The Twilight Saga 2: New Moon Chapter 19 HATE

WE MADE OUR FLIGHT WITH SECONDS TO SPARE, AND THEN the true torture began. The plane sat idle on the tarmac while the flight attendants strolledso casuallyup and down the aisle, patting the bags in the overhead compartments to make sure everything fit. The pilots leaned out of the cockpit, chatting with them as they passed. Alice's hand was hard on my shoulder, holding me in my seat while I bounced anxiously up and down. â€Å"It's faster than running,† she reminded me in a low voice. I just nodded in time with my bouncing. At last the plane rolled lazily from the gate, building speed with a gradual steadiness that tortured me further. I expected some kind of relief when we achieved liftoff, but my frenzied impatience didn't lessen. Alice lifted the phone on the back of the seat in front of her before we'd stopped climbing, turning her back on the stewardess who eyed her with disapproval. Something about my expression stopped the stewardess from coming over to protest. I tried to tune out what Alice was murmuring to Jasper; I didn't want to hear the words again, but some slipped through. â€Å"I can't be sure, I keep seeing him do different things, he keeps changing his mind A killing spree through the city, attacking the guard, lifting a car over his head in the main square mostly things that would expose themhe knows that's the fastest way to force a reaction† â€Å"No, you can't.† Alice's voice dropped till it was nearly inaudible, though I was sitting inches from her. Contrarily, I listened harder. â€Å"Tell Emmett no Well, go after Emmett and Rosalie and bring them back Think about it, Jasper. If he sees any of us, what do you think he will do?† She nodded. â€Å"Exactly. I think Bella is the only chanceif there is a chance I'll do everything that can be done, but prepare Carlisle; the odds aren't good.† She laughed then, and there was a catch in her voice. â€Å"I've thought of that Yes, I promise.† Her voice became pleading. â€Å"Don't follow me. I promise, Jasper. One way or another, I'll get out And I love you.† She hung up, and leaned back in her seat with her eyes closed. â€Å"I hate lying to him.† â€Å"Tell me everything, Alice,† I begged. â€Å"I don't understand. Why did you tell Jasper to stop Emmett, why can't they come help us?† â€Å"Two reasons,† she whispered, her eyes still closed. â€Å"The first I told him. We could try to stop Edward ourselvesif Emmett could get his hands on him, we might be able to stop him long enough to convince him you're alive. But we can't sneak up on Edward. And if he sees us coming for him, he'll just act that much faster. He'll throw a Buiclc through a wall or something, and the Volturi will take him down. â€Å"That's the second reason of course, the reason I couldn't say to Jasper. Because if they're there and the Volturi kill Edward, they'll fight them. Bella.† She opened her eyes and stared at me, beseeching. â€Å"If there were any chance we could win if there were a way that the four of us could save my brother by fighting for him, maybe it would be different. But we can't, and, Bella, I can't lose Jasper like that.† I realized why her eyes begged for my understanding. She was protecting Jasper, at our expense, and maybe at Edward's, too. I understood, and I did not think badly of her. I nodded. â€Å"Couldn't Edward hear you, though.'† I asked. â€Å"Wouldn't he know, as soon as he heard your thoughts, that I was alive, that there was no point to this?† Not that there was any justification, either way. I still couldn't believe that he was capable of reacting like this. It made no sense! I remembered with painful clarity his words that day on the sofa, while we watched Romeo and Juliet kill themselves, one after the other. I wasn't going to live without you, he'd said, as if it should be such an obvious conclusion. But the words he had spoken in the forest as he'd left me had canceled all that outforcefully. â€Å"If he were listening,† she explained. â€Å"But believe it or not, it's possible to lie with your thoughts. If you had died, I would still try to stop him. And I would be thinking ‘she's alive, she's alive' as hard as I could. He knows that.† I ground my teeth in mute frustration. â€Å"If there were any way to do this without you, Bella, I wouldn't be endangering you like this. It's very wrong of me.† â€Å"Don't be stupid. I'm the last thing you should be worrying about.† I shook my head impatiently. â€Å"Tell me what you meant, about hating to lie to Jasper.† She smiled a grim smile. â€Å"I promised him I would get out before they killed me, too. It's not something I can guaranteenot by a long shot.† She raised her eyebrows, as if willing me to take the danger more seriously. â€Å"Who are these Volturi?† I demanded in a whisper. â€Å"What makes them so much more dangerous than Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, and you?† It was hard to imagine something scarier than that. She took a deep breath, and then abruptly leveled a dark glance over my shoulder. I turned in time to see the man in the aisle seat looking away as if he wasn't listening to us. He appeared to be a businessman, in a dark suit with a power tie and a laptop on his knees. While I stared at him with irritation, he opened the computer and very conspicuously put headphones on. I leaned closer to Alice. Her lips were at my ears as she breathed the story. â€Å"I was surprised that you recognized the name,† she said. â€Å"That you understood so immediately what it meantwhen I said he was going to Italy. I thought I would have to explain. How much did Edward tell you?† â€Å"He just said they were an old, powerful familylike royalty. That you didn't antagonize them unless you wanted to die,† I whispered. The last word was hard to choke out. â€Å"You have to understand,† she said, her voice slower, more measured now. â€Å"We Cullens are unique in more ways than you know. It's abnormal for so many of us to live together in peace. It's the same for Tanya's family in the north, and Carlisle speculates that abstaining makes it easier for us to be civilized, to form bonds based on love rather than survival or convenience. Even James's little coven of three was unusually largeand you saw how easily Laurent left them. Our kind travel alone, or in pairs, as a general rule. Carlisle's family is the biggest in existence, as far as I know, with the one exception. The Volturi. â€Å"There were three of them originally, Aro, Caius, and Marcus.† â€Å"I've seen them,† I mumbled. â€Å"In the picture in Carlisle's study.† Alice nodded. â€Å"Two females joined them over time, and the five of them make up the family. I'm not sure, but I suspect that their age is what gives them the ability to live peacefully together. They are well over three thousand years old. Or maybe it's their gifts that give them extra tolerance. Like Edward and I, Aro and Marcus are talented.† She continued before I could ask. â€Å"Or maybe it's just their love of power that binds them together. Royalty is an apt description.† â€Å"But if there are only five† â€Å"Five that make up the family,† she corrected. â€Å"That doesn't include their guard.† I took a deep breath. â€Å"That sounds serious.† â€Å"Oh, it is,† she assured me. â€Å"There were nine members of the guard that were permanent, the last time we heard. Others are more transitory. It changes. And many of them are gifted as wellwith formidable gifts, gifts that make what I can do look like a parlor trick. The Volturi chose them for their abilities, physical or otherwise.† I opened my mouth, and then closed it. I didn't think I wanted to know how bad the odds were. She nodded again, as if she understood exactly what I was thinking. â€Å"They don't get into too many confrontations. No one is stupid enough to mess with them. They stay in their city, leaving only as duty calls.† â€Å"Duty?† I wondered. â€Å"Didn't Edward tell you what they do?† â€Å"No,† I said, feeling the blank expression on my face. Alice looked over my head again, toward the businessman, and put her wintry lips back to my ear. â€Å"There's a reason he called them royalty the ruling class. Over the millennia, they have assumed the position of enforcing our ruleswhich actually translates to punishing transgressors. They fulfill that duty decisively.† My eyes popped wide with shock. â€Å"There are rules?† I asked in a voice that was too loud. â€Å"Shh!† â€Å"Shouldn't somebody have mentioned this to me earlier?† I whispered angrily. â€Å"I mean, I wanted to be a to be one of you! Shouldn't somebody have explained the rules to me?† Alice chuckled once at my reaction. â€Å"It's not that complicated, Bella. There's only one core restrictionand if you think about it, you can probably figure it out for yourself.† I thought about it. â€Å"Nope, I have no idea.† She shook her head, disappointed. â€Å"Maybe it's too obvious. We just have to keep our existence a secret.† â€Å"Oh,† I mumbled. It was obvious. â€Å"It makes sense, and most of us don't need policing,† she continued. â€Å"But, after a few centuries, sometimes one of us gets bored. Or crazy. I dor't know. And then the Volturi step in before it can compromise them, or the rest of us.† â€Å"So Edward† â€Å"Is planning to flout that in their own citythe city they've secretly held for three thousand years, since the time of the Etruscans. They are so protective of their city that they don't allow hunting within its walls. Volterra is probably the safest city in the worldfrom vampire attack at the very least.† â€Å"But you said they didn't leave. How do they eat?† â€Å"They don't leave. They bring in their food from the outside, from quite far away sometimes. It gives their guard something to do when they're not out annihilating mavericks. Or protecting Volterra from exposure† â€Å"From situations like this one, like Edward,† I finished her sentence. It was amazingly easy to say his name now. I wasn't sure what the difference was. Maybe because I wasn't really planning on living much longer without seeing him. Or at all, if we were too late. It was comforting to know that I would have an easy out. â€Å"I doubt they've ever had a situation quite like this,† she muttered, disgusted. â€Å"You don't get a lot of suicidal vampires.† The sound that escaped out of my mouth was very quiet, but Alice seemed to understand that it was a cry of pain. She wrapped her thin, strong arm around my shoulders. â€Å"We'll do what we can, Bella. It's not over yet.† â€Å"Not yet.† I let her comfort me, though I knew she thought our chances were poor. â€Å"And the Volturi will get us if we mess up.† Alice stiffened. â€Å"You say that like it's a good thing.† I shrugged. â€Å"Knock it off, Bella, or we're turning around in New York and going back to Forks.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"You know what. If we're too late for Edward, I'm going to do my damnedest to get you back to Charlie, and I don't want any trouble from you. Do you understand that?† â€Å"Sure, Alice.† She pulled back slightly so that she could glare at me. â€Å"No trouble.† â€Å"Scout's honor,† I muttered. She rolled her eyes. â€Å"Let me concentrate, now. I'm trying to see what he's planning.† She left her arm around me, but let her head fall back against the seat and closed her eyes. She pressed her free hand to the side of her face, rubbing her fingertips against her temple. I watched her in fascination for a long time. Eventually, she became utterly motionless, hei face like a stone sculpture. The minutes passed, and if I didn't know better, I would have thought she'd fallen asleep. I didn't dare interrupt her to ask what was going on. I wished there was something safe for me to think about. I couldn't allow myself to consider the horrors we were headed toward, or, more horrific yet, the chance that we might failnot if I wanted to keep from screaming aloud. I couldn't anticipate anything, either. Maybe, if I were very, very, very lucky, I would somehow be able to save Edward. But I wasn't so stupid as to think that saving him would mean that I could stay with him. I was no different, no more special than I'd been before. There would be no new reason for him to want me now. Seeing him and losing him again I fought back against the pain. This was the price I had to pay to save his life. I would pay it. They showed a movie, and my neighbor got headphones. Sometimes I watched the figures moving across the little screen, but I couldn't even tell if the movie was supposed to be a romance or a horror film. After an eternity, the plane began to descend toward New York City. Alice remained in her trance. I dithered, reaching out to touch her, only to pull my hand back again. This happened a dozen times before the plane touched town with a jarring impact. â€Å"Alice,† I finally said. â€Å"Alice, we have to go.† I touched her arm. Her eyes came open very slowly. She shook her head from side to side for a moment. â€Å"Anything new?† I asked in a low voice, conscious of the man listening on the other side of me. â€Å"Not exactly,† she breathed in a voice I could barely catch. â€Å"He's getting closer. He's deciding how he's going to ask.† We had to run for our connection, but that was goodbetter than having to wait. As soon as the plane was in the air, Alice closed her eyes and slid back into the same stupor as before. I waited as patiently as I could. When it was dark again, I opened the window to stare out into the flat black that was no better than the window shade. I was grateful that I'd had so many months' practice with controlling my thoughts. Instead of dwelling on the terrifying possibilities that, no matter what Alice said, I did not intend to survive, I concentrated on lesser problems. Like, what I was going to say to Charlie if I got back:' That was a thorny enough problem to occupy several hours. And Jacob? He'd promised to wait for me, but did that promise still apply? Would I end up home alone in Forks, with no one at all? Maybe I didn't want to survive, no matter what happened. It felt like seconds later when Alice shook my shoulderI hadn't realized I'd fallen asleep. â€Å"Bella,† she hissed, her voice a little too loud in the darkened cabin full of sleeping humans. I wasn't disorientedI hadn't been out long enough for that. â€Å"What's wrong?† Alice's eyes gleamed in the dim light of a reading lamp in the row behind us. â€Å"It's not wrong.† She smiled fiercely. â€Å"It's right. They're deliberating, but they've decided to tell him no.† â€Å"The Volturi?† I muttered, groggy. â€Å"Of course, Bella, keep up. I can see what they're going to say.† â€Å"Tellme.† An attendant tiptoed down the aisle to us. â€Å"Can I get you ladies a pillow?† His hushed whisper was a rebuke to our comparatively loud conversation. â€Å"No, thank you.† Alice beamed at up at him, her smile shockingly lovely. The attendant's expression was dazed as he turned and stumbled his way back. â€Å"Tell me,† I breathed almost silently. She whispered into my ear. â€Å"They're interested in himthey think his talent could be uselul. They're going to offer him a place with them.† â€Å"What will he say?† â€Å"I can't see that yet, but I'll bet it's colorful.† She grinned again. â€Å"This is the first good newsthe first break. They're intrigued; they truly don't want to destroy him'wasteful,' that's the word Aro will useand that may be enough to force him to get creative. The longer he spends on his plans, the better for us.† It wasn't enough to make me hopeful, to make me feel the relief she obviously felt. There were still so many ways that we could be too late. And if I didn't get through the walls into the Volturi city, I wouldn't be able to stop Alice from dragging me back home. â€Å"Alice?† â€Å"What?† â€Å"I'm confused. How are you seeing this so clearly? And then other times, you see things far awaythings that don't happen?† Her eyes tightened. I wondered if she guessed what I was thinking of. â€Å"It's clear because it's immediate and close, and I'm really concentrating. The faraway things that come on their ownthose are just glimpses, faint maybes. Plus, I see my kind more easily than yours. Edward is even easier because I'm so attuned to him.† â€Å"You see me sometimes,† I reminded her. She shook her head. â€Å"Not as clearly.† I sighed. â€Å"I really wish you could have been right about me. In the beginning, when you first saw things about me, before we even met† â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"You saw me become one of you.† I barely mouthed the words. She sighed. â€Å"It was a possibility at the time.† â€Å"At the time,† I repeated. â€Å"Actually, Bella† She hesitated, and then seemed to make a choice. â€Å"Honestly, I think it's all gotten beyond ridiculous. I'm debating whether to just change you myself.† I stared at her, frozen with shock. Instantly, my mind resisted her words. I couldn't afford that kind of hope if she changed her mind. â€Å"Did I scare you?† she wondered. â€Å"I thought that's what you wanted.† â€Å"I do!† I gasped. â€Å"Oh, Alice, do it now! I could help you so muchand I wouldn't slow you down. Bite me!† â€Å"Shh,† she cautioned. The attendant was looking in our direction again. â€Å"Try to be reasonable,† she whispered. â€Å"We don't have enough time. We have to get into Volterra tomorrow. You'd be writhing in pain for days.† She made a face. â€Å"And I don't think the other passengers would react well.† I bit my lip. â€Å"If you don't do it now, you'll change your mind.† â€Å"No.† She frowned, her expression unhappy. â€Å"I don't think I will. He'll be furious, but what will he be able to do about it?† My heart beat faster. â€Å"Nothing at all.† She laughed quietly, and then sighed. â€Å"You have too much faith in me, Bella. I'm not sure that I can. I'll probably just end up killing you.† â€Å"I'll take my chances.† â€Å"You are so bizarre, even for a human.† â€Å"Thanks.† â€Å"Oh well, this is purely hypothetical at this point, anyway. First we have to live through tomorrow.† â€Å"Good point.† But at least I had something to hope for if we did. If Alice made good on her promiseand if she didn't kill methen Edward could run after his distractions all he wanted, and I could follow. I wouldn't let him be distracted. Maybe, when I was beautiful and strong, he wouldn't want distractions. â€Å"Go back to sleep,† she encouraged me. â€Å"I'll wake you up when there's something new.† â€Å"Right,† I grumbled, certain that sleep was a lost cause now. Alice pulled her legs up on the seat, wrapping her arms around them and leaning her forehead against her knees. She rocked back and forth as she concentrated. I rested my head against the seat, watching her, and the next thing I knew, she was snapping the shade closed against the faint brightening in the eastern sky. â€Å"What's happening?† I mumbled. â€Å"They've told him no,† she said quietly. I noticed at once that her enthusiasm was gone. My voice choked in my throat with panic. â€Å"What's he going to do?† â€Å"It was chaotic at first. I was only getting flickers, he was changing plans so quickly.† â€Å"What kinds of plans?† I pressed. â€Å"There was a bad hour,† she whispered. â€Å"He'd decided to go hunting.† She looked at me, seeing the comprehension in my face. â€Å"In the city,† she explained. â€Å"It got very close. He changed his mind at the last minute.† â€Å"He wouldn't want to disappoint Carlisle,† I mumbled. Not at the end. â€Å"Probably,† she agreed. â€Å"Will there be enough time?† As I spoke, there was a shift in the cabin pressure. I could feel the plane angling downward. â€Å"I'm hoping soif he sticks to his latest decision, maybe.† â€Å"What is that?† â€Å"He's going to keep it simple. He's just going to walk out into the sun.† Just walk out into the sun. That was all. It would be enough. The image of Edward in the meadowglowing, shimmering like his skin was made of a million diamond facetswas burned into my memory. No human who saw that would ever forget. The Volturi couldn't possibly allow it. Not if they wanted to keep their city inconspicuous. I looked at the slight gray glow that shone through the opened windows. â€Å"We'll be too late,† I whispered, my throat closing in panic. She shook her head. â€Å"Right now, he's leaning toward the melodramatic. He wants the biggest audience possible, so he'll choose the main plaza, under the clock tower. The walls are high there. He'll wait till the sun is exactly overhead.† â€Å"So we have till noon?† â€Å"If we're lucky. If he sticks with this decision.† The pilot came on over the intercom, announcing, first in French and then in English, our imminent landing. The seat belt lights dinged and flashed. â€Å"How far is it from Florence to Volterra?† â€Å"That depends on how fast you drive Bella?† â€Å"Yes?† She eyed me speculatively. â€Å"How strongly are you opposed to grand theft auto?† A bright yellow Porsche screamed to a stop a few feet in front of where I paced, the word TURBO scrawled in silver cursive across its back. Everyone beside me on the crowded airport sidewalk stared. â€Å"Hurry, Bella!† Alice shouted impatiently through the open passenger window. I ran to the door and threw myself in, feeling as though I might as well be wearing a black stocking over my head. â€Å"Sheesh, Alice,† I complained. â€Å"Could you pick a more conspicuous car to steal?† The interior was black leather, and the windows were tinted dark. It felt safer inside, like nighttime. Alice was already weaving, too fast, through the thick airport trafficsliding through tiny spaces between the cars as I cringed and fumbled for my seat belt. â€Å"The important question,† she corrected, â€Å"is whether I could have stolen a faster car, and I don't think so. I got lucky.† â€Å"I'm sure that will be very comforting at the roadblock.† She trilled a laugh. â€Å"Trust me, Bella. If anyone sets up a roadblock, it will be behind us.† She hit the gas then, as if to prove her point. I probably should have watched out the window as first the city of Florence and then the Tuscan landscape flashed past with blurring speed. This was my first trip anywhere, and maybe my last, too. But Alice's driving frightened me, despite the fact that I knew I could trust her behind the wheel. And I was too tortured with anxiety to really see the hills or the walled towns that looked like castles in the distance. â€Å"Do you see anything more?† â€Å"There's something going on,† Alice muttered. â€Å"Some kind of festival. The streets are full of people and red flags. What's the date today?† I wasn't entirely sure. â€Å"The nineteenth, maybe?† â€Å"Well, that's ironic. It's Saint Marcus Day.† â€Å"Which means?† She chuckled darkly. â€Å"The city holds a celebration every year. As the legend goes, a Christian missionary, a Father MarcusMarcus of the Voltun, in factdrove all the vampires from Volterra fifteen hundred years ago. The story claims he was martyred in Romania, still trying to drive away the vampire scourge. Of course that's nonsensehe's never left the city. But that's where some of the superstitions about things like crosses and garlic come from. Father Marcus used them so successfully. And vampires don't trouble Volterra, so they must work.† Her smile was sardonic. â€Å"It's become more of a celebration of the city, and recognition for the police forceafter all, Volterra is an amazingly safe city. The police get the credit.† I was realizing what she meant when she'd said ironic. â€Å"They're not going to be very happy if Edward messes things up for them on St. Marcus Day, are they?† She shook her head, her expression grim. â€Å"No. They'll act very quickly.† I looked away, fighting against my teeth as they tried to break through the skin of my lower lip. Bleeding was not the best idea right now. The sun was terrifyingly high in the pale blue sky. â€Å"He's still planning on noon?† I checked. â€Å"Yes. He's decided to wait. And they're waiting for him.† â€Å"Tell me what I have to do.† She kept her eyes on the winding roadthe needle on the speedometer was touching the far right on the dial. â€Å"You don't have to do anything. He just has to see you before he moves into the light. And he has to see you before he sees me.† â€Å"How are we going to work that?† A small red car seemed to be racing backward as Alice zoomed around it. â€Å"I'm going to get you as close as possible, and then you're going to run in the direction I point you.† I nodded. â€Å"Try not to trip,† she added. â€Å"We don't have time for a concussion today.† I groaned. That would be just like meruin everything, destroy the world, in a moment of klutziness. The sun continued to climb in the sky while Alice raced against it. It was too brigh:, and that had me panicking. Maybe he wouldn't feel the need to wait for noon after all. â€Å"There,† Alice said abruptly, pointing to the castle city atop the closest hill. I stared at it, feeling the very first hint of a new kind of fear. Every minute since yesterday morningit seemed like a week agowhen Alice had spoken his name at the foot of the stairs, there had been only one fear. And yet, now, as I stared at the ancient sienna walls and towers crowning the peak of the steep hill, I felt another, more selfish kind of dread thrill through me. I supposed the city was very beautiful. It absolutely terrified me. â€Å"Volterra,† Alice announced in a flat, icy voice.

Orgo

Benzophenone's nonpolar nature makes it insoluble with water (which is polar), soluble with methanol (which is of intermediate polarity) and soluble with hexane (which is nonpolar). This is because generally, like dissolves like nonpolar will dissolve nonpolar but not polar, and vice versa. But note that this is an imperfect science you would expect hexane to dissolve faster and more completely than methanol (because of the differing polarities), but the opposite occurred.This may be ecause of benzophenone's ketone group, which adds a slight polarity to the molecule, making it a little polar, although mostly nonpolar. Biphenyl, which is completely nonpolar, will have similar solubilities as benzophenone: insoluble with water (polar), partially soluble with methanol (intermediate polarity) and soluble with hexane (nonpolar). But with biphenyl (unlike with benzophenone) the solubilities are exactly as expected, because of biphenyl's complete nonpolarity.But that explains any difference s in solubilities between the two molecules. Polarity also played a role in the alcohol reactions: water, which is polar, will be insoluble with I-octanol (which is nonpolar), insoluble with I-butanol (also nonpolar), and soluble with methanol (polar). But it's a little more complicated: the carbon chain of each of these organic compounds will always be nonpolar and therefore hydrophobic, but as these are alcohols, the -OH group, which is polar and therefore hydrophilic, comes into play as well.So it's kind of a battle between the hydrophobic carbon chain and the ydrophilic alcohol group, and when the chain is long, as in octanol, it will overpower the alcohol. Conversely, in small alcohols like methanol (or ethanol etc. ), where the carbon chain is much shorter, it will exert a smaller hydrophobic force and the overall molecule will therefore be hydrophilic. The hexane-alcohol reactions had the opposite solubilities, due to hexane's nonpolar nature (and the rule of like dissolves l ike): soluble with I-octanol (nonpolar), soluble with I-butanol (nonpolar), and insoluble with methanol (pola

John Q

Some movies have the power to captivate you as if you are experiencing the drama for yourself. A mixture of emotions flow into words and actions seen on screen that may motivate us in reflecting our own actions In life. The New Line Cinema Presentation of John Q. Directed by Nick Captivates has a powerful story line that has an array of emotions and conflicts that reflect society. Some of the characters In this movie convey many feelings yet the predominant one shown here Is greed and It Is seen in many forms.This story is based upon a lower class man who was dedicated to his son who errantly is fighting a heart aliment. The situation took a turn for the worse when John and his wife could not supply the sufficient amount of money to fund the operation. Not helping the situation his insurance company changed their coverage policy without him knowing; he was no longer covered for health benefits. The insanity of losing his son drove John to take over the hospitals' emergency room deman ding that his son be placed on the donor's list for the first available heart.At the apex of the movie a donor came through with a heart for his little son Michael ND he was found guilty on the account of detailing hostages against their will. The movie conveyed many strong issues that face society today. The first of these is the lack of health care that should be provided for any person or persons in need of medical attention. The unfortunate incident of John's health insurance should be basis for the grounds of a lawsuit. Even though they promised reimbursement the funds were not the coverage he needed to make this operation possible.This element of the movie showed to me a sensate idea of turning your back on a man, owing back on your word, and then telling him he has a new insurance plan that he did not agree to and had no knowledge of Is yellow. I think that a person burdened with problems must get themselves out of their own problems before they make them somebody else's. The denial to perform this operation due to his lack of sufficient funds was a slap in the face. Society has laws that are voted on that deal with health insurance coverage. This movie showed the true color of what really happens when you aren't covered in society based upon greed.The hospital took the liberty of making the choice for John by deciding to discharge Michael and have him return home; no questions asked. The lead surgeon of the hospital would not agree to commence the operation despite John's small amounts of money that he was bringing in. Later it was revealed that Michaels medical problem was overlooked for so long due to doctors keeping their mouths shut. The Insurance company would pay these doctors off as long as the insurance company would not take a hit In the coverage of a sick child under the erection of a doctor.The doctors don't send them so the Insurance doesn't have to cover. The events that unfolded were the effects of greed In society. Conveyed greed. She st ated that people without insurance sometimes get the raw end of the deal, she has to make these decisions all the time and sometimes people die. The woman's sole purpose was concerned with making money from the situation. She had no value of life and was willing to throw someone's away that she could have given hope back to. Through the movie they explain that they do undress of these operations a year and the question is how come you can't make one exception.Despite her bitterness in the beginning she changed her outlook after hearing John converse with his son. She emotionally broke down to the point of where she put Michaels name on the donor's list. This changing of the tide gave me a sense that she is human. She faced a hard decision and ended up regretting denying Michael in the first place. The head of police chief conveyed another aspect of greed. He was driven by his new election year to make things right for the city. He didn't care for the situation so he made the call to have John Q fired upon after lying to him.He didn't listen to the facts and was concerned with getting re elected next term so he didn't want this blemish on his record. The greed portrayed here is seen as Just another hostage situation and I being the head of police chief have to look good for next election despite the lives I take. This disgusting action is yet again the truth revealed in society. Being human all he was self absorbed in was the fact that he wanted to have this problem Just go away so he didn't look bad. The final emotion conveyed in this film was compassion shown by John Q in several situations.He took desperate measures in order to preserve his sons life. He was caring to the hostages that he took in and related to each in some way knowing that everyone has problems and that he did not want to be the burden of them. Eventually, John came to the apex of the movie telling the surgeon to take his own heart out of his chest and give it to his dying son. That showed true character to me that he was willing to sacrifice his own life Just to save the one life that he brought into this world.

Women's Studies. Barbie Doll as the Model for Little Girls Essay

Women's Studies. Barbie Doll as the Model for Little Girls - Essay Example Though the patterns of dolls cannot be adopted completely by the girls, yet an overwhelming majority of them observes the same in one way or the other. Hence, the movements launched by the Barbie dolls designers and developers go a long way in respect of introducing and modifying the physique and appearance fashion trends within the social establishment, predominantly for the women folk, which maintain higher level of inclinations regarding adopting and following the fashion patterns in the light of the material objects being introduced by the fashion designers. Introduction: It has pertinently been viewed that Nature has created men and women in two entirely different patterns, where the difference between the members of both the genders is not confined to physical appearance only; rather, the people of the two genders also appear to be divergent ones in thoughts, views and exposure with regards to life and society (Crenshaw 54). It is due to these differences that their liking and disliking, as well as tastes and flavors also witness dissimilarities since the early childhood of the individuals belonging to the two opposite genders. It is therefore it is aptly argued that the girls are more idealistic and less practical in comparison to their male counterparts, and develop role models for them to imitate the same up to they seek the perfection point (Crenshaw 19). It is particularly the case while girls’ adopting the prevailing fashion-styles and manners in order to look attractive, fascinating and dandy eventually. The same can also be witnessed by witnessing the love and passion of the girls for their Barbie dolls. The researchers demonstrate the very fact that girls generally keep Barbie dolls of various kinds with them by taking them to be an ideal play-mate as well as a beautiful object to imitate their features and characteristics; it is therefore, they look for reducing their weight to such a great extent so that they could grow as thin as they o bserve their dolls having the smartness and slenderness with regards to their physiques at large (Dittmar et al. 283). It is perhaps in the nature of the girls that they care the dolls in such a manner as their mothers take care of the children (Schwarz 296); it not only reflects their innate motherly sentiments and desire to play the role attributed to mothers, but also demonstrates their hidden longings for mating and having a companion that exclusively belongs to themselves only. Hence, some invisible and unconscious sexual desires also urge the girls to keep a smart and captivating mate in the form of Barbie doll with them (Kuther & McDonald 42). In addition, sense of security and escape from loneliness and being unprotected also force the girls for keeping the dolls with them. The girls’ imitating the Barbie actually reflects their passion for espousing the cultural traits that have been in vogue in their social and physical environment (Kuther & McDonald 40). One of the most imperative reasons behind establishing the Barbie to be a model for smartness and beauty includes the (mis)conception by viewing it to be the symbol of perfect attractiveness the smart and good-looking girls must contain. Consequently, the girls attempt to keep the physique of the dolls in view in order to maintain their smartness and remain under-weight in order to capture the attention of the public in general, and their lovers in particular. Somehow, the medical specialists and healthcare

Drug use, Impacts on society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Drug use, Impacts on society - Essay Example But the result was as usual, and in some cases, it was terrible. The centers for the drug-victims were found to be flooded with an overwhelming number of abusers and, every year, the hard-earned money of the tax-payers was being flooded out of the Government treasury. The recent scenario of drug-abuse in the UK is that almost one-thirds of the adult UK citizens (34%) are involved, in some ways or others, with using narcotic substances or illegal drugs. Even the figure of money that is spent for the treatment and prevention of drug-abuse is breath-taking for a sincere of citizen. The Telegraph says, â€Å"Each drug addict in Britain costs the taxpayer more than  £800,000 over a lifetime, a Government report shows†. The present scenario of the drug-abuse in the UK is self-evident enough to prove that the Government’s strategy, prior to the Drug Strategy of 2008, was flawed within itself, since its approach to the drug-problem was purgatory and retributive. Indeed a retributive and purgatory approach essentially means that â€Å"let a man be the victim of drug; then punish and/or treat him†. Obviously this view has its ground to defend itself. It argues that the Government of a modern state should not spare any scope for the citizens to avail themselves to the abuse of drug. Therefore it argues that the Government should maintain an effective watchdog over them. Also there is another philosophy: ‘punish the violator, so that others do not dare to cross the boundary of legal system†. But from the following discussion it will be evident that the definition of a technology-equipped modern individual itself is contradictory with the concept of an effective watchdog. Moreove r, the ‘identity conundrum of modern individual and crisis of modern life’ is such an abyss that ultimately consumes the ‘fear of being punished’. That is, when a modern individual cannot decide who

HNC Counselling. Graded Unit F1M 34 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

HNC Counselling. Graded Unit F1M 34 - Coursework Example (150) The main problem is Fritz seems to be somewhat of an underachiever. He is giving up because his business is not going well, and now it is threatening to break up his whole family. Additionally, he has communication issues with his wife, not really knowing how to express himself well or share his feelings about what he wants to do with the business, when he should ideally let her know what he is thinking—especially wanting to make such a big life decision about selling the business and moving out of the city. Anna is right to want to have a divorce, as Fritz is being unreasonable. Further, he is not taking his parenting responsibilities seriously, and this is also a concern. Fritz, therefore, has three main problems: communicating with Anna, decision-making, and taking an active role in the development of his childrens’ upbringing. He needs work on these issues. Explanation of the theory. (250 words) The theories introduced here are humanistic theory and psychodyna mic theory, with Egan’s three-stage model as a way of understanding the theory. Humanistic theory is a very common theory which helps people understand one way to counsel others. â€Å"Many models of group work and organizational development have drawn heavily on humanistic theory† (Strawbridge, Woolfe, & Dryden, 2009, 142). Humanistic theory also has another name. ... There are â€Å"†¦verbal and nonverbal behaviours that enhance effective listening and communication† (Rennie, 1998, pp. 32). Psychodynamic counsellors notice behaviours and try to adapt these behaviours into more socially acceptable reactions. In the course of psychodynamic counselling, â€Å"†¦some behavioural patterns, and some feelings are unconscious [and the client may not be made aware of these until they are mentioned]† (Jacobs, 2004, pp. 101). Gerard Egan of Loyola University in Chicago developed a three-stage model, where the counselled individual must realize the present (â€Å"Where am I?†), the preferred (â€Å"Where do I want to be?†) and strategies for the future (â€Å"How do I get where I want to be?†). â€Å"Egan’s three-stage model can serve as a useful and practical map in counselling and a means of bringing structure to the process of counselling† (Burnard, 2005, pp. 127). Completion date and milestones. (65 words) The completion date for Fritz should be based on what he can do in how much time. Perhaps he should be given a finite date, a few months, in which to fix at least two of his problems—the communication issue with Ann and his inability to express himself well. The problem with Harry should be resolved sooner; Fritz should be encouraged to discipline him. Ethical principles in counselling. (100 words) In counselling, it’s important that the client’s boundaries are respected and that, obviously, one would not call Anna in order to let her know details of the counselling sessions unless Fritz allowed it. It would also be uncouth to offer parenting advice, tips, or admonitions, or otherwise tell Fritz outright how to run his life or manage his marriage. Those actions would be outside the

Case study - Physiological responses in cross-country sprint skiing; a

- Physiological responses in cross-country sprint skiing; a in regulation, control and homeostasis. (1500 words) - Case Study Example One of the changes that promote greater oxygen diffusion is the contraction of the muscles takes a lot of oxygen because the oxygen is needed to replace Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) that has undergone the process of hydrolysis at the time relaxation of muscles. Therefore, relaxation of muscles is essential because it leads to increase the supply of blood for metabolisms. Another change is the vascular resistance of the skeletal muscles. The resistance of skeletal muscles leads to build up of pressure in the arteries. There is buildup of pressure is due to the narrowing down of the diameter of the arteries, thus leading to increased heartbeat. There are several capillaries around the cardiac muscles; therefore when there is resistance to the flow of the blood, the diffusion distance is also reduced. The reduced distance for the diffusion in turn affects the exchange of gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide. Buffering agents reverse the hydrogen ion that reduces the PH and maintain it b etween 7.38 and 7.42 which is a neutral Potential Hydrogen. There are extracellular buffer agent and the intracellular buffer agents. The extra cellular buffers are like bicarbonates and ammonia while the intracellular buffers are like proteins and phosphates. Moreover, the kidney can also work by eliminating the toxic substances that accumulate in the body tissues but in the case of thorough exercise it may not be efficient. In addition, renal physiology is active in maintaining the level of PH in the body. In a way of responding to the low PH or the acidity, the tube-like cells reabsorb bicarbonate from the fluids that flows in the body tube. The tubular cells are in the linings of tubes like the collecting duct. Again the collecting duct has cells those secrets a lot of hydrogen ions thus manufacturing a lot of bicarbonates, a process known as ammonia genesis. The process leads to the formation of ammonia buffer. The air temperature during the race is 8 C, which

The Sedition and Alien Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Sedition and Alien Act - Essay Example The act also brought an end to protesting to the government, restricted immigration into the United States, denied citizens freedom of speech, and also gave room for the arrest of the lawmakers. These laws were under national security guise; however, the bottom lines was that they were signed to decrease the number of people especially voters who were against the Federalist Party. It should be noted that at this point, many immigrants especially the French and Irish most of which supported the Democratic republicans and Thomas Jefferson and Madison who were the main Federalists opponents. Notably, Thomas Jefferson opposed the terms of these acts and this led to his 1800 election and brought to the end the effects of Alien and Sedition acts by 1801 (Kellogg 81). Many nations and political systems are still applying this situation or often introduce laws that favor their rules opposed to the advances of their opponents. In most cases, these have led to war and rebellion across many nations across the world. Thus, it is vital for political leaders to act or introduce acts and laws that benefit the country and the people as opposed to their personal gains especially retaining them into

The Taboo of Human Sexuality in the African American Christian Dissertation

The Taboo of Human Sexuality in the African American Christian Community - Dissertation Example The assumption that the African American body is derived of purposed majesty is an argument that has been challenged by years of social evolution and individual interpretations of religious scriptures. Making the connection to the physical body and to the body of Christ, in the black community, is a step forward in securing positive regard towards black sexuality; though this connection to theological ideals is often challenged even within the African American culture. So, from where are the assumptions of unifying sexuality and divinity? Outside of the cultural expectations of sexuality lies the affirmation of the physical body as a gift from God, offered in the text of the Christian Bible. In the very beginning of the Bible, God clearly states the purpose of human sexuality. It was his deliberate, considered choice to make us complete with sex organs and equipped for sexual intercourse. However, historical symbolism and deviations from solid Christian philosophy created negative connotations of the African American community as Christian literature separated white from black as a distinction between good and evil. The depiction of the devil as "The Black One"†¦and the typological "blackening" of those believers (as) influenced by evil" set the tone for the cultural view of blacks as a representation of anti-religion. Moral implications of outspoken human sexuality formulate the idea that sexuality is a taboo subject, resultant of misconceptions, scriptural misinterpretations, and the historical determination in the dominant white cultures view that the African American is a lesser entity.

How you would attempt to keep a business from suffering a similar Essay

How you would attempt to keep a business from suffering a similar attack - Essay Example Key words Packet attack; juveniles; distributed denial of service (DDoS) What was Learned There is a lot that I have learned from the attack on grc.com. First of all, this attack was carried out by a 13 year old! He mentioned that together with his friends, he decided to attack the website following a â€Å"disparaging† remark that was made by the website in its newsgroup. Let me go back to my point. The logic here is not whether the attack was carried out by a group or an individual, but that a 13 year old was at the mastermind of the attack and even bragged about it. What I learned from this is that â€Å"internet terrorism† is no longer a preserve of college students or people aged 16 and above (as previously thought). Maybe the 13 year old kid and his friends are very good at computers, but that is also beside the point. The fact that they took time to learn how to design and launch packet attacks is very worrying indeed and must be looked into. Overall, what I lear ned from this is that there is a new breed of hackers in town. These new breed is aggressive, smart and, surprisingly, unapologetic. This calls for a revision of cyber terrorism combat strategies and techniques. What is also clear from the attack is that law enforcement agencies and authorities are not only ill-prepared but also poorly augmented to deal with the new class of hackers. For instance, the author reveals that when he approached the FBI after establishing that the individual who masterminded the attack was a 13 year old, he was met with the following responses: a) Until the damages done amounted to $5,000, no crime had been committed. That is the law. b) Even if the damages done amounted to $5,000 and a crime was deemed to have been committed, their staffs were not only swamped but also overloaded with cases concerning firms that had incurred huge monetary losses caused by internet/cyber crime. c) Considering that the chief suspect was just 13 years old, there was not muc h that could be done to him, even if the amount of evidence confirmed that the attacks were planned and orchestrated by him. The most that could happen was a chat between some agents and his parents at his place of residence. In essence, his youth gave him an impenetrable armor. This was a major discouragement of the costs likely to be incurred from any kind of investigation. These points prove my earlier assertion that law enforcement authorities and agencies (in this case the FBI) are not only ill-equipped but also poorly augmented to fight cybercrime that is perpetrated by juveniles. How I would Attempt to keep a Business from Suffering a similar Attack I would institute a number of effective measures to combat attacks similar to the one that was directed at grc.com. These measures include the following: Developing effective commands that will counter the possibility of suffering a similar attack. This will work by helping businesses verify that their systems are not infected by any of the existing IRC Zombie/Bots. Since all the IRC Zombie/Bots usually trigger and maintain static links to remote IRC chat servers anytime the host computer is connected to the internet (Yang & Wanlei 22). An active link/connection can be detected using the following command; netstat –an | find â€Å":6667†. Detection will pave way for termination. Encouraging businesses and firms to perform regular tests and checks that allow them to detect and consequently terminate harmful connections. Since IRC

Economic Analysis of Crop Diversification Essay Example for Free

Economic Analysis of Crop Diversification Essay There is a dramatic change in the earning, spending and saving pattern of the people of India in the post reform (economic) period that is post 1991. During this period, income generating mechanism in this country underwent massive changes. With a sustained economic growth, rising per capita income along with an ever increasing population, the dietary pattern in India is also changing very fast. The Indian food basket is diversifying in favour of high value food commodities like fruits, vegetables, dairy products, poultry products and fish products from staple food such as rice, wheat and coarse cereals. This raises a challenge to Indian agriculture. On the other hand the modern agriculture dominated by chemical and irrigation intensive farming system has not only raised productivity but simultaneously has also resulted in soil erosion, water contamination, pesticides poisoning, land degradation through water logging and soil salinity, depletion of bio-diversity, etc., forcing farmers to apply ever-increasing doses of fertilisers and to make water supply available on a continuous basis, in order to maintain the productivity levels. This again raises another challenge to Indian agriculture. It may not be wondering if we assume that organic farming system may generate such situation to address both the challenges mentioned above. This paper is concerned with an analysis of crop diversification under organic and inorganic farming in West Bengal. Crop diversification is different from the concept of multiple cropping or succession planting over the growing seasons. Moreover, it implies the use of environmental and human resources to grow a mix of crops with complementary marketing opportunities. Thus, it implies a shifting of resources from low value crops to high value crops such as fruits, vegetables, etc. The concept of crop diversification in globalized market of agricultural produce refers to increase the total crop productivity in terms of quality, quantity and monetary value under different specific agro-climatic situations across the world. There are two approaches to crop diversification in agriculture. First is horizontal diversification, which is the primary approach to crop diversification in production agriculture. The approach takes place through crop intensification by adding new high-value crops to existing cropping systems. Thus, the approach facilitates the improvement of overall productivity of a farm or farming economy of a region. The second approach is the vertical diversification. Under this approach, farmers and others add value to products through processing, regional branding, packaging, merchandising or other efforts to enhance the farm-product. The opportunities for crop diversification may vary depending on risks, opportunities and the feasibility of proposed changes within a socio-economic and agro-economic context. However, crop diversification through substitution of one crop or mixed cropping / inter-cropping may be a useful tool to mitigate problems associated with aberrant weather to some extent, especially in the arid and semi-arid drought-prone / dry land areas. Impact of crop diversification Crop diversification is intended to practice of growing more than one crop (or enterprise) in any year to increase financial and biological stability of the farm. In the agricultural context, diversification can be regarded as the re-allocation of some of a farms productive resources, such as land, capital, farm equipment and paid labour, into new activities. These can be new crops or livestock products, value-adding activities, provision of services to other farmers, etc. On the other hand, diversification of agriculture refers to the shift from the regional dominance of one crop to regional production of a number of crops, to meet ever increasing demand for cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, etc. It aims to improve soil health and a dynamic equilibrium of the agro-ecosystem. Crop diversification takes into account the economic returns from different value-added crops. Crop diversification can better tolerate the ups and downs in the market value of farm products and may ensure economic stability for farming families of the state. The adverse effects of aberrant weather, such as erratic and scanty rainfall and drought are very common in a vast area in agricultural production of the state. Incidents of flood in one part and drought in the other part are a very frequent phenomenon in the state. Under these aberrant weather situations, dependence on one or two major cereals (rice, wheat, etc.) is always risky. Diversification in agriculture has tremendous impact on the agro-socio-economic condition and uplifting resource-poor farming communities. It generates income and employment for rural youth year round for the ultimate benefits of the farmers in the state. It implies the use of local resources in a larger mix of diverse cropping systems and livestock, aquaculture and other non-farm sectors in the rural areas. Problem statement The yield as well as farm income is the essential part for crop diversification for the farmer of an agricultural based economy like West Bengal. Normally, the farmers diversify farm enterprises to meet the cash requirements of the family and to mitigate risk associated with mono-cropping, depending on conventional wisdom over the years. The crop diversification in the state is also considered with greater emphasis from the view point to price response, market infrastructure, availability of resources and public interventions (price and credit policies of farming business, research and development in farming activities, etc.) in agriculture. The judicious crop mix has facilitated increased farm incomes. It has also contribution towards the utilization of under employed resources to mitigate seasonal and under unemployment of rural labour force. The crop diversification has also helped to reduce risks and uncertainties in crops yields due to climatic and biological vagaries. Thus the study was conducted to analyze the extent of crop diversification at different levels of farm size as well as crop growing seasons in West Bengal for both inorganic and organic farming systems, commonly followed by the farmers in the state.

Pure Church Essay Example for Free

Pure Church Essay The service is at Pure Church in Birmingham, AL. I am at the heart of the South, literal marching ground of the civil rights movements in the 1950s. 50 years ago, this place was the launching ground for the black civil rights movement. This is where a revolution rang out from, a revolution that has bore the America of the present day (Rose, 1998). The sitting arrangement is oval in line with the church’s seats design. The church is surrounded with television sets all over so as to allow the congregation gets full view of the sermons. Pictures of young people responding to the emotional charges of the priest flashes all more frequently and families across the ocean, all to Atlanta, Selma and Montgomery and Ohio all get the glimpse of the preacher and the entire proceedings of the sermon from their television sets. Throughout the history the African- American church has maintained a tenacious grip on the gospel outsourcing justice. The congregation here are so emotionally charged and any sign of lack of emotional charge in one individual makes that person the odd one out, and therefore I had to do it as Romans do it as I was on their territory just to fit in the system for I had not been naturally sucked in the system. The congregation is dominated by the young people, majority young women of middle age. Full of energy, this group can stand for long, dance and clap with the tune of the gospel songs booming from the speakers installed around the walls of the church. The preacher, a middle aged man with white attire, symbolizing the holiness of the place, arrives with touching and rendering tunes of the Don Moen’s popular song, ‘arise’. The preacher’s attire contradicts the general attire of the congregation, which seems to be more contemporary and have no clear cut significances of resemblance with each other. The preacher seems to understand his audience well and therefore considering his choice of the topic of the day, dating and Christianity. How well would the preacher show the concern of the modern youth? This is why the preacher would not be irrelevant enough to choose topics like slavery, which were very relevant 50 years ago. In those years, the gospel pierced the soul and when they were laced with social injustice of slavery and racism. But today in this church, full of post- slavery people congregation, gospel edges here is shaved, sanded and smoothened such that the gospel only tickles rather pierce. In between every comment, that is, approximately after every five minutes, the sermon is refreshed with gospel music from contemporary gospel singers like Kirk Franklin. After some time, the whole church is immersed with songs of praise. The choir on the stage, the dancers streaming in one by one with their dancing skills to prove their ability to make the word of God enjoyable rather than a boring affair. The preacher moves with the congregation in response to the rapturous songs coming from speakers. He moves around the church in order to make his work lively and keep everybody attentive. Every row is fitted with a microphone and in addition there is a wireless microphone that goes around just in case there existing one develops technical problems. The people are expected to ask questions and make contribution to the topic of the day. Some take that opportunity to give their testimony, and some confess. Then time comes when the congregation receives blessings one by one from the preacher. People queue and pass by preacher’s section one by one, with stewards directing people. The preacher touches the fore head of individuals with some cold- like ice to bless the individual members of the congregation. My turn comes and I do the necessary, for nobody is left out. For some visitors like me, they find it difficult to follow all these doctrines and their being new in the church could easily get noticed. When the blessing were complete, the church goes quiet and the preacher announces that it is time to reflect on our past mistakes and sins and ask for forgiveness. This takes five minutes and the during this period the church goes silent that the only sound heard is from a hissing sound friction of the wind and the roof the church. The second last phase of the service involves group discussions, where people form temporary groups to learn from each other’s personal experience. This is part of the interactive process of the service. This process takes approximately fifteen minutes. The people seem comfortable with this session unlike the guests like us. Before I noticed that the groups were random, I could not identify myself with a group, since I did not want to be noticed. The collection of the offerings from the congregation begins after the group discussions. This process goes faster since small bags are circulated around for people to deposit their offerings. This is done as the slow and soft music streams from the speakers. Finally the preacher calls for any visitors to rise and introduce themselves. About nine visitors stand up and do the introduction one by one, giving their personal experience with the church. With this the preacher ends service as the music continues. The service is well planned with a clearly laid down procedure and role of the preacher in guiding the congregation. The choir does their part as they keep the congregation on toes with their emotional songs. In contrast to the traditional churches, the program is completely redefined to suit the composition of the congregation. The format is laid such that the music forms major part of the service. This is meant to contain the completely volatile group of this congregation, the youth. Then youth have proved to want something different from their fathers and forefathers (Gladys, 1993), ranging from music to sermon methodology. This is why the contemporary music of Kirk Franklin took most part of the service. The church seems to respond to the well to the youth’s social needs unlike their fathers who had experienced racial discriminations and therefore used the church as a podium to fight social injustice. The choice of dressing code here is also contemporary. The youth are known to be opposed to uniformity of the anything as they chose to explore and anywhere that seems to preserve their identity is definitely the best option (John 2003). The building is symbolic such that the roof top is fitted with a big cross. It is also oval, such that the preacher moves around at the center of the congregation. However, in contrast to the traditional design of the church buildings, this church is fitted with television sets, an effort to reach a bigger audience who could not reach the church. It is also a form of advertising the church such that more converts could turn out. The church does not offer any special service like Sunday school. This is visibly because the composition of the congregation is middle aged groups who are basically not yet parents. Another area which is completely different with other traditional churches is the Holy Communion. Here the Holy Communion is not part of the service, and instead the preacher does only the ritual of blessing by cold water smeared on the forehead. This is in line with this church’s doctrine. Conclusion The modern church has gone under several evolutions with new church doctrine being introduced in place of the traditional ones (Job, 1999). However the changes that have occurred have been fused into the system. Despite all these changes, there are some doctrines which have been retained. The rituals of blessings using water dates back to the bible history where the Jewish used to be blessed with the churches (Thomas, 1995). The symbol of cross, signifying the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, make the church complete with the tradition similar to all traditional churches like the roman catholic with all their churches having crosses. The preacher order general observation of silence just like it is observed in the Roman Catholic Church, meant for the congregation to ask for forgiveness in silence (Joe, 2001). It is therefore clear that even though things have changed significantly, the common doctrines of the churches are still observed. Thomas, J. 1995: The legacy of African- American Church, New York, Revolution Publishers Joe, A. 2001: What’s Impressive about Briarwood Presbyterian? California, Religion Development Printers Rose, L. 1998: The Primacy of Preaching- How can we do it differently? Denver,Holy Publishers. Job L. 1999: Six Goals for Every Preacher- Bettering your approach as a preacher, New York, Revolution Publishers John F. 2003: Contemporary Church Vs Traditional one, Atlanta, Biblical Printers Gladys P. 1993: Do you have a favorite Book of The Bible, Atlanta, Biblical Printers

Work of leadership

Work of leadership LEADERSHIP INTRODUCTION Leadership is defined as a process of influencing people to accomplish the mission, inspiring their commitment, and improving the organisation ( www.mindef.gov.sg 4/12/09 ). As defined leadership is a continuous process it is a chain of influencing and achieving. Moreover leadership is basically depends on the behavior of a leader, it means the way leader handles the group it can be charismatic leadership where followers are truly depend on the leader with high vision, participative leadership where followers are allowed to take part in group discussions and they participate in the final decision, directive leadership where leader is strict with his rules and give directions, supportive leadership where leader consider followers problems and grievances or reward and punishment leadership where reward or punishment is given on the basis of final task results. ( www.legacee.com 4/12/09 ) In this assignment the main objective is to come up with my own leadership style and to show how effective it is in terms of handling change. Also the important aspect of this assignment is to show the factors which help the change to get the tag of effective change. SUPPORTIVE LEADERSHIP The leadership style I use to follow is Supportive leadership because according to me the followers are as important as task. The goals can only be achieve with the help of followers if followers are facing any problem either in their personal life or under organization roof the affect of that problem can be clearly measured from their task results. Moreover I use self made theory in my leadership which is Get addict an achieve , according to this a person can achieve any thing but the conditions is that the person must be addicted to it. If followers are facing any grievances they can not be addicted towards achievement. Supportive leader in my way does not only mean handling grievances of followers but I call myself supportive leader because I plan my tactics towards achieving a goal according to the followers ability and skills moreover according to their willingness and motivation towards work. Supportive leadership is It leads people: It doesnt drive them. It involves them: It d oesnt coerce them. It never loses sight of the most important principle governing any project involving human beings: namely, that people are more important than things, ( Kriyananda, www.crystalclarity.com 4/12/09 ). Supportive leadership is working along with followers guiding them helping them instead of working ahead of them. Human beings are most important aspect of this type of leadership. According to me this leadership can be done effectively if leaders treat followers as one who work with him rather work for him. Being the basket ball captain for two consecutive years I applied my leadership style and maintained a team. My basket ball team called Descent Killerz was one of the most conflicted team. Being the youngest in the team I learned a lot about my team members , the team was on loosing streak and the main problem of the team was conflicts between team members. The coach of the team had tried all his best efforts to improve the team and reduce the conflicts but he was failed. I was youngest in the team and new member as well, my friendly nature helped me making friendship with all of the players of my team. My understanding ability made me the favourite in the team members, ignoring my problem of unable to make dunks, the team let me play for them. Sooner I was appointed as a captain of the team only because of my supportive nature and supportive leadership behavior. I was the one who solved the conflicts of the team as every player was frank with me and use to share his problem which helped me to understand the main problem of conflicts which was a poor formation. Players were playing in a poo r formation which was disturbing them, some of the times defenders were used in attack which was uncomfortable for the players. I had a talk about this with my coach and he changed the formation according to the abilities of the players which eliminated the conflicts between the team players and I achieved a team with decency and named it Descent Killerz. My style of leadership i.e. supportive leadership was proved efficient at that time. And according to me this type of leadership behavior always come up with efficiency in achieving the goals. TYPES OF SUPPORTIVE LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS Showing concern for followers need : A supportive leader should concern the needs of followers and then try to fulfil them for increasing the efficiency of the followers. Being considerate and understanding : Understanding the problems of followers and them try to eliminate them makes the supportive leadership in action. Showing trust and respect : As supportive leader works with followers so the main responsibility of such leader is to respect his followers and trust them. (Â   www.skagitwatershed.org 4/12/09 ) Being friendly informative, and encouraging : Supportive leader should be friendly with his followers and try to provide as information as he can to make the employees efficient and most importantly he should always encourage his followers towards achievement of goals. Being sympathetic to others problems : Supportive leaders should be sympathetic toward the problems of followers if they are not serious towards the problems of their followers they will not share their problems with the leader then. Helping followers develop abilities and careers : Supportive leaders are the one who help the followers to improve their abilities and advise them toward a good career. SITUATIONAL FACTORS THAT ENHANCES SUPPORTIVE LEADERSHIP FOLLOWERS CHARACTERISTICS : Ø Low self confidence Ø Low self esteem Ø Insecurity Ø Expectations that leader will be supportive Ø High growth need TASK CHARACTERISTICS Ø Dissatisfying Ø Stressful Ø Highly structured Ø Requires creativity Ø Requires learning ORGANIZATIONAL GROUP CHARACTERISTICS Ø External conflict Ø Newly formed group Ø Cohesive group with shared beliefs in leader Ø Formal plans, goals procedures Ø Mission emphasizing human services Ø Authoritarian superior SITUATIONAL FACTORS THAT NEUTRALIZE SUPPORTIVE LEADERSHIP Ø Dogmatic Followers Ø Large Size of Group Ø High Level Job Ø Broad Task Scope FACTORS OF MANAGING CHANGE IN AN ORGANIZATION : The factors that contribute to effectiveness of leadership in relation to managing change in an organization are as follow : Followers support : if a change is supported by the followers it makes an easy task for a leader to manage that change. For example if change is less absenteeism and followers are supporting this change by reducing their number of leaves. Followers understanding : one of the most important thing is understanding . If followers are understanding the change it becomes easy for followers to follow the change. Moreover an understandable change becomes more easy for a leader to manage. Followers trust : followers who trust their leaders will always trust any change made by their leader. As an organization is made on trust between people it is one of the most important thing. As trust-able leaders are always welcome by followers so does their changes Situation : the situational factor can help a leader to manage a change easily as the change always depends on the situation it is arrived on. For example if employees were feeling a hectic schedule and them leader come up with change in timings and breaking the schedule with certain breaks, this type of change depends on the situation. Rules : if a change comes as a rule of company it becomes too easy for a leader to manage it as it is compulsory to follow it. For example if company comes as change in rules for not allowing smoking in premises it becomes compulsory to be follow by followers without an argue. Acceptance : If change is accepted by the followers it is easy to manage it. For example if the change is in timings of lunch and followers accept it then there is no need to worry about managing that change by a leader. Expectations : if the change is according to the expectations of the employees then there is no need to manage that change. For examples staff was demanding 15 days vacations in the time of Christmas and new year and company agrees on it then their will be no need to mange such a change. Superiors support : if the change created by a leader is supported by its superior then it become less hectic for leader to manage it. But if superiors are against the change then it is difficult for leader to mange it. For example if leader says that every body should be their in office by 8.30 in the morning and its superior comes at 10 am it becomes difficult for him to handle. Feedback : the most important aspect of managing is feedback as it comes as a report card to the manager for his performance and if the result is not good it indicates that there is need for better management. CONCLUSION In conclusion it can be said that how effective is the supportive leadership is. Supportive leadership not only help followers to work efficiently but it also provides bundles of knowledge to the leader as supportive leadership behavior helps leader to interact with each and every of his follower. Supportive leadership can be used mostly but it can be non-effective where the number of followers are many, as a leader can not create personal relations with huge number of followers. In the assignment I shared my own personal experience with this type of leadership and for me this leadership behavior was a huge success.

Bladder Epithelium Essay -- Health, Diseases, Biopsy of the Bladder

Researchers believe that normal repair of the epithelial lining of the bladder does not occur in patients who develop IC (ARHP, 2008). One theory proposes that the bladder epithelium or lining of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) is damaged due to bladder injury and exposes the sensory nerves to irritants and triggers a noxious sensation. The damaged epithelium allows absorption of potassium and urea into the bladder wall (Klutke & Klutke, 2008). The damaged epithelium may lead to mast cell activation and the release of histamine. It is proposed that vasoactive, nociceptive, and proinflammatory molecules released from mast cells create neuronal sensitization and emit neurotransmitters that continue to stimulate the mast cells in the bladder and play an important role in the chronic and painful symptoms of IC (Sant, Kempuraj, Marchand, & Theoharides, 2006). There may be a possibility that heredity may play a part in some forms of IC. In a few cases, IC has affected a mother and a daugh ter or two sisters, but it is not usually familial (Clemens, Joyce, Wise, & Payne, 2007). Data has also shown that patients with IC have a higher incidence of certain immunological or allergic conditions. These conditions include allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, sensitive skin, vulvodynia, fibromyalgia, and migraine headaches (ARHP, 2008). Interstitial cystitis is divided into two categories: ulcerative or classic and nonulcerative or Messing-Stamey types. The classic or ulcerative type clinically presents with a diffusely reddened appearance to the bladder surface epithelium associated with one or more ulcerative patches surrounded by mucosal congestion. The ulcers are called Hunner ulcers. Hunner ulcer upon cystoscopic examination is the ... ...nage this condition the patient must maintain a relationship with her primary care provider, be diligent with tracking her symptoms and managing her diet and medications (ARHP, 2008). Differential Diagnosis The ARHP suggest that the differential diagnosis of IC include other causes of pelvic pain and urinary complaints. These include urinary tract infections, overactive bladder, gynecological chronic pelvic pain, endometriosis, and bladder carcinoma. The effects of certain drugs may also cause these symptoms. These drugs include cyclophosphamide, aspirin, NSAIDs, and allopurinol (ARHP, 2008). These need to be excluded as part of the diagnostic process. Review of Literature Several research articles have been reviewed in order to identify the most recent evidence based practice techniques for diagnosing and managing patients with interstitial cystitis.

Slaughterhouse Five Essay -- essays research papers

Slaughterhouse Five Billy Pilgrim is born in 1922 and grows up in Ilium, New York. A funny-looking, weak youth, he does well in high school, then he enrolls in night classes at the Ilium School of Optometry, and is soon drafted into the army. He serves as a chaplain's assistant, is sent into the Battle of the Bulge, and almost gets taken prisoner by the Germans. Just before being captured he first becomes unstuck in time. He sees the entirety of his life in one sweep. Billy is transported with other privates to the beautiful city of Dresden. There the prisoners are made to work for their keep. They are kept in a former slaughterhouse. Billy and his fellow POWs survive in an airtight meat locker. They emerge to find a moonscape of destruction. Several days’ later Russian forces capture the city and the war is over. Billy returns to Ilium and finishes optometry school. He gets engaged to the daughter of the founder of the school. His wealthy father-in-law sets him up in the optometry business. Bill y and his wife raise two children and become wealthy. One day in 1967, as he claims on a radio talk show and in a letter to the editor, Billy is kidnapped by two-foot high aliens whose body shape is reminiscent of an upside down toilet plunger. These are the Tralfamadorians. They take him to Tralfamadore where they mate him with the actress Montana Wildhack and keep both earthlings in a zoo. They also explain to him their perception of time, how all of it exists for them simultaneously in the fourth dimension. When someone dies he is simply dead at a particular time. Somewhere else and at a different time he is alive and well. Tralfamadorians prefer to look at the nice moments. When he is returned to earth, Billy initially says nothing. However, after he suffers a head injury in a plane crash and after his wife dies on her way to see him in the hospital, Billy tells the world what he has learned. He goes on a radio talk show and writes a letter to the newspaper. His daughter is at her wit's end and doesn't know what to do with him. Billy makes a tape recording of his account of his death, which will occur in 1976 after Chicago has been hydrogen bombed by the Chinese. He knows exactly how it will happen: a man he knew in the war will hire someone to shoot him. Billy will experience the violet hum of death, then will skip back to some other point in his life. He's see... ...ughterhouse-Five, it seems that both the narrator and Billy Pilgrim are represented as author. The point of view in this book is the author is looking at the events of his own life; past, present, and future and trying to make some sense out of them the same way that Billy is trying to order the events of his own life. The author uses short, simple sentences that manage to say a lot in a few words. The author also uses imagery. He also puts in his book references to historical events. These references increase the understanding and appreciation of Billy's story by suggesting historical and literary parallels to the personal events in his life. The novel does not have smooth transitions from one event to the next. A normal novel has smooth transition. Vonnegut wrote this book without any smooth transition. This novel is very complicated. The topics that are mention are hard to understand. The book was a bit difficult to follow. Slaughter House-Five's character's needs more depth. More description is necessary. There was too much jumping around in time in Billy’s life. I thought that this book was going to be better than it actually was. I wouldn’t recommend this book to a person wh

Autobiographical Writing on my 5th Birthday :: Papers

Autobiographical Writing My 5th birthday My 5th birthday is 1 of my earliest memories and is the first birthday I can remember I don't know why it has stuck in my memory so much but I can remember it like it was yesterday. It started very early in the morning around 5 am which is ridiculously early to be getting up and you wouldn't catch me getting up that early these days, but at the time I was used to it because my mum worked at night and my dad started work about 6 so I used to have to go round my next door neighbors house till my mum got home at about 8, the lady next door was called Maureen she was about 50 and she was quite tiny and had short gray hair. I remember her to be very kind, she had a colossal collection of video's that she let me watch every morning and she would always offer drinks, biscuits, cakes and anything you could think of really, her kitchen was the Aladdin's cave of cuisine and provisions. On the morning of my birthday my dad came in my room picked me up to carry me across to next door. I was still asleep not really knowing what was going on around me until the fearsome freeze of the early morning hit me round the head, winded me, then chopped off my fingers and toe's. My dad rushed to get me to Maureen's house as quick as he could when I got in there me and my dad sat down and had a goblet of rosy lea (tea) with Maureen before he had to dash off to work, then she whipped out a bowl of piping hot ready break which is like a kids version of porridge with a ton of sugar and a blab of milk it was lovely, I munched it down like a frog would a fly, I was still pretty drowsy so I had a snooze on the couch. When I awoke a gigantic box wrapped in lime green packaging was stood in the center of the room, I

International Joint Ventures Essay

The objective of this paper is to highlight some of the important issues that must be considered prior to forming an international joint venture. Why is this topic important? The following quote summarizes the main reason: â€Å"Cross-border M&As, JVs and alliances seem to share at least two characteristics with marriage trends of the post World War II â€Å"Baby Boomers† generation: They have grown explosively during the 1980s and through the 1990s but – less fortunately – they fail about half the time.†[1] With this in mind, it is very likely that sooner or later you will be involved in an international joint venture, either in the process of forming one, dissolving one or working for one. The more you know about international joint ventures, the better prepared you will be to understand and contribute to the solution for the challenges they present. Most companies begin their expansion to overseas markets by exporting their products or services. Exporting products has minimal risk involved, especially if the proper steps are followed. However, in some instances exporting is difficult or expensive and companies use other methods to penetrate international markets. Forming an international joint venture with a foreign firm in the target market is, in some cases, the only avenue to accomplish the goal. An international joint venture is usually a progression in the investment level that companies are willing to commit prior to fully investing in a foreign subsidiary. What is the main difference between opening a subsidiary and forming a joint venture? According to Andrew Inkpen, a joint venture occurs when â€Å"two or more legally distinct firms (the parents) pool a portion of their resources within a jointly owned legal organization†[2] â€Å"The distribution of equity among the parent companies can take different forms, ranging from 50/50 IJVs between two companies, to reduced minority or dominant majority stakes.†[3] In contrast, only one company owns a subsidiary. Even though companies perceive IJV as less risky than opening their own subsidiaries, forming inadequate joint ventures can be risky and expensive. If managers are not careful in their analysis and are not aware of the potential pitfalls of international joint ventures then they can face some serious trouble. So far we have learned that culture plays a major role in business culture. Hence, culture will ultimately have a major impact in the international joint venture. Piero Morosini, one of the leading researchers in international joint ventures, explains the role culture plays in international joint ventures as follows: â€Å"Empirical evidence suggests that technical issues are less likely to lead to conflicting situations compared to relationship problems during the implementation of international JVs and alliances. Throughout this phase, too much emphasis is usually placed on setting strategic objectives at the cost of ignoring personal interaction aspects involving people from different national cultures. This has been cited as the most critical factor leading to unresolved conflicts and outright failure of an international JV or alliance.†[4] Companies some times enter into joint ventures with objectives other than to gain rapid access into the market. Some companies want to learn from other companies or like to combine resources in order to make a stronger company. â€Å"The need to combine strategic resource contributions and foster functional co-operation and co-ordination between the partners to create mutual advantages is at the heart of both IJVs and global alliances.†[5] As you read this paper, you will learn that most of the failures in joint ventures occurs due to the misunderstanding in the goals and the definition of the goals. Finnie Williams states that â€Å"half of all partnerships don’t work. Those that are successful share three characteristics with successful marriages: †¢ The actual and perceived potential benefits must be large for both parties. †¢ The partners must share a common set of values †¢ The key people must be committed to success.†[6] It seems that the most important aspect when speaking of international joint ventures, is that partners must share a common set of values. This is very unlikely to happen. The main reasons cultures are different is because they have different sets of values. For instance, some companies define success in terms of return on investment, others use market share, yet others define it in terms of customer satisfaction. These differences are critical and must be discussed early in the planning stage in order to lay a solid foundation for the partnership. It is important to keep in mind that even companies from the same cultural and business background have different plans to achieve their goals. Therefore, whenever we mix companies with different cultural backgrounds, the complexity level increases. People from different cultures perceive business in different ways. The rest of this paper provides examples of international joint ventures in different countries and examines some of the general observations related to such ventures and countries. China â€Å"Foreign investment in 1995 was $US38 billion (China Statistical Press 1996). International Joint ventures (IJVs) between overseas companies and domestic state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been the dominant mode of entry. However, many JV investments have been less than successful.†[7] China â€Å"is now the world’s most active joint venture market.† [8] These facts are not surprising as â€Å"China is home to 25 percent of the world’s population and many western firms view the country as a prime target market.†[9] However, as we will discuss, not everyone venturing in China has been successful. For instance, a group of French investors dissolved their joint venture in China after 12 years of investment. The agreement was primarily between Peugeot and Guangzhou Automotive Manufacturing (GAM). It took four years of negotiations between French and Chinese investors to form the joint venture Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Corporation (GPAC) in 1985 . Following are some of the major problems that Peugeot mentioned as key elements to the failure of their venture in China: †¢ The labor force from the Chinese partner had inadequate skills, which resulted in more time and money spent in training. †¢ Lack of suppliers in the Guangzhou area that could provide quality parts. As a consequence many of the parts had to be imported which raised the cost of the vehicles as compared to the competition. †¢ Guangzhou officials would not allow the plant to purchase parts from suppliers from other regions in China. Competitors who were located in other Chinese regions had access to quality Chinese parts and were able to build vehicles at lower prices. There is another side to this story, analysts believe that: †¢ Peugeot chose the Guangzhou area because the central government had little influence over the local government and there would be more management freedom. However, this backfired on Peugeot as the distance from Beijing acted as a barrier to access suppliers from other regions. †¢ Peugeot did not act fast enough to form a joint venture with a supplier in the Guangzhou region. Their competitors had formed such partnerships with their suppliers. †¢ Peugeot repatriated most of its profits and made few changes to their vehicles. Their competitors instead, reinvested most of the profits in the venture and to improve the vehicles. [10] I think there are several lessons to be learned from this example. One is that it takes a long time to agree on the terms of the agreement. Second is that even though both partners had agreed on the goals, unexpected deficiencies (labor and parts) put the company at a disadvantage with its competitors. It is amazing that after four years of negotiations, nobody checked if the skill sets were compatible and if the local suppliers could provide quality parts. Third is that even when companies believe that they are making the correct strategic move they could be doing the opposite due to lack of knowledge of the local culture. In this case, Peugeot was under the impression that distance from Beijing would be positive and in fact it turned out negative. Finally, companies that want to use joint ventures as means to have a quick entry into the market can get hurt. In this case, Peugeot was not committed to re-investing capital in the joint venture, which at the end made them completely uncompetitive in the market. You might be wondering who was the competitor to Peugeot that was being so successful in China. That competitor was also a joint venture. This time it was between a German company, Volkswagen AG, and a Chinese partner in the Shanghai area. As mentioned before, Shanghai Volkswagen was quick to form partnerships with suppliers to increase the content of Chinese parts in their vehicles and reduce the number of imported parts. Another important aspect is the fact that Shanghai Volkswagen was reinvesting their profits in order to improve their vehicles. Such improvements plus their commitment to the Chinese economy, allowed Shanghai Volkswagen to earn a better reputation among customers.[11] Another major corporation that has been successful in forming joint ventures in China is United Parcel Service. â€Å"UPS has been aggressively expanding its operations there. On Jan. 21 1999, the company announced an agreement with Chinese airline Sinotrans to expand UPS-branded operations to 18 additional cities in China, bringing the total to 21. The two carriers signed a memorandum of understanding that includes new investments to develop dedicated operations and more joint training and management efforts. In 1994, UPS opened representative offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing, and by 1996 established a joint venture with Sinotrans in Beijing. Efforts to establish joint ventures in Shanghai and Guangzhou were temporarily put on hold with a change in government leadership.†[12] These examples provide us with some useful information regarding joint ventures in China. However, there are some other facts that you must know: †¢ Laws governing international joint ventures in China are different than the laws for Chinese firms. †¢ Laws may also be different depending on whether the Chinese partner is a state business, village or township enterprise. †¢ China’s legal system consists of guidelines for businesses and individual judges have enough leeway to determine what is right and what is wrong. †¢ Provincial regions can prohibit the sale of goods not produced on its own region. (this was the case with Peugeot suppliers). †¢ The need for government support is greater when the output of the joint venture is sold within China †¢ The local partner is critical when the output must be sold to the government instead of the general public. [13] A survey of 125 randomly chosen Sino-Western joint ventures, each with a minimum of 50 employees, and each in business for over one year, were surveyed in Shanghai. They surveyed mangers from both parent companies in order to compare results and the results were as follows: †¢ The goal emphasis of the two groups was substantially different. †¢ Chinese managers focused on things that they had not yet mastered such as technology, management skills, and capital understanding. †¢ Western managers focused on their own things to be mastered such as understanding the local market, government policy and the political system. [14] Japan The situation in Japan is mixed. While some researchers point that there are some major problems in forming international joint ventures, large multinationals have formed very successful joint ventures and the announcements of more and more joint ventures being formed continues. On one hand is the view that international joint ventures between Japanese and North American firms in the automotive industry have encountered many problems. Most of the problems are related to cultural differences and management styles. â€Å"Although it is overly simplistic to describe Japanese management as long-term oriented and American management as short-term oriented, the Japanese partner firms in this study appeared to focus on customer satisfaction and product quality rather than profit based performance. Japanese firms seemed less constrained by issues of share price and impatient board of directors than their American counterparts.†[15] On the other hand is the trend of new joint ventures being formed or existing ones being expanded, â€Å"Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Sumitomo Rubber Industries announced the formation of four joint venture operating companies. The units will be based in North America, Europe, and Japan. Two U.S.-based service joint ventures will also be formed, one for global purchasing and one for sharing tire technology.†[16] This agreement between Goodyear and Sumitomo reflects some experience in forming joint ventures as they have clearly defined the goals of the different joint ventures. This joint venture seems to be headed in the right direction, it will be interesting to follow up in a few years to see if they actually become successful. â€Å"Dainippon Ink and Chemicals (DIC) and Eastman Kodak say they will combine portions of their Japanese graphic arts businesses in April to make a Japanese unit for their existing JV, Kodak Polychrome Graphics (Norwalk, CT). The combination will increase the JVs sales from $1.5 billion last year to $2 billion in 1999, Kodak says.†[17] Kodak seems to be having success in their joint ventures with Japanese companies as they are expanding their current joint venture. Dupont and Teijin announced that they will form a 50-50 joint venture to manufacture polyester films. The joint venture is expected to generate sales of $1.4 billion and represent 25% of the market. â€Å"Both companies say the venture will allow for the free flow of technology and will combine DuPont’s strengths in the U.S., Europe, and China with Teijin’s strengths in Japan and Southeast Asia.† [18] Once again, it seems that companies that invest time and effort analyzing and understanding the challenges of joint ventures get on the right track from the start. Companies that just want to do business as usual (the case in the automotive industry) will have a hard time making the joint venture successful. SPAIN Spain has seen less activity in terms of joint ventures than Japan and China. It seems that Spain is not perceived as â€Å"risky† country and most companies might be willing to spring into fully owned subsidiaries in Spain. Also, the barrier to enter the market might not be as high as in the case of the Japanese market. However, in some industries, such as the financial services industry, there is a need for joint ventures to penetrate the market. Spanish people look for names of familiar companies to invest their money. According to a London fund manager interested in the Spanish market, â€Å"The easiest way to break into the market is through joint ventures with local banks but there are not many suitable partners. We have looked around a few banks but we haven’t been able to come up with a deal we like the look of.†[19] There is one company that has formed a joint venture with a Fibanc in Barcelona, Lazard Unit Trust Managers. Although, the majority of the investment firms have decided to just open their own branches in Spain. Fidelity’s managing director for central Europe believes that â€Å"Spain has a big population, around 40 million so in terms of sheer size it is very attractive. It’s one of the markets we have to be in. Fidelity opened its office in Madrid this year and has put a sales team in place. We are aiming at creating our own distribution channel rather than any other form of strategic alliance or joint venture†[20] It will be interesting to observe which of the two firms becomes more successful given the different approaches to penetrate the Spanish market. Another recent joint venture in Spain is Spanair. Formed between Scandinavian Airlines (49%) and Viajes Marsan (51%). Due to the recent deregulation of the European airline industry, the two companies were able to establish the airline as a joint venture. Spanair is flying direct from Madrid to Washington D.C. and it is increasing the number of intra-Europe flights. Spanair is now trying to form alliances with United Airlines to gain market recognition in the United States. Spanair has a different approach to marketing, they consider themselves an â€Å"airline with humor†, in fact, they gave away 266 round trip tickets to the first 266 people to arrive at the airport wearing some type of costume resembling some aspect of the Spanish culture.[21] Although, it seems that this airline has had a great start, it will be interesting to find out how they do in the future, as the Spanish culture seems to be playing a mayor role in the way the airline is run. I think that if Scandinavian Airlines is fully aware of the differences in management style between them and their Spanish partners, this joint venture should successful. Russia Prior to 1987, Russia had major restrictions in the formation of joint ventures. Only Eastern Block countries were allowed to form joint ventures with Russian partners. However, after 1987 the opportunity for joint ventures with Russian companies opened up and the result was a flood of joint ventures along with problems, risks, frustrations, opportunities and rewards.[22] The following quote summarizes the joint venture situation in Russia: â€Å"Although more than 10,000 international joint ventures have been registered in Russia since 1987, only about one-fifth of those have actually begun operations. Historically, many Russian-foreign joint ventures fail in the first year of operation, with an average survival rate of about 2.5 years.† [23] Richard Reece has identified some myths about Russians, which he believes are key elements in the failure track of international joint ventures in Russia. Following is a summary of these myths and his observations regarding the myths and suggestions to consider when forming a joint venture in Russia. 1. Russian workers are alcoholics and have an inferior work ethic. Alcoholic consumption might be higher, there is no certainty in this remark, however, Russian workers are used to longer vacations in the summer time and this can create the impression that Russians are lazy. His suggestion is to learn more about the Russian habits and styles prior to committing to a joint venture and have unrealistic expectations. 2. Russians are ignorant, incompetent managers. It is important to remember that Russians are learning about the market economy. For many years they have not been exposed to open markets, so they are less familiar with issues such as pricing, receivables, cost analysis, financing, cash flow, and marketing. It is important to remember that this is one of the major reasons why Russians are looking for partnerships with western companies. Russians are eager to learn more about the western style economics. The best way to find out the knowledge level is trough interviews with potential partners. 3. Russian managers lack business savvy. This myth has some truth in it, however, the fact that the Russian economy is unstable, has given managers the ability to react quickly to changes and adapt to the conditions of the new environment. In fact it is important to understand that not all western style solutions will work in Russia and Russian manager are more familiar with the details on how to get things done in Russia. Richard Reece makes particular emphasis in communication as a key ingredient to a successful joint venture in Russia. If potential partners do not learn about each other, how can they expect the venture to be successful. General Guidelines to Select a Partner. In general regardless of the countries involved, William Myers offers the following guidelines to select an adequate business partner: †¢ Is your prospective partner a known entity? †¢ Have you worked with the group before? †¢ Do the organization’s culture and values match yours? †¢ Does your prospective partner understand how associations work? †¢ Will the organization be flexible in crafting workable deals? †¢ Can your prospective partner clearly define success in the joint venture? †¢ Does your prospective partner have a reputation for honesty, and will the organization define working agreements in writing? [24] Answers to these questions will give you a general idea on whether to proceed with the venture, do more in depth analysis or simply not go through with the process. Conclusion This paper presented examples of successful and unsuccessful joint ventures. It also highlighted important information regarding key aspects of joint ventures in different countries. Joint ventures are still popular and international companies are creating more every day. Therefore, the knowledge from this paper should assist you to better understand the challenges associated with most joint ventures. A topic that was consistent throughout the literature on joint ventures is the importance of cultural differences, patience and the comparison of joint ventures to marriage. Therefore, if you have been married for a while, you might be better prepared for a joint venture than you think. Another interesting observation is that joint ventures seem to be preferred when there are market barriers, such as the case with Japan, or when the perceived risk level is relatively high, such as Russia and China. The fact that there was scarce information on joint ventures between companies of developed nations indicates that joint ventures are not the main avenue of expansion for most firms. This does not imply that they do not happen or that are not recommended, it simply states that they are far less popular. Companies are more willing to establish their own subsidiaries or branches since the risk level is lower. If you are involved in a joint venture, use the guidelines presented in this paper. The authors who recommend them have been studying international joint ventures for several years and have learned a lot from them. ———————– [1] Morosini, Piero.1998. Managing Cultural Differences, Pergamon Great Britain. [2] Inkpen, Andrew. 1995. The management of international joint ventures, Routledge London and New York. [3] Morosini, Piero.1998. Managing Cultural Differences, Pergamon Great Britain. [4] Morosini, Piero.1998. Managing Cultural Differences, Pergamon Great Britain. [5] Morosini, Piero.1998. Managing Cultural Differences, Pergamon Great Britain [6] Finnie, William C. 1998. Strategic partnering: Three case studies. Strategy and leadership, 26 (4): 18-22. [7] O Connor, Neal; & Chalos, Peter. 1999. The challenge for successful joint venture management in China: Lessons from a failed joint venture Multinational Business Review, 7 (1): 50-61. [8] Si, Steven & Bruton, Gary. 1999. Knowledge transfer in international joint ventures in transitional economies: The China experience. Academy of Management Executive, 13 (1): 83-90. [9] Si, Steven & Bruton, Gary. 1999. Knowledge transfer in international joint ventures in transitional economies: The China experience. Academy of Management Executive, 13 (1): 83-90. [10] Harwit, Eric. 1997. Guangzhou Peugeot: Portrait of a commercial divorce. China Business Review, 24(6): 10-11. [11] Harwit, Eric. 1997. Guangzhou Peugeot: Portrait of a commercial divorce. China Business Review, 24(6): 10-11 [12] Traffic World 1999 UPS’s big stake in China talks. Feb 8: 37. [13] Si, Steven & Bruton, Gary. 1999. Knowledge transfer in international joint ventures in transitional economies: The China experience. 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