The Miranda warning

IntroductionFor even the most casual viewer of police television shows, the cry of â€Å"read me my rights† has been heard from the lips of accused criminals as frequently as anything else.   Beyond this statement, however, lies a real life drama- The Miranda Warning.   Where this warning came from, its true meaning and intent, as well as what the future should hold for The Miranda Warning are all pivotal questions which will be answered in the course of this research in order to better understand not only Miranda, but the overall American criminal justice system and its approach to the rights of those accused of crimes.What is the Miranda Warning?To begin, the origins of The Miranda Warning itself, as well as the actual verbiage of the warning, need to be understood.   Originally, The Miranda Warning came forth from the legal case of Ernesto Miranda, the focus of the 1963 Supreme Court Case Miranda v. Arizona   (Lyman, 2004).   Essentially, the facts of the case are as follows: Ernesto Miranda was arrested, accused of the rape of a mildly mentally handicapped woman.   At the time of his arrest, Miranda was not advised by the arresting officer that he had the Constitutional right to remain silent, to choose not to answer questions without an attorney present, and to not be forced to offer any information that would be used against him in any legal case.Eventually, Miranda’s attorney argued that Miranda’s confession to the crime should be thrown out of court, because it was obtained without Miranda being advised of his rights.   The original judge in the case denied this motion, but eventually, the Supreme Court ruled that the statements that Miranda originally made to the police should be disregarded because he was not read his rights (Robertson, 1997).   As a result of this pivotal ruling, a standardized warning, therein known as The Miranda Warning, was instituted by all police forces in the United States, and recited to a nyone accused of a crime before being questioned.   The full text of the warning is as follows:â€Å"You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Do you understand? Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand? You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. Do you understand?  If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. Do you understand?If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. Do you understand? Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?† (Robertson, 1997, p. 161)  Ultimately, the warning was effectively made much shorter and easier for suspects to und erstand, presented as follows:â€Å"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.† (Robertson, 1997, p. 162).With The Miranda Warning having been refined and put in place, one would make the assumption that the rights of individuals are protected, and the police are safeguarded against having key evidence dismissed on a technicality, but the opposite is actually the case.   Further research has revealed pivotal issues surrounding The Miranda Warning.Pivotal Issues Surrounding the Miranda WarningThe Miranda Warning faces heavy controversy both from the viewpoint of the criminal justice system and the accused criminal.   For police and the courts, Miranda is sometimes argued against, as the claim is made that the Warning prevents the s wift investigation of criminal matters due to the lack of divulgence of important information during questioning that could literally save lives or property; this has especially become true in the modern era of terrorism, when foreign suspects, many argue, need to be compelled to give information immediately so that potential terror plots can be diffused before mass murder occurs.However, for the accused and the attorneys that represent them, Miranda is seen as something that is necessary in order to keep police from either misinterpreting the statements of suspects, coercing confessions out of suspects through psychological means, or by actually resorting to violence to literally beat a confession out of the suspect (Miranda’s Enemies, 2000).   Based on the two sides of the issue, the pivotal issue is clear: how can Miranda be used in a way that protects victims, aids law enforcement and promotes common order, while still giving accused criminals the entitlements of due pr ocess as guaranteed by the Constitution?   There is no clear answer to how this can be achieved, but on both the federal and state levels, the issue has been explored.States’ Views of the Miranda WarningSome states have taken a more generous view of the use of Miranda than others, resulting in cases being brought to appeal in the supreme courts of those states.   The landmark case in this regard, cited over the past several years, is Missouri v. Seibert.   The basic facts of this case were that police in the state of Missouri were reading Miranda to suspects only after they began questioning them, and they would then continue to question after the reading, in an effort to confuse a suspect.With this approach, the suspect, even if their statements made before the reading were dismissed, would still likely have some statements made after the reading that would be incriminating.   Calling this a â€Å"two-step† around the Constitution, this practice was eventually ruled illegal by a Missouri court (Leo, 1996).   This also brings up another important technicality- the need to provide Miranda to everyone being questioned by police, or only those who are officially placed under arrest.   The net effect of all of this is to greatly muddy the legal waters and make the use of Miranda, or the lack of it, a hot legal topic on both sides of the courtroom bench, so to speak.   Therefore, many states have looked to the federal government to issue universal decrees on Miranda.Constitutional View of the Miranda WarningEvery accused criminal has classically been protected by the Constitution, specifically by the First and Fifth Amendments as an example.   Essentially, all of the debates about Miranda have filtered down to a few Constitutional standards, which of course are not set in stone due to the dynamic nature of the American justice system, but are worthy of discussion in this research.   Generally speaking, the Supreme Court of the United States, based on cases like Missouri v. Seibert, has ruled that neither the accused in a criminal case, nor those arrested in a criminal case need to be â€Å"Mirandized† as it has come to be called.However, there is a caution to be noted- if the individual is not made aware of their rights, there is the possibility that statements they make can be dismissed in a legal case against them since the information was technically obtained in an illegal manner by the law enforcement personnel who obtained it in the first place (Nooter, 2005).   Again, there is a legal tightrope to be walked here, between what can be done to protect individual rights of accused and victim alike, while still serving the interests of justice and fulfilling the role of law enforcement in society.   A key question leads to the conclusion of the research- what should be done about Miranda?Conclusion- What Should be Done about the Miranda Warning?In wondering what should be done about Miranda, there i s something that needs to be laid out right off- there is no ideal criminal justice system, and the guilty will sometimes avoid punishment, and unfortunately, the innocent will be punished as well.   However, this being said, there need to be safeguards in place to make sure that the police do not falsely generate evidence against accused criminals, and as well, that the truly guilty do not escape justice.   Therefore, in closing, it is one humble opinion that Miranda should be kept in place, closely monitored as it has been.   While it is flawed in some areas, to discard it wholesale would be much worse than the present situation.ReferencesLeo, R. A. (1996). The Impact of Miranda Revisited. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 86(3), 621-692.Lyman, M.D. (2004).   Criminal Investigation: The Art and Science.   New York: Prentice Hall.Miranda's Enemies. (2000, May 15). The Nation, 270, 4.Nooter, D. S. (2005). Is Missouri V. Seibert Practicable? Supreme Court Dances the â€Å"Two-Step† around Miranda. American Criminal Law Review, 42(3), 1093+.Robertson, D. (1997). A Dictionary of Human Rights. London: Europa Publications.

Heart of Darkness Study Guide Essay

Chapter 1 1. The setting of the story begins on the Nellie, a ship. The turn of the tide is significant because it gives the men on board extra time to talk, and Marlow begins telling his story. In addition, symbolically, the turning of the tide conveys a change, and perhaps, foreshadowing of the story. The author spends a lot of time dealing with light because it is the main symbol in the novella. Light and darkness are universal symbols that represent good and evil. Although not explicitly stated, those who have the light are those who are â€Å"civilized†, and those who have the darkness are those who remain â€Å"uncivilized†, particularly the people living in Africa. 2. Marlow appears different from everyone else on the ship because of how the author describes Marlow’s character. Conrad describes Marlow as having â€Å"sunken cheeks†, a â€Å"yellow complexion†, and resembling that of an â€Å"idol†. Marlow seems ill through this description. Sunken cheeks convey a lack of nourishment, as well as exhaustion. The color yellow in literature has two meanings: happiness and sickness. In this context, one may infer the color yellow to symbolize Marlow’s sickness, or corruption, as it correlates to the rest of his description. Lastly, an â€Å"idol† connotes a phantom. Marlow appears to be different from everyone on the ship through his description. The audience is civilized. All of the men have jobs, a lawyer, an accountant, the director, and the outside narrator. The story also explains how Marlow remained the only one out of the men to still follow the sea. He also portrays how he did not â€Å"represent his class.† This suggests that Marlow may not be as â€Å"civilized† as the other men. As Marlow begins to tell his story, the narrator explains how Marlow is about to embark on another â€Å"inconclusive† experience. The word inconclusive suggests not fully answering doubts and questions. In addition, Marlow begins to remark the â€Å"weakness of many tellers of tales who seem so often unaware of what their audience would best like to hear.† This conveys how Marlow hopes to interest, or intrigue, his audience. Marlow feels inclined to share his story so that his audience better understands him. 3. The Roman reacted to England, a dark place, by â€Å"civilizing† it, or conquering its territory. At that time, England looked like the â€Å"very end of the world.† It possessed â€Å"sand banks, marshes,  forests, savages.† The story conveys how there was little to eat for a civilized man and only the Thames water for drink. England was a dark place at that time because it was uncivilized. 4. According to Marlow, what redeems the conquest of the Earth is the idea only; the idea that men will unselfishly sacrifice themselves for. Marlow explains how conquering land, and the land’s people, really is not a pretty thing. I think Marlow breaks off because it is a sensitive subject for him to discuss, and maybe only something he truly understands. 5. Marlow keeps comparing the river to a serpent. The comparison is interesting because a serpent symbolizes evil, corruption, and temptation. Similar to the story of Adam and Eve, a snake, or the river in this case, tempts the protagonist. 6. Aside from knitting, the two women in the office appear to be secretaries, or receptionists, for the doctor. Both women appear to symbolize fate; they are the fates who spin, measure, or cute the thread of life. This symbol is an allusion to Greek mythology. As Marlow is progressing toward his journey to Africa, it is in the Company’s office that he meets these two women. 7. Fresleven went insane because he had spent so much time in the jungle. After attempting to stab the village chief, Fresleven was killed. The conflict began with an argument over a couple of hens, which cost him, his life. The village became abandoned because the natives became superstitious; they were all very afraid to kill a white man. 8. Marlow’s Aunt calls Marlow an â€Å"emissary of light† because she believes that during his journey to Africa, Marlow is going to bring knowledge and civilization to the â€Å"savages.† This reflects the imperialism during that time period. 9. The man-of-war is a lifeless forested stretch of coast. Once they reach the Congo River, Marlow boards another ship to journey further upriver. The man-of-war portends the lifelessness of many coasts in Africa; most parts of the place appear corrupt and dreary. 10. Marlow describes the Company’s station as a â€Å"Grove of Death†, in which among the trees there are dying natives and recurring dynamite blasts. I think the natives allowed themselves to be bullied by the white men because they felt inferior. During this time, imperialism was popular and the belief that a white man was better than a black man was common. I also do not think natives had the proper technology, means, or knowledge to necessarily stand up to a group of white men either. 11. The accountant is described as an elegant white man with a clean and  well-mannered appearance. The accountant is described as a â€Å"miracle† because he represents the Company, or how the Company wishes to be seen. The accountant is devoted to the Company. The station manager is described as an average man. The manager’s supreme gift is his ability to never get sick. Marlow does not like the station manager because he is jealous of Kurtz, and also because Marlow describes him as â€Å"originating nothing.† This suggests how the manager lacks innovation and is devoted to keeping up with appearances, although he has nothing to offer. The manager comments about how ‘men should only come out here if they don’t have anything inside.’ This conveys that in order to succeed in the ivory trade business and survive in Africa, one must be ruthless. 12. The brick maker appears to be idle as Marlow remarks on how there â€Å"wasn’t a fragment of a brick anywhere in the station.† The brick maker is waiting for his opportunity to move up the ladder within the company. 13. Kurtz’ painting is of a blindfolded woman carrying a lighted torch, in which her face is appears deceived by shadows. I suppose the painting reflects the men traveling to Africa, blindfolded, to civilize the natives, who represent the light. The woman is blindfolded as the European men are blinded by their negative influence on the natives. The shadows suggest darkness, which suggests corruption. 14. The manager and brick maker are upset at Kurtz’ pre-eminence because they are envious at his success. This conveys the competition, desperation, and corruption during this time period to do whatever it takes to be successful, powerful, and rich. For these European men, money was power and that was their desire. Marlow lies to the brick maker by playing along to further understand his motives. In addition, Marlow allows the brick maker to think he has an influence in Europe to gain information about Kurtz. 15. Marlow was unable to get the rivets from the Company. This suggests how the enterprise is allowing loose policies and for things to follow apart; this conveys a lack of professionalism. The manager does not want the rivets to make it out because he wants his Eldorado Exploring Expedition to follow through. 16. The Eldorado Exploring Expedition suggests an expedition in search for gold during this time. Although there was no gold in Africa, ivory was very valuable. This expedition was led by the manager’s uncle. Its purpose is to find ivory and exploit African resources. Chapter 2 1. The manager survives because he cannot get sick. His plan to â€Å"beat Kurtz† is by delaying the trip to the Inner Station, that way hopefully Kurtz’ illness will kill him because he will not receive the proper care in time. 2. The crew of the steamboat was the cannibals. Although savage, the cannibals are much better at controlling their behavior than the pilgrims. The pilgrims appear willing to begin destruction at any cause in order to gain ivory. The definition of â€Å"civilized† seems to belong to those who are able to exercise self-restraint. 3. The drums symbolize the culture that still exists in Africa. The forest appears to be moving throughout the journey, which may be foreshadowing how the natives are moving with the boat to assure that it does not meet Kurtz. 4. â€Å"The earth seemed unearthly† suggests the discomfort Marlow feels along his journey. On a larger scale, this conveys how Africa has become a place lacking of normality and humanity; Marlow expresses how he feels separated from Earth. â€Å"That was the worst of us, the suspicion that they weren’t human,† suggests how corrupt the men were; they appear to show no signs of humanity. 5. Marlow discovers a book about seamanship. The book appears admirable because it is the only bit of reality Marlow has encountered recently. 6. When they wake up, eight miles from the station, the coast has been covered in a thick fog which keeps them stationary. The fog is a white, however, it does not represent light or goodness. The fog suggests how Marlow’s steamer does not know exactly where they are or what lies ahead in their journey; everything appears unclear physically and emotionally. 7. Marlow claims that the natives will not attack because the â€Å"nature of their noise† seems to convey sadness. In addition, Marlow does not understand how there could be an attack with the severe fog. 8. The sounding man is killed first in the attack because he is the first man seen. The river comes to symbolize not only the way in which Marlow begins his journey into himself, but as they venture further up the river, Marlow begins to realize he has more in common with the natives than Europeans. In addition, the river continues to represent the heart of temptation. The helmsman gets killed because he began to freak out, abandoning his position to grab a gun. Marlow drives the natives away by using the steam-whistle. 9. Marlow wanted to meet Kurtz because he had heard such interesting, wild things about him. Kurtz  represents the thrilling and horrifying wildness that Marlow desired. Kurtz abandoned his life in Europe to pursue fortune in Africa. 10. Kurtz head was compared to that of an ivory ball. This suggests how important ivory was to this man; it was the only thing on his mind. Conrad uses a simile, irony, as well as symbolism to convey this. 11. Kurtz paper is about how white men must treat Africans as though the white men are much greater, super natural beings so that they can exert power over them. At the end, the scribble proclaims to exterminate all brutes. 12. The harlequin is the Russian man, Kurtz’ disciple. The harlequin knows a lot about Kurtz, he claims to only listen to Kurtz, and he acts only has information for Marlow. Chapter 3 1. The harlequin is boyish in appearance, and he is young. His brightly patched clothes are similar to the maps in the office Marlow had admired. The harlequin represents youth and adventure. The harlequin is still alive due to Kurtz’ influence. 2. The stakes outside of Kurtz’ compound were human heads. Most were faced in, while a couple was faced outward. They are the heads of â€Å"rebels†. 3. A group of native Africans carry Kurtz on a stretcher. Marlow describes Kurtz as resembling â€Å"an animated image of death carved out of ivory.† This further suggests how Kurtz was willing to die in pursuit of ivory, which symbolizes power. 4. Kurtz brings his guns with him. Since the natives view Kurtz as a deity, they believe that the guns hold great power. Kurtz brings them to further emphasize his power over the natives. 5. The â€Å"wild and gorgeous apparition of a woman† is a native woman, Kurtz’ mistress. Conrad pairs here with being a warrior. 6. Right before Kurtz dies, Marlow recognizes all of Kurtz’ emotions. This relates to Kurtz’ last words â€Å"the horror! The horror!† because perhaps Kurtz realized that the life he was living was actually not worth dying for. Marlow blows out the candle because it is symbolic of Kurtz’ life. 7. â€Å"He had something to say† relates to Kurtz, who always had something to say, while Marlow had nothing to say. Marlow believes that Kurtz last words are a victory because he thinks he realized his negative impact in the world and his corruption at that moment. 8. Back in the city, Marlow discovers that Kurtz had many other talents such as a gift in music and writing. 9. Marlow gives up the idea that the Europeans belong in Africa. He has gone about doing that by no longer choosing to pursue that lifestyle. 10. The Intended is Kurtz’ fiancà ©e. She  is described as being beautiful and often connected with imagery of light and heaven. Marlow’s belief that women live in beautiful worlds, which should not be disturbed, is relevant here as this beautiful woman is not intertwined with Kurtz’ alter lifestyle, his corrupt lifestyle. 11. Kurtz’ Intended claimed to have known him more than anyone else on Earth. However, she did not know the type of lifestyle Kurtz was living. Marlow tells the Intended that Kurtz’ last words were for her name. Marlow claims that â€Å"it would have been too dark† to tell her the truth. I think the Heart of Darkness is when one allows him or herself to live in a false reality, allowing themselves to lie and deceive others for their own benefit.

Consider immigration into the US and remittances sent home Essay

Consider immigration into the US and remittances sent home - Essay Example On the other hand, entrepreneurs make the use of unexploited economic potential in the country, thereby increasing employment opportunities and bring in additional revenues in the region. The immigrants who are in the united state illegally increased competition in the labor market. This community offers a threat to the economy since the competition reduces the employment opportunities for Inuit communities. The national government should therefore strive to reduce the community that is illegally in the region. Remittances are funds that a foreign individual sends to home country, mainly to their families. In this perspective, remittance is very effective in the economy since the remittance funds are earned by foreign individuals, therefore adding value to the economy (Gylfason, 2009, p. 109). On the other hand, these funds are tax deductible and therefore provide the government with revenue through taxes. However, foreign aids are tax-free and have no economic value to the host

Country Report on United Arab Emirates Research Paper

Country Report on United Arab Emirates - Research Paper Example The government of United Kingdom decided to end the treaty with Qatar, Bahrain, and the seven Trucial Sheikhdoms it took into its fortification. These nine states tried to form their own union of the Arab Emirates, but by the middle of 1971 they failed to disagree on the terms of amalgamation. In the August of1971, Bahrain became an independent nation and Qatar the following September. On December 1, 1971, the Trucial Sheikhdoms-British treaty expired and they became fully self-governing. In the December of 1971, six of these states united to become the United Arab Emirates. Ras al-Khaimah joined these states in the beginning of 1972. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi’s leader, was elected by the Supreme Council as Dubai’s leader and President. The post of Prime Minister was designated to Sheikh Rashid bin Said al Maktoum. Geography: The United Arab Emirates is a confederation of seven emirates, each of which is ruled by a hereditary emir, and a single nation al president. The member emirates are Ajman, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah, Fujairah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. The United Arab Emirates is located in Southwest Asia and provides a border to Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, between Saudi Arabia and Oman. It is in a tactical site along northern advancements to the Strait of Hormuz, an important trade point for the world’s crude oil. United Arab Emirates is situation between 51 ° and 56 °25? eastern longitude and between 22 °50? and 26 ° northern latitude. In the northwest, a 19-kilometer border is aligned with Qatar; in the west, south east and south, it shares 1 530 kilometer border with Saudi Arabia; in the... The United Arab Emirates is a confederation of seven emirates, each of which is ruled by a hereditary emir, and a single national president. The member emirates are Ajman, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah, Fujairah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. The United Arab Emirates is located in Southwest Asia and provides a border to Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, between Saudi Arabia and Oman. It is in a tactical site along northern advancements to the Strait of Hormuz, an important trade point for the world’s crude oil. United Arab Emirates is situation between 51 ° and 56 °25†² eastern longitude and between 22 °50†² and 26 ° northern latitude. In the northwest, a 19-kilometer border is aligned with Qatar; in the west, south east and south, it shares 1 530 kilometer border with Saudi Arabia; in the northeast ad southeast it shares a 450-kilometer border with Oman. Even today, the land border it shares with Qatar at Khawr al Udayd is in dispute. The whole area of United Arab Emirates is about 83,600 square kilometers (almost about the area of Maine). Even today, the country’s exact size is not known because of doubtful alleges of many islands of the Persian Gulf. Since there is lack of accurate information on the actual size of several of these islands, and also about many boundaries of land, particularly with Saudi Arabia; the size of United Arab Emirates is still not decided yet. The largest emirate of UAE is Abu Dhabi which covers 87 percent of the total area of United Arab Emirates.

How does the image of women displayed in the Cosmopolitan affect the Essay

How does the image of women displayed in the Cosmopolitan affect the self-image of women in the UK - Essay Example ............................................. 5. Conclusion............................................................................................................. REFERENCES LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Female Imagery in the UK Cosmopolitan Magazine................................... Figure 2: High Priced Celebrity Fashion Merchandise Imagery................................. ABSTRACT The UK Cosmopolitan provides many different images of what society considers the idealised female form: the slender, voluptuous and high fashion-conscious celebrity often depicted in many beauty-inspired media sources. Through continuous exposure to these images, women are often embattled with a struggle to gain self-image improvements whereby the idealised female form dictated by media sources provides confidence problems to women who have not attained this socially-mandated goal. Research indicates that UK society often believes overweight women or those who are not as outwardly attractive cannot fi nd success or achievement, thereby creating the foundation for anxiety production when women view these images and believe they are inferior to the models illustrated. Empirical research, psychological and sociological theories, and even marketing theories lend support to the notion that women in the UK are dramatically impacted, in relation to their own perceptions of self-image, due to the UK Cosmopolitan. ... This paper focuses on theory and research investigations in an attempt to justify that self-image is negatively impacted through such media depiction of females. The findings of this project indicate that socially-driven ideals, reference group sentiment, tangible anxiety production in the female brain, and advertising influence supporting visualisation in media of the idealised female body contribute most strongly to self-image problems in UK women. How does the image of women displayed in the Cosmopolitan affect the self-image of women in the UK? 1. Introduction The UK Cosmopolitan consists of a variety of media catering to those who maintain a worldview of hedonism, a form of self-indulgence and high-living whereby contemporary ideologies associated with a sense of social superiority, attainment of personal pleasure, and exhibition of outward elegance and modishness are primary social virtues1. There are many other respected definitions of Cosmopolitanism, such as maintaining a be lief that one belongs to the entire world rather than being limited to a singular, national region, as well as maintaining a contemporary type of sophistication and stylishness which makes one high class and socially exceptional. In the United Kingdom, the media magazine Cosmopolitan is a prime example of the aforementioned definitions of Cosmopolitanism which explores such issues as sex, health, fashion, celebrity and beauty enhancement. This media source, among many others sharing a focus on the female target segments, exemplify the notion of Cosmopolitanism by appealing to a contemporary woman consumer who values social conceptions of beauty, vanity and sophistication. The media is a significant source of influence on female Western values in today’s society, illustrating

The Temple of Olympian Zeus Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Temple of Olympian Zeus - Article Example The Temple of Olympian Zeus is a testament to the flourishing effects of classical humanities on our modern culture. The Temple of Olympian Zeus displays classical, as well as Hellenistic, culture. In terms of humanities, Philosophy & Literature of the western culture deal with Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece & Rome. The architecture of the Temple of Olympian Zeus (Athens, Greece) reflects the values and aesthetics of the culture that created it. In terms of the philosophical aspect of classical humanities, the study includes the concept of the antiquities. The classical era dates from 600 BC to 600 AD. The classical culture is described as the group which included a majority of the highest class of citizens. The humanities study focused on the â€Å"Philo’s Rule† (strike the divine coin again). Classical Philosophy includes the intellectual, as well as aesthetic, admiration of the best around the world. Specifically, the temple is made from Doric style limestone cre ations. The remaining shreds of evidence of the hugeness of the Zeus which focused on the temple are the towering columns. The towering columns still remain today as testimony to the unforgettable influence of the Classical architecture on the prior Greek society. Aristotle mentioned that the Classical Period included the king’s forcible use of the citizens to build the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The people’s focus on creating the architectural masterpiece kept them busy. Being occupied with the temple construction, citizens did not have time to stage rallies and attacks on the king during the classical period. In terms of the literary aspect of classical humanities, Edward Coplestone emphasized that Classical literature centers on learning, which includes the sending of data to the human mind. Classical literature persuades the current generation is encouraged to emulate the best of the classical period. The human being must prioritize a high sense of honor. Likewise, t he classical person enjoined to refute death for good reason. Lastly, classical literature empowers the average person to devote one’s life to the welfare of the Greek community. During the latter part of the temple’s construction, some of the columns were made from the prior low-quality building materials to the premium quality Pentelic marble. In addition, the later columns were made using the Corinthian architecture style. The new style replaced the prior Doric architectural designs. The architectural design includes several towering columns that resemble those supporting the Parthenon. The Parthenon is located in Athens, Greece as well. Likewise, the Parthenon was constructed during the Classical humanities period, 488 B.C. to 480 B.C. Both the Parthenon and the Temple of Olympian Zeus included the construction architectural column types (small and big cella architectural types). During the Classical humanities period, the architectures prioritized the competitive creation of grand, beautiful, and technically ingenious works of architectural art. On the side of the Parthenon, the architectural foundation of the temple was made out of the limestone and marble.

Legalization of drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Legalization of drugs - Essay Example A CNN poll showed that a vast majority of Americans favoured the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. These are times where the issue needs careful deliberation because any decisions taken could have far reaching positive or negative effects. More importantly the consequences of any such decision could be irreversible. Before the article presents the case for legalization there is an honest admission of the terrifying adverse physical and psychological effects of drug use. The fact that drug laws do have an impact on the availability of drugs is acknowledged. It also admits that if drugs are accessible more people will experiment with them. The basis for the case promoted here rests on two arguments - one of principal and the other practical. The principle propagated is the right to individual freedom which was articulated by John Stuart Mill the British liberal philosopher. According to Mill the individual is sovereign over himself as long as no harm is done to others. Action on this count is supported by the argument that the principle has already been adopted by the government in the case of alcohol and of nicotine.The practical argument comes from the fact that drug bans encourage illegal trade, corrupt political institutions and criminal regimes. The poor are more affected by the laws and punishments. The lack of legislation prevents control of drug use and quality leading to use by minors, increased dangers to users because of poor quality and a premium on selling strength causing hard drugs to be preferred because of the difficulty in procurement. Lack of data because of the ban also prevents a better understandi ng of the physical effects of drug use. ... The poor are more affected by the laws and punishments. The lack of legislation prevents control of drug use and quality leading to use by minors, increased dangers to users because of poor quality and a premium on selling strength causing hard drugs to be preferred because of the difficulty in procurement. Lack of data because of the ban also prevents a better understanding of the physical effects of drug use. Distribution of drugs could be done using the models of caffeine, alcohol and prescribed drugs - depending on which is best suited. The article provides a good overview of the arguments that the pro-legalization lobby present to promote their case. For sources the author primarily uses known facts. Certain statements lack credible sources, although they may be true. The statement that nicotine's addictive power is greater than that of heroine needs a credible source that is missing. The statement about America's imprisonment rate for drug offences also requires credible sources to be confirmed. The second article that we review is entitled "Legalise Drugs Now!" by Meaghan Cussen published in the American Journal of Economics and society in July 2000. Once again this is a pro-legalization article which is extremely well researched and written. The article enumerates several arguments in favour of legalisation namely the protection of civil liberties thanks to the free choice of use and trade of drugs, reduction in crime thanks to the reduced role of the drug mafia, reversal of the Potency Effect - meaning the tendency to use more potent drugs because of scarcity, health benefits because of regulation of quality and cleaner

Religious Uncertainty and the Cycle of Life and Death in the Poems of Research Paper

Religious Uncertainty and the Cycle of Life and Death in the Poems of Dylan Thomas - Research Paper Example His works, published in his teenage between 1930 and 1934, portray the struggle between crisis of his life, like finding his own identity which is typical of teenage, and himself. His musical writing style was infatuated with the sound and rhythm of words, and their manifold meanings. The richness of meaning often became illogical, and the innovatory syntax depicting celestial and sexual descriptions made his poetry somewhat hard to understand. The themes of religious uncertainty and the cycle of life and death may have arisen from some catastrophic life events, like the marriage of his love and his relationship with his father. When he travelled to London and Wales between 1934 and 1936, the years of publication of Eighteen Poems and Twenty-five poems respectively, he met a lot of literary personalities and started an affair with the poet and novelist, Pamela Hansford Johnson, who later on got married to the novelist C.P. Snow. This incident made Thomas a heart-broken hard drinker. Thomas had always felt a lot of difficulty in writing first-rate poetry and to be considered as a poet (Poetry Foundation). This also led him to plagiarize at times. Thomas started bringing elements of sadness, war, and financial failures in his poetry when he moved to a borrowed house in Wales with his wife. When Thomas married Caitlin Macnamara in 1937, they were impoverished. They moved to Laugharne, Wales and remained there till Thomas died in 1953. The monetary troubles that they encountered, like the recurrent borrowing of lodgings, started overlapping his artistic style of writing. Admirers and critics started seeing a drift in his poetry in which he, then, talked about his love for his wife, child, dwelling, and death. War, which broke out in Europe in 1939, became a noticeable subject of his poetry published in his third book, the Map of Love. However, due to war, the work was a failure. These external circumstances added to his conception of life and death, and religious u ncertainties that showed themselves in his later works. Thomas’s relationship with his father is also of particular interest in understanding his style of writing (Kabra, Mutoko and Mendonca). ‘Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night’, is a villanelle he wrote in 1945 for his father, D.J. Thomas, who was struggling with cancer. It was a 19-line poem and consisted of five tercets and a quatrain on two rhymes. The first and third lines of the first tercet recurred alternately as a catchphrase finishing the subsequent stanzas, and connected as the last couplet of the quatrain. In this poem, Thomas addressed his own father as he moved toward sightlessness and death. The relationship showed Thomas's philosophical admiration for his father's adamant intellectual autonomy, which was now under control of poor health. Having emotionally moved and agitated, Thomas made himself show his emotions and respect in the intricate structure of the villanelle. His musical writing sty le made the five tercets lead by a quatrain, with the opening and ending lines of the stanza coming alternately as the ending lines of the next stanzas. The recurring lines collected into a couplet at the last part of the quatrain. We see only two rhymes and ten syllables in each line. He talked about wild men, good men, and grave men in this

Statistic coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Statistic coursework - Essay Example e) Assumptions The population is normally distributed The sample is randomly and independently selected. Question # 4 Distribution of leading digits using Ben ford's Law of distribution. Value of X Probability 1 0.301 2 0.176 3 0.125 4 0.097 5 0.079 6 0.067 7 0.058 8 0.051 9 0.046 Observed Values: Digit Frequency Proportions 1 31 0.344 2 14 0.155 3 9 0.1 4 4 0.044 5 7 0.077 6 3 0.033 7 6 0.066 8 9 0.1 9 7 0.077 Digit Observed Frequency Expected Frequency based on Benford's Law (Observed- expected) / expected. 1 31 27.09 0.564345 2 14 15.84 0.213737 3 9 11.25 0.45 4 4 8.73 2.562761 5 7 7.11 0.001702 6 3 6.03 1.522537 7 6 5.22 0.116552 8 9 4.59 4.237059 9 7 4.41 1.521111 11.189 a) Null Hypothesis Ho: p1= 0.301 and p2 = 0.176 and p3 = 0.125 and p4 = 0.097 and p5 = 0.079 and p6 = 0.067 and p7 = 0.058 and p8 = 0.051 and p9 = 0.046. Alternate Hypothesis Ha: At least one is different b) Test Static = (O-E) /E= 11.189 c) P- Value df = n-1 = 9-1 = 8 0.15

OMD Project Management Essay Example for Free

OMD Project Management Essay Background Information: OMD Project Management is a consultancy that provides construction project management for its clients. OMD Project Management was set up approximately eighteen months ago and has a staff of three. They have access to a large skill base, which may be called upon as required to satisfy project conditions. This helps to reduce overheads and increase profit ability. The works include the following services: * measured surveys, * Schedule of condition (report on the state of the building, identifying any areas that will incur rectification at the clients cost. * Lease appraisal (review legal documents on clients behalf) * Cost estimate of works. * Tender works to specialist contractors * Manage projects * Agree final costs of the project with contractors on behalf of client * Ensure statutory regulations are complied with (planning approvals building regulations and disabled discrimination act) Although OMD Project management is a small company it has a large client base. These vary from large multi-national companies to small private businesses. They specialise with the retail sector where they have at least twenty years of experience Problem: A current issue that the company has is invoicing. Invoicing currently can take up to an hour to complete. Invoicing is currently done by hand and on paper, this is not a very efficient way of doing this job because it takes up too much time and human error is often an issue. These errors can include charging too much or too little money. By providing an invoice system it would save the company large amounts of time an effort. It would also reduce the amount of human error and increase the accuracy of the invoice. Current Invoice System: OMD project management currently do all of their invoicing on paper. This means that the consultant will remember his hours his expenses and his hourly rate in his head and when it comes around to invoicing the client he will type all of these things up on to Microsoft word, print it off and give it to the client so the are able to pay the company. As you could gather this is a very inefficient way of invoicing the client. This can also lead to large amount of errors during the invoicing process, for example a client may be under charged or over charged. End User Skills: The main user of the document that I will create is of the older generation. He prefers to do things the old fashioned way, this means that he likes to do his invoicing on paper using a calculator and a pen and it would currently take him longer to create an invoice on the computer than it would for him to do it on paper, however he is not total computer illiterate and he is able to use most word processing and spread sheet programmes. OMD Project Management would like to me to create an invoice system that is simple yet effective so that he is able to save time by moving his invoice system onto computer and they would also like me to create a system that is able to be used by everyone in the company. Requirements: General: * The invoice must be in Lucida sans console. * The text must be black in colour * The program must be user friendly * The company logo must be at the top of the invoice * The clients address must be at the top left of the page but lower than the logo. * The invoice number should be on the left hand side of the page and below the address. * A breakdown of the invoice should be in the middle of the page just below the invoice number. * The total, in bold, will go underneath the invoice breakdown. * The company address will go at the bottom of the page. * It must look professional. Qualitative: * The program must be able to hold all of the different types of expenses. * The program must be able to hold different types of jobs. * The program must double up as an estimating system. * The program must produce an accurate invoice. * The program must hold different client addresses Quantitative: * From start to finish the invoice must only take 15 minutes. * The invoice must be able to hold 3 different types of jobs * The program must be able to hold at least 20 different client addresses Hardware and Software: There is a currently a huge amount of hardware available on the market. You can buy many different types of computer each one suitable for a different purpose, for example laptops are portable and can be taken anywhere, this can be very convenient as the user is able to do his work anywhere and also with the invention of wireless technology the user can connect to the internet anywhere that wireless internet is available. Another type of PC that is available is desktop PC. This is a PC that stays stationary. This type of PC gives you a lot more room to type etc and also has a mouse as standard, these can be permanently linked up to a printer and/or the internet. The current system that OMD Project management runs is a Compaq Presario with an Intel Pentium 4 processor. OMD Project Management feels that there is no need to purchase a new system because they feel that their current system is sufficient and suitable for the job in hand. There are many different types of software that is suitable for this project. I believe that the most appropriate is a spreadsheet package. This is because you are able to use the program to calculate lots of different things. With a bit of self teaching you are able to use the program to do lots of different processes. OMD Project Management already has Microsoft office XP installed on their system and they feel that I should use Microsoft Excel to create their invoice system. This is so that it is compatible with their system. I believe that this is a good choice as Excel is more than adequate for the task in hand. Input: Enter the job type code Enter all the things to with the amount of work done: * The number of days worked. * Enter the correct code that corresponds to the appropriate price paid per day Enter all the relevant expenses details: * The number of miles travelled and the number of nights stayed in a hotel. Enter the code for the desired client address Enter the client addresses. * Code number * Address line 1 * Address line 2 * postcode * contact number Process: Lookup the type of job according to the code and multiply the rate of pay by the number of days worked. Calculate the amount of expenses owed for travelling. Calculate the amount of expenses owed for staying in hotels. Calculate sub-total, VAT and the final total. Output: A full invoice with the amount owed for work done and the amount owed for expenses with sub-totals, VAT added and the final total at the end. It should also display the company logo, company address, company logo and the client address. It should look professional. Test Strategy: I will test my program in three different ways. I will ask my end user to use my new system and ask them to give me feedback on it so I am able to adjust it to their liking. Also I will devise tests that will be conducted during and after the implementation stage this will allow me to improve my system greatly and identify any errors that are in my system. Test Number Test Test Data Expected Outcome Actual Outcome Corrective Action 1a b c Check date Validation rule. Normal 10/08/05 Extreme 32/08/05 Erroneous 374hcbsi Will accept Data. Wont accept the date. Should not accept this As expected As expected As expected 2 Check that the formula has worked to calculate the sub-total. N/A The sum of the total money owed for work and expenses. As expected 3 Check that the formula for working out the VAT works. N/A The product of the sub-total multiplied by 17.5%. As expected 4 Check that the formula for working out the total works. N/A The sum of the sub-total and the VAT. As expected 5 a b c Check the lookup function works for the job type code number. Normal 2 Extreme 4 Erroneous 224hsdnsg It should return à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½315.00. It comes up with an error message It should come up with an error message. As expected It comes up with à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½275 which is the value for 3 As expected Put a validation rule on it so that no number higher than 3 can be entered. 6 Check that the formula for working out the total amount of money owed for work done works. N/A The product of the price paid per day and the number of days worked. As expected 7 Check that formula for calculating travel expenses works. N/A The product of the price per mile and the number of miles travelled. As expected 8 Check that formula for calculating the amount of money owed for staying in hotels. N/A The product of the price paid per night and the number of nights stayed. As expected 9 Check that formula for calculating the total expenses owed for works. N/A The sum of the amount owed for travelling and the amount owed for hotels As expected 10 Check that the summary page macro button works. N/A The button takes you to the summary page. As expected 11 Check that the breakdown page macro button works. N/A The button takes you to the breakdown page. As expected 12 Check that the job type page macro button works. N/A The button takes you to the job type page. As expected 13 Check that the client address page macro button works. N/A The button takes you to client address page As expected 14 Check that the clear invoice/summary macro button works. N/A The button clears all of the entries that are on the invoice. As expected 15 Check that clear breakdown macro button works. N/A The button will clear all of the entries that are on the summary sheet. As expected 16 Check that the back to main menu macro button on the breakdown sheet works. N/A The button will take you back to the main menu page. As expected 17 Check that the back to main menu macro button on the job type sheet works. N/A The button will take you back to the main menu page. As expected 18 a b c Check data validation for D2:D14 on breakdown sheet to allow numbers only. Normal 30 Extreme D Erroneous dn8949 The program allows entry. It shows an error message to explain that no letters are allowed. As above. As expected As expected As expected 19 a b Test the lookup function for the client addresses Normal 3 Extreme 51 Erroneous 73hdhb. It will look up the client address with that code number. It shows N/A in the cell meaning there is an error in the formula. As above. As expected It comes up with zero As expected I will put a validation rule on the cell so that it will only allow numbers below 51. 20 Check that the back to main menu macro button on the client details sheet works. N/A The button will take you back to the main menu page. As expected 21 Give the program to OMD project Management for them to test it Implementation Log 17/11/05 The first stage of my implementation was to insert two worksheets. I then renamed my worksheets for easy reference; the sheets will be named Main Menu, Summary, Breakdown, Job Type and Client Details. Here I have entered all of the column headings for the client details addresses Here I have highlighted cells A1:F51 this allows the user to enter up to 50 different addresses as stated in the requirements. I then named the table Address. Here I have entered all the data for the different types of jobs. And here I have formatted the cells to currency so that the data in these cells is displayed as a currency. I highlighted cells B2:D5 and inserted a name. The table name is now jobs. Here I have entered all of the headings for this table and I have then highlighted cells A1:F15 and named them Breakdown. Here I have entered the vlookup formula, that will lookup the different rates that correspond to the code No. entered and put them onto this sheet. As you can see the vlookup formula has worked as it has entered the rate of pay. I have also put in the formula to workout amount of money owed. I have entered the formula to calculate the amount of money owed for travelling. Here I have entered the formulae to work out the total amount of money owed for expenses and to work out the money owed for staying in hotels. I have also formatted all the cells containing monetary values to currency. As you can see here I have entered all the text onto the summary sheet. Here I have entered a validation rule to the date cell on the invoice which only allows a date to be entered in the format 00/00/00 and it must be greater than 01/01/2000. I also added my own error message to inform the user of what the need to enter. Here I have entered the vlookup formula which will lookup each part of the address that corresponds to the code and the transfer them onto this sheet. I entered the same formula for the 4 cells below but each time increasing the column index number by one. This is the formula that copies the amount of money owed for work from the breakdown sheet onto the summary sheet. This formula is the same as above except that it copies the total amount of expenses owed instead of the amount of money owed for work Here is the formula to calculate the sub-total. And here is the formula to work out the VAT to be added. And finally the formula that will work out the total amount of money owed. This is me recording the macro that will take you from the main menu page to the breakdown page. I will do the same for each macro that is used for navigation. To create the macro button I used the forms toolbar and clicked on the button icon and I drew the button. I then right clicked it and assigned the appropriate macro to it. So now whenever I click the button it will take me to the specified page. Here I am assigning the macro to the macro button. I have recorded a macro that deletes all the entries that have been entered into the invoice breakdown sheet. This macro button clears all the information, on the invoice summary page, that changes. And for the addresses it changes the code so that a line is displayed instead of the client address. I did this each time I recorded a new macro and just chose a new name for it.

Total quality management has not changed but evolved

Total quality management has not changed but evolved TQM is not a new challenge for ST since this approach has been adopted since the early 1990s. This concept remained the primary concern for ST and since then it has not changed but evolved. It has always been a means to achieve Excellence for the entire organisation. TQM is about PEOPLE. It has become the practical way of working at ST; an integrated part of the day-today managerial process, a better way of organizing and doing ones job. At ST, employees have to share the same values of the organisation. ‘People do not come to work with their hands and minds only; they also come with their hearts and emotions. Therefore, to obtain a totally efficient approach, it is essential that everybody in the organization knows and fully adheres to these principles. Georges Auguste Corporate Vice President TQEM In their journal ‘A meta-analysis of the effect of TQM on competitive advantage the authors Eman El Shenawy, Tim Baker and David J. Lemak quoted that ‘Culture is the values, beliefs, and norms that guide behaviour in organizations (Reed et al., 2000, p. 15). Culture is also necessary for providing employee empowerment that guides employees to focus on quality and inspect their own mistakes (Ahire et al., 1996). ST has specifically developed and deployed Training Programs through ST University, at all sites. Empowerment must be based on properly trained employees. Knowledge sharing gives people the right knowledge, helping them making the right decision. What is Total Quality Management? ‘a powerful blend of philosophy and tools to achieve Excellence TQM has been developed over the years in many different contexts and implemented by many companies worldwide. It has evolved. Several countries have promoted this aspect through national quality awards. Studies highlight a very important fact. Organisations which have adopted TQM do perform better than those that have not adopted it. TQM has been defined as ‘the management of the total organization to achieve excellence. It is about management and people, not just about quality. Everyone in an organization is involved in the final product or service to the customer. The evolving path of TQM: towards business excellence and stakeholder value Cristina Mele and Maria Colurcio define TQM as a systemic and global approach based on management by process and continuous improvement of business performances by all human resources in order to satisfy explicit or implicit expectations of customers and other stakeholders (Shiba et al., 1993; Dean and Bowen, 1994; Grant et al., 1994). Over the years, TQM has evolved in sustaining Business Excellence through a framework of best practices. Excellence is the never-ending quest for perfection; going beyond the traditional concept of quality. It is a dynamic and continuous improvement process involving every activity in the organization. This is highlighted by Cristina Mele and Maria Colurcio where they have stated that TQM lead organisations to understand the competitive issues and to continuously change the way in which business is managed according to market changes. El Shenawy, Baker and Lemak have also confirmed this aspect. Research on TQM has generally proven its value to those firms who take its implementation seriously (Hendricks and Singhal, 2001; Lemak et al., 2002). Reed et al. (1996) argue that achieving competitive advantage comes from finding ‘a fit between the proper strategy content and the firms external environment. Reed et al. (2000) defined TQM as a ‘business strategy with regard to process, identifying leadership/top management commitment, employees training and education, teams, and culture as the critical processes. These key processes give the firm a sustained competitive advantage over competitors. STs Guiding Principles Customer satisfaction is the key to competitive success. This can be achieved by listening to customers, by striving to anticipate and fulfil their needs and expectations. Every employee within an organisation must do his/her best to provide world-class Service, Quality, Time to Market and Value. Business integrity is about conducting business with the highest ethical standards, honouring commitments, delivering promises, being loyal and fair, and standing up for what is right. When dealing with People, management has to adapt itself in such a way that it will enhance openness, trust, simplicity and humility. Everyones contribution has to be encouraged and achievements have to be recognized. Gatchalian (1997), affirmed that the competence of an organisation to satisfy the customers lies within its internal customers. Every employee within an organisation shall give his or her contribution and takes his or her responsibilities. A world-class network of sharing best practices will ensure that individual successes can be duplicated elsewhere in the company. TQM will integrate active participation in best-practice sharing in the management evaluation system and introduce awards and non financial incentives to promote the process. Siemens Excellence can be achieved through a continuous challenge for the better. In all aspects of the activities that are carried out, one must strive for excellence, quality, competency and efficiency in being flexible. Innovation and creativity have to be encouraged in every aspect of work activities. Business Excellence is the goal of every modern organization and can be defined as the next step after TQM, for the success of enterprise on the competitive path (Vora, 2002; McAdam et al., 1998). Innovation is what an organization the ‘push from TQM level to business excellence level. It all lies in innovation as it creates value and customer satisfaction. This allows organisations to gain sustainable competitive advantage (Stampacchia et al., 2002. Kanji (1998). Most organisations have affirmed that the strategy of quality is evolving towards a strategy of innovation. Quality has become a basis condition, What has become essential is customer value and satisfaction through innovation. The orientation is towards an innovative perspective is closely linked to the principle of continuous improvement and of customers satisfaction; the base to achieve business excellence. Business excellence represents the present evolving state of the approach for total quality (Kanji, 1998). It refers to some superiority achieved by the organisation towards the market where it operates. It is the achievement of a position of excellence in relation to superior results obtained over competitors on behalf of customers. Excellence has many different aspects linked to TQM: orientation to customer and to results leadership and coherence with objectives management in terms of processes and facts development of partnership learning, continuous improvement and innovation public responsibility For Siemens the fundamental activities in the different operative units of the enterprise in the world are based on the principle of â€Å"excellence in everything we start† aimed to the customers satisfaction and then on concepts of continuous improvement. The following list shows Siemens commitment and mission to business excellence: (1) The firm commitment to business excellence: we will focus on our customer . . . to anticipate and exceed their needs; we will continuously improve . . . our process, products and services toward world class benchmarks; and we will involve every tier . . . in achieving excellence in all we do, and in growing toward their full potential. (2) The firms mission: we will achieve leadership in business excellence by: creating a culture that values all employees, encourages and rewards high performance and   continuous improvement, and fosters teamwork and organizational learning through the involvement, development and empowerment of employees; providing quality products and services that exceed the expectations of customers by pro- actively adapting to an ever changing marketplace; and maintaining a close and strategic partnership with firm worldwide organization and gaining synergy across firm business unit. The key aspects for business excellence on which firms focus their attention: focus on customer and on market; focus on core competences; develop knowledge and capabilities; use of conventional and revolutionary tools and methodologies; continuous improvement; recognize potentiality and exploit it; develop breakthrough systems; and develop value innovations. ‘Total quality is about changing the mental models of management in order to enhance an organisations capability to determine its own future revolutionising managements way of thinking. This change requires more than a one tine shift in thinking; it means a continuous rethinking of the way managers think (Kim, 1990, p. 5). focus on the firm core competencies on key competitive drivers on the use and development of conventional and revolutionary tools and techniques on breakthrough systems on knowledge management Profitability through these activities is the main source of the funds that are needed by the organisation to prosper and grow. Profits are necessary to provide security and future opportunities, It allows the company to meet its other social and business responsibilities. Management Guidelines and Principles @ ST ST promotes three groups of guidelines or principles that have been developed over the years. These have become an integral part of STs culture: The Five TQM Principles Management commitment People empowerment Fact based-decision making Continuous improvement Customer focus The Four TQM Imperatives Never compromise Quality Institutionalize prevention Practice continuous improvement Develop cross-fertilization Management Emphasis Speed: Eliminate delays in all our processes, especially decision-making. Focus: Prioritize, and concentrate on the â€Å"vital few†. Balance: Avoid over-dependence on a narrow range of skills, products, customers, and managers. Consistency: Make sure that our practices are coherent with our values. TQM Guide Since TQM has been implemented by ST, these five TQM principles have been the most important guidelines. Being of equal importance, these can be applied to any aspect of the activities carried out. Customer satisfaction is the number one priority; achieved through continuous improvement and fact based decision-making, involving and empowering people, with the managements support and commitment. Management commitment For TQM to be successful there has to be a prerequisite management commitment, active involvement, leadership and ownership. Management must first understand TQM and be ‘convinced. Their belief and commitment will be reflected through their daily practices. Leadership and top management commitment is the most effective factor. TQM is a change strategy that requires transformational leadership skills (Reed et al., 2000). Top management has a vital role to provide value and satisfaction for customers. Management must provide the necessary resources to accomplish goals and commit to continuous improvement. This is done through implementation of teams, providing training for them, as well as individuals, communicating the values of the organization culture, and providing resources for improvements in process efficiencies (Reed et al., 2000; Wilson and Collier, 2000). Top management is responsible for quality commitment and to co-ordinate resources in order to achieve quality objectives (Zairi and Youssef, 1995a; b; Deming, 1986; Schoenberger, 1994; Scarnati and Scarnati, 2002). â€Å"Leadership in the context of TQM is not about power, authority and control, it is more about empowerment, recognition, coaching and developing others† (Zairi and Youssef, 1995b, p. 38). The role of top management is to guide and direct the organisation to adopt and implement TQM. Top management takes the early decision to adopt any managerial innovations. However, institutional factors have more effect on the long run (Young et al. (2001). Customer focus A primary pre-requisite of TQM is definitely ‘Customer focus, dealing with both internal and external customers. Exceeding customers expectations at the lower possible cost and not quality is the ultimate goal. In order to satisfy the customer, either internal or external, one must understand their expectations through dialog; avoiding creating unrealistic expectations. It is always better to under-promise and over-perform. Like customer focus, supplier partnership also applies to both internal and external suppliers. As a customer, the needs of an organisation must be satisfied. One way to achieve this goal is by working closely with the supplier. Achieving a good supplier partnership requires a proactive effort. To be a good customer, one must help the suppliers become better suppliers. In all investigated enterprises quality is a synonym for customer satisfaction (Edosomwan, 1993; Shiba et al., 1993). Organisations modify their ways to work on the basis of the need to create customer satisfaction and trust strategies (Webster, 1994; Lagrosen, 2001). Nevertheless, there are some very important aspects within customer orientation that one must keep in mind: The need to create value not only for the customer, but with customer; The need to learn about the customer, not only from them; More inter-functional relationships to share knowledge; and More focus on knowledge and capabilities needed to improve customer value. People Empowerment Having all employees contributing the maximum of their discretionary capability is the ultimate goal of employee empowerment. People are motivated when: They understand what is expected from them Goals and measurements are consistent They are given the skills and tools to do the job They are recognized for their contributions They know the score through positive communication They perform with discipline. Empowerment is considered as a powerful motivator as well as a management time-saver; it gives a sense of personal satisfaction and fulfilment. Continuous improvement the purpose of all our activities, the never-ending journey to excellence Continuous improvement is not only important with improving results, but more importantly it must deal with improving capabilities to produce better results. Prevention Continuous improvement is much associated with problem prevention. This can be achieved through root cause analysis by either removing or preventing root causes. Errors are best eliminated through prevention which also helps improving cycle time. Errors can be categorised as either doing things wrong (resulting in rework or defects), or doing wrong things (unnecessary or non-value added activities). All of these will damage Quality through defects, Service through rework and cycle time, and Cost through adding cost without adding value. Cross-fertilization and Knowledge Sharing â€Å"Learning faster than your competitor may be the only sustainable competitive advantage†. Peter Drucker The competitive advantage of individuals, companies and even nations is becoming more dependent on the ability to apply knowledge and to leverage it in a continuous manner. Learning quickly and responding immediately to changing conditions will give a competitive advantage over other organisations No company can successfully practice TQM without becoming a learning organisation. Nowadays, training and knowledge sharing has become even more fundamental for organizations to build their ‘human capital. Employees have to be provided with new techniques and practices necessary to implement TQM successfully. This is also necessary for teaching all the TQM aspects as it requires permanent change in individual behaviours and attitudes (Reed et al., 2000). Roth et al. (1999, p. 950) affirmed: â€Å"the essence of continuous improvement is an ongoing process of knowledge creation with the purpose of over time continually learning and improving, in the sense that the company should be able to learn by experience and thereby produce better products in a more sufficient way.† TQM is essential for the learning processes both at an individual and organizational level. It recognises and emphasises knowledge value and the importance of human resources. A learning organization is characterised by the continuous evolution towards positions of excellence. The enterprise believes that the achievement of the enterprises goals is closely dependent on the employee, in details on their knowledge, on their competencies, on their attitude towards change, on their motivation and their potential. The consciousness of the value of employees becomes an attentive human resources and learning processes management, and skills and capabilities increment. The firms develop several initiatives to foster individual and organizational learning, however, in the following list, we identify some points for improvement: (1) Actions: learning on job; use of new technologies (like internet) to foster individual and team learning; skill planning; human resource empowerment; to plan the improvement of the employees knowledge and skills; quality improvement teams; self-assessment; and to strengthen organizational memory. (2) Points to be improved: wider use of innovative methodologies versus traditional methods of learning; deeper evaluation of what individuals learn (ex-post); higher focus on individual capabilities; higher focus on organization and on organizational knowledge and competences; and right mix between learning on the job and out of the job.

The Nurse to Patient Ratio is Important Essay -- Nursing Essays

An English Nurse who laid the foundation for professional nursing, Florence Nightingale stated, â€Å"It may seem a strange principle to enunciate as the very first requirement in a hospital that it should do the sick no harm.† Acute care facilities try to maintain low costs and employ quality nurses, making the nurse-to-patient ratio become more of an issue with patient care. Nearly every person’s health care experience involves the contribution of a registered nurse, and the effects of not having an appropriate nurse to patient minimum ratio affects not only the patient and nurse physically, medically, but also the hospital financially. Determining nurse-to-patient ratios is a difficult task with no single or definite solution and many variables exist to develop guidelines to cover every possible situation in an acute care facility. There are two boards of the state of Ohio that help with patient safety and keeping a safe workplace for the healthcare professional such a nurse. The first board is the Ohio board of Nursing, and the following is their description of what they are responsible for: The Board exists solely to enforce the law and rules regulating practice. The Board has authority to establish requirements individuals must meet to obtain a license or certificate to practice nursing or provide dialysis care in Ohio. The Board approves pre-licensure nursing education programs and dialysis training programs, oversees the licensure examination of nurses, and takes disciplinary action when a licensee or certificate holder violates the law. These activities help to assure that only qualified individuals provide care to the public. The Board does not exist to advance the interests of the nursing profession or dialysis t... ...s, C., & Hess, R. (2009). Registered Nurses' Perceptions of Nurse Staffing Ratios and New Hospital Payment Regulations. Nursing Economic$, 27(6), 372-376. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database. Costello, M. (2002). JCAHO workforce report says staff levels affect quality, safety. AHA News, 38(31), 1. Retrieved from Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition database. Garretson, S. (2004). Nurse to patient ratios in American health care. Nursing Standard, 19(14-16), 33-37. Griffiths, P. (2009). Staffing levels and patient outcomes. Nursing Management - UK, 16(6), 22-23. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

The Cycles of International Conflict Essay -- International Conflict

Wars have been waged for decades creating the world we live in today. Charles Tilly observed, â€Å"the state made war and war made the state† (qtd in Sernau, 2009, 147). However, these battles have been destructive and bloody resulting in the deaths of countless individuals. These grave consequences lead us to ask the ever problematic question, what could possibly motivate a state to engage in warfare? Fundamentally, some believe war is linked to a conflict of political and economic interests rooted in power struggles ranging from territorial and humanitarian to ideological and ethnic while others argue that war has become ingrained in our societies and economies resulting in this tenacious cycle of confrontation. Territories are the bases of states. Accordingly, Joshua Goldstein and Jon Pevehouse explain that â€Å"Most of today’s borders are the result of past wars (in which winners took territory from losers) or were imposed arbitrarily by colonizers† (Goldstein and Pevehouse, 2009, 25). Territory is precious to states and is rarely yielded voluntarily for any incentive and lost territory is not quickly forgotten (Goldstein and Pevehouse, 2009, 133). For example, disputes were the consequences of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I and the Middle Eastern region being colonized by England and France through the Sykes Picot agreement (Singh, 2003). Eventually these colonies gained their freedom but several territory disputes arose the most prominent being the Israeli-Palestinian conflict linked to the Oslo Accords (Singh, 2003). The concept of irredentism which is â€Å"The goal of regaining territory lost to another state† (Goldstein and Pevehouse, 200 9, 133) is a problematic result of this dispute with Palestinians belie... ...tions." Bint Jbeil. 1993. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. . Kent, John. "Cold War and the Periphery." History in Focus. Institute of Historical Research, 2006. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. . Nikitin, Alexander. "Political and Economic Causes of War." Proc. of 50th Pugwash Conference On Science and World Affairs: Eliminating the Causes of War, Queen's College, Cambridge. 2000. Print. Sanchez, Peter. Class Lecture. International Politics. Loyola University, Chicago, IL. 26 Mar 2012. Sernau, Scott. Global Problems: The Search for Equity, Peace, and Sustainability. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2009. Print. Singh, K. G. "Treating the Symptoms Instead of the Cause." Asia Times Online. 31 July 2003. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. .

Cults Essay -- essays research papers

Cults have become a phenomenon in our world today. Each year "hundreds of Canadians join some of the 3,000 unorthodox religions of one type or another" (Fernell, Branswell, 189) all across North America. Like every organization, club or even in the common work place there is usually a person who is a figure of authority or other wise know as a "leader" and with every leader there are always rules and objectives that each and every member has to do and follow. The common psychological profile and objective of a cult leader is usually based upon power, control, domination and subjugation. Many cult leaders use forms of mind control such as thought-reform, brainwashing and hypnosis. The effects of these mind controlling techniques often mentally scar people and it is very hard to re-gain control of what use to be their â€Å"normal† personality, way of thinking and life. Unselfishness, kindness, gentleness and compassion should be a basic living principle, not just an ideal. When individuals claim to be â€Å"spiritually developed and put themselves in the role of a master or prophet† (Hassen, 01) cult members â€Å"become so subservient to their leader that they even tolerate murder† (Fennel, 185). Destructive cults want to have control and power over people and want to expand their temporal power and usually do it to make money. Leaders exist to serve totalistic dictators, not to serve the people and desire to rule through power, not with the power of love. Charismatic leaders often stray into temptation to exploit their power over others in many dangerous ways. The cult leader often relies almost entirely on rules, procedures, aggression, denial and mimicry to hide their lack of people skills. Cult leaders are able to exert a hold over people for a variety of reasons. The members sometimes feel they belong to a group or "family& quot; because they feel secure and have a new way of thinking and believing the "real" way the world is or should be and as â€Å"the leader’s actions become more bizarre, so do the cult’s members† (Fennel, 186). Many people are thought to believe that the only type of people to become influenced or brain washed into joining a cult are those that are insecure, lonely and nieve. However, the people cult leaders actually strive for are the bright, intelligent people whom usually have 2-3 years of college or university... ... at a party or on a bus ride can be supportive. Supporting is listening and empathizing with the ex-member with out the offering of unsolicited options. Simply being there is one of the best ways anyone can help. The hunger for spiritual guidance and religious truth is usually what drives people into exploring many of the different existing religions all over North America and in other parts of the world. Many problems tend to arise when the leaders of these cultic groups proclaim themselves to be living embodiments of this truth. The many great dangers of cults lie in the leap one must take from embracing religious truth, to worshipping a person claiming to be this so called â€Å"truth†. The danger of these cults increase rapidly when the person promises salvation, redemption or perfection in exchange for money, goods and services. Once a person begins giving in to the leader and the rest of the cult members, the stronger their grasp becomes upon the person and the harder it becomes to leave the group. Victims (ex-cult members) â€Å"can and should be helped with both the induced and pre-existing aspects of their problem, at the appropriate points in treatment† (Clifford, Gold berg p 03).

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 10~11

CHAPTER TEN Safety Clay Demodocus drifted silently down past the tail of the breath-holder, only the quiet hissing of his own breath in his ears. Breath-holders were called such because they hung there in the water for up to forty minutes, heads down like a singer, just holding their breath. Not swimming or singing or doing much of anything else. Just hanging there, sometimes three or four of them, tails spread out like the points of a compass. As if someone had just dropped a handful of sleeping whales and forgotten to pick them up. Except they weren't sleeping. Whales didn't really sleep, as far as they knew. Well, the theory was that they slept with only half of their brain at a time, while the other half took care of not drowning. For an air-breather, sleeping in the water and not drowning is a big problem. (Go ahead, try it. We'll wait.) Falling asleep would be so easy with the rebreather, Clay thought. It was very quiet, which was why Clay was using it. Instead of using a tank of air that was exhaled through a regulator into the water as bubbles, the rebreather sent the diver's exhalation back through a scrubber that took out the carbon dioxide, past some sensors and a tank that added some oxygen, then back to the diver to be rebreathed. No bubbles, which made the rebreather perfect for studying whales (and for sneaking up on enemy ships, which is why the navy had developed it in the first place). Humpbacks used bubble blowing as a means of communication, especially the males, who threatened one another with bubble displays. Consequently it was nearly impossible to get close to a whale with scuba gear, especially a static animal like a singer or a breath-holder. By blowing bubbles the diver was babbling away in whalespeak, without the slightest idea of what he was saying. In the past Clay had dropped on breath-holde rs with scuba gear, only to watch the animals swim off before he got within fifty feet of them. He imagined the whales saying, â€Å"Hey, it's the skinny, retarded kid talking nonsense again. Let's get out of here.† But this season they'd gotten the rebreather, and Clay was getting his first ever decent footage of a breath-holder. As he drifted by the tail, he checked his gauges, looked up to see Amy snorkeling at the surface, silhouetted in a sunbeam, a small tank strapped on her back ready to come to his rescue should something go wrong. The one big drawback to the rebreather (rather than a fairly simple hose on a tank as in a scuba setup) was that it was a very complex machine, and, should it break, there was a good chance it would kill the diver. (Clay's experience had taught him that the one thing you could depend on was that something would break.) Around him, except for the whale, was a field of clear blue; below, nothing but blue. Even with great visibility he couldn't see the bottom, some five hundred feet down. Just past the tail he was at a hundred feet. The navy had tested the rebreather to more than a thousand feet (and since he could theoretically stay down for sixteen hours if he needed to, decompression wasn't a problem), but Clay was still wary of going too deep. The rebreather wasn't set to mix gases for a deep dive, so there was still the danger of nitrogen narcosis – a sort of intoxication caused by pressurized nitrogen in the bloodstream. Clay had been narced a couple of times, once while under arctic ice filming beluga whales, and if he hadn't been tethered to the opening in the ice with a nylon line, he would have drowned. Just a few more feet and he'd be able to sex the breath-holder, something that they hadn't done more than a few times before, and then it was by crossbow and DNA. The question so far was, are breath-holders all male like singers, and if so, does the breath-holding behavior have something to do with the singing behavior? Clay and Quinn had first come together over the question of sexing singers, some seventeen years before, when DNA testing was so rare as to be nearly nonexistent. â€Å"Can you get under the tail?† Nate had asked. â€Å"Get photos of the genitals?† â€Å"Kinky,† Clay had said. â€Å"Sure, I'll give it a try.† Of course, except for a few occasions when he was able to hold his breath long enough to get under an animal, about a third of the time, Clay had failed at producing whale porn. Now, with this rebreather†¦ As he drifted below the tail, so close now that even the wide-angle lens could take in only a third of the flukes, Clay noticed some unusual markings on the tail. He looked up from the display just as the whale began to move, but it was too late. The whale twitched, and the massive tail came down on Clay's head, driving him some twenty feet deeper in an instant. The wash from the flukes tumbled him backward three times before he settled in a slow drift to the bottom, unconscious. As he watched the pseudo-Hawaiian try to kick down to the singing whale for the eighth time, Nathan Quinn thought, This is a rite of passage. Similar things were done to me when I was a grad student. Didn't Dr. Ryder send me out to get close-up blowhole pictures of a gray whale who had a hideous head cold? Wasn't I hit by a basketball-size gob of whale snot nearly every time the whale surfaced? And wasn't I, ultimately, grateful for the opportunity to get out in the field and do some real research? Of course I was. Therefore, I am being neither cruel nor unprofessional by sending this young man down again and again to perform a hand job on the singer. The radio chirped, signaling a call from the Always Confused. Nate keyed the mike button on the mobile phone/two-way radio they used to communicate between the two boats. â€Å"Go ahead, Clay.† â€Å"Nate, it's Clair. Clay went down about fifteen minutes ago, but Amy just dove after him with the rescue tank. I don't know what to do. They're too deep. I can't see them. The whale took off, and I can't see them.† â€Å"Where are you, Clair?† â€Å"Straight out, about two miles off the dump.† Nate grabbed the binoculars and scanned the island, found the dump, looked out from there. He could make out two or three boats in the area. Six or eight minutes away at full throttle. â€Å"Keep looking, Clair. Get ready to drop a hang tank if you have one set up, in case they need to decompress. I'll be there as soon as I get the kid out of the water.† â€Å"What's he doing in the water?† â€Å"Just a bad decision on my part. Keep me apprised, Clair. Try to follow Amy's bubbles if you can find them. You'll want to be as close to them as you can when they come up.† Nate started the engine just as Kona broke the surface, spitting out the snorkel and taking in a great gasp of air. Kona shook his head, signifying that he hadn't accomplished the mission. â€Å"Too deep, boss.† â€Å"Come, come, come. To the side.† Nate waved him to the boat. Quinn brought the boat broadside to Kona, then reached over with both hands. â€Å"Come on.† Kona took his hands, and Quinn jerked the surfer over the gunwale. Kona landed in a heap in the bottom of the boat. â€Å"Boss –  » â€Å"Hang on, Clay's in trouble.† â€Å"But, boss –  » Quinn buried the throttle, yanked the boat around, and cringed at the bunny-in-a-blender screech as the hydrophone cord wrapped around the prop, sheared the prop pin, and chopped itself into a whole package of expensive, waterproof licorice sticks. â€Å"Fuck!† Nate snatched off his baseball cap and whipped it onto the console. The hydrophone sank peacefully to the bottom, bopping the singer on the back as it went. Nate killed the engine and grabbed the radio. â€Å"Clair, are they up yet? I'm not going to be able to get there.† Amy felt as if someone were driving huge ice picks into her eardrums. She pinched her nostrils closed and blew to equalize the pressure, even as she kicked to go deeper, but she was moving too fast to get equalized. She was down fifty feet now. Clay was a hundred feet below her, the pressure would triple before she got there. She felt as if she were swimming through thick, blue honey. She'd seen the whale tail hit Clay and toss him back, but the good news was that she hadn't seen a cloud of bubbles come up. There was a chance that the regulator had stayed in Clay's mouth and he was still breathing. Of course, it could also mean that he was dead or that his neck had snapped and he was paralyzed. Whatever his condition, he certainly wasn't moving voluntarily, just sinking slowly, relentlessly toward the bottom. Amy fought the pressure, the resistance of the water, and did math problems as she kicked deeper. The rescue tank held only a thousand pounds of air, a third of the capacity of a normal tank. She guessed that she'd be at around a hundred and seventy-five to two hundred feet before she caught Clay. That would give her just enough air to get him to the surface without stopping to decompress. Even if Clay was unhurt, there was a good chance he was going to get decompression sickness, the bends, and if he lived through that, he'd spend three or four days in the hyperbaric decompression chamber in Honolulu. Ah, the big palooka is probably dead anyway, she thought, trying to cheer herself up. Although Clay Demodocus had lived a life spiced with adventures, he was not an adventurer. Like Nate, he did not seek danger, risk, or fulfillment by testing his mettle against nature. He sought calm weather, gentle seas, comfortable accommodations, kind and loyal people, and safety, and it was only for the work that he compromised any of those goals. The last to go, the least compromised, was safety. The loss of his father, a hard-helmet sponge diver, had taught him that. The old man was just touching bottom at eight hundred feet when a drunken deck hand dragged his ass across the engine start button, causing the prop to cut his father's air line. The pressure immediately drove Papa Demodocus's entire body into the bronze helmet, leaving only his weighted shoes showing, and it was in his great helmet that he was lowered into the grave. Little Clay (Cleandros in those days in Greece) was only five at the time, and that last vision of his father haunted him for years. He never did see a Marvin the Martian cartoon – that great goofy helmet body riding cartoon shoes – when he did not have to fight a tear and sniffle for Papa. As Clay drifted down into the briny blue, he saw a bright light and a dark shape waiting there on the other side. Out of the light came a short but familiar figure. The face was still dark, but Clay knew the voice, even after so many years. â€Å"Welcome, Earth Being,† said the vacuum-packed Greek. â€Å"Papa,† said Clay. Clair dragged the heavy tank out of the Always Confused's bait well and tried to attach the regulator in order to hang it off a line for Amy and Clay to breathe from so they could decompress before coming up. Clay had shown her how to do this a dozen times, but she had never paid attention. It was his job to put the technothingies together. She didn't need to know this stuff. It wasn't as if she was ever going to go diving without him. She'd let him drone on about safety this and life-threatening that while she applied her attention to putting on sunscreen or braiding her hair so it wouldn't tangle in the equipment. Now she was blinking back tears and cursing herself for not having listened. When she thought she finally might have the regulator screwed on correctly, she grabbed it and dragged the tank to the side of the boat. The regulator came off in her hands. â€Å"Goddamn it!† She snatched the radio and keyed the mike. â€Å"Nate, I need some help here.† â€Å"Go ahead, sistah,† came back. â€Å"He be in the briny blue, fixing the propeller.† â€Å"Kona, do you know how a regulator goes on a scuba tank?† â€Å"Yah mon, you got to keep the bowl above the water or your herb get wet and won't take the fire.† Clair took a deep breath and fought back a sob. â€Å"See if you can put Nate on.† Back on the Constantly Baffled, Nate was in the water with snorkel and fins fighting the weight of half a dozen wrenches and sockets he'd put in the pockets of his cargo shorts. He almost had the propeller off the boat. With luck he could install the shear pin and be up and running in a couple of minutes. It wasn't a complex procedure. It had just been made a lot trickier when Nate found that he couldn't reach the prop to work on it from inside the boat. Then, suddenly, his air supply was cut off. He kicked up, spit the snorkel out of his mouth, and found himself staring Kona right in the face. The fake Hawaiian hung over the back of the boat, his thumb covering the end of Nate's snorkel, his other hand holding the radio, which he'd let slip halfway underwater. â€Å"Call for you, boss.† Nate gasped and snatched the receiver out of Kona's hand – held it up out of the water. â€Å"What in the hell are you doing? That's not waterproof.† He tried to sling the water out of the cell phone and keyed the mike. â€Å"Clair! Can you hear me?† No sound, not even static. â€Å"But it's yellow,† said Kona, as if that explained everything. â€Å"I can see it's yellow. What did Clair say? Is Clay all right?† â€Å"She wanted to know how to put the regulator on the tank. You have to keep the bowl above the water, I tell her.† â€Å"It's not a bong, you idiot. It's a real scuba tank. Help me out.† Nate handed up his fins, then stepped on the trim planes on the stern and pulled himself into the boat. At the console he turned on the marine radio and started calling. â€Å"Clair, you listening? This is the Constantly Baffled calling the Always Confused. Clair, are you there?† â€Å"Constantly Baffled,† cut in a stern, official-sounding male voice, â€Å"this is the Department of Conservation and Resources Enforcement. Are you displaying your permit flag?† â€Å"Conservation, we have an emergency situation, a diver in trouble off our other boat. I'm dead in the water with a broken shear pin. The other boat is roughly two miles off the dump.† â€Å"Constantly Baffled, why are you not displaying your permit flag?† â€Å"Because I forgot to put the damn thing up. We have two divers in the water, both possibly in trouble, and the woman on board is unable to put together a hang tank.† Nate looked around. He could see the whale cops' boat about a thousand yards to the west toward Lanai. They were alongside another boat. Nate could see the familiar figure of the Count standing in the bow, looming there like doom in an Easter bonnet. Bastard! â€Å"Constantly Baffled, hold there, we are coming to you.† â€Å"Don't come to me. I'm not going anywhere. Go to the other boat. Repeat, they have an emergency situation and are not responding to marine radio.† The Conservation Enforcement boat lifted up in the water under the power of two 125-horse Honda outboards and beelined toward them. â€Å"Fuck!† Nate dropped the mike and started to shake, a shiver born not of temperature, as it was eighty degrees on the channel, but out of frustration and fear. What had happened to Clay to prompt Amy to go to his rescue? Maybe she had misjudged the situation and gone down needlessly. She didn't have much experience in the water, or at least he didn't think she had. But if things were okay, then why weren't they up†¦? â€Å"Kona, did Clair say whether she could see Amy and Clay? â€Å"No, boss, she just wanted to know about the regulator.† Kona sat down in the bottom of the boat and hung his head between his knees. â€Å"I'm sorry, boss. I thought if it was yellow, it could go in the water. I didn't know. It slipped.† Nate wanted to tell the kid it was all right, but he didn't like lying to people. â€Å"Clay put you on the research permit, right, Kona? You remember signing a paper with a lot of names on it?† â€Å"No, mon. That five-oh coming up now?† â€Å"Yeah, whale cops. And if Clay didn't put you on the permit, you're going to be going home with them.† CHAPTER ELEVEN The Mermaid and the Martian The depth gauge read two hundred feet by the time Amy finally snagged the top of Clay's rebreather and pulled herself down to where she was looking into his mask. If it weren't for a small trail of blood streaming from his scalp, making him look like he was leaking black motor oil into the blue, he might have been sleeping, and she smiled in spite of herself. The sea dog survives. Somehow – maybe through years of conditioning his reflexes to keep his mouth shut – Clay had bitten down on the mouthpiece of the rebreather. He was breathing steadily. She could hear the hiss of the apparatus. She wasn't sure that Clay's mouthpiece would stay in all the way to the surface, and, if it came out, the photographer would surely drown, even if she replaced it quickly. Unlike a normal scuba regulator, which was frightfully easy to purge, you couldn't let water get into a rebreather or it could foul the carbon-dioxide scrubbers and render the device useless. And she'd need both her hands for the swim up. One to hold on to Clay and one to vent air from his buoyancy-control vest, which would fill with air as they rose, causing them both to shoot to the surface and get the bends. (Amy wasn't wearing a BC vest or a wet suit; she wasn't supposed to have needed them.) After wasting a precious thirty seconds of air to consider the problem, she took off her bikini top and wrapped it around Clay's head to secure his mouthpiece. Then she hooked her hand into his buoyancy vest and started the slow kick to the surface. At a hundred and fifty feet she made the mistake of looking up. The surface might have been a mile away. Then she checked her watch and pulled up Clay's arm so she could see the dive computer on his wrist. Already the liquid-crystal readout was blinking, telling her that Clay needed two decompression stops on the way up. One at fifty feet and one at twenty, from ten to fifteen minutes each. With his rebreather he'd have plenty of air. Amy wasn't wearing a dive computer, but by ball-parking it from her pressure gauge, she figured she had between five and ten minutes of air left. She was about half an hour short. Well, this is going to be awkward, she thought. The whale cops wore light blue uniform shirts with shorts and aviator-style mirrored sunglasses that looked as if they'd been surgically set into their faces. They were both in their thirties and had spent some time in the gym, although one was heavier and had rolled up his short sleeves to let his grapefruit biceps breathe. The other was thin and wiry. They brought their boat alongside Nate's and threw over a bumper to keep the boats from rubbing together in the waves. â€Å"Howzit, bruddahs!† Kona said. â€Å"Not now,† Nate whispered. â€Å"I need to see your permit,† said the heavier cop. Nate had pulled a plastic envelope out from under the console as they approached. They went through this several times a year. He handed it over to the cop, who took out the document and unfolded it. â€Å"I'll need both of your IDs.† â€Å"Come on,† Nate said, handing over his driver's license. â€Å"You guys know me. Look, we've sheared a pin and there's a diver emergency on our other boat.† â€Å"You want us to call the Coast Guard?† â€Å"No, I want you to take us over there.† â€Å"That's not what we do, Dr. Quinn,† said the thin cop, looking up from the permit. â€Å"The Coast Guard is equipped for emergencies. We are not.† â€Å"Dis haole, lolo pela, him,† said Kona. (Meaning, he's just a dumb white guy.) â€Å"Don't talk that shit to me,† said the heavier cop. â€Å"You want to speak Hawaiian, I'll talk to you in Hawaiian, but don't talk that pidgin shit to me. Now, where's your ID?† â€Å"Back at my cabin.† â€Å"Dr. Quinn, your people need to have ID at all times on a research vessel, you know that.† â€Å"He's new.† â€Å"What's your name, kid?† â€Å"Pelekekona Keohokalole,† said Kona. The cop took off his sunglasses – for the first time ever, Nate thought. He looked at Kona. â€Å"You're not on the permit.† â€Å"Try Preston Applebaum,† said Kona. â€Å"Are you trying to fuck with me?† â€Å"He is,† said Nate. â€Å"Just take him in, and on the way take me to our other boat.† â€Å"I think we'll tow both of you in and deal with the permit issues when we get into harbor.† Suddenly, amid the static of the marine radio on in the background, Clair's voice: â€Å"Nate, are you there? I lost Amy's bubbles. I can't see her bubbles. I need help here! Nate! Anyone!† Nate looked at the whale cop, who looked at his partner, who looked away. Kona jumped up on the gunwale of the police boat and leaned into the wiry cop's face. â€Å"Can we do the territorial macho power trip after we get our divers out of the water, or do you have to kill two people to show us how big your fucking dicks are?† Clair ran around the boat searching for Amy's bubble trail, hoping she was just missing it, had lost it in the waves – hoping that it was still there. She looked at the hang tank sitting in the floor of the boat, still unattached to the regulator, then ran back to the radios, keying both the marine radio and the cell-phone radio and trying not to scream. â€Å"SOS here. Please, I'm a couple of miles off the dump, I have divers down, in trouble.† The harbormaster at Lahaina came back, said he'd send someone, and then a dive boat who was out at the lava cathedrals at Lanai said they had to get their divers out of the water but could be there in thirty minutes. Then Nathan Quinn came back. â€Å"Clair, this is Nate. I'm on the way. How long ago did the bubbles stop?† â€Å"Clair checked her watch. Four, five minutes ago.† â€Å"Can you see them?† â€Å"No, nothing. Amy went deep, Nate. I watched her go down until she disappeared.† â€Å"Do you have hang tanks in the water?† â€Å"No, I can't get the damn regulators on. Clay always did it.† â€Å"Just tie off the tanks and tie the regulators to the tanks and get them over the side. Amy and Clay can hook them up if they get to them.† â€Å"How deep? I have three tanks.† â€Å"Ninety, sixty, and thirty. Just get them in the water, Clair. We'll worry about exact depth when I get there. Just hang them so they can find them. Tie glow sticks on them if you have any. Should be there in five minutes. We can see you.† Clair started tying the plastic line around the necks of the heavy scuba tanks. Every few seconds she scanned the waves for signs of Amy's bubbles, but there weren't any. Nate had said â€Å"If they get to them.† She blinked away tears and concentrated on her knots. If? Well if Clay made it back – when he made it back – he could damn sure get himself a safer job. Her man wasn't going to drown hundreds of feet under the ocean, because from now on he was going to be taking pictures of weddings or bar mitzvahs or kids at JC Penney's or some goddamn thing on dry land. Across the channel, near the shore of Kahoolawe, the target island, Libby Quinn had been following the exchange between Clair and Nate over the marine radio. Without being asked, her partner, Margaret, said, â€Å"We don't have any diving equipment on board. That deep, there's not much we could do.† â€Å"Clay's immortal anyway,† said Libby, trying to sound more blas than she felt. â€Å"He'll come up yammering about what great footage he got.† â€Å"Call them, offer our help,† the older woman said. â€Å"If we deny our instincts as caretakers, we deny ourselves as women.† â€Å"Oh, fuck off, Margaret! I'm calling to offer our help because it's the right thing to do.† Meanwhile, on the ocean side of Kahoolawe, Cliff Hyland was sitting in the makeshift lab belowdecks in the cabin cruiser, headphones on, watching an oscilloscope readout, when one of his grad students came into the cabin and grabbed him by the shoulder. â€Å"Sounds like Nathan Quinn's group is in trouble,† said the girl, a sun-baked brunette wearing zinc-oxide war paint on her nose and cheeks and a hat the size of a garbage-can lid. Hyland pulled up the headphones. â€Å"What? Who? Fire? Sinking? What?† â€Å"They've lost two divers. That photographer guy Clay and that pale girl.† â€Å"Where are they?† â€Å"About two miles off the dump. They're not asking for help. I just thought you should know.† â€Å"That's a ways. Start reeling in the array. We can be there in a half hour maybe.† Just then Captain Tarwater came down the steps into the cabin. â€Å"Stay that order, grommet. Stay on mission. We have a survey to finish today – and a charge to record.† â€Å"Those guys are friends of mine,† Hyland said. â€Å"I've been monitoring the situation, Dr. Hyland. Our presence has not been requested, and, frankly, there is nothing this vessel could do to help. It sounds like they've lost some divers. It happens.† â€Å"This isn't war, Tarwater. We don't just lose people.† â€Å"Stay on mission. Any setback in Quinn's operation can only benefit this project.† â€Å"You asshole,† Hyland said. Back in the channel, the Count stood in the bow of the big Zodiac and watched as the Conservation and Resources Enforcement boat towed away the Constantly Baffled. He turned to his three researchers, who were trying to look busy in back of the boat. â€Å"Let that be a lesson to you all. The key to good science is making sure all the paperwork is in order. Now you can see why I'm such a stickler for you people having your IDs with you every morning.† â€Å"Yeah, in case some other researcher rats us out to the Conservation and Resources cops,† one woman said. â€Å"Science is a competitive sport, Ms. Wextler. If you're not willing to compete, you're welcome to take your undergrad degree and go baby-sit seasick tourists on a whale-watching boat. Nathan Quinn has attacked the credibility of this organization in the past. It's only fair play that I point out when he is not working within the rules of the sanctuary.† The ocean breeze carried the junior researchers' under-the-breath whispers of  «asshole » away from the ears of Gilbert Box, over the channel to wash against the cliffs of Molokai. Nate wrapped his arms around Clair and held her as she sobbed. As the downtime passed the first half hour, Nate felt a ball of fear, dread, and nausea forming in his own stomach. Only by trying to stay busy looking for signs of Clay and Amy was he able to keep from being ill. When Amy's downtime passed forty-five minutes, Clair started to sob. Clay might have been able to stay down that long with the re-breather, but with only the tiny rescue tank, there was no way Amy could still be breathing. Two divemasters from a nearby tour boat had already used up a full tank each searching. The problem was, in blue water it was a three-dimensional search. Rescue searches were usually done on the bottom, but not when it was six hundred feet down. With the currents in the channel†¦ well, the search was little more than a gesture anyway. Being a scientist, Nate liked true things, so after an hour he stopped telling Clair that everything was going to be all right. He didn't believe it, and grief was already descending on him like a flight of black arrows. In the past, when he had experienced loss or trauma or heartbreak, some survival mechanism had kicked in and allowed him to function for months before he'd actually begin feeling the pain, but this time it was immediate and deep and devastating. His best friend was dead. The woman that he – Well, he wasn't exactly sure what he'd felt about Amy, but even when he looked past the sexuality, the differences in their ages and positions, he liked her. He liked her a lot, and he'd become used to her presence after only a few weeks. One of the divers came up near the boat and spit out his regulator. â€Å"There's nowhere to look. It's just blue to fucking infinity.† â€Å"Yeah,† Nate said. â€Å"I know.† Clay saw blue-green breasts gently bobbing before his face and was convinced that he had, indeed, drowned. He felt himself being pulled upward and so closed his eyes and surrendered. â€Å"No, no, no, son,† said Papa. â€Å"You're not in heaven. The tits are not blue in heaven. You are still alive.† Papa's face was very much smashed against the glass of his helmet, wearing the sort of expression he might have had if he'd run full speed into a bulletproof window and someone had snapped a picture at maximum mash, yet Clay could see that his eyes were smiling. â€Å"My little Cleandros, you know it is not time for you to join me?† Clay nodded. â€Å"And when it comes time for you to join me, it should be because you are old and tired and ready to go, not because the sea is wanting to crush you.† Clay nodded again, then opened his eyes. This time there was a stabbing pain in his head, but he squinted through it to see Amy's face through her dive mask. She held his regulator in his mouth and was gripping the back of his head to make him look at her. When she was sure that he was conscious and knew where he was, she gave him the okay signal and waited until he returned it. Amy then let go of Clay's regulator, and they swam slowly upward, to surface four hundred yards from where they'd first submerged. Clay immediately looked around for the boat and found nothing where he expected it, the closest vessels being a group of boats too far away to be the Always Confused. He checked his dive computer. He'd been down for an hour and fifteen minutes. That couldn't be right. â€Å"That's them,† Amy said. She looked down into the water. â€Å"Oops. Let me get my top off of your face.† â€Å"Okay,† Clay mumbled into the rebreather. Kona was in tears, wailing like Bob Marley in a bear trap – inconsolable. â€Å"Clay gone. The Snowy Biscuit gone. And I was going to poke squid with her, too.† â€Å"You were not,† said Nate. But the artificial Hawaiian didn't hear. â€Å"There!† Kona shouted as he leaped onto the shoulders of the stocky whale cop to get a better view. â€Å"It's the white wahine! Praise to Jah! Thanks be to His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie. Go there, Sheriff. A saving be needed.† â€Å"Handcuff this kid,† said the cop.