Monday, September 30, 2019

A Library Paper on the Effects of Excessive Production of Nurses

The Philippines, according to recent news, has currently a high  unemployment and underemployment rate of Filipino nurses. One of the reasons behind this is the overproduction of nurses by Philippine Nursing Schools Overproduction nurses in the country still persists from approximately 350 schools (personal communication,  Philippine Nurses Association, 2005). It was reported (Klein, 2003) that the country produces more than  9,000 nurses annually, 5,000-7,000 of whom become licensed. Da Prat, 2005) Another cause is the decreasing demand for  Filipino nurses in the United States and other countries. About four years ago, Nursing became an in demand profession abroad for Filipinos after various countries allowed immigrants to work and to have other immigration opportunities. It was then that an overwhelming number of students became enthralled by this high salary and decided to get a degree in Nursing. Eventually,  entrepreneurs took advantage of this increased demand to est ablish nursing schools due to the growing number of students who want to earn a degree in nursing.Apparently, not all the nursing schools offer quality-nursing education. This, too, affected the chances of the students to be employed. Moreover, the passing rate of the PRC nursing board examinations has significantly declined  for the last ten years, despite the increasing numbers of nursing graduates. (Hernandez, 2008) The proponents of the research have identified two categories that influence the overproduction of nurses, the intrinsic and extrinsic.The intrinsic factors include the interests of the students, and migration, whereas the peer pressure, and parental influence fall under extrinsic. The first intrinsic factor that influences the overproduction of nurses is the student’s interest. Personal interest is a feeling or emotion of a person that causes attention to focus on an object or an event or a process. (Encarta Dictionaries 2008) In this study, it denotes on th e students’ way of selecting a particular degree when they will be in college that involves their primary attention and concentration.The college choice process has been defined as a funnel that progressively narrows the pool of students who consider attending higher education and finally resolves where they will attend (Litton, 1982; Hossler & Gallagher, 1987). Bateman and Spruill (1996) assert that the college choice process is ongoing, continuing throughout a student’s undergraduate career and beyond. Understanding why and where students initially choose to attend college is not only important in and of it, but may also be critical in understanding students’ continuing decisions about college attendance. Bateman and Spruill, 1996) Student’s aspirations of becoming a nurse have rooted from the following factors. First, they believe that nursing offers many job opportunities. Some of the career options that are available to nurses include home health care, volunteer opportunities, legal work, doctor’s office work, pediatric nursing, acute care nursing, surgical nursing, etc. , and they can even have additional training to become Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Anesthetists. Blanche, 2010) Second, it could offer them high salary and lots of benefits. According to Dr. Jaime-Galvez Tan of the University of the Philippines, wanting to earn and have a better life are the common reasons why registered nurses want to move to America, where the salary is $4,000 dollars a month compared to $180 to $220 per month in the Philippines. (Petrun, 2007) Lastly, Nursing is the field of interest and ambition of some students. Doctors may be the head of the operation in some cases but the nurses are the heart and soul.According to Professor Adelani Ogunrinade, the National University of Lesotho Vice-Chancellor, Nursing is a noble profession that requires dedication, compassion, love and care to patients. Another intrinsic el ement is migration. The developed countries have experienced chronic nursing shortages due to different factors, which include aging baby boomers and the lack of interest of its citizens to take up nursing. As a result, they recruit nurses from developing countries. Globalization and the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) further promote this phenomenon to the developed nation’s advantage.To entice professionals to their countries, they offer benefits that include higher salaries, better working conditions and more career opportunities. The low wages, poor working conditions, and poor economic and political situations further drive Filipinos away from their country. These have led to mass migration of nurses, which is a phenomenon unique to the Philippines. Furthermore, the reasons for the migration of the professionals are a combination of â€Å"push† and â€Å"pull† factors. Push factors relate to exporting countries like the Philippines, while pul l factors are to importing countries.The main â€Å"push† factor that motivates workers to go abroad is low salaries and poor employment conditions in the source countries, whereas the higher salaries offered, the immigrants status incentive and more career development opportunities are the ones considered as â€Å"pull† factors. To a particular extent, there is a mirror image of push and pull factors which pertain to the relative payment of pay, career opportunities, working conditions and working environment of the source and destination countries (Buchan et al, 2003).However, there are also some extrinsic factors that may contribute to the overproduction of nurses. First of which is peer pressure. Peer pressure is defined as the influence of a social group, which is considered as a person’s equal in such as respect, age, education and social class. (Encarta Dictionaries 2008) In this study, it refers to the persons or significant others that can manipulate th e decision-making of the nursing students. Moreover, parent’s influence is also categorized under extrinsic factors. It is defined as the parent’s chance or ability to choose for their children (Encarta Dictionaries 2008).In this study, it refers to the capacity of the parents that can control the respondent’s decision to what degree to take in college. One consistent finding in research suggests that adolescents’ own aspirations are influenced by their parents’ aspirations or expectations for them. When adolescents perceive their parents to have high educational expectations for them, adolescents are likely to have higher aspirations for themselves. A 1998 Sylvan Learning Center report indicates that parents’ and children’s views about career aspirations are more compatible than incompatible.Parents are influential figures with whom, whether intentionally or unintentionally, children become aware of and get exposed to occupations or career opportunities and implied expectations. (Taylor et al, 2004) Other studies have separately examined the influences of each parent on the career choices of their sons or daughters and have found that mothers tend to have more influence on the career decisions/aspirations of their children than fathers. For instance, Mickelson and Velasco (1998) cited their interviews conducted with 70 young adults in 1986.They found that mothers were the most influential and that daughters’ occupational aspirations were often similar to their mothers’ chosen professions (Mickelson and Velasco, 1998). In similar studies, students were asked items such as, â€Å"What do you want to do with your life? † and to indicate if they agree or disagree with statements such as â€Å"My mother (father) encouraged me to make my own decisions. † The students’ responses were similar to those of their parents. These studies also found that students wanted to discuss career pl anning primarily with their mothers.Overall, research supports the influence of parental expectations and aspirations on the career decisions and aspirations of their children. These expectations lay a foundation for parents’ behaviors and interactions with their children, which then indirectly or directly influence choices they make in the future (Taylor et al, 2004). Different problems have surfaced due to overproduction of nurses. The unemployment and underemployment of nurses in the Philippines are not only caused by the diminishing demands of foreign countries, but also caused by the overproduction of nurses by different nursing schools.The profession is confronted with serious problems, notably the lack of employment possibilities, positions lower than the applicants’ professional qualifications, inadequate wages and poor working conditions. These are real problems as evidenced by the Philippine Nursing Compensation Survey commissioned by the Philippine Nurses As sociation (PNA) in the year 2009. Our economy is unable to absorb the large number of new entrants into the labor market each year. It is particularly difficult for young workers to find employment, and even more difficult for them to find well-paid, secure and safe jobs.Data from the PRC showed around 400,000 licensed nurses are not gainfully employed and an estimated 80,000 new nurses join their ranks each year. Furthermore, due to unavailability of hospital jobs, nurses, whether waiting for immigrant visa or not; whether newly registered or not, find other sources of income or jobs unrelated to nursing. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, in a report, showed only 10,000 nurses are able to work in foreign countries while others become underemployed or are working in jobs not related to their profession.In the year 2008, there were high rates of unemployment and underemployment in the Philippines due to overproduction and the declining demand for nurses in the United States. Nursing became an in-demand profession among Filipinos because of work opportunities and immigration overseas. With that, nursing schools in the Philippines increased in number. However, not all provide quality education for the students. The passing rate of PRC nursing licensure examination was decreased for the last 10 years. As a result, the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) reiterated the need of focusing in the quality of education instead of commercializing it.Table 1. 1 shows the results of Philippine Nursing Board Exam from year 1997 up to year 2008. According to the data, the number of passers is considered also as the number of registered nurses in the Philippines for the last 12 years. With this number of registered nurses in the country, unemployment and underemployment are progressing up to the present. Table 1. 1 Aside from the given data, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Board of Nursing (BON) made a review of the statistics from the year 1952 to 2008 the country has licensed 480,992 Filipino nurses out of 523,272 who actually passed the nursing licensure examination.Reflected in National Statistics Office and Labor Force Survey, the total number of Filipino nurses employed between October 2001 and 2007 were 58,000, which represented only 3. 86% of the total 1. 5 million employed professional workers. Based on the data, it can be concluded that there were more unemployed and/or underemployed nurses during the year 2001 to 2007. Furthermore, there were also unemployment and underemployment as a result of the retrogression of the United Sates visa and the change of policy in the United Kingdom in the year 2006.Governor Leah Primitiva Samaco-Paquiz, the PNA National Capital Region Zone II National President,  explained in an interview that â€Å"in the US alone, the quota for visas has been filled up resulting in delayed processing of visas with current efforts focused on 2006 accepted applicants, while the domestic marke t is now oversaturated with nursing pools in major hospitals as high as 1500 and with employment waiting times ranging from six to 12 months. † Nursing pools refers to those who were considered by the hospital employers but waiting to be officially employed.She also stated that the current nursing employment market is a buyer’s market that allows current employers to be highly selective and where the quality of a vast number of job seekers is very closely scrutinized. In the recent report of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) last July 2010, they updated that there were 187,000 unemployed nurses in the country today. According to them, nurses cannot find jobs because there are no vacancies in the hospitals. Lack of experiences also prevents them in seeking for jobs especially when they planned to go abroad.As a result, Filipino nurses ended up as underemployed, and even grab jobs with low salary. For the PRC, this is a waste of manpower if the government still allows nurses to be working abroad as caregivers and nursing assistants. Many students still want to earn a degree in nursing despite the fact that there is an evident high unemployment and underemployment rate in the country. Even nursing schools are increasing in number, without taking appropriate measures to ensure the right quality of education for the students. The following factors, therefore, are necessary in order to alleviate the overproduction of nurses.The government plays a big role in alleviating the number of nurses produced every year, thus helping our economy to improve and progress. It has a vital part in providing available jobs for future professionals. And when it comes to overproduction of nurses, the Philippine government is necessary to control the existing problem. The government should know and investigate on each of the nursing schools in the Philippines if they are to produce competent nursing professionals, made visible by passing the NLE (Nursing Licens ure Examinations).If the school is not capable of doing so, it would be better if they advise it to close. As of now, it was reported that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) would be closing 177 nursing schools in the country. (Nieva, 2008). It would also be better if the government would impose additional subjects in the nursing curriculum and increase practicum hours for nursing students. The government agency made this move to ensure the quality of Filipino nurses making them more competitive to the global arena. And most importantly, the government should allot more funds for health services, to accommodate nurses (Alave, 2008).Not only should the growing unemployment rate be addressed but also the salary rate as well. Nurses are professionals but they cannot work unless they volunteer or pay a hospital a huge sum of money just to be trained. Then if they even get absorbed, the pay is just pesos away from the minimum limit. Moreover, nurses are not just professionals, the y save lives. They should be treated with respect and be properly compensated like every other profession here in the Philippines. Furthermore, the family also affects the decision of students in making choices in life. Lorentzen, 2008) One of the decisions they make is centered on their future career in life. Since family members are the people most often encountered by the students, then it is a big factor to consider. Family, specifically the parents should support and know what their children want to be in the future, and where they extremely do well in order to have a more secured future. Filipinos, nowadays think that taking up Nursing is an easy and fast access to a better life. And so, parents are forcing their children to take up nursing, finding themselves in the end underemployed, and perhaps, unemployed.Each Family should wake up to the reality that being a nurse is not just a profession; it’s more of a vocation, and compassion in rendering service is a necessity since nurses are handling lives. The Philippines is known to produce more nursing graduates, and have more nursing schools, compared to any other country in the world. From 17 schools during the period 1907 to 1950 that produced 7,286 registered nurses, the country in 1999, had 186 nursing schools (Opiniano, 2002) with the combined capability to produce over 20,000 RNs a year, according to the UP Manila Journal (January-March 2000 issue; Corcega et al).According to this research, a huge difference in number of nursing schools is seen thus producing huge number of nurses per year. As previously mentioned, when Nursing became an in demand profession, people in the business community also saw an opportunity to establish nursing schools due to the increasing number of students who want to earn a degree in nursing. However, not all of these nursing schools provide the quality education needed in nursing. As a result, Nursing graduates from these schools get a lower probability to be empl oyed.While there are many nursing graduates, the success rate of the PRC nursing board exams has significantly decreased for the last 10 years (48% passing rate). In view of this, the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) reiterated the need to focus on quality nursing education instead of commercializing the profession. In relation to the CHED’s order of closing incompetent schools, the remaining school should also implement policies that are stricter in order to screen deserving student nurses, particularly in their training of becoming the future nurses.Nursing schools should set standards for the students to meet for them to be proficient nurses. Career decision making is a dynamic and ongoing process where your knowledge of self, your values, interests, temperament, financial needs, physical work requirements or limitations, etc. , the effects of past experiences, new information, and changes in your life situation and environment all intertwine. Each career decision is li mited by what you are capable of now or in the future, by your ability to identify alternatives, and by what you are willing to do.Taking up nursing, and deciding to make it as a future career is a great risk because nurses don’t handle any material things, they are handling lives. Some of the reasons why students choose nursing are: forced by parents, a misconception of sure ticket to United States, and lastly, to follow the trend. Choosing one’s future career is no joke. So, right decision-making should be taken into consideration for a more secured future. People should know one’s strengths and weaknesses to serve as throttlehold for the next chapters in life.The Philippines continually produce more nurses than what the country needs, even more than the country can support. With all the current news regarding the decline in nursing demand and the continued increase of the number of unemployed and underemployed nursing graduates, if this condition is not prope rly controlled, this rate of unemployment/underemployment would, also, continue to persist. Not only does this count as a waste of time and money but the future of these students and the indirect effect to the country’s economy, isn’t beneficial at all.It would also be considered as a waste of time for students and parents alike who were poorly compensated for their efforts to create a better future for their children. Now the big question is: What will become of these students who are currently affected by the decreased demand for nurses? Along with the currently unemployed, they would probably find themselves competing for high-pay jobs with other numerous unemployed nurses. Tough times are in store for future students after graduation, putting even more strain on the employment sector as it tries diligently to find employment for students.Unless the government pays more attention to this concern and investigate and strictly implement the standards on each of the Nur sing schools in the Philippines, only incompetent nurses would be produced, adding up to the growing number of unemployed nurses and graduates who are currently confronted with country’s grim unemployment and underemployment status.References Bateman, J. M. , & Spruill, D. A. (1996). Student decision making: Insights from the college choice process. College Student Journal, 30, 182-186. Blanche, Julie. (2010, March 9). 10 reasons a nursing degree is a good bet in education today. Retrieved on September 4, 2010 from http://www. nurses-forum. com/blog/246/10-reasons-a-nursing-degree-is-a-good-bet-in-education-today/ Chrisholm, M. , French B. et al. (2010). Safety concerns of hospital-based new-to-practice registered nurses and their preceptors. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 41 (4), 163-171. Daly, M. , Byers, E. , & Taylor, W. (2004). Early years management in practice: A Handbook for early years managers. (pp. 69-70). Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publ ishers. Danna, D. , Jones, J. , Schaubhut, R. (2010). From practice to

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Gold & Educational psychology Essay

The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence  the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence  youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific  stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Investment and saving decisions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Investment and saving decisions - Essay Example Investment definition from a financial point of view stipulates that it is any monetary asset purchased hoping that the asset shall yield returns with profit in the future. There is a hope of selling the asset in an appreciated price or higher price than it was purchased (Park 56). Good examples of investment in the economic view are building of a factory that will be used to produce goods and or going to college or university. In a financial point of view investment comes in the sense of bond purchases, stocks and real estate property (Hayes and Garvin 71). Investment is always confused with speculation, but the two words have clear cut differences. Investment is usually done with the aim of again or the aim of wealth creation. Speculation is often a flat transaction. Wealth does not form any part of the transaction. Even so, speculators are known to make informed decisions about their actions. The above factor denies speculation the privilege of being termed as traditional investing (Hayes and Garvin 71-72). Saving may bear different meaning to different people and at different forums. Some people believe that saving is putting money in the bank. There are those that believe that saving is buying stocks and bonds or contributing to a pension scheme. In the economic point of view, saving means a system of less consumption of recourses with an aim of future consumption. Therefore, saving is deferring consumption with an aim of storing and saving the deferred consumption for a future use (Hayes and Garvin 76-79). Saving and investment are vital for the growth and development of a person’s financial stability. The two words are often confused to mean the same thing. Even so, the two words are related in a way or may make complete sense if they are used together (Hayes and Abernathy 66-67). A person may decide to save through investment. For instance,

Friday, September 27, 2019

Tragedy of the Commons and Collective Action Term Paper

Tragedy of the Commons and Collective Action - Term Paper Example Acceptance of the reality of interdependency is implicit idea that all kinds or types of natural resources are for the good of everybody. This means resources are safeguarded for a common purpose of use, exploitation and preservation for replenishment and eventual use of all future generations. This idea is called the global commons of natural resources (Nonini 164). Early or primitive human societies had latched unto this idea of the commons due to their own survival instincts. Every member of the tribe is tasked to help preserve all resources not only for today's present consumption needs but for the future requirements of succeeding generations as well. Because of this concept of environmental preservation, the tribe members had banded themselves together with some social, cultural or religious arrangements to ensure that resources are safeguarded from over-exploitation, allowed to recover and replenish and to make everyone aware that no one owns these resources exclusively but ev erybody owns it. It is this idea that is known as the commons with the added sense of good stewardship. People are supposed to take only what they need from their common-pool resources. A fertile or rich environment can support a population adequately to provide a comfortable life as long as this practice is enforced. Nobody is supposed to take more than what they need, such as exploiting a resource for profit because some people had become too greedy. This had been practiced by the native Americans before the white colonizers came along. In fact, this is shown to be viable, a sense of abundance even in marginal ecological zones (ibid.). Continued population growth had put pressure on natural resources, a grim reminder of the theory put forward by Malthus centuries ago regarding... Good governance today demands consent, cooperation and commitment from people and the old ways of using coercion is no longer an acceptable alternative when imposing some form of social contract in managing common-pool resources (CPR). In fact, this was what the Nobel prize winner Elinor Ostrom advocates, using her recommended seven principles on the best ways on how to govern the commons while privatization is also considered but it has its limitations but an important point is that socio-economic models for sustainable extraction of resources can be implemented using the old ideas of liberal democracy. Global commons has been shown to be generative as well if done right, such as in music, literature, new medical technologies, hybrid seeds and in computer software where the intellectual rights are recognized and protected by copyright and patent laws.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

World poverty Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

World poverty - Annotated Bibliography Example There are clear recommendations in the article that can help in combating these issues in the future. For instance, Andrew asserts that increasing literacy levels and offering employment may reduce poverty levels among the populations affected. In another perspective, the journal article addresses the impact of AIDS across the world and its effects on the international development. It further addresses how these effects have contributed to high poverty levels in the world. The journal article elaborates how AIDS impacts are experienced from a personal level, community level, household level, and international level. The article also addresses how the impacts of AIDS has resulted into high levels of mortality and increased rates of crude death. The purpose of the author in writing this journal article is to address the causes of high poverty levels as well as the suggested solutions to the same. The article asserts that the effects of AIDS on quality of education, and poor access to healthcare services are responsible for high poverty levels in the world; therefore any measures to curb this vice will automatically reduce the levels of poverty in the world. The journal article targets the whole world as the audience since poverty is a global issue. Finally, the journal article says that the increasing deaths in the population’s most productive segment impacts on both the quantity and quality of labor force, this according to Andrew is very costly to the world and results into high poverty levels. The author of the article is a specialist in world sociology; he has documented information about poverty in many other articles. His work is reliable due to the multiple other sources and references that he cited in his wor k. This source is relevant to my work as it addresses the major concerns of poverty and I will use it to highlight and cite the global poverty as a problem. According to Chartres and Varma, there is a major problem of

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

EU COMPETITION LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

EU COMPETITION LAW - Essay Example For a better understanding, the paper will first approach the legal interpretation of concurrence of wills as provide for in Article 81 of EC. Introduction: Understanding Concurrence of Wills as Per Article 81 of EC The EU competition law does not any distinctions otherwise referred to as formalistic between any two varied forms of collaboration within the provisions of Article 81 of the EC law. One may find reference to this in the case involving Volkswagen v Commission1. The concept of agreement, within the interpretation of this article, on the existence of the concurrence of wills, explores different possibilities of trade and sales relations between two or more parties. The article provides that form in which the concurrence of wills manifests itself remains vital provided it is in utmost good faith by parties involved (Office of Fair Trading, 2010, p. 12). In other words, the article also implies that courts shall construe agreements to mean concurrence of wills. One may also i nterpret the article to understand agreements as to mean existence of a common intention between two or more parties. ... Convergence of interest to promote commerce within the provisions of accepted form of competitions such a mergers and collusions. The EU Article 81 interprets collusion in terms of jurisdiction functions rather than in substantive function. The problem is that collusion, under Article 81, does not hold given that it is never jurisdiction in many cases but substantive. Provisions of Article 101(1) TFEU The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Art 101(1) TFEU, takes any agreements between undertakings, decisions by association of undertakings and concerted practices to mean agreements. For better understanding, the article also takes such agreements to mean Horizontal Corporation. In addition to that, clarification, the article also defines Horizontal Corporation to mean any agreement into which actual competitors or potential competitors enter. The article also covers two companies that deal in the same line of the product, though, in different geographical conditions (Off ice of Fair Trading, 2010, p. 21). For the purposes of Art 101(1) TFEU, one expects the article to assess an agreement between undertakings. This is because an agreement is capable of affecting trade between member states. The article assess whether an agreement has elements of an anti-competitive object on competition. It also assesses whether an agreement an actual or potential restrictive effect on competition. In case a court determines an agreement as restrictive of competition within the provisions and interpretation of Article 101 (1), then Article 101 (3) comes into force. The function of article 101(3) is to assess the extent to which the agreement may provide for pro-competitive advantage over the restrictive nature so determined under Article

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

A song in the front yard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

A song in the front yard - Essay Example She deals openly with disillusionment and rejection of the white society, pride of the blacks and appreciation for the poor of the ghetto†. A Song in the Front Yard is about a girl who wants to do things she wants to do and not follow rules laid down by society. She wants to be adventurous and experience a different kind of life. It is also about the same girl remembering after she becomes a woman, how her mother had kept her away from the back yard. Now after growing up she wants to â€Å"peek† into the life in the back yard. Here the poet wants us to know that a time always comes when we want to know what we have missed in life. This poem was one of Brooks’ early poems, yet her African heritage and her identity with it comes through. The lines such as â€Å"I’ve stayed in the front yard all my life† †¦ â€Å"I want to go in the back yard now / And maybe  down the alley" (Brooks, 1963),   in the poem  symbolically, represent what the poe t wants to convey. The "front yard† here represents the pretense  of imitating other culture  while the "back yard"  is an indication  of a return to one’s own heritage.   From the poem it is clear that living in the "front yard" is synonymous with living a good life and that "back yard" is synonymous to living a bad life. The girl in the poem thinks living a "bad" life is more fun, in spite of what other people’s, especially her mother’ views on this. Here she says: â€Å"My mother sneers, but I say its fine †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦/ My mother, she tells me that Johnnie Mae/Will grow up to be a bad woman/But I say its fine./ Honest I do./And Id like to be a bad woman too† (Brooks).These lines demonstrate that the girl is ready to accept the consequences of being a bad woman. In the poem, the young girl feels trapped as her mother tries to shield her from what is there in the "back yard". The poem concluding lines â€Å"...brave stockings of night-black lace..." and "...paint on

Monday, September 23, 2019

Eliminating Discrimination in the Workplace is the Responsibility of Research Paper

Eliminating Discrimination in the Workplace is the Responsibility of Management - Research Paper Example With the growth of industries and diversification, organizations have grown global in their operations. This has resulted in a cultural diversity in the workplace (Bolen and Kleiner, 1996). People from diverse backgrounds are working together under the same roof. Though this diversity makes the organization culturally rich, it also increases workplace discrimination. In the context of discrimination, it should be noted that different rewards and treatment in terms of different productivity levels cannot be termed as discrimination. Some occupations and some workers show more productivity than others, because of their enhanced skills, abilities and qualifications. This results in diverse returns at work, which is efficient and fair. The main aim of this study is to find out the various factors leading to discrimination and harassment at the workplace. The study will throw lights on the various types of discrimination, and the responsibility of the management to monitor and reduce the occurrences of discrimination in the workplace. The study will also suggest ways which can help in increasing the efficiency of the monitoring process and thus reducing discrimination. Role of Management in Eliminating Discrimination Different treatment to satisfy the special needs of particular employees is not discriminatory. For example, making sure that a disabled worker gets proper access to work, or making sure that a pregnant worker is not exposed to health hazards at the workplace, is not discriminatory. Treatments based on individual skills are also not discriminatory (Bell et al, 2010). Discrimination can broadly be classified into six main types. Discrimination can be based on disability, sex, race, sexual orientation, age (Phomphakdy and Kleiner, 1999). Hemphill and Haines (1997) also described six main types of discrimination; Disability discrimination- Discrimination on the basis of disability is prohibiting and differentiate ing qualified individuals with disabilities in procedures such as job applications, hiring, recruitment, compensation, job training and in other conditions, terms and privileges of employment (Phomphakdy and Kleiner, 1999).  

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Economi politic Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Economi politic - Term Paper Example In short political economy is a methodology that deals with emphasis public choice or economic approach, and institutional adaptation. The concept of political economy can be attributed a lot from Marxism. However, the concept of political economy was replaced by economics after Alfred Marshall released his book in 1980, (Weingast and Wittman, 2008). Political economy is divided into various approaches, which include political choice and Marxian analysis which emanated from the Virginia School and the Chicago school, (Weingast and Wittman, 2008). However, as time went by various approaches to political economy. They include International political economy and new political economy. Political economy is associated with various disciplines. It is associated with communication, sociology, psychology, cultural studies, human geography, anthropology, ecology, and ecology, (Weingast and Wittman, 2008). It is important to understand political economy, and how it influences communication spe cifically mass media. This will help in understanding how mass media has evolved in regard to theories in political economy. This can be achieved by dissecting political economy of mass media. 2. Describe What The Political Economy Of Mass Media Political economy of mass media can be defined as an approach to political economy that focuses branches of media production and the industries of communication within capitalism, and consumption and production of communications and media in regard to flow of information. Political economy of mass media is normally used to measure the effect of mass media on politics. For example, during an election a presidential candidate who is favored by a majority of media houses or is favored by the most popular media houses tends to win the election in question. This is because these media houses tend to give more coverage to him or her hence reaching more people than his or her candidate(s). Hence, governments try to control mass media to make sure t hey are not biased when it comes to politics. This creates a need for setting of rules that are based on the principles of political economy. Political economy of mass media is to some extent important because it ensures that mass media is controlled. This means that media houses do not broadcast anything as they feel like but must follow a certain protocol set by the government (Weingast and Wittman, 2008). This does not necessarily mean that governments should gag media houses. For example, media houses have a wide viewership. If they were to report on false accusation, that would later bring about national insecurity then this would result in serious consequences such the economy falling. Hence, the role of the government in controlling mass media through political economy. 3. Describe Mosco Opinion On The Political Economy Of Mass Media Various academics argued that mass media should be approached in more a economical way than culturally. One of these academics is Vincent Mosco. However, Vincent Mosco is considered to be moderate in his approach to political economy of mass media. This is because he advocates for the three communication processes instead of totalisation. These three processes are spatialization, commoditization, and structuration (Mosco, 2009). He refers to these three processes as entry points in communication. He defines spatialization as the process of going beyond the constraints of time and space in social life. He also defines

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The Return of Depression Economics Essay Example for Free

The Return of Depression Economics Essay Classical economists like Smith and Ricardo often argued that economic prosperity can be best achieved if the market is left alone. They argued that the market alone is the most efficient mechanism of determining supply and demand, wages and labor supply. The market â€Å"being the invisible hand† removes sluggishness in the economy. At the beginning of the 20th century, these assumptions were attacked by neo-classical economists led by John Maynard Keynes. Keynes argued that because wages are essentially fixed in the short-run, it is possible for an economy to experience sluggishness (Keynes, 1936). This â€Å"sluggishness† causes temporary recessions, that if â€Å"untreated† may lead to depressions. The only means to treat temporary recessions is government intervention. Keynes (1936) argued that it is desirable for the government to either increase or decrease spending in order to boost the economy. This increase or decrease in spending may be facilitated by increasing or decreasing interest rates (on the expenditure side of the economy). Now, the assumptions of both classical and neo-classical economists are being attacked. Paul Krugman (a Nobel prize winner), in his book â€Å"The Return of Depression Economics,† put his main arguments against mainstream economics (Krugman, 2008). Here are some of his main points: 1) It is very possible for recession to occur even if an economy is in good shape. To illustrate this, he used the story of babysitting groups in Washington D. C. Here, couples agreed to babysit for each other. A special currency was used. Those who want to babysit would get the currency while those who do not want to babysit will give the currency. However, because the economy is in â€Å"good shape†, nobody wanted to babysit. Couples preferred going to social gatherings than babysitting. This creates a shortage of babysitters, which in effect caused the economy to experience recession. This is same case with government control of money supply. Supposing the government increases money supply in order to boost the economy, the real effect may in fact a real decline in overall production. The â€Å"good shape† of the economy may well be an enough reason for people to work less (which in the long run translates into lower economic output); 2) During economic prosperity, people usually invest their â€Å"money† to risky forms of investments. Supposing there are two sources of investments: trust funds and bank securities. Trust funds offer more returns and of course, higher risks. Bank securities are more conservative in nature (low returns and risks). During economic prosperity, trust funds usually earn more, and thus people invest in it. However, when one trust fund fails, people will usually withdraw their investment out of the system. This creates panic (confidence decreases) and the economy experiences recession; 3) And, panic can destroy wealth more easily than confidence can create it. Krugman noted that it took almost 100 years for the United States to accumulate wealth and only 5 years to destroy it (The Great Depression). In essence, a financial panic has a higher probability of occurring than a miraculous boom (due to soaring financial confidence). As Krugman noted, as more and more economies are being integrated into the world economy, the chances of experiencing recession in times of economic prosperity increases (Krugman, 2008). In short, economic prosperity may not be a bailiwick for economic certainty. References Keynes, John Maynard. 1936. General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. London: London Publishing Company. Krugman, Paul. 2008. The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008. New York: Penguin Books.

Friday, September 20, 2019

System Analysis And Design Soccer Club Database Computer Science Essay

System Analysis And Design Soccer Club Database Computer Science Essay The aim of this project is to design and implement the database application to replace the current paper system of the Soccer Club. This is the objective of system. The committee of Soccer club wants to use this system for member registration, fee payment, creation of matches list, set up the training sessions, publishes the result of each game. The coaches want to use this system to allocation of team. c) A Data Flow Diagram for the system including: (12 marks) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Process descriptions 1. Register Membership, when public want to join the membership, the committee of Soccer club will provide the application from to public, and check the application from is complete or not. And verified their ID and contact address. If the information is correct. Then will collect the membership fee and create the membership card to the member. And the information of the member will keep in the member table table. 2. Team allocation, the coach will get the playing members information from the member table table. And the coach will select the compatible member into the on game list. This is use to join the game of League and Cup. And also will update the information of the team to the Team table table. For example select the captain of the team. 3. Plan Training Session, the Soccer club have hold a number of training sessions, the training session is lead by international player. When the committee of Soccer club setting up the training sessions, they need to connect with international player for lead the session. And the international player needs to confirm to lead the sessions. The data of international player is store in international player table table and the data of training session is store in Training table table. 4. Create fixture lists, when the Soccer club joins the game of league competition and cup competition. The league competition and cup competition will collect other 15 teams and provide the fixture list to the Soccer club. The committee of Soccer club need to publish this fixture list to the public, let them know the home team, away team, match address, match day and time. This data will store in Fixture list and result table. In this fixture list we also will know which team will join the league and cup. Other Soccer teams information will store in Other teams table table. 5. Publish result, all the result of the matches, will be provide from the league competition and cup competition. The result of Soccer club and other teams also need to collect. This data will store in the result table table, they will publish the result to the public. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Data store contents 1. Member Detail, This is the table of members information. It include the field: Member_ID, Name, Date_of_Birth, Membership_type, Phone, Address, Email, user_ID, Team_ID, On_game_list, Committee_ID 2. Team Detail, This is the table o f Soccer Cups Team. It include the field: Team_ID, Coach_ID, Captain_Member_ID, Vice_Captain_Member_ID, Team_Name, Member_ID 3. International Player Detail: This is the table of international players information, this table include the field: Player_ID, Phone, Address, Email, Salary, user_ID 4. Training Detail, this is the table of Trainings information, it include this field: Session_ID, Name, Player_ID, Player_Name, session_open_day, Address, time, total_hour, Session_Fee, Committee_ID 5. Other_Teams Detail, this is the table of other teams information which team are join the match with Soccer club. This table include the field: Other_team_ID, Name 6. Fixture Lists and result Detail, this is table of the match list and the result of the match. This table include the field: Match_ID, Team_ID, Other_team_ID, Match_address, Date, Time, Team_score, Other_team_score à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ External entity definitions 1. Member of Public, this is the people who join the Soccer club membership and they have been pay the membership fee every year. They can be playing members or simply social members. 2. Coach and International player, this is the people who responsible for training and selecting the team. And they also make the arrangements for travelling to matches at other Soccer club. And the international player is the trainer of open training session. 3. Committee, this is the people who responsible for organizing open training sessions, inviting international players to lead the sessions, advertising the training sessions and determining and collecting the fee for such sessions. And they also need to collect and publish the matches result. 4. League and cup, this is the local league competition and local cup competition, the Soccer join the match by this two competitions. They provide the matches result and the fixture lists to the Soccer club. Task 2 Create a data model detailing the data structure required to support the information and process requirements of the soccer club system including: a) An Entity Relationship Diagram for the system. (6 marks) b) Entity descriptions for all entities in the diagram. (4 marks) 1. User 2. Coach 3. Member 4. Team 5. Position 6. Committee 7. Other team 8. Training 9. Fixture List and Result 10. International Player 11. Training Student 12. Student c) Appropriate attributes for all entities including primary and foreign keys. (5 marks) 1. Entity: User Object Type: Relation Description: This is a table for the User login ID and password. The user of this system will use the information of this table to login. Attributes: User_ID, User_Login, Password, Group Primary Key: User_ID 2. Entity: Coach Object Type: Relation Description: The coachs personal information which system need are store in this table. Attribute: Coach_ID, Name, Address, Phone, Email, User_ID Primary Key: Coach_ID Foreign Key: User_ID references to User table. 3. Entity: Member Object Type: Relation Description: This is a table to store members record. Attribute: Member_ID, Name, ID_card_number, Date_of_birth, Membership_type, Phone, Address, Email, User_ID, On_game_list Primary Key: Member_ID Foreign Key: User_ID references to User table table. Foreign Key: Committee_ID references to Committee table 4. Entity: Team Object Type: Relation Description: This is a table to store Soccer club player teams record. Attribute: Team_ID, Coach_ID, Captain_Member_ID, Vice_Captain_Member_ID, Team_Name, Member_ID Primary Key: Team_ID Foreign Key: Coach_ID references to Coach table. Foreign Key: Member_ID references to Member table. 5. Entity: Position Object Type: Relation Description: This is a table to store the position of committees record. Attribute: Position_ID, Position_name Primary Key: Position_ID 6. Entity: Committee Object Type: Relation Description: This is a table to store the committee record. Attribute: Committee_ID, Team_ID, Position_ID Primary Key: Committee_ID Foreign Key: Team_ID reference to Team table. Foreign Key: Position_ID reference to Position table. 7. Entity: Other Team Object Type: Relation Description: This is a table to store the record of other Soccer team which will match with Soccer Clubs team. Attribute: Other_team_ID, Name Primary Key: Other_team_ID 8. Entity: Training Object Type: Relation Description: This is a table to store the open training sessions record. Attribute: Session_ID, Name, Player_ID, Player_Name, Session_open_day, Address, Time, Total_hour, Session_Fee, Committee_ID Primary Key: Session_ID Foreign Key: Player_ID references to International Player. Foreign Key: Committee_ID references to Committee. 9. Entity: Fixture Lists and Result Object Type: Relation Description: This is a table to store the record of fixture Lists and the match result. Attribute: Match_ID, Team_ID, Other_team_ID, Match_address, Date, Time, Team_score, Other_team_score Primary Key: Match_ID Foreign Key: Team_ID references to Team table. Foreign Key: Other_team_ID references to Other team table. 10. Entity: International Player Object Type: Relation Description: This is a table to store the record of international player. The international player is the trainer of open training session. Attribute: Player_ID, Phone, Address, Email, Salary, User_ID Primary Key: Player_ID Foreign Key: User_ID references to User table. 11. Entity: Training Student Object Type: Relation Description: This is the link entity of Training table and Student table. Because one student can join many training session and one training session can have many students. So we need to use link entity to resolve this many to many relationship. Attribute: Training_studnet_ID, Session_ID, ID_card_Number Primary key: Traininig_student_ID Foreign Key: Session_ID references to Training table. Foreign Key: ID_card_number references to Student table. 12. Entity: Student Object Type: Relation Description: This is a table to store the record of student. Attribute: ID_card_number, Name, Phone, Address, Email Primary Key: ID_card_number d) Relationships detailing optionality and degree of relationships between entities. (5 marks) 1. Relationship ID: R1 Name: Coach table to User table Object Type: Relationship Description: Each coach has only one unique User_ID Cardinality: one to one, Coach table is the one side. One User_ID only belong to one coach. User table also is the one side. One coach only has one unique User_ID. Optional: Coach table is the optional side. A user may be not a coach. User table is the mandatory side. A coach must be a user. 2. Relationship ID: R2 Name: International Player table to User table Object Type: Relationship Description: Each international player has one unique User_ID Cardinality: one to one International Player table is the one side. One User_ID only can belong to one international player. User table also is the one side. One international player only has one User_ID. Optional: International Player table is the optional side. A user may be not a international player. User table is the mandatory side. A international player must be a user. 3. Relationship ID: R3 Name: Member table to User table Object Type: Relationship Description: Each member has one unique user_ID. Cardinality: one to one Member table is the one side. One User_ID only belong to one member. User table is the one side. One member only can have one User_ID. Optional: Member table is the optional side. A use may be not a member. User table is the mandatory side. A member must be a user. 4. Relationship ID: R4 Name: Member table to Team table Object Type: Relationship Description: Member belongs to Ruby Clubs team. Cardinality: many to one Member table is the many side. One team can have many members. Team table is the one side. One member only can belong one team. Optional: Member table is the optional side. A team may be not has any member. Team table is the optional side. A member may be not belongs to any team. 5. Relationship ID: R5 Name: Team table to Coach table Object Type: Relationship Description: Each team must have a coach. Cardinality: one to one Team table is the one side. One coach only can belong one team. Coach table is the one side. One team only can have one coach. Optional: Team table is the optional side. A coach can have any team to lead. Coach table is the mandatory side. A team must have a coach. 6. Relationship ID: R6 Name: Member table to Committee table Object Type: Relationship Description: Some member is the committee of Soccer Club. Cardinality: many to one Member table is the many side. One committee position can belong to many members. Committee table is the one side. One member only can have one committee position. Optional: Member table is the mandatory side. A committee position must belong to member. Committee table is the optional side. A member may be not have a committee position. 7. Relationship ID: R7 Name: Position table to Committee table Object Type: Relationship Description: Each committee member of Soccer Club has a position. Cardinality: one to many Position table is the one side. One committee members only can have one position. Committee table is the many side. One position only can belong to many committee members. Optional: Position table is the mandatory side. A committee must have a position. Committee table is the optional side. A position may be not belongs to any committee member. 8. Relationship ID: R8 Name: Team table to Committee table Object Type: Relationship Description: Every committee member belongs to their team of Soccer Club. Cardinality: one to many Team table is the one side. One committee member only belong one team. Committee table is the many side. One team can have many committee members. Optional: Team table is the mandatory side. Every committee member must belong to a team. Committee table is the optional side. A team may be not has any committee member. 9. Relationship ID: R9 Name: Team table to Fixture List and Result table Object Type: Relationship Description: The team of Soccer Club will have match will other team. Cardinality: one to many Team table is the one side. One match only can join with one Soccer club team and one other team. Fixture List and Result table is the many side. One team can has many matches to play. Optional: Team table is the mandatory side. The match must have Soccer clubs team. Fixture List and Result table is optional side. A team may be not has any match. 10. Relationship ID: R10 Name: Other Team table to Fixture List and Result table Object Type: Relationship Description: Some member is the committee of Soccer Club. Cardinality: one to many Other Team table is the one side. One match only can join with one Soccer club team and one other team. Fixture List and Result table is the many side. One other team can have many matches to play. Optional: Team table is the mandatory side. The match must have Soccer clubs team. Fixture List and Result table is the optional side. A team may be not has any match. 11. Relationship ID:R11 Name: Committee table to Training table Object Type: Relationship Description: Committee member with responsibility for this open training session. Cardinality: many to one Committee table is the one side. One session will lead by one committee member. Training table is the many side. One committee member can lead many training session. Optional: Committee table is the mandatory side. The training session must lead by committee member and international player. Training table is the optional side. A committee member may be not lead any open training session. 12. Relationship ID:R12 Name: International Player table to Training table Object Type: Relationship Description: International player with responsibility for this open training session. Cardinality: many to one International Player table is the one side. One session will lead by one international player. Training table is the many side. One international player can lead many training session. Optional: Committee table is the mandatory side. The training session must lead by committee member and international player. Training table is the optional side. A international player may be not lead any open training session. 13. Relationship ID:R13 Name: Training Student table to Training table Object Type: Relationship Description: It is a link entity to solve the many to many relationship of Training table and Student table. It break it to two one to many relationships. Cardinality: many to one Training Student table is the many side. Training table is one the side. Optional: Training Student table is the mandatory side. Training table is the mandatory side. 14. Relationship ID:R14 Name: Training Student table to Student table Object Type: Relationship Description: It is a link entity to solve the many to many relationship of Training table and Student table. It break to two one to many relationships. Cardinality: many to one Training Student table is the many side. Student table is the one side. Optional: Training Student table is the mandatory side. The student must take training session, if not take the training session, only is public not student. Student table is the mandatory side. Task 3 Create an Entity Life History for a training session. First is Join Member stage, then Member Amendment is the second stage, this stage can be repeat. And under this stage have three options, Change Membership Type, Change Personal table and Do nothing. Finish this stage will become to Membership Overdue stage. This is the third stage of member. It has two options, Pay membership fee and Resign Member. If choose Pay member fee, then will back to the Member Amendment, and if choose Resign Member, then will become the last stage of member Delete Member. This is the end of this entity. Task 4 Create a database design for the soccer club system including: a) A set of tables identifying primary and foreign keys.(10 marks) User (User_ID, password, Group) Coach (Coach_ID, Name, Address, Phone, Email, User_ID) Team (Team_ID, Coach_ID, Captain_Member_ID, Vice_Captain_Member_ID, Team Name) Member (Member_ID, Name, ID_card_num,ber, Date_of_birth, Membership_Type, Phone, Address, Email, User_ID, On_game_list, Committee_ID, Team_ID) Position (Position_ID, Position_name) Committee (Committee_ID, Team_ID, Position_ID) Other team (Other_team_ID, Name) Fixture List and Result (Match_ID, Team_ID, Other_team_ID, Match_address, Date, Time, Team_score, Other_team_score) Training (Session_ID, Session_Name, Player_ID, Session_open_day, Address, Time, Total_hour, Session_Fee, Committee_ID) International Player (Player_ID, Player_Name, Phone, Address, Email, Salary, User_ID) Training Student (Training_student_ID, Session_ID, ID_card_number) Student (ID_card_number, Name, Phone, Address, Email) b) Data Dictionary entries for all items included in the database design. (10 marks) Table Name: User Table Type: Entity Description: It contains users detail. This is a table that includes all users password and login name. Data Field Name Format Key User_ID CHAR(10) Primary Key User_LOGIN VARCHAR(20) Password VARCHAR(15) Group VARCHAR(15) Table Name: Coach Table Type: Entity Description: It contains coachs detail. This is a table that includes the personal information of coach. Data Field Name Format Key Coach_ID CHAR(10) Primary Key Name VARCHAR(50) Address VARCHAR(50) Phone CHAR(8) Email VARCHAR(30 User_ID CHAR(10) Foreign Key reference User table Table Name: Member Table Type: Entity Description: It contains members detail. This is a table that includes the members membership type, belong to which team and their personal information. Data Field Name Format Key Member_ID CHAR(10) Primary Key Name VARCHAR(50) ID_card_number CHAR(8) Date_of_birth DATE Membership_type CHAR(1) Phone CHAR(8) Address VARCHAR(50) Email VARCHAR(30 User_ID CHAR(10) Foreign Key reference User table. On_game_list CHAR(1) Committee_ID CHAR(10) Foreign Key reference Committee table. Team_ID CHAR(10) Foreign Key reference Team table. Table Name: Team Table Type: Entity Description: It contains teams detail. This is a table that includes the name of team, the coach of team, the captain and the vice captain of the team. Data Field Name Format Key Team_ID CHAR(10) Primary Key Coach_ID CHAR(10) Foreign Key reference Coach table. Captain_Member_ID CHAR(10) Vice_Captain_Member_ID CHAR(10) Team_Name VARCHAR(50) Table Name: Position Table Type: Entity Description: It contains position name and unique identifier.. Data Field Name Format Key Position_ID CHAR(10) Primary Key Position_Name VARCHAR(50) Table Name: Committee Table Type: Entity Description: It contains committee detail. This is a table that includes the information of the committee is which position of which team. Data Field Name Format Key Committee_ID CHAR(10) Primary Key Team_ID CHAR(10) Foreign Key reference Team table. Position_ID CHAR(10) Foreign Key reference Position table. Table Name: Other Team Table Type: Entity Description: It contains other team detail. The other team is the team which will match with Soccer clubs team. This table includes their name and unique identifier. Data Field Name Format Key Other_team_ID CHAR(10) Primary Key Name VARCHAR(50) Table Name: Training Table Type: Entity Description: It contains open training sessions detail. It includes the date, time and the trainer. Data Field Name Format Key Session_ID CHAR(10) Primary Key Name VARCHAR(50) Foreign Key reference Coach table. Player_ID CHAR(10) Foreign Key reference International Player table Session_open_day DATE Address VARCHAR(100) Time TIME Total_hour CHAR(2) Session_Fee DECIMAL Committee_ID CHAR(10) Table Name: Fixture List and Result Table Type: Entity Description: It contains the fixture list and match result detail. Data Field Name Format Key Match_ID CHAR(10) Primary Key Team_ID CHAR(10) Foreign Key reference Coach table. Other_team_ID CHAR(10) Foreign Key reference International Player table Session_open_day DATE Address VARCHAR(100) Time TIME Total_hour CHAR(2) Session_Fee DECIMAL Committee_ID CHAR(10) Table Name: International Player Table Type: Entity Description: It contains the international player (open training session coach) detail. It includes their name, salary and personal contact. Data Field Name Format Key Player_ID CHAR(10) Primary Key Name VARCHAR(50) Phone CHAR(8) Address VARCHAR(100) Email VARCHAR(50) Salary DECIMAL User_ID CHAR(10) Foreign Key reference User table. Table Name: Training Student Table Type: Entity Description: It contains link entity of Training and Student tables. Data Field Name Format Key Training_student_ID CHAR(20) Primary Key Session_ID CHAR(10) Foreign Key reference Training table. Student_ID CHAR(10) Foreign Key reference Student table Table Name: Student Table Type: Entity Description: It contains the open training sessions student detail. This includes the ID card, name and contact of student. Data Field Name Format Key ID_card_number CHAR(8) Primary Key Name VARCHAR(50) Phone CHAR(8) Address VARCHAR(100) Email VARCHAR(50)  ­ Task 5 Create a prototype user interface for the soccer club system including, as a minimum, the following functions: a) Adding a new member. (5 marks) b) Creating a fixture list for a team. (5 marks) c) Recording a match result. (5 marks) Task 6 You are responsible for organising the initial training of the system users and producing the User Guide for the new system. Create an outline training plan for the new system including who would be trained, how the session(s) would be organised (e.g. all together, small groups, etc.) (8 marks) This is the training plan of the Soccer club system, the objective is want the user understand more about the system, and let them user this system smoothly. We have three user groups need to training, Public, Coach and Committee are our target. The public user group we want they know how to use this system to download application form, view the fixture list and view the result of match. The coach user group we want them understand how to allocate team. And the committee user group we want them understand how to create new member, edit member detail, create fixture list, update fixture list, create match result and update match result. We will give training session to each user group and give user guide with print screens to them. And need a computer room let them use the system at the training session. For the public user group we need about 30 minutes to training. The coach user group we need about 60 minutes to training. And the committee user we need about 2 hours to training  ­ Group User Skill Material Public Member and public Download application from View fixture list View match result Public user guide Coach Team coach Allocation team Coach user guide Committee Committee member Create new member Update member detail Create fixture list Update fixture list Create match result Update match result Committee user guide à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Create a User Guide for the system. This should not be a comprehensive system manual but a reference document that users can use as a quick guide to the tasks they need to carry out. (10 marks) Task 7 Create a comprehensive, professional standard report describing your system design for the soccer club. This should include the details of tasks 1 6 including the User Guide. Reference [1] Colin Bentley, 2002, NCC Education Managing Business Projects, second edition, Galatea Training Services Limited, Singapore [2] Mark Brown, 2002, Project Management in a week, Hodder Stoughton, UK [3] Sue Craig, Hadi Jassim, People and Project Management for IT, McGraw-Hill [4] Dinsmore, Paul C, 1993, The AMA Handbook of Project Management, New York AMACOM Books, 1993, New York [5]Lewls, James P, 1995, Fundamentals of Project Management, New York AMACOM Books, 1995, New York [6] Toby Teorey, 2008, Database design : know it all, Morgan Kaufmann [7] M. Vaziri and D. Jackson, Some shortcomings of OCL, the Object Constraint Language of UML, MIT, 1999. [8] N. V. Cuong and X. Qafmolla, Meta-model Transformation with Kermeta, in 13th International Conference OBJEKTY 2008 proceedings, p. 109-116. [9] Object Management Group, Business process modeling notation, February 2006,

Thursday, September 19, 2019

An Analysis of Effectiveness Essay -- Martin Luther King Toni Morrison

An Analysis of Effectiveness   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Martin Luther King Jr. and Toni Morrison are two of the many great writers of the late twentieth century. Their styles follow rhetorical guidelines to create persuasive arguments and clear writing. To show how they accomplish this I will be comparing the rhetorical style used by King in 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail,'; with that of Morrison in 'Friday on the Potomac.'; Each of these works result from strong opinions surrounding the issue of racial equality in the United States, and each appeals to the desire of achieving that equality. In order to address a sensitive topic such as racism and achieve the desired results, the authors had to implement various methods of persuasion. While each author chooses different manners with which to accomplish this, each forms clear writing with convincing arguments. They achieve this clarity due to their understanding and use of ethos, pathos, and logos as the foundations for creating these arguments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before we can examine the writing on the basis of these three elements, we must first understand the meanings of each. They were conceptualized by Aristotle as the keys to persuading an audience. Ethos, directly translated, means 'worthy of belief,'; and deals with establishing credibility. Pathos involves 'putting hearers†¦into the right frame of mind with regard to certain issues and the speakers persuasive intent'; (Smith 83). Logos includes the arguments that are used to make a point, and involves the basis upon which the arguments were made. The use of these three elements in harmony with each other will produce a persuasive argument according to Aristotle. Being that he did 'write the book on rhetoric,'; I will be using the ideas of Aristotle as the blueprint for effective writing to which I will compare the works of King and Morrison.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First I will examine Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter which embodies all of the characteristics outlined by Aristotle. The most clearly presented element in King's article is the use of ethos. King establishes himself as a credible and learned man early in the letter so that the reader has an immediate connection with him, and then he carries the thought throughout the letter's entirety. Within the first paragraph he uses this tactic when he writes, 'If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would h... ...How could the notion of union, nation, or state surface when race, gender, and class†¦dominated every moment and word of the confirmation process?'; (Morrison xii). The answer to the question lies within itself and forms the basis of her argument to follow throughout the essay. She then begins to demonstrate how race, gender, and class played into the hearings, in order to substantiate the argument. The reader then has no choice but to agree with her ideas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thus, we see that both Morrison and King were both admirable in their abilities to persuade their audiences, though each did so using different tactics. King focused mainly on establishing his own credibility so that his statements would bear the appropriate weight necessary for effectiveness. Morrison, however focused her strategy on the manipulation of the audience by using their emotions and empowering them to confirm her arguments. Regardless of the individual focus of each author's style, they both contained the necessary elements of successful writing as defined by Aristotle: ethos, pathos, and logos. These elements form the backbone upon which all good writing should form, and these two passages verify that.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The Victorian Education system as presented in Hard Times :: English Literature

The Victorian Education system as presented in Hard Times From the early beginnings of Hard Times, we can tell that this novel was originally intended to shock those reading it. The education that these children receive is harsh and designed to stem any feelings of self-opinion. When Gradgrind interrogated 'girl number 20', he proved that their education was more strict and when he later humiliated her when he asked her to describe a horse, he proved that the Victorian education system was solely based on fact and allowed no room for it to be questioned. This was even the case in such incidents as where Sissy states that she would like flowers on her carpets. Gradgrinds' wish to outlaw fancy in her thoughts, mean that at some points during the dialogue, Gradgrind can begin to sound absurd in his words. Dickens heavily objects to the mechanical way of teaching in Gradgrind's utilitarian school. As early as in the second chapter the reader notices that the facts taught in this kind of school have no use at all in normal life. Sissy, with her natural understanding of a horse contradicts the cold definition of a horse by Bitzer: 'Quadruped ....'. What makes that situation worse is that later on, Gradgrind, who takes charge of Sissy's education, forces her from learning on her ability to comprehend that she cannot believe in what she wishes. They are stifled in their environment, prisoners of a world of utilitarianism. Gradgrind's school is very plain and bare, Dickens describing it as a 'monotonous vault', and being 'intensely whitewashed'. For pupils having to learn in this kind of environment would be extremely boring, and no encouragement is given to exercise

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Evolution of white women in society Essay

During the colonial chronology of the United States, many a historian pictured women as better situated than their more recent contemporaries (Mary Beth Norton, 1984). The value of women in the colonies was premised on the survival mode of the colonists during that time (Norton, 1984). To survive, both male and female were expected to pull their own weight in the community for the common good of the community (Norton, 1984). Due to this situation, the common lines of separation on the roles of women from the men were blurred greatly (Norton, 1984). As such, women in the colonies could engage in the activities that were also done by the men folk in the community (Norton, 1984). But what gave women a distinct advantage was that they could produce offspring, a very large contribution to the survival of the colonies (Norton, 1984). Also, the Common Law as it was applied in England was not fully complied with in the colonies (Norton, 1984). Hence, women were able to contribute more fully in the life of the colonies (Norton, 1984). Today’s society bears little distinction in the role of women in the colonies. At present, women are doing many of the duties and employment that men have usually been pictured. Women can do what the men are doing to be able to cope with the increasing costs of living in the present economy of many countries. Most are successful in many of traditional endeavors of man. Sadly, there are opponents from both sides, one saying that women must be confined to their traditional station, while another seeks greater power for the women. What lies in the crux of the issue is the issue of equality for both sexes. We must treat women as vital instruments to the growth of a society, not only as objects to look and admire at. That aim can be achieved in terms of affording greater avenues for women to make that contribution, not locking them away from them. In this day and age, all hands count in the survival of a community. Reference Norton, M. B. (1984). The evolution of white women’s experience in early America. The American Historical Review, Volume 89, pp. 539-619

Monday, September 16, 2019

Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 12

What happened then was interesting. Mary-Lynnette got to see the sisters do all the things she'dmissed earlier in the clearing. All the hissing and the clawed fingers. Just like the movies. Except that when a vampire hissed, it sounded real. Like a cat, not like a person imitating a cat. All three girls jumped up and stood ready to fight. There wasn't any weird grimacing. But Jade and Kestrel were showing teeth that were long and beautifully curved, coming to delicate feline points that indented the lower lip. And something else. Their eyes changed. Jade's silvery-green eyes went even more silvery. Kestrel's golden eyes looked jewel-yellow, like a hawk's. Even Rowan's eyes had a dark light in them. â€Å"Oh, boy,† Mark whispered. He was standing beside Jade, staring from her to Ash. Ash said, â€Å"Hi.† Don't look at him, Mary-Lynnette told herself. Herheart was pounding wildly and her knees were trembling. The attraction of particle to antiparticle,she thought, remembering a line from last year'sphysics lass. But there was another, shorter namefor it, and no matter what she said to herself, she couldn't keep it out of her mind. Soulmates. Oh, God, I really don't want this. Please, please, Ididn't ask for this. I want to discover a supernova and study mini-quasars at the Gamma Ray Observatory. I want to be the one who solves the mystery of where all the dark matter in the universe is. I don't want this. It should have happened to someone like BunnyMarten, someone who spent timelonging for romance. The only thing Mary-Lynnette longed for wassomebody to understand †¦ †¦ to understand the night with you,a distant part ofher mind whispered. And instead here she was, stuck with a guy whose own sisters were terrified of him. It was true. That was why they were standingpoised to fight, making threatening noises. Even Kestrel was afraid of him. The moment Mary-Lynnette realized that, anger washed out the trembling dismay inside her. Whatever she felt about Ash, she wasn't afraid of him. â€Å"Don't you ever knock?† she said and walked toward him. Strode toward him. She had to hand it to her new family. Both Jadeand Kestrel tried to grab her and keep her from getting close to their brother. Protecting her. MaryLynnette shook them off. Ash eyed her warily. â€Å"Oh. You,† he said. Unenthusiastically. â€Å"What are you doing here?† â€Å"It's my uncle's house.† â€Å"It's your aunt's house and you weren't invited.† Ash looked at his sisters. Mary-Lynnette could justsee little wheels turning in his head. Had they already told about the Night World or not? Of course, if they hadn't, their behavior should be giving somebody a due. Most human girls didn't hiss. Ash held one finger up. â€Å"Okay. Now, listen† Mary-Lynnette kicked him in the shins. She knew it was inappropriate, she knew it was uncalled-for, but she couldn't stop herself. She just had to. â€Å"Oh, for God's sake,† Ash said, hopping backward. â€Å"Are you crazy?† â€Å"Yes, she is,† Mark said, abandoning Jade and hurrying forward to take Mary-Lynnette's arm. â€Å"Everybody knows she's crazy. She can't help it.† He backedup, pulling. He was looking at Mary-Lynnette as if she'd taken all her clothes off and started to dance the mambo. So were Kestrel and Jade. Their eyes had gone ordinary, their teeth retracted. They'd never seen anyone treat their brother quite this way. And to have a human doing it †¦ If the girls had superhuman strength, Ash was undoubtedly even stronger. He could probably flatten Mary-Lynnette with one blow. She still couldn't help it. She wasn't afraid of him, only of herself and the stupid floating feeling in her stomach. The way her legs wanted to fold under her. â€Å"Will somebody just tell her not to do that anymore?† Ash was saying. Kestrel and Jade looked sideways at Mary-Lynnette. Mary-Lynnette shrugged at them, her breath coming quickly. She saw that Rowan was looking at her, too, butnot in the same dumbfounded way. Rowan looked worried and surprised and sorry. â€Å"You've met,† she said. â€Å"I should have told you,† Mary-Lynnette said. â€Å"Hecame to our house. He was asking my stepmotherabout you and your friends-saying that he needed to approve them because he was head of the family.† All three girls looked at Ash with narrowed eyes. â€Å"So you have been around,† Kestrel said. â€Å"Forhow long?† Rowan said quietly, â€Å"What are -you really doinghere?† Ash let go of his shin. â€Å"Can we all sit down and talk about this like reasonable people?† Everyone looked at Mary-Lynnette. She took a deep, calming breath. She still felt as if her entire skin was electrified, but her heart was slowing down. â€Å"Yes,† she said and worked at looking normal so they'd know her temporary insanity was over. As he helped her to the couch, Mark whispered, â€Å"I have to tell you, I've never seen you act so immature before. I'm proud of you.† Even big sisters have to have some off time, Mary-Lynnette thought. She patted him vaguely and sat, feeling tired. Ash settled in a plush-covered chair. Rowan andKestrel sat beside Mary-Lynnette. Mark and Jade shared an ottoman. â€Å"All right,† Ash said. â€Å"Now can we fast introduce ourselves? I presume that's your brother.† â€Å"Mark,† Mary-Lynnette said. â€Å"Mark, that's Ash.† Mark nodded. He and Jade were holding hands. Mary-Lynnette saw Ash's eyes drop to their intertwined fingers. She couldn't tell anything from his expression. â€Å"Okay. Now.† Ash looked at Rowan. â€Å"I'm here to take you back home, where everyone misses you violently.† Jade breathed, â€Å"Give me a break.† Kestrel said, â€Å"What if we don't want to be taken?† and showed her teeth briefly. Mary-Lynnette didn't find that strange. What she found strange was that Ash didn't return the smile. He didn't look lazy or sardonic or smug right then. He looked like somebody who wants to get a job over with. Rowan said, â€Å"We can't go home, Ash.† Her breathing was slightly irregular, but her chin was high. â€Å"Well, you have to come home. Because otherwisethere are going to be some fairly drastic consequences.† â€Å"We knew that when we left,† Jade said, with aslittle emotion as Rowan. Her chin was high, too. â€Å"Well, I don't think you've really thought itthrough.† Ash's voice had an edge. â€Å"We'd rather die than go back,† Jade said. Kestrel glanced at her quickly, one eyebrow raised. â€Å"Oh, well, fine, I'll just make a note of that,† Ash said tightly. Then his expression darkened. He lookedmore determined than Mary-Lynnette would have thought he could look. Not in the least like a big blond cat. Like a lanky, elegant pale tiger. â€Å"Now, listen,† he said. â€Å"There are a few smallthings that you don't understand, and I don't have any time to play games. So how about we send yourlittle friends home and then we can all have a fam ily talk.† Mary-Lynnette's hands clenched into fists. Mark clutched at Jade, who pushed him awayslightly with her elbow. She was frowning. â€Å"I think maybe you'd better,† she said. â€Å"I'm not going to leave you.† Rowan bit her lip. â€Å"Mark †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I'm not going. Don't try to protect me. He's not stupid, sooner or later he's going to find out that we know about the Night World.† Rowan drew in her breath involuntarily. Kestrel's expression never changed, but her muscles. tensed as if for a fight. Jade's eyes went silver. Mary-Lynnette sat very still. They all looked at Ash. Ash looked heavenward. â€Å"I know you know,† he said with deadly patience.†I'm trying to get you out, you poor sap, before I find out how much you know.† The sisters stared. Mary-Lynnette opened hermouth and then shut it again. â€Å"I thought you didn't like humans,† Mark said. â€Å"I don't; I hate them,† Ash said with brittle cheer. â€Å"Then why would you want to cut me a break?†Ã¢â‚¬ Because if I kill you, I have to kill your sister,† Ash informed him, with a smile that would have fit in perfectly at the Mad Hatter's tea party. â€Å"So what; she kicked you.† Ash stopped tossing answers back like footballs. â€Å"Yeah, well, I may change my mind any minute.† â€Å"No, wait, † Jade said. She was sitting with legs folded under her, staring at her brother fiercely. â€Å"This is just too weird. Why would you care whathappens to a human?† Ash didn't say anything. He looked at the fire place bitterly. It was Rowan who said softly, â€Å"Because they're soulmates.† An instant of silence, then everybody started talking explosively. â€Å"They're what? You mean, like what Jade and Iare?† â€Å"Oh, Ash, this is rich. I just wish our father were here to see this.† â€Å"It is not my fault, â€Å"Mary-Lynnette said. She found everyone turning toward her, and realized that her eyes were full. Rowan leaned across Kestrel to put her hand on Mary-Lynnette's arm. â€Å"You mean it's really true?Mark said, looking from Mary-Lynnette to Ash. â€Å"It's true. I guess. I don't know what it's supposed to be like,† Mary-Lynnette said, concentrating on making the tears go away. â€Å"It's true,† Ash said moodily. â€Å"It doesn't meanwe're going todo anything about it.† â€Å"Oh, you've got that right,† Mary-Lynnette said. She was glad to be angry again. â€Å"So let's all just pick up our toys and go home,†Ash said in the general direction of his sisters. â€Å"We'llforget all about this; we'll just agree that it neverhappened.† Rowan was watching him, shaking her head slightly.There were tears in her eyes, but she was smiling. â€Å"I never thought I'd hear you say something likethat,† she said. â€Å"You've changed so much-I can't believe it.† â€Å"I can't believe it, either,† Ash said bleakly. â€Å"Maybe it's a dream.† â€Å"But you have to admit now that humans aren'tvermin. You couldn't be soulmates with vermin.† â€Å"Yes. Fine. Humans are terrific. We all agree; nowlet's go home.† â€Å"When we were kids, you were like this,† Rowan said. â€Å"Before you started acting like you were better than everyone. I always knew a lot of that was just show. To hide how scared you were. And I always knew you didn't really believe a lot of the horriblestuff you said. Somewhere inside, you're still that nice little kid, Ash.† Ash produced his first really flashingsmile of theevening. â€Å"Don't bet on it.† Mary-Lynnette had listened to all this feeling shakier and shakier. To conceal it, she said to Rowan, â€Å"I don't think your aunt thought so.† Ash sat up. â€Å"Hey, where is the old hag, anyway?I need to have a talk with her before we leave.† This silence seemed endless. â€Å"Ash †¦ don't you know?† Rowan said. â€Å"Of course he knows. Ten to one, he did it,† Kestrel said. â€Å"What is it that I'm supposed to know?† Ash said, with every sign of being about to lose his patience. â€Å"Your aunt's dead,† Mark told him. â€Å"Somebody staked her,† Jade added. Ash looked around the room. His expression said he suspected it was a practical joke. Oh, God, Mary Lynnette thought numbly, when he's startled and bewildered like that he looks so young. Vulnerable. Almost human. â€Å"Somebody †¦ murdered †¦ Aunt Opal. That's what you're telling me?† â€Å"Are you telling us that you don't know?† Kestrel asked. â€Å"What have you beendoing all night, Ash?† â€Å"Banging my head against a rock,† Ash said. â€Å"Thenlooking for you. When I walked in you were talking about me.† â€Å"And you didn't run across any livestock tonight?Any-let's say-goats?† Ash gave her a long, incredulous look. â€Å"I fed, if that's what you're asking. Not on a goat.Whatdoes this have to do with Aunt Opal?† â€Å"I think we'd better show him,† Rowan said. She was the one who got up and lifted the fold ofrug away from the goat. Ash walked around thecouch to see what she was doing. Mary-Lynnette turned to watch his face. He winced. But he controlled it quickly. Rowan said quietly, â€Å"Look at what was in the goat's mouth.† Ash picked up the black flower gingerly. â€Å"An Iris. So?† ‘Been to your club recently?† Kestrel asked. Ash gave her a weary look. â€Å"If I had done this, why would I sign it with an iris?† â€Å"Maybe to tell us who did it.† â€Å"I don't have to kill goats to say things, you know. I can talk.† Kestrel looked unimpressed. â€Å"Maybe this way the message has a little more impact.† â€Å"Do I looklike the kind of person who wastes time turning goats into pincushions?† â€Å"No. No, I don't think you did this,† Rowan said inher quiet way. â€Å"But somebodydid-probably whoever killed Aunt Opal. We've been trying to figure outwho.† â€Å"Well, who have we got for suspects?† Everyone looked at Mary-Lynnette. She looked away. â€Å"There's one who's pretty prime,† Mark said. â€Å"Hisname's Jeremy Lovett. He's a real-â€Å" â€Å"Quiet guy,† Mary-Lynnette interrupted. If anyonewas going to describe Jeremy, it was going to be her. â€Å"I've known him since elementary school, and I would never,ever have believed he could hurt any body-especially an old lady and ananimal.† â€Å"But his uncle was crazy,† Mark said. â€Å"And I'veheard things about hisfamily-â€Å" â€Å"Nobodyknows anything about his family,† Mary-Lynnette said. She felt as if she were struggling to keep her head above water, with barbells tied to herwrists and ankles. What was dragging her downwasn't Mark's suspicion – It was her own. The littlevoice in her head that was saying, â€Å"But he seemed like such a nice guy†Ã¢â‚¬â€œand which meant, of course, that he wasn't. Ash was watching her with a brooding, intent expression. â€Å"What does this Jeremy look like?† Something about the way he said it irritated MaryLynnette beyond belief. â€Å"What do you care?† Ash blinked and shifted his gaze. He shrugged minimallyand said with forced blandness, â€Å"Just curious.† â€Å"He'svery handsome,† Mary-Lynnette said.Gooda way to let out her anger and frustration. â€Å"And the thing is that he looks very intelligent andsensitive-it's not empty good looks. He's got hair that's sort of the color of Ponderosa pinecones andthe most wonderful brown eyes†¦. He's thin andtan and a little bit taller than me, because I'm normally looking at his mouth†¦.† Ash didn't look pleased. â€Å"I saw somebody vaguelylike that at the gas station -in town.† He turned to Rowan. â€Å"You think he's some kind of outlawvampire?† â€Å"Obviously not a made vampire because MaryLynnette has watched him grow up,† Rowan said. â€Å"I was thinking more that he might be renegade lamia.But there's not much use in trying to figure it out from here. Tomorrow we can go and see him, and then we'll know more. Right?† Mark nodded. Jade nodded. Mary-Lynnette took adeep breath and nodded. Ash nodded and said, â€Å"All right, I see why you can't go home until this is solved. So, we'll figureout who killed Aunt Opal, and then we'll take the appropriate action, and then we'll go home. Got it?† His sisters exchanged glances. They didn't answer. As she and mark walked back to their house,Mary-Lynnette noticed that Sirius had lifted abovethe eastern horizon. It hung like a jewel, brighterthan she had ever seen it before-much brighter. Itseemed almost like a miniature sun, flashing with blue and gold and violet rays. She thought the effect must be psychological,,until she remembered that she'd exchanged blood with three vampires.