Monday, September 30, 2019

Medicine River

â€Å"Where We Belong† Thomas King’s book â€Å"Medicine River†, is about a man named Will, who no matter what he does, he feels his connections are not he wants when he lived in Toronto, that is, until he goes back home to Medicine River for his mother’s funeral. This is where he meets Harlen Bigbear, a blunt and straight-forward kind of guy who becomes one of Will’s best friends. I feel Harlen is a big reason why Will comes back to Medicine River.As much as Will and James, who is Will’s brother, had a mother growing up, I feel Will finally has a sense of family when he goes back to Medicine River. A day out with everyone in town seems to make Will a part of their own. Will is in an intimate friendship with Louise Heavyman and plays the father figure to her infant daughter, South Wing. Harlen, I feel is a big part of Will coming back to Medicine River, Harlen was kind of aggressive on his approach to getting to know Will.Harlen tried to get to know Will. Harlen tried to spice up Medicine River, comparing it to Toronto. He even said that there were no Indian photographers, stating there was no competition for an Indian photographer. Harlen also said that it would be a good idea to â€Å"start [Will’s] own business† (King 90). I feel that if Harlen did not suggest he try, Will probably would have stayed in Toronto. Harlen did everything he could to bring everything Indian back home.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Tata Travel Trailer

The purchase budget and cash budget are lot simpler, since the amount related to production Is the same every month. The budgets assuming stable production benefit the production department, the purchase department, and the human resource department. It helps all these departments easily manage all kinds of resources and activities on a stable level. Disadvantage of preparing master budgets assuming stable productions: 1. If sales are seasonal, stable productions may cause inventory under stock during the best sales season and may cause inventory overstock during the poor sales season.It would Increase the Inventory and additional finance needed. Data should plan the production budgets based on sales forecast. In order to encourage the manager's to work as a team, Tat's bonus system could set an overall goal, for example, the net Income. The bonus will be earned 10% If overall goal Is reached. Second, Data should prepare flexible budgets to estimate total cost for the different level s of satellites. For example, to access purchase budget performance, compare the actual purchase with the budget recess on ten same production level.It could Aviva punishing ten purchase manger in order to keeping the amount of raw material on hand policy set by production manager. Using flexible purchase budget holds responsibility for variances only under purchase manager's control and truly reflect the efficiency and actual performance. Third, other measurement should be in a place in order to attain the organization's overall performance. For sales manager, the percentage of retiree customers in total sales is used to measure the continuing sales growth for Data.For production manager, the warranty expense and customer's complaints for poor quality can be used to measure how well Tat's products meet the market expectation. For the purchase manager, handling material in time can be used to measure to ensure Tat's production is under schedule. Also the Just-in-time vendor contract can be used to measure the performance of purchase manager, since it would lower the material cost. For finance manager, loan management can be used to measure the performance, since Tat's uneven sale, managing cash inflow and outflow are important for Data to meet payments due.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Case study and observation research methods

Case study and observation research methods This essay will look at difference between to research methods; Case Study and Observation. Case study is the understanding of the complex issues or can extend experience or add strength to what is already known through previous research. It is an in-depth study of an individual, group, incident or community. Case studies emphasize on the detailed analysis of the event or conditions and their relationship. Sometimes researchers use the case study method for real life situations and use sources of evidence to prove their study. First step to take in case study is to collect all data about the case and should be organised to draw attention to important points in the case. The case study’s questions are most likely to be information questions â€Å"why â€Å"and â€Å"How â€Å"therefore these questions are helpful to focus on the study’s goal. In case study researchers gather facts from different sources and conclusions is made of these facts. Here is a case study of the David’s behaviour,† David, 13 year old who has been admitted to a detention facility in California. Police reports indicate that he and another boy were arrested for breaking and entering into a private residence. David grew up in an upper middle class section of California. David’s father is a professor at a college, and his mother, is a dentist who works for a health care group. Even as a small child, David seemed unable to restrain himself. He would bound around the house, crashing into walls and objects, frequently breaking items or destroying house plants. David entered puberty at the age of 11, and at that time, his behaviours became more destructive. He frequently got in fights with his classmates, and would verbally assault teachers. His parents suspect that he may have tried smoking cigarettes and may have experimented with sniffing glue. After his arrest for breaking and entering, David began to cry and told his parents that he felt badly for what he had done. He added that he was unable to control himself.† In David’s case study which took long time to study David’s behaviour from his childhood to his teenage and in different circumstances David’s behaviour had changed and resources have been used to prove his behaviour such as his parents or police. Another example for case study research; it’s Freud’s little Hans case study, â€Å"Freud used a case study method to investigate little Hans’ Phobia however the case study was actually carried out by the boy’s father who was a friend of Freud. Freud probably only met the boy once. The father reported to Freud via correspondence and Freud gave directions as how to deal with the situation based on his interpretations of his father’s reports. Freud noted that it was the special relationship between Hans and his father that allowed the analysis to progress and for the discussions with the boy to be so detailed and so in timate. The first reports of Hans are when he was 3 years old. When Hans was almost 5, Han’s father wrote to Freud explaining his concerns about Hans. He described the main problem as follows:’ he is afraid of horse will bite him in the street, at age 19 the not so little Hans appeared at Freud’s consulting room having read his case history. Freud believed that the findings from the case little Hans supported his theories of child development.†

Friday, September 27, 2019

Investigating obstacles and enabling located firms in special economic Essay

Investigating obstacles and enabling located firms in special economic zones - Essay Example The â€Å"special economic zone† (SEZ) is another term used to refer to the formation of modern economic region. In line with this, governments worldwide normally promote the development of SEZs in order to increase the chances wherein the country could experience increase not only in intra-regional and international trade activities but also the inflows of foreign investments and creation of new job opportunities for the local people (Wang, 2013; Brautigam and Xiaoyang, 2011). In the process of improving transportation infrastructure that connects the SEZs to the local market (Baissac, 2011, pp. 24 – 25), ports, and airports, more local and foreign investors will become more attracted in investing in SEZs. Companies that operate in SEZs are normally given special business incentives like duty-free imports, tax holidays, the benefit of having a more simplified procedure when dealing with the customs (FIAS, 2008, p. 2) or reduction in import taxes for foreign-based companies (Gunawardana and Sisombat, 2008). Since each type of SEZ is being governed by a different set of policies and rules particularly when it comes to taxation and conditions on investment and international trading (Dobrogonov and Farole, 2012, p. 5; Baissac, 2011, p. 23), this study aims to focus on analyzing the case of Savan-Seno Special Economic Zone (SASEZ) in Savannakhet Province in Laos. As such, the rationale for zone development will be tackled in details followed by discussing the geographical, economical, and international trade factors that can affect the performance of SASEZ. In relation to geographical, economical, and international trades, this study aims to identify the determinants of FDI, participation strategies used by foreign investors, and the common challenges these firms would normally encounter in SASEZ. The main objective of this study is to identify all geographic, economic, and international trade factors that

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Examining Alternatives to Globalization Research Paper

Examining Alternatives to Globalization - Research Paper Example It is a fact that the people who are against globalization would actually accept anything that has an opposite tilt to what globalization has to offer. This would mean that the globalization ranks would simply be deemed as unacceptable as they do not bring forward any benefits for their entirety. When it comes to consumerism, they opine that the phenomenon of globalization undertakes measures to make sure that the most deserving individuals within the society do not get what is theirs. Also the element of consumerism has come about with the advent of time and globalization is one such facet which has made headlines due to a number of factors, most significant of which is the premise of bringing the world together, yet this hardly takes place as is suggested by the ones who detest globalization in letter and spirit. Thus globalization is by their standards a very difficult phenomenon which has no advantages so to speak. These people believe that immigration and nutrition are affected due to the advent of globalization in this day and age. There are individuals who do not believe in the dictum of globalization because it hurts the cause of the society from a collective growth and development stance.

Ethical Energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 10

Ethical Energy - Essay Example ore selecting a method that will generate adequate power for the present, have the potential for expansion to meet future needs and is minimally damaging to the environment. Due to the large investment involved, ethical issues that may result in selection of an inappropriate source or power generation is a factor that has to be considered. This is a preliminary report for the Board of Directors of Karsson arguing for a source that will be satisfactory regarding all the parameters mentioned above. It will take into consideration the advantages and disadvantages inherent in different methods of power generation along with ethical issues that have to be taken into consideration. (Annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Sector). Greenhouse gases are those which absorb harmful radiation that is given off by the surface of the earth after it absorbs it from the sun’s rays. â€Å"Greenhouse [GH] molecules are those that absorb terrestrial radiation, that which is emitted by the Earth’s surface as a result of the warming effect of incoming solar radiation.† (Barrett 2005, p.1037). The greenhouse gases found in the earth’s atmosphere are water (vapour), CO2 or carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. This is given in the decreasing order of absorption with ozone having the least absorption capability. (Ozone plays a major role in blocking UV and other harmful rays from the sun rather than retaining or absorbing from the earth’s surface). This absorption is important to maintain life sustaining temperature. But when levels of these gases increase (due to pollution) the heat generated is more than what is required or safe and ultimately results in the phenomenon called global warming. The chart given above shows the greenhouse emission as per sector or industry. It can be seen that the biggest contributor of greenhouse gases is from power stations. It is true that some methods of generation are more harmful than others and this will be discussed later in this

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Homelessness in the UK - what are the causes and its effect in the Dissertation

Homelessness in the UK - what are the causes and its effect in the society - Dissertation Example The houses of the people can also be destroyed by natural calamities like floods and hurricanes. (Main Causes of Homelessness, n.d.). The events of homelessness makes an individual all the more physically and psychologically unfit to live in. These people suffer from diseases like cold and insomnia. (Bodine, 2010). Aims The research paper on Homelessness in United Kingdom aims to achieve the following goals which can be listed as follows: 1. The causes which lead to making the people homeless in United Kingdom. 2. Effects of the factors which causes the people to become homeless on the life cycle of the people affected by such. 3. The changes brought about by the government through the introduction of policy measures aimed at preventing the people to become homeless. Objectives The objectives behind studying Homelessness in United Kingdom are to: 1. Identify the factors which cause the event of homelessness in United Kingdom. The identification of such factors would help focus on the safeguarding of communities from being made homeless. 2. Evaluate the potency of such impacts in disturbing the lives of the people in United Kingdom by making them physically and mentally impaired. The people put in the streets continually face the climatic changes which turns fatal for them. 3. Assess the amount of damages to life of the people rendered due to homelessness and policy measures taken if any to counter such. Scope of the Research The scope of the research paper is to underlie the causes which lead to the event of making people deprived of their homely or domestic environments. In that the paper endeavors to gauge the impact of such factors in immensely affecting the life patterns of the people residing in United Kingdom. The paper also divulges to find any significant policy measures taken by the government of the country in helping the people put in the streets to gain a better life. The research conducted gains due importance for it specifically focuses on a parti cular social evil which aims at snatching the basic means of living from the general population for which they also meet fatal incidents. The event of homelessness in United Kingdom has huge impact on the construction and housing business of the country. These families which were rendered homeless posed several types of complaints based on the houses rendered to them by the government of the country so as to counter the event. Homeless applicants who were rendered private homes to dwell in complained of lack of proper spaces to help them move away freely in the apartment. Further the location of the private buildings being near the crowded corners caused the occupants major disturbances in maintaining a silent environment in and around their homes. Further other special types of accommodation provided to the homeless people also countered huge problems for the rise in the amount of drug peddlers in the region. The people living in such households appeared to fear from the impacts of such people on affecting their children. For homeless people the best housing solution rendered by the United Kingdom government is to allow the local communities to build in permanent homes for them. Permanent homes build by the local authority for these people were favored above the temporary homes firstly because of their sense of security. However the government of

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

The Philosophy of Epicurus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Philosophy of Epicurus - Essay Example The essay "The Philosophy of Epicurus" discusses the Epicurus's thoughts regarding the capability of everyone for seeking wisdom, the happiness to be the ultimate objective of studying philosophy and concerning religion. At the beginning of the first paragraph of his â€Å"†Letter to Menoeceus†, Epicurus says that everyone either young or old should study philosophy because â€Å"it is never too early nor too late to care for the well-being of the soul†. According to him, philosophy can bring happiness to the soul. One should study it for the happiness of mind. Again Epicurus says that the young people â€Å"can retain the happiness of youth in his pleasant memories of the past† when the old can enjoy the fearlessness of the youth even in their old age: â€Å"although he is old he may at the same time be young by virtue of his fearlessness of the future.† Again at the end of the paragraph, he comments that the ultimate objective of studying philosophy is â€Å"securing happiness†, and therefore â€Å"we do everything in order to gain it†. We can infer that Epicurus believed that happiness is the ultimate objective of studying philosophy. According to Epicurus, our â€Å"common sense† or â€Å"popular opinion† tells us that gods must be immortal and blessed. Indeed this â€Å"common sense† is man’s capability of reasoning or proving something by something by logic. The commonality of man’s perception of himself or others lies at the heart of these â€Å"reasons† or â€Å"common sense†.... Thus we can infer that Epicurus believed that happiness is the ultimate objective of studying philosophy. The Gods 3. Epicurus supposes that we know the gods to be immortal and blessed. Why does he suppose this? According to Epicurus, our â€Å"common sense† or â€Å"popular opinion† tells us that gods must be immortal and blessed. Indeed this â€Å"common sense† is man’s capability of reasoning or proving something by something by logic. In the first place, we must accept that man’s capability of reasoning or devising logic is very subjective. That is, the commonality of man’s perception about himself or others lies at the heart of these â€Å"reasons† or â€Å"common sense†. Man commonly perceives himself as a subject to ephemera and to death: â€Å"while we exist death is not present and when death is present we no longer exist† (Epicurus). Man reasons that gods exist even while â€Å"we no longer exist†. But si nce people popularly believe that gods send blessings and evils to men (though Epicurus assumes these popular beliefs, about gods to have concerns for men, as something wrong) ages after ages, man reasons that they must be immortal and blessed; otherwise, they would not be able to do so. Thus Epicurus supposes that â€Å"commonsense† provokes men to popularly accept that the gods are immortal and blessed. Again once Epicurus says that â€Å"Most men do not retain the picture of the gods that they first receive† (Epicurus 2). This sentence may refer to Epicurus’s belief that man’s knowledge about gods is inborn. This innate or inborn idea about gods’ immortality and blessedness provokes everyone to form a popular opinion that gods must be immortal and blessed. 4. Epicurus infers from the fact that the gods are the immortal and

Monday, September 23, 2019

Are juvenile more likely to be dysfunctial from single parent homes Essay

Are juvenile more likely to be dysfunctial from single parent homes - Essay Example Reynolds has referred to the comment of Yoshikawa (2004) that while the average expense for pre school intervention for a child is about 5000 USD, the average yearly expense for juvenile detention or incarceration is more than 30,000 USD and the results are not guaranteed in the latter case. Inner city region of Chicago was chosen as the program was implemented in the poorest neighbourhoods that have been associated with high unemployment, low social control and low quality schools that are predictors for delinquency and anti social behaviour. Reynolds (2008) points out that the tests conducted where based on certain indicators of delinquency such as school attendance, promiscuous behaviour, theft, aggressive behaviour and fighting and so on. Parents were encouraged and asked to attend counselling sessions for children. The author reports that delinquency incidents for children where both parents attended the sessions and homes where both parents were present showed a reduction of 30%. On the other hand, children who came from homes with a single parent, typically the mother who worked the whole day showed a remarked reported increase in the incidents of delinquency by as much as 47%. There were other factors such as education of the parents, income levels, if the single parent was an alcoholic or drug addict and so on. While the research was very professionally conducted, the author has hypothesised that Juvenile Delinquency is only in poor and black neighbourhoods. Studies should also be performed among middle class white youths to form a relational study that children from single parent homes have a higher tendency to commit juvenile delinquency incidents. Demuth (2004) has researched the occurrence between juvenile delinquency and single mother family versus two-parent family and single father family. This study was designed to identify the means by which single parent increases delinquency and if effect is mainly a function of parental

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Handicaps and Special Needs Essay Example for Free

Handicaps and Special Needs Essay Handicaps and Special Needs people are those who are not considered â€Å"normal† because of their physical (blindness), mental (mental retardation), motor (unable to walk properly) or Auditory Perception Disability (â€Å"difficulty distinguishing subtle differences in shapes, reversing letters like d and b or p and q, or confusing E and 3. ). Disability can be mild or severe. Because of their disabilities they may be unable to perform tasks, even simple routine ones like eating, walking or taking a bath without assistance from others. Assistance may be in the form of help extended like when a sibling will help a blind brother reach certain destination by holding his hand or in the form of modification to accommodate their disability like schools for mentally retarded children were specially designed in a manner that mentally impaired person are able to grasp certain lessons. Disabilities may be acquired at birth or certain period of life when they meet accidents or developed illness. This essay will discuss on three examples of handicapped and special needs. One example of handicap as cited above is blindness (physical disability). Blindness of course means that a person is unable to see. It is much easier to guide and assists a person who is not blind from birth. By then he already knows a lot of things, he knew the color red or how a tree looks or he can distinguish a cow from a lion without the necessity of touching. He can easily roam around the house or other familiar places without any assistance. For a blind person at birth, on the other hand, it may be difficult at first because they had never seen the things around them so they do not have any mental picture. For them, touching, listening and tasting are essential for learning (â€Å"Blindness† 1995). He never knew what circle is before so his hands need to touch a circle. In the case of Helen Keller, the famous blind woman, Anne Sullivan taught her what water was by letting water run down to her hands. To help them learn alphabet, Braille was invented wherein the letters were represented in the form of dots. With patience and perseverance however, a blind person, even those born blind, are able to live and enjoy a normal life with minimum assistance from others. An example of people with special needs is the autistic (learning disability). Medical experts classify Autism as a developmental disorder caused by the defective functioning of the brain. This disorder is characterized by failure to interact socially (do not play with other kids), failure in the use of language (inability to learn to talk) and engaging in repetitive and obsessive behaviors (playing with a certain toy for hours or constant twirling and turning). Autistic persons have limited interests and activities and they usually unable to understand emotional signals like anger or sadness and they do not respond when their names are called. If parents are observant they can detect that their child is autistic even as young as 18 months. Their early warning signs are their inability to make eye contact or respond to cooing appropriately like most babies do. Other signs that a child is autistic are: repetition of certain words or phrases when they are frightened or disturbed, pulling of their hair to mean that they are hurt or withdrawal from interaction with others, even with parents; they prefer to be alone and to â€Å"create their own world†, whatever that may be (â€Å"Pervasive† 2007). Parents of these children needs to be educated how to respond properly to this children and therapy and speech instructions are often recommended for an autistic person. Specialized schools are also available for them. A third example of handicapped is motor disability due to inability to use certain muscle groups resulting to difficulty in walking, running or climbing (motor disability). This may be a mild from of disability and wherein muscle therapy or medication is needed to cure the problem (An Introduction† p. 2). The aim of any normal person is to make living and working accessible for these types of people so that they also will be afforded opportunities for normal living. References â€Å"An Introduction to Special Needs†(2007). Retrieved October 1, 2007 from http://serch. cofc. edu/special/IntroductionToSpecialNeeds. pdf â€Å"Blindness†(1995). Kids Health. Retrieved October 1, 2007 from http://www. kidshealth. org/kid/health_problems/sight/visual_impaired. html â€Å"Pervasive Developmental Disorder†(2007). National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke. Retrieved October 1,2007 from http://www. ninds. nih. gov/disorders/pdd/pdd. htm#Is_there_any_treatment

Friday, September 20, 2019

Strong Brand Since The 1950s Marketing Essay

Strong Brand Since The 1950s Marketing Essay Brands are of high importance to companies since they have the ability to bring attributes and associations to consumers minds and add value to the producing company and the product itself (Kotler, 2003). Adidas is a globally very strong brand since the 1950s. Adidas manufactures products that cover a wide spectrum of the total global sport market. Their products are divided in three main categories which are: Adidas Sport Performance, Adidas Sport Heritage and Adidas Sport Style. The wide variety of products that Adidas manufactures is the core problem since it is difficult for the company to establish full communication with its potential consumers. As a result of adding value only to some of the product segments is the possible association, in the mind of the consumer, of the brand with only some of the segments. Adidas in the eyes of the consumers is mostly associated with football which as a sport is by far known as a mens sport. Women on the other hand the previous years werent prioritized for the communication and sales promotion strategies. But the last decades women are involved in sports in a much higher percentage equally to the one of men. This has led the female sportswear market and industry to grow rapidly in order to cover the gap. In many households women are making the final decisions for the products that will be bought. This has led many companies to change their advertising position and make their advertisements more attractive to women. Advertising and communication strategies are the power to create associations and perceptions to a brand and enhance its brand image so that the brand will be more attractive and interesting in the mind of the consumer (Nilson, Torsten, 2000). In order to succeed in reaching out to women Adidas followed the changes, adapted to the needs that modern women have and came up with a deal with world famous designer Stella McCartney developing a new product line extension known as Adidas by Stella McCartney. STRATEGIC DECISIONS Question 2 Prepare positioning maps and perceptual maps for the chosen-appointed subgroup. Present appropriate explanations in order to support your proposals. Positioning Map Male Innovative Classic Adidas Female Adidas by Stella McCartney is generally positioned in the positioning map as a new innovative stylish top collection designed for women. Sportswear apparel for women exists as a product line in Adidas product categories for many decades. The new top line collection by Stella McCartney is an innovative new collection in womens sportswear that combines performance and functionality with high quality. Perceptual Maps High School Graduate or more Some High School or less Economically strong Economically weak Adidas Adidas by Stella McCartney collection is mostly addressed to women who are educated and in a way wealthy because of their personal success in business environment as a result of personal achievements. By being economically strong women can buy this collection rather searching for products which are best value for money, or for special discounts and offerings; the Adidas by Stella McCartney does not have discounts or special offers. Big Spender Out of Fashion In Style Stingy Adidas Adidas by Stella McCartney new top line collection targets women who spend a lot of money in cloths and shoes and in sports apparel in general. They usually look to purchase sportswear by famous designers to fulfill their need and desire to be attractive, different and stand out in the crowd. Sport Active Expensive Cheap Sport Inactive Adidas The new top line collection Adidas by Stella McCartney is addressed to women who are sport active and are willing to pay more money to purchase sportswear designed by a famous designer. Big City Income 15000-30000 $ Income Rural Adidas Adidas by Stella McCartney is addressed to women living in big cities and having an average income of 23000$. In big cities the trends are a daily phenomenon and economically strong women want to be in the trend and always look stylish because of the competition that exists sometimes in big cities. Every successful woman likes to be different and attractive because of her stylish and famous designed outfit. ANALYSIS OF THE PROMOTIONAL MIX Question 3 Critically present the advertising and sales promotion objectives of the specific subgroup. Through advertising companies try to attach certain values to a product and make it more attractive to the needs of the consumer. Advertisements are paid announcements which usually target a specific market target group and are made or designed in a way to influence the consumer to buy the product or service being advertised. For that reason advertisements can be promoted by television, radio, newspapers, magazines and internet (Cohan, 2001). The last years Adidas has launched a new collection which is released every six months and is designed especially for women; it is called the Adidas by Stella McCartney. Adidas by Stella McCartney new collection is communicated and advertised through some types of media and the Adidas Group itself and both sides hope to increase the brand awareness and enhance the brand equity. Adidas believes that the most suitable way to communicate with women that their target group consists of is through womens magazines. For that reason every womans magazine in Greece has ads of the Adidas by Stella McCartney collection. These ads are published at the magazine issue that is around the date of the new collection release, before and during major holidays such as Christmas and Easter. The collections distribution on the other hand is limited. The head offices in Athens Greece control the places where the collection will be available for purchase. Such cities are the centre of Athens, Thessaloniki, and Larissa. But also in those cities only some selected stores have the permission to sell Stellas collection and that occurs after being very carefully chosen complying with a number of criteria. The image of Adidas and Stella McCartney can not be risked by having stock products. This new top product line is targeting people in large cities; on the other hand the Woman Indoor classic line is available in Adidas stores all over the world and is addressed to general women consumers. Because of the fact that Adidas is planning on spending a bigger budget every year on the woman segment the company looks for spokespersons that can promote their new line and add value to it. Of course Stella McCartney can be considered as the first but some other agreements have been made too. Such spokespersons who can also be considered are among other world famous athletes, tennis player Maria Kirilenko, and 400 meters hurdle runner Fani Halkia from Greece. Both of these athletes have signed not only to model but also to wear Adidas by Stella McCartney collection in every athletic event or major training day. Adidas does not prefer television ads to advertise the womans collection. The company uses the female magazines to organize events and festivals in large department stores and promote its womans collection through direct marketing communication. Also Adidas has never used discounts on Stella McCartneys collection. Instead the company prefers to organize fashion shows with runways, competitions and snack and beverage happenings to promote their top line collection for women. Question 4 Present the market segments that you propose to be targeted. The target group(s) shall be reported in demographic and mental-psychographic and purchase motives terms. Adidas main target group for their womens collection should be consisted of 20 and 35 year old women, maybe 37. Such a woman should live in a city or in a suburban area near a big city. She can still be in college or she is older, independent and working in preferred position in a company. The targeted segment is able and spends a large amount of money on clothes, shoes and apparel. In mental psychographic and purchase motive terms she can be characterized as sexy and seductive for the group of 20 to 27 and economically independent and successful for the group 28 to 35. She believes that by purchasing and having a world famous label in her cloths and shoes she improves her image, which is the reason why she buys world famous designers expensive brands for cloths and shoes, because by that purchase she believes that her well known cloths make her being perceived accordingly by her environment. That targeted woman is very stylish in a peculiar way sometimes but likes to capture attention and glances of the people around her, she likes giving stylish and purchase advises and generally she likes to be unique in a crowd. Sports on the other hand play a very important role in her everyday life. She wants to be perceived as an athlete for her leisure time but she takes the chance every time there is a competition. She wants her clothing to be functional but by all means they have to be stylish as well so that she can feel secure. She usually spends her time on training in different kinds of sports 3 to 4 times per week and simultaneously she can also have a subscription in a gym or even a fitness center for relaxation, because staying fit and being healthy is among her priorities. Question 5 In brief present your sales promotion (of any type) proposals, in order to support marketing communication program and help to succeed the 2010 sales goals of the specific Adidas subgroup. Since 2004 Adidas has decided to spend more and more economic resources every year to increase its brand awareness towards women. As result a business agreement, more like collaboration, was established with word famous designer Stella McCartney. The Adidas by Stella McCartney collection is more stylish and fashionable including each years new fashion and style trends and separating from the previous collections designed for women which were targeted more into sport type women. Having TV commercials is not suitable for the advertising of the new collection. TV advertisements cost a lot and are a difficult task to try communicating efficiently with the companys target group in all countries; plus if TV ads are not controlled effectively can lead to an overexposure of the collection and as a result to the negative perception of the brand. On the other hand special discounts and offerings are in a way forbidden because they could lead in negative perception of the brand. The new top line collection for women should increase the brand equity and enhance the companys and designers brand image. What Adidas can follow is a direct marketing strategy, which is already being followed. Adidas by Stella McCartney collection is currently advertised in the majority of the womens magazines in Greece. Also Adidas can benefit from the fact that its collection is offered in the countrys most known shopping centers and malls and with the collaboration of each magazine separately can organize fashion shows with models wearing and promoting that top line collection. Also happenings can be carried out in the shopping malls and departments with free snacks and drinks during the introduction of a new season collection. With such events Adidas promotes not only its brand and new collection but also the shopping store that distributes and sells its top line collection avoiding in that way overexposure. Another sales promotion activity which can be introduced in a more premium way is the organizing of special events especially for the women subscribers of the female and fashion magazines. Adidas can benefit from the magazines readers databases and invite them in a cocktail party for example with famous fashion models, artists and designers. In that way Adidas promotes its new collection, establishes better communication with women from its target group and enhances its brand image and brand equity.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

John Smith and William Bradford :: essays research papers

John Smith and William Bradford were both leaders who established colonies. They both established a colony and they attempted to attract settlers with writings. Their writings were intended for different audiences and they both had different purposes. John Smith's writings were different than William Bradford's. John Smith had a different purpose and his writings were intended for a different audience. John Smith's purpose was to bring people to the new world. He wrote a pamphlet to the people in England and told about all the good things about New England. In his pamphlet he tried to persuade people to join him in the new land. John Smith wrote about how he promised New England was better than England. John Smith's audience was intended for people from England, and possible settlers. John Smith said, "What pleasure can be more than in planting vines, fruits, or herbs, in contriving their own grounds to the pleasure of their own minds, their fields, gardens, orchards, buildings, ships, and other works†¦." William Bradford's writings were intended for different audiences and he had a different purpose than John Smith. William Bradford's audience was intended for the future generation. His writings were intended for the future generation. He wrote a diary about his actual experiences in Colonial America. Bradford discussed in his diary about the many hardships he faced. Bradford said, "But that which was most sad and lamentable was, that in two or three months' time half of their company died†¦" Though Bradford talked about the bad things, he also talked about the goods things that occurred during the first Thanksgiving. William Bradford said, "And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides

The Afterpiece Essay -- English Theater Playlet

The Afterpiece: How and Why "Afterpieces were short, humorous playlets which followed the five act main attraction and concluded the theatrical evening in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries" (Bevis vii). During the eighteenth century the afterpiece became a fixture of the English theatre, but double billing was not a practice unique to English theatre. It was done in France during the late seventeenth century and probably had been experimented with elsewhere. But the afterpiece in England is believed to have originated independently of the French practice (Origins 58). The regular presentation of afterpieces began out of economic necessity and was continued after it was found to be a great asset to British theatre not only economically but artistically. During the rule of James I, the work day of the working and business classes ended well after the theatre evening had begun. It became customary for members of the working class to attend the last two acts of a play without having to pay anything for admission. The managers of the London theaters didn't view this late free admission as a problem and never attempted to dissuade people from taking advantage of it, but by the time Charles II took the throne theaters were losing profits by allowing it. After Dorset Garden and Drury Lane merged in 1682, the decision was made to begin charging those who came only for the second half of the show. Londoners could attend the last two acts of a five act play for a fraction of the price (Origins 53-54). Of course, after years of being admitted for free, there must have been many complaints from those who felt that they shouldn't have to pay if they were not going to see a complete performance of a piece. But, since there was only o... ...hose receipts (after house charges) went to the actor, actress, author or theatre employee whose `night' it was (Bevis xi). Works Cited Bevis, Richard W. Eighteenth Century Drama: Afterpieces. London: Oxford University Press, 1970. Hotson, Leslie. The Commonwealth and Restoration Stage. New York: Russell & Russell Inc., 1928. Jason, Phillip K. "The Afterpiece: Authors and Incentives," in Restoration and 18th Century Theatre Research, 12 (1973), 1-13. Jason, Phillip K. "The Afterpiece: Origins and Early Development," in Restoration and 18th Century Theatre Research, 1 (1986), 53-62. Lawrence, W.J. Old Theatre Days and Ways. London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., 1935. Annotated Loftis, John. Steele at Drury Lane. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1952. Roose-Evans, James. London Theatre. Oxford: Phaidon Press Limited, 1977.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

A World Of Intoxification :: essays research papers fc

A world of intoxification Screams pierced the midnight air and students ran wildly about the campus. Police cars whizzed by with their sirens blaring in the night. Glass was being broken and girls were being defiled. Confusion was all around and no one could stop it. This is an average night at any given university in America. The similarities between a horror story and a story about a college party are too many. At an average college party where alcohol is being served there is the possibility of fights, rape, death, destruction, and jail time. The common opinion in America is that all of these things are bad. So why do college students continue to engage in these activities? There are three reasons. First, if students have not been exposed to alcohol or drugs previously, when they get into that kind of environment, they will experiment. Secondly, if everyone else who is important, i.e. fraternities and sororities, does it, then to be important, you must drink. Finally, without pare nt instilling morals and good judgment into their children, the students do not think that it is wrong to participate in these activities. All in all, the biggest problem on college campuses is the consumption of alcohol and drugs. If a person was never exposed to the heat of a flame their whole life, and then was thrown into a family barbeque, where they asked this person to cook, how well would they do? They would probably put too much lighter fluid in the grill. Or, they would light the grill while looking at it to see what it did. Or, they would light the grill and then put their hand on it to see what it felt like. All of these things would cause extreme pain to the person who did this. But, would it be their fault? Would it be their fault that they didn’t know how combustible lighter fluid was? It wouldn’t be their fault if they put their hand on it and singed the flesh off of their hand. It wouldn’t be their fault because they were never exposed to it. Th e same thing can be said about drinking and drugs at college. If the person was never exposed to alcohol or drugs and they were thrown into a place where people engage in these activities on a regular basis, of course they would experiment.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Racism: Black People and Tate Taylor Essay

The blacks are considered by the white society as worthless slaves who have no choice but to be a housemaid or slave. Racism has been a popular issue for many years, and has caused many blacks to suffer because of their outward appearance. Aibileen faces as a victim to racial comments in the movie â€Å"The Help† directed by Tate Taylor which took place in the 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi. Aibileen is a maid. African American housemaid who has just experienced the loss of her son and has raised about 17 children as a maid. Blacks did not have the equal rights like the white society caused many to have education for money. This essay will show to a large extent the struggles Aibileen goes through, and through camera angles, dialogue, it will provide in detail why Tate Taylor used Aibileen to communicate to the viewers the problem of racism has on our society. Racism has caused blacks to differ from the white society. The impact of racism back in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi provides the struggle of an individual name Aibileen an African American house maid through a white society. Aibileen in scene one talks about how she lost her only son and was left laying dead in front of a white hospital. As a mother their responsibility is to protect and ensure the child’s safety is their first priority. Tate Taylor uses a point of view shot on the wall in scene one which sows the picture of her son and a frame of Jesus Christ to enable the viewers to see how severe the issue about racism can lead to. The blacks are treated unfairly and the white society takes advantage of the situation by ensuring blacks would be their maid to do their dirty work. In scene two you see a mid and long shot was used on Aibileen and Mae Mobley. It allows the viewers to see the foreshadow between scene one and scene two when she loses her son, and comforting the baby girl she looks after. Tate Taylor suggests by using a long shot on them shows the sense of loss Aibileen has experienced ascertain the idea of sympathy towards Aibileen. When problems become piled up one by one you start to realize the only way through it is standing up for yourself. In the get together party in scene three a few girls all had a reunion which we see Skeeter joining in. Hilly makes a racist remark on black people carrying diseases which Aibileen can clearly hear from a distance. A point of view shot was used from Skeeter to Aibileen to see her reaction towards Hilly’s comment. This camera angle was used clearly to express the disappointment on Aibileen’s face and how racism can hurt others mentally and emotionally. As the scene went on the maids are at first reluctant to talk to Skeeter because the result of them losing their jobs and violence can affect their families. Aibileen was first to tell her stories which foreshadowed their way out to starting a new life. By the end of the film when Skeeter books are finally Alvin. S published, Aibileen loses her job and walks off. Tate Taylor uses an establishing shot while Aibileen walks off to indicate to the viewers that while she is leaving she is also starting a new life. This angle was used effectively to deliberately allow the viewers to see that a fresh new start is what Aibileen really needs. Dialogue gives the viewers a vital idea of decisions made by Aibileen. Dialogue is crucial because it provides us with tension and suspense to what is going to happen. Aibileen from the beginning in scene one knew she would become a maid. She saws â€Å"my mama was a maid; my grandmamma was a house slave†. Back in 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi the blacks ever want was fair treatment towards their society. Skeeter is used by Tate Taylor to provide the viewers the perspective of Aibileen as a black house maid. For many, blacks are afraid to stand up for what they believe in but Aibileen says to Hilly â€Å"All you do scare and lie to dry and get what you want: Hilly is used by the director to be the antagonist of the film and this quote by Aibileen shows the tension and anger that was bottled up inside Aibileen. â€Å"I aint never had no white person in my house† shows the contrast between both the white and the black society. Dialogue is very crucial for communication which allows the viewers to understand and critically know the situation in the film â€Å"The Help†. At the last scene of the film Hilly persuades Elizabeth to fire Aibileen as her housemaid. The quotes â€Å"My boy Trelaw said we gonna have a writer in the family on day, I guess it’s gonna be me† This establishes the struggles of Aibileen and portrays the idea that maybe one day she could retell the painful she experience she encountered as a housemaid. Dialogues show many views and angles and establish conflict and tension to effectively show a critical issue between Aibileen and the white society that surrounds her. In conclusion: Racism is an issue that still happens to this very day and is something most people all have witnessed. Like the Film â€Å"The Help† racism has a big influence on people in our society we live in today and through dialogue and camera techniques, Tate Taylor uses it effectively to help communicate the struggles of Aibileen as an individual but with support and faith she overcomes the obstacles that society throws at her.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Existentialism †God Essay

What is the meaning of life. The meaning of our lives, the purpose, and the dreams both dashed and realized, and the expectations forced upon us by others. In other words how do you â€Å"translate† what life is? â€Å"Translation† means to explain in simple terms. What is it supposed to be about? There are different answers for different people at different times in their lives. A person’s lifetime is filled with self-examination. Why am I here? What am I doing? Is this as good as it gets? You have a beginning. You’re in the middle, and your story hasn’t ended yet. If one would recognize the greatest things we have in life, they would not be asking this question. These great things are faith, hope, and love. Faith is the one that can keep one from asking questions. If God wanted us to know something, then we would know it. In most religions, Christian ones in particular, the question of meaning in life is inextricably wrapped up in a relationship with God. Living in, for, with, and through him. Therefore, how one answers the meaning of life question bears directly the existence of God. Soren Kierkegaard said to be the â€Å"father† of existentialism maintains that there are three basic answers to the question of the meaning of life. He called these â€Å"stages† of life, because he believed that people â€Å"progressed† from one stage to the next. Whether or not that is true, there do seem to be at least three fundamental outlooks on life. One is a life devoted to pleasure. This value perspective can be shown by a person whose only concern is for what they are doing now. They would rather gain from pleasures in life without any regards to how they might affect their future. Another stage is those choosing ethical and moral paths. People who are honest and loyal demonstrate this in their everyday lives. Finally, there is a live religiously. This has been the popular way of life for many of us. It is going to church and practicing your faith Stace argues, the present age has begun to weaken faith in God. The concept of a supernatural person has begun to seem unlikely to many people. The Bible no longer seems as respected for many Catholics. While many people say they believe in God they are beginning question whether faith and God are the answer to the meaning of life. Most of us whether we choose to admit it or not show that material things are what we base our lives around. These ideas are at the heart of existentialism, which is a view of life that says that human beings are the creators of their own sense of meaning or purpose. The most famous existentialist, John Paul Sartre in his books and novels developed several themes that portray existentialism. The first is the notion that â€Å"existence precedes essence. † A legacy of traditional philosophy has been that we have a fixed human nature. Sartre challenged that we have no such set purpose or meaning. Our real meaning or who we are is a result of our decisions. We are what we decide. The second associated concept is the importance of human freedom. Sartre believed that every human being has the freedom to live life as we choose to. He believed that we are often terrified by our freedom, and in fact frequently do not want to take responsibility for our own actions. This attitude Sartre called â€Å"bad faith. † Bad faith is an act of self-deception in which we rationalize our actions as being caused by circumstances instead of being self-caused. Basically blaming others for our own deceptions and mistakes. The third major concept of existentialism is the idea of the Absurd. The philosopher Albert Camus popularized this concept. The concept of the absurd is promoted by atheistic existentialist, such as Sartre and Camus. The similarity between Christian and atheistic existentialist is the significance of human freedom and the belief that we are the makers of our own lives One of the most significant pieces of the decline of religious faith is the continuing awareness that there may not be any purpose in life. Both Albert Camus, and Stace, write from this perspective. They believed that traditional Christians have found security in the belief that their lives are invisibly directed or orchestrated by God. That we have assumed that God has a plan for our life, that things happen for a purpose. But as we experience, if we do, the decline of faith or the reality of God in our lives, we come to realize that perhaps we are more responsible than God is for what happens to us. We begin to realize or suspect that it is we, not God, who is the creator of our lives. We are responsible for who we become. Of course, there are always going to be those people who doubt everything God stands for. For them, the body dies and eternity is darkness, I suppose. The fight is going to be, perhaps even as it has been a battle between those who reject God and the, and those who know that God is real. The soul is one’s conscience. Without the acknowledgement of that soul, there is no inner voice that helps guide him in the decisions that he makes. Yet, the soulless atheists still seek to discover the meaning of life, and this is where the battle is fought. They are simply stating that there is no meaning to their lives they have no soul, there can be no meaning. Theists realize life isn’t fair. People aren’t created equal. Atheists believe that until all people actually are equal, life is meaningless, and this is the connection we have to make for them. People are not equal, people will never be equal, and if this equality is the requirement for accepting the meaning of life, then life will always be meaningless. If ambition brings about advantage, those advantages must be neutralized. This is the goal of the atheist. If there is nothing but darkness after life, the goal must be to create heaven on earth. Everyone has questioned their purpose in life for example in his article, â€Å"My Confession†, Leo Tolstoy has gone through his life without ever really questioning the meaning. Then he periodically questioned it until one day he eventually could not picture himself living anymore until he came up with an answer to his questionings. All the things he was thought to be living by no longer made any sense or had any meaning at all to him. He tried to answer his question many different ways, but whichever way he went he kept coming up with a dead end. He first thought the answer must be his family. Although he loved them very much, as humans they are confronted with the same questions he is. They are living this lie right along with him pretending that they have all the answers, or just simply ignoring the questions. He next thought the answer to be in his work. Eventually, coming to the realization that with all of his success in art and poetry he had become distracted. He was using art as a decoy. Without knowing his answers to the meaning of life, it was wrong and useless to depict these lies to others. He soon felt as if life had stopped, and was even contemplating suicide when he came to the realization that faith is present in each one of us and is what makes our lives meaningful. Everyone must believe they have a purpose here, for if they didn’t they would not be living at all. For life to have true meaning, that meaning must come external to the individual and be somehow consistent with life as a whole. Christians would argue that only God could grant this. It is the helping hand, which guides us through life with an honest and loving heart. Jesus is the only man to lead a true, meaningful life. His life is really the only life of meaning and it is only through him that we have the opportunity to live meaningful lives. Without accepting this answer, one will have only difficulty for the rest of their lives, especially in answering the question of the meaning of life. If you accept this answer, however life is much simpler, because your search is over. Jesus said, â€Å"I am the way, the truth, and the life? † John 14:6. The way the truth and the meaning of life itself. There are scriptural accounts of people claiming to see God, and while a witness is more â€Å"proof† than no witness is, there is no way to scientifically verify these statements. They must be accepted purely on faith. Some say that the existence of humans or planetary balance is proof that God exists. These do not prove He exists. Christians believe God is in control of everything in the universe, and created the same. God created all beings, and every atom in this universe. We know God exists because He says He does. The bible is His word, left for us to read. Psychologist Viktor Frankl wrote in â€Å"Mans search for Meaning† that we should not ask what we expect from life, but what life expects from us. He was making the point that people must deal with what daily tasks are put in front of them. Instead of arguing and complaining, we have to take action. Our strength is shown through the soul survival of the hardships we face. Which brings us to the problem philosopher John Hick was facing. In his article, â€Å"The Problem of Evil† he asks the question, â€Å"if God is perfectly loving, he must wish to abolish evil. But evil exists; therefore God cannot be both omnipotent and perfectly loving. â€Å"The very fact that there is such suffering gives good cause to doubt not only the value of the whole human race, but also the existence of God. A God that can be said to care in the slightest for what’s been created, any God who has power over all things, who is anything other than a horrible monster who finds cruel unusual joy in squeezing every last drop of suffering out of them. It would rule out anything even vaguely resembling the God that Christians speak of. A God who deserves our utter hatred not our worship. However, Hick found that although harsh and painful, evil did have purpose in the world. He stated in his article, † the finest characteristics of personal life must have a good deal in common with our present world. It must operate according to general and dependable laws: and it must involve real dangers, difficulties, problems, obstacles, and possibilities of pain, failure, sorrow, frustration, and defeat. † Without these sufferings, we would not be able to know what happiness and love really was. Evil provides us with the possibility of soul making, and according to free will, we must choose our fate. The Laws of nature must be abided by without them the world could not exist. God may be creating the lesser of the evils. There must be suffering in order for God to give inner strength that compensates for loss, and gives the sufferer inspiration to live faithfully and effectively. What God provides are the resources so we can face the suffering and make something positive come from it. He gives the direction and power to make these resources work. He gives hope and wisdom to find the way past the suffering, and to learn from it. John Paul II gave us an outline of what is believed to be the salvific meaning of suffering. Suffering as he wrote in the Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris, â€Å"cannot be transformed and changed by a grace form outside, but from within? † This question of human suffering is not answered directly by God. As man begins to share in the sufferings of Christ, the answer is discovered within in him. Suffering changes and can either increase or decrease, and in those moments Christians become aware of Gods closeness. We are given inner peace and spiritual joy when we suffer generously. When we are suffering we are never alone we are with Christ. With Christ everything has meaning whether its moments of happiness and peace or of pain and suffering. Nothing in life can be fully explained without God. . Look to the bible and Jesus gives us the answer. Love God with your whole heart, mind, body and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. If you do this, you are following all the commandments. Humble yourself and give the praise and glory to our creator. God the Father our creator is love and he loves you very much. God created us to worship him and he deserves all the praise because he is the first and the last. He has no beginning and no end. Just look around and take in all the beauty he has created. Everyone is special and made in the image of God. We are nothing without our creator. Sin will keep us from God for he is pure and perfect. It is hard to let go of pleasure and putting ones self first. However, the key to peace and happiness is to surrender your freewill to God, the author of life, and he will give you complete, happiness, peace, contentment and purity you are looking for. That is what we were created for. God is made evident every day when the sun comes up, and there is still air to breathe, and you made it through the night. One cannot believe that everything we know was created by accident. Things are just too perfect to have happened by chance. Man is too corrupt a creature to have invented the beautiful things in the world, as in faith, hope and love. He allows evil in this world because He wants us to have the opportunity to choose either Him or evil, thereby proving our love for Him. If His were the only game in town, then there would not be a free will conscious choice for Him. It is evident that the meaning of life has to far to complex for any one to fully understand or agree on the same answer. All these ideas of these different philosophers are not necessarily inaccurate, just incomplete. All pieces to a puzzle that one has no way of fully figuring out. No one has seemed to accomplish this yet in life. There are so many obstacles that we face as we try to achieve a higher good. Many of these are based in the fact that we are human beings, and because of that are flawed by the ways of our culture. Things such as self-doubt, worry, ignorance, and the values put into our heads since the day we were born all are roadblocks on our way to a higher level. Also being human beings makes vulnerable to the ways of the world around us, so it is not easy to block these things out of our lives. This life is a stage in which we are to develop our minds, bodies, and souls to their highest potential in preparation for the afterlife. Only God could ever really show anyone true meaning.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Enrique Camarena Essay

Enrique Salazar Camarena, also known as â€Å"Kiki†, was born on July 26, 1947 in Mexicali, Mexico. At the age of nine Camarena moved to the U.S. and settled in Calexico, California. He worked in the fields with his family picking plums and peaches. Camarena yearned to get a proper education and soon it came. He took advantage of this opportunity and became an ethical student. He played football, basketball and helped publish the yearbook. Camarena was voted â€Å"Best all Around Senior.† He decided to attend college and enter the law enforcement field. Camarena served in the U.S. Marines, and became a Legal Clerk and a Court Recorder. In 1970, Camarena departed from the Marines and worked with the Calexico Fire Department. Camarena became a part of the Calexico Police Department as a Criminal Investigator in 1970, while he attended Imperial Valley College. There he got an AA degree and criminal justice degree. Camarena was sent to the El Centro, California Police Department Office and became a Narcotics Investigator for the Imperial County. In 1874, Camarena join the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). Camarena was a talented Drug Enforcement Special Agent. Camarena and family were transferred to an undercover investigation in Guadalajara, Mexico. In Guadalajara, his mission was to stop the Caro-Quintero Organization. Caro-Quintero, at the age 32, was the main leader of the wealthy organization. Camarena was about to conclude his case when he was captured during his lunch hour. It was the afternoon of February 7, 1985 when Camarena didn’t come home so his wife contacted his close friend, who then reported the kidnapping to the U.S. law enforcement officers. There was a vast amount of law enforcement officers sent to search for Camarena. There were a lot of people worried but no one was able to find Camarena. People said that the Caro-Quintero had paid the clubs to stay quiet. A few days later the law enforcement officers received a letter from an unknown person stating Camarena could be found at a ranch in Moreno, Mexico. When the law enforcement officers went to search the ranch they found nothing except a family that had been murdered. Later that same evening someone had stated they thought they had seen a dead body right outside the ranch. Sure enough  the dead body was Camarena. He had been savagely beaten and tortured to death. The date of his death was March 7, 1985. Till this day law enforcement officers do not know who actually murdered Camarena, but they do have their suspicions. About twenty-two people have been thought of pertaining or murdering Camarena. Twelve had been convicted; three of which were members of the Caro-Quientero Organization. Enrique Camarena People from all around respected Camarena. On February7, 1986 Calexico held a special ceremony in honor of him at the Calexico Library. The library has also been renamed Enrique â€Å"Kiki† Camarena Library. Camarena’s family wore red ribbons to honor him. The ribbons proclaimed â€Å"No use of illegal drugs, or no illegal use of legal drugs.† Now people all over the U.S, wear red ribbons on the days of Oct. 23- 31.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Sample Personal Statement

Sample Personal Statement for Architecture People once asked me: â€Å"Why did you choose architecture? † I couldn’t give a simple answer for that. Maybe it was because I like painting and construction since childhood. I also earnestly yearn to create beautiful things on my own and architecture can satisfy my imagination in space, materials, and color. My born interest in this sector is also because of my parents, who are both structural engineer and electrical engineer, influencing me gradually and unconsciously since I was a kid and giving me perceptual knowledge in the field.After my five-year study in the Department of Architecture, and one-year work experience in architectural design, I ask myself this same question. The result is that aside from the factors mentioned above, what really makes me choose architecture is its intrinsic appeal, which is just like the maxim written inside the building of the Department of Architecture: â€Å"Architecture is the combinat ion of art and technology. † Perhaps when a person is engaged in what his keen interest blossoms, he will never feel tired, instead he would feel motivated and have an enriching experience.Five years' academic study in the School of Architecture and Arts of University of XX transformed my instinctive excitement and imagination about architecture into systematic knowledge and comprehensive understanding. This transformation, first of all, lies in my skills in the fine arts. Differing from my previous mere interest in fine arts, the study of architecture makes me begin to ponder on how to draw using aesthetic elements from fine arts such as color, lighting and composition to apply to architecture. I was so dedicated to such brainstorming and imagination that I would always work around the clock in the studio for days on end.Secondly, the study of basic architectural courses, such as architectural structure, mechanics and materials science, makes me realize that architecture not only gives importance on aesthetics, but also on the more essential functionality and practicality. In that process, I realized that architecture is not only an art, but also more importantly a sort of technology. Five years of college study gives me a deeper comprehension of architecture, that is, architecture is also part of other cultures – it is subject to other cultures' influence, and at the same time it influences other cultures.Because of my childhood architectural background, coupled with my lasting keen interest in architecture, I gained excellent achievements in the major courses of my college study, ranked top three in the class, and also received first prize scholarships and many other scholarships for five consecutive years. Besides, owing to my understanding of architecture, I am not satisfied with mere textbook knowledge. I believe architecture is not only a skill but also, more importantly, a combination of creativity and imagination.An excellent architecture designer needs not only solid architectural skills and knowledge, but also needs nourishment from fine arts, materials science, engineering and culture. For that purpose, I read quite extensively, understood the architectural history of different countries – especially European architectural history, learnt from works of modern and contemporary architectural masterpieces, and gained insights on their design conceptions that are full of creativity and connotation. The knowledge I have gained from these efforts heightens my interests and my desire for creation.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Minerals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Minerals - Essay Example Crespo et al., (2004) reported that disseminated graphite only occurred in metamorphic rocks of the La Umbria series and Fuente del Oro in the â€Å"Aracena Metamorphic Belt†. The deposits of graphite are weathered at 50 to 65 feet in depth. Coherence between graphite and other minerals is lessened due to weathering. Subsurface mining needs the cutting of multiple shafts to access the graphite deposits. Sometimes, tunneling equipments are used to remove the rock. Both, crystalline, and flake Graphite are graded as per carbon contents, and size of particles. Graphite with a high purity is only achieved through heating in the electric furnaces. Ash chemistry and likely applications are applied to grade the Flake carbon (80-99%), crystalline graphite (90-99%) and amorphous carbon (70-85%). Graphite’s purity is determined on the basis of Carbon contents and size of particles while amorphous Graphite is classified only on the basis of the carbon contents. Both, synthetic and natural graphite are heated up to 2500 °C that produces the graphite of a high purity 99.9%. Silicon and Boron are used as promoter elements for the graphite structure. Introduction of these elements enhances the consistency, conductivity and lubricant properties of the graphite (Crossely, 2000). Usually two techniques named as open pit mining and underground mining are used for graphite mining. Open pit mining is the method for the extraction of rocks from the open pits. This technique is useful when graphite ore lies close to the surface of the earth. On the other hand, underground mining involves the mining of graphite placed at the depth under the surface of the earth. Drift mining, slope mining, shaft mining and hard rock mining are the important methods for the underground mining (Crusher in China, 2012). Mining process of Graphite requires the power operations at the mining locations. The construction, decommissioning and operations

Thursday, September 12, 2019

U.S. History project 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

U.S. History project 1 - Essay Example The perspective of persecuting people who belonged to the other religions motivated hundreds and thousands of people to leave their homes and migrate. People escaping these punishments being conducted by the authorities of the King Charles I mostly settled in the province of Maryland. This religious freedom was the main reason that helped establishing colonies in America which also affected the economic, social and political development in America. Therefore, diversity became the identity of the American nation. Although every individual had the freedom to practice their religion as they pleased but some people looked badly upon other religions. One of them were the close-minded New English settlers in America, it was a good and bad thing at the same time because they brought the other settlers together which later on shaped colonies but it also pushed outsiders away. These colonies accepted many other churches because of the cultural diversity. This proves that these people had much importance for religion and migrating to America provided then the incentive to practice their religion as they pleased. Religion was the basis that brought people together from other countries that belonged to a common religion. The time of the â€Å"great Awakening† when occurred in the mid of the 18th century it provided more reasons and chances to the people to practice their religion. Preachers travelled from town to town and inspired people to accept their religion. As many people believe that religion was the case that sparked revolution in England, at the same time there is a never ending debate that economics was the reason. It is valid to say that not only religious freedom was the cause; in fact economic factor was also a major aspect in the English Revolution that encouraged colonial development in North America. The statement that â€Å"the economic concerns were the major contributor for bring in British settlers† cannot be denied. These economic concern s mostly outweighed the religious concerns for British North America. Christopher Columbus used a term â€Å"New World† for the unexplored lands of North and South America. The economic concerns of the British formed the English colonies in North America; these economic concerns included exploring lands for acquiring the reserves of gold and silver. It also included a waterway that connected North America to China and also for countering dominance of any other nation in North America. The English also sought for obtaining the essential raw materials in North America that they had to buy from the European countries for large amounts of money and gold. Apart from getting a hold of the lands and acquiring valuable resources of North America, English migrates also had other plans like England needed to renew some of its assets to export them to other countries. They also wanted to help them maintain their powerful naval forces through making business ties with the prospect of flo urishing their economy by providing help to the unemployed. Therefore, it is true that both factors motivated British to migrate to North America and establish colonies. PART 2 There are multitude of reason to justify American rebel against the English empire, things that kept adding up to their frustration and then resulted in becoming a painful historical event. It is true that the American colonists

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Dred Scott Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dred Scott - Research Paper Example who were forcibly taken from their homeland, transported under extremely harsh conditions and made to work under even worse conditions in the various rice, cotton and tobacco plantations spread all over the southern parts of America. These slaves once sold to their white owners, lost their freedom for ever. Often they were treated brutally by these owners resulting in deaths for many of these unfortunate black people. Such accounts of tortures and brutalities on the black slaves are well documented in the very famous book â€Å"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl† by Harriet Jacob. â€Å"Uncle Toms cabin† by Harriet Beecher Stowe also deals with similar issues. Dred Scott is one such black African slave who fought a war against the legal and social system of nineteenth century America to get his freedom. Free slave was a concept almost unheard of in the pre-civil war America. At that time the slaves were the personal property of their owners and were treated as such. Dred Scott was another such slave born in the year 1799 in Virginia and was owned by the family of a white southern named Peter Blow. In 1830 when this family shifted base to St. Louis, Missouri they took Dred along with them and later sold him off to one Dr. John Emerson who was in the service with the army of the United States. Here there is some confusion as to who the real Dred Scott was. From old records it has been found that before his death, Peter Blow had one female and five male slaves. However after his death his estate inventory recorded only four male slaves. So it can be assumed that Blow before his death in 1832 had sold one of his male slaves. In 1833, records show that there was another sale of a male slave named Sam from the Blow family for 500$ to clear their outstanding credits and dues. When Dr. Eme rson came to Fort Armstrong in Illinois in 1833 with him was a slave who had previously been with the Blow family. The name of this slave was Dred Scott. There is much debate amongst

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Is the development of oilsands essential to Canadas future prosperity Assignment

Is the development of oilsands essential to Canadas future prosperity Give Pros and Cons - Assignment Example Oil sand is a composition of many substances including water, soil, sand and bitumen. The bitumen is the thick and vicious oil. For bitumen to gain importance, it must be subjected into a series of treatments (Alberta Energy 4). The Alberta’s oil sands are of immense importance to both Canada and the rest of the globe as it supplies energy is not only more stable than other energy sources, but also reliable. Alberta’s oil sands utilize the most advanced form of technology in the extraction of oil, in addition to being the most developed in the whole world. Alberta’s oil has very many uses. Some of the uses include use of oil in driving cars, manufacturing of cosmetics, bubble gums and other substances like toothpastes. Researchers and developers have estimated that Alberta’s oil sand deposits will sustain Canada for a period of over a hundred and fifty years. However, with the current rate of extraction of oil at Alberta, the period of sustainability may fall below the 150 years. Even with the high rates of extraction, it is estimated that only a portion of about 20% has been extracted and the rest, 80% is yet to be extracted because of the huge depth the oil lays (Albertas Oil S ands Economic Benefits, pars. 2-3, 4). The major method of oil extraction at Alberta oil sands is through steam injection. The steam is exerted to liquefy the bitumen, and water has to be pumped in to mix with melted bitumen, to facilitate it to flow the surface, from the underground. During the separation process, bitumen is obtained and the rest of the mixture is poured away. It is estimated that 75% of bitumen is obtained, and 25% is lost to waste during the separation process (Albertas Oil Sands Economic Benefits, pars. 2 & 3, 4). Alberta’s oil sands are a great source of future prosperity to Canada. Oil is a major driver of a country’s economy. It is evident that all oil producing

Monday, September 9, 2019

STL-2 knowledge based questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

STL-2 knowledge based questions - Essay Example Moreover the type of research in terms of the object of study in also very important. If the object of study is an individual child, than only a single child is observed. However if the object of study is a group of children, than samples size should consist of a number of different groups. The aim of study children in groups is to analyze the behavior of child in a group. This could include the response of child to social phenomenon or just sleeping patterns of children living in groups etc. Therefore an individual child could be observed or the group could be observed as a whole. These observations can enable a researcher or parent to analyze the different needs of the child for example food, sleep etc. From an educational perspective these observations can help establish an understanding into the interests a child is showing. Both parents and doctors can then use this information and compare it with benchmarks to understand the progress in a child’s habits. Thus they can su pport the positive aspects and stop the negative ones. There are different procedures and methods to observing a child. The observations however should not interfere with the normal settings of a child’s daily schedule. This is because the aim of every research is to analyze how the child would perform and work in a normal environment. However if the researcher is not careful in ensuring that the original environment of the child is in intact the entire purpose of the research could be at risk. This is because if the original environment is tampered with the child would lose his routine. The observation in the new routine or state of mind would not be applicable in normal environment of other children. Therefore the validity of research would be severely harmed. The results acquired would have no significance. The best method is that observer should allocate timing according to the subject of observation. This would mean that

Interview Questions - The influence of a parent or other family Essay

Interview Questions - The influence of a parent or other family memebers on participation in Sport - Essay Example ho encouraged students to engage in sports, who discouraged them from engaging in sports, whether parents participate in physical activities, and the role of health in promoting the participation of a child in physical activity. On this note, the minor themes that relate to the major theme of this report are; family, health condition and childhood. The research conducted manages to highlight these themes through fifteen questions, which focus on the role of parents in promoting physical activities amongst their children, their role in hindering physical activities amongst their children, the role of health care in sports, and the manner in which an individual engaged in physical activities. By looking at how the fifteen questions are structured, though they depict a minor theme, an answer to them contributes in answering the major theme of the research. This major theme is the role of parents or family in influencing their children to engage in sports/ physical activity. In this report, the four individuals interviewed highlighted the importance of family members in their socialization process, and this process led them to engage in physical activities. Family socialization process refers to the methodologies that people learn, and thereafter develop into adulthood possessing the characteristics that they have. For instance, there are high chances that an adult person who is a fan of football engaged in the sport during his or her childhood (Sansone and Harackiewicks, 430). Chances are likely that this engagement was motivated by their parents or family members. This is because as a child, a person requires guidance in all the affairs of their lives; from education, to the sports and recreational life they engage in (Sansone and Harackiewicks, 417). From the findings of the interview, this report proves that parents, through their guidance, play a role in influencing their children on the kind of physical activity they engage in. This report analyzes the

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Taxation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Taxation - Assignment Example 129). The anti-abuse rule introduced by HMRC strikes down the tax avoidance schemes, regardless of whether they are technically sound. It is possible to implement the law correctly if the avoidance scheme is abusive. HMRC could view the situation as a violation in case the gain was not disclosed. One of the professional requirements of a member would be to ensure that he does not assist a client to arrange or commit an offence since it is unlawful (Chartered Institute of Taxation, 2011, p. 20). From an ethical viewpoint, the most appropriate thing to do would be to advise Henry to avoid such a consideration since it is not legal. It would be vital to give Henry appropriate advice since he continues to act for him as a client. After the expiry of an initial period of an official enquiry, the Tax Management Act (section 29) provided a mechanism that would assist in the assessment of an individual’s income tax. The mechanism also assists in the assessment of capital gains in the following four years. Such assessments might take place regardless of whether they are in support or whether they are the consequences of an enquiry. The power to make the assessment is triggered when an HMRC officer makes a discovery that complies with the rules specified in Section 29. In Henry’s case, the discovery relates to the development of an insufficiency in an assessment. The self-assessment process provides HMRC with a straightforward system that assists in the mitigation of uncertainty. HMRC has the power to correct the glaring omissions, which is one of the ways through which the revenue can require additional tax liabilities. Conversely, the corrections can impose excessive reliefs under section 29. If the tax agent fails to provide information requested by HMRC, the body will investigate the agency to determine the possibility of dishonest conduct. In the case of a failure to supply information required, HMRC will charge the agent with civil penalties. Subsequently,

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Applied Marketing Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Applied Marketing Management - Essay Example The report discusses and analyse the overall brand management at Marks & Spencer. This report starts with a brief history and Marks & Spencer and about Marks & Spencer's brand and then extends further discussing its advertisement, brand equity, positioning etc. Main information is gathered through the internet and magazines and the analysis is also done with the help of the above mentioned sources. In the end recommendation are also given in the light of the discussions throughout the report. Marks & Spencer commonly known "M & S" is one of the top British retailer companies. It is ranked amongst the most prestigious chain of stores in the UK and is the largest clothing retailer in the UK by turnover. It also is a multi-billion pound food retailer. Most of its shops sell both of these categories. Marks & Spencer also has a third product line related to home wares such as bed linen, but this is far smaller than the other two. For much of the 20th century M&S was regarded as the leading retailer in the United Kingdom, and an icon of British business. ... In 1997 it became the first British retailer to make a profit before tax of over 1 billion, though within a couple of years it plunged into a crisis from which it has not yet fully recovered. It is now less than one quarter of the size of the UK's largest and most profitable retailer, Tesco. In 2006, M&S has opened a Technology Department in each flagship Store (http://www.marks-and-spencer.co.uk). Branding history of M&S: In the late 1990s, The St Michael brand was discontinued in favour of Marks & Spencer. When Stuart Rose took over in 2004, he introduced a new promotional brand under the "Your M&S" banner, with a corresponding logo. This has now become the company's main brand in its advertising, online presence and in-store merchandising. The clean font and modern colours of the new image are somewhat incongruous alongside the traditional M&S signage and associated fittings that still adorn the stores themselves. In fact the only thing they have in common is the use of M&S traditional green in the ampersand of the new logo. This may seem confusing at first, but the new look has been instrumental in the company's recent resurgence, particularly with the success of a new clothing campaign featuring the legendary model, Twiggy, and younger models associated with the bohemian styles of 2005-6, and the TV ad campaign for their food range featuring Dervla Kirwan and the tagline "This is not just food, this is M&S food". In 2006, "look behind the label" slogans were introduced by M&S and have been extremely successful. Fair trade clothing and foodstuffs are rolled out by all stores and all coffee and tea served in store cafe's are fair trade. Fishing is good for the environment also, so is the way that stores manufacture goods and recycle all of their waste

Friday, September 6, 2019

Kohler Company Essay Example for Free

Kohler Company Essay Kohler is one of the largest and oldest privately held companies in America. It started by manufacturing plumbing fixtures, famously inventing the first modern bathtub, and soon after began manufacturing small engines and generators. Today the company is also in the furniture and luxury resort business. Most of the company’s shares are held by members of the Kohler family, however 4% of the outstanding stock is owned by outsiders. Herbert Kohler Jr. , the CEO and Chairman of Kohler, would like to do what he can to keep Kohler stock within the Kohler family and its interests. This led to the 1998 recapitalization. In this restructuring of equity, family members and permitted transferees (Kohler Trusts, Kohler Foundations, ect. ) were given the option to exchange their stock for several different classes of stock, such as common stock, non voting stock, Series A and Series B. The shareholders not classified as a permitted transferee would either have to sell their shares for what an independent firm determines fair market value, or dissent and allow fair market value to be determined by a legal proceeding. The fair market price offered by Kohler in 1998 was $55,400. Kohler’s stock recently fetched between $100,000 to $135,000 and the two largest outside shareholders recently bought a combined 93 shares right around $100,000. So Gen, a mutual fund and largest outside shareholder, believed market value per share could be $400,000. Because of this discrepancy in price; outside shareholders decided to file suit against Kohler claiming the price of $55,400 undervalued the stock and was not fair market value. It is now April 2000 and Herbert Kohler Jr. must decide whether to settle with the plaintiffs or go to trail in 2 days. It was very possible that the court would determine fair market value to be much higher than price offered. Herbert also must consider that the IRS will use a court determined share price to determine the tax liability of Herbert’s deceased brother’s estate. The share price will also affect the way the Kohler Foundation could operate, since by law it must annually pledge %5 of its assets, which is mostly Kohler stock. Analysis: Much of the share price was driven by the speculation that Kohler might soon go public. Herbert thought this was the primary reason the shares were extremely overvalued. However, the assumption of a future IPO was inaccurate. One of the core values and strengths of Kohler is the private classification of equity. Kohler considers it a competitive advantage to not have to disclose its financial position to the public. Not only does it give away proprietary information to competitors, but public reporting also affects the way a company can make decisions. Kohler feels that many of the business decisions that made Kohler a success, such as investing in cast iron production at a time when the industry was moving away from it, would not have been possible if they were accountable to pubic shareholders. Without the possibility of an IPO a lower share price than what share prices recently traded for was could be justified. However, Herbert must also consider the effects of having the valuation be determined in court. The first drawback to this is how costly legal proceedings are. On top of lawyer fees and court costs, it could be very expensive to reconcile and audit all financial documents as well as pay for expert opinions concerning the valuation. Since there is no standard or correct metric to value a company, there is increased risk as to how the court will value the company. If Kohler decides to continue with the trial they are leaving themselves, the Kohler Foundation, and the Kohler estate open to a lot of uncontrollable risk. Recommendation: I recommend Kohler offer to settle with the plaintiffs at $140,000. Kohler should settle outside of court to mitigate the risk and cost associated with the trial. While the price is not ideal, settling outside of court allows Kohler to control the price at a manageable level. This will be the best way to hedge against risk and lookout for the interests of Kohler, the Family, and its charities. In order to settle Kohler must offer a price of $140,000 to give the mutual funds the return on investment they desire. Since the purpose of mutual fund is to create value for their investors, they are probably more than willing to take the matter to court if they feel they are not receiving a fair return. The per share price of $140,000 will give the mutual funds roughly a 20% return on investment which should be enough for them to consider the offer favorable.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Narrative Analysis of Depression Case Study

Narrative Analysis of Depression Case Study A Route Through Depression Loredana Lenghel Introduction Illness is a prevalent issue in today’s society. It encompasses a wide array of problems and it refers to â€Å"the subjective response of the patient to being unwell; how he, and those around him, perceive the origin and significance of this event; how it affects his behaviour or relationships with other people; and the steps he takes to remedy this situation† (Helman, 1981, p.1). Illness is distinct from disease which refers to the medical labels put on pathological entities with specific properties and identity (i.e diabetes). Illness includes not only a person’s experience with the ill-health, but also the meaning given to that experience. This essay will attempt to present one such experience with depressive symptoms. Presenting someone’s experience through an illness narrative provides the patient with the opportunity to expose a more nuanced aspect of their illness. Greenhalgh and Hurwitz (1999) stated that â€Å"narrative provides meaning, context, and perspective for the patient’s predicament†. It also provides the opportunity to create an empathic bond between the sharer that the listener (Wear and Varley 2008). This essay will utilise a narrative style framework in an attempt to make sense of someone’s experience. Distinct narrative types will be identified based on how the patient recollects their experience. In a restitution narrative, one can identify as a primary goal the motivation to get better, to overcome the illness, which is seen as a roadblock or a detour in someone’s life journey. In a chaos narrative, a person does not seem to see a â€Å"light at the end of the tunnel†, they see the illness as a permanent, rather than temporary, state (Weingarten, 2001). Stable, progressive and regressive narratives have also been identified. Respectively, they refer to stories in which an individual’s path is constant – the illness does not get better or worse; a story in which a clear path towards improvement can be identified; and one in which the person seems to be on a downwards spiral – getting worse and not seeing any possibilities of improvemen t (Weingarten, 2001). This paper will, therefore, discuss Cicero[1]’s experience with depressive symptoms and analyse it through the lenses of a narrative framework. It will try to portray Cicero’s subjective feelings throughout his journey, the effect of the social environment, and its negative or potentially positive aspects. Life journey Cicero, a nineteen year old boy, engaged in a recollection of his experience with illness. The narrative started with his present, moment in which he seemed quite detached from the past illness – viewing his depression as an â€Å"endemic part† of his life, as something he just had to â€Å"deal with† at the time. His story started by explaining how that episode is now compartmentalised, it is not something that has a serious effect on his current life, as he chose to ignore it, to forget it. These feelings, however, seemed different when Cicero started to reconstruct the memories of the illness’ emergence. Symptoms first began when he was 13 years old. Pinpointing the exact moment of occurrence seemed difficult, as his symptoms accumulated in time, not due to a succinct occurrence. The domestic environment was what led to their appearance, as parental misunderstandings, which ultimately led to their divorce, catalysed the negative experience of Cicero. The parental issues had started five years before the divorce, when Cicero was still in secondary school. During this time, there were no indications of maladjustment or ill-health. Cicero saw himself as a lively boy; other children liked him, he partook in football matches, he was a sociable child. But this ended around the time he began high-school. He was around 10 years old when his domestic environment seemed to worsen as parental misunderstandings were increasing in frequency and intensity. Cicero recalled how his younger self became more reserved as time passed. The initial symptoms of withdrawal were followed by negative results in academics and less social involvement. Cicero was trying to explain these symptoms to himself and first attributed them to the beginning of puberty, and not to what was occurri ng at home. The narrative then fast-forwards to age thirteen, as Cicero put it, it was â€Å"the moment when us, the kids, reached an age when it was possible to divorce – the parents reached an agreement to end it, to exit the marriage†. His parents got a divorce that year, which marked the moment when Cicero’s symptoms got noticeably worse. He recalled how he reached full social isolation, sometimes actively looking for someone to just â€Å"hang out with†. His grades were getting progressively worse. He met no deadlines which resulted in him needing to retake a year of high-school. He then recalled how he got tired of the lonely lunches, of the friendless days and found some comfort in joining a subculture, a group of gothic kids that would gather in a town park. Even though Cicero was not particularly interested in the subculture’s ideas, these people â€Å"would immediately like you even if you only knew one person in the group†¦ and then you’d feel you have all those thirty people around you as friends†. Cicero did not seem to believe that this group accepted him for himself, his views were negative in the sense that he saw himself as just another pawn filling a space in a certain group. Even if his social life seemed to be improving, his school situation enabled his parents’ suggestion to see a psychologist. Cicero gladly accepted the proposition, being motivated by his desire to perform better in school and saw this as an opportunity to regain his academic excellence. At the same time, however, he had no real expectations to get better. Maybe this constitutes the reason why his subsequent experience with the therapeutic setting was â€Å"awful†. Individual sessions consisted primarily of endless psychometric tests, while the group therapy he was undergoing did not really elicit any genuine responses. In group therapy, he never felt as if he answered questions truthfully, resorting to giving â€Å"empty, satisfactory† responses in order to avoid further inquiry. He felt as if the others could not understand him and based these thoughts on the seemingly trivial complaints the other children had. He spent three months in group therapy, and then wa s when his â€Å"memory got hazy†. He felt that â€Å"my mind was going; my mind was fading away†. This seemed to be the lower peak of his experience with the illness, as it seemed like he was losing himself. Cicero compared that period with how he used to be before the illness developed. He recalled he was very organised, he seemed to remember everything and this had then gone away. It was striking how his narration style seemed to mirror the recalled experience. A hint of uncertainty was noticeable in the manner he was reconstructing his memories. He himself then stated that he felt as though he had lived those three months for two years. The tests and group therapy eventually ended. The Psychologist suggested a diagnosis which was not accepted by him or his parents. Initially, the therapist told them Cicero’s symptoms fell in the autistic spectrum – news which had a large impact on both his family and him. No one was willing to accept this diagnosis and were convinced it was wrong. Cicero felt as if his world had shattered, he felt he was not sick, he was â€Å"not lying in bed with cancer†; he was not getting treated for autism. This opinion was shared by his father, who also took a negative stance on the diagnosis. The mother agreed it was questionable, and with more experience in the matter, eventually suggested two possibilities. She proposed that the autistic symptoms could be there and related to depressive symptoms; or that everything could be just a phase which will eventually pass. At this point, Cicero recalled feeling overwhelmed, prepared to accept any explanation. The mother’s stance on the matter, however, prevented that. Cicero stated that what essentially got him through was his mother’s proposition that everything could be â€Å"just a phase†. This led to him regarding the experience as something temporary, as something caused by external circumstances. He believed it would either fade away or he would find a way to conceal it until it would not peak through to the surface. Cicero pinpointed a specific moment which he regarded as highly significant in his improvement. The decision to buy bright coloured polo shirts instead of the old black clothing was the moment when he recalls making a big decision. He figured that â€Å"if he was going to pretend to be normal, he might as well look normal†. This was a big step, as the new clothing got him compliments at school which slowly led to him extending his social boundaries and eventually to his recovery. Narration analysis Distinct types of narratives can be identified when analysing this story. It can be seen how a change in narrative style was indicative of Cicero getting better. At first, the narrative was not clear, as the recollection of certain events led to him remembering earlier ones, indicating the haziness and compactness of the experience. A chaos narrative can be identified in this situation, as his experience was overwhelming him, preventing him to think clearly, making him feel like his mind was fading away. The uncertainty and lack of awareness of the chronological timing of events further indicates a chaotic experience. A change from a chaotic to a restitution narrative establishes the moment when he took the decision to overcome his illness. He began to see the illness as a phase, as something that could be overcome and wanted to be normal again. Moreover, a progressive narrative style could also be identified. After the initial regressive narration, a movement towards an incremental improvement characterised Cicero’s story as his social circle and academic performance started increasing. Cicero’s narrative was also coherent, as his feelings were attuned to the domestic situation. His progressively more negative affect paralleled the deteriorating domestic environment. The parental response was also synchronized with the development of events. They offered support when the situation seemed to worsen, and were alarmed when hearing the suggested diagnosis. A clear narrative closure cannot be identified, as the symptoms seem to have just tapered off. Even Cicero stated â€Å"I don’t know if I’m okay now, maybe I just know how to hide it. I guess I’m over it but I will never know how it actually feels to be normal. What is feeling normal, anyway?†. Support Cicero did not seem to lack social support. Both parents, regardless of their relationship, managed to put aside their misunderstandings and offered combined support to Cicero. Both were involved in the whole process, and both did their best to guide the young boy through that difficult period. Other sources of support were his group of gothic friends, who were always expressing how important therapy was. An older girl, who Cicero liked at the time, seemed to have also provided him with positive feedback on starting therapy and receiving treatment. Reflection Thinking back on his experience, Cicero does not see it in a completely negative light. The worst aspect seemed to be the feeling of having an empty mind. Suddenly not recognising yourself and your thoughts were frightening. Doing well in school was also amongst his priorities, and feeling like he was disappointing himself only worsened his feelings. At the same time, however, he mentioned a positive aspect of his experience. Cicero values the opportunity to learn how it feels to have an empty mind. In his view, it is the only way to appreciate â€Å"how good it feels when you can think again†. Conclusion In conclusion, this essay attempted to portray Cicero’s experience with mental illness. His story was analysed using a narrative style framework in order to gain a deeper understanding of what this life period meant to the boy. It can be seen how such an illness has a significant impact on someone’s daily functioning and well-being. References Greenhalgh, T., Hurwitz, B. (1999). Narrative based medicine: Why study narrative?. BMJ, 318(7175), 48-50. doi:10.1136/bmj.318.7175.48 Helman, C. (1981). Disease versus illness in generl practice. Journal Of The Royal College Of General Practitioners, 31, 548=552. Wear, D., Varley, J. (2008). Rituals of verification: The role of simulation in developing and evaluating empathic communication. Patient Education And Counseling, 71(2), 153-156. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2008.01.005 Weingarten, K. (2001). Making sense of illness narratives: Braiding theory, practice and the embodied life (1st ed.). Dulwich Centre Publications. Retrieved from http://www.dulwichcentre.com.au/illness-narratives.html [1] The name of the patient has been changed in order to maintain confidentiality.