Laboratory Equipment Borrowing System of Lorma Colleges Skills Development Institute Essay

Nowadays, most people tend to search or find things that are easy to work on. We tend to be clingy, trendy, and work things automatically. So, we design you these â€Å"Laboratory Equipment Borrowing System†. It is an automated borrowing system. This offers equipment which you can be borrow or use temporarily ranging from different various equipment or whole laboratory equipment set-up as desire, creating easier process to make life more convenient and efficient. This system project contains all of the current information about the equipment, listed alphabetically by name. The borrowers information records, contact number and its location are installed in these system. The aim of the project is to work out a generic approach of providing a borrowing history and easy access of every equipment items of laboratory. We know that we also deserve an opportunity to understand and need to learn to try new set of things. Therefore, we help to develop and invent such a technological automated system. We will lend the most various tools and laboratory equipment items from our collection. Maintain its services and accessibility that are consistent with the entire school and the entire organization. Laboratory Equipment borrowing system is provided to students and faculties to show them how important are computers and other technologies in teaching and learning processes. One of the main purposes of this study is to help students to become wise and resourceful in terms of project making and other learning methods that are relevant to them. In short â€Å"Technology makes the work easy†. This documentation will only concentrate in the computer laboratory of Equipment borrowing system. Particularly the Organizational Set up and Operation, Machine set up Configuration and Structure, and the Layout of Facilities and configuration. And this study aimed to design laboratory management software to effectively manage equipment maintenance, borrowing and returning, failure analysis, inventory, scheduling, and flexible report generation process. The development strategies used in the project analysis, design and development include a thorough analysis and evaluation of both the existing and the first prototype of the proposed system. The software is also very acceptable in gaining real time visibility in equipment inventory, maintenance and borrowing and returning, and that it is also very acceptable in providing reports at the same time provide history recording of the different processes available. Laboratory Equipment borrowing system are instrument used in laboratory where the students conducted their experiment. The Laboratory Equipment borrowing system placed in a storage room intended for Laboratory Equipment borrowing system only which is organize and manage by the authorized personnel. The staffs in this room are responsible for taking care of the Equipment; they are obliged to pay it when something is missing. In order to avoid this obligation they are careful and wise enough to have a list of all apparatus in the storage. This list is their references on how many Equipment they have. The staffs also are responsible to take in charge of the Equipment that was borrowed by the students. The students can lend Equipment for their academic purposes provided with their instructor consents. The students also are responsible to take care of it and return it on time. Failure to do the condition will be given a sanction. This system designed and developed to solve the problem associated with the handling of laboratory equipment. The study is targeted to develop an effective and efficient system that will aid the company. The system is called Laboratory Equipment Borrowing System, which is basically monitors the equipment that have been taken out of the department and was use by borrower, provides a complete list of equipment that are available inside the Laboratory, creates a daily, weekly, monthly, semesterly and yearly report of personnel who borrows the equipment, creates an interface or form for the users/borrowers and admins to work on with. For what we have observed in the past years, most of the institution still uses the manual documentation, inventory, and request. Where the borrower will have to write all the items to be borrow on a logbook, while the custodian verifies and validates the items borrowed, by this kind of method, it might cause a lot of mistakes and it consumes a lot of time, while with an electronic type of logging in and validation of borrowed items, makes the borrowing more easy and quick, it benefits the custodian and the borrower. Checking of available items, will be more easy not like the manual, where the custodian will have to look at first the equipment and validate if its reserved for future event or if it’s not available for that day, while the electronic type of borrowing system, makes it more faster, because the custodian will just have to check on the computer it will show immediately if its available and how many are there available on the laboratory. When it comes to end of the month there will be a monthly report of the laboratory, where the custodian will have to compile every records of the borrowed equipment of the previous month, this will cost the custodian a great time, manually checks, compile and validate the records and he/she will have to encode and print a report, while if the custodian will use a Borrowing system he will just click a button, validate the equipment and print the report and he’s done, effective and efficient. In the United States of America, there is one university which we may call it reference of our study and system. The Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, where there is a completely student-run group devoted to promoting musical theater and they are named Footlighters, and they have the â€Å"S. L. E. B. S. † namely Sound and Light Equipment Borrowing System. The Footlighters have sound and lighting equipment that is available for CWRU USG, recognized student organizations to borrow for on-campus events, they have established their own policies, procedures and even a online borrowing form for the request of the equipment, and they can even request thru their website. Their procedure on borrowing equipment first is the equipment may only be borrowed by a properly trained individual on behalf of CWRU USG-recognized student organization of which he or she is a current active member. The equipment is available on a first-come, first-served basis. While the Footlighters will make every attempt to keep the reservations calendar current, no request is guaranteed until the Footlighters send a notification that the reservation has been confirmed. The requests for use of the equipment must be submitted at least 10 days in advance of the event, to allow sufficient time processing. They also have their own sanctions and can implement their own penalties on borrowers who made some violations on their borrowing rules. Here in Philippines, there is one particular school that offers the same concept like what we are currently studying, in Damarinas, Cavites, and the name of the school is De La Salle University-Dasmarinas. They have also their own guidelines in reservation of equipment and procedures to follow on borrowing and returning laboratory equipment. Their method is semi manual and automated, because students and faculties can have the form thru their own website and the half of that will be processed upon arriving in the laboratory. They also offer various equipment like, Laptop, Multimedia Projector, Projection Screen, Television, DVD Player ,etc. Their own system also manifest its own limitation, such as like schedule of borrowing, quicker checking of availability of equipment and complete documentation. Despite of the limitations on their system of borrow it still functioning state. As a student, one of our requirements in our course is to develop and study a system and be able to defend at the end of the school year. Here in Lorma Colleges, in the class of CPRO215 – System Development I a group of 4 is assigned to develop a system namely Laboratory Equipment Borrowing System – Skills Development Institute. The system will be a GUI based system, with user registration and Log-in system, inventory system, reservation system, monthly report features and printing functions. We are in cooperation of SDI and main prospect in making our system. Their Computer Laboratory will be our base location of innovation to develop improvements in their way of lending equipment to faculties and students of Lorma Colleges.

Persuasive Letter

09/16/2012 Ms. June Watkins Principal Lone High School 12345 Out There Road Somewhere, KY 54321 Dear Ms. Watkins: It has come to my attention that the students of this school, in particular the incoming freshman, will be required to use IPads during this school year. The idea of using such technology is an advantage in some cases, like the continual ability to stay informed through the internet and the light weight of the device. However, there are other situations where IPads, being the only source for information, resources, and school supplies, are inappropriate for our students.Thus, I ask for your consideration in not implementing such devices in this school. First, we must consider the finances of most of the students and parents in this district. The option for payment of the device is given at the end of their high school careers with the school making the initial payment; however, the device could be outdated or broken by that time. What happens if one of the devices breaks during the school year or at any time during high school? Do the parents pay for the broken IPad as well a new one? Second, the students will be using the IPads at all points in time during school and at home.How will the issues of social networking, instant chat, and random browsing of the internet during class time be addressed? Students would need extreme restriction because of the inappropriate use of the internet; will there be a limitation set on the devices, and is it even possible to restrict the device? Lastly, I want to address the issue of word study and research by use of an IPad. Although there are many sources in which a student can gain more literacy, there are many more that encourage the use of poor grammar and spelling.Many times students rely on the computer to spit out the correct spelling, meaning, and content without the understanding that there are reliable and unreliable sources. How can we implement a device that goes against what we are trying to teach our students? With all of the positive uses of the IPad, there are an equal amount of negative uses for the same device. I hope you consider the points I have given before implementing such a major change in the school that will affect all students, teachers, and parents in this district. Thank you for your time. Sincerely,

Health Care Communications Methods Essay

Nursing home administrator is a leader in a organization who not only directs its operations but is also responsible for setting the tone for different cultures. (Anthony Cirillo, 2014) The administrator is to make sure that the facility is running smoothly and that all patients and staff members are taken care of their needs. The administrator will be the one to make sure that patients are moved to other facilities, make sure the records are transferred correctly, and to inform the facility that they are being bought by another company. The administrator will also explain to each staff member, family members, and physicians what is going on in full details. The first form of communication when the nursing home administrator finds out what is going to take place is a written notice, this notice is to be sent to all parties that will be involved in the process of closure. A written notice can either be a good advantage or a bad advantage, it depends on how and who it is sent to. Written notice communication can sometimes confuse people who really do not understand the language of the letter this can cause some people to question the administrator and her work. Communicating by writing is also an advantage when it will be sent to physicians, staff members, and outside agencies, because they will understand what is going on and can respond with the necessary needs. (Michigan Nursing Facility State Closure Team January 2005) When the nursing home administrator finds out the facility is going to another company, the administrator is to inform the staff of what is going to take place with the facility. The administrator will communicate with them either by email, written notice, or in person. The advantage of communicating with the staff with email is that it’s fast and easier for the staff members to look at while taking care of their patients. Communicating with them by written notice is advantage because the  staff will be able to wait until their shift is over to read the notice and ask questions if need be. The administrator and staff must try to find other facilities that are available to take some of their patients. The administrator must make sure that all records are kept safe under the HIPAA laws while informing other facilities about the patients’ needs and treatments that they are receiving at their facility. Keeping patients records safe and in order will lessen the transfer of patients and help the families to get them settled into their new facility. The advantage of using social media is that facilities can open up communication that can lead to enhanced information discovery and delivery. It can also allow their employees to discuss their ideas, post their thoughts, and ask questions about what they should do. Social media will also target a different type of audience that can help with relocating patients, transferring patients, and the needs of families. (Society for Human Resource Management, 2012) There are some disadvantages to using social media for this problem and they are it could open up the possibility of hackers getting patients records or staff information. It can also lead to fraud, virus attacks and even overload of spam. Social media disadvantages could also increase the risk of patients and their families falling prey to online scams that could lead to identity theft. Lastly, employee could leave negative comments about the facility, staff members, and even the physicians about the work that goes on in the facility the good and the bad. (Society for Human Resource Management, 2012) There are several reasons that could affect the HIPAA laws and social media about this facility closing. One staff members could be posting on networking sites about patients and accidently say their name or condition, and someone figures out who they are talking about and this could cause patient information to get out. In addition, some employees could simply be discussing their day or an unusual health care case they saw, and they feel like that is not violating the HIPAA law. When dealing with HIPAA and social media when it comes to patients and the closing of a facility, everyone involved has to be on their toes and not violate the rules. Employers and employees must know how to communicate with social media without releasing any patient names or conditions, and not get into trouble  behind the HIPAA rules. If someone breaks the HIPAA laws and they are found to be guilty of the problem, there are sanctions that can be made against that person or persons involved. These sanctions could range from civil penalties ranging in the minimum amount of $100 per violation, to a maximum of $50,000 per violation of the HIPAA rules. These sanctions are for the facility that is an covered-entity under the HIPAA rules and regulations that they have to follow. (Dimick, 2010) According to Chris Dimick, â€Å"All workforce members of this facility are prohibited, with some degree of exceptions, from using or revealing individually recognizable health information (â€Å"protected health information,† or PHI) without a written authorization from that individual or family member for whom the PHI pertains to, and any permission must cover very detailed language to meet the terms of HIPAA.† Reference Chris Dimick, Privacy Policies for Social Media, JOURNAL OF AHIMA, Jan. 6, 2010, http://journal.ahima.org/2010/01/06/social-media-policies/. Best Practices for Voluntary Nursing Facility Closure, Michigan Nursing Facility State Closure Team, 2005 http://www.shrm.org/templatestools/hrqa/pages/socialnetworkingsitespolicy.aspx#sthash.vs6G9HGL.dpuf

Ethical Debate on Assisted Suicide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethical Debate on Assisted Suicide - Essay Example This is because they have adequate knowledge to assist persons commit suicide. The ethical debate on assisted suicide is not as recent as most people assume. Examining the principles of medical ethics sheds light on these issues. In the 4th century B.C, the Hippocratic Oath took precedence as guidance to doctor patient relationship. One section of this oath holds that the doctor should not administer, or advice persons to administer lethal drugs. The Platonian philosophical error focused an immense deal on not only the moral but also the psychological (social) and theological (religious) questions on suicide. However, the ancient debates on suicide and assisted suicide for that matter take little account of the self. Instead, these debates focus on the social role and responsibility of the person committing suicide. Religion, on the other hand, takes a rather different approach. In Christianity, for instance, killing is wrong whether done to self or others. The contradiction is that most religions hold the virtue of compassion with endearment. While other parties will use this same virtue to root for assisted suicide, religion still views it as wrong (Gorsuch, 2009). Philosophy, like most religions, acknowledges the human ability to distinguish right from wrong. Upon this foundation, a philosopher may examine the issue of assisted suicide from one feasible approach. This first approach requires that one assumes that all factors held constant, an individual in their right state of mind in whatever decision they make reflect their moral, religious, philosophical and by extension ethical convictions. As such, a person choosing death instead of life must have examined their options and tagged assisted suicide â€Å"best option†. Fernandes (2008) while reflecting on some of the arguments

Polymerase chain reaction practical, Genetics Essay

Polymerase chain reaction practical, Genetics - Essay Example Currently, there are hundreds of different types of PCR are being used in different laboratories but the basic principle remains same. The overall process of PCR can be summarized as follows. 1) Mixture of all constituents of PCR like dNTPs, Primers (forward and reverse), Buffer and template DNA will be mixed in desired concentration. 2) The first step is amplification, where the temperature is set at 94C for 2-5 minutes for denaturation of double stranded DNA, a process called initial denaturation, 3) After initial denaturation, sample is kept for 30 sec at 94C for further denaturation, 4) After denaturation temperature is brought down to 55-60C for 30sec to allow annealing of primer with specific DNA site called annealing temperature. 5) The temperature is now brought up to the 72C for polymerase to start new DNA synthesis using primer as starting material. 6) After extension, the cycles are repeated for almost 30 times to get 230 copy of initial DNA template. Finally, after 3 cycl e extension is be performed at 72C for 5 min to complete any unamplified reaction. Figure 1 shows steps involves in PCR. Development of PCR and identification of DNA as signature molecules for individual leads to introduction of DNA based technique for establishment of parental relation and subsequently for crime and criminal detection. Based on DNA sequence of humans it was found that there are many places in entire DNA that are conserved nucleotide repeats and based on size or length of these sequences they are termed as micro and mini satellite (4). It was found that number of repeat in these sequences varies from person to person and inherited from parents to child makes it ideal choice for criminal identification. Later, this process was termed as DNA fingerprinting. Moreover, development of PCR made this technique more powerful and realistic compared to any other technique for criminal identification, since most of the time, the specimen obtained in the crime site is always in less quantity. This small part of body or body fluids like blood, sperm, saliva or even hair is sufficient to isolate DN A and then amplification with PCR make it possible to do different analysis on it. Here the aim of this experiment was to understand fundamental principle and use of polymerase chain reaction and based on that to understand how PCR is used in DNA fingerprinting based crime investigation and criminal identification 2. Methods: 2.1 Buccal DNA extraction: Ten ml, 0.9% saline solution was rubbed vigorously against the cheeks for 10 seconds. The sample (extract from the bucaal cavity) was then transferred into 15 ml centrifuge tube and centrifuged at 2000 g for 10 minutes for the pellet. Thereafter, 500 l of chelex beads were added into the pellet and resuspended with the chelex by pipetting in and out various times such that there are no visible clumps of cells. Five hundred microliter of the aliquot was transferred into 1.5ml microfuge tube and was boiled into a hot block at 100C for 10 mins. The sample was then spin for 30 secs top speed to spin down chelex. Fifty microliter of the fresh supernatant was transferred

Careers Management in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Careers Management in Business - Essay Example It also seeks to analyse how graduates aim to get over some of the challenges going to be discussed below. An analysis of the volatile economy will also be undertaken and the last part of the paper sums up the main points discussed. Basically, a career can be defined as a pattern of work and work related to activities that people develop throughout a lifetime (World Book Encyclopedia, 2008). It includes a job or a series of jobs a person has until retirement. In most cases, it can be observed that careers vary greatly in the type of work involved and in the ways they influence a person’s life. Many careers are based on work for pay and they usually shape the type of lifestyle a person can lead. Of notable concern is the fact that tertiary qualifications usually obtained by graduates often shape their lifetime careers. However, it may not be very easy for the graduates to easily get their dream jobs as they often face numerous challenges during their studies like failing to get places to do their internship or to secure permanent employment after completion of their respective degrees. In as far as the aspects of internship and employment are concerned, it can be noted that the employer plays a significant role in creating the opportunity and climate for full development of the student such that his or her capabilities are optimally utilised (Nelson, 2002). The main advantage of this aspect of internship or in-service training is that the student is given the opportunity to experience the actual environment of their chosen careers before entering into them. This allows for a realistic assessment of the expectations and understanding of the employer’s requirements. It can be noted that the volatility of the economy has a bearing on the students’ endeavours to pursue their careers as a result of different factors going to be analysed below. Due to the emergence of the borderless economy as a result of globalisation, it can be observed that tre nds in the global economy have a bearing on the performance of economies of different countries as well as the respective organizations operating in such environments. Over the past two decades, it can be noted that the size of the global village has rapidly shrunk as a result of the massive advances in information and technology (Venter, 2003). Investors are often seen moving to developing countries given that globalisation sought to liberalise trade and investment opportunities in different countries by various multinational companies as a result of the emergency of the borderless economies. However, the extent of employment creation through globalisation strongly hinges on the competitive edge of the economic policies of the host countries. If these are not in tandem with the dictates of globalization, the host country can fail to attract investors which results in limited chances of employment creation for new graduates. Given such a scenario, competition among the graduates can be seen to lead to shortages of employment as well as internship vacancies for these people. The volatility of the global economy can also pose serious challenges to organizations which may be forced to retrench rather that employ new workers. For instance, the global economic crisis that recently gripped the world resulted in many multinational com

Macro Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Macro Economics - Assignment Example The ECB is thinking of buying corporate bonds as an option if it believes that more measures are needed to increase money into the European economy. Though such an idea does not seem to be imminent, investors snapped up stocks and sold the euro based on ECB’s thinking. Investors are moved by signs that ECB is considering more policy measures to increase money in the European economy if current measures such as low interest rates, new bank lending facility as well as a program to buy particular types of debts fail to boost economic growth and inflation. France’s CAC 40 went up by 2.3 percent and Germany’s DA rose by 1.9 percent. In the same vein, Spanish stock rose by 2.4 percent and Italian stock went up by 2.8 percent. The ECB’s current initiatives are geared toward adding money supply to the economy by increasing the amount of assets on its books. ECB creates new bank reserves by printing money to purchase assets. The graph below shows there is a decrease in money supplied in the European economy. The European Central Bank (ECB) has to put into play policy measures that will move the graph to the right as shown by the arrow. These measures include low interest rates, buying of corporate bonds as well as new bank lending facility which will add money to the economy and push the graph to the right in order to boost economic growth and inflation. The nominal interest rate must decrease to encourage the demand for money back to the equilibrium. It is worth to note that an decrease in the nominal interest rate will decrease the demand for savings and so increase the demand for money. Cox, Josie and Blackstone, Brian. â€Å"European Stocks Jump as ECB Mulls Buying Corporate Bonds† http://online.wsj.com/articles/european-stock-markets-edge-higher 1413878920?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection (accessed October 21,

Any bisiness artical that has been new nd happened for the last few Essay

Any bisiness artical that has been new nd happened for the last few months - Essay Example All factors of production in the business, may it be, labor, capital, raw materials or enterprise works towards achieving a common goal that is set for the company, and all activities carried out within the business are supposed to lead the company towards achieving its ultimate goal (Nolan, pp.148-152). Businesses additionally are run in a systematic manner, involve various processes, and have a number of rules and regulations that must be followed by those involved in it. One can observe additionally a number of departments in every business that manages various activities, such as the marketing department, finance department, promotion and advertising department, customer care department, etc (Nolan, pp. 20-39). A number of external and internal factors, which may include inflation rates, interest rates, and the exchange rate of a country’s currency can also influence every business and various skills are required in order to run a business smoothly and successfully along w ith achieving its objectives. Recently, due to the earthquake in Japan, which was followed by a tsunami, many changes have occurred in a number of businesses in the country. In an article by Alex Taylor (2011), found on the CNN website, the author (Taylor, 2011) talks about how Japan’s auto making industry is down but not out. He states that the two natural disasters that recently occurred will surely cause various shortages in the industry, but as noted before, Japanese automakers have the power to find their way out of catastrophes successfully. The author (Taylor, 2011) further states in his article that a Toyota representative had reported that no deaths or injuries have been under notice in the Toyota parts plants and subsidiaries, but the plants have surely suffered damage. According to Alex (Taylor, 2011), Toyota plans to keep its 12 main assembly plants in the country closed until Tuesday and the company’s representative stated that this might cause Toyota to l ose 95,000 units of cars that could have been under production. Due to this, Toyota reduced acceleration of the process of production in North America in order to conserve parts (Gholz, pp. 26-30). Japan’s auto making industry (Shimokawa, pp. 56-64) is currently trying to recover and resist from coming to an end, while people in the country are busy burying the dead, rescuing and curing the living citizens and dealing with the aftermath of the great disaster. Korea’s Tong Yang Securities states that production in the industry will surely not be able to come back to normal very soon, even though security analysts are quite busy doing their job and evaluating the results of the major catastrophe. Statistics (Taylor, 2011) included in the report show that in six months after the earthquake that occurred in January 1995, â€Å"shares of Toyota, Honda, and Nissan dropped by 22%, 35%, and 40% respectively† (Taylor, 2011), and it took the companies around one month abo ve a year to recover from the massive destruction and loss caused by the earthquake. At that time, Honda and Mazda, both halted the production of their vehicles and parts for the rest of the week after the disaster, and there was a loss of production of about 36,700 vehicles a day (Taylor, 2011) globally. The author of the article (Taylor, 2011) fu

Certification and Standardization of Mediators Essay - 1

Certification and Standardization of Mediators - Essay Example Years later, California added child custody decisions to mediator responsibilities. â€Å"In 1980, California became the first state to mandate all parents with custody or visitation disputes to participate in family mediation prior to a court hearing† (Milner et al., 2004, p.5). By 2004, most states had mandates regarding family divorce disputes, and 38 states had mediation mandates where child custody issues occurred (Tondo, Coronel, & Drucker, 2001, as cited in Milner et al., 2004, p.5). Example One. One of the frontrunners and more controversial figures in divorce mediations was O.J. Coogler, an Atlanta lawyer and author of the book, Structured Mediation in Divorce Settlement (1978). This marriage and family litigator used labor negotiations and social sciences as a guide to build a framework for third-party mediators to use when assisting divorcing couples resolve issues such as property division, alimony, child visitation, and child custody (Milner et al., 2004). Despite establishing the Family Mediation Association (FMA), the bar association harshly rebuked Coogler. â€Å"The bar association declared mediation by non-lawyers to be the unauthorized practice of law and attempted to dissuade lawyers from mediating through the threat of ethical sanctions† (Silberman, 1988, as cited in Milner et al., 2004, p. 5). Example Two. Confidentiality is crucial in court proceedings. In a civil suit involving the still photography and filming of underage girls, the judge ordered mediation in an attempt to circumvent litigation (Zimmerman, 2009). However, the defendant did not take the mediation proceedings seriously. He appeared four hours late, dressed inappropriately, shouted profanities at the court, continually placed his dirty, bare feet on the plaintiff’s table, threatened the plaintiff’s lawyer, and then proceeded to breech confidentiality by telling

Wine Festival Event Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wine Festival Event - Essay Example Media coverage would be very important to making this event work, as appropriate advertising must be done to ensure that the wine loving public is aware of this event. Wine lovers will be the main attendees of this event, as it will give them an opportunity to sample many different wines from around the region. In addition, wines that are new to the marketplace will be encouraged to participate in order to raise public interest on their specific product. This is an excellent opportunity for restaurant and bar owners to advertise themselves to the demographic that they need to reach. For sponsorship, we can look to bars and restaurants that sell wines and brandys because this could be used as an advertising expenditure for them. The Australian government is another possible sponsor, as this event will be used to help local businesses grow. The goal of this event is to familiarize the public with the various types of wines that are available in the region, with a special emphasis being placed on local wines. This is done in order to promote local businesses and products, which will hopefully benefit the local economy. Once the event grows in popularity, it could also become a popular tourist destination for wine lovers who wish to experience a multitude of wines in a short people of time. Other goals would be to increase Australian wines sales by 20% and to allow for new Australian wines to have an opportunity to reach the public. This event, which would take place at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, would have a very unique format, due to the amount of wines that would be present. The main concept is to create a venue for winemakers, restaurants, and bars to get their products into the public eye in a relaxed and hospitable environment. Winemakers, bars, and restaurants would bring their products to the event and allow for those attending to sample them for a low price. Each of these participants would bring some featured

Ethical Audit Report of Tesco Essay Example for Free

Ethical Audit Report of Tesco Essay According to Mamoria (2010), business ethics is defined as the businessmans integrity so far as his conduct or behaviour is concerned in all fields of business as well as towards the society and other businesses. Thus, the conduct or behaviour by businessman towards the society or others may have some conflicts and contradictions. The intention of this report is to highlight what and why the incidents happened. The incidents include the employment of illegal workers, price fixing, and poor product quality. All these incidents tend to spoil the corporate’ image of the company and also bring harmful effect to the communities and other stakeholders. So, Tesco took action by compensating to the victims, restructured corporate management system for better performances, and provided training programme and learning course for the employee. The ethical theories applicable to Tesco include Ethics of Justice, Ethics of Duty, and Feminist Ethics, which will also be discussed in this report. In addition, the organization’s best practices and values such as corporate social responsibility and protecting the environment will also be discussed for the close up of this report. 1. 1 Background of Tesco Tesco, one of the largest retailers in the world started its business in 1919. The Founder, Jack Cohen started a grocery stall in East End of London. He made a profit of ? 1 from sales of ? 4 on his first day. After 5 years, in 1924. Mr. Cohen bought a shipment of tea from Mr. T. E. Stockwell where the â€Å"Tesco† brand first appearance. Tesco expanded its business to petrol station in 1974, and became the UK’s largest independent petrol retailer. It generated a total sales topped ? 1bn and doubled up to ? 2bn in 1982. In order to overtake the UK’s leading grocer in 1990, Tesco made an aggressive marketing campaign to open more stores to gain its businesses. In 2000, Tesco continued to expand its business by product range from clothes to electrical and personal finance products when Tesco. com was launched (www. telegraph. co. uk). For more detail on its corporate background, kindly refer to Appendix I. 2. 0 Ethical Dilemmas Ethics in general and ethics in business are very intimate to one another. Therefore ones personal ethics cannot be completely separated from ones business or organizational ethics. If you are a man of principles, then you are more inclined to insist on high moral standards in your business and organizations (Gavai, 2010). No matter how strong the corporate policy and system, ethical dilemmas still exist as everyone is looking for their own interest. Tesco, one of the biggest retailers in worldwide also faces the same problems such as illegal workers, price fixing and poor product quality. . 1 Illegal Workers Tesco was caught for hiring 30 illegal workers who were foreign students at one of its warehouses. These students were from 11 different nationalities; mostly Bangladeshi and Indian origins were alleged for working up to 3? times longer than their allowed working hour in visa permit (www. visabureau. com). They worked as much as 50 hours extra than the allowed hours of 20 hours per week. This incident happened after the UK border Agency enforcement team visited their factory on July 2012 in Croydon (www. immigrationmatters. co. uk). The retailer took responsibilities by giving corporation to the investigation as they insisted they did not condone illegal working (www. telegraph. co. uk). Anyhow, employees were considered the victims in this incident as they had not been protected by the company’s employment rules, where they were forced to work for extra hours. They faced big losses such as inability to further education and having a work-life balance. Employer did not protect for employee welfare, they abused employee right to work extra which prompted to product high productivity, maximize the profit margin by saving cost of employee salary. Supplier played a key role in this scenario, as it was the only party to transform information between the employers and the employee while in the process of recruitment. In fact, there was wrong information sending either to the employer or the employee. 2. 2 Price Fixing Tesco was accused in the scandal of the pricing fixing on its dairy products such as cheese and milk. The consumers from the Office of Fair Trading in UK reported that Tesco had charged them an additional of approximately ? 270M between years 2002-2003. The huge amount was accumulated from 3 pence extra for a pint of milk, 15 penny extra for each quarter-pound of butter and the same amount per half-pound of cheese for every single purchased together with another 8 firms were implicated in the collusion (www. dailymail. co. uk). They were caught by breaching the competition act in synchronising the increased price with other competitors for certain dairy products. However, Tesco’s competitors had admitted and OFT had been given discount on the fined amount as they had given cooperation in the investigation. When the corporations did not practice fair competition which comply with the competition law, consumers were the victims because they did not protect in fair trading. This is clearly a strong violation of consumers’ rights (www. savistamagazine. com). Shareholders in the corporations basically earned extra profits in this scenario. Whereas, this practices was not encouraged as they must obey the corporate law which was stated in the Corporate Governance. Government department plays a key role in this embarrass scenario; their intention was to protect the consumers. Their penalty towards the corporations sent a clear signal to them not to violate consumers’ rights. In fact, families in UK suffering big loss of expensed extra for the daily goods in unknowingly. They should be protected under the fair trading policy which ensured them to trade in worthiness. 2. 3 Poor Product Quality Tesco also received a punishment from the Bracknell Magistrate Court for selling 127 outdated foods in the Martins Heron branch on May 2011. The foods included beef-burgers, ham and chocolate cheesecake. This incident happened when a girl fell sick after consuming chargrilled chicken pasta salad. This prompted Bracknell Forest Trading Standards officers to investigate the matter after receiving the complaint. The officers found that the foods had expired for 16 days during a visit to the store (www. getreading. co. uk). Trading Standards officers commented this matter as the â€Å"worst case of out-of- date product† that they had ever seen (www. mirror. co. uk). The irresponsible behavior acted by the management of Tesco was strongly affected to the public health. It also brought suffer to the consumers from physically and mentality. The shareholders were also facing lost when the management was careless in managing the stocks. Besides the above, Tesco was discovered for selling 100 expired food products which included yoghurts, fruit smoothies, soup, gravy, vegetable pakoras, packaged salad, pasta bowls, samosa and bhaji snack packs and guacomole dip. These items were past their sell-by-dated of between 1 to 17 days. The occurrence was engaged by a manager who had 20 years experience but his first time to manage the largest store chain, Tesco Extra. Shoppers had complaint about the poor problems to the Coventry City Council and the trading standards officers had proven the issues after their raids at the branch in Gielgud Way, Walsgrave in November 2009 (www. oventrytelegraph. net) 3. 0 Actions taken to solve these dilemmas According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, dilemmas are situations or problems where a person has to make a difficult choice; an ethical dilemma is a problem where a person has to choose between a moral and an immoral act (smallbusiness. chron. com). Dilemma occurrences in the workplace are common and action taken to solve them is very important, whereas theory of ethics can be applied as guidelines which may bring the moral decision. 3. 1 Reinforce in recruitment and management system Tesco was fined for a total of ? 15,000 by UK Border Agency (UKBA) for 23 students, of various nationalities who had breached the visa working terms (www. telegraph. co. uk). UKBA was reflecting UK government’s intention into act which has promised to overwhelm on visa abuse. The 23 individuals were not permitted to enter UK again (www. visabureau. com). The Britain’s biggest supermarket had ensured that the incident in this nature will never happen again. One of the executive had been laid off after the lacklustre performance (www. telegraph. co. uk). Tesco was a founder member of Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). They searched employee with high standard by applying the ETI base code which included; no exploitation of child labour, working hours not exceeding (20 hours per week for foreign workers) and regular employment is provided (www. tesco. ie). However, the government had carried out a good job by taking serious action against any employers who had breached the visa working terms. After the fined it brought a â€Å"warning† to the competitors and simultaneously as a reminder to them to have good ethical practice while in competition. Nobody is allowed to breach the rules in order to obtain success in competition. In addition, after UKBA taken action against the employer, the rest employees will enjoy the benefits which to work in regularly, fair treated, feel protected and concerned by the government. Employer was ensured that the management system been improved after laid off an employee who made mistake. Employer was informed to put employee’s welfares as priority. 3. 2 Defending the rights Tesco was slapped with the fined of ? 10m for price-fixing of its dairy products by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in 2011 after seven years of investigation. However, they threatened to fight back by taking legal action against OFT to defend themselves. The company claimed they were â€Å"surprised and dismayed† with the fined and strongly denied with any collusion in changing pricing detail with each other via the dairy processors. Tesco stand at its point vigorously and throughout the court. However, it had urged the government to deprive OFT of its power to investigate and punish firms under the competition act (www. mirror. co. uk). The intention of OFT was to alert the industries that the competition laws was enforced in ensuring the shopper in a fair trade condition. Hence, after the punishments were sent, it was ensure that the competition was maintained under the competition laws. Furthermore, competitors were only able to divulge information to each other via dairy suppliers. Suppliers were also not been honest in this incident. Suppliers did not bear responsibility of providing high quality products with reasonable prices where the consumers are able enjoy the benefits. Thus, suppliers being fined by the OFT were considered reasonable. No matter how the employer wanted to fight back with OFT, they had to pay the fine and settled it in the fastest way where to stop any embarrassing matters to affect their sales figure. At the same time, the costly and time consuming case might affect the expense of both taxpayer and business as well. So the fine paid has benefitted the consumers which bring fairness of their trading. 3. 3 Compensations After Tesco had admitted selling of outdated food, it was fined by the Bracknell Magistate Court for ? 12,000, and ? 15,000 in legal fees and a ? 15 victim surcharge. The Charges were related to 88 types of food which were put on shelves for sales. Tesco had to bear for the penalty as they knew that selling of out-date-food brought harm to the public health (www. tutorcare. o. uk). In order not to repeat their mistake, they were reinforced through staff training at the Bracknell store to ensure all the processes undergone strict quality control and the procedures were complied. Customers are the cause and purpose of every business. A business is supposed to serve them satisfactorily (Gavai, 2010). According to Tesco Corporate responsibility, they were running local s upplier programme for the purpose of getting fresh and quality products. Therefore, the company had to enforce the programme to ensure it was running smoothly and the supplier complied with it. Employers had to bear the responsibility for the incident where there was serious problem in the management. The accused significantly spoiled the corporate image and reputation which cause the sales figure to drop. However, the employers had made a right decision for admitting the mistake and paid compensation. It significantly showed that Tesco was applying the Ethics of Justice. According to Plato (2010), justice is an order and a beauty of the parts of a whole. Justice is effective coordination. It is an effective harmony of the whole. Ethics of justice can be defined as what is right and what is wrong in clear and precision. It was related to the notion of fairness. When a person is been treated unequally or deprived from what he deserved, then he was treated with injustice. Tesco realized that treating someone injustice was an immoral action, so they pledged guilty and paid fined which tend to bring fairness to the consumers as to determine this action on the criterion of rightness, which is one of the concepts in Ethics of Justice as well. Furthermore, Tesco was fined for ? 33,400 for 43 charges of selling 100 out-of-date foods at a hearing in Coventry Magistrates Court and a further of 94 charges after considering their sentenced. However, some shareholders of Tesco were present in court to show their seriousness of this matter and their concern on the case. They pledged guilty on the charges and their managers were laid off and two other employees were being disciplined (www. lacors. gov. uk). Employees had th e responsibility to carry out their job by following the corporate system. Some of the mistakes were not being tolerated and it has brought harm to the public health. The Coventry council was pleased with the results as the sentenced brought a warning to other competitors in the same industry that the government had stand at their point for the communities was appreciated. 4. 0 Best Practices and Values According to Donald, White and Bedner (2010), value is a concept of the desirable, an internalized criterion or standard of evaluation a person possesses. Such concepts and standards are relatively few and determine or guide an individuals evaluation of many objects encountered in everyday life. Values are tinged with moral flavour involving an individuals judgement of what is good, right or desirable. Tesco has practiced several communities’ works as a return to the society and tried to deliver values to them. Corporate social responsibility is in the interest of business because, by contributing to social change, it can create a better environment for its own transactions, thereby developing business while being socially responsibly (Rendtorff and Dahl, 2009). 4. 1 Communities Works Tesco plays a vital role in the local communities by supporting them actively without preconditions. They wanted to have a good relationship with the communities in which they operated. The fundamental condition that Tesco can provide to the communities is providing good quality, affordable foods and goods, and offering job to the unemployment. Besides that, they are listening and responding to the local communities for their needs and values, carrying out the issues that matter to them positively, and improve the local area by providing lasting contributions. They regularly set up a new store in the area where the retailers or businesses had been neglected. Tesco also launched a Regeneration Partnership Programs in UK where Tesco was proud as this prompted to providing job opportunities to the long term unemployment. In May 2012, they had their first launched store under the regeneration program in Hungary at Debrecen. Hiring 100 unemployed and providing 42 with courses organized by Regional Labour Centre helped them to readjust in their routine of daily work. Tesco also gathered the local communities in a centre point for them to interact. In Turkey, Tesco Kipa Family Club offered Cooking class, Dancing class, chess and learning English Class to their 60,000 members. In addition, Tesco had over 100 schools of Extended Class in South Korea to let the customers and families to attend Arts and English Class. Presently, Tesco had over 750 communities champion working into the communities which communicated with the communities effectively. They were organizing activities such as Healthy Eating to the primary school and local school children, charity event by collection or bag packing, and also asking the staff and customers to join the events like Race for Life (www. tescoplc. com). Without doubt, values to the communities such as responsibility, accountability, concern and unity had contributed absolutely by Tesco. â€Å"Value† so understood is a very broad category. It includes all sorts of things, from personal desire like health or a sense of humor to social ideals like wealth or liberty (Weston, 2010). They are responsible to the communities by giving them quality product in affordable prices. In addition, they were giving values of accountability by organizing learning class for the communities to gain their knowledge and interests. Tesco is also concerned about the communities of the unemployment, giving priority to the unemployed for job opportunities which also gave them better future and better life. Unity of the communities is very important in local area, Tesco provided a platform for the communities to communicate, interact and work together. They looked forward that every business and store were valued by the communities as they were trying hard to give interest to the communities. Tesco contributed a lot of times and fund to the community works. This demonstrates the application of Ethics of Duty. According to Kant (2010), a duty is obligatory and one has to do his duty regardless of any situation. Most of the time duty implies an action that one is expected to do as a part of society which may be neither for self-satisfaction nor for immediate happiness. Tesco knew what their prime duty to the communities was. Having a good thought is not enough but must in action. An action with potential concern showed their responsibility to the communities. 4. 2 Protecting Environment Protecting the environment is one of the important missions set by Tesco. The only way to deal with it was reducing the impact on the environment, including water and energy usage. All the suppliers have to follow the program with Tesco by reducing carbon footprint on the product and manage the water usage in all the store chain. The mission to be achieved is to become a zero-carbon business by 2050. Achieving a mission is not only in planning but practice. Tesco has converted over 100 stores to natural refrigeration across the corporate. The project in Kenya for the Lake Naivasha water stewardship helped to reduce water pollution and raised the water levels, replace transportation from lorries to rail transport which saved 15,000 tonnes of CO2e per year. Tesco had also collaborated with Unilever to create awareness amongst customers of sustainable product choices; more than 10,000 customers were advised to reduce their water footprint in Turkey. Tesco practiced by reducing in packaging and minimizing waste in their dairy operation which helped to reduce the impact on the environment. Reducing waste was the priority plan for Tesco. They used a market-leading store ordering system which helped to predict what each store chain will sell, this minimized waste of food accurately before it reached their customers. The programmes of minimizing the store’s operational waste started running since 2009 throughout the world’s store chain. They did not send any wastage from the UK store to the landfill. If the wasted were unable to recycle then it will be converted into other sources of energy. In China, cardboard and wasted oil in the stores had been fully recycled. In Poland, in order to increase the rate of recycling, they have conducted an audit of waste segregation in stores. In Malaysia, they encouraged the employees to recycle by launching a weekly league table to record who recycled the most. In US, they sent their waste food to the food bank for those who needed to reduce the wastage. And lastly in Slovakia, they donated the waste food the Hunter’s association for feeding animals. The materials used for product packing were the lightest weight and sustainable and also gave opportunities for recycling. Since 2007, Tesco have reduced the packaging of own-brand product more than 15% in UK, which included cutting glass usage by 420 tonnes annually when producing their own label Champagne. They also changed traditional packaging of toys to new packaging reduction technique that brought 15% reduction. In UK, Tesco also has commitments with WRAP’s Courtauld 2 (Waste and Resource Action Programme) to reduce the packaging waste by 2012. The commitments included the reduction of weight, recycled content of grocery packaging to be increased, rates of recycling to be increased, and carbon impact to be lowered by 10%, reduction of 4% for the UK household food and drink, and reduction of 5% for the products and packaging waste in the supply chains (www. tescoplc. com). Caring for the environment brings value of duty, love, hope, and comfort. Tesco has carried out their duty towards the society by committing on wastage reduction. All the resources taken from the earth and environment were fully utilized and the balances were recycled. This duty is belonging to everyone; therefore Tesco has taken it into priority. Tesco also showed the values of love. In terms of loving the earth, loving the environment, and loving each others in the world by saving the resources such as water. Human being is unable to live without water. Tesco knew the seriousness so they ran several programmes on reducing the usage of water. Tesco is giving Hope to the society as well, saving resources in order to prevent resources shortage, and climate changing. Value of hope is generating with these practices to the people. Living in harmony and secure which may concern for the next generation as well. With the clean environment, the values of comfort arise and the people can feel that they are living in a peaceful world. This is the main objective achieved by Tesco. A comfort lifestyle may bring positive thinking to the people, staying with tolerance and forgiveness. Tesco has significantly practiced ethical theory of right for the programme. According to William Sbaw (2010), a right is an entitlement to act or have other acts in a certain way. Everyone has a right in doing certain action and simultaneously expecting others not to deprive its right. However, others also possess a right to disagree to the action, but they cannot dismiss it. Tesco promoted the protecting environment programme and has prompted to let the communities knew that they had the right to live harmony. Right and Duty are correlated as that our prime duty is to protect the rights of people (Gavai, 2010). Tesco has the duty of giving fairness to the society and the communities have the right to enjoy the fair treatment. 5. Conclusion Business ethics is important for a corporate because it brings significant benefits and advantages. Corporation with good business ethics prompt to have good image and reputation in the market, which assist to create market awareness and promote sales easily. Furthermore, a corporation best practice such as corporate social responsibility is also very crucial which to protect the employees and communities’ welfare, c orporation may enjoy benefits for itself also because a good corporate social responsibility may create loyalty of an employee. A loyal and committted employee will stay with the corporation constantly and increase productivity, which can reduce labour turnover as well. Whereas, Tesco, as one of the biggest retailers in the world, which cover business internationally (refer Appendix II for International business Chart), they realize the importance of these and working hard to practice good ethical behavior, create value for the communities and providing moral decision to settle the ethical dilemma to ensure the stakeholder and communities can enjoy the benefits.

Culture of Chinese Family Stereotype Essay Example for Free

Culture of Chinese Family Stereotype Essay Taiwan, my mother country, though suffering under complicated identification obscurity, is still applying Chinese culture and values. We still commemorate Chinese New Year, QingMing Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and so forth. We still believe in Confucianism and Chinese ethic moral rules like â€Å" †, â€Å" †, â€Å" , †, to name but a few. In addition, we also share the similar diet culture, since our staple food mostly based on rice and noodles. There are surplus parallels between Taiwanese culture and those adopted in the mother China even though we’ve been separated geographically for centuries. Though Taiwan is politically independent from China, as a Chinese, I would still accept the perspective that I’m belonging to part of the Great Chinese Culture Region( ), as we can call it â€Å"Chinese Family†. Although modern technology and knowledge keep flourishing, people nowadays may think that western culture somehow influence people more, included religion believing , fast food culture, insight of democracy and freedom, western literature, and so on. However, as a Chinese, I can’t deny that Chinese culture did affect our daily living physically and mentally. Many values originated from the ancient people and philosophers, included those in ,,,, still maintain clear and essential in our mind , since we have been taught to follow the concept and the worship the good deeds those ancient sages and virtuous, like Confucius, Zhuangzi, Mencius, Yao and Shun( )†¦ have conducted. â€Å" †, â€Å" †, â€Å" †, â€Å" †, â€Å" , , †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ these values not only affect the way Chinese people think, but also become a sub consciousness which lead to the way we live. As we often emphasis the importance of studying, Chinese parents are willing to spent their whole life working hard so their children can accept better education because they believe the sayings, â€Å" †, â€Å" , †. In contrary, western families take less focus on their children’s academic performance; they would rather think that children should seek out their interest instead of obtaining all A grades at school. Furthermore, it would also affect how parents educate their children, and this educating concept would pass on by generations. And the phenomenon is just the same in Taiwan as that in Mainland. As most Chinese parents always believe and hope their children to be the best( , ), they usually devote more than western parents do, just to provide the best resources for their children. This may somehow spoil a child, too. As Chinese family often pass their fortune to their descendants, rather than considering parents’ fortune as their own, offspring of a wealthy family may no longer eager to achieve his own life goal and seek his own fortune. In contrary, western children usually gain their own fortune by their hand, on their own, which is considered more independent and responsible. There’s a real story of a business man. Because he’s so busy and so was his wife, they’ve decided to send their 13 years old son to New Zealand for a couple of months, and there was a friend named Marry, who could take care of their child. When the child met Marry, the first thing she said was, â€Å"Listen, my sweet heart, I’ll like to notice you that I’m here only to take care of your living, but doesn’t mean I should make you breakfast, do your laundries and dishes, you should do it all by yourself. You’re now 13, which is definitely able to start taking care of yourself. Parents aren’t responsible to look after your whole life; thus, you should be independent from now on. You live your life and I do mine own business, is that clear enough? † After 6 months, while the business man and his wife picked their son back from New Zealand, they’re totally stunned; their son had changed thoroughly mature. He began to make breakfast, woke up early himself and was able to schedule his own life, which he never did before. This dramatically change simply based on how western and eastern parents educate their children. As a result, it leads to the circumstance that western children are usually more independent. In addition, the value of women rights also maintain deeply in Chinese people’s mind, though we are now in a world advocating gender equality. Even nowadays, some people still believe the concept â€Å" †, â€Å" †, â€Å" , , †, but mostly the elders. Thanks to the revolution New Culture Movement ( ) brought to the Chinese society. People started to explore and accept new technology and knowledge, not only the perception of Democracy() and Science( ), but also the new century values. For instance, in the old days, women are forced to bound their feet from their young ages, so that their feet may look tiny and delicate, which ancient Chinese regarded as sexy and beauty. They even worshiped tiny feet as â€Å" †. This social usage only happened in the upper classes which higher status women did not need to deal with tuff tasks that rural area women did. On the other hand, it also lead to the phenomenon that women were having lower social position than men were. But after the New Culture Movement and other further revolutions, women gradually stopped to suffer from the pain bounding feet brought to them, and started to handle more housework; little by little, women’s social status had been raised. When it comes to the argument of women’s right and discrimination, it’s no doubt that Chinese ancient culture and concept have deeply influenced the way the majority behaves. Not only in Mainland, but also the whole Chinese cultural region, included Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, and other South East Asian countries. Take Japan as an example, Japanese girls are well known for their virtuous behavior, while men are quite accustomed to chauvinism( ). This may be somewhat resulted from the old sayings originated from China; for instance, â€Å" , †, â€Å" †, and so on. However, women status obviously do rise in this century, modern parents may be more willing to give birth to a girl because they may think girls are sweeter than boys, ignoring the stereotype that having a boy is better than a girl. This stereotype is resulted from the traditional custom that boys are able to pass the family name, while girls no longer belongs to the family after they’re married. Plus, this is also a chief reason why ancient Chinese family sent a boy to school rather than a girl, cause only when a boy achieve high social status after , will the whole family gain benefits. Thus, brought out a novel which the feminine role have to disguise herself as a guy so as to be able to pursue education. We can see that phenomenon changes not only in giving birth to a baby, but also in education providing. In the old times, there were mostly boys that could access complete education instead of girls, but now, we may even discover that the numbers of girls are surprisingly higher than boys. Which some researches declaim that it’s because girls are innately more careful and thoughtful than boys are. The case is similar in industries and working places, more and more â€Å"Iron ladies† exist and keep on controlling the whole company, which may be more success than men. What’s more there’re even throngs of specific phrases for modern women, like â€Å" — †, â€Å" †, â€Å" †(which refers to women that haven’t married but are successful in their carriers), and so forth. There is an awkward circumstance that women in upper social status are mostly unmarried, and so as men within lower social status. This is due to two main reasons; first, women education is relatively emphasized than that in the past; second, traditional concept has that a woman should marry a man better than she is. As the result, a woman graduated from high school may marry a man finished college studying; woman finished college studying may marry a guy accomplished graduated school; woman accomplished graduated school marry a PHD guy; and a PHD woman may marry a professor; then who will a female professor marry? Obviously not a guy graduated from high school! This worrying case lead to a sad ending, which then somehow may strictly proofed the saying â€Å" †. However, to my opinion, I think this is a controversial issue because being married involves mostly on love itself, we shouldn’t blame it all to the Chinese cultural effects. But frankly speaking, we can’t ignore truth that these old sayings somehow match to the phenomena we’re now facing. Even though women are now capable enough to compare with men in industry fields, there still exist â€Å" †, which means however hard women try, the promotion rate and the salaries are relatively lower than that of men’s. This may also be an outcome of the Chinese stereotypes that men are more capable then women are when it comes to work. For conclusion, old Chinese concepts really influence modern society deeply in an unmeasurable degree. All in all, although ancient Chinese empires had faded into history, glorious kingdoms had turned into dust, brilliant philosophy of ancient saints only exist in books now, the influence they brought to this Chinese world still remain and just couldn’t be erased from our mind. Chinese culture and ancient concepts couldn’t be ignored. They’re now the biggest part of our life because they’re what we come from, and what foster us. It’s our soul, our mother characteristic. Also, they’re things that allow us to identify ourselves as a member of this huge â€Å"Chinese Family†. And because it’s uniqueness and specialties, we’re always able to find our loyalties. In this complex culture integrated world, finding a sense of belonging is really important, because it may make us feel comfortable and gleeful to be part of this big family. We can even say that, without Chinese culture, we can’t be who we are now. Cherish our culture and maintain it well so as to pass the Chinese spirit on and on is what our generation should do. Despite of focusing and arguing on whether I’m a Taiwanese or a Chinese, It’s more vital and meaningful to define myself as a member part of Chinese culture. I’m from Taiwan, and I’m a Chinese. I’m proud of my identity; I’m proud of this Chinese family I belong to. It’s where my mind and spirit mature, where my ancestor struggled for their lives and for the next generation, for us.

India One Of The Most Richest Civilizations History Essay

India One Of The Most Richest Civilizations History Essay India is home to one of the richest and the most ancient civilizations in the world, which existed over 5,000 years ago. This civilization originated in the Indus River Valley, hence the name given to it was Indus Valley civilization. It is the origin of many of the ideas, philosophies and movements which have shaped the destiny of mankind. The civilization with its main cities Mohenjadaro and Harappa flourished for over eight centuries. Its people thought to be Dravidians, whose descendants still inhabit the far south of India. The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE, was the first major civilization in India. A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture developed in the Mature Harappan period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE. This Bronze Age civilization collapsed before the end of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the Iron Age Vedic Civilization, which extended over much of the Indo-Gangetic plain and which witnessed the rise of major polities known as the Mahajanapadas. In one of these kingdoms, Magadha, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha were born in the 6th or 5th century BCE and propagated their ņºramanic philosophies. Almost all of the subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. It subsequently became fragmented, with various parts ruled by numerous Middle kingdoms for the next 1,500 years. This is known as the classical period of Indian history, during which India has sometimes been estimated to have had the largest economy of the ancient and medieval world, controlling between one third and one fourth of the worlds wealth up to the 18th century. Much of northern and central India was once again united in the 4th century CE, and remained so for two centuries thereafter, under the Gupta Empire. This period, witnessing a Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, is known among its admirers as the Golden Age of India. During the same time, and for several centuries afterwards, southern India, under the rule of the Chalukyas, Cholas, Pallavas, and Pandyas, experienced its own golden age. During this period, aspects of Indian civilization, administration, culture, and religion (Hinduism and Buddhism) spread to much of Asia. The southern state of Kerala had maritime business links with the Roman Empire from around 77 CE. Islam was introduced in Kerala through this route by Muslim traders. Muslim rule in the subcontinent began in 712 CE when the Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh and Multan in southern Punjab,setting the stage for several successive invasions from Central Asia between the 10th and 15th centuries CE, leading to the formation of Muslim empires in the Indian subcontinent such as the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire. Mughal rule came to cover most of the northern parts of the subcontinent. Mughal rulers introduced Middle Eastern art and architecture to India. In addition to the Mughals and various Rajput kingdoms, several independent Hindu states, such as the Vijayanagara Empire, the Maratha Empire, and the Ahom Kingdom, flourished contemporaneously in southern, western, and northeastern India respectively. The Mughal Empire suffered a gradual decline in the early 18th century, which provided opportunities for the Afghans, Balochis, Sikhs, and Marathas to exercise control over large areas in the northwest of the subcontinent until the British East India Company gained ascendancy over South Asia. Beginning in the mid-18th century and over the next century, India was gradually annexed by the British East India Company. Dissatisfaction with Company rule led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857, after which India was directly administered by the British Crown and witnessed a period of both rapid development of infrastructure and economic decline. During the first half of the 20th century, a nationwide struggle for independence was launched by the Indian National Congress and later joined by the Muslim League. The subcontinent gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, after being partitioned into the dominions of India and Pakistan. WHAT ARE THE ARTIFACTS ? An artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human. Artifact is the usual spelling in the US and Canada, artefact in the UK and Australasia (see spelling differences). In archaeology, where the term is most commonly used, an artifact is an object recovered by some archaeological endeavor, which may have a cultural interest. Examples include stone tools such as projectile points, pottery vessels, metal objects such as guns, and items of personal adornment such as buttons, jewellery and clothing. Other examples include bone that show signs of human modification, fire cracked rocks from a hearth or plant material used for food. Imported Mycenaean stirrup vase found in the acropolis of Ras Shamra (Ugarit), 1400-1300 BC Artifacts can come from any archaeological context or source such as: Buried along with a body (grave goods). From any feature such as a midden or other domestic setting Hoards Votive offerings Artifacts are distinguished from the main body of the archaeological record such as stratigraphic features, which are non-portable remains of human activity, such as hearths, roads, or deposits and remains, and from biofacts or ecofacts, which are objects of archaeological interest made by other organisms, such as seeds or animal bone. Natural objects which have been moved but not changed by humans are called manuports. Examples would include seashells moved inland or rounded pebbles placed away from the water action that would have fashioned them. These distinctions are often blurred: for instance, a bone removed from an animal carcass is a biofact, but a bone carved into a useful implement is an artifact. Similarly there can be debate over early stone objects which may be crude artifacts or which may be naturally occurring phenomena that only appear to have been used by humans. Head of the Buddha, Gandhara style, Stucco, 5th Century Around five thousand years ago, an important civilization developed on the Indus River floodplain. From about 2600 B.C. to 1700 B.C. a vast number of settlements were built on the banks of the Indus River and surrounding areas. These settlements cover a remarkable region, almost 1.25 million kilometers of land which is today part of Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-western India. The cities of the Indus Valley Civilization were well-organized Pot shards from Harappa and solidly built out of brick and stone. Their drainage systems, wells and water storage systems were the most sophisticated in the ancient world. They also developed systems of weights and trade. They made jewelery and game pieces and toys for their children. From looking at the structures and objects which survive we are able to learn about the people who lived and worked in these cities so long ago. The people of the Indus Valley Civilization also developed a writing system which was used for several hundred years. How ever, unlike some other ancient civilizations, we are still unable to read the words that they wrote. The excavations at Mohenjo-daro Mohenjo-Daro (English: Mound of the dead) was a city of the Indus Valley Civilization built around 2600 BC and is located in the Sindh Province of Pakistan. This ancient five thousand year old city is the largest of Indus Valley and is widely recognized as one of the most important early cities of South Asia and the Indus Valley Civilization. Mohenjo Daro was one of the worlds first cities and contemporaneous with ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. It is sometimes referred to as An Ancient Indus Valley Metropolis. Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa and their civilization, vanished without trace from history until discovered in the 1920s. It was extensively excavated in the 1920s, but no in-depth excavations have been carried out since the 1960s. The excavations at Mohenjo-Daro Mohenjo-Daro is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The most extensive recent work at the site has focused on attempts at conservation of the standing structures, undertaken by UNESCO in collaboration with the Department of Archaeology and Museums, as well as various foreign consultants. In December 1996, preservation work at the 500-acre site suspended after funding from the government and international organizations ran out, according to a resident archaeologist. However in April 1997, the UN Educational, Scientific and Culture Organization (UNESCO) funded $10 million to a project to be conducted over two decades in order to protect the Mohenjo-daro ruins from flooding. This project has been a success so far. UNESCOs efforts to save Mohenjo-daro was one of the key events that led the organization to establish World Heritage Sites CONCLUSION: India is home to one of the richest and the most ancient civilizations in the world, which existed over 5,000 years ago. This civilization originated in the Indus River Valley, hence the name given to it was Indus Valley civilization. It was the origin of many of the ideas, philosophies and movements which have shaped the destiny of mankind. Its people are thought to be Dravidians, whose descendants still inhabit the far south of India. Above articles shows that the real picture of indian culture and its value. Artifacts and indian texts like (MAHABAHARTA, RAMANYANA etc) shows the indian culture and society in the ancient time.we can easily find out our indian history with the help of artifacts and indian text. Many historians had found the history of taj mahal or all other monuments with help of artifacts or as well as texts , it also found that how many years ago can monuments was built? What was the structures? Artifacts are mainly as simple indicators to give us the knowledge about past. Jewelry  is an important part of Indian culture and these artifacts are insightful into the lives of the previous owners. For example, it is known in part through jewelry that before European settlement it was not uncommon for Native tribes to trade amongst themselves as the materials used in the jewelry are interchangeable. Not only were the materials such as beads, shells, copper, silver, ivory, amber, and  turquoise  traded but it is also likely that  designs  and patterns were intermingled due to similarities in the pieces. Jewelry artifacts from Indians were typically either metalwork or beadwork. The styles were often constructed by hammering and etching to create  pendants  as well as stitching countless beads together. It is also of interest that these artifacts were not only used for decoration but may also have served religious purposes. According to my analysis , Indian artifacts are responsible our indian ancient culture.

Managed Care :: Caregiver Medical Health Care

The advantages of managed care to the consumer are medical expenses completely covered, no deductible, and lower monthly premium payment. The consumer under managed care coverage would only need to make his monthly premium payment and co- payments. Managed care makes health care more affordable to the consumers. The disadvantages of managed care would be the consumer would only be able to see caregivers affiliated with the managed care organization, having to pay co-pay every visit, rising premiums, under treatment, and too much reed tape to get necessary treatments. A caregiver’s perspective about managed care is it offers some stability in patient load and income. Managed care would help cut some of the caregiver’s expenses of maintaining facilities and staff, by uniting caregivers and sharing resources. Managed care may also help health care organizations run more efficiently and effectively. The disadvantage is a loss of professional independence and, an increase financial risk. According to the text â€Å"Capitation is especially risky because providers receive a set fee no matter how much care is needed.† A great deal of vigor in managed care is focused on paperwork, authorizations, and procedures, and caregivers say it is nearly unattainable to do their jobs efficiently and meet the increased demand for paperwork. Which would I prefer traditional insurance or manage care? Well this is a very tough question for me. I have had both, when traditional insurance was on the rise during the late 90’s, my ex-husband and I had very affordable insurance for a very reasonable price. We had no deductable, we could see who we wanted for caregivers, a ten dollar co-pay, and reduced prescriptions. Today I am on Medicaid (not for elderly but for poor), but I don’t think I could afford today’s insurance prices. I like Medicaid because I don’t have to worry about money for doctor’s bills, co-pays, or prescriptions. On the other hand I have a tough time finding caregivers accepting new Medicaid patients, some doctors treat Medicaid patients differently, many treatments and prescriptions ordered are not covered by Medicaid, so I had to go with out.

Chiang Kai-shek :: Essays Papers

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek, also known as Chiang Chung-cheng, was the son of a middle-class wine merchant who lived in the village of Chikow in Chekiang Province. When he was fourteen years old, following the Chinese custom of that time, he was arranged to be marry by his mother (the bride’s name is not mentioned). His bride and he did not see each other until his walk down the aisle. He did this without complaints only to please his mother. Once he was married he met his bride’s parents, as was tradition. Due to Chiang’s bad temper, the meeting ended in arguments between Chiang and his bride’s father. Once home he tried to keep his mind off of the marriage and concentrated more on what kind of man he wanted to become. He dreamed of becoming a soldier. He saw adventure in a military career and felt comfortable with the demand for authority, order, and strength. Though his family objected and hoped for him to study law, he went off to Tokyo Military Staff College i n 1907. There he became a follower of the revolutionary leader Dr. Sun Yat-sen. This encouraged him in 1911 to take part in the revolt that established the Chinese Republic. In 1917 when Sun established the Guangzhou government, Chiang was his military aide. Sun sent him to the USSR to study Russia military methods and was more than willing to go. He got a good response from the people there. Not only did they give him advice but they also sent thirty or so military men as help. One of these men, named Michael Borodin suggested that they start a military academy in China. They placed it in Whampoa and named it the Whampoa Military Academy. Their main goal was to demand and deserve respect. Once opened they received 1,500 applicants. It planned to register only 300. Sun began to encourage Chiang’s participation in the Nationalist party. After Sun died in 1925, Chiang became a powerful figure in the it and in 1926 took command of the Nationalist army. This was called the Northern Expedition, entering into Shanghai, Hankou, and Nanjing. Chiang initiated the long civil war between the Nationalist government and the Communists.. This was ended in 1936 by General Chang Hsueh-liang who hoped to unite in defense of the approaching Japanese. Many felt that unity could not be achieved unless Chiang were removed as commander-in-chief even before the expedition was completed.

The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald :: Papers

The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby describes "The unending quest after the romantic dream, which is forever betrayed in fact" (Robert Omstein) Is it inevitable that dreams fail in this novel? The wild profligacy of Gatsby's parties, the shallowness and aimlessness of the guests and the hint of Gatsby's participation in theft and crime all identify the period and the American setting. But as a piece of social commentary "The Great Gatsby" also portrays the breakdown of the American dream, from the viewpoint that American political ideals conflict with the actual society since American democracy is based on the equality between people, the truth is that social discrimination still existed and the divisions among the classes could not be overcome. This made the dream of many of which is to become part of the higher social class, represented by East Egg, impossible to attain. In the novel, Myrtle is one of the characters whose desires spring from social ambitions. She wanted to fit into the higher social values and to do so she had an affair with Tom and imitates his way of living, but it results in her becoming as vulgar and corrupt. Her dreams and ambitions resulted in her death. She therefore finds herself failing to reach her dreams and becomes only a shell of what she yearns to be. Gatsby's dreams on the other hand are more of a significant struggle. Unlike Myrtle's desire, which springs from social ambitions, Gatsby's dreams are related more to his idealism and his confidence in life's potentials. Undoubtedly, his desire is also influenced by social considerations; Daisy, who is wealthy and beautiful, represents a way of life, which is remote from Gatsby's and therefore more attractive because it is out of reach. However, social consciousness is not a basic cause. It simply directs and focuses Gatsby's belief in life's possibilities. Like Myrtle, Gatsby struggles to fit himself into another social group, but his attempt is more vital because his whole faith in life is involved in it.

John Proctor’s decision to die is the right one? Essay

In the play, The Crucible, John Proctor quoted ‘Because it is my name!, Because I cannot have another in my life. How may I live without my name, leave me my name! ( page 138).’ He has very strong belief’s that if his name is blackened there is no reason to live. John Proctor also chose to die because he could not double cross his friends, the fact that he has three children, John could not raise his children to walk like men in the world if he himself was not a true man. Therefore for the sake of his name,reputation and his kids, John’s decision to die is the right one. Family life and friendship is very important to John Proctor, husband and father of three, if he lived then he could not possibly raise his kids to be men in the world if their father is a sell out to his friends. He wanted to teach them that they should stand up for what they believe in and not give in to unjust courts and/or other examples in life. By dying he taught his kids that not only he is not a sell out but he also taught them that he stood up for what he believed in. John Proctor is not a man known to go to church often, but he must of remember this quote from the bible: ‘No one has love greater than this that someone should surrender his soul in behalf of his friends'(John 15:13). This quote means that someone should surrender his or her soul for their friends, and by dying and standing up for what he believed in he taught his kids a valuable lesson. Proctors decision to die also solved his inner conflict with himself. This conflict is his adultery with Abigail, which really exasperated him. ‘Because it speaks deceit and I am honest! But I’ll plead no more! I see now  your spirit twists around the single error of my life, and I will never tear it free!’ (page 60). This quote made from John Proctor explains how he can not tear his guilt away from himself, and that he feels very bad for making this single big error of his life. By choosing to die John did not have to live with the guilt of defying his wife and God. The most important reason John Proctor decided to die is that he would not blacken his name throughout the town. If John betrayed his friends by confessing their sins, a man of his nobility could not live through the guilt. Also John did not want to ruin his reputation as a man who stands up and would die for what he believes in. John Proctor knew the importance of a name and how it defines someone. If John Proctor were named a sell out, then his whole family would be instinctively named as sellouts too. John Proctor was a man with strong beliefs that if his name was blackened he would have no reason to live at all. When he chose to die, he proved to everyone that he is not a sell out to an unjust court. Friendship and family is very important to John Proctor and he did not want his family to be looked upon as sell outs because of his wrongful doings. It is a very good decision that John stood his ground and died for what he believed in . Bibliography -Miller, Arthur, The Crucible, New York U.S.A., Bantam Books, 1981 – John, New world translations of the holy scriptures, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Watchtower Books, 1984

Benihana Of Tokyo Essay

1. What is the Benihana concept? The Beninhana of Tokyo, basically a Japanese Steak House has a very unique concept in terms of the idea of watching the food being cooked live on the table in front of eyes. Benihana featured traditional Japanese cuisine experience in the urban U.S metropolis. It was the first introducer of Hibachi Cooking style in USA, celebrating the cooking of food so alive and entertaining. This experience comes with Teppanyaki tables which accommodated eight people and live cooking of food with service being provided by a chef and a waitress. The concept featured a chef dramatically preparing meals while engaging the eaters around him at the Teppanyaki Table which gave a totally new dining experience. The chefs were mostly trained for the showmanship and the Benihana form of cooking from Japan. This gave a feeling of exclusivity as each table had its own chef and waitress resulting in high engagement and participation from customers end. Benihana not only started with an adopted innovative cooking experience (something that did not exist in USA Before) but also featured Japanese historical authenticity in its design layouts and interior dà ©cor, the walls, ceilings, beams, artifacts and lightings were all from Japan to create a Japanese effect in the restaurant. 2. How does Benihana`s cost structure differ from that of a typical sit-down restaurant? The cost structure of Benihana differs a lot from that of a typical-sit down restaurant resulting in lesser costs and higher profit: Rocky borrowed the method of Hibachi Table to counter the problem of availability and cost of labor and by eliminating the need for a conventional Kitchen, the cost of labor was around 10%-12% of sales as compared to industry average of 30%-35%. By reducing the menu to simple three entrees the wastage was reduced and can cut food costs by 30%-35% compared to the industry average of 38%-48%. The cost of beverages as percent of sales was 20% for Benihana as compared to the industry average of 25-30% resulting in higher gross profit. Due to parental management relationships with the staff, the management salaries were around 4% of Benihana as compared to the industry average of around 6% were lower. Though the sites were chosen carefully but the rent was usually lower for benihana around 5% compared to industry average of 9%. Benihana on average advertised more than the industry and deliberately sent advertising messages to position it differently. Benihana spend 10% of its sales on advertising while the industry only spends 2%. Net Profit after income tax was relatively higher than the industry average for benihana.

Greed for Money Essay

Today, greed for money, together with greed for power, is one of the chief causes of human misery. No wonder our Lord put as his first beatitudes;† Blessed are the poor in spirit. † Poverty in spirit is the opposite of greed for money, for it means detachment from material things coupled with trust in God as the only Savior. People cheat other people for money. They betray friends for money. Members of the same family – sometimes parents and children quarrel and sue each other in court over money. Jesus was very well aware that money would rival God in the eyes of many people. That is why he warned â€Å"No man can serve two masters, you cannot serve God and money†. He himself was the victim of greed. In the end, He was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver by Judas. It takes real grace to see the seduction of money and the emptiness of its promises. Aspiring politicians have heard of the sad end of Ferdinand Marcos, and other dictators whose billions benefit only the Swiss banks but not those who robbed their own people. And yet given the opportunity, how many will resist the temptation to take advantage of one’s public trust? In the song Hello Dolly, it says â€Å"Money my dear is like manure. It is good for nothing unless it is spread around to make your things grow. † Many of us are rather more fascinated by the manure and love to store it, more than to share it.

Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 16

16. Being the Chronicles of Abby Normal, Nosferatu Well, that was dramatic. Ronnie is all crying and cowering in the other room because I drank a little of her blood. Fuck's sakes, you mopey emo-toy, cowboy the fuck up, you have quarts! What did she expect, she got to kill me, that's not free? I'm not like some easy death slut who lets you kill her for nothing, I am nosferatu, bee-yotch. That shit has a price. Her blood totally tastes like zit cream, too. I almost hurled. I know, trs cool, non? So, now that I am a dark and beautiful creature of unspeakable evil, I think I'm going to start a pay-subscription blog. Except I can only, like, advertise darkness and unspeakable evil, because I'm totally starting from the beginning on the beauty. First, all my tattoos are totally gone. Gone! Like wiped off. After I succumbed to the dark gift by taking a whole bottle of the Motherbot's sleeping pills, Ronnie hid me under a pile of blankets and stuffed animals in her room, and when I awoke at sundown and crawled from my sepulcher of Carebears and Muppets and whatnot, all my tats totally wiped off. Like the ink was pushed out on top of my skin. Now Ronnie has an Epileptic Elmo with more of my ink on him than I have. And my piercings healed up. My bars and rings are all in the carpet. Boobs? Still pathetic. I had so hoped to swoop down on Foo and totally flash my awesome vampyre cleavage on him. You know, like put on a bustier and really squish the girls out the top, then be all: BAM! â€Å"Check it out, Foo. Cower before killer dcolletage, and beg me to let you rub your handsome ninja face on it.† But no! Now he'll be all, â€Å"Oh, it looks like you dropped a couple of dimes down your shirt, vamp child. Can I help you with those?† So I suffer. And you can't get implants. I saw what happens when the Animals' blue hooker turned vampyre. You wake up and your implants are on the floor and you're all, â€Å"Hey, I blew like a hundred strangers to get those.† I'm only estimating. I'm sure the number of strangers will vary depending on prevailing suck and surgical rates in your area. (You acquire arcane medical knowledge when your mother is a nurse.) You can't have stuff removed either, you know, if that might be needed. Even my makeup is ruined from where Ronnie tried to smother me with a pillow, so that's going to take like an hour to fix. I had heard that sometimes even when you overdose on a whole butt-load of drugs, you don't always die because your heart won't stop, which is why you're supposed to put your head in a plastic bag. But I didn't want to because I had done Cleopatra eye makeup that was trs elegant so I would look hawt for my resurrection. So Ronnie was supposed to put her hand over my mouth and nose, just until I stopped breathing, then like fix my lipstick if it smeared. Because otherwise I'd be all girlfriend in a coma for weeks while the Motherbot whined about how she couldn't unplug me because of her guilt for treating me like an assbag and how she had never appreciated my dark complexity and inner beauty and whatnot, and I have too much shit to do for that. But Ronnie didn't even wait for me to pass out. I had just taken the pills with some Sunny D (because the nosferatu love us some irony), and I laid down on the floor like we had planned, so Ronnie could just roll my body under the bed to hide me from the deadly rays of the sun and Mom. So I'm grieving for the loss of my mortality and whatnot, when Ronnie, like, just throws a pillow on my face and sits on it. And I'm all, â€Å"Wait, wait, mmphff, mmphf.† And then she burned one-right in my face-one of those foul, vegan farts-because she's been a vegan ever since she had head lice and we shaved her head. (I don't know why. Something about garlic and parasites. She's insane.) ‘Kayso, I decided that I could wait to receive the dark gift, and that Ronnie would have to die as soon as I got her off me. So she, like, burns another one! And she's skinnier than me. I don't know how she could even have it in her. And she's laughing so hard that she falls off of me and I make my move. ‘Kayso, I'm chasing her around the house, going, â€Å"I'm going to peel off your skin and make it into boots and step in dog shit with them,† and other basic super-villain threats, and then things got all wiggly and the last thing I remember is I walked into the sliding glass doors to the balcony and kind of bounced off. And so tragically, I died young, and no one was there to grieve for me or shed tears for me or kiss my cold, lifeless lips and whatnot. But now I'm undead awesome. I think with practice, I will make a super, super-villain, and really, I'm okay with that, because there won't be any student loans like there would have been with my other career choice of tragic romantic poet. ‘Kayso, now I must fix my makeup and pick an ensem and then wander the lonely night, searching for the Countess and the vampyre Flood, and maybe drop by the love lair to totally overwhelm Foo with my haunting and eternal but still small-chested beauty. Kthxbye. Being immortal rocks! I can type like demon speed! Fear me! L8z. THE EMPEROR The Emperor and the men shared a submarine sandwich on a bench by Pier Nine in the bright noonday sun as they watched a dark knife of a yacht glide into dock. She was just short of the length of a football field, all black, with stainless-steel trim-what the Emperor imagined a star-ship might look like if it were driven by sails. The sails on her three stainless-steel masts were mechanically furled into black carbon fiber shrouds, and the curved windows of her cockpit and cabin were blacked out. There were no crewmen on the deck. In all his years on and around the sea, the Emperor had never seen anything like it. Bummer flattened his ears and growled. â€Å"Easy, little one, it's only a sailing ship, and a beautiful one at that,† said the Emperor, although he thought it quite strange that there was no crew on deck to secure the mooring lines. A ship of that size, and more important, of that expense, would usually have half a dozen or more tying her up, but once parallel with the dock, attitude jets along the sides opened in the hull and gently pushed her into the dock. Jets on the far side pushed back so she stopped within six inches and hovered there, the jets firing just as needed to keep her from drifting. Three hundred feet of steel and carbon fiber, probably over twelve hundred tons, parked as easily and somewhat more smoothly than a Mini Cooper at a strip mall. Bummer ran to the edge of the breakwater and let loose with machine-gun volley of yapping, which translated, â€Å"Bad boat, bad boat, bad boat, bad boat.† A barking fit from his bug-eyed companion was nothing out of the ordinary, and normally the Emperor would have let it pass with a calming word, but there was still half a submarine sandwich to be eaten, and something had to be very much amiss for Bummer to leave the scene of a sandwich. Now Lazarus sniffed the chill wind coming off the Bay and whimpered, and tossed his head, then looked back at the Emperor, which translated from dog to, â€Å"Smells undead, boss.† The Emperor didn't understand what his companions were saying to him, but he suspected. He just wasn't ready to hear it. It had only been a few hours since the two police inspectors had dropped him off at the St. Francis Yacht Club, where the members allowed him and the men the use of the outer showers, and one of the members had purchased this lovely sandwich and presented it to them in thanks for their service to the City. Only an hour since he'd actually managed to straighten his neck out, after spending the better part of a night upside-down in a barrel. And only now, after a walk along the waterfront and a good meal, was the pain in his knees and shoulders starting to subside. He wasn't ready to go back into battle. â€Å"I am a selfish old man,† he said to the men. â€Å"A coward, worried for my own comfort, when my people are threatened. I am afraid.† But even as he said it, he was rising on his creaky knees, pushing himself up on the walking stick he'd retrieved only this morning from the Yacht Club, where he'd left it for safekeeping. The handle was carved out of ivory into the shape of a polar bear, and it fit the Emperor's hand like it had been made for him, although it had been a gift from a nice young man named Asher, who owned the secondhand store in North Beach, but that's another story. He wished there had been a blade in it, like the cane young Asher carried. Alas, he would have to face the black ship with only a stick, a sandwich, and his intrepid furry companions. He puffed himself blowfish style and headed up the dock, Bummer and Lazarus following along behind him, ears lowered, trailing a two-part growling harmony. A few people had gathered along the fence at the breakwater, and were pointing to the great ship. It wasn't so unusual that one might bring his day to a full halt, but if you were in the middle of a run or a brisk walk and needed a reason for a pause, the black ship would certainly fire the imagination long enough for you to catch your breath. Once at the ship, the Emperor was unsure of what to do. There was really no reason beyond Bummer's behavior to justify boarding her. And this ship was not of his city, therefore he could not claim dominion over it. He could hear the attitude jets firing just under the water, sporadically, to keep the ship in place. It was only a step, albeit a long step, and he'd be standing on the deck at her prow. Perhaps, having made the leap, a further course of action would occur to him. He backed up on the dock to take a run at it, or as much of a run as his advanced age and boiler-tank bulk would allow him, but as he announced â€Å"two† on his count-down to launch, a tanned face surrounded by a tangle of blond dreadlocks popped up over the rail of the cockpit and a young man called, â€Å"Irie, mi crusty uncle, bringing us the jammin' grinds, yeah? I and I tanks ye colossal, but please to be waiting on the dock.† And the Emperor stopped. Bummer and Lazarus even stopped growling and sat and turned their heads in the manner of a doggie listening for a â€Å"food† word amid a recitation of The Iliad. The young man vaulted over the black cowling of the cockpit and landed on the lower deck, his bare feet barely making a thump. He was lean and muscular, tanned a caf au lait color, with a tattoo of a humpback whale on his right pectoral muscle. He wore board shorts, despite the chill Bay air, a gold ring in his nose, and a series of them chasing down the rim of each ear. His dreadlocks fanned out around his head and shoulders as if they might be sun serpents looking for a way to escape. He leapt the gap to the dock, dazzled a blindingly white grin, and snatched the remains of the sandwich out of the Emperor's hand. â€Å"Ah, Jah's love on ye, Uncle, bringing de rippin' grinds to I'n'I after so long at sea.† Bummer barked and growled. The Rasta-blond had their sandwich. â€Å"Ah, me doggie, dreadies,† said the Rasta. â€Å"Jah's blessings on ye.† He knelt and scratched Bummer behind the ears. The stranger smelled of coconut oil, weed, and the undead, and Bummer was going to bite him as soon as he was finished having his ears scratched. â€Å"I'n'I be Pelekekona Keohokalole. Call him Kona, for short. Pirate Captain and lion of the briny science, don't cha know?† â€Å"I am the Emperor of San Francisco, protector of Alcatraz, Sausalito, and Treasure Island,† said the Emperor, who couldn't bring himself to be impolite to the smiling stranger, despite the black ship. â€Å"Welcome to my city.† â€Å"Ah, many tanks, Bruddah. Much respek on you, yeah? But you can't be going on that Raven ship, no. She kill you, brah. Automatic-kine kill. Dead, dead, too. Not walkin' around dead like them below.† â€Å"It goes without saying,† said the Emperor. FOO DOG The rats had been up and moving for about an hour when Foo heard the key in the front door. He put the soldering iron he was using in the wire holder and was turning toward the door when she was on him. He felt his vertebrae crack as her legs wrapped around him and he went over backward. Something caught the back of his head and something wet and coppery was shoved into his mouth: tongue. Panic vibrated through him and he felt he might suffocate, but then the smell: a mix of sandalwood perfume, clove cigarettes, and caff latte. Amid the panic, he'd sprung a first-rate erection, which he thrust against his attacker in defense. She pushed away and twisted up a handful of his shirt-front as he gasped for breath. â€Å"Rawr!† she rawred. â€Å"I missed you,† said Foo. â€Å"Your suffering has only begun,† Abby said. She wore a red tartan miniskirt over a black leotard with a low swooping neckline, a spiked dog collar, and her lime-green Converse Chuck Taylors, which she sometimes referred to as her â€Å"forbidden love Chucks† for no reason that he could ever figure out. â€Å"You're kind of crushing my ribs.† â€Å"That is because I am nosssssss-feratu and my powers are legion and stuff! Trs cool, huh?† Foo realized then that she had actually done it-she had somehow managed to change herself into a vampire. Her nose, eyebrow, and lip rings were gone, the piercings healed. The spider tattoo on her neck was gone as well. â€Å"How?† he asked, immediately trying to calculate her odds of survival. He'd talked to her yesterday on the phone and he was sure she would have mentioned the transition if she'd made it already, so she was in her first twenty-four hours. She might still be one of the ones who went insane and self-destructed, and even though Abby was short neither on insanity or self-destruction, it didn't mean he shouldn't try to save her. She kissed him again, hard, and as nice as it felt, he was hyper aware of whether she had broken the skin on his lips, or hers. So far, so good. She pushed him back, but then caught the back of his head again so it didn't bang the floor. She actually seemed a little more considerate now that she was dead, although not that much quieter. â€Å"Be patient, my love ninja, I will use you like the delicious manga-haired man-whore that you are, but first we have to try out my powers. Let some of the rats out of their cages and I will command them with my vampire psychic thoughts. I'll see if I can get them to clean the kitchen.† Okay, maybe they weren't out of the insanity woods quite yet, Foo thought. He said, â€Å"Yes, and then we'll see if we can get bluebirds to tie a ribbon in your hair.† â€Å"Snark not, Foo! You must obey me! I am the Countess Abigail Von Normal, queen bitch of the night, and you are my groveling sex slave!† â€Å"Are you a countess or a queen? You said both.† â€Å"Shut up, grommet, before I suck you dry!† â€Å"Okay,† said Foo. A wise man picks his battles. â€Å"Not that way, Foo. I mean that I will dominate you and you will do my bidding!† â€Å"Which will be different from any other day, how?† â€Å"Cease your banality and nerdardious questions, Foo. You are totally harshing my heady power over the night.† â€Å"It sounds like you bought a flashlight.† â€Å"That's it. I am going to beat your ninja ass.† She leapt off of him and made the â€Å"crouching tiger, rip your heart out† kung-fu posture that everyone who has seen a martial arts movie knows. â€Å"Wait! Wait! Wait!† â€Å"‘Kay,† said Abby, relaxing to the much less dangerous â€Å"slouching tiger chillin' with a bag of Cheetos† stance, which is known by all who have ever snacked. â€Å"You need to feed, get your strength up first,† said Foo. â€Å"You're a vampire noob. You need to grow into your powers.† â€Å"Ha,† said Abby. â€Å"You speak like a mortal who can't possibly grasp the depth of the dark gift. I jumped over a car on the way here. And I totally ran faster than the F train. My Chucks are still warm with residual speediness. Go ahead, feel them. Lick them, if you must. Even now I can see this aura thing around you, which is like bright pink, and doesn't go with your fly hair and manly bulge.† Foo looked down. Yes, his bulge was betraying him. He said, â€Å"You should take it slow, Abby.† â€Å"Oh yeah, watch this!† In an instant she was across the loft at the kitchen counter, and in another instant she had shot back across the living room and hit the plywood covering the windows. There was nothing Foo could do. She might have lifted the couch, leapt up fifteen feet, and grabbed the open ceiling beams, or even turned to mist, if she'd figured out how to do that, but what she had decided to do to show her powers was blast through the quarter-inch plywood and land catlike on the street below. And that would have been badass, to be sure. What Abby didn't know was that while she'd been gone, the window guy had called, and he wouldn't be able to come out to fix the windows for two weeks, so Foo had replaced the quarter-inch plywood with three-quarter-inch plywood, and instead of it just being tacked at the corners with small nails, he had screwed it down with stainless-steel screws, so as not to leave any vapor gaps for the rats to make an escape. Foo cringed and covered his eyes. She was fast, and preternaturally strong, but ninety pounds of vampire is still only ninety pounds. Did she hit the plywood Wile E. Coyote style, then slide down? Wah-wah-wah. Oh no. She hit the plywood, which bent precipitously, then splintered a bit before springing back and rocketing her all the way across the loft to the back wall, and there, she made a petite Goth girl impression in the sheet rock before falling forward, flat on her face, and saying, â€Å"Fucksocks,† into the rug. â€Å"You okay?† asked Foo. â€Å"Broken,† said Abby into the rug. He knelt over her, afraid to turn her head to see what damage she might have done. â€Å"What's broken?† â€Å"Everything.† â€Å"I'll get you some blood out of the fridge. You should heal pretty fast.† â€Å"‘Kay,† said Abby, still face-down, not having moved since the initial impact. â€Å"Don't look at me, okay?† â€Å"No way,† said Foo, already in the kitchen. He took one of the plastic pouches of blood from the fridge and worked it back and forth. â€Å"Just a second. Don't move, Abs, you might have broken bones.† He quick-stepped into the bedroom, grabbed a capped syringe off the cabinet where he kept the chemicals, flipped off the cap, and injected the sedative into the bag. â€Å"Here you go, baby. Just drink this and you'll be fine.† Ten minutes later he heard someone coming up the stairs and realized that Abby had forgotten to lock the door. Jared bounded into the loft, stopped when he saw Foo kneeling over the prostrate Abby, who had a sizable pool of blood around her head, and began screaming. â€Å"Stop screaming!† barked Foo. â€Å"It's not her blood.† Jared stopped screaming. â€Å"What did you do to her?† â€Å"Nothing, she's fine. Would you move the maze off the bed and help me get her in there?† Sometime during the debacle, Abby's skirt had flipped up and Jared pointed at an oblong lump that ran across her bottom and partly down her leg under the black leotard. â€Å"What's that? Did she poop herself?† â€Å"No,† said Foo, wishing he didn't know what it was, but he had already checked for himself. â€Å"It's a tail.† â€Å"Whoa. Weird.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Foo.