Brand Promotion of Nestle Essay

Nestle has a wide market for infant food in India. Nestle India enjoys a monopolistic position in baby foods Nestle has about 80% of market share in the baby cereal segment alone – which is a promising segment in future. Some of the Infant foods of nestle includes: Lactogen, Cerelac, Good Start, NAN, Nido etc. And all the infant foods except Nido come in different and innovative tastes according to the stages and growth of the children. Sauces and Ketchups: Nestle India introduced versatile types of sauces and ketchups according to the taste buds of Indian consumers under the brand name â€Å"Maggi†. There are numerous varieties of sauces which range from usual Tomato sauces, tangy ones, sour ones, continental ones, to the recent tamarind sauce which is yet to be introduced in some of the localities in India. Breakfast cereals: Nestle International has already taken up the breakfast segments of the International consumers. There is no doubt that Nestle India would also take up the Indian markets in its hands by the wide range of breakfast cereals. Some of the cereals include Nesquik which is targeted towards the kids, Cheerios towards Adults and Cookie Crisp for all age groups. Milk and dairy products: Milk: The largest segment of nestle is Milk and Dairy products. Nestle India focused and involved closely in this sector for the last 3 decades, also in the process of developing strong relationship with more than 85,000 farmers country wide. As a result Nestle has the best quality milk in India. Dairy products: Nestle is known for its dairy products especially, â€Å"Milkmaid† which has an unbeatable taste and other dairy products of nestle includes fresh and natural curd, light curd, and fruit flavored curd Famous chocolates of nestle includes Nestle Milk Chocolate, Nestle Milky bar, Nestle Munch, Nestle Kitkat, Nestle Bar One, and Polo. All these chocolates come in different flavors. Instant Food and Cooking Aids: Noodles: Nestle India’s Instant noodles â€Å"Maggi† is preferred by 80% of the consumers around the nation and the brand Maggi provides lots of attractive and tasty noodle variety targeting the kids and the adults especially office going people. Maggi is the largest and the most loved brand of Nestle India presently Maggi comes in 9 different and innovative flavors. Cooking Aids: An Indian Masala powder for cooking for enhancing the taste of the food we cook. â€Å"Maggi Bhuna Masala† is the magical powder which increases the taste of Indian food. Bottled water: Nestle has launched its packaged drinking water â€Å"Pure Life† which is an upcoming water brand o nestle sure to hit the markets of India. Nestle India – Market Leader: Nestle India is the market leader of Infant food, Instant coffee, and Milk Maid, the greatest market leader in Instant noodles â€Å"Maggi’. Case Studies of Nestle India: Social Impact of Nestle Global: Water saving initiatives held in India: Nestle India conducted a water saving campaign in Moga, Punjab where the brand has the largest milk districts. The campaign was about the water scarce and how scarce in water affects the production of milk. Happy Day in New Papua Guinea: Joining hands with the ministry of health in New Papua Guinea, Nestle conducted a Personal hygiene program initiating the nutritive values and health ailments faced due to the nutrition deficiency. Awareness campaign in North Africa – Nido: Nestle in North Africa conducted an awareness program regarding their launch of Nido in the markets of North Africa. Focusing on feeding mothers and infants. Nestle also conducts various awareness programs in different regions instructing the importance of water and the benefits of the purity and innovation of Nestle’s Water. Products of Nestle in India: (Pictorial Representation) Infant Formula: Sauces and Ketchups:

Victoria Secret Communication Strategy

Task: 1) Pick a brand (consumer goods categories including services) and gather all its marketing communication materials, and evaluate how effectively the brand has mixed and matched marketing communications (see Chapter 6). 2) Based on your understanding of the role of social media and other new forms of marketing communications, develop an interative brand-consumer communication program or campaign (refer to Chapter 5, Chapter 6, and Chapter 7) Length of the report (choose either Word or PPT format) 1. For Word format, no more than FIVE pages (1. spaced, 12 font size) 2. For PPT format, no more than 50 slides are expected (35 – 40 slides range would be better). How well does a proposed ad campaign contribute to brand equity? Introduction Background Communication Objectives Designing Social Media Communication – Target Customers – Message Strategy – Execution Elements Evaluation and Control Marketing Communications: everybody can be sexy; pictures say mo re than words I. Media advertising 1. Television broadcast of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion ShowThe possibly most outstanding, far-reaching marketing move is the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, being broadcasted on CBS during primetime with almost 10 million viewers in the year of 2012. The show is being used as a place to show-off for varying entertainers, designers and celebrities, having developed into an event with international relevance and recognition. The show and its execution stand for originality, excitement and extravagance, presented by the world’s top models, also known as the Victoria’s Secret Angels.In the center of attention is the strong dominance of the image Victoria’s Secret wants to convey and literally scream out to its audience: the incomparable sexiness, the overbearing powerfulness and the imperturbable supremacy of the brand itself and its wearer. According to CMO Ed Razek of Limited Brands regarding the effect of the show, â€Å"online sales increase substantially both the night the show is taped and the day after its broadcast. We’re talking tens of millions of dollars here, at least† (Raven). 2.Television Advertisements with aggressive messages Victoria’s Secret’s marketing strategy features several television advertisements, promoting new product lines or special occasions throughout the year such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day. A high consistency of the advertisements and high familiarity of the ad-structure makes it easily recognizable for consumers to distinguish VS’s commercial from other labels: each commercial features several Victoria’s Secret Angels and a large display of various styles and shapes of their lingerie for different tastes.Further, it always features the brand name and a reminder of other company-linked mediums such as the stores, the catalogue and the online store. The models are always presented in action and wearing only lingerie to grab the viewer’s immediate attention. The rather fast-moving scenery, exactly displays the attributes consistent to VS’s brand image and the hedonic user imagery: especially the â€Å"It’s Showtime† (http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=g8hCGq7oZds&feature=fvwp&NR=1)commercial designed my Michael Bay (Independence Day, etc. gives the advertisement a feeling of adventurousness, mystery, and the lingerie-displaying models a sense of being untouchable, sexy, powerful, desirable, irresistible, playful. This image is consistent throughout the advertisements and commercials â€Å"helps the [consumer] know what to expect and the variety keeps them coming back† (Raven). The verbal message – if present – comprises a very strong invitation or almost obligation to buy, conveying VS products to be the perfect choice of present for each occasion, such as stated in the â€Å"Tell me you love me† (http://www. outube. com/watch ? NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=8Ev5TyHYSfY) commercial: Seducing women whisper to the viewer to tell them â€Å"you love me†, reinforcing this wish with the final sentence â€Å"There is nothing like a Christmas present from Victoria’s secret†. As to prove one’s eternal and only love for a women, men as well as women get triggered directly – the one in the double bind of conveying his love especially through VS lingerie, and the other in the expectancy of such a gift as a sign of true affiliation or doubt. . Advertisement and presence in high-gloss magazines Magazines such as Elle and Vogue in the United States are the main print-medium to advertise to VS’s target consumer. The highly recognizable and consistent advertisements mainly introduce product line launches, displaying the consistent image of the VS brand with the sensuality and sexiness of the featured models. Besides, there are numerous articles featuring either the VS Angels or brand- related information, keeping the brand present to the consumer.VS has even reached out to reach their male shadow target audience, by featuring articles in the GQ men’s magazine, displaying desirable full-page photographs and even advertisement – making men want to see their women as sexy as the Angels, letting them consider to buy VS lingerie. II. Direct Response Advertising Direct response advertising is viewed as the key component of relationship marketing.VS cleverly applies this communication method via its Facebook group with 21 million members, engaging them in active participation by empowering them to vote for certain products a model should wear for a show, vote for â€Å"either or† questions regarding products as well as respond to questions on their personal opinion about what they want to buy. The analysis of these responses certainly has an immense value for VS as they can easily and at a low cost detect consumer preferences and possible shifts, tr ack responses towards special fields of interest and keep the consumer engaged with the VS brand.III. Place resp. out-of-home advertisement 1. QR code campaign: Sexier than Skin A use of innovative technologies regarding mobile applications has been successfully integrated through the â€Å"Sexier than Skin† campaign. Huge billboards throughout the United States featured each a VS model with a QR (quick response) barcode hiding their presumingly naked intimate body parts. Every passer-by equipped with a mobile phone has been able to directly scan the QR code after having downloaded a gratuitous application, thus being able to â€Å"Reveal [e. . ] Candice’s Secret†. Consistent with the â€Å"Sexier than Skin† campaign, the then on the screen visible advertisement showed the same model wearing VS’s new, sexy product line, convincing the viewer to be literally sexier than only skin. In order to increase the effectiveness of the commercial, the adverti sement has been directly connected to Victoria’s Secret’s main website, allowing consumers to directly browse through products and to shop online. . Mobile billboard campaign In the year of 2009, Citi-Mobile has launched a mobile billboard for VS’s â€Å"Perfect One Bra† campaign, â€Å"which featured a â€Å"stylish, state-of-the-art† 3D mobile billboard with a VS model printed on it wearing the new bra. The mobile passed major shopping areas and hotspots of Los Angeles County, carrying an additional announcement of the live-appearance of Heidi Klum at one of their flagship stores to launch the new line.The buzz has spread among trendsetters, and a large crowd lined up to meet Heidi Klum and take photos with her, as she personally drove the mobile billboard to the store that day and excessively promoted the new product (http://www. prweb. com/releases/2009/03/prweb2214114. htm). 3. Angel Wings Box In 2012, nine boxes with worn vintage VS Fashion Show wings have been put up on Broadway New York, where people were able to have a photo taken with. These photos could be sent to VS via mobile multimedia message in order to get them uploaded on the VS Facebook fanpage.A moment for fans to either enjoy being in the center of attention, taking part in the stunning experience of getting close to the Angel’s wings and sharing this moment online. Hence, people were able to tag themselves and to share it with their friends, spreading and promoting the brand throughout their social network, enabling VS to profit from very low-cost, efficient marketing (http://www. herworldplus. com/fashion/updates/try-on-a-pair-of-victoria-s-secret-angel-wings). 4. Product PlacementEasily recognizable Victoria’s Secret items such as the typical pink-striped shopping bag or the store front have been cleverly placed into several movies or TV-series, such as â€Å"Juno† (http://www. brandchannel. com/home/post/2011/12/09/At-the-Movies- A-Product-Placement-Super-Team-In-Young-Adult. aspx), a TV drama called â€Å"The Towns† (http://productplacementwatch. blogspot. hk/) and â€Å"The Office† (http://www. brandspotters. com/brand. aspx? id=48), subliminally confronting the consumer or viewer with the brand’s presence. 5.In-store advertisement mostly only showing a picture, luring the desire to upgrade oneself with such an amazing lingerie product; * 4. Promotions: to encourage first trial or visit of (online) store by lowering price resp. adding value: coupons, rebates, gimmicks, free gifts, bundle pricing, promotions during seasonal sales; better perceived value; seem to have become stable part of VS marketing To Earn Online/Catalogue: * Place an order of in-stock merchandise totaling $10 or more and use offer codeLOVEANGELS  at checkout. Choose the Victoria’s Secret Angel Credit Card* as your method of payment. (You must complete your order with an Angel Credit Card to qualify. ) * You r free Secret Reward Card will be added to your order after offer code is applied and will be included in your merchandise package. One free Secret Reward Card per order. To Earn in Stores: * Use your Victoria’s Secret Angel Credit Card* with any purchase of $10 or more to receive your free Secret Reward Card. One free Secret Reward Card per customer, per day. Valid only at US, non-outlet Victoria’s Secret stores.Same for facebook subscribers (digital coupons); or newsletter and catalogue subscribers as well; helps to reach price-sensitive consumers, increase product trial and quick, hedonic, in-store buying decisions; make it look as VS makes a special offer to their consumers, does not lower the perceived quality image; risk that buyers stick to promotional offers instead of buying the brand out of affiliation – but there are constantly promotions if only you follow FB, website, or other media; the brand after all makes profits large enough as the promotions a re usually tied to a minimum purchase amount; . Interactive: – website: online shopping possibility, consistent in colors and style (pink), very clear, directly uring with rebates and special promotions; VS ALL ACCESS features newest updates about models, shootings, press released, trend reports, interviews and previews of the new collections to keep followers updated, involved, interested; also featuring videos how to get in shape as the admired angels, how to put on make-up the way they do – you can adapt their whole look and lifestyle as a passionate follower; store locator, policies, etc. clear and consistent design, easy to navigate through; – iPhone and Android Web: Victoria’s Secret â€Å"Get your Wings† application; PLUS normal app to allows online shopping and direct ordering – e-mails in the form or newsletters: Stay in touch & in style via your inbox, with the latest from Victoria's Secret, exclusive online and in-store offers ; s ales, new fashion, lingerie ; beauty alerts, in-store events ; store openings in your area, news and offers from Victoria's Secret and its sister companies. Social Media: – facebook as rather to create a long-term relationship and consumer engagement (FABULOUS; design your own; encouragement to buy things and feel sexy), etc. ; almost 22million likes; 2 million followers on twitter; Welcome to the official Victoria’s Secret page, where Angels, Bombshells & the sexiest fans on Facebook get their fix for everything VS. Company Overview Victoria's Secret is inspired by a love for lingerie, and the desire to bring beauty—and fantasy—into every woman’s wardrobe. We believe little luxuries are of grand importance.And what’s closest to your body is always closest to our heart. All under a â€Å"Life is Fabulous† slogan, especially the word fabulous being featured in the majority of posts; created a facebook community; able to fine tune its m arketing and yield marketing insights, as consumers get involved by voting for outfit preferences; interactive involvement by directly promoting a new product line with the question whether â€Å"YOU† (spelled in capital letters† already found the perfect fit; easy platform to respond to consumer requests, responses, complaints, etc. irectly, publicly; promoting Model or theme playlists on spotify people can contribute to; – online videos via youtube channel: featuring newest online or Tv commercials and extended cuts, product introductions, behind-the-scenes videos on VS’ youtube channel, insights and close-up from the models, workout plans â€Å"train like an angel†, make-up tips â€Å"look like an angel†, videos â€Å"on the Art of Living Fabulously†, the Fashion Show, â€Å"you asked – we answered†; Mobile marketing via APP be it get your wings or the online shop, QR code scanning; to increase loyalty; targeted mobile ads in Pandora’s iPhone app – geo-targeting, as the ads show how far away consumers are from VS store – redirection to mobile landing site; increasing trial â€Å"Victoria’s Secret, the  largest American retailer of lingerie, has recently launched the first ever nationwide mobile messaging campaign in the United States using rich media messaging, the next generation of MMS technology,† said Cezar Kolodziej, president/CEO of Iris Mobile, Chicago. (http://www. mobilemarketer. com/cms/news/messaging/14124. tml) â€Å"They are promoting their VSX Sexy Sport brand by sending workout tips through their video series, ‘Train Like An Angel,’† he said. â€Å"These tips are delivered by Victoria Secret models themselves, also known as the Angels, to teach women how to stay in shape. † Rich media messaging is the only mobile technology that allows Victoria’s Secret to deliver videos on all mobile handsets and carrier with n o data connection required; thus watchable EVERYWHERE; keeping in touch, updating, informing, strengthening the relation; to bolster awareness 7. Event marketing and sponsorship: Fashion show PINK NATION 8.Publicity and public relations: Angels as spokeswomen, social stuff? (but the 2000 show was moved for a year from the usual February event at the Plaza to a May event in concert with the  Cannes Film Festival  in France to raise money for the Cinema Against AIDS charity; it raised $3. 5 million. ) 9. Word-of-mouth Consistency of content in FB stuff – makes people come back as they know there will be something waiting for them; All contribute to brand equity: by creating awareness of the brand, linking pop and pod associations to the brand in consumers’ memory, eliciting positive brand judgments or feelings (socially active? , and facilitating a stronger consumer-brand connection and brand resonance; Intended  goals  of an  advertising  or  promotional  program. Possible communications  objectives  include  (1) creating brand  awareness, (2) imparting  knowledge, (3) projecting an  image, (4) shaping, enhanding  attitudes and influencing intentions, (5) stimulating a  want  or desire, and/or (6) effecting a  sale, facilitate purchase behavior. (7) Building brand image; Read more:  http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/communications-objectives. html#ixzz2Ny5BtTpRCommunication objectives of social media: http://www. chrisbrogan. com/10-communications-objectives-of-social-media/ We observe, young consumers use social media as a â€Å"push† medium (too) – they send out messages and are promoting themselves. They get friends with brands, because brands follow back REWARDING LOYAL CUSTOMERS 1. Generate awareness. 2. Drive Trial. 3. Product Launch. 4. Establish Need/Want 5. Product/Service Comparison. 6. Positive Association. 7. Form/Change Opinion. 8. Influence the Influencers. 9. Drive Act ion/Traffic. 10. Establish/Regain Trust.

We Create Our Own Monsters

Woods 1 Taylor Woods Mrs. Eryes Language Arts 3-4 H 16 October 2012 We Create Our Own Monsters Monsters are different for everyone. Some may think monsters are purple, hairy, one-eyed freaks. Others may think they are atrocious beasts with chain-saws and bloody faces out to kill you! But monsters don’t just have to be a literal thing that we can see and feel. Many monsters are figurative, meaning that it’s not an actual real life monster but are features and characteristics made up of our own fears.Many times the things that make a monster scary are because of the traits we give to them from our own fears. Monsters are creatures of our own imagination that help us deal with and reflect our fears and taboos.. The University of Michigan attempts to define monsters. The way they explain monsters is that they are creatures of our own imagination. James Mitchell describes monsters and says that, â€Å"Cultures create and ascribe meaning to monsters, endowing them with their characteristics derived from their most deep-seeded fears and taboos†.What Mitchell is trying to say is that monsters are made up of our own fears. We create the characteristics of the monster based on our fears and taboos. So, for example, when we are younger we are scared of a monster in our closet and under our beds. So, a monster to a young child would be a hairy, colorful creature like a monster from the movie â€Å"Monsters, Inc. †. But as we grow up we don’t fear that type of monster anymore. We overcome those worries. We are then faced with new problems and fears. For example, many teens fear not being socially accepted and people making fun of them Woods 2 nd bullying them – much like Frankenstein, not because the way he looked, but how he wasn’t accepted by anyone because peopled feared him. Monsters don’t just have to be big and scary creatures. They are also figurative just like in the books The Outsiders and Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. In the book The Outsiders by S. E. Hilton the monster is â€Å"being alone† because in the book they fear being alone because they could be attacked by the Socs. The Socs were the â€Å"cool† and â€Å"popular† kids. They always have each other’s backs and protect one another from the Socs and everything they fear.After Ponnyboy got beat up in the beginning of the book by the Socs you can tell that they are all there for him, â€Å"Our gang had chased the Socs to their car and heaved rocks at them. † In the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon, Christopher doesn’t like anything he can’t use logic to figure out such as metaphors, jokes, sarcasm. That’s why he even says in his book, â€Å"This will not be a funny book. I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them. †(Haddon, 8) Christopher fears the unknown and chaos because of his autism.Christopher cannot handle it when there is chaos and people asking too many question, â€Å"He was asking me too many questions and he was asking them too quickly†¦I rolled back onto the lawn and pressed my forehead to the ground again and made the noise that Father calls groaning. † (Haddon, 7) The unknown and chaos are the monsters in this book. Figurative monsters are in all the books even the well-known monster books.. Even most of the classic monsters have figurative monsters in the stories as well. In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelly you would think ‘The Monster’ would be the monster.He still is, it’s obvious, he is a massive, atrocious beast. But ‘The Monster’ actually fears being rejected. He has been rejected by so many people because all they see when they see Woods 3 him is his looks and not any of his personality. Just like when he was learning from his neighbors that he was spying on and decided to go to their house and meet them, and they immediately are frightened and do not accept ‘The Monster’ even though he was not there to harm them. He had very good intensions. When people saw him, they just assumed he was out to cause harm.In Beowulf-poet everyone fears Grendel because he wants to kill Beowulf. This makes Grendael the monster of this story. But just like any other story there is a figurative monster as well. The people in this story fear Grendel’s power to kill whoever he wants, thus making the figurative monster power. But overall, the people of this town fear themselves or loved ones being killed which makes their biggest fear, death, just like in most books. In every story, movie, poem or T. V. show there is a monster. Whether it’s just the antagonist or a classic monster, a monster is a monster.You can always find a figurative monster. What most people fear almost always ends up being the figurative monster. Just like in Frankenstein he fears being rejected, in the Outsiders the y fear being on their own and in the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Christopher fears the unknown. In all these books they also all fear one thing in common: death. One of the biggest fears to everyone is dying which makes every monster almost have to do with death. As we know, we create our own monster, by having their characteristics come from our fears.Every monster is different and every person has a different view on monsters. Woods 4 Works Cited Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. New York: Doubleday, 2003. Print. Hinton, S. E. The Outsiders,. New York: Viking, 1967. Print. THe Holt Reader: An Interactive Worktext. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, n. d. Print. Sixth Course. Mitchell, James. â€Å"Introductory Essay to Our Exploration of Monstrosity. † University of Michigan. N. p. , n. d. Web. Aug. 2012. . Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1831. Print.

Classic Airline's Marketing Solution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Classic Airline's Marketing Solution - Essay Example Classic Airlines is the world’s fifth largest airlines and has witnessed a steady growth in the 25 years since its inception. However, though profitable, the airline has not been spared from the challenges that affect airlines. For instance, increased uncertainty about flying negatively affected the stock prices which saw Classic airlines recording a 10 % decrease in the share prices in 2004. Its negativity has resulted in low employee morale where consumer confidence seems to be declining. Loyal customers also seem to be jumping ship and those remaining are flying less frequently. The airline has come under spotlight as a result of the seemingly mounting problems hence this essay seeks to identify as well as to define the problem bedevilling Classic Airlines. A problem solving model will be applied in a bid to try to address the airline’s current crisis. A close analysis of the case shows that there are both internal as well as external pressures contributing to Classi c Airlines’ current crisis. The airline is operating in a competitive environment that is characterised by rising fuel while it is already incurring high operating costs. In a competitive environment, it can be noted that the companies will be fighting for the same customers hence the one with favourable services is likely to appeal to the interests of many customers. Whilst it has been observed that competition is fierce in the airline industry, it has also been noted that a closer look at the profiles of the other competitors shows that to a certain extent, some of them have a competitive advantage over Classic Airlines. The major strengths of the three given competitors indicate that they are dominant players in the industry and they have a global presence and a strong existing network in different destinations they ply. It has also been noted that these players have successful loyalty programs in place which is currently a problem that is affecting Classic Airlines. Its c ustomer loyalty base is waning and a holistic approach has to be taken in order to revive its diminishing fortunes. Another notable strength possessed by the competitors is that they have worldwide brand recognition and they are likely to appeal to a large number of customers. There are also internal factors contributing to Classic Airlines’ current crisis and these include labour costs. The firm is paying top salaries especially to pilots and other employees while other competitors are cutting back pay on such professions. Priority is given to the needs of the workers and this has increased the operating costs of the airline. High salaries offered to the employees are not commensurate with the actual economic state of affairs obtaining on the ground. The stance to give the employees the autonomy to decide destinations through a bidding system is also a contributory factor to the current crisis being faced by the airline. The high operating costs have limited the airline†™s ability to compete for valued frequent flier given that it is now confined in a restrictive cost structure. Thus, as noted by Ben Sutcliffe, Classic’s General Counsel, the main problem related to this approach by the airline is that it has one of the highest labour costs which are likely to jeopardize its future. This has mandated a 15 % cost

Case Scenario, Final Discussion Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Scenario, Final Discussion - Case Study Example aught something different or they learnt about something new from their different nursing textbooks, they would be in a position to share what they have learnt with their colleagues. Moreover, the RN would be in a position to teach the other RNs about what they know and that would help improve the quality of care in the health care setting. Secondly, the significance of gaps in the hospital’s policy and procedures is that the overall quality of care disbursed with regard to the hospital’s policy and procedures would also be improved. For example, if a RN from a different health care setting that followed different and better hospital policies and procedures was scheduled to work in a different health care setting that did not practice or implement all the mandated hospital policies and procedures; then the practice that did not follow all the mandated policies would be given the chance to improve on their quality of care through the existing gap or difference. Thirdly, the significance of gaps between published literatures is that it not only helps different RNs to gain more versatile experience and knowledge in practice but it also assists them to gain skills of socialization and communication with other people in the care environment. For example, if one RN was to study different literature notes from another RN, then each would have different experiences and knowledge. As such, when placed in the same working environment, each would share the different ideas and experiences it is that they learnt from the different literature sets. Moreover, they would also gain the chance to practice and also improve on their socialization as well as communication skills through that experience. Lastly, the significance of gaps in actual practice is that the different RNs would get the chance to practice the different nursing and medical techniques it is that they studied and practiced in nursing school. As such, their nursing skills would be improved and hence the

Virtual groups and how they effect group communication Research Paper

Virtual groups and how they effect group communication - Research Paper Example Instead they connect through communication technologies and computers, provide an unparalleled amount of flexibility (Powell, Piccoli & Ives, 2004) and are unified only by a shared function or rationale (Lurey & Raisinghani, 2000). This paper aims to review the literature and research that focuses on the characteristics of small virtual groups in an effort to determine how virtual group interaction affects performance and to make comparisons between performance of small virtual teams and more traditional co-located small teams. Small groups usually consist of three to fifteen members (Socha, 1997) with the ideal size being five to seven (Cragan & Wright, 1999) with every member having an influence on each other and are interdependent. In other words if something occurs to or influences one member it impacts on other group members; the behavior of one group member effects both the way other group members relate to each other (relational behavior) and how they finish the task or attain their goal (task behavior) (Bertcher, 1994). According to Myers & Anderson (2008) interdependence is a fundamental characteristic of a small group and at the end of the day will influence how the group achieves its goal or task which is the initial and most important reason the group is formed. Tasks can be additive, wherein the small group members work separately on one component of a task and when all components are completed they amalgamate their endeavors to produce one ultimate outcome, or they can be conjunctive, wherein the group works together to produce the final outcome (Steiner, 1972). In the case of additive tasks the small group is not interdependent until the end when they unite their work but with conjunctive tasks they are interdependent from start to finish. Apart from the task, interdependence and size, Myers & Anderson (2008) claimed that small groups contain three further features of communication which are ‘norms, identity and talk’ (p.9). He furth er claimed that the norms of small group behavior are the rules or regulations pertaining to members of the group, and can be social, procedural or task based, and if not upheld by a group member sanctions may be imposed on that member. Norms therefore shape small group behavior and govern the way in which group members undertake their task, interact and create their identity - the physical and psychological limits that differentiate small groups and group members. Communication is the most important feature of small groups in terms of defining their identity and consists of four different types of talk as posited by Cragan & Wright (1999) that include role talk, problem-solving talk, encounter talk and consciousness-raising talk. Myers & Anderson (2008) claimed that a small group that is able to balance all four talk types will be more effective and succeed in its task, whereas a small group that places too much emphasis on one type over another or does not employ any one type may alienate some members and not accomplish their task. To summarize the characteristics of small group communication there are three major qualities – size, interdependence and task, and three minor qualities – norms, talk and identity, that influence the way in which group members interact and communicate. Research shows that much has been suggested and purported in terms of virtual communication

Information and Knowledge Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Information and Knowledge Management - Essay Example It is clear that the Internet has led to a complete change in the process of information gathering, generation, transmission and also understanding. The transformation from the use of the web as a medium to the use of the web as a platform marked the beginning of web 2.0 era. The advent of web 2.0 has had a significant impact on various levels and areas. It is also clear that the current digital age is becoming a complete information based world and companies, as well as individuals, are required to have strong knowledge and information to be able to effectively participate in the current times. In conclusion, the competitive edge of companies, as well as individuals, is more so, on the information and the management of information than it has ever been in the past. Hence it crucial that individuals and companies alike use the current digital age as a strong advantage for information management. Although there can be numerous challenges that can be faced with effective management of information, it is crucial that all information and knowledge is managed with care. Companies with good and well-developed knowledge management systems and accurate information management have proved to be more successful and effective. Hence it is clear that although managing information in the digital age is surrounded by numerous challenges. Along with the intensive increase and improvement in the technology and the technological development, managing information has now become a simpler task for most.

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 5

Strategic Management - Essay Example The story of the ‘Subway’ is an indication of just what organizations need to do in an increasingly globalized environment. Winning customer confidence and remaining true to organization’s policies and priorities lies at the heart of just what has to be done. To achieve this, an organization has to have a strategy that delivers capabilities which enable the firm to cope with challenges from within the organization itself as well as outside of it. In the case of Subway, this is what enabled the company, small as it was, to be able to stick it out in a market dominated by global players such as the McDonald’s and Burger King. However, once opportunities in the domestic market shrink, it may no longer be tenable to continue pumping resources in such a market. Expansion outside the domestic market becomes the only option for growth. Having a strategic capability ensures that the company’s competitive edge can be sustained into the long run. In the current globalized environment, firms need to grow in order to survive in the market. This growth is difficult to attain due to intense competition. Therefore, organizations need to develop clear strategies that earn them competitive advantages. Otherwise, they will not survive the competition. Organizations need to understand their resources and use them creatively to attain competitive advantages that ensure they brave the competition. It, therefore, calls on the management to come up with sound priorities and strategies which can be achieved in light of resource constraints.

The Difference between Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Material Research Paper

The Difference between Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Material - Research Paper Example On the other hand, an environmental hazard is a state of events with the potential to threaten its surrounding natural substances and hence adversely affect the health of people in that particular environment. Therefore, hazards are categorized into five types depending on their cause as follows; psychosocial hazards, mechanical, physical, biological and chemical hazards. Notably, a hazard is not the same as a risk. While a hazard is a source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects, a risk is the combination of a probability that an event or incident may bring negative results. A hazardous waste is any waste substance that is dangerous and or is potentially harmful to the health of human beings and the environment. Such wastes can be liquids, solids, sludge or even gasses. Hazardous wastes may be in the form of the disposed commercial products, cleaning fluids or the by-products of any manufacturing processes. The different types of hazardous wastes are categorized into listed wastes, characteristic wastes, universal wastes and mixed wastes. It follows that specific procedures determine the ways in which wastes are identified, classified, listed, and also delisted. On the other hand, a hazardous material is any dangerous good in the form of a solid, liquid or gas with the potential to harm people, other living things, cause damage to property as well as cause damage to the environment. Such dangerous goods could be a biohazard, flammable substances, and allergens or constitute elements that render them hazardous at particular circumstances and instances. H owever, there is a relationship between hazardous wastes and hazardous material (LaGrega, Buckingham & Evans, 2010). It is through the use or getting in contact with hazardous materials that hazardous wastes are produced. Without hazardous materials, there would be no hazardous wastes. For instance, pesticides are used to control pests at homes or in

Why I want to study fashion design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Why I want to study fashion design - Essay Example Even as a child, I remember inventing clothes for my dolls and enjoying the activity and the imagination it entailed. Though these dolls already had nice outfits, however, I wanted to give them a personal touch of my own. My parents were amazed and thrilled by my creativity and effort to transform these dolls. From just one original outfit I would make several variations. Seeing my interest, as well as my knack for it, they decided to give me a ‘My size Barbie’ and a sewing machine as a Christmas present. That was the starting point; upon entering my teens, I started designing my own clothes along with those of my friends and relatives. I also started attending modeling classes. As I moved on to my college years I decided to pursue a career in Architecture. Putting my dreams of becoming a fashion designer aside, I decided to work in an Architecture firm for a while, thinking of later working in the family Architecture firm as well. However, I did not give up my passion f or fashion, whenever I had free time I kept creating my own designs and drawings of garments. I also had the habit of cutting out designs from magazines – designs I thought were interesting and which I could use as a foundation for further creativity perhaps. A few years later, I decided to move to the United States to get a masters degree in Architecture. After I was done with my masters, I went back to the wonderful world of fashion by getting into modeling school for the second time. This time, I was convinced that I should get back into fashion designing and not give up on my childhood dream. My family and friends not only supported my decision but have been a major motivating force. What is more, even acquaintances and other people have been really appreciative of my creative designs. Their praise has been a constant source of encouragement for me to take up fashion designing on a professional level. The support and praise I receive really helps me by backing up my decis ion to be a creative fashion designer. It feels good when I create, not only because I like it, but also because my designs are liked by people. I have therefore decided to go for a professional degree in fashion designing so that I could also learn about other aspects of the industry. I believe that a degree from Miami International University of Art and Design would help me to grow not only as a person but also as a professional who would be able to meet the challenges of the contemporary world. I have a multi-cultural background, and am greatly influenced by it. It shows in my work too as my passion for ethnic designs and use of fusion is my strongest point. As a child I was much enamored with the fashion magazines that showcased the clothes of leading fashion designers of Milan and Paris. However, as I grew up, I realized that while I am fascinated with the contemporary fashion designers, I am equally captivated by the variety found in ethnic designs. Culture has, therefore, bee n a very vital part of my creativity, which, I believe, needs to be used for exploiting my potential as a designer. In the present environment of globalization, a professional degree in fashion designing would equip me with more options to capably exploit the present opportunities, as well as help me gain a competitive advantage within the fashion industry. The Art Institute is renowned for offering a highly personalized degree. At the same time, it promotes a wide scope of personal development through cross-cultural interaction and community development. Indeed, it offers the best of both worlds: excellent academic programs and opportunities of personal development, both of which are essential for professional success in today’

Employing Strategy in a Competitive Environment Research Paper - 1

Employing Strategy in a Competitive Environment - Research Paper Example It is important for the organization to review all the employment policies and do necessary changes to maintain its good brand reputation. Economical Growth of US economy got affected due to recent financial crisis and economic recession. Recently, people are trying to consume low priced quality products. In addition to this, competitive pricing strategy of several local and international competitors is affecting the market share growth of Walmart (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel, 2008). It will be effective if the organization tries to introduce economically priced differentiated products by reducing its business operation cost. Social The organization terminated employees during and after the financial crisis and recession. Although it is considered as the leading employer within the country, but this strategy affected its brand image. They need to focus on employee specific strategies and business practices in order to get support from government and stakeholders. Technological Technologica l development of US motivated Walmart to implement advanced technology in business operation process. This adoption of advanced technology is resulting in job loss of employees. It is creating a negative image and perception. The organization should use both manual and automatic process in business organization. A technological process or machine cannot run without effective knowledge of employees. Environmental Recently the organization faced several environmental issues regarding cutting of trees in order to produce and distribute wooden furniture to the target customers. Walmart should follow each and every environmental policy developed by government and should use substitute resources of wood in furniture manufacturing process. It would not hamper the market share as demand of customers is ever rising. Strength and Weaknesses This part of the report will evaluate the organization’s strengths and weaknesses based on above environmental scan. Strengths Walmart is the large st employer in US. The organization gets huge political support from the government as it helps to minimize the unemployment rate of the country. In addition to this, adoption and implementation of advanced technology in business process is helping the organization to meet customer satisfaction and current market demand. Differentiated product line is helping the organization to achieve phenomenal market share growth (Draft, 2009). Continuation of these strategies and business practices will help organization to reduce business operation time and develop a potential client base that can be considered as major competitive advantages. Weaknesses Lack of sustainability in business operation, failing to follow environmental policies, job loss during the economic slowdown and critical workplace conflicts are considered as major weaknesses of Walmart (Pride & Ferrell, 2004). The organization needs to reform and modify their business operation strategies to mitigate business associated ris ks and challenges. Competitors K-Mart is one of the major and leading competitors of Walmart in US market. K-Mart also operates within the same industry with similar kind of business model. This retail chain offers differentiated products in competitive price to increase the number of target customers and market share. But Walmart has effectively introduced several unique strategies that helped them to achieve potential competitive advan

Video game industry analysis Essay Example for Free

Video game industry analysis Essay History The history of video games goes as far back as the 1940s, when in 1947 Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. and Este Ray Mann filed a United States patent request for an invention they described as a cathode ray tube amusement device. Video gaming would not reach mainstream popularity until the 1970s and 1980s, when arcade video games, gaming consoles and home computer games were introduced to the general public. Since then, video gaming has become a popular form of entertainment and a part of modern culture in most parts of the world. There are currently considered to be eight generations of video game consoles, with the seventh and the eighth concurrently ongoing. Early Founders During the golden age of video games in the 1970s, it was a rush to the start to see which company and which programmer could create a video game and platform that could trump the rest. However, most large video game manufacturers can trace their roots far before that decade, reaching back into the early 1900s or even the late 1800s. While some video game companies, such as Nintendo and Sony, would begin their economic pursuits in other fields, companies like Atari and Sega were created with an eye toward producing the ultimate gaming system. The first major video game company to come into being was Nintendo, which would eventually make video games popular again in the 1980s. Nintendo is a Japanese company that was created in 1889 and was originally named the Marufuku Company. In 1951, this company, which manufactured Western-style playing cards in Japan, would take the name Nintendo, meaning â€Å"leave luck to heaven. In 1891, the Philips Company, owner of Magnavox and an important frontrunner in the video game production race, was established in the Netherlands. In 1947, another major video game icon was founded under the name Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Company. After the founders realized this name was too cumbersome to say and remember easily, they modified the Latin word sonus (meaning sound) to form the company name Sony. Sega was founded in 1952, under the name Service Games, as a company that provided coin-operated games and jukeboxes to American servicemen in Japan. It would not be until 1972, well into the beginning of video games, that Atari was formed as a cooperative partnership between leading video game programmers Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. First Video Games and Platforms The idea for an interactive video game was first conceived of by Ralph Baer, an engineer with an airborne electronics company, in 1951. Commissioned to design a television for the company, Baer believed the TV could be more marketable to consumers if it contained a type of interactive game (Kent 2001). His idea was shot down by the company, but other engineers and programmers would not let it settle for long. The first official video games, a table-tennis type game and a computer space game, were developed in 1958 and 1961, respectively. These early video games proved to be the necessary catalyst for game programmers and were the early predecessors of the popular arcade games Pong and Space Invaders. Pong, created by the Atari Company in 1972, turned into an incredible success in arcades and led to the creation of the first home video gaming system, the Magnavox Odyssey. After the moderate success of the Odyssey, several video game companies would follow with their own home gaming systems in 1976 and 1977, including the Atari Video Computer System (VCS). Video Games Take Off By 1978, home video game consoles were beginning to sell well, and more competitors had entered the market. Nintendo of Japan released its first video game that year, a simplistic version of the board game Othello that was marketed in arcades. The popular toy makers Mattel and Milton Bradley also entered the video game scene in the following two years with a hand-held video game unit from Milton Bradley and the Intellivision by Mattel, the first video game console to offer true competition to Atari. During this golden age of video games in the late 1970s, the two leading contenders, Magnavox and Atari, both tried to add competition to the home computer market. Magnavox released the Odyssey 2, a programmable video game console that included a built-in keyboard, while Atari began selling its own personal computer designed to rival Apple. However, most consumers connected Atari only with video games, and the computer system was widely disregarded. During this time period, Atari also released its first home version of the popular arcade game Space Invaders, leading to a massive increase in sales for the VCS game console. As video gaming entered the 1980s, two incredibly popular games that would revolutionize the industry were created. Pac-Man, created by Namco in 1980, became the best-selling arcade game of all time and the first video game that was popular with both males and females. The later version, Ms. Pac-Man, would also prove to be immensely popular at arcades. The next year, in 1981, Nintendo of America created Donkey Kong for arcades. While the hero of Donkey Kong was originally named Jump man, this name was later changed to Mario and he would become an icon in years to come as a key video game hero. Unfortunately, as video games began to take off in the early 1980s, the market quickly became flooded with multiple consoles and games, and the industry experienced a market crash in 1984. Industry Growth Along with increasing Internet and broadband penetration throughout the world, online and mobile gaming represents the greatest push in the video game growth. The implication of this increase in accessibility to technology is many developing countries -specifically the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China) – are now becoming major players in the industry. As online and mobile gaming becomes more affordable, video gaming becomes more accessible to developing countries. Though console gaming currently represents the largest market in the industry, its growth is projected to slow down in the upcoming years, from a 10. 9% growth between 2003 and 2008, to a 5. 5% between 2008 and 2013. In 2008, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) represented the largest video gaming market share (35. 3%). In 2013 it is projected the Asia-Pacific region will be the leader in both growth and market share. The projection is market share in EMEA and North America will decline, while it is expected to increase in Latin America. The video game industry in the BRIC economies has developed in parallel fashion to these countries’ general economic expansion. It is projected the BRIC countries will have increased market share in future years. Market size The Video Games are a cultural phenomenon that is growing ever more prominent among young and old alike. They have become an integral part of the mass media culture and have been in existence for nearly as long as the television. While the video games of today are growing ever more detailed and lifelike, early video games like Pong, Space Invaders, and Pac-Man were equally impressive and highly entertaining at their time. From their earliest years to the complex video game landscape of the twenty-first century, video games have developed into enchanting, alternate worlds that have captured the hearts of millions of players. As of today, it is estimated that video game consoles represent more than 25% of the worlds general-purpose computational power. Also they were banned in China since June 2000 and now China is seeing explosive growth. Market size from 2003 to 2013 in $billions REVENUE FOR 2012. Size of global traditional video game market revenue, excluding mobile games on smart phones and tablets: $70 billion, up from $65 billion in 2011 Size of global video game market revenue, including mobile games on smart phones and tablets: $78. 5 billion for 2012 Retail software revenue: $28 billion, down from $29. 5 billion in 2011 Online revenue, including digital delivery, subscriptions, Facebook games: $24 billion, up from $18 billion in 2011 (Source: DFC Intelligence) CONSOLE MAKERS Microsoft Corp * Xbox 360 launched in the United States: November 2005 * Xbox consoles sold: 67 million. * Kinect motion sensors sold: 19 million Major initiative: Microsoft is expected to show off new entertainment features of its Xbox 360 and a new version of Halo. Sony Corp * PlayStation3 launched in the United States and Japan: November 2006 * As of March 31, PlayStation3 units sold: Over 63 million units * As of June 6, 2011, Sony Move motion sensors shipped: 8. 8 million units Major initiative: Sony is expected to push new games to boost sales of the Vita and PlayStation 3. Nintendo Co Ltd * Launched Wii in the United States: November 2006 * Wii units shipped: More than 95 million * DS units shipped: More than 151 million. * 3DS units: More than 17 million Major initiative: Nintendo will finally unveil the first home console in six years at E3. Device is expected to feature HD graphics, a special tablet controller and motion sensors. SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS Activision Blizzard Annual revenue: $4. 8 billion Top franchises: Call of Duty and World of Warcraft Electronic Arts Inc Annual revenue: $4. 1 billion Top franchises: The Sims and Madden NFL Take-Two Interactive Software Annual revenue: $826 million Top franchises: Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption Ubisoft Annual revenue: 1. 06 billion euros Substitute Products. Substitute products for games maybe songs from music industry, movies from movie industry, and television programs from television industry which people also sought fun and entertainment. There have not been so many problems with the substitute products because video game industry is uprising. According to a writer for Fortune, music sales have been falling in recent years, the movie going experience hasn’t change that much and network TV is on the skids. Political Determinants Unlike many other industries, the gaming industry isn’t universally affected by political determinants. Political determinants are generally specific to a country. While violence and sexual content of games are common themes of discussion, how they are handled varies from country to county. Social and Environmental Factors Social Factors Video games have an enormous place in society – most kids are exposed to video games in some sort of capacity growing up. Just like other technological mediums, there are both positive and negative social issues related to video gaming. Some Positive Effects of Playing Video Games Video games have proven to be effective tools for children’s learning when used appropriately as they impart specific attitudes, skills and behaviors on the player. For example, some video games have helped to teach children how to effectively deal with their asthma and diabetes. Further, in a study with college students, playing a golf video game improved students’ actual control of force when putting, even though the video game gave no bodily feedback on actual putting movement or force. Video games have also been shown to increase surgical skills for doctors, and research has more broadly proven that people can learn iconic, spatial, and visual attention skills from video games. [1] Some Negative Effects of Playing Video Games. Research has shown that video games can lead to negative effects on children’s physical health, including obesity, video-induced seizures, and postural, muscular and skeletal disorders, such as tendonitis, nerve compression, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Additionally, the amount of time spent playing video games has been shown to have a negative correlation with academic performance. [2] But even more prevalent, is that playing video games has been shown to have a positive correlation with antisocial and aggressive behavior. Violent video games are most commonly defined as games where the player can intentionally harm the other characters. Not only do a majority of video games today fall under this definition, but a recent study established that the majority of 4th to 8th grade students prefer violent games. [3] Environmental Factors E-Waste Almost 50 million tons of electronic products are discarded every year, and the figure continues to grow as the lifespan of new devices continues to shrink. According to the environmental organization Greenpeace, that estimated amount of e-waste generated every year put into containers on a train would be enough to circle the globe! In fact, up to five percent of all municipal solid waste worldwide is this electronic waste (e-waste). Such is the magnitude of this e-waste that it now ties with plastic packaging in number; yet electronic waste is much more hazardous. While mobile phones and computers are the main causes of this ever-increasing waste as they are replaced on average more frequently, video games and video game consoles contribute significantly to e-waste. [1] http://www. mediafamily. org/facts/facts_effect. shtml [2] http://www. buzzle. com/articles/effects-of-video-games-on-children. html [3] http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m0816/is_6_21/ai_n9772319/.

Introduction To The Media Industry Media Essay

Introduction To The Media Industry Media Essay As the media industry joins the ranks of others that are facing tremendous declines and losing advertising revenue, African Americans in the media have also faced extreme challenges. We as people often search for answers to create change in todays society, but stereotypes linger within our world placing a barrier on chances of unity and equality. One of the main sources of these stereotypes is the mass media. Stereotypes are commonly referred to as codes that give audiences quick, common understandings, (sometimes invalid) of a person or group of people mostly relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role, or occupation. African Americans are constantly viewed in ways that are false and over-exaggerated. From loud explicit curse words, to wobbly behinds and gold teeth, the mass media blinds America with false and negative images. From the beginning of television history, African Americans were shown as very dark, monkey-like characters without a tad of know-how except in the areas of housekeeping or singing and dancing. Stereotyping or labeling is a technique that attempts to arouse prejudices in an audience by labeling the object of the images as something the target audience fears, hates, loathes, or finds undesirable (Lester 134). These ideas become so clichà © that they begin to form daily thoughts and views and one is unable to look beyond them. The mass media, including movies, music, music videos, newspapers, magazines, television broadcasts, and forms of advertising, often portrays African Americans as hood, ghetto, threatening, and sexually explicit. This has transformed into lifestyles and insulting stereotypes in todays society. The inadequate coverage of African Americans due, in large part to the lack of depth in minority media ownership, has provided an opportunity in the nations current economic conditions. The media industry is taking major hits as revenues are dropping, readership and viewership totals are down, and the journalism and media industries are bumping along the same rocky roads as the automotive industry where thousands of jobs were lost in a matter of days. Framework of Study This study will include a mass research of the past century of African American appearances in the media. African- Americans image has evolved over time. Research will be focused on why and how this evolution process has taken place. This subject has been overlooked by society, and many do not understand that the process of an African-American being placed in the media was a very difficult one. Examples will be given on how African Americans were depicted in the media. Also, there will be an analysis of how audiences of the media react to blacks being the focal point, and why publishers and broadcasters show these images in the manner that they do. Graphs of the ratings of the different media releases will be compared by race of focal point to determine the impact that African-Americans had on society through the media. Also, common television sitcoms will be analyzed in order to explain how African-American images have changed over time. All sitcoms were reviewed through network television. The sitcoms range from the 1960s to the current television era. Also, the sitcoms will be analyzed to explain how the content has changed societys view on the lives and culture of African Americans. Statement of Problem Society has placed a negative image on African-Americans due to the techniques of the media used to portray them. These techniques are marketing schemes used to produce more total revenue. These negative ideas or beliefs place a role in the lives of many African-Americans. Stereotypes are formed and problems arise daily for black individuals. From ethnic name profiling to police brutality, African-Americans endure corrupt thoughts based on negative images displayed by the media. The only way to erase or reduce these negative images is if the media reverses the images it has created. Many marketing specialist believe that these images are entertaining and overlook the morals and values of its content. African-Americans are unfairly and unrealistically portrayed on television and other forms of media. Unfortunately, there are many who do fall victim to the stereotypes, and there are many more that experience prejudice and pain because of them. After watching some movies that are currently popular, it seems that the majority of current films that are aimed at an African American audience fill and support these negative stereotypes of African Americans. Luckily, there are some media broadcasts that allow variety of African Americans to be shown to society. The change in content of programming is currently allowing room for change of the long lived stereotypes. Rational Profiling, stereotyping, and negative imaging must be stopped. Even after decades have relinquished away since the time of slavery, racism and prejudices still linger in our society. The media is not making these images look any better. Social prejudices or programmed depictions of groups in a society have long pervaded and shaped social ethos, but it is through this awareness, that cultural humanity is able to dismantle and set aside such associations (Walker 545). The images in the media of African Americans have changed the lifestyles of todays black society. Due to lack of knowledge and being blinded the media, the African-American race has yielded to live up to the images shown to society. These stereotypes of African Americans being used by the media today and years ago are injuring the realistic image of black people and the way that both African-American and Caucasians view those of African heritage. Gender, Class, and Race Stereotypes in American Media Gender, class, and race stereotypes abound in contemporary society, much like they have done throughout human history. With the advent of the media, however, stereotypical assumptions have become so pervasive, and so diffused, that some call for a serious and purposeful scrutiny of the media contents. A full analysis will be conducted to enlighten others that the African-American culture differs tremendously from the way that the media displays it.

Temperature, Humidity and Air Quality Index Relationship

Temperature, Humidity and Air Quality Index Relationship The relationship between temperature and humidity and air quality index in Suzhou and Jinan Lixiu. Zhang in class two. (Student ID: 1514401038) Soochow University. College of Science and technology Abstract This is a study about the relationship between temperature and humidity and air quality in Suzhou and Jinan. A hypothesis was formed that higher temperature and humidity can result in better air quality. The data was collected daily from May 12th to May 30th. Using simple linear regression model, the study found no significant correlation between these three variables in either Suzhou or Jinan. Introduction       Air pollution today is becoming an increasingly serious issue in China. As incomes rise and priorities shift away from only pursuing money to ensuring a better life, environmental awareness is also soaring. So more and more attention has been paid to what affects air quality. This study tried to find the relationship between air quality and weather elementshumidity and temperature. Considering that high near-ground temperature will accelerate vertical air convection, which will dramatically reduce near-ground pollutants, a hypothesis was formed that: the higher the temperature, the better the air quality. Another hypothesis was that higher humidity will cause better air quality, which is based on the fact that droplets in the air can combine solid particles like PM 2.5 to reduce air suspension. This study assessed the effect of humidity and temperature on air quality, in which humidity refers to relative humidity, expressed as a percent. The unit of temperature is „ƒ. AQI is short of Air Quality Index, which is calculated from five major air pollutants: O3, CO, SO2, NO2, and PM2.5. Higher AQI value means a greater level of air pollution and greater health concern,which is shown as follows: AQI 0-50 51-100 101-150 151-200 201-300 Levels of air pollution good moderate Slightly-polluted Moderately-polluted Heavily-polluted Suzhou and Jinan were involved in this study. Suzhou, a major city located in southeastern Jiangsu Province, has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate . As the capital of Shandong Province, Jinan has a warm temperate continental monsoon climate with four distinct seasons. These two cities were chosen because they have similar climate except Suzhou is more humid. Thus they can be compared to obtain more reliable data. Sampling methods and schedule of data collection are presented in Method section. Tables and graphs are showed in Results part. Discussion part is the explanation of the data. A summary with recommendation of improvement follows in Conclusion part. Methods The data, containing the value of humidity, temperature and AQI, were collected daily at 3PM-4PM from May 12th to May 30th. To make it more representative and reliable, the data was collected in two cities and from two different sources: www.nmc.cn ( the website of National Meteorological Center ) and Moji APP. The final data was collected after comparing these two sources. Results The data contains three variables from two cities, and is 19 days in total, from May 12th to May 30th. The data collection efforts was effectively carried out, and missing values were minimal (below 5%). Graphs and tables are shown as follows: figure 1: AQI VS temperature in Suzhou figure 2: AQI VS temperature in Jinan figure 3: AQI VS humidity in Suzhou figure 4: AQI VS humidity in Jinan Based on the analysis of simple linear regression, the relationship between variables are revealed by regression equations, which are shown in the figures. R ² is also presented to show how well the points fits. Note that figure 1 fits well except points (19„ƒ,107) and (28„ƒ,107), which is probably due to the low humidity on those two days. The peak value of AQI appeared in May 25th in Suzhou with 28„ƒ and humidity of 75%. For Jinan, the peak value lies in May 27th, with 18„ƒ and humidity of 71%. Discussion Figure 1 presents the relationship between temperature and AQI in Suzhou. Though not significant, this figure does suggest a positive correlation between these two variables. In other words, the higher the temperature, the worse the air quality, which contradicts the first hypothesis: higher temperature causes better air quality., As shown, most of the points fit well except for the two outliers as mentioned in last part, which pull down the value of R ². While figure 2 shows no correlation between temperature and AQI in Jinan with R ² less than 0.1. Maybe this is because the human factor is more significant in Jinan . As for humidity, there are no correlation in either figure 3 or figure 4, with R ²=0.13012 in Suzhou and 0.00383 in Jinan. As humidity gets greater, the value of AQI hardly changes or changes irregularly, which suggests that the second hypothesis is also wrong. There is no relationship between humidity and AQI. Conclusion To conclude, theres no significant relationship between temperature and AQI. Although AQI turns higher as temperature goes up in Suzhou, the correlation is not so significant. Neither in Suzhou nor Jinan were the relationship found between humidity and AQI. This is because air quality is the result of combined effects of multi-factors, so its very hard to figure out the effects of a single variable. Limitations exist because the size of sample is too small. Bias is possible as the data was collected in two big cities, in which human factors are very significant, and thus rural area and other small cities are excluded in this research. I recommend that further research should collect abundant data and choose more representative cities or countries. Furthermore, if conditions allow, future researcher had better singularize the variable when analyzing how a specific variable affect air quality. References The Website of National Meteorological Center. ( May, 2016). http://www.nmc.cn/. Moji Weather.(May, 2016). Moji Fengyun science and technology company. Appendix original data

The Great Plague of Europe Essay -- Diseases/Disorders

The deadly rapidly progressing disease known as the Great Plague of Europe or what is often referred to as the Black Death that swept through the European population between 1347 and 1353 initially began in China. Throughout human discourse, all three forms of the infectious disease have played a devastating role in the epidemics that resulted in high death rates in 14th century Europe. The Black Death of Europe that occurred was the second of the three great waves to hit throughout history. The first plague broke out in the 6th century during the reign of the Byzantine under the Emperor Justinian, reaching his capital in Constantinople. The third great wave of the plague began in China’s Yunnan province in 1894, emerging in Hong Kong and then spread via shipping routes throughout the world. The plague reached the United States from a ship containing rodents carrying the plague from Hong Kong that docked at Hawaii, where the plague broke out in December 1899, and then San Fran cisco, whose plague epidemic began in the early 1900’s. A team of medical geneticists led by Mark Achtman of University College Cork in Ireland conclude that all three of the great waves of plague originated from China (Wade, 2010). The empirical evidence from their findings points out that the plague would have reached Europe across the Silk Road. Although there were three great waves of plague, the Great Plague of Europe in the 14th century was the most devastating, violent, and most viral out of the three waves. The main cause of the Great Plague of Europe came from a deadly bacterium known as Yersinia Pestis. A smear of the bubonic plague is evades the human body and concentrates itself in the lymph node. A plague patient’s blood profile would contain or... ...Diseases, 49(10), i. 4. The Black Death, 1348," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2001). http://www.the-orb.net/textbooks/westciv/blackdeath.html 5. "The black death: a plague that brought change to Europe." Calliope May-June 2011: 42+. General OneFile. Web. 8 May 2012. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA259679369&v=2.1&u=nysl_sc_sshs&it=r&p=ITOF&sw=w 6. "The Black Death." Nationalgeographic.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2012. http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-diseases/plague-article/ 7. â€Å"The Black Death Begins.† 2012. The History Channel website. May 19 2012, 9:58 http://www.history.com/videos/the-black-death-begins. 8. Wade, Nicholus. Europe’s Plagues Came From China, Study Finds. N.p.: n.p., 2010. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. .

Advanced Technology and the Society :: essays research papers

Advanced Technology and the Society Have advances in technology helped to create a lazy, detached society? The truth is it has. It becomes more and more advanced that the inventors do not even know what to do. They run out of ideas but they make a new one and then ten more come out of just that one idea. Advances in technology have helped to create a lazy, detached society because, people say: why do this if we have it all in our hands, everything is already there. People think it is cool to have all the gadgets that are new and advanced and easier to do things with, but it is actually making the society more lazy. For example, the society now has e-mail and instant messengers to commun- icate with, they do not want to write letters anymore, that shows that the society has become lazier. Since the society has this to help them communicate they send an e-card through e-mail rather than making a letter of their own. Also instead of driving down to a little family get together, the instant messenger gets in the way because it seems easier to communi- cate with. Another example, is that now a days the society has telephones, cellphones and even camera phones to help everyone communicate.When someone invites another person to a birthday party the person that gets invited makes up an excuse saying they can not go so they just call and say Happy Birthday. Also when someone wants to meet someone else they just text messages or call each other instead of going for a walk. These are some examples that really reveal how lazy and detached the society has became as technology advances.

Defining and Measuring Corruption

Ackermann Rose 2008) Abuse is a worse description than only a false use as the term misuse of power implies. Albeit both terms have the same result, the term abuse of power implies a stronger illegal aspect and greater harmfulness than just a wrong use of power. Such an abuse of power is particularly expressed through the illegal use of willingness to pay which is a crucial criterion. Furthermore in this definition the benefit solely relies on material, especially monetary, motivation and so it has to be consequently applied on other sorts of motivation.As we can see in this example it is going to be clear that the amount of money finally tips the scales whether a corrupt person really accepts the bribery or not. This is also easily applicable for the example of a Gestapo officer whose decision depend: on the amount of human lives which has to be high enough before he engages in to the risk. Power in connection with corruption can also be a in a form of a specific position which can be based on trust. This refers to fact that power can often only arise through trust and power needs in most of the cases corrupt persons with a certain position.So a politician always needs the trust of his citizens to get elected by them to his trustful position of power. (CB. Ephraim 2005) As a result the power term has to be extended on the trust aspect. Marc Philip shows another definition approach which is more technical because he differentiates between the different protagonists in a corruption process more detailed and gathers through listing of exceptions more precisely the overlaps and the exact consequences more appositely while he keeps in mind the above shown compositions. (CB.Philip 2006) At the starting point in this definition which refers explicitly to the public sector, but is however applicable to the private sectors using slight modifications, is an official (A) who acts against the norms of his agency and Hereford derogates the public (B) to obtain a benefit fo r a third party (C). Here it is to be declared that the norms of his agency are usually beneficial of the public so that he prefers private benefits for himself more than the social benefits for the community. Cases in that A is equal C seem to be marked through high ran king appointees who are involved in practicing systematic corruption.B equal C should be seen as another special case where the corrupted action is limited on the fact that A charges a tax for an advantage of C, while this advantage already legally belongs to C in the first place. Here the fact is important, that some of the worst cases of corruption are those which are not recorded by a specific definition because those tend to be institutionalized into an approved fixed form. Moreover this approach distinguishes between A-initialized and C-initialized corruption, whereas A-initialized corruption does not need necessarily C, while Scintillated corruption however always needs A.Hence official (A) and the structure o f the affected function are in the centre of corruption, independent whether the official accepts bribes or a third party blackmails. To stretch this approach of political corruption to other sort of corruption is only a change of the protagonist' s names necessary. For example at economic corruption it is more important to focus on the exploitation of the market. 2. 2 Measurement 2. 2. 1 Implications of definition for measurement The problematic of defining corruption directly affects the measurement of corruption and influences the findings.While it is quite intuitive to be comprehensive when trying to find a theoretical definition, specifications are more important when it comes to practically measure corruption. Measurement for itself needs a variation which measures according to something constant. The problem when corruption is tried to be measured is that there is no constant state of corruption, I. E. Corruption is regarded differently and there is no normal state of corrupt ion as well as no real absence of corruption. Whatever is going to be measured, will not be measured against a natural standard, but has to be defined strictly.Therefore specifications of actors, the kind of corruption and the situational factors are crucial for correct measurement. A definition of corruption solely saying corruption is the aggregation of several incidents leads to errors in measurement, e. G. Taking the relative frequency of an incident, e. . Bribery, as a measure leads to an error in the findings as a country can be far more corrupt than another even though there might be no bribery at all but several other occurrences of corrupt actions. (Philip 2006) 22. 2 Methodology of measurement and problems Corruption happens in secrecy and only a small part of it happens openly.Unfortunately it is only possible to record this small known part thus the measurement of corruption is quite limited. Theoretically it is possible to measure corruption in different ways; first of all direct and focusing on experiences, secondly analyzing perceptions, thirdly using proxies and earthly applying more quantitative methods. The direct measurement of corruption is only possible by registered crimes. Looking at the amount of crimes it is not possible to determine whether corruption is not widespread or if the anti-corruption provisions are just effective in their function. Landforms 2006) Studies about crimes are more focusing on questioning about experiences. For example, the International Crime Survey asks first of all about perceptions and then directly about experiences. The answers show big differences between the interviewees' subjective perceptions and experiences. Less than 2% in Italy and Great Britain have experience with corruption but the opinion about corruption in the public sector shows that it occurs about 15% in Italy and 7% in Great Britain. (Miller 2006) This difference shows that individual or statistical perceptions are not 100% trustful.Percep tions can be blurred through cultural settings and country- specific peculiarities. Also the coverage about corruption blurs the perceptions, because corrupt persons on a high governmental level are mostly able to manipulate reports. (Miller 2006) Furthermore people notice probably phenomena because of the disability f heuristic more often when there are more reports about them in the media. (Taverns, Keenan 1974) So it is possible that signs which are based on perceptions like Transparency Internationally Corruption Perception Index and their influential public relations lead to a self-created bias in their measurements.Perceptions can also directly affect corruption when for example the population acts differently if they think their courts and police are corrupt or not. However the measurement of perceptions is often the only probate way to evaluate corruption. Cultural settings influence the definition of corruption but in practice it can be seen hat those differences do not hav e a big influence on the perception. For example the correlation is really high between perception of corruption in studies across the abutters of countries and the results of commercial agencies which evaluate the risk and development banks.Most of the studies and signs are based on surveys Of perception Of experts and individual protagonists in corrupt systems. The third method of measuring corruption is based on the assumption that corruption is determined by the presence or absence of specific measurable factors. The problem of this approach is that proxies are only opinions about notations of corruption and not about the corruption itself. Only the existence of the possibility of corruption means that there is in fact corruption. Glissando's formula â€Å"corruption = monopoly position + closeness – duty of integrity† is one proxy based approach to measure corruption.Glissando's model manifests three problems. First of all it claims that there is no integrity and everyone that has the possibility to be corrupt, is corrupt. Secondly, systems or protagonists are corrupt as soon as there is no perfect duty of integrity and it is expected that the duty of integrity cannot be corrupt. Thirdly, the formula implies a western way to organism political systems. This approach is described in the Transparency Internationally National Integrity System based on Egalitarian. The generalization and comparison of political systems is problematic because even western systems are very different to each Other. Philip 2006) Alternative ways have a more quantitative character which include more specific research methods. Those define the different sorts of corruption more exactly and consider the conditions under which they arise. The comparison between countries is based on an analysis between those entries instead of comparative signs. As a result of this it is possible to compare the police device of single countries without taking care about the political hi story. (Philip 2006) 2. 2. 3 Data acquisition As corruption is nontransparent, it is not possible to obtain direct data.Furthermore the protagonists try to falsify or dissemble data which implies using many different sources and methods in order to obtain reliable data. Apart from secondary analysis of already available sources and investigations of institutions in different countries there are several possibilities to collect data. Surveys about the perception, evaluation and experience with corruption among the public are the most used tool as these data can be classified into subjective (evaluation, experience, perception) and objective (number of incidents).It is important to check the representatives of the survey participants as most people do not get in contact with corruption on high level, but mostly on a low level, e. G. Bribing policemen. Such focus groups can be used for a qualitative predestination, on which further investigations rely. These groups can provide more det ailed data about the reasons and the impact of different kinds of corruption than broad surveys. Also they can be used as an instrument for the development of solutions. Case studies can be quantitative or qualitative as they can explain specific incidents or be part of greater investigations.Using these data it is possible to give statements about the process of corruption as well as progress of anti- corruption provisions. Field enquiries are another tool which provides highly specific findings even over a longer time period. Observers can take an investigative role of a judge as they are able to collect data about certain asses of corruption. (Miller 2006) In higher developed countries expert opinions are furnished which concern different areas of corruption, e. G. The health care system or legislative.These expert opinions can provide findings about which mechanisms of anti-corruption provisions are working in which area. Comparing these expert opinions it is possible to explain weaknesses of different provisions. 2. 24 Analysis of data using indexes Indexes allow aggregating and evaluating data. The dimensions of corruption regarded in one index construct the feature space of the index and therefore fine the amount of information this index can provide. Unfortunately, there are no objective criteria that all relevant data are considered or that the considered data are really relevant. Schnabel 201 1) Different indexes from governmental or non-governmental institutions serve the different goals of the sponsors to present different views about the occurrence and spreading of corruption. Therefore it is important to take in account which institution published which index and which part of corruption is observed. The Corruption Perception Index (ICP) provided by Transparency International measures the public perception of corruption in 1 77 countries. This index measures the perception, spreading and visibility of corruption. Since 2013 the ICP relies on 13 d ifferent independently aggregated sources of data.In the years before it was not possible to compare the ICP from different years as it was computed relatively to other countries. Since 2012, only raw data and the latest available data are used which enables a comparison over time. Changing his â€Å"modus operandi†, Transparency International responded to critics from scientists. (Gallant 2006) The ICP is he most common index but yet it is not without controversy. The methodology Of the ICP falls into four categories: Firstly, the data have to quantify perceptions in different countries equally using reliable and valid methods.All sources see corruption as misuse of power for personal gain. The investigations have to be repeated often enough to guarantee a high enough variation in order to obtain reliable findings. Secondly, the data is standardized on a scale from 1-100. Thirdly, data from the different sources are averaged. A country can only be included in the ICP if ther e are at least three independent sources of data. The ICP finally is an estimated and averaged value of all available sources. Fourthly, using the variation, the standard derivation of a country is obtained which can help to check the statistical significance.The data on which perception-indexes rely are simple ordinal-scaled measurements; taking this into account, the method of scaling used in the ICP is totally sufficient. Here however it gets obvious that the problem lies within the collection of data. A solution for this problem is the use of multidimensional approaches to measure corruption as done in the World Wide Governance Indicator. Latest studies concerning the ICP however show that the ICP provides quite reliable data as well as it is possible to compare different countries using the ICP.Some suggestions for the ICP include the use of at least six different sources Of data as well as an adaptation of the standard error for countries with smaller population. Even though t he ICP is statistically significant, the findings have to be handled with care. The main remaining problem is the one- sidedness towards the public sector. (Miller 2006) The World Wide Governance Indicator issued by the World Bank measures he quality of governments using objective data, expert opinions and surveys.The index relies on six dimensions, which are firstly â€Å"voice and accountability' of political freedom rights, the opportunity to take part in politics and freedom of opinion, secondly the perceptions of political stability and the absence of politically motivated violence and terrorism, thirdly the perceptions of effectiveness of the government and the quality of their political actions, fourthly the regulative capabilities of the government to pursue reasonable political actions helping the development of private enterprises, fifthly constitutional legality and sixthly control of corruption.

Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 12

What happened beca drill was interesting. Mary-Lynnette got to lift up the sisters do in all the things shedmissedearlier in the clearing. totally the hissing and the clawed fingers. Just akin the movies.Except that when a lamia hissed, it sounded real. the wish wells of a cat, non like a person imitating a cat. solely common chordgirls jumped up and stood ready to fight.T present wasnt every weird grimacing. But slovenly woman and kestrel were showing teeth that were long and attr playactively curved, coming to delicate fe occupancy points that indented the abase lip.And nearthing else. Their figure changed. jadest angiotensin converting enzymes silvery-green eyes went even to a greater extent silvery. kestrelsg elderlyen eyes tonicityed jewel-yellow, like a hawks. even rowan trees eyes had a dreary light in them.Oh, boy, phiz whispered. He was standing beside moil, staring from her to modify. change state, Hi.Dont serve at him, Mary-Lynnette told herself. Her nabt was pounding wildly and her knees weretrembling. The attachment of as somaicle to antiparticle,she archetype, remembering a line from last yearsphysicslass. But there was a nonher, shorter namefor it, and no content what she utter to herself, she couldnt keepit come on of her mind.Soulmates.Oh, God, I rightfully dont lack this. Please, please, Ididnt command for this. I want to discover a supernova andstudy mini-quasars at the Gamma balance beam Observatory. I want to be the superstar who solves the mystery ofwhere all the dark matter in the universe is.I dont want this.It should energize happened to person like BunnyMarten, someone who spent timelonging for romance.The only thing Mary-Lynnette longed for was soul to empathize to understand the night with you,a distant part ofher mind whispered.And instead here she was, stuck with a guy whose own sisters were terrified of him.It was veritable. That was wherefore they were standingpoised to fight, making thr eatening noises. Even kestrelwas afraid of him.The moment Mary-Lynnette realized that, fury washed by the trembling misgiving inside her. W nauseatevershe felt near ash tree, she wasnt afraid of him.Dont you ever knock? she utter and walked toward him. Strode toward him.She had to flip over it to her new family. Both naggerand sparrow hawk tried to grab her and keep her from acquireclose to their brother. Protecting her. MaryLynnette shook them off.ash tree eyed her warily.Oh. You, he said. Unenthusiastically.What atomic number 18 you doing here?Its my uncles house.Its your aunts house and you werent invited.ash tree looked at his sisters. Mary-Lynnette could beneficialsee diminished wheels turning in his cope. Had they alreadytold nigh the Night World or not? Of course, if they hadnt, their behavior should be giving psyche adue. Most human girls didnt hiss.ash tree held one finger up. Okay. zero(prenominal), listenMary-Lynnette kicked him in the shins. She knew it w as inappropriate, she knew it was uncalled-for, entirely she couldnt stop herself. She just had to.Oh, for Gods sake, alter said, hopping backward.Are you crazy?Yes, she is, find out said, abandoning labor and hurrying forward to guide on Mary-Lynnettes arm.Everybody knows shes crazy. She potfult foster it. He backedup, pulling. He was sounding for atMary-Lynnette as if shed shinen all her uniform off and started to dance the mambo.So were sparrow hawk and jade green. Their eyes had gone ordinary, their teeth retracted. Theyd never seen some(prenominal)one treat their brother quite this panache. And to fuck off a human doing it If the girls had superhuman strength, ash was undoubtedly even stronger. He could probably flattenMary-Lynnette with one blow.She still couldnt ease it. She wasnt afraid of him, only of herself and the stupid drifting feeling in herstomach. The fashion her legs wanted to fold under her.Will somebody just name her not to do that anymore? a sh tree was formulateing.sparrow hawk and Jade looked sideways at Mary-Lynnette. Mary-Lynnette shrugged at them, her pinchcoming quickly.She saw that rowan tree was looking at her, too, stillnot in the same stunned way. rowan tree lookedworried and surprised and sorry.Youve met, she said.I should expect told you, Mary-Lynnette said. Hecame to our house. He was asking mystepmother roughly you and your friends-saying that he needed to approve them because he was encephalon ofthe family.All ternion girls looked at alter with narrowed eyes.So you work been around, Kestrel said. Forhow long?Rowan said quietly, What are -you really doinghere? change let go of his shin. Can we all sit mow and talk somewhat this like comely people?Everyone looked at Mary-Lynnette. She took a deep, tranquillize breath. She still felt as if her integral skinwas electrified, but her heart was mental retardation down. Yes, she said and worked at looking regular so theydknow her temporary demen tia was over.As he helped her to the couch, sexual conquest whispered, I have to tell you, Ive never seen you act so immaturebefore. Im proud of you.Even big sisters have to have some off time, Mary-Lynnette theme. She patted him vaguely and sat,feeling tired. alter settled in a plush-covered chair. Rowan andKestrel sat beside Mary-Lynnette. Mark and Jade share an ottoman.All right, Ash said. Now toilet we fast introduce ourselves? I feign thats your brother.Mark, Mary-Lynnette said. Mark, thats Ash.Mark nodded. He and Jade were property give. Mary-Lynnette saw Ashs eyes drop to theirintertwined fingers. She couldnt tell anything from his aspect.Okay. Now. Ash looked at Rowan. Im here to take you back home, where everyone missesyou violently.Jade breathed, Give me a break.Kestrel said, What if we dont want to be taken? and showed her teeth briefly. Mary-Lynnette didnt look that unsung. What she show strange was that Ash didnt return the smile. He didnt look lazy orsardonic o r smug right then. He looked like somebody who wants to realize a hypothesize over with.Rowan said, We cant go home, Ash. Her cellular respiration was slightly irregular, but her chin was high.Well, you have to come home. Because otherwisethere are pass to be some fairly drasticconsequences.We knew that when we left, Jade said, with as shortsighted emotion as Rowan. Her chin was high, too.Well, I dont think youve really survey itthrough. Ashs theatrical role had an edge.Wed rather die than go back, Jade said.Kestrel glanced at her quickly, one supercilium raised.Oh, well, fine, Ill just make a keep an eye on of that, Ash said tightly. past his expression darkened. Helookedmore determined than Mary-Lynnette would have thought he could look. non in the least like abig sandy cat. Like a lanky, elegant blanch tiger.Now, listen, he said. There are a few smallthings that you dont understand, and I dont haveany time to play games. So how approximately we send yourlittle friend s home and then we can all have a fam ilytalk.Mary-Lynnettes hands clenched into fists.Mark clutched at Jade, who pushed him awayslightly with her elbow. She was frowning. I think maybeyoud rectify, she said.Im not expiry to leave you.Rowan bit her lip. Mark Im not going. Dont try to protect me. Hes not stupid, sooner or later hes going to find out thatwe know about the Night World.Rowan drew in her breath involuntarily. Kestrels expression never changed, but her muscles. tensed asif for a fight. Jades eyes went silver. Mary-Lynnette sat very still.They all looked at Ash. Ash looked heavenward.I know you know, he said with deadly patience.Im move to get you out, you poor sap, beforeI find out how much you know.The sisters stared. Mary-Lynnette opened hermouth and then shut it again.I thought you didnt like humans, Mark said. I dont I hate them, Ash said with brittle cheer.Then why would you want to cut me a break?Because if I kill you, I have to kill your sister,Ash informed hi m, with a smile that would have last in perfectly at the distressed Hatters tea party.So what she kicked you.Ash stop tossing answers back like footballs.Yeah, well, I may change my mind any minute. No, wait, Jade said. She was sitting with legsfolded under her, staring at her brother fiercely.This is just too weird. why would you care whathappens to a human?Ash didnt say anything. He looked at the bite place bitterly.It was Rowan who said softly, Because theyre soulmates.An instant of silence, then everybody started talking explosively.Theyre what? You mean, like what Jade and Iare?Oh, Ash, this is rich. I just wish our get down were here to see this.It is not my fault, Mary-Lynnette said. She found everyone turning toward her, and realized thather eyes were full.Rowan leaned crossways Kestrel to put her hand on Mary-Lynnettes arm.You mean its really true?Mark said, looking from Mary-Lynnette to Ash.Its true. I guess. I dont know what its hypothetical to be like, Mary-Lynne tte said, concentratingon making the tears go away.Its true, Ash said moodily. It doesnt meanwere going todo anything about it.Oh, youve got that right, Mary-Lynnette said. She was beamy to be angry again.So lets all just pick up our toys and go home,Ash said in the frequent direction of his sisters.Wellforget all about this well just agree that it neverhappened.Rowan was staying him, thrill her dubiousness slightly.There were tears in her eyes, but she was smiling.I never thought Id hear you say something likethat, she said. Youve changed so much-I cantbelieve it.I cant believe it, either, Ash said bleakly. by chance its a dream.But you have to tackle now that humans arentvermin. You couldnt be soulmates with vermin.Yes. Fine. existence are terrific. We all agree nowlets go home.When we were kids, you were like this, Rowan said. Before you started acting like you werebetter than everyone. I continuously knew a lot of that was just show. To traverse how scared you were. A nd Ialways knew you didnt really believe a lot of the horriblestuff you said. somewhere inside, youre stillthat nice little kid, Ash.Ash produced his first really flashingsmile of theevening. Dont bet on it.Mary-Lynnette had listened to all this feeling shakier and shakier. To conceal it, she said to Rowan, Idont think your aunt thought so.Ash sat up. Hey, where is the old hag, besides?I need to have a talk with her before we leave.This silence seemed endless.Ash dont you know? Rowan said.Of course he knows. Ten to one, he did it, Kestrel said.What is it that Im supposed to know? Ash said, with every condense of being about to lose hispatience.Your aunts dead, Mark told him.Somebody staked her, Jade added.Ash looked around the room. His expression said he venture it was a practical joke. Oh, God, MaryLynnette thought numbly, when hes startled and bewildered like that he looks so young. Vulnerable.Almost human.Somebody hit Aunt Opal. Thats what youre give tongue to me?Are you telling us that you dont know? Kestrel asked. What have you beendoing all night,Ash?Banging my head against a rock, Ash said. Thenlooking for you. When I walked in you weretalking about me.And you didnt run across any livestock tonight?Any-lets say-goats?Ash gave her a long, incredulous look. I fed, if thats what youre asking. Not on a goat.Whatdoes thishave to do with Aunt Opal?I think wed better show him, Rowan said.She was the one who got up and lifted the fold ofrug away from the goat. Ash walked around thecouchto see what she was doing. Mary-Lynnette moody to watch his face.He winced. But he controlled it quickly.Rowan said quietly, Look at what was in the goats mouth.Ash picked up the black hot flash gingerly. An Iris. So?Been to your club recently? Kestrel asked.Ash gave her a weary look. If I had done this, why would I point out it with an iris?mayhap to tell us who did it.I dont have to kill goats to say things, you know. I can talk.Kestrel looked unimpressed. Maybe thi s way the message has a little more impact.Do I looklike the variety of person who wastes time turning goats into pincushions?No. No, I dont think you did this, Rowan said inher quiet way. But somebodydid-probablywhoever killed Aunt Opal. Weve been trying to figure outwho.Well, who have we got for suspects?Everyone looked at Mary-Lynnette. She looked away.Theres one whos pretty prime, Mark said. Hisnames Jeremy Lovett. Hes a real- serene guy, Mary-Lynnette interrupted. If anyonewas going to describe Jeremy, it was going to be her.Ive known him since elementary school, and I would never,ever have believed he could hurt anybody-especially an old lady and ananimal.But his uncle was crazy, Mark said. And Iveheard things about hisfamily-Nobodyknows anything about his family, Mary-Lynnette said. She felt as if she were struggle to keepher head above water, with barbells fasten to herwrists and ankles. What was dragging her downwasntMarks suspicion It was her own. The littlevoice in he r head that was saying, But he seemed like such(prenominal)a nice guyand which meant, of course, that he wasnt.Ash was watching her with a brooding, goal expression. What does this Jeremy look like?Something about the way he said it irritated MaryLynnette beyond belief. What do you care?Ash blinked and shifted his gaze. He shrugged minimallyand said with forced blandness, Just curious.Hesvery handsome, Mary-Lynnette said.Gooda way to let out her anger and frustration.And the thing is that he looks very intelligent andsensitive-its not empty good looks. Hes got hair thatssort of the color of Ponderosa pinecones andthe most terrific brown eyes. Hes thin andtan and alittle bit taller than me, because Im normally looking at his mouth.Ash didnt look pleased. I saw somebody vaguelylike that at the gas station -in town. He turned toRowan. You think hes some kind of outlawvampire? seemingly not a made vampire because MaryLynnette has watched him grow up, Rowan said.I was intellection mor e that he might be renegade lamia.But theres not much use in trying to figure it outfrom here. Tomorrow we can go and see him, and then well know more. Right?Mark nodded. Jade nodded. Mary-Lynnette took adeep breath and nodded.Ash nodded and said, All right, I see why you cant go home until this is solved. So, well figureout whokilled Aunt Opal, and then well take the appropriate action, and then well go home. Got it?His sisters transfer glances. They didnt answer. As she and mark walked back to their house,Mary-Lynnette notice that Sirius had lifted abovetheeastern horizon. It hung like a jewel, brighterthan she had ever seen it before-much brighter. Itseemedalmost like a miniature sun, flashing with blue and florid and violet rays.She thought the effect must be psychological,,until she remembered that shed exchanged blood withthree vampires.