Eng 101 Expository Essay Final Paper

Laws for the Improvement in Educational Standards â€Å"No Child Left Behind is an excellent sword that we can use to open doors for the children we represent† (Wright, Attorney at Law). Peter Wright is an attorney who specializes in cases surrounding children with Special Educational needs. When he made this statement, he was referring to a law that President George W. Bush’s administration passed in 2001. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a law that requires states to assess the basic skills for children in certain grades. This was not the first law to be created by the government. Before NCLB was created, first there was Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the second was the Individual with Disabilities Educational Improvement Act (IDEIA) also known as Public Law 94-142. Every since the first law was created in the early 1970s schools all over have complained. So schools would not have to abide by these laws states would refuse the funding that was given to them by the government for education. When these laws were created, it was to protect all children with any kind of special needs. Before Section 504 was created schools could legally expel any child they thought may have had a learning disability. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act In 1973 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act was created to be an anti-discrimination statute meant to stop discrimination against students with special needs from governmental actors and to protect these students’ equal rights. For a student to qualify for protection under Section 504 he or she must be determined to (1) have a physical or mental impairment that can limit one or more major life activities; (2) it must be on record that the child does have an impairment; or (3) the child must be looked at as possessing said impairment. All students who qualify under Section 504 are entitled to a â€Å"free and appropriate public education† also known as FAPE. If a school violated the Section 504 laws the student must show (1) that he or she does have a disability stated in Section 504; (2) that the student does qualify for said benefit that he or she were denied; (3) that the student was denied because of his or her disability, and (4) that the benefit that student was denied is obtaining money from the government to help with the program (Hoffman-Peak, 2009). The US Department of Education (ED) is responsible for enforcing Section 504 for all schools receiving funds. Recipients of these funds include all public schools, colleges, and other education agencies within the state. Individual with Disabilities Educational Improvement Act In 1975 Congress created the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142). This Act stated that any school receiving federal funds is required to provide equal access to education for children with any kind of disability. With the input of the child’s parents public schools had to evaluate the student and create an educational plan that would be as close as possible to that of a non-disabled student. The Act also stated that school districts must provide administrative procedures for parents so they may dispute decisions surrounding their child’s education. Once these administrative efforts had become exhausted, the parents would be allowed to seek a judicial review under Section 504. The system of dispute resolution created by PL 94-142 was to help with the financial burden created by litigation. In 1997 President Clinton and Congress amended the law to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This would be the first time since Public Law 94-142 was created in 1975 that a significant change was made while retaining the basic protections. The goal was to clarify, strengthen, and provide guidance on the law. The second time would be in 2004 when Congress would once again make amendments calling it Individual with Disabilities Educational Improvement Act (IDEIA). For 20 years the research showed that education can be more effective if; (1) it is ensured that the child receives general education to the maximum extent possible; (2) the parent’s role in the child’s education is stronger; (3) coordinating efforts from the school and agencies are made to guarantee that children are benefiting from these efforts. Also that special education is a service for children not a place for them to be sent off to, and (4) all personal who work with children with special needs will receive the proper education to teach these students. Because Public Law 94-142 was created a great deal of progress has been made toward meeting our nation’s goals for creating programs for individuals with special needs. Such accomplishments had included, one that a majority of children with special needs were included in regular classrooms with non-disabled children. No Child Left Behind Act Immediately after taking office in 2001 President George W. Bush proposed the idea for the No Child Left Behind Act. The bill passed through the United Stated House of Representatives on May 23, 2001, and again on June 14, 2001 by the United States Senate. After first proposing the Act close to a year before President Bush signed the Act into law on January 8, 2002. The goal behind this law was to hold schools and states accountable for improving the education of both disabled and non-disabled students. The purpose was to identify than transform schools that have not provided an excellent education to students. These schools would be turned into successful schools. Furthermore, NCLB intentions are to close the learning gap between high and low achievers, minority and non-minority students as well as advantaged and disadvantaged students. To accomplish this goal the reform planned to use a state assessment system designed to ensure all students are meeting the state academic and grade level content. The implementation of these goals, call for a high level standard that can be measured for all students. There is no doubt that this Act has brought a closer look on students who normally have performed on a lower level of education, causing it to be praised, while at the same time this law has been criticized by many because inconsistencies found within the law. Title One of the No Child Left Behind Act states a measure called Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in which schools, districts, and states must be held accountable for the education performance of students. However, there are faults with the Adequate Yearly Progress; one of these faults is whether or not AYP can provide an accurate measurement of the goals because states are allowed to make their own standards. Statistics show that there are 50 different educational measurement standards across the country. Because these states can create their own standards, they can manipulate their AYP, thus resulting in schools giving the impression that they are successful in teaching when they may not be. The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act In 2010 President Obama and Congress assembled a blueprint of reform called The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This blueprint builds and re-envisions a federal role around these five priorities. It states that (1) all students despite their race, income, ethnic or language background, or disability will be college and career ready when they graduate from high school. The government will support all states to implement a better education through an improvement of a professional development. (2) The government will elevate the teaching profession so as to recognize excellence in teaching. All school districts must develop a system that supports teachers. (3) Schools that have the most improvement from their students will be rewarded. This includes students graduating and those on their way to graduating by 2020. To make sure that the responsibility for improving does not fall all on the schools, states and districts will be held accountable for not providing their schools the support they need to succeed. (4) Incentives will be provided to encourage state and districts to work with schools to improve education of students. The government will support college going strategies to help students succeed. (5) A new competitive funding will help with flexibility, reward results, and ensure that these funds provided are used wisely. While districts will not be restricted on how they spend the funding. The government will help create new ideas that support family and the community with their child’s education (The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act). Conclusion Since 1973 when Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act was introduced into Congress there has been one clear goal amongst government. This goal is for all students no matter their background or disability are to receive an education. In the past 38 years Congress has reformed and amended all the education laws for improvement in the education system. It would no longer be acceptable for schools to fail in giving students the education they deserve. Throughout the years statics have shown that despite laws created our education system is failing and needs vast improvement in order for the next generation to succeed in the future. As stated by President Barack Obama in a letter, he wrote to be placed in the introduction of The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. â€Å"America was once the best educated nation in the world. A generation ago we led all nations in college completion, but today 10 countries have passed us. It is not that their students are smarter than ours. It is that these countries are being smarter about how they educate their students† References Author unknown (September 2010) Adequate Yearly Progress, Education Week Retrieved on May 23, 2011, from http://www. edweek. org/ew/issues/adequate-yearly-progress/ Berlatsky, N. (2011) No Child Left Behind Is a Good Law. Opposing Viewpoints: School Reform. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, from Powersearch. Hoffman-Peak, H. (Summer 2009) A Matrimonial Practitioner’s Guide to Special Education Law. American Journal of Family Law. Retrieved May 19, 2011 from, Powersearch Maleyko, G. Gawlik, M. A. (Spring 2011) No child left behind: what we know and what we need to know. Education. Retrieved on May 19, 2011, from Powersearch Us Department of Education (August 2010) Free Appropriate Public Education for Student With Disabilities. Retrieved May 23, 2011, from http://www2. ed. gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/edlite-FAPE504. html US Gover nment, (March 2010). A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. ED. gov. Retrieved on May 20, 2011, from http://www2. ed. gov/policy/elsec/leg/blueprint/publicationtoc. html

Are People Too Dependent On Technology Today?

People love things to be easier, that’s why people invented technology. As many more technology is created, there has been a debate whether we are becoming too dependent on technology today. In this Essay I will justify if people are too dependent on Technology today.Some people say we use technology in everything and in every single day of our life that we can’t live without it. Others say technologies are just there to help us do things easier. Yes, people are too dependent on technology today because we barely use books and notebooks for studying, most of us now does not use maps and compass anymore, and people now rely on emails, messages, social networking and others. To begin with, we barely use books and notebooks for studying nowadays. Students now take advantage of Internet to do their assignments without many efforts.Students today have to use technology for even just copying notes. Our books and notebooks are slowly replaced by laptops, tablets, eBooks and et c. Most teachers now put notes and textbooks online for easy access. Some students claim some school today still does not allow student to use electronics to take notes or use it for books. Maybe this is true but school board will probably change this rule for the good of all students. Second, most of us does not use maps or compass anymore. Nowadays, people depend on GPS to find places instead of using the good old fashion maps. GPS is a satellite base system for navigation, it directly show you the way to the place you want to go. These days no one bothers to buy or even use maps. Most people now can’t go anywhere without GPS with them.A few people would still prefer to use maps because GPS can distract people from driving and can cause serious accidents. This might be true but it is hard to imagine that people who use GPS regularly can still remember how to look up a map. And lastly, people now depend on emails, messages, social networking etc. We now rely on technology to connect with our friends and families. The traditional way of writing and sending letter is now being replaced with communication by mobile, emails, social network etc. In addition, we can now talk and see our friends and family in the same time through technology.What is more, workplaces are becoming more and more dependent upon technology. Most of employees have their own mobile phone or computer so that they could exchange information  or documents as soon as they want without leaving their desks. Although, there are still some people would rather communicate person to person to do things together or to avoid misunderstanding conversation. While this perhaps true, nowadays people are too busy that we do not have time to see each other anymore or we are too far away from each other.Through mobiles, emails, and etc. we can connect with anyone faster, cheaper, and easier. It is clear that we depend on modern technology too much today. Not only we are too reliant on it, society no w considers technology as necessity. Even though technology helps us do everything easier, we cannot forget about the bad effects it brings to us. Using modern technology for everything makes people lazier and inactive in life. We now remarkably dependent on technology that now people hardly use books and notebooks, people lost the knowledge of using maps, and now people would rather communicate through mobile, emails, social networking etc. to each other. We are no slowly seized by technology. Someday our world will change and the things we have now and before will disappear and will be taken over by Technology.

Supporting children and young people’s positive behaviour

Supporting Children and Young People's positive behaviour. 1. 2. Describe with examples the importance of all staff consistently and fairly applying boundaries and rules for children and young people's behaviour in accordance with the policies and procedures of the setting. Boundaries: These are the limits within which behaviour is acceptable or what may, and may not be done. Boundaries are there to guide children and young people's behaviour in the setting and it is very important for all staffs to consistently apply these boundaries fairly.Behaviour is learnt from what we see others do or say, so, it s very important for the staff to watch children closely and make sure that they apply the boundaries at all times. The importance of staffs applying the rules and boundaries are: It helps children and people to know what is right from wrong. For example, when a child knows what is right from wrong, or what is acceptable and what is not, then they will be able to do the right thing mos t of the time.If they know jumping is not allowed in the setting then they are going to behave accordingly. If all staff applies the boundaries and rules of their settings, then children will not feel hey are being misled. For example, one staff says they can bring snacks to school and another staff says they are not allowed to bring snacks. If this happens, a child will get confused and feel misled by one of the staff. It enables all the staff to be consistent in their approach in dealing with behaviour issues.For example, if there is no consistency in staff applying the boundaries and rules then there will be chaos in the setting, and this will not help positive behaviour in children. But if there is consistency then every child in the setting will know that no matter whom they go to n the setting, they will always get one answer. The importance of all staff being fair, and consistent are: It helps children to develop a sense of responsibility for their own actions and encourages them to think about the consequences of their behaviour.For example, the rule says no running in the corridor and staff keep reminding children about it all the time then, when a child runs in the corridor the others will tell him or her no running, and he or she will know that if they run, they will fall and when they fall, they will hurt themselves. So, they know what will happen when they disobey. It ensures that the school rules are enforced and children behave in a responsible manner.For instance, when staffs are consistent in applying the rules then there will be order in the settings and the promotion of good behaviour. Children will also know what the rules and boundaries are and therefore behave accordingly. It ensures that all children are treated fairly by staff applying the equal opportunity procedures. For example, when two children behave inappropriately, they both must receive the same sanction, one should not be favoured over the other. When two hildren fght, you hav e to listen to both sides and be fair in your Judgement.Some children behave inappropriately all the time but they must not be victimized in situations but rather listened to and treated tairly as other children It helps children with unwanted behaviour to improve and behave positively. For instance, if a child likes to pinch other children and all the staffs apply the rules consistently, that child is bound to change from that unwanted behaviour to positive behaviour. How to set fair rules and boundaries: Setting realistic rules for the setting; For example, ensuring the set rules are ppropriate for age and stage of development.For instance, setting a rule for one to two years that says, â€Å"No crying for toys or You must share,† that is not realistic based on their age and level of understanding. By involving the children in setting the rules and boundaries. If the children are involved in the rule setting then they will apply it because they will always remember and obey it. If everybody agrees on the set rules and boundaries. This means they understand what they are agreeing to so therefore, they can live by it and when others are behaving inappropriately, they will let them know it is unacceptable behaviour.

The Case of the Rewired Supply Chain Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Case of the Rewired Supply Chain - Coursework Example Organization lacks a linkage between their various arms. These problems are discussed below with appropriate solutions. Problems The problems in the company can be classified in two categories i.e. strategic and operational. Both of them are discussed below: Strategic ORUN have become very independent in its local procedures. Communication is present in the plant but not in local headquarters. Due to this problem of communication, results of various transactions are not reaching to the headquarters on time. All plants are so independent that they have their own metrics and measurement systems. This is resulting in confused staffing reports. There is no agreement in the companies that which products are profitable and which are not. Company is not working on the value contribution in its products. Supply chain procedure of the company is quite traditional and long. It should revise its supply chain management system. The overall cost of the company in conducting business is high. Ther e is a lack of proper planning, organizing and forecasting. Operational Inventory management in the company from production to final delivery has become quite costly, because all operations are performed by its own departments. This involves more workers, raw material management, pay scales etc. Due to lack of proper management systems there is excess in raw materials and finished goods inventories. There is not a balance between supply and demand of products. There is a problem in its manufacturing operation systems. Contribution of suppliers is unknown by the company. There is an absence of supplier management program. This analysis shows that company is facing many issues on both strategic and operational level. It is imperative to control the present condition of the entity in order to be competitive in future. 1.2 Using the facts of the case, as well as theories and best practices that you have learned in the PROC 5820, Operations Management course, prepare a short description as to what you intend to do to address each of the 5 goals above Many methodologies can be used for operations management such as SCOR, it is a supply chain management model proposed by Supply Chain Council. Another model which is frequently used for management of operations is SCM which is proposed by global supply chain forum. These five goals of the company can be achieved by using SCM model. Supply chain management system SCM will help the company to change management functions of individuals and will help to integrate all the activities in the supply chain process. It will result in efficient communication among all departments and will reduce the excess inventory. For instance, the purchasing department places an order with all known information. Marketing department will be able to respond to the customer demand. It will enable to communicate with suppliers in order to fulfill customers demand. This kind of information shared among various supply partners will promote integra tion in the whole system. This will promote standardization among suppliers and will lead to improvement in the overall supply chain management system. Procurement Company should consider bulk shipments, through this supplier will reduce the transportation cost on imported raw materials and one will be able to receive more credit by suppliers. This can be done only through implementing effective information technology systems, so that the communication gap between different plants can be reduced. This should not

A rose for Emily research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

A rose for Emily research paper - Essay Example The readers were told that Emily bought arsenic and that a strange odor appeared around the house for a few weeks and then disappeared. During the years Miss Emily isolated herself from the society in town and only after she dead did they discovered in a locked room the decomposed body of her alleged fiancà ©. The grey hair they found signified that Miss Emily had been laying near the dead body of her partner for years. Barnet et al. (1997) consider that we live in a world filled with symbolism. Symbols do not have a clear meaning and possesÃ'  a deep spiritual structure embedded in society and culture. Meanings intermingle with expressions and create ambiguities. Symbols are fragmented and present different pictures, evoke different senses and stand for different situations (Barnet et al). Every moment is written or spoken sign and in order to grasp its meaning we have to decode its symbols. The same is with stories and literature. They stand for past, present and future experiences which we have to carefully decipher. Many different interpretations can be represented in analyzing the social, economic and historical contexts of Faulkner’s short story. Fetterly (1999) justifies Faulkner’s use of the grotesque to describe his story. She proposes that one looks at the story from a feminist perspective. Then â€Å"one notices that the grotesque aspects of the story are a result of its violation of the expectations generated by the conventions of sexual politics (Fetterly 50).† Fetterly (1999) continues that the end shocks not only by the suggestion of necrophilia, but also by the fact that a woman is capable of committing a murder of a men. This story is not about the conflict between the old and the new, the change of social order, or the competition between the South and the North. This is a story of the sexual conflict below the surface (Fetterly). The locked rook found after Emily’s death is a mirror image of the world that

Why does the govrnent lock public parks when the citizens pay for them Research Paper

Why does the govrnent lock public parks when the citizens pay for them - Research Paper Example Travellers navigate with public parks as landmarks and travel routes. In the U.K., there are at least 27,000 thousand public parks that cover 143,000 hectares of land. These parks offer spaces for leisure, recreation, sports, entertainment and business. Some parks are open and very accessible while other parks are walled with gated entrances. Around 1.5 billion people visit these parks each year. With many people using parks, upkeep is necessary. The government spends ?630 million of taxpayer’s money for the upkeep of these parks. Every visit costs 42 pence. In the last 10 years, spending on public parks has decreased. (Urban Parks Forum, 2001) With decreased spending, the trend is good parks are becoming better and bad parks continue to deteriorate (Urban Parks Forum, 2001). The state of the park has a direct relationship with visits. Deteriorating parks mean lower number and frequency of visits. Decrepit public parks become spaces for antisocial activities and crime. These p arks are evaded by residents, with the effect of further facilitating the use of these parks for unwanted activities. In an effort to control the deterioration of public parks, given budget cuts, a measure being done is using gates and locking parks. The park can be accessed only during certain hours, such as from 6 am to 7 pm. All people inside will be asked to leave when the parks close. This practice has spurred the issue of limiting people’s access to public parks when they are paying for the upkeep. Importance of Public Parks Public parks are important. Public parks benefit people. These benefits justify the development of public parks and government spending on upkeep. Public parks support environmental sustainability. Green spaces facilitate the development of urban ecosystems (Zhou & Rana, 2012). Public parks support biodiversity, including plants, animals and insect that plays a role in sustaining the natural environment. At the same time, public parks are green spac es that allow people to interact with the natural environment and become part of the ecosystem. (Barbosa et al., 2007) Trees and vegetation in parks regulate temperature by providing a cooling effect. Trees provide shade in hot weather and absorb heat. This prevents the urban heat island effect from happening. Without trees and plants, heat would be absorbed by concrete, which is capable of retaining heat for long hours. When heat accumulates in concrete, temperatures in the area rises. Park greenery also lowers air pollution by absorbing carbon dioxide to create oxygen and providing barriers to noise. (Millward & Sabir, 2011) When it rains, trees and plants in public parks absorb water to prevent runoffs that cause floods (Dolesh, 2011). Public parks improve the aesthetic quality of neighbourhoods and city centres (Millward & Sabir, 2011). The greenery balances the monotonous visual effect of concrete and asphalt in cities (Salazar & Menendez, 2007). Landscaping in public parks is intended to provide a pleasant view to visitors and passersby. Public parks also promote health and safety. Interaction with nature can improve physical and psychological well-being. Public parks encourage physical activity (Salazar & Menendez, 2007). Parks provide various opportunities for physical activity as a way for people to get their required doses of physical exercise to prevent health conditions, such as heart problems and obesity (Bedimon-Rung, Mowen, & Cohen, 2005). Public parks provide social, economic and political benefits. Public parks provide a good place for social interaction (Barbosa et al., 2007). Social interaction happens when people engage in leisure, recreational or sports activities in public parks. Public parks also create employment, which ranges from the upkeep of the park to

Write a research proposal about Apple Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Write a about Apple - Research Proposal Example The company, since its inception, has adopted resourced based view of business management. Under such management, the company has expanded business branches across numerous economies, after saturation of the domestic market. Despite achieving success, Apple’s trade is threatened by potential rivals within the electronics industry. In this epoch, companies are exposed to greater competition and complication in the business world, where market influences of externalities are found to be soaring. This proposal is framed for a future management research that would analyze major strategic business issues faced by Apple Inc. and finally, the researcher would elaborate on ways whereby these problems can be minimized. The research proposal for the dissertation aims to evaluate issues faced by Apple Inc. and in turn frame productive ways to eradicate the same. It is highly rational to conduct such a research work because if these problems are not resolved, then Apple Inc. can surely lose its dominant position within the industry in long run. The above profit (income) and revenue graph of Apple Inc. precisely elaborates on its current primary strategic issue. The graph shows that although aggregate revenue earned by the company is increasing with time, income or profit share is falling. Rising revenue, but falling income, indirectly points out increasing operational cost experienced by Apple Inc. It is highly viable to determine the primary cause of such a problem because in long run, similar strategic issues can arise in any multinational organization. The publicly traded organization of Apple Inc. was founded in 1976. The firm produces computer hardware and software products as well as other electronic gadgets such as, Smartphones and tablets. Some popular products of Apple Inc. are iOperating System, iPad and iPhone (Apple Inc., 2013). The headquarters of the organization is located in

Taxation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 3

Taxation - Essay Example The taxation of household savings gives five reasons for this. The first point he gives is that the way savings are taxed is an important mode of the tax base. 1If individuals savings are taxed together with incomes and toil wages and all the elements of the tax base are evenly taxed, it leads to what is called comprehensive income tax. On the other hand, if wages are not taxed till when they are utilized, then the yielding tax structure will be a consumption tax. The next reason that is stated is that the manner in which tax is levied on savings is a key factor which determines the way tax structure identifies various relational in life income, contrary to the yearly revenue. Taxation of savings separates individual wage taxation and taxation of cooperate profits. The way in which savings are taxed can effect the independent business people, small businesses and disbursement of capital to huge companies. Taxation of savings can have an impact on summation of savings in the economy as well as, apparently more vital, the manner in which those sa vings are distributed across various capitals. This can have an effect on the total sum of main money invested and how well it is invested. Savings taxation influences individuals resolution on the amount of money they want to save, the time to save and the risk they are willing to incur when apportioning their savings among assets.2 Hence it directly have an impact on their well-being especially in retired times or economic decline, when they may have a need depend on savings they have gathered. The current taxation system is based on peoples real saving action. People save so that they can be able to use their saving at a later time or during the time of need. They deny themselves the use of their money today so that they can save for a rainy day in future as well as accumulate wealth. The case of not taxing the normal

UK politics 4 articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

UK politics 4 articles - Essay Example Which may or may not apply to the situation in the United Kingdom. The Daily Mail report also implied that Britain is not taking the threat of Redding seriously as it is a claim that tends to come around every year. Although various incarnations of this request have made its way to the higher ups in Britain, nobody has taken it seriously due to the expenses entailed in its implementation. Along with the request for equal rights, the Eurocrats were also calling for the creation of their own versions of MI5, MI6, and GCHQ. All in an effort to prevent electronic security breaches. A move that does not sit well with the U.K, because of the prohibitive costs of doing such a ting. Just like all other countries in the world today, Britain is being affected by tax problems and the citizens of the nation seem to be paying the most price for it. In a show of affiliation with the people and a concern for their financial needs, British Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to return every penny of tax money to the public in the form of tax cuts. This move of his is believed to be a sign that the Conservative party will be placing the discussion of taxes at the forefront of next years electoral campaign. As expected the plan did not sit well with all Conservatives, some of whom believe that more taxes should be collected from people falling under the 40p tax band. Divisiveness within the party is not a good thing going into an election year. Disagreements and debates have already been sparked even as the prime minister continues to argue that the move to rebate taxes is a good thing because it will not only balance the budget of the British government, but also create a more â€Å"responsible† British society. As the face of British politics continues to evolve into the 21st century, it is becoming more and more likely that the Conservative party shall be losing is

Corporate Social Responsibility And Sustainable Marketing Coursework

Corporate Social Responsibility And Sustainable Marketing - Coursework Example Along the years of its entrepreneurial operations in the realm of sports equipments and merchandises the company has been able to design a large brand portfolio by taking into hold a large number of subsidiaries. The sportswear company, headquartered in Oregon operates based on its operations spread over 160 countries round the world. Working on the basis of a large value chain constituted by around 1 million people pertaining to the categories of suppliers, manufacturers and other support categories the company tends to bring about large scale innovation in the realm of sportswear (Nike Inc. 2011). The Market The global market for sportswear reflects two types of consumer trends. Consumers tend to purchase sportswear merchandise more in regards to enhancing their fashion quotients rather than using such for the sole purpose of sports. Nike is held to be the pioneer brand in holding sportswear as a contemporary fashion wear in the global market. During 2003 the total global market fo r sportswear shoes and other apparels amounts to around $58 Billion. Herein apparel tends to constitute around 71 percent while 29 percent is relegated to footwear. The same can be reflected in the form of the following graph as follows. Figure 1 (Play Fair 2004, p.6) Similarly the global market for sports and athletic wear amounts to around $41.5 billion. Herein, United States tends to contribute to around 41 percent of the global share followed by around the European Union by around 38 percent. The markets pertaining to Asia contribute to around 16 percent in the total global market for sports and athletic wear. The same can be reflected through the following diagram. Figure 2 (Play Fair 2004, p.7) In regards to positioning of the different brands in the global sportswear industry it is found that the major brands like Nike, Reebok, and Adidas constitute in around 14 percent of the total global market for such commodities. However less known brands like Fila, Umbro and again Puma tend to each gain around 1 percent market share in the total market during 2002. Other Minor brands like the Mizuno, Lotto and the Kappa tend to each contribute to around 0.5 percent of the total market share during the same period. Thus the three main brands, Nike, Adidas and the Reebok tend to dominate the marketplace pertaining to sportswear in the world (Play Fair 2004, p.6-10). The same can be reflected from the following graphs. Figure 3 (Play Fair 2004, p.8) Figure 4 (Play Fair 2004, p.8) Figure 5 (Play Fair 2004, p.10) In regards to the current scenario during 2007 the total sportswear industry is found to value to around $145 billion. Further the sector reflects an increasing trend in terms of global market growth irrespective of it being affected by economic downturns happening round the world (ITGLWF 2010). Diagnostics Communication Activities of Nike Advertising and Promotion In regards to advertising activities, Nike is held to largely depend on celebrities like Michael Jordan and Kevin Garnett along with Charles Barkley for promotion of its footwear to both developed and developing nations round the world. This advertising practice of the company through the use of celebrities has helped the company in largely

A Worn Path Eudora Welty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

A Worn Path Eudora Welty - Research Paper Example The old woman’s eyesight is fast failing her but she had to make it to the hospital in the city for the sake of her grandson. Welty gave her work rich symbolic meanings in her attempt to pass her message to her readers. The title itself ‘A Worn Path’ is symbolic of the old woman’s sufferings and determination to have her grandson healed (Deakins 14). The woman must have made repeated journeys to the hospital without giving up on her hope that one day, her grandson would get well. In Phoenix, the writes captures the spirit of perseverance in desperation, the story presents the theme determination and courage through characterization of Phoenix. Nothing other than determination is what inspires the old frail woman to make repeated journeys to the city on foot to seek for a relief for her ailing grandson. Through the actions and treatment of Phoenix by other characters, the theme of courage becomes clear to readers. Eudora Welty has used different literary sty les in achieving her purpose in writing the story. This paper shall focus on her use of symbolism, characterization, and setting to develop the theme of courage in ‘A Worn Path’. Characterization There are several characters in the short story in whose reception and treatment of the old Phoenix portrays her resilient character traits. She is determined to ensure that she gets the medication for he ailing grandson. On her way to Natchez city, the old woman with a failing vision encounters a White Hunter, Black American children, a pedestrian in the city, attendant at the hospital, a nurse at the hospital, and her ailing grandson whom she has lefty back at home. Her courage is seen when she is determined to go through all the hurdles that are presented by nature on her path that passes through the jungle. Phoenix says on her way â€Å"out of my way you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons, and wild animals†¦.† (Welty para 3). When the old woman was trudgi ng through the path uphill, she pauses and looks backs and says â€Å"Up through the pines. Now down through the oak.† (Welty para 5). The woman’s journey is largely tormenting but she is courageous that she would eventually reach the city to get medication for her grandson. When the White Hunter tells her to stay home where there is safety for her frail figure, the old woman says that she must reach Natchez city. Her main goal is to get to the city undeterred by the thorny bushes, steeps, and creeks of the jungle. Her abilities to keep trudging despite her numerous challenges brings her fourth as a very determined old woman who would not bow down to anything other than achieving her desires. Phoenix resilience helps the author in building the theme of courage in the story (Wampler para 1). Phoenix is treated condescendingly by the White Hunter that picks her from a ditch where she fell into. Due to the fact that Christmas holiday was just looming, the White Hunter pre sumes that the old black woman was making such a long journey just to lay her eyes on Santa Claus. He tells Phoenix â€Å"I know you old colored people! Wouldn't miss going to town to see Santa Claus!† (Welty para 19). This statement insinuates some kind of racial bias. The White Hunter is presuming that old black people are such obsessed with Santa Claus to an extent that the woman would just make many miles of a perilous journey just to see Santa Claus. Even when the White Hunter points his gun at her, Phoenix seemed unperturbed by the threat of the gun. At the clinic from

Online Behavioral Targeting and Consumer Privacy Issues Essay Example for Free

Online Behavioral Targeting and Consumer Privacy Issues Essay Sophocles’ prolific writing has rarely produced a woman of such stern strength of character as â€Å"Antigone†. Inversely the comedy of Aristophanes â€Å"Lysistrat† was among the first to introduce a strong willed female protagonist, who is not a goddess. The treatment of both great writers differs in the fact that the backdrops and the moods are distinctly different. While Sophocles zeroed in on the sombre tragedy, Aristophanes chose to inject feminist revolt against domination through zestful comedy. From a gender perspective it is important to study the motives behind the actions of the lead characters in both the plays. There have been suicides and suicides in Greek tragedies (which almost define Greek tragedies). Sophocles’ Antigone commits suicide in the dark dungeon left to starve to death. But unlike the suicide of their mother Jocasta who decides to end her life when she learns that her marital relationship with Oedipus was incestuous, Antigone’s death is a defiant protest against the tyranny of her uncle Creon and an emphasis of her strongly held belief, that her brother should be accorded a proper burial. There have been few examples of valour from Greek women who defied the norms of either their contemporary society or their king for a symbolic gesture rather than a cause. In the case of Antigone it was the burial rights to one of her two dead brothers which drives her to go against the will of the ruler, Creon. â€Å"Antigone† begins after both the warring brothers have apparently killed each other and since Polynices revolted against the state and led an Argive army to overthrow his brother Eteocles, he is deemed to be a sinner against the state. Thus Creone, brother of Jocasta, who becomes the ruler decrees his body to be deprived of proper burial rites to ensure that his soul rots beyond redemption. Antigone, in the beginning of the play expresses her wish to accord her brother proper burial. It is a symbolic depiction of Antigone’s moral strength that she decides to go ahead in her chosen course though she is unable to enlist the support of her more timid sister Ismene. This is a marked deviation from the depiction of women in Greek literature of the time where women were always looked upon as dependent on others for the strength of their convictions. Antigone succeeds in her stated mission and when this becomes known to Creone, an argument rages on the choice between the natural law and man-made laws. In another daring drift from established norm, the chorus in Sophocles’ play have the moral courage to call the path of their emperor as the more evil. Creone’s son and Antigone’s fiance Haemon comes to her defence and the ensuing debate on the justice of natural laws which should supersede man made laws is a dramatist’s delight. Creone, however, decides to leave Antigone to starve to death in a sealed cave as her prison. The blind prophet Tiresias also advocates against punishment to Antigone and says he will pay â€Å"corpse for corpse, and flesh for flesh†. The declaration of Tiresias that Creon is causing moral pollution causes a change of heart in Creone. His moral dilemma leads him to conclude that Polynices should be buried and Antigone should be pardoned. But by this time, Hameon reaches Antigone’s cave with the intention of saving her only to find that she has committed suicide by hanging herself, much like her mother Jocasta before her. When Creon reaches the cave he finds Hameon grieving over Antigone and he takes his life by stabbing himself as Creon approaches him. This leads Eurydice, Creon’s wife to give up her life in the grief of her son’s untimely death. Thus Creon loses all his loved ones due to his one fatal erring conviction to hold the laws of the state above the natural law. The tragic flaw, is thus justified in Sophocles’ â€Å"Antigone†. It is easy to categorize the play Lysistrata by Aristophanes as a lewd comedy designed to entertain the Greek literature and drama lovers with a lampooning of the results if women begin to take an interest in affairs of national importance. It is also very convenient to visualize male actors playing all the important roles of the play and the â€Å"male† male characters wearing erect phalluses to depict their masculinity might have led to uproarious laughter. However, with passing time and the aid of retrospection help us to begin to understand that Aristophanes might have devoted considerable time and emotional energy in trying to decipher what goes through the hearts and heads of women of his time who were modelled to be subservient and detached from the affairs of the state. Lysistrata leads a domestic and non violent non-cooperation movement (though the medium of non cooperation seldom ventures beyond the conventional sexual subjugation) to convince the men of the time to end the long standing war (apparently the Peloponnesian war) and bring back peace. The play is an apparent comedy that it depicts women as sex crazed and spine less characters for whom rising beyond their daily chores is a daunting task. Except fro Lysistrata, no other woman comes across as strong willed enough to contribute in any way to the cause of the play. One can imagine the gusty laughter the scene involving the swearing of oath by drinking wine from a shield as it was a portrayal of women as being incapable of self restraint (from all good things in life, including wine and sex). Though Lysistrata as a play has a lot of titillate the viewers, it has been seen in modern light as a commentary on the plight of women who have no say in the affairs of the state entirely decide by the men but have to silently suffer the consequences. This has remained unchanged even after the liberation ages of the 20th century. Aristophanes does manage to draw a caricature of Greek women as incapable of with holding sex or thinking beyond sex as the only weapon in her armour to control or change society. It is possible though to excuse this caricature as Aristophanes’ attempt not to ruffle the feathers of his contemporary society while at the same time recording for future history that women did harbour different opinions on the approaches of the state to war and peace. The widowhood and martyrdom of a mother who loses her children to the ravages of war are not mentioned, perhaps because they would have added the much relegated sobriety to this deemed comedy. Gender domination is a visible thread in Lysistrata, but whether Aristophanes designed this play as a comic fiction based on improbable scenarios of liberated women questioning state policies, or as an underhanded attempt to depict female angst of his contemporary Greek society is debatable. However Lysistrata has remained current and meaningful to this date due to its universal themes of Peace being preferred over War and has helped several social commentators put across their point during the several un necessary wars that dot world history to date be it the Vietnam war or the latest invasion of Iraq. Whatever be the motivation, both Sophocles and Aristophanes manage to leave behind a piece of Literature which continues to engage readers and historians in a healthy debate on the premium placed on female equality by writers from the Greek age to the present day. Works Cited or used as reference Henderson, Jeffrey (contributor) Lysistrata by Aristophanes, London : Oxford University Press, 1990 Translated by Gibbons, Reginald and Segal, Charles Antigone by Sophocles, NewYork : Oxford University Press US, 2003

Should A Company Employ The Matrix Structure Commerce Essay

Should A Company Employ The Matrix Structure Commerce Essay The reason we choose the matrix organization is because we know this structure will be very important in the future. Matrix organization is the best-know application of project management, a project structure imposed on top of a functional structure. Matrix organizations evolved to capitalize on the advantages of project and matrix structure while minimizing their disadvantages. An important aspect of the matrix structure is each person work on the project and has two superiors which are project manager and functional manager. The project managers report to a top-level manager and this will help a lot in decision making. Example users of matrix structure include bank, insurance, companies, chemical manufactures and colleges. The matrix organization combines the best feature of the project and functional structure. It is flexible, yet it offers the advantages of task specialization. Matrix structure is known for its ability to facilitate high-quality and innovative solutions to difficult technical problems. The project structure also gives people a degree of freedom that enhances their development as managers. Also of note is the fact that the matrix organization offers ample opportunity for job rotation on many projects. So should a company employ the matrix structure in order to have better management? The answer is yes. Why? Because in this modern life the matrix structure will help company perform better. Matrix structure also will make the company organization become more systematic and more efficient. The matrix structure will make the company become more systematic. In matrix organization there have functional manager and product managers. The work will be divided and job can be done easily. This will bring benefit to the company and matrix organization will minimize the weakness of the company. Every employee in the company that uses the matrix structure has their own work that need to be done. So the job is divided and can be done easily and more systematic. (Andrew 1993) Functional managers are in charge of specialized resources such as production, quality control, inventories, scheduling and selling. They will know in doing they own job and the work can be done with the efficient outcome. Colleges often use matrix organization to setting up the programs, for example industry seminars and adult education. (Andrew 1993) Product managers in charge of one or more products so they have their own specific jobs to be done. Project managers usually will report to top level managers. The examples of users of matrix structure include banks, insurance companies and colleges. (Andrew 1993) For example, Champion products Inc, creating the separate marketing department. Furthermore, this allows managers and employees more familiar and specific with the market. (Andrew 1993) However, the matrix structure also brings risk for the main company. In the matrix management structure, when one company operated loss, it will influence others. The main company supports it by more money, the market budget will be decreases, and this will be relative to the development of new product. Finally, the sales and profit will be influenced. Although the matrix management structure is easy to design and appears to have advantages, it may be difficult to implement. Problems can arise over shared responsibility, the use of resources in common and the question of priorities. ( Hannagan 2002) In a matrix management company, most of the data and information are shared, and it is a risk of duplication. Some managers may be not satisfied about the salaries or the job opportunity, when other company provide better reward, those managers will leave and take many useful resource, such as some valuable employees and customers information. For the main company, the loss is more than what we can imaginable. Those problems I mentioned have existed in IBM and Shell Oil firms. In 1980s, the Shell Oil Company applied the matrix structure, and it has been influenced in sales because of communication problems. Matrix structure has those problems, nevertheless, it is also a positive impact, which allowing teams to share information across task boundaries and enabling managers and staff to share skills and experience so that increase whole teams productivity. Matrix structure will give or open more opportunities for job. The company which uses matrix structure will hire many workers or employees. This will give more opportunity job to people to get a job, and it also decrease unemployment rate in the particular country. Many projects mean needs more employees so this will give or offer the opportunity job to people. (Andrew 1993) For example, if the company like mustang or Taurus comes out with new project or models, they will need employees such as engineering to work with them. (Kinichi Williams 2003) People in particular country will get more knowledge about international management. Employees maybe will train in other country to learn more about the company objective. It will add the employees knowledge. For example, the US firm, Bow Chemical. In 1970 many firms moved away from using the matrix structure but Bow believes this structure will bring advantages and will give good performance among employees. ( Paul, aleny 1993) Moreover matrix structure will give local people in particular country to get training, improving their skills and also can learn the skill of different management from different country. Some problem about cost and communication appeared in matrix structure, Using matrix structure will need more cost and more discussion than action. Its uncountable that using matrix management structure need high cost in a short term period. When a company wants to expand business in other country, it must prepare capital for building new factory, and hiring employees. For those companies that they dont have enough money for high cost and cover the loss in the beginning is high risk. Another problem is that too much democracy can lead to not enough action ( IreLand 2007). In the company, the matrix management will use much time to discuss the procedures in producing and increasing sales. However, at the end of discussing, just bit actions can be achieved, and sometimes the important decision for major project is also missed. Furthermore, the employees lazy emotion is easily appearing in matrix structure companies. To some extent, matrix structure has encouraged power struggles. The managers have ordered their employees help him apply the power, and used had ways and methods, these influence other department managers, even though have a bad impact on the company. For example, Ford Company has a problem in finance. Because the high management cost and expenses, it decreased the profit directly. Some situations have been happened in IBM, COCA-COLA, and Toyota Company. Matrix structure will save management time. Every country has the branches that handle about the products in a particular country, so its totally will save the management time. In matrix structure managers have three main major roles. The work is divided between functional and product managers. So they have the own task to be done. Its will save time and also separates the power or balance the power between the managers. (Jerald Greenbery 1999) Functional and product managers have specific jobs to be done in this structure the employee also must report their task to their manager so it make fair and balance powers between the managers. Moreover by using matrix structure the main company easy to make decision. Besides that they easy to get feedback from other company under them and it will help to improve their product and services. TRW systems group, Liberty Mutual Insurance and Citibank is some of the company that adopts matrix structure. This will help the company in doing the decision making. (Jerald Greenbery 1999) On the other hand, the main company also easily to control the company under them and adjust the marketing strategy. In this structure every employee got they own duties and all work hard to raise the return for the company with doing their specific task. Furthermore they can respond to the changing very fast and finding the best environment. However in controlling, matrix structure maybe will cause stressful among managers. But if looking for the benefit that the company will get benefit in future, Matrix structure totally useful. (Jerald Greenbery 1999) Dow Chemical, it believes that matrix structure will improve their management when other companies stop using the structure, Bow still continue using it because he believe that matrix structure will give improvement and make him easily to control the employees. Matrix structure is a permanent organization designed to achieve specific results by using teams of specialists from different functional area in the organization. For example, Ford UK produces motor cars aimed specifically at the UK and European markets and adapts its marketing and sales techniques to the requirements of these markets. UK can be treated as a distinct market requiring clear focus on the approach to it. There are many advantages by using the matrix organizations such as focus on end product, stimulus creativity, provides challenges and improves communication and understanding (Mondy Premeaux 1992) On the contrast, matrix structure has creative the problems in communication, management cost, and responsibility. These will influence companys performance even though to be a threat for a companys development and increase companys competition. However, in a long term, if the company can improve their management and use matrix structure effectively, it will show that matrix structure is very necessary and important strategy for those companies which aim to be the most successful survivors in the competitive market. In USA, one third of most successful companies have used matrix structure, and it illustrates how the matrix structure can help companies close to the famous and success.

Attitude and Intention toward Mobile Advertising

Attitude and Intention toward Mobile Advertising 3. Research Framework 3.1 introductions In the research the factors will be considers as that entertainment credibility; irritation and informativeness are the significant factors affecting respondents attitudes toward mobile advertising. They use attitude as a dependent variable and consider the antecedents of advertising value as factors of attitude in their framework. (Chakraborty, Lala, Warren, 2003)Compared to other advertisings, personalization is very important in the Internet advertising. Personalization can ensure that visitors to location based service segment are to see the most appropriate and appealing Internet advertising and have positive benefits ranging from improved attitude toward the Website to purchase consider that personalization factors will come into play in the mobile environment. This factor may help further distinguish the mobile environment from traditional and Internet media. Specifically, I propose that personalization will affect respondents attitudes toward mobile advertising in addition t o those proposed by Tsang et al. Figure 1 depicts the framework of consumers perceptions on mobile advertising. These five factors are expected to affect mobile advertising attitude, and attitude will affect intention on using location based services in customer point of view. The attention refers to the plan of acting on the information presented in mobile advertising, such as going into a certain store to buy something after receiving a mobile advertisement from the store. Location-based services (LBS) are services that utilize knowledge about where a mobile device user is located. For example, the user of a mobile smart phone could be publicized ads exact to the region the user is travelling in. Location-based services exploit any of numerous technologies for knowing where a network user is geographically positioned. associated Business Intelligence estimates that the LBS industry will account for more than 80 billion in revenue by 2020 in Europe. Most telecommunications carriers plan to pursue either network- or handset-based location fixing technologies in their networks. The technology to pinpoint a mobile phones location is obtainable today and is of significant commercial value to businesses that want to aim their customers via mobile phones. Advertising that changes based on a users location (LBA Location Based Advertising) has been one of the much-talked-about capabilities of the wireless Internet, the idea being that an advertiser could reach a customer when he was most likely to buy. Opt-in possibilities could permit device users who are strolling in a shopping mall or urban area, for example, to signal their readiness for local offers. Location-based services (LBS) are services that exploit knowledge about where a mobile device user is located. For example, the user of a mobile smart phone could be shown ads precise to the region the user is travelling in. Location-based services take advantage of any of several technologies for knowing where a network user is geographically located. Allied Business Intelligence estimates that the LBS industry will account for more than 40 billion in revenue by 2006 in Europe. Most telecommunications carriers plan to pursue either network- or handset-based location fixing technologies in their networks. The technology to pinpoint a mobile phones location is available today and is of significant commercial value to businesses that want to target their customers via mobile phones. Adver tising that changes based on a users location (LBA Location Based Advertising) has been one of the much-talked-about capabilities of the wireless Internet, the idea being that an advertiser could reach a customer when he was most likely to buy. The advertising will be directed toward phone and PDA (personal digital assistant) users or passengers in public transport. Wireless advertising makes the most sense when delivered contextually through media on a geo-targeted basis. Opt-in possibilities could permit device users who are strolling in a shopping mall or urban area, for example, to signal their readiness for local offers.(Kà ¶lmel Alexakis, 2002) 3.2 Factors Contributing to Attitude and Intention toward Mobile Advertising Mobile advertising has become one of the most accepted applications in mobile marketing, principally in the form of text advertising through SMS (Short Messaging Service). This research investigates and compares the attitude toward mobile advertising and advertising- in-general. The results, conducted on 571 Sri Lankan mobile phone users, indicate that (1) consumers hold positive attitudes toward mobile advertising and advertising-in-general, (2) perceived irritation, informativeness, and trust affect consumers attitudes, (3) mobile advertising and advertising-in-general dont irritate consumers and they perceive them informative. However consumers dont trust mobile advertising and advertising-in-general. (4) Consumers are more positive about advertising-in-general than mobile advertising.(Buckley, 2004). in advertising and information systems suggests that advertising in mutually conventional media and the Internet is either effortlessly ignored by the audience or is perceived with d iminutive value. However, these studies assumed that the audience was passive and failed to consider the motives of the users. In light of this, the present study measures consumers attitudes toward advertisements for different purposes/functions (Location building and directional) and different media (traditional and Internet-based). Literature suggests the following factors that contribute to consumers perceptions of ads: entertainment, irritation, informativeness, credibility, and demographic. We believe that interactivity is also a factor that contributes to consumers perceptions. By understanding consumers attitude towards advertising, designers and marketers can better strategize their advertising designs. A better understanding of interactivity can also help to improve the effectiveness of interactive media such as the Internet. A methodology for studying the factors that contribute to consumers perceptions of ads is proposed and implications for Internet-based advertising an d e-commerce is discussed.(Wang, Zhang, Choi, Eredita, 2002). mobile marketing and the permission and user attitude for acceptance of mobile services by consumers accessed mainly by mobile phones. The aim of this study is to analyze the factors affecting consumer attitudes toward permission-based mobile marketing (PBMM).(Cengiz, Tetik, Yuan, 2010) The LBA push approach amounts to the advertiser working with the carriers and delivery networks to send (push) ads to the user, determined by the devices location. Hypothetically, it could be targeted even more finely if other information is available about users (context, demographics, psychographics, etc.) Within the push approach, there are two further possibilities with which we have become unfamiliar in recent years as they pertain to e-mail advertising: opt-out and opt-in. Opt-out suggests that advertisers would send ads to whomever they wanted to until users asked that they not be sent ads anymore. In contrast, the opt-in approach involves users authorizing that messages be sent to them, a type of permission marketing(Godin 1999). As an example, the push approach was used when moviegoers walked near a kiosk at some theaters and received text messages letting them know they could download free content related to recent movie releases (Parry 2005). In this case, opt-in would mea n recipients would have previously indicated their interest in receiving messages from the theaters whereas opt-out means they would not have done so. The other approach to LBA is called pull and it occurs when consumers request some information or use some service on a one-time basis and in the process are exposed to commercial messages (MMA 2005a). In essence, they are seeking information (pulling) rather than the information seeking them (pushing). For example, a salesman visiting San Francisco could use his device to access a portal where one of the choices is Local Restaurants. After selecting that, the next alternative he may choose to pick is Chinese. Five restaurants are shown, all indicated to be within a half-mile of his location. He selects one of them and a map is provided as well as an offer of a free appetizer, good for the next hour. Because the user chooses the time and place to access the information in the pull approach, it is by definition opt-in. 3.3 Independent variables 3.3.1 Entertainment Entertainment is also a crucial factor for mobile advertising. It is essential that the message is concise and funny, and thus immediately captures consumers attention. As most people have a natural playfulness, providing games and prizes via text messaging (SMS) yields high participationà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Entertainment as defined by Ducoffe10 is the ability to ful ­fill an audiences needs for escapism, diversion, aesthetic enjoyment, or emotional enjoyment. Recent research has shown that entertainment has a noteworthy positive relationship with attitude and is deemed to be the most significant factor determining CATSA11-12,5,13-16. It has also been argued that SMS messages providing games and prizes yield high participation levels; thus is more suc ­cessful in attracting and keeping customers. Moreover, entertainment services can increase customers loyalty and provide extra value for the customer15. As peoples feeling of enjoyment associated with advertisements is very important in gaining their atten ­tion; it is essential that such messages are brief and funny. These attributes can contribute significantly in making consumers more unfamiliar with the advertised product as well as getting them involved in a more profound manner15. 3.3.2 Credibility Credibility of advertising is an important predictor of attitude toward the advertising. Advertising credibility is consumers perception of the truthfulness and believability of advertising in general (Barclay et al., 1995) Credibility of an advertisement is influenced by different factors, especially by the companys credibility corporate credibility is defined as the extent to which consumers believe that a firm can design and deliver products and services that satisfy customer needs and wants and has been found to have direct positive effects on attitude toward the ad, the Location , and purchase intent. On the other hand, due to declining advertising Credibility, marketers continually search for innovative ways to communicate their messages. Credibility is considered the base of the consumers trust. The relation between the consumer and the Location is highly influenced by trust and it is a common finding that consumers in general do not trust advertising due to issues of false ma rketing efforts36. As risk is well associ ­ated to trust; hence it should be kept to its minimum, not only by gaining consumers trust but through sustaining it by means of hard work. Credibility is believed to be achieved in numerous ways; for instance listing key features and communicating to the consumer in a trustworthiness manner; since con ­sumers will reject receiving ads to their mobile phones, if they cannot trust the advertiser37. Hence, creating a well-established basis of trust for mobile marketing has to be a key objective for all advertising companies. In order to do so ads providers can make advantage of referrals, suggestions and positive associations to gain trust among consumers38. Moreover, credibility can be perceived posi ­tively if a spokesperson or organization is employed to sponsor an advertisement, but only if done correctly. A recent study38 has confirmed that the use of celebrities as spokespersons or endorsers can additionally enhance the level of credibility. Thus, making use of referrals or celeb ­rity endorsements it is pretty common by advertisers. The level of credibility could substantially depend upon the ad source, which means that if the source is well known for its experience and proficiency in the subject advertised for; it is most likely to be perceived as trust ­worthy. Expertise comes from knowledge acquired in the subject, whereas trustworthiness refers to the honesty of the source39. Ohaninan40 has further confirmed that the consumers willingness to accept an ad message can be influenced by the source credibility and hence many advertisers use positive characteristics of the source, such as an 3.3.3 informativeness Information delivered to customers through mobile devices requests to demonstrate qualitative features like accuracy, timeliness, and usefulness for the consumer. Apart from this, users need quick access to the information they are looking for in their current content of use. There is even the possibility that the information may be delivered automatically to the consumersà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Informativness has been defined numerously; A definition provided by Waldt et al.5 and Ducoffe10 states that informativness is the ability of advertising to inform consumers of product alternatives so that purchases yielding the greatest possible satisfaction can be made, while Oh and Xu17 has defined it as the ability to success ­fully give related information. Both definitions focus on the ability of informing the consumers of the products relevant qualities. Literature shows that there exists a sig ­nificant positive relationship between informativeness of the mobile advertising and CATSA12, 15-16. One key objective of advertising is creating awareness and illustrating the uniqueness of the advertised product or service provided18. Higher information quality percep ­tion is typically yielded if accuracy, meaningfulness and timeliness of the information provided are ensured; since Informativeness is reliant on the match between content provided by the mobile service and the subscribers infor ­mation requirements16. In the contemporary technological world, informa ­tiveness (content) and entertainment (form) are characteristically entwined with each and hence could be included into a single construct19,10. This correlation is believed to create a positive CATSA, based on consumers requirements and expectation to how these should be met. 3.3.4 Irritation When advertising employs techniques that annoy, offend, insult or are overly manipulative, consumers are likely to perceive it as unwanted and irritating influence(Ducoffe, 1996). Mobile advertising can provide an array of information that confuses and distracts the recipient as well as overwhelms the consumer with information. Consumers may feel confused about them and react negatively. . The tactics advertisers use when competing for consumers attention can be annoying to the audiences. Irritation as defined by Ducoffe10 is the tactics used by marketers in advertisement that are annoying or against the consumer attitude or may insult consumer dignity and is perceived negatively by customers or irritates con ­sumers. Hence irritation is a phenomenon pretty much similar to reactance, where the consumer is more likely to reject advertisements perceived as intrusive. This ideol ­ogy has been supported by Tsang et al.16 and Ducoffe10, as both has stated that annoying, insulting or o verly manip ­ulative tactics used by advertisers are one of the primary sources of irritation. Perceived irritation has been illustrated to be dependent on numerous factors including number of messages, the frequency of ads, the messages contend and their timing12,20-21. Moreover, overlapping, confus ­ing information provided by SMS advertisements has also been proven to cause consumer annoyance and generate negative impact towards mobile advertise ­ment22. Additionally, privacy defined as the right ofan individual to control the information held about them by third parties23. It is an essential factor affect ­ing mobile advertisement acceptance. The personal nature of the mobile can lead to the opposition of SMS advertising since its potentially perceived as threatening their privacy. Burner and Kumar24 has confirmed that personalization can create a situation where a company gathers too much private information (such as the users whereabouts, without getting his/her consent) and uses this knowledge to provide geographic specific advertise ­ment, thereby generating a feeling of intrusion for the consumers. Based on the previously discussed, irritation has shown to yield considerable negative impacts toward SMS advertising, in contrast with both informativness and entertainment which generate positive impact25. Recent research has indicated various ways to reduce irritation caused by SMS advertisement. One of the most straightforward ways to tackle the irritation issue is permission-based SMS advertising26-27. In the context of SMS advertising a beforehand notification is sent to the consumer-prior to sending advertisements- to ask for permission to send SMS ads and to convince con ­sumers to opt-in; in which case a simple registration ensures sending relevant messages to the interested audi ­ence. In other words, consumers require a certain degree of control to achieve favorable acceptance towards such advertisements. This can refer to control over when, where, what and how much advertising to receive through mobile, which in turn generate acceptance towards SMS advertising28. Furthermore, language employed in SMS advertisement should be understood by the target group, since its a major determinant of the CATSA29. Mobile advertising should as well be concise and straight to the point t o yield acceptation30-31; since reading from mobile devices may take more time due to space limitations. Finally, SMS advertising should also disclose how to stop receiving further messages. 3.3.5 Personalization Mobile advertising has gained significant attention because of the unique attributes, such as personalization (28), that offer new opportunities to advertisers to place effective and efficient promotions on mobile environments. In order to achieve the competitive advantages consistently, real time personalization will most likely be required through the use of personalization technology. Mobile commerce holds a great potential for personalization, because of the nature of mobile devices they provide personal information of (T. Lee Jun, 2007). Personalized advertising improve the experience for companies and consumers By allowing mobile advertising providers to collect data about demographics and location of the consumers, personalization improves the quality of mobile commerce and turns it into important medium (Dickinger, Haghirian, Murphy, Scharl, 2004)The impact of the message can be increased by personalizing the message. Success of the target marketing is based on well-structured and maintained databases (ibid). 3.4.1 Mediator Perceived value (PV) behavioral intention relationship examines the direct effect of Perceived value to intention to use the technology The idea is that people form intentions toward using regardless of whether they have positive or negative feelings toward the behavior. Perceived value is defined by Davis, 1989 as The degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance. (Fred D Davis, 1989) There is a positive correlation between Perceived value of mobile commerce and consumer satisfaction in mobile commerce environment (Lee et al., 2007,). The study conducted by(Soroa-Koury Yang, 2010) also found that Perceived value is one of the key variable for prediction consumer attitude toward mobile advertising. Consumer may intend to check the usefulness of the app and its advertistments inorder to make their mind set use LBS services. What causes people to accept or reject informa-tion technology? Among the many variables that may influence system use, pre vious research sug-gests two determinants that are especially im-portant. First, people tend to use or not use an application to the extent they believe it will help them perform their job better. We refer to this first variable as perceived usefulness. Second, even if potential users believe that a given ap-plication is useful, they may, at the same time, believe that the systems is too hard to use and that the performance benefits of usage are out-weighed by the effort of using the application. That is, in addition to usefulness, usage is theo-rized to be influenced by perceived ease of use. Perceived value is defined here as the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance.T his follows from the defini-tion of the word useful: capable of being used advantageously.W ithina n organizationalc on-text, people are generally reinforced for good performance by raises, promotions, bonuses, and other rewards (Pfeffer, 1984). A s ystem high in perceived use-fulness, in turn, is one for which a user believes in the existence of a positive use-performance relationship 3.4.2 Moderator Location unfamiliarity People often consume products in a variety of different situations. For example, one might eat breakfast at Home, at a hotel, or at an airport. In making consumption decisions in these different situations, consumers must first recall from memory a set of products that may fulfill their needs and then make their final choice from this set.(S. Ratneshwar, Cornelia Pechmann, 1996).Location ununfamiliar defined as the knowledge about some locations. Location based advertising can be highly promoted when the consumer doesnt have an idea about the location. If the consumer has more information or consumer has many other options to use at a given location, it would be wasted decision to use LBS softwares to get services. Most of the customers willing to use LBS when the situation is unfamiliar. Such as updating market in China, consumers are more likely to use LBS, because of the lack of knowledge of the location. Location ununfamiliar can be defined as when the consumer doesnt have idea about the location and its products and services. As its a important moderator from customer point of view, i t will be use as a moderator in the research frameworkà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ (Campbell Keller, 2003) conducted in which ad contentand repetition were carefully controlled and only the ununfamiliar of the Location sponsor was varied. These provideconsistent evidence that ads for ununfamiliar Locations wear outfaster, showing decreased effectiveness at lower levels ofrepetition relative to ads for unfamiliar Locations. The results alsoprovide insight to the consumer psychology underlying theeffect of Location ununfamiliar on ad wearout.Across both studies, processing of the ads was seen todiffer with repetition depending on the ununfamiliar of the Locations. Ads for ununfamiliar Locations were processed more extensivelywith repetition than were ads for unfamiliar Locations.Just as a marketers focus is often on building market knowledgefor new Locations and on maintaining presence for familiarLocations, consumer focus may be on learning aboutununfamiliar Locations but also on updating exi sting knowledgefor unfamiliar Locations. Increases in processing because of repetitionand Location unununfamiliar lead to more negative andfewer positive thoughts. Additionally, the studies provideevidence to suggest that at higher levels of ad repetition,consumers may use more extensive processing to considerthe inappropriateness of advertising tactics for unfamiliarLocations. Tactic inappropriateness was seen to mediate theeffects of ad repetition and Location ununfamiliar on messageeffectiveness. Finally, the results demonstrated that attitudetoward the ad had a greater influence on attitude toward theLocation for ununfamiliar Locations compared with familiar Locations 3.4.3 Customer innovativeness By innovativeness we mean the predisposition of a consumer to adopt a product earlier han most others. Various studies have shown that across product categories, innovators tend to be: opinion leaders, risk takers, more likely to obtain information from mass media than through word of mouth, open to new ideas and change, relatively young etc. Marketers want to identify the segment of the market that is most likely to adopt a new product when it is the first introduced. This article describes we ask some key questions about the nature of innovativeness and try to make a correlation between characteristics of the innovators and innovativeness.(Dobre, Dragomir, Preda, 2009) 3.5 Consumer attitudes towards LBS / Purchase behavior /rejection behavior Attitude toward advertising is defined as a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner toward advertising in general. Consumer attitudes toward advertising tend to affect their attitudes toward specific advertisements (Pyun James, 2011)Many researchers around the world have developed many models that point out determinants of attitudes toward advertising.. Factors underlying consumers attitudes differ among various forms of advertising and a variety of other factors. which is most appropriate and applicable to the context of the study, three perceptual antecedents (Informativeness, Entertainment and Irritation) influence how consumers assess the value of web advertising. Additionally, the findings of this research also noted that consumers assessments of value have a significant impact on their overall attitudes. Therefore, Informativeness, Entertainment and Irritation are factors that should be considered when examining attitudes toward mobi le advertising. and tested to show that it strengthened this model. This research will focus on four hypothesized factors: Informativeness, Entertainment, Irritation and ,Credibility..Personalization according to Lee , The primary aim of this study is to investigate the factors influencing audience attitudes towards such location-based advertising. The results indicate that entertainment, personalization and privacy concerns all have direct impacts on consumer attitudes, with situational context moderating the impacts of these factors on such consumer attitudes. conclude by offering some practical suggestions for mobile operators and advertising agencies.(Y. C. Lee, 2010).buying behavior of the customers can be depending on the attitude towards location based services. If the attitude is positive , consumer may have a positive Purchase behavior , if the attitude is negative it can be rather differ. Meanwhile both purchase behavior and reject behavior will be depend on the attitude w hich create by the consumers mind. LBA opportunities. The majority (87%) of the consumerinterviewees in this study expressed ununfamiliar with SMS andmobile application forms of LBAs. They oftenreceived LBAs and promotions from well-known food and beverage vendors. Arecent survey in Singapore found perceived utility of advertisingas a strong predictor of mobile phone users affectiveattitude towards LBAs(Bruner Kumar, 2007)). In this study,more thanhalf (53%) of the interviewees perceived benefits of LBAs asconvenience (searching for deals) and time and money saving(purchasing products). Some interviewees viewed LBAs ashooks to encourage them to do shopping or attend eventsnearby. Three-fifths agreed with LBAs short-term effects toattract foot traffic by giving incentives (e.g., vouchers anddiscounts) but felt dubious about LBAs capabilities to giveadvertisers long-term benefits, particularly customer loyalty.Based on consumer interviews, a pull approach of LBAs wasmore acceptable than a push approach, indicating thatapplication-based LBAs are favored more compared with SMSads. Two-fifths of the interviewees thought application-basedLBAs gave them more control over receiving LBAs. Respondent 4 (personal communication, 19 March 2013) pointed out theimportance of allowing consumers to have choices: I justwantto be given the option to decide when I want or dont want it. 3.6 Technology Acceptance Model The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) explains how a new technology and the various aspects of it are received and used by the user. Though many models have been proposed previously in the field of Information Systems to describe the relationship, it is this model which has been widely acclaimed and used. The TAM was initially proposed by (Fred D Davis, 1989)It comprises two beliefs, the perceived utilities and the perceived ease of application, which determine attitudes to adopt new technologies. The attitude toward adoption will decide about the adopters positive or negative behavior in the future concerning new technology. A model developed to study the acceptance of the technology by an individual taking into account, basically, both the perceived ease of use and the usefulness of the technology. One of the most frequently employed models for research into new information technology acceptance. the TAM suggests that when users are presented with a new technology, a number of factors determine their decision about how and when they will use it. This is a theoretical framework designed by Davis (1989) that proposes a relationship between users acceptance of a new IS and the users perceptions of the ease of use and usefulness of the IS. A causal model hypothesizing that actual inform ation technology system use is affected by behavioral intentions that themselves are affected by attitudes toward use. Beliefs about the system, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use in TAM directly affect attitudes toward use In the TAM model, people who perceive technology as useful and easy to use will accept it more readily than those who do not, with usefulness more important than ease of use. A theory of innovation developed by Davis (1986) in which the main elements are perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward using technology, and behavioral intention. Theoretical framework developed by Davis in 1989 which identify perceived usefulness, ease of use, and cultural orientation of the decision maker as key drivers of technology an information systems theory that models user acceptance. The model includes two main factors influencing individual IS use: Perceived value (will the system enhance my job performance?) and perceived ease-of-use (how difficult will it be to use the system?). TAM has been extended to include social influence and normative beliefs of others (TAM2). a model of individual acceptance of IT, stating that an individuals adoption of IT is dependent on the perceived ease of use and Perceived value of the technology TAM is a model of user acceptance of information systems technology based on the theory of reasoned action. Two variables Perceived value and perceived ease of use lead to attitude toward use, behavioral intention to use and use of the system. Is one of the most widely used theories in IS literature. Two bel iefs (Perceived value and perceived ease of use) predict attitudes, which in turn influence intended use of a technology. This intention then consequently impacts behavior of actual system usage. Perceived value is the degree to which a user thinks a technology would enhance performance or productivity in the workplace. Perceived ease of use is the degree of lack of effort required by the user in adopting a given technology. Perceived ease of

Gilgamesh and Odysseus: Perfect Heros Essay -- Epic of Gilgamesh Odyss

Gilgamesh and Odysseus: Perfect Heros Gilgamesh and Odysseus are similar not only in their physical appearances but also in the way the two of them deal with life's dilemmas. Although Gilgamesh and Odysseus possess great strength and sharp minds, their own flaws blind them similarly, which does not aid in their quest for what they desire. As part of their heroic character, the gods must guide them in order to reach their goals. In every epic from antiquity, the greatest challenge a hero must overcome is not a monster or an evil tyrant but themselves. They wish to have glory, honor, and a place in history forever. Doing something that no one else could ever do again is what a hero desires to do. From Gilgamesh to The Odyssey, epic heroes constantly have to reinvent themselves to overcome their own weaknesses and shortcomings. Each has to learn from their previous mistakes, using the gods? help, so they can fulfill their dreams. In doing this, Odysseus and Gilgamesh will reach their goals. The dictionary defines hero in mythology and legend as, "a man who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, and born of divine or royal blood. He is a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life." In addition, I believe a hero is one to be looked up to and emulated. What is interesting about epic heroes is that their great deeds and exploits all have to do with defeating themselves, so with help from the gods they can truly become heroic. They can only defeat themselves with the help of the gods. The heroes also possess uncommon powers of the body and mind. They are described as being the utmost in clever and crafty doings but... ...heir journeys or overcome their limitations had it not been for the gods. Of all of the requirements of heroism, being influenced by the gods is the most important. Only through the aid of the gods can a character defeat his shortcomings and truly understand what a hero is. The character must become overconfident and prideful, then, and only then, can the gods step in and break their faults. Finally, the hero either comes to realize how wrong he was or he dies in ignorance. Works Cited http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=hero Homer, The Odyssey, The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, ed. Maynard Mack, Expanded Edition, (New York: W. W. Norton, 1995), pp. 219-503. Translated by N.K. Sandars, Gilgamesh, The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces Expanded Edition, ed. Maynard Mack, Expanded Edition, (New York: W. W. Norton, 1995), pp. 13-42

Blue Swimming Crabs :: Fishermen, Malaysia, Bardawil Lagoon

Blue swimming crabs are an important source of income for fishermen in the Malaysia, also known as ‘ketam bunga’ or ‘ketam renjong’ in the name of the local. The high price and increased demands in among community will cause the over-exploitation in production of blue swimming crabs. In 2003, total landings for P. pelagicus were approximately 175,000 tons and decrease to 165,000 tons in 2004 (FAO Fish Stat, 2009). This decline from over-exploitation has an impact in some Asian countries (Ikhwanuddin et al., 2005). In Malaysia, statistics from Department of Fisheries (DOF) shows that the landings of P. pelagicus is 3514 tons in 2007 and increase to 4427 tonnes in 2008 but the landings is decrease in 2009 with 3057 tones. These declines total the crabs fishing at territorial water in Malaysia as an early marker of deficiency will the crabs in the future because of the increasing the catch and the damage of coastal environments, the amount of P. pelagicus is ra pidly decreased. However, P. pelagicus cultured are important from the beginning of the last decade because of high demand for live crabs and crabs products in the export market. Due to their fast growth rates to market size (Josileen and Menon, 2005) and relative ease of hatchery production (Walker, 2006), the aquaculture interest of this species is growing. Blue swimming crabs are of high value and quality, a profitable export markets in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan by Australian producers (Stevens, 1997) Now day, P. pelagicus are cultured for the production of the lucrative soft-shell crab market on recirculation and lined pond systems in Australia (O'Neill, 2003 and Walker, 2006). Blue Swimming crabs are not only popular in Malaysia but another country a lot of crabs caught along the Coast of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania (Chande and Mgaya, 2004), Bardawil Lagoon of Northern Sinai in Egypt (Abdel Razak et al., 2006), Park Bay and the Gulf of Mannar in India, the West Coast of South Australia in Australia (Dixon et al., 2008) and at Southern Trang Province of Thailand (Sawusdee and Songrak, 2009). An estimate of blue swimming crabs caught in the waters around southern Australia from 2007 to 2008 was 669 tonnes valued at $ 5,740,000 by Knight and Tsolos (2009). Blue swimming crab landings in India increased from 20,000 to 48,380 tons at 30 percent for years 1977 to 2005 (Samuel et al.

Deception Point Page 17

Rachel could only stare. I traveled three thousand miles for this kind of hospitality? This guy was no Martha Stewart. â€Å"With all due respect,† she fired back, â€Å"I am also under presidential orders. I have not been told my purpose here. I made this trip on good faith.† â€Å"Fine,† Ekstrom said. â€Å"Then I will speak bluntly.† â€Å"You've made a damn good start.† Rachel's tough response seemed to jolt the administrator. His stride slowed a moment, his eyes clearing as he studied her. Then, like a snake uncoiling, he heaved a long sigh and picked up the pace. â€Å"Understand,† Ekstrom began, â€Å"that you are here on a classified NASA project against my better judgment. Not only are you a representative of the NRO, whose director enjoys dishonoring NASA personnel as loose-lipped children, but you are the daughter of the man who has made it his personal mission to destroy my agency. This should be NASA's hour in the sun; my men and women have endured a lot of criticism lately and deserve this moment of glory. However, due to a torrent of skepticism spearheaded by your father, NASA finds itself in a political situation where my hardworking personnel are forced to share the spotlight with a handful of random civilian scientists and the daughter of the man who is trying to destroy us.† I am not my father, Rachel wanted to shout, but this was hardly the moment to debate politics with the head of NASA. â€Å"I did not come here for the spotlight, sir.† Ekstrom glared. â€Å"You may find you have no alternative.† The comment took her by surprise. Although President Herney had said nothing specific about her assisting him in any sort of â€Å"public† way, William Pickering had certainly aired his suspicions that Rachel might become a political pawn. â€Å"I'd like to know what I'm doing here,† Rachel demanded. â€Å"You and me both. I do not have that information.† â€Å"I'm sorry?† â€Å"The President asked me to brief you fully on our discovery the moment you arrived. Whatever role he wants you to play in this circus is between you and him.† â€Å"He told me your Earth Observation System had made a discovery.† Ekstrom glanced sidelong at her. â€Å"How familiar are you with the EOS project?† â€Å"EOS is a constellation of five NASA satellites which scrutinize the earth in different ways-ocean mapping, geologic fault analyses, polar ice-melt observation, location of fossil fuel reserves-â€Å" â€Å"Fine,† Ekstrom said, sounding unimpressed. â€Å"So you're aware of the newest addition to the EOS constellation? It's called PODS.† Rachel nodded. The Polar Orbiting Density Scanner (PODS) was designed to help measure the effects of global warming. â€Å"As I understand it, PODS measures the thickness and hardness of the polar ice cap?† â€Å"In effect, yes. It uses spectral band technology to take composite density scans of large regions and find softness anomalies in the ice-slush spots, internal melting, large fissures-indicators of global warming.† Rachel was familiar with composite density scanning. It was like a subterranean ultrasound. NRO satellites had used similar technology to search for subsurface density variants in Eastern Europe and locate mass burial sites, which confirmed for the President that ethnic cleansing was indeed going on. â€Å"Two weeks ago,† Ekstrom said, â€Å"PODS passed over this ice shelf and spotted a density anomaly that looked nothing like anything we'd expected to see. Two hundred feet beneath the surface, perfectly embedded in a matrix of solid ice, PODS saw what looked like an amorphous globule about ten feet in diameter.† â€Å"A water pocket?† Rachel asked. â€Å"No. Not liquid. Strangely, this anomaly was harder than the ice surrounding it.† Rachel paused. â€Å"So†¦ it's a boulder or something?† Ekstrom nodded. â€Å"Essentially.† Rachel waited for the punch line. It never came. I'm here because NASA found a big rock in the ice? â€Å"Not until PODS calculated the density of this rock did we get excited. We immediately flew a team up here to analyze it. As it turns out, the rock in the ice beneath us is significantly more dense than any type of rock found here on Ellesmere Island. More dense, in fact, than any type of rock found within a four-hundred-mile radius.† Rachel gazed down at the ice beneath her feet, picturing the huge rock down there somewhere. â€Å"You're saying someone moved it here?† Ekstrom looked vaguely amused. â€Å"The stone weighs more than eight tons. It is embedded under two hundred feet of solid ice, meaning it has been there untouched for over three hundred years.† Rachel felt tired as she followed the administrator into the mouth of a long, narrow corridor, passing between two armed NASA workers who stood guard. Rachel glanced at Ekstrom. â€Å"I assume there's a logical explanation for the stone's presence here†¦ and for all this secrecy?† â€Å"There most certainly is,† Ekstrom said, deadpan. â€Å"The rock PODS found is a meteorite.† Rachel stopped dead in the passageway and stared at the administrator. â€Å"A meteorite?† A surge of disappointment washed over her. A meteorite seemed utterly anti-climactic after the President's big buildup. This discovery will single-handedly justify all of NASA's past expenditures and blunders? What was Herney thinking? Meteorites were admittedly one of the rarest rocks on earth, but NASA discovered meteorites all the time. â€Å"This meteorite is one of the largest ever found,† Ekstrom said, standing rigid before her. â€Å"We believe it is a fragment of a larger meteorite documented to have hit the Arctic Ocean in the seventeen hundreds. Most likely, this rock was thrown as ejecta from that ocean impact, landed on the Milne Glacier, and was slowly buried by snow over the past three hundred years.† Rachel scowled. This discovery changed nothing. She felt a growing suspicion that she was witnessing an overblown publicity stunt by a desperate NASA and White House-two struggling entities attempting to elevate a propitious find to the level of earth-shattering NASA victory. â€Å"You don't look too impressed,† Ekstrom said. â€Å"I guess I was just expecting something†¦ else.† Ekstrom's eyes narrowed. â€Å"A meteorite of this size is a very rare find, Ms. Sexton. There are only a few larger in the world.† â€Å"I realize-â€Å" â€Å"But the size of the meteorite is not what excites us.† Rachel glanced up. â€Å"If you would permit me to finish,† Ekstrom said, â€Å"you will learn that this meteorite displays some rather astonishing characteristics never before seen in any meteorite. Large or small.† He motioned down the passageway. â€Å"Now, if you would follow me, I'll introduce you to someone more qualified than I am to discuss this find.† Rachel was confused. â€Å"Someone more qualified than the administrator of NASA?† Ekstrom's Nordic eyes locked in on hers. â€Å"More qualified, Ms. Sexton, insofar as he is a civilian. I had assumed because you are a professional data analyst that you would prefer to get your data from an unbiased source.† Touche. Rachel backed off. She followed the administrator down the narrow corridor, where they dead-ended at a heavy, black drapery. Beyond the drape, Rachel could hear the reverberant murmur of a crowd of voices rumbling on the other side, echoing as if in a giant open space. Without a word, the administrator reached up and pulled aside the curtain. Rachel was blinded by a dazzling brightness. Hesitant, she stepped forward, squinting into the glistening space. As her eyes adjusted, she gazed out at the massive room before her and drew an awestruck breath.