Saturday, August 31, 2019

Men Who Can’t Handle The Mice Essay

In the novel of Mice and Men, George has to make a very hard decision. Lennie and George are very good friends, and they do everything together. When Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife, George has to make a decision for himself and for what is best for Lennie. Lennie trusts George and does whatever he asks, which made it harder for George to take Lennie’s life without Lennie understanding why. George is very careful and always thinks about the things he does before them. In this situation George had to help his friend by killing him to prevent him from living in a jail sell or dying slowly. Curley said that if he finds Lennie, he would shoot him in the stomach, so he would die painfully and slow. When Candy’s dog was shot he told George that he regretted letting a stranger shoot his dog and that he should have done it himself. George did the right thing by shooting Lennie, and doing it with love. Doing this is keeping his promise to Aunt Clara by taking care of him and killing him so he is now free. There really is not anything left for Lennie his dream is pretty much not going to happen so what is Lennie going to be looking forward to in this world. If George did not kill Lennie, and just let him go free and hide in the forest forever, Lennie would have died. Lennie could not take care of himself for that long and survive off making his own food and being alone. He would feel abandoned and not know what to do. If George had ran away with him, everyone would think that he was in on the murder and they would both be killed. Their dreams are ruined and Lennie would never really understand what he did. George would also be accused of something he did not do. George made the right decision because there was nothing left for Lennie. The plan on buying a property is over with and Lennie would not know what to dream about or what to look forward to in the future. Lennie died happy and George told him that he could tend the rabbits in heaven and he would be happy. The fact that George did it meant a lot, that he had to let his best friend go and his character showed when he did it himself. George knew that Lennie did not mean to do it and when he killed Lennie, he told him he was not mad. Lennie was so large that he could kill things so easily without meaning too. It was not his fault, but it was becoming a problem. If George did not kill Lennie, he does not know who else Lennie could kill on accident. This put other peoples lives in danger and Lennie’s, so George decided to let him die in peace when he is happy, and not when things become worse. George shot Lennie in the back of the head so Lennie would not feel anything, and would die instantly. It shows that George did not shoot Lennie for himself, because he hesitated at the trigger. In this type of situation anyone would do the same thing. George practically raised Lennie and know he has to kill him, this is probably the hardest thing he will ever do. Therefore, George did the right thing by killing his best friend and having to do it himself. It shows that when someone loves another and they are put in a position where they have to kill their friend, and it was the only way they would be in peace, they would do whatever it took for their happiness. In the end Lennie was free and George was lonely, but he knew he did the right thing. George will never forget Lennie, but now George can settle down and start a new chapter of his life and have a family.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Behavioral Genetics

Multiple situations and conditions can impair or influence human behavior in individuals. My hypothesis was genetics has the strongest influence on human behavior because of the inability to have control over heredity. Without control, how can one improve or change their behavior? Mental disorders can be inherited through genetics. Examples of genetically acquired mental disorders are schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. My personal experience with individuals with those particular types of mental disorders exhibit different behaviors that those without the disorder. The way one interacts with other and the perception of that individual by society can be influences by mental disorders . My hypothesis was slightly changed after reading the article â€Å"Behavioral Gentics† by Joseph McInerney . McInerney provided in depth research that alluded to the fact that genetics alone does not influence human behavior. He believes that unless every person is tested a definitive correlation between genetics and behaviors will not exist. (J. McInerney ‘Behavioral Genetics† 24Aug2011) In case studies, researchers only test a select few and this does not provide enough information to prove or disprove genetics behavioral influence. According to McInerney, there may be others factors that may be present in conjunction with genetics that may influence human behavior. Behaviors are â€Å"the response of an individual, group, or species to its environment† (Merriam Webster Dictionary). Genetics are â€Å"a branch of biology that deals wit h the heredity and variation of organisms† (MWD). Through definition; genetics is not a factor for behaviors. Genetics can be a factor, but does not necessarily have to be a controlling factor that influences human behavior. McInerney provided multiple sources of other studies that solidified his view. I made my hypothesis based on my personal experience of people with mental disorders that had a historyof mental illness in their family. I only had access to a minimal amount of people with this disorder and made an inference without proper investigation. After reading this research; I feel that my hypothesis was just an opinion that could be perceived as judgmental. I believe that the source was creditable site because it was a overnment website. I will not say that I agree or disagree with the information presented. The information was from one source. I would have to read every source that McInerney provided and research other sources that oppose McInerney findings. I learned that solely from reading someone else’s opinion that it affected and influenced my behavior. I am usually ve ry decisive when I formulate an opinion. Normally my opinion is never altered due to someone else’s input. I have learned that many people make inferences and consider themselves expertise without more information from other sources. Behavioral Genetics Heredity and the environment produce an individual difference in development. Behavioral genetics has an impact in development. Behavioral genetics according to Francis Galton is based on â€Å"a man's natural abilities that are derived by inheritance, under exactly the same limitations as are the form and physical features of the whole organic world. † The role of behavioral genetics is based on human behavior influenced by genetics and the environment.For instance, Galton focused on the study of inheritance of gifted and talented families, and found that intelligence might be genetic, yet he also found that it has a lot to do with environmental factors. Galton researched in behavioral genetics including studies of twins and adopted children to compare environmental factors and biological factors. While contemporary behavioral genetics being the largest branch of human behavioral genetics covers phenotypes such as alcoholism, bipolar disorders, and schizophrenia however, inve stigations have not yet found genes associated to these mental illnesses but are rather environmental.Behavioral genetics has implications in society that affects a massive amount of physical behaviors that includes homosexuality, aggression, and nurturing, and intelligence. For example, the amount of tolerance that a trait would fur goes for prisoners or homosexuals such as getting treatment or prevent the birth of individuals affected. The only known fact is that no gene determines behaviors.This was proved by a study published in 1999 of the â€Å"smart gene† this gene was practiced on mice by injecting what is known as the high gene, and the study came to a conclusion that the learning enhancement only lasted a few hours, and was only retain in short memory. Having a certain trait does not mean that the trait will develop instead it can only be taken as a chance that it might or may not. Behavioral genes is still quite a mystery but can not be elapsed because there are ma jor possibilities that traits may exist. Behavioral Genetics Multiple situations and conditions can impair or influence human behavior in individuals. My hypothesis was genetics has the strongest influence on human behavior because of the inability to have control over heredity. Without control, how can one improve or change their behavior? Mental disorders can be inherited through genetics. Examples of genetically acquired mental disorders are schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. My personal experience with individuals with those particular types of mental disorders exhibit different behaviors that those without the disorder. The way one interacts with other and the perception of that individual by society can be influences by mental disorders . My hypothesis was slightly changed after reading the article â€Å"Behavioral Gentics† by Joseph McInerney . McInerney provided in depth research that alluded to the fact that genetics alone does not influence human behavior. He believes that unless every person is tested a definitive correlation between genetics and behaviors will not exist. (J. McInerney ‘Behavioral Genetics† 24Aug2011) In case studies, researchers only test a select few and this does not provide enough information to prove or disprove genetics behavioral influence. According to McInerney, there may be others factors that may be present in conjunction with genetics that may influence human behavior. Behaviors are â€Å"the response of an individual, group, or species to its environment† (Merriam Webster Dictionary). Genetics are â€Å"a branch of biology that deals wit h the heredity and variation of organisms† (MWD). Through definition; genetics is not a factor for behaviors. Genetics can be a factor, but does not necessarily have to be a controlling factor that influences human behavior. McInerney provided multiple sources of other studies that solidified his view. I made my hypothesis based on my personal experience of people with mental disorders that had a historyof mental illness in their family. I only had access to a minimal amount of people with this disorder and made an inference without proper investigation. After reading this research; I feel that my hypothesis was just an opinion that could be perceived as judgmental. I believe that the source was creditable site because it was a overnment website. I will not say that I agree or disagree with the information presented. The information was from one source. I would have to read every source that McInerney provided and research other sources that oppose McInerney findings. I learned that solely from reading someone else’s opinion that it affected and influenced my behavior. I am usually ve ry decisive when I formulate an opinion. Normally my opinion is never altered due to someone else’s input. I have learned that many people make inferences and consider themselves expertise without more information from other sources.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Age of the Joker (2012) by Edguy

As seen with their newest album, Space Police, these are crazy people when it comes to power metal. Toby and the gang have made somwthing a bit more special with this release here. This is really where they pull out all the stops to be funny. For these guys, forget the term power metal, instead use the term Comedy Metal because thats what this band really is. Age of the Joker is an album that has many a good tracks in it to keep you on your toes. My personal favorite is the track 2 Out of 7 which is more like a love song gone wrong. The final stretch of the song also has the greatest line ever in power metal history. You know a songs good if it could catch you off guard in a good way like that. Believe me it did, I wasnt hardly listening to it until that line came up and slapped me in the face. This has also made an appearence on The Metal Voices top 10 albums of 2012 making Number 4 I believe. I love this album with a passion and would love to own it on a vinyl and/or CD. I recommend you check this out if you love power metal, you can say you like Iron Maiden and would may still enjoy it. A sfor the rating I give it a 10/10.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The attitude of American public towards GM food Research Paper

The attitude of American public towards GM food - Research Paper Example GMO food production has identified seven main areas which concern the human safety test in the consumption of the foods and include the study of the DNA and the nutritional contents which are introduced in the new food product and the analysis of the chemical composition of the plant parts as well as the allergens. The human safety test also includes the estimate of the toxicological or nutritional problems which may be encountered by the consumer and the risk of transferring microorganisms in the gene transfer process (Weise, 44). The use of genetically modified (GM) ingredients in food production has attracted a lot of controversy. Public attitude towards these products has being highly negative in most of the developing countries especially Japan and some European countries. The consumer negative attitude in these countries has being attributed to the skepticism on the unknown health and environmental effects of the GMO foods (Tait 4). The negative attributes of the GMO foods has being identified as the spre4ad of the pest resistance herbicide, body allergic responses and the herbicide tolerance on the wildlife plants and the consequent toxicity of the wildlife. However, the full benefits of biotechnology will only be realized when the producers consider the GMO foods to be safe to their health and beneficial. Although many public attitudes towards the GMO foods have been done in the recent past, the public attitudes towards biotechnology seem to be sharply different between countries and the time of the study (Knowledge 5). The consumer attitudes towards biotechnology have been surveyed in Europe and USA over the past decades. From the global perspective, GMO foods have been one of the contentious issues in the society due to economical and technical benefits which are offset by the human health and the environmental impact (Nikki 34). The increase in multinational corporations and economic power of the GMO manufacturing companies has impacted the quality o f the GMO foods and threatened the traditional farming in rural societies in most of the rural developed countries. This paper will review the attitudes of the American public towards the GMO foods over the recent years. Studies in US have indicated that consumers have positive attitude towards the GMO foods compared with consumers in Europe and Japan. For instance, a study carried out by Daniel and Mark in 2001 indicated that 70 percent of the respondents were willing to pay a higher price for GMO foods (Heslop 214). In the US, the consumer makes the decision to purchase the GMO foods based on the uncertainties and the probabilities which are assigned to the consumer risk of the consumption of the GMO foods. The consumption of the foods results to certain payoff utilities which the consumers perceive to receive from the consumption (Macilwain 54). The perceived risks from the consumption of the GMO foods are derived from the future costs which the consumer expects to incur from the decision to consume GMO foods and carry probabilities which are different from one consumer to the other. The perceived risk stems from one of the following sources with the first one being the influence of the media in the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Tourism, Leisure and Event Management in the World of Soft Systems Term Paper

Tourism, Leisure and Event Management in the World of Soft Systems - Term Paper Example In the second phase you will work with collaborative group of colleagues to bring together your very different views and perspectives, and will need to enter a research cycle in which you shape and refine your mutual understandings, and select a client and project for investigation, supported and approved by your Tutor. You will undertake a ‘mini’ research project leading to the development of a presentation through which you enable your selected client or stakeholders to understand on their own terms ‘that which is obvious’, keeping in mind that the SSM process is about a process through which the client comes to understand for themselves ‘that which is obviouse’. When the client (or other stakeholders) view the work generated by the project, it should be clear to them ‘what needs to be done’. Whilst there is scope for creativity and imagination, the Overall Aim: To analyse, through Systems thinking, a real Hospitality, Tourism and Event environment, evaluate issues arising from the organization of systems and structures, and appreciate the complexities and interrelatedness of real human situations. This includes the development of appropriate tools and the presentation of findings in a way which recognizes the needs of the client, and through the broad application of systems thinking, and soft systems tools and methods. You should draw on learning from other courses, as appropriate, including MVS and OMTL. Task 1 Requirements: Preliminary Workbook (Individual) Weighting 30% For this first part of this study you will need to prepare the ground for assignment to your project group by conducting your own initial desk research enquiry in tandem with your final semester project. Following Soft Systems Methodology you will analyse your experience using the workbook provided (six diagrams), and including a written evaluation (one A4 sheet, 750 words) of issues relevant to the project based on business, location, an d/or online and social media analysis. The workbook may be competed manually or electronically. The grading for each section will reflect: Depth of insight/development, use of systems concepts and conventions, content Deadline TBC , 3:00 PM Student Name: ___________________________________________________ Student Score: / Student grade: / 10 Part A (40 Marks) 1a) Use a Rich Picture to represent the component parts and dynamics of the situation that you perceive as the basis of your final semester research paper. Your diagram must be appropriately labelled and follow the conventions for systems diagrams (20 Marks) 1b) Use any other formal diagram of your choice to represent the component parts and dynamics of the situation that you perceive as the basis of your final semester research paper. Your diagram must be appropriately labeled) and follow the conventions for systems diagrams (20 Marks) 2a) Complete the following grid for five possible (basic) root definitions for a ‘rele vant system’ from which you might ‘derive learning’ about your research context: (pass/fail) What is to be done by the system (P) By what means or approach the system is to do P (Q) The greater purpose to be achieved by the system (R) 1. Provide employment for local citizens

Monday, August 26, 2019

Architects And Styles In The Late 1900s In USA Thesis

Architects And Styles In The Late 1900s In USA - Thesis Example The architecture styles before the 1900s were New Romanesque, Victorian and Gothic with huge thick walls, tall columns and ornate carvings. One of the famous architects in the late 1900s was Henry Hobson Richardson who had studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The École des Beaux- style is evident in the New Romanesque style he developed.   He created a number of buildings in the USA from 1880 to 1900. The style he developed was also called as Neo Romanesque and it was a revival of the ancient Roman and Spanish styles but mixed with some modern elements. Some of the structures that belonged to this genre include Trinity Church in Boston; Buffalo State Asylum in New York and other structures. Some other architects that practiced the Neo Romanesque style included Cleveland Cady who built the   American Museum of Natural History building. Other structures that came up included the Williams Free Library in Wisconsin designed by Walter Holbrook, Fogg Memorial Building at Maine designed by George A. Clough; Durand Art Institute in Illinois by Henry Ives Cobb and many others. Cement concrete had not been invented in the 1890s and the main material used was stone and mortar. The style was called Neo Romanesque since these structures used the heavy and short column with extensive brick work and ornamented by ornate arches. The style puts the focus on clear arches that have a strong picturesque massing with a typical round-headed "Romanesque" arches. The arches emerged from groups of short squat columns.

The Difference between Office Automation System and Knowledge System Research Paper

The Difference between Office Automation System and Knowledge System - Research Paper Example In other words, anybody who knows how to use Microsoft Windows and can browse the internet will have no problem with this system. In this scenario, completely database driven, automation is extremely robust, since it makes it simple for websites varying from low traffic, small company websites to huge business websites requiring hundreds of updates every day (Ask.com; CARDOSO; Sabatin; Answers Corporation; The Destin). In addition, one of the key aspects in office automation is information handling and management. The growing volume and complexity of business data has required from the organizations to depend on computers to help distribute, capture, manage and store the data and information flow required in order to complete their everyday business processes. Thus, as computers keep track of the particulars of the data and information; business people are capable to focus on the upper level duties like that decision making and planning. Additionally, the automation helps rationalize the management and research renews. It makes a particular update inside automation as well as the piece of content could be updated all through the parts and reflects in connected procedures. Moreover, the automation is available with a password protected secure administration area in which every user is provided with their own, password and username (Ask.com; CARDOSO; Sabatini; Answers Corporation; The Destiny). Furthermore, the changeable and customizable information and data content available on a website is extremely simple to edit. In this scenario, the system makes use of inbuilt modules that facilitate clients to change information, data, and image characteristics by means of an interface extremely related to the one offered by "Microsoft Word". However, more knowledgeable clients are able to swap to HTML methods for advanced editing. In this scenario, the data displays could be time/date driven, consequently the information is displayed from, to or in among particular times submitted by us. As a result, organizations are able to distribute information when they desire, as well as have it available on the website at a time that suits them. The main objectives of any office automation system are to offer following facilities: (Ask.com; CARDOSO; Sabatini; Answers Corporation; The Destiny) Offer user friendly interfaces for data entry those are simple to navigate Well-organized system working, monitoring, tracking, athe uditing and routing of a variety of files Dependable reporting system that should not negatively affect system working and performance System should be easy to maintain as well as configure System should be efficient for future improvements Should implement group/role based safety Offering automatic awareness to the user depending on procedures as well as deadlines Improve the speed and efficiency of business and corporate decision making procedure Well-organized master data preservation Offer superior control over inventory management Off er central controlling system for organization.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

The synergy of branding and MPR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The synergy of branding and MPR - Essay Example The rebellion and fierce battles in Syrian are a topic of discussion in the national/international media these days and the main focus of the argument among different media threads is the American support for the rebels. There has been a lot of discussion and mainstream media has arranged several talk shows, webinars, table talks and interviews on this topic. America is funding the rebels in Syria because of the fact that freedom and democracy is the need of Syria but the main line of argument for all those who are targeting this strategy in a critical way is that funding these rebels is growing your own enemy because American nation has suffered a lot just because of the fact that they helped the Afghan militants in the soviet war. Sources like CNN, independent, Huffington post, guardian, Aljazeera, BBC, CBS, ABC news have vowed this issue a lot and on daily basis, then news of Syria is getting in the limelight. There are two groups in the rebellions according to the media and there must be a clear differentiation between these groups. The first group is known as Free Syrian Army (FSA) which is an offshoot of the Syrian army who were the rebels. FSA started to wage war against Bashar al Assad regime some years ago because they were furious against his oppressions against the Sunni Muslims, a major sect in Syria. The other group of the rebels is the most lethal and according to the national media, this group can be the real cause for the headache for America and that is known as Alqaeda.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Criminal Procedures in the News Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Criminal Procedures in the News - Essay Example Safety measures have been given the topmost priority. All the cities are under heavy security. Surveillance is the one of the safety measures employed to check criminal activities. Though sometimes these activities may breach privacy policies citizens of America should understand that it is for their own good. After 9/11 the American policies towards international community has changed considerably. As President Bush said you are with us or against us. The main victims of criminal are the innocent citizens. Mostly children are attracted towards criminal activities. In the recent past we have seen the news of gun firing in schools and other educational institutions. These incidents indicates that how the society has been disturbed. There is no safety not even in their home state and in their own house. Though the police department and other security agencies are providing foolproof security no one knows who will strike terror and from where. The students and other children involved in shootouts were sent to juvenile homes. They were treated as juveniles. Special psychological treatments were given o them. Juvenile homes make every effort to turn them into responsible citizens. The main reason for children committing crimes is the domestic violence.

Friday, August 23, 2019

American Policing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

American Policing - Essay Example was characterized by crime control, efficient organization, professional remoteness from the community, hiring of competent and qualified personnel in curbing police inefficiency, and it stressed on preventive rapid and motorized response to crime. Police officers standardized and routinized police work, officers were mandated to enforce law and make arrests whenever they could. Further, when specific problems arose, special police units such as tactical or juvenile were established to deal with the issues rather than giving problems to patrol officers (Cole & Smith, 2004). These characteristics squared with those principles suggested by Robert Peel in that, they emphasized on the importance of preventing crime and disorder in society. In addition, during the professional era of policing, the stressed on the need of public approval to be efficient and effective which are in agreement with Robert’s tenets of policing. In addition, if the police used force in enforcing law and order, the degree of cooperation with the public declines. In addition, the police must obtain the willing cooperation of the people to respect and obey the law in order to get respect of the public. Further, the police are allowed to apply force only after using all other means to get compliance from law breakers. Lastly, the police just like other members of the public too belong to the public who are discharging their service to secure the welfare of the society or public (Cole & Smith, 2004). Community oriented policing was created as a result of increase in crime. The community oriented policing brings government officials, community, professionals and neighborhood together to trace and solve problems within community and partner together to solve these problems. The concept of community policing was created to reunite the community by reducing crime and fear in society. The interaction between the police and the community can help reduce fear and crime in society. Community policing

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Inequality in our Education System Essay Example for Free

Inequality in our Education System Essay Education is vital to all individuals. It is the foundation of ones development in order to achieve personal distinction. In addition, it also equips people the capacity to properly interact with other people. Education serves as a weapon for survival. It empowers ones capacity and provides an edge in any endeavor that one wishes to get involved in. For example, in securing a job, a decent   and impressive educational attainment is one of the qualifications necessary in order to get hired.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Schools are designed to provide the adequate needs for attaining quality education. Schools should provide competent teachers, rigorous curriculum and modern facilities and equipments. But few   Americans are aware of the massive disparity and inequality that are consuming the educational system. Although it is not proper and ideal, the social status of an individual greatly affects the quality of education that one receives (Darling- Hammond, 2008, p. 208).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tracking, in the area of education, recognizes the gap between the low-income, minority students and their well-off peers. Ethnic and linguistic minority students coming from low-income background oftentimes only afford admission to general and vocational courses, thus decreasing their chance, if not totally depriving them from pursuing college education (Mehan and Hubbardm, 1999, n.p). Schools with high concentration of low-income and minority students receive fewer and poor quality learning resources than the other schools within the same district (Darling- Hammond, 2008, p. 208).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Along with medical assistance and social welfare, ideally the education sector should be alloted with a larger portion from the state budget and should be appropriately divided among all the schools. But ironically, educational fund in the United States has also been unequally distributed to all schools. 10% of the wealthiest school district in the most industrialized country spend 10 times more than the 10% least fortunate. The number of poor and minority students are definitely higher in the least funded schools, mostly located at the central cities and rural areas, which is lowly funded than the schools in the suburban districts. Recent study shows that Alabama, New Jersey, New York, Louisiana, and Texas and schools with higher ratio of students of non-White American descent receive fewer resources than schools serving a greater number of White Americans (Darling- Hammond, 2008, p. 208).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To address the issue of racism within the educational system, the idea of hidden curriculum was coined. Hidden curriculum pertains to the messages passed on by the organization or pedadogical institution apart from their public statements. The hidden curriculum is aimed to teach the students of school routines and to enable students in getting along in school and in the society in general. The messages in hidden curriculum may complement or contradict each other. In a way, it opens the minds of students to the possibility that some of the innate principles and natural laws enclosed within the democratic political system, may not at all times be practiced (Cornbleth. 2008, n.p).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Earlier studies proved that hidden curriculum conveyed in public and private schools were different. Public schools mainly focuses on academic classrooms with an emphasis on things like race, ethnicity, disability, and gender or sexual orientation as well as social class, politics, and culture (Cornbleth, 2008, n.p).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Over the years, we have overcome indecency caused by racism. As our culture succumbs to the tenets of globalization, people of different faces and races have been drawn closer towards each other. And this trend would ideally suggest equality among people born out of different ethnicities. The irregularities in our education systems rooted from unjust   policies have caused inequality in our schools.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tracking, has kept the students separated from others based on their skin color and income. Tracking is therefore a form of racism, wherein students coming from different race and low-income background can never avail of the same oppurtunities, benefits and treatment that other students get. School funding policies branch from tracking, where schools serving more students who they believe are from inferior color and race, receive lesser funds than other schools. And last, hidden curriculum disposes messages that rationalized disparity among students.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In any way, the school shall serve as an institution where values and culture formation is hastened. But if an important and delicate institution like schools inculcate disparity amongst the people, then students and the whole society will be deprived of the rights that everyone must equally enjoy. References Cornbleth, Catherine. (2008). Hidden Curriculum. Retrieved May 3 2008 from http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1899/Curriculum-School-HIDDEN-CURRICULUM.html Darling-Hammond, Linda. (2001). Inequality in Teaching and Schooling: How Opportunity Is Rationed to Students of Color in America. In The Right Thing to Do, The Smart Thing to Do Enhancing Diversity in the Health Professions (pp. 208-233). National Academy. Mehan, Hugh and Lea Hubbard. (July 1999). Tracking Untracking: Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Educational Innovation. Retrived May 3 2008 from http://crede.berkeley.edu/research/tier/rb3.shtml

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Food Hygiene & Sanitation Essay Example for Free

Food Hygiene Sanitation Essay Only without oxygen at an ideal temperature 43? C c. Only with oxygen at an ideal temperature of 43? C d. Only without oxygen at an ideal temperature of 39? C 7. Which of the following groups of hazards are most likely to cause a foodborne disease outbreak? a. Bacteria and viruses b. Parasites and molds c. Vibrio spp. and Shigella spp. d. Chemical and physical hazards 8. Bacteria grow best within a narrow temperature range called the temperature danger zone. The temperature danger zone is between: a. -18? C and 104? C b. -8? C and 65? C c. 5? C and 60? C d. 5? C and 100? C . Bacteria that cause foodborne illness will only grow on foods that have pH at _____ or above and a water activity (AW) above____. a. 3. 2; 0. 85 b. 4. 6; 0. 85 c. 6. 5; 0. 80 d. 8. 0; 0. 75 10. Which of the following bacteria produce a toxin that is more likely to cause death if consumed? a. Campylobacter jejuni b. Clostridium botulinum c. Shiga-toxin producing Escheria coli d. Listeria monocytogenes 11. Some bacteria form spores to help them: a. Reproduce b. Move easily from one location to another c. Survive adverse environmental conditions d. Grow in high acidic foods 12. Which of the following is a histamine poisoning? a. Ciguatoxin b. Scombrotoxin c. Mycotoxin d. Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) 13. Which of the following is not considered a potentially hazardous food group? a. Red meats b. Fish and shellfish c. Poultry and eggs d. Dried grains and spices 14. The most effective way to control the growth of bacteria in a food establishment is by controlling: a. Time and temperature b. pH and oxygen conditions c. Temperature and water activity d. Time and food availability 15. Food borne illness can caused by: a. Poor personal hygiene b. Cross contamination c. Temperature abuse d. All the above 16. Regarding food thermometers, which statement is false? a. Be calibrated b. Measure temperatures between 5? C and 57? C c. Measure temperatures between -18? C and 104? C d. Be approved for use in foods 17. Good personal hygiene includes a. Using hand sanitizers instead of washing hand b. Keeping hands and clothes clean and sanitary c. Wearing attractive uniforms d. Cleaning and sanitizing food-contact surfaces 18. Cross contamination is a term used to describe the transfer of a foodborne hazard from 1 food to another: a. By a food worker’s hand b. From a cutting board c. From a knife blade d. All of the above 19. After proper cooking, all foods that are to be held hot must be held at: a. 74? C or above b. 57? C or above c. Room temperature until served d. 49? C or above 20. Food workers should wash their hands after which of the following? a. Taking out the trash b. Touching their faces c. Handling raw food d. All of the above Section B (10 marks) Answer either True/ False. 1. The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point System is only used to monitor food processing in manufacturing plants. () 2. Certification of food protection managers and workers refers to screening done for health problems. () 3. The term food establishment includes any site where food is processed, prepared, sold or served. () 4. Bacteria and viruses cause most foodborne illness. () 5. One of the potentially hazardous food is cut melons. () 6. There are two types of bacteria that are spore forming and non-spore forming. () 7. Clostridium botulinum cannot cause death. () 8. E. Coli can be found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals. () 9. Prevention of cross contamination can be done by keeping raw food and ready-to-eat food together during storage. ) 10. Bacteria take 25 minutes to multiply. () Section C (20 marks) Briefly explain on each answer. 1.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Research Culture In Pakistani Universities

Research Culture In Pakistani Universities Research plays an important role in the development of nations. Countries which provide the basic and quality education to their citizens are known for their ethical and social values and also excel in the field of science and technology. People living in these countries are habitual of asking questions, making hypothesis and testify them for the sake of better living life. We are living in a nation that is surrounded by many internal and external problems and how to get out of this critical situation is still a question. Universities, though, can be of vital help to improve the prevailing situation as usually universities are the centers where intellectuals and thinkers are produced. These intellectuals, with aid of researching tool can pull the nation upward from the fall. The paper aims to discover and analyse the current situation of research culture in Pakistani universities. The extent of research culture in Pakistani universities is discovered through quantitative research wit h the sample size of 150 students, to identify the problematic factors that are hindering in promoting research culture in the universities. Field survey was conducted using a structured likert scale questionnaire for quantitative research. The tool designed by Santo et al. (2009) was modified and used accordingly to our study spectrum and collected data was analyzed in SPSS. Multistage sampling was conducted using a combination of snowball sampling, stratified sampling and random sampling techniques and data was collected from the students of different programs including management, engineering, medicine and humanities. Due to limitation of resources the data was collected only from universities in Lahore and Islamabad, two major cities of Pakistan. Univarate analysis with the help of descriptive statistics techniques and frequency table methods helped to identify the behaviour of respondents towards each of the 32 questions contained in the questionnaire. The findings of research show that Pakistani universities are lacking a healthy research culture. In fact the results showed a positive sign of concern from the students that they want to get improved research facilities in their universities. Data also highlighted specifically the most problematic areas in a detailed fashion. The results gave the exact factors which need to be considered seriously by the university authorities in order to implement the research culture in its true sense in their universities. Also the results may open new avenues for improvements and bringing betterment in the current picture of local universities research culture. Key words: Lack of Research Culture, Universities, Reasons, Pakistani Introduction Research is a process of steps used to collect and analyze information to increase our understanding of a topic or issue. It consists of three steps: Pose a question, collect data to answer the question, and present an answer to the question. (Creswell, 2008). Although research is defined differently by different authors and thinkers but the value of research is recognized equally by every philosopher. Undoubtedly research is the most important tool to investigate the problems of the people, to find out their demands, and even to explore the mysteries of life, and research has the solutions for all. Research is a significant process of digging the facts and laying the foundations of knowledge and is a key process in knowledge formulation. The rate of evolution of knowledge depends on the rate of research in a particular field. With every passing day, the increased demand of detailed, authenticated and reliable knowledge, research is becoming most substantial process in every field of knowledge. Some people may think that research is simply gathering information about people, things or a certain state of affairs by some organizations, etc., but there are others who call the means of progress in the life of the present global scenario, in which every nation come closer together and appear to depend in one way or the other (Nadeem, 2011). The importance of research is recognized worldwide and developed countries are spending a lot more to promote research culture. In a speech to the Royal Society in April 2010, German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel explained that the prosperity of a country such as Germany [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] must be sought through investment in research, education and science, and this to a disproportionate degree, (TheRoyalSociety, 2011). Developing countries are not in a competitive position to go parallel with the developed countries in field of education, despite of other facts and reasons; lack of research oriented educational approach is the main reason of it. Making countries progressed, as divide between developed and developing nations is clearly the educational system (Sanyal Varghese, 2006) What we see nowadays the technology is making this world a global village, too many innovations taking place, ideas are getting converted into realities etc. is all due to the research by the researchers and their findings in them. We hear very often the word RD that is research and development, which means to develop something, research is at the first place. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, RD refers to creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications, (OECD Factbook 2008: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics, 2008). General practices of research and development activities in universities facilitate the industries through their implementations. Research oriented universities assist the industries directly and indirectly: directly by provision of skills and indirectly by spillove rs (Wu, 2007) In a research culture maximum people of a group, university, business firm, area, city and or country, sit together to indicate and solve the problems like corruption, water sharing, economic crises, state security, distribution of resources and obligation etc. The meaning of research culture is also that each and every direction in the society must be biased on reason, rational, logical, pragmatic and science, as an instrument of events and resolving problems, (Ahmed, 2006). Whereas universities are considered to be the birthplaces of research and researchers and lot has happened in the world to change the non-research culture to a research culture and to the change has been the most difficult part, (Cheetham, 2007). Situation in Pakistan in regards of research at universities is not impressive and Pakistan still lacks research culture at par with developed countries, (Lodhi A. , 2010). The research output by universities in Pakistan in terms of number of research publications as against the total faculties of universities is not more than 13 per cent, (Qureshi, 2011). Pakistan is ranked 34 in the list of countries by research and development which spent 2.73 billion US$ in the year 2007. However, most RD funding in Pakistan is consumed by the military sector (60%), (UNESCO, 2010). There are deficiencies in the quality of both skills and research output of the education sector. A viable quality assurance mechanism is essentially required in Pakistan to change and improve the quality of output and efficiency of the higher education learning systems. (Mahmood Shafique, 2009) This current scenario of research culture leads results in the low yield of research output in terms of research publications. HEC Pakistan took many initiatives in order to promote research culture in Universities. But these initiatives didnt payback the desired results, i.e. a healthy research culture in Pakistani universities. This paper aims to find out the reasons of these negative results in terms of reasons of lack of research culture. Extensive research has been carried out by various researchers to analyze the extent of research culture in different institutes and universities. Literature review indicates that most of these researches are more focused towards the instructors approaches towards research culture. The role of students and the institutional policies in research are not critically analyzed. This paper is an attempt to cover the gap in this area of knowledge. It is felt that research culture is not fully introduced and facilitated and the paper aims to find and identify what are the reasons might be for the current prevailing situation of lack of research culture in the universities. Either this is due to weak infrastructure, non-serious behavior of students or teachers are not making it realized to students of the importance of research. Moreover, role of individual factors of students and institutional policies in a research culture is critically and deeply analyzed in this paper. Ultimately we are looking to promote the research culture in Pakistani universities and also to rectify the problems from its roots that are hindering in promoting the research culture. Literature Review It was during the Second World War that governments, notably the US government, recognized the significant contribution made by university research, especially by the scientists and engineers, to their success in the war, (Sanyal Varghese, 2006). The world recognized university educational research, but it is more evident in the developed nations as compared to the developing world. According to UNCTAD, 2007 they reported that there are only 94.3 scientific researchers per million people in the least developed countries (LDCs), against 313 in the other developing countries (ODCs) and 3,728 in rich countries (high-income OECD). Enrolment in university level institutions (that is, tertiary school enrolment as a share of the corresponding age group) is only 3.5% in the LDCs, against 23% in ODCs and 69% in rich countries. (Vessuri, 2011). Just to quote to some examples, the number of enrollments in PhDs in Australia, there has been 300% increase from 9,298 in the year 1990 to 27,996 in 2000, (Stehlic, 2011). Similarly North America and Europe are considered as the home to the great majority of the worlds university faculty, as well as virtually all of the worlds high-quality institutions (Vessuri, 2011). On the other hand the scenario is worst in the least developed countries due to several reasons. One of them may be due to non supportive living conditions. As reported by UNSTAD, 2007 countries like Haiti, Cape Verde, Samoa, Gambia and Somalia have lost more than half of their university-educated professionals in recent years because they have moved to industrialized countries in search of better working and living conditions, (Mamdani, 2011) (Vessuri, 2011). Undoubtedly the knowledge divide between developing and developed countries is both deep and wide. A countrys existing RD activities are a reflection of its capacity to create knowledge, (Sanyal Varghese, 2006). Higher education and science must become more evenly distributed around the world if political tension is to be eased and the chances of economic and social development are to improve. The role of education and science in this process is taken as a given a point of departure and it is assumed that knowledge and skills will be at least as important for the future of the developing world in this century as they were for developed and industrialized countries in the past, (Vessuri, 2011). Universities are the best places to implement the research culture. Humboldt, a German statesman, philologist and architect of the University, observed that the purpose of a university for both the teacher and the student is a common quest for knowledge or Wissenschaft, (Lueddeke, 2008). It is widely accepted that research, as the most important source of knowledge generation, occupies a critical position in promoting a nations prosperity and its citizens well-being in the knowledge-based era, (Li, Millwater, Hudson, 2008) and educational research helps by improving the understanding of how students learn and how best to teach, (Morrell Carroll, 2010). Moreover research is not only helps solve the practical problems and brings about material improvements via high-tech products, it also provides insights and new ideas that enrich human understanding of various social, economic and cultural phenomena, (Li, Millwater, Hudson, 2008). As also explained by Patricia D. Morrell and James B. Carroll in their book called Conducting Educational Research, educational research is important in: Proposing theories Testing theories Increasing our understanding Improving teaching learning (Morrell Carroll, 2010) The worldwide higher education landscape and research and knowledge production sectors are undergoing a profound transformation driven by unprecedented global social and economic forces and are embedded in an extremely complex reality, in which no self-evident choices are available and where actions have multiple effects in a dynamically interdependent environment (Vessuri, 2011). However integrating research and teaching in research-intensive universities is still an unresolved issue as we head into the 21st century, (Lueddeke, 2008) and expansion has taken place in fairly a limited part of the world (Vessuri, 2011). From the expanding literature, conferences and the reality on the ground, it does appear that most research-intensive universities across the globe still have not fully realized the harmonization of the research-teaching relationship, (Lueddeke, 2008). Whereas teaching in a University is different, we use the same word in primary school, secondary school, TAFE, Teachers Colleges, CAEs etc but it is not the same. One of the major differences is of course the extent to which it (the teaching) is interwoven with research and our research principles, (Cheetham, 2007). The faculty in higher education institutions has traditionally been trifocal, consisting of teaching, research and community service/extension. University faculty members are required to become teachers, researchers, and service-oriented professionals, (Salazar-Clemeà ±a Almonte-Acosta). So finally we can say that, the trends in enrolment in higher education are an indicator of the widening or narrowing gap between developing and developed countries in terms of research capacity, (Sanyal Varghese, 2006). Although universities in the developed world, as compared to the developing world, have firm traditions of research whereas universities in the developing world have retained strong teaching functions and weak research functions, (Nadeem, 2011) (Sanyal Varghese, 2006) (Salazar-Clemeà ±a Almonte-Acosta) (Lodhi A. S., 2011). Specifically talking about Pakistan, she lacks research culture at par (Lodhi A. , 2010). The nation expects from universities to contribute to basic, applied and/or action research to help minimize the problems of the country to meet the future targets, (Qureshi, 2011). There are many reasons being given by different researchers and scholars for not implementing research culture in general overall in the world and specifically for our country. Some of the reasons are extracted from different research papers and articles: Pakistan is facing major challenges regarding population and socio-economic developments which include employment, resources, food, energy, sustainability and the race for talent (Qureshi, 2011), because until and unless people will not get commodities (such as bread, cloth, and home) they cannot be turned for getting education, (Ahmed, 2006). Lack of incentives by the government, cases of plagiarism and proper facilities to conduct research on technical and scientific subjects, small salary packages to teachers in government sector universities, (Lodhi A. , 2010). Some of the problems as indicated by Sabahat Sultan of Karachi university, International Relations Department are; illiteracy standard of education, lack of resources, in cooperative attitude of government financial problems, lack of job oriented programs publishing goods, lack of proper training of research and professionalism (Sultan). Faculty members in the Pakistani universities are less enthusiastic about research, apart from a few amount of faculty members in different universities, others have not done voluntary research. Similarly students, they take up research project which is primarily a compulsory component for the award of degree, but that is done under compulsion which does not ignite students inquiry skills nor attract teachers to go for voluntary research. (Nadeem, 2011). One of true factors, which equally are applicable to Pakistani environment, as indicted by Sanyal and Varghese 2006, Gender Disparities. As they say in their research paper, female researchers constitute a relatively small share in all countries except the CIS countries. Even the ratio found very less in the advanced countries like USA and Germany, (Sanyal Varghese, 2006) . The South Asian Region also suffers from lack of linkages between public and private actors and no university-industry collaboration to speak of. It is noted in that, overall, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka seem better at producing basic knowledge than commercializing it, (UNESCO, 2010) (Wu, 2007) Introduction of research into early years of undergraduate education is not so obvious talking in the context of Role of Disciplinary Variation in Conceptualizing Research and Teaching, (Lueddeke, 2008). Research culture is largely affected by personal and organizational characteristics with leadership being the most critical attribute, (Theodore Lynette, 2010) (Lodhi A. S., 2011). Research Culture requires stable political climate, (Theodore Lynette, 2010). Methodology This is research is based on quantitative data analysis. Data collected were analysed on statistical explanatory data anaysis techniques mainly due to the reason of our intent to find only problematic factors that are causing lack of research culture in Pakistani universities. Sample Size Experts opinion was used to determine the sample size and a sample size of sample of 150 for was suggested. Tool Quantitative research was carried out with the help of a structured questionnaire developed by Santo, Engstrom, Reetz, Schweinle, Reed, 2009 (Santo, Engstrom, Reetz, Schweinle, Reed, 2009) and further used by Lodhi S. A., 2011 (Lodhi A. S., 2011) who modied the tool on the basis of his experiences to conduct his research in the Pakistani univerristies context. We modified the tool accordingly with the help of an expert for our research work to be conducted specially on students rather than on teachers and or faculty members in the universities. Respondents Sample population consists of a blend of students from different areas of study including engineering, medical, humanities, social sciences and management. Due to time and financial constraints, out of different private and public sector universities in Pakistan, we selected seven universities only from Lahore and Islamabad. The educational background of the respondents was such that they were both male and female students accompanied in bachelors and masters degree courses in their perspective universities. Out of 150 students 105 were from bachelors and 45 respondents were masters degree programs. 83 of them were male and rest, i.e. 67 were female students. Sampling technique and data collection procedure Multistage sampling was conducted using a combination of snowball sampling, stratified sampling and random sampling techniques to collect the data that resulted in a diverse and unbiased population sampling. 186 questionnaires were got filled out of which 150 questionnaires were used for the analysis purpose. Total time of 3 months was consumed in data collection and then entered in SPSS (version 17) and Microsoft Excel for further analysis. Data Analysis This quantitative study intends to find out the factors causing hindrances in a healthy research culture by focusing on individual factors of students or the institutional and leadership factors. All items in the questionnaire were individually analyzed through univariant analysis. Initially, frequencies, means, standard deviations, histograms and percentages were used to analyze the responses. Through the analysis of the all questions, few individual and institutional factors were identified that are paying major contribution towards creating lack of research culture in Pakistani universities. The problematic factors were then further categorized to favorable conditions and unfavorable conditions. Favorable conditions include the responses that were responded as strongly agree and agree patterns. Whereas unfavorable conditions include the responses that were in strongly disagree and disagree and Neither Agree Nor Disagree patterns. These factors were deeply analyzed. Descriptive Statistics Descriptive statistics are presented in Table 1 depicting means and SDs of all the items in the questionnaire. Means were in range from 2.45 to 3.74 with SDs in range from 0.897 to 1.244. The overall behavior of the respondents was such that they were neither strongly disagreed nor strongly agreed in their views about each question so making the scenario middleware leaving a feel that students are not fully aware of the research practices as well as they dont really care about the situations regarding research culture prevalent in their universities. This behavioral trend of respondents makes the situation very vague uncertain in terms of awareness about research culture and its factors. Frequency Tables To know the in depth details of how respondents responded to each of the item in the questionnaire, we used frequency tables which gave us results in the form of frequencies and their subsequent percentages that how many out 150 students responded as strongly disagree or disagree or neither agree nor disagree or agree or strongly agree in the whole dataset. This technique helped us known that how many students, majority of them, think alike about the problems those were posed in the questionnaire. It was, ultimately, highly needed to identify the most problematic factors which may cause impedement in the growth of research culture in the universities. Most of the responses, also can be seen from the results of descriptive statistics, were centered to a middle are of histogram, i.e. responses ranging from Disagree to Agree with responses recorded as Strongly Disagree or Strongly Agree. However our interest was not to see that how different respondents responded to a certain type of qu estions that was posed, but to find the problems creating hindrances in the growth of research culture in Pakistani Universities. The below findings are describing the most problematic factors: Research Findings The detailed analysis of the responses enabled us to identify that how students think of each and every problem stated in the questionnaire. But it was very needed to analyze and highlight those problems which are more critical and hence need special attention in order to bring positivity in the prevailing situation of research and research output in Pakistani Universities. To highlight such problems we defined a rule of thumb that responses being answered as Strongly Disagree, Disagree or Neither Agree or Nor Disagree is unfavorable conditions and responses answered as Agree and Strongly Agree is favorable conditions. We further operationally defined that if cumulative percentage of unfavorable conditions equals or greater than 60% it shows characteristics of problematic factor which should be eliminated. The other way to see the problematic factors is to look at the means of the responses in the questions. Questions having a mean less than 3 are problematic areas and they can be cross verified with the criteria being set above except for the question of At least monthly, I have substantive uninterrupted conversations about research and writing with colleagues in my university whose mean is 2.98 but cumulative percentage of unflavored answers is 59.3%. The factors which are highlighted problematic in the dataset is depicted below in the below figure. Out of the eight above highlighted problematic factors, first four of them belong to Individual Factors and rest four of them belongs to Institutional and Organizational Factors. These factors include: I have/had an unassigned mentor either in my department or in other departments/schools who provides (or provided) me with valuable guidance in research. Assigned mentor and unassigned mentor are up to students interests weather they approach to them to discuss the research topics and to get pieces of advice from them or not. Although in both the cases the responses from the students are unfavorable but the criteria equal to or greater than 60% cumulative percentages being set dont allow us to depict the assigned mentor question in the above bar graph figure but its importance cant be denied if 59.3% people answer unfavorably. Anyways the scenario of unassigned mentor is clearly problematic as 71.3% people responded in unflavored manner. I have a system that allows me to protect periods of uninterrupted time to address research activities. Students recorded unfavorable concerns equal to 75.3% which means our students do not have such systems where they can save their uninterrupted time to address their research activities. Although a fair amount of students answered Agree when they were asked about having adequate time for doing their research activities, but they are not into practices of saving uninterrupted times specifically to address the research activities. Up-to-date in qualitative research design and analysis 64% of the students recorded their responses as unflavored as they see themselves weak in qualitative research design and analysis because they are not currently up-to-date with the qualitative research design. Up-to-date in publisher-hunting skills (e.g. identifying appropriate journal/conference/exhibitions, understanding their procedures and submission evaluation for your research) Although our students believe that they are up-to-date in writing skill, presentation skills, IT skills (e.g. Microsoft Office, Design and Analysis Tools, Simulation Tools), and using relevant software for data-collection and analysis (e.g. SPSS, Nvivo, EndNote, etc.) but when it comes to their up-to-dated skills in publisher hunting for identifying appropriate journal/conference/exhibitions, understanding their procedures and submission evaluation for their research they are not well up-to-dated as 68% students recorded unflavored conditions. At least weekly, I have substantive uninterrupted conversations about research and writing with colleagues in my university 72% of the people responded unfavorably as they feel they do not converse weekly about their research topics with their fellow colleagues in the university. I have access to adequate human resources such as secretarial support, support staff etc., to conduct my research projects 66% of the students stated that they do not have access to adequate human resources such as secretarial support, support staff etc. in their universities to conduct their research projects. My university provides me adequate financial support to travel to academic conferences/exhibitions within Pakistan Interestingly the most problematic factor of all is the one stated above i.e. universities provide financial support to travel to academic conferences and exhibitions within Pakistan where more than 83% people recorded their concerns unflavored. My university provides me adequate administrative support to apply for travel grants from HEC or other external sources for presentation of paper in academic conferences within Pakistan. In the similar pattern about 70% students answered unfavorably that their universities provide adequate administrative support to apply for travel grants from HEC or other external sources for presentation of paper in academic conferences within Pakistan. The figure of 70% is less than of 83% in the above question may be due to readily available HEC support or due to HECs itself marketing campaign but, as per the collected data, support from universities in this regard of applying for travel grants from HEC or other external sources is minimal. Conclusion The studies show that universities play a prominent role in knowledge production, particularly in the pure or basic research fields, (Li, Millwater, Hudson, 2008). A lot of effort is being made in the developed and developing world to make their universities as research centers, though knowledge divide is deep and is heavily tilted in favor of developing countries (Sanyal Varghese, 2006). For a country like Pakistan is where there are so many social economic and security problems, the solutions lies in inculcating the research culture at higher education level. In Pakistani universities students need direction towards conducting research. Exposure of our students towards serious research is minimal or no as very minimum number of students have their papers published in worlds journals and publications, hence the importance of research is not fully known by them. Teachers and management, however, can play a pivotal role to set the university campuses onto the high class seats of res earch centers and ultimately making the students ready for taking part in the prosperity of the nation. These are the teachers and management which can give the light of wisdom to the educating pupils that they have to come in the competition of conducting research or our nation should get ready to perish from the face of this earth. Study also highlighted the specific problems relating to individual and institutional leadership factors causing the reasons of lack of research culture. It was noted that due to the moderate correlation existence between the stated two variables, present research output of individuals can be increased by controlling the problematic factors as identified in institutional and leadership factors list, i.e. once the institutions develop systems for students to conduct their research work, they have the ability to capitalize on the things with their new and energetic ideas. Implications In the light of the findings and the literature review, some of implications can be made to introduce the research culture into the students. These are enumerated as below: Separate centers for research should be made with several research groups to promote the cause of research culture in universities. These centers should be granted grants and finance for their smooth operations. A number of students will be taking part actively under the umbrella of these research centers. Teachers having no research experience or having not appeared in any international research journals/conferences with their papers are indeed a decline to research culture, (Cheetham, 2007). In our universities, well have to make it sure that our teachers are actively involved in conducting researches as ultimately theyll be able to translate the same habit to their students and if needed inductions of new highly qualified and trained tutors having experience in research can be made. Top management should involve into the matter of concern and should make the environment such that students get all those tools that are required to write an international research paper, e.g. availability of liter

Monday, August 19, 2019

Vouchers, School Choice and the Publics Interest Essay -- Persuasive

School Choice and the Public's Interest Recent trends toward privatizing schools and relieving them of state requirements wrongly imply that schools should mirror the desires of parents and ignore the public's interest in having citizens educated for democracy. Rob Reich, who recently earned his doctorate in philosophy of education at Stanford, is writing a book on school vouchers, charter schools and home schooling. Reich stated his view that the nation is slipping too far into deregulated schooling. "The guiding idea behind privatization, whether it is vouchers, charter schools or home schooling, is that parents should be the sole decision-making agents about the kind of education their children receive. But this eviscerates the public or civic purposes of schooling." Public schooling itself is not the goal, he said, and public schools don't necessarily do better than private schools in educating children to meet the state's interests, which he defined as preparing children for both workforce and democratic participation. Those who joined in the discussion pushed Reich to specify the content of an education for democratic participation. "Some would say reading and writing is enough," he responded. "Personally, I would go a few steps further to say that students should learn to come into dialogue with others on a public stage." Voluntary national standards for civic education suggest "a combination of making sure students know the history and shape of the structure of government, and how to influence public deliberation and policy," he said. Others suggest experience-oriented programs, often called service learning. "My model has been the Socratic dialogue, where the teacher is a leader and p... ...ploded among white, middle-class, religious families who want more control over the values their children are exposed to or who fear for their children's safety, Reich said. "I'm convinced that further privatization is inevitable," he added. Supporters have framed the argument for it as "a civil rights issue or a matter of social justice." he said. "People say President Clinton sent his daughter to private school. If we are serious about social justice, we should give all parents the same choice that wealthy parents have." How would he change the situation? Reich was asked. "I can imagine a variety of institutional arrangements but where private schools are still subject to state oversight," he said. "Perhaps public dollars could flow to them if the curriculum met the state's interests. A democracy has needs, but that doesn't mean public schools have to meet them."

The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis Essays -- Lewis Abolition of Man Es

The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Abolition of Man is perhaps the best defense of natural law to be   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   published in the twentieth century. The book is outstanding not because   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   its ideas are original, but because it presents so clearly the common   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   sense of the subject, brilliantly encapsulating the Western natural law   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   tradition in all its Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian glory. Interestingly,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lewis' defense of objective morality here resonates not only with ideas   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   from the giants of Western thought (including Plato, Aristotle, Augustine,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and Aquinas), but also draws on the wisdom of the East, including Confucius and the sages of Hinduism.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In "The Abolition of Man" C.S. Lewis developed three lectures entitled   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Men without Chests'', "The Way", and "The Abolition of Man". In them he   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   set out to attack and confute what he saw as the errors of his age.   He   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   started by quoting some fashionable lunacy from an educationalists'   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   textbook, from which he developed a general attack on moral subjectivism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In his second lecture he argued against various contemporary isms, which   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   purported to replace traditional objective morality. His final lecture,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "The Abolition of Man", which also provided the title of the book   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   published the following year, was a sustained attack on hard-line      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  scientific anti-humanism.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first essay, "Men without Chests," indicted the modern attempt to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   debunk objective virtues and sentiments. According to Lewis, traditional   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   moral theorists believed that virtues such as ... ...world, by   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the dictates of conscience and by the constituted order of things in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   nature. That is why, all that being so, "we have cause to be uneasy",   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   because faced with this Law (Tao) of God, with Absolute Goodness, and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   demands therein, we see we that we have "all sinned and come short of the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   glory of God" (Romans 3:23).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When we take some time to ponder the meanings of The Abolition of Man and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   its writings, we see that Lewis' essays were not new ideas at all.   In the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   contrary, they were reminders of what man has intrinsically known since   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the beginning of time.   As Samuel Johnson once said, 'Man is in need more   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   frequently of being reminded than informed.' Works Cited: Lewis, C. S. The Abolition of Man. Ontario: The MacMillan Company, 1947.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Ways in Which the Use of Teams Helps Cadbury Achieve its Strategic Aims and Objectives :: Cadbury Work Ethics Employment Essays

Ways in Which the Use of Teams Helps Cadbury Achieve its Strategic Aims and Objectives 1) Explain the meaning of the â€Å"terms† and â€Å"groups†. Teams ===== A team is a group of people with a common purpose who have complimentary skills. Working as a team has many advantages such as: * Distributing the workload * Reinforcing individual capabilities * Creating partipation and involvement * Improve productivity and pride in what they do * Respond more quickly to change * Reduce middle management level * Draw on expertise of members. There are two types of teams: Formal – a formal team is created for a specific purpose e.g. The employees at Cadbury world work as a formal team because they work together to meet their aim of ‘creating brands that people love’ Informal – an informal team develops in a less structured way e.g. a group of students at Josiah mason college may start a discussion on the way the teachers teach and are not happy with it they might get together and do something about it. Groups and teams are similar, however, teams require coordinated effort while individuals may work independently in groups. Groups A group is when two or more people work together on a certain task E.g. a group of students work together to form a presentation. But a group doesn’t have to work together or achieve something a group can also mean something else for e.g. There can be two different places in a cafà © one for smokers and one for non-smokers 1 Describe the ways in which the use of teams may help the organisation achieve its strategic aims and objectives. Working as a team: advantages of a teamwork and cooperation and to identify and understand the stages of team development. For a team to achieve its goals, its members must do more than just carry their own weight. They must involve, support, and share information with there team mates. And they must commit to the success of the entire team, not simply their own success. Working as a team clearly teaches employees the personal, interpersonal, and organizational advantages of working together whether in teams or work groups. Advantages of working as a team * Distributing the workload * Reinforcing individual capabilities * Creating participation and involvement * Improves motivation * Share knowledge and understanding * Provides opportunity for managers and supervisors * It also encourages innovation I will use Cadbury as an example to describe the ways in which the use of teams may help the organisation achieve its strategic aims and objectives. Cadbury Schweppes aim is: ‘ Work together to create brands that people love’ Objectives. †¢ Promote ethical business practices †¢ Respect the environment and communities in which we operate

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Marriott Case

Marriott Corporation: The Cost of Capital Executive Summary J. Willard Marriott started Marriott Corporation in 1927 with a root beer stand, expanding it into a leading lodging and food service company with sales of over $6 billion by 1987. At the time, Marriott had three main lines of business, lodging, contract services and restaurants, with lodging generating about 51% of company’s profits. The four key elements of Marriott’s financial strategy were managing hotel assets rather than owning, investing in projects with the goal of increasing shareholder value, optimizing the use of debt, and repurchasing their undervalued shares.Marriott Corporation relied on measuring the opportunity cost of capital for investments by utilizing the concept of Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC). In April 1988, VP of project finance, Dan Cohrs suggested that the divisional hurdle rates at the company would have a key impact on their future financial and operating strategies. Marrio tt intended to continue its growth at a fast pace by relying on the best opportunities arising from their lodging, contract services and restaurants lines of businesses.To make the company managers more involved in its financial strategies, Marriott also considered using the hurdle rates for determining the incentive compensations. What is the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) for Marriott Corporation? WACC = (1 – ? )rD(D/V) + rE(E/V) D = market value of debt E = market value of equity V = value of the firm = D + E rD = pretax cost of debt rE = after tax cost of debt ? = tax rate = 175. 9/398. 9 = 44% Cost of Equity Target debt ratio is 60%; actual is 41% [Exhibit 1] ?s = 1. 11 ?u = ? s / (1 + (1 – ? ) D/E) = 1. 11/(1 + (1 – . 44) (. 41)) = 0. 80 Using the target debt ratio of 60%: Ts = ? u (1 + (1 – ? ) D/E) = . 8(1 + (1 – . 44) (. 6/. 4)) ?Ts =1. 47 Using CAPM: rf = 8. 95% long-term rate on U. S. government bonds (rm – rf) = 7. 43% a verage 1926-1987 rE = rf + ? Ts (rm – rf) = 8. 95% + (1. 47)(7. 43%) = 19. 87% Cost of Debt rD = government bond rate + credit spread = 8. 95% + 1. 30% = 10. 25% WACC = (1 – ? )rD(D/V) + rE(1 – D/V) = (1 – . 44) (. 1025)(. 6) + (. 1987)(. 4) = 11. 39% If Marriott used a single corporate hurdle rate for evaluating investment opportunities in each of its line of business, what would happen to the company over time? WACC for Marriott= 11. 39%WACC for lodging division = 9. 25% WACC for restaurant division = 13. 84% WACC for Marriott’s contract division = 23. 07% The main use of the hurdle rates is to assess investment decision in order to determine if it’s reasonable. Using different rates for different division is also good, but one has to be careful when applying a single cost of capital across the various departments. Based on the WACCs stated above for the company and its various departments it’s obvious that the values are different. The cost of capital for lodging is lower than for the entire company, while that of the other departments are higher.We can equate the cost of capital with risk, so therefore the risk in the lodging department is lower when compared with other departments that have a higher WACC. If Marriott was to use a single corporate hurdle rate then they will be using the 11. 39% rate which is for the entire company. By Marriott using this rate, then any project that arises out of the lodging division will be rejected since its cost of capital of 9. 25% is lower than the cost of capital for the company. Using a higher rate will result in a negative NPV as well as a reduced cash flow.Projects from the restaurant and contract service division will be approved since they are evaluated at a lower rate than the determined cost of these various divisions. Over time, Marriott will be approving more high risk project from the restaurant and contract service division by evaluating them at a lower rate, while they will be rejecting lower risk projects from the lodging division because they are using a higher rate. In summary, the risk that Marriott will be assuming will increase over time as it continues to approve high risk projects. What is the WACC for the lodging division of Marriott? |Market Value Leverage | | |Unlevered | | |D/V |Beta |Tax Rate |Beta | | | |? s |? |= ? s / (1 + (1 – ? ) D/E) | |Hilton |14. 00 |0. 76 |44. 00 |0. 70 | |Holiday |79. 00 |1. 35 |44. 00 |0. 43 | |La Quinta |69. 00 |0. 9 |44. 00 |0. 40 | |Ramada |65. 00 |1. 36 |44. 00 |0. 67 | |Total | | | | | |Average Unlevered Beta |0. 55 | | | ?u = 0. 55 Cost of Equity Using the target debt ratio of 74%: ?Ts = ? u (1 + (1 – ? ) D/E) ?Ts = . 55 (1 + (1 – . 44)(. 74/. 26)) ?Ts = 1. 427 Using CAPM: rE = rf + ? Ts (rm – rf) = 8. 5% + 1. 427(7. 43%) = 19. 55% Cost of Debt rD = government bond rate + credit spread = 8. 95% + 1. 10% = 10. 05% WACC = (1 – ? )rD(D/V) + rE(E/V) = (1 â⠂¬â€œ . 44)(. 1005)(. 74) + (. 1955)(. 26) = 9. 25% What is the WACC for the restaurant division Marriott? | |Market Value Leverage | | |Unlevered | | |D/V |Beta |Tax Rate |Beta | | | |? s |? |= ? s / (1 + (1 – ? ) D/E) | |Church’s |4. 0 |1. 45 |44. 00 |1. 42 | |Collins Foods |10. 00 |1. 45 |44. 00 |1. 37 | |Frisch’s |6. 00 |0. 57 |44. 00 |0. 55 | |Luby’s |1. 00 |0. 76 |44. 00 |0. 76 | |McDonald’s |23. 00 |0. 94 |44. 00 |0. 81 | |Wendy’s |21. 0 |1. 32 |44. 00 |1. 15 | |Total | | | | | |Average Unlevered Beta |1. 01 | | | ?u = 1. 01 Cost of Equity Using the target debt ratio of 42%: ?Ts = ? u (1 + (1 – ? ) D/E) =1. 01(1 + (1 – . 44)*. 42/. 58) = 1. 420 Using CAPM: rE = rf + ? Ts (rm – rf) = 8. 95% + 1. 42(7. 43%) = 19. 50% Cost of Debt rD = government bond rate + credit spread 8. 95% + 1. 80% = 10. 75% WACC = (1 – ? )rD(D/V) + rE(1 – D/V) = (1 – . 44)(. 1075)(. 42) + (. 1950)(. 58) = 13. 84% What is the WACC for Marriott’s contract services division? ?u for Marriott is the weighted average of the Divisional ? u’s: | |Identifiable Assets |Ratio |Beta Unlevered | |Lodging |$2,777. 4 |0. 61 |0. 55 | |Restaurants |$567. 60 |0. 12 |1. 01 | |Contract Services |$1,237. 0 |0. 27 | | | |$4,582. 70 | |0. 80 | .61(. 55) + . 12(1. 01) + . 27(? u) = . 80 ?u = 2. 514 Cost of Equity Using the target debt ratio of 40%: ?Ts = ? u (1 + (1 – ? ) D/E) = 2. 514 (1 + (1 – . 44) (. 4/. 6)) = 3. 45 Using CAPM: rE = rf + ? Ts (rm – rf) = 8. 95% + 3. 45(7. 43%) = 34. 58% Cost of Debt rD = government bond rate + credit spread rD = 8. 95% + 1. 40% = 10. 35% WACC = (1 – ? )rD(D/V) + rE(E/V) = (1 – . 44)(. 1035)(. 4) + (. 3458)(. 6) = 23. 07%

Friday, August 16, 2019

Family as a social institution Essay

Social institution is a set system with values, roles, norms and statutes organized in a manner that satisfies societal needs. One major example of a social institution is the family which is defined as a group of people related by blood, marriage or adoption who lives together and share economic resources. American families are mostly organized in form of nuclear family which consists of father, mother and children. Extended family is another form of family arrangement recognized by Americans and consists of uncles, aunts and grand parents. The family structure has changed in various aspects that are related to certain social factors. Andrew J. Cherlin in his book argues that marriage in America has taken new direction different from other developed and developing nations. Marriage which is a bond that leads to existence of a family is faced with a lot of conflicts such as same sex marriage. One major social aspect that has led to changes in family structure is adoption of different cultural ideals. Family is considered as a means of formal commitment through which individuals share life with one another but this is taking another shape because of different ideologies. Through marriage, an aspect of individualism is emphasized by personal choice which is a form of self development that tries to make a family live as one unit. Nuclear type of family is mostly recognized in U. S but growth of population and adoption of different cultural practices has led to changes in family structure. The social aspect of population growth and its impact on family structure can be attributed with migration of family members from overseas countries. Individuals move from other countries to U. S in search of better jobs or to further their education. Once they are in America, such individuals are hosted by family members such as uncles or aunts making the structure of family to change. A family that consisted of husband, wife and children massively expands making its structure to change. Thus population growth and migration of individuals is attributed with changes in family organization or structure. Adoption of cultural practices through intermarriage is another social factor that has led to changes in family structure. In the recent past, individuals from different cultures marry. This allows people to adopt certain cultural practices whereby the role of husband, wife and children changes. Every individual in a family organization has his or her role to play as is defined by the Holy Book but nowadays changes have been adopted in defining the role of each family member. Civilization is a social factor that has led to changes in the structure of family. Most families in developing nations have adopted the live of western countries making the structure of family to change. The role of the family as a social institution Family plays important role in respect to certain responsibilities on children and the entire society as a whole. A family is a social institution that observed certain values, norms or statutes with an objective of existing as one unit. One major role of family in relation to its function on children is to provide the basic needs. Children in a family constitute people below the age of 18 years. Such individuals are not in a position to find money on their own and thus depend on parents to provide for them basic needs. Basic needs in this aspect consist of food, shelter and clothing which should be provided by husband and wife. Another basic role of family to children is enforcement of norms such as discipline, ethical considerations, moral values and strong base on religion. Parents in a family are supposed to provide strong discipline to their children so as to have a bright future. Discipline is one of the core things a family cannot deny its children because it is the beginning of wisdom and adoption of good moral values. Parents should teach their children about religion when they are young so as to have a strong base in Christianity, Islamic teachings, Hinduism and any other form of religion recognized by the constitution. Parents in a family are very instrumental in the aspect of teaching children how to behave and be responsible adults. Family as a social institution plays a very important role concerning the entire society. A society is a collection of many families with common goal and objective of sharing economic resources. Family members play a very important role through provision of needed services to serve the society. The parents work in various sectors of the economy thus they participate through collective responsibility. Certain services that are provided by the parents include teaching, nursing, accounting, engineering and legal services. All these services are needed by other members in the society and thus it avails services required by the entire community. The family engages in various social activities in the society whereby the children participate in schools, churches games, competition and entire society. It is a very important role that sees children grow as one unit which is a symbol of unity and peace. Work Cited Kirkpatrick Clifford, 1955, The Family as Process and Institution.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Effects of Parents Working Abroad to the Scholastic Performance of Their Children

This study is made to understand the performance, specifically the academic performance, of students without the guidance of their parents or having absentee parents. In studying, parents are important to help guide, teach and lead their children because a child need supports from their loved ones and also discipline to be motivated.It is a parent’s responsibility to take care of their children, it is hard for a student to have no one to guide them especially in their studies because as a student you still need someone to teach you and it is best to learn from you parents. Now-a-days a lot of students live without parents due to certain reasons and in some research it is said that this truly affects the child not only psychologically but also socially and academically. In the University of St.La Salle, there are a number of students with absentee parents (single parent or both absent) and this is why the researcher decided to come up with this study. The focus of this study is not only present inside the campus of the University; it also exists in other schools, other places, other countries or even the whole world. In the world today people cannot avoid this situation maybe because of life difficulties or maybe because of other circumstances.Some reasons why this happen is due to financial problems like parents need to go abroad or leave to look for money to enable to support their family an example are the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW), another is separation (Divorce or Annulment) of parents which sometimes results to single-parenting and one more example is the death of a loved one. Because of the interesting topic and common issue, the researcher desires to enable this study for people to be aware of this certain problem that students with absentee parents are going through and how it affects their academic performance. Statement of the Problem

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

A Game of Thrones Chapter Forty-four

Sansa He wouldn't send Ser Loras,† Sansa told Jeyne Poole that night as they shared a cold supper by lamplight. â€Å"I think it was because of his leg.† Lord Eddard had taken his supper in his bedchamber with Alyn, Harwin, and Vayon Poole, the better to rest his broken leg, and Septa Mordane had complained of sore feet after standing in the gallery all day. Arya was supposed to join them, but she was late coming back from her dancing lesson. â€Å"His leg?† Jeyne said uncertainly. She was a pretty, dark-haired girl of Sansa's own age. â€Å"Did Ser Loras hurt his leg?† â€Å"Not his leg,† Sansa said, nibbling delicately at a chicken leg. â€Å"Father's leg, silly. It hurts him ever so much, it makes him cross. Otherwise I'm certain he would have sent Ser Loras.† Her father's decision still bewildered her. When the Knight of Flowers had spoken up, she'd been sure she was about to see one of Old Nan's stories come to life. Ser Gregor was the monster and Ser Loras the true hero who would slay him. He even looked a true hero, so slim and beautiful, with golden roses around his slender waist and his rich brown hair tumbling down into his eyes. And then Father had refused him! It had upset her more than she could tell. She had said as much to Septa Mordane as they descended the stairs from the gallery, but the septa had only told her it was not her place to question her lord father's decisions. That was when Lord Baelish had said, â€Å"Oh, I don't know, Septa. Some of her lord father's decisions could do with a bit of questioning. The young lady is as wise as she is lovely.† He made a sweeping bow to Sansa, so deep she was not quite sure if she was being complimented or mocked. Septa Mordane had been very upset to realize that Lord Baelish had overheard them. â€Å"The girl was just talking, my lord,† she'd said. â€Å"Foolish chatter. She meant nothing by the comment.† Lord Baelish stroked his little pointed beard and said, â€Å"Nothing? Tell me, child, why would you have sent Ser Loras?† Sansa had no choice but to explain about heroes and monsters. The king's councillor smiled. â€Å"Well, those are not the reasons I'd have given, but . . . † He had touched her cheek, his thumb lightly tracing the line of a cheekbone. â€Å"Life is not a song, sweetling. You may learn that one day to your sorrow.† Sansa did not feel like telling all that to Jeyne, however; it made her uneasy just to think back on it. â€Å"Ser Ilyn's the King's Justice, not Ser Loras,† Jcyne said. â€Å"Lord Eddard should have sent him.† Sansa shuddered. Every time she looked at Ser Ilyn Payne, she shivered. He made her feel as though something dead were slithering over her naked skin. â€Å"Ser Ilyn's almost like a second monster. I'm glad Father didn't pick him.† â€Å"Lord Beric is as much a hero as Ser Loras. He's ever so brave and gallant.† â€Å"I suppose,† Sansa said doubtfully. Beric Dondarrion was handsome enough, but he was awfully old, almost twenty-two; the Knight of Flowers would have been much better. Of course, Jeyne had been in love with Lord Beric ever since she had first glimpsed him in the lists. Sansa thought she was being silly; Jeyne was only a steward's daughter, after all, and no matter how much she mooned after him, Lord Beric would never look at someone so far beneath him, even if she hadn't been half his age. It would have been unkind to say so, however, so Sansa took a sip of milk and changed the subject. â€Å"I had a dream that Joffrey would be the one to take the white hart,† she said. It had been more of a wish, actually, but it sounded better to call it a dream. Everyone knew that dreams were prophetic. White harts were supposed to be very rare and magical, and in her heart she knew her gallant prince was worthier than his drunken father. â€Å"A dream? Truly? Did Prince Joffrey just go up to it and touch it with his bare hand and do it no harm?† â€Å"No,† Sansa said. â€Å"He shot it with a golden arrow and brought it back for me.† In the songs, the knights never killed magical beasts, they just went up to them and touched them and did them no harm, but she knew Joffrey liked hunting, especially the killing part. Only animals, though. Sansa was certain her prince had no part in murdering Jory and those other poor men; that had been his wicked uncle, the Kingslayer. She knew her father was still angry about that, but it wasn't fair to blame Joff. That would be like blaming her for something that Arya had done. â€Å"I saw your sister this afternoon,† Jeyne blurted out, as if she'd been reading Sansa's thoughts. â€Å"She was walking through the stables on her hands. Why would she do a thing like that?† â€Å"I'm sure I don't know why Arya does anything.† Sansa hated stables, smelly places full of manure and flies. Even when she went riding, she liked the boy to saddle the horse and bring it to her in the yard. â€Å"Do you want to hear about the court or not?† â€Å"I do,† Jeyne said. â€Å"There was a black brother,† Sansa said, â€Å"begging men for the Wall, only he was kind of old and smelly.† She hadn't liked that at all. She had always imagined the Night's Watch to be men like Uncle Benjen. In the songs, they were called the black knights of the Wall. But this man had been crookbacked and hideous, and he looked as though he might have lice. If this was what the Night's Watch was truly like, she felt sorry for her bastard half brother, Jon. â€Å"Father asked if there were any knights in the hall who would do honor to their houses by taking the black, but no one came forward, so he gave this Yoren his pick of the king's dungeons and sent him on his way. And later these two brothers came before him, freeriders from the Dornish Marches, and pledged their swords to the service of the king. Father accepted their oaths . . . â€Å" Jeyne yawned. â€Å"Are there any lemon cakes?† Sansa did not like being interrupted, but she had to admit, lemon cakes sounded more interesting than most of what had gone on in the throne room. â€Å"Let's see,† she said. The kitchen yielded no lemon cakes, but they did find half of a cold strawberry pie, and that was almost as good. They ate it on the tower steps, giggling and gossiping and sharing secrets, and Sansa went to bed that night feeling almost as wicked as Arya. The next morning she woke before first light and crept sleepily to her window to watch Lord Beric form up his men. They rode out as dawn was breaking over the city, with three banners going before them; the crowned stag of the king flew from the high staff, the direwolf of Stark and Lord Beric's own forked lightning standard from shorter poles. It was all so exciting, a song come to life; the clatter of swords, the flicker of torchlight, banners dancing in the wind, horses snorting and whinnying, the golden glow of sunrise slanting through the bars of the portcullis as it jerked upward. The Winterfell men looked especially fine in their silvery mail and long grey cloaks. Alyn carried the Stark banner. When she saw him rein in beside Lord Beric to exchange words, it made Sansa feel ever so proud. Alyn was handsomer than Jory had been; he was going to be a knight one day. The Tower of the Hand seemed so empty after they left that Sansa was even pleased to see Arya when she went down to break her fast. â€Å"Where is everyone?† her sister wanted to know as she ripped the skin from a blood orange. â€Å"Did Father send them to hunt down Jaime Lannister?† Sansa sighed. â€Å"They rode with Lord Beric, to behead Ser Gregor Clegane.† She turned to Septa Mordane, who was eating porridge with a wooden spoon. â€Å"Septa, will Lord Beric spike Ser Gregor's head on his own gate or bring it back here for the king?† She and Jeyne Poole had been arguing over that last night. The septa was horror-struck. â€Å"A lady does not discuss such things over her porridge. Where are your courtesies, Sansa? I swear, of late you've been near as bad as your sister.† â€Å"What did Gregor do?† Arya asked. â€Å"He burned down a holdfast and murdered a lot of people, women and children too.† Arya screwed up her face in a scowl. â€Å"Jaime Lannister murdered Jory and Heward and Wyl, and the Hound murdered Mycah. Somebody should have beheaded them.† â€Å"It's not the same,† Sansa said. â€Å"The Hound is Joffrey's sworn shield. Your butcher's boy attacked the prince.† â€Å"Liar,† Arya said. Her hand clenched the blood orange so hard that red juice oozed between her fingers. â€Å"Go ahead, call me all the names you want,† Sansa said airily. â€Å"You won't dare when I'm married to Joffrey. You'll have to bow to me and call me Your Grace.† She shrieked as Arya flung the orange across the table. It caught her in the middle of the forehead with a wet squish and plopped down into her lap. â€Å"You have juice on your face, Your Grace,† Arya said. It was running down her nose and stinging her eyes. Sansa wiped it away with a napkin. When she saw what the fruit in her lap had done to her beautiful ivory silk dress, she shrieked again. â€Å"You're horrible,† she screamed at her sister. â€Å"They should have killed you instead of Lady!† Septa Mordane came lurching to her feet. â€Å"Your lord father will hear of this! Go to your chambers, at once. At once!† â€Å"Me too?† Tears welled in Sansa's eyes. â€Å"That's not fair.† â€Å"The matter is not subject to discussion. Go!† Sansa stalked away with her head up. She was to be a queen, and queens did not cry. At least not where people could see. When she reached her bedchamber, she barred the door and took off her dress. The blood orange had left a blotchy red stain on the silk. â€Å"I hate her!† she screamed. She balled up the dress and flung it into the cold hearth, on top of the ashes of last night's fire. When she saw that the stain had bled through onto her underskirt, she began to sob despite herself. She ripped off the rest of her clothes wildly, threw herself into bed, and cried herself back to sleep. It was midday when Septa Mordane knocked upon her door. â€Å"Sansa. Your lord father will see you now.† Sansa sat up. â€Å"Lady,† she whispered. For a moment it was as if the direwolf was there in the room, looking at her with those golden eyes, sad and knowing. She had been dreaming, she realized. Lady was with her, and they were running together, and . . . and . . . trying to remember was like trying to catch the rain with her fingers. The dream faded, and Lady was dead again. â€Å"Sansa.† The rap came again, sharply. â€Å"Do you hear me?† â€Å"Yes, Septa,† she called out. â€Å"Might I have a moment to dress, please?† Her eyes were red from crying, but she did her best to make herself beautiful. Lord Eddard was bent over a huge leather-bound book when Septa Mordane marched her into the solar, his plaster-wrapped leg stiff beneath the table. â€Å"Come here, Sansa,† he said, not unkindly, when the septa had gone for her sister. â€Å"Sit beside me.† He closed the book. Septa Mordane returned with Arya squirming in her grasp. Sansa had put on a lovely pale green damask gown and a look of remorse, but her sister was still wearing the ratty leathers and roughspun she'd worn at breakfast. â€Å"Here is the other one,† the septa announced. â€Å"My thanks, Septa Mordane. I would talk to my daughters alone, if you would be so kind.† The septa bowed and left. â€Å"Arya started it,† Sansa said quickly, anxious to have the first word. â€Å"She called me a liar and threw an orange at me and spoiled my dress, the ivory silk, the one Queen Cersei gave me when I was betrothed to Prince Joffrey. She hates that I'm going to marry the prince. She tries to spoil everything, Father, she can't stand for anything to be beautiful or nice or splendid.† â€Å"Enough, Sansa.† Lord Eddard's voice was sharp with impatience. Arya raised her eyes. â€Å"I'm sorry, Father. I was wrong and I beg my sweet sister's forgiveness.† Sansa was so startled that for a moment she was speechless. Finally she found her voice. â€Å"What about my dress?† â€Å"Maybe . . . I could wash it,† Arya said doubtfully. â€Å"Washing won't do any good,† Sansa said. â€Å"Not if you scrubbed all day and all night. The silk is ruined.† â€Å"Then I'll . . . make you a new one,† Arya said. Sansa threw back her head in disdain. â€Å"You? You couldn't sew a dress fit to clean the pigsties.† Their father sighed. â€Å"I did not call you here to talk of dresses. I'm sending you both back to Winterfell.† For the second time Sansa found herself too stunned for words. She felt her eyes grow moist again. â€Å"You can't,† Arya said. â€Å"Please, Father,† Sansa managed at last. â€Å"Please don't.† Eddard Stark favored his daughters with a tired smile. â€Å"At last we've found something you agree on.† â€Å"I didn't do anything wrong,† Sansa pleaded with him. â€Å"I don't want to go back.† She loved Mng's Landing; the pagaentry of the court, the high lords and ladies in their velvets and silks and gemstones, the great city with all its people. The tournament had been the most magical time of her whole life, and there was so much she had not seen yet, harvest feasts and masked balls and mummer shows. She could not bear the thought of losing it all. â€Å"Send Arya away, she started it, Father, I swear it. I'll be good, you'll see, just let me stay and I promise to be as fine and noble and courteous as the queen.† Father's mouth twitched strangely. â€Å"Sansa, I'm not sending you away for fighting, though the gods know I'm sick of you two squabbling. I want you back in Winterfell for your own safety. Three of my men were cut down like dogs not a league from where we sit, and what does Robert do? He goes hunting.† Arya was chewing at her lip in that disgusting way she had. â€Å"Can we take Syrio back with us?† â€Å"Who cares about your stupid dancing master?† Sansa flared. â€Å"Father, I only just now remembered, I can't go away, I'm to marry Prince Joffrey.† She tried to smile bravely for him. â€Å"I love him, Father, I truly truly do, I love him as much as Queen Naerys loved Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, as much as Jonquil loved Ser Florian. I want to be his queen and have his babies.† â€Å"Sweet one,† her father said gently, â€Å"listen to me. When you're old enough, I will make you a match with a high lord who's worthy of you, someone brave and gentle and strong. This match with Joffrey was a terrible mistake. That boy is no Prince Aemon, you must believe me.† â€Å"He is!† Sansa insisted. â€Å"I don't want someone brave and gentle, I want him. We'll be ever so happy, just like in the songs, you'll see. I'll give him a son with golden hair, and one day he'll be the king of all the realm, the greatest king that ever was, as brave as the wolf and as proud as the lion.† Arya made a face. â€Å"Not if Joffrey's his father,† she said. â€Å"He's a liar and a craven and anyhow he's a stag, not a lion.† Sansa felt tears in her eyes. â€Å"He is not! He's not the least bit like that old drunken king,† she screamed at her sister, forgetting herself in her grief. Father looked at her strangely. â€Å"Gods,† he swore softly, â€Å"out of the mouth of babes . . . † He shouted for Septa Mordane. To the girls he said, â€Å"I am looking for a fast trading galley to take you home. These days, the sea is safer than the kingsroad. You will sail as soon as I can find a proper ship, with Septa Mordane and a complement of guards . . . and yes, with Syrio Forel, if he agrees to enter my service. But say nothing of this. It's better if no one knows of our plans. We'll talk again tomorrow.† Sansa cried as Septa Mordane marched them down the steps. They were going to take it all away; the tournaments and the court and her prince, everything, they were going to send her back to the bleak grey walls of Winterfell and lock her up forever. Her life was over before it had begun. â€Å"Stop that weeping, child,† Septa Mordane said sternly. â€Å"I am certain your lord father knows what is best for you.† â€Å"It won't be so bad, Sansa,† Arya said. â€Å"We're going to sail on a galley. It will be an adventure, and then we'll be with Bran and Robb again, and Old Nan and Hodor and the rest.† She touched her on the arm. â€Å"Hodor!† Sansa yelled. â€Å"You ought to marry Hodor, you're just like him, stupid and hairy and ugly!† She wrenched away from her sister's hand, stormed into her bedchamber, and barred the door behind her.