I.S.U journal Kite runner Essay

Plot (important action only): The kite runner is about the life of a young boy named Amir. Amir lives in a lavish house in the richest district of Kabul, in Afghanistan. Amir has everything he could ever want except the loving attention and acceptance of his father, Baba. In their house, they have two Hazara servants. Ali and his son Hassan who are part of the minority ethnicity at the time. Hassan grew up with Amir in the same house and he was much more than just a best friend. Baba treated Hassan equally to Amir, as if they were brothers. Each year it was a tradition for the Afghan community to have a festival of kites where there would be a single victor to arise amongst hundreds. Amir was a great kite flyer and Hassan was the best kite runner there was. This year, Amir won the tournament and his dad was really proud of him. Amir was really happy to finally have some loving attention from his father. Hassan promised to run the last kite defeated for Amir. He did not return immediately so Amir went looking for him. Amir saw Hassan cornered by Assef, a bully, and two of his friends. Amir then watched Hassan take a brutal beating just to keep the blue kite for him. Amir watched him get beaten and did nothing. The relationship between Amir and Hassan has never been the same after that day. Amir felt that either he or Hassan must leave and so he puts his birthday gift under Hassan’s pillow. Later, Hassan admits that he stole them and Ali says they must leave. Baba pleads with him to stay, but Ali refuses. Years after Hassan and Ali left, the Roussi army attacked, forcing Baba and 18 year old Amir to flee the country to California. The states provided a whole new life for Baba and especially Amir. Amir attends high school and college to pursue his dream; to become a famous writer. Amir is haunted every day by the thought of Hassan getting beaten and him not reacting, pretending as if he were never there. In California, Baba finds an Afghan community in which he is quite popular already. He spends a lot of time at a flea market where there are many other Afghans too. Amir spots a young afghan lady, Soraya, at the flea market which he cannot keep his eyes off. When Amir’s father becomes ill with cancer, Amir asks Soraya to marry him. Very shortly after they get married, Baba dies. Soraya and Amir then try to have kids but fail to and it is then when Amir receives a call from a man he has not heard of in a very long time. Rahim Khan tells Amir of the death of Hassan and his wife. Amir is devastated by the news. Rahim also tells Amir that their son is now in an orphanage. Rahim tells Amir that finding Hassan’s son is his chance to redeem his sin. Amir then goes to Afghanistan to find Hassan’s son. With many obstacles, including a one on one fight to the death with Assef, the bully who bullied him and Hassan at a young age, Amir comes out of Afghanistan with Hassan’s son. He comes back to California with many injuries. Sohrab, Hassan’s son, goes to school and lives a new life in America. Hassan and his wife officially adopt him and provide him a life full of potential. The novel ends with Amir teaching Sohrab how to fly a kite, as he battles a kite and defeats it. Characters: Amir: Amir is the narrator and protagonist of the novel. He is a Pashtun boy, who evolves throughout the book to become an adult. He is also a great writer and storyteller. As readers we feel much compassion for him. His father is a wealthy man by Afghan standards, and so Amir grows up always having what he wants. He has everything he could wish for except the loving attention of his father. He does not feel a deep emotional connection with Baba and this causes Amir to feel a strong jealousy towards anyone receiving his father’s affection. Amir thinks Baba wishes he was more like him. Amir is often jealous of the way Baba treats Hassan. He notices that Hassan is much more like his father than he is. Amir is a conflicted character who struggles between the logical and emotional sides of his being. Throughout the novel, he struggles to make connections with his father. His obsession and guilty conscience, along with his adult perspective looking back at childhood events make him a good storyteller. Amir seems to be a mix of Hassan’s personality and Assef’s personality making him in the middle of good and bad. He then gets the chance to fight Assef one on one to the death which was like facing the bad side of himself. Baba: Baba is Amir’s father. Later in the novel we find out that he is also Hassan’s father. He is considered a hero and a leader in Kabul and he is always doing things for others. He always seems to expect more from Amir. Baba has excellent morals and philosophies on life that he tries to teach Amir over time. He was even willing to sacrifice himself to keep the Russian guard from raping the women travelling with them. By doing so, Amir later understands that doing what is right is better than saving yourself. Baba felt guilty through his whole life for not being able to acknowledge Hassan as his son. For this reason, he tries to redeem his guilt by providing good actions to everyone around him. He even built an orphanage. His emotions are very well hidden by his outer appearance. In the end, he is very proud of Amir. He dies happily because he was able to build the relationship he had always wanted with at least one of his sons. We also find out that Amir and Baba both shared a never-ending feeling of guilt inside of them for different reasons. Hassan: Hassan is Amir’s playmate and servant. He is a Hazara and we find out late in the novel that he is Amir’s half-brother. Hassan epitomizes the perfect servant who is not only loyal to his master, but also forgiving and good-natured. Even after he’s been betrayed, Hassan lies for Amir and he still considers him as a friend. Hassan grows up in the same place as Amir but has a different purpose. He is a servant and so he prepares Amir for school every morning by preparing his breakfast and books. He also does all the chores during the day while Amir is at school getting an education. Hassan later gets married and has a son. He dies late in the novel. Hassan represents all that is good and kind. Assef: Assef is the antagonist of the novel. Assef does not see Hazaras as equal to Pashtuns. Near the beginning of the novel, he beats Hassan violently. At the end of the novel, he fights Amir one on one to the death until Sohrab shot him in the eye. He is a villain who ends up joining the Taliban. Assef represents all that is evil and cruel. Personal reaction to the novel: The kite runner was an amazing novel. I personally loved it. I finished the book in less than a week because I simply could not stop reading it after I first opened the book. I felt a lot of strong emotions when reading this book. When Hassan was beaten violently and Amir just stood there and watched, I was really scared for Hassan. The picture was very vivid in my mind and I felt terrible for Hassan. I also felt sad for Amir because he only finds out in the end that he and his dad were much more alike than they both thought. When Baba is already dead, Amir finds out the truth about him and how they both share an endless guilt. I also really liked this novel because I got to learn a bit about Afghanistan since it was the main setting of the novel. Out of all the books that students have to read in English class throughout the years, this is one of the few that are really good. I actually really enjoyed reading this book, unlike many books read in the past years. I would strongly suggest to keep teaching this book to future students. Author’s style and voice: The kite runner written by Khaled Hosseini uses the narrative writing style. The author places himself as Amir and narrates you the story. The author also uses a lot of accurate descriptions to give the readers a vivid image of a setting, character or object. Since it is Amir narrating the story, he tells it from the viewpoint of an adult looking back across his life. It is a personal narration in an informal, conversational style, similar to dialogue rather than a self-consciously literary style of writing. Amir’s voice is pretty consistent throughout most of the novel. However, the vocabulary and diction develop as he moves from talking about his childhood years to talking about his adult years. At the beginning of the book, when he narrates his childhood life, he tends to use childlike language such as â€Å"he never told on me†1. When he gets older, the vocabulary and diction used to narrate are more advanced since Amir has evolved not only physically, but intellectually as well. The author’s voice or Amir’s voice also changes at times of stress or anxiety. After his fight with Assef, the sentence structure becomes very hesitant and broken to reflect the severe temporary damage of Amir’s mind. Themes: Redemption: Redemption is searched by two important characters through the novel. Baba and Amir are both seeking redemption for two different reasons. Baba had sex with his servant and this resulted in having a Hazara boy. Because Hassan was a Hazara, he could not publically announce that he was his son and so he kept it a secret during his whole life. The fact that he could not acknowledge Hassan as his son made him feel very guilty and he never stopped striving to redeem himself. Baba even built an orphanage to help redeem himself according to Rahim Khan. Amir is also searching for redemption ever since he saw Hassan take a beating without reacting at all. Redemption is what brings Amir to Afghanistan which is a big event in this story. Forgiveness: Hassan’s actions demonstrate that he did forgive Amir’s betrayal. Amir pretty much spends the entire novel to learn about the nature of forgiveness. Baba’s actions of redemption are an attempt to gain public forgiveness for what he has not even publically admitted to have done. When Amir finally discovers Baba’s big secret from Rahim’s letter, he ends up forgiving his father. Forgiveness plays an important role in the story. Immigrant experience: In this book, we get to know how hard it can be for immigrants to leave their homeland and to successfully arrive to their destination. Baba and Amir are among many Afghans who struggle to leave. There are plenty of calculated risks and uncertainties in the next passages for immigrants. Many immigrants die before they even reach their new homes. In addition to the difficulties of their lives in a new country, the immigrants also have to accept what or who they have left behind. When arriving to a new country, immigrants also try to maintain their traditions and some semblance of their own culture, which can be hard. Baba loses his status once they arrive in America and still has his old prejudices. Soraya and her mother also demonstrate the difficult role women have balancing the expectations of an old world culture with the new world in which they are living. Sohrab quickly adapts to his new country and has a life full of potential waiting for him. Symbols: The pomegranate tree: While Amir and Hassan are both young and carefree, they carve their names in the tree and it bears fruit. Therefore, the tree symbolizes their relationship. Much later when Hassan is dead and Amir is filled with guilt, the tree just like Amir’s memories still exists but no longer bears fruit. The tree not only symbolizes a unifying force between Amir and Hassan but also serves as a source of division. When Amir wanted Hassan to hit him with the pomegranate fruit in order to inflict physical pain as a punishment to lessen his guilt instead, Hassan breaks the fruit over his own head to prove his loyalty. The tree brings back vivid memories when Amir returns to Afghanistan. Kites and the blue kite: Kites and everything associated with them are undoubtedly the most important symbols in this novel. This blue kite is even more important because it symbolizes a chance for Amir to obtain Baba’s attention. Amir thought that the only way he’d earn his father’s attention would be to win the kite flying tournament. This blue kite is the last kite competing against Amir’s during the tournament. As he cuts the last kite’s string, Hassan runs off to fetch the kite for Amir. The blue kite also symbolizes Hassan’s loyalty. Amir wanted to show all the kids at school that he won the tournament and got to keep the last remaining kite that he faced one on one. He mostly wanted to show this kite to his father. As the novel continues, the kite becomes a symbol of betrayal which leads Amir to the will of finding redemption. Hassan sacrificed him just to bring kite back to Amir as he said he would. Hassan took a beating to keep the kite and Amir watched it happen without reacting. Amir feels guilt ever since this moment until the very end of the novel, where Amir is running a kite for Hassan’s son. At the end, the kites symbolizes happiness, freedom and peace at last. Scars: Hassan has a split lip since he was a child, and it is one of the features Amir refers to the most when describing him. The split in his lip symbolizes Hassan’s status in the society. It signifies poverty and minority as an ethnicity which is one major thing that differentiates him from Amir, because it indicates that his family do not have the money to fix his lip. Baba eventually pays a surgeon to repair Hassan’s lip as a birthday gift, signifying his secret fatherly love for Hassan. Later in the novel, Assef splits Amir’s lip in his one on one duel with Amir. Amir is left with a permanent scar very similar to Hassan’s. This scar on Amir symbolizes the fact that Amir has become like Hassan not only physically, but mentally too in the sense that he has learnt to stand up for what is right. Bibliographical information: Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead Books, (2003) I got a 4+ on this journal , so it should do you some good 🙂

Can Divorce be Beneficial for Children

University I stared Into his uncontrolled, demonic eyes Just Inches from mine as I watched his body tremble and quake with wrath. It was an unbridled anger I had encountered many times before. I listened as the sharp words escaped his mouth, piercing me like daggers. Not knowing if any hasty movement would have dire repercussions, I stood frozen, heart racing, undecided of my next move. Helplessness filled my soul.I'd felt stuck for nearly 15 years now, married to this ticking time-bomb of a man, walking on eggshells dally, never knowing what was going to send him Into fit of rage. Why did I continue to stay? For the children. I had always been told that divorce was bad for children. I was afraid I would make a decision that would negatively affect them for the rest of their lives. But, in this moment I realized the abusive situation we all were living in was far worse than the possible negative effects of divorce. We had to find a way out.This scenario, drawn from my own personal ex perience, Is not as uncommon as one might think. People continue on In toxic or abusive marriages with the misconception that staying married will be best or their children. From my perspective as a single mother of 3 children who was in an emotionally abusive marriage, I have personally witnessed the positive effects that divorce can have on children. Especially, when there are cases of abuse both physical and emotional, or extreme contention within the home, divorce can have a positive effect on the children Involved.While I am only a witness to my own personal experience there has been significant research done on the topic of divorce and the effects, both positive and negative, It has on children. I will draw on the expertise of Jolliet (201 1), Clark (201 3), Amatol (2010), Coleman, Glenn (2010) as well as others, and their extensive research about the effects of divorce on children. Divorce has had a bad stigma throughout the ages because of the effects it was thought to have on children. It's often been heard, â€Å"We stayed together for the children. As divorce rates have increased, and no fault divorces have been Implemented, the perceived damage of divorce on children has started to recede. Particularly, under certain circumstances where there is much discord or abuse, divorce has proven to e beneficial for children. A divorce can end the modeling of a bad relationship, create happier parents, and a healthier environment for everyone, including the children. Historically, divorce has been viewed as a negative marital option and in fact, up until the sass's divorce was fault based.In other words, legally to get a divorce one spouse had to prove the other spouse executed a marital offense. This looked at as outcasts from a â€Å"broken-home,† Olive, 2011). Research ensued to back up these negative conceptions of divorce on children. The problem was, much of the search failed to take into consideration the effects of the pre-divorce environment . Figure 1: Shows the long-term divorce rates from 1940 – 2012. It shows the dramatic increase in divorce rates when the no-fault divorce was written into law. Source: Divorce recession drop rebound, with the 2012 rate (2014).Over time, as shown in the chart above, the no fault divorce was legislated into law, and helped to eradicate this stigma Olive, 2011). Divorce rates did rise dramatically until the early ass's, and have since populated, or even declined slightly. With this increase, people began to be ore accepting of divorce. Recent studies are revealing that divorce can have a positive effect on children. Much of the result has to do with how the parents handle the divorce with their children,; therefore, the positive effects are not Just limited to cases of abuse. As a result (of dispelling the negative divorce connotations), instead of divorce being taboo and frowned upon, people now view divorce as a second chance to be happy. Instead of being considered lost caus es, children of divorce can now be seen as resilient and able to cope,† said Jolliet, a partner at Randall & Sonnies, and family divorce attorney. With the â€Å"stay together for the sake of the children† mantra so ingrained into the ideals of society, the effects of these misconceptions of divorce still deter many from getting a divorce.So much historical research was done showing how children suffered from divorce either academically, or emotionally, and society for years has accepted this thought process. Unfortunately, this causes people to stay in abusive marriages, or marriages with extreme discord, far longer than they should, not realizing that they may actually be hurting their children far more than helping them. Brenda Clark, a child psychologist ND member of the Canadian Pediatric Society said, â€Å"If there is a high level of conflict, children appear to be better off if the marriage ends and separation occurs. Research now shows that children who were e xposed to marital conflict prior to the divorce, even in utter, were more likely to develop problems, emotionally and behaviorally (Coleman, & Glenn, 2010). There are abundant holes in past research that pointed at divorce as negatively effecting affecting children's well-being, and pre- divorce environments were not taken into consideration when making these assessments. Jolliet (2011) quotes sociologist Dry.Lisa Stretching as saying, â€Å"Perhaps we should pay more attention to what happens to kids in the period leading up to parental divorce rather than directing all our efforts to helping children after the event occurs. † Children in highly dysfunctional families actually show a drop in the level of anti-social behavior they exhibit after a parental divorce Olive, 2011). Many children, especially in cases of abuse and domestic violence, report feeling a sense of relief after the divorce (Clark, 2013). There are many positives that can come from a divorce for children.Di vorce can end the modeling of a bad relationship. When children are constantly surrounded by unhappy parents who are always quarrelling they begin to believe this type of behavior is what a relationship is be argumentative as well in their personal relationships with others, both in and outside of the home. I saw this happen with my own children. Their father was an argumentative person, not Just with me, but also with them. The rockier and more argumentative my relationship got with him, the more they fought with one another, and others around them.My relationship with their father deteriorated to the point that the bickering between my children became almost incessant. They could not be around each other without fighting. When we were finally able to separate ourselves from their father, the level of fighting dropped significantly, almost immediately. So much so in fact, that other extended family members around us remarked about how different their behavior became after getting o ut of that toxic situation. My children have each individually told me how much more relaxed they feel, and how happy they are to be out of that situation.When parents are able to end a bad relationship, and turn their interaction into more positive ones, they are able to monster what a healthy relationship looks like to their children Jacob, 2014). Another interesting concept to explore is parents who are able to get out of a bad relationship and find happiness, often have better interactions with one another, and this attitude spills over to the children Jacob, 2014). Attorney Steven R. Jacob states, â€Å"Although splitting up with your spouse is a traumatic experience, it's important to focus on the best interest of the children involved.Their happiness can best be attained by both parents seeking their own individual happiness. This holds true whether that they be together or apart. I have seen first-hand how my own post- divorce happiness has had a great impact on my children . They have all said to me how much happier they are now. For example, the first Christmas after we left, my then 13 year old son, came up to me and told me it was the best vacation break he had ever had. We didn't go anywhere, or do anything extravagant, but he told me how nice it was to feel calm and happy without his father around.Divorce can be what is best to create a positive environment in which to raise children. Divorce can ease the tension in a home, and relieve the household of unnecessary stresses that effect children Jacob, 2014). My children tell me all the time how nice it is to feel relaxed now. Alleviating the stress of not knowing what their father might do to them has allowed them to relax and come into their own. Having the ability to be relaxed has not only affected their behavior at home, it has positively affected their schoolwork, and all three are flourishing.Not all marriages that end in divorce are a result of abuse, or high levels of discord. In fact, res earch shows that there's a sizable amount number that can be categorized as â€Å"good enough marriages† without much marital discord at all (Kim 2011). How parents handle divorce with regard to their children is especially important in these cases. If a child has been exposed to little, if any, marital conflict, parental separation can come as a shock, and when this occurs children appear to be worse off than before the separation (Clark 2013).Oftentimes, children do experience a disruption to their well-being and have feelings of immediate distress during a parental divorce, but most reports show that after the dust settles from the divorce the majority of children settle into a normal development (Coleman & Glenn, 2010). Parents can avoid the negative effects of ivories on their children by learning how to co-parent in a positive way. â€Å"Research with effective discipline and limit-setting, is a powerful protective and resilience- promoting factor for children experien cing parental separation or divorce. (Clark, 2013, 2013). When parents put their differences aside and focus on the child's well- being, they are increasing the likelihood of positive outcomes on their children's well- being. Parents can also minimize or eliminate the effects of divorce by working on their interpersonal communication skills with one another, strengthening parent- hill relationships, mainlining minimizing limiting the the routine changes in routine for the children, and creating an open environment in which children can discuss their feelings Olive 2011).Going through a divorce is a difficult and emotional battle, and no divorce can really be categorized as a good divorce. â€Å"Today research has shown that one of the most important things divorcing parents can do is to educate themselves and understand how their actions along with the animosity they exhibit toward each other impacts their children in negative and destructive ways† Olive 2011).If parents show hostility toward their ex-spouse, talk poorly about them in front of the children, argue and continue to have extreme conflict during and after the divorce process, they are going to have a negative impact on their children's emotional well-being. Research has shown that ongoing inter- parental conflict is one of the most damaging aspects of divorce (Clark 2013). If parents can get along and work together the impact on their children can be positive. It's important for parents to put aside their negative feelings toward one another, and put the needs of their children's first.One effective way to do this is to develop a business-like approach to interacting with one another. Respecting one another, setting clear boundaries, and laying out ground rules for their interactions with regards to the children will all help parents to positively impact their children's well- being (Clark, 2013). Another way to create a positive impact on a child's well-being in association with divorce is to increase and nurture the parent-child relationship. Director of the Center for Family in Transition at Cortex Madder, California, Dry.Judith Wallflowers, said â€Å"what makes a difference to a child of divorce is a much more butte, much more elusive issue of how that child perceives whether he is accepted or reject by his parents† Olive, 2011). When a child is able to feel that their relationship with their parents stays intact, despite the divorce, they continue to feel loved, respected, and maintain a positive self-image. When parents share custody of their children, they each have individual time with them, giving them the opportunity to engage in more effective parenting during their time with the child.Parents who choose to utilize this time to strengthen their relationship with their children, and vive them undivided attention will allow their children to experience the full parenting of both parents Jacob 2014). Research has shown that good, effective parenting can quite possibly be the most important factor in determining a child's well-being after divorce (Coleman 2010). â€Å"In one long-term study, a good relationship with the custodial parent predicted fewer child behavior problems, better communication skills, better grades and higher ratings of adjustment (Clark 2013).The parent-child relationship seems to affect a child so much that psychologists now UT more importance on the family relationship rather than the family structure in terms of the impact it has on a child's well-being Olive 2011). â€Å"Parent-child skills, positive communication, and low levels of conflict and negativity are consistently associated with fewer negative outcomes related to mental health and with more positive outcomes related to social adaptation following a separation or divorce† (Clark 2013). When the routine off child is constantly disrupted, they have a difficult time feeling settled and grounded.When divorce transpires, inevitably disruption o ccurs in a child's day-to-day life. Divorce is often surrounded by stress, confusion, conflict, and disorientation (Clark 2013). If parents can work together to minimize these stresses, and their impact on their children, the children will be able to navigate through the divorce much easier. For a period of time, it was thought that equal Joint-custody (spending equal days in the month with each parent) was what was best for children, but research now shows that this causes too much disruption for the children, and negatively affected affects their emotional well-being.In fact, one Norwegian study showed that the closer in proximity a non-resident father lived o his children, the worse off they were in terms of educational attainment. It was theorized that this was due to the child having to split time between the two households, causing too much disruption to the needed stability in the child's life. The study showed that if a father relocated, it sheltered the child not only from parental post-divorce conflict, but also created a more stable home environment (Kali 2011).Now, this does not mean that all fathers should stay away from their children in an effort to keep the disruption to their lives at bay. Simply, it means that ireful consideration should be made, and reflection on the children's needs when determining the best way to create a stable environment for the children. Children adjust best to their post-divorce environments if there is as little disruption as possible to their schedules, activities, and social lives. The final parental consideration for positively affecting children of divorce is to create an open line of communication between parents and children.When a child feels comfortable talking about their frustrations, fears, or emotions about the divorce, they are able to maintain a normal sense of well-being Olive, 2011). While parents are in the divorce stage, children are more likely to feel loneliness, anxiety, sadness, and as a result lower self-esteem (Kim, 2011). If these children feel that it is safe for them to speak with their parents about these feelings, they can work together to get through them, and minimize their effects.It is imperative that parents communicate well and frequently with their children, and openly discuss their love and devotion to the child. It is important that children learn to understand it is normal to have a myriad of feelings about their own experience with the divorce. Learning to cope with these feelings can be a challenge for both the parent and the child (Clark 2013). There are many group support programs that have shown to be effective in helping both parents and children through the emotions of divorce. Group support helps reduce children's sense of isolation, clarifies misconceptions, and teaches how to problem- solve and communicate more effectively with parents† (Clark, 2013). Divorce should not be taken lightly, and while it can have negative effects on children, it certainly doesn't have to be that way. There are some cases, especially when abuse or mommies violence are is involved, when divorce is the best solution to an undesirable situation. It can redirect a child from a negative to a positive path of mental well- the parents are divorced.Getting children out of these situations actually drastically increases their ability to attain positive mental and physical well-being. In non- abusive, but highly dysfunctional marriages, parents have the ability to change their negative behavior towards each other during, and after the divorce, alleviating the stress of divorce on the children. When parents can create a better emotional environment for children after divorce, much of the negative effects of divorce dissipate, and the children can recover and go on to be normal, healthy adults.If you would like to learn mortem find out more about the effects of divorce on children, or if you have questions about my own personal experiences being in a n emotionally abusive marriage, and being able to get out, email me at [email  protected] Com. No abusive relationship is worth staying in for the sake of the children. If you find yourself in this situation, have the courage to get out. You will be better off for it, and our children will thank you for being strong enough to get them out of a terrible environment. As shown that the quality of parenting, as defined by warmth and nurture along 2013) When parents put their differences aside and focus on the child's well-being they are increasing the likelihood of positive outcomes on their children's well-being. â€Å"The quality of parent-child relationships is an important protective factor that predicts the long-term impact of separation and divorce on children. † (Clark, 2014) Also, if parents focus on their relationship with the child, putting the well-being of the child first, the child will feel accepted.

Antibiotics resistant superbugs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Antibiotics resistant superbugs - Research Paper Example For example, there are approximately 2 million cases of antibiotic resistant infections and about 23, 000 deaths in the United Sates every year (Trossman, 2014, p.1). This implies that antibiotic resistance is an imminent problem that requires to be addressed. However, not all superbugs have ties to hospital medication and some actually have ties and are spread in the community. Nevertheless, the most common superbugs are related to hospital medications hence necessitating the need for further research in relation to medication related superbugs. Once bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics, there is imminent need to develop better antibiotics that are seemingly stronger in order to get rid of these bacteria. Antibiotics in use for the first time are referred to as first-line antibiotics while the newly developed antibiotics are second-line agents and depending on the severity of the bacteria, the agents can be developed further even to third-line and fourth-line antibiotics. For example, MRSA has proven resistant to a number of antibiotics thereby necessitating the need to develop antibiotics further third-line and in some environments fourth-line antibiotics. For example, studies by National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance in 2003 showed that 60% of Staphylococcus aureus related infections were resistant to methicillin (Capriotti, 2007, p.1). However, all antibiotics developed after the first line antibiotics are not keen to such factors as safety, availability and cost as compared to the first line antibiotics. This implies that predecessors of first-line antibiotics may not be readily available in all areas thereby further increasing the problem of superbugs. Superbugs are mainly formed through genetic mutations or procurement of new genes from the continued interactions between bacteria. Gene transfer between bacteria is facilitated by the fact that they mostly

The challenge of managing diverse teams Assignment

The challenge of managing diverse teams - Assignment Example ing a socially responsible and fair image for a brand, ensuring greater productivity and efficiency and creation of new business opportunities and encouraging higher flexibility and better creativity among the workforces (Loysk, 2001). Other ancillary benefits of embracing diversity in workplaces are the strengthening of the public diversity reputation of the company, improving the image of the company in the minds of the conscious customer groups and enhancing the team and departmental decision making processes by enabling the generation and accession of varied idea sources. The main challenges associated with building and maintaining a diverse workforce include high investments for ensuring efficient diversity management, reducing conflicts among the employees from different backgrounds, controlling and managing prejudices and negative attitudes towards co workers from different backgrounds, promoting effective communication and transparency within all levels of the organization and providing sufficient resources and assets towards the continuous development and management of the heterogeneous groups of employees (Clutterbuck and Ragins, 2002). The ability to develop and manage a diverse workforce groups is highly significant for the retail industry. This is because the retail industry is a multi layer industry with high levels of concentration, competition and inherent complexities associated with the way this industry functions. As such, the human resources of the company are the most valuable knowledge assets of companies operating in this industry. Since, there are many employment opportunities and options available to the employees working in retail companies, therefore, it is important for the comparison to take suitable steps to ensure that they are able to manage diversity, reduce discrimination and create a fair and just place of work for the employees. This helps to increase the competitiveness of the individual retail companies by retaining the

Parents Role Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Parents Role - Essay Example Considerable financial investments frequently match this poignant investment. Coaching, travel, equipments, facilities, etc. augment the price tag for sport involvement and parents raised up the tab. While we distinguish the prospective influence of parental involvement, we know little concerning how young athletes distinguish parental investment and support (White, S. A., & Duda, J. L. 1994). Nor do we recognize the prospective influence of parents on the psychosomatic variables of motivation and anxiety. Newsham & Murphey (1999) asserted that "the main purpose of sport is to create an opportunity for fun and growth. All the triumphs and heartaches that are inherent in sport can provide learning experiences and lessons that help pave the road to adulthood." http://www.coloradoperformance.org/psych.htm Basically, there are two dilemmas for girls and parents of elite gymnasts. Opportunities are not enthusiastically available, and parents, particularly fathers, do not keenly support their daughters to join in athletics. This is not, inevitably, a conscious omission, but one that is a product of society. Daughters do not have the similar openings in youth leagues their fathers had. Miller Lite and the Women's Sports Foundation (1985) carried out a poll and in which questions asked was, "In your opinion, which of the following are the biggest barriers to increased participation by women in sports and fitness" The random sample of more than seven thousand respondents claimed, as their number one answer, "Lack of involvement and training as children. This poll showed that more than thirty percent of the respondents did not participate on pre high school athletic teams. "The Wilson Report: Moms, Dads, Daughters and Sports" (1988) confirmed the Miller Lite findings. In a random telephone survey of more than thousand mothers and fathers, and 513 of their seven to eighteen-year-old daughters, only 35 percent of daughters seven to ten years of age and 28 percent of daughters eleven to fourteen years of age became associated in athletics through community organizations; 24 percent of seven to ten year olds and 18 percent of eleven to fourteen-year-olds become concerned through private organizations; and just 6 percent of seven to ten-year-olds and 11 percent of eleven to fourteen-year-olds participated through their church organization. Though, other resources show an increase statistics; yet, it is still inadequate. According to the 1993 "Miller Lite Report on Sports and Fitness in the Lives of Working Women," prior to the passage of Title IX in 1972, only fifty percent of all girls take part in sports; above sixty percent took part after the passage of the law. It is also found that participation in organized youth sport programs is an accepted part of childhood development in the United States to greater extent in comparison with Britain (Coakley, 1998) and has the potential to have an enormous influence on the self-concept of children (Smith & Smoll, 1990). Coaches' parched parents mostly influence whether the female sport experience is optimistic (Sabo, D. 1988). Over the past thirty years several findings have been reported concerning adolescent athletes motives to participate or end involvement in youth sports. (Harris, D.V. 1979, Gill, D.L., Gross, J. B., & Huddleston, S.

The Impact of Joe Colombo's Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Impact of Joe Colombo's Design - Essay Example He sketched fantastical visions of a futuristic nuclear city, where man would exploit advances in atomic science to create a new way of living. Later became a founding member of the art concrete group. His father has inherited a ribbon factory, which he turned into an electrical conductor manufactory. In the factory he experiment with the modern production processes and latest developed plastics such as fiberglass and polyethylene in order to create good domestic designs. Later he gave up his work on paintings and focus on his designs to promote his design career. He ventured into design by creating a ceiling for a Milan jazz club. He designed three open-air rest areas featuring television shrines in which TV sets were used to construct mini theaters or shrines. He opened a design factory in Milan. He has his own design office. He worked on conception and architecture. His early designs were mostly for lodges and hotels. He also worked on many designs using plastic. He created the first chair molded from a single material. In his mission to furnish this world with new type of habitat, he applied new production processes and materials to existing types of furniture. His Elda armchair was made from fiberglass. He made furniture with aluminum, then ABS and, finally, polypropylene. Stackable and easy to clean, the universal chair is also adjustable because its legs can be unscrewed and replaced with longer ones. He was intent to reinvent the furniture as new concepts, which would definitely be better suited to a mobile lifestyle. He also designed a Combi-Centre container, which consists of cylindrical units to store things like books, tools and drinks etc. He also designed a Man-Woman container, a futuristic version of a 19th century trunk in which shelves, drawers and mirrors are hidden. The tube chair, Ragno outdoor light, two in one drinking glasses and a self-supporting smoking pipe, which did not require a stand, are remarkable creations of Colombo. Inspired by

Very old man with enormous wings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Very old man with enormous wings - Essay Example Everyday life details of the story are elements of realism. The events of the story are set in some coastal village sometime. Unusual guest or visitor with the wings in Pelayo’s yard attracts many people who are willing to come and see the real angel. However, no one is quite sure that the old man is really an angel. The neighboring woman â€Å"who knew everything about life and death† claimed that the man was angel. Besides, his strange language and wings on his back were one more prove which lead to conclusion that he is an angel. The man does not wish or is not able to communicate or cooperate with people. Thus, the onlookers lose their interest to the old man with the wings soon. The angle does not meet expectation neither of town’s citizens nor the reader. The very first meeting with the old man and sight of his wings does not have a positive effect neither on Pelayo nor on his wife, Elisenda. Character of the old man of the story can be interpreted as a sym bol of a crippled and ugly old age as some people perceive it. The couple is not really happy with what they find in the mud of their yard: His huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked, were forever entangled in the mud. They looked at him so long and so closely that Pelayo and Elisenda very soon overcame their surprise and in the end found him familiar (Marquez). They are surprised to see his wings. However, their interest and confusion does not last for too long. They take the man as if some injured animal and put him in hen’s coop. Furthermore, citizens of the town seem to be frustrated by angel’s lack of activity or almost motionless posture in the coop. the people who came to look at real flesh and blood angel feel frustrated and even aggressively because the angel does not meet their expectation. Their behavior towards the old man is cruel, unfair and impolite. The reader is also baffled by angels’ inactivity. Slowly people leave Pelayo’s yard, be cause they lose the interest in a strange old men. Rather, their attention is switched to another interesting creature which is Spider Woman. By that time, Pelayo and his wife Elisenda manage to get some money from the onlookers and get rich. However, after public interest is gone, the couple is not interested in the fallen angel either. Even though Marquez’s second title of this short story is A Tale for Children, issues that are raised by the author is this short story are not childish. The fist theme of the story is writer’s measurement of two opposite human feelings such as cruelty and compassion. Marquez sinfully present the degree of human cruelty towards those who are week and dependent. The negative attitude to the old man is exacerbated by his unusual look and strange language which is known to no one. Heartlessness of people from this story is striking: â€Å"the most merciful threw stones at him trying to get him to rise so they could see him standing†; or â€Å"they burned his side with an iron for branding steers, for he had been motionless for so many hours that they thought he was dead† (Marquez). Elisenda and Pelayo’s first plan was to set the old man on a raft with provisions and let him sail freely. Such an act is not the most merciful one, because leaving the old almost dieing man alone is rather pitiless. However, when the couple understands that they can profit from showcasing the fallen angel to the audience they chance their plan. When their child gets well, Elisenda and Pelay

Ship Construction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ship Construction - Essay Example Pounding stress can be reduced by reinforcing the hull plating at the bow end of the ship to prevent the plate from bending. Likewise, panting pressure can be countered through reinforcement of the framing at the ship’s end to avoid irregular movement of the hull plating. (Okumoto et. al, 2009) A ship is basically a supported beam that is subjected to waves. This leads to external stresses i.e. sagging and hogging. Hogging occurs when a substantial portion of the center of the vessel is supported by the buoyant force of a wave with the rest of the vessel unsupported. This produces a tensile stress in the deck and also other compressive forces at the bottom of the hull. Likewise, sagging happens the center of the vessel is relatively unsupported with the either ends supported by a wave. The figure below shows the boom structure cut a way of the stress distribution in the hull through the hierarchy of structure and the direction of the stresses. (Derrett & Barrass, 2006) The bending stresses are zero at one location i.e. the neutral axis. Also, the reaction forces are equal at both ends with no rotation. The bending stresses are positive in one flange and negative in the other in the middle of the span. Lastly, the shear stresses are highest in the middle of the span. (Derrett & Barrass, 2006) The main parts of a double bottom include plating, bilge plating, floors, intercostal girders, bilges, brackets, longitudinals, pillars and angle clips. The double bottom mainly extends from the tank top to the flat keel and is watertight so as to keep the ship afloat in case of accidents. The intercostal girders combine with beams to form the deck’s longitudinal framing together with the longitudinals. Brackets are used to connect any two members of the double bottom while bilge plating is a longitudinal plating that is used to connect the bottom plating with the side shell plating. Pillars constitute vertical members that are used to connect the double

Great Leader assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Great Leader assignment - Essay Example Lincoln was idealistic yet practical. Abraham Lincoln’s great skills in leadership showed in all his endeavors even as a member of the House of Representatives. As a great leader, Abraham Lincoln showed pure resolve when he decided that America should free all the slaves and save the Union. In the same way that America’s Founding Fathers did almost a hundred years before his time, Lincoln made a decision to free the people once more. In 1837, even before becoming president, Lincoln had already made it clear that he was against slavery. In 1856, he even expressed opposition towards former President Franklin Pierce when the latter allowed Nebraska and Kansas to choose for themselves whether or not to adopt slavery. His led the opposition to slavery even when he was still a member of the House of Representatives. Moreover, despite his strong involvement in the slavery issue, Lincoln helped to pass bills that modernized the economy in the Pre-Civil War era, with bills that promoted the constructions of canals, banks and railroads, and those that regulated tariffs (â€Å"Abraham Lincoln,† Biography.com, 2014). Although Lincoln was fighting against slavery when he was still a Congressman, he knew he would be more useful if he applied himself to practical aspects of the economy such as infrastructure. As a leader, Lincoln had the resolve and determination. When he became President, Lincoln’s skills in leadership were put to a great test and one which he passed with the victory of the Union during the Civil War. Even at the expense of around 24,000 American soldiers, Lincoln’s leadership showed in his great moral resolve to free the slaves at any cost. The election of Jefferson Davis to the newly founded Confederacy was the blatant response of the South to Lincoln’s election to the presidency. Thus, in order not only to free the slaves but to save the Union and the integrity of

Week 3 Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week 3 Marketing - Essay Example In the second instance, it will be important to put emphasis on purchase behaviors. Differences in purchase behavior influence the success of any business, including those in the health sector (Hemenway, 2010).Iit is therefore important to research the proposed markets to find out if the consumers within the market have certain purchasing behaviors that are in line with the organizational culture of the medical center. Lastly, the issue of psychographics is very crucial. Psychographics have been explained to encompass qualitative attributes of the market that focus on the way the people and what they want to do (Dionne and Eeckhoudt, 2005). Clearly, the mentality of the people towards the health care delivery system is very important in undertaking the market segment. Once these factors are critically considered, it can be assured that marketing mix would change in light of the segmentation utilization. But as the segmentation takes place, it will be important to measure distribution rather than concentration because distribution will give the center the opportunity to cater for the different health needs of the markets as depicted in demographic, psychographic and purchasing behavior

Vulnerable Population in Current Events Essay Example for Free

Vulnerable Population in Current Events Essay Vulnerability comes in different shapes and forms. It applies to different settings and also populations. Vulnerability has two categories; individualize that means a person is vulnerable within a context. The other is a group, because of susceptibility to external or internal factors directly related to a population despite what is occurring with other people or groups (De Chesney, P. 3 2012). Here the focus is on a vulnerable population of obese patients. The article speaks about how health care providers can have stigmatizing attitudes toward obese patients (Malterud Ulriksen, 2011,p. 1). Highlighted factors focus on the barriers the obese population encounters by providers who have made prejudgments on the patients, how it affects the outcome of the care of the patients and what effects it has for their road to recovery. A vulnerable population according to De Chesney (2012) is defined as a group of people at risk of poor physical, psychological or social health. Vulnerability by virtue in status. A group of people who are at risk at any given point relative to another individual or group (p. 4). The obese patients are the vulnerable population because of their genetic predispositions and life circumstances. They are not categorized by their cultural vulnerability but rather due to this similar physical nature. In the article the obese patients faced many barriers, which prevented them from obtaining the resources need. Many of them were viewed as patients who did not take responsibility for their eating habits or did not have the motivation and will power to succeed in their predisposition. Providers view them as the main cause for the obesity and non-improvement. â€Å" A recent review demonstrated that also health care providers endorsed stereotypical assumptions about patients with obesity and attribute obesity to blame† (Malterud Ulriksen, 2011,p. 1). â€Å"The stigmas and prejudgments of the providers and society are seen as exploitation (keeping people down), norm enforcement (keeping people in), and disease avoidance (keeping people away†) (De Chesney, 2011, p. 1). Many of the patients believed their needs were not met as far as caring for their health conditions because many of the doctors were associating every issue, symptoms, or discomfort to their weight. Also many of the obese patients thought they did not have the equal amount of care, time or consideration as other patients because they were believed to be lazy. However, the study also showed providers supportive of the obese patient also feels a sense of discomfort when caring for him or her. A situation, which showed female nurses who believed fat, was unhealthy, and related to coronary heart disease wanted to enforce the importance of weight loss. Many of them did express they felt uncomfortable to do so in fear of insulting the patient or making him or her feel uncomfortable. They had seen the discussion of weight as a sensitive topic. This made them pass on giving the education (Malterud Ulriksen, 2011, p. 4). In experiences during one’s nursing career many situations come to mind when thinking of an obese patient, prejudgment, and stigmas that are related. One can recall a few situations, such as nurses immediately becoming upset because the patient does not fit on the bed. If the patient is admitted the process of calling bed board to bring down a â€Å"Big boy bed to accommodate the large patient seemed to annoy the nurse. Other reasons, such as testing or meeting the needs of comfort for the patient. What seemed to be out of the ordinary routine for their patient the nurses tended to become annoyed and did not realize the patients are very much aware of his or her feelings and stigma toward them. If an obese patient needs different accommodations it is not his or her fault. Should the blame not be placed on the facility for not providing small things such as large gown, larger stretchers, and easier ways of transportation for the larger patients. Society decided to place a label on a patient who may not have control over his or her size and has enforced it to apply to the country. The only way this problem will improve if it starts with the health care system and providers. In conclusion the vulnerable population of obese patients need to be cared for by providers who have empathy toward them. It is important to the patients care and does not add stress to an already difficult situation (Malterud Ulriksen, 2011). They need to support the patients and provide them with other avenues and build on the confidence need to succeed. The stigmatization needs to end and not incorporate it into the care. According to Malterud and Ulriksen (2011) â€Å"Existing research indicates that such attitudes may actually increase the maladaptive eating behaviors, exercise avoidance and in some cases reduce motivation to lose weight.† (p. 10). Therefore, health care professional who have obese patients to care for are the first line of defense to brake the bad habits and stigmas associated with obesity. A provider has to recognize the effort their patients have tried to make in managing their weight issues (Malterud Ulriksen, 2011). References De Chesney, M. (2012). Caring for the Vulnerable: Perspectives in Nursing Theory, Practice and Research, 3e. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database. Malterud, K., Ulriksen, K. (2011). Obesity, stigma, and responsibility in health care: A synthesis of qualitative studies. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 6(4), 1-11. Retrieved from http://www.doaj.org/doaj?func=abstractid=880959q1=vulnerable%20patientf1=allb1=orq2=caring%20for%20vulnerable%20ptatientsf2=allrecNo=1uiLanguage=en

The military tactics and weapons used by USA and the Vietcong forces in Vietnam Essay Example for Free

The military tactics and weapons used by USA and the Vietcong forces in Vietnam Essay Throughout the Vietnam War, many tactics and weapons were used by both VC and US forces. But the sides whose strategies and weapons proved more effective in Vietnam were the Vietcongs and other communist forces. Throughout the war, the Americans relied on their modern developments to aid them in strategies and weapons, which when on the level fields of conventional warfare, proved more superior. They had in their possession tanks, helicopters, trucks and other transport, artillery and well disciplined soldiers. The VC used simple yet effective techniques, such as booby traps or hiding in vegetation. The tactics of both sides were greatly different towards the end of the war compared to the ones used near to the beginning. At the beginning of the war the USs main objective was to at least, contain the communist North by helping South Vietnam to keep the threat at bay. One of the earliest tactics used to do this was Search and Destroy missions. Search and Destroy missions were when the US used Helicopters to hunt down NVA and VC units, once they found a group, troops were dropped off in the area of activity and killed as many people as they possibly could. Supply bases were built in support of this. These were basically fortified areas of land with artillery protecting and things such as ammunition, food etc. If the troops on the search and destroy missions found any evidence of VC activity, (personnel, weapons, plans, traps being made etc.) then the suspected communists were killed and villages were burnt to the ground. This most likely would have turned the S.Vietnamese against the American cause, as they had destroyed the homes they lived in and murdered their friends. The American tactic played right into the hands of the communist, and they countered this with there own superior tactic, by rebuilding their homes and burying the dead. They also gave land left from the Indochina war back to the peasants. This helped the VC a lot because it meant new recruits for them (The VC Guerillas dressed mainly in black pajamas, looking like peasants; they were farmers by day and Guerillas by night). In recruiting, the VC were open to women fighters as well as men. This meant that the American male soldiers were affected by the morality of killing a woman, it wasnt morally right; this made them think twice and damaged morale by leaving the thought of killing a woman on their conscience-they became physicologically unhealthy). This shows how smart the VC were in their planning of tactics, they responded to the violence of the US by winning the hearts and minds of the peasants(which is one of the things the US aimed to do in the first place through offering humanitarian aid etc.-this is called Pacification). The most powerful of methods used by the VC that influenced the whole Vietnam War was their Guerilla tactics and fighting methods: One of the problems instantly faced by the Americans was the Vietnameses tactic of having no front line, this meant that the VC could even go into stalemate as the fighting was on their homeland, and they could afford to wait for a victory. The US however couldnt as the war was costing them money and lives, so they had to engage the enemy quickly. This was a big problem for the Americans as they were trained in the art of conventional warfare, where you can see your opponent. Guerilla warfare was a sort of hit and run tactic. It relied on close combat and mainly ambushing the enemy. This also meant that the US couldnt use their tactic of having a body count; which was when they counted the amounts of people they killed. But this was useless as the Americans couldnt see who they were fighting, there was no front line and the VC used camouflage and concealment techniques: they wore foliage and could hide in trees, fields, jungles etc. and leap out at any given time. They avoided face-to-face combat and used the jungle, which was completely anonymous to the Western Invaders. As the US couldnt pull up any exact figures of how many they killed, their own body count mounted as one by one, they were killed off; thus denting their morale as a result. As well as having tactics that heavily influenced the war, the VC had weapons in their possession, which instantly surpassed the Americans modern counterparts, as they were well suited to their terrain. The typical US soldiers main weapon was the M-16 Assault Rifle. This was an American made gun, and unlike the AK-47, the M16 concentrated on semi-automatic accuracy rather than on full automatic firepower. It was lighter than the AK and was made using alluminium and plastics, this however didnt help US troops in their fighting, as it was mainly dense jungle in the geography of Vietnam, you would have needed a durable weapon to withstand every single trip and fall. It was tipped to be a much more reliable weapon but it often jammed, costing the lives of hundreds of Americans caught in firefights. It was said to be self-cleaning but it wasnt, carbon deposits built up often and it had to be cleaned after every use; and troops werent issued with cleaning kits. Also, one of the biggest problems was that the M16 was built for long range shooting. Adding to this, it had old style rear sights which meant that you could only aim using one eye. This means that the main use of the M16 was for accurate long-range shooting, which didnt help the Americans again as they were constantly being ambushed by Guerillas and forced into close combat! Unlike the M16, the AK-47 was a much sturdier weapon made out of solid wood and metals, heavier but more durable. The AK could stand the humidity of the jungle and literally never jammed or even needed cleaning(if it did, it was very easy to disassemble and clean) It was an extremely simple weapon to which anybody could be trained on (good news for the VC- they could recruit anyone and train them on this rifle, even a child; resulting in the Americans not being able to tell exactly who they were fighting and giving the VC that edge). Furthermore, the AKs shape made it ideal for the shooter to be in the prone postition (lying down flat on the stomach), which was an ideal position for the shootouts in dense jungles. Also, briefly comparing the rounds used, the M16 had higher velocity (faster travelling) lighter, and smaller bullets: 5.56mm; making it ideal at long-range shooting. The Russian AK however had heavier and bigger bullets: 7.62mm. This statistic gave the AK the upper hand in close combat situations where the bullet had to pass through literally anything i.e. heavy underbush in the jungle (which could deflect the lighter American 5.56mm round) or in shootouts in towns/cities, where the heavy 7.62mm bullet could go thruogh a wall and the 5.56 couldnt. The last and final thing about the AK-47 compared to the M16 was its sights. There was a rear-sight shaped like a V, and a foresight blade at the end. This meant that you could use both eyes when shooting and didnt have to be as accurate; making it ideal again for the VC and Guerilla fighting. This brief comparison of these two weapons widely used throughout the war shows that the characterisitcs AK-47 surpassed that of the M16. It was a much more durable weapon that was well suited to the terrain and handling of the Vietcong and helped the VC in their fight against the US greatly. Aswell as having just guns on their side, the US and VC had other things aswell. The US had different types of trnasport and tactics: Helicopters, they were fast and could be used to deploy troops quickly. But the VC responded to this by using their portable Rocket Launchers (supplied by the Soviet Union aswell) which took out the Helicopters instantly as they basically were giant hovering targets. Tanks could not be used because of the geography of Vietnam, so trucks were used, but these were easy targets aswell as being literally a car. Instead of trucks, the Americans used Armoured Personnel Carriers. These were basically open-style tanks. They were used more than the Tank and were mainly for transpot. They could be used on land and water, which gave them a bit more protection from the VC attacks; and the armour itself gave ample protection to the crew if under attck from small arms fire. As for the VC, where were they getting all these supplies from to destroy American tactics? The answer was simple. The Ho Chi Minh Trail. It was a 1000 mile secret supply trail from North Vietnam to South Vietnam. It was so big that at any given time, 10,000 trucks could be on it transporting suppplies. Also, it wasnt just one straight road, it had a 30 mile width, and in it were hundreds of paths that branched off. That way, if the part of the trail was bombed for example, them the VC could simply turn around and follow a different route. The US knew about this (but they didnt know the fact that it had many branched off sections- they thought it was one straight route) and this made them want to stop it. Reconnaisance photos showed little or no evidence of the trail, it was literally built under the Americans noses; but they just couldnt find it. The American Intelligence analysts could hardly spot the trail from above because the dense jungle had different canopy levels. The VC cut the lower levels so their transport could meander through, leaving the top layer of canopy as cover from the US planes and other enemies. But Aeroplanes werent only used for taking photos. As the Americans could only give a rough estimate of the position of the trail, there was still a chance of finding it, and they began use planes to bomb the Ho Chi Minh trail, but this had no effect on the VC morale or the way they used it, if one part was bombed off, then they simply switched to a different path. So, another way that the US tried to sniff out any VC or activity along the trail was by using the planes to drop ADSIDs- or Tropical Trees. These were dropped by planes into the jungle and stuck into the ground when landing. They sensed the heat and vibrations from everything, so if something was picked up, the Americans would know; and assume it is VC personnel. To combat this, the Vietcong used an extremely simple yet practical technique that the Americans never saw coming. they moved the ADSIDs, to a remot place and put a generator next to it, and the tactic worked. The VC just watched as US warplanes flew overhead and bombed the wrong place without harming anybody. To add to the lack of progress made by US forces, troops morale was droppin rapidly. One of the main causes of low morale throughout the war was the booby traps left by the VC. They had explosive traps such as deadly landmines-supplied by the Ho Chi Minh Trail-and other sorts. But the most effective were the ones that they made by hand. These were cheap and easy to make, they were so simple to make, that they could be made by anyone. It was an excellent morale builder for the VC and they used signals in the forests to tell each other where the traps were. But unfortunatly the Americans werent so happy. They faced barbed wire, tied from tree-to-tree, the Punji Stake Trap( a ditch in the ground full of bamboo stakes or barbed steel spikes-sometimes even smothered in human faecies so when the victim was cut open, they suffered blood poisoning) which was disguised on the forest floor; and many more. They were all designed to mame but not kill. They were grusome yet brutally effective and severely damaged US troops morale. Many men watched as their friends perished in agony which added to the lowering of morale. Soon, the result of the VC booby trap tactic really came into effect: the Americans started to think Why arent we winning? Were a superpower and at the moment were getting nowhere, Why are my friends dying all around me? So soon the mortality rate mong US soldiers began to rise. So far through the war, US tactics have been proving useless and the VCs tactics and weapons have been very effective. As the war intensified, the US did make a couple of hits on VC morale. They used their Warplanes in the tactic of Saturation bombing. This was when the planes emptied all there loads at once and bombed N.Vietnam and S.Vietnam in heavy loads. One of the most heavily bombed aea in South Vietnam was the suspected VC stronghold Cu Chi. It was so heavily bombed that the people living their had made the desperate descision to go underground in order to avoid the bombing. Thus The Cu Chi Tunnels were made. It was here where the villagers of Cu Chi would stay for the next 10 years, and at the height of the war, the Cu Chi tunnel sytem streched from the outskirts of Saigon all the way to the Cambodian border; approx. 250km of tunnels! The tunnels had everything to offer for the villagers to live in comfort: kitchens, beds, living areas and dining quarters, planning rooms, amm unition stores, hospital wards and even wells. Amazingly, holes connected from the ground fed the people fresh air and let out hot steam from the kitchens, and the US forces still couldnt find them! Tiny trap doors were designed to fit the samatotype of the Vietnamese into the forest floor, and viewpoints were made from undergroound to the surface of the forest floor which made them ideal sniping positions. The tunnels at Cu Chi were never destroyed. They were only breached on rare occasions. Since the average westerner wasnt able to fit comfotably into the tiny tunnel entrances, the Tunnel Rats were formed. These were volunteers from the army who had small body shapes, they could fit into the tunnels and were sent down. They were equiped with a torch, pistol and a nife and faced the dank and dark tunnels on their own. The VC often left traps in the system e.g biologcal weapons- snakes, scorpions, spiders, bats, or even trap doors that cut peoples throast or lead to Punji Pits. Most of the time the Rats came out screeming and crying. As a result of not being able to find the entrances to the tunnels most of the time, the Americans used chemical bombs. Napalm. It was basically jellied petrtol and was used to burn off leaves and vegetation in forests. It stuck to its victims causing horrific burns. To add to this, they also used more chemical weapons: Agents Orange and Blue- weedkillers basically. They were generously sprayed over forests to get rid of the cover, which did work. But, these chemical weapons caused horrific deaths and the wounds from Napalm would take six months to heal, leaving victims terribly scarred. The Dioxin in the Orange/Blue Agents caused deformities in children and cancer to anyone handling it. This must have had an effect on the VC morale because the environment of Vietnam, including food sources, were completely destroyed aswell. But it just made them fight harder against the invaders. The counter to this tactic came as another VC tactic, and a huge surprise to the Americans and everyone else. On Jan 31st 1968, more than 80,000 NVA and VC soldiers simultaneously attacked Saigon and other major cities on US posts. This was called the Tet Offensive. This caught the US forces off-guard as they didnt know who they were fighting as the VC looked like ordinary civillians. Tet meant the new lunar year, and their must have been lots of festivals with people and even military forces relaxing or celebrating in the streets. The reason why they nobody saw this coming was because it wasnt morally right e.g. People would not fight on Christmas Day? To add to the unexpectedness, the Tet Offensive was planned right under the noses of the Americans in public places. Furthermore, the VC werent fighting as Gerillas, they had a change in their tactics and were fighting using conventional warfare. This is proved by the fact that more than 500 Americans were either wounded or died in the first three weeks of the major attack-much quicker death rates than ambushing. This changed the view of the war to the public of America, as they realised that the US wasnt actually winning the war, their loved ones were dying. Thus bringing down morale in America itself, as the attack led to the media saying that the VC were growing in strength. But even though the VC had the upper hand at first, they were fighting conventionally, the way the American troops were specially traned to do, and the end of the Tet Offensive was seen a US victory as it forced North Vietnam to begin peace talks (only a few places were captured by the communists, the other posts were successfully defended). Tet was still a successful counter-tactic by the VC as many US soldiers lost their lives. So two months later, the last tactic came in effect from the revenge seeking Amerians. In March later that year, a search and destroy mission to a village known as a VC stronghold resulted in the My Lai Massacre. US forces made their way to the village and there was no resistence, between 175 and 500 unarmed civilians were killed and no VC were actually found. They had escaped. The innocent villagers were brutally shot and the bodies of the women and children were photographed by a US army photographer. The deed was commited during the same year: 1968, but was made public in November 1969. In the American soldiers defence, they were just obeying orders; but that wasnt justified. Overall, these events show evidence that the VCs tactics and weapons were much better in helping them change the tide of the war. Their simple yet ingenious home-based techniques evidently proved to be far more effective than the modern Americans, thus resulting in a regretfull intervention and humiliating defeat.

Objective Of Kentucky Fried Chicken Engineering Essay

Objective Of Kentucky Fried Chicken Engineering Essay Objective of the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) have two objectives are stated objective and implied objective. First objectives in the stated objective are product development. In this objective the KFC do the increase variety on menu, introduce desert menu and introduce buffet to restaurants. Second objectives from the stated objective is introduction on the Neighborhood Program with menu items target African Americans in major cities with the items of greens, macaroni and cheese, peach cobbler and red beans and rise. Besides that, menu items targeting Hispanics in major cities with the items of fried plantains, flan and tress leeches. Others objectives is implementation on non-traditional units including the shopping mall food courts, universities, hospitals, airports, stadiums, amusement parks, office building and mobile units. After that, in this objectives want to increase profitability of KFC through the reduced overhead costs, increased efficiencies, improved customer service, cleaner restaurants, faster and friendlier service and continued high quality products. Also have to resolve franchise problems in the United States. In implied objectives have four objectives. First objective is expansion of international operations to provide the increased percentage of overall sales growth and increased percentages of profit growth. Also want to increased expansion of franchises into Mexico. The next objective is expansion of franchise operation beyond Central America, continued promotion of healthier image through removal of the world fried from the name and to improve menu selection of rotisserie. Industry analysis is important to unusual for a firm in a troubled industry to perform well. The economic structure of an industry is not an accident. It is complexities are the result of long term social trends and economic forces. But its effects to the business manager are immediate because it determines the competitive rules and strategies to use. Five forces that are widely use to assess the structure of any industry. The five forces are the bargaining power of supplier, bargaining power of the buyers, threat of new entrants, threat of substitute and rivalry among competitors. The strength of the five forces determines the profit potential in an industry by influencing the price, costs and required investment of business it is the element of return on investment. Stronger forces are associated with a more challenging business environment. In the first forces is bargaining power of suppliers thats means any business requires inputs such as labor, parts, raw, materials and services. The cost of inputs can have a significant effect to companys profitability. Whether the strength of suppliers represent a weak or string force thing on the amount or bargaining can exert and ultimately on how can influence the terms and conditions of transaction in their favor. Besides thats, to reducing the bargaining power of suppliers are reduce inventory costs by providing just in time delivers, enhance the value of goods and services supplied use of information about customer needs and preferences and speed the adoption of new technologies. Second forces is bargaining power of buyers thats the power of buyers describe the effect that the customers have on the profitability of the business. The transaction between the seller and the buyer creates value for both parties. Buyers have more power when the industry has many small companies supplying the product and buyers are few and large. After that the customers have access to and are able to evaluate market information. To reducing the bargaining power of buyers are increasing their loyalty to the business through partnerships or loyalty programs, selling directly to customers, or increasing the inherent or perceived value of a product by adding features or banding. The next forces of the industry are threat of new entrants thats means the new entrants is the possibility that new firms will enter the industry. New entrants bring a desire to gain market share and often have significant resources. Analyzing the threat of new entrants involves examining the barriers to entry and the expected reactions of existing firms to new competitors. These barriers protect the companies already in business by being a hurdle to those trying to enter the market. Entry barriers are unique for each industry and situation, and a change over time. The threat of new entrants is greatest when the processes are not protected by regulations or patents and competitors may be scared away when the learning curve is steep, competitors will be attracted to an industry where the production process is easily learned. The threat of substitutes is forces of industry. Be aware that substitute products can come in many shape and size, and do not always come from traditional competitors. Products from one business can be replaced by products from another. Substitute products are those that can fulfill a similar need to the one product fills. Substitutes are a greater threat when the products does not offer any real benefit compared to other products. After that, it is easy for customers to switch. Means thats a grocer can easily switch from paper to plastic bags for its customers, but bottler may have to reconfigure its equipment and retains its workers if it switches from aluminum cans to plastic bottles. To reducing the threat of substitutes is using tactics such as staying closely in tune with customer preference and differentiating the product by branding. The last forces are rivalry among competitors. Competition is the foundation of the free enterprise system yet with small business even a little competition goes a long way. Because company in an industry is mutually dependent, actions by one company usually invite competitive retaliation. Rivalry among competitors is often the strongest of the five competitive forces, but can vary widely among industries. If the competitive force is weak, companies may be able to raise prices, provide fewer products for the price, and earn more profits. The most intense rivalries occur when one firm or a small number of firms have incentive to try and become the market leader or when the market is growing slowly or shrinking. To reducing the threat of rivals is employing a variety of tactics. To minimize price competition, distinguish the products from the competitors by innovating or improving features. WHAT IS KFC KFC Corporation founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, called a concept, of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global Restaurants Inc. The company was founded as Kentucky Fried Chicken by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952, through the idea of KFCs fried chicken actually goes back to 1930. The company adopted the abbreviated form of its name in 1991. Starting in April 2007, the company began using its original name, Kentucky Fried Chicken, fir its signage, packaging and advertisement in the United State as part of a new corporate rebranding program, newer and remodeled restaurants will have the new logo and name while older stores will continue to use the 1980s signage. Since its inception, KFC has evolved through several different organizational changes. These changes were brought about due to the changes of ownership that followed since Colonel Sanders first sold KFC in 1964. In 1964, KFC was sold a small group of inventors that eventually took it public. Heublein, Inc, purchased KFC in 1971 and was highly involved in the day to day operations. R.J. Reynolds then acquired Heublein in 1982. R.J. took a more laid back approach and allowed business as usual at KFC. Finally, in 1986, KFC was acquired by PepsiCo, which was trying to grow is quick serve restaurant segment. PepsiCo presently runs Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC. The PepsiCo management style and corporate culture was significantly different from that of KFC. By the end of 1994, KFC was operating 4 258 restaurants in 68 foreign countries. KFC is the largest chicken restaurant and the third largest quick service chain in the world. Due to market saturation in the United States, international expansion will be critical to increased profitability and growth. The companies of KFC have more than 36 000 locations around the world. The company is ranked number 239 on the Fortune 500 list, with revenues in excess on $11 billion in 2008. Every day, more than 12 million customers are served at KFC restaurants in 109 countries and territories around the world. The companies of KFC more than 15 000 units around the world. SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective. A SWOT analysis must first with defining a desired end state or objective. A SWOT analysis may be incorporated into the strategic planning model. Strategic Planning, including SWOT and SCAN analysis, has been the subject of much research. After that, in SWOT analysis have the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The strengths are attributes of the person or company that are helpful to achieving the objectives. The weaknesses are attributes of the person or company that are harmful to achieving the objectives. After that, the opportunities means external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objectives and the last is threats means that external conditions which could do damage to the objectives. In the strength have the lack of secondary trading such as sukuk flexibility of the Syariah, Syariah Supervision, advantages of religious preposition, less use of money for speculative purpose, divine sources, Islamic rating agencies, morale and commitment to serve, huge amount of saving, innovative aspect, location wise and geographically, transparency, justice and fairness, according standards, quality of service, legal and regulatory framework and information system. After that, the weaknesses have are lack of standardization, reverse engineering of conventional product, there are differences in theory and practice, lack of Islamic gedging mechanism, no fixed obligations, unresolved fiqh issue, small percentage of profit loss sharing product, lack of qualified personnel, time or season factors, disadvantages of proposition, divergence of Shariah opinion and lack of Shariah compliant investment avenue. The opportunities have the technological advances, Islamic is a complete solution, the growth of socially responsible investing, faith based customer, large potential ahead in retail, corporate and investment banking, potential relating to sukuk, better customer relations, serving for all potential specific sectors, potential in fund management and provide innovative product. The last is threats have the global financial crisis, economic uncertainty in global market, market demand, shortage of recourses, lack of sustainable financial backing, intense competition from the conventional institutions, paucity of 100% Syariah compliant solution, liquidity and monetary management, a lot legislation is required, lack of awareness and understanding of Islamic financial product and sophisticated conventional financial system. CALCULATION KFC NAB ALL ORDINARIES DATE ADJ CLOSE RETURN ks-k bars (ks-k bars)2 1 1/6/2003 3.5 2 1/13/2003 3.6 -0.012234456 -0.011218519 0.0001258552 3 1/20/2003 3.78 -0.021189299 -0.020173361 0.0004069645 4 1/27/2003 3.62 0.018783229 0.019799167 0.0003920070 5 2/5/2003 3.52 0.012165907 0.013181845 0.0001737610 6 2/10/2003 3.46 0.007466565 0.008482502 0.0000719528 7 2/17/2003 3.12 0.044921505 0.045937442 0.0021102486 8 2/24/2003 3.5 -0.04991345 -0.048897513 0.0023909667 9 3/3/2003 3.5 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 10 3/10/2003 3.46 0.004991946 0.006007883 0.0000360947 11 3/17/2003 3.4 0.007597182 0.008613119 0.0000741858 12 3/24/2003 3.46 -0.007597182 -0.006581244 0.0000433128 13 3/31/2003 3.42 0.005049993 0.00606593 0.0000367955 14 4/7/2003 3.46 -0.005049993 -0.004034055 0.0000162736 15 4/14/2003 3.42 0.005049993 0.00606593 0.0000367955 16 4/21/2003 3.5 -0.010041938 -0.009026001 0.0000814687 17 4/28/2003 3.5 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 18 5/5/2003 3.5 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 19 5/12/2003 3.48 0.0024888 0.003504738 0.0000122832 20 5/19/2003 3.48 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 21 5/26/2003 3.48 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 22 6/2/2003 3.5 -0.0024888 -0.001472863 0.0000021693 23 6/9/2003 3.66 -0.019413041 -0.018397103 0.0003384534 24 6/16/2003 3.66 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 25 6/23/2003 3.6 0.007178585 0.008194522 0.0000671502 26 6/30/2003 3.56 0.004852503 0.005868441 0.0000344386 27 7/7/2003 3.8 -0.028333599 -0.027317661 0.0007462546 28 7/14/2003 3.76 0.004595752 0.005611689 0.0000314911 29 7/21/2003 3.86 -0.01139946 -0.010383522 0.0001078175 30 7/28/2003 3.94 -0.008908917 -0.007892979 0.0000622991 31 8/4/2003 4 -0.00656377 -0.005547832 0.0000307784 32 8/11/2003 3.98 0.002176919 0.003192857 0.0000101943 33 8/18/2003 4.38 -0.041591038 -0.040575101 0.0016463388 34 8/25/2003 4.48 -0.009803903 -0.008787966 0.0000772283 35 9/1/2003 4.44 0.003895044 0.004910982 0.0000241177 36 9/8/2003 4.46 -0.001951889 -0.000935951 0.0000008760 37 9/15/2003 4.2 0.026085568 0.027101506 0.0007344916 38 9/22/2003 4.28 -0.008194479 -0.007178541 0.0000515314 39 9/29/2003 4.22 0.006131318 0.007147256 0.0000510833 40 10/6/2003 4.26 -0.004097148 -0.00308121 0.0000094939 41 10/13/2003 4.46 -0.01992526 -0.018909322 0.0003575625 42 10/20/2003 4.64 -0.017183122 -0.016167184 0.0002613778 43 10/27/2003 4.84 -0.018327381 -0.017311443 0.0002996861 44 11/3/2003 4.8 0.003604124 0.004620062 0.0000213450 45 11/10/2003 4.5 0.028028724 0.029044661 0.0008435924 46 11/17/2003 4.44 0.005829544 0.006845481 0.0000468606 47 11/24/2003 4.36 0.007896481 0.008912419 0.0000794312 48 12/1/2003 4.3 0.006018034 0.007033971 0.0000494768 49 12/8/2003 4.26 0.004058856 0.005074794 0.0000257535 50 12/15/2003 4.28 -0.00203417 -0.001018232 0.0000010368 51 12/22/2003 4.26 0.00203417 0.003050108 0.0000093032 52 12/29/2003 4.24 0.002043743 0.00305968 0.0000093616 53 1/5/2004 4.3 -0.006102599 -0.005086661 0.0000258741 54 1/12/2004 4.62 -0.03117352 -0.030157582 0.0009094798 55 1/19/2004 4.66 -0.003743941 -0.002728003 0.0000074420 56 1/26/2004 4.6 0.005628085 0.006644023 0.0000441430 57 2/4/2004 4.62 -0.001884144 -0.000868206 0.0000007538 58 2/9/2004 4.38 0.023167865 0.024183803 0.0005848563 59 2/16/2004 4.36 0.001987621 0.003003559 0.0000090214 60 2/24/2004 4.48 -0.011791525 -0.010775587 0.0001161133 61 3/1/2004 4.42 0.005855745 0.006871682 0.0000472200 62 3/8/2004 4.44 -0.001960701 -0.000944763 0.0000008926 63 3/15/2004 4.3 0.013914515 0.014930452 0.0002229184 64 3/22/2004 4.3 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 65 3/29/2004 4.3 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 66 4/5/2004 4.5 -0.019744058 -0.01872812 0.0003507425 67 4/12/2004 4.68 -0.017033339 -0.016017402 0.0002565572 68 4/19/2004 4.6 0.007488021 0.008503959 0.0000723173 69 4/26/2004 3.78 0.085266032 0.08628197 0.0074445783 70 5/3/2004 3.74 0.004620198 0.005636135 0.0000317660 71 5/10/2004 3.72 0.002328662 0.0033446 0.0000111863 72 5/17/2004 3.56 0.019092942 0.02010888 0.0004043670 73 5/24/2004 3.74 -0.021421604 -0.020405667 0.0004163912 74 5/31/2004 3.7 0.004669878 0.005685816 0.0000323285 75 6/7/2004 3.68 0.002353905 0.003369843 0.0000113558 76 6/14/2004 3.58 0.011964792 0.01298073 0.0001684993 77 6/21/2004 3.44 0.017324584 0.018340522 0.0003363747 78 6/28/2004 3.24 0.026013432 0.02702937 0.0007305868 79 7/5/2004 3.18 0.00811789 0.009133828 0.0000834268 80 7/12/2004 3.32 -0.018710964 -0.017695026 0.0003131139 81 7/19/2004 3.3 0.002624144 0.003640082 0.0000132502 82 7/26/2004 3.2 0.013363962 0.014379899 0.0002067815 83 8/2/2004 3.22 -0.002705893 -0.001689956 0.0000028560 84 8/9/2004 3.2 0.002705893 0.003721831 0.0000138520 85 8/16/2004 3.12 0.010995384 0.012011322 0.0001442719 86 8/23/2004 3 0.017033339 0.018049277 0.0003257764 87 8/30/2004 3.14 -0.019808393 -0.018792456 0.0003531564 88 9/6/2004 3.14 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 89 9/13/2004 3.16 -0.002757435 -0.001741497 0.0000030328 90 9/20/2004 3.34 -0.024059384 -0.023043446 0.0005310004 91 9/27/2004 3.3 0.005232527 0.006248465 0.0000390433 92 10/4/2004 3.34 -0.005232527 -0.004216589 0.0000177796 93 10/11/2004 3.42 -0.010279639 -0.009263702 0.0000858162 94 10/18/2004 3.36 0.007686829 0.008702766 0.0000757381 95 10/25/2004 3.4 -0.00513964 -0.004123702 0.0000170049 96 11/1/2004 3.48 -0.010100327 -0.009084389 0.0000825261 97 11/8/2004 3.48 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 98 11/15/2004 3.54 -0.007424018 -0.00640808 0.0000410635 99 11/22/2004 3.5 0.004935218 0.005951155 0.0000354163 100 12/6/2004 3.5 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 101 12/13/2004 3.44 0.007509602 0.008525539 0.0000726848 102 12/20/2004 3.5 -0.007509602 -0.006493664 0.0000421677 103 12/27/2004 3.52 -0.002474619 -0.001458681 0.0000021278 104 1/3/2005 3.58 -0.007340363 -0.006324425 0.0000399984 105 1/10/2005 3.8 -0.02590057 -0.024884632 0.0006192449 106 1/17/2005 3.9 -0.01128101 -0.010265073 0.0001053717 107 1/24/2005 3.8 0.01128101 0.012296948 0.0001512149 108 1/31/2005 3.82 -0.002279766 -0.001263829 0.0000015973 109 2/7/2005 3.8 0.002279766 0.003295704 0.0000108617 110 2/14/2005 3.8 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 111 2/21/2005 3.84 -0.004547628 -0.00353169 0.0000124728 112 2/28/2005 3.88 -0.004500501 -0.003484564 0.0000121422 113 3/7/2005 3.86 0.002244421 0.003260359 0.0000106299 114 3/14/2005 3.82 0.004523942 0.005539879 0.0000306903 115 3/21/2005 3.8 0.002279766 0.003295704 0.0000108617 116 3/28/2005 3.8 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 117 4/4/2005 3.74 0.006911994 0.007927932 0.0000628521 118 4/11/2005 3.7 0.004669878 0.005685816 0.0000323285 119 4/18/2005 3.74 -0.004669878 -0.00365394 0.0000133513 120 4/25/2005 3.76 -0.002316243 -0.001300305 0.0000016908 121 5/3/2005 3.68 0.009340026 0.010355964 0.0001072460 122 5/9/2005 3.7 -0.002353905 -0.001337968 0.0000017902 123 5/16/2005 3.68 0.002353905 0.003369843 0.0000113558 124 5/24/2005 3.58 0.011964792 0.01298073 0.0001684993 125 5/30/2005 3.52 0.007340363 0.008356301 0.0000698278 126 6/6/2005 3.32 0.02540458 0.026420517 0.0006980437 127 6/13/2005 3.22 0.013282212 0.01429815 0.0002044371 128 6/20/2005 3.32 -0.013282212 -0.012266274 0.0001504615 129 6/27/2005 3.28 0.00526424 0.006280178 0.0000394406 130 7/4/2005 3.46 -0.023202255 -0.022186317 0.0004922327 131 7/11/2005 3.3 0.020562159 0.021578097 0.0004656143 132 7/18/2005 3.32 -0.002624144 -0.001608206 0.0000025863 133 7/25/2005 3.3 0.002624144 0.003640082 0.0000132502 134 8/1/2005 3.3 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 135 8/8/2005 3.62 -0.040194631 -0.039178693 0.0015349700 136 8/15/2005 3.6 0.00240607 0.003422007 0.0000117101 137 8/22/2005 3.6 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 138 8/29/2005 3.5 0.012234456 0.013250394 0.0001755729 139 9/5/2005 3.5 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 140 9/12/2005 3.46 0.004991946 0.006007883 0.0000360947 141 9/19/2005 3.64 -0.022025285 -0.021009347 0.0004413927 142 9/26/2005 3.6 0.004798883 0.005814821 0.0000338121 143 10/3/2005 3.62 -0.00240607 -0.001390132 0.0000019325 144 10/10/2005 3.72 -0.011834369 -0.010818432 0.0001170385 145 10/17/2005 3.72 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 146 10/24/2005 3.68 0.004695121 0.005711059 0.0000326162 147 10/31/2005 3.72 -0.004695121 -0.003679183 0.0000135364 148 11/7/2005 3.7 0.002341216 0.003357154 0.0000112705 149 11/14/2005 3.74 -0.004669878 -0.00365394 0.0000133513 150 11/21/2005 3.74 0 0.001015938 0.0000010321 151 11/28/2005 3.72 0.002328662 0.0033446 0.0000111863 152 12/5/2005 3.76 -0.004644905 -0.003628967 0.0000131694 153 12/12/2005 3.72 0.004644905 0.005660843 0.0000320451 154 12/19/2005 3.74 -0.002328662 -0.001312725 0.0000017232 155 12/26/2005 3.82 -0.009191761 -0.008175823 0.0000668441 156 1/3/2006 4.1 -0.030720494 -0.029704556 0.0008823607 157 1/9/2006 4.12 -0.002113359 -0.001097422 0.0000012043 158 1/16/2006 4.02 0.010671163 0.011687101 0.0001365883 159 1/23/2006 3.94 0.008729831 0.009745769 0.0000949800 160 2/6/2006 4.16 -0.023597109 -0.022581171 0.0005099093 161 2/13/2006 4.14 0.00209299 0.003108927 0.0000096654 162 2/20/2006 4.04 0.010618976 0.011634914 0.0001353712 163 2/27/2006 3.98 0.006498293 0.007514231 0.0000564637 164 3/6/2006 4.04 -0.006498293 -0.005482355 0.0000300562 165 3/13/2006 3.88 0.01754964 0.018565577 0.0003446807 166 3/20/2006 3.8 0.009048129 0.010064067 0.0001012854 167 3/27/2006 3.82 -0.002279766 -0.001263829 0.0000015973 168 4/3/2006 3.78 0.004571563 0.005587501 0.0000312202 169 4/10/2006 3.8 -0.002291797 -0.001275859 0.0000016278 170 4/17/2006 4.32 -0.05570015 -0.054684212 0.0029903631 171 4/24/2006 4.22 0.010171296 0.011187234 0.0001251542 172 5/2/2006 4.1 0.012528594 0.013544532<

The Bell Jar Essay -- essays research papers

The Bell Jar   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book starts with the setting in New York as the main character is pondering the execution of the Rosenbergs. Esther the main character is in New York because of contest held by a fashion magazine. While in New York Esther tells about her life by the encounters she's had. She is a college student and is in the honors courses. The whole trip to New York had messed up Esters way of thinking. For example before she went to New York she had planed to finish college and become a poet or English professor, but now she had no idea.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Esther returned home she became very depressed. She wanted to disregard the whole New York experience by taking a exclusive summer writing course. Only the best of the best writers had been able to be excepted to this class and Esther was sure she had made it until her mother had told her she was not accepted. This was what pushed Esther over the edge. She became more and more obsessed about how she would kill herself and planed it out carefully. When the time came she just couldn't do it. So she began to preoccupied herself by thinking of other ways of death. She couldn't sleep or read this bothered her because she loved to read. Finally she went to see a doctor who gave her shock treatments. This made Esther even worse an so she slipped even deeper into her depressed state. She knew the bell jar was almost completely apon her and there was nothing she could do to prevent...

Effective Use of Color in William Gibsons Neuromancer :: Neuromancer Essays

Effective Use of Color in Neuromancer As I sit in my chair and type this essay, I am amazed to see myself staring into the computer next to me and wondering if William Gibson was indeed correct. The screen, which is a dark gray, has been put on "sleep mode" by Windows 98 but has not been powered off. It is not only the monitor that troubles me as I stare blankly into it, but rather, it is "the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." This is how Gibson touches the reader in Neuromancer. He uses images of colors with which the human eye is all too familiar, and, more specifically, he uses shades of these colors. One color, which particularly stands alone in Gibson's use and effectiveness, is gray. It represents so much in the novel and adds incredible dimensions beyond simple description. With the opening line, the coloring reveals the nature of his futuristic Earth. "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." In the modern world, there are not too many people who do not know this color. The "snow" effect has been commonly used to describe it, as well as static, haze, and a number of other terms, but the color remains the same. It is the color of frustration, hopelessness and non-clarity, much like Case's world. There is very little hope left in Case's life as Gibson opens the novel, and within fifteen words, the reader is well aware of this fact. Not only does the world continue a bleak existence, but so to do the main characters of the novel. Molly, for example, is a lost assassin. She is not physically lost but rather spiritually as she has turned into a killing machine. The only true way to describe it is cold-blooded. Her icy nature is revealed, once again, through the use of the color gray. Her eyes, or what is left of them, used silver, mirrored lenses. Just by her paratactic description, the reader syntactically knows her faults through her faulty vision. In addition to Molly, one other member of Case's team is flawed using the color gray. This is Armitage, or Corto. Armitage is merely a shell of a man created by an Artificial Intelligence. To indicate the instability of Armitage/Corto, Gibson shows Armitage in a gray business suit, which contrasts starkly to the image the reader sees of Corto's military days, where he would have worn a camouflaged uniform.