Referral Article

In addition, when asked, current employees would eve nonchalant answers such as â€Å"l will have to think about it, I don't know. † The general structure of such a program is that there is an associated monetary bonus for the employees who refer candidates for open positions. The monetary bonus would be received after the referred employee passed a 90 day probationary window. A number of companies will actually limit the monetary bonuses received for referrals for employs too particular number per year.For the companies that do to offer a monetary bonus for employee referrals, there is an offering of products or services to be redeemed, specifically products or services that are commonly used. In regards to employee-based referrals, it seems that the process should be more streamlined and has a more concrete structure. Offering monetary bonuses doesn't seem like the best idea as it could motivate the current employees to suggest any random individual, rather that a solid qual ified one.Instead of monetary bonuses, he companies should offer training to employees. For example a rare opportunity for a class that isn't normally offered, it would encourage the employee to better themselves and the company they work for. The employee referral program is also a significant way for companies to diminish large cost ways of finding employees, such as newspaper advertisement. The word of mouth idea is at it's finest by using the current employees to recruit new ones. That is a great way to cut cost and yet get the Job done in a timely manner.

Chapter 22 The Unexpected Task

â€Å"Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?† Professor McGonagall's irritated voice cracked like a whip through the Transfiguration class on Thursday, and Harry and Ron both jumped and looked up. It was the end of the lesson; they had finished their work; the guinea fowl they had been changing into guinea pigs had been shut away in a large cage on Professor McGonagall's desk (Neville's still had feathers); they had copied down their homework from the blackboard (â€Å"Describe, with examples, the ways in which Transforming Spells must be adapted when performing Cross-Species Switches†}. The bell was due to ring at any moment, and Harry and Ron, who had been having a sword fight with a couple of Fred and George's fake wands at the back of the class, looked up, Ron holding a tin parrot and Harry, a rubber haddock. â€Å"Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age,† said Professor McGonagall, with an angry look at the pair of them as the head of Harry's haddock drooped and fell silently to the floor – Ron's parrot's beak had severed it moments before – â€Å"I have something to say to you all. â€Å"The Yule Ball is approaching – a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above – although you may invite a younger student if you wish -â€Å" Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle. Parvati Patil nudged her hard in the ribs, her face working furiously as she too fought not to giggle. They both looked around at Harry, Professor McGonagall ignored them, which Harry thought was distinctly unfair, as she had just told off him and Ron. â€Å"Dress robes will be worn,† Professor McGonagall continued, â€Å"and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then -â€Å" Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class. â€Å"The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to – er – let our hair down,† she said, in a disapproving voice. Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand pressed hard against her mouth to stifle the sound. Harry could see what was funny this time: Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she had never let her hair down in any sense. â€Å"But that does NOT mean,† Professor McGonagall went on, â€Å"that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way.† The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders. Professor McGonagall called above the noise, â€Å"Potter – a word, if you please.† Assuming this had something to do with his headless rubber haddock, Harry proceeded gloomily to the teacher's desk. Professor McGonagall waited until the rest of the class had gone, and then said, â€Å"Potter, the champions and their partners -â€Å" â€Å"What partners?† said Harry. Profesor McGonagall looked suspiciously at him, as though she thought he was trying to be funny. â€Å"Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter,† she said coldly. â€Å"Your dance partners.† Harry's insides seemed to curl up and shrivel. â€Å"Dance partners?† He felt himself going red. â€Å"I don't dance,† he said quickly. â€Å"Oh yes, you do,† said Professor McGonagall irritably. â€Å"That's what I'm telling you. Traditionally, the champions and their partners open the ball.† Harry had a sudden mental image of himself in a top hat and tails, accompanied by a girl in the sort of frilly dress Aunt Petunia always wore to Uncle Vernon's work parties. â€Å"I'm not dancing,† he said. â€Å"It is traditional,† said Professor McGonagall firmly. â€Å"You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter.† â€Å"But – I don't -â€Å" â€Å"You heard me, Potter,† said Professor McGonagall in a very final sort of way. A week ago. Harry would have said finding a partner for a dance would be a cinch compared to taking on a Hungarian Horntail. But now that he had done the latter, and was facing the prospect of asking a girl to the ball, he thought he'd rather have another round with the dragon. Harry had never known so many people to put their names down to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas; he always did, of course, because the alternative was usually going back to Privet Drive, but he had always been very much in the minority before now. This year, however, everyone in the fourth year and above seemed to be staying, and they all seemed to Harry to be obsessed with the coming ball – or at least all the girls were, and it was amazing how many girls Hogwarts suddenly seemed to hold; he had never quite noticed that before. Girls giggling and whispering in the corridors, girls shrieking with laughter as boys passed them, girls excitedly comparing notes on what they were going to wear on Christmas night†¦. â€Å"Why do they have to move in packs?† Harry asked Ron as a dozen or so girls walked past them, sniggering and staring at Harry. â€Å"How're you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?† â€Å"Lasso one?† Ron suggested. â€Å"Got any idea who you're going to try?† Harry didn't answer. He knew perfectly well whom he'd like to ask, but working up the nerve was something else†¦.Cho was a year older than he was; she was very pretty; she was a very good Quidditch player, and she was also very popular. Ron seemed to know what was going on inside Harry's head. â€Å"Listen, you're not going to have any trouble. You're a champion. You've just beaten a Hungarian Horntail. I bet they'll be queuing up to go with you.† In tribute to their recently repaired friendship, Ron had kept the bitterness in his voice to a bare minimum. Moreover, to Harry's amazement, he turned out to be quite right. A curly-haired third-year Hufflepuff girl to whom Harry had never spoken in his life asked him to go to the ball with her the very next day. Harry was so taken aback he said no before he'd even stopped to consider the matter. The girl walked off looking rather hurt, and Harry had to endure Dean's, Seamus's, and Ron's taunts about her all through History of Magic. The following day, two more girls asked him, a second year and (to his horror) a fifth year who looked as though she might knock him out if he refused. â€Å"She was quite good-looking,† said Ron fairly, after he'd stopped laughing. â€Å"She was a foot taller than me,† said Harry, still unnerved. â€Å"Imagine what I'd look like trying to dance with her.† Hermione's words about Krum kept coming back to him. â€Å"They only like him because he's famous!† Harry doubted very much if any of the girls who had asked to be his partner so far would have wanted to go to the ball with him if he hadn't been a school champion. Then he wondered if this would bother him if Cho asked him. On the whole. Harry had to admit that even with the embarrassing prospect of opening the ball before him, life had definitely improved since he had got through the first task. He wasn't attracting nearly as much unpleasantness in the corridors anymore, which he suspected had a lot to do with Cedric – he had an idea Cedric might have told the Hufflepuffs to leave Harry alone, in gratitude for Harry's tip-off about the dragons. There seemed to be fewer Support Cedric Diggory! badges around too. Draco Malfoy, of course, was still quoting Rita Skeeter's article to him at every possible opportunity, but he was getting fewer and fewer laughs out of it – and just to heighten Harry's feeling of well-being, no story about Hagrid had appeared in the Daily Prophet. â€Å"She didn' seem very int'rested in magical creatures, ter tell yeh the truth,† Hagrid said, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione asked him how his interview with Rita Skeeter had gone during the last Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the term. To their very great relief, Hagrid had given up on direct contact with the skrewts now, and they were merely sheltering behind his cabin today, sitting at a trestle table and preparing a fresh selection of food with which to tempt the skrewts. â€Å"She jus' wanted me ter talk about you, Harry,† Hagrid continued in a low voice. â€Å"Well, I told her we'd been friends since I went ter fetch yeh from the Dursleys. ‘Never had to tell him off in four years?' she said. ‘Never played you up in lessons, has he?' I told her no, an she didn' seem happy at all. Yeh'd think she wanted me to say yeh were horrible, Harry.† â€Å"‘Course she did,† said Harry, throwing lumps of dragon liver into a large metal bowl and picking up his knife to cut some more. â€Å"She can't keep writing about what a tragic little hero I am, it'll get boring.† â€Å"She wants a new angle, Hagrid,† said Ron wisely as he shelled salamander eggs. â€Å"You were supposed to say Harry's a mad delinquent!† â€Å"But he's not!† said Hagrid, looking genuinely shocked. â€Å"She should've interviewed Snape,† said Harry grimly. â€Å"He'd give her the goods on me any day. ‘Potter has been crossing lines ever since he first arrived at this school†¦.'† â€Å"Said that, did he?† said Hagrid, while Ron and Hermione laughed. â€Å"Well, yeh might've bent a few rules. Harry, bu' yeh're all righ' really, aren' you?† â€Å"Cheers, Hagrid,† said Harry, grinning. â€Å"You coming to this ball thing on Christmas Day, Hagrid?† said Ron. â€Å"Though' I might look in on it, yeah,† said Hagrid gruffly. â€Å"Should be a good do, I reckon. You'll be openin the dancin', won yeh, Harry? Who're you takin'?† â€Å"No one, yet,† said Harry, feeling himself going red again. Hagrid didn't pursue the subject. The last week of term became increasingly boisterous as it progressed. Rumors about the Yule Ball were flying everywhere, though Harry didn't believe half of them – for instance, that Dumbledore had bought eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam Rosmerta. It seemed to be fact, however, that he had booked the Weird Sisters. Exactly who or what the Weird Sisters were Harry didn't know, never having had access to a wizard's wireless, but he deduced from the wild excitement of those who had grown up listening to the WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network) that they were a very famous musical group. Some of the teachers, like little Professor Flitwick, gave up trying to teach them much when their minds were so clearly elsewhere; he allowed them to play games in his lesson on Wednesday, and spent most of it talking to Harry about the perfect Summoning Charm Harry had used during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Other teachers were not so generous. Nothing would ever deflect Professor Binns, for example, from plowing on through his notes on goblin rebellions – as Binns hadn't let his own death stand in the way of continuing to teach, they supposed a small thing like Christmas wasn't going to put him off. It was amazing how he could make even bloody and vicious goblin riots sound as boring as Percy's cauldron-bottom report. Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry. Staring nastily around at them all, he informed them that he would be testing them on poison antidotes during the last lesson of the term. â€Å"Evil, he is,† Ron said bitterly that night in the Gryffindor common room. â€Å"Springing a test on us on the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a whole load of studying.† â€Å"Mmm†¦you're not exactly straining yourself, though, are you?† said Hermione, looking at him over the top of her Potions notes. Ron was busy building a card castle out of his Exploding Snap pack – a much more interesting pastime than with Muggle cards, because of the chance that the whole thing would blow up at any second. â€Å"It's Christmas, Hermione,† said Harry lazily; he was rereading Flying with the Cannons for the tenth time in an armchair near the fire. Hermione looked severely over at him too. â€Å"I'd have thought you'd be doing something constructive, Harry, even if you don't want to learn your antidotes!† â€Å"Like what?† Harry said as he watched Joey Jenkins of the Cannons belt a Bludger toward a Ballycastle Bats Chaser. â€Å"That egg!† Hermione hissed. â€Å"Come on, Hermione, I've got till February the twenty-fourth,† Harry said. He had put the golden egg upstairs in his trunk and hadn't opened it since the celebration party after the first task. There were still two and a half months to go until he needed to know what all the screechy wailing meant, after all. â€Å"But it might take weeks to work it out!† said Hermione. â€Å"You're going to look a real idiot if everyone else knows what the next task is and you don't!† â€Å"Leave him alone, Hermione, he's earned a bit of a break,† said Ron, and he placed the last two cards on top of the castle and the whole lot blew up, singeing his eyebrows. â€Å"Nice look, Ron†¦go well with your dress robes, that will.† It was Fred and George. They sat down at the table with Harry, Ron, and Hermione as Ron felt how much damage had been done. â€Å"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?† George asked. â€Å"No, he's off delivering a letter,† said Ron. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because George wants to invite him to the ball,† said Fred sarcastically. â€Å"Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat,† said George. â€Å"Who d'you two keep writing to, eh?† said Ron. â€Å"Nose out, Ron, or I'll burn that for you too,† said Fred, waving his wand threateningly. â€Å"So†¦you lot got dates for the ball yet?† â€Å"Nope,† said Ron. â€Å"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone,† said Fred. â€Å"Who're you going with, then?† said Ron. â€Å"Angelina,† said Fred promptly, without a trace of embarrassment. â€Å"What?† said Ron, taken aback. â€Å"You've already asked her?† â€Å"Good point,† said Fred. He turned his head and called across the common room, â€Å"Oi! Angelina!† Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet near the fire, looked over at him. â€Å"What?† she called back. â€Å"Want to come to the ball with me?† Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look. â€Å"All right, then,† she said, and she turned back to Alicia and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face. â€Å"There you go,† said Fred to Harry and Ron, â€Å"piece of cake.† He got to his feet, yawning, and said, â€Å"We'd better use a school owl then, George, come on†¦.† They left. Ron stopped feeling his eyebrows and looked across the smoldering wreck of his card castle at Harry. â€Å"We should get a move on, you know†¦ask someone. He's right. We don't want to end up with a pair of trolls.† Hermione let out a sputter of indignation. â€Å"A pair of†¦what, excuse me?† â€Å"Well – you know,† said Ron, shrugging. â€Å"I'd rather go alone than with – with Eloise Midgen, say.† â€Å"Her acne's loads better lately – and she's really nice!† â€Å"Her nose is off-center,† said Ron. â€Å"Oh I see,† Hermione said, bristling. â€Å"So basically, you're going to take the best-looking girl who'll have you, even if she's completely horrible?† â€Å"Er – yeah, that sounds about right,† said Ron. â€Å"I'm going to bed,† Hermione snapped, and she swept off toward the girls' staircase without another word. The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, seemed determined to show the castle at its best this Christmas. When the decorations went up. Harry noticed that they were the most stunning he had yet seen inside the school. Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them. It was quite something to hear â€Å"O Come, All Ye Faithful† sung by an empty helmet that only knew half the words. Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract Peeves from inside the armor, where he had taken to hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of his own invention, all of which were very rude. And still. Harry hadn't asked Cho to the ball. He and Ron were getting very nervous now, though as Harry pointed out, Ron would look much less stupid than he would without a partner; Harry was supposed to be starting the dancing with the other champions. â€Å"I suppose there's always Moaning Myrtle,† he said gloomily, referring to the ghost who haunted the girls' toilets on the second floor. â€Å"Harry – we've just got to grit our teeth and do it,† said Ron on Friday morning, in a tone that suggested they were planning the storming of an impregnable fortress. â€Å"When we get back to the common room tonight, we'll both have partners – agreed?† â€Å"Er†¦okay,† said Harry. But every time he glimpsed Cho that day – during break, and then lunchtime, and once on the way to History of Magic – she was surrounded by friends. Didn't she ever go anywhere alone? Could he perhaps ambush her as she was going into a bathroom? But no – she even seemed to go there with an escort of four or five girls. Yet if he didn't do it soon, she was bound to have been asked by somebody else. He found it hard to concentrate on Snape's Potions test, and consequently forgot to add the key ingredient – a bezoar – meaning that he received bottom marks. He didn't care, though; he was too busy screwing up his courage for what he was about to do. When the bell rang, he grabbed his bag, and hurried to the dungeon door. â€Å"I'll meet you at dinner,† he said to Ron and Hermione, and he dashed off upstairs. He'd just have to ask Cho for a private word, that was all†¦.He hurried off through the packed corridors looking for her, and (rather sooner than he had expected) he found her, emerging from a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. â€Å"Er – Cho? Could I have a word with you?† Giggling should be made illegal. Harry thought furiously, as all the girls around Cho started doing it. She didn't, though. She said, â€Å"Okay,† and followed him out of earshot other classmates. Harry turned to look at her and his stomach gave a weird lurch as though he had missed a step going downstairs. â€Å"Er,† he said. He couldn't ask her. He couldn't. But he had to. Cho stood there looking puzzled, watching him. The words came out before Harry had quite got his tongue around them. â€Å"Wangoballwime?† â€Å"Sorry?† said Cho. â€Å"D'you – d'you want to go to the ball with me?† said Harry. Why did he have to go red now? Why? â€Å"Oh!† said Cho, and she went red too. â€Å"Oh Harry, I'm really sorry,† and she truly looked it. â€Å"I've already said I'll go with someone else.† â€Å"Oh,† said Harry. It was odd; a moment before his insides had been writhing like snakes, but suddenly he didn't seem to have any insides at all. â€Å"Oh okay,† he said, â€Å"no problem.† â€Å"I'm really sorry,† she said again. â€Å"That's okay,† said Harry. They stood there looking at each other, and then Cho said, â€Å"Well -â€Å" â€Å"Yeah,† said Harry. â€Å"Well, ‘bye,† said Cho, still very red. She walked away. Harry called after her, before he could stop himself. â€Å"Who're you going with?† â€Å"Oh – Cedric,† she said. â€Å"Cedric Diggory.† â€Å"Oh right,† said Harry. His insides had come back again. It felt as though they had been filled with lead in their absence. Completely forgetting about dinner, he walked slowly back up to Gryffindor Tower, Cho's voice echoing in his ears with every step he took. â€Å"Cedric – Cedric Diggory.† He had been starting to quite like Cedric – prepared to overlook the fact that he had once beaten him at Quidditch, and was handsome, and popular, and nearly everyone's favorite champion. Now he suddenly realized that Cedric was in fact a useless pretty boy who didn't have enough brains to fill an eggcup. â€Å"Fairy lights,† he said dully to the Fat Lady – the password had been changed the previous day. â€Å"Yes, indeed, dear!† she trilled, straightening her new tinsel hair band as she swung forward to admit him. Entering the common room, Harry looked around, and to his surprise he saw Ron sitting ashen-faced in a distant corner. Ginny was sitting with him, talking to him in what seemed to be a low, soothing voice. â€Å"What's up, Ron?† said Harry, joining them. Ron looked up at Harry, a sort of blind horror in his face. â€Å"Why did I do it?† he said wildly. â€Å"I don't know what made me do it! â€Å"What?† said Harry. â€Å"He – er – just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him,† said Ginny. She looked as though she was fighting back a smile, but she kept patting Ron's arm sympathetically. â€Å"You what?' said Harry. â€Å"I don't know what made me do it!† Ron gasped again. â€Å"What was I playing at? There were people – all around – I've gone mad – everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the entrance hall – she was standing there talking to Diggory – and it sort of came over me – and I asked her!† Ron moaned and put his face in his hands. He kept talking, though the words were barely distinguishable. â€Å"She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then – I dunno – I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it.† â€Å"She's part veela,† said Harry. â€Å"You were right – her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault, I bet you just walked past when she was turning on the old charm for Diggory and got a blast of it – but she was wasting her time. He's going with Cho Chang.† Ron looked up. â€Å"I asked her to go with me just now,† Harry said dully, â€Å"and she told me.† Ginny had suddenly stopped smiling. â€Å"This is mad,† said Ron. â€Å"We're the only ones left who haven't got anyone – well, except Neville. Hey – guess who he asked? Hermione!† â€Å"What?† said Harry, completely distracted by this startling news. â€Å"Yeah, I know!† said Ron, some of the color coming back into his face as he started to laugh. â€Å"He told me after Potions! Said she's always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff- but she told him she was already going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn't want to go with Neville†¦I mean, who would?† â€Å"Don't!† said Ginny, annoyed. â€Å"Don't laugh -â€Å" Just then Hermione climbed in through the portrait hole. â€Å"Why weren't you two at dinner?† she said, coming over to join them. â€Å"Because – oh shut up laughing, you two – because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball!† said Ginny. That shut Harry and Ron up. â€Å"Thanks a bunch, Ginny,† said Ron sourly. â€Å"All the good-looking ones taken, Ron?† said Hermione loftily. â€Å"Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now, is she? Well, I'm sure you'll find someone somewhere who'll have you.† But Ron was staring at Hermione as though suddenly seeing her in a whole new light. â€Å"Hermione, Neville's right – you are a girl†¦.† â€Å"Oh well spotted,† she said acidly. â€Å"Well – you can come with one of us!† â€Å"No, I can't,† snapped Hermione. â€Å"Oh come on,† he said impatiently, â€Å"we need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I can't come with you,† said Hermione, now blushing, â€Å"because I'm already going with someone.† â€Å"No, you're not!† said Ron. â€Å"You just said that to get rid of Neville!† â€Å"Oh did I?† said Hermione, and her eyes flashed dangerously. â€Å"Just because it's taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else has spotted I'm a girl!† Ron stared at her. Then he grinned again. â€Å"Okay, okay, we know you're a girl,† he said. â€Å"That do? Will you come now?† â€Å"I've already told you!† Hermione said very angrily. â€Å"I'm going with someone else!† And she stormed off toward the girls' dormitories again. â€Å"She's lying,† said Ron flatly, watching her go. â€Å"She's not,† said Ginny quietly. â€Å"Who is it then?† said Ron sharply. â€Å"I'm not telling you, it's her business,† said Ginny. â€Å"Right,† said Ron, who looked extremely put out, â€Å"this is getting stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and I'll just -â€Å" â€Å"I can't,† said Ginny, and she went scarlet too. â€Å"I'm going with – with Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought†¦well†¦I'm not going to be able to go otherwise, I'm not in fourth year.† She looked extremely miserable. â€Å"I think I'll go and have dinner,† she said, and she got up and walked off to the portrait hole, her head bowed. Ron goggled at Harry. â€Å"What's got into them?† he demanded. But Harry had just seen Parvati and Lavender come in through the portrait hole. The time had come for drastic action. â€Å"Wait here,† he said to Ron, and he stood up, walked straight up to Parvati, and said, â€Å"Parvati? Will you go to the ball with me?† Parvati went into a fit of giggles. Harry waited for them to subside, his fingers crossed in the pocket of his robes. â€Å"Yes, all right then,† she said finally, blushing furiously. â€Å"Thanks,† said Harry, in relief. â€Å"Lavender – will you go with Ron?† â€Å"She's going with Seamus,† said Parvati, and the pair of them giggled harder than ever. Harry sighed. â€Å"Can't you think of anyone who'd go with Ron?† he said, lowering his voice so that Ron wouldn't hear. â€Å"What about Hermione Granger?† said Parvati. â€Å"She's going with someone else.† Parvati looked astonished. â€Å"Ooooh – who?† she said keenly. Harry shrugged. â€Å"No idea,† he said. â€Å"So what about Ron?† â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Parvati slowly, â€Å"I suppose my sister might†¦Padma, you know†¦in Ravenclaw. I'll ask her if you like.† â€Å"Yeah, that would be great,† said Harry. â€Å"Let me know, will you?† And he went back over to Ron, feeling that this ball was a lot more trouble than it was worth, and hoping very much that Padma Patil's nose was dead center.

Read 4 chapter of book and answer 4 question Essay

Read 4 chapter of book and answer 4 question - Essay Example There exist two schools of thought on the effectiveness of information technology in communication, with one school arguing that information technology has enhanced organizational communication while the second group arguing in opposition to that stand. In this section, an argumentative analysis of the two sides of arguments will be provided to ascertain the benefits and demerits of information technology in communication. The growth and advancement in information technology has provided a better medium for communication to most organizations as it allows access to a vast information which can be effectively passed on to end receivers. Organizations today use the internet and emails as the effective means of communication with other employees as it allows the transfer of mass information at a click. Emails have today replaced the tradition postal services, printed internal, memos, fax communication and the use of messengers. However, the opponents of increased use of information tech nology in communications in organizations argue that the information that can be transferred with this medium is highly unlimited making it possible to send a lot within a short time. This, according to their arguments, results into situations where the employees use a lot of their working hours reading the information sent in their mails. This has the potential of significantly reducing the productivity of the organization as office and working hours are spent reading mails and virtual internal memos (George and Jones, 2012). The proponents of the continued use of information technology to enhance organizational communication points to increased efficiency with which communication process in organizations have been enhanced. Before the growth and advancement in information technology, organizations would be forced to make large volume printouts of their training manuals, documentation, brochures, legal requirements and any other document that should be used by the employees. This i ncreased the cost of operation for such organizations, as communication was manual and time consuming. The advance of information technology as a means of communication has enabled organizations to post important documents in their websites from where the employees can access from their different workstations. The audited financial reports of the company are also made available for the different stakeholders to access from the comfort of their offices and homes by simply accessing the company’s website. This advancement has thus led to abolition of annual posting of dividend reports to organizational shareholders as they can be emailed the documents at a much cheaper cost (George and Jones, 2012). With advances in communication, organizations have been enabled to create login portals for their employees and suppliers. This has enabled the management of these organizations and their employees to interact on a more personalized but virtual level that enhances productivity withi n the organization. Different employees are therefore assigned different roles virtually which are then posted to their portals and communication effected through a similar system. This application is common in banks and companies that have installed intranet services within their systems. The intranets also allow organizations to store

Business report on A service experience for local consumers Essay

Business report on A service experience for local consumers - Essay Example The analysis revealed that there are some problems with customer service, product fit, promotional efforts, parking, employee involvement, and parking of Starbucks. Surprisingly, the packaging is the only aspect where there are no objections at all. The recommendations proposed in this report include first, offering discounts, coupons, free benefits, rebates, premiums, lotteries. Second, increase the volume of promotional activities. Third, train and manage employees in such a way that they could associate themselves with the company. Fourth, at off peak one employee must greet the customers at the door and the other must help customers with their parking problems. Table of Contents Introduction 4 Discussion 5 Target Market of Starbucks 5 Pricing 6 Promotion 7 People 8 Product 9 Process 10 Physical Evidence and Place 11 Recommendations 12 Conclusion 12 References 14 Appendices 15 Appendix # 1 – Questionnaire 15 Appendix # 2 – Respondent # 1 18 Appendix # 3 – Resp ondent # 2 19 Appendix # 4 – Respondent # 3 20 Appendix # 5 – Respondent # 4 21 Introduction It was in March 1971 in Seattle, when three people Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker decided to open their coffee shop with the name of Starbucks (Bussing-Burks, pp. 26-34, 2009). The name came from their favorite novel Moby-dick but at that time they did not realized that this name would remain restricted to Seattle, but it is going to rule the hearts and minds of millions of people all around the world (Pride & Ferrell, pp. 36-38, 2007). With 2010 revenue of more than 10.71 billion US dollars, Starbucks is the biggest coffee house on the planet earth. With its 16,858 stores in more than 50 countries, Starbucks is one the corporations that have been able to survive when its fellow brands were failing due to revelations of corporate scandals, manipulations, socially irresponsible behaviour but despite going through all this, it was able to make it through to what it i s today (Armstrong et al., pp. 312-317, 2009). Currently, Starbucks is operating almost 23 stores in various parts of Australia. This report is an attempt to explore, investigate, and critically examine the service experience of the Starbucks shop at 201 Elizabeth St, Sydney, New South Wales. The report would first start by drawing lines to highlight the target market of Starbucks in Australia. The report has collected its data from four different people that fit in the picture of Starbucks’s target market and have who have recently been to Starbucks. The data collection method was primarily through an interview questionnaire, which is a part of this report under the heading of Appendix # 1. Furthermore, the responses of these people, in form of the brief bullet points and notes are also there in the appendix section. This report would be profound importance of to the Starbucks executives of Australia. For the past few years, Starbucks has been struggling in Australia to prod uce the same results that it has been showing in rest of the world. It was in the year 2000, when Starbucks entered the Australian market with hopes that it would capture the market and become the market leader as it is in the US and many other parts of the world. Important here to note is that this was the time when Starbucks was touching its peak. â€Å"Open a store a day and beat the competitors away† was the policy of the company (Michelli, pp. 255-256, 2007). However, Starbucks soon realized that this model is not producing the intended results and in mid 2008,

Forensics with UNIX. Prepaid Cell Phones Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Forensics with UNIX. Prepaid Cell Phones - Essay Example One of the most common differences between the UNIX system and Microsoft Windows is the security characteristics in the system design. In most cases, organizations can be drawn into computer investigations even without their will. However, most digital investigations that involve the computer are not successful because of the mistakes that are made in an early stage. One of the most common predicaments is the destruction, compromising and ignoring of digital evidence. This can create a serious crisis within the victim organization (Perrin 2010). Therefore, this crisis is supposed to be managed appropriately in order to ensure a successful digital investigation. The executive individuals in a corporation are supposed to have the capability of devising a corporate plan in the organization. This corporate plan should cover various risks including management structures, resourcing, core procedures, risk analysis and management aims. According to this information, UNIX is a user-friendly system in digital investigation as compared to Microsoft Windows (Sommer 2012). The main difference in the design and the security level of Microsoft Windows and UNIX illustrates one of the crucial and distinct. As stated above, this difference is based on the philosophy of the security level in the design of the operating systems. ... Lastly, the evidence must also satisfy the conditions that are set up by the legal tests of acceptability performed on the systems. UNIX has become one of the well known system targets that have attracted digital investigation. References Perrin, C 2010, UNIX vs. Microsoft Windows: How system designs reflect security philosophy, viewed 4 Oct 2012, http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/security/unix-vs-microsoft-windows-how-system-designs-reflect-security-philosophy/4627 Sommer, P 2012, Digital evidence, digital investigations and E-disclosure: A guide to forensic readiness for organizations, security advisers and lawyers, viewed 4 Oct 2012, http://www.iaac.org.uk/_media/DigitalInvestigations2012.pdf Week 5 DQ2: prepaid cell phones Recent research proves that the cellular phones have become exceedingly valuable for the human beings. This device can be used by all age groups to assist them with their life styles. The mobile phones have also topped the chart in social interaction. A prepaid cell phone is defined as a mobile phone which uses credit that has already been purchased in advance for the use of the mobile services (Virgin Mobile 2012). In this case, the purchased credit caters for all the mobile phone services that are accessed by the handler of the phone. The users usually top up their credit through several techniques depending of the payment mechanisms. In the contemporary world, the prepaid cell phones are slowly evolving to a social event. This is because the device can be used for several purposes (Barit 2012). It is quite clear that the prepaid phones have a lower cost since; it is easier to control spending. However, the prepaid customers sometimes pay more for the mobile services depending on what they do with their phones.

Primary Source Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Primary Source Analysis - Essay Example It is further claimed that their pride and the number is responsible for their party disputes. These conflicts, however, were beneficial because they led to the introduction of schools and formation of laws. That is actually why Bridge Town, the Capital of Barbados, became a Seminary of Jews. This essay seeks to analyze Document 1 Chapter 6, showing how the Jews historical injustices have affected they way they are treated by other communities many years after. The petitioners presented their plea to the Majesty, claiming that their misfortunes and collapse of trade in the island should be addressed, though their argument seems farfetched; it is hard to believe that all their trouble is caused by the Jews. Although the Jews have a long history including the common Oath taken on the five books of Moses, there seems to be injustices resulting from this history especially when their traditional Oaths are used in courts as evidence. In other words, the Oaths that were taken in those days are long gone and should not be considered in courts. Essentially, it is foolhardy to factor in the history of Jews when deciding their cases in courts. In conclusion, some of the issues raised by the petitioners, especially incriminating the Jews based on their history have some basis and should be addressed.1 Account of the Destruction of the Speightstown Synagogue in Barbados, 1739 This letter was written by Barbadian planters to the Governor Burnet on August 1, 1793. The letter is a funny recount of a hideous man by the name of Burnet, who claimed to be the son of the late Governor Burnet. This part analyzes Document 2, showing how the Jews are treated with contempt because of their unbecoming behavior. This man complained of head ache when he was attending a young Jews wedding. Thereafter, Lopus welcomed him in his house for first aid, an offer he accepted. However, Lopus turned up with his men and manhandled him and charged him with robbery. This incident puzzled the so calle d Burnet so much. The situation worsened when a mob from Speightstown turned up against him in an uproar, suing and forcing him to pay several counts of damages. Consequently, the Leeward people were extremely pissed off that they decided to drive the Jews out of the town and destroyed their Synagogue. In a rejoinder, the Jews congregated at the Bridgetowm and resolved to use their wealth to protect their men in the Island. It seems true that the young man, who was punished, was an imposter. However, the magnitude of this punishment revealed some deep-rooted rivalry between the resident of this Island and the Jews. There seems to be an entrenched hatred for the Jews, which originated from historical injustices, which allowed them to accumulate a lot of wealth. The mob took advantage of this incident to vent their anger against the Jews. In an attempt to resolve the matter, the court decided to swear the Jews by their long Oath. However, I find this swearing unfounded and unnecessary because it may not force the Jews to reveal the wrong that they have committed. The swearing has the words ‘I swear to speak the whole truth’ is meaningless as the Jews will not be cowed down by these words. If they have resolved to fight for their justice, they will still ignore those swearing and hence; they will not reveal any information that will make them lose in the case.2 III. The â€Å"Confession Made by Cyrus†

Dissertation Introduction - Taobao vs eBay Essay

Dissertation Introduction - Taobao vs eBay - Essay Example In terms of outline, this chapter will then offer a Background and rationale for the study, which is based upon existing work in the area. Several studies have recently been made of the eBay and Taobao phenomena, and the results documented. These will be used as a springboard towards the contribution of this study. The Aims and Objectives section of the chapter will offer the overall objective of the study. The aim is to scrutinize the current situation of eBay in China, and how a comparison with the more successful Taobao can be used in order to improve its situation. This section will also clarify the concepts of e-Commerce and C2C e-Commerce. The e-Commerce business model that eBay is currently using in China will also be evaluated. A comparative analysis will be performed of eBay and Taobao. Initial recommendations will be formulated in order to optimize eBay’s Chinese market presence, while the objectives identified will be related to the achievement of the overall aim. T he methodological framework will be explained, while the chapter concludes with a brief outline of the dissertation structure. Despite a promising beginning, eBay has been experiencing a recent drop in growth in its Chinese market. Its main competitor in this market is the local company, Taobao. This study is then conducted in order to identify possible ways in which eBay can remedy its market position in China. Several important studies have been conducted to compare Taobao with companies such as eBay in order to identify the success factors of the former. One such study has been conducted by Chen et al. (2007). According to the outcome of this investigation, three main factors have differentiated Taobao from its American counterpart, and been responsible for the success of the former. The first factor is that China’s C2C (consumer to consumer) market is young and experience-seeking. The customers are price sensitive, in concomitance

Measuring Economic Health Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Measuring Economic Health Memo - Essay Example Similarly, availability of credit, money, and business investment also play a vital role in turning the business cycle. The difference between actual GDP and potential GDP constitutes GDP gap. If the GDP gap is a positive number, it is known as inflationary gap and is stated as the direct indication of inflation. In contrast, during the times of deflation, the GDP gap shows a negative number and it is called recessionary gap. In the other phases of business cycle, the output gap differs accordingly. In order to stabilize a country’s economy, different governmental agencies always deal with national fiscal policies. A national fiscal policy refers to the way in which a government plans its expenditure and taxation so as to influence the economy. For this purpose, as Ambekar (n.d.) points out, the regulators (governmental agencies) mainly deal with tax, interest rates, and government spending since these factors have a direct impact on nation’s economy. The Federal Reserv e is the main regulator of United States, which largely focuses on the supply of money as it a fruitful method to keep the inflation down. The concerned government agencies will be always in touch with country’s economic trends.

Accounting for Managerial Decision Making Research Paper

Accounting for Managerial Decision Making - Research Paper Example Traditionally, there are two things which are calculated while performing the cost volume profit analysis. These are calculating the contribution margin and contribution margin ratio. (Navaro, 2005) Contribution Margin = Sales – Variable costs Contribution Margin Ratio = Contribution / Sales The above calculations therefore focus on the overall fixed and variable costs of the firm while at the same time providing insight into how the costs vary with the output. However, when this technique was developed, firms were more labor intensive and had different manufacturing costs break up. The new firms have more constant costs which normally do not wary because most of the modern organizations are now capital intensive organizations with fixed labor costs. For example, a supervisor may be paid the same wages regardless of the fact that whether the machine works at its full capacity or not. As such many argue that the maximization of the contribution margin may no longer be relevant for the modern organizations. (Luther, and O’Donovan., 1998)... Further, since the capital intensive firms have higher fixed cost ratio in their total cost structure therefore capital intensive firms may not be able to clearly identity their breakeven point based on the CVP analysis as this may be misleading. In a capital intensive firm, more costs goes to the management and operations of the capital intensive equipment with little costs going towards the labor and other overheads. The excessive contribution by the manufacturing overheads therefore makes it irrelevant for the capital intensive firms to actually use the CVP analysis. 2) The traditional theory on corporate finance and accounting suggests that the major task of the managers is to ensure that their actions result into the generation of value for the shareholders. Thus the common objective of the firm or the business has been focused upon the profit maximization and the maximization of the shareholders’ value. Any business activity which does not result into the above two there fore may not be considered as the real objectives of the firm. The traditional accounting therefore seems to portray only the above basic aims of the firm i.e. capturing how value and profitability can be maximized and based on these principles different accounting estimates and procedures are made. The latest trends however suggest that the firm’s only objective cannot be limited to just the maximization of the profits or the shareholders’ value. Now firms also being viewed as larger part of the society with different other objectives too including sustainability of the environment as well as corporate social responsibility.( Islam, and Dellaportas,

Australia Country Risks Essay Example for Free

Australia Country Risks Essay The overall performance of Australia in world economic outlook is generally one of the most stable. Because of the well planned course of running the economy, the Australian government has been maintaining a good level of growth among the Asia Pacific countries. However, it is also important to see some of the risks involved if one wishes to invest in the Australian market. The first aspect in strategic planning is to identify the political risks. Apparently, the political risks in the country can only be identified in terms of effectiveness. The implementation of different laws is at least better in Australia than any of its neighbors. In a general scale, it is one of the most stable political units in the world. Although some corruption incidences have been reported previously, there is still a very good control of the government to combat such problems (McKeever). The legal risks involved in Australia are also very minimal. Since the Australian laws are basically made of Federal Parliament directives, there are very little chances of having a biased law towards a particular party. The laws are ratified by the three system political approval such as the executive, legislative and judicial segments. Basically, Australian Laws are for the common man which reduces the possibility of having extreme unwarranted consequences of biased judgments. Lastly, it is also important to note he regulatory risks in a particular country. In Australia, this risk is also very minimal because of the previous financial deregulation processes ratified in 1983 by making the Australian dollar float in the international foreign market (Wikipedia, 2007). This served as the primary attractive factor for most investors who wish to get a deregulated instrument for investment. References McKeever. N. D. The McKEEVER Institute of Economic Policy Analysis. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from http://www. mkeever. com/australia. html. Wikipedia. 2007. Economy of Australia. Wikipedia-The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Economy_of_Australia.

The Use And Abuse Of Technology Media Essay

The Use And Abuse Of Technology Media Essay Technology can be defined as science applied to practical purposes. It is more than hardware and silicon chips. In propelling change and altering our belief systems and culture, technology has joined religion, tradition, and family in the scope of its influence. Its enhancements of human muscle and human mind are self-evident. But technology is also a social amplifier. It stretches the range, volume, and speed of communications. It inflates appetites for consumer goods and creature comforts. It tends to concentrate wealth and power, and to increase the disparity of rich and poor. In the competition for scarce resources, it breeds conflicts. In social-psychological terms, it alters our perceptions of space. Events anywhere on the globe now have immediate repercussions everywhere, with a portfolio of tragedies that ignite feelings of helplessness. Technology has also skewed our perception of time, nourishing a desire for speed and instant gratification and ignoring long-term impacts. Nowadays, when the rapidness of development and research is so impressive, it is easy to think about the advantages of modern technology. Nevertheless some people argue that science can destroy mankind. Im quite agreeing with them, and I believe that modern technology is destroying the values of our Islamic society somehow. Computers, Cellophanes and the World Wide Web are examples of the modern technology; which are used widely nowadays, and they affect our moralities and manners badly, not because they are useless, but because we used to get the negative aspects out of every thing around us. Therefore, the most frequently asked question is: Does technology go the right way and will it save or ruin our Islamic civilization? In this project I wish to set out some of the benefits, the drawbacks and an Islamic view of one of those modern technologies which called The Internet, the influence of it on the Islamic world and the internet from an Islamic respective. As starting point for the Muslims contribution in dialogue with other sectors of society, especially other religious groups, concerning the development and use of this amazing technological mechanism. The Internet is being put to many good uses now, with the promise of many more, but much harm also can be done by its improper use. Which it will be, good or harm, is largely a matter of choice-a choice to whose making the Muslim society brings two elements of great importance: its commitment to the dignity of the human person and its long tradition of moral wisdom. WHAT IS THE INTERNET? Ten years ago, the Internet was practically unheard of by most people. Today, the Internet is one of the most powerful tools throughout the world. The Internet is a collection of various services and resources. The Internet or the World Wide Web is indeed a wonderful and amazing addition in our lives. The Internet can be known as a kind of global meeting place where people from all parts of the world can come together. It is a service available on the computer, through which everything under the sun is now at the fingertips of anyone who has access to the Internet. A human brain to our eyes appears approximately six inches in size only but inside this little bowl hidden an ocean of ideas and thoughts. Internet is not that little word as is generally understood but actually it is the name of whole computer worlds universe which is carrying with it sea of knowledge and information that deals with each and every topic that exists on the face of the earth. Today Internet is providing eve ryone peculiar knowledge and information that one needs. There is no department left about which information are not available on the Internet. In Tokyo, the city of Japan, an exhibition of Information Technology was held in which it was announced that any one who would tell a department name about which no information are given on the Internet would be awarded a prize of one million $ US. However, no one could win the prize at the end of the exhibition. Thus nobody could point out the topic. The internet has allowed our world to become a globally connected network that advances knowledge everyday. A few years ago the internet was changed forever with the creation of Napster. Napster was the first program that allowed internet users to download music and files with a click of the mouse. However, Napster was a company that was said to be profiting from the website, so musicians took a stand and shut Napster down. By that time millions of people had already become used to the idea of free downloads and wanted more. THE INTERNET AND SOCIAL CONNECTION: The last few years in the society have seen incredible changes technologically and culturally. Life has become increasingly easier as machines designed to improve living standards proliferated. Communications and travel capabilities have advanced dramatically, with long distance phone calls soon to be a thing of the past. Computers have brought so much information home that many students do all their research from the comfort of their desktop. Socially the changes have been just as great, though perhaps not always for the better. Children have massacred one another on school grounds. The income inequality gap has steadily risen. Overall, people are feeling less connected to one another than ever before. Many sociologists subscribe to the belief that the internet, in-home computer usage and widespread availability of virtual access, are transforming modern social and economic life. Problematic to these issues, however, is whether the changes have been beneficial or detrimental. The paper shows that some argue that the internet is causing social isolation and forcing a break from genuine social relationships, while others argue that the internet leads better social relationships by freeing people from mundane restraints of geography, isolationism or factors outside normal controls (e.g., illness, schedules). This group argues that the internet allows people to become socially involved on the basis of common interest rather than the vicariousness of convenience. If people were to use the Internet primarily for entertainment and information, the Internets social effects might resemble those of television. However, research has shown that interpersonal communication is the dominant use of the Internet at home. That people use the Internet mainly for interpersonal communication, however, does not imply that their social interactions and relationships on the Internet are the same as their traditional social interactions and relationships, or that their social uses of the Internet will have effects comparable to traditional social means of communication ADVANTAGES OF THE INTERNET: In fact, the advantages are out weigh the disadvantages. The most common thing the Internet is used for is research. Children and students are among the top people who use the Internet for research. Today, it is almost required that students use the Internet for research. Thirty percent of teachers give assignments requiring research from the Internet. In the classroom, sixty-six percent of teachers use the Internet to teach. The Internet has become one of the biggest sources for research. Almost everyday, research on medical issues becomes easier to locate. Web sites have become available for people to research diseases and talk to doctors online at sites. Another popular thing to do on the Internet is to check out the news. Almost all local news can be obtained through the Internet. Using the Internet to get the weather allows people to view weather all over the world. Live radar all over the country and local forecasts are just to name a few of the things that may be obtained for weather information on the Internet. Shopping online has also become a huge success and is considered a great advantage of the Internet. No matter what people are shopping for, it can be found on the Internet. People do not even have to leave their homes. A few companies have collected millions of dollars using the Internet for selling. Clothing is probably one of the most bought items online. Almost every major clothing store has its on Web site. Just one click of the mouse on the items they want to purchase and the items are delivered to their front door. DISADVANTAGES OF THE INTERNET: Despite all of these advantages of the Internet, there are numerous disadvantages. Many fear the Internet because of its disadvantages. They claim to not use the Internet because they are afraid of the possible consequences or are simply not interested. People who have yet connected to the Internet claim they are not missing anything. Today technological society must realize, it is up to them to protect themselves on the Internet Children using the Internet have become a big concern. When children are online, they can easily be lured into something dangerous. When children talk to others online, they do not realize they could actually be talking to a harmful person. There are a number of tools available today that may help keep the Internet environment safer for children. Some companies, such as America Online, try to monitor everything that is said and done on their online service; however, because thousands of chat rooms are available, it is simply impossible for everything to be monitored. In other words, children want to explore things; however, there are people on the Internet that are just too believable. Most parents do not realize the dangers involved when their children log onto the Internet. Prophet Mohammad SAW Said: كلكÙ†¦ Ø ±ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ Ùˆ كلكÙ†¦ Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ Ø ¹Ãƒâ „¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ø ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡) (, thus parents should be aware of what their children are doing or seeing .. It is the duty of parents to raise their children upon the teachings of Islam by using all possible good means. In fact, the Internet can help parents in this regard if it is used correctly. However, parents should guide their children to the ways of using it in a positive way and protect them against misusing this service. The prominent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Muhammad Iqbal Nadvi, Imam of Calgary Mosque, Alberta, Canada, and Former Professor at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, States: There are many ways of protecting both children and ourselves from the haram (unlawful) as follows: 1. By creating a barrier between us and sins. 2.By providing alternatives to take us away from the haram. Parents need to establish firm and healthy channels of communication with their children and explain to them the Islamic position concerning these issues and how to deal with them. The best way to achieve this is to be a good role model for their children, for if they see their parents as a good example, they will learn the good from them as well. Parents are supposed to introduce alternatives to them. There are many good Islamic websites that they can visit and learn from. They can be given tasks to do on each website, and then can receive prizes for that. Most importantly we must teach our kids how to choose the right friends, who are aware of Islamic teachings and can protect them from learning about haram.. One of the Islamic rules is the consideration of the other rights. The accessibility and freedom of copyrighting is also one of the disadvantages of the Internet. E.g. Musicians are one of those who are worried because of that. They are upset because the Internet provides their music online at no charge to customers. File-sharing services, such as Napster, provide copyrighted songs to all Internet users. The main concern is the music is free! Musicians feel they are not getting paid for their work. Because of Napster, it is almost impossible to close down all file-sharing services; there are too many of them to count. Legal cases have developed across the country with copyright owners declaring that their music is being plagiarized by people on the Internet. Another major disadvantage of the Internet is privacy. Electronic messages sent over the Internet can be easily snooped and tracked, revealing who is talking to whom and what they are talking about. People should become aware that the collection, selling, or sharing of the information they provide online increases the chances that their information will fall into the wrong hands. Consequently, they will become a victim of identity theft, one of the worst privacy violations with potentially devastating financial consequences. When giving personal information on the Internet, people should make sure the Web site is protected with a recognizable security symbol. On the other hand, this does not mean they are fully protected because anyone may obtain user information. Today, not only are humans getting viruses, but computers are also. Computers are mainly getting these viruses from the Internet; yet, viruses may also be transmitted through floppy disks. However, people should mainly be concerned about receiving viruses from the Internet. Some of these dangerous viruses destroy the computer entire hard drive, meaning that the user can no longer access the computer. Virus protection is highly recommended. THE INFLUENCE OF THE INTERNET ON THE ISALMIC WORLD: Although there has been a tremendous amount of discussion in the popular press about how the Internet is changing all facets of Islamic social life, research on the impact of the Internet is only beginning to emerge. A review of the studies reported in this issue suggests that the Internet may have had less impact on many aspects of social life than is frequently supposed. In many cases, the Internet seems to have created a new way of doing old things, rather than being a technology that changes the manner in which people live their lives. As a consequence, the policy implications of increasing Internet use may be less than is often believed. PRIOR STUDY: (The Internet and Youth Subculture in Kuwait) Abstract Young people in Kuwait constitute both the highest concentration of Internet users (estimated to be approximately 63% of all Internet users in Kuwait) and the largest sector of Kuwaiti society. Moreover, as argued in this article, young peoples Internet practices are likely to stimulate the most significant changes in Kuwaiti society. This article scrutinizes a handful of descriptions by young Kuwaiti of the importance and implication of the Internet in their lives. Survey Research on Kuwaiti Youths and the Internet, 1996-2001: This was the first professional conference to consider the development and impact of the Internet in Kuwait, and the Islamic World in general, ever held in the Gulf. The papers presented that independently came to the same conclusions: 1- Kuwaiti youths seem to be the most deeply effected by the transformations in communicative practices enabled by the Internet. They focused on the ways in which the Internet was detrimental to face-to-face social ties between peers and among family members. They argued that customarily, young (and old) Kuwaiti men had gathered in the late afternoon and evenings to drink tea and eat sweets together. Women had done the same. With the introduction of the Internet, young people argue that they find it more enjoyable to surf the net in the evenings instead of participating in traditional social rituals. A recent regional survey found that 55% of Internet use takes place between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m., the hours when tea and home visits, or visits to the diwaniyya (male social clubs) are most likely to occur(  [1]  ). 2- young people are unlikely to use the Internet along with other family members (just over 10% did), which means that family ties are potentially jeopardized by Internet use. Instead, youths share their ideas and positive energies in cyberspace with people they dont know personally. While such interactions foster a positive sense of being one with the world. Only 7.8% of the students surveyed by Mazeedi and Ismail were taught to use the Internet by a family member. Thus the authors conclude that families dont set the rules of standards on how to use the Internet ethically and academically. Moreover, since students often use the Internet to meet with the opposite sex (more than 30% admitted to this as a regular practice) Islamic sanctions against interactions with the opposite sex outside of relatives and marriage are transgressed(  [2]  ). 3- Throughout my fieldwork, I met people who had fallen in love, or attempted to, via the Internet. One person I interviewed explained that her brother and sister-in-law had fallen in love via the computer. They met in a chatroom. Over time they developed a regular cyber-relationship. One day, several months into the relationship, they decided to meet in person. When they went to pay for their Internet subscriptions at the Ministry of Communication building, they decided to wait for each other near the entrance. It was love at first sight and they decided ultimately to marry. There were some problems, however, because he was Shii and she was Sunni, and her parents refused to bless the engagement. Ultimately love won out, and their wedding cake was shaped like a computer, a symbol of the amazing tool that brought them together, enabling the transgression of sectarian lines which divide Kuwaitis and interrupting the ritual of arranged or semi-arranged marriages(  [3]  ). 4- 73.4% of students who use the Internet felt that it was being used in socially abusive and ethically unreliable ways. Similarly, 61.1% of those surveyed felt that the morals and behavior of the students have been affected negatively by the Internet(  [4]  ). 5- Students continue to misuse the Internet. Many of them sneak into Internet cafes to freely browse through sites linked with immoral activities without check(  [5]  ). 6- Cyber-relations could in fact help young men and women in Kuwait to understand the other gender in a way that might improve communication between the sexes in marriage and the family. Moreover, the Internet might give young people more sovereignty over the choice of a spouse. Often family members choose a spouse for their child based upon standards related to what might improve or protect the social status of the family as a whole(  [6]  ). 7- While some Kuwaiti students are critical of the ways in which the Internet enables them to violate the norms they are raised to hold, others are taking full advantage of the Internet as a vehicle for challenging Kuwaiti societys increasingly conservative view of proper public interaction between the sexes. Students increasingly find cyberspace an attractive place in which to experiment with unfamiliar or endangered forms of social interaction. To a degree, students cyber-relations reveal that the Internet supports decentralization, individual empowerment, resilience and self-sufficiency. practices which coincide with the design principles of the technology. The fact that many Kuwaiti youths remain critical of such practices illustrates how Muslim values help to filter and buffer the meanings and implications of such experiences. Local cultural and social frameworks both shape what is revolutionary about the use of a new tool, and in addition, influence the pace of change(  [7]  ). A research project about the effects of the Internet on the social Arab world (  [8]  ): Dr. Albrecht Hofheinz(  [9]  ) put the cyber world into the context of social behavior in order to identify more clearly whether any possible effects of virtual changes are becoming apparent in the real world. As for if people are dealing with religious and political questions, and how do transnational and local publics connect and interact with one another? He commented: In the 1990s, Internet enthusiasts had a vision: all you need is a modem, a PC, and an Internet connection to have the world at your fingertips. This gave rise to the hypothesis that the entire structure of the way in which public opinions are formed would be transformed by significantly facilitating access to publication opportunities for a large number of people. It was felt that public debates would spread around the world, thereby bringing about a radical change in the formation of opinions in Arab-Islamic countries. The theory was that the emancipator effect of this development would be twofold: larger sections of society would become more involved in the formation of opinions and this, in turn, would result in greater participation in decision-making processes. In other words, the Internet would spread democracy. The aim of his research project was to test the theory that more people would get involved in the opinion formation process and would have more to contribute to this process as a result of the Internet. Implicitly, this would pose a threat to the hegemony of traditional hierarchies and authorities in terms of shaping opinions: The theory was that it would soon become second nature to Internet users to form their own opinions and not simply to refer to a single authoritative source and blindly follow the opinions presented there. The fact that users would themselves be able to comment on material published by others and discuss solutions in a non-hierarchical manner would result in the development of a social dynamism that would inherently help accelerate the democratization of decision-making processes. That was the theory on which this research project was based. About the developed of the use of the Internet in Arab countries he claimed: We cant generalize. The state reaction to the Internet phenomenon differs from country to country in the Arab world. None of these countries now completely rejects the Internet. However, some treat the occurrence more restrictively than others. The first countries to open up to the Internet in the early days were traditional, liberal economic, pro-Western states like Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. As for the free access to the Internet in the Arabic world he commented: A comparison of the countries in the Arab world reveals that some allow completely free access to the Internet while others channel all Internet traffic through a filter. This central filter allows them to block access to specific sites. But anyone with technical know-how can get around these filters. This sort of filter censorship can be found in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Syria. The Saudis, for example, only opened up public access to the Internet in 1999 after a long delay: they waited until the technical requirements for total filtering were fulfilled. Beforehand, the debate had centered on how Saudi society could be protected against damaging influences through the Internet. Dr. Hofheinz commented on the way that Arab countries are dealing with the Internet: Many Muslim thinkers and scholars were very careful and feared that the Internet could lead to an infiltration and wearing down of Muslim social and moral standards. In this context, discussions with Islamic overtones took place. These same discussions had other overtones elsewhere: in Asia, for example, but also in Europe and anywhere people think that the Internet might lead to a homogenization of the cultures. In concrete terms, this means that western or American cultural values and ideas are disseminated under the existing balance of power. This discussion has not become any less powerful to this day. On the other hand, Islamic groups were some of the first to make use of the Internet. At the end Dr. Hofheinz talked about his theory: My initial theory has not proven well-founded in the short term. But that doesnt mean that all opportunities have been wasted. I would say instead that the initial theory was naive in its radicalism. It was quite simply naive to expect the introduction of the Internet to unleash a political tidal wave. One has to examine what socialization process are being promoted on the Internet. The trend is clear: the Internet reinforces the role and the self-confidence of the subject. Even the chatting of young people should not be underestimated. It is easier to talk openly in chat rooms about things that are usually only talked about among friends. I still believe that this will lead to a change in political culture: not necessarily a radical change and not only as a result of the Internet, but the Internet is undoubtedly an important factor. THE INFLUENCE OF THE INTERNET FROM AN ISLAMIC PRESPECTIVE: Many researches and scholars consider the internet as the real reason for the flourishing of the so called Islamic Virtual Ummah, what do you think? In so far as virtual today has become virtually identical to cyberspace, this is certainly correct. Further, there is no doubt that the Internet has contributed greatly to a new growth of pan-Islamic feelings among many of its Muslim users. This phenomenon should, however, not be regarded in isolation from its social and historical context. Muslim activists on the Internet have been drawn first and foremost, in the beginnings, in the 1990s, from among these circles, and they have found in the Internet an ideal medium to share reflections on their beliefs, identity, practicies, policies, social life, moral ways, etc. In other words, to think of themselves as a community in new ways that were more self-reflected, and less bound by tradition, than tended to be the case back home. And this new community is often referred to, or thought of as, a virtual ummah. In how far do you think what happens on the Internet has any effect on real life? Especially in the context of the murder of Theo van Gogh in the Netherlands: the murderer apparently used texts from the extremist websites in the letter he left on the body of his victim. The Internet is thus less revolutionary than it is often made to appear. Rather, it is the latest incarnation in a long development of media that have helped Muslims (among other people) to imagine their belonging. The Internet is a medium; media, consumed, are part of peoples socialization and can influence their thoughts and acts. To say so much is trivial but it has to be said since some people still question the effect of the net on real life. Exactly how, and to what extent, media influence peoples thoughts and acts is, however, a very different question. After 40 years of research into the effects of television, there is no unanimity among researches about the nature and quality of these effects. And the debate continues on how exactly to measure such effects. Comparatively speaking, Internet research is still in its infancy, but the problems are essentially the same. People are influenced in their thoughts and acts by a great variety of factors, and to posit some simple linear connections between material posted on the net, or peoples online activities, and their acts in real life, is too simplistic. All that can be said with some certainty is that the Internet is likely to play an increasingly important role in peoples socialization, and that therefore the way material, thought, ideas, social relations etc are presented on the net is going to exert a growing influence on real life. With regard to Islam, for example, this means that increasingly, only material easily accessible on the net will be considered by the majority of Muslim Internet users in the construction of what Islam means, and how one should live properly as a Muslim. Do you think that the Internets effect of reducing and simplifying complicated and rich cultural and religious traditions will eventually lead to a loss of Islamic knowledge and traditional authority? And do you think this is necessarily a dangerous or undesirable development? Primarily it is an unavoidable development that should not be lamented so much as is taken as a challenge. And secondly, the simplification of the scholastic canon that is speeded by the Internet (but which in itself is a development that started much earlier, in the 18th century C.E.) is but one side of a larger development which at heart is dialectical. One the one side, the complicated scholastic tradition is reduced to relatively simple truths but on the other hand, these truths get reappropriated by many more people than ever before, and in the process of this appropriation new ways of thinking are engendered, which in turn will lead to a new culture, or rather, new rich cultures, and new traditions, over time. In your opinion, to what extent is Islam represented on the internet? And in compared to other religions? With regard to the first part of the question, it is noticeable that the representation of Islam on the Internet started from the periphery so to speak- from the US- (and European) based on Diaspora. For long, their voices on the Internet were much more prominent than voices from the established centers of Islamic learning in the Muslim heartlands, and that has sent the note, to an extent. What are the most popular Islamic websites on the net? It is not al-Azhar, or the Zaytuna or Deoband. Rather, it is sites like Islam Online, Amr Khaled, Islamweb, al-islam.com, Isalm Todayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Sites that operate from the sides of the old establishment, if you will (and I include Islamweb from Qatar and al-Islam.com from Sakhr among the sides here). So, the representation of Islam on the Internet clearly has changed from what it was before. And one may also argue that for seasoned users those who know how to find things the plurality of voices has dramatically increased. If one knows how to find, one can find pretty much anything on the net today, including pretty much any of the many representations of Islam. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, today society is in the middle of a technological boom. People can either choose to take advantage of this era, or simply let it pass them by. The Internet is a very powerful tool. It has many advantages; however, people need to be extremely aware of the disadvantages as well. People on the Internet participate in a unique electronic culture. Like all other cultures, the Internet culture has its own norms, standards and expectations for members of the electronic community. A number of resources exist to help people who are new to the Internet learning about its electronic culture. These resources usually address one of two topics: ethics or etiquette. Internet etiquette, which is often called netiquette, is similar to and often overlaps with ethical issues; however, netiquette is less a strict code of conduct and more an understanding of what constitutes good manners and electronic community expectation

Love Story in Terry Kay’s To Dance With the White Dog and in the Movie O :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Love Story in Terry Kay’s To Dance With the White Dog and in the Movie O In the movie â€Å"O†, Desi and Odin, the main characters, share an unstable relationship due to their juvenile romance. The young couple struggle to support and trust one another throughout the movie. They must also deal with the lies and betrayal of their close friend Hugo. Their budding romance can be compared in many ways to the fruitful relationship of Sam and Cora Peek, in Terry Kay’s novel, To Dance With The White Dog. Sam and Cora Peek’s relationship is one that withstands the trial of time. Although both relationships began in the same manner, there are vital differences between the two that drastically separate them from one another. There are many obstacles in the movie â€Å"O† that cause the ultimate failure of Desi and Odin. The young couple has trouble trusting one another because they are inexperienced and just beginning their relationship. There is little stability in Desi and Odin’s relationship partially due to the secretive way in which the couple must see one another. The lies of a close friend quickly make Odin doubt the loyalty of Desi and thus begin to tear apart the young lovers. Throughout the movie doubts and fears are instilled in Odin by his close friend, Hugo. It is these lies that quickly escalate into Odin’s belief of Desi’s betrayal. Ultimately Odin loves Desi so much he can not bear the thought of her with another man, nor can he bear the thought of a life without her. Odin’s irrational thoughts and impulsive nature destroy the love that Desi once harbored for Odin. The love of Odin and Desi is bittersweet in the end. Both of the young lovers die prematurely at the hands of Odin. The love of Odin and Desi is snuffed out due to their inexperienced youth, the pressures of society, and of their peer’s lies. The pressure of Desi’s father and his strong dislike of Odin also helps create doubt in Odin’s mind about Desi. The racial issues play a small role in Odin’s beliefs of Desi. Hugo points out to him that Desi is a white girl and white girls are sly. In To Dance With The White Dog, Sam and Cora Peek share a life long commitment.

Marxism and Economic Theory :: Economy Economic Papers

Marxism and Economic Theory Human relationships have always been dynamic. Change and adaptability have gone hand in hand with the passage of time for human society. Systems have been developed to regulate, direct and control the resources of this society. The systems are referred to as governments and the resources as the populace or inhabitants and forces of production. A government must be dynamic in its nature reflecting the change in society. At times these systems have resisted the necessity to adapt with its components (Society) creating a deficit between the system and those it regulates. As the deficits develop, they cause instability, and could lead to revolution.1 Theories have been developed to explain the systemic phenomenon called revolution. This paper will discuss three modern theories and apply them to the English revolution of 1640. The first theory, developed by Carl Marx (Marxism), will address the economic evolution in English society. This theory will emphasize and explain how the shift from a feudal/mercantile system to capitalism affected English society. The second, called the Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT) developed by Charles Tilly, will explain how the English organizations (the Crown and the Parliament) effectively obtained, amassed and managed resources. Samuel Huntington's, "Institutional Theory", will argue that the existing government at that time was unable to incorporate the demands and personnel that the socio-economic changes created. Marxism was formulated in the 19th century. Carl Marx and his associate Frederick Engels observed the socio-economic changes that were transpiring in Britain. England was the dominant world power and had the largest industrialized economy during the 1800's. The development of the factory and the institution of the assembly line created a large demand for workers.

Antilock Brakes Essay -- essays papers

Antilock Brakes Antilock brakes are impressive performers on the test track and in television advertising. What has surprised a lot of people is that anti-lock brakes are not reducing the frequency or cost of accidents. This is the case despite the obvious benefits of antilock brakes in test situations. The reason why anti-locks are not making the expected and much projected difference is because many drivers lack the knowledge and experience need to use ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) effectively. I. Introduction A. What are ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) B. Popularity of ABS II. What ABS do and don’t do A. In normal breaking conditions B. In conditions such as: rain, snow, ice C. Why don’t ABS work so well on dry roads III. Understanding ABS A. How ABS works B. Wheel Slip IV. Testing/Findings/Conclusion A. Testing of ABS vs. Conventional Brakes B. Test results C. Conclusion ABS (Anti-lock Brake System): WHAT THEY CAN AND CANNOT DO I. Introduction Antilock brakes are impressive performers on the test track and in television advertising. The idea behind anti-lock brakes is simple. Anti-lock brakes are designed to prevent skidding and help drivers maintain steering control during an emergency-braking situation, by automatically pumping the brakes for the driver to prevent wheel lock. Because the wheels are kept from locking up, the driver is able to better control the vehicle. What has surprised a lot of people is that anti-lock brakes are not reducing the frequency or cost of accidents. This is the case despite the obvious benefits of antilock brakes in test situations. Antilock brakes have become very popular with the public. Forty-three percent of the 1993 model cars came equipped with them and the ratio for 1994 models is eighty percent. This brings the total number of cars on the road today with anti-locks to about 18,000,000. Much of the increase is because of the growing safety reputation antilock brakes forged on the test track. This reputation has been inflated by car commercials that imply anti-locks can prevent crashes because of better stopping power under all conditions. Consumers very often haven't been shown cars with anti-locks performing on surfaces tha... ...ses are: be alert, allow enough stopping distance, and understand your car's safety technology. Bibliography: ANNONATIVE BIBOLGRAPHY ACT Traffic Handbook-Part D Road Craft Online. Internet. 05 April 2000. Available at http://www.act.gov.au/living/roads/traffic/ptdr. html Provided tips and information on how to be a safe and smarter driver. Car Safety Magazine Highway Loss Data Institute. (1996). â€Å"Insurance losses of car equipped with ABS†. Online. Internet. 05 April 2000.Available at http://www.carsafety.org/sr.htm This article provided the testing and results of their investigation, and of The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. CCJ’s Magazine Ross, Chris. (1996). March 1996 article â€Å"Anti-lock braking system†. Online. Internet. 05 April 2000. Available at http://www.ccjmagazine.com/ABS.htm This article provided information of the impact ABS had on the commercial vehicle industry. The Mad Scientist Popa, Adrian. (1998). â€Å"How does the ABS (Anti-lock Brake System) work?† Online. Internet. 05 April 2000. Available at http://www.madscientist.com This article provides information on the computer systems that control ABS.

Military Courtesy and Respect Essay

Good citizenship A good citizen needs to imbibe many qualities. That he has some duties and responsibilities to bear is true, but at same time, he enjoys some rights and privileges as a citizen of a free state. While he has every right to participate in the judicial, legal politics, religious and social affairs of the nation, he has also some responsibilities i.e. not to injure the sentiments of others and to protect the weak against the strong. To stand by the state, under all conditions, is his first and foremost duty. A good citizen must be ready to sacrifice his everything for the sake of his motherland. He is also required to be a patriot and nationalist. He should have firm and deep faith in the welfare of his motherland. He has to obey law and order. But he has also to keep in his heart the betterment of the country, the good of society and the interest of the nation. A good citizen must respect the cultural heritage of his country, i.e. he will have to respect the heroes, ‘the prophet, the sages and saints of his country. He must respect the race which has given birth to him. He must always keep in mind the future of his country. He must attempt to raise the standard of living of his country by working honestly. At an event of aggression or foreign attack, he must be ready to shed his blood for the sake of his motherland. Thus, defense of the country is the supreme duty of a good citizen. Unity of the nations should be his topmost priority. He should work for the unity of the country. A goodwill for other races, protection to the weak, help to the victims, sympathetic and kind consideration to his fellow citizens are things that are needed in good citizen. A good citizen should have a spirit of cooperation, friendliness, humanity, dedication, devotion for his fellow citizens. He must respect other faiths. He must not do anything which brings disgrace to his society or to his country. Greatest good of greatest number should be his principle. All these good and great qualities, if possessed, make one a good citizen Military leadership Within the U.S. military, leadership is generally considered something of a given. It is a fundamental ingredient of warfare, without which the outcome of a combat operation cannot be assured. The leader is the brain, the motive power of command, upon whom subordinates rely for guidance and wisdom, and  depend upon for good judgment. The leader must be determined, unflappable and charismatic; confident in delegation of authority; able to combine the various strands of command into a common thread; seasoned, intelligent, and thoughtful. When judging the qualities of leadership, there is a tendency to think of the gifted, or natural leader, involving some expectation that leadership is an inherent personality quality that some have, and others have not. Military history is full of â€Å"born leaders,† suggesting that â€Å"inspired leadership† is the only true measure of the trait. For a very long time the American people relied on the emergence of just such an individual when necessity demanded it, and fortunately the country has been well†served in this respect. Much of this has been due to American military egalitarianism, which presumed that any individual, regardless of background, could lead a body of troops in combat as long as the leader had the requisite ability. An obvious case in point is the Civil War, which gave rise to a number of gifted commanders—Joshua Chamberlain, Nathan Bedford Forrest, John Logan, and Nelson A. Miles, to name but a few—who yet had little, if any, military training. So great was the renown of such natural leaders that a veritable school of military command grew up around them, declaring that genius alone was the true sign of leadership, and that leaders were born, not made. As the army matured and professionalized after the Civil War, these sorts of arguments met the resistance of educational reformers who argued that certain principles of leadership could be taught, given the proper lessons from military history. Military courtesy and desipline Military courtesy is basically no different from courtesy in civilian life, just good manner and politeness in dealing with other people. The experience of life has proven that courteous behavior is essential in human relations. The distinction between civilian courtesy and military courtesy is that, military courtesies were developed in a military atmosphere and have become customs and traditions of the service. Most forms of military courtesy have some counterpart in civilian life. For example, you are required to say  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Sir† or â€Å"Ma’am† when you talk to an officer. Throughout our history, young men and women were taught to say â€Å"Sir† to their fathers and other male elders. and â€Å"Ma’am† to their mothers, unknown women and female elders. This tradition is still carried on and it is considered good manners for a younger man to say â€Å"Sir† when speaking to an older man. The use of the word â€Å"Sir† or â€Å"Ma’am† is also common in the business world, in the address of letters, and in any well-ordered institution. Military courtesy is not a one-way street. Enlisted personnel must be courteous to officers, and officers are expected to return the courtesy. Officers respect soldiers as individuals, just as you respect officers as individuals. Without this basis of mutual respect, there can be no military courtesy, and discord will result. One of the most important of military courtesies is the salute. It is a respectful greeting, a sign of recognition between military persons. It is that, and no more. Salutes are given and returned. They are a privilege of the military alone. Every officer salutes every other officer, just as every enlisted man salutes every officer. The highest-ranking general in the Army is required to return the salute of the newest private. The fact that the subordinate salutes first is simply common-sense courtesy applied to a military expression; it is for the same reason that gentlemen step aside for ladies in doorways and younger people are†¦

Case Presentation “Please Dont Let Me Die” Essay

The ethical principal showcased in this case presentation was beneficence. The nurses were not thinking beneficially of the resident in any aspect of their practice. A professional nurse would not consider leaving a floor with only three nursing assistants to care for 100 patients. The nursing assistants do not have the authority to manage a floor, the license to ensure patient care, nor do they possess the required knowledge to assess patients or delegate tasks. The institutional constraint would be the state of severe understaffing. For a facility of one hundred patients to be cared for by only three nurses significantly lowers the standard of care. According to a chart in the Journal of Scholarly Nursing (2010), Ohio standards are to have a ratio of one licensed nurse to every fifteen direct care patients in a nursing home facility (p 91). This presentation, even with the ten additional nursing assistants, was still understaffed with these standards. Although understaffed, the nurses are culpable because the patient was not thoroughly assessed. As a part of the scope and standard of nursing, an assessment would have revealed the need for a focused assessment. The focused assessment would have directed the nurses to signs and symptoms of the bowel obstruction, or led to further investigation. Provision Six is associated with the presentation in that it is essentially concentrating on ethical decision making in the workplace. Stated in Provision Six (2010), â€Å"Professional nurses make decisions that significantly affect the lives of others on a daily basis† (p.72). The nurses caring for Loren Richards should have used Provision Six in deciding when to take a break. There are several characteristics I would have changed about the presentation. Firstly, none of the nurses voiced the aversion for the short staffing. I feel strongly about this being a issue and would have mentioned something to management or the director of nursing. Secondly, the amount of professionals taking a break at the same time was exceptionally unethical. Scattering breaks throughout the shift would have been a more superior decision. Finally, pain is the fifth vital sign and when a patient is complaining, it is a nursing standard to assess. To add vomiting to his signs, and no action was taken, is complete contrary to my nursing practice. References Harrington, C., Choiniere, J., Goldmann, M., Jacobsen, F., Lloyd, L., McGregor, M., & †¦ Szebehely, M. (2012). Nursing Home Staffing Standards and Staffing Levels in Six Countries. Journal Of Nursing Scholarship, 44(1), 88-98. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy.library.ohiou.edu/10.1111/j.1547-5069.2011.01430.x Olson, L. (2010). Provision Six. In Guide to the Code of Ethics for Nurses (p. 72). Silver Spring , Maryland: nursesbooks.org.

Proteomics

Tracing the footprints of Proteomics – To compare and study the techniques used in proteomics since the last decade. Abstract: Proteomics is a study of the proteome of an organism. The last few decades have seen a rapid progress in the development of this field. This paper attempts to compare and contrast the way in which proteomics studies are performed today as opposed to those performed ten years ago and analyse its future implications. The thrust of research while studying biology at a molecular level initially was focused specifically on the genomes of various organisms. As scientists discovered the intricacies of genes and their functionalities, the attention was soon drawn towards the end result of the central dogma of molecular biology, namely, the proteins, produced through translation of RNAs. Therefore, to study the proteins produced in an organism, referred to as the proteome, not just as products of a genome, but more importantly how they interact and bring about changes at the macro level, the field of proteomics has emerged. (1) Proteins play a pivotal role in carrying out various functions in a body at the structural and dynamic levels. Proteins as enzymes and hormones regulate the vital metabolic processes and as structural components provide stability to the cellular components. The knowledge obtained through the study of these systems gives an insight into the overall functioning of the living organisms. In spite of having similar genetic blue prints, the protein expression in various organisms are regulated differently through diverse networks of protein-protein interactions. Hence, proteomics provides an understanding about these regulatory processes and establishes the differences and similarities between the evolutionary pathways of the organisms by grouping them under phylogentic trees. Further, drugs can be developed for specific diseases by designing structural analogues of proteins responsible for diseased conditions after elucidating their structures, which can then up or down regulate metabolic processes. Thus, the study of proteins plays an essential part of researches carried out in other related fields of study such as developmental and evolutionary biology and drug designing. (1)(2) Since the invention of the 2-Dimentional Gel Electrophoresis in the 1970s, which is considered to be the stepping stone of modern day protein studies, scientists have been constantly striving to develop new and potent methods to study proteomics. Thus, this paper is an attempt to identify and compare these techniques which have been used and improved over the last decade. The popular and preferred procedure to study the proteome of an organism comprises of three major steps, isolation, separation on 2-D gel and analysis through a mass spectrometer. Most of the improvements revolve around this basic protocol. 2-D gel electrophoresis was one of the first methods which were used to analyse the proteome of an organism. In this technique, the protein is separated on the basis of its charge and size. The proteins are first separated on the basis of their different charges in the 1st dimension, following which they are separated on the 2nd dimension on the basis of their molecular weight. The gel or map provides a graphical representation of each protein after separation and hence they can be distinguished individually. However, the reproducibility of the results obtained through such an analysis has not been satisfactory. Till date there are constant efforts being made to improve the efficacy of this technique, such that a large number of proteins could be separated at the same time. The first 2-D separation which was carried out by using the electrophoresis buffer and starch gel, the improvements which followed gave rise to the foundation of modern day 2-D separation, which was combining two 1-d techniques involving separation on the basis of pH using isoelectric focusing (IEF) and using SDS-Page for separation on the basis of molecular weight after the samples have been prepared specifically using various reagents such as Urea (as a chaotrope to solubilise) and DTT (to break di-sulphide linkages without fragmentation into peptides), in a suitable buffer (3). Further, for certain segments of proteins which were hydrophobic in nature, like those found in the cell membrane, it was discovered that special reagents such as thiourea, sulfobetaine and tributyl phosphine which are classified as chaotropes, surfactants and reducing agents respectively, assisted their solubility during sample preparation before running them on the gel. Another notable extension of 2-D separation was the use of IPG strips, which had different pH gradients. These strips were made available commercially and drastically contributed to the convenience of the technique. Also, experiments were carried out using a number of such strips to increase the range of pH, hence successfully accommodating a large number of proteins(4). Nevertheless, such a method, although successful, was human-error prone and hence the results on the varied from each other in majority of cases. To overcome this, a number of replicates of the gel had to be prepared and therefore demanded a lot of labour. To overcome this barrier, the differential gel electrophoresis technique DIGE was developed. In this method, the proteins are labelled with fluorescent dyes prior to electrophoresis. The fluorophores are joined via an amide linkage to the amino acid lysine and therefore the proteins can be resolved together on the same gel through distinguished patterns of fluorescent emissions (5). Further advancement of the standard 2-D gel analysis was to incorporate automation to the technology, however the room for automation to analyse the results was limited due to the inability of a computer to distinguish between the different patterns. Differentiating a spot of protein on a gel, its intensity and to separate it from a background still remains an overwhelming task for the computer. The next step in proteome analysis is protein identification using mass spectrometry (MS). One of the most compelling problems of using MS to study biomolecules such as proteins was the inability to obtain ions of sufficiently large size which would effectively lead to their identification. Since the development of Electron Spray ionization and MALDI (Matrix assisted Laser Desorption Ionization) this drawback of MS was overcome and today the combination of these ion sources with different mass analysers e. g. MALDI-TOF/TOF, ESI Q-TOF and ESI triple quardrupoles are used widely in proteomics. Identification of a protein is carried out through a process referred to as peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF). In this technique, proteins that have been separated on a 2-D gel are excised and digested into peptides using proteases such as trypsin. The digested peptides, when subjected to study in a MS, give a characteristic m/z spectrum. The protein can be indentified when this data correlates to the data in protein databases; compared using softwares based specific algorithms. However, to extrapolate a proteins role in metabolism, it is also necessary to identify how the protein is modified after translation. Post translation modification plays an important role in acting like a regulating switch; modifications such as phosphorylation play an important in processes such as cell signalling. The main drawback while analysing a phosphorylated protein through MS was its signal suppression. To rectify this issue, high performance separation techniques such as HPLC were conjugated with the MS; LC-MALDI-MS is an example of such a combination (6). Further extension of the protein mass fingerprinting was the development of shotgun proteomics, to specifically do away with the disadvantages of a standard 2-D gel analysis. This technique is based on separation of peptides obtained after protease digestion, using multidimensional chromatography. It is necessary that the two dimension of this multidimensional separation done using chromatography are orthogonal in nature, i. e. using two different properties of a protein similar to a 2-D gel separation which uses pI and mass. Separating proteins using reversed phase, based on hydrophobicity, and Strong cation exchange, using the charged state of the peptides is an example of separation in two dimensions. Although the PMF approach provided a successful identification process to recognize the proteins present in a proteome, it was also necessary to study the changes in protein expression in response to a stimulus. To achieve this, the technique call the ICAT was developed which protein mixtures from after isolation were modified such that they can differentiated on the basis of mass from one cellular location to another. In ICAT, this modification is done using a cysteine with an isotope labelled biotin tag. Today, the efforts to develop new technologies are directed towards automation in sample preparation and effective interfacing with other techniques. Interfacing has been achieved more successfully with ESI than MALDI owing to its ability of operating with a continuous flow of liquid (7). Sample from organisms contain thousands of proteins, to effectively separate certain important proteins such as disease biomarkers from this mixture, is a highly demanding task. Further, effective proteolytic digestion can be challenging when the proteins of interest are present in low quantities. Therefore, before a sample of protein can be effectively analysed there are a number of steps to be performed which are prone to human error and are laborious. The development of Micro-fluidic system as an interface with the mass spectrometer such as ESI provides the option of automating this process and hence making proteome analysis more effective less time-consuming. Therefore, such a chip based technology has a clear advantage over the traditionally used methods due its improved probability of obtaining the protein of interest, reduced consumption of reagents and accelerated reaction time. The micro fluidic chips can be directly coupled to an ESI- MS using a pressure driven or electro-osmotic flow. Thus, such a system where there is a direct interface is called an on-line setup. On the other hand, such a setup cannot be achieved in MALDI where a mechanical bridge is created between the micro-fluidic chip and the Mass spectrometer. The first step of a proteome analysis, i. e. sample purification is carried out using a hydrophobic membrane integrated into an inlet channel of a polyimide chip. Separation of proteins from the sample can be achieved either using a capillary electrophoresis (CE) or a liquid chromatographic (LC) method. CE is usually preferred over LC due as it provides a faster separation and can be coupled to an electric pump. Proteolytic digestion is carried out on the solid surface of the chips, where the enzymes are immobilized. Thus, such a chip provides a platform for the automation of the initial steps of a proteomic study, and more studies are still being performed to increase the efficacy of this approach (8). To conclude, over the last decade, there has been a rapid progress in the techniques used to study proteomics. The direction of progress has also shed a light on the importance of proteomics and the implications if would have in the coming years. Studies on evolution have benefitted a great deal with the development of techniques like ICAT which enhances quantitative and comparative studies of the different proteomes. In the field of medicine and drug discovery, the application of these techniques, paves the road for discovery of novel biomarkers for specific diseases in a quicker and less complicated manner. Further, it would also assist vaccine development by identifying specific antigens for a disease. The developments of micro-fluidic chips have opened the door for new diagnostics techniques by characterizing effectively the protein responsible for a diseased state. Such an approach has already been employed to study the proteins produced in the body in a cancerous state. Therefore, as more researchers and academics adapt these with these applications, many more improvements would soon evolve. References: 1. Anderson, L. , Matheson, A. and Steiner, S. (2000). â€Å"Proteomics: applications in basic and applied biology. † Current Opinion in Biotechnology Vol: 11:pp. 408–412. 2. Pazos, F. and Valencia, A. (2001). â€Å"Similarity of phylogenetic trees as indicator of protein protein interaction. † Protein Engineering Vol: 14: no 9: pp. 609-614. 3. Klose, J. (2009). From 2-D electrophoresis to proteomics. † Electrophoresis Vol: 30: pp. 142–149. 4. Herbert, B. (1999). â€Å"Advances in protein solubilisation for two-dimensional electrophoresis. † Electrophoresis Vol: 20: pp. 660- 663. 5. Alban, A. , David, S. , Bjorkesten, L. , Andersson, C. , Sloge, E. , Lewis, S. and Currie, I. (2003). â€Å"A novel experimental design for comparative two-dimensional gel analysis: Two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis i ncorporating a pooled internal standard. Proteomics Vol: 3: pp. 36–44. 6. Reinders, J. , Lewandrowski, U. , Moebius, J. , Wagner, Y. and Sickmann, A. (2004). â€Å"Challenges in mass spectrometry based proteomics. † Proteomics Vol: 4: pp. 3686–3703. 7. Swanson, S. and Washburn, M. (2005). â€Å"The continuing evolution of shotgun proteomics. † Drug Discovery Today Vol: 10. 8. Lee, J. , Sopera, S. and Murraya, K. (2009). â€Å"Microfluidic chips for mass spectrometry-based proteomics. † Journal of Mass Spectrometry Vol: 44: pp. 579–593.