Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Research Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt Paper
Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt - Research Paper Example His New Deal program significantly enlarged the function and responsibilities of the U.S. federal government. This paper analyzes and discusses the life and legacy of Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt as U.S. presidents. The discussion focuses on their response to the bigger national and global issues during their presidency. Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, considered himself the defender of the masses and the mouthpiece of the people. He declared, ââ¬Å"No one but the President seems to be expectedâ⬠¦ to look out for the general interests of the countryâ⬠(Cook 98). He was a liberal reformist and took on global leadership in creating a new global order. He announced in 1917 that the involvement of the United States in the First World War is a campaign to build a world that is ââ¬Ëfriendlyââ¬â¢ to democratic ideologies. Wilson had witnessed the horror and atrociousness of warfare. He was born in 1856 in Virginia to a Presbyterian pastor of the Civil War. After finishing his studies at Princeton and the University of Virginia Law School, he obtained his university degree at John Hopkins University and embarked on an academic profession (Freidel 61). Wilson progressed quickly as a traditionalist, conformist young university lecturer of political science and was elected in 1902 as head of Princeton. His flourishing national popularity encouraged a number of conservative Democrats to view him as a good candidate for presidency. At first they convinced him to run for the position of New Jerseyââ¬â¢s Governor in 1910 (Gaines 48). During the campaign he declared his autonomy from the conservatives and from the system that had recommended him, promoting a liberal program, which he carried out as governor. In 1912, during the Democratic Convention, Wilson was nominated for presidency and promoted the project New Freedom, which emphasized individuality and the rights of states. In the tripartite
Monday, October 28, 2019
High School and School Teachers Essay Example for Free
High School and School Teachers Essay Abstract The report underscores the importance of the skills that are most essential and associated with career and college readiness, [Paul Weeks] says. Since many secondary school teachers arent familiar with the skills that have been identified as the most essential to succeed in college, high school educators cover a breadth of skills. Postsecondary instructors would rather see more depth, not a broad range that are only an inch deep, asserts Weeks. For example, two students can pass algebra but have vastly different experiences and their knowledge can vary greatly. Colleges review class titles but rarely evaluate the essential skills mastered in the class. Now we know what skills lead to college and career readiness, suggests Weeks. And the more high school teachers are aware of those skills and can teach them, the better their graduates will perform in postsecondary education. Boone County schools also are collaborating with Northern Kentucky University to develop basic math programs. We want to make sure that every student is at that level of mastery. It drives everything we do, [Karen Cheser] says. To prepare students to be college ready, it requires conversations, transparency, and a willingness to put out data. It takes community-will and providing resources, she remarks. Publication Title The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Publisher The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Date 08/2013 Study Explores Why many High School Graduates Are not Ready for College by Gary M Stern Content Type Journal Article Abstract The report underscores the importance of the skills that are most essential and associated with career and college readiness, [Paul Weeks] says. Since many secondary school teachers arent familiar with the skills that have been identified as the most essential to succeed in college, high school educators cover a breadth of skills. Postsecondary instructors would rather see more depth, not a broad range that are only an inch deep, asserts Weeks. For example, two students can pass algebra but have vastly different experiences and their knowledge can vary greatly. Colleges review class titles but rarely evaluate the essential skills mastered in the class. Now we know what skills lead to college and career readiness, suggests Weeks. And the more high school teachers are aware of those skills and can teach them, the better their graduates will perform in postsecondary education. Boone County schools also are collaborating with Northern Kentucky University to develop basic math programs. We want to make sure that every student is at that level of mastery. It drives everything we do, [Karen Cheser] says. To prepare students to be college ready, it requires conversations, transparency, and a willingness to put out data. It takes community-will and providing resources, she remarks. Publication Title. The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Publisher The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Date 08/2013 Study Explores Why many High School Graduates Are not Ready for College by Gary M Stern Content Type Journal Article Abstract The report underscores the importance of the skills that are most essential and associated with career and college readiness, [Paul Weeks] says. Since many secondary school teachers arent familiar with the skills that have been identified as the most essential to succeed in college, high school educators cover a breadth of skills. Postsecondary instructors would rather see more depth, not a broad range that are only an inch deep, asserts Weeks. For example, two students can pass algebra but have vastly different experiences and their knowledge can vary greatly. Colleges review class titles but rarely evaluate the essential skills mastered in the class. Now we know what skills lead to college and career readiness, suggests Weeks. And the more high school teachers are aware of those skills and can teach them, the better their graduates will perform in postsecondary education. Boone County schools also are collaborating with Northern Kentucky University to develop basic math programs. We want to make sure that every student is at that level of mastery. It drives everything we do, [Karen Cheser] says. To prepare students to be college ready, it requires conversations, transparency, and a willingness to put out data. It takes community-will and providing resources, she remarks. Publication Title The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Publisher The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Date 08/2013.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Leonardo Da Vinci :: Art Science Humanity
Leonardo Da Vinci Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the greatest and most ingenious men that history has produced. His contributions in the areas of art, science, and humanity are still among the most important that a single man has put forth, definitely making his a life worth knowing. Da Vinci, born on April 15, 1452, is credited with being a master painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, and scientist. He was born an illegitimate child to Catherina, a peasant girl. His father was Ser Piero da Vinci, a public notary for the city of Florence, Italy. For the first four years of his life he lived with his mother in the small village of Vinci, directly outside of the great center of the Renaissance, Florence. Catherina was a poor woman, with possible artistic talent, the genetic basis of Leonardoââ¬â¢s talents. Upon the realization of Leonardoââ¬â¢s potential, his father took the boy to live with him and his wife in Florence (Why did). This was the start of the boyââ¬â¢s education and his q uest for knowledge. Leonardo was recognized by many to be a "Renaissance child" because of his many talents. As a boy, Leonardo was described as being handsome, strong, and agile. He had keen powers of observation, an imagination, and the ability to detach himself from the world around him. At an early age Leonardo became interested in subjects such as botany, geology, animals (specifically birds), the motion of water, and shadows (About Leonardo). At the age of 17, in about 1469, Leonardo was apprenticed as a garzone (studio boy) to Andrea del Verrocchio, the leading Florentine painter and sculptor of his day. In Verrocchioââ¬â¢s workshop Leonardo was introduced to many techniques, from the painting of altarpieces and panel pictures to the creation of large sculptural projects in marble and bronze. In 1472 he was accepted in the painterââ¬â¢s guild of Florence, and worked there for about six years. While there, Leonardo often painted portions of Verrocchioââ¬â¢s paintings for him, such as the background and the kneeling angel on the left in the Baptism of Christ (Encarta). Leonardoââ¬â¢s sections of the painting have soft shadings, with shadows concealing the edges. These areas are distinguished easily against the sharply defined figures and objects of Verrocchio, that reflect the style called Early Renaissance. Leonardoââ¬â¢s more graceful approach marked the beginning of the High Renaissance. However, this style did not become more popular in Italy for another 25 year (Gilbert 46). Leonardo Da Vinci :: Art Science Humanity Leonardo Da Vinci Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the greatest and most ingenious men that history has produced. His contributions in the areas of art, science, and humanity are still among the most important that a single man has put forth, definitely making his a life worth knowing. Da Vinci, born on April 15, 1452, is credited with being a master painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, and scientist. He was born an illegitimate child to Catherina, a peasant girl. His father was Ser Piero da Vinci, a public notary for the city of Florence, Italy. For the first four years of his life he lived with his mother in the small village of Vinci, directly outside of the great center of the Renaissance, Florence. Catherina was a poor woman, with possible artistic talent, the genetic basis of Leonardoââ¬â¢s talents. Upon the realization of Leonardoââ¬â¢s potential, his father took the boy to live with him and his wife in Florence (Why did). This was the start of the boyââ¬â¢s education and his q uest for knowledge. Leonardo was recognized by many to be a "Renaissance child" because of his many talents. As a boy, Leonardo was described as being handsome, strong, and agile. He had keen powers of observation, an imagination, and the ability to detach himself from the world around him. At an early age Leonardo became interested in subjects such as botany, geology, animals (specifically birds), the motion of water, and shadows (About Leonardo). At the age of 17, in about 1469, Leonardo was apprenticed as a garzone (studio boy) to Andrea del Verrocchio, the leading Florentine painter and sculptor of his day. In Verrocchioââ¬â¢s workshop Leonardo was introduced to many techniques, from the painting of altarpieces and panel pictures to the creation of large sculptural projects in marble and bronze. In 1472 he was accepted in the painterââ¬â¢s guild of Florence, and worked there for about six years. While there, Leonardo often painted portions of Verrocchioââ¬â¢s paintings for him, such as the background and the kneeling angel on the left in the Baptism of Christ (Encarta). Leonardoââ¬â¢s sections of the painting have soft shadings, with shadows concealing the edges. These areas are distinguished easily against the sharply defined figures and objects of Verrocchio, that reflect the style called Early Renaissance. Leonardoââ¬â¢s more graceful approach marked the beginning of the High Renaissance. However, this style did not become more popular in Italy for another 25 year (Gilbert 46).
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Bag of Bones CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The book was big, okay? The book was major. I was afraid to change rooms, let alone pack up the typewriter and my slim just-begun manuscript and take it back to Derry. That would be as dangerous as taking an infant out in a windstorm. So I stayed, always reserving the right to move out if things got too weird (the way smokers reserve the right to quit if their coughs get too heavy), and a week passed. Things happened during that week, but until I met Max Devore on The Street the following Friday the seventeenth of July, it would have been the most important thing was that I continued to work on a novel which would, if finished, be called My Childhood Friend. Perhaps we always think what was lost was the best . . . or would have been the best. I don't know for sure. What I do know is that my real life that week had mostly to do with Andy Drake, John Shackleford, and a shadowy figure standing in the deep background. Raymond Garraty, John Shackle-ford's childhood friend. A man who sometimes wore a baseball cap. During that week, the manifestations in the house continued, but at a lower level there was nothing like that bloodcurdling scream. Sometimes Bunter's bell rang, and sometimes the fruit and vegetable magnets would re-form themselves into a circle . . . never with words in the middle, though; not that week. One morning I got up and the sugar cannister was overturned, making me think of Mattie's story about the flour. Nothing was written in the spill, but there was a squiggle as though something had tried to write and failed. If so, I sympathized. I knew what that was like. My depo before the redoubtable Elmer Durgin was on Friday the tenth. On the following Tuesday I took The Street down to Warrington's softball field, hoping for my own peek at Max Devore. It was going on six o'clock when I got within hearing range of the shouts, cheers, and batted balls. A path marked with rustic signs (curlicued W's burned into oak arrows) led past an abandoned boathouse, a couple of sheds, and a gazebo half-buried in blackberry creepers. I eventually came out in deep center field. A litter of potato-chip bags, candy-wrappers, and beer cans suggested that others sometimes watched the games from this vantage-point. I couldn't help thinking about Jo and her mysterious friend, the guy in the old brown sportcoat, the burly guy who had slipped an arm around her waist and led her away from the game, laughing, back toward The Street. Twice over the weekend I'd come close to calling Bonnie Amudson, seeing if maybe I could chase that guy down, put a name on him, and both time s I had backed off. Sleeping dogs, I told myself each time. Sleeping dogs, Michael. I had the area beyond deep center to myself that evening, and it felt like the right distance from home plate, considering the man who usually parked his wheelchair behind the backstop had called me a liar and I had invited him to store my telephone number where the sunshine grows dim. I needn't have worried in any case. Devore wasn't in attendance, nor was the lovely Rogette. I did spot Mattie behind the casually maintained chickenwire barrier on the first-base line. John Storrow was beside her, wearing jeans and a polo shirt, his red hair mostly corralled by a Mets cap. They stood watching the game and chatting like old friends for two innings before they saw me more than enough time for me to feel envious of John's position, and a little jealous as well. Finally someone lofted a long fly to center, where the edge of the woods served as the only fence. The center fielder backed up, but it was going to be far over his head. It was hit to my depth, off to my right. I moved in that direction without thinking, high-footing through the shrubs that formed a zone between the mown outfield and the trees, hoping I wasn't running through poison ivy. I caught the softball in my outstretched left hand, and laughed when some of the spectators cheered. The center fielder applauded me by tapping his bare right hand into the pocket of his glove. The batter, meanwhile, circled the bases serenely, knowing he had hit a ground-rule home run. I tossed the ball to the fielder and as I returned to my original post among the candy-wrappers and beer cans, I looked back in and saw Mattie and John looking at me. If anything confirms the idea that we're just another species of animal, one with a slightly bigger brain and a much bigger idea of our own importance in the scheme of things, it's how much we can convey by gesture when we absolutely have to. Mattie clasped her hands to her chest, tilted her head to the left, raised her eyebrows My hero. I held my hands to my shoulders and flipped the palms skyward Shucks, ma'am, ââ¬Ët'warn't nothin. John lowered his head and put his fingers to his brow, as if something there hurt You lucky sonofabitch. With those comments out of the way, I pointed at the backstop and shrugged a question. Both Mattie and John shrugged back. An inning later a little boy who looked like one giant exploding freckle ran out to where I was, his oversized Michael Jordan jersey churning around his shins like a dress. ââ¬ËGuy down there gimme fifty cent to say you should call im later on at his hotel over in the Rock,' he said, pointing at John. ââ¬ËHe say you gimme another fifty cent if there was an answer.' ââ¬ËTell him I'll call him around nine-thirty,' I said. ââ¬ËI don't have any change, though. Can you take a buck?' ââ¬ËHey, yeah, swank.' He snatched it, turned away, then turned back. He grinned, revealing a set of teeth caught between Act I and Act II. With the softball players in the background, he looked like a Norman Rockwell archetype. ââ¬ËGuy also say tell you that was a bullshit catch.' ââ¬ËTell him people used to say the same thing about Willie Mays all the time.' ââ¬ËWillie who?' Ah, youth. Ah, mores. ââ¬ËJust tell him, son. He'll know.' I stayed another inning, but by then the game was getting drunk, Devore still hadn't shown, and I went back home the way I had come. I met one fisherman standing out on a rock and two young people strolling along The Street toward Warrington's, their hands linked. They said hi and I hi'd them back. I felt lonely and content at the same time. I believe that is a rare kind of happiness. Some people check their phone answering machines when they get home; that summer I always checked the front of the fridge. Eenie-meenie-chili-beanie, as Bullwinkle Moose used to say, the spirits are about to speak. That night they hadn't, although the fruit and vegetable magnets had re-formed into a sinuous shape like a snake or perhaps the letter S taking a nap: A little later I called John and asked him where Devore had been, and he repeated in words what he had already told me, and much more economically, by gesture. ââ¬ËIt's the first game he's missed since he came back,' he said. ââ¬ËMattie tried asking a few people if he was okay, and the consensus seemed to be that he was . . . at least as far as anyone knew.' ââ¬ËWhat do you mean she tried asking a few people?' ââ¬ËI mean that several wouldn't even talk to her. ââ¬Å"Cut her dead,â⬠my parents' generation would have said.' Watch it, buddy, I thought but didn't say, that's only half a step from my generation. ââ¬ËOne of her old girlfriends spoke to her finally, but there's a general attitude about Mattie Devore. That man Osgood may be a shitty salesman, but as Devore's Mr. Moneyguy he's doing a wonderful job of separating Mattie from the other folks in the town. Is it a town, Mike? I don't quite get that part.' ââ¬ËIt's just the TR,' I said absently. ââ¬ËThere's no real way to explain it. Do you actually believe Devore's bribing everyone? That doesn't say much for the old Wordsworthian idea of pastoral innocence and goodness, does it?' ââ¬ËHe's spreading money and using Osgood maybe Footman, too to spread stories. And the folks around here seem at least as honest as honest politicians.' ââ¬ËThe ones who stay bought?' ââ¬ËYeah. Oh, and I saw one of Devore's potential star witnesses in the Case of the Runaway Child. Royce Merrill. He was over by the equipment shed with some of his cronies. Did you happen to notice him?' I said I had not. ââ¬ËGuy must be a hundred and thirty,' John said. ââ¬ËHe's got a cane with a gold head the size of an elephant's asshole.' ââ¬ËThat's a Boston Post cane. The oldest person in the area gets to keep it.' ââ¬ËAnd I have no doubt he came by it honestly. If Devore's lawyers put him on the stand, I'll debone him.' There was something chilling in John's gleeful confidence. ââ¬ËI'm sure,' I said. ââ¬ËHow did Mattie take getting cut dead by her old friends?' I was thinking of her saying that she hated Tuesday nights, hated to think of the softball games going on as they always had at the field where she had met her late husband. ââ¬ËShe did okay,' John said. ââ¬ËI think she's given most of them up as a lost cause, anyway.' I had my doubts about that I seem to remember that at twenty-one lost causes are sort of a specialty but I didn't say anything. ââ¬ËShe's hanging in. She's been lonely and scared, I think that in her own mind she might already have begun the process of giving Kyra up, but she's got her confidence back now. Mostly thanks to meeting you. Talk about your fantastically lucky breaks.' Well, maybe. I flashed on Jo's. brother Frank once saying to me that he didn't think there was any such thing as luck, only fate and inspired choices. And then I remembered that image of the TR criss-crossed with invisible cables, connections that were unseen but as strong as steel. ââ¬ËJohn, I forgot to ask the most important question of all the other day, after I gave my depo. This custody case we're all so concerned about . . . has it even been scheduled?' ââ¬ËGood question. I've checked three ways to Sunday, and Bissonette has, too. Unless Devore and his people have pulled something really slippery, like filing in another court district, I don't think it has been.' ââ¬ËCould they do that? File in another district?' ââ¬ËMaybe. But probably not without us finding out.' ââ¬ËSo what does it mean?' ââ¬ËThat Devore's on the verge of giving up,' John said promptly. ââ¬ËAs of now I see no other way of explaining it. I'm going back to New York first thing tomorrow, but I'll stay in touch. If anything comes up here, you do the same.' I said I would and went to bed. No female visitors came to share my dreams. That was sort of a relief. When I came downstairs to recharge my iced-tea glass late Wednesday morning, Brenda Meserve had erected the laundry whirligig on the back stoop and was hanging out my clothes. This she did as her mother had no doubt taught her, with pants and shirts on the outside and undies on the inside, where any passing nosyparkers couldn't see what you chose to wear closest to your skin. ââ¬ËYou can take these in around four o'clock,' Mrs. M. said as she prepared to leave. She looked at me with the bright and cynical eye of a woman who has been ââ¬Ëdoing for' well-off men her entire life. ââ¬ËDon't you forget and leave em out all night dewy clothes don't ever feel fresh until they're warshed again.' I told her most humbly that I would remember to take in my clothes. I then asked her feeling like a spy working an embassy party for information if the house felt all right to her. ââ¬ËAll right how?' she asked, cocking one wild eyebrow at me. ââ¬ËWell, I've heard funny noises a couple of times. In the night.' She sniffed. ââ¬ËIt's a log house, ennit? Built in relays, so to speak. It settles, one wing against t'other. That's what you hear, most likely.' ââ¬ËNo ghosts, huh?' I said, as if disappointed. ââ¬ËNot that I've ever seen,' she said, matter-of-fact as an accountant, ââ¬Ëbut my ma said there's plenty down here. She said this whole lake is haunted. By the Micmacs that lived here until they was driven out by General Wing, by all the men who went away to the Civil War and died there over six hundred went from this part of the world, Mr. Noonan, and less than a hundred and fifty came back . . . at least in their bodies. Ma said this side of Dark Score's also haunted by the ghost of that Negro boy who died here, poor tyke. He belonged to one of the Red-Tops, you know.' ââ¬ËNo I know about Sara and the Red-Tops, but not this.' I paused. ââ¬ËDid he drown?' ââ¬ËNawp, caught in an animal trap. Struggled there for most of a whole day, screaming for help. Finally they found him. They saved the foot, but they shouldn't have. Blood-poisoning set in, and the boy died. Summer of ought-one, that was. It's why they left, I guess it was too sad to stay. But my ma used to claim the little fella, he stayed. She used to say that he's still on the TR.' I wondered what Mrs. M. would say if I told her that the little fella had very likely been here to greet me when I arrived from Derry, and had been back on several occasions since. ââ¬ËThen there was Kenny Auster's father, Normal,' she said. ââ¬ËYou know that story, don't you? Oh, that's a terrible story.' She looked rather pleased either at knowing such a terrible story or at having the chance to tell it. ââ¬ËNo,' I said. ââ¬ËI know Kenny, though. He's the one with the wolfhound. Blueberry.' ââ¬ËAyuh. He carpenters a tad and caretakes a tad, just like his father before him. His dad caretook many of these places, you know, and back just after the Second World War was over, Normal Auster drownded Kenny's little brother in his back yard. This was when they lived on Wasp Hill, down where the road splits, one side going to the old boat-landin and the other to the marina. He didn't drown the tyke in the lake, though. He put him on the ground under the pump and just held him there until the baby was full of water and dead.' I stood there looking at her, the clothes behind us snapping on their whirligig. I thought of my mouth and nose and throat full of that cold mineral taste that could have been well-water as well as lakewater; down here all of it comes from the same deep aquifers. I thought of the message on the refrigerator: help im drown. ââ¬ËHe left the baby laying right under the pump. He had a new Chevrolet, and he drove it down here to Lane Forty-two. Took his shotgun, too.' ââ¬ËYou aren't going to tell me Kenny Auster's dad committed suicide in my house, are you, Mrs. Meserve?' She shook her head. ââ¬ËNawp. He did it on the Brickers' lakeside deck. Sat down on their porch glider and blew his damned baby-murdering head off.' ââ¬ËThe Brickers? I don't ââ¬Ë ââ¬ËYou wouldn't. Hasn't been any Brickers on the lake since the sixties. They were from Delaware. Quality folks. You'd think of it as the Warshburn place, I guess, although they're gone, now, too. Place is empty. Every now and then that stark naturalborn fool Osgood brings someone down and shows it off, but he'll never sell it at the price he's asking. Mark my words.' The Washburns I had known had played bridge with them a time or two. Nice enough people, although probably not what Mrs. M., with her queer backcountry snobbishness, would have called ââ¬Ëquality.' Their place was maybe an eighth of a mile north of mine along The Street. Past that point, there's nothing much the drop to the lake gets steep, and the woods are massed tangles of second growth and blackberry bushes. The Street goes on to the tip of Halo Bay at the far north end of Dark Score, but once Lane Forty-two curves back to the highway, the path is for the most part used only by berry-picking expeditions in the summer and hunters in the fall. Normal, I thought. Hell of a name for a guy who had drowned his infant son under the backyard pump. ââ¬ËDid he leave a note? Any explanation?' ââ¬ËNawp. But you'll hear folks say he haunts the lake, too. Little towns are most likely full of haunts, but I couldn't say aye, no, or maybe myself; I ain't the sensitive type. All I know about your place, Mr. Noonan, is that it smells damp no matter how much I try to get it aired out. I ââ¬Ëmagine that's logs. Log buildins don't go well with lakes. The damp gets into the wood.' She had set her purse down between her Reeboks; now she bent and picked it up. It was a countrywoman's purse, black, styleless (except for the gold grommets holding the handles on), and utilitarian. She could have carried a good selection of kitchen appliances in there if she had wanted to. ââ¬ËI can't stand here natterin all day long, though, much as I might like to. I got one more place to go before I can call it quits. Summer's ha'vest time in this part of the world, you know. Now remember to take those clothes in before dark, Mr. Noonan. Don't let em get all dewy.' ââ¬ËI won't.' And I didn't. But when I went out to take them in, dressed in my bathing trunks and coated with sweat from the oven I'd been working in (I had to get the air conditioner fixed, just had to), I saw that something had altered Mrs. M.'s arrangements. My jeans and shirts now hung around the pole. The underwear and socks, which had been decorously hidden when Mrs. M. drove up the driveway in her old Ford, were now on the outside. It was as if my unseen guest one of my unseen guests was saying ha ha ha. I went to the library the next day, and made renewing my library card my first order of business. Lindy Briggs herself took my four bucks and entered me into the computer, first telling me how sorry she had been to hear about Jo's death. And, as with Bill, I sensed a certain reproach in her tone, as if I were to blame for such improperly delayed condolences. I supposed I was. ââ¬ËLindy, do you have a town history?' I asked when we had finished the proprieties concerning my wife. ââ¬ËWe have two,' she said, then leaned toward me over the desk, a little woman in a violently patterned sleeveless dress, her hair a gray puffball around her head, her bright eyes swimming behind her bifocals. In a confidential voice she added, ââ¬ËNeither is much good.' ââ¬ËWhich one is better?' I asked, matching her tone. ââ¬ËProbably the one by Edward Osteen. He was a summer resident until the mid-fifties and lived here full-time when he retired. He wrote Dark Score Days in 1965 or '66. He had it privately published because he couldn't find a commercial house that would take it. Even the regional publishers passed.' She sighed. ââ¬ËThe locals bought it, but that's not many books, is it?' ââ¬ËNo, I suppose not,' I said. ââ¬ËHe just wasn't much of a writer. Not much of a photographer, either those little black-and-white snaps of his make my eyes hurt. Still, he tells some good stories. The Micmac Drive, General Wing's trick horse, the twister in the eighteen-eighties, the fires in the nine-teen-thirties . . . ââ¬Ë ââ¬ËAnything about Sara and the Red-Tops?' She nodded, smiling. ââ¬ËFinally got around to looking up the history of your own place, did you? I'm glad to hear it. He found an old photo of them, and it's in there. He thought it was taken at the Fryeburg Fair in 1900. Ed used to say he'd give a lot to hear a record made by that bunch.' ââ¬ËSo would I, but none were ever made.' A haiku by the Greek poet George Seferis suddenly occurred to me: Are these the voices of our dead friends / or just the gramophone? ââ¬ËWhat happened to Mr. Osteen? I don't recall the name.' ââ¬ËDied not a year or two before you and Jo bought your place on the lake,' she said. ââ¬ËCancer.' ââ¬ËYou said there were two histories?' ââ¬ËThe other one you probably know A History of Castle County and Castle Rock. Done for the county centennial, and dry as dust. Eddie Osteen's book isn't very well written, but he wasn't dry. You have to give him that much. You should find them both over there.' She pointed to shelves with a sign over them which read of OF MAINE INTEREST. ââ¬ËThey don't circulate.' Then she brightened. ââ¬ËAlthough we will happily take any nickels you should feel moved to feed into our photocopy machine.' Mattie was sitting in the far corner next to a boy in a turned-around baseball cap, showing him how to use the microfilm reader. She looked up at me, smiled, and mouthed the words Nice catch. Referring to my lucky grab at Warrington's, presumably. I gave a modest little shrug before turning to the OF MAINE INTEREST shelves. But she was right lucky or not, it had been a nice catch. ââ¬ËWhat are you looking for?' I was so deep into the two histories I'd found that Mattie's voice made me jump. I turned around and smiled, first aware that she was wearing some light and pleasant perfume, second that Lindy Briggs was watching us from the main desk, her welcoming smile put away. ââ¬ËBackground on the area where I live,' I said. ââ¬ËOld stories. My housekeeper got me interested.' Then, in a lower voice: ââ¬ËTeacher's watching. Don't look around.' Mattie looked startled and, I thought, a little worried. As it turned out, she was right to be worried. In a voice that was low-pitched yet still designed to carry at least as far as the desk, she asked if she could reshelve either book for me. I gave her both. As she picked them up she said in what was almost a con's whisper: ââ¬ËThat lawyer who represented you last Friday got John a private detective. He says they may have found something interesting about the guardian ad litem.' I walked over to the OF MAINE INTEREST shelves with her, hoping I wasn't getting her in trouble, and asked if she knew what the something interesting might be. She shook her head, gave me a professional little librarian's smile, and I went away. On the ride back to the house, I tried to think about what I'd read, but there wasn't much. Osteen was a bad writer who had taken bad pictures, and while his stories were colorful, they were also pretty thin on the ground. He mentioned Sara and the Red-Tops, all right, but he referred to them as a ââ¬ËDixie-Land octet,' and even I knew that wasn't right. The Red-Tops might have played some Dixieland, but they had primarily been a blues group (Friday and Saturday nights) and a gospel group (Sunday mornings). Osteen's two-page summary of the Red-Tops' stay on the TR made it clear that he had heard no one else's covers of Sara's tunes. He confirmed that a child had died of blood-poisoning caused by a traphold wound, a story which sounded like Brenda Meserve's . . . but why wouldn't it? Osteen had likely heard it from Mrs. M.'s father or grandfather. He also said that the boy was Son Tidwell's only child, and that the guitar-player's real name was Reginald. The Tidwells had supposedly drifted north from the whorehouse district of New Orleans the fabled crib-and-club streets which had been known around the turn of the century as Storyville. There was no mention of Sara and the Red-Tops in the more formal history of Castle County, and no mention of Kenny Auster's drownded little brother in either book. Not long before Mattie came over to speak to me, I'd had a wild idea: that Son Tidwell and Sara Tidwell were man and wife, and that the little boy (not named by Osteen) had been their son. I found the picture Lindy had mentioned and studied it closely. It showed at least a dozen black people standing in a stiff group in front of what looked like a cattle exhibition. There was an old-fashioned Ferris wheel in the background. It could well have been taken at the Fryeburg Fair, and as old and faded as it was, it had a simple, elemental power that all Osteen's own photos put together could not match. You have seen photographs of western and Depression-era bandidos that have that same look of eerie truth stern faces above tight ties and collars, eyes not quite lost in the shadows of antique hatbrims. Sara stood front and center, wearing a black dress and her guitar. She was not outright smiling in this picture, but there seemed to be a smile in her eyes, and I thought they were like the eyes in some paintings, the ones that seem to follow you wherever you move in the room. I studied the photo and thought of her almost spiteful voice in my dream: What do you want to know, sugar? I suppose I wanted to know about her and the others who they had been, what they were to each other when they weren't singing and playing, why they'd left, where they'd gone. Both of her hands were clearly visible, one posed on the strings of her guitar, the other on the frets, where she had been making a G-chord on an October Fair-day in the year 1900. Her fingers were long, artistic, bare of rings. That didn't necessarily mean that she and Son Tidwell weren't married, of course, and even if they hadn't been, the little boy who'd been caught in the trap could have been born on the wrong side of the blanket. Except the same ghost of a smile lurked in Son Tidwell's eyes. The resemblance was remarkable. I had an idea that the two of them had been brother and sister, not man and wife. I thought about these things on my way home, and I thought about cables that were felt rather than seen . . . but mostly I found myself thinking about Lindy Briggs the way she had smiled at me, the way, a little later on, she had not smiled at her bright young librarian with the high-school certification. That worried me. Then I got back to the house, and all I worried about was my story and the people in it bags of bones which were putting on flesh daily. Michael Noonan, Max Devore, and Rogette Whitmore played out their horrible little comedy scene Friday evening. Two other things which bear narrating happened before that. The first was a call from John Storrow on Thursday night. I was sitting in front of the TV with a baseball game running soundlessly in front of me (the MUTE button with which most remote controls come equipped may be the twentieth century's finest invention). I was thinking about Sara Tidwell and Son Tidwell and Son Tidwell's little boy. I was thinking about Storyville, a name any writer just had to love. And in the back of my mind I was thinking about my wife, who had died pregnant. ââ¬ËHello?' I said. ââ¬ËMike, I have some wonderful news,' John said. He sounded near to bursting. ââ¬ËRomeo Bissonette may be a weird name, but there's nothing weird about the detective-guy he found for me. His name is George Kennedy, like the actor. He's good, and he's fast. This guy could work in New York.' ââ¬ËIf that's the highest compliment you can think of, you need to get out of the city more.' He went on as if he hadn't heard. ââ¬ËKennedy's real job is with a security firm the other stuff is strictly in the moonlight. Which is a great loss, believe me. He got most of this on the phone. I can't believe it.' ââ¬ËWhat specifically can't you believe?' ââ¬ËJackpot, baby.' Again he spoke in that tone of greedy satisfaction which I found both troubling and reassuring. ââ¬ËElmer Durgin has done the following things since late May: paid off his car; paid off his camp in Rangely Lakes; caught up on about ninety years of child support ââ¬Ë ââ¬ËNobody pays child support for ninety years,' I said, but I was just running my mouth to hear it go . . . to let off some of my own building excitement, in truth. â⬠T'ain't possible, Mcgee.' ââ¬ËIt is if you have seven kids,' John said, and began howling with laughter. I thought of the pudgy self-satisfied face, the cupid-bow mouth, the nails that looked polished and prissy. ââ¬ËHe don't,' I said. ââ¬ËHe do,' John said, still laughing. He sounded like a complete lunatic manic, hold the depressive. ââ¬ËHe really do! Ranging in ages from f-fourteen to th-th-three! What a b-busy p-p-potent little prick he must have!' More helpless howls. And by now I was howling right along with him I'd caught it like the mumps. ââ¬ËKennedy is going to f-f-fax me p-pictures of the whole . . . fam' . . . damily!' We broke up completely, laughing together long-distance. I could picture John Stor-row sitting alone in his Park Avenue office, bellowing like a lunatic and scaring the cleaning ladies. ââ¬ËThat doesn't matter, though,' he said when he could talk coherently again. ââ¬ËYou see what matters, don't you?' ââ¬ËYes,' I said. ââ¬ËHow could he be so stupid?' Meaning Durgin, but also meaning Devore. John understood, I think, that we were talking about both he's at the same time. ââ¬ËElmer Durgin's a little lawyer from a little township tucked away in the big woods of western Maine, that's all. How could he know that some guardian angel would come along with the resources to smoke him out? He also bought a boat, by the way. Two weeks ago. It's a twin outboard. A big ââ¬Ëun. It's over, Mike. The home team scores nine runs in the bottom of the ninth and the fucking pennant is ours.' ââ¬ËIf you say so.' But my hand went off on its own expedition, made a loose fist, and knocked on the good solid wood of the coffee-table. ââ¬ËAnd hey, the softball game wasn't a total loss.' John was still talking between little giggling outbursts like helium balloons. ââ¬ËNo?' ââ¬ËI'm taken with her.' ââ¬ËHer?' ââ¬ËMattie,' he said patiently. ââ¬ËMattie Devore.' A pause, then: ââ¬ËMike? Are you there?' ââ¬ËYeah,' I said. ââ¬ËPhone slipped. Sorry.' The phone hadn't slipped as much as an inch, but it came out sounding natural enough, I thought. And if it hadn't, so what? When it came to Mattie, I would be in John's mind, at least below suspicion. Like the country-house staff in an Agatha Christie. He was twenty-eight, maybe thirty. The idea that a man twelve years older might be sexually attracted to Mattie had probably never crossed his mind . . . or maybe just for a second or two there on the common, before he dismissed it as ludicrous. The way Mattie herself had dismissed the idea of Jo and the man in the brown sportcoat. ââ¬ËI can't do my courtship dance while I'm representing her,' he said, ââ¬Ëwouldn't be ethical. Wouldn't be safe, either. Later, though . . . you can never tell.' ââ¬ËNo,' I said, hearing my voice as you sometimes do in moments when you are caught completely fiat-footed, hearing it as though it were coming from someone else. Someone on the radio or the record-player, maybe. Are these the voices of our dead friends, or just the gramophone? I thought of his hands, the fingers long and slender and without a ring on any of them. Like Sara's hands in that old photo. ââ¬ËNo, you can never tell.' We said goodbye, and I sat watching the muted baseball game. I thought about getting up to get a beer, but it seemed too far to the refrigerator a safari, in fact. What I felt was a kind of dull hurt, followed by a better emotion: rueful relief, I guess you'd call it. Was he too old for her? No, I didn't think so. Just about right. Prince Charming No. 2, this time in a three-piece suit. Mattie's luck with men might finally be changing, and if so I should be glad. I would be glad. And relieved. Because I had a book to write, and never mind the look of white sneakers flashing below a red sundress in the deepening gloom, or the ember of her cigarette dancing in the dark. Still, I felt really lonely for the first time since I saw Kyra marching up the white line of Route 68 in her bathing suit and flip-flops. ââ¬ËYou funny little man, said Strickland,' I told the empty room. It came out before I knew I was going to say anything, and when it did, the channel on the TV changed. It went from baseball to a rerun of All in the Family and then to Ren & Stimpy. I glanced down at the remote control. It was still on the coffee-table where I'd left it. The TV channel changed again, and this time I was looking at Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. There was an airplane in the background, and I didn't need to pick up the remote and turn on the sound to know that Humphrey was telling Ingrid that she was getting on that plane. My wife's all-time favorite movie. She bawled at the end without fail. ââ¬ËJo?' I asked. ââ¬ËAre you here?' Bunter's bell rang once. Very faintly. There had been several presences in the house, I was sure of it . . . but tonight, for the first time, I was positive it was Jo who was with me. ââ¬ËWho was he, hon?' I asked. ââ¬ËThe guy at the softball field, who was he?' Bunter's bell hung still and quiet. She was in the room, though. I sensed her, something like a held breath. I remembered the ugly, gibing little message on the refrigerator after my dinner with Mattie and Ki: blue rose liar ha ha. ââ¬ËWho was he?' My voice was unsteady, sounding on the verge of tears. ââ¬ËWhat were you doing down here with some guy? Were you . . . ââ¬Ë But I couldn't bring myself to ask if she had been lying to me, cheating on me. I couldn't ask even though the presence I felt might be, let's face it, only in my own head. The TV switched away from Casablanca and here was everybody's favorite lawyer, Perry Mason, on Nick at Nite. Perry's nemesis, Hamilton Burger, was questioning a distraught-looking woman, and all at once the sound blared on, making me jump. ââ¬ËI am not a liar!' some long-ago TV actress cried. For a moment she looked right out at me, and I was stunned breathless to see Jo's eyes in that black-and-white fifties face. ââ¬ËI never lied, Mr. Burger, never!' ââ¬ËI submit that you did!' Burger responded. He moved in on her, leering like a vampire. ââ¬ËI submit that you ââ¬Ë The TV suddenly went off. Bunter's bell gave a single brisk shake, and then whatever had been here was gone. But I felt better. I am not a liar . . . I never lied, never. I could believe that if I chose to. If I chose. I went to bed, and there were no dreams. I had taken to starting work early, before the heat could really get a hold on the study. I'd drink some juice, gobble some toast, then sit behind the IBM until almost noon, watching the Courier ball dance and twirl as the pages floated through the machine and came out with writing on them. That old magic, so strange and wonderful. It never really felt like work to me, although I called it that; it felt like some weird kind of mental trampoline I bounced on. Those were springs that took away all the weight of the world for awhile. At noon I'd break, drive down to Buddy Jellison's greaseatorium for something nasty, then return and work for another hour or so. After that I would swim and take a long dreamless nap in the north bedroom. I had barely poked my head into the master bedroom at the south end of the house, and if Mrs. M. thought this was odd, she kept it to herself. On Friday the seventeenth, I stopped at the Lakeview General on my way back to the house to gas up my Chevrolet. There are pumps at the All-Purpose Garage, and the go-juice was a penny or two cheaper, but I didn't like the vibe. Today, as I stood in front of the store with the pump on automatic feed, looking off toward the mountains, Bill Dean's Dodge Ram pulled in on the other side of the island. He climbed down and gave me a smile. ââ¬ËHow's it going, Mike?' ââ¬ËPretty fair.' ââ¬ËBrenda says you're writin up a storm.' ââ¬ËI am,' I said, and it was on the tip of my tongue to ask for an update on the broken second-floor air conditioner. The tip of my tongue was where it stayed. I was still too nervous about my rediscovered ability to want to change anything about the environment in which I was doing it. Stupid, maybe, but sometimes things work just because you think they work. It's as good a definition of faith as any. ââ¬ËWell, I'm glad to hear it. Very glad.' I thought he was sincere enough, but he somehow didn't sound like Bill. Not the one who had greeted me back, anyway. ââ¬ËI've been looking up some old stuff about my side of the lake,' I said. ââ¬ËSara and the Red-Tops? You always were sort ofint'rested in them, I remember.' ââ¬ËThem, yes, but not just them. Lots of history. I was talking to Mrs. M., and she told me about Normal Auster. Kenny's father.' Bill's smile stayed on, and he only paused a moment in the act of unscrewing the cap on his gas tank, but I still had a sense, quite clear, that he had frozen inside. ââ¬ËYou wouldn't write about a thing like that, would you, Mike? Because there's a lot of people around here that'd feel it bad and take it wrong. I told Jo the same thing.' ââ¬ËJo?' I felt an urge to step between the two pumps and over the island so I could grab him by the arm. ââ¬ËWhat's Jo got to do with this?' He looked at me cautiously and long. ââ¬ËShe didn't tell you?' ââ¬ËWhat are you talking about?' ââ¬ËShe thought she might write something about Sara and the Red-Tops for one of the local papers.' Bill was picking his words very slowly. I have a clear memory of that, and of how hot the sun was, beating down on my neck, and the sharpness of our shadows on the asphalt. He began to pump his gas, and the sound of the pump's motor was also very sharp. ââ¬ËI think she even mentioned Yankee magazine. I c'd be wrong about that, but I don't think I am.' I was speechless. Why would she have kept quiet about the idea to try her hand at a little local history? Because she might have thought she was poaching on my territory? That was ridiculous. She had known me better than that . . . hadn't she? ââ¬ËWhen did you have this conversation, Bill? Do you remember?' ââ¬ËCoss I do,' he said. ââ¬ËSame day she come down to take delivery of those plastic owls. Only I raised the subject, because folks had told me she was asking around.' ââ¬ËPrying?' ââ¬ËI didn't say that,' he said stiffly, ââ¬Ëyou did.' True, but I thought prying was what he meant. ââ¬ËGo on.' ââ¬ËNothing to go on about. I told her there were sore toes here and there on the TR, same as there are anyplace, and ast her not to tread on any corns if she could help it. She said she understood. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. All I know is she kep' on asking questions. Listenin to stories from old fools with more time than sense.' ââ¬ËWhen was this?' ââ¬ËFall of '93, winter and spring of '94. Went all around town, she did even over to Motton and Harlow with her notebook and little tape-recorder. Anyway, that's all I know.' I realized a stunning thing: Bill was lying. If you'd asked me before that day, I'd have laughed and told you Bill Dean didn't have a lie in him. And he must not have had many, because he did it badly. I thought of calling him on it, but to what end? I needed to think, and I couldn't do it here my mind was roaring. Given time, that roar might subside and I'd see it was really nothing, no big deal, but I needed that time. When you start finding out unexpected things about a loved one who's been dead awhile, it rocks you. Take it from me, it does. Bill's eyes had shifted away from mine, but now they shifted back. He looked both earnest and I could have sworn it a little scared. ââ¬ËShe ast about little Kerry Auster, and that's a good example of what I mean about steppin on sore toes. That's not the stuff for a newspaper story or a magazine article. Normal just snapped. No one knows why. It was a terrible tragedy, senseless, and there's still people who could be hurt by it. In little towns things are kind of connected under the surface ââ¬Ë Yes, like cables you couldn't quite see. ââ¬Ë and the past dies slower. Sara and those others, that's a little different. They were just . . . just wanderers . . . from away. Jo could have stuck to those folks and it would've been all right. And say for all I know, she did. Because I never saw a single word she ever wrote. If she did write.' About that he was telling the truth, I felt. But I knew something else, knew it as surely as I'd known Mattie had been wearing white shorts when she called me on her day off. Sara and those others were just wanderers from away, Bill had said, but he hesitated in the middle of his thought, substituting wanderers for the word which had come naturally to mind. Niggers was the word he hadn't said. Sara and those others were just niggers from away. All at once I found myself thinking of an old story by Ray Bradbury, ââ¬ËMars Is Heaven.' The first space travellers to Mars discover it's Green Town, Illinois, and all their well-loved friends and relatives are there. Only the friends and relatives are really alien monsters, and in the night, while the space travellers think they are sleeping in the beds of their long-dead kinfolk in a place that must be heaven, they are slaughtered to the last man. ââ¬ËBill, you're sure she was up here a few times in the off-season?' ââ¬ËAyuh. ââ¬ËT'wasn't just a few times, either. Might have been a dozen times or more. Day-trips, don't you know.' ââ¬ËDid you ever see a fellow with her? Burly guy, black hair?' He thought about it. I tried not to hold my breath. At last he shook his head. ââ¬ËFew times I saw her, she was alone. But I didn't see her every time she came. Sometimes I only heard she'd been on the TR after she ââ¬Ëus gone again. Saw her in June of '94, headed up toward Halo Bay in that little car a hers. She waved, I waved back. Went down to the house later that evenin to see if she needed anythin, but she'd gone. I didn't see her again. When she died later on that summer, me and ââ¬ËVette were so shocked.' Whatever she was looking for, she must never have written any of it down. I would have found the manuscript. Was that true, though? She had made many trips down here with no apparent attempts at concealment, on one of them she had even been accompanied by a strange man, and I had only found out about these visits by accident. ââ¬ËThis is hard to talk about,' Bill said, ââ¬Ëbut since we've gotten started hard, we might as well go the rest of the way. Livin on the TR is like the way we used to sleep four or even five in a bed when it was January and true cold. If everyone rests easy, you do all right. But if one person gets restless, gets tossing and turning, no one can sleep. Right now you're the restless one. That's how people see it.' He waited to see what I'd say. When almost twenty seconds passed without a word from me (Harold Oblowski would have been proud), he shuffled his feet and went on. ââ¬ËThere are people in town uneasy about the interest you've taken in Mattie Devore, for instance. Now I'm not sayin there's anythin going on between the two of you although there's folks who do say it but if you want to stay on the TR you're makin it tough on yourself.' ââ¬ËWhy?' ââ¬ËComes back to what I said a week and a half ago. She's trouble.' ââ¬ËAs I recall, Bill, you said she was in trouble. And she is. I'm trying to help her out of it. There's nothing going on between us but that.' ââ¬ËI seem to recall telling you that Max Devore is nuts,' he said. ââ¬ËIf you make him mad, we all pay the price.' The pump clicked off and he racked it up. Then he sighed, raised his hands, dropped them. ââ¬ËYou think this is easy for me to say?' ââ¬ËYou think it's easy for me to listen to?' ââ¬ËAll right, ayuh, we're in the same skiff. But Mattie Devore isn't the only person on the TR livin hand-to-mouth, you know. There's others got their woes, as well. Can't you understand that?' Maybe he saw that I understood too much and too well, because his shoulders slumped. ââ¬ËIf you're asking me to stand aside and let Devore take Mattie's baby without a fight, you can forget it,' I said. ââ¬ËAnd I hope that's not it. Because I think I'd have to be quits with a man who'd ask another man to do something like that.' ââ¬ËI wouldn't ask it now anywise,' he said, his accent thickening almost to the point of contempt. ââ¬ËIt'd be too late, wouldn't it?' And then, unexpectedly, he softened. ââ¬ËChrist, man, I'm worried about you. Let the rest of it go hang, all right? Hang high where the crows can pick it.' He was lying again, but this time I didn't mind so much, because I thought he was lying to himself. ââ¬ËBut you need to have a care. When I said Devore was crazy, that was no figure of speech. Do you think he'll bother with court if court can't get him what he wants? Folks died in those summer fires back in 1933. Good people. One related to me. They burned over half the goddam county and Max Devore set em. That was his going-away present to the TR. It could never be proved, but he did it. Back then he was young and broke, not yet twenty and no law in his pocket. What do you think he'd do now?' He looked at me searchingly. I said nothing. Bill nodded as if I had spoken. ââ¬ËThink about it. And you remember this, Mike: no man who didn't care for you would ever talk to you straight as I have.' ââ¬ËHow straight was that, Bill?' I was faintly aware of some tourist walking from his Volvo to the store and looking at us curiously, and when I replayed the scene in my mind later on, I realized we must have looked like guys on the verge of a fistfight. I remember that I felt like crying out of sadness and bewilderment and an incompletely defined sense of betrayal, but I also remember being furious with this lanky old man him in his shining-clean cotton undershirt and his mouthful of false teeth. So maybe we were close to fighting, and I just didn't know it at the time. ââ¬ËStraight as I could be,' he said, and turned away to go inside and pay for his gas. ââ¬ËMy house is haunted,' I said. He stopped, back to me, shoulders hunched as if to absorb a blow. Then, slowly, he turned back. ââ¬ËSara Laughs has always been haunted, Mike. You've stirred em up. P'raps you should go back to Derry and let em settle. That might be the best thing.' He paused, as if replaying this last to see if he agreed with it, then nodded. He nodded as slowly as he had turned. ââ¬ËAyuh, that might be best all around.' When I got back to Sara I called Ward Hankins. Then I finally made that call to Bonnie Amudson. Part of me was rooting for her not to be in at the travel agency in Augusta she co-owned, but she was. Halfway through my talk with her, the fax began to print out xeroxed pages from Jo's appointment calendars. On the first one Ward had scrawled, ââ¬ËHope this helps.' I didn't rehearse what I was going to say to Bonnie; I felt that to do so would be a recipe for disaster. I told her that Jo had been writing something maybe an article, maybe a series of them about the township where our summerhouse was located, and that some of the locals had apparently been cheesed off by her curiosity. Some still were. Had she talked to Bonnie? Perhaps showed her an early draft? ââ¬ËNo, huh-uh.' Bonnie sounded honestly surprised. ââ¬ËShe used to show me her photos, and more herb samples than I honestly cared to see, but she never showed me anything she was writing. In fact, I remember her once saying that she'd decided to leave the writing to you and just ââ¬Ë ââ¬Ë take a little taste of everything else, right?' ââ¬ËYes.' I thought this was a good place to end the conversation, but the guys in the basement seemed to have other ideas. ââ¬ËWas she seeing anyone, Bonnie?' Silence from the other end. With a hand that seemed at least four miles down my arm, I plucked the fax sheets out of the basket. Ten of them November of 1993 to August of 1994. Jottings everywhere in Jo's neat hand. Had we even had a fax before she died? I couldn't remember. There was so fucking much I couldn't remember. ââ¬ËBonnie? If you know something, please tell me. Jo's dead, but I'm not. I can forgive her if I have to, but I can't forgive what I don't underst ââ¬Ë ââ¬ËI'm sorry,' she said, and gave a nervous little laugh. ââ¬ËIt's just that I didn't understand at first. ââ¬Å"Seeing anyone,â⬠that was just so . . . so foreign to Jo . . . the Jo I knew . . . that I couldn't figure out what you were talking about. I thought maybe you meant a shrink, but you didn't, did you? You meant seeing someone like seeing a guy. A boyfriend.' ââ¬ËThat's what I meant.' Thumbing through the faxed calendar sheets now, my hand not quite back to its proper distance from my eyes but getting there, getting there. I felt relief at the honest bewilderment in Bonnie's voice, but not as much as I'd expected. Because I'd known. I hadn't even needed the woman in the old Perry Mason episode to put in her two cents, not really. It was Jo we were talking about, after all. Jo. ââ¬ËMike,' Bonnie was saying, very softly, as if I might be crazy, ââ¬Ëshe loved you. She loved you. ââ¬ËYes. I suppose she did.' The calendar pages showed how busy my wife had been. How productive. S-Ks of Maine . . . the soup kitchens. WomShel, a county-to-county network of shelters for battered women. TeenShel. Friends of Me. Libes. She had been at two or three meetings a month two or three a week at some points and I'd barely noticed. I had been too busy with my women in jeopardy. ââ¬ËI loved her too, Bonnie, but she was up to something in the last ten months of her life. She didn't give you any hint of what it might have been when you were riding to meetings of the Soup Kitchens board or the Friends of Maine Libraries?' Silence from the other end. ââ¬ËBonnie?' I took the phone away from my ear to see if the red LOW BATTERY light was on, and it squawked my name. I put it back. ââ¬ËBonnie, what is it?' ââ¬ËThere were no long drives those last nine or ten months. We talked on the phone and I remember once we had lunch in Waterville, but there were no long drives. She quit.' I thumbed through the fax-sheets again. Meetings noted everywhere in Jo's neat hand, Soup Kitchens of Maine among them. ââ¬ËI don't understand. She quit the Soup Kitchens board?' Another moment of silence. Then, speaking carefully: ââ¬ËNo, Mike. She quit all of them. She finished with Woman Shelters and Teen Shelters at the end of '93 her term was up then. The other two, Soup Kitchens and Friends of Maine Libraries . . . she resigned in October or November of 1993.' Meetings noted on all the sheets Ward had sent me. Dozens of them. Meetings in 1993, meetings in 1994. Meetings of boards to which she'd no longer belonged. She had been down here. On all those supposed meeting-days, Jo had been on the TR. I would have bet my life on it. But why?
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
How to Right a Paper
ppendix D: Individual Skills Assessment Questionnaire for the Instructor Directions: The following questionnaire contains the Individual Skills Assessment that must be administered to each student individually as a panel interview. Print enough copies of the ISA Questionnaire so that each interviewer has one copy per student before the panel interview begins. Please see the Instructor Guide section of this courseware for complete instructions on how to conduct the interviews. For each topic, start with Learning Level 3. Circle each of the response criteria that the student successfully includes in his or her response.You may use the scoring table at the end of the questionnaire to tally the studentââ¬â¢s score. Note: Each topic includes questions at three levels: o Level 3: Synthesis/Evaluation (Most-challenging questions) o Level 2: Application/Analysis (Medium-level questions) o Level 1: Knowledge/Comprehension (Least-difficult questions) Appendix D: Individual Skills Assessment Questionnaire for the Instructor à ©ITT Educational Services, Inc. 104 Date: 01/12/2010 Individual Assessment Skills Questions with Correct Response Criteria Topic 1: HardwareLearning Level 3: Synthesis/Evaluation Question: 1. You are building a LAN in a company that develops insurance management software. What hardware requirements should be taken into consideration? (TB143, IT1220) Correct Response Criteria: The student addresses why each is important: PC resources needed: Memory, disk drive size, processor size Networking resources: Category 5e cable, hub, switch, bridge, router Learning Level 2: Application/Analysis Question: 1. Describe how the memory manager divides up and allocates memory. (TB143, IT103) Correct Response Criteria:The student identifies the following memory concepts and describes how each works: Virtual memory Shared memory Paged memory Contiguous memory Non-contiguous memory Multi-programming Learning Level 1: Knowledge/Comprehension Question: 1. Identify a ll of the different types of input ports is available on a modern computer? (TB143) Correct Response Criteria: The student identifies the following ports: USB Serial Parallel Video /audio RJ45 FireWire Appendix D: Individual Skills Assessment Questionnaire for the Instructor à ©ITT Educational Services, Inc. 05 Date: 01/12/2010 SCSI Topic 2: Programming Learning Level 3: Synthesis/Evaluation Question: 1. Explain the difference between passing a piece of data ââ¬Å"by valueâ⬠and passing a piece of data ââ¬Å"by reference. â⬠(IT104) Correct Response Criteria: The student identifies the following data types and describes how each piece of data is passed: Parameter Argument Parameter list Data type Compatibility Reference address Learning Level 2: Application/Analysis Question: 1. Explain the ââ¬Å"scopeâ⬠of a data statement. 2. What are the implications of misidentifying a l
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Objectives and Goals of a Lesson Plan
Objectives and Goals of a Lesson Plan Objectives, also known as goals, are the first step in writing a strongà lesson plan. This article includes descriptions of the objectives of lesson plans, how to write them, examples, and tips. Goal-Writing Tips Whenever possible, write clearly defined and specific objectives (goals) that are easy to measure. That way, at the conclusion of your lesson, it will be relatively easy to determine if you met or missed your objectives, and by how much. Objective In the objectives section of your lesson plan, write precise and delineated goals for what you want your students to be able to accomplish after the lesson is completed. Here is an example: Lets say that you are writing a lesson plan on nutrition. For this unit plan, your objective for the lesson is for students to name a few food groups, identify the food groups, and learn about the food pyramid. Your goal should be specific and use numbers where appropriate. This will help you determine if you met your objectives or not after the lesson is over. What to Ask Yourself In order to define your lessons objectives, consider asking yourself the following questions: What will students accomplish during this lesson?To what specific level (i.e. 75% accuracy) will the students perform a given task in order for the lesson to be considered satisfactorily accomplished?Exactly how will the students show that they understood and learned the goals of your lesson? Will this occur through a worksheet, group work, presentation, illustration, etc? Additionally, you will want to make sure that the lessons objective fits in with your district and state educational standards for your grade level. By thinking clearly and thoroughly about the goals of your lesson, you will ensure that you are making the most of your teaching time. Examples Here are a few examples of what an objective would look like in your lesson plan. After reading the book Life in the Rainforest, sharing a class discussion, and drawing plants and animals, students will be able to place six specific characteristics into a Venn diagram of the similarities and differences of plants and animals, with 100% accuracy.While learning about nutrition, students will keep a food journal, create a balanced meal using the food pyramid (or food plate, as it is now called), write a recipe for a healthy snack, as well as name all of the food groups and the foods that correlate with them.While learning about the local government, the goal of this lesson is to have students identify the components of local government and be able to generate four to six sentences using local government facts and vocabulary.While students learn about the pattern of digestion, by the end of the lesson they will know how to physically point out areas of the digestive track, as well as tell specific facts about how the food we eat can turn into the fuel that our bodies need. After the objective, you will define the anticipatory set. Edited By: Janelle Cox
Monday, October 21, 2019
Greek Influence on the Early Roman Empire essays
Greek Influence on the Early Roman Empire essays "Do you agree with the following: Rome conquered the Greek empire and its civilization, but Greek culture conquered Rome?" This paper will argue that this statement is true. Furthermore, the Romans were willing co-conspirators, replacing the relatively primitive (and displaced) Etruscan and Latin cultures with the far more nuanced and rich Greek culture. One can regard the Romans as having taken the best of Greek culture and made it their own. Greeks provided architecture, systems of government, the religion of Rome (with Roman names replacing Greek names; Zeux=Jupter, etc.). This does not mean that the Romans admired the Greeks in all things. Instead, as the Spartans judged Athenians to be 'civilized,' so did the Romans regard the Greeks as civilized, and therefore 'decadent.' Indeed, even those Greek natives who became Roman citizens were suspected by Roman leaders: When Demosthenes consulted Hadrian about his foundation, the emperor congratulated him and his city not for his se rvice to the Empire, but for the "honorable ambition"...(Braund). This implies that Hadrian, like most Romans, respected the learning and culture, but found "ambition" a unique Roman trait, not found in many Greeks. The Greeks supplied the Romans with culture in many ways. The Athenian idea of democracy is often cited as a precursor to our current democracy. In fact, that was not the case. Athenian citizens were free, but their slaves were not. Athenian women, as did Roman women, had the right to buy and hold property, even as they joined their husband's household. The Roman law, therefore, took over many of the customs of Greek law, including their patrician idea of democracy for non-slaves. Romans took the Greek arts completely, from sculpture to architecture and painting. Roman houses are based on the Romans' superior knowledge of building and engineering, but particularly in the eastern portions of the Empire, the Greek influence was strong (Hales). ...
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Using the Perl String Length Function
Using the Perl String Length Function Perl is a programming language used primarily to develop web applications. Perl is an interpreted, not compiled, language. This means its programs take up more CPU time than a compiled language - a problem that becomes less important as the speed of processors increases.à Writing code in Perl is faster than writing in a compiled language, so the time you save is yours. When you learn Perl, you learn how to work with the languages functions. One of the most basic is the string length function. How to Find Length of a String in Perl Perls length function returns the length of a Perl string in characters. Here is an example showing its basic usage: #!/usr/bin/perl $orig_string This is a Test and ALL CAPS;$string_len à length( $orig_string );print Length of the String is : $string_len\n; When this code is executed, it displays the following:à Length of the String is: 27. The number 27 is the total of the characters, including spaces, in the phrase This is a Test and ALL CAPS. Note that this function does not count the size of the string in bytes - just the length in characters. What About the Length of Arrays? The length function works only on strings, not on arrays. An array stores an ordered list and is preceded by an sign and populated using parentheses. To find out the length of an array, use the scalar function. For example: my many_strings (one, two, three, four, hi, hello world);say scalar many_strings; The response is 6, the number of items in the array. A scalar is a single unit of data. It might be a group of characters, as in the example above, or a single character, string, floating point, or integer number.
Saturday, October 19, 2019
ERR Course Project - Identify a Hypothesis or Problem Research Paper
ERR Course Project - Identify a Hypothesis or Problem - Research Paper Example sm rate is also at a high rate of 52%, meaning that the current correctional or rehabilitation systems for criminals are not effective in reducing crime rate within the country. Secondly, this hypothesis is worth proving because part of the research will focus on why crime in America is increasing rather than decreasing, and from these findings, the researcher will be able to recommend or suggest various measures that can reduce crime in America. The researcher can simple prove that crime in America is increasing, by simply relying on credible secondary data from a reliable agency like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has records of criminals within America. Moreover, the agency even posts such records on its official website, which is easily accessible by anyone. Upon accessing the records, the researcher will confirm or prove the hypothesis if the records show an increase in the number of criminal cases filled at the local courts or if there is an increase in the number of people convicted because of criminal
How does the implementation of a quality managment system such as EFQM Research Paper
How does the implementation of a quality managment system such as EFQM or Six Sigma in the hospitality industry help improve th - Research Paper Example All the prominent organizations may have a well defined quality management system in order to ensure the quality of all the products or services offered to the customers by the organization. Earlier, in most of the organizations, a quality control (QC) division was functioning whereas at present instead of QC, Quality Assurance (QA) division is functioning. The change from QC to QA reflects the importance and changing concepts about the quality in organizational world. Service sector is one area in which quality plays a vital role in determining the success and failures of an organization. For example, in hospitality industry, the customers often compare the quality of services they received from different organizations before they select one organization. European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) and six sigma (Developed by Motorola Corporation) are the major quality management systems implemented in the hospitality industry at present. Both EFQM and Six Sigma have some meri ts and demerits. This paper briefly analyses how the implementation of a quality management system such as EFQM or Six Sigma helps the hospitality industry to improve the performance. ... ââ¬Å"To achieve Six Sigma, a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects/ million opportunities. A Six Sigma defect is defined as anything outside of customer specificationsâ⬠( What is six sigma, 2010) (Jkerrigan, n. d) The basic architecture of six sigma includes five aspects; define, measure, analyse, improve and control. The organization which implements six sigma should define its objectives at first. Then the organization measures the output with the help of statistical analysis. If the output does not reach the six sigma mark, the process should be improved further and further till it reaches that mark. Proper control should be exercised while the organization strives for better quality and management practices. ââ¬Å"Six Sigma is driven by the customer and thus aims to achieve maximum customer satisfaction and minimizing the defects. It targets the customer delight and new innovative ways to exceed the customer expectationsâ⬠(Advantages and Disadvantages of Si x Sigma, n. d).The focus of Six Sigma implementation is attached to the customer. In most of the modern quality management systems customers are at the central point. All the quality improvement activities are rotate around the customer since the customer is the one who is capable of making or breaking an organization. Starwood Hotels and Resorts have already implemented the Six Sigma approach. Six Sigma at Starwood has helped improve the financial performance of the group by ushering in the quality and consistency of the customers' experiences. Six Sigma has also provided the guidelines and tools to create a consistently superior guest experience at all properties, and simultaneously improve the bottom line. The Six Sigma organization in the group reports to
Friday, October 18, 2019
Staffing Plan Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Staffing Plan Paper - Essay Example Developing a strategic plan for staffing in a transport or distribution company is one thing that helps many it in making the right choice of what best they want for themselves (Bechet, 2008). In this step, a human resource manager or the person in charge of this activity has to collect information basing on the kind of service provided by the current employees. This information gathered is very important for companies because they help when enforcing some training and also in the case when the company promotes its employees. After getting the information needed about the available staff members, one can use it in finding out the average input provided by each employee in accordance to the number of hours (Bechet, 2008). An example can be drawn from a transportation company which depends on the number of trips made by drivers in determining ones capability. Most of the companies around the world do have some of the seasons that they consider much busy while other seasons are not taken as such. During the busiest seasons, one can use the statistics in determining the kind of need the company requires for the purpose of making the best from what they have. For instance the transportation company has to have more vehicles during the busiest seasons because this is a time when a companyââ¬â¢s products are very much competed in the market. With more vehicles for the purpose of transportation means that the available products will get to the market on time, improving the companyââ¬â¢s supply. The fourth step in the staffing plan is determining the number of employees the company requires in terms of drivers responsible for the transportation activity. This must comply with both the busiest seasons and the less busy ones. An additional number of vehicles mean that more drivers have to be employed by the company while having less vehicle leads to the current employees or drivers being overworked
Warehousing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Warehousing - Essay Example addressing this question is that it appears as though Coca Cola does not utilize one standardized warehousing method across all the countries that it operates in. According to the Coca Cola Company website the business model utilized by the company is that it utilizes bottling partners that often function as independent companies. These independent companies are responsible for producing, packaging storing selling and distributing them. So whether or not the company utilizes an efficient warehousing method depends entirely on which independent bottling contractor is doing the work. In the Canadian context the company hast ten independent bottling partners but by far, the largest organization is Coca-Cola Ltd. (CCL) which is the Canadian subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company (Coca Cola website, 2010). According to the Business Wire 2004 it is the case that Coca-Cola Canada built a massive new distribution center/ warehouse in Ottawa, Ontario Canada. This structure amounted to a 7,000 square meter building in the Hawthore industrial park of Ottawa. However it is the case that according to the Canadian press (2004) there were already a significant number of warehousing facilities across Ontario with eleven warehousing facilities and 2,300 employees working in a warehousing capacity for this Market. Moreover, according to The Canadian press 2004 it is the case that the new facility represents a serious investment in modernization at a cost of over $9million. The building will be large enough to support over 100 fleet vehicles However it could be argued that investing in this newer modernized facility represents a systematic approach that involves constant business process improvements across the organization. One additional warehousing situation for Coca Cola is that it is not warehousing one simple product. Again, using the Canadian context, according to the Company website (2010) the company stocks Coke Products (Coke classic, caffeine free, coke zero, diet coke
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Amazon.com Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Amazon.com - Research Paper Example Success factors determine the success of both current and future operating activities within an organization. There are different success factors that define the success of an organization. The key industry success factors depend on the nature of the organization and they vary from one organization to another (Rockart 81-93). For instance, market share is one factor that determines the success if an organization. Depending on the market share, some companies will have a competitive advantage over the rest. For example, Amazon, the biggest online retail shop that also deals with other products such as electronic commerce is the world leader in selling various products online. With a market share of 29 percent, Amazon has a competitive advantage as compared to other competitors such as eBay, eMusic, Bol and many more. Another key industry success factor is customers. Organizations that have mastered the art of meeting the demands of the customers are successful and they understand mark et segments well (Daniel 111-121). Competition is also another industry success factor. Here, just like the competitors, Amazon strategizes on how to dominate the market by beating their competitors. For example, with retails shops all around the world, Amazon controls over 30 percent of the worldââ¬â¢s consumer electronics and other online retail products due to its burly distributive and networking power. Lastly, the corporation itself is a key industry success factor. Amazon has huge resources and thereore; this makes it more competitive in the market. Additionally, the burly innovativeness experienced in Amazon is vital to its market dominance and has made it to have a competitive advantage over its rivals (Boynlon and Zmud 17-27). Company distinctive competences and competitive advantages Organizations, for example Amazon, which enjoys massive sustained profits within an industry, always have a competitive advantage over competitors. However, it is paramount to note that in order to have a prolonged competitive advantage, business strategy is vital. There are two forms of competitive advantage: cost advantage and differentiation advantage. The companyââ¬â¢s distinctive competencies exhibit when the company is able to generate the same revenue as those of the rivals but at lower operating costsââ¬âcost advantage. On the other hand, a company that acquires more benefits than those of other rival companies experiences competitive distinctive competenciesââ¬âdifferentiation advantage. Thus, competitive distinctive competencies are useful to the company since they help it to fashion better-quality value first for itself, and secondly, the buyers. It is competitive advantage based on cost and differentiation that defines the companyââ¬â¢s success history and business success strategies. Through resources and capabilities, big firms such as Amazon have had a competitive advantage over their rivals in the consumer electronics market and sporting products, which has led to advanced value creation (Porter 3-24). In order to create a companyââ¬â¢s distinctive competences, there are two things to consider: resources and capabilities. A company with superior resources and capabilities is already having an edge over its competitors. For example, with market share of 29 percent, Amazon already has a competitive adv
Public Sector Concerns Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Public Sector Concerns - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the debate on categorizing user fees, user charges, and license charges as taxes has been well established within the society, moving to the court level in some states for clarification. It is important to note that as much as both the taxes and these user charges and fees contribute towards the government revenue, there is a significant difference between them. One of the most significant differences between the user charges and taxes is that the user charges are paid primarily for the sake of regulating the welfare of the target population or in other cases; they are charged a fee for services of the same value, offered by the government. Contrary to this, the taxes are mainly aimed at raising the government revenue and do not involve a direct reciprocating service in respect to the value of the amount paid. Another important point to note is that user charges are mainly required of the particular individuals that a government servic e is directed to, or towards off-setting an incurred regulatory burden. This is unlike tax that is uniformly applied to the district in which it implemented. Lastly, the funds gained from the user charges are directed towards catering for the cost of regulation or the cost of service providence for the involved fee payer. On the other hand, funds gained from general taxes are directed towards the benefit of the public.
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Amazon.com Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Amazon.com - Research Paper Example Success factors determine the success of both current and future operating activities within an organization. There are different success factors that define the success of an organization. The key industry success factors depend on the nature of the organization and they vary from one organization to another (Rockart 81-93). For instance, market share is one factor that determines the success if an organization. Depending on the market share, some companies will have a competitive advantage over the rest. For example, Amazon, the biggest online retail shop that also deals with other products such as electronic commerce is the world leader in selling various products online. With a market share of 29 percent, Amazon has a competitive advantage as compared to other competitors such as eBay, eMusic, Bol and many more. Another key industry success factor is customers. Organizations that have mastered the art of meeting the demands of the customers are successful and they understand mark et segments well (Daniel 111-121). Competition is also another industry success factor. Here, just like the competitors, Amazon strategizes on how to dominate the market by beating their competitors. For example, with retails shops all around the world, Amazon controls over 30 percent of the worldââ¬â¢s consumer electronics and other online retail products due to its burly distributive and networking power. Lastly, the corporation itself is a key industry success factor. Amazon has huge resources and thereore; this makes it more competitive in the market. Additionally, the burly innovativeness experienced in Amazon is vital to its market dominance and has made it to have a competitive advantage over its rivals (Boynlon and Zmud 17-27). Company distinctive competences and competitive advantages Organizations, for example Amazon, which enjoys massive sustained profits within an industry, always have a competitive advantage over competitors. However, it is paramount to note that in order to have a prolonged competitive advantage, business strategy is vital. There are two forms of competitive advantage: cost advantage and differentiation advantage. The companyââ¬â¢s distinctive competencies exhibit when the company is able to generate the same revenue as those of the rivals but at lower operating costsââ¬âcost advantage. On the other hand, a company that acquires more benefits than those of other rival companies experiences competitive distinctive competenciesââ¬âdifferentiation advantage. Thus, competitive distinctive competencies are useful to the company since they help it to fashion better-quality value first for itself, and secondly, the buyers. It is competitive advantage based on cost and differentiation that defines the companyââ¬â¢s success history and business success strategies. Through resources and capabilities, big firms such as Amazon have had a competitive advantage over their rivals in the consumer electronics market and sporting products, which has led to advanced value creation (Porter 3-24). In order to create a companyââ¬â¢s distinctive competences, there are two things to consider: resources and capabilities. A company with superior resources and capabilities is already having an edge over its competitors. For example, with market share of 29 percent, Amazon already has a competitive adv
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Business admin assignment 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Business admin assignment 1 - Essay Example It is also considered one of the most admired companies in the United States since many people recognize its performance and strategic planning (Dowling, 2008). This is mostly seen in the strategies that are used in enhancing its markets. This has been widely attributed by globalization. First, globalization has played a major role in expanding the performance of apple inc. This has been realized as there is increased competition from the corporation. With the induction of globalization, many corporations find it easy to penetrate into other markets (Berry, 2005). As such, they have the legality of selling their products in all markets across the globe. With induction of their products in such markets, many people have access to a variety of products which are available in the market. Since the population has a variety of products, they have the freewill of choosing the best quality products. This will have a positive impact on the quality of products that are sold in the market. Sim ilarly, this is an opportunity to reduce any chances of corporations monopolizing a market. Monopolies have direct control over the market and may likely supply substandard products. However, with the induction of Apple Inc in the market, the corporation has been able to give the market unparalleled products. This has been awaking call for other companies that would like to dominate the market. Secondly, globalization has played a major role in ensuring there are economies of large scale production. Businesses have been stating that the costs of productions are escalating with each passing year. However, large corporations have stated that economies of large scale production are the only solution to effective production. This has been proved by Apple Corporation as it savors large scale production. This reduces the cost of production, cost of labor and other miscellaneous expenses. As such, the corporations are able to produce high quality products to the market at an affordable pri ce. Similarly, the corporation is able to make substantial profits that are used in expansion (Berry, 2005). In many instances, corporations plough back profits into the business with the essence of increasing production. In addition to enhancing the performance of the corporations, globalization has helped these corporations to increase competitiveness. Apparently, this has helped many corporations to reconsider customer needs and their values. As a matter of fact, many customers in the market are now realizing the cost effectiveness of globalization through production of better products that are of high quality. As such, customers feel that their needs and preferences are approached in a satisfactory manner. Thirdly, globalization has helped many corporations including Apple Corporation to realize the positivity of location flexibility. When there is globalization, many corporations find it appropriate to expand their businesses to other untapped markets. These markets provide a s ubstantial demand market for their products as they feel the urge to purchase such products. In the end, the corporation benefits substantially as it increases its profits. In addition to this, the corporation realizes the reduction in costs of production. For instance, when they start another plant in an area, they use locally available labor, materials and other resources in the same
Monday, October 14, 2019
Herbal Products for personal casre Essay Example for Free
Herbal Products for personal casre Essay Aromatherapy is complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) technique in which various essential oils (including essences and extracts) derived from plants, flowers, fruits, leaves, herbs, stems, shrubs or trees are utilized to promote healing of the body, mind and the spirit, and to encourage health and well-being of the individual. Aromatic oils have been utilized in healthcare since ancient times by the Egyptian civilization and the Arabs. Modern aromatherapy was given special interest in France. The French found that oils had several anti-septic properties and hence could be utilized to reduce infections. Some of the physicians in France administer essential oils. Certain guidelines mentioned in the ââ¬Ëaromatogramââ¬â¢ help the physician to decide which essential oil has to be utilized. The patientââ¬â¢s sample of tissues or body fluids is cultured in the laboratory. Different essential oils are added to the growing cultures. The specific essential oil that inhibits growth of the microorganisms is identified and utilized. Essential oils are substances similar to hormones (or chemical messengers) present in the body, that play an important role between cells. It contains about 200 to 3000 different compounds. Studies suggest that they can play a role against cancer, and have other effects such as stimulation (lime), calming (lavender), analgesic (clove), anti-spasmodic and cough suppressant (lavender). On the skin, it seems to have an antiseptic (tea tree), astringent (lemon grass), protectants (sandal wood), stimulant (rose) and cooling (Chamomile) effect. Aromatherapy can be administered in several forms such as skin or external applications (including cosmetic use and applications over the hair), inhalation, and internal consumption. External applications of essential oils involve applying the agents on the skin through baths, massages, friction, compresses, cosmetic use (in the form of creams, masks, compresses, lotions, ointments, etc), hair applications, etc. Such applications help in relaxation, stimulating the skin and make the individual feel more energetic and lively. Several toxic substances and metabolic wastes present on the skin are inactivated and destroyed. It also helps to reduce body aches and reduce swellings. Rarely (5% of the cases), the individual may develop inflammatory disorders of the skin (such as dermatitis), and experience symptoms such as irritation, rashes, pruritis, etc. In such circumstances, the treatment should be discontinued. Internal consumption of essential oils may be required to treat several disorders involving the internal organs (such as the digestive tract). However, some of these oils may damage the liver. Hence, they have to be administered strictly by a physician, and the patientââ¬â¢s condition should be monitored. The essential oil can also be administered utilizing a diffuser or nebulizer (through inhalation). The oils can be utilized to treat several breathing or lung disorders, and to improve mood. The molecules of the essential oils can enter the body through the nose, gain access through the lungs, from where it can diffuse into the bloodstream. It can remain in the blood for 30 minutes to several days. Sprays are also available which provide effect for a short period. Aromatherapy has emerged as a separate branch of science and profession because of the huge benefits. Lavender may increase brain wave functions related with relaxation and stress-release (Balac, 1992). Chronic smokers felt a reduced urge to consume tobacco with aromatherapy (Rose Behm, 1994). The quality of life in individuals with cancer and anxiety improved after being administered Chamomile (Wilkinson, 1995). Stevenson (1994) demonstrated that heart patients requiring surgery felt better when their feet were being massaged with neroli oil. Post-operative patients had reduced nausea and needed fewer painkillers after inhaling peppermint oil (Tate, 1997). In fact aromatherapy can be utilized to treat several conditions such as infections (such as Herpes Zoster Virus, Herpes Simplex Infections, etc), arthritis, skin disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, sleeplessness, anxiety, distress, anticancer therapy problems, anorexia, body aches, etc. Any individual can learn about aromatherapy by reading books, attending seminars or going to school that train in aromatherapy. The National Association of Holistic Aroma-therapists (NAHA) is setting up standards for giving licenses and administering training. The individual who wants to become an aroma-therapist should have a good knowledge and practice of chemistry, botany, human physiology, etc. The aroma-therapist is responsible for administering treatment sessions on the patients such as massages. During the patientââ¬â¢s first session, he/she will ask the questions to get a detailed outlook of the past and present medical history. According to the patientââ¬â¢s complaint and the diagnosis of the condition, he/she will prepare essential oils using different individual components. The massages are similar to the Swedish and the Sports methods. The aroma-therapist also gives complete details of the procedure to the patient, advices about any precautionary measures to be taken and educates the patient about the benefits and risks of the procedure.
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Gun Rights vs Gun Control Essay -- right to bear arms, gun laws
The continuing Mass Shootings in the United States has caused the gun control debate to intensify. While anti-gun control advocates say the Second Amendment guarantees each individual the right to bear arms, the pro-gun control group reads the Second Amendment as a collective right to bear arms; meaning organized militia are the only ones with that right. This essay will analyse the effectiveness of several different articles which present arguments for and against gun control. Charles W. Collierââ¬â¢s article, ââ¬Å"Gun Control in America: An Autopsy Reportâ⬠, dives into the controversial topic of gun ownership and gun control in the United States. He uses recent shootings, including the George Zimmerman case and the Connecticut elementary school shooting, to present his case that gun violence will remain in the United States as long as guns remain high in number and low in regulation. Collier states that if Americans did not intend the consequences of holding an army with almost unlimited access to firearms, they would start demanding laws to control the gun violence: But changes of this magnitude are hardly to be expectedââ¬ânot in a land where a one-gun-per-month purchase limit counts as boldââ¬âeven ââ¬Å"pioneeringâ⬠ââ¬âlegislation. (The debate over assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, after all, is not about whether people will be killed; it is about how many will be killed, and how quickly). (81) Collier writes his article in a pessimistic view of the future of gun regulation. He uses logos in the quote above by using deductive reasoning. Collier writes about the generalization that any gun legislation should be unexpected because the specific case of the one-gun-per-month purchase limit. Collier uses pathos heavily throughout the a... ...additional information concerning gun control, the reader is left to make his or her educated opinion. Works Cited "Countering The Gun Lobby With Data." Bloomberg Businessweek 4347 (2013): 10. Business Source Premier. Web. 10 Feb. 2015. "Enforcement of Gun Control Laws." Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture and the Law. N.p.: ABC-CLIO, 2003. Credo Reference. 16 July 2008. Web. 10 Feb. 2015. "Gun Control." Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture and the Law. N.p.: ABC-CLIO, 2003. Credo Reference. 16 July 2008. Web. 10 Feb. 2015. Collier, Charles W. "Gun Control In America: An Autopsy Report." Dissent (00123846) 60.3 (2013): 81-86. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Feb. 2015. "Gun Control Overview." Congressional Digest 92.3 (2013): 3-7. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.
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