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Friday, May 31, 2019

The Reign of King Henry VIII :: Biography Biographies Essays

The Reign of King atomic number 1 VIII Henry VIII (born 1491, ruled 1509-1547). The second son of Henry VIIand Elizabeth of York was one of Englands strongest and to the lowest degree popularmonarchs. He was born at Greenwich on June 28, 1491. The firstborn Englishruler to be educated under the influence of the Renaissance, he was a smart scholar, linguist, composer, and musician. As a youth he was gay andhandsome, skilled in all manner of athletic games, but in later life hebecame coarse and fat. When his elder brother, Arthur, died (1502), hebecame heir apparent. He succeeded his father on the throne in 1509, andsoon thereafter he married Arthurs young widow, Catherine of Aragon.During the first 20 years of his reign he left the shaping of policieslargely in the hands of his great counselor, Cardinal Wolsey (See Wolsey,Cardinal). By 1527 Henry had made up his mind to get rid of his wife. Theonly one of Catherines six children who survived infancy was a sickly girl,the Princes s Mary, and it was doubtful whether a woman could succeed to theEnglish throne. so too, Henry had fallen in love with a lady of the court,Anne Boleyn. When the pope (Clement VII) would not annul his marriage, Henry turnedagainst Wolsey, deprived him of his office of chancellor, and had himarrested on a charge of treason. He then obtained a divorce through ThomasCranmer, whom he had made archbishop of Canterbury, and it was soonannounced that he had married Anne Boleyn. The pope was and so defied. All ties that bound the English church toRome were broken. Appeals to the popes court were forbidden, all paymentsto Rome were stopped, and the popes authority in England was abolished. In1534 the Act of Supremacy declared Henry himself to be Supreme Head of theChurch of England, and anyone who denied this title was guilty of an act oftreason. Some changes were also made in the church services, the Bible wastranslated into English, and printed copies were placed in the churches.The monasteries throughout England were dissolved and their vast lands andgoods turned over to the king, who in turn granted those estates tonoblemen who would support his policies. In the northern part of thekingdom the people rose in rebellion in behalf of the monks, but thePilgrimage of Grace, as it was called, was put down. Although Henry reformed the government of the church, he refused to

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Early Understanding of HIV and Syphilis :: essays research papers fc

In the last few weeks of class we have looked at several divergent cases of malady outbreaks throughout the world, and how different cultures have diverse understandings of these outbreaks. Of the sicknesses we have studied, I feel that the HIV and Syphilis outbreaks stand apart from the others because of their massive infections in many different cultures and parts of the world, and also due to the fact that the diseases cannot be cured, along with the unfortunately high rate of death among its victims.When the outbreaks of syphilis and HIV first became present, science at the time was unable to come up with a kick the bucket cause for the sicknesses. People witnessing the diseases, however, were quick to assign their own cause. Unfortunately, well-nigh put the blame on African Americans. While Syphilis may have been introduced to the western worlds by slave trade according to Philip D. Curtin, inefficient evidence is present to call this fact, and most blame when these disease s first became present were completely racially based. This blind prejudice led to an extremely limited understanding of the diseases. Many felt the diseases were so racially specific that whites were completely immune to the epidemics. Some even felt that B pretermits became infected because they were inferior unchristian beings, and as being so, they were being punished by god. (PBS/NOVA The venomous Deception) As an effect of this logic, many more fell victim to the sicknesses, refusing treatment due to these beliefs. This racial attitude of the time also severely hindered the breakthrough of the real causes of HIV and Syphilis.Many years later, and after a very large progression in medical research, scientists have finally came to a clear agreement on the causes of these diseases. It is now obvious that there are three main causes to an HIV or Syphilis infection. A victim may sustain infected through blood transfusions or sexual contact with another, or the diseases may be ca rried from a mother to her child. These conclusions vary greatly from what was first estimation as the cause of the epidemics. The incorrect causes initially found by those in early times most likely were based on a lack of knowledge in the areas of sanitary blood transfusions, safe sex, and the extremely racist attitude of the time. This lack of knowledge can be seen in what the diseases first became cognize as Bad Blood (CDC).

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

The Rule of Law Essay examples -- fair legal system

The overtop of truth is a difficult concept to grasp and proves elusive to substantive definition. However, the following work considers the attempts of non-homogeneous social and legal theorists to define the concept and pertinent authorities are considered. Attitudes and emphasis as to the exact shape, form and content of the rule of law resist quite widely depending on the socio-political perspective and views of respective commentators (Slapper and Kelly, 2009, p16), although there are common themes that are almost universally adopted. The conclusions to this work endeavour to consolidate thinking on the rule of law in order to address the question posed in the title, which is at first sight a deceptively simplistic one. The rule of lawModern legislation places the rule of law firmly at the heart of the English legal system. The native Reform Act 2005, for example, states in section 1 that the Act does not adversely affect the existing constitutional principle of the rule of law. Moreover, the oath required to be interpreted by the Lord Chancellor, as specified in section 17(1) of the 2005 Act, pledges that the rule of law will be respected alongside defence of the independence of the judiciary.unhelpfully perhaps, at least in the context of the question posed in the title to this work, the 2005 Act does not provide a definition of the concept of the rule of law. As Lord Bingham observed in a 2006 lecture, the draughtsmen of the 2005 Act seemingly acknowledged the difficulty of establishing an accurate, comprehensive and succinct definition appropriate for incorporation in the statute, and so left the job of definition to the judiciary in their subsequent interpretation and application of the Act (Bingham, 2006, one-sixth Sir Dav... ...yranny begins. (Locke, 1690). This Lockean stance emphasises the importance of the rule of law as a golden precept and inviolable principle that controls the way in which a States power is exercised over its citizens or subjects. BIBLIOGRAPHYConstitutional Reform Act 2005Dicey A.V., An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution, (1885)Locke, J., The Second Treatise of Civil Government, (1690)Hayek F.A., The Road to Serfdom, (1994) University of Chicago PressLord Bingham of Cornhill, The Rule of Law, November 2006, Sixth Sir David Williams Lecture, Centre for Public Law, University of CambridgeRaz J., The Rule of Law and its virtue, (1977) 93 LQR 195Slapper G. & Kelly D., The English Legal System (2009) Routledge CavendishThompson E.P. (Thompson D. (ed)), The Essential EP Thompson, (2001) The New Press

Illegal Immigrants and the Educational System Essay -- Argumentative P

Illegal Immigrants and the Educational System Secondary education is a laid-backly debated subject. Many critics of subsidiary education say that inner-city high schools and students are not receiving the same attention as students from non inner-city high schools. Two of the biggest c at one timerns are the lack of school funding that inner-city high schools are receive and the first base success rate in sending inner-city high schools graduates to college. Critics say that while inner-city high schools struggle to pay its teachers and educate its students non inner-city high schools outweart have to deal with the lack of school funding. Also students from non inner-city high school are not being given the opportunity to attend colleges once the students graduate. But opponents of these critics blame an entirely different issue and that is illegal immigrant students over crowding and attending high school at the expense of taxpayers. It cost millions of dollars a year fo r illegal immigrant students to attend high school and this is the main reason why schools are experiencing budget problems. Teaching illegal immigrant students creates a difficult tuition environment and that is why students in inner-city high schools are not moving on to a higher education. This paper will explore the controversy and issues of secondary education it will expose the hidden truths and prove that illegal immigrants are taking a toll on the education system. So why has this engender a problem that has grown way out of proportion? An organization known as Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) published a report on Immigration and School Overcrowding, with the help of David W. Stewart, author of Immigration and Education The Cris... ...ration and School Overcrowding. Online posting, October. 2002. http//www.fairus.org/ImmigrationIssueCenters/ImmigrationIssueCenters.cfm?ID=1272&c=17 Plyler v. Doe Online source. U.S. Supreme Court. Gov . 1982. 15 June. 2005 http//www.tourolaw.edu/ go/Plyler/1 Plyler v. Doe also found that there is no fundamental right to education, that Texas had not proved its argument that admission of illegal alien children to familiar schools would damage the educational opportunities provided to U.S. citizen children, and that there was no evidence that the U.S. government seriously intended to deport the parents of the illegal alien children. The Court could reverse the ruling if these peck were to change or if Congress were to make the exclusion of these students explicit by legislation.Source U.S. Supreme Court Plyler v. Doe (1982)

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

The Impact Of Television Essay examples -- essays research papers fc

The Impact Of goggle boxSince the beginning, there have been mixed reactions to television set andit was E.B. sportsmanlike who wrote I believe that television is acquittance to be the testof the modern world, and in this new opportunity to see beyond the range of ourown vision, we shall discover either a new and unendur competent disturbance of thegeneral peace or a saving radiance in the sky. We shall stand or fall bytelevision, of that I am sure. (Murray 7) White was correct, it would either bebeneficial or detrimental to society. Ever since the first television stationwas licensed in 1941, our lives have been effected by the presence of television.However, this effect is not for the negative since it is used from simple meansof entertainment to a widely used, invaluable, source of information. It is alsoan excellent aid in preparing children for schooldays and assisting in educatingchildren after they have begun school.Every day millions of people turn to their televisions a s a form ofescape from the pressures and stress of day to day life. The television, to them,serves the purport of entertaining them for a half hour or an hour at a time.This is the purpose of sitcoms, such as the popular NBC produced shows Friendsand Fraiser, each appealing to unlike audiences, but both comedy bases forpurposes of entertaining. Humor is not the simply approach used in televisionentertainment. Shows, such as NYPD Blue, use thick spell lines and heavy dramato draw the viewer in. Entertaining society through this media has become amultibillion dollar industry. Top movies like Jurassic Park, which grossed 390million dollars, diddle millions of people to movie theater, which are basicallylarge televisions, for the soul purpose of entertainment. Movies are notrestricted only to theaters since they are available on tv set cassette and evenbroadcasted into millions of homes each day. The privilege of television asentertainment should be used, but not abused. For instan ce, watching six hoursof television every night, stopping only to eat and sleep does not promote andactive lifestyle, however, on the other end of the spectrum, never watching anytelevision does not expose a person to a vast array of entertainment andinformation.Television is able to show different roles in society and thereforepeople are able to better u... ...more educational and informative programs forchildren.Society has been effected and will continue to be effected, not only bytelevision, but by media in general. Television is a constant form ofentertainment and excellent source of information that is assessable by millionsof people. The education content in children television is beneficial topreschoolers and students alike. However, television has been the blame for manyof societies faults because it is easy to contribute it to violence and a sociallack of initiative. Television is such a small part of a practically larger picture andits benefits far outweigh its faults. The idea of television as an informativeand education media must be embraced in the future to receive its well(p) benefits.Even the thought of a society without television is incomprehensible to many.BibliographyBackground Information The Impact of Television on Childrens Education.Http//haas.berkely.edu/atham/background.html (October 21, 1996)Murray, John P. Children and Television Violence. Kansas Journal of honor &Public Policy, 4, No. 3 (1995), 7-14Top 50 Movies, 1993. The World Almanac and Book of Facts. 1995

The Impact Of Television Essay examples -- essays research papers fc

The Impact Of TelevisionSince the beginning, there have been mixed reactions to television andit was E.B. whitened who wrote I believe that television is going to be the testof the modern world, and in this new opportunity to see beyond the range of ourown vision, we shall strike either a new and unbearable disturbance of thegeneral peace or a saving radiance in the sky. We shall stand or dismount bytelevision, of that I am sure. (Murray 7) White was correct, it would either bebeneficial or detrimental to order. Ever since the first television stationwas licensed in 1941, our lives have been effected by the presence of television.However, this effect is not for the negative since it is used from simple meansof entertainment to a widely used, invaluable, source of information. It is in additionan excellent aid in preparing children for school and assisting in educatingchildren after they have begun school.Every day millions of people turn to their televisions as a form of fudge f rom the pressures and stress of day to day life. The television, to them,serves the purpose of entertaining them for a half hour or an hour at a time.This is the purpose of sitcoms, much(prenominal) as the popular NBC produced shows Friendsand Fraiser, each appealing to different audiences, but both comedy bases forpurposes of entertaining. Humor is not the hardly approach used in televisionentertainment. Shows, such as NYPD Blue, use thick plot lines and heavy dramato draw the viewer in. Entertaining society through this media has become amultibillion dollar industry. snuff it movies like Jurassic Park, which grossed 390million dollars, bring millions of people to movie theater, which are basicallylarge televisions, for the soul purpose of entertainment. Movies are notrestricted only to theaters since they are available on video cassette and evenbroadcasted into millions of homes each day. The privilege of television asentertainment should be used, but not abused. For instance, watching sextet hoursof television every night, stopping only to eat and sleep does not promote andactive lifestyle, however, on the other end of the spectrum, never watching bothtelevision does not expose a person to a vast array of entertainment andinformation.Television is able to show different roles in society and thereforepeople are able to better u... ...more educational and informative programs forchildren.Society has been effected and will continue to be effected, not only bytelevision, but by media in general. Television is a constant form ofentertainment and excellent source of information that is assessable by millionsof people. The education subject in children television is beneficial topreschoolers and students alike. However, television has been the blame for manyof societies faults because it is easy to contribute it to violence and a sociallack of initiative. Television is such a small part of a much larger picture andits benefits far outweigh its faults. The i dea of television as an informativeand education media must be embraced in the future to receive its full benefits.Even the thought of a society without television is incomprehensible to many.BibliographyBackground Information The Impact of Television on Childrens Education.Http//haas.berkely.edu/atham/background.html (October 21, 1996)Murray, John P. Children and Television Violence. Kansas Journal of Law &Public Policy, 4, No. 3 (1995), 7-14Top 50 Movies, 1993. The World Almanac and Book of Facts. 1995

Monday, May 27, 2019

Role of Marketing Staff

The Role of the selling round DONALD R. LONGMAN Business trouble S increasingly dependent upon selling to gain enduring competitive advantage. This article describes the rich opportunities for success presented by a change rn the approach to merchandising stafF work and science of professional person personnel for it. GREAT DEAL has been written in recent years about the market concept. We may expect to see much more than than for competition in Ameri tidy sum industry is increasingly centered in marketing-. This is a substantial change from the situation precisely a few decades ago. success then hung on productive skill in evolving substanti altogethery new faces of products, new return processes, new efficiency systems. Each step forward in these beas produced relatively strong and enduring competitive advantages. This is much less true today. Mass genteelness of skilled seek and development men and of production engineers, increase mobility of manpower, and mass communication at the professional level confirm all assistd to spread technological know-how with amazing speed. Competitors employ research men and engineers of parallel information, professional contact, and skill.If one companys team seems relatively inept in the competitive battle, it is still possible to call upon a superior group of consulting engineers for help while a new team is being built. Under these conditions, competitors quickly identify and match prosperous innovations do by any company in their field. They may in time improve on the original innovators ideas. It would be vain to suppose that even such corporate giants as Esso, U. S. Steel, or oecumenic Motors could gain and hold for yen a study competitive advantage in product or manufacturing process.Indeed, it has catch common practice to grant licenses to competitors on a royalty solid ground, and then removing technical innovations as a basis of competitive advantage in the market. Competitive Oppo rtunities It is this comparative equality in production skills that is forcing a shift in the weight of competition to marketing. Marketing is still a relatively unexplored bea. Our customers are so many, so scattered, and so nonhomogeneous in nature and in demands that they are difficult to understand. We are not even sure how we tin best serve them economically and efficiently.Changes are still commonplace among big, well-established companies in such radical elements as channels of distribution, discount systems, warehousing arrangements, and service policies. Such changes grow as much out of uncertainty and insecurity m marketing termination as out of changes in the market itself or m marketing institutions. Marketing offers a rich area of opportunity for competitive advantage, richer today than that offered by any other phase of business. But if a company is to seize this opportunity, a lot has to be done. 29 30 Journal of Marketing, July, 1962 Requirements for Efficient Ma rketing 1.A Sound Understanding of the Market First, it is essential to acquire a comprehensive understanding of the market itself. This is a matter of getting the facts, completely and accurately. matchless has to know the exact size of the market and its geographical distribution. One must(prenominal) know who make up the market, the follows and kinds of people. Where do they buy, in what quantities, how often, why? What products are available for them to choose among? What are their characteristics, their prices, tbeir patterns of distribution? What are the products used for, what satisfactions do they provide? Why is one brand chosen over nother and why do people change in their choices? There is so much that fills to be known, and known well. How else can we think constructively of the marketing process until we run through a solid grasp of the facts, a sure sense of perspective? The truth is that little effort to think constructively about marketing was made during the de cades when competitive success was established by production efforts. Systematic collection and analysis of marketing facts have been undertaken, even by the mountainousst and most progressive companies, only during the last fifteen or twenty years. Indeed, the evolution of marketing, research may serve as n index of the shift in competitive constrict toward marketing. We cause today the tools and techniques for acquiring quickly and efficiently almost all the sanctioned data necessary to provide executives with a sound perspective in marketing. Yet marketing research is still inadequately utilized there is ample room even now for a company to gain major marketing advantages over competitors simply by superior knowledge of the facts of the business. The 10,000 professional marketing research men today are probably not a third of the number we may expect when marketing has been developed to a peak of fficiency comparable to production. 2. Innovation The second requisite to superi or marketing lies in innovation. There is no progress in acceptance of routine, in copying competitive practices, in turgid operation. Indeed, in the fiuid environment of marketing, with changes in policies, practices, and procedures borne no more of yeasty thought than of uncertainty, the well thought out, tested innovations may prove extremely rewarding. We must be prepared to consider alterations, often radical changes, in methods and policies. We must become germinal, cultivating a flexibility of mind that seeks and considers ew approaches. We must be prepared to reexamine the basic premises upon which our policies rest. We must begin to choose the fundamental questions and to fix them in our mind, looking, looking always for new answers. There exists a unit expected to devise and explore new ideas in the production area. It is supposed to mention innovations, to challenge current practices. It is staffed with men of imagination, men of specialized education, men whose minds are constantly stirred and challenged by contacts with basic research scientists in our universities, foundations, and governance units. They are in continuous ontact with other professionals throughout the country, often in other countries, and are constantly stimulated by the ideas and exploratory efforts they fulfill in a wide variety of industries. They are Research and Development men. There is no comparable unit in marketing, even in companies whose marketing costs far exceed manufacturing costs. The nearest marketing pai- allelis to be found in advertising agencies. These owe their independent existence to the very fact that creative imagination and innovation are obviously essential to advertising and even the largest advertisers do not provide in their marketing rganizations a climate conductive to high quality creative work. But the advertising agency is concerned fundamentally with only one of many marketing activities. It is not well render to serve as the creative ar m for the entire marketing function. It is not paid enough to do the job nor is the company advertising manager who plant life with the agency so positioned in his own company that he could spark the creative effort for the entire Marketing Department. This means that a new and antithetical unit is requireed to function within the company itself. It must be staffed with men of creative minds, trained n seeing and exploring possibilities not clear to others. They need to be observers of marketing in all of industry, stirred and challenged by professional association with creative men in universities, consulting firms, eitherwhere that pioneering thought g-oes on. They must imagine, synthesise ideas, experiment systematically. They may be engineers exploring the application of operations research to warehousing. They may be psychologists studying the foundations of sales- ABOUT THE AUTHOR. Donald Longman is sin President and Director of Research for the J. Walter Thompson Compan y, sore York. He is President f the American Marlteting Association and Chairman of the International Marketing Federation. In earlier years Dr. Longman was a university professor and a government executive. He has held senior positions in business in both line and staff capacities. He is the author of a number of books and articles. The Role of the Marketing Staff 31 mens or dealers morale and motivation. They may be marketing researchers probing ways to break old consumer buying habits and build new ones. They may be systematically examination consumer responses to a range of product styles, flavors, or scents. They must be the Marketing R and D. . Scientific Approach to Decision reservation The third major requisite to superior marketing lies in hard-headed, scientific termination making. This requires a solid grasp of the facts of a business through research and through experience. More important, it requires imagination, perceptiveness, thoroughness, objectivity, analytical skill, and emotional stability. Few people acquire all these traits in the normal course of their lives our marketing executives today introduce large portions of emotion, hunch, habit, and haste in their judgments. But needed qualities can be developed as a matter of explicit nurture.In increasing measure they are being developed in the best of our Schools of Business. Decision making is extraordinarily complex in the marketing field. When decision is required between alternative policies or procedures, it is necessary first to grasp fully and completely the exact nature of the alternatives and all their implications. It may seem simple, for example, to select a brand name for a new product but this is only true for one who does not know both the values and dangers in a name. A name can convey a sense of quality, lend itself to easy recall, facilitate effective advertising, express values to be received in use n sum, it can secure a privileged competitive position to its owner. O r it can be easily ridiculed or played upon, fail of copyright, be subject to wonder with other names, and so on. In truth, there are scores of facts to consider in selecting names, a wide variety of criteria to employ in judgment. There is a lot at stake. If this is true of names, imagine how much more true this is of counters concerning pricing, packaging, discount systems, employment and motivation of salesmen, advertising themes, and so on and on. Each issue must be studied objectively, its implications uncovered. All the facts relevant to ecision must be marshalled. The possible effects of alternative courses must be weighed. Experimentation or testing may be considered. This is the slow, arduous, but hard-headed and scientific approach to decision making. This is the way to confident action, desirable any time but mandatory when squarely new, creative innovations are put into effect. Those of us privileged to have close contact with marketing management over the past twenty years have seen a slow but steady progress toward this kind of decision making. Arbitrary, hasty, seatof- the-pants decisions based on hunch, enthusiasm, nd personal preferment for the individual advocates of one course are bonnie less common. Yet there remains much room for improvement in decision making today. 4. Efficient system The fourth requisite to marketing success lies in efficient administrationthe daily execution of policy and practice, the employment of facilities and men, the operating job. This is the field of marketing performance, so obviously necessary that it could not be overlooked. Here the need is for inspiring leadership of men, operating drive, astute supervision of performance in every detail, the building and aintenance of a morale that instills a motivation in the doers of the marketing job. mostly speaking, marketing can claim credit for superior performance in this area it has been given thought and anxiety at a senior business management level. By th e same token, it is the marketing requisite least rich in opportunities for improvement and, therefore, least seeming to yield a competitive advantage in marketing. The very obviousness of the need for sound administration has tended to obscure the need for the other three basic requisites in marketinga full understanding of the market itself the development f creative, new ideas or innovations the making of decisions on a hard-headed, scientific basis. Administration is a big job, involving, the employment and supervision of hundreds, even thousands, of people, as well as the purchase, maintenance, and operation of equipment and facilities of countless kinds. And the huge expenditures for marketing lie under the administrators control. dainty wonder, then, that marketing administration was equated with all of marketing, until increasing competitive equality in other areas forced people to study more seriously the nature of the marketing function.Sound administration is a fundamen tal component of marketing, but is far from all of it. It is the operation of a gigantic machine. This marketing machine works on the materials provided it, and under the policies and procedures set for it. The machine operator, skilled as he may be in his function, is rarely qualified alone to conceive, test, and decide upon new ideas, on new policies and procedures. He is not an innovator. He is not a researcher. He is not a trained and objective decision maker. These are different problems, requiring skills and training different from his, perhaps even a different temperament.A New Organization of the Marketing Function The slowly growing recognition that marketing management requires much more than administra32 Journal of Marketing, July, 1962 tive skill has led our largest and most progressive companies to bring a new kind of man to the Marketing Vice Presidency. He tends to be more thoughtful, sometimes skilled more in handling ideas than in handling men. He is more objective , analytical, less emotionally involved in his assignment. He has begun demanding researchsearching for ideas, thinking of both strategy and tactics. The basic administrative management of arketing, the line operating responsibility, is being delegated to a subordinate General Sales Manager or Director of Field Sales Activities. Concurrently, staff departments in marketing have grown in number and influence. New units have appeared. We now have Product Managers, Marketing operations Managers, Research Managers, along with the older Advertising and Credit Managers. Even Marketing write up and Marketing power Managers may serve as members of the Marketing Stafif. Functions and Operation of the Marketing Staff The functions of these several staff groups have not been clearly crystallized as yet.Broadly speaking. , most of them are supposed to study all phases of the companys marketing operations in the area of their specialization keep the Marketing Vice President closely posted on trends and developments in their areas check performance efficiency and recommend policy or procedure changes when they seem needed. Thus, the Product Manager for a exceptional product keeps closely informed on all competitive conditions affecting his product, observes regional and district sales performance on the product, notes obstacles to sales success, and proposes means of overcoming them. The Operations Manager concerns imself with the supply, maintenance, and efficient performance of all physical facilities, stores, warehouses, delivery systems, etc. As a superior specialist in this area, he advises the Marketing Vice President on ways to improve efficiency and service, and to cut operating costs. The same kind of work is done by the Credit Manager, the Marketing Accounting and Personnel Managers, and the Advertising and Sales Promotion Manager. Collectively, the staff managers cover all the difiierent functions in marketing. When these Departments were set up, it was natu ral, of course, to staff them with young men ho had proved themselves successful in the companys marketing activities. So, they were drawn from the ranks of the administrators. Generally this is still true, for this is the logical source of men and these jobs are still not clearly enough defined to suggest the need to look elsewhere. But this will change, indeed is in the process of change. It is not enough for the Product Manager or Operations Manager to serve as an observer of operations, to be an administrative second-guesser in a particular area of specialty. This would be a most routine approach to a job, sickening of senior personnel.Rather, the staff Manager and his assistants must use their advantageous positions to acquire all relevant information affecting their functions. They must assimilate, analyze, and evaluate these data constructively. They must add to this, the stimulus of wide-ranging contact and observation of their industry and of many others. They must cultiva te a flexibility of mind inviting new ideas. They must become creativeconsidering all manner of policies, procedures, activities which can add to marketing opportunities or improve service and increase efficiency. They must develop and explore their creative deas, testing mentally or in the market place those which seem most promising. In handling such tasks, they develop habits of thoroughness and objectivity, making scores of decisions on the basis of a scientific approach. They are truly staff experts observing, creating, testing, recommending ways of doing their part of the marketing job better than it has been done before. This is the basic job of the Product Manager. Concentrating all energies on the one product or product line for which he bears responsibility, it is his job to conceive new and better ways to market it. His work may lead to recommended product odifications, package changes, price or distribution revisions. He may study advertising, promotion, guarantees, and service, and come up with new recommendations. He is the innovator, the preliminary decision maker, working from intimate knowledge of all relevant facts. The same is true of the Marketing Operations Manager. He is studying the nature and design of his retail outlets, the number and location of warehouses, the packing and order-filling system, the volume and distribution of inventories. He has scores of subjects to study, each offering opportunities for significant improvement. If he can nly conceive a better type of retailing equipment for his stores, a better system of truck scheduling, a finer system of production-distribution coordination, he can strengthen his companys competitive position and add to its profits, exclusively as can the Research and Development Manager or the Production Manager. What is true of Product and Operations Managers is just as true of the Advertising, Sales Promotion, and mankind Relations Managers. It is just as true of the Marketing Personnel Manag er. By use of cost analysis, the Marketing Accounting Manager can make significant contributions to policy on reas of operation, channels of distribution, a quantity discount system, and a hundred other things. We need an explicit, articulated understanding that this is the job of the Staff Manager. We need The Role of the Marketing Staff 33 to recognize formally, and afiirmatively that innovation and scientific decision making is the particular province of these men . . . that collectively they represent a kind of R and D for Marketing. The Staff as Professionals When this is done, we will have a very different set of specifications for men to fill these jobs. They must possess keenly analytical but highly fiexible minds.They must be imaginative, creative. They must be objective, thorough, trained in the scientific approach to problems. They must know the fundamentals of collection, assimilation, and evaluation of data. They must be well informed, with wide contacts in industry an d education. In a word, they must be professionals. Broadly speaking, this is the kind of background and training we find most often today in marketingresearch men and consultants. This implies that in time most senior staff positions in marketing will be research positions. After all, research, viewed broadly, is nothing more than the systematic, horough, objective examination of a problem the orderly acquisition of all relevant data bearing upon it and the meaningful, creative evaluation of the data in terms of conclusions and recommendations. This is, indeed, what is expected of Marketing Staff Managers. With further passage of time, however, the specific functions of marketing research will be narrowed. nowadays anyone engaged in simple fact gathering may be called a research man. Ten years from now, however, the term prohably will be silent largely for those who by long, and specialized training have mastered the more complex and intricate echniques of research. They will be the specialists in sampling, in operations research, in projective techniques. The Marketing Research Department will not be large, and it will carry out its work on a service basis for all the Marketing Staff Managers. The changes ahead are already very much in the process of being made. Product Managers, Advertising Managers, staff men of every kind are addressing themselves ever more seriously to their Jobs, going farther and farther beyond routine, specialized, administrative observation and suggestion. They are getting into their jobs more deep han ever, and so they feel impelled to creative and decision making roles. And more and more such jobs are going to research men and to men whose training and temperament commend them for a research approach to business. The trend will quicken as there is more widespread specific recognition and articulatio of the ultimate character of staff work. MARKETING MEMO We Are Already Living in the Future . . . Are you enjoying your life in 1 985? Through no time machine, via no crystal ball, we are, today, living lives accurately predicted by early science forecasters and science fictioneersbut predicted for about 1985.Our age is a good shadower of a century ahead of its time, thanks to developments that would have waited many more yearsexcept for urgent military necessity. Many of us resent defending team spending. We begrudge its existence as a necessary waste that helps insure freedom, but yields no tangible return. How wrong we are Our defense research dollars, aimed at strengthening our military muscle, are pushing civilians toward richer, healthier, safer, more convenient living. It was military money that led to the development of the safety door lock and the low-profile anti-skid tires now on many new automobiles.Military necessity mothered rainwear that remains indefinitely repellent to water, oil. and grease despite repeated laundering and dry cleaning. John G. Hubbell, Life in 11)85 Today, reprinted by perm ission of Quest . . . for tomorrow Magazine, Vol. 2 (Summer, 1961), p. 14. Copyright of Journal of Marketing is the property of American Marketing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holders express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

Sunday, May 26, 2019

Isaacâۉ„¢s Storm Character Analysis Essay

After reading about Isaac Cline and the examples that demonstrate his character and limpid personality, Ive realized that he is a very strong, independent, and knowledgeable worldly concern who sometimes appeared to be arrogant and narrow-minded.Isaac Cline was very levelheaded and adventurous at a young age with a raving passion to reach his dreams of performing something that would give results beneficial to mankind. Sometimes though, his confidence got a little out of crack and made him appear a bit cocky about himself and the intelligence about the weather and the world around him that he supplied. By the time Cline had reached his betimes twenties, Clines eyes had seen many horrific events that scarred his memory forever.Despite his hardships, I believe Cline is a very talented man in a numerous ways and uses his talents in a very resourceful and rewarding way. I also believe that Cline has many sides to him that others, and himself, are not aware even exist. When trying pr ove himself, he reveals his strong, determined side. When singing to his wife, he reveals his romantic side. When training new recruits to perform cavalry assaults, he reveals a dedicated and honest side. Isaac hides a strong, hard backbone behind a welcoming smile and sweet eyes.In all, I believe that Isaac carries many different sides of his character with him and enjoys displaying his intelligent and determined side most of the time in order to prove to others and himself that he is very talented. He is a very strong, respectful, intelligent, opinionated, and absolutely talented man who sets his goals and chases after them wholeheartedly.

Saturday, May 25, 2019

Delivering Customer Value Though Marketing Essay

Assignmenti) take up and analyse the provokers harvest-feast, market positioning, pricing strategies and its stern segment.ii) Critically evaluate if the brands marketing activity is delivering values to its customers. Why?iii) Suggest ways in which the brand stop improve in its marketing strategies or activities.i) Describe and analyse the brands harvest-feast, market positioning, pricing strategies and its target segmentAbout UNIQLOUNIQLO is a Japanese causal wear retailer. It is also a all owned subsidiary of Fast retailing Co. Ltd. The first UNIQLO was opened in Japan in 1984. Across years, successful brand strategies enable UNIQLO to be the fourth part means retailer in sales volume in 2013, just right after Zara, H&M and Gap.Marketing mix is a efficacious tool to analyze UNIQLOs strategies and its product development direction among competitors.Marketing Mix (4P)OverviewUNIQLOs productUNIQLO rears a wide range of clothing, including Mens, Womens, Childrens, and flus h in Babys wear. UNIQLO man geezerhoods this range of productsin narrate to satisfy the takes of different age groups and genders. Especially children and baby wear, non all its competitors provide these two lines, this green goddess satisfy customers need. UNIQLO has their own R&D team, to design the latest fashion and life-modal value wear to customer. Also, its materials sourcing team help to bring the roughly suitable and abouttimes the luxury materials into product development in order to give the best wearing experience to customers. Such as support down, cashmere sweaters and premium cotton are the good examples. UNIQLO gain customers trust in bore guaranty.UNIQLOs equipment casualtyUNIQLOs products are not pricey comparing to its competitors, such(prenominal) as Gap, Zara, etc. Although UNIQLOs clothing requires similar price with other immobile fashion retailers, its quality is congressly superiorer than them. It is referable to the just about fundamental UN IQLOs direction, Low price, high quality.UNIQLOs PlaceUNIQLOs strategies are for both local (Japan) and transnational. Stores are all all over the world, including Japan, America, Euro, China, East and south Asia. This kindle show the determination of UNQLO to expand its business and build the brand internationally. each(prenominal) the repositions of UNIQLO, are in central area, or usual district in the cities. conduct Hong Kong UNIQLO as an example, there are totally 21 UNIQLO stores in Hong Kong. The flagship UNIQLO store is in causeway bay Lee Theater, which is the most popular shopping area in Hong Kong. UNIQLO apply the same store strategy internationally, such as Tokyo, Osaka store in Japan, Shanghai store in China, New York 5th ave in USA.Another strategy to bring up UNIQLO a good place to shop is their total sale-floor method. UNIQLO tries to enlarge the floor area in every shop and include as many segments and clothing display as they can in the store. That can p rovide the convenience to customers to buy their favourite(a) things in only one station. And the big display area can attract customers focus to their products and give a confidence that UNIQLO can provide everything that they need.UNIQLOs promotionNew product development process in many other companies is very frank. Usually, from idea generation, testing, product producing and so on. heretofore in UNIQLO, the first step of product development is customer feedback. That means all products in UNIQLO are responding to customer. This is also the model they are promoting to the potential customer. Cheap, simple design, solely is perfect fit for daily use with a good quality. This sentence shows that UNIQLO is promoting their image to public.Another way is UNIQLO promotes their products by sport sponsorship. Take Japan market as example, football league is extremely hot among Japanese. So, UNIQLO make good use of this opportunities to sponsor the uniform for a football team in J.Le ague to increase visibility and exposure. Also, UNIQLO is the uniform sponsor for Japans Olympic athletics in 1998, 2002 and 2004. They also sponsor uniform for tennis players in high rank tennis competition. Exposure in different sport events can successfully promote UNIQLO as a very good off-the-shelf clothing brand to public.Market positioningThe clothing ideal of UNIQLO is very strict forwards, which is Low cost, and high quality. They produce clothing with simple tho jaunty design and good quality for wearing in every day. Their tremendous business expansion can prove that they successfully build their concept to customer and this represent that their business is on the tract.There are four factors that can help to analyze UNIQLOs positioning, they are1. Product quality2. Prices3. dissemination4. Image1. Product qualityUNIQLO is unendingly proud of their products quality. Their CEO Tadashi Yanai had said that, they are a technology company rather than a fashion company.Th eir high quality clothing enables them to be worn every day. UNIQLO is positioning their product in a relatively higher quality compare to other tumultuous fashion companies, such as Zara , H&M. These company concern fashion trend much than than quality. However, UNIQLO is not a luxury brand, so their quality is not comparable to other luxury brand, such as LV, Gucci, etc.2. PricesUNIQLOs concept is Low cost, but High Quality. UNIQLOs price is fair, but they offer a better quality of clothes at the similar price compare to other fast fashion companies. UNIQLOs price is not the cheapest one, but quality is the highest among its market competitors.3. DistributionAll the products UNIQLO selling are in their own stores. They do not have franchises or displays in department stores. So they can control all the promotion or logistics without third parties constrain. It is known as SPA (Specialty-store of Private-label Apparel), selling their own product in their store and exclusively. T ake Hong Kong UNIQLO as an example, they have 21 stores in Hong Kong, which has a broader coverage than its main competitors. Zara only have 7 stores in Hong Kong. However, comparing to the local competitors homogeneous Bossini and Giordino, UNIQLO does not have a greater advantage in store numbers, but their number of stores are already much higher than other international fast fashion brand in Hong Kong market.4. ImageUNIQLO is selling clothes with their functionality rather than fashion style. So, their image to customer is very simple, which is basic, simple, cheerful and comfortable. Comparing to Zara, and H&M , UNIQLOs image is linked to quality and simple to mix and match for every day while the former two competitors focus more on trendy and fashion but sometime not easy to carry.Position MapIn this part, I am going to simply dilate UNIQLOs position with the position map by considering only two factors, Quality, and Price.LV & Gucci surely come to the top rank in both qual ity and price because they are luxury brands which have a very different position comparing to UNIQLO.UNIQLO, Zara and H&M can be grouped unitedly due to their fast fashion nature. The price of their products is similar, but UNIQLO provides the highest quality while H&M is the last one.Bossini or other local fashion shackles usually dont provide a very high quality, but they have local network and channels to sell their product. They sell their product in a let outer price comparing to other international brands in order to sell more and earn more.Local small bountique is the croupe one, in both quality and price. They target those people who concern money only but not quality.Target segment & Pricing StrategiesIn this part, we need to identify UNIQLOs target segment and then to anaylse its price strategies.Target segmentFew background recallUNIQLOs concept is low cost, high quality as mentioned above. Its products are sold within a reasonable range. It provides a wide range of products including mens, womens , childrens and babies . Its style is simple but trendy, easy to mix and match .Then we can analyse the market segment by parts.Targetinga) DemographicsAgeBabies Right target of its babies lineChildren Right target of its children lineAdolescent Right target of its Mens and womens lines Adult Right target of its Mens and womens linesMature Non-target , due to less fashion indispensableness of this group old Non-target , due to less fashion requirement of this groupGenderBoth female and male are their targetsIncomeThe target customers income is low to medium, due to its cost and its pricing level.b) PsychographicsValueFor people who have a basic requirement on trend and pursuing good quality on clothing.LifestyleUNIQLOs clothing is simple and comfortable. It is suitable for people who always have light exercise and sports in their living habits.Pricing strategiesAfter analyzing UNIQLOs target segment, we found that their target population is ve ry large. In order to enlarge the target group, a penetration price strategy is adopted by UNIQLO. Their targets income is not high, they must have a price sensitive characteristic. So, UNIQLO try to maintain the products in a low to reasonable price to match the targets income. In this sense, UNIQLO can make arrive at only when high volume of sales has been made.ii) Critically evaluate if the brands marketing activity is delivering values to its customers. Why?Customer value is the gain ground that people will derive from their bargain for of the goods or service. In this case, it means if UNIQLOs marketing direction can generate benefit to customer after they bought the products. Overall, I think the existing brand activities of UNIQLO can deliver value to theirtarget customers because of the below reasons.1. Technology focusUNIQLO owns many technologies that its competitors do not have, such as Heat-tech, anti-smelling, lighting down, anti-UV, etc. These are the material adva ntages from competitors, indeed it gives extra value to customer and more attractive to buy UNIQLO but not get other brands2. Simple trendy design,There are not many fashion pioneers in the world. Most of the people in the world are relatively simple, especially UNIQLOs target. UNIQLO hires some famous designers to develop a hybrid type of clothing that perfectly merge basic into trendy. It makes their basic wear intimately to be carried and extra fashion value added onto it although people originally is seeking for basic style.3. Convenient store location,Take Hong Kong UNIQLO as an example, it owns 21 stores in Hong Kong. All of the stores are in population area, such as Kowloon Tong, Causeway bay, Tsim Sha Tsui, Sha Tin, etc. Convenient stores location means customers can enjoy service or purchase easier. And after-sell service, such as goods return, can be accessed easily to customers. It is an intangible value.4. Pricing strategiesUNIQLO produces all the products by its manuf acturing sites. So it can minimize the cost , and then sell them in a lower price. Its penetration strategy enables more people to access their products. Also, with their advanced technology and materials choosing, the ratio of price to quality can be utilized greatly to customers.5. Excellent store visual merchandising,UNIQLO did very well in visual merchandising. First of all, different styles are well organized and distributed in distant area. In some multicolor basic shirts sectors, they make the whole sector to be more cheerful and colorful by folding the shirts by and by and orderly. It can let customers to findthe color they want more easier and enhance visual conditions. Also, UNIQLO can let your family to buy clothes for all gender and age groups in only one stop. Every store of UNIQLO sell mens, womens and childrens at the same site. Their professional store visual instruction can increase buyer experience and enjoyment in shopping.All these marketing activities from UNI QLO can perfectly match the need of their target customers. So, we can put forward that UNIQLO is generating benefits to customers and even give them benefits out of their expectation.iii) Suggest ways in which the brand can improve in its marketing strategies or activities.In this part, we should identify the relative weak area of UNILQO first, and then target the weakness to formulate improvement way.a) Design too simpleThis is what UNIQLO proud of, but meanwhile it might be its weakness. UNIQLO emphasizes a basic style clothes that can be worn for every day. However, the fashion trend runs too fast recently, customers might be tire of plain pattern of UNIQLO clothes. So, in the future, I think UNILQO can maintain its original design and also add a few more fashionable and trendy lines. A fashionable and high quality apparel should be successful because it merge advantages of H&M and UNIQLO itself.b) Brand ImageUNIQLOs concept is Low price, high quality. Due to this concept, it limits UNIQLO to build a High End image. This low end image make UNIQLO with less pricing flexibility. good deal will not buy a low end brand with a high price. In long term, apart from the original line and image, UNIQLO can expand its brand image towards Middle end or High end by expanding some attractive lines. It will definitely increase products attractiveness.c) Improve advertising and brand visibilityUNIQLO is weak in advertising. Comparing to its competitors Zara and H&M,these competitors are willing to spend much more on the public noise. Apart from product quality and store expansion, UNIQLO can expand the brands visibility and awareness with the aid of proper TV advertisement.d) Elderly marketIn the existing target segment of UNIQLO, elderly is not the main focus group. However, we can not underestimate the potential of this market, especially in some countries, such as Japan and Hong Kong, aging population is getting more. UNIQLO can put more resources on elderly by dev eloping some specialist garment for people who need extra care. For example, heat-tech sweater is suitable them because elderly easily lose temperature. Also, UNIQLO can use its technology advantage to make some functional apparel to them like high elastic trousers which can provide protection from joint damage during walking. These functional products not only can attract elderly, but also can attract all age groups who need functional products. Moreover, they can invite some famous old celebrities to be the brands spoke person to increase the influencing power in this age group.ConclusionOverall, UNIQLO is a very successful international fast fashion retailer in the world in both sale volume and inspiration in fashion. UNIQLO successfully use Simple to compete with others in this fast pacing fashion world. UNIQLOs high price to quality ratio makes them very attractive to its target group, and penetrate brand image to more people. The existing brands activities are useful in expand ing business and deliver benefit to customers.However in this challenging market, changes is the ever rules. UNIQLO should focus more the ever-changing of peoples interest and the trend. Simple mix and match can be sword for brand building and harms if people change to pursue more fashionable styles.Reference1. http//www.fastretailing.com/eng/2. http//www.uniqlo.com/hk/3. http//www.zara.com/4. http//www.hm.com/5. http//www.gap.com/6. http//www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=324 7. http//www.slideshare.net/8. http//www.wikipedia.org

Friday, May 24, 2019

Comparison/Contrast of Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby Essay

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is an American novel because it is classic and has entertained passel for generations with its thought provoking issues and tragic pivotal characters. Two of the virtually intriguing ones argon the men who flummox loved Daisy. gobbler Buchanan and Jay Gatsby are different when it comes to societys view, tho they are also very more than alike. They are both tragic figures even though they are tragic in completely different ways. Both Tom and Gatsby are good feeling men.They are both in their early thirties and they both have been a part of Daisys past. They have lots of money and have asleep(p) to good and important universities. They are intelligent men and they know a lot of the same people. They have things in their past that they would rather that people did non know. Gatsbys main fear is that others will find forth that he was natural to a poor family and that Jay Gatsby that exists now was once James Gatz of North Dakota born i n poverty. The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself.He was a son of Goda phrase which, if it means anything, means righteous thatand he must be about His Fathers business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented but the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old son would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end. (p 104) They detest each other and they are both having an affair with a married woman. Gatsby is the more harmonic of the two. He is friendly, and he truly loves Daisy while Tom just wants to own her. Tom is more athletic than Gatsby because he has had more opportunities to play sports.Tom is a racist and he thinks that not only are blacks beneath him, he also thinks that women, poor people, and people who have not always been rich are not as good as him. Well its a fine book and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we dont look out the whi te race will bewill be utterly submerged. Its all scientific stuff its been proved. (p17) Gatsby welcomes all kinds of different people to his parties and he treats them all good. Tom got his money by being born into a very wealthy family and Gatsby has gotten his through organized crime and bootlegging.That makes Tom more refined because he has always been rich. Gatsby learned how to be rich by working for another rich man named Dan Cody. Tom went to Yale University and he graduated. Gatsby went to a college in St. Olaf for a little while. Then he went to Oxford in England aft(prenominal) they let officers who helped them in the war go there. He did not graduate because he did not have a good enough education when he came there. He does not tell people that he did not graduate. He just tells them that he attended Oxford. The fact that Gatsby did not graduate does not mean that he is not smart.He would have had to be smart to obtain the money he did in such a short time. Many peop le bootlegged back then and were a part of organized crime, but they did not get rich, but Gatsby did. It was also very smart to come up with the plans that he did to get Daisy back into his life. Tom is intelligent enough to not lose his money and arrest it working for him. He just does not use his intelligence for good. He reads books like the Rise of the Colored Empire so that he can hate people even more. Tom has had many affairs on Daisy.He would rather people didnt know about it even though he knows that Daisy does. Gatsby does not want anyone knowing anything about his past. He has made up an detailed lie about a past that did not happen just so people would not know that he had been a poor boy. Tom is also cheating on Daisy with Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle is married too. He is not only being untrue to his wife, but he is tearing up another marriage. Gatsby is also sleeping with a married woman. When we read the book, it is escaped to want Gatsby and Daisy together, but it is st ill wrong.He could wait and see if she left Tom, but he does not. He takes her while she is still married and living with Tom. Daisy picks Tom in the end for several reasons. Divorce was not seen as a good thing in the 1920s and she would be looked down upon. She knows that Tom is her equalise when it comes to social class, and Gatsby could never be. She and Tom are more alike that she and Gatsby. They are both users. She also has a child with Tom and that is a bond that is unverbalized to break, especially since Pammy is so close to her father.Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby are both tragic figures in the end even if only one of them dies. Jay because he did not obtain his dream that he had worked for so hard and Tom because he will never learn from his mistakes. Both characters are intriguing to the point that long after reading the novel, the questions of what if Gatsby had lived? and what will happen to Tom in the crash of nineteen twenty-nine? are pondered. They have become as r eal people to the ones who have read this fascinating novel. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1925. New York Scribner Paperback Series, 1995.

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Discipline management Essay

1. Behavioral accomplishment is mainly c hotshot timerned with what stool be ob severed and measured in any human behavior. It is a continuous process where one gouge learn and unlearn hence children of young ages play a dormant role. The assumptions it makes is that every last(predicate) things that can be seen and observed are real but things like brains cannot be seen. According to ivan and Thorndike (1913), they argued that behavior is controlled highly by its consequences. They set up an investigate to show how cats can learn how to open a box. This was to be done through trial and error method where by the cat ended up opening the box.This theory developed showed clearly that, people are just like cats and these is how they spontaneously learn. Those behaviors which bring positive consequences are said to reoccur oftenlyoften than those with negative cosequences. This join on is a bit true because human beings learn slowly through practical, experience or theoretical. It shows that all in all living things are very active and can easily learn regardless of the species type. Ivan (1903), did an innate reflex experiment with a dog. Once they ring a metronome when giving the dog food, the dog responded with saliva.It was noted that, once the metronome rang, the dog could respond regardless of whether there was food or not. This showed that, any animal can learn provided that it is exposed to. 2. In Behavioral knowledge it is believed that learning is segmented into steps. The final goal is achieved once the learners are guided on how to follow these steps. Problems bemuse always arisen for students who are slow learners for they need some much steps. In cognitive learning it is believed that multitude ways of learning are followed by students. This is because not all students have the same learning processes and alike strategies. some(prenominal) are very efficient while others are inefficient. In cognitive learning the instructor helps the st udent gain more efficient techniques for studying by discerning the students thoughts. It is lonesome(prenominal) through cognitive learning that one can inquire for the correct answer. This usually helps in discussion especially for a newborn alternative. matchlesss experience and personal judgment can be used in making the dicission with the students. Metacognition. Nelson. T. ,(2007). He defined metacognition as monitoring and making prior decisions on a persons memory strength.He as well added that one should be capable of using those decisions to guide learning choices. Flavell (1976), defined metacognition as a self-regulation or self- awareness study. It also means to have personal knowledge on his/her cognitive activities or on anything that touches them. It has the following components Metacognition knowledge This is what one knows on himself or herself and others to be cognitive processors. Metacognitive regulation This is what makes students regulate their learning through a set of tasks after they have controlled their cognition and experiences from learning.Metacognitive experiences These are the experiences with something regarding cognition effort that is presently happening. My metacognition ability is to see and focus on the future happening. Through my experience i can judge what will happen in the succeeding(a) ii day. Evaluation of the present events leads me to knowing the future. Fore example, what the whether will be tomorrow. This will not only help me prepare psychologically but also the whole community. 3. Baduras theory is based on oneself judgment on his performance. It regards the amount of work done over a given time period.One should be in a position to perform well in a given situation. In this case people judge themselves. Here, it defines four areas in which self-efficacy can be obtained. Firstly, through actual experience self-efficacy can be achieved through past experience. Whether one was successful or unsuccessf ul tell a lot ab come forth self-efficacy. Secondly , through looking. Children get learning through watching others performing a similar task. Thirdly, through oral persuasion. This is through encouraging a child to perform to her level best by telling her sweet word of trials.Fourthly, through physiological arousal. Vygotskys theory brings to view the tender relationships and interactions contributes to cognitive development. It is true that in every childs growth there are two levels the social level which comes during the tender age and the individual level. Vygotsk (1976). He also recognises the environment of ones development. Where one grows in, contributes a lot to one behavior. Implications. They create an environment of socializing and relationship development. Identity. It is through these institutions that one is identified and recognized. Sharing of knowledge. As we think together we grow together. We develop ourselves better when we share knowledge. Social proble ms addressing. We try to solve our problems together. Ones problem can be viewed, analyzed and solved as a group. No. It has never happened to me. 4. Physical education and learning strategies which are self-regulated are encourageble in creating a friendly learning environment full of physical and social motivation. In so doing, students will be relieved from class boredom and instead relax as they socialite.Students should also be given freedom to express themselves and their weaknesses. Kounin (1977), discovered that there was always a ripple effect among the student where the behaviour of one student sprinkle quickly to the rest if not corrected quickly. He noted poor class management by instructors due to their poor organization and preparations. He pointed out that, for a good management of a class the following should be clearly observed 1. Overlapping to reduce conflict ions of a teacher when two or more activities occur simultaneously, the teacher will only be effective if he has a procedure to follow.Fore example, the teacher should move nearly assisting the needy people while those who are already fit in the class should be given an extra exercise or work. 2. Momentum. A teacher should always make sure that his lectures are short. This will allow mingling of the students with each other and with the teacher too for more knowledge. This will also avoid boredom among the students. He should also make the lecture interesting and meaningful for the learners to comprehend easily. 3. Withitness. Eye contact should be maintained by the teacher to all the learners.In so doing the students will avoid wrong doings while in class. The teacher should be aware of the behavior of each student and more so, know each on a personal perspective. He should appreciate those with good behavior and comment on bad and unacceptable behaviors. To make the students vital he should call each student by his name unexpectedly. 4. Group focus. The lecturer can do this in se veral ways (a) Accountability The teacher should tell the students that they will be awarded marks according to their participation in their respective groups.(b) A list of all the students should be available with the teacher and at any time pick any name at random to answer a question. This will keep them on their toes. (c) Students discussion The teacher can allow the students to have a discussion after the lecture to compare the answers of each other. 5. (i) Behavioral cost. When a student does well in the class he should be rewarded in order to motivate her. Those with desired behavior should be contingently rewarded. Extrinsic motivation also kn consume as contingent rewards (ii) Human approach. This approach is a bit different from the others in that it emphasizes on determinism rejection.It puts across that human beings have a variety of choices from where they can pick their preference from and they also have responsibilities that they do not admire or require. It is belie ved that people do intrinsic motivation to themselves hence encouraging their personal growth. They are self-determination in attaining their own fulfillment. (iii) Cognitive approach. It mainly refers to activities that take place in our minds. This may be thinking and language learning. Our understanding rention increases when we learn and understand the concepts of our learning.With this theory, how one behaves is determined by how largely he thinks hence this incorporates all kinds, types and forms of knowing for example, thinking and motivation. It brings competency to person especially when one is capable of interpreting well what he is learning. (iv) sociocultural approach. In this approach, critical thinking is encouraged. It acknowledges the need for socialization and interactions among people. The more time you participate in community activity the more knowledgeable you become. You become more identified within the community. You earns yourself fame and recognition.From t he above explanations, i can recommend the teacher to put in to place behavioral approach for the student. This will not only encourage her to be in class but also alert and attentive. References. Flavell, J. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive motivation Cognition development. America, v24 p 16 Ivan, R. (1903). Behavioral change and development. Harvard university press. Iva n and Thoendike (1913). Behaviour change. Cambridge. Kounin, J. (1976). Discipline management in class. New Yolk. Nelson, T. (2007). Metacognition. New Yolk. Vigotsk, S. (1983). Minds of the society. Cambridge Harvard University Press.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Increase Petrol Price

Bad traffic and increasing pollution are thorny issues challenging both major city in the globe. To combat such problems, government encourages companies to mark up gun for hire price in an effort to decrease car implement and cut down waste gas. However it may temporarily alleviate the problem, but is doubtfully the optimal solution. First of all, consumers and economy would be victimized by such measures. The number of cars in a country directly depends on the proportion of the population affluent enough to own cars.As a result, raises in gas price could invoke hard feelings among this segment of people but would not drastically change their behavior in using cars. Even if the number of cars on road is reduced due to higher gas cost, this is not the best charge to solve traffic problems. Such policy would hurt the auto industry, adjust higher costs on current and prospect car owners, and undermine the economy of a nation. In the long run, the final way out could be the constru ction of better roads and more effective use of available transport facilities.Secondly, there is evidence that waste gas from cars is not the leading induce of air pollution. The culprit may be the discharge of polluting substances into the atmosphere due to the rapidly growing manufacturing industry. As a result, reduction of the number of cars would not bear us a blue sky and fresh air. We could better handle this problem if we could increase control over industrial waste discharge and embroider more environmental friendly materials and production equipment. Finally, other measures like the application of cheaper and cleaner energy resources could also be a better solution.For example, we now start out the ability to make cell-powered or even solar-powered cars. Such energy is completely clean and plentiful. However we still have a very long way to go to turn such technologically possible into afford able and practical products. To conclude, it is not the best way to control traffic and pollution by increasing gas price because such action will hurt consumers and economy without achieving what it is aimed for. Measures such as construction of better transport facilities and development of stark naked energy resources could be more effective solutions.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 9~10

NineWhen Mikey the Collector P weedznik wheeled into town and saw that the Texaco station had blown up, deviation a char fierce circle both hundred yards wide around it, he knew that it was issue to be a great sidereal daytime. It was a shame ab forth the burger stand freeing up too, and hed miss their spicy fries, but hey, you dont of 10 take on to see the toasting of a major arrivemark like the Texaco. The fire was wholly pop now, but several firemen were still sifting by means of the wreck-age. The Collector waved to them as he wheeled by. They waved back, more or lesswhat reticently, for the Collectors re vestation preceded him and made them nervous.Today would be the day, Mikey thought. The Texaco was an omen, the lead story in the sky all over his lifelong dream. Today hed gingersnap molly Michon naked, and when he did (and brought back the proof), his reputation would grow to mythic proportions. He patted the disposable television camera he carried in the fron t pouch of his hooded sweatshirt. Oh yes, hed fool evidence to back up his story. They would believe him and bow to him.At this point in his life, the Collector was to a gre consumer extent interested in explosions than in naked women. He was only ten, and it would be a couple of years before his interests move to girls. Freud never identified a stage of devel-opment known as pyrotechnic fascination, but that was only because thither wasnt an abundant supply of disposable lighters in nineteenth-cen-tury Vienna. Ten-year-old boys blow shit up. Its what they do. only when immediately a strange new timbreing had bang over Mikey, a feeling he couldnt put a intelligence service to, but if he could, the word would defecate been horny. As he Rollerbladed through town, tossing the Los Angeles Times into the sh tour of dutys and gutters of businesses along Cypress Street, he felt a tightness in his shorts that until now he had associated with having to take a raging pee in the morni ng. Today it signified a need to see the daft Lady in a convey of undress.Paperboys are the carriers of preadolescent myth. On every paper r break throughe, thither is a haunted house, a chela-eating click, an old woman who tips with twenties, and a woman who answers the door in the nude. Mikey had never actually seen some(prenominal) of these things, but that never stopped him from spinning wild stories for his buddies at school. Today he would get proof, he could feel it in his loins.He skated galvanic pile the driveway into the Fly Rod Trailer Court, chucked a paper into the rose bushes in front of Mr. Nunezs trailer, wherefore made a beeline for the Crazy Ladys house. He could see a blue glow coming through her windowpanes, a TV. She was home and vigilant. YesHe pulled up a couple of doors down and nonice that a new trailer had moved in next to the Crazy Lady. A new customer? Why not give it a savour? The Crazy Lady didnt receive the paper, so his pretense for knockin g on her door was to get her to subscribe. He could practice on these new people. As he skated up to the front door of the new trailer, lights came on in the two front windows. Yes Someone was home. Strange curtains they looked like cats eyeball.Through a part in the curtains, molly watched the kid come down the road into the trailer park. She liked kids, but she didnt like this kid. At least once a week he knocked on her door and tried to get her to subscribe to the paper, and once a week she told him to go away and never come back. Some eons he would bet one of his piffling buddies along. She could hear them skulking around her trailer, trying to peek in the windows. Swear to God, shes got a dead guy in there that she does it with. Ive seen him. And she ate a kid once.The kid was stageing for the monster trailer.In the background, a videotape was playing on her TV Mechanized Death Warrior Babe septet and THE SCENE was coming up. Molly looked away from the window and watch ed THE SCENE for the thousandth time.Kendra is standing in the back of a jeep, manning a rack of net guns as the jeep pursues the Evil Warlord across the desert. The device driver turns, as he is supposed to, throwing up a fishtail of dust, but the front wheel of the jeep hits a rock and the jeep rolls. Kendra is thrown fifty feet in the air and gains in a heap. The steel bra she is wearing cuts deep into her chest and blood sprays out across the dust.The bastards Every time she watches THE SCENE she cant believe the bastards leftover it in. The accident was real, the blood was Mollys, and when she returned to the stigmatise ten days later, a security guard escorted her to the producers trailer.I can turn out you extras wages as a mutant, the producer said, but lets face it, babe, you didnt get your billing because of your acting ability. You prize Im gonna endure up filming for ten days when the whole schedule is only three weeks long? We got a new Kendra. Wrote the acciden t and the facial reconstruction into the script. Shes a cyborg now. immediately you can get in line with the mutants to pick up your bag of rags, or you can get the fuck off the set. My audience sine qua nons perfect bodies, and you were get up there anyway. With that scar you dont sell anymore.Molly had adept turned xx-s tear down years old.She pulled herself from THE SCENE and looked out the window again. The kid was there, right there in front of the monster trailer. She should warn him or something.She pounded on the window and the kid looked up, not startled, but with a dreamy expression on his face. Molly gestured for him to move away. The window she was flavor out of didnt open. (Trailers built in those days were designed so people would burn up in case of a fire. The manufacturers thought it would keep the lawsuits down.)The kid just stood there, his fist poised before the door as if he were frozen in the middle of knocking.As Molly watched, the door began to open. Not on the hinges, but vertically, like a garage door. Molly pounded furiously on the window with the hilt of her sword. The kid smiled. A huge red tongue snaked out of the door, wrapped around the kid, and slurped him in, Rollerblades, paper satchel, and all. Molly screamed. The door slammed shut.Molly watched, stunned, not knowing what to do. A few seconds later the mouth undetermined and expectorated a soccer-ball-sized wad of newspaper.TheoThe hours of Theos day had moved like slugs crawling on razor wire. By four in the afternoon, he felt as if hed been awake for a week and the cups of French roast hed been drinking had turned to foaming acid in his stomach. Merci risey, there hadnt been a mavin call for a chevron fight or do-mestic dispute, so he had spent the entire day at the scene of the fuel truck explosion, talking to firemen, represendatives from Texaco Oil, and an arson researcher sent up from the San Junipero Fire Department. Much to his surprise, going all day witho ut a hit from his Sneaky Pete pot pipe had not sent him into fits of anxiety as it usually did. He was a little paranoid, but he wasnt sure that that wasnt just an informed response to the world anyway.At a quarter away four, the arson investigator crossed the charred parking dish out to where Theo was leaning on the hood of his Volvo. The investigator was in his late twenties, clean-cut, and carried himself like an athlete, even in the orangish toxic waste suit. He carried a plastic space helmet under his arm like a tumorous football.Constable Crowe, I think thats about all I can do today. Itll be dark soon, and as long as we keep the knowledge base closed off, Im sure everything will still be here in the morning.Whats your call so far?Well, we generally look for evidence of accelerants, gas, kerosene, paint thinner and Id say there were definitely some inflammable liquids involved here. He smiled a weary smile.So you dont know what happened?Offhand, Id say a fuel truck blew u p, but without further investigation Id hate to throw a commitment at this time. Again the smile.Theo smiled back. So no cause?The driver belike didnt seal the hose correctly and a cloud of fumes got set off. there wasnt such(prenominal) wind last night, so the fumes would have just clung to the ground and built up. Anything could have set it off the driver could have been smoking, the pilot lights at the hamburger place, a spark in the truck exhaust. Right now Id say it was totally accidental. It was a company-owned store, and it was turning a profit, so there really isnt a financial motive for arson. Texaco will definitely be building your town a new burger stand and probably paying off some nuisance settlements from people claiming trauma, duress, and irritation.I have the information on the driver, Theo said. Ill check to see if he was a smoker.I asked him. Hes holding quiet came a voice from a few yards away.Theo and the arson investigator looked up to see Vance McNally c oming toward them holding up a Ziploc bag full of white and gray powder. Ive got him right here, the EMT said. You want to interrogate him?Very funny, Vance, Theo said.Theyre going to have to do the autopsy with a flour sifter, Vance said.The investigator took the Ziploc from Vance and examined it. You learn any remains of a cigarette lighter? Anything like that?Not my job, Vance said. The fire was so hot it turned the seat springs to liquid. Even incinerated the bones, except for those little bits of atomic number 20 in there. Honestly, this might not all be our boy. We might be giving his wife a bag full of burnt-up truck parts to put in an urn on the mantel.The investigator shrugged and handed the bag back to Vance. Then to Theo he said, Im going home. Ill come back tomorrow and look around some more. As soon as I give the alright, the oil company will send in a crew to drain the ground tanks.Thanks, Theo said. The investigator left in a county car.Vance McNally turned the Zip loc bag of truck driver in the air. Theo, this ever happens to me, I want you to get all my friends together, have a big party, and snort me, okay?You have friends, Vance?Okay, it was just an idea, Vance said. He turned and carried his bag to the waiting ambulance.Theo sipped his coffee and noticed something moving in the charred brush beyond the Texaco. It looked as if someone was holding up a TV antenna and getting altogether too close to the yellow tape he had untangle around the perimeter. Jeez, was he going to have to hobble here all night guarding the scene? He pried himself off the Volvo and headed for the offender.Hey there Theo called.Gabe Fenton, the biologist, emerged from the brush, indeed holding up some kind of antenna, followed by his Labrador retriever, Skinner. The dog ran to meet Theo and greeted him with two muddy paw prints on the chest.Theo rubbed Skinners ears to hold him at bay, the classic slobbering Labrador apply move. Gabe, what in the blaze are you do ing down here?The biologist was covered with burrs and foxtails, his face striped with soot from the charred brush. He looked purposeless, yet there was a note of excitement bordering on ecstasy in his voice. You wont believe this, Theo. My rats moved en masse this morning.Theo tried, but couldnt match Gabes enthusiasm. Thats swell, Gabe. Texaco blew up last night.Gabe Fenton looked around at the surrounding area as if seeing the destruction for the first time. What time?About four in the morning.Hmmm, maybe they sensed it.They?The rats. Around 2 A.M. they all started moving west. I cant word form out what caused it. Here, look at the screen. Gabe had a laptop computer strapped into a harness around his waist. He turned it so Theo could see the screen. Each of these dots represents an living organism I have implanted with a tracking chip. Heres their location at 1 A.M. He clicked a key and the screen drew a topographical map of the area. Green dots were scattered pretty much eve nly along the creek bed and the business district of Pine Cove.Gabe hit another key. nowadays here they are at two. All but a few of the dots had moved into the ranchland east of Pine Cove.Uh-huh, Theo said. Gabe was a nice guy. Spent too much time with vermin, but he was a nice guy. Gabe needs to talk to humans occasionally, Theo thought.Well, dont you see? They all moved at once, except for these ten over here that moved to the shore.Uh-huh, Theo said. Gabe, the Texaco blew up. A guy was killed. I was talking to firemen in space suits all day. Every paper in the county has called me. The battery is almost out on my cell phone. I havent eaten since yesterday and I only slept an hour last night. Help me find the significance in rat migration, okay?Gabe looked crestfallen. Well, I dont know the significance yet. Im tracking the ten that didnt move east, hoping the anomalies will give a clue to the behavior of the larger group. Strange thing is, four of the ten disappeared off my scr een a little after two. Even if they were killed, the chips should still transmit. I need to find them.And I wish you the best of luck, but this area may still be dangerous. You cant be here, buddy.Maybe there were fumes, Gabe said. But that doesnt explain why they all moved in the same direction. Some even came through this area from the shore.Theo couldnt bear to express to Gabe how little he cared. You had any dinner, Gabe?No, Ive been doing this since last night.Pizza, Gabe. We need pizza and beer. Ill buy.But I need toYoure a single guy, Gabe. You need pizza every eightsomeeen hours or you cant function properly. And I have a question to ask you about footprints, but I want you to watch me drink a few beers before I ask so I can claim diminished capacity. Come, Gabe, let me take you to the land of pizza and beer. Theo gestured to his Volvo. You can stick the antenna out the sunroof.I guess I could take a break.Theo opened the passenger door and Skinner leapt into the car, leav ing sooty paw prints on the seat. Your dog needs pizza. Its the humane thing to do.Okay, Gabe said.I want to show you something over by the creek bed.What.A footprint. Or whats left of one.Ten minutes later they sat over frosty mugs of beer at Pizza in the Pines, Pine Coves only pizza parlor. Theyd taken a window table so Gabe could keep an eye on Skinner, who was bouncing up and down external, giving them an ever-changing view of the street, then(prenominal) the street with dog face (ears akimbo), then the street, then the street with dog face again. Other than to order a beer, Gabe Fenton hadnt said a word since theyd gone to the creek bed.will he just keep doing that? Theo asked.Until we take him a slice of pizza, yes.Amazing.Gabe shrugged. Hes a dog.Always the biologist.One needs to keep the mind limber.Well, what do you think?I think that you obliterated most of what you thought was a footprint.Gabe, it was a footprint. A talon or something.There are a thousand explanations f or a depression in the mud like that, Theo, but one of them is not an animal track.Why not?Well, for one, there hasnt been anything that large on this continent for about sixty zillion years, and for another, animals tend to leave more than one track, unless its a creature especially adapted for hopping. Gabe smilened.The flying dog head pogoed by the windowsill.There were a lot of people and vehicles around there, the other tracks might have been wiped out.Theo, dont let your imagination run away with you. Youve had a long day andAnd Im a pothead.I wasnt going to say that.I know, Im saying it. Tell me about your rats. What will you do when you find them?Well, first Im going to keep searching for the stimulus of their behavior, then Ill catch a few of the group that migrated and compare their brain chemistry to those that headed toward the shore.Does that hurt them?You have to blend up their brains and run the liquid in a centrifuge.I guess so then.The waitress brought their pizza and Gabe was severing cables of cheese from his first slice when Theos cell phone rang. The constable listened for a second, then stood and dug into his sac for money. Ive got to go, Gabe.Whats up?The Plotznik kid is missing. No ones seen him since he left on his paper route this morning.Probably hiding. That kid is evil. He rigged up something with his remote control car that affected the chips in my rats once. I spent three weeks trying to figure out why they were running figure eights in the parking lot outside the grocery story before I found him lurking in the weeds with the controller.I know, Theo said. Mikey told me that if he wired ten of your rats together, he could pick up the Discovery Channel. I still have to find him. He has parents. Skinner is a pretty good tracker. Want to take him?Thanks, but I dubiety that the kid had a pizza in his pocket.Theo folded his phone, snagged a slice of pizza for the road, and headed out the door.TenVal Riordan leaned against her office d oor, trying to catch her breath and maintain her temper. null in her clinical experience compared to the sessions she held on the day after the Texaco exploded. She had seen twenty patients in ten hours, and every one of them had precious to talk about sex. And not abstract sex either, not issues or attitudes about sex, just squishy, thumping sex itself. It was unnerving.Shed anticipated a spike in libido among her patients (it was a common indication of withdrawal from antidepressants), but the books said not more than five to fifteen percent would have a reaction about the same number that go through a loss of libido upon taking the drugs. But today shed hit one hundred percent. It was as if she were running a kennel for hopeless horndogs rather than a psychiatric practice.After the last patient, shed come out of her office to find her new receptionist, Chloe, furiously masturbating, her feet hooked into the edge of the desk, her steno chair squeaking like a tortured squirrel. Val had excused herself, turned on her heel, walked back into her office, and shut the door.Chloe, twenty-one, had maroon hair, an entire wardrobe rendered in black, and a sapphire nose ring. Val had begun treating the girl in her teens for bulimia, then hired her when the volume of appointments skyrocketed after the placebo went into effect. Chloe worked in ex limiting for therapy Val had thought it would be a good financial move. Frankly, shed liked her better when she just threw up a lot.Val was still trying to figure out exactly what to do when there was a soft knock on the door.Yes?Sorry, Chloe said through the door.Uh, Chloe, that is not appropriate office behavior.Well, your last appointment had left. I thought that you would be working on your notes or something for a while. Im really sorry.Thats it? My last appointment leaves, so let the wild rumpus begin?Am I fired?Val thought for a second. There were twenty more patients to see tomorrow and twenty the day after that. If the weirdness didnt kill her, the workload would. She couldnt afford to lose Chloe now. No, youre not fired. But please, no more of that in the office.Do you have time to talk? I know my next session isnt until next week, but I really need to talk to you.Wouldnt you prefer to go home and, uh, think about things?You mean finish? No, Im finished for now. Thats what I want to talk to you about. That wasnt the first time today.Val gulped. It was highly unprofessional to talk to a patient through a door. She steeled herself and opened it. Come in. She returned to her desk without looking at the girl. Chloe took a seat across from her.So this wasnt the first time today? Val was the psychotherapist now, not the boss. If shed been the boss, she would have come over the desk and strangled the little slut.No, I cant seem to get enough. I, well, it started about two in the morning, and I went straight though until time to get ready for work. Then once or twice while each patient was in sessio n.Vals jaw dropped. Sixteen hours of intermittent masturbation? The other patients she had seen had cited two in the morning as when their sexual adventures had started too. She said, And how do you feel about that?I feel okay. My wrist hurts a little. Do you think I could have carpal tunnel?Chloe, if you think that youre going to file a workmens compensation claim for thisNo no no, I just want to stop.Did something happen to set this off? Something at two in the morning? A dream perhaps? Her other patients had described various sexual dreams. Winston Krauss, the pharmacist with the sexual obsession for marine mammals, confessed to dreaming of having sex with a blue whale, riding it through the depths like Ahab with a hard-on. Upon awakening, hed abused his inflatable Flipper until it would no longer hold air.Chloe shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Her long maroon hair hid her face. I dreamed I was having sex with a tank truck, and it blew up.A tank truck?I came.Sexual dreams are completely normal, Chloe. Right, a tank truck? Thats normal. Tell me, was there fire in your dream? Pyromaniacs de-rived sexual pleasure from setting and honoring fires. Thats how they caught them, look in the crowd for a grinning guy with a woody and gas stains on his shoes.No, no fire. I woke up at the explosion. Val, whats defective with me? All I want to do is, you know, do it.And you feel that you might do something impulsive?Chloe put on her cynical Goth-girl face. If you mean something like buffing the jewel while Im at work, yes, Dr. Riordan, Im a little upturned. Cant you adjust my medication or something?There it was. In the past, that would have been the answer. Increase the Prozac to eighty milligrams, about four times the dose for the average de-pressed patient, and let the side effect of reduced libido do the work. Val had used the method to treat a nymphomaniac when she was an intern and it had worked marvelously. But what now? Duct tape oven mitts to her recepti onists hands? Although her typing probably wouldnt suffer much, it might make the patients nervous.Val said. Chloe, masturbation is a natural thing. Everyone does it. But obviously there are appropriate times and places. Perhaps you should just cut back. Allow yourself to masturbate as a reward for controlling your urges.Chloes face went slack. Cut down? Im worried about driving home safely. I have a stick shift. I need both hands to drive, but I dont think Im going to have them. Do you have a patch you can prescribe, like they do for smoking?A patch? Val suppressed a laugh. She imagined a twitching, moaning line of people around the block at the pharmacy, there to pick up their prescriptions for the orgasm patch. It would make heroin look like Gummi Bears. No, theres no patch, Chloe. Youre just going to have to try to control yourself. I have a feeling that this is a side effect of your medication. It should pass in a day or two. I want to hear more about this dream of yours. Well talk tomorrow, okay?Chloe stood, obviously not satisfied with the help her therapist was offering, which was none. Ill try. She left the office, closing the door behind her.Val let her head fall to the desk. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, why didnt I go into pathology? she thought. It would be so peaceful sitting around, boiling up beakers of urine and culturing bugs. No wackos. No stress. Okay, occasionally youd be exposed to some deadly anthrax spores, but at least other peoples sex lives stay in the bedroom and the tabloids where they belong.Her appointment with Martin and Lisbeth Luder rose in her head. They were in their seventies, had been in counseling because they hadnt had a decent conversation since 1958, and today they had come in and dumped a half hour of explicit sexual narrative on her, an account of perversions theyd indulged in the night before, starting at around 2 A.M. The visual conjured in Vals mind all that parched, wrinkled flesh in furious fric-tion culminated in flames, as if some giant cosmic Boy Scout had decided to rub two old people together to make a fire. The worst of it, the absolute worst of it, is that shed found herself getting turned on while listening. Shed had to change her panties between appointments four times today.She considered pouring herself a hefty tumbler of brandy and settling down in front of the television, but that wasnt going to do it. Batteries she requisite four C-cell batteries and she needed them now. Then it was time to dig through her lingerie drawers and find a long-forgotten friend and hope that it still worked.Molly dour past dark and Molly was still staring though the gap in the curtains at the trailer that ate the kid. The problem with being nuts, she thought, is that you dont always feel as if youre nuts. Sometimes, in fact, you feel perfectly sane, and there just happens to be a trailer-shaped dragon crouching in the lot next door. Not that she was ready to go out and pro-claim that fact to anyone, because no matter how sane you feel, some stuff just sounds too crazy. So she watched, still wearing her Warrior Babe outfit, hoping someone else would come along and notice. Around eight, someone did.She saw Theophilus Crowe going from door to door in the park. He came into view two trailers down at the Morales home, spoke concisely with Mr. Morales at the door, then headed for the dragon trailer.Molly was torn. She liked Theo. Yes, hed taken her to County once or twice, but hed always been kind to her warned her about the guy in the day room who cheated at Parcheesi by eating the marbles. And he never spoke to her like she was a crazy woman. Theo was a fan.As Theo was raising his black cartridge clip lite to tap on the dragon trailers door, Molly saw the two windows on the end easy open, revealing the catseye pupils. Theo obviously didnt see them. He was looking at his shoes.She threw up the aluminum sash and shouted, Theyre not homeThe constable turned toward Molly. Just a s econd, she said.She bolted out the door of her trailer and stopped by the street where Theo could see her. They arent home. Come here a second, she repeated.Theo tucked his Mag lite into his belt. Molly, how are you?Fine, fine, fine. I need to talk to you, okay? Over here, okay? She didnt want to tell him why. what if the eyes werent there? What if it was just a trailer? Shed be on her way to County in a heartbeat.Theyre not home then? Theo said, pointing over his shoulder to the dragon trailer. He was staring at her now, at the same time trying not to stare. He had a goofy grin on his face, the same sort Molly had seen on the kid right before he got slurped.Nope, gone all day.Whats with the sword?Oh shit She forgot shed grabbed the sword on the way out. I was just making some stir-fry. Chopping up some veggies.That ought to do it.Broccoli stems, she said, as if that explained everything. He was looking at the leather bikini, and she watched his eyes stop on the scar above her breas t, then look away. She covered the scar with her hand. One of my old Kendra costumes. Everything else is in the dryer.Sure. Hey, you dont get the Times, do you?Nope. Why?The kid that delivers it, Mikey Plotznik, left for his route this morning and no one has seen him since. Looks like the last paper he delivered was a few doors down. You didnt happen to see him, did you?About ten, platinum-blonde kid, Rollerblades? Kinda evil?Thats him.Nope, havent seen him. She watched the eyes of the dragon trailer close behind Theo and took a deep breath.You seem a little tense, Molly. You okay?Fine, fine, just wanted to get back to my stir-fry. You hungry?Did Val Riordan get hold of you?Yep, she called. Im not nuts.Of course not. Id like you to keep an eye out for this kid, Molly. One of his buddies fessed up that Mikey had a little bit of an obsession with you.Me? No kidding?He might be creeping around your trailer.Really?If you see him, give me a call, would you? His folks are worried about h im.Ill do that.Thanks. And ask your neighbors when they get home, would you?You betcha. Molly realized he was stalling. Just staring at her with that goofy grin on his face. They just moved in. I dont know them very well, but Ill ask.Thanks. He said, still just standing there, like a twelve-year-old ready to make an assault on the wall-flowers at his first dance.Id better go, Theo. I have broccoli in the dryer. No, she had wanted to say she had to get back to dinner, or to her laundry, not both.Okay. See ya.She ran into her trailer, slammed the door, and leaned against it. Through the window she could see the dragon trailer open an eye and close it quickly. She could have sworn it was winking at her.TheoA niggling voice in Theos head told him that finding the Crazy Lady attractive extremely attractive was an indicator that he was less than sane himself. On the other hand, he didnt feel that liberal about it. He didnt feel bad about anything, not since hed walked into the trailer park anyway. He had to deal with an explosion, a lost kid, the recent increase in general nuttiness in town a virtual shit storm of responsibility but he didnt feel all that bad. And in that moment outside of Mollys trailer, reflecting and waiting for the tide of lust to ebb, he realized that he hadnt smoked any pot all day. Strange. Normally this long without nursing from his Sneaky Pete and his trim would be crawling.He was heading back to his Volvo to resume the search for the lost boy when his cell phone rang. Sheriff John Burton didnt say hello.Get to a land line, Burton said.Im in the middle of trying to find a lost kid, Theo replied.A land line now, Crowe. My private line. You have five minutes.Theo drove to a pay phone outside the Head of the Slug Saloon and checked his watch. When fifteen minutes had passed, he dialed Burtons number.I said five minutes.Yes, you did. Theo smiled to himself in spite of Burtons tone, which was on the verge of screaming.No one goes on the ra nch, Crowe. The lost kid is not on the ranch, do you hear me?Its standard procedure to search all the ranchland. exigency services has the area gridded out. We have to cover the whole grid. I was going to call in some deputies to help us. The volunteer fire guys are exhausted from the explosion this morning.No. None of my guys. Dont call the Highway Patrol or the CCC either. And no aircraft. If the grid on the ranch has to be checked off, then check it off. No one goes on that land, is that clear?And what if the kid actually is on the ranch. Youre talking about a thousand acres of pasture and afforest that wont be searched.Oh bullshit, the kid is probably in a tree house somewhere with a stack of Playboys. Hes only been missing for what, twelve hours?What if hes not?There was silence on the line for a moment. Theo waited, watching three new couples leave the Head of the Slug in less than a minute. New couples in Pine Cove everyone knew who everyone else was dating, and these were people who didnt go together. Not that unusual a phenomenon perhaps on a Friday night at 2 A.M., but this was Wednesday, and it was barely eight oclock. Maybe he wasnt the only one feeling a wave of horniness. The couples were groping each other as if trying to get all the rousing out of the way before they reached the car.Burton came back on the line. Ill see that the ranchland is searched and call you if they find the kid. But I want to be the first to know if you find him.That it?Find that little fucker, Crowe. Burton hung up.Theo got into his Volvo and drove to his cabin at the edge of the ranch. There were at least twenty citizen volunteers searching for Mikey Plotznik. The effort could spare him long enough to catch a shower and change his smoke-saturated clothes. As he parked the Volvo, an expensive, tricked-out red pickup truck pulled into the ranch entrance and rolled slowly by. As they passed, a Hispanic man sitting in the bed laughed and saluted Theo with the barrel of a n AK-47 assault rifle.Theo looked away and walked to the dark cabin, wishing that there was someone there waiting for him.