Legal Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Legal Memo - Essay Example These references were used to facilitate the research process. Relevant case law was found and applied to the case study. First an executive summary of the case was the introduction, followed by facts, issues, conclusion, analysis, and another conclusion. Legal Research and Writing Legal Memorandum Fall, 2009 Memorandum [Word Count: 1530] To: Partner From: Lawyer Date: October 24, 2009 RE: Potential Remuneration for Emotional Distress and Child Support Introduction You have asked me to prepare a memorandum analyzing the circumstances regarding the potential remuneration for emotional distress and child support paid under the guise of paternity fraud. The primary parties involved are Brad and Tanya Simpson. The main issues of this legal analysis are: 1) if emotional distress was caused to Brad, does he have any recourse to sue for damages; and 2) if, through Tort of Deceit, Brad has any recourse to incur financial gain from having paid child support in a case of what can only be described as paternity fraud. The main area of law is torts. For the purposes of this memorandum, the research methodology was limited to an analysis of the authorities you provided in conjunction with your initial request. Facts The client is Brad Simpson. He and Tanya Rogers were married in June of 1996, on Fraser Island, in Queensland. In July of 1997, Tanya gave birth to their first child, a boy named David. In November of 1998, Tanya gave birth to a second child, a daughter named Lisa. A third child, a boy named Rod, was born in February 2000. Brad was named as the father on the birth notification forms for all three children and had signed off as such when Tanya presented him with the forms. Brad and Tanya always had a tumultuous relationship. They regularly had...The main area of law is torts. The client is Brad Simpson. He and Tanya Rogers were married in June of 1996, on Fraser Island, in Queensland. In July of 1997, Tanya gave birth to their first child, a boy named David. In November of 1998, Tanya gave birth to a second child, a daughter named Lisa. A third child, a boy named Rod, was born in February 2000. Brad was named as the father on the birth notification forms for all three children and had signed off as such when Tanya presented him with the forms. Brad and Tanya always had a tumultuous relationship. They regularly had massive fights and Brad would end up spending many nights sleeping on the couch. Tanya was often distant and both seemed to struggle with raising three small children. The couple decided to separate in January 2001. The marriage was dissolved in 2008. After the separation, Tanya applied for child support payments. Brad began making these payments in respect of all three children. These payments continued for the next seven years, until 2008. In 2006, Tanya had informed Brad that she had an extra-marital affair around the time she became pregnant with the second child.

Slavery In the Chocolate Factory Essay Example for Free

Slavery In the Chocolate Factory Essay â€Å"Quality is the measure of excellence or state of being free from deficiency, defects, and significant variations, (Nader, 2009). Quality of a product can be mainly assessed from a manufacturer and a customer point of view. From a customer point of view, product quality is perspective as each individual perceives quality differently. Ultimately, product quality is the capability of the product to fulfil customer expectations as required from the users. Quality from a manufacturer’s perspective depends on company size, culture, financial resources, human resources, market pressures and company strategy. Due to the availability of a large number of products in the market, different industries have put forward different parameters that allow a product to be judged against the competition. For example, an electronic product may have quality parameters such as performance, reliability, safety and appearance that has to be met (UNIDO, 2006). Process quality Process quality targets the life cycle of a product from the beginning, design, development, roll out, updates and product support. Both product and process quality are combined together and quality control measures put in place to ensure the final outcome is of a high quality. Interaction between product quality and process quality In order to produce a quality product it requires a quality process. This involves maintaining the process operating at a level that complies with required quality criteria. When the quality of a process varies it will have a direct impact on product characteristics and hence product quality. For example, a metal producing plant has processes such as cutting, machining, bending and coating. The smoothness, hardness and thickness etc of the metal are directly impacted by the quality of the processes. Once the metal is manufactured, the customer will judge it against the product specification and make a judgement on quality. (McGraw-Hill, 2002) Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker is a company that prides itself on product quality. As a result of this it led to an increase in customer demand and an increase in market share. To maintain the high quality of the end product while meeting demand, Jim Harris and co. put in place procedures that assisted them to retain quality throughout the different stages of the production process. The following table provides a summary of the quality techniques used in the production line: Table 1 Quality Techniques in Production Line Production StageQuality assurance and quality control techniques used to maintain quality of the process Bean Cleaner†¢The precise process associated with separating the waste from beans. †¢Once cleaned, storing the beans under specific climate and humidity controls Roaster†¢Roasting different types of beans separately. †¢Human tasting Winnower†¢Precise process associated with separating cocoa beans from the shell Melangeur†¢Quality testing of the product for texture, taste and physical properties Conche†¢Quality testing of the product done through a scrape gauge to measure the level of smoothness Tempering and molding†¢Human testing for texture, snap and taste Packaging†¢Check quality after the production line General†¢Blind tasting at different stages †¢Hiring skilled operators †¢Calibration of equipment All the above processes will assist in maintaining the quality of the final product. While using third party companies with the productions process, product quality is maintained by random sampling and testing to ensure the product meets required specifications. Quality process analysis Quality control measures are put into place before and during the production process to ensure the raw materials and processes are of acceptable quality. To ensure a high quality product at each stage of the production process quality techniques can be used such as quality assurance (QA), quality control (QC) and through means of continuous process improvements. By implementing these strategies business risks with regard to quality can be managed. However, a cost benefit analysis is required to be carried out to determine if the extent of quality assurance and quality control is beneficial to the business. The final inspection of the product is used for quality assurance as well. There is a fine balance between quality and cost of any product. If the product maintains a higher than required quality and the cost is high due to this very requirement, demand will decrease. Therefore, quality should be maintained at a level where it is sustainable so that a the product can be cost effective to face a competitive market. In the case study, Harris’s team experiments with different techniques to reduce the time required to prepare the chocolate at different stages of the process of chocolate making. It is clear that with the changes in the processes of chocolate production, the final quality was sometimes so much affected that the pioneers of the factory refused to endorse the change. This proves that there is an undeniable interaction between product quality and process quality. However, the decision was made to make changes in the process only after so many trials, testing and tasting. This demonstrates that, In order to make a good quality product a series of quality processes are required. To maintain quality process a series of quality control systems are required. In a process quality control scheme the sequence of the steps is very important as some processes will be critical which would reflect largely in the quality of the final product. The following table details each process where Harris and his team have incorporated quality control schemes to minimise variation. Table 2 Harris’s Quality Control Schemes in the process Process sequenceQuality control Raw material quality controlPurchase BeansFind the farmers who grew the highest quality bean Ferment beans properly before dried and shipped to US Process quality controlBean CleanerThe precise process associated with separating the waste from beans. Once cleaned, storing the beans under specific climate and humidity controls. RoasterRoasting different types of beans separately to optimize the flavor. Operator monitor the temperature and taste the sample. WinnowerPrecise process associated with separating cocoa beans from the shell. MelangeurUse historical melangeur to perform task. Operator determined the time of completion based on look, feel, and taste. Ball MillIt provide quality benefits by decreasing the amount of flavor degradation. The resulting chocolate be tested and evaluated for quality. ConcheAeration was an important step for the quality control as bubble will created when blades moves. Quality testing of the product done through a scrape gauge to measure the level of smoothness Tempering and moldingHuman testing for level of stability, glossy surface, smooth feel in the mouth and snap. Quality control when transporting liquid chocolate to third-party molding. Finished product inspectionPackagingOwn packing in order to keep a close eye on quality. Third-party pacing as they have better equipment and quality control. Quality control at when re-melt and re-temper procedure. Check quality after the production line. Critical control points (CCp) can affect the quality of the finished product. However, not all steps in the process are considered as critical points. Specification or guidelines can assist in maintaining quality of certain products. These set regulations and standards such as to ISO 9000 and ISO 9001 that need to be complied with in a process. Transport or shipping becomes critical points because for example, the basic problem with transporting chocolate in containers is its relatively low melting point. Solar radiation and other external influences (heat sources, such as double bottom tanks, engine rooms) may cause the temperature in the container to rise considerably and exceed the melting point, so making enormous quality degradation inevitable. Process Bottlenecks. A bottleneck in project management is one process in a chain of processes, such that its limited capacity reduces the capacity of the whole chain (Wikipedia, 2012). The capacity of the production process is determined by the slowest chain task. These slow tasks are referred to as bottlenecks and they have an impact on the throughput of a manufacturing process. Bottlenecks in a manufacturing process refer to resources that requires the longest time in operation to meet demand. One of the characteristics of bottlenecks is that it makes the operating rate of the non-bottlenecks operate below 100%. Hence increasing capacity of the bottlenecks helps to reduce the time required for the entire process. However when one bottleneck is eliminated then another bottleneck is usually formed (Imaoka, 2009). The bottlenecks in the process can inhibit flow, cause inventories, and prevent throughout from matching customer demand. This chapter identified the capacity of bottlenecks throughout the process, analysed the management and improvement methods in order to make progress towards Scharffen Berger’s goal. Process flow diagram. The first step to create a process flow diagram is to define the process boundaries. The process boundaries are the entry and exit points of inputs and outputs of the process. The input of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker process is the raw chocolate bean and the output will be packaged chocolate ready to sell. Once the boundaries are defined, the process flow diagram is a valuable tool for understanding the process using graphic elements to represent tasks, flows and storage. Figure 1 is flow diagram represents Scharffen Berger Chocolate maker production process at earlier 2005: Figure 1 Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker Production Process The symbols in a process flow diagram are defined as follows: Rectangles: represent tasks. The equipment capacity, process capacity, duration and flow time are listed under each of the task. Arrows: represent flows. Flows include the flow of material and the flow of information. In this case the flow represents flow of raw bean, roasted bean, waste, Nibs, and chocolate. Triangles: represent storage (inventory). Storage bins commonly are used to represent raw material inventory, work in process inventory, and finished goods inventory. The process flow diagram linked tasks in series are performed sequentially. Tasks drawn in parallel such as two Conche machine and different packaging options are performed simultaneously. In the above diagram, raw bean is held in a storage bin at the beginning of the process. After the last task, the output also is stored in a storage warehouse. Scharffen Berger typically kept on to two monthes of inventory in stock for each of its major products. Process performance measures. In order to identify the bottlenecks in Scharffen Berger Chocolate manufacture process, the process performance measures become essential, this aspects include: Capacity – The capacity is its maximum quantity that the equipment capable to perform in once. This parameter can affect the process rate and utilisation of equipment. Process capacity – The process capacity is its maximum output rate, measured in units produced per unit of time. The capacity of a series of tasks is determined by the lowest capacity task in the string. The parallel tasks is the sum of the capacities of the two strings. Flow time – The average time that a unit requires to flow through the process from the entry point to the exit point. The flow time includes both processing time and any time the unit spend between steps. Duration – The duration is the total running time of each of the task in a week unit, it can be one shift a day, seven days a week. The inventory in the process is related to the throughput rate and throughput time: WIP Inventory = Throughput Rate x Flow Time This relation is known as Little’s Law, named after John D. C Little whos proved it mathematically in 1961 (Barton et al, 2002). The process bottleneck improvement. The process bottleneck occurred at the slowest flow rate of the series task in the process. The bottleneck can be found by comparing the process capacity. Saving time in the bottlenecks activity saves time for the entire process. Saving time in a non-bottleneck activity does not help the process since throughout rate is limited by the bottleneck. If the next slowest task is much faster than the bottleneck, then the bottleneck is having a major impact on the process capacity (Starnes, 2000). Operating hour The first bottleneck of production capacity throughout process was identified as operating hour. Before Harris manage the Scharffen Berger, in order to avoid overtime payment to employee, the business only operating one shift per day. The equipments such as Conches, Melangeurs, were not efficiently used. Harris calculated each completed conche could be worth over $30,000 in sales and industry average 40% in contribution on sales. It would be worth to pay overtime and increase productions. Conche operating The second capacity bottleneck throughout the process can be identified as conche operating hour. Scharffen Berger owned two Conches used to refine, mix and aerate the chocolate. The disadvantage of this machine is time consuming, each 1400kg bath of chocolate liquor typically spend 48 to 72 hours inside of the conche machine. Figure 2 indicate the identified bottleneck task (red colour) in the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker process in earlier 2005. Figure 2 Conche Bottleneck in Scharffen Berger Process The production rate of Conche is the slowest compare with other tasks. The total capacity for two Conche is 2800kg, and it’s requiring 40-60 hrs to finish each operation, Conche working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The capacity of the melangeur is 115kg and requires 1. 25hr to finish the job. The working duration of melangeur is 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. By applying production rate formula: By comparing the production rate, the bottleneck of the process can be identified as conche task. Two conche working 24hours a day compare with melangur only work 16 hours a day, the maximum working hour of melangur can not be reached as it constrained by slow operation of conche. In order to improve bottleneck of conche, the ball mill has been introduced as it can perform most conche tasks effectively. Instead of 40-60 hours, the ball mill can grain particles from 100 microns to 25 microns in three hours. The conche would still be needed for its aeration mixing function. The total operation time for ball mill and conche can reduce to 15 hours instead 40-60 hours. Melangeur operating After the company decided to use ball mill instead of conches, melangeur becomes the capacity bottleneck throughout the process. The capacity of the ball mill and conche is 1400kg and requires 15 hours to finish the job. The working duration of melangeur is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. By applying production rate formula: Since the production rate of melangeur only 1472 kg/day, the melangeur becomes the capacity bottleneck throughout the process. Figure 3 show the new flow chart as the ball mill introduced. The melangeur was used to grind the nibs; this released the cocoa butter and turned the dry nibs into chocolate paste. The company recently located a used melangeur that could be purchased and refurbished for $50,000. Figure 3 Melangeur Bottleneck in Scharffen Berger Process Molding process The last bottleneck affect the production capacity process could be modelling process. The larger, faster modelling equipment would be prohibitively expensive, and several third party co-packers had excess capacity and would be able to model more Scharffen Bergers chocolate. Harris thought Scharffen Berger might avoid the resulting duplication of the tempering and modelling steps by transferring the liquid chocolate directly to the co-packer. Figure 4 shows the operating process when the modelling and packaging task been given to the third party and co-packers. Figure 4 Third Party Molding and Co-Packer for Scharffen Berger Process In this stage, the process boundaries at output point will change from chocolate ready to sell to liquid chocolate. The modelling and packaging task has been withdrawn from operation process. But the challenges is transporting liquid chocolate was a very tricky, expensive and require high level of quality control with third parties. Future improvements The following lists some methods that can improve the operation process for Scharffen Berger Chocolate maker: Add additional resources to increase capacity of the bottleneck. For example, an additional Roaster or Cleaner machine can be added in parallel to increase the capacity. Reduce work-in-process inventory. Reduce the lead time such as reduce the cooling time after roasting the coffee bean. Move task away from bottleneck resources. Increase availability of bottleneck resources, for example, increasing the daily operating hour for melangeur from 16hours a day to 24 hours a day. Minimize non-value adding activities. Such as reduce transporting time, rework, waiting time, testing and inspection time. Redesign the chocolate type for better manufacturability – can improve several or all process performance measures. Quality Process For a Premium Quality Product The main aim of any organisation is to provide customer satisfaction by providing product and services. Quality of an end product requires production design based on customer feedback which not only minimises loss but also provides competitive advantages. In Scharffen Berger Chocolate maker case study Scharffen berger prioritises specific areas to achieve a high quality product . These areas are as follows Raw material- Scharffen Berger prided itself on using the highest quality beans available from countries such as Ghana, Trinidad, Jamaica, Domician Republic, Madagascar, and other countries. Scharffen Berger blended up to 9 varieties of beans to make each type of chocolate unlike other companies that used only 2 different types of beans. Steinberg and Scharffen travelled to remote regions near the equator to find farmers who grew the highest quality beans and to ensure that these farmers allowed there beans to ferment properly before shipping them. 2) Cleaning Prior to being roasted, beans were poured into a large bean cleaner machine that separated cocoa beans from objects like dust, small stones and twigs 3) Roaster To enhance the flavour all cocoa beans were roasted before they could be sent to make chocolates. Scharffen Berger roasted each kind of bean separately in order to optimise flavour. The sample was tasted by them regularly in order to check whether the roasting is complete. According to Harris, â€Å"practice of tasting† is the best methods of measurements at each stage of the chocolate production process. Once beans were roasted they were used within a few days in order to optimise flavour. 3) Conche Once the chocolates left the melaunger there were still some small nib pieces that needed to be ground further. This was done in the conche. Other premium quality products were also added in the conches which broke all the ingredients down to microscopic pieces. Experiments were also done with powdered sugar in order to reduce the time for Conching but found the taste unacceptable. 4) Tempering and moulding This process was to be done in a specific sequence with a certain degree of stirring. It was used to avoid duplication of the tempering and moulding steps by transferring the liquid steps to co-packers 5) Quality Control This was the most important step performed in order to get a premium quality product. Operators measured the quality of the product by examining its look and texture, breaking it and tasting it. At least once in 15 days, Scharffen Berger management and machine operators got together to calibrate their perceptions and standards for acceptable quality by blind testing the beans and chocolate at various stages of production. 6) Equipment Balmill : using Balmills can increase the capacity of production at least 75%. In addition, it will be extra beneficial for the products with high sugar content by decreasing the amount of flavour degradation that can occur when a premium product is over-processed and excessively manipulated. New equipment such as ball mill will assist in increasing capacity and efficiency of the process. 7) Quality Control: Operators measured the quality of chocolate by constantly examining its appearance, texture, tasting and breaking it. The quality of the product is checked at various stages to test if it is good to be sold. As a result of these quality checks the number of defects in the final product is reduced and will also lead to an overall increase in organizational performance. In addition this will also have a positive flow on effect on customer confidence and customer satisfaction of the product which will yield further increase in demand. 8) Every two months, management and machine operators calibrate their perception and standards for acceptable quality by â€Å"blind testing†. 9) Operating time: Increased conformance to legislation such as carbon emissions by reducing operating time. For example the existing conches are operated 24 hours a day and seven days a week. By replacing the conches with the new ball mill, Harris (Chief operating Officer of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker) and his team will reduces the operating time of machinery and increase the efficiency of the process. Adantages of high quality product Advantages of developing high quality products are, Increase in demand needs increased supply. Addressing the bottlenecks of the production process and improving stages of the process will assist with increasing supply. Increase in customer satisfaction and improving the business output. Using Quality Assurance techniques to check the product at various stages by tasting or testing to ensure that the final product obtained is of premium quality and meets customer expectations will lead to increase in business growth as the customer numbers will increase. Quality improvement is a planed managerial activity. It involves identifying potential improvements, prioritized potential areas of improvement and planning and the implementation of projects and improvements’, (Foster, 2010). Scharffen Berger prioritized potential areas of improvement. Then these improvements were planned and implemented in several stages in order to achieve a premium quality product. Every year, more than 30,000 people toured the factory and many of these visitors bought the products during these tours. By demonstrating how good the quality of the processes was, Scharffen Berger won the confidence of his clients. Moreover, quality processes can be used to manage risks in the production line. As a result quality processes can be used as a risk mitigation strategy by business. In the case of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker, the types of risks that can be minimized by quality processes are quality of raw material, appearance, texture, snapping and tasting. In addition to risk management, customers in general are willing to pay an additional amount of money for a premium quality product. Hence there is a niche market for these chocolates. In order to satisfy customers in this market the business needs to follow high quality process development techniques and produce an end product that will satisfy their high expectations. Innovation leads to high quality process development in the long term and an increase in system efficiency. Hence overtime this will result in competitive advantages over the other products and a greater market share in the industry. Another benefit of high quality process development is that it will lead to standardization or bench marking. Benefits of standardization includes for instance, increase in cost effectiveness (e.g. decrease in manufacturing cost), improve negotiating power with third party companies, simplify support and training, simplify purchase of raw materials, procurement, upgrade and disposal of plant materials and economies of scale in manufacturing, training and testing. High quality process development will also minimise the failure costs of the product, both internal and external. Reasons for using a high quality process The aim of Scharffen Berger chocolate maker is to produce premium chocolates. In order to produce premium chocolates Harris and his team requires high quality process development. Some of the reasons for using a high quality process development are as follows: Another benefit of maintaining supply to future demand is the perceived quality of the product by the customers will improve due to an increase in customer satisfaction. It also improves aesthetics of the Scharffen Berger Chocolates such as taste. Increases reliability of the production line with automation for example the use of the ball mill. It gives the company the opportunity for continuous improvement. For example Harris and his team carried out many investigations to reduce bottlenecks and to increase capacity of the existing production line. As an outcome of their investigation they decided to incorporate a new ball mill. Quality management is incorporated into the production line to ensure consistency of the quality of the product is maintained. This can be reflected in the case study by Harris and his team employing a skilled workforce. Quality assurance is maintained throughout the production line to ensure the high quality of the end product. For example Harris and his team undertook extensive testing and tasting of the product at various stages of production. This report aims to explain the issues underlining the Cocoa industry mainly in South Africa. It relates to child trafficking and the actions that corporations such as Nestles and Mars are taking in order to tackle this issue. Lastly it will conclude the actions one can take as a manager in order to resolve these issues using different theories and approaches. Child Trafficking Child Trafficking is in direct violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948-2008 which states that all humans have a choice to work to just and favourable conditions of work. It also states that everyone should be paid fairly and equal to their work. Lastly it states that everyone has the right to rest and limitation on working hours. Children in South Africa. India and other countries in general arent given any of these things. It is the duty of the people high in power to enforce these rights onto their people by putting strict restrictions which can lead to punishments if broken. Dealing with an issue on a large scale is difficult as it is extremely difficult to keep an eye on such small areas of an operation. Due to the high number of production and harvesting it is easy for companies such as SAF-CACAO to keep their secrets hidden from their buyers e.g. Nestle. However Chocolate manufacturers arent bothered by these issues as their main objective is to maximise profits. Due to the high volume of Coco they buy even a small percentage of increase in price per kg of coco can lead to a huge rise in costs in production. Nestle signed an agreement to end child labour in 2001 however they have failed in this because they didnt carry out checks on their suppliers in South Africa. Reports show that 1. 8 Million children are currently in danger of being used as slaves (Humphrey Hawksley, 2012). Companies such as Nestle and Mars can still deal with this issue by boycotting SAF-CACAO and other companies using child labour because this can reduce their profits and pressuring them into bankruptcy. â€Å"The world must shift the focus of trade from being driven solely by profits to serve people-cantered development† (Yash Tandon Executive Director of South Centre). If Nestle stops buying from unfair suppliers then this in return promote a better image of their business which will likely to increase their sales and customers will be more happy with Nestles actions. According to McGregor’s theories X Y SAF-CACAO is currently following the Authoritarian Management Style . This is because they are irresponsible and dont take into account the views of their workers and the conditions they are living through. Cultural differences are also playing a major role in this because South Africa is mainly collectivist based and due to this children are trafficked into slavery and even though this is bad they dont really have a choice because if they return to their parents they will probably be punished for not bringing them any money. Due to the lack of education in areas around ivory coast there is a misunderstanding and unethical views on the age at which a child should work. Parents expect children to work and pay their families regardless of their capabilities and the dangers of them being kidnapped. Dealing with these issues wouldnt be possible unless us as customers boycott Nestle and other firms that are buying chocolates from unethical companies. Buying Fair-Trade products is an alternative which we can all resort to even though it is more expensive it is at least ethical. There are many other firms that promote anti-child trafficking such as Freedom Matters , Anti-Slavery. These influence people to replace their normal purchases with fair-trade products. However there is no strict action that anyone can take to stop child trafficking. As a manager of a firm that uses suppliers in Africa it would be wise to set main priority to fight child trafficking, first step would be to enforce the Human rights law in all the companies operations in order to make sure all the operations within the business as well as the businesses that the firm is dealing with all are following this law. Secondly monitoring the origin of cocoa will be carried out to check exactly where it is made and whether the farms are using children to harvest the crops. If this is the case then social services and the police will be notified. Another way to deal with this issue will be to reward suppliers who operate ethically by offering them higher prices for their cocoa. These suppliers can also be monitored on a monthly basis to check if they are working under the human rights act. In majority of growing countries it is very easy to buy someone by offering them a lot of money to do something bad. Due to this it will only be wise for someone high in power to carry out checks on a businesss production because they will likely to be the only people that will give truthful information. Bibliography FairTrade. (2013). What is Fairtrade?. Available: http://www. fairtrade. org. uk/what_is_fairtrade/default. aspx. Last accessed 1st December 2013. Foodispower. (2013). Slavery in the Chocolate Industr. Available: http://www. foodispower.org/slavery-in-the-chocolate-industry/. Last accessed 1st December 2013. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (1945). Preamble. Available: http://www. un. org/en/documents/udhr/. Last accessed 1st December 2013. Douglas Mcgregor. (1960). Douglas Mcgregor Theory X,Y. Available: http://www. businessballs. com/mcgregor. htm. Last accessed 1st December 2013. Humphrey Hawksley. (2012). Nestle failing on child labour abuse, says FLA report. Available: http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/world-africa-18644870. Last accessed 1st December 2013.

The Role of Art in My Life Essays -- Personal Narrative

The Role of Art in My Life The arts have influenced my life in amazing ways. Throughout my life, art has been the place I run to and my escape from the world. As I’ve grown older, art has become so much more than that. Every piece of art I create is a journey into my soul. It’s a priceless way to deal with my emotions and my struggles. I create art not only because I enjoy it and because I want to, but because I have to. Somewhere deep inside there is a driving force, urging me to put my heart down on paper. I become emotionally attached to each of my pieces because they are like dashes on the wall marking my growth. Each one is the solution to a problem I have dealt with and overcome. The summer before my senior year, I participated in Ringling School of Art and Design’s Pre Coll...

Beefmasters

Good morning! I hope all of you are doing well today! My name is Ethan Saye; I’m from Pilot Point Texas which is North of Dallas, this year I will to be in 9th grade at Aubrey High School. I’m a member of the Aubrey FFA and a proud member of the JBBA. This morning I will be speaking on My Favorite of the Six Essentials that Tom Lasater insisted on being the requirements concerning the Beefmaster cattle.Although I like the Beefmaster Breed for their Fertility, Weight, Milking Ability, Conformation, and Disposition, my favorite of the six essentials is the hardiness of this breed. Allow me tell you why I like this ability: for one reason they adapt easily to just about all climates including extremely hot and cold weather, they also do well in dry and wet climates.They adapt so easily they are found in the US, Mexico, Both Central America and South America, Australia and Africa as well. There are not a lot of breeds that can be so adaptable to so many types of climates. T his means that the Beefmaster breed can be raised globally. It also means as the world climate changes due to global warming the Beefmaster will be able to adapt easily and do a good job for their purpose, whether it is for milking, for meat, breeding, showing or just enjoying a good bull ride.The Beefmaster breed will survive and strive for many years to come and any beefmaster rancher would proud to say he owns a herd. Even though beefmasters will strive this does not mean that all other life will. With saying that I hope I have convinced you that we the people need to have a part with lowering pollution. I will one day on my own herd, because of the hardiness of the beefmaster breed, so that I may be able to carry on this wonderful breed and be able to prosper as well.

“Adrienne Rich’s poem: Living In Sin” Analysis Essay

Adrienne Rich’s poem Living In Sin is a free verse poem about a woman’s fairy tale dream of marriage versus the reality of the sin of not loving each other. The subject of the poem is a woman starting a life of hope and happiness in a perfect relationship only to learn the true reality of the relationship. The speaker of the poem observes the woman’s life as sad and boring using the past tense versus the present, and short run on lines that set the hopeless mood of the poem. Imagery and colorful language is also used to describe the unhappy relationship throughout the poem. Living In Sin shows a woman’s life without rhyme in four meaningful images and as the tone changes she sees the relationship/marriage she expected and the relationship as it actually is. To begin with the speaker uses run-on lines, past tense and tone to illustrate the first image. â€Å"She had thought the studio would keep itself†¦Ã¢â‚¬  shows that in the beginning of the relationship she pictured a fairy tale marriage like Cinderella. There would be no chores, no dusting, everything would be a perfect marriage. The use of past tense means she is thinking of what is not. The lines are also short and choppy making everything sound hopeless. The next line, Half heresy†¦ the speaker comes back to the present tense of the leaky faucet, noise and dirty windows. The mood then shifts again and she paints a pretty picture of her home with fruit and happiness on the table, a piano with an expensive shawl, and a cat as a nice pet. The short, choppy run on lines makes the woman’s life appear hopeless and tired of doing this day after day. The next image the speaker speaks about is the dinner from the night before. By using the past tense again, Not that at five†¦. shows the image of a romantic dinner that never was. The poem looses this imagery with the sound of the milkman waking her up as the cold morning dawns only to ruin her fantasy dream of the frustration of cleaning up from the night before. The use of language to describe last night’s cheese is a metaphor to show how sour their relationship really is. The speaker also uses three sepulchral bottles, sepulchral meaning burial or tomb, as a metaphor or image of the bottles lined up as dead soldiers from the night before of drinking and partying. The woman feels as if she too has died inside and is living in a  tomb. The bug, a pair of beetle-eyes would fix her own–, is another example of an image of what the woman doesn’t expect from life as she writhe under the milkman’s tramp†¦personifies her bending in pain. Finally the man in her life is introduced. Again run on, choppy lines are used to describe him in only four lines shows he is not in her life very often and she is frustrated and angry at him. He is described as yawning which shows that he is ignoring her and just goes on with his on self absorbed life. He then plays the piano which is out of tune like their relationship is in need of help. Next he shrugs at the mirror and leaves for a cigarette suggests he doesn’t care about her. Then the reality, using past to present, as the woman realizes by the minor demons, her inner thoughts of the fantasy versus the reality of the house work he left behind for her to do. The woman goes back to making the house look perfect on the outside to keep up the idea of a fairy tale life that she once thought she might have. The image of the coffee-pot boil over on the stove shows that even though she is going on like nothing is wrong, inside she is boiling. Comparative imagery is used to show life then and now in the the pears are now last night’s cheese, the cat is now a beetle-eye bug, a piano with a Persian shawl is now an out of tune keyboard, and no dust upon the furniture of love is now a dusty table-top. The illusion of a fantasy and now the reality of her life. The final image ends with By evening she was back in love again, shows the fantasy versus the reality of waking to feel the daylight coming when she can start all over again. Like a relentless milkman up the stairs, she has to wake up and do the same thing day after day like the milkman waking up and starting all over again to deliver the milk. The woman goes back to her job that life will get better and someday will have a fairy tale ending, but until then she has to live in her tomb of a relationship, hence, living in sin of not being happy with what she has. Adrienne Rich’s poem does an interesting job of describing the miserable life of a woman looking for love. She uses colorful language and imagery to show the dark, unhappy life of this woman. There is a lot of emotion and feelings  throughout the poem. The words like, grime, writhe, coldly, sepulchral, beetle-eyes, jeered, and demons all give a feeling of the sadness that this woman feels every day. The poem is easy to read and feel the loneliness this woman has in four, choppy run on images. In conclusion, Living in Sin paints a picture of a woman finally realizing that her marriage is not a fairy tale ending. Through imagery, run on lines, and tone the sin is in the guilt from not living in the present and not being in love with her husband, who’s not in love. This was an interesting poem on the sin of not loving each other and accepting each other for who they are.

Biography of Emily Bronte Essays

Biography of Emily Bronte Essays Biography of Emily Bronte Paper Biography of Emily Bronte Paper Emily Bronte was born in Thornton on July 30, 1818 and later moved with her family to Haworth, an isolated village on the moors. Her mother, Maria Branwell, died when she was only three years old, leaving Emily and her five siblings, Maria, Elizabeth, and Charlotte, Anne, and Branwell to the care of the dead woman’s sister. Emily, Maria, Elizabeth, and Charlotte were sent to Cowan, a boarding school, in 1824. The next year while at school Maria and Elizabeth came home to die of tuberculosis, and the other two sisters were also sent home. Both spent the next six years at home, where they picked up what education they could. In 1835, Charlotte became a teacher at the school at Roe Head and Emily joined her as a student. After three months Charlotte sent her home again, afraid that Emily was extremely homesick from her beloved moors. For a short time in 1837 Emily moved to Halifax in order to teach at the Law Hill School. She returned to Haworth when her health again began to fail. After this agonizing experience, Emily remained at home for five years. During this period, she wrote poetry and short stories to fill her time. In 1842, she attended school in Brussels with her sister Charlotte. There they studied music and foreign language. Emily also wrote her French essays at this time. Charlotte and Emily were described as â€Å"literary geniuses. † All the family was reunited at home, in 1845. In the course of time, the Brontes gave up hope for a school of their own. Branwell, working on a novel, told his sisters of the profitable possibilities of novel writing. In the autumn of 1845 Charlotte discovered Emily’s poems and convinced her sister to collaborate on a volume of poems. One year later, the volume was titled Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Action Bell and was published. The first venture into publishing was a failure. By July, Wuthering Heights was finished, along with Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. All three were seeking a publisher and finally had their novels published in late 1847. Initially, the results of Wuthering Heights were poor, selling few copies. In 1848, Branwell died. Emily left home for the last time to attend his funeral service, and caught a severe cold which developed into inflammation of the lungs. At the age of thirty, Emily Bronte died of tuberculosis and never knew the great success of her only novel. Throughout her life time, Emily lived a solitary lifestyle in the confines of the storm-scarred moors of Yorkshire. It is in this isolation that she found the inspiration and strength of emotion to write such powerful poetry, and perhaps Wuthering Heights. Emily Bronte’s strength of will and creativity can not be forgotten.

Is It Ethically Correct to Hide Medication in Food and Drinks of Patients with Dementia Essays

Is It Ethically Correct to Hide Medication in Food and Drinks of Patients with Dementia Essays Is It Ethically Correct to Hide Medication in Food and Drinks of Patients with Dementia Essay Is It Ethically Correct to Hide Medication in Food and Drinks of Patients with Dementia Essay It is known that in some residential homes the use of covert drugs has become common practice. In 2001 the regulatory body, the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery, said drugs could be given covertly if it was in the patients best interests. This statement has created a lot of debate among some human right defenders as they might enter in direct conflict to the Code of Conduct of Nursing and Midwifery where clearly states nurses must â€Å"Ensure to gain consent before beginning any treatment or care. (Code of Practice, Mental Health Act 1983) This has generated some ethical issues around this topic. The term ‘covert medication’ means to give medication secretly hidden in food or beverages, without consent from patients. For some this practice seems far less intrusive than administering injectable medication by physically restraining a person who does not want to be medicated. It will be undetected by the person receiving the me dication.According to the Alzheimers Society there are approximately half a million people living with dementia in England. Dementia is not a specific disease. Dementia is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain that affects multiple brain functions to the point that affect daily life activities (driving, shopping, balancing a checkbook, working, etc. ) and relationships. While dementia often includes memory loss, memory loss by itself does not mean that a person has dementia. http://memory. ucsf. edu/Education/general. html, 12-02-09) A number of different disorders can cause dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common in older adults. Some people with the disease can develop aggression and have violent verbalisations, their behaviour can become more and more abnormal, making it difficult for the care professionals to deliver the quality of care as to follow the treatment they need.Residential homes are full of cases of people living with different conditions: Hypertension, arthritis, osteoarthritis, diabetes, heart disease etc. Medication needs to be given in a daily basis. The problem strives when patients are unable to take a decision due to some form of mental illness like dementia. Establishing any racional conversation it is not possible and some of them would not know where they are or who they are. Their condition makes them feel frustrated very easily, specially if they are not taking the prescribed medication.They can become dangerous for themselves as they might try to attempt self harm, attack the nurses or attack other residents. Even if the situation does not develop in physical agression, people with dementia could shout, scream unpleasant words to people around them, making the environment unbearable not only for them but also for others. These cases are very common in many institutions and it seems like a burden for the nurses whom in some cases are seen more like babysitters.Alison Norman president of United Kingdom Cent ral Consul has said publishing guidelines was important, as it would bring the â€Å"complex issue out† into the open and thus reassure both patients and medical staff. BBC news 05-09-2001. These guidelines has been made to assist the registered nurses to come into terms to a decision as to whether to administer the medicines under certain circumstances or not. They have been told to treat each patient as an individual case and to follow this practice as the last resource, it should not become part of a daily routine with all patients.Professional carers of patients with dementia has found this a justified way to approach patients who are not capable of consenting to treatment and it is intended to ensure that individuals refusing treatment as a result of their illness will have access to effective medical treatment. This issue has provoked widespread concern. It involves the fundamental principles of patient and client autonomy and consent to treatment, which are set out in common law and statute and underpinned by the Human Rights Act 1998.Human rights defenders like Aberdonian Hunter Watson have stated the practice of â€Å"covert medication contravenes patient’s human rights†. He began raising questions after his mother was sedated without her consent at a nursing home in the city, â€Å"It’s very, very convenient for staff at care homes to conceal drugs in the food and drink of residents, not for therapeutic problems but to make the residents easier to manage. † (http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/scotland/7023097. stm, 13-02-2009) Mr Watson is known for campaigning about â€Å"covert medication† in care homes.In residential settings, tranquillising medication might be seen as a cheap means of managing inadequate staffing levels as well as to ensure a quiet shift, but for those who are in favour of this approach argue that it is an essential and least restrictive means of managing unpredictable, violent outbursts again st staff and fellow patients. Some might question this practice, who has the right to force someone to take a drug without her or his knowledge? , Do we know whether a patient is refusing treatment or is mentally unable to make that decision for themselves?And could the guidelines encourage busy or less scrupulous nurses to take the quick way out? Treatment administered in food or drink should never be given to patients who are clearly refusing to accept treatment and have capacity to consent according to Mental Health Act 1983 whereas treatment for those who lack capacity may be prescribed in their best interests under the common law doctrine of necessity, and thus necessary to save life or prevent deterioration or ensure an improvement in the patient’s physical or mental health (Department of Health Welsh Office, 1999).For some people these new guidelines enter in direct conflict to the Code of Conduct of Nursing and Midwifery 2008 where clearly states nurses must :  "Ensure to gain consent before beginning any treatment or care. † â€Å"Respect and support people’s rights to accept or decline treatment and care. † There are not easy answers in a overburden healthcare system where work load and time pressure put staff on the constant strain. The new guidelines aim to protect patients and their families from unethical practices and a more realistic solution to help healthcare professionals to safely care for atients who refuse to take their medicines. Whether in hospital or in residential care homes vulnerable patient specially the elderly have been missing out on vital care because they are confused. All adults have the right to refuse treatment but when a patient is mentally ill and unable to understand, medical staff needs some way of legitimately helping them. When the patients condition deteriorates it is not only sedatives that are given this way.A diabetic patient or a patient with a heart condition who also has dementi a may refuse to take any medication and their conditions will deteriorate. A patient with severe major depression by taking camouflaged drugs could prevent him from undergoing to an electro convulsive therapy which could potentially put his life in danger. United Kingdom Psychiatric Pharmacy Group has stated that the pharmacy department should be consulted about what way the medication will be administered to the patients whether in food or drink. ukppg. org. k/tablets-in-food. html (accessed 20-02-2009) The decision to covert medication in food or drinks means that it will have to be in the patient best interest and it wont be an isolated decision, Other people views will also be taken into account; anyone previously named by the patient as someone to be consulted, anyone engaged in caring for the person, close relatives, friends or others who take an interest in the person’s welfare, as well for the multidisciplinary health care team, but where doubt exists a second medica l opinion will be sought.Whichever way they played it could be deemed as not acting in the best interest of the patient if they do give the covert medication in food could be seen as innappropiate and if they do not give the medication in disguise it could also be seem as innappropiate and not acting in their best interest of the patient, but medication is essential if a patient has been prescribed with some medicine and its unable to make a decision he stills needs to take it.Camouflaging medicines is arguably a kind way of giving them to distressed elderly patients.Referencehttp://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/scotland/7023097. stm.http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/health/1525381. stm

How Early Presidential Candidates Begin Campaigning

How Early Presidential Candidates Begin Campaigning Presidential elections are held every four years, but campaigning for the most powerful position in the free world never really ends. Politicians who aspire to the White House begin building alliances, seeking endorsements and raising money years before they announce their intentions. The never-ending campaign is a modern phenomenon.  The  all-important role money now plays in influencing elections  has forced members of  Congress  and even  the president to begin tapping donors and holding fundraisers even before theyre sworn into office. Once upon a time not terribly long ago, federal politicians more or less kept their campaigning to election years. They reserved their energies in odd-numbered, non-election years for legislating and governing. No longer, writes The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative reporting organization in Washington, D.C. While much of the work of running for president happens  behind the scenes, there is a moment when every candidate must step forward in a public setting and make an official declaration that they are seeking the presidency. This is when the race for president begins in earnest. So when does that happen?   The Presidential Race Begins the Year Before the Election In the four most recent presidential races  in which there was no incumbent, the nominees  launched their campaigns an average of 531 days before the election took place. Thats about one year and seven months before the presidential election. That means presidential campaigns typically begin in the spring of the year before the presidential election. Presidential candidates select running mates much later in the campaign. Heres a look at how early the race for president has begun in modern history. 2016 Presidential Campaign The 2016 presidential election  was  held on Nov. 8, 2016.  There was no incumbent because President Barack Obama was finishing his second and final term.   The eventual Republican nominee and president,  reality-television star and billionaire real-estate developer Donald Trump, announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015  -   513 days or one year and nearly five months before the election. Democrat Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. senator who served as secretary of the Department of State under Obama, announced her presidential campaign on April 12, 2015  - 577 days or one year and seven months before the election. 2008 Presidential Campaign The 2008 presidential election was held on Nov. 4, 2008. There was no incumbent because President George W. Bush was serving his second and final term. Democrat Obama, the eventual victor,  announced he was seeking his partys nomination for the presidency on Feb. 10, 2007  -   633  days or one year, 8 months and 25 days  before the election. Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain announced his intentions to seek his partys presidential nomination on April 25 of 2007  -   559 days or one year, six months and 10 days  before the election. 2000 Presidential Campaign The 2000 presidential election was held on Nov. 7, 2000. There was no incumbent because President Bill Clinton was serving his second and final term. Republican George W. Bush, the eventual winner, announced he was seeking his partys presidential nomination on June 12, 1999  - 514 days or one  year, four months and 26 days before the election. Democrat Al Gore, the vice president, announced he was seeking the partys nomination for the presidency on June 16, 1999  -   501 days or one year, four months and 22 days before the election. 1988Presidential Campaign The 1988  presidential election was held on Nov. 8, 1988. There was no incumbent because President Ronald Reagan was serving his second and final term. Republican George H.W. Bush, who was vice president at the time, announced he was seeking the partys presidential nomination on Oct. 13, 1987  -   392 days or one year and 26 days before the election. Democrat Michael Dukakis announced he was seeking his partys presidential nomination on April 29, 1987  -   559 days or one year, six months and 10 days before the election.

Health and social care for leadership and management Essay

Health and social care for leadership and management - Essay Example An extensive review of the literature on management and leadership of health and social care confirms that effective leadership and management is essential for health and social care provision. Both the management and leadership ensure higher quality, consistent safety, and streamlined efficiency. Effective leadership is essential for driving health and social care delivery. The care manager needs to have the ability to exercise the leadership skills that required in their job role for effective and efficient management of care. The health and social care provision success or failure depends upon the leaders. All care professionals are considered to play an important part in leading in some certain aspects of care. The National Health Services UK The UK National Health Services was established in 1948 in the aftermath of the Second World War. During this time, healthcare was a luxury, and not everyone could afford it. However, it was based on the principles that everyone was eligible for care. Since then, NHS has undergone a lot of changes and transformations. The National Health Service delivers healthcare to a total population of over 62 million people in the United Kingdom. According to Gopee & Galloway, NHS’s total expenditure amounted to  £106 billion out of the total public expenditure of approximately  £700 billion for the UK. Therefore, the total expenditure on healthcare accounts for 16 percent of the total annual expenditure for the United Kingdom. NHS plays a key role in providing leadership in the health.   ... Despite this desirability, the theory faces criticism from C.L. Graeff, who claims that there is conceptual ambiguity that limits the practical application of the theory’s prescriptive model. One such problem is the situational leadership theorist’s argument that a motivated person without ability is less mature than an unmotivated person with ability is, against which a number of logical arguments could be made (Graeff, 1983, p. 287). Situational leadership, which attempts to impose categorical classifications onto people and groups, often fails in empirical support as well. Task-relevant maturity suffers from conceptual ambiguity and thus offers little help in a real-life approach to solving management and leadership problems (Graeff, 1983, p. 290). Escaping the kinds of theoretical problems with situation leadership, some theorists prefer to discuss a notion of â€Å"transformational leadership.† Transformational, in this case, refers to the idea that leadersh ip should inspire and cause change in individuals as well as institutions. This notion of transformation first arose in 1978 with the writings of James MacGregor Burns, who defined the concept as â€Å"a relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation that converts followers into leaders and may convert leaders into moral agents† (Wren, 1995, p. 102). Defined in another way, transformation means not only instilling a new idea and motivation in one’s followers, but to empower them to become leaders (and proselytizers) themselves. In addition, leaders are turned into â€Å"moral agents,† by which Burns means they advance from one stage of development to another, fulfilling their higher human needs for esteem and

The Depression of the 1930s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Depression of the 1930s - Essay Example The proposals of NBS was for the largest ever tax increase, distend tariffs, massive welfare economics of public works projects, controlling of wages and prices and hiking bank reserve requirement. This lead to worse economic problems for the country than was expected. The economic depression of the 1930s was due to the emergence of managerial capitalism and the mass consumption. The Americans thought that the recession was caused by a myriad of issues among them ;the crash of the stock market, failure of the banks, reduction in the purchasing across the block ,the American economic policy with Europe which had direct constraints to their well being in economic matters and the drought conditions in the Mississippi The Sherman Antitrust act and other Antitrust laws The antitrust law faced a lot of backlash especially for the big businesses leading to the continuing of the monopolistic and oligopolistic characteristics of the big businesses. The antitrust laws did not spell out the cle ar business conducts and stipulate the regulations of the businesses. The antitrust laws allowed for the formation of mergers of the co operations into single and multinational entities which developed and became great entities in the 21st century creating great stumbles to other players in the sector of the related businesses globally. Despite the antitrust laws there were numerous mergers in 1899 and the 1901 .This lead to great effects into the future of big businesses in the USA in the later centuries. The antitrust laws lead to the creation and the development of organizational management and management capitalism to deal with the running and managing of large businesses and cooperation coming as a result of the formation of big business mergers. The question of whether the antitrust laws were a failure or not has left a lot of debate on the issue whether it was a failure or not. Most of the players in the market and within the economy believe that it was never a failure. Polit ical, business and economic historians believe that it was not a failure. The laws did not fail in achieving their intended purposes in the regulation of the market and the economy of the USA. The antitrust laws however increased and enhanced the degree at which companies became concentrated and became more monopolistic and oligopolistic hence affecting the rate of equity and fairness in the running of big businesses within the economy of the state. From this law the people of America learnt to live in an environment of big businesses and imperfect completion within the market set up in their economy. Emergence of Managerial capitalism and the Visible hand of the Market The development of the management as explained by Chandler meant that the management had shifted from that which was organized and decentralized to individuals to an approach that is centralized and one which is centralized to few individuals in an organization with numerous managerial and decision making structures. The management is thus taken into the hands of accountants and managers which are answerable to the shareholders and their specific interests. The managements of the GM adopted a vertical and horizontal integration approach in the running of the organization in the early years without much planned and prepared strategies as a way out of the economic constraints

Employment Law Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Employment Law Assessment - Essay Example In this analysis, steps that BSG Company can take to prevent legal action from Tony against the company because of the events that occurred have been recommended. This case involves HR issues, as well as, legal issues. First, it should be noted that both employers and employees have a shared responsibility to ensure that everything is alright in working practices and working conditions, as well as, other areas of working life. These areas include grievances, health and safety at the workplace. Employers owe a legal duty of care to their employees (Gennard & Judge, 2005, p, 378). It is expressive that Tony has an injury to mental health because he has not been reporting to work for four weeks due to stress associated with the ridicule he has been going through at work, after he was nicknamed the ‘BSG Smurf†. Therefore, the legal issue in relation to this situation is that BSG Limited has failed to fulfil its duty, as an employer, of ensuring health and safety at the workpl ace for Tony, as one of the company’s employees. Instead, Tony has been subjected to harassment from fellow employees, and the company has not taken any reasonable steps to stop this behaviour, in spite of the fact that this has been going on for a period of four weeks. It is imperative to note that harassment is prohibited both in criminal and civil law (Groenendijk, Guild, & Minderhoud, 2003, p, 181). Employers should guarantee a healthy and safe working environment for their employees is healthy and safe, as outlined in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (ACAS, 2012, p, 3). Therefore, employers should ensure that there is a code of practice enforcing discipline, which employees should follow. The BSG HR has failed to ensure that discipline is observed by all employees to prevent unacceptable behaviour towards other employees, which may cause harm. As a result of Mickey’s behaviour and other employees at the Guildford BSG garage, Tony is suffering from stress. Fu rthermore, according to the Law of Tort, individuals have a duty not to act in ways that may cause physical or mental harm to others. Tort of Negligence in employment law requires or places a duty on employers to ensure the safety of employees (Mothersole & Ridley, 1999, p, 512). According to Gennard & Judge (2005, p, 378), stress levels that are allowed in the place of work is not regulated or controlled by specific statute. As a result, general doctrines that apply in addressing personal injury claims are used to address issues of work related stress. In law, mental health injury such as stress is treated just like physical health injury (Gennard & Judge, 2005, p, 378). Employers are generally responsible in the law for the acts of their employees, unless the employers can show that they took reasonably practical steps to prevent the employee carrying out the harassment from doing so (Davies, 2010, p, 68). It a high test for employers to show that indeed they took steps, which wer e practically reasonable to stop harassment. Employers are responsible for the unacceptable, harassment activities of their employees, if the victim proves that there was a course of two or more occasions of harassment that caused harm, and the perpetrator must have known or ought to have known the conduct amounted to harassment, as per the provisions of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (Davies, 2010, p,

Complete Research Paper Drafts and Peer Reviews Essay

Complete Research Paper Drafts and Peer Reviews - Essay Example Consequently, paper examines both the positive and negative impacts of the internet on the publishing industry. In evaluation, the positive and negative impacts of the internet on the publishing industry will guide policy and point on to major features that need to be improved on. Further, the examination of the trend in the industry that is caused by the internet will help in predicting the future changes that may be experienced in the industry. Moreover, this research will enable researchers in the future to identify potential areas of industry that can be researched on. The internet has improved the publishing industry by enabling books to be printed on deman, online marketing that reaches more readers and perhaps, the e-book which has significantly lowered book transport costs. This research looked at the carious reources that have been written relative to the study. A research by Kennedy (2009) provides information on the effects of using this criterion of electronic publishing. It is much useful in that it gives detailed information on the future of publishers and librarians who are applying the idea of electronic publishing. Kennedy predicts that the internet will ultimately change the various positions held by different players in the industry and that some will have to be eliminated or fit themselves in the expanded market. Contrary, Otuoma (2002) predicts that the future market for the publishing industry though expanded will need fewer players to supply it hence many players will not find space in the industry but will be eliminated. This research by Otuoma has been of much help in this research as it focuses on the landscape of the technology basically the content production. Importantly, it is useful for this research since it brings out the distribution of the technology in different nations as the publishers work more hard so that they can fit in this

Dealing with academic challenge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Dealing with academic challenge - Essay Example The students feel that their peer of the dominant culture has greater experience in all or most things. Consequently, the fresh students may be reluctant to communicate their contrary opinions and may be influenced in accepting offered opinions by the other students, supervisors, or tutors. Self-concept into autonomy (Carr, 2013) is however a solution to this problem and requires input from different stakeholders such as the freshman international students, their classmates, their teachers, and their parents and family. Even though discussing the concept from a more specific perspective, Conradi (2014) explains the role of self-concept in motivation. The belief in oneself is likely to help a student confront divergent views for a better understanding of course concepts. Even when in doubt, a foreign and freshman student is able to overcome cultural limitations such as language barrier and to express opinions on learnt concepts for correcting wrong opinions from others and for facilit ating correction of personal opinions that may be wrong. Consequently foreign and freshman students should receive necessary support for developing positive self-concept towards active participation in class discussion and assertiveness in arguments for learning purposes. Teachers play an important role in creating a favorable environment for self-concept through mediation. Motivation from parents and support from peer are other factors to the role of self-concept in facilitating confidence in expressions and autonomy in learning. Interpersonal relationships with fellow students from either the dominant culture or those with experience in the culture as well as relationships with academic professionals are another solution to challenges that freshman international students face. Such associations are likely to expose a new student to academic challenges and possible solutions and therefore aid

Complete Research Paper Drafts and Peer Reviews Essay

Complete Research Paper Drafts and Peer Reviews - Essay Example Consequently, paper examines both the positive and negative impacts of the internet on the publishing industry. In evaluation, the positive and negative impacts of the internet on the publishing industry will guide policy and point on to major features that need to be improved on. Further, the examination of the trend in the industry that is caused by the internet will help in predicting the future changes that may be experienced in the industry. Moreover, this research will enable researchers in the future to identify potential areas of industry that can be researched on. The internet has improved the publishing industry by enabling books to be printed on deman, online marketing that reaches more readers and perhaps, the e-book which has significantly lowered book transport costs. This research looked at the carious reources that have been written relative to the study. A research by Kennedy (2009) provides information on the effects of using this criterion of electronic publishing. It is much useful in that it gives detailed information on the future of publishers and librarians who are applying the idea of electronic publishing. Kennedy predicts that the internet will ultimately change the various positions held by different players in the industry and that some will have to be eliminated or fit themselves in the expanded market. Contrary, Otuoma (2002) predicts that the future market for the publishing industry though expanded will need fewer players to supply it hence many players will not find space in the industry but will be eliminated. This research by Otuoma has been of much help in this research as it focuses on the landscape of the technology basically the content production. Importantly, it is useful for this research since it brings out the distribution of the technology in different nations as the publishers work more hard so that they can fit in this

Examination of Bacterial Infections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Examination of Bacterial Infections - Essay Example The essay "Examination of Bacterial Infections" talks about a keen examination of bacterial infections and elements necessary to spread an infection. It provides facts concerning the conditions necessary to spread an infection, the nature of a potential host and the modes of pathogen transmission. A susceptible host is the one who has little resistance against a certain organism, therefore, when exposed to it, he or she is likely to contract a disease. A potential host can be made susceptible by factors such as; age, immunity or physical conditions. Certain bacteria have a natural affinity for persons of certain age groups. The very young and the very old persons are generally more susceptible to diseases compared to the older children and young adults. Low immunity can make a potential host susceptible to an infection. For instance, persons who have never been exposed to an infectious organism might not develop acquired natural immunity against it hence being more susceptible compar ed to the ones who have been exposed to it before. Nevertheless, physical conditions such as exposure to elements, malnutrition, and extreme fatigue can weaken the resistance to pathogenic invasions hence making the host susceptible. There are three primary modes of pathogen transmission that include vehicle, vector, and contact transmission. Vehicle transmission is whereby an object carries the disease-causing microorganism to the host. Vector transmission involves organisms such as insects that transmit the pathogens to the hosts.

They Carried the Truth Essay Example for Free

They Carried the Truth Essay Tim O’Brien uses a unique narrative style as he, the narrator, details the lives of the men from his platoon in the Things They Carried.   It is more about the men (and what happens to their minds) who fought the Vietnam war than the war itself, and even though O’Brien admits that the stories are not true, they certainly could be. The novel is about the lives of the men in Jimmy Cross’ platoon during the Vietnam war, as narrated by O’Brien.    Each man has his own things to carry in his rucksack, both physical items for war, safety, and food, and, in the same token, mental anxieties and deep, mostly unexpressed fears as well.   The novel unfolds as the men deal with the war; a few die, one brings his girlfriend (a pampered thing in a pink sweater) out for a visit, and some, including Cross, seek revenge on their own men in moments of weakness.   That’s what war can do to a man. In chapter one, a reader learns that â€Å"by daylight they took sniper fire, at night they were mortared, but it was not battle, it was just the endless march, village to village, without purpose, nothing won or lost[1].†Ã‚   This is perhaps the most pivotal statement in the novel, because at once it details the pointless aspect of the war, while at the same time demonstrating the bravery and sheer doggedness of the men who fight it—even if the war seems to have no purpose other than killing.   Each chapter reveals a bit more about the men of the platoon in the form of a longish anecdote while the reader is acclimated, nearly as quickly as the men, to the horrors and difficulty of being a soldier. Now, O’Brien’s novel is unique for two reasons.   First, he inserts himself in as the narrator, and second, he admits that this is a work of fiction (even though he did fight in the Vietnam war), but also concludes that his tales could quite possibly be true—because all things have an ounce of truth when it comes to war.   Like the narrator, O’Brien also went to war because he was scared not to (even though he was against what it stood for), which lends an interesting double-life to the narrator as his tales become even more authoritative and honest than he realizes.   While this may be a work of â€Å"fiction† because the spine says so, the fact that O’Brien lived it makes every event and character more vivid and realistic because of the inherent truth driving them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, there are three main themes, among others, that run throughout the novel: bravery, how war effects a soldier both physically and mentally, and, as O’Brien admits in the first chapter, a reader’s understanding of the truth he weaves with fiction, because, only stories that reveal the truth can be true.   This is a story about the men who could have fought the war, how they dealt with it, and what kind of men the frightening, deadly jungles of Vietnam made them become. Overall, O’Brien tells a story that could have happened.   A reader learns about the men of the platoon based on the things they carried, which serves the double purpose of furthering the story while giving each soldier a deeper, darker depth to his character.   As a study of the Vietnam war, this is probably not the most explicitly accurate text, but this is not a story about war, it is about what war does to a man. [1] O’Brien, Tim.   Things They Carried.   (New York: Random House, 1990), 15.

Factors Influencing Accuracy of Interpersonal Perception

Factors Influencing Accuracy of Interpersonal Perception What factors influence the accuracy of interpersonal perception  and the judgments we make about other people? Within the social environment, interpersonal perception is used frequently to make judgments about other people. The accuracy of these can have considerable bearing in a business context, affecting, for example, whether a colleague is considered trustworthy or an individual motivated enough to warrant managerial training. These are clearly important decisions which could prove detrimental to an organisation if incorrect, yet for a number of reasons, assessments of other people may be quite inaccurate. By recognising such risks, the organisation may be able to develop strategies to help ensure more effective decision-making and operations. Establishing the accuracy of social judgments is highly complex and perhaps impossible (Pennington 1993: 108). Most such assessments have a culturally situated element: they are made in socio-cultural contexts that influence what might be correct. For example, Saucier and Goldberg (2001), who have carried out research in the applicability of personality testing in different nations, find that terms used to describe personality do not have equivalents in all languages, resulting in a need to recognise different personality frameworks from region to region. Various cognitive phenomena have been identified that may also compromise accuracy. Stereotyping, for example, is identified by Huczynski and Buchanan (1991: 48) as present in interpersonal perception, and involves attributing particular qualities to an individual on the basis of limited information using prior knowledge and experience. The tendency to stereotype has been attributed to cognitive economy (Pennington 1993: 115-6). Because the environment is so rich in information, the cognitive processing capabilities of the mind struggle to respond to it all. Stereotyping allows a detailed assessment to be created from limited information processing, making fewer cognitive demands. However, because a large proportion of information is overlooked, stereotyping can lead to significant inaccuracies. The related concept of prejudice is described by Goleman as â€Å"emotional learning that takes place early in life† (1996: 157). Goleman notes that nevertheless, individuals typically deny prejudices and attempt to justify prejudiced decisions by formulating alternative reasons for them (ibid). This perhaps reflects the cognitive dissonance of wishing to appear reasonable within a context where prejudice is unacceptable while nevertheless holding such beliefs. This results in a situation where not only do prejudices lead to inaccurate assessments, but also the reasoning behind the assessments is itself inaccurate. The fundamental attribution error (FAE), described as â€Å"the tendency to attribute another person’s behaviour to their dispositional qualities rather than situational factors† (Langdridge and Butt 2004: 359), has been widely researched by psychologists working in the social cognitive tradition. In Western cultures, the FAE is reflected by a scenario where a worker blames having to de-ice their car (a situational factor) before driving to work for their lateness, while their employer may see it as a reflection that the worker is poorly organised (a dispositional factor). Again, cultural factors are influential: it has been found that in the US, dispositional biases are widespread while in East Asia a more holistic approach is taken (Norenzayan and Nisbett 2000: 132), resulting in the FAE being less commonly seen in eastern cultures (ibid). Huczynski and Buchanan (1991 48-9) suggest that if interpersonal judgments are to be more accurate, then it is important to be self-aware and recognise one’s own biases. However, even this process demands culturally-situated reflexivity and may be subject to similar inaccuracies. For example, Seligman finds that the majority of individuals overestimate their social skills, with the most accurate self-perception being among those with depression (1990: 109-110). This may suggest that a positively distorted view of oneself is advantageous to well-being, and that its abundance leads to poor evaluation of others because of individuals’ inability to recognise their own weakness of judgment. A further factor to consider is whether judgments are made by individuals or socially. Gleitman identifies the mechanism of social comparison as important in making judgments: this involves establishing what others’ views might be in order to help form a judgment (1995: 418). Group dynamics were explored extensively by Tajfel, who notes several characteristics of stereotyping in group situations with, for example, role stereotypes are more often applied by groups to themselves (the in-group) while ethnic stereotypes are more often applied to out-groups, the groups which are not part of the in-group (1982: 5-6). Additionally, if one member of a group stands out from the others, the tendency of the rest of the members is to stereotype them more actively (ibid: 8). The mechanisms by which judgments are made may contribute towards inconsistencies between individuals making them. Comparison is fundamental to assessment, according to Mussweiler (2003) who argues that this is done against a standard already established by the judge. Because of individual variations, different judges would be likely to use different standards, leading to different assessments. Comparison against low standards may lead to the ‘halo’ effect, where an individual is seen more positively than might be warranted (Huczynski and Buchanan 1991: 48). Another issue is the use of formalised models that may have limited flexibility and overcategorise. This is particularly relevant when applying theoretical constructs in the workplace. For example, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggests that individuals move up through different levels of need as each lower level is satisfied (Maslow 1943). It has been criticised for its implication that one need will take precedence (Hersey et al 1996: 45), but it is possible that for some individuals, higher needs may be of little interest even when lower needs are satisfied. The challenge emerging from the above evidence is to establish whether it is possible to minimise risks of poor judgment through conscious effort to overcome the cognitive mechanisms leading to biases. While it is possible that formal controls such as empirically-tested measures could help, there are still issues of the informal judgment of one individual when introduced to another, not to mention the practicalities and ethical issues regarding testing. Overall, this appears to be an area where inaccuracies and biases may always be influential to some degree, thus awareness may be the best approach to preventing them having a detrimental effect on the organisation. Bibliography Gleitman H (1995) Psychology 4th Edition (New York/London: W W Norton and Company) Goleman D (1996) Emotional Intelligence (London: Bloomsbury) Hersey P, Blanchard K and Johnson D (1996) Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources 7th Edition (New Jersey: Prentice Hall International) Huczynski A and Buchanan D (1991) Organizational Behaviour 2nd Edition (Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall International) Langdridge D and Butt T (2004) ‘The fundamental attribution error: A phenomenological critique’ in British Journal of Social Psychology Vol 43 pp357-369 Maslow A (1943) ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’ in Psychological Review Vol 50 pp370-96 Mussweiler T (2003) ‘Comparison Processes in Social Judgment: Mechanisms and Consequences’ in Psychological Review Vol 110 (3) pp472-489 Norenzayan A and Nisbett R (2000) ‘Culture and Causal Cognition’ in Current Directions in Psychological Science Vol 9 (4) pp132-135 Pennington D (1993) Essential Social Psychology (London: Edward Arnold) Saucier G and Goldberg L (2001) ‘Lexical Studies of Indigenous Personality Factors: Premises, Products and Prospects’ in Journal of Personality Vol 69 (6) pp847-879 Seligman M (1990) Learned Optimism (New York: Simon and Schuster) Tajfel H (1982) ‘Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations’ in Annual Review of Psychology Vol 33 pp1-39

How the Treaty of Versailles Effected Germany :: World War I History

How the Treaty of Versailles Effected Germany When World War I ended on November 11, 1918, peace talks went on for months due to the Allied leaders wanting to punish the enemy and "dividing the spoils of war." A formal agreement to end the war was made and called the Treaty of Versailles. The issue that took the most time were the territorial issues because the empires of Russia, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman, and Germany had collapsed. These fallen empires had to be divided up and America's President Woodrow Wilson, Georges Clemenceau of France, Vittorio Orlando of Italy, and David Lloyd George of Great Britain, were the main deciders of this deal. During 1918, Russia was knocked out of the war due to military defeats and the Bolshevik Revolution. Even though Russia had not been part of the Central Powers, Germany seized much of western Russia. After many months of arguing, the four men had made western Russia into the nations of Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland. The Treaty of Versailles was either a treaty of peace or a vengeance for the Germans. In April of 1919, Germany was previously captured and made to wait in a small house that was surrounded with barbed wire. The Allied, who captured Germany, wanted to make a peace treaty to end the fighting. The Germans agreed, but they wanted a treaty that was based on the Fourteen Points but obviously they were not going to get it because of the way they were treated; the barbed wire was unnecessary and "should have tipped them off to what lay ahead." When the treaty was first introduced to the Germans, they declined to sign it. It forced the Germans to accept full responsibility for the war and strip themselves of its colonies, coal fields, and the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. It also made them pay outrageous reparations to the Allies. Nevertheless, on June 28, 1919, the Germans reluctantly signed the treaty because the Allies refused to change one word. Out of the $33 billion dollars the Germans had to pay for damages, the country was only able to pay $4.5 billion of it. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles helped set the stage for another world war less than 20 years later because the Allied wanted to stop Germany from ever becoming imperialistic again and still have them pay the war reparations.

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 21

â€Å"It actually makes a horrible kind of sense,† Meredith said. They were in Isobel's family room, waiting for Dr. Alpert. Meredith was at a beautiful desk made of some black wood ornamented with designs in gilt, working at a computer that had been left on. â€Å"The Salem girls accused people of hurting them – witches, of course. They said they were pinching them and  ¡Ã‚ ®pricking them with pins.'† â€Å"Like Isobel blaming us,† Bonnie said, nodding. â€Å"And they had seizures and contorted their bodies into  ¡Ã‚ ®impossible positions.'† â€Å"Caroline looked as if she were having seizures in Stefan's room,† said Bonnie. â€Å"And if crawling like a lizard isn't contorting your body into an impossible position†¦here, I'll try it.† She got down on the Saitous' floor and tried to stick her elbows and knees out the way Caroline had. She couldn't do it. â€Å"See?† â€Å"Oh, my God!† It was Jim at the doorway of the kitchen, holding – almost dropping – a tray of food. The smell of miso soup was sharp in the air, and Bonnie wasn't sure if it made her feel hungry or if she was too sick to ever be hungry again. â€Å"It's okay,† she told him hastily, standing up. â€Å"I was just†¦trying something out.† Meredith stood up too. â€Å"Is that for Isobel?† â€Å"No, it's for Obaasan – I mean Isa-chan's grandma – Grandma Saitou – â€Å" â€Å"I told you to call everybody whatever comes out naturally. Obaasan is fine, just like Isa-chan,† Meredith said softly and firmly to him. Jim relaxed a hair. â€Å"I tried to get Isa-chan to eat, but she just throws the trays at the wall. She says that she can't eat; that somebody's choking her.† Meredith glanced significantly at Bonnie. Then she turned back to Jim. â€Å"Why don't you let me take it? You've been through a lot. Where is she?† â€Å"Upstairs, second door on the left. If – if she says anything weird, just ignore it.† â€Å"All right. Stay near Bonnie.† â€Å"Oh, no,† Bonnie said hastily. â€Å"Bonnie is going with.† She didn't know if it was for her own protection or Meredith's, but she was going to stick like glue. Upstairs, Meredith turned the hall light on carefully with her elbow. Then they found the second door on the left, which turned out to have a doll-like old lady in it. She was in the exact center of the room, lying on the exact center of a futon. She sat up and smiled when they came in. The smile turned a wrinkled face almost into the face of a happy child. â€Å"Megumi-chan, Beniko-chan, you came to see me!† she exclaimed, bowing where she sat. â€Å"Yes,† Meredith said carefully. She put the tray down beside the old lady. â€Å"We came to see you – Ms. Saitou.† â€Å"Don't play games with me! It's Inari-chan! Or are you mad at me?† â€Å"All thesechans . I thought ;;Chan' was a Chinese name. Isn't Isobel Japanese?† whispered Bonnie from behind Meredith. One thing, the doll-like old woman was not, was deaf. She burst into laughter, bringing up both hands to cover her mouth girlishly. â€Å"Oh, don't tease me before I eat.Itadakimasu! † She picked up the bowl of miso soup and began to drink it. â€Å"I thinkchan is something you put at the end of someone's name when you're friends, the way Jimmy was sayingIsa-chan ,† Meredith said aloud. â€Å"AndEeta-daki-mass-u is something you say when you start eating. And that'sall I know.† Part of Bonnie's mind noted that the â€Å"friends† Grandma Saitou had just happened to have names starting withM andB . Another part was calculating where this room was with relation to the rooms below it, Isobel's room in particular. It was directly above it. The tiny old woman had stopped eating and was watching her intently. â€Å"No, no, you're not Beniko-chan and Megumi-chan. I know it. But they do visit me sometimes, and so does my dear Nobuhiro. Other things do, too, unpleasant things, but I was raised a shrine maiden – I know how to take care ofthem .† A brief look of knowing satisfaction passed over the innocent old face. â€Å"This house is possessed, you know.† She added,†Kore ni wa kitsune ga karande isou da ne.† â€Å"I'm sorry, Ms. Saitou – what was that?† Meredith asked. â€Å"I said, there's a kitsune involved in this somehow.† â€Å"A kit-su-nay?† Meredith repeated, quiz-zically. â€Å"A fox, silly girl,† the old woman said cheerfully. â€Å"They can turn into anything they like, don't you know? Even humans. Why, one could turn intoyou and your best friend wouldn't know the difference.† â€Å"So – a sort of were-fox, then?† Meredith asked, but Grandma Saitou was rocking back and forth now, her gaze on the wall behind Bonnie. â€Å"We used to play a circle game,† she said. â€Å"All of us in a circle and one in the middle, blindfolded. And we would sing a song.Ushiro no shounen daare? Who is standing behind you? I taught it to my children, but I made up a little song in English to go with it.† And she sang, in the voice of the very old or the very young, with her eyes fixed innocently on Bonnie all the while. â€Å"Fox and turtle Had a race. Who's that far behind you? Whoever came in Second place Who's that near behind you? Would make a nice meal For the winner. Who's that close behind you? Lovely turtle soup For dinner! Who's that right behind you?† Bonnie felt hot breath on her neck. Gasping, she whirled around – and screamed. Andscreamed . Isobel was there, dripping blood onto the mats that covered the floor. She had somehow managed to get past Jim and to sneak into the dim upstairs room without anyone seeing or hearing her. Now she stood there like some distorted goddess of piercing, or the hideous embodiment of every piercer's nightmare. She was wearing only a pair of very brief bikini bottoms. Otherwise she was naked except for the blood and the different kinds of hoops and studs and needles she had put through the holes. She had pierced every area Bonnie had ever heard that youcould pierce, and a few that Bonnie hadn't dreamed of. And every hole was crooked and bleeding. Her breath was warm and fetid and nauseating – like rotten eggs. Isobel flicked her pink tongue. It wasn't pierced. It was worse. With some kind of instrument she had cut the long muscle in two so that it was forked like a snake's. The forked, pink thing licked Bonnie's forehead. Bonnie fainted. Matt drove slowly down the almost invisible lane. There was no street sign to identify it, he noticed. They went up a little hill and then down sharply into a small clearing. â€Å" ¡Ã‚ ®Keep away from faerie circles,'† Elena said softly, as if she were quoting. â€Å" ¡Ã‚ ®And old oaks†¦'† â€Å"What are you talking about?† â€Å"Stop the car.† When he did, Elena stood in the center of the clearing. â€Å"Don't you think it has a faerie sort of feeling?† â€Å"I don't know. Where'd the red thing go?† â€Å"In here somewhere. I saw it!† â€Å"Me, too – and did you see how it was bigger than a fox?† â€Å"Yes, but not as big as a wolf.† Matt let out a sigh of relief. â€Å"Bonnie just won't believe me. And you saw how quickly it moved – â€Å" â€Å"Too quickly to be something natural.† â€Å"You're saying we didn't really see anything?† Matt said almost fiercely. â€Å"I'm saying we saw somethingsuper natural. Like the bug that attacked you. Like the trees, for that matter. Something that doesn't follow the laws of this world.† But search as they would, they couldn't find the animal. The bushes and shrubs between the trees reached from the ground up in a dense circle. But there was no evidence of a hole or a hide or a break in the dense thicket. And the sun was sliding down in the sky. The clearing was beautiful, but there was nothing of interest to them. Matt had just turned to say so to Elena when he saw her stand up quickly, in alarm. â€Å"What's – ?† He followed her gaze and stopped. A yellow Ferrari blocked the way back to the road. They hadn't passed a yellow Ferrari on their way in. There was only room for one car on the one-lane road. Yet there the Ferrari stood. Branches broke behind Matt. He whirled. â€Å"Damon!† â€Å"Whom were you expecting?† The wraparound Ray-Bans concealed Damon's eyes completely. â€Å"We weren't expectinganyone ,† Matt said aggressively. â€Å"We just turned in here.† The last time he'd seen Damon, when Damon had been banished like a whipped dog from Stefan's room, he'd wanted to punch Damon in the mouth very much, Elena knew. She could feel that he wanted it again now. But Damon wasn't the same as he'd been when he'd left that room. Elena could see danger rising off him like heat waves. â€Å"Oh, Isee . This is – yourprivate area for – privateexplorations,† Damon translated, and there was a note of complicity in his voice that Elena disliked. â€Å"No!† Matt snarled. Elena realized she was going to have to keep him under control. It was dangerous to antagonize Damon in this mood. â€Å"How can you even say that?† Matt went on. â€Å"Elena belongs to Stefan.† â€Å"Well – we belong to each other,† Elena temporized. â€Å"Of course you do,† said Damon. â€Å"One body, one heart, one soul.† For a moment there was something there – an expression inside the Ray-Bans, she thought, that was murderous. Instantly, though, Damon's tone changed to an expressionless murmur. â€Å"But then, why areyou two here?† His head, turning to follow Matt's movement, moved like a predator tracking prey. There was something more disquieting than usual about his attitude. â€Å"We saw something red,† Matt said before Elena could stop him. â€Å"Something like what I saw when I had that accident.† Prickles were now running up and down Elena's arms. Somehow she wished Matt hadn't said that. In this dim, quiet clearing in the evergreen grove, she was suddenly very much afraid. Stretching her new senses to their utmost – until she could feel them distending like a gossamer garment pushed thin all around her, she felt the wrongness there, too, and felt it pass out of the reach of her mind. At the same time she felt birds go quiet all that long distance away. What was most disturbing was to turn just then, just as the birdsong stopped, and find Damon turning at the same instant to look at her. The sunglasses kept her from knowing what he was thinking. The rest of his face was a mask. Stefan, she thought helplessly, longingly. How could he have left her – with this? With no warning, no idea of his destination, no way of ever contacting him again†¦It might have made sense to him, with his desperate desire not to make her into something he loathed in himself. But to leave her with Damon in this mood, and all of her previous powers gone – Your own fault, she thought, cutting short the flood of self-pity. You were the one who harped on brotherhood. You were the one who convinced him Damon was to be trusted. Now you deal with the consequences. â€Å"Damon,† she said, â€Å"I've been looking foryou . I wanted to ask you – about Stefan. You do know that he's left me.† â€Å"Of course. I believe the saying goes, for your own good. He left me to be your bodyguard.† â€Å"Then you saw him two nights ago?† â€Å"Of course.† And – of course – you didn't try to stop him. Things couldn't have turned out better for you, Elena thought. She had never wished more for the abilities she'd had as a spirit, not even when she'd realized Stefan was really gone and beyond her all-too-human reach. â€Å"Well, I'm not just letting him leave me,† she said flatly, â€Å"for my own good or for any other reason. I'm going to follow him – but first I need to know where he might have gone.† â€Å"You're askingme ?† â€Å"Yes. Please. Damon, I have to find him. I need him. I – † She was starting to choke up, and she had to be stern with herself. But just then she realized that Matt was whispering very softly to her. â€Å"Elena, stop. I think we're just making him mad. Look at the sky.† Elena felt it herself. The circle of trees seemed to be leaning in all around them, darker than before, menacing. Elena tilted her chin slowly, looking up. Directly above them, gray clouds were pooling, piling in on themselves, cirrus overwhelmed by cumulus, turning to thunderheads – centered exactly over the spot where they stood. On the ground, small whirlwinds began to form, lifting handfuls of pine needles and fresh green summer leaves off saplings. She had never seen anything like it before, and it filled the clearing with a sweet but sensuous smell, redolent of exotic oils and long, dark winter nights. Looking at Damon, then, as the whirlwinds lifted higher and the sweet scent encircled her, resinous and aromatic, closing in until she knew it was soaking into her clothes and being impressed into her very flesh, she knew she had overstepped herself. She couldn't protect Matt. Stefan told me to trust Damon in his note in my diary. Stefan knows more about him than I do, she thought desperately. But we both know what Damon wants, ultimately. What he's always wanted. Me. My blood†¦ â€Å"Damon,† she began softly – and broke off. Without looking at her, he held out a hand with the palm toward her. Wait. â€Å"There's something I have to do,† he murmured. He bent down, every movement as unconsciously and economically graceful as a panther's, and picked up a small broken branch of what looked like ordinary Virginia pine. He waved it slightly, appraisingly, hefting it in his hand as if to feel weight and balance. It looked more like a fan than a branch. Elena was now looking at Matt, trying with her eyes to tell him all the things she was feeling, foremost of which was that she was sorry: sorry that she had gotten him into this; sorry that she'd ever cared for him; sorry that she'd kept him bound into a group of friends who were so intimately intertwined with the supernatural. Now I know a little bit of what Bonnie must have felt this last year, she thought, being able to see and predict things without having the slightest power to stop them. Matt, jerking his head, was already moving stealthily toward the trees. No, Matt.No .No! He didn't understand. Neither did she, except to feel that the trees were only keeping their distance because of Damon's presence here. If she and Matt were to venture into the forest; if they left the clearing or even stayed in it too long†¦Matt could see the fear on her face, and his own face reflected grim understanding. They were trapped. Unless – â€Å"Too late,† Damon said sharply. â€Å"I told you, there's something I have to do.† He had apparently found the stick he was looking for. Now he raised it, shook it slightly, and brought it down in a single motion; slashing sideways as he did. And Matt convulsed in agony. It was a kind of pain he had never dreamed of before: pain that seemed to come frominside himself, but from everywhere, every organ in his body, every muscle, every nerve, every bone, releasing a different type of pain. His muscles ached and cramped as if they were strained to their ultimate flexion, but were being forced to flex farther still. Inside, his organs were on fire. Knives were at work in his belly. His bones felt the way his arm had when he had shattered it once, when he was nine years old and a car had broadsided his dad's. And his nerves – if there was a switch on nerves that could be set from â€Å"pleasure† to â€Å"pain† – his had been set to â€Å"anguish.† The touch of clothes on his skin was unbearable. The currents of air passing were agony. He endured fifteen seconds of it and passed out. â€Å"Matt!† For her part, Elena had been frozen, her muscles locked, unable to move for what seemed like forever. Suddenly released, she ran to Matt, pulled him up into her lap, stared into his face. Then she looked up. â€Å"Damon,why ? Why?† Suddenly she realized that although Matt wasn't conscious, he was still writhing in pain. She had to keep herself from screaming the words, to only speak forcefully. â€Å"Why are youdoing this? Damon!Stop it .† She stared up at the young man dressed all in black: black jeans with a black belt, black boots, black leather jacket, black hair, and those damned Ray-Bans. â€Å"I told you,† Damon said casually. â€Å"It's something I need to do. To watch. Painful death.† â€Å"Death!†Elena stared at Damon in disbelief. And then she began gathering all her Power, in a way that had been so easy and instinctual just days ago while she had been mute and not subject to gravity, and that was so difficult and so foreign right now. With determination, she said, â€Å"If you don't let him go – now – I'll hit you with everything I've got.† He laughed. She'd never seen Damon really laugh before, not like this. â€Å"And you expect that I'll even notice your tiny Power?† â€Å"Notthat tiny.† Elena weighed it grimly. It was no more than the intrinsic Power of any human being – the Power that vampires took from humans along with the blood they drank – but since becoming a spirit, she knew how to use it. How to attack with it. â€Å"I think you'll feel it, Damon. Let him go – NOW!† â€Å"Why do people always assume that volume will succeed when logic won't?† Damon murmured. Elena let him have it. Or at least she prepared to. She took the deep breath necessary, held her inner self still, and imagined herself holding a ball of white fire, and then – Matt was on his feet. He looked as if he'd beendragged to his feet and was being held there like a puppet, and his eyes were involuntarily watering, but it was better than Matt writhing on the ground. â€Å"You owe me,† Damon said to Elena casually. â€Å"I'll collect later.† To Matt he said, in the tones of a fond uncle, with one of those instantaneous smiles that you could never be quite sure you saw, â€Å"Lucky for me that you're a hardy specimen, isn't it?† â€Å"Damon.† Elena had seen Damon in hislet's-play-with-weaker-creatures mood, and it was the one she liked least. But there was something off today; something she couldn't understand. â€Å"Let's get down to it,† she said, while the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck rose again. â€Å"What do youreally want?† But he didn't give the answer she expected. â€Å"I was officially appointed as your caretaker. I'm officially taking care of you. And for one thing, I don't think you should be without my protection and companionship while my little brother is gone.† â€Å"I can handle myself,† Elena said flatly, waving a hand so they could get down to the real issue. â€Å"You're a very pretty girl. Dangerous and† – flash smile – â€Å"unsavory elements could be after you. I insist you have a bodyguard.† â€Å"Damon, right now the thing I need most is to be protected fromyou . You know that. What is this really about?† The clearing was†¦pulsing. Almost as if it were something organic, breathing. Elena had the feeling that beneath her feet – beneath Meredith's old, rugged hiking boots – the ground was moving slightly, like a great sleeping animal, and the trees were like a beating heart. For what? The forest? There was more dead wood than live here. And she could swear that she knew Damon well enough to know that he didn't like trees or woods. It was at times like this that Elena wished she still had wings. Wings and the knowledge – the hand motions, the Words of White Power, the white fire inside her that would allow her to know the truth without trying to figure it out, or to simply blast annoyances back to Stonehenge. It seemed that all she'd been left with was being a greater temptation to vampires than ever, and her wits. Wits had worked up until now. Maybe if she didn't let Damon know how afraid she was, she could win a stay of execution for them. â€Å"Damon, I thank you for being concerned about me. Now would you mind leaving Matt and me for a moment so that I can tell if he's still breathing?† From inside the Ray-Bans, she thought she could discern a single flash of red. â€Å"Somehow I thought you might say that,† Damon said. â€Å"And, of course, it's your right to have consolation after being so treacherously abandoned. Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, for example.† Elena wanted to swear. Carefully, she answered, â€Å"Damon, if Stefan appointed you as my bodyguard, then he hardly  ¡Ã‚ ®treacherously abandoned' me, did he? You can't have it both – â€Å" â€Å"Just indulge me in one thing, all right?† Damon said in the voice of one whose next words are going to beBe careful orDon't do anything I wouldn't do . There was silence. The dust devils had stopped whirling. The smell of sun-warmed pine needles and pine resin in this dim place was making her languid, dizzy. The ground was warm, too, and the pine needles were all aligned, as if the slumbering animal had pine needles for fur. Elena watched dust motes turn and sparkle like opals in the golden sunlight. She knew she wasn't at her best right now; not her sharpest. Finally, when she was sure her voice would be steady, she asked, â€Å"What do you want?† â€Å"A kiss.†