ESSAY QUESTIONS TO BE COMPLETED ON FRI Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

QUESTIONS TO BE COMPLETED ON FRI - Essay Example The fact that dropout prevention is being considered seriously is a good thing; however, the question arises as to which of these dropout prevention strategies and programs are really successful. Furthermore, schools should become more educated in dropout prevention in order for them to more effectively choose and apply the program and strategy that are appropriate in their situation. Hence, a review of the current and most popular dropout prevention strategies and programs is needed in order to ascertain what these different programs do, how they work, the concept behind them, and how successful have they been in their agenda of reducing high school dropout rates. The research design that will be used to complete this review is the quantitative research methodology as the research problem in itself is quantitative in nature. Statistics will play an important role in this study as the review will include relevant studies that have been made that shows the success rates of various dropout prevention strategies and programs. Only these statistical references will be used as this research will act as a review and compilation of available journal articles. These statistical data will be presented accordingly and analyzed using a point system of tallying. Data Collection. This research will be based solely on secondhand research. Statistical data composed of percentages of success rates will be compiled in order to ascertain which dropout prevention strategy and program works best at a given situation—high school students and dropouts differ in characteristics and so, various dropout prevention programs will have varying effects on the student population. This research will be based on these reliable references as undertaking an experiment that will have the desired effect will involve a lot of time and money. Data Analysis. Once the statistical data has been gathered, categories will be created based

Immanuel Kant Essay Example for Free

Immanuel Kant Essay HUME’S FORK David Hume divides knowledge into two classes: ‘relations of ideas’ (i. e. tautologies) and ‘matters of fact’ (i. e. empirical statements). His book concludes (on p. 165) with the following paragraph: â€Å"When we run over libraries, persuaded of these principles, what havoc must we make? If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity of number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact or existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion. † LOGICAL POSITIVISM Hume’s Fork was updated by modern logical positivists (such as A. J. Ayer, Antony Flew and Gilbert Ryle) who proposed the Verification Principle. This claims that sentences are only meaningful if they are tautologies (which are true because of the definitions of the terms involved, e. g.a square has four sides, six is bigger than four), or if they are in some way empirically verifiable (i. e. connected with actual experience, e. g. Harold lost at Hastings, electrons are both particles and waves). Any other statements will be meaningless, because their truth is not decided by either definitions or evidence. According to Ayer, this makes discussion about religion and morality meaningless. Religious statements like God is love are not false, they are incapable of being either true or false. SIX IMPORTANT CONCEPTS Area Term a priori Meaning Knowable before experience, through thought alone Empirical; known through experience has to be true (in all possible worlds) capable of being either true or false tautologies; statements concerned only with meanings of words statements concerned with information about the world Example five is bigger than four Problems Can anything be known without experience? (e. g. maths). Could you know something about the world a priori? Could someone (e. g. God) know everything a priori? Is it possible that all truths are necessary, even empirical ones? Or is it possible that there is no such thing as a necessary truth? It may be arbitrary which terms are definitions, and which are claims about the world. We might reorganise a language so that the analytic truth became synthetic, and vice versa. Epistemology a posteriori necessary Metaphysics contingent analytic Language synthetic cars have four wheels air is a gas air contains oxygen there’s a stone in my shoe triangles have three sides Hume and the Logical Positivists believe that these terms fall strictly into two groups: a) a priori-necessary-analytic, and b) a posteriori-contingent-synthetic. This means that if something is necessarily true, this is because it is true by definition, and can be known by thinking about it. If a statement is about the real world, then it could be false, and you need experience to know it. (This would immediately rule out the Ontological Argument for God). These empiricists claim that a priori synthetic truths are impossible, whereas rationalists like Kant think you can know things about the world just by thinking about them (e. g. maths). APPLICATION TO RELIGION Statements are only meaningful (it is claimed) if they are true by definition, or if they are empirical. So which group do statements about religion fall into? If they are only true by definition, then outsiders can ignore them because religion is just an arbitrary game like chess. If they are empirically verifiable, then sceptical philosophers can demand to see some relevant evidence. Flew’s Gardener Parable (p. 225) is a demand for evidence. If none can be offered, then the claim is meaningless (not ‘false’). DEFENCES OF RELIGION The most basic defence is to deny empiricism (consider the views of Plato, Anselm, Descartes and Kant). Logical Positivism can be attacked. Its main problems are 1) the Verification Principle can’t be stated clearly it is either so precise that it eliminates sensible conversation, or so vague that it allows religious language; 2) the Verification Principle must itself be either a tautology or empirically verifiable; 3) a sentence like God is love can be proved meaningful by connecting it very vaguely and remotely with some empirical observation. BRAITHWAITE’S DEFENCE Braithwaite (following the later Wittgenstein) claims that language is meaningful, not if it passes the Verification Principle, but if it has an appropriate use in actual life. The main use of religious language is to express the intentions of believers. In Braithwaite’s view this is primarily a moral intention. Because a sentence like God is love is part of a way of life in which the speaker is committing themselves to live by love, the sentence is meaningful. HICK’S DEFENCE (‘ESCHATOLOGICAL VERIFICATION’) Hick’s defence is that religious language is a commitment to something which will happen in the future, and so it cannot be verified now (e. g. decimals of ? not yet discovered). He tells the parable of the Celestial City (p. 26). He discusses problems with knowing in an afterlife whether religion has indeed been verified, but clearly it could be. Suppose, for example, that we confronted God, and were overwhelmed by his love? Such faith in the future may be open to other objections (‘why believe this? ’), but the claim seems at least to be meaningful (just like Aristotle’s problem about the truth today of ‘there will be a sea fight tomorrow’), because Hick has shown that there is some (future) evidence which is relevant. Minimum reading: The Existence of God (ed. J. Hick) pp. 217-220, 225-27, 239-41, 258-60.

How to handle your finance after divorce Essay --

How to handle your finance after divorce Divorce is a complex and heartbreaking episode in anyone's lives. You would not want to add in to your burden with monetary issues.This turn out to be a greater disaster if you were always being dependent on your partner or have money crunch. You can no longer afford to rely on anyone else other than yourself. So, gear up and get your act straight. We know it is difficult and at the same time important to start handling financial responsibility. Here are a few steps to help you to take the first step. Who owns the home In case the home is owned by your ex-spouse sole name, then you might want to consider registering for a share using a 'matrimonial home rights notice' or a 'restriction' notice. Both of these notices will help you in guaranteeing that your ex-partner won't try to sell, transfer or mortgage the property without your knowledge or agreement. Clear your mortgage concerns Explain your stand clearly, talk to the lender and discuss how you plan to manage the mortgage repayments. This also applies in case you are staying in...

Impact of Technology on Music Essay -- Term Papers Research Essays

Impact of Technology on Music The introduction to the internet in the early nineties and the creation of broadband, MP3, and the file sharing network known as â€Å"peer to peer† has completely revolutionised the music industry. A large percentage of music is today downloaded over the internet, and not bought over the counter in a record store. This essay will address the impact of new technology on music, and how music is distributed. To do this, the paper will first briefly explain the history of the digital revolution. Then it will contrast the problems and the possibilities this technology has created. Over the years, the development of new technology has caused significant changes to the world we are living in. These technological advancements affect us to different degrees and in different ways. In recent years, the development of new technology has caused significant changes to the music industry. For three quarters of a century, records were made by a process now known as analogue recording. This process was replaced by digital recording in 1976. The initial advantage of digital recording was that it offered a more accurate way to reproduce sound. A few years later, in 1983, the compact disc was invented and it was now possible to store digital sound on a digital medium. This was widely thought of as the completion of the digital revolution (Teachout, 2002). The birth of the CD wasn’t the end of the digital revolution. There were bigger and more important innovations in the horizon. The evolution of the internet was on its way, and the possibilities of this medium were almost unlimited (Sutherland, 2004). The development of the internet, broadband, MP3, and then the different ways to share music with each other create... .... (2004). The RIAA is behind the times. Retrieved 14.9, 2004, from http://www.yale.edu/yfp/archives/feb04/feb04_riaa.html Green, H. (2004). Downloads: The Next Generation; Music merchants are trying new ways to make an honest buck off the Internet. Business Week, 1(3870), 64. Musicunintended.org. (2004). more than 2.6 billion files are downloaded illigaly per month. Retrieved 16.9, 2004, from http://www.musicunited.org/ RIAA. (2004). What the RIAA is Doing About Piracy. Retrieved 14.9, 2004, from http://www.riaa.com/issues/piracy/riaa.asp Sherman, C. (2000). Napster: Copyright killer or distribution hero? Online, 24(6), 8. Sutherland, J. (2004). Business Objects and the Evolution of the Internet. Retrieved 16.9, 2004, from http://jeffsutherland.com/papers/crcweb.html Teachout, T. (2002). Why listening will never be the same. Commentary, 1 14(2), 4.

Factors Affecting Adolescent Development Essay

  Adolescence is a transitory stage from childhood to adulthood, characterized by significant physical, emotional and social changes. Developmentalists used to view adolescence as a tumultuous stage due to stress of individuals who want to become an adult long before becoming one. But now, a changing perspective is taking place. Adolescence is no longer a stage in life that is full of conflict but one that is full of opportunities to become a better person. Hereditary and environmental factors play an important role in making sure such opportunities are maximized. These factors are crucial in determining how an individual goes through adolescence. Physical Development Puberty is noted with a surge in hormone production and the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics, causing a number of physical changes (Aacap & Pruitt, 1999). For example, girls begin to develop breast buds, grow hairs on pubic area, legs and armpits, start to menstruate, develop wider hips and grow in height. Boys, on the other hand, may begin to experience enlargement of the adam’s apple, testicles and scrotum, develop facial hairs as well as on the pubic area, armpits, legs and chest, develop deeper voice and also grow in height. Puberty timetable, as well as the characteristics developed during this stage is influenced primarily by heredity, although environmental factors also contribute such as diet and exercise. The aforesaid physical changes are triggered by the pituitary gland, as the hormonal balance leans towards an adult state. The pituitary glands secrete hormones, such as testosterone for the boys or estrogen and progesterone for the girls. Read more:  Factors that influence child develop The major landmark of puberty for the boys is the first ejaculation and menarche for the girls. The age of menarche depends on heredity though the girl’s diet and lifestyle are determinants, as well. To experience menarche, a girl must attain a certain level of body fat. So a girl with a high-fat diet and lives a sedentary lifestyle menstruates earlier relative to a girl with low-fat diet and exercise regularly. Girls who have poor nutrition or experience physical labor at an early age are expected to begin menstruating at later years. Cognitive Development During adolescence, cognitive development is characterized by the ability to think methodically in analyzing all the relationships in a given problem (McCormick, & Pressley, 2007). However, this development takes time and varies from one adolescent to the other. Some may apply logical thinking in school work before they can analyze their personal lives in the same manner. Adolescents begin to see their world in more complex ways which can influence their decision making either in a negative or a positive way. Adolescents should be at what Jean Piaget called â€Å"formal operations† stage where they experience the need to think independently and efficiently, more advance and complex. There are five ways that this ability manifests: (1) to think of possibilities not limited to what is real; (2) to think about abstract ideas; (3) to think about the process of thinking itself; (4) to think at multidimensionality of things rather than to focus at a single issue; and (5) to see things as relative rather than absolute. It is widely accepted that the intellectual capacity is determined by heredity and environment. Studies about intellectual development during adolescence in the field of developmental neuroscience show that â€Å"significant growth and significant change in multiple regions of the prefrontal cortex throughout the course of adolescence, especially with respect to process to myelination and synaptic pruning (both of which increase the efficiency of information processing),† (Steinberg, 2005) To make the most out of these changes, they must be complemented by a positive environment for healthy cognitive development. Adolescents should be encouraged to join discussion about a variety of topics, issues and current events. They should be allowed to think on their own and to share their ideas with others. Stimulating them to think about future possibilities and guiding them towards their goal allow them to even out the wrong decisions they make. Social, Moral and Personality Development Individuals suffer from identity crisis during adolescence. According to Erik Erikson’s Theory of Identity Development, identity crisis is the most important characteristic of adolescents (Erikson, 1968). Although cultures define a person’s identity and thus varies from one culture to another, the accomplishment of this development task has a common denominator for all cultures. Core to his theory is for the adolescent to establish an â€Å"ego-identity† and to avoid â€Å"role confusion† and â€Å"identity confusion†. A sense of identity in occupation, sex roles, politics and religion must be developed during adolescence. The ego-identity changes constantly as an individual acquires new experience and information through social interaction. According to Erikson, adolescents have to make an account of his/her assets and liabilities and what to make out of them. Adolescents have to find their own identity by examining their past, present and future linked together. However, this is difficult as the past has lost the attachment of family and community tradition, the present is occupied by social change and the future has become more unpredictable. The role of peers during this period is highlighted as they give the sense of acceptance to the adolescent seeking for social approval. Those who are able to receive positive feedback and encouragement turn out to have a strong sense of who he/she is and a feeling of independence and control. Those who fail to find his/her identity are likely to be insecure and confused about themselves and the future. For Robert Havighurst, individuals have to acquire developmental tasks defined as skills, knowledge, functions and attitudes (Turner, 1996). They are acquired through physical maturation, social expectations and personal efforts. Achieving these development tasks lead to happiness and success with later harder tasks while failure in a given developmental task result to lack of adjustment, increase anxiety, social disapproval and helplessness to manage more difficult tasks to come. Some of the developmental tasks are need to be achieved within a time limit which Havighurst called â€Å"teachable moment.† If the task is not mastered during this time, it becomes harder, if not impossible to accomplish. Society plays an important role by providing the socializing agents, as well as the method of reinforcement and punishment, to allow the individual to learn the developmental tasks according to their proper age levels. According to Havighurst, for adolescents aged 12 to 20 years old, their development tasks include: (1) accepting one’s physique and accepting a masculine or feminine role; (2) new relations with age-mates of both sexes; (3) emotional independence of parents and other adults; (4) achieving assurance of economic independence; (5) selecting and preparing for an occupation; (6) developing intellectual skills and concepts necessary for civic competence; (7) desiring and achieving socially responsible behavior; (8) preparing for marriage and family life; and (9) building conscious values in harmony with an adequate scientific world-picture. References Aacap & Pruitt, David. (1999). You Adolescent: Emotional, Behavioral and Cognitive Development from Early Adolescence Through the Teen Years. NY: Harper Collins Publishers. Erikson, Erik. (1968) Identity: Youth and Crisis. NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. McCormick, Christine & Pressley, Michael. (2007). Child and Adolescent Development for Educators. NY: The Guilford Press. Steinberg, Laurence. Cognitive and Affective Development in Adolescence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. Vol.9, No.2 February 2005. Turner, Jeffrey. (1996). Encyclopedia of Relationships Across the Lifespan. NY: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.

How does the poet convey the sadness of death in Mid-Term Break Essay Example

How does the poet convey the sadness of death in Mid How does the poet convey the sadness of death in Mid-Term Break Paper How does the poet convey the sadness of death in Mid-Term Break Paper Essay Topic: Poetry The concepts of death and grief are often interlinked. This is demonstrated in Seamus Heaneys poem, Mid-Term Break, where he conveys the sadness of death after his own brother, Christopher, dies. Heaney uses various language techniques, sound devices, symbolizations and contrasts to achieve this sense of sorrow. In the first stanza, Heaneys clever use of the phrase counting bells knelling classes to a close illustrates the similarity of school bells to funeral bells. The use of assonance and alliteration in this phrase emphasizes the funereal sounds of the bells. Also, the hard consonant sounds in counting, classes, and close foreshadow some form of cruel finality, providing a feeling of melancholy, as well as apprehension. After such subtleties, we can finally see blatant evidence to the presence of death. In the second stanza, when Heaney arrives home, he sees his father crying, even though he had always taken funerals in his stride. Because of the line he had always taken funerals in his stride, we learn that someone has died. Also, Heaneys father can be seen to be strong and unyielding. Yet, this image of him crying and grieving so openly demonstrates how distressing this death really is. Looking at Heaneys other parent; in her we do not see a soft or idealistic image of a woman sobbing gently, but rather a rough, realistic image of a mother who is saddened beyond tears. Instead of crying, she coughed out angry, tearless sighs, indicative of her anger and harsh feelings of loss. Her extreme sorrow at the death of Christopher shows that the grief brought on by death is always immeasurable. Thus, Heaney uses both his parents to compare the varying expressions of sadness after death. It is in the sixth stanza where symbolism is first used. Snowdrops represent life and innocence, while candles symbolize funeral rites, and death. Heaney contrasts the concepts of life and death in this stanza to emphasize death with subtle symbolism. He has achieved this whilst showing that there has been a loss of innocence, that being Christophers, as well as his own. This loss of innocence leaves behind regret in the reader and a sudden feeling of loss and misery. In this sixth stanza, the words, Paler now, seem to hang at the end of the verse and implies the contrast of a living Christopher to a dead one. This simple description once again stresses Heaneys sadness for his death and his longing for his brother back. The sentence then carries on to the seventh stanza, which sets up for the final line: A four foot box, a foot for every year It is this line where Heaney has concentrated most of his anger, sadness, and grief. This makes the reader finally understand the tragedy that has taken place, as well as emphasizing each and every word of the sentence. This also stuns the reader as this is where the reader first realizes how young Heaneys brother really is, and allows them to fully comprehend the shock and grief the family, and Heaney, must have felt. However, despite his feelings, throughout the poem, Heaney manages to imply, but not explicitly state, his own feelings. Rather, he sustains an impersonal sense of sorrow and grief, while describing the scenes and atmosphere of that event. This presents the audience with a sense of Heaneys numbness, a lack of any strong emotions, due to the initial shock of the tragedy. To emphasize this shock, Heaney has used a very simple free verse with little rhyme and rhythm. This allows the poem to deliver a very simple, yet effective story, and so is definite in its meaning. Phrases such as Next morning I went into the room get straight to the point and are not excessively fancy. Heaneys lack of concern for unnecessary waffle allows him to convey the sadness of death clearly and concisely. Heaney manages to convey to the reader the feeling of sadness after death. His use of various contrasts of life and death emphasize the death, and the remorse resulting from it. Also, his use of simple, impersonal language and effective sounds allows the reader to fully grasp the severity of this death. In turn, this helps Heaney to implicitly present his own feelings of sadness and sorrow. Also, the final line has been built-up so that the full impact of this event finally hits the reader. His brother is dead and his life fixed in a perpetual Mid-Term Break.

The Concept and Process of Training and Development

The Concept and Process of Training and Development Introduction Employees in an organization learn new skills and knowledge for both personal and organizational benefits. Training and development provides the same outcome using different methods. Managers in the organization use development and training to improve on the employee’s performance through learning.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Concept and Process of Training and Development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Differences between the concept of training and development Training is a process used by organizations to improve employee performance and to help them learn new information. Trainings are organized and they usually cover specific topics as planned by the management. Workshops and seminars are some of the events used for group trainings. Training enables people to improve on knowledge and skills and to learn new ideas that improve effectiveness in the workplace (Craig, 1996, p.996). A go od training provides useful information that contributes to the development of skills and knowledge used in the workplace. Ideas leant in training are useful in improvement of job performance. Through concept learning and presentation, training improves workplace behaviors and enhances skill development. Development on the other hand is the process used by organizations to create and sustain change in the workplace. It is a systematic process because it seeks to improve on the already working employees. Example of employee development is when an experienced employee helps a new employee to go about a specific job. A manager may decide to coach new employees on the job s/he wants done. Development in the workplace is evident when employees in an organization decide to rotate job responsibilities with the aim of learning more. It involves the process used by employees to gain more experience in the workplace. The main difference between the concept of training and development is that development is a broad term, which includes training as a method of encouraging employees. The activities involved in development are different from the activities involved in training.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Both development and training give the same results using different methods. For example, if a manager wants to improve the employee’s ability to work with an accounting package, training is the appropriate thing to do. The manager may want the same employee to understand another job in a different department. To achieve this, the manager will apply development using job rotation. Training and development use different periods because training focuses on current issues where employees learn new skills and abilities that help them to perform their jobs. Development on the other hand prepares employees in an organization for future responsibiliti es and it may take a longer period. The process of a performance improvement plan A performance improvement plan is a process used by the management and the supervisors to help individuals improve on their behavior in the workplace. Supervisors, through performance improvement plan, identify behavior and performance issues that need to be improved and then writes a plan to guide on the corrective and improvement actions. Documentation of employee’s performance Employee performance documentation opens the process where the supervisor usually does documentation and s/he identifies the areas that need improvement. Documentation provides examples and facts that clarify specific areas that need correction and improvement. Action plan The second step in the process of the process is for the supervisor to develop an action plan. The action plan gives improvement details and it includes specific objectives and goals. Smart goals are the objectives included in the action plan by the s upervisors and such goals should be relevant and accurate. Review on the performance improvement plan Before meeting with employees, supervisors, after preparing the performance improvement plan, should meet with managers to review the document. The supervisor can either review the plan with the human resource professional or the manager. The manager or the human resource professional acts as a third party and s/he is supposed to ensure that the document is clear, reasonable and can be accomplished within the stipulated time. Meeting with employee The supervisor holds a meeting with the affected employees to discuss about the document. The work of a supervisor in this stage is to show employees areas that need improvement and to lay out the action plan. After discussion, the supervisor may modify the action plan based on the feedback given by the employee, before they both sign the form.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Concept and Process of Training an d Development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Progress The supervisor and the employee should have follow up meetings, which may be held monthly or weekly depending on their agreement. During the meetings, the employee gets an opportunity to ask questions and they both document and discuss the progress towards the objectives. It is the duty of the supervisor to make sure that the necessary tools needed by the employee are available. Conclusion Conclusion of the performance improvement plan depends with the employee’s action. In case the employee refuses or is unable to improve, the employer closes the performance improvement plan and termites the employment. However, if the results are positive whereby an employee is in a position to achieve the specified goals, the employer concludes the improvement plan and the employee can go on with his/her work. How the results of a performance improvement plan determine training needs for emplo yees Results of the performance improvement plan can be either positive or negative. Negative results show that the employee does not improve because he or she refuses to commit to the performance improvement plan. In such a scenario, the incrimination rests not on the organization but on the employee. Other results may show that the employee has shown some improvement but has not been able to achieve some objectives in the action plan. The supervisor and the management then seek to know why the employee has not achieved the objectives within the timeline and determine how to help the employee to improve on the same. The supervisor may decide to add more time for the employee to meet the objectives if the employee has tried his/her best but is unable to meet one or several objectives. If the supervisor determines that the employee is trying the hardest but cannot be able to achieve the objectives because of lack of training, the management and the human resource professional conclud es that the employee needs more training and that the cause of the poor performance is lack of training. If several employees are unable to achieve specific objectives, then it means that the employees need more training in specific areas. Conclusion Both training and development are important in organizations because they help employees to improve and learn. The use of performance improvement plan helps the management to determine the training needs for the employees. The results of performance improvement plan expose weakness of the employees, which guides an organization on what to do.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Reference Craig, R. (1996). The ASTD Training and Development Handbook: A Guide to Human Resource Development. USA: McGraw-Hill.

Four Criteria for Identifying a Rock

Four Criteria for Identifying a Rock What is a rock, exactly? After some thought and discussion, most people will agree that rocks are more or less hard solids, of natural origin and made of minerals. But to geologists, all of those criteria have exceptions. Are All Rocks Hard? Not necessarily. Some common rocks can be scratched with your fingernails such as shale, soapstone, gypsum rock, and peat. Others may be soft in the ground, but they harden once they spend time in the air (and vice versa). And there is an imperceptible gradation between consolidated rocks and unconsolidated sediments. Indeed, geologists name and map many formations that dont consist of rock at all. This is why geologists refer to work with igneous and metamorphic rocks as hard-rock geology, opposed to sedimentary petrology. Are All Rocks Solid? Some rocks are far from completely solid. Many rocks include water in their pore spaces. Many geodes   hollow objects found in limestone country hold water inside them like coconuts. Two rocks that are barely solids include fine lava threads known as  Peles hair  and the fine open meshwork of exploded lava reticulite. Then theres the matter of temperature. Mercury is a liquid metal at room temperature (and down to -40 F), and petroleum is a fluid unless its asphalt erupted into cold ocean water. And good old ice meets all the criteria of rock-hood too...in permafrost and in glaciers. Are All Rocks Natural? Not entirely. The longer humans stay on this planet, the more that concrete accumulates. Concrete is a mixture of sand and pebbles (aggregate) and a mineral glue (cement) of calcium silicate compounds. It is a synthetic conglomerate, and it acts just like the natural rock, turning up in riverbeds and on beaches. Some of it has entered the rock cycle to be discovered by future geologists. Brick, too, is an artificial rock in this case, an artificial form of massive slate. Another human product that closely resembles rock is slag, the byproduct of metal smelting. Slag is a complex mixture of oxides that has many uses including road-building and concrete aggregate. It has found its way into sedimentary rocks already. Are All Rocks Made of Minerals? Many are not. Minerals are inorganic compounds with chemical formulas and mineral names such as quartz or pyrite. Coal is made of organic material, not minerals. The various types of stuff in coal are instead called macerals. Similarly, what about coquina...a rock made entirely of seashells? Shells are made of mineral matter, but they arent minerals any more than teeth are. Finally, we have the exception of obsidian. Obsidian is a rock glass, in which little or none of its material has gathered into crystals. It is an undifferentiated mass of geological material, rather like slag but not as colorful. While obsidian has no minerals in it per se, it is unquestionably a rock.

Contemporary Issues in Eastern Religion - Jainism Research Paper

Contemporary Issues in Eastern Religion - Jainism - Research Paper Example 1). The core beliefs of Jainism focus on the existence of the soul for every living being, karmas, and the concept of non-violence, among others. These beliefs were deeply rooted in Indian traditions and belief in reincarnation and karma. As closely related to Hinduism, Marett indicated that â€Å"in many ways the Jain community has been influenced by the customs and traditions of the larger Hindu community. Jain influence on Hinduism must include non-violence and vegetarianism Mahatma Gandhi, as is well-known, was deeply influenced, particularly in his attitude to non-violence by the Jains† (n.d., par. 5). In contrast to the predominant religions of the West, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Jainism’s interaction with them are manifested in ways of communal living. As opposed to Christianity and Islam, religions that believe in a supreme being, Judaism and Jainism, â€Å"is both a religion and a community, a close-knit community with a way of life and worship which keeps religion in a central place in society. Unlike Jainism the religion of Judaism centers around the worship of a single all-powerful creator God. The code of right and wrong is strict but Judaism pays less attention to life after death than almost any other religion† (Marett, n.d., par. 7). Likewise, as averred by Ahmad (2010), â€Å"through various  interactions in India, Jainism had an influence on Hinduism and Buddhism, and they share concepts such as the seeking of freedom from  worldly life and reincarnation of the soul. Some scholars suggest that Hinduism adopted vegetarianism through strong Jain influence across India† (par.6). In the modern world, Jainism’s influence could be exemplified by the practices of monks and nuns who believe in celibacy and adhering to austere lifestyle. By living in a community committed to peace and non-violence, the traditions of Jainism are manifested. Further, devotees of Jainism are known to be vegetarians

Terrorism the Future, and US Foreign Policy Assignment

Terrorism the Future, and US Foreign Policy - Assignment Example The United States of America, in their capacity as one of the most powerful and resourceful countries, should be the world leaders in the fight against terrorism. A prime example of a terrorist attack is the attack on the World Trade Centre, which was a catalyst in causing other countries to be concerned about the global security threat. It stands to reason therefore, that 9/11 was a catalyst in the implementation of strategies to combat terrorism in the USA and other countries. The USA took some major steps in protecting the world from terrorists and acts of terrorism which were affecting other parts of the world as well. The initial step taken by the USA in the fight against terrorism was to find the leader of the terrorists, in doing that the USA took decisive action by sending forces to Afghanistan by way of Pakistan to find the group responsible for the terrorist act against the USA. The USA deployed its forces to these countries from 1999 to 2010, as a part of their policy. The services of almost 136 countries were offered for this purpose. In the month of November 2002 in an international law enforcement effort resulted in the arrests of three thousand (3,000) terrorists in over one hundred (100) countries. According to the words of Raphael Perl in â€Å"Terrorism, the Future, and US Foreign Policy,† the author outlined the background as that of the US foreign policy, in 1995, when there were 23% of terrorists who acted against the US citizens or their property. The second step was when they searched the entire country and found terrorists belonging to a particular religious group called Al Qaida, whose group leader was the infamous Osama Bin Ladin, who is the leader of a worldwide group of terrorists. Author Raphael Perl, in his book â€Å"Terrorism, the Future, and US Foreign Policy† writes about conflicting goals and action plans. (1) To protect the people from terrorism, (2) Developing policies to fight against terrorism. The USA worked very hard to maintain world peace and was working really hard to develop anti-terrorism policies by bearing the two points outlined above in mind. For dealing with the current asymmetrical threat to global security, the author outlined both future and current threats and the capabilities of the USA as well as the opportunities which presented themselves. He also outlined how to improve the policies and systems in relation to global security both for the present and future. The USA was very instrumental in removing Saddam Hussein from being the ruler of Iraq and in so doing, gave the local residents of Iraq human rights, protection, and freedom. To summarize this, the USA which is one of the most powerful countries in the world has taken steps in order to maintain world peace. To address global security, the USA has sought the help of many countries who, in assisting the USA has also eliminated the threat of terrorism as well as the terrorists in their own countries.  

Water and Environment science Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Water and Environment science - Research Paper Example the inhabitants of the Portland city since it supplies them with sufficient amounts of fish like the Chinook, Sockeye and the Chun Salmon, wild animals as well as natural sceneries. The bird species are found on the river banks and they include the bald eagles and the great blue herons (Sethajintanin, et al., 114). Willamette River has undergone a tremendous change in the last two hundred years which is characterized by various human activities like the building of dams, dykes, and dredging. There are various sources of pollution in the Willamette River which include the sanitary discharge from the cities of Corvallis and Portland whose combined storm as well as the sanitary sewer release untreated sewage in to the river during the rainy season. Oil and fuel spills are common in the river because of the boating activity common in the river. Sediment erosion is common in the area where flood carries pollutants from upstream areas in to the river thus causing pollution of the river. Household wastes like solvents soaps as well as the household chemicals that are washed down from the roofs and eventually drain into the river (Poor & Jeffrey, 772). The Willamette River is now considered cleaner than it was in the late 1920’s and in the 1930’s when the river was in a much polluted state that a fish placed in it could die immediately. An authority known as the State Sanitary Authority which was later changed into the Department of Environment Quality. This Authority was responsible for overseeing the cleaning up of the River. In 1968, a major clean up was done which involved the identification of all major waste discharges were controlled thus making the river much safer (Rojas-Burke, 134). From the results of the data collected from the river it is clear that the temperatures were high during the three testing scenarios because of the times in which the samples were taken. High temperatures affect the functioning of the aquatic life since their bodies function

Diplomatic Immunity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Diplomatic Immunity - Essay Example cial review is stronger where the executive finds an individual not to have been a diplomat, but even so the courts have generally acceded to the determination of the executive. However, since the history of international law shows that, from time to time, a claim of immunity must be adjudicated in various contexts, when an appropriate issue is duly raised before the courts, it is within the area of judicial competence and responsibility to determine whether a claim of diplomatic immunity is valid. For instance, when the State Department, in making a certification, not only rules upon a persons diplomatic status but also states a conclusion of law in making the determination, the determination is reviewable, that is looked at, by the courts. Also, where the status and right to immunity have not been determined by executive action, they are a proper subject of decision by the courts. The Vienna Diplomatic Convention provides absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for diplomats and their family members who are not nationals of the receiving state. These individuals also enjoy immunity from civil suit except in three instances: (a) an action regarding real property in the receiving state unless the property is held on behalf of the sending state for purposes of the mission1, (b) an action relating to succession (in which the diplomatic agent is involved as executor, administrator, heir or legatee) not on behalf of the sending state2, or (c) an action relating to any professional or commercial activity in the receiving state outside of a diplomats official functions3. When the diplomatic agent stops his functions his immunity ceases as well, except â€Å"with respect to acts performed by such a person in the exercise of his functions as a member of the mission, immunity shall continue to subsist.† (Vienna Article Convention). The State Departments interpretation of the provisions of the Convention, although given deference,are not conclusive. Notwithstanding

Accountant in Business Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Accountant in Business - Coursework Example The form of business units will include sole proprietorship, partnership, and limited liability companies. This paper provides information that is relevant to assist the two brothers appropriately. In a business unit there are also motivating factors such as focus, strategy, hard work, honesty, and good communication skills to customers that the investors or entrepreneurs should always embrace. These will always facilitate the core purpose of a business structure that is profit making. This refers to a form of business organization that is owned by a single individual who manages the business, enjoys all the profits, and bears all the losses. Most of the sole proprietorships are small business operations. Most of these business units provide services such as repair, delivery and carpentry. They are always operated in small houses or small offices. Quick decision-making and prompt action - There is always no interference with the thoughts of a sole proprietor from other sectors. The sole proprietor is always in a position to make his or her own decisions without any consultation. This will therefore facilitate fast decision-making and fast action. The maintenance of business top secrets – Some of the sensitive information about the business structure are well known to the owner. He or she is not allowed to disclose any information pertaining the business issues. Apparently, he or she is not allowed to publish the business books of accounts. Unlimited liability – This is always a major problem in sole proprietorship since the owner will always be responsible for all the losses. If the business is unsuccessful, the owner will always to cut the costs by his or her personal assets. Limited capital – At the start of a sole proprietorship, the source of money is always personal besides the amount you borrow. Unfortunately, the amount of money available may be limited to run the business operations smoothly. This may make the entrepreneur to strain in order

Diplomatic Immunity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Diplomatic Immunity - Essay Example cial review is stronger where the executive finds an individual not to have been a diplomat, but even so the courts have generally acceded to the determination of the executive. However, since the history of international law shows that, from time to time, a claim of immunity must be adjudicated in various contexts, when an appropriate issue is duly raised before the courts, it is within the area of judicial competence and responsibility to determine whether a claim of diplomatic immunity is valid. For instance, when the State Department, in making a certification, not only rules upon a persons diplomatic status but also states a conclusion of law in making the determination, the determination is reviewable, that is looked at, by the courts. Also, where the status and right to immunity have not been determined by executive action, they are a proper subject of decision by the courts. The Vienna Diplomatic Convention provides absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for diplomats and their family members who are not nationals of the receiving state. These individuals also enjoy immunity from civil suit except in three instances: (a) an action regarding real property in the receiving state unless the property is held on behalf of the sending state for purposes of the mission1, (b) an action relating to succession (in which the diplomatic agent is involved as executor, administrator, heir or legatee) not on behalf of the sending state2, or (c) an action relating to any professional or commercial activity in the receiving state outside of a diplomats official functions3. When the diplomatic agent stops his functions his immunity ceases as well, except â€Å"with respect to acts performed by such a person in the exercise of his functions as a member of the mission, immunity shall continue to subsist.† (Vienna Article Convention). The State Departments interpretation of the provisions of the Convention, although given deference,are not conclusive. Notwithstanding

RECONSTRUCTION AND RADICAL Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

RECONSTRUCTION AND RADICAL - Assignment Example Reconstruction, it remains true that Radical Reconstruction was more challenging for the Southern States to fulfill than Presidential and provided more benefit to the freedom. The main reason that rendered Radical Reconstruction more challenging in the Southern States was the ability of the same to undermine the South’s economic and social gains. Specifically, Radical Construction fundamentally demanded the democratization and redrawing of racial relations and the enshrining of these milestones in the constitution. This would mean that the rules that had been enshrined in the Emancipation Proclamation would be upheld and not reversed. Although President Abraham Lincoln had successfully issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, yet there was hope among the Southerners that the legal stipulations thereof could be reversed. As a matter of fact, to underscore the reality of this hope, Southerners had attempted to reverse the Emancipation Proclamation by universally condemning it in the Confederacy and then following this condemnation with legal means (Festle, 2003). Again, Festle (2003) divulges that Radical Reconstruction was viewed as a serious threat to the welfare of the South since it could allow blacks the chance to access educational, economic and educational opportunities as a way of transforming their welfare and the society in which they lived. This according to the Southerners meant that blacks were no longer going to kowtow to white American’s demands and servitude. As if their fears were founded, as the Radical Reconstruction neared its conclusion, African Americans vied for greater freedom and empowerment, while unrelentingly challenging and addressing centuries of anti-black laws and traditions. The foregoing does not downplay the hardship that the South experienced in Presidential Reconstruction. However, compared to Radical Reconstruction, Presidential Reconstruction was a lesser evil. In fact, the President could still be

Organizational Security Plan Essay Example for Free

Organizational Security Plan Essay For every organization and business, physical security is a necessary aspect of protecting its facility, properties and employees against unwanted criminal activities. To choose the best organizational security plan possible, the organization must first conduct a thorough risk and threat assessment to assist in developing physical security plan. Basic physical controls focus on three levels of protection, which is the outside perimeter, the inside perimeter and the interior of a building. Each of these security levels must include at least two to three forms of security measures to make physical controls effective. An organization that is pursuing physical security should follow the recommended security best practices and implement the necessary steps to ensure the most effective physical security possible. At its core, physical security helps achieve protection of the personnel and assets by keeping the theft and other malicious criminal activities. Outer, Inner and interior Perimeter Security To better understand how to effectively implement security measures on the three basic levels of protection, there must be a clear distinction between the outer, inner and interior perimeter security. The outer perimeter of a property is usually defined by the property lines. The facility’s outer perimeter is fenced with a distinctive access point of entry, such as gate. The main purpose of establishing the outer perimeter security is to control all the traffic entering and leaving the property, meaning only authorized personnel and visitors should be granted the access pass the entrance gate. For an organization to decide which type of outer perimeter security is the most suitable one for its purposes, it needs to weigh the pros, cons and the cost of an intruder entering the property versus the physical security available. External Building Security External Security is the next line of defense, right after the perimeter security. External Security must take into consideration various factors that can potentially influence the security measures’ settings, such as weather and natural events. The organization must evaluate the value of what needs to be secured and protected in order to better apply appropriate external security measures. Such assessment of valuables should be objective; there is a difference between external security of high tech laboratories and the one of a small business owner. Each facility has very specific security needs, financial resources and abilities to implement appropriate measures of protection. Many large scale organizations and business use fencing and a gate as a primary source of external building security. Fencing is a clear sign of the property’s perimeter and it means the property is private and any unauthorized trespassing will be reported to local law enforcement authorities. Some private residence owners even use dogs as an external building security. There are various ways to find the most suitable tools, and it should be done so after a thorough consideration of the risk and threat assessment. Lighting is another great security tool to scare intruders or at least make their work more difficult and exposed to the surrounding. Nowadays, there are many sophisticating lighting systems that can be configured to fit exactly the building’s needs. Some lights can be turned on at all times during dark hours. Such approach is however more used for internal lighting and implemented by various companies and their office branches such as UPS, Pet Supermarkets or other retailers. Exterior lighting is extremely important for large outside perimeter, where the facility is fenced, has a main entrance point and even is guarded by a security officer. That security officer cannot have good visual perspective at night, however with the fence being lightened and the building exterior having lighting set up throughout, it allows the security officer to better view suspicious activities and therefore reacts quicker if an intruder trespass the facility. â€Å"PIR motion detector sensor so that it will switch the light on when movement is detected. Some lighting has a handy override feature to allow the light to stay permanently on and is useful if there is a need for light outside the property for a length of time. † (Secure Home, 2012) Modern lighting systems are also sustainable to severe weather such as snow storm, heavy rain storms and other extreme weather conditions. Security Alarms and CCTV Security alarms are very popular and useful security tools that are commonly found in both private residences and organizational facilities. Although they are mostly used for internal security, those that wish to secure their premises with the state of the art technologies, outside security alarms can provide just that. They work very similarly to interior security alarms; they get triggered once the intruder gains an entry without proper authorization. They can be either silent or loud and notify the property owner, management or local authorities directly. Closed Circuit TV cameras are also used for both external and interior security and it depends on the organization’s needs to select in what way to use them. The bright side is that CCTV used to be quite expensive in the past and became rather affordable in the past years. Inner Perimeter Security Inner perimeter security takes care of all the entrance points to a building, including windows, doors and other points of entrance. They all should be secured with some type of lock, whether it is a regular bolt lock or more sophisticated keypad lock. Some entrance points may be guarded by security officers who check employees’ and visitors’ ID’s to ensure only authorized individuals get inside the building. At some instances, biometric scanning devices are used to scan finger prints, eyes or other body parts to protect against intrusion with stolen ID. What type of security measure an organization chooses solely depends on the organizational security plan. Inner perimeter security system should be assessed and updated periodically to ensure the highest efficiency possible. Internal Building Security Internal building security can be perhaps the most challenging when it comes to the overall facility’s security. Especially with large scale buildings with multiple floors, numerous rooms and a large number of employees and staff, an intruder can easily blend in. The purpose of internal security is detecting any type of activity that is out of ordinary and may signalize a possible intrusion or security breach. The organization must also closely follow and adhere to privacy laws to avoid any potential law suits or legal issues. Interior security covers everything that is inside a building or property. There are several ways that an organization can provide security to the building. There are high tech quality cameras such as the Closed Circuit TV cameras that monitor the entire inside, record, and store these movements for certain period of time for a later review. These cameras can work simultaneously with motion detectors to add an extra benefit. Video surveillance is proven to be a highly efficient security measure, especially when the physical security is not able to monitor the entire interior at all times. Not only would it be costly, but quite impractical. With a well configured surveillance system, every floor, every section or even every room within the building can be set up with a Closed Circuit TV camera. Then, there must be designated security personnel to monitor such footage from either a remote location or a specific room within the building to respond if any suspicious activity is detected. They can monitor and view every part of the building without being physically present. If a suspicious activity is noticed, which is of course very likely during the course of time, a trained professional such as the active security officer on duty, must quickly evaluate the occurring situation and decide on action. This approach is often used by many large organizations such as hospital facilities, large retailers or casinos. One of the most important and often difficult parts of the surveillance is to go through the footage and filter out what movement is irrelevant and what may be a signal of security breach. Access Control The major objective of access control is to whom grant authorization to enter certain restricted areas that are not open to the entire personnel. Access control is the foundation of interior security, whether it is access to the internal offices, storage rooms and other areas, IT rooms, and other secure areas in the building. Governmental agencies and institutions conduct thorough background investigations for various job positions to hire only those individuals who able to receive a security clearance, such as industrial clearance or top security clearance, that automatically allow these individuals to work in certain buildings and areas, but not necessarily view all confidential documents, unless specifically permitted. Private organizations can choose their own way how to grant access. One of the possibilities is to issue special ID badges that must be scanned prior to entering certain areas within the building. Another way is to install keypad locks or issue special keys to the authorized personnel. It is up to the security manager and the project manager to decide, which way is most suitable for their organization. These access control measures do not eliminate the presence of a security officer, but rather add an extra layer to the overall security. Every organization must keep in mind that an intrusion does not always happen from the outside, but also from the inside; by the employees and staff, who try to obtain materials they would not be able to get otherwise. Estimated Budget Every organization has very specific needs that are based on various factors. To properly assess those needs and what security measures to implement, there must be specific facts considered. Besides what was already discussed in this paper, such as the size of the building, the capacity, the surroundings and location and the valuables of the inside, there is one factor that ultimately determines what security measures an organization can apply towards its organizational security plan and that are the estimated budget and costs of these security tools. In the present time, there are numerous options, various brands and large number of providing contractors that are competing to get the organization’s business. After a thorough research, an organization can decide what are the pros and cons of these security measures and if they ultimately provide the needed benefit the facility needs. Annually, there are hundreds of millions of dollars spent in the US alone on security measures by private organizations, such as alarm systems, deadbolt locks, keypad locks, surveillance systems and other tools. When it comes to the Federal government, the numbers are even higher. â€Å"Funding for homeland security has risen from $16 billion in FY2001 to $71. 6 billion requested for FY2012. Adjusted for inflation, the United States has spent $635. 9 billion on homeland security since FY2001. Of this $163. 8 billion has been funded within the Pentagon’s annual budget. The remaining $472. 1 billion has been funded through other federal agencies. †

Challenges to the LEGO Group

Challenges to the LEGO Group In the recent times worldwide economy has become highly volatile and was vulnerable to a multitude issues. One such example is the latest financial crisis. Such volatility creates a variety of challenges to small and large enterprises around the globe. One of the biggest challenges for manufacturing companies is to deal with rapidly increasing globalization and competition. The solutions require the development of agile and rapid supply networks in order to cut costs and meet demand. Producers are becoming more aware of supply chain management. This awareness shifts the focus from internal logistics efficiency to the external network of relationships between various parties in the supply chain. The well-known Danish toy manufacturer LEGO has not been insusceptible to these changes. LEGO has faced major challenges, which required drastic changes within the organization. This included a transformation of the companys supply chain management system. LEGO Group had to deal with probably the most significant financial crisis since the company was founded in 1932. LEGOs crisis was not clearly visible from the outside. In fact LEGO had maintained brand recognition. This earned them the title Toy of the Century from the British Association of Toy Retailers and Fortune magazine. LEGO was the fourth largest toy manufacturer in the word and had sold US$1.35 billion worth of toys in 2004. In spite of this success, the company was losing money since 1998. LEGO had various internal operational issues. This included a complex and ineffective supply chain, which at one stage consisted of 11,000 contractors. In an attempt to address this problem, in 2004 LEGO board of directors set a goal t o cut 20 percent of logistic costs. This resulted in the risky decision to outsource a major part of the production to Flextronics, a Singaporean electronics manufacturing services provider. LEGO also established a single distribution center in the Czech Republic operated by DHL. (M. M. Larsen, T. Pedersen, D. Slepniov 2010; K. Oliver, E. Samakh, P. Heckmann 2007; J. A. Cooke 2009) Such a risky decision involved a long-term relationship with Flextronics that was not without challenges. In this research paper an overview of challenges and solutions of the case company LEGO Group will be presented. The main focus will be on LEGOs supply chain management system transformation, which was a major step towards success. The following research questions will serve as guidelines for this paper: What challenges did LEGO Group face and what decisions were made to address those problems? How did Supply Chain Management transformation helped to deal with these issues? In this paper we will first explore the Supply Chain Management (SCM) concepts. Next the case company LEGO Group will be introduced. We will then present overview of the challenges that LEGO Group has faced. The focus of this paper will be the SCM decisions that were made to deal with these problems. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT CONCEPT The globalization is increasing competition and forming new conditions for conducting business. This requires companies worldwide to rapidly respond to their customers demands and develop products. These companies must also apply information technologies in supply chain collaboration (J. S. Arlbjà ¸rn et al. 2006) Such conditions increased the importance of logistics and SCM role within organizations as it can become a major competitive advantage. Commonly, the major improvements in logistical functions may not be needed within the organization itself. It may be more beneficial to analyze the organizations supply chain. This involves various interdependent parties. SCM co-operation is gaining in major strategic importance and usually includes such characteristics: co-operating is based on end user requirements, long term co-operation and high trust between actors in the supply chains or networks, shared risks and benefits, cross coordination on various levels between companies, shared visions and similar company cultures. The advantage of such close co-operation is a more transparent supply chain. This can lead to reduced lead-time, lower uncertainty, optimization of stocks and higher capacity utilization. (T. Skjoett-Larsen 2000) The concept of SCM often represents the broader view of logistics as its main function is to ensure the smooth flow of materials from suppliers to organization and then out to customers through the operations within the organization (D. Waters 2003). The purpose of SCM can be described as to remove redundancies and communication barriers through coordination, monitoring and control functions (D. Power 2005). The supply chain usually consists of different organizations and processes, which are aimed to ensure the smooth flow of materials from the initial supplier to the end customer. In many cases, manufacturers get their materials from a large number of suppliers and sell to different customers, which is the case with LEGO Group. In figure 1, you can see an example of the supply chain around a manufacturer. Materials move from several tiers of suppliers though organization to several tiers of customers, such as wholesalers, retailers and end users. Figure 1: Supply chain of manufacturer (D. Waters 2003, 9) The toy industry is one of the oldest creative industries in the word. However, C. Y. Wong, J. S. Arlbjà ¸rnand J. Johansen in their study named Supply chain management practices in toy supply chains(2005) state that such creative business is very seasonal and volatile with strongly fluctuating demands, very short and specified selling windows as well as short product life cycles. Moreover, the toy industry can be described as intensely competitive on pricing and innovation, where retailers often start competing with their suppliers. The authors conclude that most retailers and manufacturers use a push business model. This model includes low utilization of technology and information sharing as well as slow implementation of supply chain initiatives. INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE COMPANY: LEGO GROUP LEGO can be certainly defined as one of the most famous brands in the toy industry. The Danish companys toys are enjoyed worldwide by children and adults alike, who use thousands of different pieces to construct buildings, robots and other toy. In 1932, Ole Kirk Christiansen, a Danish carpenter founded a company named LEGO (Danish words Leg and Godt, meaning play well). Originally a woodworking business for furniture, LEGO began producing childrens toys in 1934. The company presents itself by stating: It is LEGO philosophy that good play enriches a childs life and its subsequent adulthood. With this in mind, the LEGO Group has developed and marketed a wide range of products, all founded on the same basic philosophy of learning and developing through play. In figure 2 the core building blocks of LEGO Group are presented. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; LEGO Group, Corporate Communications 2009) Figure 2: The LEGO Company (LEGO Group 2010) Pursuing such a philosophy, LEGO has grown tremendously since its establishment. By 2009 the company was the worlds fifth largest toy manufacturer in terms of sale with 290 Million US Dollars in revenues and approximately 7000 employees around the globe. The LEGO brick which is possibly the best known toy was first introduced and patented in 1958. It has since then represented the core success and image of this company. With two just bricks there are 24 different combinations and with six there are 915 million possibilities. This enables limitless creativity. As previously stated, before LEGO brick was named as Toy of the century by Fortune magazine and later by British Association of Toy Retailers as well. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; J. Tidd, J. Bessant 2009) http://cache.lego.com/r/aboutus/-/media/About%20Us/Media%20Assets%20Library/Logos%20Bricks%20and%20Generic%20images/ts.20120125T101709.2x4brick_red.jpg Picture 1: Lego brick (source lego.com) Segmented product categories include: Pre-school products for the youngest children, who had not started the school yet, includes LEGO DUPLO products. Creative building sets or buckets of LEGO bricks without instructions. Play themes products the products with particular stories, such as airports, racing tracks and hospitals, including LEGO City line and BIONICLE. Licensed products related to movies and books, such Harry Potter, Star Wars and Indiana Jones. MINDSTORM NXT programmable robot kit. LEGO education products that are developed for educational purposes. LEGO Games new product line started in 2009 for board games. LEGO operates in over 130 countries worldwide. The companys largest market in the U.S., with together Australia, New Zealand and UK accounted for 30 percent of revenue in 2007. Despite constant challenges and growing popularity of consumer electronics, LEGO is continuing to expand. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) Crisis and solutions In the late 1990s, the company started to have difficulties. This resulted in a major crisis and almost ended in bankruptcy by 2004. LEGO was losing huge sums of money every day, estimated at economic losses of 375.4 thousand U.S. dollars per day since 1998. When sales dropped 40 percent in 2004, it was clear that radical changes had to take place. There are many speculations, why such a well-known and previously successful company started running on tremendous losses. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) One possible reason was increasing competition in their main product area. This was disruptive at its nature. One such example is the Canadian company Megabloks. This company offers a wide range of building toys at a highly competitive price. Also, the increasing popularity of computer games reduced the demand for traditional toys. Another possible factor was the over diversification of product line as LEGO moved into more areas like theme parks ,apparel, clothing, television and even computer games. Such diversification was a result of, as the company claims, a loss of confidence in their core product the Lego brick. The increased complexity of product portfolio confused not just the customers, but employees as well. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; J. Tidd, J. Bessant 2009; K. Oliver et al. 2007) It was mentioned before that LEGO GROUP had around 11,000 suppliers, which was twice the number that Boeing used to build its aircraft. Such inefficiency and inflexibility was soon recognized and attention was directed to the supply chain, which was 10 years out of date. Moreover, low quality customer service and product availability decreased the value of companys franchise. Jà ¸rgen Vig Knudstorp, newly appointed CEO, stated: From my perspective, the supply chain is a companys circulation system. You have to fix it to keep the blood flowing. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) It was acknowledged that solving problems related to global supply chain could build a strong base for major changes in the organization. This could also be the needed step forward towards cost-effectiveness and an improved business model. However, such big changes are not easy to implement and presented significant challenges for LEGO Group Transformation of supply chain management LEGO Group decided to optimize their supply chain in order to deal with the most significant crisis in the companys history. LEGO realized that it was dragging behind retail giants such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour. These companies had invested huge amounts of recourses into sophisticated and efficient supply chain management systems. LEGO Group started losing the competition to companies, which optimized their costs and provided just-in-time services to its customers (K. Oliver et al. 2007). Transforming such a gigantic and complex supply chain as well as removing the inefficiencies was a very challenging goal. Keep in mind that by 2004 company had around 7000 employees working mainly in two factories and three packaging centers, located in different countries. Further issues and changes within different areas of supply chain management will be discussed, including product development, distribution and manufacturing. Product development Product development and innovation was extremely important for LEGO as it presented the core of what this company was really about. Changes in this field were difficult to implement. This was in part because of its delicate nature and inside resistance from employees. LEGOs development lab called Kitchen was steadily producing new innovative products and ideas. However, management realized that new products were returning less profit and cost more to produce. Developers and designers did not account for production and supply chain issues, in their designs. Consequently, the variety of various components and features as well as product complexity became overwhelming and started to cause major problems in manufacturing and distribution. LEGO bricks and other elements came in more than 100 color tones. LEGO sets became increasingly elaborate with thousands of different figures. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) Such cost ineffective creativity caused problems like large stocks. This was because of seasonal demand fluctuations and short delivery times. Moreover, large amount of components and products required large investments in molds, while just 30 products generated 80 percent of companys sales. Therefore, LEGO decided to drastically cut down the number of components and features. This reduced costs in the supply chain and created a better opportunity for production outsourcing. Management revised a number of daily solutions in order to cut the costs, simplify production and eliminate inefficiencies. The palette was decreased to around 50 colors. A major reduction in variety of pirates, police officers and other figures was recommended as well. Moreover, resin-sourcing analyzes helped to cut its resin costs in half and reduce supplier number by 80 percent. Simultaneously, LEGO Groups operational team created cost matrixes and revised set of rules concerning creation of new colors, compon ents and ordering of new materials. Such step helped product developers to choose more cost-effective solutions and recognize the limitations. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) Distribution Another area of LEGOs supply chain that required major improvements and cost reductions was distribution. At that time LEGO served thousands of smaller stores with a great responsibility. This came at a very high price, although those shops accounted just for one third of its revenue. Company had increasing amount of inventory and lost sales, because of multiple-tier inventory system to serve smaller customers from different distribution centers. The redefined distribution policies had to be developed in order to avoid costly small deliveries and labor costs associated with pick-packing in the distribution centers. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) In order to serve customers in 130 countries around the world, LEGO had 11 warehouses and distribution centers in high-cost countries like Denmark, France, Germany and Switzerland. LEGO also employed 55 transportation providers for inbound and outbound shipments. In order to move its distributions closer to the customer and reduce exploding transportation costs, the company defined clear service policies. This helped to shift the focus to major retail chains. This also provided for more accurate demand forecasts, reduced complexity and certainly the costs of distribution. Furthermore, LEGO Group decided to centralize its distribution by closing five distribution centers in Europe, and creating a single distribution center near Prague in the Check Republic. The country was mainly chosen because of a high availability of skilled low cost labor. LEGO leased large buildings from the commercial realtor ProLogis. LEGO also decided to outsource operations to third-party logistics company D HL supply chain. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007; J. A. Cooke 2009) By 2007 a newly consolidated distribution center was serving all of LEGOs markets except the U.S., where Exel Inc. was responsible for distribution operations. Such changes reduced the complexity of supply chain, simplified the inventory optimization and reduced average distances to the market. This lead to increased customer satisfaction and significantly reduced overall logistics costs. Despite the outsourcing, LEGO maintained close collaboration with its carriers and still makes many decisions. The results of such collaboration are reduced negative effects of market seasonality. Moreover, by applying developed Web-based transportation management system LEGO was able to change the shipment scheduling and improve load consolidation. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; J. A. Cooke 2009) Manufacturing The improved production in the supply chain was probably the most important and complicated step. The challenges came from the way LEGO organized its production facilities and the complexity of manufacturing operations. In some way chaotic production operations resulted in low 70 percent of overall capacity utilization. There were hundreds of independent production units within the facilities that could place their orders in any manner. This was often without balancing supply capabilities, inventory levels and demand needs. Consequently, such fragmented system did not support long-term planning and resulted in high costs and low efficiency. Moreover, the production sites were located in high-cost countries as Denmark, United States and Switzerland, while just 10 percent of production was outsourced to China. Production sites mainly operated according the branding strategy, where, for example, Swiss factories only manufactured DUPLO and Technic products. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) One of the first steps was to set clear production cycles for machines instead of having them available to produce any element at any time. This approach helped to reduce constant and costly retooling as well as balance production operations. Furthermore, orders were set in the monthly meetings in that way eliminating the number of changeovers (K. Oliver et al. 2007). However, the major decision concerning production operations was to outsource large part of the production to external packaging and manufacturing service providers. One of the reasons was to cut the costs by moving the production from high-cost countries. Another reason was to reduce the number of subcontractors and utilize the economies of scale, having in mind that LEGO was producing about 24 billion bricks per year (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010). Consequently, the production capacity in Denmark was reduced and sites in Korea and Switzerland closed. LEGO Group engaged into cooperation with packaging service suppliers: Sonoco, Greiner, Weldenhammer and 2B Pack. The most risky and complex partnership was made in 2006 with Flextronics, a Singaporean based electronics manufacturer. Several product lines, like Bionicle and Technic was still mainly retained by LEGO, but the higher volume and more simple Duplo and System lines were handed to Flextronics production sites in Hungary, Czech Republic and Mexico. This helped to reduce the distance to customers. However, the relationship was not successful and contract with Flextronics was terminated from January 1, 2009, while LEGO continued with smaller outsourcing contracts. The main reasons for the failure are connected with delicate nature of toy industry and could be described in short (H. B. Dinitzen, D. Bohlbro 2010, 71-72; M. M. Larsen et al. 2010): 65% percent of production had to be done during the third quarter of the year main holiday season. Products have a lifetime of 16-18 month. Sales uncertainty is around 30%. In figure 3, the timeline of LEGO and Flextronics cooperation is presented, including goals and challenges. Despite the failure, LEGO Group has learned a lot from this outsourcing attempt, which had a positive impact in the end. Figure 3: The timeline of LEGO and Flextronics collaboration (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010, 16) In 2008 LEGO started the process of sourcing back the production, while the first factory in the Czech Republic was taken over, followed by Hungarian and Mexican facilities. In Mexico, LEGO Group eventually moved the production to a new plant, which started operating in first quarter of 2009. The final benefits of collaboration were connected mainly with gained experience in various operational fields. It helped to establish new facilities in Mexico and Hungary, while production units were no longer following branded approach, but instead serving its respective markets. Moreover, LEGO significantly improved documentation and standardization of business processes. Standardization resulted in almost halved size of components, from 12,000 in 2004 to 6000 in 2008. This enabled more flexible, efficient and smoothly running supply chain. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) CONCLUSIONS In the end it can be stated that by taking clearly defined and harsh restructuring strategy, LEGO Group was able to defeat the crisis and become one of the successful and largest toy producers again. This statement can be backed up by financial figures, which indicate that in 2008 and 2009 company reached profit of DKK 315.6 million and 375 million U.S. Dollars, respectively. This was the highest in LEGO Groups history. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) A significantly restructured supply chain helped to increase the efficiency of major business operations as well as increase the overall customer satisfaction. LEGO managed to reach and, in some levels, even pass its competitors, while still cooperating with biggest retailers in such fields as joint forecasting, inventory management and mass customization. However, such transformations required dealing with many challenges, including terminated cooperation with Flextronics. Nevertheless, it gave LEGO valuable knowledge about outsourcing operations and its inner characteristics. In the end, unsuccessful outsourcing practice resulted in factories in Denmark, Czech Republic, Mexico and Hungary, which gave the needed supply chain flexibility in order to meet the global demands. Improved parts of supply chain such as product development, sourcing, distribution and manufacturing creates a well developed business model that serves as a major competitive advantage. Finally, after successful supply chain transformation, LEGO Group can shift more attention to increasing the satisfaction of its customers by developing well-liked toys for children and adults.

The Success of Stephen King as a Screenwriter Essay -- Stand by Me Ste

The Success of Stephen King as a Screenwriter Movies are becoming more and more popular with new special effects and stories that are intriguing and gripping. Movies now have lasting effects on viewers, since the stories are becoming more involved and more in depth. Screenwriters are constantly trying to create better screenplays to have made into motion pictures, yet there are thousands, if not millions, of screenwriters out there trying to earn a wage. The Writer’s Guild of America reports that in one year an average of 40,000 screenplays will be submitted and out of those only 120 will be made into motion pictures. (Field 5) Stephen King, who has no affiliation to being a screenwriter, has written numerous novels that almost everyone knows without them having ever read one word. Stephen King has a way of writing that appeals to both readers and film lovers. King who is an author of books has beaten out millions of screenwriters in the movie business. What is funny is that King himself does not expect a movie adaptation when he writes his stories. Stephen King’s writing style is the main reason why King’s novels are almost always found on the big screen. King purposely uses images in his novels that tell stories themselves. These images help enhance the story as the reader reads King’s work. These images are ones made by the reader and are limited to just the images we see on screen. Of course some of the better King movies do have wonderful imagery that can be associated with the same image the reader would have made in his mind. One popular movie that was based on King’s work is Stand by Me, which has terrific examples of this imagery. Stand by Me is based on King’s novella â€Å"The Body† which can be found in Different Seasons. â€Å"The Body† is a coming of age story about a boy named Gordie Lachance. Gordie is faced with the death of his brother, but is confused about his feelings. He knows he should be mourning for him, but he does not seem to have any remorseful feelings towards his brother. The story is about Gordie and 3 of his close friends on a journey through the woods to find a dead body. Throughout their journey they face all types of obstacles and go through a series of ups and downs. In the end they find the body and face a climatic altercation with the neighborhood gang. The four boys end up scaring the gang away and go home wi... ...y of King’s stories it is good to stop and actually take in the image that King is describing to us. The image that he gives us isn’t just for graphic purposes but actually to enlighten the story. A lot of symbolism can be found in the images King chooses, as explained above. King has a director’s mindset and uses images that a good director would use. It’s up to the reader to take these images and learn and analyze them to fill gaps in the story. A story can become much more complete when looking at a picture rather than reading in between the lines. Works Cited Bare Bones: Conversations on Terror with Stephen King, ed. Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller (New York, NY: Carroll & Graff Publishers, 1992) 282. Bergmooser, Mark. â€Å"The Outsider’s guide to selling to Hollywood.† Writer’s Digest Vol. 78 (1998): 34. Field, Syd. Selling a Screenplay: The Screenwriter’s Guide to Hollywood. New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1989. King, Stephen. â€Å"The Body.† Different Seasons. New York: Penguin Books USA, 1982. 293-436. Mayer, Geoff. â€Å"Stand By Me,† Metro (9/1/1992): 56-59. Wukovits, John F. Stephen King. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, Inc., 1999.

Workplace Telecommunications Essay examples -- Telephone Phone Systems

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Workplace Telecommunications The telecommunication system at XYZ Corporation meets the needs of its medium sized business. Their phone system consists of 1,000 2400 series digital phones. These phones help to improve the efficiency and productivity of our organization and simplify the flow of information because of the enhanced features such as the ability to expand your 24 button telephone with additional 50 button expansion modules. With this phone system there's no need to change station wiring or cross connects, your staff can move telephone sets around without the help of a technician. This feature saves time and money for every day moves. Each phone has a full duplex speaker phone a 2x24 display size (lines x characters) and expansion unit ports. Our organization uses a PBX system to route voice data, and internal video transmissions, while we send all external calls through one or more lines to the provider's central office. Digital PBX acts as the gateway between users and external world. To connect to t he outside, we connect to the public network with Sprint digital PBX trunks. Each digital trunk is delivered on a T1 (1.5 Mbps) line. PBX trunks provide individual phone numbers to all of our employees without purchasing individual, physical lines. The T1 bundle comes with many services which include: local loop access, 24 digital voice channels, configurable trunk lines, block of DID numbers, voicemail, a link to calling services. S...

Evil Inside

Answer each question in a complete sentence. Include textual evidence to support 6 answers. 1. Summarize the plot of the opera, â€Å"Madame Butterfly,† in your own words. Why would Moore include an Depigraph that quotes this opera? In Madame Butterfly the plot of the opera is that a birth mother loses her a child an adoptive mother who later on loses the baby. The whole time Suzuki, the servant, witnesses everything, but can do nothing to help. Moore quoted this opera in the epigraph because much in Madame Butterfly where Suzuki is very relied by Madame Butterfly to do basically everything for her.This is Just like how Sarah relies on Tassie to do everything for her, such as raising Emmie. 2. What do the three epigraphs fit together? Or contrast with each other? The first two epigraphs fit together because they both relate to the subject of servants and both are related to Madame Butterfly. The first two contrast to the third because if you're a servant then you don't see the world from the same point of view as someone that you're a servant for. 3. In addition to her sense of humor and intelligence, what are Tassie's strengths as a narrator? How does Owhat she describes as â€Å"an unseemly collection of Jostling former elves† (p. 3) affect the narrative and Ocontribute to the appeal of her tale? In addition to Tassie's sense of humor and intelligence, her other strengths as a narrator are that she describes everything in great detail such as â€Å"Though the interior of the casket was quilted white, like a beautiful suitcase, what I could see of my brother looked like garbage tossed inside† (Moore 298-299). When Tassie describes herself as â€Å"an unseemly collection of Jostling former selves†, it affects the narrative because she was playing a different role and had a different personality in Troy and Dellacrosse.When she is in Troy she is playing the role of a servant for the Thornwood-Brink family. While in Dellacrosse she's p laying the role of an average college girl, not ready to grow up. She's basically living a double life. 4. How does the initial meeting between Tassie and Sarah create a real, if hesitant, connection Obetween them? What aspects of their personalities come out in their conversation? Tassie and Sarah's first meeting created a hesitant connection between them because they didn't know each other at all and because of this, they did not understand each other's sense of humor and couldn't talk to each other ithout it being awkward.Sarah seemed to bring up everything they could ever talk about except for why they were adopting a child and any other aspects of it. Many aspects of their personalities came through in their conversation. One of the aspects was that they were both extremely talkative, but they both werent using they talkativeness in an appropriate manor for the situation. They couldn't stay on topic at all during their conversation. Another aspect that came out was that Sarah w as overall very proud of her wealth and what she has done.She didn't seem too modest or humble. This showed especially when Sarah randomly said in a conversation â€Å"‘l ou n'† (Moore 1) wltnout even Delng asked. DescrlDe tne aaoptlon process through Tassie's eyes. What aspects of her personality come out during Othis process? Tassie describes the adoption process as â€Å"†¦ Adoption seemed like both a cruel Joke and a lovely day-dream – a nice way of avoiding the blood and pain of giving birth, or, from a child's perspective, a realized fantasy of your parents not really being your parents. † (Moore 16).At the beginning of the novel Tassie didn't really know what to think about the adoption, but at the end Tassie really starts to ecome attached to Emmie and she realizes that it doesn't matter where Emmie came from. 6. Describe the evolution of Tassie's relationship with her brother, Robert, from the beginning of the novel Ountil the end. Tassie's r elationship with her brother Robert changed from the beginning to the end of the book because at the beginning they were really close, compared to other brother and sister relationships. They were both very unguided, while growing up, so Robert would always look up to Tassie.When Tassie went to Troy for college, Robert had a hard time getting through his last ear of high school because he had no one to look up to. When Tassie said â€Å"Robert, it had often seemed to me, failed to apply himself-musically or academically' (Moore 41). They basically grew more and more apart until Tassie received an email from him one day saying that he wants to Join the military. When she shows up in Dellacrosse for his graduation, she finds out that Robert is actually Joining the military. What she doesn't know is that this will be the last time she will ever see him. When Robert dies, Tassie felt more distant from him than ever. . What do you make of Edward? Does Edward's behavior at dinner and the â€Å"small conspiracy' he and 0 Tassie establish (pp. 112-114) offer a more sympathetic (or at least more understandable) view of him? I think Edward was really uninterested in being a father again. He didn't seem very into Emmie at all, adopting her or playing with her after they adopted her. I feel like he Just didn't seem too fond of having a biracial baby. He didn't even come to any of the adoption meetings until the middle of the one with Bonnie. It seemed like he was always missing in action in some sort of way, throughout the adoption process and at home.He seemed to be a big flirt towards Tassie. He would always look at her with a certain look and then all my thoughts were confirmed at the end of the book when he asked her to go to coffee with him. I dont think the â€Å"small conspiracy' offered a more sympathetic view of him. It was kind of weird because from the start of the book basically Tassie and Edward had a secret that they wouldn't tell Sarah. I think Tassie re alized the kind of person Edward was during this conspiracy and how he probably keeps a lot of secrets from Tassie, Sarah, and probably other people.This came up especially when he said â€Å"‘Let's not tell Sarah,' said Edward. ‘She's got a slightly obsessive side'† (Moore 113). Also I think Edward didn't want to get to know the child because I think it brought back bad memories from the first child. 8. Does A Gate at the Stairs accurately reflect the persistence of racism in America? What do the comments Dand encounters sprinkled throughout in the novel (80, 1 12, 151, 167, 229) show about the various forms Oracism takes in our society?A Gate at the Stairs accurately reflects the persistence of racism in America because of how all of the events in the book took place after 9/1 1 . Once 9/1 1 occurred, racism grew in America, yet it was still there before it occurred. When Tassie would take Emmie out for errands, she would be looked down upon for Instance wnen la ssle sala â€Å"l nls was all sala In looks, so tne trutn could not De uttered, but I saw again and again what it was simply to walk into a store for a doughnut and have a wordless racial experience (Moore 167-168).She especially got looks from white people such as when she said â€Å"To the white woman I was a whoring girl messing around with anyone (Moore 167). The comments and encounters in the ovel showed that there are many forms of racism in our society. The first way that I stated was more of a looking down upon way while â€Å"Instead, he glared right at little Mary-Emma and shouted, ‘Nigger! † (Moore 1 51) was more of a verbal way. 9.What is the importance of Tassie's description of Mary-Emma's affection for Reynaldo: â€Å"the colorblindness of Osmall children is a myth; she noticed difference and sameness, with almost equal interest; there was no O'Dilemma of Difference' as my alliteration- loving professors occasionally put it† (p. 169)? The importa nce of Tassie's description f Mary-Emma's affection for Reynaldo is that she didn't care about the color of Reynaldo's skin color or what he looked like and she only cared about his personality. 10.On page 296, Tassie offers a thoughtful explanation of the purpose of religion in people's lives. Are there Oother lessons about the meaning of religion or faith to be found in the novel? Yes, there are other lessons on religion on faith and an example would be when Bonnie Amber wanted to have Mary-Emma raised Catholic. This shows that many people are Judgmental about religion, and even though shes giving p her baby to another family of a possible other religion, they still want their baby to be Catholic no matter if the new parents arent Catholic. 1. Does the novel prepare you for Sarah's dreadful confession (232-242)? What particular incidents or conversations foreshadow the revelations? I think the novel does prepare us for Sarah's dreadful confession because you can tell that somethin g is missing throughout the book. You can tell that they're not telling Tassie something about their past because they never even told her why they were adopting and why they idn't Just have a child on her own.I think the whole hiding something makes Tassie feel on edge throughout the whole book which was probably why Tassie wasn't even that surprised and didn't really have a reaction when Sarah told her the story. I especially saw when Sarah said † † (Moore ) that she was hiding something. Also, Edward always being missing seemed kind of suspicious and it might have been cause of his guilt towards the first child, which we didn't know about then. 12. Was their decision to move and start anew the best solution under the circumstances? It epends on how you look at it.If you look at it like they were Just two parents that made a horrible parenting mistake and it was Just an accident and they deserve a second chance, then yes you could argue that that was probably their onl y chance of getting another chance. If you look at it Just from the fact that they killed their child, then no. They shouldn't have changed their names and moved on Just like that to try and forget their horrible past which was obviously bound to come back and bite them eventually. ** Thank you, Oprah, for many of these awesome questions