DESIGN OF AN APPROPRIATE WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR A Essay

DESIGN OF AN APPROPRIATE WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR A REMOTEJRURAL COMMUNITY - Essay Example Sewage systems that are poorly maintained or virtually non-existent, untreated animal wastes, landfills that are poorly regulated and rising levels of industrial effluents are some of the reasons and issues behind contamination and wastewater generation. In fact, untreated sewage often tends to flow into the streets in rural areas (especially in developing countries) and can run into agricultural fields contaminating the clean water and food sources. This paper will describe two distinct conceptual models for wastewater management and evaluate relevant issues such as water conservation, reuse and sustainability. Thereafter, the best model among the two shall be elaborated further and include a detailed description of the inherent wastewater management scheme. The paper also includes a detailed stakeholder analysis to ascertain the various issues affecting and influencing each stakeholder who is either involved or affected due to the prescribed wastewater management scheme. The first model for wastewater management consists of a pilot plant system made up of an ASB (up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket), a CW (constructed wetland), SF (Intermittent sand filter) and AVB (Passively aerated vertical bed). This treatment model is highly flexible and can accommodate various wastewater treatment combinations. Each of these components is described below (Henze, 2005): Anaerobic sludge blanket (ASB): the reactor segment of the plant is conical in shape and does not contain any gas separators for any initial treatment upon preliminary sedimentation. The average working volume of the reactor is 7.5 m3 and has a surface area of 8 m2. The ASB concept has been devised, developed and applied in many parts of the world, especially in the rural regions of developing nations such as China and Brazil (Rofe, 2004). Aerated vertical bed (AVB): For the current consumption levels of 200 L/d per house, a passive aeration system consisting of four vertical beds can be

Teaching grammar in context Essay Example for Free

Teaching grammar in context Essay According to Constance Weaver’s book entitled Teaching Grammar in Context, this particular aspect of education helps the students used their language in a correct manner of putting phrases and thoughts together to create a single message that sends a rightful idea to the readers or the listeners of the message. This I the primary reason why teaching grammar is encourages to be within the context of teaching speech and writing practices to the students. This is to primarily allow the students to use in actual practice what they are learning regarding grammar through writing and speaking as well. Knowing the basic ideas regarding the facts about what process writing and teaching grammar in context means, elaborating the ideas that pertain to this particular discussion indeed helps in enriching the discussion presented herein. Through the utilization of the ideas of other writers in this particular matter, proving the fact that teaching grammar in context within the curriculum of teaching the processes of writing is a more effective approach in t4eaching language to students of all ages. Presentation of sources As mentioned earlier, the book entitled â€Å"Teaching grammar in context† as authored by Constance Weaver discusses the most basic ideas that pertain to the fact that the effects of teaching grammar and process writing in an integrated manner gives better results among students, especially in the manner that they try to apply their learned strategies of writing in an effective manner that they are able to send the ample and actual message that they want to sent to their readers. In this particular reading material, Weaver points out several important points of consideration that would indeed help in the process of integrating grammar lessons within the procedures of teaching writing skills to students. The said points are as follows: teaching concepts of subject, verb, clause, sentence, and related editing concepts When teaching the basic skills that are needed to be considered in writing, the lessons on verbs as well as subjects and other parts of speech would indeed help in the procedures of helping the student understand the importance of using the right words and right phrases to be able to send the actual message needed to be conveyed to the readers. teaching style through sentence combining and generating When editing processes are discussed, the sentence structure discussion could also be generated to help the students identify what particular parts of the written work needs to be revised so as to be able to send the correct ideas to the reading audience. teaching sentence sense and style through manipulation of syntactic elements Syntactic elements and being able to understand the importance of this particular aspect of grammar in creating sensible sentences helps the writers create a better piece of work with a much clarified message and a much more furnished work. teaching the power of dialects and dialects of power The correct usage of language helps in creating a more clarified message within the context of any written work. Being able to learn this particular power of language shall encourage students, or writers at that in careful choosing the words that they use in their writing as well as furnishing the grammar that they utilize in their writing procedures. Teaching punctuation and mechanics for convention, clarity, and style- the impact of learning how to clarify the messages through the effective use of punctuations and clarifying styles of writing shall indeed help writers in being able to understand the importance of sending clarified ideas through the enhancement of the usage of correct punctuations within sentences to denote impact and feelings of the writers towards the topic.

Aspects of Human Gene Therapy :: Science Biology Genetic Essays

Aspects of Human Gene Therapy Introduction The prospect of human gene therapy was first realized in 1971 when the first recombinant DNA experiments were planned. Gene therapy can be simply viewed as inserting bits of foreign DNA into a patient’s tissue in hopes of evoking a biologic response that will effectively eliminate the targeted disease. Major advances in recombinant DNA technology have occurred over the last 20 years so that now gene therapy is becoming a reality. Gene therapeutic techniques have recently been attempted to treat patients with the genetic diseases severe combined immune deficiency (SCID), cystic fibrosis, and Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy (Donegan, 1995). The optimist foresees a time when a patient will simply receive a snippet of DNA and go home cured. There are many ethical and scientific hurdles that must first be crossed for such a dream to become reality. The technology has advanced so rapidly that many ethical questions weren’t originally addressed and accordingly are now bec oming the center of attention regarding human genetic research. Furthermore, scientists must find a way to outwit the body’s immune system which is primed to fight any foreign material such as inserted genes. There are also difficulties in getting the targeted cells to open up their molecular locks to allow the foreign genes inside. Gene therapy, like other medical advances before it, will have numerous failures before reaching its full potential. It will be important for the public, press, and medical industry to be patient in waiting for the dream of gene therapy to become a reality. Technological Aspects of Gene Therapy The underlying principle of gene therapy is the transfer of genetic material to specific cells of a patient in an effort to initiate a biological response to fight or eliminate a disease. There are two possible types of target cells, somatic cells that are non-reproducing, or reproducing germ-line cells. If germ-line cells are permanently altered, all future generations would be effected. Most of the current human genetic research involves somatic cells since the ethical ramifications of germ-line cell modification is still being debated. Some scientists have expressed concerns that even altered somatic cell genes could find their way to reproducing, germ-line cells (Donegan, 1995). Accordingly, regulations are strict in regards to somatic cell gene modification techniques so that this gene migration will not occur. Transfer of genes to target cells is usually accomplished by some sort of vector such as retroviruses, adenoviruses, or liposomes (Mulligan, 1993; Crystal, 1995).

Legal, Safety, Regulatory Essay

Human resources must abide by legal regulations and safety laws, along with regulations requirements. This is set in place for organizations to avoid litigation. The employee-related regulations have been established by the United States including; Department of Labor, the U. S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Department of Homeland Security. The main focus of these regulations is to prevent any manager from acting biased or irrationally. As a result, common sense and compassion have been replaced by litigation. What managers and employees fear the most is being sued. Managers will make special efforts to prevent such situations from occurring. Some managers will neglect high stress levels of their employees and lack the proper attention to legitimately discontented and unhappy employees. This throws common sense and compassion out the door. Compassion is the workplace amplifies the morale and enthusiasm of the employees along with cooperation where people are actually open to help and not move quickly into suing and organization. Experiencing compassion at work generates positive emotion and, in turn, shapes employees’ long-term attitudes and behaviors. Positive emotions generated by compassion have a cascading effect on employees’ attitudes and behaviors, thereby increasing job satisfaction and lowering job stress, (University of Michigan: Newsroom, 2003). The most recent of the major Equal Employment Opportunity laws is The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 also known as ADA. The law forbidding employment discrimination against people with disabilities who are able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). This act also provides the definition of what a person with disability truly entails. Managers must be especially careful when it comes to this because these days employees will knit pick and strip down a situation and call it discrimination when without a doubt they were probably not fulfilling the job description. HR managers need to ensure the safety of their employees. To ensure such safety there are two important standard regulations; that is workman’s compensation laws, each slightly differing upon which state the employee is in, and OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Act established since 1970 on the federal level . Workman’s comp is a legally required benefit that provides medical care, income continuation, and rehabilitation expenses for people who sustain job-related injuries or sickness. Also provides income to the survivors of an employee whose death is job related (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). That being the case, there are audits held to prevent employee’s from filing fraudulent workman’s comp claims. OSHA has set federal and states laws, employees are to abide by their states OSHA standards to ensure safety in the workplace (Dellpo, 2013). In violation to following such laws can result in employer fines. With compassion and common sense lacking in the workplace a real disgruntled employee could cost and employer tons of money by carelessly contributing to fines. Then when presented with such allegations will then claim discrimination. When dealing with laws that effect HR, these are brought to the EEOC, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Employment decisions should not be based on characteristics such as race, sex, age, or disability (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). The EEOC are the ones who investigate claims and situations involving harassment, discrimination, ect. And do take everything seriously. Employers these days definitely abuse the EEOC for simple situations that common sense can be easily applied to, and under those circumstances wasting a lot of time and money for an organization. In the end, after exanimating the effect of legal safety and regulatory requirements on human resource process the main focus of these regulations is to prevent any manager from biasedly and without cause irrationally treating an employee badly. As a result, common sense and compassion have been replaced by litigation. It is unfortunate, but as managers that is why it is important to take actions that develop trust, such as sharing useful information and making good on commitments. Act consistently so that employees are not surprised by unexpected management actions or decisions. Be truthful and avoid white lies and actions designed to manipulate others by giving a certain (false) impression. Demonstrate integrity by keeping confidences and showing concern for others. Meet with employees to discuss and define what is expected of them. Ensure that employees are treated equitably, giving equivalent rewards for similar performance and avoiding actual or apparent special treatment of favorites. Adhere to clear standards that are seen as just and reasonable, for example, neither praising accomplishments nor imposing penalties disproportionately. Demonstrate respect toward employees, showing openly that they care about employees and recognize their strengths and contributions (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). By practicing these key points compassion and common sense can be restored in the workplace.

Drug Abuse in Africa Essay

Apart from cannabis abuse in northern and southern Africa and khat chewing in north-eastern Africa, the history of drug abuse in Africa is relatively short. The abuse of drugs in Africa is nevertheless escalating rapidly from cannabis abuse to the more dangerous drugs and from limited groups of drug users to a wider range of people abusing drugs. The most common and available drug of abuse is still cannabis, which is known to be a contributing factor to the occurrence of a schizophrenic-like psychosis. The trafficking in and abuse of cocaine and heroin are the most recent developments in some African countries that had had no previous experience with these drugs. Efforts should be made to design and implement drug abuse assessment programmes to determine the real magnitude and characteristics of the problem and to monitor its trends. A lack of funds and a shortage of adequately trained personnel have made it difficult to implement drug abuse control programmes. In addition to formal drug control involving the implementation of legislation, there is an informal system of drug abuse control operating through the family, church, school, neighbourhood and work environment, as well as healthy recreational activities. It is suggested that efforts in African countries should be directed towards strengthening not only the formal drug control system but also informal control in order to compensate for the insufficient funds and the shortage of personnel trained in implementing formal drug control measures. It is very likely that the drug problems in African countries will worsen in future unless more effective measures are implemented to arrest the current situation. Introduction Drug abuse is defined as â€Å"†¦ excessive or inappropriate use of a [psycho-active] substance by a person ; such use being considered or judged to be illegal (immoral) by the culture and resulting in harm to the person or society† [ 1] . In defining the phenomenon , therefore , the key determinant is the perception of society of what constitutes drug abuse. It may be stated in general terms that the socio-cultural values and standards relating to drug abuse in Africa have been weakened by the influence of international developments relating to drug abuse , which have given rise to the change in what society considers abuse. Historical background The irresponsible use of drugs and alcohol by college students has always been an issue for university campuses, but the problem has become more and more frequent and has grown in familiarity with every passing generation. In past years, the problem has not only multiplied in frequency, but has also grown in danger. Now students are abusing not only recreational drugs like Marijuana and Cocaine, but also prescription drugs like Ritalin and others like it such as Adderall. â€Å"As many as 20 percent of college students have used Ritalin or Adderall to study, write papers, and take exams†¦ † (Jacobs 2). Medications like Ritalin are used to provide energy and concentration when a person cannot achieve them through regular means. Students take medication like Ritalin to help them deal with loss of sleep so they can stay up all night to cram and still do well in class. Students are now using similar medications like Adderall that are released over long periods of time so they can keep an energy high throughout an entire day instead of just one or two class periods. On some campuses, if you’re not using Ritalin or Adderall, you are just increasing your risk to fall behind. As one Columbia student said, â€Å"If you don’t take them, you’ll be at a disadvantage to everyone else† (Jacobs 3). This previous statement is unfortunately all oo true, these types of prescription medications are so popular and commonplace that students attending certain universities believe that â€Å"now it’s almost cool to take them† (Jacobs 2). Many college students have come to believe that these drugs are essential to their success, many believe that it can expand their intelligence and give them a learning advantage in classes they find difficult. This is false because these medications were only created to help people suffering from A. D. H. D. to maintain concentration and focus on tasks they previously found overwhelming. The rise in occurrence of disorders such as A. D. H. D. and A. D. D. in past years may have a link to this problem, many teens are diagnosed with attention disorders and the commonplace use of medications like Ritalin and Adderall may have led a lot of students to think that taking these drugs is normal. At Columbia University, a student even went as far as to say that â€Å"the culture here actually encourages people to use stimulants,† (Jacobs 2) Doctors have been seeing a rising amount of young adults who have claimed to have an attention deficit disorder in order to obtain medications to help them in college. Another leading cause of drug abuse is â€Å"the belief that drug abuse or the non-medical use of any drug will not have long-lasting effects on their health. † (Health Services 2) Campus health providers frequently see students who have over extended themselves by taking too many pills at once or too often and end up wandering in because they cannot function any further. Surveys and reports have confirmed that these forms of drug abuse have more than doubled in the last decade or so. â€Å"†¦ T]he number of teenagers†¦abusing prescription medications tripled from 1992 to 2003†¦ † (Jacobs 2). The ready availability of these drugs has also led to an increase in their wide-spread use, the â€Å"[T]he abuse of prescription drugs†¦has increased dramatically since the mid-1990s†(Leinwand 1). The majority of abused prescription drugs are either received from a friend or acquaintance that has been prescribed the medication or sold by someone on campus. Although prescription drug use has indeed increased â€Å"Alcohol remains the favored substance by far†¦ (Leinwand 1). Reportedly around 50 percent of college students consume alcohol on a regular basis. Although campus authorities have increased their efforts to put a lid on drinking in recent years, â€Å"in 2005, 83% of campus arrests involved alcohol†¦Ã¢â‚¬  So despite regular efforts, drinking on college campuses has continued to become progressively more common over the years, it is pretty much expected. Drinking is the college norm; almost every college student will consume alcohol before their graduation. Once a student becomes overly dependent on a substance, like alcohol or Ritalin, they can obtain help and possible treatment through their University’s health services and offices. Some of the treatments may be medical or involve a rehabilitation center or a student can seek help through a support network like AA or with a group of supporting family or friends. A student can also opt to go speak with a counselor or possibly a professor about their problems in class or their reliance on a substance that they feel is keeping them from failure in their schooling. Substance abuse can terribly interfere with a students ability to attend class and to achieve any type of learning, students should not let themselves be caught in the use or abuse of any such substance and should always be able to turn to a university advisor for help or support. Fellow stdents, advisors, and professors should always make an effort to reduce substance abuse on campuses every time they get the chance, because even if it does not end a life, substance abuse can and will destroy a life if it is given the chance and not stopped before it begins. With the exception of north Africa, where cannabis resin (hashish) has traditionally been used by members of the Sufi sect , east Africa, where the use of khat has been institutionalized , and perhaps southern Africa , where cannabis (dagger) has been widely used [ 2] , there is no evidence to support the view that the abuse of drugs has been part of the African heritage [ 3] , [ 4] . Other psycho-active substances currently being abused do not have historical antecedents in any part of Africa. Africans, though deeply religious, have not used drugs as a medium in religious rituals, and none of the indigenous herbal psycho-active substances have been used in ceremonies [ 2] . The situation in Africa and the life-styles of the Africans have drastically changed over the past years under the influence of industrial and urban developments. These developments have, in turn, changed the way in which he Africans achieve ataraxia ; at present, the easiest way to achieve it is to resort to psycho-active substances. Khat (Catha edulis), a plant grown mainly in southern Arabia and eastern and southern Africa [ 5] , first received international attention in 1935 at the League of Nations [ 6] . The psycho-active effects of khat chewing , which are derived from cathine and cathinone [ 7] , are similar to the effects produced by using amphetamines. Within the African region, khat has been grown and used in Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Somalia and the United Republic of Tanzania. The fact that the pleasurable , stimulating and euphoric effects of khat chewing can only be derived from the fresh leaves and shoots of the plant may have contributed to the low popularity of khat as a substance of abuse beyond the local areas of cultivation The plant Cannabis sativa, from which cannabis preparations such as marijuana and hashish are derived, grows wild in Africa. Certain evidence suggests that the cultivation of cannabis and its use as a drug of abuse were introduced into Africa from India [ 8] – [ 10] by the Sufi sect and by Asian traders and travellers [ 9] , [ 11] . One study indicated that the cannabis plant and its use could have been spread across the Sahara to west Africa around the sixteenth century [ 8] . There is also evidence suggesting that soldiers returning from the Second World War were responsible for the increased incidence of cannabis abuse in west Africa, particularly in Nigeria [ 2] , [ 4] . This is supported by the fact that in west Africa there is no known indigenous name for cannabis, nor has it been used there for mystical purposes. This is also supported by research findings indicating that cannabis is an important factor in the occurrence of mental illness in Africa [ 12] , [ 13] ; this factor is much less known in cultures where cannabis has for a long time been consumed [ 14] . Another possible route was across the Indian Ocean. This may have been the route by which travellers from India brought cannabis from India to east, central and south Africa as early as the second century, but there is no evidence to suggest that the use of cannabis spread at that time from there to the west coast of Africa. Current drug abuse situation in Africa Because of the lack of information on the subject, an assessment of the extent, patterns and trends of drug abuse in all the countries of Africa is not an easy task. There are no systems for collecting and retrieving data on drug abuse in African countries, and drug abuse assessment projects are urgently needed for all African countries. This article has, to a large extent, been prepared on the basis of data provided by various workshops and seminars held on the subject in the course of the past 12 years. The following paragraphs summarize the drug abuse situation according to the most commonly abused substances. Cannabis Cannabis grows wild in most parts of Africa but it is also illicitly cultivated. It is the most widely abused illicit drug in the region. It appears to be less abused in countries of east Africa, such as Ethiopia and Somalia, where the abuse of khat is prevalent. Although cannabis is not indigenous to west Africa, it is illicit ly cultivated and widely abused in that part of the continent. In Nigeria, cannabis is predominantly abused by teenagers, who begin using it at the age of 14. The situation in other west African countries is similar. * In particular, the 1974 Workshop of the Association of Psychiatrists in Africa (held at Nairobi, Kenya), the African Seminar on Problems of Drug Dependence (held at Lagos, Nigeria, in 1980) and the World Health Organization Workshop on Prevention and Management of Drug Dependence through Primary Health Care (held at Lagos, Nigeria, in 1985). Khat The chewing of khat has been practised for years and is, to a large extent, socially accepted in Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar and Somalia ; some of these countries are introducing control measures to discourage the cultivation and use of khat. Apart from the habitual use of khat, Workneh [ 15] reports that it is used by students to improve their academic performance, by truck drivers to keep themselves awake and by labourers to supply the extra vigour and energy they need for their work- It is interesting to note that the same reasons have been reported by cannabis users in west Africa. Amphetamines Amphetamines are imported into Africa, although there is no significant medical justification for using these substances. They are often illegally smuggled into African countries, where they eventually find their way into open markets and patent medicine stores. A few countries, such as Somalia, the Sudan and Togo, have not reported any amphetamine-related problems, but there is general consensus that the abuse of amphetamines in Africa is a problem mainly among adolescents and unskilled labourers, such as drivers and farmers. Opium Opium is reported to have been abused, sometimes in combination with cannabis or alcohol, in Mauritius, mainly among the Chinese ethnic group. Cocaine, heroin and lysergic acid diethylamide These drugs are not manufactured in Africa but have been increasingly present in Nigeria and other west African countries, as shown by recent seizures and arrests- The evidence suggests that African, and especially west African countries, are used by drug traffickers as transit points for heroin trafficking from South-East Asia to Europe and North America. It has recently been reported that some Nigerians have been used as carriers of drugs and some have invested in the illicit drug trafficking [ 16] . Cocaine and heroin have recently been seized for the first time in the Sudan. An increasing abuse of cocaine and heroin has been reported in Nigeria [ 13] . The abuse of these drugs has also been reported in other African countries such as Kenya, Liberia and Mauritius. Sedative-hypnotic For the purpose of this article , sedative-hypnotics include barbiturates, benzodiazipines and other substances, the abuse of which presents similar problems. These substances are imported for legitimate medical purposes, but reports from various African countries indicate that they have also been abused, especially by women. A study in Nigeria has shown that, in order of magnitude , the abuse of these substances is second in rank following alcohol abuse [ 13] . Mandrax (methaqualone and diphenhydramine) was commonly abused in Nigeria in the early 1970s, but since it was banned, its abuse has abated [ 13] . However, some other African countries, such as Swaziland, have reported an increase in the trafficking and abuse of Mandrax. Glue and petrol sniffing An increase in the abuse of benzine by inhalation has been reported among Sudanese children [ 17] . Recent reports from Kenya, Somalia, SwaziIand and Zambia indicate the abuse of glue and petrol by sniffing, though the extent of such abuse varies from country to country. Pela and Ebie [ 13] highlighted the potential for abuse of volatile solvents in some occupational groups in Nigeria. Most recent reports from Ethiopia indicate that the abuse of glue and petrol is prevalent among juveniles.

Free Essays on The Collector - Opening Paragraph Analysis

THE COLLECTOR – OPENING PARAGRAPH QUESTION: Identify the characteristics of writing and comment on the tone and style of the piece and the effects achieved by the writer. How does the writer make the reader want to read on? Having not read the entire book and only having the opening paragraph to work from it is difficult to establish in what direction the novel will take us. However, it is certain that despite this, I as a reader want to keep reading and discover more about the story and its characters. The question is how does the author manage to capture the interest of the reader to such an extent? To discover this we need to look at the tone and style the author uses to invite the reader into his character’s world so that you need to know more. We need also, then, to look at the way the author has begun to develop the characters and how despite the lack of any actual malicious language or violent actions, the author makes the reader feel uncomfortable about the narrator’s intentions towards ‘M’. Why does the reader feel that the narrator’s intentions are not innocent but instead in some way sinister? Finally, we need to examine the paragraph’s overall content to discover what aspects of it compel the reader to continue reading. The title itself, although simple, alludes to a wish to possess a prized or coveted object and is the first hint the reader gets that the story will develop this idea. The piece is written as a first person narrative, using predominantly colloquial language. This simplicity and the attention to every detail within the long conversational sentences almost seems to attempt to gain the reader’s confidence. Further, this attention to each small detail, such as â€Å"†¦I stood by the window and used to look down over the road over the frosting†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and â€Å"I stood right behind her once in a queue at the public library down Crossfield Street.†, helps the reader build a pictu... Free Essays on The Collector - Opening Paragraph Analysis Free Essays on The Collector - Opening Paragraph Analysis THE COLLECTOR – OPENING PARAGRAPH QUESTION: Identify the characteristics of writing and comment on the tone and style of the piece and the effects achieved by the writer. How does the writer make the reader want to read on? Having not read the entire book and only having the opening paragraph to work from it is difficult to establish in what direction the novel will take us. However, it is certain that despite this, I as a reader want to keep reading and discover more about the story and its characters. The question is how does the author manage to capture the interest of the reader to such an extent? To discover this we need to look at the tone and style the author uses to invite the reader into his character’s world so that you need to know more. We need also, then, to look at the way the author has begun to develop the characters and how despite the lack of any actual malicious language or violent actions, the author makes the reader feel uncomfortable about the narrator’s intentions towards ‘M’. Why does the reader feel that the narrator’s intentions are not innocent but instead in some way sinister? Finally, we need to examine the paragraph’s overall content to discover what aspects of it compel the reader to continue reading. The title itself, although simple, alludes to a wish to possess a prized or coveted object and is the first hint the reader gets that the story will develop this idea. The piece is written as a first person narrative, using predominantly colloquial language. This simplicity and the attention to every detail within the long conversational sentences almost seems to attempt to gain the reader’s confidence. Further, this attention to each small detail, such as â€Å"†¦I stood by the window and used to look down over the road over the frosting†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and â€Å"I stood right behind her once in a queue at the public library down Crossfield Street.†, helps the reader build a pictu...

The Future of an Illusion Essays - Optical Illusions, Free Essays

The Future of an Illusion Essays - Optical Illusions, Free Essays The Future of an Illusion Constance Penley Preface ...And is it not the case that in our civilisation the relations between the sexes are disturbed by an erotic illusion or a number of such illusions? [Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion, 34] -debates about representation and sexual difference -the place of woman in classical Hollywood cinema ...they are at least symptomatic of a certain kind of theoretical approach- feminist and psychoanalytic- to the work on women and media that began in the early seventies. Xii Beginning in the early seventies sexual difference rapidly established itself as an important analytical category for many feminist theorists. In an initial bifurcation that invariably led to misunderstandings, sexual difference became both the watchword for New French Feminism, with its emphasis on, and celebration of, essential differences between men and women, and also the working notion for feminists looking to Jacques Lacans rereading of Freud for a more complex account of subjectivity and sexual identity than any then available. One: The Avant-Garde and Its Imaginary 3 I would like to look at some of the presuppositions of one contemporary avant-garde movement from the point of view of these new approached based on Freudian and Lacanian theory because I think they can illuminate some of the difficulties often found in the meeting of political and avant-garde practice. The Imaginary Signifier (Christian Metz) The imaginary is also what has to be rediscovered precisely in order to avoid being swallowed up by it: a never ending task. At the centre of Christian Metzs discussion of the psychoanalytic constitution on the cinematic signifier, he warns that the film which would aim to be a film of intervention must take into consideration the cinematic signifiers higher degree of imaginariness in comparison to, for example, the theatre. Metz emphasizes that what is characteristic of the cinema is not the imaginary that it may happen to represent, it is the imaginary that it is from the start. Basic to the constitution of the cinematic signifier is that it is absent: unlike in the theatre where real persons share the time and space of the spectator, the cinema screen is always the other scene; it is a recording and what it records is not there at the moment of its projection. But even more fundamental is the way the cinematic signifier combines presence and absence- it is more there than almost any other medium (because of its density of perceptual registers) and less there at the same time (because it is always only a replica of what is no longer there). This combination of presence and absence exactly describes the characteristic functioning of the Imaginary according to Lacan: the ego is constituted by an image, that is, something that is a reflection (which is there) of the body (which is not really there in the mirror). 12 Thus the cinematic signifier is imaginary in its very constitution as a signifier. It is also imaginary, Metz argues, because the screen reactivates the mirror stage described by Jacques Lacan (or at least the images have their power of fascination because the subject has already undergone the mirror stage). Any relation to an image is imaginary; that is, since the ego itself is constituted by images (the first being the image of the subject in the mirror) and all the rest of the images being doubles of this double, then it is impossible to separate images from this fundamental imaginary operation. Metz shifts the ground of all previous discussions of the processes of identification in film, maintaining that the primary identification is not with the characters on the screen but with the subjects own activity of looking. In other words, the spectator identifies with himself, with himself as a pure act of perception: as condition of possibility of the perceived and hence as a kind transcendental subject, anterior to every there is 14: fetishism and the primal scene, Every film is a fiction film [Metz] 14: At the level of cinema as a social institution Metz speaks of the role of the cinema spectator as essentially voyeuristic: participating in a form of scopophilia not normally sanctioned by society, we sit in the theatre in darkness and solitude looking toward the framed screen as through a keyhole. This is one of the reasons why it is so startling when

All About Sadie Hawkins Day

All About Sadie Hawkins Day Sadie Hawkins Day is a holiday that turns the tables on male/female relationships as women take the lead in pursuing men. Named after a fictional character, Sadie Hawkins Day celebrates role reversal by sanctioning women to ask men out on a date or even propose marriage. Theres a common misconception that February 29th (better known as Leap Day) is Sadie Hawkins Day. Although that isnt the case, February 29th does hold significance for women thanks to an old Irish tradition called St. Bridgets Complaint, which granted women permission to propose marriage on that day. Sadie Hawkins Day is rooted in the story of Sadie Hawkins, a character created by Al Capp in the comic strip Lil Abner. Sadie Described as the homeliest gal in the hills, Sadie was unable ​to  get a date; so her father, a prominent citizen in the town of Dogpatch, named a day after her to help Sadie get a man. On Sadie Hawkins Day, a footrace was held in Dogpatch so the women could pursue the towns eligible bachelors. According to the Lil Abner website, Sadie Hawkins Day is an unspecified date in November which Al Capp observed in his comic strip for four decades.

Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Speech - Essay Example The beneficial part of it is its usefulness in enabling a community to adopt good central practices and values. On the other hand, social change prevents communities from retaining and preserving important cultural values. Otherwise, social change is a significant to every society. Social change has been in the forefront of major economic, social, and religious development in the world. It diverts the perception of a people to new values that are consistent with time. People have to acknowledge that social values are dynamic. What applies to a society or generation at a particular time might not apply to a different one at a different time. Social change is significant in reinforcing new ideas into the minds of the society. The major challenge in imparting new social values is convincing individuals to believe them and divert their attention from the old values. Opportunistic countries found it difficult to start respecting human rights to abolish slave trade (Reynolds and Paul, 59). A wave of change for recognition swept the world and consequently, people were under compulsion to abolish slave trade. Today, the world enjoys human freedom and rights. Is there a need for a society to change its values? Necessity for social change is dependent on its objective and affects the society. For example, industrial revolution expanded the economic base of many communities. It availed a variety of products to the society apart from creating jobs. The illustration justifies the need for social change in the economic perspective. The same example can also illustrate the negative perspective of industrial revolution (Reynolds and Paul, 74). After economic prosperity of the world, a number of economic crimes such as corruption cropped up. Social media has spread across the world at a first rate. It is important for communication and making advertisements. However, it leads to the spread of immoral behavior. The world should learn to

Why Growth is Good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Why Growth is Good - Essay Example In the article Why Growth is Good the author asserts that U.S. economy is slowing down but this is not the case of the current times as the nation’s total output of goods and services grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent from July to September and this rate of growth is double the rate of growth from the last quarter. The economy is not following a brisk pace but showing the signs of take off. But the economic growth of Germany is on the slower side and the government of the concerned country has nearly halved its growth forecasts to one percent. The reason being shocks in exports and the powerhouse of Europe is on the slower side. Government intervention is necessary in cases to push up demand but to a certain extent. Free market is necessary to achieve the equilibrium. Economic growth is the amount of goods and services produced over time. With economic growth, development is creating a healthy environment will come under its purview. Per Capita Income can be taken as a mea sure to capture economic growth. Let the population of country A and B be 20 and 5 respectively and the average income be $ 200 and $100 respectively. It will appear country A as the economically developed country but it is not the case as PCI of country A is 10 and that of country B is 20. Poor countries are often exploited by the richer ones as industries that cause environmental degradation are shifted in those countries. This tends to pollute the natural resources which have negative effects on the life of the people residing in the poor countries. The open up of new industries has created growth or employment opportunities but the darker side of the coin is the extraction of irreversible natural resources. (Office of the Management and Budget, 2010, p.153). The above pie chart proves that U.S. allocates a large proportion of its capacity in social security. The budget of 2001 allocates $ 17.5 billion to support small business access and 25 billion dollars on microloans which wi ll create employment opportunities. A path that leads to most optimal growth path is the toughest to get recognized. Earlier a school of economists believed in trickle down hypothesis where the benefits of growth will trickle down to the people who form the base of the society. But soon another school of economists began to contradict by arguing that those who are in the higher levels of the society will reap all the benefits and the poor will be confined in a vicious circle. This theory was proved right in the later stages. So growth may not create equal opportunities for all (Basu and Mallik, 2007). The statement of the rich gets richer while the poor gets poorer is well known. The statement that middle class is happy to pay taxes and contribute in the welfare is controversial as all are involved in finding out ways to evade taxes and keep their money in their own pockets. Consider the case of China. China announced to lower the GDP target to 7.5 percent which gave rise to mixed f eelings around the globe. This created tremors in the market but some were of the opinion that this strategy will revive China in taking the path of sustainable development. They argue that this would help China to achieve a higher quality and higher level development over a longer time span and all are certain about the amount of welfare sustainable development can bring about (Prasad and Rajan, n.d., p. 1). A recession is followed by recovery. In this phase growth is bound to be slow but this situation is welcomed from every levels of society.

Radical Islam Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Radical Islam - Research Paper Example The application of Sharia law c. The termination of non-Muslim influence in the Muslim world d. The development of Muslim identity in politics e. The fundamentals of radical Islam have a lot of bearing on the application of the doctrine IV. Manifestations a. Political violence or terrorism i. September 11 (2001) ii. Attacks on US bases in East Africa (1998) b. Mass revolutions i. Iran revolution (1979) ii. Arab spring (2011) c. Political aggression i. Anti-US foreign policy ii. Refusal to recognize the statehood of Israel d. Isolation from the global order i. Iran (nuclear program) ii. Iraq (biological weapons) V. Implications a. Terrorism b. Political aggression c. Isolation from the global order VI. Future a. The future of radical Islam is unpredictable b. It is yet to be seen whether Muslim countries will embrace radical Islam in future c. Though Muslim countries are likely to be moderate in the future VII. Conclusion a. Radical Islam is a political ideology based on the basics of Islam; Quran and the Sunna b. It manifests in various forms like terrorism and revolutions c. It originated from the need to apply Islamic principles in politics d. It calls for the elimination of western control over Muslim region e. Countries that embrace the ideology risk isolation from the global order f. In future Muslim countries will not embrace the ideology g. Radical Islam is a recipe for political isolation VIII. ... Several other terms have been used to imply the same thing and they include Islamism, extremism and Islamic fundamentalism. Radical Islam has both positive and negative connotations in the sense that at a positive level it is perceived as a mechanism towards unity in the Muslim world as well as a guarantor of purity and morality in the political sphere. However, radical Islam is a dangerous concept that segregates the Muslim world from the mainstream on the grounds of religious doctrine. As a result, many opponents of the concept often describe it as a misapplication of extreme doctrines of Islam on political sphere which could have catastrophic results. Radical Islam has been in existence for a lengthy period of time and it has a long history of application. In essence, radical Islam originates from the misinterpretation and misplaced application of Islamic religious doctrine on political and social order. There are several implications of radical Islam most of which include isolati on, violence and terrorism. Moreover, radical Islam manifests in numerous ways that range from destructive tendencies like acts of terror and democratic revolutions like the Arab spring. The future of radical Islam is quite unpredictable owing to the fact that it is not easily known whether Muslim countries will embrace the doctrine in future. Origin of Radical Islam As a term radical Islam was coined by scholars and thinkers who have studied foreign policy, international relations and the particulars of Muslim countries. Originally, the term was meant to imply ideologies that seek to emphasize that Islam ought to direct the personal, political as well as

Electrical and Electronic Principles (A) UFMFP8-15-1 Lab Report

Electrical and Electronic Principles (A) UFMFP8-15-1 - Lab Report Example As one moves across a resistor voltages drops and therefore the value of that voltage should be taken as negative. On the other, as one cross from negative terminal of a voltage source to the positive terminal of the same voltage source, the voltage value is taken as positive. The contrary is true when moving from a positive terminal of a resistor to the negative terminal. On the other hand, as regards to Kirchhoff’s Current Law, the algebraic sum of the currents in all the branches that converge in a common node is equal to zero. All the currents flowing into a particular node are taken to be positive and those flowing out of the same node are taken to be negative. On the other, as one cross from negative terminal of a voltage source to the positive terminal of the same voltage source, the voltage value is taken as positive. The contrary is true when moving from a positive terminal of a resistor to the negative terminal.  

Love Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Essay

Love Office of Community Oriented Policing Services - Essay Example The police officers will regularly tour the schools to spot bullies and victims. Upon finding a bully incident, the police officers can immediately arrest the bullies and drag them to jail for the filing of the appropriate charges. However, schools follow traditional norms of hiring the security guards to handle the school’s anti-bullying efforts. The guards arrest students who bully the teachers, administrators, school employees, and students. In addition, Scott Berinato (2007) emphasized the school guards can reduce the 27 percent K-12 bullying statistics in United States schools. The police will enter the bullying scene when requested by school authorities, students, parents, and other affected persons. Police records show that the current bullying scene includes 27 percent of K -12 students classified as bullying victims. The bullying statistics includes 8 percent of teachers being threatened by bullies in elementary and secondary schools. Specifically, the school administ ration of New England School refused to allow the police to have access to the controls of the school cameras. The police wanted full control in order to take full charge in case a school shooting incident or illegal activity. However, the police were only allowed to view the camera’s films of the school shooting incident. ... 12 defined policing as â€Å"a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.† Consequently, the police must encourage the school administration to do its share to effectively prevent or reduce the bullying statistics within the school’s premises. Furthermore, the above police department article Bullying in Schools (Sampson, 2009) states that bullying is composed of two components, repeated harmful acts and imbalance of power. It involves repeated physical, verbal, or psychological attacks or intimidation directed against a victim who cannot properly defend him or herself due to the assailants’ size or strength, or the victim is outnumbered or psychologically resilient. European and Scandinavian studies show that bullies are aggressive, domina nt, and slightly below average intelligence and reading ability. Additional research shows bullies compensate their poor social skills with bullying strategies. Bully victims are generally smaller and weaker than the school bullies. In addition, Anne Garrett (2003) reported accused 2007 shooter, Andy Williams, was a constant victim or target of California’s Santana High School’s bullies. Williams shot the students who bullied him. Several years after the Williams shooting spree, a study showed that one half of Santana High School students did not feel safe inside the school’s premises. In addition, one third of the students of Santana High School reported they were victims of the school bullies’ constant verbal abuses. In addition, 17 percent of same

Electrical and Electronic Principles (A) UFMFP8-15-1 Lab Report

Electrical and Electronic Principles (A) UFMFP8-15-1 - Lab Report Example As one moves across a resistor voltages drops and therefore the value of that voltage should be taken as negative. On the other, as one cross from negative terminal of a voltage source to the positive terminal of the same voltage source, the voltage value is taken as positive. The contrary is true when moving from a positive terminal of a resistor to the negative terminal. On the other hand, as regards to Kirchhoff’s Current Law, the algebraic sum of the currents in all the branches that converge in a common node is equal to zero. All the currents flowing into a particular node are taken to be positive and those flowing out of the same node are taken to be negative. On the other, as one cross from negative terminal of a voltage source to the positive terminal of the same voltage source, the voltage value is taken as positive. The contrary is true when moving from a positive terminal of a resistor to the negative terminal.  

BLUES INC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

BLUES INC - Essay Example Managers of Blue’s Incorporated are determined to become the leader of denim products in the industry. As we know that companies make every effort to gain competitive advantage in the market, Blue’s Incorporated can maintain its dominant status by evaluating the current marketing budget as well as the marketing budget of the competitors. As market analyst, I evaluated the current budget of the company and came up with the decision to change the current marketing budget. Changes in the budget will be very productive for Blue’s Incorporated as they will allow the company to expand the brand name. The objective of giving Blue’s Incorporated a time to excel is at hand (Applying ANOVA and Non-Parametric Tests, 2003). In the first week, the marketing budget of the company was set to $169 million. At present, the market share of the company is nearly 6% of the total share of the denim industry, which is nearly $40 billion. Setting the marketing budget to $169 million is really a good decision, as it will ensure a brilliant future for the company (Applying ANOVA and Non-Parametric Tests, 2003). In the second week, there were two tasks. First task was to examine fluctuations in the market size whereas the second task was to arrive at a sales forecast. Tasks included examining the average model and k-period for the production level as well as for the average model. The company chose a weighted moving average along with two k-periods and estimated the weights at 0.2 for a period of 12 years whereas 0.8 for 11 years. The production level of 40.00 million units was set for the estimate. However, this decision did not seem to be a good one as it could have a negative effect on the future of the company (Applying ANOVA and Non-Parametric Tests, 2003). Although the company made incorrect decisions in the 2nd week of the research, but in the 3rd week, the company attentively analyzed and examined the quarterly

People Puzzle Essay Example for Free

People Puzzle Essay 1) What would you tell [Student’s Name] if [s/he] asked you the following question: â€Å"What is it like to be on the other side of me?† Kelven, you are a very strong minded individual. You remind me of my uncle who is a professor and is known by our family as the â€Å"serious†, â€Å"straight-forward† uncle. When in your presence or communicating with you, it is like listening to a father figure or leader of some organization. 2) How does [Student’s Name] typically interact with other people? Can you think of a recent example? Kelven, you interact with people well. You are not open at first, but seem to feel a person out. I remember first meeting you as my supervisor years ago. My first impression was a person who was stuck up or self-centered. I soon learned different and respect your attributes. 3) Have you ever been in a situation where you saw [Student’s Name] take on new tasks or roles? Describe this situation and what [s/he] did? Yes, as you took on new roles with additional supervisory roles in the company, Kelven, you showed us and your superiors the ability to adapt and multi-task many responsibilities. 4) What has been a particularly demanding goal for [Student’s Name] to achieve? Kelven has openly expressed his desire to work full time in ministry and own his own restaurant. 5) When you observe [Student’s Name], which of the following pictures come  to mind? LION BEAVER OTTER GOLDEN RETRIEVER A lion came to mind because Kelven is a leader of the pack and/or desires to be the alpha dog, so to speak. Ms. Atonya speaks of me as a lion who is the leader of the pack. To her, I am a person who feels a situation out before opening up to it. Firm but adaptable to any situation is how Ms. Atonya describes me. Ms. Champion 360 Interview (Letter to Editor) 6) What would you tell [Student’s Name] if [s/he] asked you the following question: â€Å"What is it like to be on the other side of me?† You are a very passionate and caring individual. You always seem to have the best interest in mind of anyone you meet. You give more of yourself than you expect from others. 7) How does [Student’s Name] typically interact with other people? Can you think of a recent example? A recent example doesn’t come to mind but I know you to ease your way into the lives of others. I don’t know if you are feeling a person out, contemplating or simply letting things evolve, but you do seem to not rush into an interaction. 8) Have you ever been in a situation where you saw [Student’s Name] take on new tasks or roles? Describe this situation and what [s/he] did? I remember over 10 years ago when you were placed into the Assistant Pastor / Interim Pastor at your home church. You lived in Dallas and traveled weekly over 100 miles to perform your duties. If I remember correctly, you performed these duties for over six months. 9) What has been a particularly demanding goal for [Student’s Name] to achieve? Full time ministry and counseling to youth. 10) When you observe [Student’s Name], which of the following pictures come to mind? LION BEAVER OTTER GOLDEN RETRIEVER You are easy going but do procrastinate at times, . Ms. Champion adds that a lion and golden retriever come to mind when observing me. She sees me as a procrastinator who is passionate about people and work. Communication Skills Test Report (Testyourself.psychtests.com, 2013) The report displays strengths, potential strengths, and limitations. As a C/S type personality, I tend to be passive in my approaches to people. According to Carbonell, â€Å"you are one the most passive types, but you tend to be reserved in the ways others like† (Carbonell, 2008, p. 77). This passive approach reveals my passion to help people on a personal level. (Uniquely You, 2013) Who is the â€Å"Me I See†? The â€Å"Me I See† has a C/S personality type. Passive by nature, I tend to give an impression of being disinterested in people or their issues. One of my motivating factors is being sure of other’s expectations before proceeding (Axiomsoftware.com, 2013). I see me as a person who has solid strengths but noticeable weaknesses as well. I am precise when it comes to details and facts. However, if not presented with a question, I tend to withhold my opinions until asked. This speaks of my hesitancy to take any risks. I do tend to remain to myself and not be as outgoing as possible. Thinking more positively and not being afraid of failure can beneficial in  controlling my behavioral tendencies (Uniquely You, 2013) As I review my 360 Interview Survey Results from individuals that know me, both seem to express similar concerns. I am looked at as a person who procrastinates at times, taking time to feel out and get comfortable in situations. With these patterns, it is wise for me to come out of my comfort zone and be more decisive (Carbonell, 2008). I value support, stability, and accuracy. I rely on data before making decisions and more than likely, take an objective approach (Resources Unlimited, 2013). These attributes describe the â€Å"rocking the boat† mentality. No one desires to be the person who rocks the boat or causes it to sink. My personality profile depicts this kind of mentality. According to Peterson, â€Å"when flat-brained, we say crazy things that seem reasonable to us at the time† (Petersen, 2007, p. 26). As a C/S Type Personality, my firm and strong personality can at times become damaging. One way to counter the flat-brain syndrome is to have goals that reduce emotional disturbance, clarify thinking, increase self-confidence, and build supportive friendships (Petersen, 2007). Thinking clearly can help me see different options and make decisive decisions. Hallmark Purpose I am committed to having the mindset Christ had toward His Father, seeking to glorify God in every area of my life. God did not intend for me to be passive and non-decisive in life. I am an overcomer and will conquer my fears. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:25, King James Version). My desire in life is to work full time in ministry. I seek to serve God and others. My rationale for having the mindset of Christ is to simply reflect and embrace the true Christian lifestyle. â€Å"Me I Want To See†. The person I want to see in me is transforming from a passive person to a purpose driven person. I do not desire to just simply get by in life in my relationships with others. Hesitancy is not productive. The courses in PAC500 are challenging me personally. Developing superior listening skills and solving the people puzzle is not just for my counselees. I am beginning to look at myself now before even considering anyone’s problems. My purpose lies in  developing the whole man, inside and out. This first begins at home and spread abroad. My hallmark is now a solid foundation to build upon. I am currently looked upon as helpful and considerate. I have a servant mentality. The â€Å"me I want to see†, is adding the qualities of boldness and decisiveness in the continual process of developing the whole man. References Axiomsoftware.com. 1994. Axiom Software Profile Interpretations High C. [online] Available at: http://www.axiomsoftware.com/disc/interpretations/disc-interpretation-high-c-only.php [Accessed: 2 Sep 2013]. Carbonell, M. 2008. How to solve the people puzzle. Blue Ridge, Ga.: Uniquely You Resources. King James Bible. 1976. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc p. 1425. Petersen, J. 2007. Why dont we listen better?. Tigard, OR: Petersen Publications. Resources Unlimited. 2013. Untitled. [Online] Available at: http://www.resourcesunlimited.com/everythingdisc/disc-everything-disc-workplace-profile.pdf [Accessed: 2 Sep 2013]. Testyourself.psychtests.com. 2013. Sample Report. [online] Available at: http://testyourself.psychtests.com/tests/showsample.php?name=communication_skills_r_qpage=page1 [Accessed: 2 Sep 2013]. Uniquely You. 2013. Untitled. [Online] Available at: https://www.uniquelyyou.com/myaccount [Accessed: 2 Sep 2013]. Solving My People Puzzle: Phase 1 Grading Rubric Student: Criteria| Points Possible| Points Earned| Assessment Content Organization * 360 ° Interviews, Communication Skills SnapShot, and DISC SnapShots (Graphs 1 2: Preface, Charts, Descriptions, and Conclusions) were presented with sufficient organizational clarity | 20| | DISC Description * Core DISC index clearly identified and satisfactorily supported from the assessments and course resources * Core motivation and shading concisely described and satisfactorily supported with evidence from course resources| 20| | Overall â€Å"The Me I and Others See† Description * Overall strengths identified and concisely described with evidence from course resources and assessments * Overall shortcomings

Why Are Integrated Resorts Important To Singapore Tourism Essay

Why Are Integrated Resorts Important To Singapore Tourism Essay In the current, the appearance of two integrated resorts acted the changing the economic structure in Singapore. It is a form of the government to make a growth of tourism receipts will be achieving to SG$30 billion, compared to the year 2009 that was SG$12.8 billion and twofold the amount of tourists to 17 million by 2015 (Montesano and Onn 2011a). According to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the total amount of receipts tourisms reached to SG$18.8 billion in 2010, and confirmed the highest number in ten years. For the expanse of the economy in front, there is a requirement by creating 60,000 jobs in IRs, and contributed 1 to 11/2 per cent of Singapores GDP (The Straits Times February 27 2012). According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MIT), by 2015, Resort World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sand would generate about 0.8% (about SG$2.7 billion) for Singapores GDP. Some examples, such as RWSs investment in IR in 2009, it invested SG$826 million on construction task and other prop erties, plants, and equipment. It showed that the extra value to Singapores GDP. Besides, IRs were awaited to lift tourist arrivals and the service industry. In 2010, within the first six months, the tourist arrivals have been increasing (Appendix 1). Especially, the highest amount of tourists was presented in July. The hotel occupancy rate was higher at 85% compared to 2009 was 72%. These figures were affected by a remarkable role of the two IRs. In the fourth quarter of the year 2012, Singapores economy avoided recession at 1.8% rise, and overall GDP the years growth at 1.2% (The Straits Times January 3 2013a). Additionally, the IRs generate economic spin-off what interest hotel, food and beverage industry, retail, and conventions and exhibitions as well (Montesano and Onn 2011b). For example, in 2009, MICE tourists receipts plunged to SG$2.7 million and SG$4.2 million in revenue, respectively. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the MICE receipts can contribute 35% of the total to urism receipts by 2015 (Yeoman 2012). Society is impacted caused the development of IRs. The development of tourism in Singapore is a reason to emerge labour issues for the hotel, mostly migrant workers (Hitchcock 2009). However, Marina Bay Sand happening in Singapore has some plans to engage local people. There are about 10,000 job vacancies for elderly unemployed citizens, women and housewives. There are no migrant workers (Conrady 2010). In a research from BBC News (2012), the number of foreign workers was more than 30% of Singapore worker force of about 3 million people. In addition, citizens complain about many problems that are crowded public transportation, high cost of living, high cost of having a car, stressful life, poor customer services, and so on (Butcher and Velayutham 2009). Public transportation is overcrowding passengers on MRT is a serious concern for the Singapore government. The MRT has been extended and added more lines to resolve the current problem. The extension of the East West line is 57.2 km w ill begin by 2016 and will serve a large amount of the workplace is about 100,000 commuters. There are also two MRT lines are the Thomson Line and Eastern Region Line will begin by 2020 for commuters outside the city. These proposals will meet the leap from 1.4 million commuters to 4.6 million commuters a day in 2020 (Libguides 2011). Furthermore, Singaporeans have met with high housing purchases caused income replacement ratio (IRR). The IRR ratio fell between 17% and 18% for middle earning labours in the individual wage groups, at retirement age of 65. It affects the retirement income when purchasing homes is mortgage payment. Prices property rises are a $100,000 increase in HDB home price will get IRR by between 3.0% and 12.4% so in order to offset the impact of high housing purchases the earnings growth of 0.4% to 1.2% (Hoong et al. 2012). On the other hand, the prices of private homes in the fourth quarter of the year 2012 grew to 1.8% in Singapore, compared with 0.6% in the pr evious quarter. In 2012, general costs went up 2.8%, compared to the last year that was 5.8%. HDB resale prices increased to 2.5% in the fourth quarter of the year 2012, compared to the year 2011 (The Straits Times January 3 2013b). Littering issue is the considerable concern with the Singapores government. Now, the population has been increasing, and the big inflow of foreign workers in Singapore, what are the main reasons make the city is not so clean. People use the window as a dustbin to throw a lot of stuff so the government has made a limitation of overseas labours, and created more attractive jobs for Singaporeans (Today November 12 2012). The improvement of technology contributes the development of IRs. Changi International Airport is one of the worlds best airport includes terminal 1, terminal 2 and terminal 3. In 2013, the plan for building terminal 4 to replace budget terminal will start and will complete in 2017 to provide better service to 16 million passengers compared with budget terminal was 7 million passengers (Channelnewsasia 2012). Moreover, internet technology has a vital role to promote the tourism industry around the world by creating good news about tourism of Singapore (Devanish 2011). Monaco is a small independent country located in Western Europe on the Mediterranean Sea (Shei 2008). Monte-Carlo is the most prominent caused it is a joy as a tourist destination and casinos in Monaco (Singh 2008). There are four casinos in Monte-Carlo: Le Casino de Monte-Carlo, Le Cafà © de Paris, Le Sporting Monte-Carlo and Le Sun Casino (Timothey and Teye 2009). Monte-Carlo SBM is a group owns hotels and casinos, including Les Thernes Marins de is one of the best spa of the world (Gershman 2009). In analytic PESTEL concerns, showing that PESTEL impacts and issues have affected future development of integrated resort development in Monaco. The first is a detailed analysis of political impact. Monaco is a constitutional monarchy which is known as National Council since 2009. National Council has 24 members who are elected by locals every 5 years. The government combined of 5 ministers knows as Conseiller du Gouvernement with different responsibilities such as economy, culture, society, education, housing, environment, transportation, and public service for community, technology, health care and others. Monaco is handled and protected by France (King 2008). It receives many benefits like an EU membership, and the currency is Euro. In 1993, it attended the United Nations and the Council of Europe in 2004 (Rogers and Crimmins 2011). Current political issue is SBM employers feel dissatisfied the rights of workers. They need to have their own party to be elected to become a member o f National Council in order to secure for SBM workers in the current and future in Monaco. In the case, if the party can get 12.5% of the vote, it will win. However, they will have a problem with Union Monegasque and Horizon Monaco. On 15 November 2012, there was a preparation for 24 members in trade unions for Renaissances election campaign. On 10 January 2012, the official list members will notice (The Riviera Times November 15 2012a). Secondly, following the Monaco Government Tourist and Convention Authority (2011), GDP reached to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬4.37 billion. It rose by 6.6% compared to 2010. The Singapore economy has recovered since 2010 was 2.1% after there was a decrease by 11.5% in 2009. According to 2011 GDP Report, GDP per capita (PPP) was à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬51,556 that was an increase by 4%. In 2010, tourism industry achieved a significant amount. The act of selling hotel industry climbed to 8.4%, equivalent to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬493,472,800 excluding VAT compared to 2009 was à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬455,421,462. These figures showing the tourism industry is going up. In 2010, leisure tourism made up 80% of hotel arrivals compared to business tourism was 20%. Monaco was 30 top of target arrivals. It achieved the figures of travellers from new markets are Mexico (+23%), Brazil (+24%), New Zealand (+24%), Australia (+32 %), India (+41%). The government of Monaco expects the number of Indian tourists will increase to 25% caused from 2010 to 2012 the number of Indian travelled to Monaco grew from 1,200 people to 1,500 people (APN News November 21 2012). Monaco has no income tax on residents and low business taxes. However, casino revenue for the government achieves 75%. Business tax rate is 33.33%. In case, the companys turnover get more than 25% generates outside of Monaco (OECD 2010). The additional profit tax rates will be reducing for further incorporation within the first 5 years following in the first 2 years, the third year, the fourth year, the fifth year and the sixth year with the tax rate will be payable is 0%; 25%; 50%; 75%; 100%, respectively (Cambell 2008). Tax exile is a common issue of Monaco. An investigation represented more than 2,000 Britons live in Monaco made UKs economy lost tax revenue  £1 billion. The issue is 533 directors of UK companies registered their business in Monaco. Tax exiles said that UKs economy receives many benefits from them by creating jobs, paying corporate tax and 19.6% VAT in Monaco (The Times November 20 2012). Thirdly, in Monaco, cost of living is so expensive compared to other countries. It is excellent 13 of 198 countries that have a high standard of living. Education is free for students from 6 year-old to 16 year-old. There is no competition in education so it fells the opportunity to finish on quality provision. The crime rate is lower than other countries (King 2008). According to the Economist (2008), real estate costs were at a high number that is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬50,000/m2, compared to London and New York was à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬28,000/m2, à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬16,500/m2 respectively caused the lack of space and low tax policy. On 26 September 2012, National Council decided to reform retirement in order to minimize Monegasque society despite the protests of Workers Trade Union. Monthly, workers will pay more contributions to pension caused the government wants to raise capital by reducing labour cost. An increase of employees is 0.8% and 1.8%for employers (The Riviera Times September 9 2012b). Fourthly, The Web 2.0 is a valuable tool for the Monaco Convention Bureau. The objective is to reach the target market by combining technology system what is called email marketing strategy and economic amenities to organizers of seminars, exhibition, congresses and trade shows. Within 1 month, it designed and sent the first email to about 6,000 receipts, including meeting, corporations (Dinnie 2011). On the other hand, Monaco has the highest broadband usage rate in the world was 47.4% in 2009 caused the Internet users got 75.2% of the population (Siaroff 2009). There is no international airport in Monaco. However, the nearest airport is Nice that is only 22km from Monaco, and direct bus services from the Nice airport to Monaco within 45 minutes. Guests can have their journey by helicopter within 7 minutes (Jha 2011, p.24). Fifthly, in Monaco, there is sewage treatment for the city water then it is discharged into the sea by submarine outfalls. In addition, solid wastes are recycled but the weight drop at 70 percent before treatment. The most part of Monaco is an urbanized area (Allah et al. 2012). According the Monaco Government Tourist and Convention Authority (2012), it has a policy to protect and keep clean beaches caused cigarette butts of tourists and smokers grew in the sand on the beach. There are about 4000 ashtrays were giving out to locals and tourist from 1 July 2012 to 15 November 2012. It was remarkably successful in June 2012. Lastly, in Monaco, citizens are not allowed to gamble in casino (Thompson 2012). Gambling is legal that provides government revenue through regulation and taxation between the government and gaming organizations (Strzalko et al. 2009). The goal of integrated resorts is to make money and provide entertainment for guests (Congrave and Klassen 2009). Are balance between gaming operation and non-gaming operation in integrated resorts businesses? Casinos are in integrated resorts offer accommodation, restaurants, retail, spas, pools, conventions in order to attract customers to casinos. All of them are non-gaming activities. Despite strong investment for non-gaming activities, their revenues are not good, compared with revenues of gaming activities (Selin and Davey 2012). Furthermore, in Monaco, casinos provide their revenues for urban development and to upgrade tourism facilities, infrastructure. Monte-Carlo Casino invests monies for security technology to keep safety for its customers. A Dallmeier video security system is used for monitoring and operating by the Monte Carlo Casino. There are approximately 400 cameras. It also use the Pixim-Powered Dallmeier system caused it provides high-quality pictures, and it is ea sy to use and fast for searching pictures in the system by using jog-shuttle tool. All movements in positioning and counting at gaming table, and operations within the casino are operated quickly by Pixims DPS technology (Pixim 2007). What are differences between traditional resorts and integrated resorts? Traditional resort knows as a destination including hotel accommodations, restaurant facilities, swimming pools and other recreational amenities for visitors (Mill 2008). Integrated resort is a resort with mixed development of hotels, casinos, spas, sport facilities, attractions, shopping centres and convention centres (Mallin 2009). Mixed-use resort is a method for development of the tourism market. It combines the development of hotels, entertainments, leisure and sporting activities, retail outlets and attractions (Robinson 2012). The mixed used is hugely popular for developers to support the buildings cost of traditional resort hotel facilities and gets benefits for owners of properties, control of food and beverage and recreational activities (HVS Global Hospitality Services 2011). Sustainable development is an important concept for integrated resorts. The idea of all-inclusive means everything includes in one price. Different resorts have different all-inclusive packages offer to guests to increase the sales of products. For instance, some all-inclusive packages include accommodations, breakfasts and return airport transfers for 2 ways or room, lunch and dinner, and spa treatment with limited time and so on. This is a way to offer promotional packages to customers to change the ways to monitor and manage resorts (Luck 2008). Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel Resort applies the all-inclusive strategy for durable development. Some promotional packages are offered by Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel Resort such as Monte-Carlo Experience Festival Printemps Des Arts package includes 1 night accommodation in a double room, buffet breakfast per person and 2 tickets to attend Printemps Des Arts Festival 2013, and Monte-Carlo Gourmet Experience package includes 2 night accommodation in a d ouble room, buffet breast for per person per day, 1 Monte-Carlo invitation card valued 200 euros to be spent at 20 restaurants belong to Monte-Carlo SBM group (SBM 2011). In addition, most exciting international events are organized in Monaco. It is a destination for all types of events related to culture, sport and leisure. There is a full calendar of famous events through the year 2013 such as Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival, Monte-Carlo Automobile Rally, International Bouquet Competition, Monaco Grand Prix, Monte-Carlo Summer Sporting Festival, Monaco Red Cross Gala, Monaco Yatch Show, Monaco International Trade Fair (Husain 2011). Specially, Monaco is a paradise for sport such as Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix draws thousands of travellers around the world. The Master 1000 Tennis Tournament has the attendance of all top stars. The 150th anniversary Monte-Carlo SBM properties will be celebrated by the year 2013. Besides, the 25th anniversary of the Louis XV restaurant is the oldest restaurant in Monaco. The large participation of 200 chefs and 300 Michelin stars from all over the world with a wine cellar has 400,000 bottles. This celebration demonstrated 25 years of excellent service and position of Monaco in hospitality industry (Tourismmandlifestylenews 2012). Prince Albert II Monaco Foundation is a policy to protect green environment in order to maintain Monaco, where is an attractive place for tourists and residents. Space is so limited so new development plans for hotels are unable to come to increase competition in Monaco. This is an opportunity for development of SBM. (Thompson 2012).

Managing Diversity Essay -- Ethnicity Racial Races Papers

Managing Diversity As we enter the new millenium, diversity in the workforce is rapidly increasing. Businesses and organizations are living up to the great melting pot image the United States has always been popular for. Employees now reflect a diversity of cultural perspectives, ethnic backgrounds, ages, genders, physical abilities, and levels of education. This wave of multiculturalism is here to stay and cannot be ignored. It is in need of attention in order to uphold the well-being and success of businesses and organizations all over the country. One way to face this wave of diversity is to learn to accept and value it (http://www.online.wbc.org/Docs/starting/diversity.html). What is diversity? Why does it matter? Once this is accomplished, the next step would be to learn how to manage diversity in the workplace. What kind of environment would managers have to create to educate employees about cultural diversity (http://mason.gmu.edu/~Isamuel/diverse.htm). In addition, an efficient manager would assess how well the environment that he/she has created is working (http://www.communitypolicing.org/exchange/e16_97/e16glosr.htm) What makes a good trainer? What are some common mistakes that a trainer could make? What is diversity? There are several definitions of diversity that exists in literature. Some definitions range from narrow to very broad. Those that are narrow tend to reflect the laws of affirmative action and equal employment opportunities such as race, gender, ethnicity, age, national origin, religion, and disability. Broad definitions tend to include sexual preference and orientation, values, education, language, economic status, marital status, lifestyle, and beliefs (7). One example defines diversity as a... ... of Managing Diversity," The Best of the Bureaucrat (Winter 1991- 2) : 41-44. 2. Andy Ferguson, "A White Man's View on Diversity," The Public Manager (Spring 1997) : 52-54. 3. Matti Dobbs and Oliver Brown, "A Vital Link: The Supervisor's Role in Managing Diversity," The Public Manager (Summer 1997) : 53-56. 4. Audrey Mathews, "Diversity: A Principle of Human Resource Management," Public Personnel Management (Summer 1998) 27 vols. No. 2 : 175-184. 5. Matti F. Dobbs, "Managing Diversity: The Department of Energy Initiative," PublicPersonnel Management (Summer 1998) 27 vols. No. 2 : 161-173. 6. James D. Slack., "From Affirmative Action to Full Spectrum Diversity in the American Workplace," Rev. of Public Personnel Administration (Fall 1997) : 75- 87. 7. Rosemary Wentling, "Diversity Training in the Workplace," http://nerve.berkeley.edu/CW73/WIPIL.html Managing Diversity Essay -- Ethnicity Racial Races Papers Managing Diversity As we enter the new millenium, diversity in the workforce is rapidly increasing. Businesses and organizations are living up to the great melting pot image the United States has always been popular for. Employees now reflect a diversity of cultural perspectives, ethnic backgrounds, ages, genders, physical abilities, and levels of education. This wave of multiculturalism is here to stay and cannot be ignored. It is in need of attention in order to uphold the well-being and success of businesses and organizations all over the country. One way to face this wave of diversity is to learn to accept and value it (http://www.online.wbc.org/Docs/starting/diversity.html). What is diversity? Why does it matter? Once this is accomplished, the next step would be to learn how to manage diversity in the workplace. What kind of environment would managers have to create to educate employees about cultural diversity (http://mason.gmu.edu/~Isamuel/diverse.htm). In addition, an efficient manager would assess how well the environment that he/she has created is working (http://www.communitypolicing.org/exchange/e16_97/e16glosr.htm) What makes a good trainer? What are some common mistakes that a trainer could make? What is diversity? There are several definitions of diversity that exists in literature. Some definitions range from narrow to very broad. Those that are narrow tend to reflect the laws of affirmative action and equal employment opportunities such as race, gender, ethnicity, age, national origin, religion, and disability. Broad definitions tend to include sexual preference and orientation, values, education, language, economic status, marital status, lifestyle, and beliefs (7). One example defines diversity as a... ... of Managing Diversity," The Best of the Bureaucrat (Winter 1991- 2) : 41-44. 2. Andy Ferguson, "A White Man's View on Diversity," The Public Manager (Spring 1997) : 52-54. 3. Matti Dobbs and Oliver Brown, "A Vital Link: The Supervisor's Role in Managing Diversity," The Public Manager (Summer 1997) : 53-56. 4. Audrey Mathews, "Diversity: A Principle of Human Resource Management," Public Personnel Management (Summer 1998) 27 vols. No. 2 : 175-184. 5. Matti F. Dobbs, "Managing Diversity: The Department of Energy Initiative," PublicPersonnel Management (Summer 1998) 27 vols. No. 2 : 161-173. 6. James D. Slack., "From Affirmative Action to Full Spectrum Diversity in the American Workplace," Rev. of Public Personnel Administration (Fall 1997) : 75- 87. 7. Rosemary Wentling, "Diversity Training in the Workplace," http://nerve.berkeley.edu/CW73/WIPIL.html

Mexican-American Assimilation at the Turn of the 20th Century Essay

The first major wave of Mexican immigration during the twentieth century triggered physical as well as verbal attacks by white Americans. Immigrant labor camps were raided by whites espousing white supremacist beliefs. By 1911 certain politicians lobbied against further Mexican immigration. The Dillingham Commission argued that Mexicans were undesirable as future citizens. Nativist scholars and politicians feared â€Å"mongrelization† as a by-product of contact with Mexicans, and in 1925 a Princeton economics professor even spoke of the future elimination of Anglo Americans by interbreeding with Mexicans (Feagin and Feagin, p.265). These themes reemerged in 1928 when a congressional committee attempted to set limits on immigration from the western hemisphere. Congressman John Box called for restrictions on Mexican immigration because the Mexican was a product of mixing by the Spaniard and â€Å"low-grade† Indians. This mixture, according to Boxer, was an obstacle to participation in American democracy. The image of the Mexican American male possessing innate criminal tendencies emerged during the World War II era. For example, in 1943, following the Zoot Suit Riots, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department issued a report alleging that the Mexican American’s desire to spill blood was an inborn characteristic. Further, the report concluded that Mexican Americans were violent because of their Indian blood (Feagin and Feagin, 265). And as late as 1969, a California judge ruling in an incest case reiterated similar racist beliefs. He stated in court: â€Å"Mexican people †¦ think it is perfectly all right to act like an animal. We ought to send you out of this country†¦. You are lower than animals †¦ maybe Hitler was right. The animals in our society probably ought to be destroyed† (Feagin and Feagin, p. 266). One of the most persistent stereotypes is the image of simplemindedness. In 1982 the U. S. Department of Defense issued a report explaining that lower test scores for Hispanics and African Americans as compared to white Americans were due to genetic differences as well as cultural differences. During the same year, the National Educational Testing Service, surprised by the excellent performance of 18 Mexican American students attending Garfield High School (a school situated in one of Los Angeles’ poorest Mexican American communities), demanded that all retake the exam. Allegations of cheating by the students was the reasoning of the testing administrators. The students eventually did re-take the exam; once again they received excellent scores. Other Immigrants: Mexicans and the Dillingham Commission of 1907-1911 http://www. jstor. org/stable/10. 5406/jamerethnhist. 30. 2. 0033 Biological Superiority of Whites. http://www. princeton. edu/~tleonard/papers/retrospectives. pdf John Box’s Proposed Immigration Limitations http://www. digitalhistory. uh. edu/disp_textbook. cfm? smtID=3&psid=594 Zoot Suit Fights http://www. pbs. org/wgbh/amex/zoot/eng_sfeature/sf_press_text_04. html Mexican immigration general info http://www. jstor. org/stable/981093 Gutierrez, David. 1993. â€Å"Significant to Whom? : Mexican Americans and the History of the American West. † Western Historical Quarterly (24):4. http://www. jstor. org/stable/2702497? seq=3 THIS ONE IS MONEY.

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 26

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Picking the Lock to Davy Jones's Locker † ‘Bite me'?† Libby Quinn said, reading the tail. The whale tail slowly twisted in space, pixel by pixel, as the computer extrapolated the new angle. Margaret Painborne sat at the computer. Clay and Libby stood behind her. Kona was working across the room on Quinn's reassembled machine. † ‘Bite me'?† Clay repeated. â€Å"That can't be right.† He thought about what Nate had said about seeing a tail just like this and shivered. Margaret hit a few keys on the keyboard, then swiveled in Clay's chair. â€Å"This some kind of joke, Clay?† â€Å"Not mine. That was raw footage, Margaret.† As attractive as Clay found Libby, he found Margaret equally scary. Maybe the latter because of the former. It was complex. â€Å"The tail image before you shifted it is exactly what I saw when I was down there.† â€Å"You've all been saying how sophisticated their communication ability was,† said Kona, trying to sound scientific but essentially just pissing everyone off. â€Å"How?† said Libby. â€Å"Even if you wanted to, how would you paint a whale's flukes like that?† Margaret and Clay just shook their heads. â€Å"Rust-Oleum,† suggested Kona, and they all turned and glared at him. â€Å"Don't give me the stink-eye. You'd need the waterproof, huh?† â€Å"Did you finish inputting those pages?† Clay said. â€Å"Yah, mon.† â€Å"Well, save them and go rake something or mow something or something.† â€Å"Save as a binary,† Margaret added quickly, but Kona had already saved the file, and the screen was clear. Margaret wheeled her chair across the office, her gray hair trailing out behind her like the Flying Sorceress of Clerical Island. She pushed Kona aside. â€Å"Crap,† she said. â€Å"What?† asked Clay. â€Å"What?† asked Libby. â€Å"You said save it,† Kona said. â€Å"He saved it as an ASCII file, a text file, not a binary. Crap. I'll see if it's okay.† She opened the file, and text appeared on the screen. Her hand went to her mouth, and she sat back slowly in Clay's chair. â€Å"Oh, my God.† â€Å"What?† came the chorus. â€Å"Are you sure you put this in, just as it came off the graphs?† she asked Kona without looking at him. â€Å"Truth,† said Kona. â€Å"What?† said Libby and Clay. â€Å"This has got to be some sort of joke,† said Margaret. Clay and Libby ran across the room to look at the screen. â€Å"What!† â€Å"It's English,† Margaret said, pointing to the text. â€Å"How is that possible?† â€Å"That's not possible,† Libby said. â€Å"Kona, what did you do?† â€Å"Not me, I just typed ones and ohs.† Margaret grabbed one of the legal pages with the ones and ohs and began typing the numbers into a new file. When she had three lines, she saved it, then reopened the file as text. It read, WILL SCUTTLE SECOND BOAT TO__ â€Å"It can't be.† â€Å"It is.† Clay jumped into Margaret's lap and started scrolling through the text from Kona's transcription. â€Å"Look, it goes on for a while, then it's just gobbledygook, then it goes on some more.† Margaret looked back at Libby with Save me in her eyes. â€Å"There is no way that the song is carrying a message in English. Binary was a stretch, but I refuse to believe that humpbacks are using ASCII and English to communicate.† Libby looked over to Kona. â€Å"You guys took these off of Nate's tapes, exactly the way you showed me?† Kona nodded. â€Å"Kids, look at this,† Clay said. â€Å"These are all progress reports. Longitude and latitude, times, dates. There are instructions here to sink my boat. These fuckers sank my boat?† â€Å"What fuckers?† Margaret said. â€Å"A humpback with ‘Bite me' on his flukes?† She was trying to look around Clay's broad back. â€Å"If this were possible, then the navy would have been using it a long time ago.† Now Clay jumped up to face Kona. â€Å"What tape is this last part from?† â€Å"The last one Nate and Amy made, the day Nate drown. Why?† Clay sat back on Margaret's lap, looking stunned. He pointed to a line of text on the screen. They all leaned in to read: QUINN ON BOARD__WILL RENDEZVOUS WITH BLUE-6__AGREED COORDINATES__1600 TUESDAY__NO PASTRAMI â€Å"The sandwich,† Clay said ominously. Just then Clair, home from school, stepped into the office to discover an impromptu dog pile of action nerds in front of Quinn's computer. â€Å"All you bastards want to be part of a sandwich, and you don't even know what to do with one woman.† â€Å"Not the spoon!† squealed Kona, his hand going to the goose egg on his forehead. Nathan Quinn awoke feeling as if he needed to crawl out of his skin. If he hadn't felt it before, he would have thought he had the generic heebie-jeebies (scientifically speaking), but he recognized the feeling as being hit with heavy subsonic sound waves. The blue-whale ship was calling. Just because it was below the frequency of his hearing didn't mean it wasn't loud. Blue-whale calls could travel ten thousand miles, he assumed that the ship was putting out similar sounds. Nate slipped out of his bunk and nearly fell reaching for his shirt. Another thing he hadn't noticed immediately – the ship wasn't moving, and he still had his sea legs on. He dressed quickly and headed down the corridor to the bridge. There was a large console that spanned the area between the two whaley-boy pilots that hadn't been there before. Unlike the rest of the ship, it appeared to be man-made, metal and plastic. Sonar scopes, computers, equipment that Quinn didn't even recognize. Nuà ±ez and the blond woman, Jane, were standing at the sonar screens wearing headphones. Tim was seated beside one of the whaley boys at the center of the console in front of two monitors. Tim was wearing headphones and typing. The whaley boy appeared to be just watching. Nuà ±ez saw Nate come in, smiled, and motioned for him to come forward. These people were completely incompetent as captors, Nate thought. Not a measure of terror among them, the humans anyway. If not for the subsonic heebie-jeebies, he would have felt right at home. â€Å"Where did this come from?† The electronics looked incredibly crude next to the elegant organic design of the whale ship, the whaley boys, and, for that matter, the human crew. The idea of comparing designs between human-built devices and biological systems hadn't really occurred to Nate before because he'd been conditioned never to think of animals as designed. The whale ship was putting a deep dent in his Darwin. â€Å"These are our toys,† Nuà ±ez said. â€Å"The console stays below the floor unless we need to see it. Totally unnecessary for the whaley boys, since they have direct interface with the ship, but it makes us feel like we know what's going on.† â€Å"And they can't type for shit,† said Tim, tucking his thumbs under and making a slamming-the-keys gesture. â€Å"Tiny thumbs.† The whaley boy next to him trumpeted a raspberry all over Tim's monitor, leaving large dots of color magnified in the whaley spit. He chirped twice, and Tim nodded and typed into the computer. â€Å"Can they read?† Nate asked. â€Å"Read, kind of write, and most of them understand at least two human languages, although, as you probably noticed, they're not big talkers.† â€Å"No vocal cords,† said Nu;ez. â€Å"They have air chambers in their heads that produce the sounds they make, but they have a hard time forming the words.† â€Å"But they can talk. I've heard Em – I mean, them.† â€Å"Best that you just learn whaleyspeak. It's basically what they use to talk to each other, except they keep it in the range of our hearing. It's easier to learn if you've learned other tonal-sensitive languages like Navajo or Chinese.† â€Å"I'm afraid not,† Nate said. â€Å"So the ship is calling?† Tim pulled off his headphones and handed them to Nate. â€Å"The pitch is raised into our range. You'll be able to hear it through there.† Nate held a headphone to one ear. Now that he could hear the signal, he could also feel it start and stop more acutely in his chest. If anything, it relieved the discomfort, because he could hear it coming. â€Å"Is this a message?† â€Å"Yep,† said Jane, pulling up a headphone. â€Å"Just as you suspected. We type it in, the computer puts the message into peaks and troughs on the waveform, we play the waveform for the whaley boys, and they make the whale sing that waveform. We've calibrated it over the years.† Nate noticed that the whaley boy at the metal console had one hand in an organic socket fitted into the front of the console – like a flesh cable that ran to the whale ship through the console's base, similar to the ones on the flesh consoles the pilots used. â€Å"Why the computers and stuff at all if the whaley boys do it all by†¦ what? Instinct?† The whaley boy at the console grinned up at Nate, squeaked, then performed the international signal for a hand job. â€Å"It's the only way we can be in the loop,† Jane said. â€Å"Believe me, for a long time we were just along for the ride. The whaley boys have the same navigational sense that the whales themselves do. We don't understand it at all. It's some sort of magnetic vocabulary. It wasn't until the Dirts – that's you – developed computers and we got some people who could run them that we became part of the process. Now we can surface and pull a GPS coordinate, transmit it, communicate with the other crews. We have some idea of what we're doing.† â€Å"You said for a long time? How long?† Jane looked nervously at Nuà ±ez, who looked nervously back. Nate thought for a moment that they might have to dash off to the bathroom together, which in his experience was what women did right before they made any major decisions, like about which shoes to buy or whether or not they were ever going to sleep with him again. â€Å"A long time, Nate. We're not sure how long. Before computers, okay?† By which she meant she wasn't going to tell him and if he pressed it, she'd just lie to him. Nate suddenly felt more like a prisoner, and, as a prisoner, he felt as though his first obligation was to escape. He was sure that was your first obligation as a prisoner. He'd seen it in a movie. Although his earlier plan of leaping out the back orifice into the deep ocean now seemed a tad hasty, with some perspective. He said, â€Å"So how deep are we?† â€Å"We usually send at about two thousand feet. That puts us pretty squarely in the SOFAR channel, no matter where we are geographically.† The SOFAR channel (sound fixing and ranging) was a natural combination of pressure and temperature at certain depths that cause a path of least resistance in which sound could travel many thousands of miles. The theory had been that blues and humpbacks used it to communicate with each other over long distances for navigational purposes. Evidently whaley boys and the people who worked their ships did, too. â€Å"So does this signal replicate a natural blue-whale call?† â€Å"Yes,† said Tim. â€Å"That's one of the advantages of communicating in English within the waveform. When the whaley boys were doing the direct communication, there was a lot more variation in the call, but our signal is hidden, more or less. Except for a few busybodies who may run across it.† â€Å"Like me?† â€Å"Yes, like you. We're a little worried about some of the acoustic people at Woods Hole and Hatfield Marine Center in Oregon. People who spend way too much time looking at spectrograms of underwater sound.† â€Å"You realize,† said Nate, â€Å"that I might never have found out about your ships. I didn't make any sort of intuitive leap to look at a binary signal in the call. It was a stoned kid who came up with that.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Jane. â€Å"If it makes you feel any better, you can blame him for your being here. We were on hold until you started to look in the signal for binary. That's when they called you in, so to speak.† Nate sincerely wished he could blame Kona, but since it appeared that he might never see civilization again, having someone to blame didn't seem particularly pertinent right now. Besides, the kid had been right. â€Å"How'd you know? I didn't exactly put out a press release.† â€Å"We have ways,† said Nuà ±ez, trying not to sound spooky but failing. This evidently amused the whaley boy at the console and the two pilots no end, and they nearly wheezed themselves out of their seats. â€Å"Oh, fuck you guys,† said Nuà ±ez. â€Å"It's not like you guys are a bunch of geniuses.† â€Å"And you guys were the nightwalkers that Tako Man was talking about,† Nate said to the pilots. â€Å"You guys sank Clay's boat.† The pilots raised their arms over their heads in a menacing scary-monster pose, then bared their teeth and made some fake growling noises, then collapsed into what Nate was starting to think of as whale giggles. The whaley boy at the console started clapping and laughing as well. â€Å"Franklin! We're not done here. Can we get the interface back?† Franklin, obviously the whaley boy who had been working the console, slumped and put his hand back in the socket. â€Å"Sorry,† came a tiny voice from his blowhole. â€Å"Bitch,† came another tiny voice from one of the pilots, followed by whaley snickering. â€Å"Let's send one more time. I want base to know we'll be there in the morning,† Nuà ±ez said. â€Å"Morale's not a problem, then?† asked Nate, grinning at Nuà ±ez's loss of temper. â€Å"Oh, they're like fucking children,† Nuà ±ez said. â€Å"They're like dolphins: You dump them in the middle of the ocean with a red ball and they'll just play all day long, stopping only long enough to eat and screw. I'm telling you, it's like baby-sitting a bunch of horny toddlers.† Franklin squeaked and clicked a response, and this time Tim and Jane joined in the laughter with the whaley boys. â€Å"What? What?† asked Nate. â€Å"I do not just need to get laid!† shouted Nuà ±ez. â€Å"Jane, you got this?† â€Å"Sure,† said the blonde. â€Å"I'm going to quarters.† She left the bridge to the snickering of the whaley boys. Tim looked back at Nate and nodded toward the sonar screen and headset that Nuà ±ez had vacated. â€Å"Want to stand in?† â€Å"I'm a prisoner,† said Nate. â€Å"Yeah, but in a nice way,† said Jane. That was true. Everyone since he'd come on board had been very kind to him, seeing to his every need, even some he didn't want seen to. He didn't feel like a prisoner. Nate wasn't sure that he wasn't experiencing the Helsinki syndrome, where you sympathized with your captors – or was that the Stockholm syndrome? Yeah, the Helsinki syndrome had something to do with hair loss. It was definitely the Stockholm syndrome. He stepped up to the sonar screen and put on the headset. Immediately he heard the distant song of a humpback. He looked at Tim, who raised his eyebrows as if to say, See. â€Å"So tell me,† Nate said, â€Å"what's the singing mean?† It was worth a shot. â€Å"We were just going to ask you,† said Jane. â€Å"Swell,† said Nate. Suddenly he didn't feel so well. After all this, even people who traveled inside whales didn't know what the song meant? â€Å"Are you all right, Nate?† Jane asked. â€Å"You don't look so good.† â€Å"I think I have Stockholm syndrome.† â€Å"Don't be silly,† said Tim. â€Å"You've got plenty of hair.† â€Å"You want some Pepto?† asked Jane, the ship's doctor. Yes, he thought, escape would seem a priority. He was pretty sure that if he didn't get away, he was going to snap and kill some folks, or at least be incredibly stern with them. Funny, he thought, how your priorities could change with circumstances. You go along for the greater part of your life thinking you want something – to understand the humpback song, for instance. So you pursue that with dogged single-mindedness at the expense of everything else in your life, only to be distracted into thinking maybe you want something in addition to that – Amy, for instance. And that becomes a diversion up until the time when circumstances make you realize what it is you really want, and that is – strangely enough – to get the fuck out of a whale. Funny, Nate thought. â€Å"Settle down, Kona,† Clair said, dropping her purse by the door, â€Å"I don't have a spoon.† Clay jumped off Margaret's lap. He and Kona watched as Clair crossed the room and exchanged hugs with Margaret and Libby, lingering a bit while hugging Libby and winking over her shoulder at Clay. â€Å"So nice to see you guys,† Clair said. â€Å"I'm not going out to get the pizza, mon. No way,† said Kona, still looking a bit terrified. â€Å"What are you guys doing?† Clair asked. And so Margaret took it upon herself to explain what they had discovered over the last few hours, with Kona filling in the pertinent and personal details. Meanwhile, Clay sat down in the kitchen and pondered the facts. Pondering, he felt, was called for. Pondering is a little like considering and a little like thinking, but looser. To ponder, one must let the facts roll around the rim of the mind's roulette wheel, coming to settle in whichever slot they feel pulled to. Margaret and Libby were scientists, used to jamming their facts into the appropriate slots as quickly as possible, and Kona†¦ well, a thought rolling around in his mind was rather like a tennis ball in a coffee can – it was just a little too fuzzy to make any impact – and Clair was just catching up. No, the pondering fell to Clay, and he sipped a dark beer from a sweating bottle on a high stool in the kitchen and waited for the roulette ball to fall. Which it did, right about the time that Margaret Painborne was reaching a conclusion to her story. â€Å"This obviously has something to do with defense,† Margaret said. â€Å"No one else would have a reason – hell, they can't even have a good reason. But I say we write our senators tonight and confront Captain Tarwater in the morning. He's got to know something about it.† â€Å"And that's where you're completely wrong,† Clay said. And they all turned. â€Å"I've been pondering this† – here he paused for impact – â€Å"and it occurs to me that two of our friends disappeared right about the time they found out about this stuff. And that everything from the break-in to the sinking of my boat† – and here he paused for a moment of silence – â€Å"has had something to do with someone not wanting us to know this stuff. So I think it would be reckless of us to run around trying to tell everybody what we know before we know what we know is.† â€Å"That can't be right,† said Libby. † ‘Before we know what we know is'?† quoted Margaret. â€Å"No, that's not right.† â€Å"Is making perfect sense to me,† said Kona. â€Å"No, Clay,† said Clair, â€Å"I'm fine with you and the girl-on-girl action, and I'm fine with a haole Rasta boy preaching sovereignty, but I'm telling you I won't stand for that kind of grammatical abuse. I am a schoolteacher, after all.† â€Å"We can't tell anyone!† Clay screamed. â€Å"Better,† said Clair. â€Å"No need to shout,† Libby said. â€Å"Margaret was just being a radical hippie reactionist feminist lesbian communist cetacean biologist, weren't you, dear?† Libby Quinn grinned at her partner. â€Å"I'll have an acronym for that in a second,† mumbled Clair, counting off words on her fingers. â€Å"Jeez, your business card must be the size of a throw rug.† Margaret glared at Libby, then turned to Clay. â€Å"You really think we could be in danger?† â€Å"Seems that way. Look, I know we wouldn't know this without your help, but I just don't want anyone hurt. We may already be in trouble.† â€Å"We can keep it quiet if you feel that's the way to go,† said Libby, making the decision for the pair, â€Å"but I think in the meantime we need to look at a lot more audio files – see how far back this goes. Figure out why sometimes it's just noise and sometimes it's a message.† Margaret was furiously braiding and unbraiding her hair and staring blankly into the air in front of her as she thought. â€Å"They must use the whale song as camouflage so enemy submarines don't detect the communication. We need more data. Recordings from other populations of humpbacks, out of American waters. Just to see how far they've gone with this thing.† â€Å"And we need to look at blue-, fin-, and sei-whale calls,† said Libby. â€Å"If they're using subsonic, then it only makes sense that they'll imitate the big whales. I'll call Chris Wolf at Oregon State tomorrow. He monitors the navy's old sonar matrix that they set up to catch Russian submarines. He'll have recordings of everything we need.† â€Å"No,† said Clay. â€Å"No one outside this room.† â€Å"Come on, Clay. You're being paranoid.† â€Å"Say that again, Libby. He monitors whose old sonar matrix? The military still keeps a hand in on that SOSUS array.† â€Å"So you think it is military?† Clay shook his head. â€Å"I don't know. I'm damned if I can think of a reason the navy would paint ‘Bite me' on the tail of a whale. I just know that people who find out about this stuff disappear, and someone sent a message saying that Nate was safe after we all thought he was dead.† â€Å"So what are you going to do?† â€Å"Find him,† Clay said. â€Å"Well, that's going to totally screw up the funeral,† said Clair. PART THREE The Source We are built as gene machines and cultured as meme machines, but we have the power to turn against our creators. We, alone on earth, can rebel against the tyranny of selfish replicators. – RICHARD DAWKINS, The Selfish Gene Ninety-five percent of all the species that have ever existed are now extinct, so don't look so goddamn smug. – GERARD RYDER