Internet and children Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Internet and children - Research Paper Example This paper will aim to understand the facets of children and internet. It is clear that internet and technology are vital components of the future. With the advent of technology, the internet has become a very strong force. Internet is a monumental channel that can have a positive and a negative impact on children. The advent of social media has revolutionized internet, but is it safe for children. In my opinion, the internet has become an addiction for the children in more bad than good. As a matter of fact, this paper will aim to analyze this addiction that has deterred children from physical activity. The question remains- has the Internet produce a thinking and analysis in children? Are We Losing Our Ability to Think Critically?, an excellent article written by Samuel Greengard certainly agrees with this phenomena. As a matter of fact, conducive research statistics indicate this to be a vital force as many children use GOOGLE as a search engine. Additionally, many scholars insist that at least 65% of children have been a victim of cyber bullying. Without a doubt, these are hefty sources. The advent of internet has opened many paths but has may diminish critical thinking. Children are quick to GOOGLE or use Wikipedia as their primary source of information.

The Three Major Security Threats in Healthcare Essay Example for Free

The Three Major Security Threats in Healthcare Essay Nowadays Doctors and Nurses has several mobile devices in order to provide patient care. Virtualization is very important in providing adequate and affordable patient care in the rural health industry. Attempts to breach security happen every day in our agency. Preventing cyber-attacks and security breaches is a never ending battle in network security. Introduction I am an IT professional focusing on network security in the healthcare industry. Every day we monitor the network for phishing/pharming, DoS attacks, Trojans, and other security breaches. Mobile Devices, virtualization and lackadaisical end-users are the biggest threats to network security. Mobile Devices An article in GCN says it best, â€Å"Mobile devices are ubiquitous in todays society, and the number and types of devices used by physicians, nurses, clinicians, specialists, administrators and staff – as well as patients and visitors – is growing at healthcare agencies across the country.† Nowadays Doctors and Nurses has several mobile devices in order to provide patient care. Cellphones, laptops, and tablets are of the norm. I can’t remember the last time I had a doctor’s visit and the doctor didn’t update my chart using a laptop or tablet. All of these wireless devices make the network vulnerable. In my opinion wireless security has always been the hardest part of the network to protect because there isn’t a physical connection that can be monitored. End-users don’t always use secure passwords or they share passwords. At our agency an employee is not allowed to bring in a mobile device other than a personal cellphone to the workplace in order to reduce security breaches. â€Å"The Office of Management and Budget, Personal Identity Verification cards had been issued to 3.75 million federal employees as of Dec. 1, 2010, or 80 percent of the government workforce, and to 76 percent of contractors who are eligible to use the cards, about 885,000 contractors.† My agency uses Personal Identity Verification or PIV cards to gain access to wired devices on the network unfortunately that is not the case for wireless devices. Although we have two-party authentication in place for all devices it would be nice to have tertiary layer such as a smart card or PIV card for wireless devices. I don’t foresee a solution happening for a few years due to the cost in an already financially burdened healthcare system. It is true that â€Å"a reliance on off-the-shelf products means that there will be no PIV card readers available for workers signing on to check e-mail or read a document while out of the office.† Virtualization The agency I work for specializes in rural healthcare therefore often they don’t have the equipment or the staffing to complete tasks such as reading X-rays, providing behavioral health etc. Over the years we have had to implement Telehealth in order to meet these requirements. A patient in rural Minnesota may have his or her x-rays read by a physician in Billings, Montana. An individual may have weekly counseling sessions with a psychiatrist that is 500 miles away. Nowadays most healthcare companies use electronic health records to access patient information. Denial of Service DoS attacks happen when a hacker manages to overload a server to render it useless. A DoS attack is prevalent and damaging in virtualized environments and can preventsthe physicians and nurses from retrieving a patient’s information. If they are unable to access patient history to include what medications they are on or what they may be allergic to etc then they are unable to provide or give the wrong patient care which could be deadly. Therefore virtualization is very important in providing adequate and affordable patient care in the rural health industry. End-Users Our agency has mandatory computer security and security training every year in an effort to preempt attacks on the network. This mandatory training is required to be taken by every employee including the IT department. Attempts to breach security happen every day in our agency. Although we have security measures in place we have to constantly educate our end users on how to handle suspicious activity, password safety etc. Unfortunately there is always that one person that opens a suspicious email or shares their password or loses their token or PIV card and they don’t report it. This makes the network vulnerable. I have always believed that end users are a company’s biggest security risk. Allowing end users to access social media, personal email etc can allow for viruses to infect PC’s server’s etc. Once a virus is in the network it will spread like wildfire which will cripple the network. Prevention We use a lot of tools to constantly monitor the network to prevent DoS attacks, viruses, packet sniffing, phishing etc. We have implemented Websense as a means of policing what websites an end-user can surf to. We have firewalls in place to prevent end-users as well as outsiders from having access to IP ranges on our network as well as outside the network. We use access list on the routers as another layer of protection. We have penetration testers in our department whose only purpose is to look for packet sniffing and holes in the network. We have another group that monitor’s suspicious activity on the network such as a spike in bandwidth or an IP that is sending or receiving a large amount of information for specific length of time. Preventing cyber-attacks and security breaches is a never ending battle in network security. Conclusion Healthcare news states that â€Å"†¦Healthcare is driving the need for network security solutions that can cover multiple types of devices and infrastructure components.† Although we are largely driven by the Federal Communications Commission and HIPPAA my department is constantly implementing new devices and measures to secure the network and protect patient and employee information. This takes constant training and a lot of due diligence to accomplish that goal. References Are mobile devices already making PIV cards obsolete? Retrieved on October 13, 2013 from http://gcn.com/articles/2011/03/11/piv-status-update.aspx PIV Cards are in the hands of most federal employees and contractors, Retrieved on October 13, 2013 from http://gcn.com/articles/2011/03/11/piv-status-update.aspx Top Five Security Threats in Healthcare, Retrieved on October 14, 2013 from http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/top-5-security-threats-healthcare

The Wife of Baths Tale :: Canterbury Tales, Chaucer

The wife's life with her first three husbands (lines 193-451) The wife of bath begins this section by giving an account of her first three marriages. She treats her first three marriages as one marriage; talking about how she used the same techniques to control her husbands and does not refer to individual people but a combination of all her first three husbands which she refers to as her husband. The wife begins, with a shockingly cynical statement, by informing her audience that her first three husbands were good, because they were rich and old and easily controlled. "The thre were goode men, and riche, and olde." This is very degrading to her husbands; she did not care about them at all and is more then willing to stand up in front of a crowd and degrade them. "How pitously a-night I made hem swinke!" Her degradation of her husbands continues as she goes on to tell her audience how easily she controlled them by forcing them to give her their worldly possessions, "And sith they hadde me yeven al hir lond." The wife then goes on to tell about how she used to cheat on her husbands and get away with it if anyone told by convincing them that the person who told them was crazy by getting her friends to convince them she didn't. "And take witnesse of hir owene maide." The wife was also able to get her husbands to buy her new clothes and make up and any item she wanted by taking ad vantage of their kind nature. She would tell them that she was not respected like her neighbour was because she has not got so many nice things. "I sitte at hoom, I have no thrifty clooth." The wife is very proud of her achievements at controlling her husbands and goes into great detail about how she makes up stories about her husbands getting drunk and insulting her. "Thou comest hoom as dronken as a mous, and prechest on thy bench, with ivel preef!" she also says they insult marriage to women in general, saying you cant marry a poor woman "To wedde a povre womman, for costage" and you cant marry rich women "And if that she be riche, of heigh parage, thane seistow that it it a tormentrie to soffre hire pride and hire malencolie." The wife also says that her husbands use petty arguments against her "Thow seist that dropping houses, and eek smoke, and chiding wives maken men to flee.

The Importance of Drug Testing in Workplaces

As widespread drug use is on the rise, many employers have begun to worry about the performance of their employees. Absenteeism, injuries, loss of productivity, employee morale, theft and fatalities are just some of the causes of drug use in the workplace. The idea of drug testing among workers has developed from society's concern over a perceived increase in the use of drugs and the relation between drug use and impairment, with resultant risks to the worker, fellow workers and the public. As early as 1987, 21% of employers had instituted drug-testing programs. Employers have begun to think that mass drug tests are the answer to their problems. What many of these employers don't know is that there are many problems that surround drug testing at work. One of the biggest of these problems is whether or not it is constitutional to conduct drug tests on the employees. Employers fail to educate themselves with established or recent laws about drug testing in the workplace and about human rights. Also, mass, low-cost screening tests may not be reliable or valid. Alcohol testing does not differentiate casual drinking from alcohol dependence or alcoholism. Drug tests can create an untrustworthy environment for the employees. There are better ways to address substance abuse. Drug testing in the workplace is an important issue for all of Canada's labour force, regardless if it's you're first job or if you've had a steady job for 30 years. Many employees, who have had to subjugate themselves to degrading and demeaning drug tests, feel that these tests violate their constitutional rights. It is an infringement on their privacy. In order for the tests to make sure there is no specimen tampering there must be an administrator present to oversee every action the employee makes during their drug test. For tests such as hair and breath testing this does present a major problem, but for urine tests men and women alike are disturbed by the direct observation of their urine collection. Unfortunately, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies only to the laws and actions of the federal and provincial governments and their agencies. It does not apply to the policies and actions of private employers. The Charter therefore does not protect private sector employees from unreasonable drug testing. It is necessary to state that currently an employer can terminate an employee's job if the employee has been using illegal drugs and alcohol, but only if such use is not considered a disability. Alcohol or drug addiction can be viewed as a physical and/or mental disability. In Ontario, the Ontario Human Rights, Citizenship, and Multiculturalism Act prohibit employment discrimination based on disability. Employers have a responsibility to accommodate employees who are disabled. Drug testing has not been proven to be against the Canadian Human Rights Commission. In order to institute a drug testing policy into a company which complies with human rights legislation, an employer must be able to demonstrate that the testing is related to job performance, and not just substance abuse. † Many employees feel that drug testing is a way of discriminating against people who might have a drug and/or alcohol disability. An example of such discrimination is found in Entrop v. Imperial Oil Ltd. The Ontario Board of Inquiry found that Imperial Oil Limited discriminated against Martin Entrop, a senior operator at the Sarnia Refinery, because of a disability. The Board of Inquiry found that â€Å"under a new Alcohol and Drug Policy introduce in 1992, Imperial Oil employees in â€Å"safety-sensitive† positions were required to notify management if they currently had or had previously had a substance abuse problem. † After Mr. Entrop heard that this policy was coming into effect he informed his employer that he had had an alcohol problem about ten years earlier, that he had attended Alcoholics Anonymous, and that he had abstained from using alcohol since 1984. Mr. Entrop had been an employee for seventeen years and he had had no problems at work that were related to substance abuse, but Imperial Oil's policy required that Mr. Entrop be immediately removed form his current position. This example clearly shows that it is discriminatory to terminate a person's job because of a past or present disability and that there are constitutional matters involved with drug testing in the workplace. The lab procedure is a second invasion of privacy. Urinalysis reveals not only the presence of illegal drugs, but also the existence of many other physical and medical conditions including pregnancy. Drug testing is an invasion of privacy that is to be abhorred and it is clearly against our constitutional rights. Drug testing is designed to detect and punish conduct that is usually engaged in off-duty and off employer's premises, in other words, in private. There is much confusion about the accuracy of drug tests. In fact claims of billions of dollars lost in employee productivity are based on guesswork, not real evidence. Urine tests cannot test for drugs directly. They test for traces of substances taken before the test which are no longer active in your system but can still be detected. The most accurate methods of urine analysis are time-consuming and expensive, and even then can be wrong at least 10% of the time. Even though these drug tests are the most accurate, more often then not employers opt for a less accurate drug test because the more accurate ones are too much of an expense for the company. These cheaper drug tests often have an error rate of 30%, which means that 30% of all people that take these drugs tests are falsely accused and may be fired from their jobs. Also, traces of legal medicines, such as cough syrups, nasal sprays and eardrops can be confused with those of illegal drugs. Even the poppy seeds found in baked goods can produce a positive result for heroin. Furthermore, drug tests are not work-related because they do not measure impairment that occurs during work hours. A positive drug test only shows that a drug was taken at some time in the past. Also, the drug test does not distinguish between occasional and habitual use, the same is also true with alcohol testing. Another reason that drug testing isn't very reliable is the fact that drug testing does not even detect all drug users. This is true because most stronger drugs such as cocaine do not last in the user's blood stream as long as someone who has used marijuana for example. This means that the weekend user of cocaine is much more likely than the weekend user of marijuana to pass a weekday drug test. Also drug tests may not reveal very recent drug use. For example, a worker who does not smoke marijuana regularly decides to smoke marijuana in the middle of the work day, a drug test may come back negative because mot enough time has passed for drug metabolites to appear in the urine. With all these factors working against the accuracy of drug tests, not to mention the occasional error of the people who process the specimens at the lab and the false-negatives that occur when an employee deliberately decides to sabotage a drug test, it is hardly worth it for an employer to go through with the trouble of a drug tests when the true drug users, the ones that are harmful to the company, are not pointed out anyways. There are better ways to address substance abuse in the workplace then to rely on the very unreliable method of drug and alcohol testing. These ways are more cost-effective, time-effective and have a much better impact in the workplace; also they do not raise the same privacy issues that drug tests do. An effective alternative to drug testing is to train supervisors to confront, and refer impaired employees to Employee Assistance Programs or other intervention programs. This strategy leads to increased employee acceptance of treatment and a subsequent improvement in overall job performance.

How Sports Can Improve Team Relations

Team sports are a great fun way to instil strong teamwork values in staff that have to work effectively together off the field. Team Sport Spirit As a sports team functions in much a similar way to a workplace team – with members cooperating with one another to achieve a common goal, sport participation is a good way of further instilling the important principles of teamwork in a group. A lot of the same rules of the workplace team can be played out on the field or court. For example, if one person fails to pull their weight then the whole team performance will suffer. And conversely if one individual dominates then the performance of others will be adversely affected. Feeling undervalued and second best, their morale and motivation will droop. In both arenas the only way to achieve a victory is with a team working in harmony and on equal terms with one another. As with sport, a team may comprise of the most brilliant individual talents but if they don’t work well together then the team will be worthless. The Mechanics of a Good Team It’s easy to accept that the key lessons of team sport are the same as those in the workplace, but beyond that what can sport teach employees about teams that they can’t pick up in the workplace? For starters, the benefit of taking team relations out onto the field is in providing a more direct and boiled down display of how a team should function. On the field success is made or broken based on the effort – or lack of – of the competing players. If there are any weak links on the field, for example, then the upshot will be swift and decisive. It’s not so clear cut in the workplace where success and failure is not judged in super fast one hours bursts. Lazy individual members can generally drag the team down for a long time before the negative effects become apparent. Therefore by participating in sports, team members learn the effectiveness of ‘pulling together’ in achieving a goal and hopefully apply the same principles to their work. Team Bonding and Communication Team sports not only instil a belief in the power of effective teamwork but also they help improve team bonding and the relationships between team members, so that they can better achieve that goal. Encouraging staff to participate in team sports together on a regular basis is an excellent way to allow team members to get to know one another better and build up stronger and more productive relationships both on the field and in the workplace. Sport promotes a numbers of qualities that are valuable in the office, such as trust, respect, effective communication and good old fashioned comradeship. If team members find success together on the football field or badminton court, for example, then the bond they form with one another will hold strong in the workplace context. Often it doesn’t even matter whether certain people don’t get on in the workplace. On the sports field there is no room for frosty relations – for the sake of the team players must put their differences aside and cooperate. Hopefully success together can help people to put their petty differences aside off the field too.

Best Proposal Essay Topics for 2019 - Paperell.com

Best Proposal Essay Topics for 2019 85 Good Proposal Essay Topics: Guide with Examples Useful Tips On How To Choose Proposal Essay TopicsBrainstorming interesting  proposal essay topics  is quite challenging. But this doesn’t mean it’s utterly impossible. You can come up with a standout idea if you follow the expert tips listed below. But before you glean on those hacks, you need to understand what a proposal essay means.A proposal essay is a written document  that  identifies an issue in society and proposes solutions to the problem. This write-up is argumentative but takes a slightly different format than a typical essay. One of the distinguishing elements of a proposal is  deep research. As such, it takes more time to formulate a thesis and generate supportive evidence. In essence, such an essay needs to persuade readers that the proposal is viable and worth pursuing. Good proposal essay topics  convince the audience why specific ideas are good or bad.Generally, a proposal essay  must have the following elements.Research questionsThesis s tatementStatement of purpose/ proposalPlan of actionConclusionList of resourcesWhether it’s your first or fiftieth time to compose a proposal essay, the following strategies will help you to accomplish your assignment.Get the right topicThe best topics for a proposal essay involve serious research, planning, and enthusiasm. When narrowing down your ideas, it is essential for you to choose a subject of your interest. For most essays, you can change a topic until it comes out the way you want, but when it comes to a proposal, it is better off to choose something you are passionate about so you don’t get bored in the middle of your research. You will be writing and researching  a lot, and so it is much more pleasant to write when you have enjoyable ideas. The readers should be able to see your passion through what you’ve written, so you have to make your content more interesting. But don’t fall into a trap of writing about too obvious subjects like how to declutter a house or how to kill mice. Instead, find a topic that has a significant influence on you or society. Our proposal essay topics list has good examples you can expand on.Choose a subject with existing literatureWriting on a topic that cannot be supported by information resources is pointless. Your audience needs to see the evidence of your claims. From there, you can pick the side of the argument you think you can handle best. Never write opinionated content without facts. For instance ‘How to make yourself feel good’ is a bad topic. What you need is a topic with concrete facts such as ‘How to increase funding for research on chronic diseases.’ Remember that at the end of the proposal essay you must give a list of credible information sources.Choose an argumentative topicThe most exciting topics for proposal essay are debatable. Avoid a single subject because it can get boring and may not serve your goal correctly. It is good to address the opposi ng ideas from other scholars so you can produce an all-round academic paper.Best proposal essay topics for college studentsSuppose your lecturer asks you to write a proposal on a topic of your choice. In this case, you need to generate an idea   which can be good or bad. Then, you should prove that what you are proposing can be practiced in real life. Check out some exciting proposal essay topics  from different spheres.CultureTraditional family values versus bread and circus cultureIt is never too late to revitalize the old-fashioned way of lifeLack of tolerance in society is the cause of sexist, racist, and erratic behavior: How to stop these vicesMoral values are recurrently diminishing in society. How can we bring them back? Should heroes admonish permissive Hollywood movies?While morality is deemed outdated, risky behaviors are saluted: Ways to turn the tablesWhat’s the point of overspending on credit? Our culture is loaded with debts, and this needs to stopThe use o f gender-neutral words that sound politically rightHow to promote tolerance in our permissive societyParentingWhat can today’s parents do to ensure that their kids treat others with respect?Parents who are unable to care for their children properly should be given a second chanceWays to protect children from peer pressureThe best ways to discipline kidsParents and teachers should encourage kids to pursue science educationThere is a need for parents to emphasize more on humility rather than entitlementThe most effective methods of teaching children about moneyParents should have more extracurricular activities for their schooling kidsWays parents can help their children to deal with or avoid bullying in schoolLawHow do healthcare practitioners deal with homosexual patientsPrisoners, whether serving a lifetime or probation, should be allowed to voteThe espionage law and freedom of speech: should it be banned or improvements were made?The protection of animal rights is the respo nsibility of everyone, not just vegetariansDog bite laws: An overview of different dog breedsTechnology, Internet, and the Mass MediaDependency on technology is the killer of creativityHow to teach kids to use technical gadgets at the best valueHow college students use social media to improve their academic performanceWays to control the type of data that is retrieved onlineMethods of protecting your personal information from cyber theftImpact of cyberbullying and how to respond to itChildren should not be allowed to watch the TVHow to discern the truth from online headlinesAll countries should adopt internet censorshipHealthMeasures that should be taken to increase funding for research on cancer treatmentMajor health trends we can learn onlineHow is the life of an individual allergic to electromagnetism and modern gadgets?Safer methods for boosting health without the use of medicineImpact of antidepressants on self-esteem: should they be banned?Are cloning tissues for incurable dis eases ethical?Incorporating fun into a healthy lifestyleTest tube babies have a higher risk of congenital disabilities: couples should consider adoptionThe discussion of legalizing marijuana should be put to restHow to persuade kids not to play around with drugsEducationalQualified teachers have the right to reign freelyMistakes are fundamental to learning. School kids should be encouraged even when they err in classesThe latest trends in psychology that can be used to boost academic performanceHow to make the most out of a degree you don’t like to getHow to discuss sexual education in school without creating awkwardnessShould teachers warn kids about the negative life aspects?The education process is dependent on both students and educatorsAre grades the only way to measure a student’s performance?Teaching methods that must be prohibited in schoolsSportsCollege sport should undergo drug testsHow to prepare players for possible injuries and retirementThe mass media can do better in covering sports: special features and interviewsSports coaching: taking motivation to new heights for athletic playersReevaluating education and sports: should college athletes be paid?Rules that can improve parent’s involvement in their children’s educationCan single-sex schools help to increase students performance and discipline?College lifeDo college essay writing services help to improve students’ performance or encourage laziness?Serious issues facing college studentsShould universities monitor subcultures? What are the advantages of cultural diversity in schools?Work–study: how to balance studies and job without feeling overwhelmedHow to curb the issue of sexism in higher learning institutionsWays in which students can improve their safety at schoolChallenges faced by parenting studentsPreventing drugs and alcohol abuse among studentsThe right way to rest in a semesterBusinessUnemployment is a significant problem in society: how to el iminate it for goodConsumers should report big companies who lie about their products and servicesSmall and medium enterprises: ways to evade economic crises in the futureHow businesses should maintain trust with their clientsShould employee emails stay private at workplaces?The customer is always right: how to be a great clientHow to set the company’s  mission rightBesides monetary benefits, how else should companies reward workers?MotivationYour happiness depends on your attitude: How to live a happier lifeHow to anticipate a great future without being worried about your current salaryHow to avoid emotional breakdowns in the exam roomHow to teach people on ways to deal with failureDo we learn from others mistakes?Perfectionism is destructiveSocial issuesReducing homelessness in the societyChildren from socially unstable families can do the best in the  school and future relationships through counselingReducing the number of early-age school dropoutsHandling illegal immi grationThese proposal essay prompts are meant to inspire you. Feel free to add more ideas based on something that interests you. You might want to check a good proposal essay example before you start writing. Don’t forget to use a plagiarism checker after completing your paper an always keep in mind that you can use academic writing services if you get stuck.

Institutional Racism essays

Institutional Racism essays I am a freshman, international student of Dean College, and I am writing to express my concern about recent discussion and the pending decision to hire more professors, faculty members and administrative staffs. As a student, I understand this enrichment will maximize our living and learning experience. However, by reviewing the ratio of staffing in the past years, it uncovered that white privilege has been long institutionalized on our campus. One of the clearest indicators of institutional racism is that exclusion of black members of society from positions of control and leadership. We have in fact only a minority of black members working in both administration and in faculties. If black and ethnic minority staff are conspicuous by their absence or confined to part-time, temporary or non-managerial roles, we are giving a very clear message to parents and students that whatever our policy may say, the school doesnt practice what it preaches. Hence, advancement in staffing is necessary. Our College will benefit if we recruit staff from a variety of racial, ethic and national backgrounds, thus allowing it to play its part in promoting the value of a multi-cultural society. All employees should be treated with respect and dignity, and be provided working and learning environment free from racial discrimination, harassment or victimization. Our College should seek not only to eliminate discrimination, but also to create a working and learning environment based on positive relations between members of different racial groups. To this end, our College should undertake to provide training and support for staff, to consult with black staff about their experience of the working environment, and to provide diverse images in any material which it produces for learners and staff. The aim is to create a positive inclusive ethos where issues of racism, stereotyping and discrimination can be discussed openly with a shared co ...

All About Homeschool Support Groups

All About Homeschool Support Groups Homeschooling can feel isolating for children and parents alike. It’s so different from what most people are doing and its not uncommon to be the only homeschooling family  in your church or neighborhood or among your extended family. Taking full responsibility for your child’s education sometimes feels overwhelming. Add to that all the friends, relatives, and complete strangers insisting that your child is going to be a lonely social outcast, and you may start to wonder if you really can homeschool your child. That’s when you need a homeschool support group – but if you’re new to homeschooling, you may not have a clue how to go about finding one. First, it helps to make sure that you know what you’re looking for. Many new homeschooling families confuse support groups and co-ops. A support group is, as the name suggests, a group where parents can find support and encouragement from others in similar circumstances. Most support groups offer activities such as field trips, social gatherings, and meetings for parents. A homeschool co-op is a group of parents cooperatively educating their children through group classes. Although youll encounter other homeschooling families and can likely find support, the primary focus is on academic or elective classes for students. Some homeschool support groups do offer co-op classes, but the terms aren’t interchangeable. How to Find a Homeschool Support Group If you’re new to homeschooling or have moved to a new area, try these tips for  locating a homeschool support group: Ask Around One of the easiest ways to find a homeschool support group is to ask. If you know other homeschooling families, most will be happy to point you in the direction of local support groups, even if they’re not part of an organized group themselves. If you don’t know any other homeschooling families, ask at places that homeschooling families are likely to frequent, such as the library or used book store. Even if your friends and relatives dont homeschool, they may know families who do. When my family began homeschooling, a friend whose children attended public school gave me the contact information for two homeschooling families she knew. They were happy to answer my questions even though we didn’t know each other personally. Take to Social Media The prevalence of social media in today’s society makes it an excellent source for connecting with other homeschoolers. There are no fewer than a dozen Facebook groups related to homeschooling in my local circles alone. Search Facebook using your city’s name and â€Å"homeschool.† You can also ask on the pages and groups you’re already involved in. If you follow a homeschool curriculum vendors page, for example, you can usually post on their page asking if there are homeschooling families near you. While not as common as they used to be, many homeschool-related websites still offer member forums. Check them to see if they offer listings for support groups or post a message asking about groups near you. Search Online The Internet is a wealth of information. One excellent resource is the Homeschool Legal Defense page. They maintain a list of homeschool support groups by state, which are then broken down by county. You can also check your statewide homeschool group’s page. You should be able to find it listed on the HSLDA site. If you cant, try  using  your favorite search engine. Just type in your state’s name and â€Å"homeschool support† or â€Å"homeschool support groups.† You may also try searching by your county or city name and the keywords homeschool and support. How to Start Your Own Homeschool Support Group Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you can’t find a homeschool support group. You may live in a rural area without many homeschooling families. Alternately, you may live in an area with many groups, but none which are a good fit. If you’re a secular family, you may not fit in with the religious groups or vice versa. And, as unfortunate as it is, homeschooling families are not above forming cliques, which can be off-putting to new families. If you’re unable to locate a homeschool group, consider starting one of your own That’s what some friends and I did in our early years of homeschooling. That group is where my children and I formed some of our closest friendships that are still strong today. Try these tips for starting your own support group: Decide on the Type of Support Group What type of support group would you like to form? Secular,  faith-based, or inclusive of both? Formal or informal? Online or in-person? The group my friends and I started was an informal, online group. We didn’t have officers or regular meetings. Our communication was primarily through an email group. We did arrange a monthly mom’s night out and hosted  back-to-school and year-end parties. Our field trips were planned and organized by group members. If one mom wanted to plan a trip for her family and work out the details to include other group members, that’s what she did. We offered tips to make planning less stressful, but we didn’t have a designated coordinator. You may want a more formal, organized group with regular monthly meetings and elected officers. Consider the details of your ideal homeschool support group. Then, seek out one or two like-minded individuals to help you get it started. Consider the Type of Events You’ll Offer Most homeschool support groups, whether formal or informal, will plan some sort of events for member families. Think about the type of events your group  might offer. Perhaps you’d like to develop a group whose focus is field trips and family-friendly activities or one that hosts speakers and professional development opportunities for homeschooling parents. You may want to offer social events for the children or even a co-op. You might consider activities such as: Holiday parties such as Valentine’s, Christmas, or HalloweenBack-to-school or year-end partiesPlaygroups and park daysMiddle school and high school social events (dances, bowling, or bonfires)Science, geography, or other themed fairsClubs such as book, Lego, or chessPhysical educationSports opportunities  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ either organized or field-day events Decide Where You’ll Meet If you’ll be hosting in-person support group meetings, consider where you’ll meet. If you’ve got a small group, you may be able to host meetings at members’ homes. Larger groups might consider library meeting rooms, community facilities, restaurant meeting rooms, park pavilions,  or churches. Consider the factors that  may influence where you meet. For example: Will you serve refreshments? If so, what does the facility allow outside food and drinks?Will you offer childcare? If so, is there a place where children can safely play?Will you have guest speakers or will you address the group formally? If so, choose a facility where members can be seated and everyone can see and hear the speaker. Advertise Your Group Once you’ve worked out the logistics of your new homeschool support group, you’ll need to let other families know you exist. Our group placed an advertisement in the support group section of our local homeschool newsletter. You might also: Post a notice on the bulletin board at your local library, used book store, or teacher supply storeShare details in your church bulletin or neighborhood and civic group  newslettersSet up a booth or print brochures for local homeschool conventions and used book salesShare your brochure or a simple flyer with moms groups such as Mommy and Me gym classes, MOPS groups, or La Leche LeagueList your group on websites that offer information about support groups Most importantly, talk to other homeschooling families as much as possible. Word-of-mouth advertising in the homeschooling community is second to none. Most homeschooling parents will find that they benefit from the encouragement of a homeschool support group, particularly on the days when homeschooling is hard. Use these tips to find the right group for you and your family - even if that group starts with you and a couple of friends.

Sony..read the requirement carefully Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sony..read the requirement carefully - Essay Example It is also among the top a hundred effectively managed companies across the business world (Koontz & Weihrich 2006, p. 104). This was because of its renowned heritage of creativeness and innovativeness. On the other hand, marketing concept is a marketing philosophy in which a company’s goals revolve around the identification and achieving the needs and wants of the customers (Singh 2004, p. 11). Many company’s have adopted this concept over the recent years and Sony company is one of the firms that have made use of this philosophy in order to achieve its consumer oriented goals. With this, this essay will delve into the relevance of the marketing concept to Sony Corporation by expounding on the ways in which the company has applied it successfully to encompass its global operations. The history of marketing concept In prior years, companies used the sales concept and the production concept to foster their operations, but they proved ineffective in achieving the consumer satisfaction. In essence, the production concept was in existence in the 1920s and its rise attributed to the industrial revolution witnessed across the globe (Faarup 2010, p. 23). The concept was effective because most of the goods produced at this time met the basic needs hence creating a higher demand for the same. At this time, the sale of the manufactured products was easy as sales teams were able to execute sales transactions through a price that was subject to the cost of production. The sales concept followed the production concept in the 1930s because of increased competition that was able to meet the unfulfilled demands. The idea behind this concept was that companies had to influence consumers to buy their products through promotional strategies because of the competition experienced in the market. The sales concept failed because its focus was mainly on the sale of the products without factoring in whether the consumers actually needed the product that they were selling . The implication of this was that this did not attain customer satisfaction as marketing came after the development and production of the products for sale. However, many equate marketing to sales, but these two entities are quite different in terms of approach and influencing customer satisfaction. Marketing concept gained momentum after the Second World War because of the increased consumer spending because people could now afford to buy selected products (Faarup 2010, p. 24). With this, companies began to focus more on the needs of the consumers by developing products after ascertaining what the market wanted. The advantage that this presented was that companies could now achieve profits by satisfying the consumer needs for their overall benefit. In essence, marketing concept relies on research of the market to determine the market size, needs, and the segments that exist within the market. In order to satisfy the needs of the consumers, the marketing team decides on the ways of controlling the parameters of the marketing mix. Sony Corporation and the marketing mix Marketing mix is a business-marketing tool, which encompasses the four Ps in the influencing of consumers towards accessing a company’s products and services for the attainment of its goals and objectives (Lamb et al 2008, p. 148). The four P’s are price, place, promotion, and product that when mixed reflect the nature of different

Involving Parents Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Involving Parents - Coursework Example This will lead to immensely corporative children as they feel they have caring and considerate parents. This will lead to a society that has enhanced core values and ethics, which are deemed important. The desired outcome in this plan is to enhance partnership between parents and their children. It is a confirmed belief that children need care, protection and guidance from their parents. However, this can only be ascertained from close relationships. First, this will be an approach of parents noting the progress of their children. It is decreed that close monitoring and association with children will enhance their focus on their performance. Parents will be able to note areas of strength in their children. Similarly, the parents will be able to note the children’s weak areas. As such, there will be a better approach into rectifying the weak areas while enhancing their strengths. Secondly, parenting and corporation is a long-term activity, which is not propagated overnight. The refore, there should be initiation of some activities that will enhance the bond between parents and children (NCPIE, 2010). This could be an initial plan of the frequent activities that will enhance partnership between parents and their children. ... This is done through perfect communication and understanding. Therefore, this activity will be an initiation of corporation between parents and their children. This will have long-term results in enhancing trust and honesty in children. A budget is fundamental in this activity. First, there will be budget allocations for snacks and food. During the event, the children will serve their parents with a series of drinks and snacks. This is to teach the children the responsibility of serving their parents. Apparently, this will be a step to enhance the relationship between parents and their children. Secondly, there will be a budget allocation for entertainment. It is noted that the concentration of an audience is enhanced when there is a series of entertainment. Entertainment for both parents and children will evidently enhance the concentration of the meeting. In essence, the entertainment will help ease the audience as they are expecting a bonding session with each other. Thirdly, ther e will be a budget allocation for a venue. In essence, it is an inclusive meeting between parents and their children (NCPIE, 2010). This will help in ensuring all the people in attendance are comfortable with the environment. Fourthly, there will be a budget allocation for the meals. Sharing meals is one activity that many parents do not have with their children. This is partially due to the scope of their work. Some parents spend allot of their time working, which reduces the time for having meals together. Therefore, this dedicated day will be sharing most of the basic activities together. The plan is to have a whole day dedicated to corporation between parents and their children. This will be a day to enhance the relationship between the parents and their

Analysis and Summary of Health Risk information about Abilene Research Paper

Analysis and Summary of Health Risk information about Abilene Community - Research Paper Example From this population, the approximate number of people considered homeless is 625-1,875 per night. This is based on a formulae used by Housing and Urban Development to determine the number of homeless people in an area. Housing and Urban Development uses 0.5%-1.5% of the overall population to determine the number of homeless people. Local homeless population in Abilene has been determined to be around 1000 people. Hope Haven Incorporation confirms that the number of homeless people served and turned away every year is approximately 1000 (AHHI, n.d). Homelessness in Abilene is different from that observed in urban areas considering the living conditions and even the race. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, in urban areas, most homeless people are African-American males. The definition of homelessness by the federal government and the perception of homelessness by the people also affect the face of homelessness in Abilene. Abilene is a semi-rural city with white sing le males as most of its homeless people. The federal government considers homelessness as lack of regular, fixed and enough night-time residence. Most people have the impression that homelessness is living on the streets or in shelters. In Abilene the homeless are likely to be hidden because it is a semi-rural city. In such areas, homeless people mostly live in make-shift lean-tos, abandoned houses or in automobiles. Under these conditions, the homeless lack water and electricity (Eiserer, n.d). Additionally, homeless people in semi-rural and rural areas are less likely to live in shelters or on the streets. Most of them live with their relatives in substandard or overcrowded housing (Eiserer, n.d). This status increases the number homelessness related diseases, especially when they go unrecognized. It increases the risk of infection and affects control of already existing diseases. Abilene community also has the problem of overcrowding in elementary schools. Abilene has been experi encing increased numbers of student enrolment over the years. This however, has not been accompanied by increased elementary educational facilities leading to overcrowding. Because of overcrowding, AISD has proposed a boundary rezoning that is expected to balance the number of students in different schools. Overcrowding is expected be eased at Jackson elementary school, overcrowding is expected to create more space at Ward Elementary, and increase enrolment at Reagan and Dyess. This rezoning is expected to affect Dyess, Jackson, Ward, Bassetti and Reagan Elementary schools (Powell, 2013). Overcrowding causes health problems both directly and indirectly. It enhances the spread of infectious diseases directly, and causes strain on existing facilities, which then cause various types of health problems and diseases. Community Health Nursing Diagnosis 1 Health Risk: Higher Prevalence or Existence of Homeless Diseases than expected The conditions of the houses that the homeless people liv e in are a contributing factor to their health status. Hope Haven Incorporation indicates that in a year, approximately 1000 homeless people are served or turned away (AHHI, n.d). This could be exclusive of other homeless people who could be living with their relatives, in abandoned houses, make-shift lean-tos and in automobiles among other areas. It means that the number of homeless people that the city planners and charity organizations are aware of could be more than 1000. Homeless people suffer from various diseases such as tooth decay, trauma, respiratory infections, vision disturbances, trauma, sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse,

Business case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business - Case Study Example rough their broad range of investment schemes, Common Angels have a major task force in new business funding offering financing assistance to over 50,000 ventures. One drawback in their operations, Common Angels cannot be counted for an additional funding, even after making an initial investment more quickly and on more favorable terms. Hence, they stand a chance to lose clients who would approach them for a subsequent funding need. This has continued to be a account to the investors. Over the time, venture capital are considered better and friendlier as opposed to the common angels. This is seen in the way venture capital raises their capital as compared to the common angels. Due to the stiff competition amongst the two major financiers, Common Angels have evolved significantly from their early roots of just being an â€Å"angel investment club† and became a successful software company entrepreneurs. The only stronghold that differentiate the Common Angels is that they have a fund that is managed professionally. This ensures that there’s a dedicated staff that deals with the individual investors and this is carried out down the

Individual Operations Management Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Individual Operations Management Report - Essay Example After conducting an analysis using Statistical process control tools, the company found that there processes are out of control and they are not meeting the quality standards. Table of Contents Introduction & Problem Description: 3 Methodology: 3 Results: 4 Types of Data: 4 3 Sigma control for the processes: 4 Discussion and recommendations: 7 Conclusion: 8 Bibliography: 9 Appendix: 10 Introduction & Problem Description: RTP Industries is one of the most renowned manufacturers of steel and aluminum products. The company holds its footstep in the major countries of the world and operates globally. Due to stiff competition in the recent years from Chinese and Indian manufacturers, the company has lost a significant portion of its market share. To reestablish itself, the company is emphasizing on research and development program in order to innovate new products. Quality has remained the top priority since then as the company expects that through quality assurance and control it can aga in boost its sales. Total Quality management has been at the heart of company’s vision and it has been introducing tools and techniques to maintain the quality of its products. One of the tools it has recently deployed is Statistical Process Control for measuring the performance of the manufacturing process and to let identify it there are any weaknesses in the process. Recently, the company has received a lot of complaints regarding the hydraulic products. It was believed that the discrepancies in the size and surface quality of the steel rods are causing leakages in hydraulic products. Methodology: In order to meet the required standards and improve its quality, the quality manager has planned to run a Statistical Process Control Analysis. A Statistical process control involves a random sampling of the output of the process which determines whether the process is meeting the quality standards or not. For the above purpose, the quality manager has randomly collected data on samples of three steel rods daily. The quality manager collected two types of data The diameter of the selected steel rods was measured and recorded in centimeters over a 25 day period. The number of surface errors in the selected steel rods was calculated and recorded over a 25 day period. Results: Types of Data: There are two different types of data given to us in this scenario. The first data is concerned with the diameters of the selected steel rods. As we know that diameter is a continuous variables and it can take any value therefore we will use an x chart as a Statistical process control chart to monitor the process. The second set of data contains information about the number of surface errors in the selected steel rods. The second type of data has used sampling through attributes measure for the collection purpose. Since it contains information about whether there are surface errors in the steel rod therefore it is measuring the attributes of the steel rods. We will use a c chart as a Statistical Process Control tool for monitoring this process since there are more than one surface errors in some steel rods so we will count number of errors per steel rod. 3 Sigma control for the processes: Size of diameters of rods: For the first sample of data regarding the diameter of the

Supplay chain management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Supplay chain management - Research Paper Example Any business that fails to do so is prone to failure and its survival as a going concern is in doubt. To attain the three main objectives of a business, the business needs to attain sufficient revenue and resources in the form of fixed assets and working capital (Muller, 2003: 1). Working capital include the resources used in the trading activities of a business. Working capital is important because it is the resource base that is used to attract more profits through trade. It is through profitability that a business can earn liquid resources to fund its existence. On the other hand, there is the need growth and expansion, which is characterized by the holding up of wealth in fixed assets. This is also a vital part of the growth of an organization because holding more assets enables a business to expand appropriately and remain a stronger going concern. This means that fixed assets are essential and necessary for the expansion and promotion of business. However, locking up too much o f your capital in fixed assets leads to over-capitalization and this leads to a situation where there will be limited working capital for trading purposes (Chakraborty, 2003: 2). On the other extreme, holding too much working capital leads to over-trading which stands in the way of growth and survival of the business. There is therefore the need for businesses to draw a balance between the extent of locking up capital in assets and in trading activities. Inventory or stocks is an important element of business because in most production entities, inventory represents over 50% of the cost of production (Bragg, 2004: 1). This therefore means that inventory is a major factor that determines the nature, existence and operations of a business. The elements of inventory costs include cost of purchase, cost of storage, labor to receive, checking quantity, retrieval, selection, packing, shipping and accounting for it (Muller, 20030 p2). These costs sum up to very high amounts that are materi al in the financial statements of the business. Inventory is vital in the cost structure of businesses. This is because it can be a point for the lock up of immense working capital which can affect trading as well as the capitalization of the the business. Inventory therefore has to be monitored regularly and closely to ensure that it does not become an avenue for the inefficient use of a business' wealth. The inventory must therefore be monitored and managed through various units of an organization like purchasing, production planning, inventory control, receipt and storage and distribution of inventory. (Bose, 2006: 31). This is done by the use of various techniques and skills in managing the purchase and movement of stocks. Bose (2006: 31) argues that some techniques can be used by managers to ensure the efficient use of resources for the monitoring and control of the inflow and dispatch of stocks as a component of supply chain management. These techniques include Just-in-Time (J IT), Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) and Re-order Point/Point of Safety Stock. These techniques help managers to take decisions that help the management of organizations to ensure that the right levels of stocks are kept at any given point in time to ensure that production goes on without the lock up of capital. On the other hand, it enables the management to order for stocks at the right time to ensure that there are no stock-outs which leads to idle time in businesses. Re-order Point The re-order point concept

Individual Operations Management Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Individual Operations Management Report - Essay Example After conducting an analysis using Statistical process control tools, the company found that there processes are out of control and they are not meeting the quality standards. Table of Contents Introduction & Problem Description: 3 Methodology: 3 Results: 4 Types of Data: 4 3 Sigma control for the processes: 4 Discussion and recommendations: 7 Conclusion: 8 Bibliography: 9 Appendix: 10 Introduction & Problem Description: RTP Industries is one of the most renowned manufacturers of steel and aluminum products. The company holds its footstep in the major countries of the world and operates globally. Due to stiff competition in the recent years from Chinese and Indian manufacturers, the company has lost a significant portion of its market share. To reestablish itself, the company is emphasizing on research and development program in order to innovate new products. Quality has remained the top priority since then as the company expects that through quality assurance and control it can aga in boost its sales. Total Quality management has been at the heart of company’s vision and it has been introducing tools and techniques to maintain the quality of its products. One of the tools it has recently deployed is Statistical Process Control for measuring the performance of the manufacturing process and to let identify it there are any weaknesses in the process. Recently, the company has received a lot of complaints regarding the hydraulic products. It was believed that the discrepancies in the size and surface quality of the steel rods are causing leakages in hydraulic products. Methodology: In order to meet the required standards and improve its quality, the quality manager has planned to run a Statistical Process Control Analysis. A Statistical process control involves a random sampling of the output of the process which determines whether the process is meeting the quality standards or not. For the above purpose, the quality manager has randomly collected data on samples of three steel rods daily. The quality manager collected two types of data The diameter of the selected steel rods was measured and recorded in centimeters over a 25 day period. The number of surface errors in the selected steel rods was calculated and recorded over a 25 day period. Results: Types of Data: There are two different types of data given to us in this scenario. The first data is concerned with the diameters of the selected steel rods. As we know that diameter is a continuous variables and it can take any value therefore we will use an x chart as a Statistical process control chart to monitor the process. The second set of data contains information about the number of surface errors in the selected steel rods. The second type of data has used sampling through attributes measure for the collection purpose. Since it contains information about whether there are surface errors in the steel rod therefore it is measuring the attributes of the steel rods. We will use a c chart as a Statistical Process Control tool for monitoring this process since there are more than one surface errors in some steel rods so we will count number of errors per steel rod. 3 Sigma control for the processes: Size of diameters of rods: For the first sample of data regarding the diameter of the

Your Hardships, and Memories in One Sentence Research Paper

Your Hardships, and Memories in One Sentence - Research Paper Example The discontent that forms after reading a story that does not read like the old once upon a time, conflict-filled, and plotted story crops up as a result of an utter dissimilarity from the way old stories are formatted. Certainly, this is not a just a mere gimmick that tends to sell modern books because there is a staggering reality in this observation: there is a difference on how old and modern stories are written. According to Bader (87), old stories are heavily based on plot. There are two observations in the manner in which old stories are written: (1) the plot dominates the entire content of the story; the progression or turns of events are strongly based on the plot and they incline to circulate around a singular model – conflict, action, resolution – from cover to cover; or (2) the plot is dominated by other elements such as conflict, theme or character. These three may dominate plot altogether; nevertheless, it is common that a single element dominates the plot in the totality of the story. Conflict in this regard has two kinds: internal or external. It is important to note the difference between the two because this is where a careless reader is often convinced that the story is plot-less, static or amorphous, which should not be the case considering that the point is supposed to be conceived lies upon how aware the reader is the technicalities involved in writing and arranging a story. An internal conflict is something that exists within the character himself – this may be defined as a personal dilemma or ambivalence over something that needs to be decided, recounted, or confronted. On the other hand, external conflict is a more common sort: it is something that physically – either directly or indirectly; subtly or apparently affect the characters of the story. For instance, stories that are based on childhood abuse: the conflict could be the physical violence that the main character or other characters in the story suffer from his or her oppressors. External conflicts can be very sensitive and straightforward. Modern stories do not employ plot significantly; at least, according to the knowledge of the modern story avid. Modern stories are strongly founded on realism – everything is based on what really happens in real life. Modern story writers contend that a plot is unreal, artificial (87). One possible reason for this argument is that plot makes for a contrived, made-up progression that is hard to believe because it does not simply reflect the realities of life. Modern story writers also argue that old stories’ lavish use of plots tend to sentimentalize the reality (88). In other words, the backbone of the story is drawn from a detached understanding of what really exist in real life to a point that it becomes so inconsistent of which is believable and truly convincing. Modern stories use new techniques that create a more realistic and more interesting, thought-provoking way of deliv ering narratives: (1) modern stories employ a stricter limitation of the subject; and (2) method of indirection. Bader (88) believes that â€Å"the modern writer’s desire for realism causes him to focus on the limited moment of time or a limited area of action in order that it may be fully explored and understood.† While modern writers believe that plots are artificial, it does not mean that they do not use them. Modern writers still use plot in creating their stories; nevertheless, they employ them with less complication in order to give way to modern subtlety. Jamaica Kincaid’s Girl is one intriguing poetic art. At first read, it is quite difficult to decipher if it uses plot or not but eventually any reader would find that it all revolves in a less-complicated plot: to-do-list and how-to-do list. One

The Purpose of Initial Assessment and What Kind of Methods Could Be Used Essay Example for Free

The Purpose of Initial Assessment and What Kind of Methods Could Be Used Essay The purpose of an initial assessment is to firstly, make sure that a learner can enter the programme of study at a level that is appropriate to them. Secondly, these assessments also allow the learner to be able to plan their individual achievable learning goals. These initial assessments will become the framework of learners ILP’s (individual Learning Plans). They will also ensure that the learner provider and tutor can identify the gaps in learning sooner rather than later. It should go without saying that providers want the best for learners, it’s just as important that learners should know right from the start that they are entitled to the best for themselves†. (readingroom ,online) This demonstrates the importance of the initial assessment and its results have on an individual learner’s development. Initial Assessment are what they are, they are just the beginning and become a tailor made plan which then becomes a vital part of the teaching and learning for the learner and provider alike. â€Å"Assessment helps to set clear expectations for standards and achievement. CFBT, 2011,p10 . ) Initial assessment therefore ensures that there can be progression as it also allows learners themselves to see and develop on strengths and weaknesses from the outset. One can also suggest that these initial assessments are a motivational tool too, so that not only can the provider plan for the end goal but also that a learner can readily see that the results from initial assessments are used to determine achievable goals thus seeing that the overall course outcomes are achievable. There are several methods in which initial assessments can be ascertained. An initial interview gives a basic knowledge and is seen as a good indicator about the suitability of the learner, for example, what they have achieved in the past, what they want to achieve but as these are sometimes done prior to qualification results, this would not always produce a true reflection of a learner’s ability. Therefore a programme of induction following the interview and acceptance would ensure the learner can be fully assessed and ascertain not only the level they are working to but also any help that is required is in place from the beginning. Skills based testing is a common initial assessment tool. Learners take online or written assessments and the results ascertain their levels they are currently working on, furthermore specific diagnostic test homes in on the gaps in their skills. This method is effective and can give providers and tutors a general scale of ability, however one can argue that the results can also be misleading , for example if a learner has rushed or guessed part the assessment then the results would not be true reflection of the learners ability. BKSB is one of these online skills providers, used by many colleges. BKSB cover learner’s initial skills testing in literacy, numeracy and ICT, as well as diagnostic. However it can be argued that whilst convenient, for example, instant results and no marking by tutors and also identifies the specific subject knowledge and gaps , it can miss special needs problems such as dyslexia. Another initial assessment undertaken may include looking at a learner preferred learning style – commonly known as VAK , visual,( seeing and reading), auditory ( listening and speaking and kinaesthetic ( Touching and doing) . These are basically different ways of learning and be achieved through completion of questionnaires. This assessment is vital and is an integral part in the learner and tutors planning. Ensuring that your learners preferred style is embedded in the lesson plan (differentiation) can ensure that the learner’s motivation is continued. There are no right and wrong answers but in some cases there is not always a clear result, many learners may have a mix. However this could be seen as a positive when teaching a larger group as you can embed all three learning styles ensuring that a larger number will participate therefore keeping learners motivated and achieving goals and also progressing. Arguably you could suggest that the most important part of initial assessment is giving feed back to the learner of the results. This as we have said previously allows the learner to set themselves achievable goals. They have possibly already learnt things about themselves that they didn’t know. For example what their preferred style is. The advantage of this feedback session is that both learner and tutor have set clear manageable targets and goals. This is turn can be seen as a motivational tool for the learner as they have been part of the process and know what is expected from them. This also instils the motivation for the teacher to make sure that the learner can achieve their goals Regular reviews, target setting and referring to the initial assessments target setting is vital in ensuring a learner remains motivated, Learners will achieve if they can see themselves progressing. Smart targets therefore are an achievable and motivational tool as it will ensure that targets are met in an expected time frame. According to Reid (2007 pg. 14) motivation should be intrinsic, which means that a learner should be self-motivated. If the initial assessments have been managed effectively then they become the perfect platform for the Reid’s ideas, as the assessments are set up to insure that a learner as contributed to the target setting. Reid also states that ‘a car will not run without fuel, therefore a child won’t learn without motivation. (Reid 2007 pg. 4). Although aimed at younger children the ethos is the same in that even older learners need to be fed relevant facts in order to progress and reach goals. One could also suggest though that the older the learner is the harder it is to motivate as in some circumstances a lower self-esteem is more evident than in younger children, for example those leaners within foundation learning projects for example. If one uses foundation learning as an example, then motivating them becomes a juggling act as you have to employ strategies that would work over a mixed ability group. Characteristics of a group also play an important part of motivation. One main point is setting out a clear aim and objective of a day’s lessons. Learners then have an expectation of what is expected from them. Tutors must ensure there is a mix of learning skills. For example, the shyer, less confident learners might not want to join in with the speaking and listening task but then if you link it up with a task the quieter ones can excel at then you can continue to keep motivation going whilst also covering more challenging areas. This also is ensuring that you are achieving their goals but also their learning style patterns as stated in the leaners initial assessments. Feedback is vital and is especially important when reaching the end of a session or a unit of work and must include the completion of any smart targets reached, and then new ones to be set with the leaner thus detailing progress and keep motivation going. To ensure learners are kept motivated and achieving their goals, then there are of course many other strategies and theories. However the vital point remains that with the initial assessments and subsequent ILR’s, regular reviews with providers or tutors learners will hopefully continue to motivate themselves by seeing that they have achieved goals set, furthermore with every new set of new goals learners can see the on-going progression and therefore motivation to succeed continues.

Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic Kidney Disease Chronic conditions have been defined as â€Å"health problems that require ongoing management over a period of years or decades† and have been labelled as the biggest challenge faced by the health sector in the 21st century (WHO, 2002:11). While the economic cost of managing them is high, Suhrcke, Fahey McKee (2008) identify some strong economic arguments that may be made in support of the need for societies to invest in their (chronic diseases) management. They identify some primary benefits such as improved health (in terms of patients quantity and quality of life in years), long-term cost savings from complications that are prevented, and workplace productivity experienced by patients and their employers. Management of such conditions are no longer evaluated by the rates of survival alone but, also, by the quality of life experienced by patients as a result of the therapy (Bowling, 2005) Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is becoming a global pandemic (Mahon, 2006; Chen, Scott, Mattern, Mohini Nissenson, 2006; Clements Ashurst, 2006). The disease causes gradual decline in kidney function (Silvestri, 2002). It has been categorised into 5 stages according to the glomerular filtration rates (Johnson Usherwood, 2005) and the progression through these stages is influenced by several processes, mostly lifestyle-related (Riegersperger Sunder-Plassmann, 2007). Patients with stage 5 kidney disease (end stage) must receive kidney transplant, peritoneal dialysis or haemodialysis to survive (Niu Li, 2005). However, Wu et al. (2004) identifies that many patients undergo either haemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis because kidneys are, mostly, not available for transplant. Between these two treatment methods, haemodialysis is more common in many countries (Jablonski, 2007; Zhang et al., 2007; Martchev, 2008) although Carmichael et al. (2000) report that about 50% of dialysis patient s in the United Kingdom are on some form of peritoneal dialysis. The two common treatment modalities for kidney failure (haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis) have the same primary purposes: to remove metabolic waste and excess fluids, and maintain fluid and electrolyte balance the functions the kidneys have failed to perform (Martchev, 2008; Timmers et al, 2008). However, each of them places unique demands on the patient as well as the healthcare team. For instance, patients on conventional haemodialysis have to spend between three to four hours on the machine for three times in a week (Rayment Bonner, 2007; Dunn, 1993). This, in addition to transportation to and from the haemodialysis centre or hospital, if they are not on home haemodialysis, affects their work or family life (Martchev, 2008). Likewise, patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), the most common form of peritoneal dialysis, have to allow dialysate to dwell within their peritoneal cavity for an average of four hours and exchange of the dialysate is done about four times in a day (Dunn, 1993; Bowman Martin, 1999; Gonzalez-Perez et al., 2005). Moreover, compliance to dialysis regimen is very difficult because of all the dietary and fluid restrictions and other lifestyle modification associated with it (Cleary Drennan, 2005; Timmers et al., 2008; Martchev, 2008). Presently, more than 23,000 adults in the UK undergo dialysis treatment as a result of kidney failure and this number is expected to increase yearly (World Kidney Day, 2009). Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (Ghana) recorded 558 cases of chronic kidney disease between January 2006 and July 2008 in the country (All Africa, 2009) and this may represent less than 30% of the total disease burden as the hospital serves a few regions in the country. I once encountered a 27-year old young man who had been diagnosed with kidney failure. At that point in time, my concern was the kind of life he would experience depending on dialysis for survival. Cleary and Drennan (2005) identifies that patients with kidney failure have lower quality of life than the general healthy population while Loos et al. (2003), also, identify that patients with kidney failure have poor quality of life as compared to other patients with other chronic diseases. Complications such as anaemia and fatigue may contribute to the lower quality of life in patients with kidney failure (Phillips, Davies White, 2001). Therefore, management of kidney failure should not only be cost-effective, but should also provide acceptable quality of life for the patients (Kring Crane, 2009). How, then, can health professionals provide an acceptable quality of life for persons diagnosed with kidney failure? Major roles played by health care personnel include educating, encouragin g, and assisting patients to choose the treatment modality that is best for their unique needs (Niu Li, 2005). It is, therefore, appropriate for nurses to know which of the two kinds of treatment modalities promises an acceptable quality of life for individual patients, and this knowledge should be supported by appropriate evidence gathered through quality research. In the 21st century, patients feelings and perceptions on health care are paramount to the feelings and perceptions of the health care providers (Bowling, 2005). Therefore, studying the quality of life, as experienced by patients on a specific regimen, requires the direct, subjective assessments of the patients and not the objective assessment of the health care provider (Kring Crane, 2009). However, quality of life lacks a unanimous definition as a concept, making interpretation and synthesis of studies on it very difficult (Cleary Drennan, 2005; Kring Crane, 2009). Researchers and theorists have reached a consensus on some characteristics of quality of life as a concept: it is multidimensional, temporal and subjective (Bredow, Peterson Sandau, 2009). The multidimensional aspect of the concept comprises of the physical, psychological and social capabilities of the person (McDowell, 1996 cited by Fortin et al., 2004). It is temporal because people can change their values and perc eptions to fix the changes in their perceived quality of life as circumstances change (Sprangers Schwartz, 1999). It is subjective because, as stated earlier, patients perceptions and feelings on such an outcome supersede that of the health care provider. Nevertheless, Tobita and Hyde (2007) states that there are some objective measures such as age and gender that can influence the measurement of quality of life. Different subjective tools have, therefore, been developed to measure subjective aspects of quality of life but these are of two kinds: generic and disease-specific measures (Tobita Hyde, 2007). Generic tools measure broad aspects and can be used for several types of diseases at different locations and for different cultural groups while disease-specific tools are for specific types of diseases or patient groups (Patrick Deyo, 1989). When the two kinds of tools are combined, different populations can be compared and sensitivity to the changes that might occur with time is enhanced (Wu et al., 2004). The generic tool that is commonly used to measure quality of life is the Medical Outcomes Study Questionnaire 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) (Neto et al., 2000; Fortin et al., 2004; Morsch, Gonà §alves Barros, 2006). Carmichael et al. (2000) identify that three disease-specific measures have been designed for dialysis patients and these are Kidney Disease Questionnaire (KDQ) , a questionnaire designed by Parfrey et al. and the Kidney Disease Quality of Life questionnaire (KDQOL). Polaschek (2003) identifies that most of the studies that have been undertaken to explore the quality of life of patients with kidney failure have used the quantitative approach. However, he adds that a few nursing studies have used qualitative methodologies in an attempt to understand the quality of life as experienced by patients on dialysis. For example, Al-Arabi (2006) used the naturalistic enquiry method to identify how the challenges faced by patients with kidney failure influence their quality of life. Sadala and Loreà §on (2006) also used a phenomenological approach to explore patients perspective on their dependence on haemodialysis machines for survival. Grounded theory approach has, also, been used Kaba et al. (2007) to understand patients experience of kidney failure and dialysis in Greece. So far, this essay has addressed the poorer quality of life experienced by patients with chronic conditions, with special emphasis on that of patients with kidney failure. It has, also, touched on the attempts made by theorists and researchers to conceptualise and assess quality of life. Development of tools to measure subjective quality of life has created more diversity in the assessment of quality of life of patients, either by the use of quantitative or qualitative methodologies. It has been stated earlier that nurses and other health personnel assist patients in choosing the treatment modality that is best for their condition with the best available evidence. Therefore, the question for healthcare providers to answer is ‘does peritoneal dialysis, compared to haemodialysis, provide a better quality of life for patients with kidney failure? The next section would look at ways by which health care providers can use research to generate answers to the above question. This section would critically appraise various research methods that could be employed to answer my research question does peritoneal dialysis, compared to haemodialysis, provide a better quality of life for patients with kidney failure? Empirical research, audit/service evaluation and systematic review of published studies are the approaches that would be considered in this essay Empirical Research Qualitative and quantitative designs could be used to answer the above research question. However, steps to control bias and to ensure reliability of the findings should be considered (Polit Cheryl, 2008). Consideration should also be given to ethical issues (Robson,..) Qualitative research is the best approach when questions on ‘what, ‘how and ‘why on a phenomenon are to be answered (Green Thorogood, 2004). Some of the research traditions that are used in qualitative studies include ethnography, phenomenology and grounded theory (Polit Cheryl, 2008). To understand quality of life, as experienced by dialysis patients from their own perspective, phenomenological approach appears to be more appropriate. Polit and Cheryl (2008) identify that phenomenological study focuses on the meaning and importance attached to a phenomenon by those experiencing it and suggest that this approach is beneficial for studies on concepts that have been poorly defined, such as quality of life. If phenomenological approach is used for my research question, I would interview dialysis patients on how kidney failure and dialysis have affected their quality of life, after obtaining their informed consent for the study. However, Ashworth (1996) states that researchers using descriptive phenomenological approach by Husserl should set aside all their preconceptions on the phenomenon that is being studied (bracketing). For instance, now that I know that dialysis patients have a poorer quality of life, as compared to other patients with other chronic diseases or the general healthy population, I should be able to set such an idea aside during the collection and analysis of data. But Polit and Cheryl (2008) identify that researchers using interpretive phenomenology approach by Heideggar acknowledge that bracketing is not possible in empirical studies. Nevertheless, both types of phenomenological studies require the researcher to be open to all meanings that are given to a phenomenon by those experiencing it and maintain such an attitude when analysing the data and describing the findings. One limitation of phenomenology, however, is that small number of participants can be used for each distinctive phenomenological study, usually ten participants or less (Polit Cheryl, 2008). Phenomenology shares other limitations of qualitative research methods. Given (2006) identifies that qualitative research generate a lot of data, even when the sample size is small. He also states that collecting and analysing data may take a long time and results may not be generalised because of the small number of participants. Therefore, even though phenomenology and other qualitative methods may offer me rich and in-depth information on dialysis patients perspectives on their quality of life, a qualitative design may not be suitable to answer this research question for generalisation purposes.

Possession in The Exorcist Essay -- The Exorcist

Being Possessed The idea of possession can frighten many people. What horror movie producers and directors that go into this field are counting on is that they can use it to frighten their viewers. The Exorcist and The Exorcist Beginning both are centered on the act of exorcism. Both demoniacs in the films are women though their fates are polar opposites. The exorcisms are also shown in different lights. This is done through special effects as well as lighting and music. The first film in the series stays with a cut and dry method of keeping mainly to the exorcism itself; however, its prequel focuses more on fancy special effects and stimulating music. The newest addition to The Exorcist series also adds in the usual Hollywood love story present in most films in our time. Prequels tend to also serve the purpose of story building, regardless of how new it is. In this case it has the duty of creating and explaining the character of Merrin. The success of both The Exorcist and The Exorcist Beg inning was not only due to the story line, but also the mystery of it as well as its acceptance in society and the church. The exorcism itself, such as the effects and the overall focus on it were portrayed differently within The Exorcist and The Exorcist Beginning in accordance with the view from society in general and their expectations on how a movie should be done. The rite of exorcism dates back many centuries. It is a practice not only practiced in Christianity but in Pagan religions as well. The main difference between the two is that Pagan exorcists rely on their own power to expel the demons rather then the Christians drawing their power directly from God to do the job (Baker, 137). This power was given to the Christia... ...new technology back then. Movies have now been mandated by the movie making industry to take on new twists, however. The Exorcist Beginning, being the prequel to the first of the series, had to pull something new to get the viewers it needed for success. Therefore, Harlin put in the notorious love story to add a special little twist to our emotion. This in conjunction with the development of Merrin, puts the actual exorcism out of the spot light. Thus, showing how movies have been changed over time with the change in wants from society. As their wants for a good movie change, so must the actual film to acquire success. The Exorcist and The Exorcist Beginning both followed the expectations of society for their respective filming eras to become very successful movies, having their success fueled by the mixed views and conceptions of both the church and society.

Organizational Behavior – Jean Lewis at Staples Case Study

LDP1 July 17, 2007 The interchange between task behavior, relationship behavior, and follower readiness is the foundation of situational leadership. Different focus on relationship or task behavior is applied to followers on different readiness levels. Task behavior is the degree of detailed direction given by a leader to a follower or a group for them to perform a task. Included in these directions are specifics of the methodology to perform the task as well as the place and the parties involved.Relationship behavior is the grade of interaction between the leader and the follower or group. Readiness is the degree of willingness and capability that a follower demonstrates. â€Å"The two major components of readiness are ability and willingness† (Hersey, Blanchard, & Johnson, 2001) Ability is composed of the follower’s qualifications for a particular task. Hersey (2001) catalogs these qualifications as knowledge, skill and experience. Willingness is the level of confiden ce, commitment and motivation that someone shows.Willingness is not a personal attribute as it varies from a task to another. Confidence is the expressed belief that one is able to perform a task. The fact that an individual is confident does not necessarily make him capable of completing an assignment, as it is a mental state rather than a measure of skills. Commitment is an established dedication to undertake a responsibility, and motivation is the expressed desire to do it. Based on the degree of ability and willingness an individual can be classified into four levels of readiness as follows: R1 – Unable and UnwillingR2 – Unable but Willing R3 – Able but Unwilling R4 – Able and Willing R1 individuals do not have either the necessary level of skill or the commitment to perform a task. R2 individuals are not qualified, yet have the willingness to undertake the responsibility. R3 individuals have the ability to perform the task but are reluctant to execut e it. Finally, R4 individuals have the ability and the willingness to complete a task. The situational leadership model institutes four different leadership styles to pair with each of the four readiness levels.These styles are characterized by the different combinations of relationship and task behavior and are defined as follows: Style 1 or S1 – This style of leadership characterized by a high amount of task and low amount of relationship behavior should be used on individuals on the first level of readiness. It is also known as crisis leadership as it is a good practice on a critical situation when the leader doesn’t have the time to explain the â€Å"whys† of the objectives to the followers or research the readiness level of the group.For instance during a fire the fire department personnel is likely to use this type of leadership to evacuate a building. Style 2 or S2 – Typified by high levels of both, task and relationship behaviors, this style shoul d be used in individuals on the second level of readiness. These individuals lack the skills to complete a task, therefore a great deal of direction (task behavior) is needed. Since they are trying, it is important to encourage them to continue their progress (relationship behavior).Style 3 or S3 – Low task and high relationship behavior set this leadership style apart, and should be used on followers on readiness level 3. These individuals have the skill level necessary to complete a task, therefore high amounts of direction are unnecessary. However, since they are unwilling the leader must spend time participating in bilateral communication to encourage them and facilitate decision making. Style 4 or S4 – Characterized by low levels of both relationship and task behaviors. Hersey (2001) describes this leadership style as delegating.R4 individuals are able and willing to undertake a task, reducing the leader’s participation to monitoring progress. As we can see in this model, the readiness level of an individual is what determines the leadership style to be applied. Consequently, it is the follower and not the leader that establishes the leadership style. In her time at Staples, Jeanne Lewis applied different leadership styles to accommodate the different readiness levels of her employees. Until she started working in the marketing department she experienced different levels of rejection from her staff that translated into unwillingness.Jeanne describes her experience in operations as â€Å"managing a group of people who had ‘been there, done that’ for years. † And yet, she continues, â€Å"we had a situation where the stores weren’t performing well, and I had to tell them to make money and grow sales. †(Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc, 2001) From her words we can perceive that her staff was in a R1 readiness level. Unwilling because they did not think Jeanne had the experience necessary to run the departmen t, and unable at some level because the stores were not performing well.Jeanne used a S1 leadership style to match the readiness level of her staff. This leadership style, characterized by high task and relationship behavior, has been described as crisis leadership. Jeanne made many changes in the department in a short period of time, so abundant clear and concise direction was necessary. Also due to the reluctance of the operations staff, high levels of multi-way communication were needed. This leadership style is used to help followers advance in their readiness levels, and should only be used in times of crisis.We can presume from her direct report’s description of Jeanne’s management style that she did exactly that. â€Å"She tended to manage tightly at first,† he said, â€Å"then loosened the reins† I think it is safe to assume that her â€Å"loosening the reins†(Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc, 2001) was caused by an upwards variation of her sta ff’s readiness level which in turn we can attribute to her management style, and personal charm, and hard-working attitude to elevate follower’s willingness, and clear direction and new training programs to raise ability.A similar situation happened in merchandising. We can learn much of Lewis’ progression of management style by her report’s statement that â€Å"at first impression he worried that Lewis might be a micro-manager, but he soon realized that she liked to inspire dialog and debate to ensure that they dug deeply in their decision making† (Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc, 2001). We cannot discard that his first impression was correct, and it is not his erception of Jeanne’s personality that changed, but her management style. When Jeanne was transferred to the marketing department, she found a different situation. She found a talented staff, able and willing to do the job that was requested of them, so she took the passenger sit and le aded them using low task and low relationship behavior (S4). Much to her surprise the followers started experiencing a regressing in their readiness level, going from an able-and-willing group to an able-but-insecure state.Perhaps the distress of the failed merger caused the insecurity. Jeanne needed to adjust her leadership style to include more participation and multi-directional communication (relationship behavior), but running between floors and â€Å"changing hats† all the time did not leave her enough time thus she insisted that her replacement in merchandising be appointed in order to free her schedule. I think Jeanne Lewis is a perfect example of a situational manager.During the whole time I spent reading the case study I could not help but see how she adjusted her management style precisely as the situation required it. Works Cited: Hersey, P. , Blanchard, K. H. , & Johnson, D. E. (2001). Management of organizational behavior: Leading human resources (8th ed. ). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Pp. 171-203. Suesse, J. M. (2000). Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A) (Abridged). Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing. Pp. 1-14 (78-91).

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 4~5

Chapter 4 Blooms and the City of Burned Clutches C. Thomas Flood (Tommy to his friends) was just reaching red-line in a wet dream, when he was awakened by the scurry and chatter of the five Wongs. Geishas in garters scampered off to dreamland, unsatisfied, leaving him staring at the slats of the bunk above. The room was little bigger than a walk-in closet. Bunks were stacked three high on either side of a narrow aisle where the five Wongs were competing for enough space to pull on their pants. Wong Two bent over Tommy's bunk, grinned apologetically, and said something in Cantonese. â€Å"No problem,† Tommy said. He rolled over on his side, careful not to scuff his morning erection on the wall, and pulled the blankets over his head. He thought, Privacy is a wonderful thing. Like love, privacy is most manifest in its absence. I should write a story about that – and work in lots of geisha girls in garters and red pumps. The Crowded Tea House of Almond-Eyed Tramps, by C. Thomas Flood. I'll write that today, after I rent a post-office box and look for a job. Or maybe I should just stay here today and see who's leaving the flowers†¦ Tommy had found fresh flowers on his bed for four days running and they were beginning to bother him. It wasn't the flowers themselves that bothered him: gladiolas, red roses, and two mixed bouquets with big pink ribbons. He sort of liked flowers, in a masculine and totally non-sissy way, of course. And it didn't bother him that he didn't own a vase, or a table to set it on. He'd just trotted down the hall to the communal bathroom, removed the lid of the toilet tank, and plopped the flowers in. The added color provided a pleasant counterpoint to the bathroom's filth – until rats ate the blossoms. But that didn't bother him either. What bothered him was that he had been in the City for less than a week and didn't know anyone. So who had sent the flowers? The five Wongs let loose with a barrage of bye-byes as they left the room. Wong Five pulled the door shut behind him. Tommy thought, I've got to speak to Wong One about the accommodations. Wong One wasn't one of the five Wongs with whom Tommy shared the room. Wong One was the landlord: older, wiser, and more sophisticated than Wongs Two through Six. Wong One spoke English, wore a threadbare suit thirty years out of style, and carried a cane with a brass dragon head. Tommy had met him on Columbus Avenue just after midnight, over the burning corpse of Rosinante, Tommy's 74 Volvo sedan. â€Å"I killed her,† Tommy said, watching black smoke roll out from under the hood. â€Å"Too bad,† Wong One said sympathetically, before continuing on his way. â€Å"Excuse me,† Tommy called after Wong. Tommy had just arrived from Indiana and had never been to a large city, so he did not recognize that Wong One had already stepped over the accepted metropolitan limit of involvement with a stranger. Wong turned and leaned on his dragon-headed cane. â€Å"Excuse me,† Tommy repeated, â€Å"but I'm new in town – would you know where I can find a place to stay around here?† Wong raised an eyebrow. â€Å"You have money?† â€Å"A little.† Wong looked at Tommy, standing there next to his burning car with a suitcase and a typewriter case. He looked at Tommy's open, hopeful smile, his thin face and mop of dark hair, and the English word  «victim » rose in his mind in twenty-point type – part of an item on page 3 of The Chronicle: â€Å"Victim Found in Tenderloin, Beaten to Death With Typewriter.† Wong sighed heavily. He liked reading The Chronicle each day, and he didn't want to skip page 3 until the tragedy had passed. â€Å"You come with me,† he said. Wong walked up Columbus into Chinatown. Tommy stumbled along behind, looking over his shoulder from time to time at the burning Volvo. â€Å"I really liked that car. I got five speeding tickets in that car. They're still in it.† â€Å"Too bad.† Wong stopped at a battered metal door between a grocery store and a fish market. â€Å"You have fifty bucks?† Tommy nodded and dug into the pocket of his jeans. â€Å"Fifty bucks, one week,† Wong said. â€Å"Two hundred fifty, one month.† â€Å"One week will be fine,† Tommy said, peeling two twenties and a ten off a thinning roll of bills. Wong opened the door and started up a narrow unlit staircase. Tommy bumped up the stairs behind him, nearly falling a couple of times. â€Å"My name is C. Thomas Flood. Well, actually that's the name I write under. People call me Tommy.† â€Å"Good,† Wong said. â€Å"And you are?† Tommy stopped at the top of the stairs and offered his hand to shake. Wong looked at Tommy's hand. â€Å"Wong,† he said. Tommy bowed. Wong watched him, wondering what in the hell he was doing. Fifty bucks is fifty bucks, he thought. â€Å"Bathroom down hall,† Wong said, throwing open a door and throwing a light switch. Five sleepy Chinese men looked up from their bunks. â€Å"Tommy,† Wong said, pointing to Tommy. â€Å"Tommy,† the Chinese men repeated in unison. â€Å"This Wong,† Wong said, pointing to the man on the bottom left bunk. Tommy nodded. â€Å"Wong.† â€Å"This Wong. That Wong. Wong. Wong. Wong,† Wong said, ticking off each man as if he were flipping beads on an abacus, which, mentally, he was: fifty bucks, fifty bucks, fifty bucks. He pointed to the empty bunk on the bottom right. â€Å"You sleep there. Bye-bye.† â€Å"Bye-bye,† said the five Wongs. Tommy said, â€Å"Excuse me, Mr. Wong†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Wong turned. â€Å"When is rent due? I'm going job hunting tomorrow, but I don't have a lot of cash.† â€Å"Tuesday and Sunday,† Wong said. â€Å"Fifty bucks.† â€Å"But you said it was fifty dollars a week.† â€Å"Two fifty a month or fifty a week, due Tuesday and Sunday.† Wong walked away. Tommy stashed his duffel bag and typewriter under the bunk and crawled in. Before he could work up a good worry about his burning car, he was asleep. He had pushed the Volvo straight through from Incontinence, Indiana, to San Francisco, stopping only for fuel and bathroom breaks. He had watched the sun rise and set three times from behind the wheel – exhaustion finally caught him at the coast. Tommy was descended from two generations of line workers at the Incontinence Forklift Company. When he announced at fourteen that he was going to be a writer, his father, Thomas Flood, Sr., accepted the news with the tolerant incredulity a parent usually reserved for monsters under the bed and imaginary friends. When Tommy took a job in a grocery store instead of the factory, his father breathed a small sigh of relief – at least it was a union shop, the boy would have benefits and retirement. It was only when Tommy bought the old Volvo, and rumors that he was a budding Communist began circulating through town, that Tom senior began to worry. Father Flood's paternal angst continued to grow with each night that he spent listening to his only son tapping the nights away on the Olivetti portable, until one Wednesday night he tied one on at the Starlight Lanes and spilled his guts to his bowling buddies. â€Å"I found a copy of The New Yorker under the boy's mattress,† he slurred through a five-pitcher Budweiser haze. â€Å"I've got to face it; my son's a pansy.† The rest of the Bill's Radiator Bowling Team members bowed their heads in sympathy, all secretly thanking God that the bullet had hit the next soldier in line and that their sons were all safely obsessed with small block Chevys and big tits. Harley Businsky, who had recently been promoted to minor godhood by bowling a three hundred, threw a bearlike arm around Tom's shoulders. â€Å"Maybe he's just a little mixed up,† Harley offered. â€Å"Let's go talk to the boy.† When two triple-extra-large, electric-blue, embroidered bowling shirts burst into his room, full of two triple-extra-large, beer-oiled bowlers, Tommy went over backward in his chair. â€Å"Hi, Dad,† Tommy said from the floor. â€Å"Son, we need to talk.† Over the next half hour the two men ran Tommy through the fatherly version of good-cop-bad-cop, or perhaps Joe McCarthy versus Santa Claus. Their interrogation determined that: Yes, Tommy did like girls and cars. No, he was not, nor had he ever been, a member of the Communist party. And yes, he was going to pursue a career as a writer, regardless of the lack of AFL?CCIO affiliation. Tommy tried to plead the case for a life in letters, but found his arguments ineffective (due in no small part to the fact that both his inquisitors thought that Hamlet was a small pork portion served with eggs). He was breaking a sweat and beginning to accept defeat when he fired a desperation shot. â€Å"You know, somebody wrote Rambo?† Thomas Flood, Sr., and Harley Businsky exchanged a look of horrified realization. They were rocked, shaken, crumbling. Tommy pushed on. â€Å"And Patton – someone wrote Patton.† Tommy waited. The two men sat next to each other on his single bed, coughing and fidgeting and trying not to make eye contact with the boy. Everywhere they looked there were quotes carefully written in magic marker tacked on the walls; there were books, pens, and typing paper; there were poster-sized photos of authors. Ernest Hemingway stared down at them with a gleaming gaze that seemed to say, â€Å"You fuckers should have gone fishing.† Finally Harley said, â€Å"Well, if you're going to be a writer, you can't stay here.† â€Å"Pardon?† Tommy said. â€Å"You got to go to a city and starve. I don't know a Kafka from a nuance, but I know that if you're going to be a writer, you got to starve. You won't be any damn good if you don't starve.† â€Å"I don't know, Harley,† Tom Senior said, not sure that he liked the idea of his skinny son starving. â€Å"Who bowled a three hundred last Wednesday, Tom?† â€Å"You did.† â€Å"And I say the boy's got to go to the city and starve.† Tom Flood looked at Tommy as if the boy were standing on the trapdoor of the gallows. â€Å"You sure about this writer thing, son?† Tommy nodded. â€Å"Can I make you a sandwich?† If not for a particularly seedy television docudrama about the bombing of the World Trade Center, Tommy might, indeed, have starved in New York, but Tom senior was not going to allow his son to be â€Å"blowed up by a bunch of towel-headed terrorists.† And Tommy might have starved in Paris, if a cursory inspection of the Volvo had not revealed that it would not survive the dampness of the drive. So he ended up in San Francisco, and although he could use some breakfast, he was more worried about flowers than about food. He thought, I should just stick around and see who's leaving the flowers. Catch them in the act. But he had been unemployed for more than a week, and his midwestern work ethic forced him out of his bunk. He wore his sneakers in the shower so his feet wouldn't have to come in contact with the floor, then dressed in his best shirt and job-hunting jeans, grabbed a notebook, and sloshed down the steps into Chinatown. The sidewalk was awash with Asians – men and women moving doggedly past open markets selling live fish, barbecued meat, and thousands of vegetables that Tommy could put no name to. He passed one market where live snapping turtles, two feet across, were struggling to get out of plastic milk crates. In the next window, trays of duck feet and bills were arranged around smoked pig heads, while whole naked pheasants hung ripening above. The air was heavy with the smells of pressed humanity, soy sauce, sesame oil, licorice, and car exhaust – always car exhaust. Tommy walked up Grant and crossed Broadway into North Beach, where the crush of people thinned out and the smells changed to a miasma of baking bread, garlic, oregano, and more exhaust. No matter where he went in the City, there was an odoriferous mix of food and vehicles, like the alchemic concoctions of some mad gourmet mechanic: Kung Pao Saab Turbo, Buick Skylark Carbonara, Sweet-and-Sour Metro Bus, Honda Bolognese with Burning Clutch Sauce. Tommy was startled out of his olfactory reverie by a screeching war whoop. He looked up to see a Rollerblader in fluorescent pads and helmet closing on him at breakneck speed. An old man, who was sitting on the sidewalk ahead feeding croissants to his two dogs, looked up momentarily and threw a croissant across the sidewalk. The dogs shot after the treat, pulling their cotton-rope leashes tight. Tommy cringed. The Rollerblader hit the rope and went airborne, describing a ten-foot arc in the air before crashing in a violent tangle of padded limbs and wheels at Tommy's feet. â€Å"Are you okay?† Tommy offered a hand to the skater, who waved it away. â€Å"I'm fine.† Blood was dripping from a scrape on his chin, his Day-Glo wraparound sunglasses were twisted on his face. â€Å"Perhaps you should slow down on the sidewalks,† the old man called. The skater sat up and turned to the old man. â€Å"Oh, Your Majesty, I didn't know. I'm sorry.† â€Å"Safety first, son,† the old man said with a smile. â€Å"Yes, sir,† the skater said. â€Å"I'll be more careful.† He climbed to his feet and nodded to Tommy. â€Å"Sorry.† He straightened his shades and skated slowly away. Tommy stood staring at the old man, who had resumed feeding his dogs. â€Å"Your Majesty?† â€Å"Or Your Imperial Highness,† the Emperor said. â€Å"You're new to the City.† â€Å"Yes, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  A young woman in fishnet stockings and red satin hot pants, who was swinging by, paused by the Emperor and bowed slightly. â€Å"Morning, Highness,† she said. â€Å"Safety first, my child,† the Emperor said. She smiled and walked on. Tommy watched her until she turned the corner, then turned back to the old man. â€Å"Welcome to my city,† the Emperor said. â€Å"How are you doing so far?† â€Å"I'm†¦ I'm†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Tommy was confused. â€Å"Who are you?† â€Å"Emperor of San Francisco, Protector of Mexico, at your service. Croissant?† The Emperor held open a white paper bag to Tommy, who shook his head. â€Å"This impetuous fellow,† the Emperor said, pointing to his Boston terrier, â€Å"is Bummer. A bit of a rascal, he, but the best bug-eyed rat dog in the City.† The little dog growled. â€Å"And this,† the Emperor continued, â€Å"is Lazarus, found dead on Geary Street after an unfortunate encounter with a French tour bus and snatched back from the brink by the mystical curative scent of a slightly used beef jerky.† The golden retriever offered his paw. Feeling stupid, Tommy took it and shook. â€Å"Pleased to meet you.† â€Å"And you are?† the Emperor asked. â€Å"C. Thomas Flood.† â€Å"And the ‘C' stands for?† â€Å"Well, it doesn't really stand for anything. I'm a writer. I just added the ‘C' to my pen name.† â€Å"And a fine affectation it is.† The Emperor paused to gnaw the end of a croissant. â€Å"So, C, how is the City treating you so far?† Tommy thought that he might have just been insulted, but he found he was enjoying talking to the old man. He hadn't had a conversation of more than a few words since he arrived in the City. â€Å"I like the City, but I'm having some problems.† He told the Emperor about the destruction of his car, about his subsequent meeting of Wong One, of his cramped, filthy quarters, and ended his story with the mystery of the flowers on his bed. The Emperor sighed sympathetically and scratched his scruffy graying beard. â€Å"I'm afraid that I am unable to assist you with your accommodation problem; the men and I are fortunate enough to count the entire City as our home. But I may have a lead on a job for you, and perhaps a clue to the conundrum of the flowers.† The Emperor paused and motioned for Tommy to move closer. Tommy crouched down and cocked an ear to the Emperor. â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"I've seen him,† the Emperor whispered. â€Å"It's a vampire.† Tommy recoiled as if he'd been spit on. â€Å"A vampire florist?† â€Å"Well, once you accept the vampire part, the florist part is a pretty easy leap, don't you think?† Chapter 5 Undead and Somewhat Slightly Dazed French people were fucking in the room next door; Jody could hear every groan, giggle, and bed spring squeak. In the room above, a television spewed game-show prattle: â€Å"I'll take Bestiality for five hundred, Alex.† Jody pulled a pillow over her head. It wasn't exactly like waking up. There was no slow skate from dreamland to reality, no pleasant dawning of consciousness in the cozy twilight of sleepiness. No, it was as if someone had just switched on the world, full volume, like a clock radio playing reality's top forty irritating hits. â€Å"Criminal Presidents for a hundred, Alex.† Jody flipped onto her back and stared at the ceiling. I always thought that sex and game shows ended at death, she thought. They always say â€Å"Rest in peace,† don't they? â€Å"Vas – y plus fort, mon petit cochon d'amour!†* * â€Å"Do it harder, my little love pig!† She wanted to complain to someone, anyone. She hated waking up alone – and going to sleep alone, for that matter. She had lived with ten different men in five years. Serial monogamy. It was a problem she had been getting around to working on before she died. She crawled out of bed and opened the rubber-lined motel draperies. Light from streetlights and neon signs filled the room. Now what? Normally she would go to the bathroom. But she didn't feel the need to. I haven't peed in two days. I may never pee again. She went into the bathroom and sat on the stool to test her theory. Nothing. She unwrapped one of the plastic glasses, filled it with water and gulped it down. Her stomach lurched and she vomited the water in a stream against the mirror. Okay, no water. A shower? Change clothes and go out on the town? To do what? Hunt? She recoiled at the thought. Am I going to have to kill people? Oh my God, Kurt. What if he changes? What if he already has? She dressed quickly in her clothes from the night before, grabbed her flight bag and the room key and left the room. She waved to the night clerk as she passed the motel office and he winked and waved back. A hundred bucks had made them friends. She walked around the corner and up Chestnut, resisting the urge to break into a run. Outside her building she paused and focused on the apartment window. The lights were on, and with concentration she could hear Kurt talking on the phone. â€Å"Yeah, the crazy bitch knocked me out with a potted plant. No, threw it at me. I was two hours late for work. I don't know, she said something about being attacked. She hasn't been to work for a couple of days. No, she doesn't have a key; I had to buzz her in†¦Ã¢â‚¬  So I didn't kill him. He didn't change or he wouldn't have been able to go to work at all in the daylight. He sounds fine. Pissed, but fine. I wonder if I just apologize and explain what happened†¦ â€Å"No,† Kurt said into the phone. â€Å"I took her name off the mailbox. I don't really care, she didn't fit the image I'm trying to build anyway. I was thinking about asking out Susan Badistone: Stanford, family money, Republican. I know, but that's why God made implants†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jody turned and walked back to the motel. She stopped in the office and paid the clerk for two more days, then went to her room, sat down on the bed and tried to cry. No tears would come. In another time she would have called a girlfriend and spent the evening on the phone being comforted. She would have eaten a half gallon of ice cream and stayed up all night thinking about what she was going to do with her life. In the morning she would have called in sick to work, then called her mother in Carmel to borrow enough money for a deposit on a new apartment. But that was another time, when she had still been a person. The little confidence that she had felt the night before was gone. Now she was just confused and afraid. She tried to remember everything she had ever seen or heard about vampires. It wasn't much. She didn't like scary books or movies. Much of what she could remember didn't seem true. She didn't have to sleep in a coffin, that was obvious. But it was also obvious that she couldn't go out in the daylight. She didn't have to kill every night, and if she did bite someone, he or she didn't necessarily have to turn into a vampire – an asshole, maybe, but not a vampire. But then again, Kurt had been an asshole before, so how could you tell? Why had she turned? She was going to have to get to a library. She thought, I've got to get my car back. And I need a new apartment. It's just a matter of time before a maid comes in during the day and burns me to a crisp. I need someone who can move around during the day. I need a friend. She had lost her address book with her purse, but it didn't really matter. All of her friends were currently in relationships, and although any of them would offer sympathy about her breakup with Kurt, they were too self-involved to be of any real help. She and her friends were only close when they were single. I need a man. The thought depressed her. Why does it always come to that? I'm a modern woman. I can open jars and kill spiders on my own. I can balance a checkbook and check the oil in my car. I can support myself. Then again, maybe not. How am I going to support myself? She threw her flight bag on the bed and pulled out the white bakery bag full of money and emptied it on the bed. She counted the bills in one stack, then counted the stacks. There were thirty-five stacks of twenty one-hundred dollar bills. Minus the five hundred she had spent on the hotel: almost seventy thousand dollars. She felt a sudden and deep-seated urge to go shopping. Whoever had attacked her had known she would need money. It hadn't been an accident that she had turned. And it probably hadn't been an accident that he had left her hand in the sunlight to burn. How else would she have known to go to ground before sunup? But if he wanted to help her, wanted her to survive, why didn't he just tell her what she was supposed to do? She gathered up the money and was stuffing it back in the flight bag when the phone rang. She looked at it, watched the orange light strobing in rhythm to the bell. No one knew where she was. It must be the front desk. After four rings she picked up. Before she could say hello, a gravelly calm male voice said, â€Å"By the way, you're not immortal. You can still be killed.† There was a click and Jody hung up the phone. He said, be killed, not you can still die. Be killed. She grabbed her bag and ran out into the night.