Culture A Personal Interview With A Person Whose Culture...

Culture is too much of a broad topic to be explained in one phrase. Rather it’s not only defined as shared beliefs, values, religions and attitudes, but it’s also categorized as, in scientific terms, as maintaining a group of tissues and cells that are in conditions suitable for growth. In other words, just as scientific terminology defines culture to be the conditions suitable for tissue growth, the definition of social culture is conditions suitable for growth in communication and relations. The objective of this essay is to address differences in culture which is demonstrated from a personal interview with a person whose culture is different than mine. More specifically, I will define how culture branches out into subcategories like power distribution, orientation, avoidance, context, proximities, and intercultural competence (Verderber Verderber, 2012). Power distribution is expectations and acceptance of how power is shared unevenly. In correlation to this, there is high power-distance and low power-distance. High power-distance is natural, it’s the recognition of higher and lower power. In other words, people within the group understand and respect who has high power and who does not. Places where high power-distance is practiced is the Middle East, Malaysia, Guatemala, Venezuela and Singapore. Low power-distance is the opposite, rather everyone within the group expects power to be given and respected evenly. No one stands higher than anyone else. LowShow MoreRelatedThe Differences in Health Traditions Between Cultures1188 Words   |  5 PagesThe Differences in Health Traditions between Cultures Each individual has an exclusively cultural heritage attachment that is comprised of a lot of different customs and values. It is almost impossible for anyone or group of people to live everyday by not practicing according to their beliefs or cultural background. Being born to a person depending on whom they are or where they live means so much in some cultures. For example, I was born into a family where my parents were both educated and goodRead MoreThe Ethics Of Living Jim Crow Essay1389 Words   |  6 Pagesdalliance, with the staff being warned that the victim was a â€Å"lucky bastard† since his life was spared (Wright 139). The possibility of his losing one’s manhood had to be a troubling prospect for the other bellboys, who could see this man as a no more than a cautionary tale warning them to not to act on their interracial carnal desires. Richard Wright’s life in the south wasn’t one filled bliss and pleasantness, but one filled with painful experiences. From having scarring physical events occur in hisRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Wizard Of Oz 1639 Words   |  7 PagesThe Wizard of OZomoness â€Å"There is no place like home,† Which could not be more true for the most of us, is a famous quote from The Wizard Of OZ, a movie about a girl who finds herself in a world different from hers, wishing to return to her farm in Kansas. Along the way, she discovers many things about herself that she never thought she was capable of. Although her time in the Land of OZ was just a dream, it sends powerful messages. Not only that there is no place like home, but that in our dreamsRead MoreMy Thoughts About Myself And How I Communicate With Others Essay1804 Words   |  8 Pageson how to improve my communication skills and situations in which they may be helpful. Reflecting on my journal entries has helped me to learn about myself (as a communicator and a person) as well as develop ideas to improve myself and how I communicate. Patterns appear in different areas of communication for different people. For me personally, I noticed two main patterns in my interactions with other individuals. One was my perception of others during my conversations with others. When reading myRead MoreAnnotated Bibliography On Surveillance And Privacy1762 Words   |  8 Pageswhole notion of the issue of privacy. It could be our concern for privacy stems from our cultural development? And the American lifestyle is what should be examined. People in the Western world live an individualistic lifestyle. They value personal achievement and privacy. Privacy is seen as a basic right in the western world, despite the lack of laws in place to protect the people s privacy. The rise of new technology threatens people s privacy, as they also assist the government s effortRead MoreEssay about Clear Liquid Thought: The Photographs of Jim Dine4339 Words   |  18 Pagesdisclosing images of the artists unconscious specifically encoded into symbolic meaning. On the contrary, my concern is with these works potential to generate visual equivalents of inner life perceptions in a variety of puzzling formal patterns whose disclosure of meaning is cunningly deferred. The photographic compositions of Jim Dine are not narratives of inner life, but forms of visual experience that inform our ways of thinking the unconscious. ------------------------------------ 1 Franà §oisRead MoreInterracial Couples2405 Words   |  10 PagesInterracial marriage is more than an ethical discussion. According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on the internet, interracial couple is a romantic couple or marriage in which the partners are of different races. The answer, if differences affect in multiracial couples is positive. There is a continuous debate among spouses related to the most serious issues of individual religion, nationality and education. Let us have a first look in history. In the book entitled Tell the courtRead More The Sociological Aspect of Obesity Essay7419 Words   |  30 Pagesexamining the socio-cultural, gender, and psycho-social effects and includes the different perceptions of the epidemic as well as what is deemed acceptable in the society we live in. In the American culture, obesity is seen as a bodily abnormality and deviance that should be corrected. Obesity has indeed become one of the most stigmatizing bodily characteristics in our culture (Brink, 1994). In the Western culture, thinness does not just mean the size of the body, but it is associated with suchRead MoreCultural Tourism in Mauritius5854 Words   |  24 PagesCHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1. Cultural Tourism in Mauritius Tourism comprises of activities of persons travelling and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than 1 consecutive year, for leisure business and other purposes (WTO, 1991). Mauritius is one of the islands which make up the Mascareignes Islands group. Tourism is a major factor in keeping the economy of this country as high as it is. Before people started visiting this beautiful part of the world they solely reliedRead MoreThe Medical Practice Of Medicine Essay1970 Words   |  8 Pagesof the appropriate age, should be making the decision for himself or herself. Through the examples from history, philosophical reasoning, and, most importantly, the interview I conducted, I will demonstrate that the only person who should be in charge of treatment is the patient. [4] This story was told to me by a family friend of mine, who is a orthopedic surgeon back home in Moscow. A 65-year-old female patient, who has diabetes, several heart diseases, and other age – related conditions tripped

Thomas Jefferson and The Declaration of Independence Essay

Thomas Jefferson and The Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson was the author of The Declaration of Independence, and according to Bellis, Jefferson was also a jurist, a diplomat, a writer, an inventor, a philosopher, an architect, a gardener, a negotiator of Louisiana Purchase, but he only requested three of his many accomplishments to be noted on his tomb. (2005). Thomas Jefferson was a very smart politician and he knew what to say to whom in order to enhance their support. This essay will be an analytical paper discussing Thomas Jefferson and The Declaration of Independence. It will also clarify the basic ideas contained in The Declaration of Independence; the influence of the Declaration upon American War of Independence,†¦show more content†¦His friend James Madison succeeded Jefferson as president in 1809, and during the last seventeen years of his life, he stayed at his mansion, Monticello. Just hours before his close friend Adam was to signing the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas J efferson died on July 4, 1826. As he also wished that his tombstone reflects the things that he had given the people, not the people that had given to him. HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA BORN APRIL 2. 1743. O.S. DIED JULY 4. 1826 Declaration of Independence: In 1776, since Jefferson was a member of Continental Congress, he was chosen to draft the Declaration of Independence, since he was a member of Continental Congress. (Brief†¦Jefferson, 2005). Looking back in High School, the class discussion about The Declaration of Independence was that Jefferson predicted the coming of great changes in America within the times that he lived in. He wrote this document for the American Citizens at the time, and it still exists today. The Declaration personified many of the ideas that separated the colonies from England and therefore the process of creating a new country begun. TheShow MoreRelatedThomas Jefferson And The Declaration Of Independence1560 Words   |  7 Pagesso, as Thomas Jefferson’s actions clearly characterize his individual self, while also inducing the question, Does Thomas Jefferson deserve the honor he possesses, through these eminent actions? Many people believe that Thomas Jefferson is a powerful individual who helped form our country, and was a great leader through his presidential career. He made the best out of difficult situations, when he knew the complete situation had to remain unsolved, and he wrote the Declaration of Independence for theRead MoreThomas Jefferson And The Declaration Of Independence1199 Words   |  5 PagesI Introduction Thomas Jefferson, who was the third president of the United States, was born in Virginia to a wealthy family. Jefferson began writing the first draft of â€Å"The Declaration of Independence† in 1776. The draft was completed and approved by Congress on July 4th, 1776. Jefferson attended the College of William and Mary and in 1767 was admitted to the Virginia bar. Two years later he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, where he represented Virginia at the Continental CongressRead MoreThomas Jefferson And The Declaration Of Independence1360 Words   |  6 PagesThomas Jefferson was a man who was born on April 13, 1743, he the third president of United States, author of the Declaration of Independence, a lawyer gentlemen farmer, he also was the father of the University of Virginia. Jefferson’s influences on government was to end federal government, to allow the Sedition and Alien Act to put an end to it, to end the taxes, and after ending taxes to release pris oners held by this act. Thomas brought a studied informality to the presidency. He used revenuesRead MoreThe Declaration Of Independence By Thomas Jefferson1113 Words   |  5 PagesThe United States Constitution, Declaration of Independence share many similarities and probably the same amount of differences. The Unites States Constitution was written on 17 September 1787 and the Declaration of Independence was written on 4 July 1776, the dates hold no significance at that time, but the Declaration was written first. This shows that out of the three the Declaration of Independence was written first, and with that being said was most important. Usually documents written and signedRead MoreThomas Jefferson And The Declaration Of Independence1125 Words   |  5 PagesThomas Jefferson attended law together school together with George Wythe. Notably, Wythe was a legislator when Thomas Jefferson drafted the new law of Virginia. Also, he wrote the Declaration of Independence document dur ing the revolution. Essentially, he was of the opinion that the battle could be won, and when this happens, the young country would require a new law to govern the people. Therefore, he took the initiative of developing the law, getting it enacted during the revolution. In this periodRead MoreThe Declaration Of Independence By Thomas Jefferson1455 Words   |  6 PagesThe Declaration of Independence is viewed by just about every patriotic American citizen as one of the most ideologically appropriate documents encapsulating the beliefs for which the United States of America stands. Written in 1776, it encompasses the themes of freedom for every man in the world, a concept and belief that is still the central idea and goal in this country well over 200 years later. Much credit is due to those who authored such an inspirational and monumental document. The most famousRead MoreThe Declaration Of Independence By Thomas Jefferson1463 Words   |  6 Pagesthat the Declaration of Independ ence was written by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was actually part of a five member committee appointed by the Continental Congress to write the document, but he is the main writer of the document. The other members were Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman (Surfnetkids n.p.). Jefferson was born into a prominent family and had a very educational background. Jefferson’s reasons for his contributions to the Declaration of Independence wereRead MoreThe Declaration Of Independence By Thomas Jefferson884 Words   |  4 PagesThomas Jefferson, in his well-known Declaration of Independence, conveys his message through belletristic devices. He employs imagery, language, diction, and syntax in an organized and straightforward manner, which gets the audience intrigued. Jefferson’s tone is formal and adamant and his purpose is to convince the colonist that loyalty to Britain is futile, and that help from other nations is needed. Jefferson, in Th e Declaration of Independence furthers his purpose by adequately employing ethosRead MoreThe Declaration Of Independence By Thomas Jefferson1193 Words   |  5 Pagesof words, diction, and syntax had the ability to transform a country. Thomas Jefferson, the author of â€Å"The Declaration of Independence†, clearly and precisely uses specific language to get his argument across. The thirteen colonies are in dire need of independence and Jefferson wrote according to the needs of the New England culture. Because of the evidence, warrant, and language Jefferson uses in â€Å"The Declaration of Independence†, he is able to clearly and effectively argue against the British monarchyRead MoreThomas Jefferson And The Declaration Of Independence1600 Words   |  7 Pages Thomas Jefferson was one of the main authors of the Declaration of Independence and believed in equality for all individuals. Believing in even rights for slaves, he fought peacefully for the good of his natio n. Helping to expand our Naval Artillery, and wagering different options for the good of America. Thomas Jefferson, the third president of America, was one of the most influential men in our history Thomas Jefferson lived in Shadwell, Virginia, and was born on April 13, 1743. One of his most

Clinical Reasoning Cycle Leonard

Question: Discuss about the Clinical Reasoning Cycle Leonard's Falls And Other Health Risk Factors. Answer: Introduction Effective clinical reasoning skills are vital for a nurse to improve patients health condition and ensure positive outcomes. The process of clinical reasoning developed by Levett Jone is the cycle of linked and ongoing clinical situations (Dalton et al. 2015). The paper deals with the case study of Leonard who is presented to the acute medical ward after fall. The report discusses Leonards falls and other health risk factors using the reasoning cycle framework. The report further critically evaluates the best-practice assessment tools appropriate for the case. Lastly, the report presents the support given to Leonard applying the person-centred approach while meeting the obligations as health professional. Leonards falls and other health risk factors Collection of information As per the case history of Leonard, his age is 65 years. He is admitted to acute medical ward by the Emergency Department after falling at local shop. He did not sustain a fracture, although he had severe bruising of his face and hip. He is diagnosed with decompensate liver disease due to heavy alcohol intake (40 g/day for last month). His clinical handover shows present symptoms of anorexia, dyspnoea, jaundice, and lethargy. He was not coping with his illness prior to his admission. His admission history shows mental and behavioural disorder due to alcohol dependence, a decubitus ulcer on the shin of his left leg, anaemia, industrial deafness, some evidence of urinary incontinence, mild hypotension, lower limb oedema, and regular falls. After his wife death, Leonard has lost support system. He lives in a single storey house, with four steps to the front and two steps at the back with no rails. He lives with his housemate, who is mentally ill and rarely home. He receives mild support from his two elder sisters. Over the last six months, he is unable to carry his activities of daily living independently. In addition, he has some evidence of urinary incontinence and lower limb oedema. He had a Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of 28/30, but appears to have little insight into his problems and also exhibits motor planning difficulties. In addition, Leonard also has industrial deafness as he worked as boilermaker in a very noisy factory. The patient denies support services at home; however, he is keen to return home. The cause of physical deterioration was due to range of manual and labouring jobs. He is mostly restricted to home with no entertainment. Process of information Leonard has severe risk of fall in future as he his physically fragile. His physical frailty is also evident from his need of walking frame for mobility. Recently, his functioning has detoriated due to which he is not able to perform his activities of daily living independently. Due to dyspnoea, anorexia, arthritis in his lower back, mild hypotension, he is at risk of poor physiologic condition and poor mobility (Shen et al. 2015). According to Soenen and Chapman (2013. P. 643) lack of grab rails on the toilet is adding to the risk of fall. Adding to the risk is his muscle weakness, poor balance and risk of gait. MMSE score of 28/30 is indicative of normal cognition. However, Motor planning difficulties and confusion can lead to frequent accidents and decrease confidence (Schoene et al. 2014). He needs dietitian to maintain healthy nutritional status, as he is anorexic and anaemic. His alcoholic liver disease also increases the risk of gastrointestinal tract upset. His symptoms of dyspnea increase the risk of respiratory diseases (Yeluru et al. 2016). Leonard has poor coordination and is not mentally alert. It is evident from his poor planning of tasks and inability to get dressed (Mihaljcic et al. 2015). He lacks support and care needed as he lives alone with his housemate too has mental illness. He receives inadequate support and assistance from his two elder sisters. He was in bereavement after his wifes death due to cancer. It may have caused him to developed fear of hospitals. This fear is depriving him of receiving adequate physical and mental health care (Keyes et al. 2014). His alcohol dependence is also the outcome of his bereavement and has caused decompensate liver disease. He lacks love, belongingness and affection, which is decreasing his coping with illness ( Feng et al. 2014). Lack of family members support and hearing impairment decreases social life and depression. It decreases functional and emotional status. Leonard has low energy to take part in recreational activities such as gardening and fishing. Financial constraints in addition to illness may be adding to the depression (Roets-Merken et al. 2015). In conclusion, Leonard has high risk of fall. In addition to that, other health risk factors of Leonard include Increased risk of mortality due to alcoholic liver disease, Decreased independency to perform activities of daily living, Development of depression and anxiety, Neglecting personal hygiene, Risk of gastrointestinal tract upset Risk of respiratory disease Risk of poor social connectedness due to hearing impairment, poor mobility and motor planning difficulties Three best-practice assessment tools appropriate for this case The three best practice assessment tools appropriate for this case are Falls Risk Assessment Tool or FRAT, Mini-mental state examination or MMSE, and Alcohol use screening assessment tool. The best practice assessment tools for Leonard for his fall are Peninsula Health FRAT. It is commonly used in Australia for elderly people living in community (Hill et al. 2016). The study evaluating the reliability and validity of FRAT has been published in Cattelani et al. (2015). FRAT has three sections. The first section assesses falls risk status followed by the second section consisting of risk factor checklist and the last section dealing with action plan. The tool requires approximately 15-20 minutes. The tool has criterion that is Medium risk: score of 1215 and a High risk: score of 1620. This assessment tool gives detailed information on the underlying factors contributing to the patients fall. It serves as screening test only The best practice assessment tools for cognition are MMSE. This tool is effective for grading the cognitive state of the client. The tool gives information on the degree of cognitive impairment (out of 30 if the score is 21-24 then it is mild impairment, 10-20 as moderate and The third assessment tool appropriate for Leonard is the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Instrument Geriatric Version (SMAST-G). The instrument has scoring system where a score of 2 or more responses for Yes indicates the alcohol dependency problem. This tool is the first step to develop interventions and referral to treatment (Taylor et al. 2014). Nurses can use the scores to determine the degree to cut alcohol intake when scored high above the recommended state. In older adults the score helps to determine the risk of depression, anxiety, gastrointestinal problems. The instrument can only be used for screening and has been commonly used for older adults who are drinking at higher levels. The tool has been found to have high sensitivity and specificity. The feasibility and the acceptability of the tool has been tested and its reliability and validity has been published in Randall-James et al. (2015) Person-centred approach to support Leonards rights In nursing practice, person-centred care is essential to improve patients health outcomes. As a nurse, focus will be put on Leonards individual needs and goals. The family member of the client will be involved as appropriate. His right of autonomy will be ensured by involving him in making heath related decisions. His rights to access health care information, treatment options and express personal concerns will be maintained. The patients right to dignity will be maintained by knowing the patient as an individual, being responsive, and respecting his values, needs and preferences. While caring and promoting physical and emotional comfort emphasis will be given on his freedom of choice. Patients Privacy will be respected while caring and confidentiality of the information will be protected. The standards set by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia in respect to the code of ethics will be complied. The standards set by the board will be strictly followed for providing the right care to the patient considering the spiritual, cultural and ethnic factors (Gray et al. 2016). Conclusion The paper has highlighted the health risk factors of Leonard supporting with literature. It has discussed the effective assessment tools for Leonard. In conclusion, nurses need effective clinical reasoning skills to identify the health risk factors and priority needs of patient. Nurse must be aware of the necessary tools for health assessment of patients to develop effective care plan. Nurses must protect patients rights, as it is important for their satisfaction of health care services. Nurses need to be competent in implementing the person centred approach and must be efficient in placing the patients needs above those identified as priorities by the heath cafe professional. References Cattelani, L., Palumbo, P., Palmerini, L., Bandinelli, S., Becker, C., Chesani, F. Chiari, L., 2015. FRAT-up, a web-based fall-risk assessment tool for elderly people living in the community.Journal of medical Internet research,vol. 17, no. 2. Dalton, L., Gee, T. Levett-Jones, T., 2015. Using clinical reasoning and simulation-based education to'flip'the Enrolled Nurse curriculum.Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 33, no.2, p. 29. Feng, L., Nyunt, M.S.Z., Feng, L., Yap, K.B. Ng, T.P., 2014. Frailty predicts new and persistent depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older adults: findings from Singapore longitudinal aging study.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association,vol. 15, no. 1, pp.76-e7. Gray, M., Rowe, J. Barnes, M., 2016. Midwifery professionalisation and practice: Influences of the changed registration standards in Australia.Women and Birth,vol. 2, no. 1, pp.54-61. Hill, K.D., Flicker, L., Logiudice, D., Smith, K., Atkinson, D., Hyde, Z., Fenner, S., Skeaf, L., Malay, R. Boyle, E., 2016. Falls risk assessment outcomes and factors associated with falls for older Indigenous Australians.Australian and New Zealand journal of public health,vol. 40, no.6, pp.553-558. Keyes, K.M., Pratt, C., Galea, S., McLaughlin, K.A., Koenen, K.C. Shear, M.K., 2014. The burden of loss: unexpected death of a loved one and psychiatric disorders across the life course in a national study.American Journal of Psychiatry,vol.171, no. 8, pp.864-871. Mihaljcic, T., Haines, T.P., Ponsford, J.L. Stolwyk, R.J., 2015. Self-awareness of falls risk among elderly patients: characterizing awareness deficits and exploring associated factors.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation,vol. 96, no. 12, pp.2145-2152. Mitchell, A.J., 2017. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE): update on its diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility for cognitive disorders. InCognitive Screening Instruments.Springer International Publishing, pp. 37-48. Randall-James, J., Wadd, S., Edwards, K. Thake, A., 2015. Alcohol screening in people with cognitive impairment: an exploratory study.Journal of dual diagnosis,vol. 11, no.1, pp.65-74. Roets-Merken, L.M., Draskovic, I., Zuidema, S.U., van Erp, W.S., Graff, M.J., Kempen, G.I. Vernooij-Dassen, M.J., 2015. Effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions in improving emotional and functional status in hearing or visually impaired older adults: a systematic review with meta-analyses.Clinical rehabilitation,vol. 29, no. 2, pp.107-119. Salminen, H., Zary, N., Bjrklund, K., Toth-Pal, E. Leanderson, C., 2014. Virtual patients in primary care: developing a reusable model that fosters reflective practice and clinical reasoning.Journal of medical Internet research,vol. 16, no. 1, p. e3. Schoene, D., Valenzuela, T., Lord, S.R. de Bruin, E.D., 2014. The effect of interactive cognitive-motor training in reducing fall risk in older people: a systematic review.BMC geriatrics,vol. 14, no. 1, p.107. Shen, H.W., Feld, S., Dunkle, R.E., Schroepfer, T. Lehning, A., 2015. The prevalence of older couples with ADL limitations and factors associated with ADL help receipt.Journal of gerontological social work,vol. 58, no. 2, pp.171-189. Soenen, S. Chapman, I.M., 2013. Body weight, anorexia, and undernutrition in older people.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association,vol. 14, no. 9, pp.642-648. Stein, J., Luppa, M., Kaduszkiewicz, H., Eisele, M., Weyerer, S., Werle, J., Bickel, H., Msch, E., Wiese, B., Prokein, J. Pentzek, M., 2015. Is the Short Form of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) a better screening instrument for dementia in older primary care patients than the original MMSE? Results of the German study on ageing, cognition, and dementia in primary care patients (AgeCoDe).Psychological assessment,vol. 27, no. 3, p.895. Taylor, C., Jones, K.A. Dening, T., 2014. Detecting alcohol problems in older adults: can we do better?.International psychogeriatrics,vol. 26, no. 11, pp.1755-1766. Yeluru, A., Cuthbert, J.A., Casey, L. Mitchell, M.C., 2016. Alcoholic Hepatitis: Risk Factors, Pathogenesis, and Approach to Treatment.Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research,vol. 40, no. 2, pp.246-255.

There Are Many Bands And Different Kinds Of Music I Like To Listen To.

There are many bands and different kinds of music I like to listen to. I like to listen to many different bands and songs. When I listen to music I listen for the beat as long as listen for the lyrics. Even with all the different types of music around I mainly like to listen to hard rock. I like to listen because of the hard guitars and the streaming drums. Music to me is a way to relax. I enjoy listening to music. I listen to it so much now in many different places that it is a thing I really do not notice anymore. For this abstract there were many songs that I had to choose from. The types of songs that I chose were songs that make me feel a certain way every time I hear them. The three songs that I chose were songs that I have come to like and not songs that plays every two seconds on the radio. The first song that I chose is by a group called Nine Inch Nails. They are a pretty heavy music group. I chose a song that just come off their most recent album called The Fragile. The name of the song is called the wretched. I think this song means many different things. This song is a more serious depressing song. I think it has to do with someone who is having a real hard time. They are stuck in a hole and cannot really get out. This person has been pushed down and cannot really get back up. This song kind of makes me feel like it cannot always be good sometimes. I think there can be very many ways to express this song in many different ways but the lyrics made this song so good. It is so good because it does not just talk about being in a gang and talking about killing or beating someone. I like the way the lyrics come out. The next song is from the same group and same cd. The song is the fragile. This is a lighter kind of song. Even though I really do not like the typical kind of love song, this song kind of really stands out to me. I like how this song does not just talk about leaving someone of they are not perfect but staying with them and helping them. This song to me talks about someone that they love and everything has not really gone to well. Everything is falling apart and this person won't let it. This person has gone through the same thing and wont let it happen again. I like the lyrics and the beat is really good. The third song I chose is from the same CD and band is well. If had to bring our favorite CD off all time this would be the CD I would bring. The third song I chose is even deeper. I like this song very well and the meaning of the song is very clear. This song is about a relationship that has fallen apart. This person wants to leave but they cannot and they always come back. They are lost and the always can't stay way. I think this person is trying to overcome this other person but they just stay. Bibliography dave

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Essay Essays

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Essay Essays Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Essay Essay Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Essay Essay Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley ActThis article reappraisal is on the article written by David S. Addington called â€Å"Congress Should Repeal or Fix Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to Help Create Jobs. † The Heritage Foundation published the article on September 30 2013. In the article. the writer addresses concerns among companies remaining in conformity with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The writer indicates that subdivision 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley act has caused a fiscal load on companies. Companies spend a big sum of money to remain in conformity with the ordinances on subdivision 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Furthermore. companies could utilize the money spent on scrutinizing fiscal records to put in more concern lines and make more occupations ( Additon. 2011 ) . Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires companies to include a statement of the duty of the company direction for â€Å"establishing and keeping an equal internal control construction and processs for fiscal reporting† along with their study filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) . The one-year study must include an appraisal of the effectivity of the company’s internal control construction and processs for fiscal coverage. followed by holding a registered public accounting house â€Å"attest on. and study on the appraisal made by the direction. † This facet of the statute law requires companies to document of import fiscal paperss along with the reappraisal from the certified public accounting house ; it requires enormous attempt and big sums of money for companies to follow with this facet of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ( Additon. 2011 ) . The writer indicates that companies can utilize the money spent by companies to remain in conformity o n other concerns lines ; making more occupation chances and profiting the economic system. The writer demands that Congress should analyze whether subdivision 404 is needed. and if so. how to cut its dearly-won load on concerns. Modifying or revoking subdivision 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act can liberate concerns to excite the economic system ( Additon. 2011 ) . Businesses must remain in conformity with the jurisprudence to run expeditiously at all times. Companies should remain in conformity to acquire the assurance and trust from investors. The 2012 Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Survey listed where companies stand on reexamining cost. clip. attempts. processes to remain in conformity with the ordinances. Approximately 35 % of midsize organisations spend from $ 100. 000 to $ 500. 000 yearly. and about 80 % spend $ 1 million or less. By twelvemonth four of Sarbanes-Oxley conformity. most organisation are passing $ 100. 000 to $ 500. 000 yearly ( 2012 Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Survey ) ; this is comparatively a little sum of money compared the entire sum the company really makes. The Sarbanes-Oxley act protects the populace from unethical behaviour by companies. If the authorities does non keep companies accountable for their funding. it will take to unconfident investors in the market ; if the populace is non puting in concerns the economic system will non be better. The award the company pays to remain in conformity with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is at the right monetary value. accomplishing trust. and assurance from the popula ce. MentionsDavid S. Addington â€Å"Congress Should Repeal or Fix Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to Help Create Jobs. † The Heritage Foundation. September 30. 2011. Web. Retrieved from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. heritage. org/research/reports/2011/09/congress-should-repeal-or-fix-section-404-of-the-sarbanes-oxley-act-to-help-create-jobs 2012 Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Survey. Retrieved from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. protiviti. com/en-US/Documents/Surveys/2012-SOX-Compliance-Survey-Protiviti. pdf

How to Graduate With a Bachelors Degree Faster

How to Graduate With a Bachelor's Degree Faster Many people choose distance learning for its convenience and speed. Online students are able to work at their own pace and often finish faster than traditional students. But, with all the demands of daily life, many students  search for ways to complete their degrees in even less time. Having a degree sooner may mean making a larger salary, finding new career opportunities, and having more time to do what you want. If speed is what you’re looking for, check out these six tips to earning your degree as quickly as possible. Plan Your Work. Work Your Plan Most students take at least one class that they don’t need for graduation. Taking classes unrelated to your major field of study can be an excellent way to expand your horizons. But, if you’re looking for speed, avoid taking classes that aren’t required for graduation. Double-check your required classes and put together a personalized study plan. Staying in contact with your academic advisor each semester can help you stick to your plan and stay on track. Insist on Transfer Equivalencies Don’t let work you’ve done at other colleges go to waste; ask your current college to give you transfer equivalencies. Even after your college has decided what classes to give you credit for, check to see if any of the classes you have already completed could be counted to fill another graduation requirement. Your school will probably have an office that reviews transfer credit petitions on a weekly basis. Ask for that department’s policies on transfer credits and put together a petition. Include a thorough explanation of the class you have completed and why it should be counted as an equivalency. If you include course descriptions from your previous and current schools’ course handbooks as evidence, chances are you’ll get the credits. Test, Test, Test You can earn instant credits and reduce your schedule by proving your knowledge through testing. Many colleges offer students the opportunity to take the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams in various subject matters for college credit. Additionally, schools often offer their own exams in subjects such as foreign language. Testing fees can be pricey  but are almost always significantly lower than tuition for the courses they replace. Skip the Minor Not all schools require students to declare a minor and, truth be told, most people won’t make too much of a mention of their minor during the life of their career. Dropping all minor classes could save you an entire semester (or more) of work. So, unless your minor is critical to your field of study or would bring you foreseeable benefits, consider eliminating these classes from your plan of action. Put Together a Portfolio Depending on your school, you may be able to get credit for your life experience. Some schools will give students limited credit based on the presentation of a portfolio that proves specific knowledge and skills. Possible sources of life experience include  previous jobs, volunteerism, leadership activities, community participation, accomplishments, etc. Do Double Duty If you have to work anyway, why not get credit for it? Many schools offer students college credits for participating in an internship or work-study experience that relates to their major – even if it’s a paid job. You may be able to get your degree faster by earning credits for what you already do. Check with your school counselor to see what opportunities are available to you.

Kellogg Briand Pact and the Ethiopian Invasion of Italy Research Paper

Kellogg Briand Pact and the Ethiopian Invasion of Italy - Research Paper Example The pact was proposed in 1927 by Aristide Briand the then foreign minister of France. Briand proposed to the government of the US the establishment of a treaty prohibition war between the two nations (Special Cable 1935, 1). The US Secretary of State Franc Kellogg agreed to Briand’s proposal and proposed that the pact encompasses other nations in the deterrence of war among nations. After intense negotiations, the Kellogg-Briand pact encompassed 15 nations including among others Italy, New Zealand, Britain, the US, Germany and South Africa. Parties that accepted the contract agreed that, despite the origin and nature of conflicts among the contracting parties, neither party would use war as a medium of national policy. While up to 62 states eventually ratified the pact, the effectiveness of the Kellogg-Briand was eventually impaired by its inability to provide guidelines of enforcement. In addition, many nations gave the pact a rather unenthusiastic reception because most stat es recognized war as the sole solution to conflict resolution. It is essential to, however, note that while the Kellogg-Briand pact did not advocate resolution to war, the pact acknowledged the right of states to defend their integrity when under attack. The ineffectiveness of the Kellogg-Briand pact is also apparent because no nation or entity was given the authority to ensure all parties abide by the provisions of the pact. Apparently, the pact did not make any substantive contributions to ensuring international order in most cases. However, in 1929, the pact was invoked rather successfully when the USSR and China arrived at a tense moment regarding possession of the Chinese Eastern RR located in Manchuria (George 1969, 308). However, the Kellogg-Briand pact proved to carrying no significant weight, especially because of the practice of engaging in undeclared wars during the 1930s. Such undeclared wars include the 1931 invasion of Manchuria by the Japanese, German’s 1938 oc cupancy of Austria and Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. This section of the paper will examine Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia in the year 1935, and discuss the effects of the Kellogg-Briand pact, if any. The war between Italy and Ethiopia, or the Second Italo-Abyssinian War as it is often referred occurred in 1935 between Fascist Italy and the Empire of Ethiopia. The war between the two nations is notable because of Italy’s use of underhanded strategies against Ethiopia (Mark 2001, 239). For instance, Italy’s illegal utilization of mustard gas clearly contravened the Kellogg-Briand pact. Italy, being a signatory of the pact had contravened the essence of the pact by engaging in undeclared and unwarranted warfare against Ethiopia because of Italy’s desire to annex Ethiopia, which was still uncolonized at the time. Perhaps the reason why Italy sought to annex Ethiopia was its inability to do so in the 19th century. When Italy acquired nations such as Eritrea and Somaliland, it was unable to annex Ethiopia. Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia exposed the inherent limitations of the League of Nations because the league was unable to protect Ethiopia or control Italy. This was despite the fact that both nations were its members and Italy was a

Assign 1) Chpt 6 & 7 Assign 2) Soci DB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assign 1) Chpt 6 & 7 Assign 2) Soci DB - Essay Example In the turn of old age or physical weakness, the spouse must be able to take hold of that responsibility of taking care of his or her partner, and it is only in that way that they can justify what long-term relationship means. Commitment has a particular role to play in long-term relationships. In an episode about marriage in the Oprah Show, there was one thing that she told her guests that really struck me. Oprah said that you will not be in love everyday in the entire course of your marriage and it takes your choice and effort to be in love. This is true about intimacy in long term relationships. This kind is not limited to heterogeneous relationships, because human emotions do not know any gender. What the heart feels is just the way it is, but the relationship existing between the couple, whatever their genders are, is universal. Long term relationships cannot stand with love alone, as love has the tendency to outgrow and consequently ending the emotion. Whereas if a long term-re lationship would rest in commitment, responsibility, acceptance, and respect, there is more chance for love to grow.

Summary of the Lesson Essay Example for Free

Summary of the Lesson Essay Introduction Class 2a is a mixed year group, with 13, more able, year one pupils and 16, less able, year two pupils. The differentiation by the classroom teacher tends to centre around ability grouping with a total of four grouped sets, two for each year group within the class. The lesson to be described took place on Wednesday 22 October by which time the class had been together for just six weeks. I had received a total of eight hours contact time with the children prior to the implementation of the lesson. The class dynamics were such that the majority of year two pupils appeared less focused and more disruptive than the children from year one, who generally, exhibited better levels of concentration. Summary of the Lesson The lesson was to be on forces and movement, for reasons to be explained following this summary the activity was to involve children experimenting with a variety of artificial surfaces that were to be placed on a board and raised by means of wooden blocks. A toy car was then to be placed on the ramp and the number of blocks noted down when the toy car rolled down the ramp to the bottom. The lesson was to begin with a discussion in which children were encouraged to inform me of their previous experience of using ramps as well as their own experience outside of school, riding a bike or other vehicle down a hill. Questions about riding bikes, skateboards etc on grass or on roads were also raised. Some different material was then to be introduced and passed around for the children to touch and comment on. The proposed surfaces included sandpaper, underlay (which was to be used upside down), woollen carpet, corrugated cardboard and bubble-wrap. A question about how builders decide what to make the road with was put to children who were there guided towards the word testing. Children were then told that we were to find out the best surfaces with which to build a new road, but we were only allowed to use the materials they had just been shown. The children were then to propose which surface might suit our needs best (predict) before been guided towards proposing an investigation. At the end of the lesson the children were to feedback their results (one response in particular was very interesting, details to follow) and to say if and why their predictions differed form their findings. Rationale Areas to be addressed when planning a Science Lesson. Having agreed to teach the whole class a science lesson it was then suggested that any activity I do, should link to the current topic of Forces and movement. Planning began by looking at the existing medium term planning. Appendix ii. In addition to the existing planning, the structure of the lesson was also guided by theories of child development. Learning theory Wittrocks view of learning as discussed in Learning in Science by Osborn and Freyberg (1985) proposes that to learn with understanding learners must themselves actively construct, or generate, meaning from sensory input While Piaget, as discussed in Gill Nicholls book, Learning to Teach observed that children learn faster when they co-operate with others; this co-operation develops and improves their formal thinking (page 41) On the basis of Wittrocks views I wanted the children of class 2A to perform an investigation for themselves, with as little adult intervention as possible. It was important that I accommodated Piagets observation, ensuring that the children work in groups to generate elements of co-operative working. This in turn raised additional issues of inclusion, which I will address later. Questioning The importance of teacher and pupils asking questions became increasingly obvious the teacher must accept all answers and questions as valuable and treat them seriously. Therefore a conscious effort was made to incorporate different types of questions to aid understanding and in turn to encourage children to raise their own questions. Childrens questions are important to their learning because it is often through asking questions that they make the link between one experience and another Making Progress in Primary Science, Harlen et al, RoutledgeFalmer, London (2003) Page 28 I planned to ask closed questions for the less able pupils (appendix ii) Which surface did our investigation show to be the best surface? How many blocks did we use before the car started to move when we used the sandpaper? Through to questions that require a greater level of thinking: Can you tell me why the results differed between groups even though we used the same types of cars? Knowledge, Skills and Understanding The National Curriculum specifies that in addition to being taught about scientific knowledge and understanding they should also be taught how to use the process skills that are important to scientific investigation. Not only are these skills useful in the context of a scientific investigation the skills can also be important in other subjects in the National Curriculum, history being the most obvious. In addition to this the development of scientific skills are needed for making sense of new experiences in the future and for learning throughout life. Teaching of science in primary schools, Harlen, W, Page 56 These process skills include: observing (using senses to collect evidence, quantifying) raising questions (asking questions that can be scientifically investigated) hypothesising (offering possible reasons) predicting (using knowledge or available evidence to predict a likely outcome) interpreting (draw a conclusion based on evidence generated) communicating (presenting results, discussing conclusion) adapted from Teaching of science in primary schools, Harlen, W, Page 18 The National Curriculum recognises the skills required in science. SC1, Scientific Enquiry, page 78, lists the skills that children should have developed by the end of year 2. They evaluate evidence and consider whether tests or comparisons are fair. The concept of a fair test was an area that I planned to highlight during the period of the lesson when the children would be guided towards suggesting an investigation. (appendix ii) Children to be asked about where to place the car? Why do we place the car in the same place each time? Summary of Rationale The elements of a lesson that a trainee teacher, as well as a qualified teacher, must consider while planning a lesson are numerous. During this initial discussion I have touched on a number of them including child development, teacher questioning, pupil questioning and development of process skills. These four elements influenced the planning of the lesson more than any others. However the area that facilitates inclusive teaching also has very important implications on many areas of teaching, organisations and childrens learning including: presentation (techniques can be more attractive to some learners than others) grouping (mixed sex sets, mixed abilities, risk of children dominating) differentiation (providing for the various ability levels) recording methods (how are children to record the findings) It is this area and its influence on planning that I will now explore. Learning styles and the presentation of the lesson. The range of teaching methods employed will have different appeals to the different type of learning, these being: Visual (written word, pictures, videos, wall charts) Auditory (spoken word, discussion) Kinesthetic (movement, hands on activity, role play, drama) Adapted from Shaw Hawes, Effective teaching and learning in the primary classroom (page 53) While all children and adult are capable of learning through anyone of these senses many find that they have a preference. The nature of scientific enquiry will tend to be one of a practical activity. Consequently there is a danger of excluding 50% of the classroom, as research has shown that boys tend to prefer this type of learning: boys generally prefer to engage in noisy, physical competitive games that involve them in manipulating or throwing objects. In contrast, girl generally prefer quieter and more cooperative activities, often involving role-play and verbal interaction. Shaw Hawes, Effective teaching and learning in the primary classroom (page 65) In order not to disassociate the children that dont learn in a manipulative, kinesthetic, activity, I decided to build in a co-operative element within the activity. As discussed in the lesson plan, part one (see appendix ii); children will be required to pass the duties around the whole of the group. This also meant that children were always participating or about to participate in the activity, the effect of this was to ensure that all the children stayed on task throughout the investigation. Grouping Children were to be grouped in their registration sets. This provided each of the four groups with mixed sex groups. As a consequence the children were then with other children from the same age group, preventing the possibility that the older children with pourer concentration did not take over the activity, allowing the year one pupils to work at their own pace. Allowing me to differentiate my questioning during the activity. Recording Methods Two work sheets were devised allowing for differentiation in task, with more able pupils being required to write a little more and select their own material to investigate. At the teachers recommendations the additional worksheet and the requirement of children to select their own surfaces to investigate were omitted. It was suggested that this would only confuse the children. Instead I was asked to be more prescriptive. I believe my original lesson showed a higher level of expectation and was uneasy with the changes to be made. However, I felt it better to respect the class teachers experience and follow her recommendations, not least because I had only been with the class for a short period and did not know them very well. Assessment of Childrens Learning The children successfully identified and applied the principles of fair test (appendix i) the assessment of this was done during the lesson through questioning, observation and listening. They discussed their finding both immediately after the activity and also the following morning, during an oral mental starter in numeracy. Using the table of results to help understanding ordinal value. Fair test was again raised and more children offered answers than on the previous day. The children made their own predictions using both the sense of touch and sight. Through discussions during the lesson and in the plenary I was able to question the children about their predictions and whether or not the evidence would support their view or cause them to change their mind. (see appendices for observation notes of children questioned). During the plenary the children identified the winner of the test. Many of the children identified why the sand paper was the more appropriate of the surfaces to use, some of the children describing the surface as smooth which initially confused me but in the context of the other surfaces used seemed acceptable for key stage one. for opportunities for assessment have to be seized as part of the normal everyday teaching process, rendering assessment as close as possible to a natural teaching situation. A guide to teaching practice, Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2003) Assessment for assessments sack however is not acceptable. Findings should be fed back into the planning process. For example if assessment shows that children do not understand a small concept or continue to hold misconceptions then there is little or no reason for moving the learning on. Planning needs to provide both feedback and feedforward, showing what children have achieved and how this will enable them to move on. Jones D, (2000) Where am I going?: planning and assessing progress in literacy. In Fisher and Williams (Eds.) Unlocking Literacy, a guide for teachers, David Fulton (page 95). Conclusion Timing Had I followed my planning and allowed the children to use elastic bands to add an extra dimension to the lesson, the effect would have been to double the activity time. The guidance of the class teachers saved me from running over time. Timing is an area that I must develop. Initially by drawing further on the experience of qualified teachers and eventually through trial and error. Questioning, scaffolding learning Children provided the ideas for the investigation. Although I deliberately gave them all the clues, such as talking about ramps, showing them surfaces and giving them a context in which they were to work. Use of language in creating misconceptions Scientific language carries specific meaning. Children will often have experience of words outside of their scientific meaning. For example; That isnt a plant. Its a weed! Self Assessment Even after careful planning of questions, I found myself using language that children would be unlikely to understand. This is an area that I struggled with and must work on. The classroom teacher also pointed this out to me as an area that I will develop in time. It is important that I level my questioning and phrasing appropriately to the children I am to teach if I am not to lose their interest. While the class teacher agreed with many of my observations and assessments of her class, the subjective nature of this type of assessment did not sit comfortably with me. This again is an area I must develop my confidence in. The structured nature of the task led to a positive learning environment. All the children took part in the activity and the majority of the class answered questions through out the session. The children worked co-operatively and showed an understanding an ability to apply the principle of fair test. Bibliography Harlen W, Macro C, Reed K and Schilling M, (2003), Making Progress in Primary Science, RoutledgeFalmer. Harlen, W, (2003) The teaching of science in Primary Schools, David Fulton Cohen L, Manion L, Morrison K,(2002), A Guide To Teaching Practice, RoutledgeFalmer Osborne R, Freyberg P, (1989), Learning in Science, The implications of childrens science, Heinemann Education National Curriculum, (1999), Dfes Nicholls G, Learning To Teach, (1999), A handbook for primary and secondary school teachers, Kogan Page Dean, Joan, (2000) Improving Childrens Learning, Effective teaching in the primary school, Routledge Edited by Craft A, (1996) Primary Education, assessing and planning learning, Open University Shaw S and Hawes T, (1998), Effective teaching and learning in the primary classroom, The Services Limited. Jones D, (2000) Where am I going?: planning and assessing progress in literacy. In Fisher and Williams (Eds.) Unlocking Literacy, a guide for teachers, David Fulton (page 95).

Bram Stokers Dracula :: Bram Stoker Dracula Essays

Bram Stoker's Dracula In act 2 scene 6 and act 3 scene 6 of the play ‘Dracula’, the playwrite creates impressive tension by using spine-chilling, ghostly settings, and slyly showing us situations in which characters such as vampires, prey on vulnerable characters such as Mina. Also, he uses soliloquies to give the opposing character no power. Also, by using soliloquies in these scenes he gives the point of view from the weak characters’ eyes. Firstly, the playwrite creates impressive tension by using shadowy, ghostly settings. This is shown in the line â€Å"she took me through the abbey and into the churchyard†, from act 2 scene 6. Act 2 scene 6 is set in the graveyard. Lucy is at home in the graveyard when she says â€Å"I like it here, don’t you ? Among the dead. It’s so peaceful†. This creates a creepy atmosphere as at night time humans avoid visiting graveyards. Also, in this scene the child is shown to be scared by saying, â€Å"It’s dark† and â€Å"I ought to go home now.† The setting could be improved by adding tomb-stones and mysterious dark shapes in the background. Act 3 scene 6 is set in Jonathan’s bedroom at night. Mina says in the play â€Å"flowers of garlic were hung from the window frames†, which suggests she was scared of Dracula. She also has a crucifix on the table. Mina says â€Å"the night air touched my face†, setting a ghostly scene. The setting could be improved by having Dracula bursting his way in through a locked door. This would cause shock and increase the feeling of tension. Secondly, the playwrite creates tension by showing us situations in which characters prey on other characters. In act 2 scene 6 Lucy is preying on a child. She talks sympathetically in the line â€Å"Do you want to go for a walk?† The child has not really been given any choice by Lucy, but to accompany her. She then takes him to the graveyard and sits him on a bench and lulls him to sleep. When the child is asleep, Lucy bends over him and intends to do some harm. Luckily Seward and Van Helsing are there to stop her. You could improve this scene by making the child more reluctant to go with Lucy, thus creating more tension. In act 3 scene 6 Dracula preys on Mina, who is vulnerable and he thinks she will go with him easily. He uses persuasion at first in the quotes â€Å"No need to fear me, it is our destiny to walk together† and â€Å"I bring you life†. It does not work

Post Colonial Perception on the Grass Is Singing Essay

The Grass Is Singing, first published in 1950, was an international success. The story focuses on Mary Turner, the wife of a farmer, who is found murdered on the porch of her home. After her body is found, we are taken back to her younger days and slowly discover what happened to her. The background, location of this story is set in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in South Africa which has been drawn from Doris Lessing’s own childhood spent there. Her first hand knowledge of living on a farm in South Africa shines through in this book. The land, the characters, the farming are all vividly described. Both of her parents were British: her father, who had been crippled in World War I, was a clerk in the Imperial Bank of Persia; her mother had been a nurse. In 1925, lured by the promise of getting rich through maize farming, the family moved to the British colony in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Doris’s mother adapted to the rough life in the settlement, energetically trying to reproduce what was, in her view, a civilized, Edwardian life among savages; but her father did not, and the thousand-odd acres of bush he had bought failed to yield the promised wealth. Similar sequences are presented in the book. Doris Lessing was born Doris May Tayler in Persia (now Iran) on October 22, 1919. She is a great female British writer and in October 2007, became the eleventh woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in its 106-year history, and its oldest recipient ever. Lessing has written many novels, short stories and tales, drama, poetry and comics of which novels like The Grass Is Singing, The Golden Notebook are the most popular and her works continue to be reprinted. Lessing realized that she had quite an amazing life but didn’t know how to attack it when she started writing a book. She read a newspaper cutting about a white mistress murdered by her black cook, none knows why and he is waiting to be hanged. However, Doris knew perfectly well why he had committed this crime because of her upbringing. For example, there was a lady gossiped about in her neighborhood that she allowed her cook-boy to button up the back of her dress and brush her hair. It is appalling and awful, she says. It was a violation of the white behavior. But she didn’t behave like a white mistress. She had treated him like a friend and then started treating him like a servant. They were treated abominably. It was said that the white mistresses didn’t know how to treat their servants and obviously it was a sex thing. In African culture, for women to tell a man what to do was impossible. Yet, all these houses had men-servants and the white mistresses spoke to them in high, harassed, angry voice. They couldn’t talk to them like people. The author chooses to start this novel by the end. It begins with a brief newspaper clipping, suggesting the murder of Mary Turner under the headline ‘Murder Mystery’. However, it certainly is not a murder mystery as we are told the suspect has confessed the crime and there is no serious effort to unravel the crime. It is not who but why behind the murder. Lessing’s purpose is quite different. She wants to establish an end point in order to examine the extremely fl awed society in which it occurs. The author has given the reader a place, an event and a social problem all before her narrative begins. Lessing wrote two books, one of them at long-hand after returning home to the farm. The other one, in which she made fun of the white culture, was mannered. This helped her to write about the white culture in Southern Rhodesia in ‘The Grass Is Singing’. According to Ruth Whittaker, one of the readers of Lessing’s works, this novel is â€Å"an extraordinary first novel in its assured treatment of its unusual subject matter†¦ Doris Lessing questions the entire values of the Rhodesian white colonial society.† The novel reflects its author’s disapproval of sexual and political prejudices and colonialism in the Southern African setting through the life of Mary Turner and a fatal relationship with their black servant. On the surface, it seems a psychological and personal portrayal of a female protagonist from childhood to death but seen as a whole, it is the political exposure of the futility and fragility of the patriarchal and colonial society upon which the masculinity of imperialism has sustained itself. The whole novel can be seen as Mary’s struggle towards individuation to preserve her authenticity and sense of self but it fails because of the psychological and the political forces which furnish her little insight and threaten to crush her. I attempt to show how Lessing portrays Mary’s subjectivity as shaped and entangles within the ideological triangle of class, gender and race; and how the same sexual and ideological factors, rooted in family and culture, causes failure in Mary’s achieving her own sense of self and dooms her to death. Mary is fragmented between two contradictory statuses: on one hand she longs to be a subject of her life, to live in a way she desires, and on the other hand she unconsciously performs a role as an object of the white oppressive structure of a colonial society which extracts meaning of her personal self and imposes its values forcing, the individual to yield to the good of the collective. Mary’s subjectivity and behavioral pattern are shaped by the cross-hatched intersection of class, gender and race through the operation of sexual and political colonialism in the context of imperialism. Gender and Class: The early sketch of Mary’s characterization entails a subjectivity negotiating between gender and class positions. Mary’s early childhood is shaped under the influence of an oppressive father who wastes his money on drinks while his family lives in misery and poverty. Her mother, â€Å"a tall scrawny woman† who â€Å"made a confidante of Mary early†¦and used to cry over her sewing and Mary comforted her miserably†, is her first model of gender role: a passive and helpless woman, dominated by the overwhelming masculine patterns, nonetheless the complying of victim of poverty. Besides sharing the pains of poverty and living in â€Å"a little house that was like a small wooden box on slits† and the twelve month quarrel of her parents over money, Mary has been the witness of their sexuality and her mother’s body in the hands of a man who was simply not present for her. All her life, Mary tries to forget these memories but in fact she has just suppressed them with the fear of sexuality which comes up later nightmarishingly in her dreams. By seeing her mother as a feminine victim of a miserable marriage, she internalizes a negative image of feminity in the form of sexual repression, inheriting her mother’s arid feminism. Race and Gender: The narrator exposes that the Turners’ failure at farming and their poverty and reclusiveness have made them disliked in the district. The Turners’ primitive condition of life is irritating for other white settlers because they do not like the natives to see themselves live in the same manner as the whites, which would destroy that spirit de corps â€Å"which is the first rule of South African society†. This anxiety is more political than economic based on the opposition of white/black. ln this way, another complex clash of value system, besides gender and class, is added to the narrative structure of the novel and that is the matter of race. Colonialism is based on the white men’s spirit of venture for missionary and farm life through their settlement in the third world countries and harvesting their resources by establishing the imperial authority over the native people. The white men, by enslaving the native men on the lands they have in fact stolen fro m them and feminizing some others in their house chores, preserve their own position as masters in the center and the natives as â€Å"Others† in the margin. They use race and gender, two inseparable qualifiers, to access their privilege of power in the imperial hierarchy and legitimize their actions. Gender and race are components of this hierarchy by which the white settlers attempt to establish their own rules and security in the alien land. The binary of white/black reminds us of race difference which itself is linked and dependent on other differences, more importantly gender. White women are objectified as unattainable property of white men through stereotyping the native men as violent, savage and sexually threatening. These double strategies both take the individuality from white women and colonize them as sexual objects always in danger and in need of the heroic protection of their white men and help the white men overcome their fear and jealousy for the superior sexual potency of the black men. The dominant White culture projects â€Å"all of those qualities and characteristics which it most fears and hates within itself† on the natives which creates for the subordinate group â€Å"a wholly negative cultural identity†. Similarly Jan Mohamed notes that: â€Å"the native is cast as no more than a recipient of the negative elements of the self that the European projects onto him†. The patriarchal myth of white woman as white man‘s property and symbol of his power and the â€Å"forbidden fruit† for black man expels women from subjective roles by imposing on them the view that they are unable to handle the black laborers. Therefore the white women are convinced that they cannot share power with the white men especially in the farm life which is the current context of masculinity, tough work, action: challenge beyond domesticity. So they are confined in the domestic sphere and considered shiftless. Charlie Slatter, the most successful and powerful farmer of the district in this novel, makes a joke of it: â€Å"Needs a man to deal with niggers. Niggers don‘t understand women giving them orders. They keep their own women in their right places†. In such colonial discourse, the black natives, employed whether as domestic servants in feminine sphere or as impoverished agricultural workers, are represented as wild, violent, potential rapists, and threatening the white women who need the white men‘s protection against the natives. In this way, white patriarchy makes a heroic scenario for itself. During the first scene in which Moses touches Mary, she is alarmed at the sensation and feels certain that it is a prelude to rape. Instead, he pushes her gently on the bed, and covers her feet with her nightgown. Even in the later scene in which Moses is caught by the Englishman in a moment of scandalousl y inappropriate contact with Mary, he is caught pulling a dress over her head with â€Å"indulgent uxoriousness†. The insinuations of tenderness, indeed romance between Moses and Mary appear in this moment to offer a radical alternative to the prototypical script of rape applied to all relationships between white women and black men during the apartheid era. Any doubt as to Moses’s fundamentally violent nature is also eradicated in the final scenes in which he returns to batter Mary to death. In the sexual politics of the colonial myth, white women are victims as the native subjects are in the racial politics. A woman who is privileged racially can simultaneously experience gender limitations and class difference within her own category, like in the case of Mary Turner. Mary fails to preserve her individuality because she is not able to resist the strong master narratives of the false colonial and patriarchal myth of superiority of her culture through the discourse of gender and race which place her firmly in a predetermined position. Marginalization: Lessing has described the feelings of the characters, especially of Mary profoundly. The description of Mary, her wishes and her behavior, is done in a rather psychological way proving Mary Turner’s life tragic. She is effectively forced into marriage by the weight of social expectations and traditions. She never loves her husband, but she is, at least initially, glad to have one, as it makes her â€Å"normal†. From the moment she marries, she is engaged in a losing battle to hold on to her own identity and survive this marriage. We can distinguish Mary as a victim of marginalization. This is mainly because her needs for development are not considered by her husband and she plays no role in influencing decisions for their house. Since she is bewildered by Dick’s house which consists of a corrugated iron roof, zinc bath, skins of animals on red brick floor – all old and badly maintained, with her own saved money Mary brings flowered materials and cushions t o make curtains, a little linen, crockery and some dress lengths (61). Further she asks Dick for ceilings over corrugated iron roof but he refuses saying that it would cost too much and they may have it done next year if they do well (63). Dick is now instead investing in other things like setting up a grocery store, growing maize, harvesting beehives, pigs, turkeys, etc. that he thinks would help them grow rich less realizing his wife felt sick with the heat when she stayed in the house under the iron roof. Unfortunately, Dick keeps failing at every attempt of his to improve their condition. Mary is, all the time, counting money wasted on Dick’s various attempts at different jobs which could have improved the condition of their house. Here, Dick has never taken into account Mary’s guidance and excluded her from making or influencing his decisions before going on with these jobs. We can, hence, distinguish Mary as a victim of marginalization, the marginalized. Perhaps Mary’s tragedy is all the deeper on account of the fact that she never realizes that the native Africans who must work the farms of the white settlers are just as much tragic victims as she is. The natives are deprived of their own land and looked down with contempt. The black native men are made to serve the white colonies. Much of the discourse around the British colonies in postmodernism is centered on the exploitation of the resources and the people from the colonies, leading to a feeling of racial superiority on the part of the colonizer. This deep-seated racism is clearly evident in Doris Lessing’s The Grass is Singing as none of the white colonials are sympathetic or even see the Zimbabweans as fully human. Mary too treats all her house boys dreadfully; she despises their carelessness, their laziness, and their failure to pander adequately to her. At one moment, when she replaces her sick husband in the fields, she is thoroughly brutal with the black farm hands. However, I feel that Lessing’s novel is less concerned about showing the misery felt by the Zimbabweans for the hand they were dealt by the colonial Empire and more about showing the toll colonialism has on those who do not belong there. What Lessing is really showing is how damaging the colonial psyche can be when one is not equipped for it. One is left with a sense that when prejudice and false ideas generated by self-interest become institutionalized, they cloud the perception of people so thoroughly that even the victims are capable of victimizing others. In spite of its formulaic narrative, The Grass Is Singing has nonetheless been read as a progressive critique of â€Å"injustice, racism, and sexual hypocrisy,† in part because of its open investigation of gender and sexuality. It is through Mary’s predicaments as a woman and in particular as a member of the working class that The Grass Is Singing opens up potentially radical grounds for sympathy. At first glance, Mary’s stereotypical obsession with domesticity combined with scorn for all her black servants recalls Ronald Hyam’s caricature of white women in the colonies as â€Å"[m]oping and sickly, narrowly intolerant, vindictive to the locals, despotic and abusive to their servants†. For some, however, Mary’s plight is a more realistic and â€Å"tragic example of how hardship and isolation can destroy even the most independent of women† (Fishburn 2). Indeed, her intolerance for her black servants becomes more complex when read as a displaced resistance against the patriarchal norms of her society. Mary’s belligerence is a clear projection of her anger against an unsatisfactory marriage and the oppressive, gendered social norms that led to its existence. Dick’s attitude towards her is never hostile or abusive, but she persistently resents him for things that she knows he is not able to help, such as his string of financial failures, the unbearable poverty, and the virtual absence of any company or entertainment at the farm. Even among other white people, such as the nearby Slatter family, Mary feels too much pride and humiliation to express the full depths of her loneliness and despair. It is only in the presence of her black servants that she feels able to release the full-blown rage and intolerance that have clearly erupted from elsewhere. What really killed Mary Turner? Various critics have expressed confusion over why the dialectic must necessarily be resolved by Moses’s murder of Mary. A reviewer in The Doris Lessing Newsletter asked, â€Å"Why does Moses murder Mary?† The TLS queried, â€Å"Why does he feel he has to kill her?† and The Listener demanded, â€Å"Is this the only possible outcome?† (11) Lessing leaves Moses’s inner states shrouded in mystery: after his act of murder, â€Å"what thoughts of regret, or pity, or perhaps even wounded human affection were compounded with the satisfaction of his completed revenge, it is impossible to say† (206). Equally cryptic is the fact that Mary herself becomes complicit in her own murder, to the extent that she runs toward Moses, sure of the fact that he should kill her. This desire to die is prefaced by an unbearable, tragicomic sense of her South African history. Shortly before her death, Mary peruses volumes of books celebrating the legacy of Cecil Rhodes, and she laughs long and bitterly, thinking absent-mindedly to herself, â€Å"But the young man [Moses] would save her† (199). As she lies down to sleep on the night of the murder, she â€Å"turned her face into the darkness of the pillows, but her eyes were alive with light, and against the light she saw a dark, waiting shape. †¦ Propelled by fear, but also by knowledge, she rose out of bed, not making a sound† (203). As Mary makes her way onto the veranda, â€Å"the trees stood still and waited† until finally Moses appears, and â€Å"at the sight of him, her emotions unexpectedly shifted, to create in her an extraordinary feeling of guilt, but towards him, to whom she had been disloyal, and at the bidding of the Englishman† (204). As she opens her mouth to apologize, Moses clasps one hand over her mouth to silence her and with the other hacks her head with a blunt instrument. â€Å"And then the bush avenged itself: that was her last thought†. Mary’s cognizance of the murder as one compounded by her own guilt and by vengeance, rather than unwarranted aggression, shows a strange ability to forgive her own murderer even as he performs the act that she knows he is compelled to do. Charles Sarvan argues that Mary’s death has religious and apocalyptic overtones in that she decides â€Å"to offer herself as a sacrifice which will both atone for past crimes and hasten the coming of the new order†. Well if it came down to forensics it would be clear that the killer was Moses. But Mary Turner was long gone before Moses took a machete to her. This begs the question then of what really killed Mary Turner? In my opinion, I would argue that the real killer was the African outback. Lessing’s protagonist Mary spent her whole life in the African colony, and yet she never seems to fully belong. She spends the first half of her life in the town where she is blissfully and naively happy. Yet, even in the town Mary remains an outsider. Mary belongs to an English community and therefore must conform to English standards for women. She loves England (despite never having been there) so she performs her civic duty and jumps into a marriage with a poor farmer living deep in the African outback. A marriage in town is nothing like a marriage in the country and Mary quickly realizes it. She is uprooted from the life she immensely enjoyed in town and is planted into a decrepit farm house that is falling apart around her. The misery she feels about her living conditions is no match for the true conditions of Africa she sees for the first time. In the outback, Mary is confronted with the reality of colonialism- the natives- and she can not mentally or physically stand it. When the natives are far away working for Dick, Mary can at least barely tolerate living on the farm. However, when confronted with the natives in her home she unravels. In the African outback this idea of British civilization falls to pieces because as Sarah De Mal says in her article â€Å"Doris Lessing, Feminism, and the Representation of Zimbabwe, â€Å"the omniscient narrator describes how the main protagonist feels displaced within colonial culture since her desires and dreams are at odds with the prevailing values and rules of this culture† (De Mal 36). What Mary dreams of is a life in town, away from the natives working as a typist in an ordinary office living with other white colonists. Her reality is far removed from this as she is living with the true colonials whom she resents and despises as being the â€Å"other†. And when this â€Å"other† characterized by Moses confronts her and invades her space, her mind and her body deteriorates rapidly until she resembles merely a shell of a human being. Moses is a direct confrontation of the fantasy Mary has. She envisions herself as an English rose whose purity must not be tainted by the black man. Yet when Moses physically touches her and confronts her about her attitude towards him, Mary falls apart. By these two acts, Moses has killed her fantasy by forcing her to see him as a human being. Mary can no longer pretend she has superiority over him as a white woman. It is this realization that kills her for after she submits the Moses’ humanity she loses all sanity. Moses only finished the process by ending her physical life. I believe all in all Moses was the end of Mary. However, it was not his machete that killed her. What killed her was his which is the reality of the colony and the people who lived there. Her fantasy of being a true and righteous English woman could not hold up against the vastness of Africa and this reality broke her spirit and left her as empty as she had envisioned the African outback to be. Conclusion Mary Turner is not able to grasp her own identity because her identity is compounded by the overpowering colonial and gender narratives in which she is knit. The colonial ruling power dictates that she as an individual has to behave according to the terms imposed by her imperial identity. Even her disintegration must be silenced because it threatens the whole authority of the dominant category. Mary fails in her journey of self-quest but she is the heroine of this novel because she reverses the social, racial and cultural orders of her society though unconsciously. As in Katherine Fishburn‘s words, she is as an â€Å"accidental rebel† who at least dissolves the dichotomous orders and consequently reveals for the reader the fear and falsity of the white civilization whose indictment is the division between privileged white and the dispossessed black. (Fishburn 4) Sima Aghazadeh quotes, â€Å"by her death, Mary paves the way for the native (Africa/Moses) to take a subject ive action†. She cannot guarantee her own identity since she does not have any antidote to loneliness, poverty and gender limitations, but she foreshadows a change in Imperial attitudes. The Grass is Singing, through its circular narration from a collective perspective of Mary’s murder to an individual account of her personal life, completes an indictment of its central character’s life in the center of a closed white colonial society in southern Africa in which the linked discourses of class, race, and gender bring her into exclusion, isolation, break down, and finally to death. Mary’s failure of individuation is the failure of patriarchy and colonial culture to satisfy its female member to find fulfillment within this status quo. References: * Fishburn, Katherine. â€Å"The Manichcan Allegories of Doris Lessing’s The Grass is Singing†, Research in Literature, Vol.25, No.4 Winter I994. * Wang, Joy. â€Å"White postcolonial guilt in Doris Lessing’s The Grass is Singing.† Research in African Literatures 40.3 (2009): 37+. Academic OneFile.Web. 15 Sep. 2012. * Fishburn, Katherine. â€Å"The Manichean Allegories of Doris Lessing’s The Grass Is Singing.† Research in African Literatures 25.4 (1994): 1-15. * Postcolonial African Writers- A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook – Pushpa Naidu Parekh, Siga Fatima Jagne – Google Books * http://www.dorislessing.org/biography.html * Doris Lessing – Writer – -The Grass Is Singing- – Web of Stories – http://www.webofstories.com/play/53470?o=MS * The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing – http://www.dorislessing.org/the.html * The Grass is Singing – Doris Lessing – Review – Life and death in South Africa – http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/printed-books/the-grass-is-singing-doris-

Clearwater Technologies

Clear Water Technologies : A Case Study QTX is a sales support server that allows multiple users to simultaneously maintain their sales account databases. These databases covers contact information, quote histories, copies of all communications, and links to the customer's corporate database for shipping records. The basic QTX package consists of a processor, chassis, hard drive, and network interface, with a manufacturing cost of $500. The package provided simultaneous access for 10 users to the system, referred to as 10 â€Å"seats. Each seat represented one accessing employee. The product line consisted of 10-, 20-, and 30-seat capacity QTX servers. Each incremental 10 seats required $200 of additional manufacturing cost. Yearly sales were at the rate of 4,000 units across all sizes. In initial sales, approximately 30 percent of customers bought the 30-seat unit, 40 percent bought the 20-seat unit, and 30 percent bought the 10-seat unit. Customers who needed more than 30 seats ty pically went to competitors servicing the medium-to-large company market segment.Clearwater set a per-seat manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) that decreased with higher quantity seat purchases, reflecting the customer perception of declining manufacturing cost per seat. Clearwater also saw this as advantageous because it encouraged customers to maximize their initial seat purchase. Clearwater typically sold its products through value-added resellers (VARs). A VAR was typically a small local firm that provided sales and support to end users.The value added by these resellers was that they provided a complete solution to the end user/customer from a single point of purchase and had multiple information technology products available from various vendors. Using VARs reduced Clearwater's sales and service expense significantly and increased its market coverage. These intermediaries operated in several steps. First, the VAR combined the QTX from Clearwater with database software from other suppliers to form a turnkey customer solution.Second, the VAR loaded the software with customer-specific information and linked it to the customer's existing sales history databases. Finally, the VAR installed the product at the customer's site and trained the customer on its use. Clearwater sold the QTX to resellers at a 50 percent discount from the MSRP, allowing the VARs to sell to the end user at or below the MSRP. The discount allowed the VARs room to negotiate with the customer and still achieve a profit. The Upgrade Initially, the expectation had been that the 30-seat unit would be the largest volume seller.In order to gain economies of scale in manufacturing, reduce inventory configurations, and reduce engineering design and testing expense to a single assembly, Clearwater decided to manufacture only the 30-seat server with the appropriate number of seats â€Å"enabled† for the buyer. Clearwater was effectively â€Å"giving away† extra memory and ab sorbing the higher cost rather than manufacturing the various sizes. If a customer wanted a 10-seat server, the company shipped a 30-seat capable unit, with only the requested 10 seats enabled through software configuration.The proposed upgrade was, in reality, allowing customers to access capability already built into the product. Clearwater knew that many original customers were ready to use the additional capacity in the QTX. Some customers had added seats by buying a second box, but because the original product contained the capability to expand by accessing the disabled seats, Clearwater saw an opportunity to expand the product line and increase sales to a captive customer base. Customers could double or triple their seat capacity by purchasing either a 10- or a 20-seat upgrade and getting an access code to enable the additional number of seats.No other competitor offered the possibility of an upgrade. To gain additional seats from the competitor, the customer purchased and ins talled an additional box. Because customers performed a significant amount of acceptance testing, which they would have to repeat before switching brands, the likelihood of changing brands to add capacity was low. The objective of this morning's meeting was to set the price for the two upgrades. As QTX product manager Rob Erickson stopped to collect his most recent notes from his desk, he reflected: What a way to start the week.Every time we have one of these meetings, senior management only looks at margins. I spent the whole weekend cranking numbers and I'm going in there using the highest margin we've got today. How can anybody say that's too low? He grabbed his notes, calculator, and coffee and headed down the hall. From the other wing of the building, financial analyst Hillary Hanson was crossing the lobby towards the conference room. She was thinking about the conversation she had late Number MSRP to VAR Unit Unit of Seats End User Price Cost* Margin** 10 $8,000 $4,000 $500 87 . 5% 20 $14,000 $7,000 $700 90. 0% 30 $17,250 $8,625 $900 89. % TABLE 1 *Unit cost reflects additional $200 for memory capability for each additional 10 seats. **Margin _ VAR Price _ Unit Cost VAR Price Number Original Original Actual Actual of Seats Unit Cost Unit Margin Unit Cost Unit Margin 10 $500 87. 5% $900 77. 5% 20 $700 90. 0% $900 87. 1% 30 $900 89. 6% $900 89. 6% TABLE 2 Friday afternoon with her boss, Alicia Fisher, Clearwater's CFO. They had been discussing this upcoming meeting and Alicia had given Hillary very clear instructions. I want you to go in and argue for the highest price possible. We should absolutely maximize the profitability on the upgrade.The customers are already committed to us and they have no alternative for an upgrade but with us. The switching costs to change at this point are too high since they've already been trained in our system and software. Let's go for it. Besides, we really need to show some serious revenue generation for the year-end repor t to the stockholders. Hillary had not actually finalized a number. She figured she could see what the others proposed and then argue for a significant premium over that. She had the CFO's backing so she could keep pushing for more. From the parking lot, Brian James, the district sales manager, headed for the rear entrance.He, too, was thinking about the upcoming meeting and anticipating a long morning. I wish marketing would realize that when they come up with some grandiose number for a new product, sales takes the hit in the field. It's a killer to have to explain to customers that they have to pay big bucks for something that's essentially built in. It's gonna be even tougher to justify on this upgrade. At least with the QTX, we have something the buyer can see. It's hardware. With the upgrade, there isn't even a physical product. We're just giving customers a code to access the capability that's already built into the machine.Telling customers that they have to pay several thou sand dollars never makes you popular. If you think about it, that's a lot of money for an access code, but you won't hear me say that out loud. Maybe I can get them to agree to something reasonable this time. I spent the weekend working this one out, and I think my logic is pretty solid. Price Proposals Once everyone was settled in the conference room, Rob spoke first: I know we have to come up with prices for both the 10-seat and 20-seat upgrades, but to keep things manageable, let's discuss the 20-seat price first.Once that number is set, the 10-seat price should be simple. Because the margin on the 30-seat unit is the highest in the line, I think we should use that as the basis to the price for the upgrade. He went to a whiteboard to show an example: If a customer is upgrading from a 10-seat unit to a 30-seat unit, they are adding two steps of capacity costing $200 each to us, or $400. $400 /1-0. 90 _ $4,000 to the reseller, and $8,000 to the end user. We keep the margin structur e in place at the highest point in the line. The customer gets additional capacity, and we keep our margins consistent.He sat down feeling pleased. He had fired the first shot, had been consistent with the existing margin structure, and had rounded up the highest margin point in the line. Brian looked at Rob's calculations and commented: I think that's going to be hard for the customer to see without us giving away information about our margins, and we don't want to do that, since they are pretty aggressive to begin with. However, I think I have solved this one for us. I've finally come up with a simple, fair solution to pricing the upgrade that works for us and the customers. He walked over to a whiteboard and grabbed a marker:If we assume an existing 10-seat customer has decided to upgrade to 30-seat capability, we should charge that customer the difference between what the buyer has already paid and the price of the new capacity. So . . . New 30-seat unit $17,250 Original 10-seat unit $8,000 Price for 20-seat upgrade $9,250 It's consistent with our current pricing for the QTX. It's fair to the customer. It's easy for the customer to understand and it still makes wads of money for us. It also is easy for the customer to see that we're being good to them. If they bought a 20-seat box in addition to the 10-seat box they already have, it would be costing them more.He wrote: New 20-seat unit $14,000 A new unit provides customers with redundancy by having two boxes, which they might want in the event of product failure, but the cost is pretty stiff. Upgrading becomes the logical and affordable option. Hillary looked at the numbers and knew just what she was going to do. That all looks very logical, but I don't see that either of you has the company's best interests at heart. Brian, you just want a simple sale that your sales people and the customers will buy into, and Rob, you are charging even less than Brian. We need to consider the revenue issue as well.These people have already bought from us; are trained on our hardware and software and don't want to have to repeat the process with someone else. It would take too long. They've got no desire to make a change and that means we've got them. The sky is really the limit on how much we can charge them because they have no real alternative. We should take this opportunity to really go for the gold, say $15,000 or even $20,000. We can and should be as aggressive as possible. All three continued to argue the relative merits of their pricing positions, without notable success.Jefferies listened to each of them and after they finished, he turned to a clean whiteboard and took the marker. I've done some more thinking on this. In order to meet the needs of all three departments, there are three very important points that the price structure for these upgrades must accomplish: 1. The pricing for the upgrades shouldn't undercut the existing pricing for the 30-seat QTX. 2. We want to motivate our buye rs to purchase the maximum number of seats at the initial purchase. A dollar now is better than a potential dollar later. We never know for sure that they will make that second purchase.If we don't do this right, we're going to encourage customers to reduce their initial purchase. They'll figure they can add capacity whenever, so why buy it if they don't need it. That would kill upfront sales of the QTX. 3. We don't want to leave any revenue on the table when buyers decide to buy more capacity. They are already committed to us and our technology and we should capitalize on that, without totally ripping them off. Therefore, while Hillary says â€Å"the sky's the limit,† I think there is a limit and we need to determine what it is and how close we can come to it.If we assume that those are the objectives, none of the prices you've put together thus far answers all three of those criteria. Some come close, but each one fails. See if you can put your heads together and come to a consensus price that satisfies all three objectives. OK? Heads nodded and with that, Jefferies left the conference room. The three remaining occupants looked at one another. Brian got up to wipe the previous numbers off the whiteboards and said: OK, one more time. If our numbers don't work, why not and what is the right price for the 20-seat upgrade?