Comparison Matrix - 1543 Words

Running Head: Comparison Matrix Paper Comparison Matrix Paper Comparison Matrix Introduction Comparison shows the characteristic of three studies conducted by different researchers. In the public sector, transformational leadership is the first study. This type of leadership has no effect on the conduct of managers. Transformational leadership is to stimulate the needs of the subordinates in harmony with the goals of the leader. Morale, motivation, and performance of the individuals within the group are increased by this style of leadership Based on the study, employees of banking and food organizations who receive praise and recognition for their hard work tend to be loyal to the company. The data reveal that job†¦show more content†¦Previous technology integration failed due to lack of curriculum integration strategies. The works of Reigeluth and Joseph were recognized. Reference was made to studies done by researchers like Ertmer, Johnson and Gardner. Sample Population A sample population of bank branch and food chain managers were used. The survey for technology integration conducted by Quality Education Data Inc. (QUED) showed that 10 teachers out of 100 had access to computers did not use them to motivate student learning. Results of the Studies One of the limitations of the study done on transformational leadership was that the average age of the respondent was 50 years. The study of local government concluded that public organizations are not always highly bureaucratic. Their findings were not consistent with the relationship between organizational characteristics and transformational leadership. Hypothesis 1 determined that customer contact personnel managed by transformational leadership style will be more committed than someone managed by transactional style. The same employees in hypothesis 2 will have a higher level of job satisfaction. Results/Conclusions The study revealed that some findings were not consistent and some personalities reduce the practice of transformational leadership behaviors. It was discovered that transformational leadership supports the need for flexibility. Previous studies have found that other types of publicShow MoreRelated A Comparison of The Matrix and Platos The Allegory of the Cave1838 Words   |  8 PagesA Comparison of The Matrix and Platos The Allegory of the Cave In the movie The Matrix we find a character by the name of Neo and his struggle adapting to the truth...to reality. This story is closely similar to an ancient Greek text written by Plato called The Allegory of the Cave. Now both stories are different but the ideas are basically the same. Both Stories have key points that can be analyzed and related to one another almost exactly. 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Capital Structure Decisions - 19256 Words

Capital Structure Decisions: Which Factors are Reliably Important? Murray Z. Frank1 and Vidhan K. Goyal2 First draft: March 14, 2003. Current draft: December 20, 2003. ABSTRACT This paper examines the relative importance of 38 factors in the leverage decisions of publicly traded U.S. ï ¬ rms from 1950 to 2000. The most reliable factors are median industry leverage (+ effect on leverage), market-to-book ratio (-), collateral (+), bankruptcy risk as measured by Altman’s Z-Score (-), dividend-paying (-), log of sales (+), and expected inï ¬â€šation (+). These seven factors all have the sign predicted by the trade-off theory. The pecking order and market timing theories are not as helpful in predicting the importance and the signs of the reliable†¦show more content†¦To address this serious concern the effect of conditioning on ï ¬ rm circumstances is studied. We do ï ¬ nd reliable empirical patterns.3 From a set of 38 factors that have been used in the literature, seven have reliable relationships to corporate leverage. Firms that compete in industries in which the median ï ¬ rm has high leverage tend also to have high leverag e. Firms that have high levels of sales tend to have high leverage. Firms that have more collateral tend to have more leverage. When inï ¬â€šation is expected to be high ï ¬ rms tend to have high leverage. Firms that have a high risk of bankruptcy, as measured by Altman’s Z-score, have low leverage. Firms that pay dividends tend to have lower leverage than do ï ¬ rms that do not pay dividends. Finally ï ¬ rms that have a high market-to-book ratio tend to have low levels of leverage. These seven factors account for more than 30% of the variation in leverage, while then remaining 31 factors only add a further 6%. These seven factors have very consistent sign and statistical signiï ¬ cance across many alternative treatments of the data. The remaining factors are not nearly as consistent. All seven of the reliable factors have signs that are predicted by the trade-off theory of leverage. Market timing theory makes correct predictions for the market-to-book and inï ¬â€ša tion variables. However it does not make any predictions for theShow MoreRelatedFactors That Influence the Capital Structure Decision of the Firm9372 Words   |  38 PagesABSTRACT The capital structure decisions are influenced by various factors. Different researchers obtained different conclusions on what the important determinants of capital structure are. The main objective of this study is to ascertain the factors that significantly influence capital structure decisions. The factors tested are: The firm’s age, size, growth, tangibility, profitability, business risk and non-debt tax shield. From my analysis all these factors were found to be significant but atRead MoreMaking Capital Budgeting and Capital Structure Decisions9919 Words   |  40 PagesPrepared for The Journal of Applied Corporate Finance Vol. 15, No. 1, 2002 How do CFOs make capital budgeting and capital structure decisions?1 John R. Graham Associate Professor of Finance, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708 USA Campbell R. Harvey Professor of Finance, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708 USA National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA 02912 USA March 8, 2002 1A longer and more detailed version of this paper is publishedRead MoreThe Capital Structure Decision Of Firms With Powerful Ceos801 Words   |  4 PagesMethodology This study looks for evidence that the capital structure decision of firms with powerful CEOs has a negative effect of corporate performance. Ho: CEO power and Leverage have no effect on performance. Ha: CEO power and Leverage have an effect on performance. In order to test this hypothesis, an OLS regression model is used, where the dependent variable is performance and the independent variables include: (1) the existence of powerful CEOs, (2) leverage, (3) the relationship between theseRead MoreDifferent Variables and Situations That Influence Capital Financing Structure Decisions726 Words   |  3 Pagesthe corporation prefers to use debt and in which cases they prefer to use all equity in financial leverage and capital structure? What is better for the corporation Should they use all equity with zero debt? Or all debt? Or both? Which is better for investors to maximize their wealth? The number of different variables and situations that influence capital financing structure decisions are far too numerous and complex to list here, but essentially a company should continually assess the cost of debtRead MoreCapital Structure Of A Firm1670 Words   |  7 PagesThe capital structure of a firm describes the way in which a firm raised capital needed to establish and expand its business activities. It is a mixture of various types of equity and debt capital a firm maintained resulting from the firms financing decisions. In one way or another, business activity must be financed. Without finance to support their fixed assets and working capital requirements, business could not exist. In all aspects of capital investment decision, the capital structure decisionRead MoreOptimal Capital Structure1485 Words   |  6 PagesOPTIMAL CAPITAL STRUCTURE INTRODUCTION This report tries to visualize â€Å"OPTIMAL CAPITAL STRUCTURE† and represent the facts that include features of capital structure, determinants of capital structure, and patterns of capital structure, types and theories of capital structure, theory of optimal capital structure, risk associated with capital structure, external assessment of capital structure and some assumption related to capital structure. BROAD OBJECTIVE †¢ To determine features of capital structureRead MoreCalifornia Pizza Kitchen Case Study Study Analysis1573 Words   |  7 Pagesmanifesting positive growth. (Shumadine 2008) Summarize the Modigliani-Miller (1958) capital structure irrelevance propositions and the concept of debt tax shields. â€Å"Capital structure of a company is the way a company finances its assets.† (E Finance Management 2015) â€Å"The Modigliani-Miller theory states value of the firm is not dependent on the choice of capital structure or financing decision of the firm. If a company has high growth prospect, its market value is higher and hence its stockRead MoreThe Cost of Capital and Vlauation of a Two County Firm by Michael Adler868 Words   |  3 PagesThe Cost of Capital and Valuation of a Two-County Firm by Michael Adler†, attempts to extend the theory of valuation and the cost of capital when operating in a multinational corporation. In finance, financing decisions have a great importance due to the optimal capital structure, which can be created through the proper mix of finance. Adler attempts to address the issues for which multinational corporation can plan for optimal control with the restrictions of international capital movements. TheRead MoreWhy Do Firms Choose Their C apital Structure?1623 Words   |  7 Pagesfinance those investments: with equity, debt or a combination of both (Myers, 2001). The study of capital structure tries to clarify this variety of securities and financing opportunities. In accounting terms, this decision is situated on the right-hand side of the balance sheet (Myers, 2001). In his Capital Structure Puzzle article, Myers (1984) poses the question â€Å"How do firms choose their capital structure?†. But even today, there is no right solution to this question. In the literature, there are

Operation Management of Companies Efficient Operations of Businesses

Question: Discuss about the Operation Management of Companies for Efficient Operations of Businesses. Answer: Introduction The efficient operations of businesses and organisations partly depend on their sense of orientation to both long term and short term goals. Plans, inputs, activities and regulations must always build on the corporate goals. In essence, the principle and practices of organisations have a deterministic role in the achievement of its objectives. In most cases, scheduled evaluations are used to assess whether organisational operations comply with the goals or not (Santos Barros, 2011) This essay explores the ideas of operational systems affecting company's growth and hindering the company from making more profits. The research is also not limited to addressing the issues that may be affecting the business clients. This research is further based on bringing unto company owners knowledge of the company status, its historical development, operational imperatives and academic research underpinning its use. Alternatively, before coming up with all these aspects, there is a need to address the roots cause of the underlying operational issues affecting the company without forgetting to focus on the medium and day to day effects. Operational aspects affecting Hawkesbury cabinet Hawkesbury Company as a manufacturer is facing some operational management issues which are centred on; executive decision making this include; medium term decision and day to day decision. Medium term decisions Medium terms decision making is reliant on the short terms goals which affect operations management in an organisation. Hawkesbury company short-term operational challenges are reliant on three areas. First short term problem evolves from the technology use where all products are processed at the same time and pass through same craftsmen. Despite some products handling well, there may be reduced quality as not all the goods will be purchased. This is evident when customers prefer one product over the other (Lee Yoon, 2011). Second short term goal challenge is in product manufacturing and space. Since the company main sold product is the custom kitchen, the company problem lies on standards cabinets being left behind sitting around the plants in various completion stages. This means rejected project has to be delayed in the company as either dominant or dead stock. These products have an effect on the company space as the company is forced to rent a room to continue workloads and satisfy their customer demands. The renting of a smaller working space is short lived as customers demand surpasses that of available supplier productions. Another medium term decision challenge faced by the organisation is on the delayed delivery time of the products. The company is confronted with a problem of longer promised delivery time (Berkel, Ferguson, Groenewegen, 2016). Delayed services to customers is a severe market problem as it throws customers into the hand of competitors while organisation role should be focused on building win tips to win market competition Day to day decisions These are Operational decisions affecting the company functioning on a day to day basis. Some of the challenges the organisation is facing is that of cabinets competition where both custom competing cabinet are competing from processing time on the same equipment. This could lead to the production of low-quality products. It's necessary for the organisation to have different qualified craftsmen dealing with their skilled area rather than generalising their skills and treating the skills homogeneously. Technical analysis of Hawkesbury Company Functional analyses in most cases are always short term. They are based on the assumptions that price, volume and market data can predict future company performance accurately. The technical analysis fails to look into considerations security value of the market (Arnold Shockley, 2010). For instance; Fang and Mei switching of role identity informally due to client growth and them are developing an interest to serve their customers more. However short, the decision made leads to further growth of the company to an extent they have to switch to another process of renting a room to continue effectively with their business. The assumption, in this case, is based that; due to the high registered volume of products sell the small room will be enough to accommodate all client needs (Do, Brooks, Treepongkaruna Wu, 2014) Another technical analysis is based on Mei Chen review on the company progress basing her judgment on the large volume of profits the company has made and increased amounts of products demand. She, however, has failed to look at the effect the increase in volume has on the company and how it may affect the future company progress. From these analyses it can be said that the production process used by the company is a short lived method that may adversely affect the company I n future if not appropriately addressed. Problem definition in Hawkesbury Company The main problem the company is facing is reliant on the new builders kitchen. The builder kitchen has the following effects on the company. First, there is an increased register sale of kitchen builders leading to low or no sales of the cabinet standards. This means that the company is suffering two problems with the norm cabinets. One is that of financial losses as they are no longer being sold. The other problem relies on space as the standard cabinet occupies working space yet they are not being used. There are rising costs associated with standard builders. This is inclusive of the increasing cost of builder material leading to high costs of raw material production as they are expensive and require the company to invest in high capital. The is also an effect in increased workload as lots of works is still in process, not forgetting the vast finished work which is know congesting the company forcing the company to rent the nearby warehouse so as to reduce congestion. Work fragmentation also makes it hard for managers to observe company progress effectively (Merz, Bhm, Burgert, n.d.) Standard orders cost seems to have risen thus leading to delayed delivery or longer times before deliveries are made. This has an effect on ruining company trust reputation to clients. Finally, there is also a significant challenge in operations pushing the limit to capacity for manufacturing to an extent that there is no space left for company expansion Broader organisational issues caused by operational problems. The move of new builders kitchen may have the following effects on the company finances; foremost is that delayed delivery can cause client loss of reliability to the company thus pushing consumers to look for a quicker option. Clients shift will mean that a lot of kitchen builders will be manufactured yet there will be fewer customers to purchase them. The company will, therefore, be either forced to sell the kitchen builders at a lower price than expected to clear space on the firm on run bankrupt or even sell or close down the company. The increased cost of capital on the raw material will mean increased market price (Arabzadeh, 2012).Some customers, in this case, may opt to like for another cheaper solution. The company may also decide to maintain the same prices as before the Capitals increased but will, however, be faced with the challenge of fewer profit earnings thus managers may find it difficult to meet some of the financial company demands such as paying workers or investing in another income-earning project due to the limitation of funds. Financial limitations will also mean that the company may lose some of their skilled employees to other competitive companies forcing the company to start investing a fresh in new hires who can cooperate with the peanut pay (Mengel Wouters, 2015). Such shifts affect financial status of the company more as the new employees may take a lot of time before adopting to work as per the enterprise standards The company may also experience financial strains as standard cabinets that had been that had already been manufactured are currently not being sold. This means that the firm has a higher possibility of going bankrupt or closing down if an immediate action is not taken to solve the underlying problems. Conclusion A company management structure is wholly reliant on the way in which the company is being managed. Employers should always result to investing on skills training and capacity building of employee to enhance quality delivery of services to clients. Solving all the problem definitions in a company requires that the company owners invest on frequent monitoring and evaluation and auditing so that a third party can help the company owners in dealing with some of the prevailing issues of the company. Hawkesbury Company can grow into a globally competitive company if only the company owners apply the relevant business management skills in operating their firm. References Arabzadeh, M. (2012). A study on effects of cost-of-equity models on the cost-of-capital and capital structure. Management Science Letters, 2(6), 1855-1864. https://dx.doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2012.06.038 Arnold, T. Shockley, R. (2010). Real Options Analysis and the Assumptions of Corporate Finance: A Non-Technical Review. Multinational Finance Journal, 14(1/2), 29-71. https://dx.doi.org/10.17578/14-1/2-2 Do, H., Brooks, R., Treepongkaruna, S., Wu, E. (2014). How does trading volume affect financial return distributions?. International Review Of Financial Analysis, 35, 190-206. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2014.09.003 Do, H., Brooks, R., Treepongkaruna, S., Wu, E. (2014). How does trading volume affect financial return distributions?. International Review Of Financial Analysis, 35, 190-206. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2014.09.003 Lee, I. Yoon, H. (2011). Effects of Culinary Staff's Technology Kitchen System upon Perceived Ease of Use, Usefulness, Attitude, and Job Performance in the Foodservice Industry. Korean Journal Of Food And Cookery Science, 27(3), 71-79. https://dx.doi.org/10.9724/kfcs.2011.27.3.071 Merz, J., Bhm, P., Burgert, D. Timing, Fragmentation of Work and Income Inequality - An Earnings Treatment Effects Approach. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1313668 Santos, J. Barros, C. (2011). What determines the financial decision-making: reason or emotion?. Review Of Business Management, 7-20. https://dx.doi.org/10.7819/rbgn.v13i38.785 Van Berkel, F., Ferguson, J., Groenewegen, P. (2016). Speedy Delivery Versus Long-term Objectives: How Time Pressure Affects Coordination Between Temporary Projects and Permanent Organizations. Long Range Planning. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2016.04.001

The Heresy Of Galileo Essays - Galileo Affair, Copernican Revolution

The Heresy Of Galileo THE HERESY OF GALILEO Galileo was condemned by the Inquisition, not for his own brilliant theories, but because he stood up for his belief in Copernicus's theory that the earth was not, as the Church insisted, the center of the universe, but that rather, the universe is heliocentric. Galileo was a man of tremendous intellect and imagination living in a era dominated by the Catholic Church, which attempted to control the people by dictating their own version of reality. Any person who publicly questioned Church doctrine ran the chance of condemnation and punishment. If man could think, man could question, and the Church could lose its authority over the masses. This could not be tolerated in the 17th century, when the Church had the power to dictate reality. Copernicus probably avoided a similar fate by confining his opinions to his students and the university milieu, and in fact his theories were not published until the time of his death. To be tried by the Inquisition was something that nobody could take lightly. Although in Galileo's time the Inquisition was becoming more and more lenient, it was known to have used torture in the past and to have sent many heretics to burn at the stake. As late as 1600, this fate had befallen the Italian thinker Giordano Bruno, a one-time Dominican friar who had adopted a pantheistic philosophy of nature. From the summer of 1605, Galileo was private tutor of mathematics to young Prince Cosimo de' Medici, son of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Teacher and pupil became sincerely attached to each other by mutual affection and deference, and this bond lasted to the end of Galileo's life. Galileo remained a good friend of the Grand Duke as well. In the summer of 1611, the Grand Duke invited Galileo to a dinner party at his court. The Duke liked to gather great scholars around him, especially when he had illustrious guests, to hear them talk about issues of interest to the learned world. At this dinner the discussion centered on floating bodies. Galileo maintained that bodies can float only if their specific gravity is less than that of water. Among the dinner guests there were, however, some followers of Aristotle's philosophies, and they argued that bodies float if their shape is wide and smooth so they cannot cut through the resistance of the water. Floating bodies were a topic on which Galileo was especially knowledgeable, as he had been interested in the subject since, when as a student, he had read Archimedes. He was able to support his point so brilliantly that one of the guests of honor, Maffeo Cardinal Barberini, sided with him. Years later, Cardinal Barberini became Pope Urban VIII and turned against Galileo, becoming one of his bitter enemies, but at that moment he was as congenial as one could be, sincerely admiring Galileo's dialectical skill. Perhaps to please the Cardinal, the Grand Duke asked Galileo to put his argument into writing, which he did. The result was The Discourse on Floating Bodies. Galileo's sharp, almost sarcastic wit made him especially suited to arguments and debates, of which he was to have many in the following years. Some of these resulted in famous writings that added to his lasting glory; many antagonized people of his time and turned many of them into enemies. The Peripatetics at the Grand Duke's table were not very dangerous as potential enemies, but his next adversary was. Even before the Discourse on Floating Bodies was published in 1612, Galileo was engaged in a conflict with an astronomer whose name he did not know and was not to find out for over a year -- the Jesuit father Christopher Scheiner (1575-1650). In 1610, Galileo had claimed to be the first discoverer of sunspots; so had Father Scheiner, and the two had entered into a bitter dispute. Father Scheiner had communicated his opinions on his observations of sunspots in several letters to Mark Welser, a German patron of science. Perhaps to avoid direct criticism, Scheiner wrote under a pen name. Mark Welser published Scheiner's letters and sent them to Galileo for comment without revealing the name of the author. Galileo replied in three Letters on Sunspots addressed to Welser (in Italian, which Scheiner could not read and had to have translated, while Scheiner had not written in his native German, but in Latin). In his letters, Galileo severely criticized Scheiner's views. The greatest significance of these Letters on Sunspots, as

Free Essays on Organisational Studies

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Relationship marketing is a business philosophy, which aims to develop strong relationships with a range of stakeholders, such as suppliers, media, intermediaries and public organisations, as well as with customers. The goal of relationship marketing is to align all of the aspects of a company within its chosen customers and stakeholders. This can only be achieved by applying the Eight Concepts of Relationship Marketing on an ongoing basis. The company must ensure it has Market Strategies in place to help it achieve its objectives. Customer Bonding thereby ensuring they have a better position in the market place than their competitors. By introducing the concept of Total Quality Management into the company, the benefit thereof will be a better commitment by the organisation to manage quality, thereby improving customer satisfaction. Benchmarking will encourages management to focus externally on the customer and the competition, as it highlights the gap between where the company is and where it wants to be. Relationship Marketing ensures that technology is used to facilitate a relevant, timely, personalised and customised communication process and identifies individual preferences. Communication with individual customers via the media each prefers will ensure customer value. Promotion is done in order to influence the behaviour and attitude of the customer and incorporates various methods of communication with the customer, ensuring they receive the information via their preferred media. Fully automated production and knowledge placed in useful databases will allow relationships that create value to be developed. The relationships company of the future will need to use technology to shape value for each customer by building capabilities needed to enhance those relationships. The company that embraces relationship marketing, its str... Free Essays on Organisational Studies Free Essays on Organisational Studies EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Relationship marketing is a business philosophy, which aims to develop strong relationships with a range of stakeholders, such as suppliers, media, intermediaries and public organisations, as well as with customers. The goal of relationship marketing is to align all of the aspects of a company within its chosen customers and stakeholders. This can only be achieved by applying the Eight Concepts of Relationship Marketing on an ongoing basis. The company must ensure it has Market Strategies in place to help it achieve its objectives. Customer Bonding thereby ensuring they have a better position in the market place than their competitors. By introducing the concept of Total Quality Management into the company, the benefit thereof will be a better commitment by the organisation to manage quality, thereby improving customer satisfaction. Benchmarking will encourages management to focus externally on the customer and the competition, as it highlights the gap between where the company is and where it wants to be. Relationship Marketing ensures that technology is used to facilitate a relevant, timely, personalised and customised communication process and identifies individual preferences. Communication with individual customers via the media each prefers will ensure customer value. Promotion is done in order to influence the behaviour and attitude of the customer and incorporates various methods of communication with the customer, ensuring they receive the information via their preferred media. Fully automated production and knowledge placed in useful databases will allow relationships that create value to be developed. The relationships company of the future will need to use technology to shape value for each customer by building capabilities needed to enhance those relationships. The company that embraces relationship marketing, its str...

Enjoy Your Choices or Find New Ones

Enjoy Your Choices or Find New Ones Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. Rumi I saw this quote, pasted it here, and did away with the editorial I had written for this week. The quote prompted a spark such that I had to stop what I was doing and write. The idea is controversial, but thats fine. You can read it for its good intention, or twist it into something else. Its totally up to you. The world is in love with writing. Its organic (or should be). Its a tool we can put into practice girl with apples on her hands simply Other than run, what energy can you expend so simply and feel its rewards so intimately upon its completion? So, when you find yourself grumbling about rejection, fussing about yet another blog post, scrambling to understand the best way to use social media to make your writing salable, stop and thinkdo you really want to do this? How dare I challenge your skills, your mission, your ability to tell stories? I dare to We fuss about the bad writing that makes money and the good writing thats ignored. We fanatically hunt for the best tricks, how-tos, and secrets to writing well, organizing our time, or getting published. The excellent writers, the names that slide off your tongue like your favorite television show or family recipe, dont do any of this. They simply write. They write like their life depends on it. They write because its what they love. They dont care about the odds, the obstacles, the naysayers or the paradigm shifts of New York publishing. They thrive on their words and feed from their stories. To them, difficulty is just todays challenge to the same end to write for readers. There are no excuses about lost time, family obligations, short income, or Internet speed. They dont wake up and decide whether they feel like it. They rise eager to return to the page, regardless ofthe environment or issues of the day. Its what they do. Its what you ought to be doing . . . assuming that writing is your calling. What a miserable existence trying to force yourself into a calling, like choosing to be a minister without being beckoned Give yourself permission to step away from writing and find that other calling you are shirking. Imagine the joy youre missing, the thrill youre pushing aside because you think you want to be a writer. You only have one life, and its best you find the right fulfillment for those short years you have on this earth. Its okay not to be a writer. Its not okay to spend your life struggling to be something youre not. But if you are indeed hell-bent on being a writer, just do it.

Film and Media Studies - History of Broadcasting - Advertising the Essay

Film and Media Studies - History of Broadcasting - Advertising the American Dream - Essay Example Pepsi takes this parable a step further with their commercial. Before drinking the Pepsi, the boy is uninspired and most likely tired of the life he is currently living. After drinking the Pepsi, he is filled with energy and uses this energy to practice drumming around town. He does not have a drum set, probably because of his family’s economic status and capital, and he does not need one because he drank Pepsi and now he can achieve the once-thought-of-as impossible. A young Hispanic boy starts off in by an apartment complex in this commercial, and by using an urban Hispanic setting with a monotone color scheme, a sense of confinement is instilled and something must be done about it. With this set-up, Pepsi comes in to â€Å"save the day† or, in this case, this boy’s life from normality. Pepsi’s product promises to lift this particular Hispanic youth out of a lower-middle class inner-city barrio environment into a drummer for a popular band. Once the boy has tried the product, he becomes inspired giving him confidence and motivation to follow his dream of becoming a drummer. And while everyone else is still living their mundane lives, he has transcended this barrio environment to pursue his dream. He ascends to the high-class stardom status instantaneously in the commercial. He is suddenly taken out of the boring lifestyle he was living in, ages about ten years older, and is put in a rock band on stage entertaining a massive crowd of fans most likely with his professional drumming. The boy’s younger years are portrayed in the sunlight, but not necessarily in a cheerful, happy way. The sun just seems to be part of the whole monotonous picture. When the boy’s dream is finally reached, the whole set-up is changed. Instead of it being day, it is night (or at least in an indoor stadium or concert hall). The only light is the light coming from the stage lights, which represent the

Arab Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Arab Discussion - Essay Example The passive approach is necessary because of the role of culture as an integral factor to people’s quality of life and as well a barrier to nursing care. Even though some cultural practices undermine provision of care, members of the society are informed of benefits of culture to their well-being and a contrary approach may be a threat to their perspective to health care. A tolerant approach with understanding and persuasion will therefore offer Mrs. Nasser, who has a cultural reason against the physical examination, an opportunity to consider alternative approaches to testing the patient towards efficient treatment. Persuasion can also help in establishing the need for examination towards effective treatment (Andrews and Boyle, 2008; Kulwicki, 2013). Culturally congruent strategies that may be effective in addressing Mrs. Nasser’s needs Strategies towards cultural competence identify congruency towards meeting Mrs. Nasser’s needs to preserve her cultural orienta tion and to cure her ill daughter. Cultural awareness is one of the culturally congruent strategies that that may be effective in resolving the issues towards the needs and being informed of the sensitivity to young girls’ virginity in the Arab culture is an example that could help the nurse in handling the situation by informing the nurse of potential obstacle to care. It involves being informed of a society’s cultural constructs for a suitable approach to providing care to culturally sensitive clients. Cultural awareness would inform the nurse of the negative opinion towards physical examination of young girls’ genitals and ensure a less controversial approach. The nurse could similarly be informed of the society’s sensitivity towards young girls’ virginity and explain the fact that examination by a female nurse would not threaten the cultural perspective. Establishing a set of strategies towards cultural cohesion is another culturally congruent strategy that may be effective in addressing the client’s needs. This strategy equips a nurse with alternative approaches to integrate the client’s culture with necessary nursing practices towards meeting the needs (Andrews and Boyle, 2008; Dreachslin, Gilbert and Malone, 2012). This strategy can be developed from a nurse’s experience with Nasser’s culture and through constructs of cultural competence approach such as â€Å"cultural knowledge, cultural skill, cultural encounters, and cultural desire† (Votroubek and Tobacco, 2010, p. 579). Cultural sensitivity and intelligence, from the competencies, would also help the nurse in selecting available strategies towards managing Mrs. Nasser’s cultural fears and agreeing on a suitable approach to testing the girl. In applying cultural sensitivity, for example, the nurse should understand the Arab culture’s sensitivity to young girls’ virginity and the extent to which the society can sacrifice to protect the cultural observation apply incorporate this in building Nasser’s confidence that her daughter’s virginity would not be compromised (Votroubek and Tobacco, 2010). Ensuring that Mrs. Nasser’s concerns are addressed and Samia receive appropriate care The nurse can ensure that Nasser’s concerns are addressed and Samia receive appropriate care by understanding the involved cultural barrier to the proposed care approach, identifying

The process of digestion Essay Example for Free

The process of digestion Essay The Process of Digestion Over the course of time there have been many difficult questions and theories about everyday life. Using physiology chemistry, those questions have been able to be answered. From the mixture of gases in the air we breathe to the organic substance of plastic or paper, chemistry can be seen everywhere. However, most people mistook the power of chemistry in our own bodies. How is it that a simple slice of bread, once consumed, can turn into fuel for the human body? Using the digestive system and its many organs through the process of digestion and etabolism is how our bodies receive the energy it needs to continue on throughout the day and the rest of our lives. Chemistry then kicks in as food starts its process from entering to leaving the body, through the rate of our metabolism, and also by the transfer of energy. The chemistry in the digestive system is a very important process, because without it there would be no human life. Compared to all other systems in the body, the digestive system is one of the most diverse and important. According to Robert Sullivan the digestive system is a set group of organs whose unction is based on the process of turning food, absorbing nutrients for energy and getting rid of the bodies waste (Sullivan, 2008, p. 33). The organs that are in the digestive system are the following: esophagus, stomach, small intestine, pancreas, liver, gallbladder, colon or large intestine, rectum and anus (Ballard, 2003). Imagine eating a nice dinner with delicious smelling food. Now, imagine eating the food. Have you ever wondered where your food has gone once you consume it? Through your digestive system where the mass of food undergoes a process called digestion. Digestion is the chemical and physical breakdown of food into forms such as energy or nutrients that can be used by the bodys cells (McKenzie, 2010). The whole process starts in the mouth. The mouth contains a watery substance called saliva. Saliva is important to the whole process of food digestion, because not only does it help with sensing taste, but it is also made up of enzymes that break down the fats and starches in food at a molecular level. The esophagus is a tube where swallowed food travels down to the stomach. The stomach is a muscular sac that acts as a blender nd mixes food with acid, hydrochloric acid, which breaks down the swallowed chum and flushes the nutrients into the small intestine (Columbia University, 2010). The hydrochloric acid in the stomach is so powerful it can eat through a leather shoe. However, the stomach contains other chemicals, such as gastric acid, mucus and enzymes that also soften food (Sullivan, 2008). The result thus far in the process of digestion in the stomach is now called chime (Sullivan, 2008). Once the stomach has done its Job digesting the food, your dinner, now chime, travels to the small intestine where the final stage of digestion takes place. The remaining food is separated as either waste or nutrients. The nutrients are absorbed and taken in as fuel for the body while the waste enters the large intestine and passed through the rectum and anus to leave the body. Its fascinating to know that your dinner gets chemically organ has a specific role that is carried out through many different means. From growing to learning our body needs energy to work, but how can food be turned into energy? It can be turned into energy through each persons unique metabolism. The main reaction that takes place in the digestive system is called Metabolism. Metabolism takes place everywhere, but mainly in the stomach where is breaks down substances into smaller molecular forms, which gives the body energy (Online School Edition, 2011). Our metabolisms are chemical reactions that are carried out through a microcellular catalyst called an enzyme. Enzymes help chemically break down large nutrients, proteins, fats and carbohydrates into smaller forms of amino acids, fatty acids and simple sugars (Online School Edition, 2011). Amino acids and fatty acids are mainly where we get our energy from. The whole process starts when we eat and our metabolism breaks down the food. The amino acids and fatty acids are absorbed into the blood where once they attach to a cell, they are then able to speed up the chemical reactions taking place while the amino and fatty acids are monitoring the reactions in the cell some energy is released. This energy can be stored in the body until it is needed (Online School Edition, 2011). There are two forms of metabolism called anabolism and catabolism. Anabolism is storing energy and maintaining cells while catabolism is all about making energy so that each cell has a specific amount to function properly (Ballard, 2003). The bodys metabolism is made up of many reactions that produce heat or a calorie. A calorie is a basic unit of heat that measures how much energy a fixed proportion of food brings into the body. Calories are used to regulate the fat in our bodies too. If a person consumes too much calories then the calories will turn into fat. The process of metabolism in each persons body is very unique and different. Some metabolisms run slow, which results in less calories burned and others burn rather quickly, which results in fewer calories (McKenzie, 2010). Whatever the rate of metabolism, many can agree that this rocess is diverse and complicated, but also very fundamental to everyday life. As everything else in the body, our enzymes need energy to keep the metabolism in a constant flow, this is where ATP comes into the equation. ATP, Adenosine Triphosphate, is the major source of energy in the human body. ATP plays a major factor in fueling our bodies by providing and storing energy. A normal ATP molecule has a strong bond called a phosphodiester bond, which stores energy that only releases when the body needs it (Ballard, 2003). The structure of the ATP molecule is very exclusive; because it has an oxygen molecule that is connected to three hosphorous groups, hint the name triphosphate. When one phosphate group is taken away the ATP molecule turns into ADP. ADP is always trying to be regenerated to ATP where there is a higher energy level. Think of it like a battery. When the battery is running low, you recharge it, Just like ATP and ADP. When an ADP molecule is running low on energy more energy from food replenishes the energy that was lost, which adds a new phosphate group making the molecule convert from ADP to ATP (Ballard, 2003). Without ATP there wouldnt be any energy that could be provided for the cells to use in the body. The next time you eat many chemical reactions in your body will occur, however you are mainly recharging your body with fuel and nutrients for it to continue on with the day. In the digestive system there are heat, and more. Even today more chemists are elaborating on new discoveries and important facts of the many process and reactions in the digestive system. Perhaps the latest discovery in this field would be the new diet plans that tend to speed up the process of metabolism which makes cells, including fat, break down faster resulting in a thinner waist. The digestive system is unique and different from all ther systems in the body because it has many organs that each have their own important role, a specific process of where food travels, and finally multiple reactions through metabolism and other processes through ATP that convert the food we eat into fuel. Without the digestive system the body would fail and there would be no human life. Therefore, it is important to accept the essential role that chemistry plays not only a huge role in human life, but in all life. Now as you eat your Thanksgiving meal with your family this year, you can imagine the whole process from start to finish!

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Login sessions expire for two reasons. For your security, your Yahoo! Mail session expires a maximum of eight hours after you have logged in. If you have chosen in your Yahoo! User Information to be prompted for a password more frequently than every eight hours, your session will expire after the specified amount of time. If you do not accept the cookies set on login or your computer is not configured to accept cookies, your session will expire almost immediately. We use cookies (small pieces of site information) to assist us in user authentication and in saving configuration information. Cookies are required for Yahoo! Mail. If you see this message immediately after logging in, you should check the following: Check to see that your computer system time is accurate. Cookies are time sensitive and may not work if your computer date is incorrect by a large amount. Make sure that your browser is configured to accept cookies or that you agree to accept cookies during the login process. Turn off any third party programs or control panels that automatically reject cookies. Login sessions expire for two reasons. For your security, your Yahoo! Mail session expires a maximum of eight hours after you have logged in. If you have chosen in your Yahoo! User Information to be prompted for a password more frequently than every eight hours, your session will expire after the specified amount of time. If you do not accept the cookies set on login or your computer is not configured to accept cookies, your session will expire almost immediately. We use cookies (small pieces of site information) to assist us in user authentication and in saving configuration information. Cookies are required for Yahoo! Mail. If you see this message immediately after logging in, you should check the following:

Calorimetry Lab

Which foods have the most calories? Hypothesis: If we burn the food then the heating released will be measured as calories because the energy stored Inside Is released as heat and light. Parts of the experiment Control Group-water Experimental Group- different foods Independent variable- Type of food Dependent Variable- temperature of water Controlled variables- water temperature of unheated water Materials Stirring Rod, Beaker, ring clamp, evaporating disk, matches, crackers, marshmallows Analysis Questions 1 . Which foods gave off the most calories/gram?Marshmallows 2. Which foods gave off the least calories/gram? The chips give off the least, when they were burned we realized they had the least. 3. How do these results compare with your prediction? The result are somewhat like my prediction, I predicted that when the food is burned it will release heat and light.I liked this lab because it's a way to figure UT certain things within food substances. I probably would not take the ti me out to try it out at home, but I did like the lab. Despite us being very careful with trying to make everything accurate I don't think everything was so accurate. However scientists do this all the time to fugue out the calories of foods, so it is still a legit experiment. The temperatures did not change drastically it was mostly around 4 or 4. 5 degrees Celsius. Citation Mar. 2013. Web. 14 May 2014. Http://www. Chem†¦ Davidson. Deed/vice/calorimeter/ heatcapacityofcalorimeter. HTML

The Masque of the Red Death

â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† Literary Analysis: A Look at Imagery We continue our literary analysis of â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† by Edgar Allan Poe with a look at the graphic imagery in the short story. players †¢ slide 1 of 4 Imagery is the use of figurative or descriptive language to create a vivid mental picture. It involves at least one of the five senses–sight, sound, touch, feel, taste. Imagery in â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† is ghastly. †¢ slide 2 of 4 Example of Imagery – â€Å"There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution.The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the sympathy of his fellow men. † (145). Senses – Sight, Touch Analysis – Poe establishes the mood and setting of the story with the vivid description of the Red Death. The passage establishes the h orror of the disease and explains why the guests would react to the blood stained intruder at the end of the story. †¢ slide 3 of 4 Imagery in the 7th RoomExample of Imagery – 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 the carpet of the same material and hue† (146). Senses – Sight, Touch Analysis: The oppressiveness of the 7th room contrasts the gaiety of the previous six. The darkness of the room and the heaviness and darkness of the curtain symbolizes death. No wonder none of the guests wish to come near it. Note the pun on â€Å"shroud. † Example of Imagery – â€Å"The panes here were scarlet–a deep color†¦.In the corridors that followed the suite, there stood, opposite to each window, a heavy tripod, bearing a brazier of fire, that projected its rays through the tinted glass and so glaringly illuminated the room. And thus were produced a multitude of gaudy and fantastic appearances†¦ The effect of the firelight that streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood tinted panes was ghastly in the extreme† (146-7) Senses – Sight Analysis – So much for peaceful death. The images created by the brazier of fire and blood tinted glass give the room of death a ghastly appearance.The gaudy and fantastic appearances, the blood tinted panes, and the fire create an image of hell, hinting that perhaps the guests and the Prince fear not just the Red Death, but their eternal fate. †¢ slide 4 of 4 More Examples Example of Imagery – â€Å"Its pendulum swung to and fro with a heavy monotonous clang; there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical† (147). Senses – Sound Analysis – No wonder the musicians stopped when this clock struck.Poe uses personification–brazen lungs–to em phasize the deepness of the â€Å"heavy monotonous clang,† a clang that serves as an hourly reminder to the guests that death is approaching. Example of Imagery – â€Å"The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habilments of the grave†¦ His vesture was dabed in blood and his broad brow, with all the features of the face was besprinkled with the scarlet horror. † (149). Senses – Sight Death – The personified Red Death strikes fear and anger in the hearts of Prospero and his guests.Once the Red Death appears, it never leaves. Symbolism in â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† Why are there seven rooms in â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death†? Learn all that and more with this guide to symbolism. latest †¢ slide 1 of 6 Edgar Allan Poe's â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† should be studied at many levels: (1) the literal level – the literal level is a study of the events that actually take plac e in the story; (2) an allegorical level – an allegory is a story in which the objects, characters, and events are symbolic of something grander in scale.In order to understand the story allegorically, one needs a firm understanding of symbols in â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death. † †¢ slide 2 of 6 Symbols ; Analysis The Red Death symbolizes the inevitability of death. Although there is no specific disease with the exact symptoms described in the story, critics believe the disease's description has elements of tuberculosis, a disease which killed many of those close to Poe. It also brings forth memories of the Black Death which depopulated much of Europe during the Middle Ages.The Castle represents man's efforts to prevent death. Regardless of wealth, social position, or popularity, death arrives as an uninvited guest. Prince Prospero symbolizes the end of feudalism. Prospero's inviting only wealthy knights and ladies to his castle at the expense of peasants and c ommoners represents the socioeconomic divide between landowners and peasants that existed during the feudalistic period. It is not coincidental that the Black Death, which reduced the number of workers, led to a demand for labor and played an important role in ending feudalism in Europe.The Ebony Clock is a constant reminder of death and symbolizes the inevitability of it. The revelers could neither stop its pendulum from swinging nor could they prevent its ominous tones from dampering their enthusiasm. †¢ The Seven Rooms represent the stages of life. More on this later. The Masqueraders symbolize all humans and gives creedence to the interpretation that the seven rooms represent the seven ages of man (covered further in the next section). †¢ slide 3 of 6 Color Symbolism Colors play an important role in this story:Red – The most obvious color symbolism in â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† is in its title. Red symbolizes death and blood. The gruesome descript ion of the Red Death gives the color a ghastly connotation, especially in light of the red window panes contained in the death room at the far western end of the imperial suite. Black/Ebony – The seventh room was â€Å"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† (146).This seventh room contains â€Å"no light of any kind† and represents the darkness of death. In this room stands the ebony clock. Upon hearing its chimes the guests were reminded of death: â€Å"the giddiest grew pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as if in confused reverie or meditation† (147). Blue/Purple/Green/Orange/White/Violet – These are the colors of the first six rooms in the imperial suite. I will address them together insomuch that they represent a prism and therefore reflect a progression, lending creedence to the interpre tation that the story is an allegory for life.This interpretation, however, is complicated by the fact that the color of Prospero's room do not occur in the same sequence as they do in a prism, possibly reflective of Prospero's twisted sense of fairness or an attempt by the author to associate particular colors with a specific period in life. †¢ Others interpret the 7 rooms in â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† as a symbol of Prospero's indulgence in the seven deadly sins: 1. Pride/Vanity – Pride is the excessive belief in one's own abilities, similar to vanity, which is setting one's heart on things of little value.Prospero's belief that he is more powerful than death is a vivid demonstration of pride. 2. Envy – It is unclear who the Prince might envy, but he sure is trying hard to impress someone. 3. Gluttony – Gluttony is the act of consuming more than one is required. Instead of using his means to protect more people, something he is obligated to do as prince, he lavishes his guests with â€Å"ample provisions† and â€Å"the appliances of pleasure. † 4. Lust – Lust is an excessive craving for the pleasures of the body, usually associated with sex. The era in which Poe wrote prohibited he explicit or implicit description of sex, but what do you think was going on at an anything goes party? 5. Anger – The Prince becomes angry with the uninvited guest and attacks it. 6. Greed – Although it is apparent Prince Prospero shares his wealth with a thousand guests, he helps those who need it least and withholds his substance from those in need. 7. Sloth – Sloth is the absence of work. The prince seems like a hard worker; his work, however, is on the physical realm not the spiritual realm. †¢ slide 6 of 6 What do you think they mean? If you have an alternate interpretation, let me know in the comments.

A Self-Publishing Formula That Works

A Self-Publishing Formula That Works If you are an author who is currently self-publishing, or planning to self-publish, Self-Publishing Formula is a valuable resource. The site is packed with up-to-date information on writing, publishing and marketing your book. The site offers a regularly updated blog and a weekly podcast, along with courses, resources and a weekly email newsletter.SPF offers an excellent range of tools to help authors keep up with the complex and fast-moving world of self-publishing. The mastermind behind the site is Mark Dawson, an award-nominated USA Today Bestselling Author, who has published more than 20 books and sold over 2 million copies. SPF really is a one-stop resource for self-published authors, offering everything from a free starter package and video training, to a closed Facebook community where authors can network and get answers to their questions.Navigating the siteThe site is user-friendly and easy to navigate, with clearly displayed links to the blog, the podcast and the online cou rses currently on offer. A handy start here page shows a brief introductory video, and invites new visitors to download their free resources. On that page, you will also find a direct link to the podcast, an invite to join the private Facebook Group, and directions on how to download the SPF app, should you wish to. The app lets you listen to the podcast, download the free books, and log into any courses you are taking, with just one click, from your phone or mobile device.The blogThe SPF blog aims to educate, inform and entertain, with regular news from the self-publishing industry, along with a lot of practical and actionable tips that cover writing, publishing, launching, and marketing your self-published books. Topics covered in recent posts include:How to build your author websiteBig name authors who are now self-publishingHow to work effectively with a critique partnerBranding yourself as an authorSteps to building a successful author careerHow to be more productiveHow to get found by readersHow to increase your writing speedWord counts and whether they really matterThe ten most valuable tools for an indie authorThe blog also publishes a Weekly Write-Up every Wednesday, where they collect together any news that may affect self-published authors. This can cover anything from changes in Amazons publishing terms, to new author services that companies are launching, to changes within the major social media networks that could affect authors.The SPF podcastThe podcast runs weekly and includes interviews with authors making their name in the self-publishing world. Authors Dawson has interviewed include Ian Sutherland and Laurie Wright, among many others. The topics covered by the podcast are wide-reaching, and as with any podcast, the conversation can go off topic, often revealing even more valuable snippets of information. Recent podcast episodes include:A Successful Author Mindset, with Adam CroftKeeping It Clean, with sweet romance author Anne-Marie MeyerWh y You Need To Be Publishing Audiobooks, with Tina DietzHow To Start That Awesome Author Website, with John DyerHow To Self-Publish and Market a Childrens Book, with Laurie WrightThe Power of Focus, with Kam KnightNovel Adaptation: Turning Books Into Screenplays, with Paul FitzsimonsFacebook Changes What They Mean For Authors, with Mark DawsonFive Types of Bad Review What To Do About Them, with Molly McCordGetting Twitter To Fly For Authors, with Ian SutherlandTurning Personal Stories Into Marketable Books, with Owen ZuppGreat Website Design for Authors, with Dave StansbieAs you can see, there is a huge variety within the topics offered and the authors invited on to the podcast. All podcasts are available to listen to for free via a variety of apps, or you can listen direct via the website. You can also, of course, download the SPF app and listen on any device.Book marketingAny self-published author knows that writing and publishing a book is only half the battle. SPF places a stro ng emphasis on marketing your book, looking at every stage in the process, from pre-publication tasks (such as cover design, blurb writing and building an email list) through to planning a launch, and running advertising campaigns to boost ongoing sales.Resources that are particularly useful to help you market your books include these podcast episodes:Systemised Book Marketing, with Gabriel MercerHow To Boost Your Book Marketing With Pinterest, with Pip ReidTop Book Launch Tips, with Tim GrahlThe first two of the free books listed below are also valuable resources if you are planning paid advertising campaigns for your books.Free resourcesIf you click on the resources link in the website header, you will be taken straight to a page where you can opt to receive seven eBooks for authors, completely free. The books on offer are:Mastering Simple Facebook AdsLearn Amazon AdsWriting a Page TurnerHow To Work With An EditorWriters Yellow PagesTen Tips For Topping the Romance ChartsThe Vault Once again, the topics covered are varied, with something that will be of interest to most indie authors. The last eBook on the list, The Vault, is a compilation of the transcripts of fifty SPF podcast episodes, packed with tips and strategies for self-published authors. The eBook is searchable, so you can easily find the topics that most interest you.These books form part of the SPF starter package, which also includes a three-part video series on getting started with Facebook Ads, to compliment the book on the same topic. Along with these downloads, subscribers receive a useful weekly newsletter by email, and an invitation to join the private Facebook group.Courses for authorsSelf-Publishing Formula also provides three paid online courses for authors.Self-Publishing 101Advertising For AuthorsCover Design For AuthorsThese courses are open for registration at specific times throughout the year, but if the one you are interested in isnt currently running, you can join a waiting list to be notified when the course opens again.Self-Publishing 101 claims to teach you everything you need to know from the moment your type THE END on your manuscript. The course covers formatting your books for publication, making your books available on all major sales platforms, cover design, writing your blurb, creating your website and building your mailing list, getting reader reviews and creating a launch plan for your book.Advertising for Authors markets itself as the premier social media advertising course specifically crafted for writers. This course is aimed at people who already have a basic knowledge of social media advertising and is suitable for authors at the intermediate to advanced level, writing both fiction and nonfiction. Some topics in the course include how to create and target your Facebook Ads correctly, how to monitor your ads, optimising your Amazon product page, and optimising your Amazon ads campaign. There are bonus modules on using specific platforms, nam ely Twitter, YouTube, and Bookbub, and a further module on copywriting for success.In the Cover Design for Authors course, authors learn to craft cover designs that attract attention, boost visibility and increase sales. The course covers effective design, understanding genre, and familiarity theory (or why its better to fit in with what readers expect of your genre rather than stand out), as well as practical Photoshop skills to enable you to produce a professional-looking cover that sells your book. The course also gives you access to a private, students-only Facebook group so you can share tips and ideas, and get feedback.On the courses page, you can also access the free List Building for Authors mini-course, described as a three-part Masterclass to show you how to use simple, cost-effective Facebook ads to find prospective readers and get them on to your mailing list.The author behind the siteMost indie authors know that to become successful, you have to be able to wear the hat of a marketer as well as a writer. Mark Dawson, the brains behind the SPF website, has certainly embraced that idea. Dawson had his first two books traditionally published, and while they were initially well-received, without marketing momentum behind them, they quickly sank without a trace as Dawson puts it. The author decided to learn about publishing, marketing, advertising and self-promotion to ensure future books didnt suffer the same fate.He went on to publish over 20 books, both fiction and nonfiction, and now enjoys a high six-figure income and an amazingly flexible lifestyle. Based in Salisbury, England, Dawson is now a USA Today bestselling author, who has been featured everywhere from Forbes to The Financial Times and interviewed on national radio.Mark Dawsons commitment to helping other authors succeed is reflected in the lengths he has gone to make the SPF website a resource library for new and established self-published authors. It is a website well worth bookmarking, for any writer thinking about self-publishing or struggling to make a success of marketing their current books.

How to Earn Computer Certifications Online

How to Earn Computer Certifications Online Whether you’re looking to broaden the number of companies you can apply to, or simply would like to learn a new skill, there are many options for technology certification and training online. While most credible certification processes require you to take the exam at an authorized testing location, almost all of them do permit you to do all training and preparation work via the internet.When seeking certification, keep in mind that not all types of certification require applicants to complete online training programs. In many cases, certification can be awarded simply by passing an exam. Most certification providers provide training and test prep, but they often charge additional fees to access it. It’s generally best to check the provider’s website for information on the certification first to get a good feel for what preparation is required and what you’ll need help with. Once you decide that the certification is right for you, note the cost to take the exam, and whether the certification provider offers any online assistance free of charge. Fortunately, there are some excellent resources for preparing for certification online that are available free of charge.Some of the more common certification types include: CompTIA A, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Cisco Certification (CCNA CCNP), Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS), and the Certified Novell Engineer (CNE). CompTIA A Certification Employers often ask that those looking for IT type position carry some form of certification. For those looking to work with computer hardware, one of the most common certification sought is Comptia A. The A certification demonstrates that you possess the basic foundation of knowledge necessary to provide IT support and is often considered a good jumping off point for those looking to have a career working with computers. Information on the exam and links to online preparation options are available at Comptia.org. Free test prep can be obtained from ProfessorMesser.com. Microsoft Certified System Engineer The MCSE is a good certification to get if you’re looking for employment with a business that uses Microsoft networked systems. It’s good for those with a year or two of experience with networks and some familiarity with Windows systems. Information on the certification,  as well  as testing locations, is provided at the Microsoft website. Free preparation for the exam as well as training material can be found at mcmcse.com. Cisco Certification Cisco certification, particularly the CCNA, is highly valued by employers with large networks. Those looking for a career working with computer networks, network security, and internet service providers will be well served by Cisco certification. Information on certification can be found at Cisco.com. Free study guides and tools can be found at Semsim.com. Microsoft Office Specialist Certification Those looking to work with Microsoft office products such as Excel or PowerPoint will be well served with an MOS certification. While not often specifically requested by employers, an MOS certification is a strong way of demonstrating ones aptitude with a specific Microsoft application. They are also less intense to prepare for than some of the other common certifications. Information from Microsoft on this is available. Free test preparation can be difficult to find, but some practice tests are available for free at Techulator.com. Certified Novell Engineer The CNE is ideal for those looking to, or currently working with Novell software such as Netware. As Novell products seem less used today than they once were, this certification is probably ideal only if you already plan to work with Novell networks. Information on the certification can be found at Novell.com. A directory of free preparation materials can be found at Certification-Crazy.net.Whatever certification you choose to pursue, be sure to review the preparation requirements and costs. Some of the most difficult certification types can take many months to prepare for, so be sure that you’re able to invest the time and resources necessary to get certified. If your virtual certification efforts go well, you may also be interested in earning an online degree.

Ecology lab report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ecology lab report - Essay Example This report looks at diversity of different species and draws conclusion about the findings. In community ecology, there is a study of how species interact within themselves in a given community. This study considers variables such as structure, abundance, distribution and demography. Further, some patterns of ecology like equitability, food web, productivity, and species richness and community assembly are considered in modern study of communities in ecology. Background History. In a community, species interact in different ways. There has been a cleavage on how community works in the field of ecology. There are different biotic and abiotic factors that affect the way species in a community interact. Competition, mutualism, parasitism, commensalism and predation are some of the biotic factors that affect the way a community exists. Depending on how the factors interplay, a community may change within a given time frame, thus looking different from the way it was before. Competition occurs when there are finite resources to be used by an increasing population of different species. Competition is a very important limiting factor in biomass, population size and richness of species. There exist different types of competition. Competition can happen between individuals in a direct manner, or between populations or species. Interference competition is that which happens when an individual of a species directly interferes with anothe r individual in other species. For example, if a hound makes a kill and is chased from it by a lion, this is called interference competition. (Hollar p 66). When Deers fight during a rut, this is a manifestation of competition in form of interference. This takes form of aggression between individuals. Individuals interfere with others through survival, foraging, preventing others from reproduction and physical prevention of others to establish a habitat. Exploitative

International personnel and development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International personnel and development - Essay Example recruitment and selection process, management development and performance appraisal has a significant effect on the international reward and compensation packages a company is offering to the expatriates. Therefore, international HR management should take it as a challenge to avoid possible weak points in its international reward and compensation packages. To avoid legal issues in other countries, the company should exert an effort to make sure that its international HR management group will comply with the labour laws in its five major business group. Basically, the role and responsibility of international HR management does not end in sending out expatriates on international assignment, this group of individuals should also develop and implement competitive repatriation packages to prolong the long-term benefits of LVMH’s increasing number of expatriates. Established in 1971, LVMH expanded its business to become the leading luxury brand conglomerate in the world. As a successful aggregate confederacy of brands, LVMH is now composed of 50 companies that are directly managing 450 subsidiaries in the world market (p. 319). Handling its subsidiaries, each of the 50 companies is composed of a President and Executive Committee monitors the business activities of each subsidiary. Although LVMH acknowledges the importance of being multi-cultural when managing its businesses all over the world, LVMH’s human resource department is encountering challenges related to the company’s existing career development strategies due to lack of international experience. Employing a total of 56,000 employees in different countries, the HR department of LVMH is challenged to attract, develop and retain competitive managers with global competence by improving the company’s HR strategies related to career development and international mobility options. Engaged by the Corporate Head Quarters as a Principal Consultant with McStrategy Consulting expertise, a literature-based

Argument of After Shock Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Argument of After Shock - Essay Example The book Aftershock is a manual that illustrates the declining state of US economy, its consequences and after effects although the authors justly verify the purpose pf the book as stated in the text, â€Å"It ’s only bad news for your personal economy if you don ’ t do anything about it† Hence this book suggests methods and remedies through which personal economic damage can be minimized even when the economy on the whole is falling apart. As the authors say in the book, â€Å"All we can offer is realism, based on facts and logical analysis† (10) and the rest depends on the reader and his interest in benefiting from the writers’ perspective Every fact that is stated in the book is based on, â€Å"a reliable theory of economic evolution, backed up by cold, hard facts, and not random guesses† (11). So such an analysis helps in providing the readers an in depth and logical account of the current situation. The writers use the concept of a †˜Bubble’ as a metaphor to illustrate the unpredictability and the temporariness of the economic conditions of the United States. As stated in the text, â€Å"†¦economic bubbles, by nature, do not stay afloat forever. Sooner or later, economic reality, like gravity, eventually kicks in, and bubbles do fall. After they burst, they never are able to re - inflate and lift off again†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (4). In their point of view the US economy comprises of six bubbles, â€Å"These bubbles included: the real estate bubble, stock market bubble, discretionary spending bubble, dollar bubble, and government debt bubble† (5).... The fundamental advantage of this bubble economic system was that, â€Å"†¦these six linked economic bubbles helped co – create America ’ s booming bubble economy†¦ these bubbles helped us ignore slowing productivity growth, boost our prosperity, disregard some fundamental problems, and keep the party going† (31). However once the decline started there was no possible solution to stop the decline and this decline is explained in the following words in the text, â€Å"First, we had the fall of the U.S. housing bubble and its downward impact on the stock market bubble, the private debt bubble, and the discretionary spending bubble†¦ Next, in the Aftershock, the dollar bubble and the U.S. government debt bubbles will begin their unavoidable descents†¦ And as the final bubbles in America’s bubble economy begin to burst, so will the world’s bubble economy† (33). The real estate or the housing bubble was the first pillar of the economic system that collapsed because the price and expenditures of making a new house increased greatly and outpaced the increase in an individual’s salary and eventually its decline started in 2006 and hence resulted in the rest of the downfall of the economic system. The private debt bubble involves the bank loans and the mortgage payments. When the stock market and the housing economic system crumpled the private debt sector also suffered a severe shock that ultimately led to its decline. The discretionary spending bubble is concerned with the total sum of money spent by the consumer. However due to recession when people started losing their jobs and the rate of unemployment increased consequently people started cutting their

Walmart and Government in China Essay Example for Free

Walmart and Government in China Essay When Walmart decided to expand into China, a countless number of hurdles stood in its place. They knew that the store model that has made them the number one retailer in the world was not going to work within Chinese culture, but just how much different would they have to be from the cookie-cutter stores that are found all across the United States? In order to dominate the retail market in China as successfully as they have in other markets across the world, dynamic change and the ability and willingness to work with the Chinese government would be crucial to their success in China. Faced with the strict rules and regulations that would hamper their growth and general operations, Walmart had to find a way to make and keep China and her people happy. Along with all the excitement, pomp, and circumstance that Walmart would bring into China, certain blemishes would follow as well. Low wages, discrimination, and utter dominance over an area it occupies left many questions as to whether Walmart would be accepted or rejected. But the first stumbling block that Walmart would have to face upon entering China would be one of its most challenging: The Government of the People’s Republic of China (Naughton). Upon entering any foreign market, one of the biggest problems facing Walmart and its expansion is government regulation and government worry over the massive company’s monopolization and impact on local markets. Moving into China, Walmart was going to have to assure the Chinese government that they were there to give the Chinese people a better retail alternative, provide abundant employment, and help China’s economy by establishing healthy competition, all while providing the Chinese people with an increased range of products and increased product quality available at the lowest possible prices (Huffman). Walmart in the United States is a very powerful company. In other countries, however, they are not viewed the same. This became very clear when they entered into China. Walmart faced problems that couldn’t be fixed with quick solutions. Finding suppliers, dealing with unions, rigid local competition, and cooperating with a communist government are examples of such problems. Once it found solutions to the above problems, Walmart opened a Supercenter  and Sam’s Club in Shenzhen in 1996 (Foreman). Walmart China, as it is known today, actively participates in communities by providing funding for charities, education and medical care. In fact, in April of this year, Wal-Mart launched its third annual nationwide community service week: â€Å"Keeping the Traditional Virtues – Walmart Filial Piety Activity†. For a period of one week, community service for the elders of each specific community holding the event was performed. This government and community involvement is necessary for Walmart and the trust it needs to gain from the Chinese people (Walmart). When Walmart first opened its doors back in 1996, they first felt the restraints from the government while trying to put products on their shelves. As an result of Mao and the period when every village and community was designed to be self sufficient, Walmart could not set up conventional distribution centers such as are found here in the United States. Products that would move from one city to another would require the approval of local officials, a task of staggering proportions. Instead, Walmart has had to set up buyers in each community and city that it operates in to purchase items that have to be bought locally through government and state approved vendors. Because of this, there are not very many national brands that can be found inside of Walmart China. This is gradually changing as China evolves and her people become more influenced by western culture and style. An example would be with cosmetics. When Walmart China first opened, the cosmetics available would not sell. It wasn’t until demonstrations were given and the local Chinese ladies were given makeovers that the make-up started to sell. As a result, not only did the cosmetics started selling fast, Walmart was able to bring in more expensive, higher-end brands (Trunick). When Walmart China bought initial products from suppliers back in the first few years in operation, for every purchase order issued, there were twenty-one documents that went along with it, simply to comply with central and local government regulations. Each individual store had to write the purchase orders by hand and issue their own checks. There could be no  central ordering or payment systems. Hard paperwork was required, and still is today although not as much, which resulted in having to pay additional employees to process the paperwork, subjects documents to human error, and is simply inefficient. Today, although the rules are definitely felt and abided by, regulations are slowly easing up. Walmart is slowly becoming able to centralize more and more of its processes (Trunick). Walmart is a well-admired company today in China. Just as employee songs and Walmart chants can be found in sites in the United States, they can be found in the Chinese locations as well. Adjusting to operating under the People’s Republic of China wasn’t the only thing Walmart had to get used to. They also had to get used to local customs and preferences. When Sam’s club first opened, it didn’t do as well as the Sam’s clubs here. The simple fact was that the Chinese didn’t have storage available to them such as we take for granted here in the States. The Sam’s Club in Shenzhen had to evolve to fit the needs of its customers and not vice-versa if it was to succeed. It did and it has, respectfully (Huffman). In every country, city, and community around the world that Walmart operates in, they constantly strive to be an asset to the area they are in. Not only do they provide numerous jobs to the areas, including employment to disable persons, they enable families to be able to afford things that they may not otherwise be able to afford. The contributions that Walmart makes to every community its in are numerous, and Walmart China is no exception. A few examples of the awards Walmart has won in China, according to the Walmart China website, are as follows: †¢Supplier Satisfaction by Business Information of Shanghai for five consecutive years. †¢Best Employer for University Student. †¢Leading Multi-National Enterprise in Asia by Asian Wall Street Journal. †¢Best Employer in China Retail Industry by CCFA. †¢China Most Valuable Brand by Fortune Chinese Version. †¢2008 Top 10 Best investing Fortune 500 Companies in China by Southern Weekend Magazine. †¢Excellent Employer by Fortune Chinese Version. †¢Multi-Nation Company Charitable Donations by Forbes Chinese Version. †¢Most  Admired Company by Fortune Chinese Version. †¢Best Community by Guangming Daily. Today, Walmart serves more than 28 million customers each month in 89 cities throughout China. It employs over fifty thousand people in China alone. Along with improving the way of life for the people and towns it serves, Walmart China is also helping the environment in the areas it operates in. In the mountainous regions of China, it is building water reservoirs in order to help solve water shortage problems facing the farmers and residents residing there. To help villagers reduce their carbon footprint and provide hot water to their village, Walmart is supporting the installation of solar panels. They also have implemented a direct farm program that works to eliminate the amount of time fruits and vegetables take to get to the store. Not only does this help to ensure the best possible quality of produce, it helps sustain the local farms and villages who produce the goods. It ends up being a win for the consumer as well as the grower (Walmart). Despite the governmental control that China has on Walmart versus other countries that Walmart operates in, China as proven to be a goldmine for Walmart’s growth, especially since their expansion has slowed in markets such as the United States due to such factors as saturation and slowed economy. Emerging economies, such as what China is experiencing, is extremely promising for Walmart’s continued growth and development. Walmart China has taken problems and turned them into opportunities. By working heavily with the local and national government, they have been able to overcome barriers to ensure their continued success. The biggest challenge that Walmart has faced in China is the acceptance of organized labor. In every market but China, Walmart has aggressively worked to keep unions out of their store. But unlike labor unions such as we have here, the unions in China are different. Chinese unions don’t negotiate labor contracts as they do here. In China, they are considered an arm of the government, they help secure social order, and they provide funding to the Communist Party. After several years of unrelenting persistence by the government, Walmart China finally buckled and unions were established across the nation (Naughton). Works Cited Foreman, William. â€Å"Wal-Mart’s New Market: Small Town China†. Huffington Post. 18 Oct. 2008. 1 Dec. 2009 . Huffman, Ted. â€Å"Wal-Mart in China: Challenges Facing a Foreign Retailers Supply Chain†. China Business Review. 1 Dec. 2009 http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/public/0309/wal-mart.html. Naughton, Keith. â€Å"The Great Wal-Mart of China†. Newsweek. 30 Oct. 2006. 5 Dec. 2009 . Trunick, Perry. â€Å"Wal-Mart Reinvents Itself in China†. Logistics Today. 6 Jan. 2006. 5 Dec. 2009 . Walmart. â€Å"A Brief Introduction to Wal-Mart in China†. Wal-Mart China. 7 May 2009. 5 Dec. 2009 .

Leadership Skills Essay -- Management

When an organization, business, or agency fails to achieve their set objectives poor leadership is regularly scrutinized as the leading cause of inefficiency. In many respects this holds true because of the countless skills need to successfully lead in both public and private enterprise. Although there are similarities between both public and private management, public servants are held directly accountable to their customers/citizens. In light of this, leadership skills within the public sector are essentials in providing its customers with public goods. These public goods include welfare programs, education, police protection and environmental standards (Starling, 2011 p. 28). If public entities contained leaders that possess interpersonal, informational, and communicational skills governmental programs and services would be more efficient. Throughout this analysis we will address the case study of Dr. Helene Gayle and apply the skills of effective leadership to its events. Interpersonal skills One of the many challenges facing public administrators today is the need to build relationships that foster a work environment that is conducive to collaboration. With numerous social issues transcending borders, the need to cooperate is high. It is stated in Norma Riccucci text that one of the reasons why Gayle is a successful public servants is her interpersonal skills in building strong relationships which created an organizational atmosphere that encouraged teamwork across agencies and borders. According to Riccucci text â€Å"one of the reasons why Dr. Gayle has been so successful at collaboration-building bridges and fostering communication between the federal government, various communities, and global partners-is her skillful i... ...c administrators must process certain leadership skills to effectively manage public policy. In analyses of Norma Riccuccis case study it was found that Gayle success within public health was due to her leadership skills. Gayle’s ability to balance political influence with her own vision of public health created an agency of cooperation. References Riccucci, Norma, M. (2002). Managing Across Boundaries: A case study of Dr. Helene Gayle and the AIDS epidemic. Transforming Organizations Series, Retrieved from: https://bblearn.nau.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-866618-dt-content-rid-10067936_1/courses/1121-NAU00-PAS-421C-SEC806-7479.NAU-PSSIS/AIDSEpidemic.pdf Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2010). Leadership, theory, application, & skill development. (4 ed.). South-Western Pub. Starling, G. (2011). Managing the public sector. (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Pub Co.

Night World : The Chosen Chapter 8

Well?† Daphne said. â€Å"I think it's the slave trade.† And, Rashel thought, I think I was right-this is something big. The Night World slave trade had been banned a long time ago-back in medieval days, if she remembered the stories correctly. The Council apparently had decided that kidnapping humans and selling them to Night People for food or amusement was just too dangerous. But it sounded as if Quinn might be reviving it, probably without the Council's permission. How very enterprising of him. I was right about killing him, too, Rashel thought. There's no choice now. He's as bad as I imagined- and worse. Daphne was goggling. â€Å"They were going to make me a slave?† she almost yelled. â€Å"Sh.† Rashel glanced at the man behind the doughnut counter. â€Å"I think so. Well-a slave and a sort of perpetual food supply if you were sold to vampires. Probably just dinner if you were going to werewolves.† Daphne's lips repeated werewolves silently. But Rashel was speaking again before she could ask about it. â€Å"Look, Daphne-did you get any idea about where you might be going? You said they mentioned a boat. But a boat to where? What city?† â€Å"I don't know. They never talked about any city. They just said the boat was ready†¦ and something about an aunt-clave.† She pronounced it ont-clave. â€Å"The girl said, ‘When we get to the aunt-clave†¦'† Daphne broke off as Rashel grabbed her wrist. â€Å"An enclave,† Rashel whispered. Thin chills of excitement were running through her. â€Å"They were talking about an enclave.† Daphne nodded, looking alarmed. â€Å"I guess.† This was big. This was†¦ bigger than big. It was incredible. A vampire enclave. The kidnapped girls were being taken to one of the hidden enclaves, one of the secret strongholds no vampire hunter had ever managed to penetrate. No human had even discovered the location of one. If I could get there†¦ if I could get in†¦ She could learn enough to destroy a whole town of vampires. Wipe an enclave off the face of the earth. She knew she could. â€Å"Uh, Rashel? You're hurting me.† â€Å"Sorry.† Rashel let go of Daphne's arm. â€Å"Now, listen,† she said fiercely. â€Å"I saved your life, right? I mean, they were going to do terrible things to you. So you owe me, right?† â€Å"Yeah, sure; sure, I owe you.† Daphne made pacifying motions with her hands. â€Å"Are you okay?† â€Å"Yes. I'm fine. But I need your help. I want you to tell me everything about that club. Everything I need to get in-and get chosen.† Daphne stared at her. â€Å"I'm sorry; you're crazy.† â€Å"No, no. I know what I'm doing. As long as they don't know I'm a vampire hunter, it'll be okay. I have to get to that enclave.† Daphne slowly shook her blond head. â€Å"What, you're going to, like, slay them all? By yourself? Can't we just tell the police?† â€Å"Not all by myself. I could take a couple of other vampire hunters to help me. And as for the police†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Rashel stopped and sighed. â€Å"Okay. I guess there are some things I should explain. Then maybe you'll understand better.† She raised her eyes and looked at Daphne steadily. â€Å"First, I should tell you about the Night World. Look, even before you met those vampires, didn't you ever have the feeling that there was something eerie going on, right alongside our world and all mixed up in it?† She made it as simple as she could, and tried to answer Daphne's questions patiently. And at last, Daphne sat back, looking sick and more frightened than Rashel had seen her yet. â€Å"They're all over,† Daphne said, as if she still didn't believe it. â€Å"In the police departments. In the government. And nobody's ever been able to do anything about them.† â€Å"The only people who've had any success are the ones who work secretly, in small groups or alone. We stay hidden. We're very careful. And we weed them out, one by one. That's what it means to be a vampire hunter.† She leaned forward. â€Å"Now do you see why it's so important for me to get to that enclave? It's a chance to get at a whole bunch of them all at once, to wipe out one of their hiding places. Not to mention stopping the slave trade. Don't you think it should be stopped?† Daphne opened her mouth, shut it again. â€Å"Okay,† she said finally, and sighed. â€Å"I'll help. I can tell you what to talk about, how to act. At least what worked for me.† She cocked her head. â€Å"You're going to have to dress differently†¦.† â€Å"I'll get a couple of other vampire hunters and we'll meet tomorrow after school. Let's say six-thirty. Right now, I'm taking you home. You need to sleep.† She waited to see if Daphne would object, but the other girl just nodded and sighed again. â€Å"Yeah. You know, after some of the things I've learned, home's starting to look good.† â€Å"Just one more thing,† Rashel said. â€Å"You can't tell anybody about what happened to you. Tell them anything-that you ran away, whatever-but not the truth. Okay?† â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"And especially don't tell anyone about me. Got it? My life may depend on it.† â€Å"Elliot's not here.† The voice on the telephone was cold and as hostile as Rashel had ever heard it. â€Å"Vicky, I need to talk to him. Or somebody. I'm telling you, this is our chance to get to an enclave. The girl from the warehouse heard them talking about it.† It was Friday afternoon and Rashel was phoning from a booth near her school. Vicky was speaking heavily. â€Å"We staked out that street for days and didn't see anything, but you just happened to be in the right place at the right time to help a girl escape.† â€Å"Yes. I already told you.† â€Å"Well, that was convenient, wasn't it?† Rashel gripped the handset more tightly. â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"Just that it would be a very dangerous thing, going to a vampire enclave. And that a person would have to really trust whoever was giving them the information about it. You'd have to be sure it wasn't a trap.† Rashel stared at the phone buttons, controlling her breathing. â€Å"I see.† â€Å"Yes, well, you don't have much credibility around here anymore. Not since letting that vampire get away. And this sounds like just the sort of thing you'd do if you were in on it with them.† Great, Rashel thought. I've managed to convince her that I really am a vampire sympathizer. Aloud she said, â€Å"Is that what Nyala is telling everybody? That I'm working with the Night World?† â€Å"I don't know what Nyala is doing.† Vicky sounded waspish and a little uneasy. â€Å"I haven't seen her since Tuesday and nobody answers at her house.† Rashel tried to make her voice calm and reasonable. â€Å"Will you at least tell Elliot what I'm doing? Then he can call me if he wants to.† â€Å"Don't hold your breath,† Vicky said, and hung up. Great. Terrific. Rashel replaced the handset wondering if she wasn't supposed to hold her breath until Elliot called, or until Vicky passed on the message. One thing was clear: she couldn't count on any help from the Lancers. Or any other vampire hunters. Nyala could be spreading any kind of rumors, and Rashel didn't dare even call another group. There was no choice. She'd have to do it alone. That night she went to Daphne's house. â€Å"Well, she's grounded,† Mrs. Childs said at the door. She was a small woman with a baby in one hand, a Pampers in the other, and a toddler clutching her leg. â€Å"But I guess you can go upstairs.† Upstairs, Daphne had to chase a younger sister out of the bedroom before Rashel could sit down. â€Å"You see, I don't even have a room of my own,† she said. â€Å"And you're grounded. But you're alive,† Rashel said, and raised her eyebrows. â€Å"Hi.† â€Å"Oh. Hi.† Daphne looked embarrassed. Then she smiled, sitting cross-legged on her bed. â€Å"You're wearing normal clothes.† Rashel glanced down at her sweater and jeans. â€Å"Yeah, the ninja outfit's just my career uniform.† Daphne grinned. â€Å"Well, you're still going to have to look different if you're going to get into the club. Should we start now, or do you want to wait for the others?† Rashel stared at a row of perfume bottles on the dresser across the room. â€Å"There aren't going to be any others.† â€Å"But I thought you said†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Look. It's hard to explain, but I've had a little problem with the vampire hunters around here. So I'm doing it without them. It's no problem. We can start now.† â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Daphne pursed her lips. She looked different from the disheveled wild creature Rashel had rescued from the street last night. Her blond hair was soft and fluffy, her cornflower blue eyes were large and innocent, her face was round and sweet. She was fashionably dressed and she seemed relaxed, in her own element in this normal teenager's room. It was Rashel who felt out of place. â€Å"Well†¦ do you want to just take along a friend or something?† Daphne asked. â€Å"I don't have a friend,† Rashel said flatly. â€Å"And I don't want one. Friends are people to worry about, they're baggage. I don't like baggage.† Daphne blinked slowly. â€Å"But at school†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I don't stay at schools more than one year at a time. I live with foster families, and I usually get myself sent to a new city every year. That way I stay ahead of the vampires. Look, this isn't about me, okay? What I want to know-â€Å" â€Å"But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Daphne was staring at the mirror. Rashel followed her gaze to see that the reflecting surface was almost completely covered by pictures. Pictures of Daphne with guys, Daphne with other girls. Daphne counted her friends in droves, apparently. â€Å"But doesn't that get lonely?† â€Å"No, it doesn't get lonely,† Rashel said through her teeth. She found herself getting rough with the lacy little throw pillow on her lap. â€Å"I like being on my own. Now are we done with the press conference?† Looking hurt, Daphne nodded. â€Å"Okay. I talked with some people at school and everything at the dub is going on the same as usual-except that Quinn hasn't been there since Sunday. Ivan and the girl were there Tuesday and Wednesday, but not Quinn.† â€Å"Oh, really?† That was interesting. Rashel had known from the beginning that her greatest problem was going to be Quinn. The other two vampires hadn't seen her-she didn't think they even realized that Daphne had run off with a vampire hunter last night. But Quinn had spoken to her. Had been†¦ very close to her. Still, what could he have seen in that cellar, even with his vampire vision? Not her face. Not even her hair. Her ninja outfit covered her from neck to wrist to ankle. All he could possibly know was that she was tall. If she changed her voice and kept her eyes down, he shouldn't be able to recognize her. But it would be easier still if he weren't there in the first place, and Rashel could try her act on Ivan. â€Å"That reminds me,† she said. â€Å"Ivan and the girl- are their little groups into death, too?† Daphne nodded. â€Å"Everybody in the whole place is, basically. It's that kind of place.† A perfect place for vampires, in other words. Rashel wondered briefly if the Night People owned the dub or if some obliging humans had just constructed the ideal habitat for them. She'd have to check into that. â€Å"Actually,† Daphne was saying, a little shyly, â€Å"I've got a poem here for you. I thought you could say you wrote it. It would sort of prove you were into the same thing as the other girls.† Rashel took the piece of notebook paper and read: There's warmth in ice; there's cooling peace in fire, And midnight light to show us all the way. The dancing flame becomes a funeral pyre; The Dark was more enticing than the Day. She looked up at Daphne sharply. â€Å"You wrote this before you knew about the Night World?† Daphne nodded. â€Å"It's the kind of thing Quinn liked. He used to say he was the darkness and the silence and things like that.† Rashel wished she had Quinn right there in the room, along with a large stake. These young girls were like moths to his flame, and he was taking advantage of their innocence. He wasn't even pretending to be harmless; instead he was encouraging them to love their own destruction. Making them think it was their idea. â€Å"About your clothes,† Daphne was going on. â€Å"My friend Mamie is about your size and she lent me this stuff. Try it on and we'll see if it looks right.† She tossed Rashel a bundle. Rashel unfolded it, examined it doubtfully. A few minutes later she was examining herself even more doubtfully in the mirror. She was wearing a velvety black jumpsuit which clung to her like a second skin. It was cut in a very low V in front, but the sleeves reached down in Gothic points on the backs of her hands almost to the middle finger. Around her neck was a black leather choker that looked to her like a dog collar. She said, â€Å"I don't know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No, no, you look great. Sort of like a Betsey Johnson ultra model. Walk a little†¦ turn around†¦ okay, yeah. Now all we have to do is paint your fingernails black, add a little makeup, and-â€Å" Daphne stopped and frowned. â€Å"What's wrong?† â€Å"It's the way you walk. You walk like-well, like them, actually. Like the vampires. As if you're stalking something. And you don't ever make a noise. They're going to know you're a vampire hunter from the way you move.† It was a good point, but Rashel didn't know what to do about it. â€Å"Um†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I've got it,† Daphne said brightly. â€Å"We'll put you in heels.† â€Å"Oh, no,† Rashel said. â€Å"There is absolutely no way I'm going to wear those things.† â€Å"But it'll be perfect, see? You won't be able to walk normally.† â€Å"No, and I won't be able to run, either.† â€Å"But you aren't going there to run. You're going to talk and dance and stuff.† Hands on her hips, she shook her head. â€Å"I don't know, Rashel, you really need somebody to go there with you, to help you with this stuff†¦.† Daphne stopped and her eyes narrowed. She stared at the mirror for a moment, then she nodded. â€Å"Yeah. That's it. There's no other choice,† she said, expelling her breath. She turned to face Rashel squarely. â€Å"I'll just have to go with you myself.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"You need somebody with you; you can't do this all alone. And there's nobody better than me. I'll go with you and this time we'll both get chosen.† Rashel sat on the bed. â€Å"I'm sorry; this time you ‘re crazy. You're the last person the vampires would ever choose. You know all about them.† â€Å"But they don't know that,† Daphne said serenely. â€Å"I told everybody at school today that I didn't remember anything that happened from Sunday on. I had to tell them something, you know. So I said that I never got to meet Quinn; that I didn't know what happened to me, but I woke up last night alone on this street in Mission Hill.† Rashel tried to think. Would any of the vampires believe this story? The answer surprised her. They just might. If Daphne had begun to come out of the mind control while she was in the truck†¦ if she had jumped out and started running, only to become fully conscious a little while later.. .. Yes. It could work. The vampires would assume that she'd have amnesia for the whole period she was in a trance, and maybe for a little before. It could work†¦. â€Å"But it's too dangerous,† she said. â€Å"Even if I let you go to the club with me, I could never let you get chosen.† â€Å"Why not? You already said I must be resistant to their mind-control thingy, right?† Daphne's blue eyes were sparking with energy and her cheeks were flushed. â€Å"So that makes me perfect for the job. I can do it. I know I can help you.† Rashel stood helplessly. Take this fluffy bunny of a girl to a vampire enclave? Let her get sold as a slave to bloodsucking monsters? Ask her to fight ruthless snakes like Quinn? â€Å"I like to work alone,† she said in a hard voice. Daphne folded her arms over her chest, refusing to be intimidated. â€Å"Well, maybe it's time you tried something different. Look, I've never met anyone like you. You're so independent, so adventurous, so–amazing. But even you can't do everything by yourself. I know I'm not a vampire hunter, but I'd like to be your friend. Maybe you should try trusting a friend this time.† Her eyes met Rashel's, and at that moment she didn't look like a fluffy bunny, but like a small, confident, and intelligent young woman. â€Å"Besides, it was me who got kidnapped,† Daphne said, shrugging. â€Å"Don't you think I should get to pay them back a little?† Rashel caught herself almost grinning. She couldn't help liking this girl, or feeling a glow of warmth at her praise. But still†¦ She drew in a careful breath and watched Daphne closely. â€Å"And you're not scared?† â€Å"Of course I'm scared. I'd be stupid not to be. But I'm not so scared I can't go.† It was the right answer. Rashel looked around the cluttered lacy room and nodded slowly. At last she said, â€Å"Okay, you're in. Tomorrow's Saturday. We'll do it tomorrow night.†