significance. Throughout the passage, Poe describes each apartment with merely simple compound sentences. But, as the passage moves on, Poe shifts from â€Å"That art the eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue – and vividly blue were its windows† to â€Å"The fourth was furnished and lighted with orange – the fifth with white – the sixth with violet.† The first three simple compound sentences describing the six other apartments all incorporate youth (blue), intuition (purple), life (green), vitality of endurance (orange), purity (white), and spirituality (violet). Poe developed simple a compound sentences for, blue, purple, and green, but a simple sentence, â€Å"The fourth was furnished and lighted with orange – the fifth with white – the sixth with violet† for the other incorporated colors. This symbolizes Prince Prospero’s favor of youth, intuition, and life, but lacks vitality, purity, and spirituality. Subsequently, Poe differentiates Prince Prospero’s concluding color, black, by shifting again from compound sentences to a complex sentence. He writes, â€Å"The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue† to emphasize Prince Prospero’s interest in death. Prince Prospero’s actions such as attempting to his avoid his problems and death, is the most reasonable explanation to Poe’s reason of switching sentence structure. Switching sentence structure crafts a clear understanding in the meaning of the color and apartment. Therefore, Poe uses both adjective clauses and simple compound sentences to illuminate Prince Prospero. The symbolic colors and Poe’s syntax reveals his corrupt personality.

Fifth Business

Fifth Business In his novel, Fifth Business, Robertson Davies addresses the meaning of life by exploring Jungian archetypes. In the opening pages of the novel, Boy Staunton conceals a stone inside a snowball and throws it in anger at his friend Dunstan Ramsay. Ramsay ducks and the snowball goes on to hit Mary Dempster. Mary who is pregnant is brought prematurely into labor and delivers a grotesque unnaturally small child. The implications of this one single moment, forces the characters over the next sixty years to confront their personal devil. Likewise, in the movie, Frankenstein, Victor Frankensteins crowning achievement was to be the creation of his monster. However, once he succeeded in bringing the creature to life, Victor found that it was ugly and he abandoned it. The monster in reality is Victors â€Å"shadow† self. In each situation, these characters face their personal devil, their shadow. It becomes clear as you read through the novel and watch the movie in its entirety that in o rder to achieve the heroic life, one must face his personal devil. Dunstan Ramsay carries the weight of Paul Dempsters premature birth on his shoulders his entire life. If it was not for Liesl, an extremely elegant and intelligent woman confined inside a deformed and gigantic body, Dunstan would not have experienced happiness and ultimately a life well lived. Liesls surname is â€Å"Vitzliputzli†, which means â€Å"devil†. In Jungian terms, ones â€Å"devil† refers to ones shadow, the â€Å"suppressed part of the personality, the dark or more primitive side of the consciousness.† Thus, Liesl represents Dunstans shadow, all that he has suppressed from his ego; all that he has hidden from the public world. According to Jung, an â€Å"ego which refuses for long to recognize the existence and force of its shadow is inviting disruption.† Therefore, the shadow will invade the consciousness until the conscious recognizes the opposing force and comes to terms with it. This is one way of coming to know ones self. This is wh y Liesl is the most influential and important mentor, because she challenges Dunstan to stop suppressing his shadow so he can find out and come to terms with who he is. â€Å"But you there is a whole great price of your life that is unlived, denied, set aside. That is why at fifty you cant bear it any longer and fly all to pieces and pour out your heart to the first really intelligent woman you have met me†¦This is the revenge of the unlived life, Ramsay. Suddenly it makes you a fool†¦You should take a look at this side of your life you have not lived†¦But every man has a devil†¦you must get to know your personal devil†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (230). It is clearly evident that Liesl wants to change Dunstan for the better and from the revenge of the unlived life when she tells him to come to know his devil. â€Å"Why dont you shake hands with your devil† (213). Padre Blazon functions in Dunstans personal groups of archetypes as the image of the Wise Old Man. He is present for a reason, to aid Dunstan in his quest for wholeness. Blazon asks Dunstan to analyze Mary Dempster and ask himself the question, â€Å"Who is he in your personal world? What figure is she in your personal mythology?† (179). Dunstan confides his belief that she is a saint. Blazons response is that if Dunstan believes she is a saint, then to Dunstan, she is a saint. Why should he worry what anyone else thinks? â€Å"If you think her a saint, she is a saint to you†¦That is what we call the reality of the soul; you are foolish to demand the agreement of the world as well† (175). Blazon also states that miracles are commonplace, not rare, and that life is a miracle by itself through the act of god. â€Å"I think you are a fool to fret that she was knocked on the head because of an act of yours. Perhaps that was what she was for, Ramezay†¦.Maybe God w ants you for something special. Maybe so much that you are worth a womans sanity† (179). Through this, Blazon attempts to diminish unjustified guilt that Dunstan has been carrying with him for so long. In turn, Blazon supplies Dunstan with another vital piece of advice that serves as a fundamental stepping stone to Dunstans wholeness. He tells Dunstan to forgive himself for being human. â€Å"†¦Forgive yourself for being a human creature, Ramezay. That is the beginning of wisdom; that is part of what is meant by the fear of God; and for you it is the only way to save your sanity† (180). Boy Staunton does not feel remorse for the snowball incident that caused the premature birth of Paul Dempster. This incident acted as a basis for Boys growing shadow, and contributed to the demise of his soul and in the revenge of his unlived life. When Boy was asked if he had any recognition of Mrs. Dempster, he replied: â€Å"None at all. Why Should I?(261). Although Boy only met her once, the guilt remained suppressed inside him for the rest of his life. Dunstan realized that to live a complete life, one must rid ones self of the guilt. Dunstan dealt with his guilt by supporting Mrs. Dempster in her later years. Boy on the other hand ignored the guilt he felt for Mrs. Dempster. When Dunstan reminded Boy about the snowball incident, â€Å"It is the stone you put in the snowball you threw at Mrs. Dempster† (250), Boy realizes what he is guilty of and what he repressed for so many years. Boy could not handle this and needed to get rid of his guilt and he needed Paul to help h im, help him run away from his conscience. Boy escaped his inner shadow by the only way he could, by taking his own life. When Boy was found the morning after, a stone was found in his mouth. Boy considered the stone to represent his guilt and in the end tried to swallow the stone and his guilty conscience. Suicide was the only way out for Boy, because his shadow was much too big to confront. Addressing Boys death, the Brazen Head states, â€Å"He was killed by the usual cabal: by himself, first of all; by the woman he knew; by the woman he did not know; by the man who granted his inmost wish; and by the inevitable fifth, who was keeper of his conscience and keeper of the stone† (252). Victor Frankenstein is depicted as someone who cannot deviate from the course that he chose. Although Victor initially dedicates a large portion of his life to creating his masterpiece, he spends more of his life fearing and fighting his monster. Some critics see the creature as Victors shadow self that part of each of us that we are not always consciously aware of that contains things that may be hidden. Victor appears to disregard any responsibility he has for his creation and only feels guilt in unleashing such a monster, rather than guilt in abandoning the monster. Throughout the movie, Mr. Frankenstein repeatedly attempts to forget about his creation and continue with his life, at which point the monster surfaces to wreak havoc upon his life. One wise old man points out to him that â€Å"man shouldnt live in the shadows† (Frankenstein, 2004), for the monster becomes Victors shadow because he continually ignores him. After the monster takes the first step of revenge by ki lling Victors family, Victors unconscious self becomes a reality. It is here that he comes face to face with the monster, the shadow, who explains, â€Å"You gave me all these emotions, but you didnt tell me how to use them† (Frankenstein, 2004). As the movie progresses Victor marries Elizabeth despite the brutes promise to murder her on their wedding night. After discovering the creature had fulfilled his promise, Victor Frankenstein pledges to dedicate the remains of his life to finding and destroying the monster. Once again, the monster has prevented Frankenstein from enjoying his life; a life unlived, and forced him to be as lonely and miserable as him. Boy Staunton childhood experience played a very important role in the stableness of his soul. Guilt can only be suppressed for a limited time before it comes out in unwanted ways. Ultimately Stauntons â€Å"personal devil† prevailed and his heroic life was lost, to suicide. The same can be said for Victor Frankenstein, for if he only acknowledged the feeling of guilt and gave the monster the attention, love and guidance he needed; he would not have encountered his shadow and would of lead a heroic life. With the help of Padre Blazon and Liesl, Dunstan ultimately decides that it does not matter if others share the meaning he has found in Mary Dempster, and thus Dunstan has found his â€Å"personal devil†. He realizes that life has a different meaning for everyone. For him, life is about the search for meaning, which he comes to believe is more important than meaning itself. Dunstan lives the heroic life. One mishap in a persons life can create a â€Å"personal devil†, the goal is to â€Å"revenge the unlived life†, in order to find ones true happiness in later life.

Stevensons Use of Setting in The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr.

Stevenson's Use of Setting in The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde "The strange case of doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1885. The story is set in the late nineteenth century in central London. At the time London was a dark place, were a series of gruesome crimes had taken place, although it was the largest city and richest in the entire world, it contained extremes of wealth and poverty, it was almost as if there was a dividing line, as if was London two different worlds in one city. One side was wealthy and the residents were well mannered, the other side was dirty and mucky, Stevenson used this to help us understand the idea of one person with two sides one good and one bad in the novel. The novel is both horror and mystery, as we don't know who Hyde is or how Jekyll and Hyde are connected. Having all these unanswered questions makes it mysterious. It is also a horror as we read about this evil man Hyde trampling over a young girl and brutally murdering an innocent man. Stevenson's purpose is to show the duality of human nature; the dividing self, that there are different sides to everybody. No one is totally innocent everybody has good and evil inside of them. In chapter one Utterson and Enfield are walking one afternoon and they pass a door and Enfield starts to tell a story about this door and how Hyde trampled over a young girl then used this door to enter and come out with a cheque for the girl's family. We hear a lot about this door from Enfield. This door is described as an odd door for around this place in London having windows and the wall around it was said to be "di... ...the evil side of a person in the duality of nature. In chapter four a maid witnesses Hyde murdering the wealthy sir Danvers Carew, the weapon used to kill him is recognized by Utterson as Dr Jekylls and as the police investigate they find a burnt cheque book of Jekylls. The violent description of the murder helps us to understand and see who the real murderer is and how evil he is, and what Hyde is really capable of. "She was surprised to recognize him as a certain Mr. Hyde", this shows Hyde is known to many people around. We get to see the duality of nature in Utterson which we haven seen before, as he shows his hate for Hyde by taking the police to his house in Soho. Showing he is also has evil within him. In this chapter we also see how evil Hyde actually is by how he brutally murder sir Danvers Carew.

 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ONLINE SHOPPING Essay

Just year before, online shopping was not popular as it is today. But nowadays online shopping is the one of the best method considered for shopping. Now it allows the buyer to buy anything by just a click of mouse. Now online shopping offers a variety of products and services, as it allows us to buy clothing, airlines tickets, a car and even your grocery to shop. Websites like amazon.com, ebay.com are among the list of most popular websites being used these days. This essay will discuss advantages; (comparison shopping and save time) and disadvantages; (additional costs and waiting time and insecure shopping). One of the main advantage of online shopping is; comparison shopping in which products can be compared and contrast on the basis of their prices and multiple outlets. Today everybody wants the freedom of choice, so the marketers have to present the variety of product to choose from. Read more: Importance of English language essay There are number of online shopping websites, for example ebay.com, amazon.com, ozsale.com etc. that offer variety of products and services with different offers based on prices. This allows us the freedom of price flexibility and choice. So in that way, it makes easier to select and discard the product with his own choice. Many consumers like to explore before purchasing any particular product from different websites which offers different prices and different offers from other website at the same time. Comparison shopping affects the buyer’s trend to buy any product. The trend of comparison shopping is influenced by the ‘dimensions of decision-making style’ of the consumers (Park, Y. A., & Gretzel, U. 2010). The comparison shopping also become beneficial for the buyer as it allows the consumer to save money as well. Another main advantage of the online shopping is that it saves time. Today’s in this fast pace world everybody expects the work to be done fa ster. So, if anybody have busy life who have no time to buy the grocery are using online shopping as a way to fulfill their basic needs. Online shopping doesn’t require visiting the shopping places as you can do online shopping by sitting at home or anywhere. Online shopping services are available to anyone throughout the day, which it allows us to use these services anytime of the day. Online shopping websites are available on every day of the year, public holidays as well. So  availability of online shopping makes it convenient for everyone to use. Online shopping is considered as a convenient method to find those things which are hard to find made it a ‘time saving method’ (Horrigan, J. 2008). The other most important disadvantage of the online shopping is the additional cost and waiting time that Company’s takes to deliver the product. . The additional cost for delivering the product is also an important reason why people used to buy from their local outlets. A product can take up to weeks to deliver the product which make it the most frustrating factor for online shopping. The online shopping can be frustrating factor for those who don’t have patience and time to wait. So it becomes better for the buyer to buy the product from local shops instantly. The price on online store is usually low but delivery charges of the product make the charges similar or higher than local outlets. The main disadvantage of online shopping i s insecure shopping. Insecure shopping means the scams and frauds by gaining the personal and financial details of the buyers and utilize it in a bad way. If someone obtain your details regarding your personal and financial information, that can harm your personality (respect) and on other hand it can become a cause for the loss of the money. Online shopping is widely used for shopping but has ‘worries about sending their financial details’ such as credit cards (Horrigan, J. 2008). There are number of scam and fraud websites that offer very attracting offers but websites like this can loot you. So scam websites make online shopping a chaos for the user. It can be concluded that online shopping have advantages but have disadvantages as well. Online shopping provides us variation that means comparison shopping but on other hand online shopping companies charge extra for delivering. It saves times on shopping but takes time on delivering. It is available every time but have insecurity of being scammed and looted. But in last it can be easily concluded that if buyer have time for waiting they can use online shopping from registered and legal website which can decrease the fear of online shopping frauds. So, it can be easily concluded that online shopping can be a best method for shopping. REFERENCING Horrigan, J. (2008). Online shopping. Pew Internet & American Life Project Report, 36. Lee, G. G., & Lin, H. F. (2005). Customer perceptions of e-service quality in online shopping. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 33(2), 161-176. Lester, D. H., Forman, A. M., & Loyd, D. (2006). Internet shopping and buying behavior of college students. Services Marketing Quarterly, 27(2), 123-138. Park, Y. A., & Gretzel, U. (2010). Influence of consumers’ online decision-making style on comparison shopping proneness and perceived usefulness of comparison shopping tools. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 11(4), 342-354.

Discuss The Meaning Of The Poem Essays - Japanese Poetry, Literature

Discuss The Meaning Of The Poem Essays - Japanese Poetry, Literature Discuss The Meaning Of The Poem ^/^/ /^ ^/^ /^ /^/^ /^ ^/^/ /^ (Iambic dimeter usually expresses energetic position of author) This simple metrical pattern gives an illusion of simplicity of this poem. However, this simplicity isnt that simple as reader can think. The Red Wheelbarrow is the poem about life as a whole even though there is no people, action, and movement. All the reader has is somebody who observes surroundings without any conclusion. The meaninglessness of the content, in the first view, confuses readers and that stimulates them to think about possible meanings more deeply. Stressful words upon, barrow, water, chickens are archetypal so the special line stresses them out. The author doesnt use rhymes, instead, he create the poem not only for ears, but also for eyes. Impressionistic motives of the poem associate with certain time and art tendencies that give the glue to the meanings of the poem. The Red Wheelbarrow is clearly modern poem where poet experiments with rhymes, metrical patterns and meanings in order to get readers attention. Author points that there is not irrelevant details in th e world and in the life when such a trivial picture can influent philosophical thoughts. Absense of the capital letters proves this intention. Moreover, there is one more literary illusion: the genre of Japanese poetry, hokku, even though, the poetic form of The Red Wheelbarrow isnt authentic to the ancient genre. According to the definition of hokku or haiku in Britannica, the form was restricted in subject matter to an objective description of nature suggestive of one of the seasons, evoking a definite, though unstated, emotional response. Later its subject range was broadened, but it remained an art of expressing much and suggesting more in the fewest possible words, reader can confirm that author of the Red Wheelbarrow has the same goals as Japanese poets. As the poetic form suggests, reader has to build his own meaning of the poem to fulfill the images.

A critique on Doing Business in the Wired World

A critique on Doing Business in the Wired World A critique on "Doing Business in the Wired World"The article "Doing Business in the Wired World" depicts how a company can achieve business transactions and success through using the information-rich Internet. The article is well plotted by using examples of different companies to show the potential use of electronic commerce via the Internet. The article is empirical as the findings are based on experiences at large companies such as Cisco Systems, Amazon, Onsale, and BidnAsk, ect. The main findings are:1. Companies can obtain a lot of benefits doing business through electronic commerce. First, information is available and easily accessible. One typical example is Morgan Stanley's use of intranet. As it is stated, "nearly all of the company's 10,000 employees access its server on a weekly or daily basis". Information is disseminated and distributed at a largest possible scale in the company. It is surely much easier for employees to deal with daily work, to cooperate with other coll eagues, and to prepare their reports."moo business cards"It is even important for decision-makers to take action at a faster speed with better-prepared analyses and reports.2. Companies can save a lot of expenses using E-commerce. As companies now can receive orders through network, suppliers can send their orders directly and accurately in a shorter time. This is quite beneficial to companies since in the past time, companies used to adopt fax machines to receive and send message, which was quite slow and was even troublesome for businesses under some circumstances. That can be cost consuming and also a waste of paper. With networks easily available, companies can view information at any time. As the article states, "in the first 18 months of Web usage, over $1 million in annual savings". Any business who finds such a cost-effective method will accelerate...

Free Essays on Sexism In Advertising

Abstract: Sexism is as pervasive in American culture as consumption is. In a society that is media driven, what is the impact of the media’s gendered language, idealized bodies and sexual stereotypes brought forth in an effort to get one to purchase a product? If sexism is truly ingrained into advertisements, what impact does this steady barrage of degradation have on the viewer, the intended audience, and more importantly on the consumption patterns? The hypothesis that sexism in ads leads to greater attention to the ads, as well negative feelings from the objects of the ads holds true. This is likely because males are the center of the advertising community, and women are disenfranchised from being the intended receiver of advertising. Sexism, defined as â€Å"behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex†, is as pervasive in American culture as consumption is. In a society that is media driven, what is the impact of the media’s gendered language, idealized bodies and sexual stereotypes brought forth in an effort to get one to purchase a product? If sexism is truly ingrained into advertisements, what impact does this steady barrage of degradation have on the viewer, the intended audience, and more importantly on the consumption patterns? Sexism in advertising This is a culture driven by entertainment and media. The average child in the United States watches over 1095 hours of television a year (Hager, 1997), with over 360 hours of commercial programming included in that figure. In a study of the existing three television networks in 1987, there were over 65,000 sexual references broadcast that year during prime time afternoon and evening hours. This averaged 27 sexual messages per hour (Key, 1989). Of these ads, a large number will feature slogans such as â€Å"Kid tested, mother approved†, â€Å"Choosy moms choose Jif†, or â€Å"This is not your father’s Oldsmobile†. These gendered... Free Essays on Sexism In Advertising Free Essays on Sexism In Advertising Abstract: Sexism is as pervasive in American culture as consumption is. In a society that is media driven, what is the impact of the media’s gendered language, idealized bodies and sexual stereotypes brought forth in an effort to get one to purchase a product? If sexism is truly ingrained into advertisements, what impact does this steady barrage of degradation have on the viewer, the intended audience, and more importantly on the consumption patterns? The hypothesis that sexism in ads leads to greater attention to the ads, as well negative feelings from the objects of the ads holds true. This is likely because males are the center of the advertising community, and women are disenfranchised from being the intended receiver of advertising. Sexism, defined as â€Å"behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex†, is as pervasive in American culture as consumption is. In a society that is media driven, what is the impact of the media’s gendered language, idealized bodies and sexual stereotypes brought forth in an effort to get one to purchase a product? If sexism is truly ingrained into advertisements, what impact does this steady barrage of degradation have on the viewer, the intended audience, and more importantly on the consumption patterns? Sexism in advertising This is a culture driven by entertainment and media. The average child in the United States watches over 1095 hours of television a year (Hager, 1997), with over 360 hours of commercial programming included in that figure. In a study of the existing three television networks in 1987, there were over 65,000 sexual references broadcast that year during prime time afternoon and evening hours. This averaged 27 sexual messages per hour (Key, 1989). Of these ads, a large number will feature slogans such as â€Å"Kid tested, mother approved†, â€Å"Choosy moms choose Jif†, or â€Å"This is not your father’s Oldsmobile†. These gendered...

How has the evolution of the internet and ethics changed the practice Essay

How has the evolution of the internet and ethics changed the practice of marketing communication - Essay Example eception doctrine has been relatively easier to substantiate compared to unfairness, and this is specifically applicable for electronic media (Johnson & David, 1996; Who’s Watching the Web, www.aaf.org/relations/onlineprivacy.htm). The current study seeks to evaluate the evolution of the internet and ethical and their implications on the practice of marketing communication. It presents the factors which are perceived as unethical by internet consumers, and the significant predictors of consumers’ evaluations of fairness and ethicality. The following section presents the review of related literature. The components of the unfairness doctrine suggest that an organization is in discordance only when â€Å"injury† is sustained as an outcome of the marketing communication under contention. A critical issue has been borne out of the tangibility of the requirements to justify injury, and the intrinsic intangibility of the internet. Particularly, this has reinforced the ability to concretely link an organization’s marketing activities on the internet to a monetary or physical injury inflicted on the consumers. This challenge has caused the FTC to dedicate substantial attention and energy to drafting standards for internet marketing communications, in that claims to consumers must be adequately justified through research. However, the issue remains regarding how such a policy that is drafted in the present will be transferable to unfairness issues in the future (McGrath, 1999). The FTC has very distinguished and specific principles and guidelines with regards to determining when marketing communications have committed a violation of fairness. The original policy has been drafted on December 18, 1980, with the intention of precluding â€Å"unfair†¦acts or practices in or affecting commerce.† Drafting a list that stringently expressed that all that is considered â€Å"unfair† would be unproductive due to very dynamic and fast changing market conditions in each industry.

Chinese Valentine's Day Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinese Valentine's Day - Essay Example Zhinu and Niulang stay separated for 364 days of the year except on Chinese Valentine's Day when the Lady Queen Mother lets them be together. On this day she sends a flock of magpies to bridge the gap between the lovers and reunite them. Today in China it is said that you cannot find magpies on Valentines Day and if it rains on the evening of the seventh day of the seventh month people say it is the tears of Zhinu and Niulang. It was customary on Valentines Day for Chinese girls and women to display their sewing skills, make candles, and show blossoms in the hopes that Zhinu may see them and bless them with a good husband. The festival was also called the 'Begging for Needlecrafts Festival' and the 'Daughters' Festival.' "To celebrate the love story, Chinese people still have a tradition of sitting outdoors to observe the two stars on that day. Girls may prepare fruits, melons and incense as offerings to Zhinu, the weaving maiden, praying to acquire her high skills in needlecraft, as well as hoping to find satisfactory husbands." (China Peoples Daily. 2007). Today people are still very influenced by the Valentine Story.

Economic impacts of natural disasters on the United States Research Paper

Economic impacts of natural disasters on the United States - Research Paper Example Despite falling victims of such calamities for the last decades, efforts to perplex policy formulators have been evidenced. However, the policy makers are uncertain over what can be done to tackle the menace associated with the occurrence of the natural calamities (Yamamura, 2013). There has also been little guidance offered by academics, and this has greatly affected the bitty approaches employed in tackling the issue from a number of disciplines (Alexander). This paper seeks to analyze the economic impacts of natural disasters in the United States. From contemporary literature, the concept of natural disaster is used to refer to the geophysical events that are characterized by a substantial departure from the normal climatic conditions. For instance, the occurrence of a flood that signifies substantial departures from the mediocre rainfall level within a geographical region forms a typical natural calamity. In some instances, the occurrence of these calamities might be predictable and are known to follow some geographical and seasonal patterns as it happens for typhoons and hurricanes (Fang, 2012). Others show vast irregularity in their occurrence, as it takes the case of floods and earthquakes. It is trivial to distinguish between technological and natural hazards. Most technological hazards occur as a result of the activities of human beings. Other social hazards occur which too should be differentiated from natural calamities. Natural calamities have impacted the economy of the United States either positively or negatively for the many instances of their occurrence. In some cases, occurrence of natural disasters leads to infrastructural improvements and the adoption of better and improved technologies in the event of their occurrence. For instance, in a study discussing the earthquake that took place in Alaska in 1964, which provided for a chance of modernization and upgrade of the

Organizational Development in HRD (Case Study) Research Paper

Organizational Development in HRD (Case Study) - Research Paper Example Moreover, she also thinks that she was given an ultimatum by her boss when he coerced her to continue with the client as no one else was free to take up. Kindred faces major ethical dilemma. She was presented as an expert of CQI which she asserts misrepresent her competencies and which are not adequate to resolve the problems of the client. But with her first meeting, she had also earned the trust and confidence of the client and who had given positive feedback to her company’s President. She believes that the company needs someone with technical know-how which she lacks. They are dilemma because she is caught between the obligations to her company and ethics of OD which are founded on honesty and openness. She believes that she is not equipped with competencies despite her academic qualifications in the area and therefore rather than looking it as an opportunity, she thinks she is backed into making a decision that is ethically wrong. I would have continued with the current client and used it as a platform for widening my experience and exploiting my core competencies in OD to solve the problems of the firms. OD has wide scope and CQI is inherently linked to the organizational development processes (Cummings & Worley, 2009). Streamlining various interactive process are key elements of CQI which can be achieved through evolving practices of evaluation. OD underpins the principles of optimal performance through evolving organizational culture that relies on constant learning environment, strong teamwork, leadership initiatives etc. (Langley et al., 2009). The major thrust of the problem resolution is to find the root cause which is achieved through critical assessment of program and processes that are measured against the defined goals. CQI fundamentally relies on the organizational processes and mechanisms to face challenges of time with creative input, turning adversities into new opportunities of

The Revolutions of 1848 and those taking place in the Middle East in Essay

The Revolutions of 1848 and those taking place in the Middle East in 2011 - Essay Example The revolutions of 1848 were caused due to the widespread discontent with the ruling establishments in Europe. The same reasons caused unrest in the Middle East. However, the European revolutions were fueled by a starving peasantry and the working urban poor; whereas in the middle east today, in addition to complaints about poverty and unemployment, is a strong desire to end corruption in high places and accountability from their rulers. â€Å"If you're a minister, you are a civil servant, you are an employee of the government. With all due respect, my taxes pay for your salary." is the people’s message to their rulers. The revolutions in Europe aimed to overthrow monarchies, those in the middle east want to overthrow the rule of powerful dictators who are ignorant or insensitive to the aspirations of their subjects. It is a truism in political science that successful revolutions are born in the streets. This is true of both the uprisings in Europe as well as those we are see ing today in the Middle East. When people gathered in large numbers in the streets or protested before the symbols of power,they were put down by brute force by those at the helm.

The role of money in the macro economy Assignment

The role of money in the macro economy - Assignment Example Money supply in an economy is closely linked to economic growth of the nation, unemployment, inflation in economy and interest rates prevailing in the banking system of the country. ECB (2011, p. 63) states â€Å"The volume of broad money in the economy is the result of the interaction of the banking sector (including the central bank) with the money-holding sector, consisting of households, nonfinancial corporations, the general government other than central government, as well as non-monetary financial intermediaries.† Money supply determines liquidity in the economic system and credit growth. Credit growth depends upon the liquidity in the banking system, ability of the banking system to scale up their exposure in relation to demand, interest rates, internal rate of return expected on investments and the general economic condition. Therefore credit growth is considered an important indicator of economic development in a country. A country needs to overcome the imbalances in the current account through regulations for maintaining the exchange rate parity of its currency in the international markets for sustainable growth and development. The US subprime crisis and the European financial crisis have underlined the importance of financial services sector in macroeconomics. The globalization phenomenon necessitates revisiting of global monetary system with International Monetary Fund at the helm of affairs. Surveillance system of the International Monetary Fund should be able to detect the warning signals of impending economic crisis and support the countries in overcoming their economic imbalances. Money supply Keynesian expansionary policy envisages increasing supply of money and government spending for revival of economy and growth. Central banks control money supply using various tools. For example, the Federal Reserve can regulate money supply and manage liquidity through reserve requirements imposed on the banks. By increasing or decreasing the reserve ratios the Federal Reserve can regulate money supply. Also, the Federal Reserve buys and sells securities in open market with repurchase agreements for this purpose. When the economy is on growth mode, banks can borrow money through Federal Reserve’s discount window or avail facilities through autonomous factors that increase supply of money in the economy. The central bank of a country can use ‘Bank Rate’ as a tool to regulate money supply. The change in bank rates leads to changes in the short term and long term interest rates. The impact of the changes on financial and capital markets need to be carefully reviewed after taking into account several factors. For example, decrease in the interest rates will have impact on the pensioners’ income by way of interest on fixed income securities. The economic indicators such as Consumer Price Index related to inflation, Jobless Claims related to unemployment, GDP r elating to economic growth and industrial production statistics are useful in taking decisions by the monetary authorities. Increase in money supply increases aggregate demand which encourages entrepreneurs to establish production facilities for meeting the consumer demand. The additional employment generated in this process increases the consumption level and demand. The multiplier effect caused due to expansionary policies needs to be regulated to avoid

Organizational Development in HRD (Case Study) Research Paper

Organizational Development in HRD (Case Study) - Research Paper Example Moreover, she also thinks that she was given an ultimatum by her boss when he coerced her to continue with the client as no one else was free to take up. Kindred faces major ethical dilemma. She was presented as an expert of CQI which she asserts misrepresent her competencies and which are not adequate to resolve the problems of the client. But with her first meeting, she had also earned the trust and confidence of the client and who had given positive feedback to her company’s President. She believes that the company needs someone with technical know-how which she lacks. They are dilemma because she is caught between the obligations to her company and ethics of OD which are founded on honesty and openness. She believes that she is not equipped with competencies despite her academic qualifications in the area and therefore rather than looking it as an opportunity, she thinks she is backed into making a decision that is ethically wrong. I would have continued with the current client and used it as a platform for widening my experience and exploiting my core competencies in OD to solve the problems of the firms. OD has wide scope and CQI is inherently linked to the organizational development processes (Cummings & Worley, 2009). Streamlining various interactive process are key elements of CQI which can be achieved through evolving practices of evaluation. OD underpins the principles of optimal performance through evolving organizational culture that relies on constant learning environment, strong teamwork, leadership initiatives etc. (Langley et al., 2009). The major thrust of the problem resolution is to find the root cause which is achieved through critical assessment of program and processes that are measured against the defined goals. CQI fundamentally relies on the organizational processes and mechanisms to face challenges of time with creative input, turning adversities into new opportunities of

The role of money in the macro economy Assignment

The role of money in the macro economy - Assignment Example Money supply in an economy is closely linked to economic growth of the nation, unemployment, inflation in economy and interest rates prevailing in the banking system of the country. ECB (2011, p. 63) states â€Å"The volume of broad money in the economy is the result of the interaction of the banking sector (including the central bank) with the money-holding sector, consisting of households, nonfinancial corporations, the general government other than central government, as well as non-monetary financial intermediaries.† Money supply determines liquidity in the economic system and credit growth. Credit growth depends upon the liquidity in the banking system, ability of the banking system to scale up their exposure in relation to demand, interest rates, internal rate of return expected on investments and the general economic condition. Therefore credit growth is considered an important indicator of economic development in a country. A country needs to overcome the imbalances in the current account through regulations for maintaining the exchange rate parity of its currency in the international markets for sustainable growth and development. The US subprime crisis and the European financial crisis have underlined the importance of financial services sector in macroeconomics. The globalization phenomenon necessitates revisiting of global monetary system with International Monetary Fund at the helm of affairs. Surveillance system of the International Monetary Fund should be able to detect the warning signals of impending economic crisis and support the countries in overcoming their economic imbalances. Money supply Keynesian expansionary policy envisages increasing supply of money and government spending for revival of economy and growth. Central banks control money supply using various tools. For example, the Federal Reserve can regulate money supply and manage liquidity through reserve requirements imposed on the banks. By increasing or decreasing the reserve ratios the Federal Reserve can regulate money supply. Also, the Federal Reserve buys and sells securities in open market with repurchase agreements for this purpose. When the economy is on growth mode, banks can borrow money through Federal Reserve’s discount window or avail facilities through autonomous factors that increase supply of money in the economy. The central bank of a country can use ‘Bank Rate’ as a tool to regulate money supply. The change in bank rates leads to changes in the short term and long term interest rates. The impact of the changes on financial and capital markets need to be carefully reviewed after taking into account several factors. For example, decrease in the interest rates will have impact on the pensioners’ income by way of interest on fixed income securities. The economic indicators such as Consumer Price Index related to inflation, Jobless Claims related to unemployment, GDP r elating to economic growth and industrial production statistics are useful in taking decisions by the monetary authorities. Increase in money supply increases aggregate demand which encourages entrepreneurs to establish production facilities for meeting the consumer demand. The additional employment generated in this process increases the consumption level and demand. The multiplier effect caused due to expansionary policies needs to be regulated to avoid

In what ways have changes in technology led to changes Essay Example for Free

In what ways have changes in technology led to changes Essay The technological advances of today had greatly influenced the conceptualization up to implementation of software architectures. Miniaturization of hardware dependence, further enhancement of capabilities and features, faster processing time for the most accurate result(s), and the most considered by many as the most important of all, improvement of user-friendliness were only just an ample of the trends happening today for the software industry. Since these were the trends, software architects had to cope up with the peoples demand for better software interaction experience. The large computers that occupy a whole room but do the same capabilities of our personal computers nowadays were had long been obsolete. Computers had long been recognized by many as a nice help for human living. Man then realized that computers need to be portable in order that man could bring it wherever he goes and utilize it whenever he likes or whenever he needed. Hardware for computers is now made to be as compact as possible, (great example would be the hardware of mobile phones). This trend is then accompanied by the need for better algorithms and implementation codes. The task for creating such algorithms and codes had turned to be more complex as time goes. Software makers had then thought that it is better that this problem be distributed to a group of people so that it would be easier to solve. People they will select to handle the task should have the knowledge for the specific task he should do. And then after this creation of algorithm phase, the remaining problem would then be how the person to use would utilize the code without requiring him to know all the science behind it. Technology is fast changing. Computer and software improvements are a part of this changing technology. That is why the field of software architecture emerged. References: Software Architecture. Retrieved July 10, 2007 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Software_architecture.

Profile of Inflammatory and Infective Skin Diseases

Profile of Inflammatory and Infective Skin Diseases Contributors with their highest academic degree: GIRI VISHAL P*. , MD (PHARMACOLOGY) GIRI OM P. , MD (MEDICINE), PhD (MEDICINE) GUPTA SUDHIR K. , MD ( SKIN VD) SHUBHRA KANODIA , MDS (Std), (ORAL MEDICINE AND RADIOLOGY) Department(s) and institution(s) : â€Å"Clinico-Epidemiological Profile of Inflammatory and Infective Skin  Diseases in a Tertiary Care Centre of South India† ABSTRACT The present medical audit-study was undertaken to analyze clinical and epidemiological profile of inflammatory and infective skin diseases and to arrive at important facts about these diseases.1134 patients who attended the Dermatology of a   Medical and College Hospital were the subjects of this study . The findings were recorded in a proforma for analysis and interpretation .Etiological analysis revealed that majority ( 599 ; 52.82 % ) of dermatoses belonged to inflammatory group followed by infective group ( 535 ; 47.18 % ). Of the inflammatory group, allergic contact dermatitis ( 209 ;18.43 % ) was the most common entity followed by irritant contact dermatitis (180; 15.87 %) , seborrhroeic dermatitis( 120 ; 10.58 % ), atopic dermatitis ( 50; 4.41 % ), psoriasis ( 20; 1.76 % ) and pompholyx ( 20 ; 1.76 % ).Of the infective group, bacterial infection was the most common disease ( 349 ; 30.78% ) followed by scabies (122 ; 10.76 %) , fungal (57 ; 5.02 %) and viral infection( 3 ; 0. 26 % ).This study provides a preliminary baseline data for future clinical research. It might also help to assess the changing trends of inflammatory and infective skin diseases . Key Words: inflammatory skin diseases, infective skin diseases, changing trends in skin diseases. INTRODUCTION The pattern of skin disease is a consequence of poverty , malnutrition , overcrowding , poor hygiene , illiteracy and social backwardness in many parts of India . The examination for skin diseases is an important component of health care practice for all. Status of health , hygiene and personal cleaniness of a society can be judged from the prevalence of certain skin diseases in the community . The pattern of skin diseases vary from one country to another and within the same country from one state to another due to various climatic , cultural and socio-economic factors.[1,2] MATERIAL AND METHODS The relevant data available from medical case records of the Dermatology outpatient department of a Medical College and Hospital was collected by the investigator in person during period January 2011 to June 2012 . Name ,age ,gender , type and duration of disease were recorded in a proforma for analysis and interpretation of data . Total 1134 ( one thousand one hundred thirty four ) medical case records of inflammatory and infective skin diseases were collected and scrutinized for this observational ,perspective and medical audit- study. RESULTS Out of 1134 patients scrutinized , 220 ( 19.40 % ) patients were children up to five years of age and 149 ( 13.14 % ) children were 6 to 10 years of age . Most of adults 358 ( 31.57 % ) were aged 21 to 40 years and 146 ( 12.87 % ) adults belonged to 41 to 60 years age group . Females ( 581 ; 51.23 % ) slightly outnumbered males ( 553 ; 48.77 % ). [ Table 1-6] The majority ( 599 ; 52.82 % ) of patients belonged to inflammatory group followed by infective group ( 535 ; 47.18 % ). [Table1,2] Pattern of inflammatory skin diseases revealed allergic contact dermatitis to be the commonest ( 209 ; 18.43 % ) followed by irritant contact dermatitis (180 ; 15.87 % ) , seborrhoeic dermatitis ( 120 ; 10. 58 % ) , atopic dermatitis ( 50 ; 4.41 % ) , psoriasis ( 20; 1.76 % ) and pompholyx ( 20; 1.76 % ). [ Table 1 ] Among infective skin diseases , bacterial infection ( 349 ; 30.78 % ) was most common entity . Scabies was recorded in 122 ( 10.76 % ) patients . Fungal infection was recorded in 57 ( 5.03 % ) and viral infection 3 ( 0.26 % ) patients .[ Table 2 ] Seasonal variation pattern was observed in some diseases . Impetigo and dermatophytosis were recorded mainly in rainy and summer seasons. Scabies was recorded mainly in winter and rainy seasons . Atopic dermatitis and seborrhoeic dermatitis were documented more in winter season . DISCUSSION Pattern of inflammatory and infective skin diseases has varied in different studies. In this study , majority ( 599; 52.82 % ) of skin diseases belonged to inflammatory group followed by infective group ( 535 ; 47.18 % ) . A similar pattern of dermatoses has also been reported in several other studies .[3-8] However, in other studies infective group has been the predominant dermatoses.[9-22] Of the inflammatory dermatoses , allergic contact dermatitis was the commonest ( 209; 18.43 % ) out of all 1134 patients followed by irritant contact dermatitis( 180; 15.87 % ), seborrhoeic dermatitis ( 120 ; 10.58 % ), atopic dermatitis ( 50; 4.41 % ), psoriasis ( 20 ; 1.76 % ) and pompholyx (20; 1.76 % ). In chidren aged up to five years atopic dermatitis was the commonest ( 8 ; 0.71 % ) followed by seborrhoeic dermatitis ( 7 ;0.62 % ) , irritant contact dermatitis ( 6;0.53 % ) and pompholyx ( 2 : 0.18 % ). Similar finding has been observed in other studies . [2,5,6] Of the infective dermatoses, bacterial infections (349; 30.78 %) were the most common followed by fungal ( 57; 5.03 % ) and viral infections ( 3; 0.26 % ). Similar pattern has been observed in some other studies as well .[2,5] Studies have reported fungal infection to be more common.[13,14,22] Viral infections out-numbered bacterial and fungal infections in few studies .[7,8] Impetigo was the commonest ( 158 ; 13.93 % ) bacterial infection followed by secondary pyoderma ( 133; 11.73 % ), folliculitis ( 25 ; 2.20 % ), furunculosis ( 20; 1.76 % ) and acute paronychia ( 13; 1.15 % ). Scabies was the most common infestation seen in 122 ( 10. 76 % ) patients in the present study . CONCLUSION Majority of dermatoses belonged to inflammatory group followed by infective group , though the difference is narrow (64 ; 5.64 % ).Of the infective group bacterial infection was the most common disease followed by scabies , fungal and viral infection. This study points towards changing trends in dermatoses . This study provides preliminary baseline data for the future epidemiological and clinical research . It might also help to assess the changing trends of dermatoses. REFERENCES 1. William H.C. â€Å"Epidemiology of skin diseases† in : Burns T, Breathnach.S COXN Griffiths editors, Rook’s Textbook of Dermatology, 7th ed. Oxford : Blackwell science ; 2004 ; 81 : 06-21. 2. Balal M , Khare AK , Gupta LK , Mittal A , Kuldeep CM. Pattern of paediatric dermatosis in a tertiary care centre of South West Rajasthan . Indian J Dermatol 2012 ; 57 : 275 -8 . 3. Das DA, Haldar HS, Das DJ, Mazumdar MG, Biswas BS, Sarkar SJ. Dermatological disease pattern in an urban institution in Kolkata. Ind J Dermatol 2005;50:22-3. 4. Symvoulakis EK, Krasagakis K, Komninos ID, Kastrinakis I, Lyronis I, Philalithis A, et al. Primary care and pattern of skin diseases in a Mediterranean island. BMC Fam Pract 2006;7:6. 5. Gul U ,Cakmak SK, Gonul M, Kilic A , Bilgili S . Pediatric skin disorders encountered in a dermatology outpatient clinic in Turkey .Pediatr Dermatol 2008 ; 25 :277-78 . 6. Nanda A, Hasawi FA, Alsaleh QA. A prospective survey of pediatric dermatology clinic in Kuwait: An analysis of 10,000 cases.Pediatr Dermatol 1999 ; 16: 5-11. 7.Wenk C, ltin PH . Epidemiology of pediatric dermatology and allergology in the region of Aargau, Switzerland. Pediatr Dermatol 2003 ; 20: 109-12 . 8. Hon KL, Leung TF ,Wong T, Ma KC, Fok TF . Skin diseases in chinese children at a pediatric dermatology centre. Pediatr Dermatol 2004 ;21: 109-12 . 9. Nnoruka EN. Skin diseases in south-east Nigeria: A current perspective. Int J Dermatol 2005;44:29-33. 10. Tomb RR, Nassar JS. Profile of skin diseases observed in a department of dermatology (1995-2000). J Med Liban 2000;48:302-9 11 . Das KK. Pattern of dermatological diseases in Gauhati medical college and hospital Guahati. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 20011;77:603-4. 12. Agarwal S, Sharma P, Gupta S, Ojha A. Pattern of skin diseases in Kumaun region of Uttarakhand. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2011;77:603-4. 13 . Das S, Chatterjee T. Pattern of skin diseases in a peripheral hospitals skin OPD: A study of 2550 patients. Ind J Dermatol 2007;52:93-5.10 14. Sanjiv Grover, Rakesh K. Ranyal and Mehar K Bedi; â€Å"A cross section of skin diseases in rural Allahabad† , Indian J.Dermatol. 2008 ; 53 (4): 179-81. 15 . Kar C, Das S, Roy AK. Pattern of skin diseases in a tertiary institution in Kolkata. Indian J Dermatol 2014;59:209 16. Ghosh SK, Dey SK, Saha I, Barbhuiya JN, Ghosh A, Roy AK. Pityriasis versicolor: a clinicomycological and epidemiological study from a tertiary care hospital. Indian J Dermatol. 2008;53(4):182-5. 17. Bhalla.K.K, â€Å"Pattern of skin diseases in a semi-urban community of Delhi†, Indian J.dermatol.venereol.leprol. 1984; 50: 213-4. 18. Gangadharan C , Joseph A , Sarojini A. Pattern of skin diseases in Kearla . Indian J Dermatol Venerol Leprol 1976; 42 : 49 -51 . 19 . Kuruvilla M, Dubey S, Gahalaut P., â€Å"Pattern of skin diseases among migrant construction workers in Mangalore†, Indian J.Dermatol.venereol.leprol. 2006; 72: 129-32. 20. Kuruvilla M, Sridhar KS, Kumar P, Rao G. Pattern of skin diseases in Bantwal Taluq, Dakshina Kannada. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2000;66:247-8.11 21 . Dayal SG, Gupta G.P, â€Å"A cross section of skin diseases in Bundelkhand region UP.†, Indian J.Dermatol.venereol.leprol, 1977; 43: 258-61. 22. Devi T, Zamzachin G, â€Å"Pattern of skin diseases in Imphal†.Indian J.Dermatology, 2006; 51: 149-50. Table 1 : Pattern of skin inflammation in both sexes Diseases Male Female Total No. % No. % No. % Allergic contact dermatitis 105 9.26 104 9.17 209 18.43 Irritant contact dermatitis 81 7.14 99 8.73 180 15.87 Seborrhoeic dermatitis 71 6.26 49 4.32 120 10.58 Atopic dermatitis 19 1.68 31 2.73 50 4.41 Psoriasis 11 0.97 9 0.79 20 1.76 Pompholyx 8 0.70 12 1.06 20 1.76 Total 295 26.01 304 26.81 599 52.82 Table 2 : Pattern of skin infection in both sexes Diseases Male Female Total No. % No. % No. % Impetigo 72 6.35 86 7.58 158 13.93 Secondary pyoderma 72 6.35 61 5.38 133 11.73 Folliculitis 10 0.88 15 1.32 25 2.20 Furunculosis 8 0.70 12 1.06 20 1.76 Acute paronychia 5 0.44 8 0.70 13 1.15 Scabies 56 4.94 66 5.82 122 10.76 Pediculosis 2 0.18 2 0.18 4 0 .35 Dermatophytosis 22 1.94 15 1.32 37 3.26 Pitiriasis versicolor 11 0.97 9 0.79 20 1.76 Molluscum contagiosum 0 0 3 0.26 3 0.26 Total 258 22.75 277 24.43 535 47.18 Table 3 : Pattern of skin inflammation in different age groups (years) Diseases up to 5 6-10 11-20 No. % No. % No. % Allergic contact dermatitis 0 0 4 0.35 33 2.91 Irritant contact dermatitis 6 0.53 7 0.62 27 2.38 Seborrhoeic dermatitis 7 0.62 14 1.23 29 2.56 Atopic dermatitis 8 0.71 5 0.44 4 0.35 Psoriasis 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pompholyx 2 0.18 5 0.44 3 0.26 Total 23 2.03 35 3.09 96 8.47 Table 4 : Pattern of skin inflammation in different age groups ( years ) Diseases 21-40 41-60 61-100 No. % No. % No. % Allergic contact dermatitis 80 7.05 47 4.14 45 3.97 Irritant contact dermatitis 104 9.17 30 2.65 6 0.53 Seborrhoeic Dermatitis 40 3.53 20 1.76 10 0.88 Atopic dermatitis 20 1.76 3 0.26 10 0.09 Psoriasis 13 1.15 3 0.26 4 0.35 Pompholyx 10 0.88 0 0 0 0 Total 267 23.54 103 9.08 75 6.61 Table 5 : Pattern of skin infection in different age groups ( years ) Diseases up to 5 6-10 11-20 No. % No. % No. % Impetigo 96 8.47 37 3.26 15 1.32 Secondary pyoderma 59 5.20 35 3.09 23 2.02 Folliculitis 1 0.09 1 0.09 3 0.26 Furunculosis 1 0.09 1 0.09 4 0.35 Acute paronychia 0 0 1 0.09 1 0.09 Scabies 37 3.26 34 3.00 23 2.03 Pediculosis 0 0 0 0 3 0.26 Dermatophytosis 1 0.09 4 0.35 4 0.35 Pitiriasis versicolor 0 0 0 0 0 0 Molluscum contagiosum 2 0.18 1 0.09 0 0 Total 197 17.37 114 10.05 76 6.70 Table 6 : Pattern of skin infection in different age groups (years) Diseases 21- 40 41- 60 61- 100 No. % No. % No. % Impetigo 7 0.62 3 0.26 0 0 Secondary pyoderma 8 0.70 4 0.35 4 0.35 Folliculitis 15 1.32 4 0.35 1 0.09 Furunculosis 10 0.88 3 0.26 1 0.09 Acute paronychia 4 0.35 6 0.53 1 0.09 Scabies 20 1.76 4 0.35 4 0.35 Pediculosis 0 0 0 0 2 0.18 Dermatophytosis 17 1.50 10 0.88 2 0.18 Pitiriasis versicolor 10 0.88 9 0.79 1 0.09 Molluscum contagiosum 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 91 8.02 43 3.80 16 1.41 1

Snap on Tools Intranet Case Study :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Case Study Snap on Tools Intranet Snap-On is one of many companies that have embraced the Internet as a tool for management. Snap-On runs its own intranet for the exclusive use of Snap-On franchises and dealers. (Senn, 1998) Snap-On’s intranet provides reams of valuable information that would be inconvenient to deliver any other way. The speed of change in today’s market has forced printed material into partial obsolescence. Before Snap-On developed its own intranet, merchandise catalogs and part listings would have to be in printed, bound matter. Anyone who has been to an auto parts store can vouch that each of those catalogs is huge, to say the least. A franchisee would have to carry several catalogs in his vehicle for reference purposes. These catalogs occupied space in the truck that could have been used for inventory, and searching through them would eat into valuable time. Additionally, Snap-On would have to reissue the catalogs or send appendices when there was a change in any of the information. With an intranet, Snap-On merely changes the information on their websites, and the new information is there when the franchisees access it. This means no more expensive mailing of h eavy catalogs and no more wasted time spent flipping through the pages of a book, trying to find the entry he wants, only to find out after fifteen agonizing minutes that the page he needs has been ripped out. (Senn, 1998) Were I a Snap-On franchisee, I would be enthused about the use of a company intranet for the delivery of sales- and product-related information. Timely information is vital to survival in business today. Snap-On’s intranet allows for speedy updates of information. This means I would not have to wait the six to eight weeks for an updated merchandise list, nor would I have to pay exorbitant sums to get the package express-mailed to me. All my questions could be answered almost immediately via research on the different pages, or through email. (Senn, 1998) Snap-On was motivated by the many benefits of the Internet to use the intranet as a tool in developing a communications link to each dealer. Franchisees in far-flung places could easily be contacted and organized. Orders and inventories can be monitored from one location, decreasing the number of personnel and middle management. This flatter organizational structure provides for clearer communication between the field and office personnel.

Apple Computer Case Analysis :: Apple Computers History Computer Essays

Apple Computer Case Analysis History Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple on April 1, 1976 in Santa Clara Valley, California. The two built the Apple I out of a garage and sold it. The first Apple I computer did not include a monitor, keyboard, or casing. Due to the high demand for the Apple I, Jobs realized that there was a market for small computers. He also realized that he could market the company's name and the computer's user-friendly look. In 1977 Wozniak added a keyboard, color monitor, and eight peripheral device slots. Apple sales increased from $7.8 million in 1978 to $117 million by 1980, which was the year that Apple went public. Wozniak left the Apple in 1983 and Jobs hired PepsiCo's John Sculley as president. In 1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh and bounced back from failed product introductions. Jobs left Apple in 1985 and founded NeXT Software, which is a designer of applications for software development. Microsoft founder Bill Gates' appealed for Apple to license its products and make the Microsoft platform an industry standard, but Sculley ignored his offer. In 1986 Apple introduced its Mac Plus and LaserWriter printers. Shortly after, Apple formed the software company that later became Claris. By the 1980s Microsoft brought new competition with the Windows operating system (OS) which was similar to Apple’s graphical interface. Apple sued Microsoft but lost its claim due to the 1992 copyright protection. In 1993 Apple introduced the Newton handheld computer, but sale did not show much promise. Since earnings were decreasing, Apple had to downsize its workforce. Sculley was among the employees who left the company. By 1994 Apple started licensing clones of its OS, hoping to attract software developers. In 1996 Apple realized Mac clones were stealing sales and hired Gilbert Amelio as CEO, formerly from National Semiconductor. In 1997 Apple purchased NeXT, but sales continued to decline. The company was forced again to downsize, cutting about 30% of its workforce. Many projects were canceled and research costs were cut, due to the downsizing of the company. Jobs and Amelio returned to Apple to work on a temporary basis. An alliance with Microsoft was formed, which was a Mac version of the Microsoft office software. Apple discontinued the cloning license from Power Computing to protect the company’s market share. In 1998 Apple introduced the Mac OS X, which is the company’s first server software. The company also enhanced the iMacs with a colorful product line.

Meat Eaters vs Vegetarians

Universidad del Sagrado Corazon San Juan, Puerto Rico Argumentative Essay Vicente R. Rivera Velez Jean G. Piwinski English-114 Section 6 Professor Milagros A. Rodriguez November 10, 2011 Meat eaters vs. Vegetarians If you have to choose between meat eaters and vegetarians, which side would you select? Personally we understand that vegetarian’s people eat healthier than the meat eaters but even doe, we consider our self meat eaters. Meat eaters and vegetarians are extremely different in terms of flavor and health. We are meat eaters because of its taste and flavors.Meats have more flavors than vegetables; this is because meats contains juices and are cook with different spices that have strong flavors. Some of these flavors are parsley, basil, garlic, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce etc. We are not telling that vegetarians don’t eat flavored food but the reality is that meat has lots of more flavors. In terms of taste, it depends on each people for example; vegetarian s will say that their food taste better and the same with the meat eaters. But we look for information from the experts and Dr.Robert Madda in his internet page title â€Å"Meat & Vegetables on the HCG Diet† certifies that our statement it’s true, meat has more flavors and taste better. The vegetarians eat healthier because of meat having saturated fat and high cholesterol. Meat eaters have more risk of having diseases and health problems such as heart attack or stroke from the vegetarians. Some studies show that vegetarians have less opportunities of having cancer. Meat can stay in your body up to 7 years and vegetable can be easy eliminated from the body. Some vegetarians are vegetarians because they are animal activist.Animal activist are those people that have compassion and want to end the mistreating and the cruelty of the animals. Some meats are not healthy because some suppliers inject chemicals and preservative so it could last longer. Vegetarians also have so me health risk because chicken and fish have many different bacteria. Some studies tell that they have more bacteria than a toilet. Salmonella is a popular bacterium that you can find in chicken and fish. Salmonella is a bacterium that attacks intestine and blood stream. Some examples of its effects are diarrhea, fever and give you intense pain.Salmonella is not a deadly disease but you will feel like if you where going to die due to the huge pain. When it comes to food there is going to be always some problem because a bacterium, cholesterol, fats etc. As known meat eaters and vegetarians have typical foods. Meat eaters like every type of meat here are some example of different types of meats; steaks, cheeseburger, t-bone, fried steak, ham, pork, bacon, ribs, prime rib, lamb, veal etc. Meat eater usually like to have nest to the meat as a side order mash potatoes, baked potatoes, rice and beans, pasta and some times vegetables and salad.Our favorite plate would be a nice steak with baked potatoes, specifically a filet mignon there is nothing better. Vegetarian people also eat great food for example; they eat fish like red snapper, maji maji, grouper, tilapia, salmon etc. Also they eat chicken, salads and vegetables; for the vegetarian people a familiar plate that they eat is baked chicken with caesar salad. This vegetarian diet is very strict a difficult to follow. Recently vegetarian population is growing, a few years ago only 3. 2% of the population was on the vegetarian diet. Today according to vegetariantimes. om 10% of the American populations are vegetarian. But a study show that 5. 2 % of the population are interested in the vegetarian diet. A 59% of the vegetarian populations are woman and the average age of vegetarian people is 30. In the other side meat eaters are better known as carnivore. Carnivore is the same as meat eaters and this term is also used in animals. For example we can say that the lion is a carnivore animal. This means that when you are carnivore you depend mainly of the meat diet. Meat eaters also have can find diseases in the food. High blood pressure, diabetes, obesity etc. re some examples of diseases. We as carnivores recommend to all the others meat eaters that these diseases are not a joke and they should do go to the doctor at least twice in a year. But a the same time eating meat give you high quality proteins an it also require all the amino acid that your body needs. Meat contains high iron compare to plant and vegetable. It’s recommended to eat meat but in moderated quantities, also you should avoid eating bacon and salami because they are very high in fats. In conclusion meat eaters and vegetarians are extremely different.We can say that they taste different and have different flavor. The meat is the tastiest but the vegetarians are healthier. We are meat eaters because our island is full with flavors and we love to eat great food with great flavor. As meat eaters we respect the entire veget arian community and we understand the reason of being one. At the same time we think that everyone needs to have at least a minor portion of meat because all the proteins and the iron that you will not find in a vegetarian plate. For us there is nothing like a huge plate of meat after work or after doing sport to recharge all the batteries.References Benefits Of Eating Meat. (n. d. ). Sikh Philosophy Network. Retrieved November 6, 2011, from http://www. sikhphilosophy. net/sikh-youth/14321-benefits-of-eating-meat. html Meat Eaters Vs. Vegetarians | Healthmad. (n. d. ). Healthmad. Retrieved November 6, 2011, from http://healthmad. com/health/meat-eaters-vs-vegetarians/ Smith, B. (n. d. ). What Is Salmonella And What Are Its Effects? | InjuryBoard Atlanta. Injury Board Atlanta | Georgia Personal Injury Attorney. Retrieved November 6, 2011, from http://atlanta. injuryboard. om/defective-and-dangerous-products/what-is-salmonella-and-what-are-its-effects. aspx? googleid=212314 What is th e Difference Between Meat Eaters VS Vegetarians? | Health Related Articles. (n. d. ). Health Related Articles | Everything you want to know about your Health. Retrieved November 6, 2011, from http://www. healthforworld. com/what-is-the-difference-between-meat-eaters-vs-vegetarians life. , t. w. (n. d. ). Vegetarian vs Meat eaters Vegetarianism In America . Vegetarian Times – Great Food, Good Health, Smart Living. Retrieved November 6, 2011, from http://www. vegetariantimes. com/features

You Suck: A Love Story Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen Nobody Likes a Dead Whore Finding her boyfriend tied naked to an upright bed frame, covered in blood, with a dead, blue dominatrix at his feet would be enough to rattle some women's confidence in the stability of their relationship. Some women might even take it as a sign of trouble. But Jody had been single for a number of years – she'd dated rock musicians and stockbrokers – and was conditioned to unusual bumps on the road of romance, so she simply sighed and kicked the hooker in the ribs – more as a conversation opener than a confirmation that the ho was dead – and said, â€Å"So, rough night?† â€Å"Awk-ward,† Abby sang, peeking in the door, then immediately swinging back into the hallway. â€Å"I forgot my safety word,† Tommy said. Jody nodded. â€Å"Well, that had to be embarrassing.† â€Å"She beat me.† â€Å"You okay?† â€Å"Yeah. But it hurt. A lot.† Tommy looked past Jody toward the door. â€Å"Hi, Abby!† Abby swung around the corner. â€Å"Lord Flood,† she said, with a nod and a little grin. Then she looked down at the body, her eyes went wide, and she swung back out into the hall. â€Å"How're your sister's lice?† Tommy said. â€Å"Shampoo didn't work.† Abby called, without looking in. â€Å"We had to shave her head.† â€Å"Sorry about that.† â€Å"It's okay. She looks kind of cool, in a ‘Make a Wish kid' kind of way.† Jody said. â€Å"Abby, why don't you come in and shut the door? If someone walks by and looks in, it might, oh, I don't know, freak them out a little.† † ‘Kay,† said Abby. She stepped in and palmed the door shut behind her, as if the clicking of the door latch might actually be the thing that would attract attention. â€Å"I think I killed her,† Tommy said. â€Å"She was beating me, and she wanted me to bite her, so I did. I think I drained her dry.† â€Å"Well, she's dead all right.† Jody reached down and tossed the blue hooker's arm up. It fell back to the floor. â€Å"But you didn't drain her.† â€Å"I didn't?† â€Å"She'd be dust if you did. Heart attack or stroke or something. Looks like most of her blood went on you and the carpet.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"Yeah, I sort of tore her throat out and she fell before I could finish.† â€Å"Well, what did she expect? You were tied up.† â€Å"You don't seem that bothered by it. I thought you'd be jealous.† â€Å"Did you ask her to bring you here and beat you until you snapped and killed her?† â€Å"Nope.† â€Å"Did you encourage her to beat you until you snapped and killed her?† â€Å"Of course not.† â€Å"And you didn't get off on her beating you until you snapped and killed her.† â€Å"Honestly?† â€Å"You're naked and chained to a bed frame, and I'm just inches away from both a riding crop and your genitals. I think honesty would be a good policy.† â€Å"Well, honestly, the killing part was kind of a turn-on.† â€Å"But not sexual.† â€Å"No way. It was totally homicidal lust.† â€Å"Then we're okay.† â€Å"Really, you're not mad?† â€Å"I'm just glad you're okay.† â€Å"I should feel bad about it, I know, but I don't.† â€Å"That happens.† â€Å"Some bitches just need killing,† Abby said, looking briefly at Tommy, then realizing he was naked under all that blood, looking away quickly. â€Å"There you go,† Jody said. She stepped up and began to undo his restraints. They were double bands of fleece and nylon, with heavy metal shackles locked over them. â€Å"What did she buy these for, to handcuff a grizzly bear? Abby, check the body for a key.† â€Å"Nuh-uh,† Abby said, staring down at the dead blue hooker. Jody noticed that the kid was focused on the breasts, which were defying gravity, and apparently death itself, by standing there at complete attention. â€Å"Those aren't real,† Jody said. â€Å"I knew that.† â€Å"She was a very mean woman,† Tommy said, trying to help. â€Å"With really big but insincere boobs. Don't be afraid.† Abby tore her gaze from the dead woman's chest and looked from Tommy, to Jody, to Jody's chest, and back to the body. â€Å"Fucksocks! Does everybody have big boobs but me? God, I hate you guys!† She ran out the door and slammed it behind her. â€Å"I do not have big boobs,† Jody said. â€Å"Perfectly proportioned,† Tommy said. â€Å"Perfect, really.† â€Å"Thanks, sweetie,† Jody said, kissing him on the lips lightly so as not to get a taste of the whore's blood. â€Å"I think I saw her hang the key in Lash's Forty-Fucking-Niners hat rack by the door.† â€Å"I really need to teach you how to go to mist,† Jody said, retrieving the key. â€Å"Yeah, that would have helped me avoid a lot of this.† â€Å"You know the Animals sold you out, right?† â€Å"I can't see them doing that. She must have blackmailed them or something.† â€Å"Clint told the cops, too. Rivera and Cavuto had our loft staked out.† â€Å"Clint doesn't really count, though. He traded in all his moral credibility in this world when he committed to live forever.† â€Å"Amazing how badly the promise of immortality makes people behave.† â€Å"Like it doesn't matter how you treat people,† Tommy said. â€Å"There!† Jody finally got the shackle on Tommy's right wrist unlocked and started working on the left. They were heavy, but she thought that given the motivation of torture, she could have broken loose, or at least torn apart the bed frame. â€Å"You couldn't just snap these?† â€Å"I guess I need to work out.† He scratched his nose furiously. â€Å"So, should we hide the body or something?† â€Å"No, I think it's a good warning for your buddies.† â€Å"Right.† â€Å"What about the cops?† â€Å"Not our problem,† she said as she twisted the key in the lock and snapped the restraint off his left wrist. â€Å"We don't have a dead blue hooker in our apartment.† â€Å"That's an excellent point,† Tommy said, rubbing his wrist. â€Å"Thank you for rescuing me, by the way. I love you.† He grabbed her and pulled her to him, nearly tumbling over on his face when she stepped back and he encountered the resistance of his ankle restraints. â€Å"I love you, too,† she said, palming his forehead and pushing him back on balance, â€Å"but you are covered with skank oil and you will not get it on my new leather jacket.† In the cab, Abby pouted – sticking out her lower lip far enough that pink was showing above her black lipstick, making her look vaguely like a cat eating a plum. â€Å"Just drop me at my house.† Tommy, who sat in the middle, wearing one of Lash's Forty-Niners jerseys, put his arm around Abby's shoulders to comfort her. â€Å"It's okay, kid. You did great. We are most pleased with you.† Abby snorted and looked out the window. Jody, in turn, put her arm around Tommy's neck and dug her nails into his shoulder. â€Å"Shut up,† she whispered, so soft that only Tommy would be able to hear it. â€Å"You're not helping.† â€Å"Look, Abby,† Jody said, â€Å"it's not something that happens all at once, like in the movies. Sometimes you have to eat bugs for years before you become one of the chosen.† â€Å"I know I did,† Tommy said. â€Å"Beetles, bugs, spiders, mice, rats, snakes, marmosets, OUCH! Stop that, I've been tortured already tonight.† â€Å"You two are just into each other,† Abby said. â€Å"You don't care about anyone else. We're like cattle to you.† The cabdriver, who was a Hindu, looked in the rear-view mirror. â€Å"So what's your point?† Jody said. Tommy elbowed her in the ribs. â€Å"Kidding. Jeez. Abby, we care very deeply about you. We've trusted you with everything. In fact, you may have saved my life tonight.† Tommy reared back and looked at Jody. â€Å"Long story,† the redhead said. Then to Abby again: â€Å"Get some rest and come to the loft tomorrow at dusk. We'll talk about your future.† Abby crossed her arms. â€Å"Tomorrow is Christmas. I'm trapped with the family.† â€Å"Tomorrow is Christmas?† Tommy said. â€Å"Yeah,† Jody said. â€Å"So?† â€Å"The Animals won't be working. I have some issues with them.† â€Å"You were thinking revenge?† â€Å"Well, yeah.† Jody patted the flight bag on the seat, which held all of the money that the Animals had paid to Blue, almost six hundred thousand dollars. â€Å"I think you have that covered.† Tommy frowned. â€Å"I'm beginning to doubt the steadiness of your moral compass.† â€Å"Sure, I'm the one with skewed ethics, when you spent the whole night tied up and beaten by a blue dominatrix and then ripping her throat out.† â€Å"You make everything sound so sleazy.† Abby put her fingers in her mouth and whistled – shrill and nearly deafening in the enclosed space. â€Å"Hello, there's a cabdriver here. Would you two shut the fuck up.† â€Å"Hey,† Jody said. â€Å"Hey,† Tommy said. â€Å"Hey, you, little creepy girl,† said the cabdriver, â€Å"you will not be whistling in my cab again or I will be putting you out on the curb.† â€Å"Sorry,† Abby said. â€Å"Sorry,† Tommy and Jody said in unison. With the exception of the odd serial killer, and car salesmen who think of them as the perfect unit for measuring trunk space, nobody likes a dead whore. (â€Å"Yeah, you can get five-maybe six dead hookers in this baby.†) â€Å"She looks so natural,† said Troy Lee, looking down on Blue. â€Å"Except for the way her arm is bent under her – and the riding crop – and the blood everywhere, I mean.† â€Å"And she's blue,† said Lash. The other Animals nodded mournfully. It was turning out to be a stressful morning for the Animals: cleaning up the mess that Jody had made of the store, getting Drew to the emergency room to get his forehead sewn up where the wine bottle had hit him (they immediately passed around the painkillers he was prescribed, which help to take the edge off), then explaining the broken front window to the manager when he came in, and now this – â€Å"You're the one with almost an MBA,† Barry, the short balding one, said to Lash. â€Å"You should know what to do.† â€Å"They don't cover what to do with a dead hooker,† Lash countered. â€Å"That's a whole different program. Political science, I think.† Despite the dulling they'd given themselves with the painkillers and a case of beer they'd shared in the parking lot at the Safeway, they were all feeling sad, and a little frightened. â€Å"Gustavo is the porter,† Clint said. â€Å"Shouldn't he do the cleanups?† â€Å"Ahhhhh!† said Jeff, the tall ex-jock, as he thumped Clint on the head with a protruding knuckle. Feeling like the knuckle might not quite be enough, he snatched off Clint's horn-rimmed glasses and threw them to Troy Lee, who snapped them into four neat pieces and handed them back to Clint. â€Å"This is all your fault,† Lash said. â€Å"If you hadn't ratted Flood out to the cops, this wouldn't have happened.† â€Å"I just told them that Tommy was a vampire,† Clint whined. â€Å"I didn't tell them he was here. I didn't tell them about your whore of Babylon.† â€Å"You didn't know her like we did,† Barry added, his voice breaking a little. â€Å"She was special.† â€Å"Expensive,† Drew said. â€Å"S, expensive,† added Gustavo. â€Å"She probably could finally afford to go to Babylon,† said Lash. â€Å"Forgive them, for they know not what they do,† Clint said. Troy Lee bent and examined Blue, careful not to touch her. â€Å"It's hard to see bruising through the blue dye, but I guess she broke her neck. The blood must be Flood's. I don't see any marks on her.† â€Å"No bite marks, you mean,† said Clint. â€Å"Of course that's what I mean, nit wit. You know Flood's girlfriend did this, right?† â€Å"How do you know?† Lash asked. â€Å"It could have been Flood.† â€Å"I don't think so,† said Troy Lee. â€Å"Tommy was tied up here – see the orange crap all over the restraints. And these were unlocked, not broken.† â€Å"Maybe when Blue let him go he killed her.† Troy Lee picked something off of Blue's face, as delicately as if he were taking her ghost. â€Å"Except for this.† He held a long red hair up where Lash could see it. â€Å"No reason for her to be here, if Flood was loose.† â€Å"Dude, you're like one of those CSI guys,† Drew said. â€Å"We should call those two homicide cops,† Barry said, like he was the first who might have thought of it. â€Å"And tell them to come help us with our dead hooker,† Lash said. â€Å"Well they know about the vampires,† Barry said. â€Å"Maybe they'll help us.† â€Å"How 'bout we move her to your apartment, and then call them?† â€Å"Well, what are we going to do with her?† Barry said, standing feet apart, hands behind his back, a brave Hobbit ready to face a dragon. Troy Lee shrugged. â€Å"Wait until dark, then drop her in the Bay?† â€Å"I can't bear to touch her,† Barry said. â€Å"Not after the moments we shared.† â€Å"You little puntas,† Gustavo said, stepping up and beginning to roll up the bloodstained rug. He had a wife and five children, and although he had never disposed of a dead hooker before, he thought that it couldn't be any worse than changing the diaper on a gloopy infant. The other Animals all looked at one another, embarrassed, until Gustavo growled at them and they jumped to move the heavy bed frame out of his way. â€Å"I never really liked her that much, anyway,† Barry said. â€Å"She really did take advantage of us,† Jeff said. â€Å"I just went along with you guys so I didn't ruin the party,† said Troy Lee. â€Å"I didn't enjoy even half of those blow jobs.† â€Å"Let's just put her in my closet until tonight, then a couple of us can sneak the bitch out to Hunter's Point and drop her off.† â€Å"On Christmas?† Drew asked. â€Å"Can't believe she took all our money and now she's going to ruin Christmas,† said Troy Lee. â€Å"Our money!† said Lash. â€Å"That bitch!† Nobody likes a dead whore. â€Å"I do like a dead whore now and then,† said the vampire Elijah Ben Sapir, derailing a perfectly good theme. He'd snapped the whore's neck right before she was completely drained so there would be a body. â€Å"But one doesn't want to be too obvious.† He dragged the whore's body behind a Dumpster, and watched as the wounds on her neck healed over. He'd taken her in an alley near Tenth and Mission streets. He'd had the hood up on the oversized tracksuit he was wearing, so she'd been surprised when they'd ventured down the alley and he threw it back to reveal a very pale Semitic man. â€Å"Look at-chew. Thought baby was a playa – † the whore had said, her last words. She'd only had a hundred dollars on her, which, along with the tracksuit and a pair of Nikes, were the complete resources the ancient vampire had at his disposal. He'd come to the city in a yacht worth millions, filled with art worth millions more, and now he was reduced to making kills for petty cash. Of course he owned several homes around the world, and had stashes of cash put away in a dozen cities, but it would take some time to access it. And perhaps it wasn't so bad to have the wolf at the door, for a change. After all, he'd come to the City and taken a new fledgling in order to alleviate his boredom. (It's very hard to feel alive when you've been dead for eight hundred years.) And she had done that. He was not bored – and he felt very much alive. He walked out of the alley and checked the sky. Dawn was threatening – he had perhaps twenty minutes until sunup. â€Å"Where does the time go?† He crossed the street and was buzzed into a hotel with a sign that read for rent, by hour, day, or week. He could smell the cigarettes, sweat, and heroin on the desk clerk, and he kept his head down so the hood covered his face. â€Å"Do you have a room without a window?† â€Å"Twenty-five bucks, like all the others,† the clerk said. â€Å"You want sheets? Sheets are five more.† The vampire smiled. â€Å"No, I don't want to spoil myself.† He paid the clerk, took the key, and trudged up the steps. Yes, he felt very much alive. One really can't appreciate what one has until it's gone. And without a significant loss, how would one enjoy the process of revenge?

Brand and Burberry

Burberry, founded in 1856, is a leading international luxury brand. Burberry designs, manufactures and licenses apparel and accessories for distribution through its own stores and network of prestige retailers worldwide. In early 1998, the new management team at Burberry set out its strategy to reposition and revitalise the brand, which resulted in significantly improved results and strengthened the base to build the business. With continuous growth since last five years, Burberry has faced new challenges of brand sustainability and positioning in a volatile industry (fashion) where customer behaviour is unpredictable. Thus, it requires a strategy that lays foundations for long-term growth and addresses the issues related to the challenges of product extension, management of the Burberry check and customer segmentation. To reach a recommendation, we come up with five criteria: Brand image; Financial implications; Competitive advantage; Market growth and Ease of business. As maintenance of the brand image is always the fore most important factor for the luxury brands in order to sustain in the market we based our recommendation on this criterion. Based on the situational analysis, we narrowed to the following three alternatives: 1. Status quo 2. Reposition the brand through segmentation of the market 3. Reposition the brand to target core customers After careful scrutiny and evaluation of alternatives, we recommended that Burberry should reposition its brand in order to target the core customers. By implementing this alternative, Burberry will be able to sustain its brand positioning in the fashion industry, which would provide competitive edge to Burberry over the other luxury brands. Association with high-end customers would further enhance the brand image, which would be very helpful to sustain the market growth in global arena. Further, Burberry would be able to implement this strategy with much less efforts and with minimum financial implications. 2. Situation and Problem Definition Burberry, founded in 1856, is a leading international luxury brand. Burberry designs, manufactures and licenses apparel and accessories for distribution through its own stores and network of prestige retailers worldwide. In early 1998, the new management team at Burberry set out its strategy to reposition and revitalise the brand, which resulted in significantly improved results and strengthened the base to build the business. With continuous growth since last five years, Burberry has faced new challenges of brand sustainability and positioning in a volatile industry (fashion) where customer behaviour is unpredictable. Thus, it requires a strategy that lays foundations for long-term growth and addresses the issues related to the challenges of product extension, management of the Burberry check and customer segmentation. With the above issues in mind, we will carefully analyze the situation (Section 4) and develop the alternative course of actions (Section 5). Further, using the recommendation criteria (Section 3), we will evaluate each alternative (Section 6) and will come up with a recommendation in form of a business strategy that Burberry should adopt (Section7). Finally, we will prepare an action plan for the implementation of the recommended business strategy (Section 8). 3. Recommendation Criteria In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the alternatives and to reach a final recommendation, following criteria is devised. 1. Brand image: Burberry has gained a reputation as distinctive luxury brand with international recognition and a broad appeal. Any poor strategy at this stage would hamper the brand value of the company so the recommendation should strengthen the Burberry brand. 2. Financial implications: Firms often need to spend tremendous amount of money to make tangible changes to the product and packages, as well as intangible changes to brand’s image through advertising. Therefore, strategy adopted at this stage would have a huge impact on the profitability of Burberry. So alternatives will be evaluated to reach the final recommendation that should have minimum financial implications. . Competitive advantage: Another key criterion is that of competitive advantage. Fashion industry is highly competitive and Burberry is facing competition from all brands i. e. from lower end to higher end, and from lifestyle to fashion. Therefore, maintaining competitive edge in this market is very important and hence, we would take this factor into account in reaching the final recommendation. 4. Market growth: Repositioning and revival of the brand has led the company to the fast growing path and Burberry would like to continue it in future. Business strategy adopted by Burberry at this stage would have long-term impact on its growth. Therefore, market growth becomes an important criterion for basing any recommendation. 5. Ease of Business: Entrepreneurs always try to bring simplicity in their processes and business. Accomplishment of different strategies requires different level of efforts. Therefore, we will evaluate our alternatives on the dimensions of efforts. Maintenance of the brand image is always the fore most important factor for the luxury brands in order to sustain in the market. s very critical. Therefore, of all the criteria mentioned above, we have determined the brand image is the most important criterion on which we will base our recommendation. 4. Situational Analysis (refer Appendix A for SWOT analysis of Burberry) Since last five years, Bravo, chief executive of Burberry, renewed the popularity of the company brand by successfully implementing the combination of key strategic initiatives, including:  ·Changed the company name from Burberry’s to Burberry and introduced a contemporary logo and packaging. Introduced the Prorsum designer collection for women in Spring 1999, which further extended to menswear for the Spring 2000 season. In addition, the collection provided valuable design inspiration for the Burberry and Thomas Burberry clothing and accessories collections.  ·Enhanced the awareness and perception of the brand among customers and the fashion industry through an image-building global advertising campaign and extensive editorial coverage.  ·More modern merchandising focus and product extensions, transforming the fashion consciousness of the brand. Reviewed the distribution channels, leading to more focu sed presence in premier retailers worldwide. Additional opportunities were addressed in the retail division with the closure of a number of non-strategic Burberry stores, the opening of a new store in Las Vegas and a new flagship store in London.  ·More disciplined stock control, enhanced systems and a substantial reduction in the size of the range, leading to improved profitability.  ·Renegotiation of Japanese licensee arrangements resulted in enhanced control of the brand, the confirmation of Burberrys pre-eminent position in Japan and a very significant boost to profitability. Analysis of the marketing plan of Bravo on the four dimensions of marketing mix (4Ps) reveals the Burberry’s present competitive positioning in the fashion industry. Bravo targeted to transform Burberry products as luxury products with functionality and positioning Burberry as a luxury brand, which is â€Å"aspirational but also functional. † She promoted the Burberry brand in two phases. The first ad campaign conveyed the brand values as â€Å"classic and chic and fun and witty† and second ad emphasized on the fashion side by presenting â€Å"good girl bad girl† theme. Further, in order to present the brand’s new position in the market, she raised the prices and focused on a particular price point. The price range of Burberry apparels is comparable to Hugo Boss (Exhibit 15 of the case) and that of accessories is between Coach and Gucci (Exhibit 16 of the case). Finally, she attained the global presence of Burberry by utilizing three distribution channels (retail, wholesale and licensing) and by exercising tight control over its distribution channel. Bravo’s goal was to transform Burberry from a tired outwear to a luxury lifestyle brand that is aspirational, stylish, and innovative. However, in order to attract younger customers while retaining Burberry’s core customer base, promotion campaign seems to be an inherent juxtaposition of almost opposite association in Burberry’s new position. In first phase, ad campaign seems to convey the classic and new style of the brand while in second phase, it emphasized more on the fashion side of the brand, which resulted in the popularity of the brand among the non-target customer, urban youth and hip-hop musicians. As the lifestyle of a new non-target customer is very different from the lifestyles of Burberry’s core customers, there is a probability that the brand affiliation of Burberry with this non-target market would eventually alienate Burberry’s core customers. Analysis of the Burberry sales breakdown chart clearly indicates the increase in the percentage sales of the accessories to the total sales and decrease in the percentage sales of apparel to the total sales, over the three years. In case of accessories there are two main reasons for the increase. One, the wide range of price points made them an accessible entry point for new customers and secondly, Bravo rightly set the price of its accessories according to its niche i. e. between the price range of Coach and Gucci products. However, in case of apparels, although Burberry put lot more efforts as compared to other sections (introduction of 450 to 500 apparels styles each season in womenswear and 330 to 350 apparels styles each season in menswear), its percentage sales did not increased, primarily because of incorrect pricing. Market research showed that apparels of Burberry has a niche between the labels of Polo Ralph Lauren and Giorgio Armani, but Bravo priced its apparels almost equal to Hugo Boss, which is much higher then the target competitors. This inconsistent with the original positioning might make consumer confused and even suspicious of the brand’s overvaluation, which in turn will somehow damage its image. On the other hand, even with the higher price range, over all increase in the sales of the apparels points to the requirement of the revaluation of the Burberry’s niche in the market. As markets are not stagnant, especially in the fashion industry where the consumer’s tastes and trends shift very rapidly, Burberry should constantly review the needs and wants of the customers. Thus to maintain the competitive edge in the market, Burberry should constantly update its product. Extension of the existing product line and entering into new needs product categories would be the two strategies that Burberry should adopt to sustain the growth of the company. Burberry is known in the fashion market for its distinctive checks. Thus the brand image of Burberry is associated with the checks. Further, having customers who buy Burberry products only because of its prominent checks and also, customers with one item check aspirational in the target market segment, forming a strategy to manage the ubiquity of check become even more critical for Burberry, which would clearly affect the positioning of the brand. Overuse of the check pattern can present a risk of diluting the brand, which can eventually lead to customer burnout. In sum, analysis of the case indicates that over the past five years, Bravo and her team were able to revive the Burberry brand and provide the new positioning in the market. However, there are some areas, such as, pricing of apparels and consistency in target market, which does not reflects the discipline of the luxury brand and demands repositioning. While there are other new areas, such as, management of the Burberry check and extension of product line, that should be addressed to maintain the popularity of the brand. Thus, it clearly indicates the requirement of the repositioning of the brand in order to sustain the brand image and to lay foundation for long-term growth of the company. 5. Alternatives Following are the alternative business strategies that Burberry can adopt for managing the popularity of the brand and strengthening the brand’s positioning in order to sustain the growth of the company. 1. Status quo 2. Reposition the brand through segmentation of the market 3. Reposition the brand to target the core customers 6. Evaluation of Alternatives 1. Status quo: This is the simplest alternative, as it requires Bravo and her team to perform no action other than continuing the business in same manner. Sustain the brand position as aspirational luxury brand along with functionality factor and advertise it with the goal being to attract younger customers while retaining Burberry’s core customers base. Further, focus on the set price point in the apparel and accessories market, continue with the extensive use of Burberry check, update the current product line, and further tighten the control on the distribution channels. The advantage of this alternative is that it is very easy for the Bravo and team to follow as they have hand on experience with this strategy. Also, sustaining this strategy would be having very less financial implications. However, in the changing world of fashion and lifestyle, this strategy would not be able to sustain the brand image for the long term, which would result in the loss of competitive advantage over the other luxury brands that Burberry brand has attained over the last five years by reviving the brand’s positioning. With the same strategy in place, sustaining market growth would also be hard to achieve. 2. Reposition the brand through segmentation of the market: Under this alternative, Bravo and her team, should adopt a strategy to change brand focus to target two segments of the market, hip-hop youth and core customers and realign the brand’s core emphasis with changing market preferences. Thus, introducing two new product categories, one with designs and fabric representing the latest fashion that matches with the wants and needs of the new market segment of Hip Hop musicians and urban youth, and another with high-profile high-end fabric and design representing the lifestyle that addresses the needs and wants of the core customers. Further, reassessing the Burberry niche in the market and setting the prices of the products accordingly and realigning the use of Burberry checks according the market segments. The advantage of adopting this strategy is that it would enhance the competitive advantage of the Burberry brand over the other luxury brands. It would help the Burberry brand to represent both, fashion and lifestyle, at same time thus increases the likelihood of increasing the market growth. However, even with the clear segmentation, it would not eliminate the concern that youth affiliation with Burberry brand would alienate Burberry’s core customers, which would have a negative impact on the brand image of Burberry. Further, although repositioning will improve the brand’s fit with its target segment, it is not without cost. A risk of not recovering the costs if repositioned brand is not credible to the customer is also associated with this strategy. It would also be very difficult to maintain these two different segments of market and would demand lot of efforts from the Bravo and her team. 3. Reposition the brand to target core customers: Under this alternative, Bravo and her team should focus on its core customers by realigning the brand positioning, and grow the brand in the emerging global markets. The strategy to realign brand positioning will include the use of high-profile fabric and design that should represent both lifestyle and fashion. Burberry will also have to devise the strategy for the use of Burberry check in order to bring soul to its designs and to re-evaluate his niche in the market in order to align the price of its apparels and accessories accordingly. This strategy will guarantee the sustainability of the loyalty of the Burberry’s core customers. This brand affiliation with the core customers would enhance the brand image, while strategic use of Burberry checks and introduction of products with both lifestyle and fashion would help to sustain the brand positioning in the fashion industry. This would provide the competitive edge to Burberry over the other luxury brands. Emergence in the new global market would provide enough opportunities to Burberry to maintain its market growth, however, in the short run, losing some section of the non-target customer would hurt the revenues of the company but in the long run, core customer loyalty would be beneficial to the company. Implementation of this strategy would also be easy for Bravo but it would be challenging to the designing team of Burberry to develop design that should represent both fashion and lifestyle. Burberry would also have to incur some costs in order to reposition the brand that fits with its target customers. 7. Recommendation In order to assess the different alternatives mentioned in Section 6, we will use the criteria mentioned in Section 3: Brand image; Financial Implication; Competitive advantage; Market growth; and Ease of Business. We set up a chart listing all alternatives and assign points to each alternative based on the five criteria. Ranks are assigned with a higher number indicating higher rank i. . better the alternative ranked against specific criteria, higher the number assigned. Of all the criteria mentioned above, we have determined that brand image is the most important criterion so we have assigned double the weight as compare to the weights of other criteria. Finally, the alternative that collects the maximum total points shall be considered as the alternative of our choice. AlternativeBrand ImageFinancial implicationsCompetitive advantageMarket growthEase of BusinessTotal Weight2 x1 x1 x1 x1 x Status quo2311310 Reposition through segmentation of the market4123111 Reposition by targeting core customers6232215 Based on the analysis of the chart above, it is recommended that Burberry should reposition its brand in order to target the core customers. By implementing this alternative, Burberry will be able to sustain its brand positioning in the fashion industry, which would provide competitive edge to Burberry over the other luxury brands. Association with high-end customers would further enhance the brand image, which would be very helpful to sustain the market growth in global arena. Further, Burberry would be able to implement this strategy with much less efforts and with minimum financial implications. 8. Action Plan The recommended alternative can be implemented in three phases. 1. Brand strategy formation and brand repositioning 2. Brand strategy implementation 3. Measurement, evaluation and adjustment of brand strategy Phase 1: Brand strategy formation and brand repositioning Redefine the corporate mission statement that should address the target customers. Formulate strategies to address internal requirements, such as, design of Burberry products that represents lifestyle and fashion and management of usage of Burberry checks, and external requirements, such as improvement of customer’s brand recognition and reinforcement of the new brand, while maximizing the effectiveness of financial budgets. Phase 2: Brand Identity system It would be accomplished in two steps: Step 1: Brand Identity System: conveys a single Brand image and personality through all your marketing communications. The brand value conveyed by advertisement campaigns should match the corporate goal of brand positioning. Step 2: Integrate Marketing Strategy: leverage Brand Strategy across all marketing communications and extend the strategy internally i. e. to all the related departments. Further, reinforce the â€Å"Defined Brand† through interactions both internal and external to your organization in order to strengthen your Brand. Phase 3: Measurement, evaluation and adjustment of brand strategy It would work as the quality check on the brand strategy. To accomplish this phase, two step approach should be used Step 1: Response Analysis and Tracking System: obtain feedback by setting up a Response Analysis and Tracking System for individual media, as well as measuring the effectiveness of marketing investments. Further create an objective metrics that should measure the performance of your Branding Strategy in creating awareness/exposure, inquiry and action/sale. Step 2: Evaluation and Adjustment: ongoing evaluation of performance is critical to gauge the impact of the Brand on the markets. In order to make effective adjustments, a system should be devised to ensure effective and fast responsiveness to the feedback. Appendix A: SWOT ANAYLSIS Environment Evaluation PositiveNegative Internal Strengths-Leading luxury brand with more than 150 years of istory-A top management team made up of A-list industry talent -Broad market base and product lines;-Global presence-Wide brand awareness; Burberry check widely known around the world and derived 25% of all company revenue-Brand is considered classic as well as contemporary-Large profit margins-Tight controls over the distribution channelsWeaknesses-possibly over-extended brand that do not relate to the brand’s image -Historical problems as sociated with licensing and check management-The actual price is not consist with its price positioning-Heavy reliance on the check pattern-Newly emerging customer base could alienate core customer base. ExternalOpportunities-growing luxury market in Asia Pacific-Extending product categories and customer segments Threats-Competition with both lifestyle and fashionable brands. -Volatile industry