PharmaSim Project Essay

The objectives and goals of Allstar are to look for new opportunities in emerging market with support from healthy and growing cash flow, to introduce new product, to maintain leadership and to maintain long-term profitability and market share in an increasingly competitive and changing environment. Certain measurements are introduced to weight the success and progress of the objectives such as feedbacks from customers and retailers, keeping tracks on our marketing report and purchasing and analyzing the marketing research reports. With increasing budget Allstar has, high market share in cold category and leadership in this market are promised. Limitations on product line as Allstar does not manufacture any drugs in the area of cough, allergy and nasal category but cold in liquid form have a huge concern from end-user point of view. As for the customers of Allstar, they have a great need in OTC cold remedy market. Consumers have negative attitude toward alcohol in the drug formulation and Customers think capsule is more convenient than liquid form. Several options to react to the current situation including reformulation or line extensions in terms of formula, increasing sales forces, gaining more support from retailers to get better shelf space placement and promotional programs, issuing more coupons to motivate repurchases to improve our retention rate and adjusting sales force allocation and promotion strategy according to consumers’ shopping habits. Promotional allowance, product turnover, sales force support, co-op advertising allowances, discount volume are effective ways to motivate collaborators to help us achieve our goals. Our direct channels are independent drugstores, chain drugstores, grocery stores, convenience stores, mass merchandisers and wholesalers, merchandisers, detailers are indirect channels. We are facing three options to move about product line extension: 4-hour cold liquid for children, 12-hour multi-symptom capsule and 4 hour cough liquid. Customers notes Have negative attitude toward alcohol in the drug formulas Capsules are more convenient than liquid form Competitors notes Primary competitors B&B healthcare, Curall Pharma, Discol Corp and Ethik Inc Cold remedy market appears to be fastest growing market We could react and respond with reformulation, line extension, sales force changes and or adjustments on pricing and promotion strategies Channels notes Independent drugstores chain drugstores grocery stores convenience stores mass merchandisers wholesalers Products notes Allround- a cold medicine that cures most conditions, but is mainly targeted at cold sysmptoms Allround+- all the benefits of Allround product but in a twelve hour capsule. Targeted at those who cannot take the dose of liquid every four hours Allright- cold spray, for those who prefer over liquid or capsule form. Possible Goals / Objectives Increase market share of current market to a specific % by the end of a specific period Create a new product that is targeted toward children by a specific period Increase stock price to a specific figure by a specific period To increase net income by a certain figure over a specific period To increase brand awareness by a specific percentage To increase customer satisfaction by a specific % To keep promotional allowance above a certain % Questions regarding assignments / strategies for completing project How will we meet to discuss project How and who will be responsible for making and entering decisions Roslyn is  currently responsible for entering final decisions How and who will be responsible for analyzing each round of decisions We should purchase research reports and assess if each report is helpful, so we can determine how to use the reports, how often we should purchase the reports. Price of reports come out of your budgets How and who will be responsible for determining strategy for each round of decisions How and who will be responsible for record keeping during the duration of the simulation Keeping track of not only what we did, but also why we did it, and what results we concluded from them How do we envision the written paper, what will it include Decisions Analyses Results Marketing activities Lessons learned Summary Ideas for breaking up the project Each team member will choose one marketing objective and handling everything for it Price comparisons Market demand Channel anlsysis Choosing one aspect of paper and focusing on all products and competitors so the material is available when the time comes to write the paper Pricing Maketing Promotion Focusing on certain competitors and handling everything One handles Allround products and other team members divide up the competitors Each team member keeps notes on performance and positioning of competitors Ideas for organizing the power point presentation Idea #1 One slide for strategies/decisions that we used that were effective and why Describing what we believed were critical during the simulation What information or research led you to make each decision Explain why they were effective Second slide for strategies/decisions that could have gone better and why Describe one or two missteps we would like to go back and change Describe why these decisions were not ideal Describe their negative impact Third slide to identify one marketing principle that the simulation reinforced How the importance of this principle was highlighted by the simulation Fourth slide for reviewing our original marketing plan How well we did overall If we revised our plan during the simulation and what helped us do so Idea #2 One slide per marketing objective and would discuss various aspects of it Idea #3 Each team member defines what they would like to discuss and formulates one slide each. The final slide from each team member would have to be agreed upon by each team member to avoid overlapping material Ideas for organizing the final paper What do we envision the paper to include Marketing objectives SWOT analysis Marketing activities Yearly Decisions Yearly Results Overall performance metrics Lessons learned Summary SWOT Strengths Allround is the most purchased brand Allround products control shelf space as compared to competitors High customer satisfaction Weaknesses Limited marketing budget High cost of goods sold Distributors allowance are high Opportunities Products are heading toward the removal of alcohol from formulation There are no 12 hour multi-liquid products on the market A cheaper bargain product could be beneficial to address price criteria Threats End dominates the cough market Over saturated markets, many other companies distribute similar products

United States Undemocratic

During the nineteenth century, the United States of America was both democratic and undemocratic. As a newly independent country from Great Britain, the U. S tried to stay away from the tyrannical government which they had before. America believed that by giving people a say in the government and granting more rights to citizens, they would prove to be a successful government. However, although they seemed to be democratic, the United States still had some undemocratic aspects. The United States during the mid-1800s believed that by giving people the right to vote on government issues and the right to vote for legislatures made their government democratic. However, not everyone was given the right to vote. During the mid-1800s, women were deprived from the right to vote. At the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, women gathered together to fight for the right to vote. Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton both stated that â€Å"He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise; He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Document 2). Women were treated as inferiors to men and had very little rights. Harriet Martineau describes the status of the American women in her 1834 visit to the United States (Document 6). She quotes that â€Å"every man in the towns an independent citizen; every man in the country a landowner†, however the woman of American were granted no such rights. By holding women back from the right to vote, the United States was undemocratic. As America began to expand, the need for more workers increased. The states in the south needed more workers to farm, while the north needed workers in factories. The Southerners used slaves to take care of their massive plantations. These slaves were given no salary, improper food, and improper living conditions. The slaves worked hard, long hours and were whipped if their job did not satisfy their owner. Slavery was so bad that many tried to escape using different unique methods. Henry â€Å"Box† Brown desired freedom so much that he shipped himself in a small box to a slave free state (Document 1). Many believed that inside the crate there were dry goods, however to their surprise, an African American man appeared and was now a free man. Unlike the South however, the North rejected the idea of slavery. They believed that it was against the Constitution and should be abolished. However, the Northerners needed people to work in their factories. Although they believed slavery was worse, they hired children and adults to work in the factories for long hours with little pay. Working in a factory was dangerous; many workers were abused and due to their working conditions were often sick. From the 1840’s cartoon contrasting slavery in the American South with â€Å"wage slavery† in the American North, there is very little difference from the way the workers and slaves were treated (Document 4). Slaves and factory workers had no control over their lives and thus made the American system undemocratic. Slaves and factory workers were not the only people who were treated as inferiors. Stereotyping of immigrants became a popular trend during the mid-1800s. As more immigrants arrived, the American citizens believed they were superior to such people and treated with utmost disrespect. The Irish were depicted as drinkers and uneducated, while the Germans were also associated with drinking. Many Americans became known as nativists. Nativists were those that favor the ideas of people already living in the land as opposed to immigrants. These people tried to protect the ballot from Irish and German immigrants. The nativists felt that the immigrants stole the ballots because they were unaware of their new land and government and were taking ballots away from those that were living in America for years. In the illustration of an Irish immigrant and a German immigrant, we see them stereotyped as drinkers by the barrels surrounding their bodies, and it shows them actually stealing the ballot (Document 5). This steered a sense of hatred for the immigrants by the American citizens. These new immigrants were treated as second-citizens in this undemocratic nation. Even people native to the land were still treated without respect. In the painting of â€Å"the Trail of Tears†, innocent men, women and children were thrown out of their land because they Native Americans (Document 3). The U. S government showed no sympathy for them and forced them to move to a new location. On this voyage known as the â€Å"Trail of Tears†, many Native Americans lost their lives because of improper food and health care. Forcing the Native Americans out of their homes showed other nations that the U.  S government was not very democratic as it preached. Although the United States was seen as unfair in some aspects, the United States was still considered democratic during the mid-1800s. The United States was still viewed as a land of freedom and pride. During the Jacksonian era, it was the fight for the common man to have a say in the government. The United States did not want powerful and rich civilians to be running the government, but hoped that the common man would help America become a stronger nation. In the painting â€Å"Canvassing for a vote†, it is the role of the common man to have a say in the government. The United States proved its democratic status through the vote of the common man. In the early 1800’s, the United States was a fairly new country. After being ruled under a tyrannical government, the United States feared that by giving the government so much power it would lead to a government like Great Britain. The United States was known as a democratic nation, where the people had a great say in the government. However, citizens considered this new nation to have some undemocratic ways. Still the United States was considered a land of freedom and prosperity.

Health and biomedical informatics Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health and biomedical informatics - Article Example Administration of Antioxidants such as Vitamin E and Lipoic acid has been used to promote health in health care by eliminating reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen species but it is important to consider the binding properties of synthetic vitamin E. Some synthetic vitamin E does not bind to proteins making it difficult to transfer them across the membrane (Hunter 2008, p. 150). Doctors should therefore consider this aspect when prescribing synthetic vitamin E. The blood brain barrier is a membrane of tightly packed cells that restricts the passage of some substances from the blood to the brain cells while allowing the passage of essential substances required for metabolism. The permeation of the blood brain barrier to a particular drug is of importance during drug administration. For example, fact that antibiotics cannot penetrate the blood brain barrier makes the treatment of medical conditions such as meningitis a problem (Aschenbrenner 2009, p.44). According to Moore (2007, p.21), current approaches are geared towards the use of ADMET within genetic programming to predict the permeablity of the blood brain barrier. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins which are the most essential and abundant molecules in the human body. In human beings there are a total of twenty amino acids and their arrangement within a protein determines the function and nature of the protein. Amino acid therapy is currently being employed to replace drug therapy according to Pfeiifer’s Law. For instance, instead of using antidepressants drugs to increase the action of serotonin the amino acids Tryptophan or Tyrosine can be used to produce the same effects (Braverman 2003, 19). As outlined by Fukamizo (2011, 88), protein analysis can be conducted by a technique such as LC-MS combined with â€Å"database search algorithms.† DNA replication is a process that occurs at the

The comprehensive management training program of NL&C Essay

The comprehensive management training program of NL&C - Essay Example TIMETABLE - a reasonable time period is important to be included in the management training program to check and evaluate status of the set programs and make the appropriate changes if necessary in order to meet the objectives. ORIENTATION - it is important to consider having a comprehensive orientation to all concerns to ensure its effectiveness. It is necessary to consider the availability of each person as well as the venue, date and time for the said meeting. DEVIATION FROM THE SET PROGRAM - It is important to consider that not all set programs work according to our expectations. It is best to anticipate for possible changes that can have significant effect in the training program and have a prepared countermeasure for these. SUGGESTIONS/COMMENTS FROM INVOLVED PERSONNEL - The said program will not be final unless there is confirmation from all the involved personnel. Consider the reactions, suggestions and comments of each personnel and be able to come up with a mutual decision for all. MANAGING MANAGEMENT TRAINING RESULTS - Various factors can affect in achieving the set training objective.

Schomburg Research Center Visit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Schomburg Research Center Visit - Essay Example frican American, Catherine Latimer, was later hired and cooperated with schools and social organizations to integrate reading into the lives of the library attendees. They held the first African American exhibition in 1921, making the library a focal point to the growing Harlem Renaissance. In 1923, a librarian, Rose, reported that requests for books on Negros were increasing, as well as the demand for professional, colored librarians (Casper 39). In 1824, Rose organized a meeting and discussed reserving rare books and soliciting donations to enhance their African American collection. Among the attendees was Arturo Schomburg. Arturo Schomburg was a writer and historian from Puerto Rico. Over the years, he had built a collection of art, literature, slave narratives and an assortment of materials on African history. In 1925, the library opened a division specializing in Negro history, literature and prints. In 1926, Schomburg sold them his collection on condition that it remains in Harlem. Schomburg became the curator of his collection in 1932, a position he held until his death (Casper 40). A new Schomburg Center was founded at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard in 1980, and in 1981, the building that originally held the Schomburg Collection became a designated New York City Landmark. The resources available at the Center include the Art and Artifacts section, the Research and Reference section, the Photographs and Prints section, the Jean Blackwell Hutson General section, the Moving Image and Recorded Sound section and the Rare Books section (Dodson et al 74). Apart from conducting research on books, the Center also includes wine tasting activities, black and jazz periodicals, musical recordings and art objects (Dodson et al

Sexuality is said to be both sacred and ordinary. Would there be any Essay

Sexuality is said to be both sacred and ordinary. Would there be any problems with persons understanding sex only as sacred, or - Essay Example This can be estimated from the fact that in our society, 4 per cent to 5 per cent of the juvenile girls are raped by their fathers, 33 per cent to 50 per cent of the women become the victims of completed or attempted rape and 1 in every 4 girls and 1 in every 9 boys experiences sexual abuse once in the childhood. Thus, criminals are using sex as a major means of violence in the society. A vast majority of women that become the victims of rape tend not to disclose the offence to their relatives or police with the fear of embarrassment and shame. They think that if they do file a case against the offender, it would highlight their sexual identity. Sexual abuse leaves the victim with scars in the mind for the whole life and is one of the major causes of depression among people in America. Much of the widespread sex-based violence can be attributed to the consideration of sex as a very sacred topic that can not be discussed openly. Such an understanding of sex is providing the criminals with innumerable opportunities of creating violence. Besides, consideration of sex only as ordinary and non-sacred topic is no less harmful for the society. This is so because consideration of sex as an ordinary matter is just not consistent with the level of secrecy and personalization ingrained in it. Sex essentially brings two people extremely close to each other physically. If sex is considered ordinary, people would be encouraged to doing sex in public which is against all standards of religion, ethics and humanity. Animals do sex in open. It is the superiority of mankind that makes human sex in public a very heinous idea.

Global Project Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Global Project Management - Research Paper Example Unfortunately, due to federal budget constraints, the project was shelved in 2006. In February 2009, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the US General Services Administration (GSA) was tasked with reviewing its backlog of shovel ready infrastructure projects for well planned projects in an effort to help create jobs in the construction and real estate sectors, while simultaneously making use of energy-efficient technologies, smart building design and green energy solutions. ARRA funding also required government agencies to streamline the way they did business, cut costs while doing so, and deliver a quality product over a shorter period of time. Since the Northwest Arctic Region 10 had the modernization of EGWW on hold due to a lack of funding, they selected this design-bid-build project for funding. As the EGWW project was considered â€Å"shovel ready,† meaning many of the documents had already been created; GSA determined the project a worthy recipient of funding. The EGWW modernization project provides for an interesting look at how effectively GSA was able to deliver on those requirements using project management techniques. In receiving ARRA funding, the project was in turn agreeing to abide by ARRA funding mandates, which introduced project constraints to the scope, cost, and schedule of the project and impacted how the project would be managed and delivered. Part I of this paper will explore the impact that the ARRA funding mandates had on the scope, cost, and schedule of the project and how GSA elected to manage the project in light of these funding mandates. Part II of this paper, through a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis, will look at four broad questions: What implications do the project management tools of the EGWW modernization project have on future GSA projects? What contributions has the project made to the body of knowledge for project

Capital budgeting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Capital budgeting - Essay Example In addition, NPV approach provides a clear indication on how the profits will be obtained, unlike IRR and payback approaches. Therefore, the NPV is the most useful tool in project valuation (Arthur, 2014). Of the three techniques (NPV, IRR, and payback period, the least useful tool to use is the IRR, because discount rate has an inverse relationship with NPV. When NPV continues to increase, the anticipated future cash flows become less valuable and hence making IRR least useful tool to use in project valuation. On the other hand, payback approach is the second least useful tool to use after IRR. The Payback period indicate how long the cash flow obtained from the project will recover the initial capital outlay. In addition, the payback period fails to indicate the amount of cash flow to be generated from the project. However, it is the simplest method of calculating project forecast (Arthur, 2014). The answer would not be the same because a negative NPV will be obtained when cost of capital increases from 14% to 25%. It means that as the cost of the capital increase the return obtained from the project decreases significantly up to a negative (Peterson & Fabozzi,2002). Such decrease makes the project un-profitable and, therefore, it is advisable for the EEC not to invest when cost of capital increases to 25%. If EEC did not save an even cash flow of $500,000 per year, the answer would be the same.The least amount of investment that would make this investment attractive to EEC is $100,000. From the above scenario, the EEC would be willing to pay the supplier $2000, 000. The president of EEC should be aware that if the cost of capital increases as discussed above, the underlying effect is a negative NPV. It means that the project will be no longer profitable to the company (Arthur, 2014). If the expected savings are less than $500,000 per annum, it will be difficult for the ECC to pay its supplier a capital of $2000, 000, and

Explaining Hardware Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Explaining Hardware - Essay Example This method would be fast and also would help maintain the records of the candidates who had participated in the survey. 3) Bank Checks: Bank Checks are fed into the accounting software of the Bank mainly by the forms. These softwares maintain the accounts as well as the database of the customers. This method permits the checks to be allocated directly into the customer's accounts. At the same time since the operator feed the data by filling the forms, the inner system of fields remains intact. 4) Retail Tags: These tags can be input by a simple word processor like MS Word or Open Office Write software. The A4 paper can used, on which at a time number of tags can be put depending upon their size. This method would be fast and save a lot of paper. 5) Long Documents: The Word Processor software like MS Word or Open Office Writer can best do data input for the long documents. With these methods we can do lot of formatting as well and the files can be stored easily not only on the hard disk but also on the external storage device. 1) Hand held computer: The output from the hand held computers would be more obtained in a better manner by transferring the data from hand held computer to the desktop or the laptop. This method permits us to choose amongst the wide range of the printers available in the market. Also some output can be obtained on the monitor itself. 4) Memorandum: For memos dot-matrix pr... 3) Resume: Resume can be easily and cheaply obtained on both the inkjet as well as the laser printer. Since it consists of only typed matter, with limited matter any of the methods can be used. 4) Memorandum: For memos dot-matrix printer would be more suitable. In these printers there is good facility of adjusting the paper sizes. Also paper roll can be put, thus making memo printing very fast. 5) Statistical Report: It can be best obtained by the bigger Dot printer. Its printing cost is quiet cheap and bigger papers can be printed 6) Company Annual Report: Laser printer would be more suitable in this case. Its printing is quiet cheap and fast. Even bulk printing would be affordable. Situations appropriate for the following devices: 1) Hard Disk: Hard disk is required in all computers and in all situations. Hard disks have capacity of storing large amounts of data and its speed is also fast. In our regular work we handle large amounts of data, which need to be stored. Also apart from the system software lots of other software has to be stored hence hard disk is necessary in all situations. 2) Floppy Disk: This is used when data is transferred from one computer to the other computer. However their capacity is limited and are less reliable. Hence these are being replaced by the pen drives. 3) RAM: RAM is compulsorily required in all computers as it stores the data on which we are working. Without RAM we would not be able to work on any files. 4) CDROM: CDROM can carry large amounts of data on a small disk hence it is widely used in almost all situations for storing data. 5) Tape: Magnetic tapes are used for storing audio and video files. These tapes can be easily played in video shooting cameras also. Role of Following in

Global Trade operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Trade operations - Essay Example For a long time most companies have carried out trade between each other to dispose of their supplies in the most economical way and also acquire the products they do not have. In many cases, these transactions often boost the foreign policy between the involved parties especially where there is a mutual production of what the other nation lacks. The web of cross border trading by many countries therefore necessitated harmonisation of the international trade to make transactions easy and reduce time wastage at the ports. Global documents of trade were therefore adopted to simply this process. With export and import trade harmonised, an import of frozen fish for a British retailer from a supplier in Taiwan through FCL shipment in a refrigerated container and the Incoterm CIP Felixstowe use would be verified through the following documentation of export import trade. From the point of export in Taiwan, the supplier will have to present to the importer a supplier’s invoice since the transaction is in place. Suppliers invoice will serve the purpose of indicating the transaction cost to be incurred by the retailer for the supply of frozen fish from Taiwan to his destination. It should be made in a way that it reflects the nature of the export agreements. The agreement in this case is delivery up to the retailer’s premises using the CIP Felixtowe. If it happens that the frozen fish is further packed into large polythene packages, then a packing note would be used to indicate the contents of each sub-package in the refrigerated container. These details could be in form of kilograms or pieces of standard weight if the exporting supplier has standard package measures. This document will help the retailer to quickly verify one large package for consistency as a sample for his order instructions. In addition, the supplier will attach or provide a copy of

Male Daughters Femals Husbands Essay Example for Free

Male Daughters Femals Husbands Essay I chose the book Male daughters, female husbands by Ifi Amadiume. The reason I chose this book is because I have always been curious about the role of women in non western countries and why they were viewed as being subservient to men by their own as well as the western world. Ifi Amadiume, a Nigerian sociologist with a London University doctorate, conducted research in her own family area to study gender and sex in an African Society. Challenging the received orthodoxies of social anthropology, Ifi Amadiume argues that in precolonial society, sex and gender did not necessarily coincide. In the book she examines the structures that enable women to achieve power and shows that roles are neither rigidly masculine nor feminine. This study that was conducted relates to social anthropology. The study was conducted in Nnobi, a town in the only Igbo area which has not been studied in detail by any scientist or anthropologist. Fieldwork was conducted in Nnobi between 1980 and 1982 on the Igbo people. As a result of the 1976 local government reform which divided Nigeria into 19 states and 299 local governments, Nnobi became one of the towns in the Idemili local government. Most of the Igbo people were also separated between states. The 1963 population census put the total number of Igbo people at 7,209,716. The study is divided into three periods: pre-colonial, when the traditional systems operated: colonial, when the British ruled Nigeria: and post-colonial, when Nigeria became an independent nation. There were further divisions of these periods such as Gender and the economy, the ideology of gender, and the general beliefs about men and women in which we will look into further in the following paragraphs. First we will take a look at gender and the economy. This was part of the pre-colonial period. It is within this period that ideologies behind the Igbo and Nnobi , their sexual division of labor, and those governing the relations of production originated. As a result of ecological factors, agricultural production was not profit in Nnobi, hence the development of a sexual division of labor and gender ideology which gave women a central place in the subsistence economy, while men sought authority through ritual specialization and ritual control. The gender ideology governing economic production was that of female industriousness. The name of the town itself Nnobi reflects matrifocality in Nnobi culture or matricentric principle in household organization; mothers and children formed distinct, economically self-sufficient sub-compound units classified as female in relation to the male front section of the compound. There was a dual-sex organization principle behind the structure of the economy, which was supported by various gender ideologies. These principles and ideologies governed the economic activities of men and women. They also governed access to wealth, wives, achievement-based status and many other things within their community. Material wealth was converted into prestige and power through title-taking, the acquisition of more wives and more labor power, more material wealth. Wealth for men included possession of things like houses, many wives and daughters, livestock, and land. Wealth for women included things like livestock, fowls, dogs’, farm and garden crops, daughters and many wealthy and influential sons. Males and females symbols of wealth were very similar even though in principle they did not own the same things. One very important economic resource which women did not own was land. A flexible gender system mediated the dual-sex organizational principle. Nnobi society was based on strict sexual dualism, whereby women’s economic and political organizations were separate from those of men. Through manipulation of gender concepts and flexible gender construction in language, the dual-sex barrier is broken down or mediated. Ideology of gender guided the Igbo people, however it was possible for men and women to share attributes. The system of few linguistic distinctions between male and female gender also makes it possible for men and women to play some social roles in which, we ( the western world) carry rigid sex and gender association. The Igbo language in comparison with the English language, has not built up rigid associations between certain adjectives or attributes and gender subjects, nor certain objects and gender possessive pronouns. There is no usage of the word ‘man’ to represent both sexes, neither is there the option of saying ‘he or she’, ’him or her’ , or ‘his or her’. This of linguistic system of few gender distinctions makes it possible to conceptualize certain social roles as separate from sex and gender, hence the possibility for either sex to fill the role. This does not mean that there is no competition between the sexes, and situations in which a particular sex monopolize roles and positions. One example of a situation in which women played roles ideally occupied by men were ‘male daughters’ and ‘female husbands’; in either role, women acted as family head. The Igbo word for family head is genderless. In Nnobi society and culture, there was one head or master of a family at a time, and ‘male daughters’ and ‘female husbands’ were called by the same term, which translated into English would be ‘master’. The reverse applied to those in a wife relationship to others. The Igbo word for wife is a genderless expression meaning a person who belongs to the home of the master of the home. Although there were genderless words within this culture there were still general beliefs about men and women that set them apart. Men and women were talked of or judged according to the roles expected of them as full social adults. What was stressed about men was their duty to provide for and protect their families. This culture did not stereotype bad men. Unfortunately this was not the case with women. Similar to the society we live in today everyone in this culture knew the attributes of a bad woman. Bad women were those who failed in their wifely and maternal duties and sentiments. This type of woman usually did not take care of her husband, was bad tempered, and ate food without giving any to her husband. A bad woman also did not take very good care of the children. I found this to be very similar how we view ‘bad ‘women as well in our society. In contrast to a bad woman was the good woman. The good women were usually a good daughter, wife, and mother. She looked after her husband, never refused him food, and made sure things around the household were taken care of. If her husband was unable to provide for the family financially she was able to help him through her own efforts. She always protected her children from any form of danger, and if necessary she would even protect them from their father. The industriousness, which is what was meant by good character, was inculcated in a woman in her father’s house, and would pay dividends in her husband’s house. In conclusion this book really brought about some insight how the fact that biological sex did not always correspond to ideological gender. This meant that women could play roles usually monopolized by men, or be classified as ‘males’ in terms of power and authority over others. In contrast the Western culture and the Christian religion carried rigid gender ideologies. This gender system meant that roles are strictly masculine or feminine; breaking gender rules carries a sigma. In new gender realities, such women are still defined as females, however they are no longer involved in domestic female roles.

The Communication Style In Middle East Cultural Studies Essay

The Communication Style In Middle East Cultural Studies Essay In this chapter, an analysis of the communication style of Middle Eastern countries will be provided, with particular focus on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Before analysing our focus countries, it is interesting to provide an overview of the communication style in the Middle East compared to that in the West. Only after understanding the main differences between these two regions, can inner differences be explained. Western ventures as well as expat foreign workers that start working in the Middle East face many challenges due to the differences in their communication style. The nature of business communication style is the result of the combination of different factors, such as cultural, political, socio-economical and historical characteristics of a country. Some of the main cultural factors will be therefore analysed in the section. First of all, Middle East countries are very high context, meaning that people from this region take into consideration all the different aspects of a certain event in order to get the true understanding of it. Hidden meanings can be found by analysing the situation as a whole. This term was coined by Edward Hall (1976) and positioned in contrast to low-context countries, such as USA, in which the meaning of words can be taken directly from the message, without the necessity to analyse the whole context. As can be seen later in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia section, the high context characteristic can also be associated to the characteristic of the Arabic language as an associative language. This statement by Hall (1976, p. 98) effectively gives an effective understand of the meaning of high context When talking about something that they have on their minds, a high context individual will expect his interlocutor to know whats bothering him, so that he doesnt have to be specific. The re sult is that he will talk around and around the point, in effect putting all the pieces in place except the crucial one. Placing it properly this keystone is the role of his interlocutor. Secondly, Middle Eastern people tend to invest a huge amount of their time establishing personal relationships and getting to better know their negotiating parties before actually initiating the work (Badawy, 1980). Because of this, doing business in the Middle East usually takes longer than in other countries. Personal contacts are considered more important than procedures and standard processes for businesses. For example, creative sales techniques and media advertising are not as effective in these countries as in Western ones. Instead, business in the Middle East relies more on the cultivation of individual customers and on government officials (Badawy, 1980). Another characteristic that distinguishes Middle Eastern management communication style from that of the West is related to the perception of time and space. Middle Eastern countries have a primarily polychronic work style, they usually engage in multiple activities and goals at the same time. In the Middle East, time is an open-ended concept. It is a mixture of past, present and future. The word bukra (literally tomorrow) that is often used in this region refers to the fact that what cannot be done today will be done tomorrow and the word inshallah (literally God willing) underlines that God is in control of time (Martin and Chaney, 2006). Therefore, time is considered to be a flexible concept, being late at meetings and not respecting strictly deadlines is usually not seen as offensive behaviour. Moreover, being late could also be a tactic used by Middle Eastern managers to demonstrate their superiority and power over their subordinates (Martin and Chaney, 2006). As far as space is concerned, business conversations in Middle Eastern countries usually occur simultaneously among different people and in the same office, similar to a round table discussion (Badawy, 1980). Having described some of the main features that characterise the communication style of the Middle East, this paper will now focus on the two considered countries, UAE and Saudi Arabia. The aim of the two subsections is to provide an analysis of the two countries in respect to some factors that either distinguish the Emirati or Saudi communication style from the general concept of business communication style in the Middle East or that underline differences between the two regions. United Arab Emirates The UAE is a very particular Middle Eastern country as we have seen in the previous sections. As far as the communication style is involved, studies have shown sound insights. On one hand, the high percentage of expatriate workers and western organisations have been influencing the communication behaviour of Emiratis. Many UAE companies have adapted their norms and communication style to match the Western ones (Willemyns et al., 2011). This has been a progressive process, driven by the fact that today more and more expatriates work in the UAE and that Emiratis employed in large companies can usually speak fluent English. On the other hand, specific patterns of communication style can be found within UAE companies. Our main reference will be the study performed by Willemyns et al. (2011) and described in their research paper Communication and Social Identity Dynamics in UAE Organizations. The study was conducted among 192 Emiratis (34 women) who worked in different companies in Dubai and were asked to complete a survey about their interaction with Western expatriate colleagues . However, before proceeding with the analysis of the findings, a short overview of the theoretical underpinnings behind them will be provided. More specifically, the social identity theory has been considered. This theory proposes that ones self-concept is compromised of a personal identity (based on idiosyncratic characteristics such as bodily attributes, abilities and psychological traits) and of social identities, based on groups memberships (Willemyns et al., 2011). A certain person would thus see themselves as part of a group (ingroup) and would compare their ingroup to an outsider group (outgroup), composed of people that are not part of the ingroup (Williams and Giles, 1996). This theory can therefore be used to understand and explain how the Emiratis interact with their foreign colleagues, whether they relate to them as part of the ingroup or the outgroup. The study has shown three main communication patterns. The first category relates to Interpersonal Control, which refers to the interpersonal control adopted in the interaction of Emirati nationals with their foreign colleagues. This study has stressed the importance of the ingroup dimension to many Emirati employees. In fact, a high percentage of them feel that they are perceived by their co-workers as belonging to the same group, on an equitable level. Furthermore, Emiratis try to understand the single individual when they interact with their co-workers rather than classifying them as part of a stereotypical cultural outgroup. Examples of this perception are related to non-work and friendship role relationship, similar values and interpersonal similarities. In a broader sense of the individualization process just described, Condon and Yousef (1975) have highlighted the difference between individualism, which indicates independence from the group, and individuality, which relates to the freedom of an individual to act, individuality ref ers to the persons freedom to act differently within the limits set by the social structure (Condon and Yousef,1975). Thus, in this specific case, the study refers more to individuality than to individualism of Emiratis. This sense of individuality can also be traced in the Quran where an individual (a prophet) would go against his group in order to proclaim his faith and belief in God. Therefore, for Arab people and in this specific case, for Emiratis, individual dignity and honour are extremely important. (Ayish, 2003). Therefore, if on one hand the belonging to ingroup is an essential part for Emiratis, on the other hand, the individual as a unique person is highly respected. This fact shows that it is probably too simplistic considering Emiratis as a collectivistic culture (Zaharna, 2009). The second category analysed is discourse management, which refers to the ability of a person in creating written and oral texts. In the specific case, we consider discourse management in relation to conversations held at work between Emiratis and their Western counterparts. As far as discourse management is concerned, the ingroup and outgroup sides seem to be balanced. More specifically, if on one hand, some Emiratis perceive high cultural difference with their colleagues, for example they feel their ideas are not listened to nor understood, on the other hand, some other Emiratis express an open, transparent and efficient communication process. Significant examples of this aspect are related to the willingness or unwillingness of colleagues to listen and communicate or to participate in small talk and self-disclosure. Small talks are defined by DeVito (2001) as short conversations typically used to break the ice between people. They are also defined pathic communication, term that w as coined by the anthropologist Malinowsky (1923) and refers to short discussions of low information content that are used to build and maintain relationships, to saving face issues. Finally, a balance can also be found in the last category, face issues. Emiratis value face-to-face communication as an important feature. Face-to-face communication could lead to both positive effects, for example a foreign colleague expressing explicit praise, congratulations and encouragement and negative consequences, for instance by embarrassing in public an Emirati, through criticism and negative feedback and by asking inappropriate questions such as questions related to wives and or sisters. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia In this section, an analysis of some interesting factors that shape the business communication style in Saudi Arabia will be provided. First of all, the environment highly influences the communication style of Arab countries. In particular, Ali (1990) underlines how Arab people are subjected to behave in different ways depending on the characteristics of the environment in which they are and have relationship with. More specifically, in an authoritarian environment, an Arab tends to be conservative, dependent on authorities and on higher status people and refrains from debate and discussions (Ali and Hayward, 1993). In Saudi Arabia, the communication style is more indirect and conservative compared to the communication style of other Mideastern such as the Emiratis due to their stricter environment. Moreover, Saudis show a higher avoidance of public conflict and criticism, preferring personal to impersonal procedures to resolve conflict and one-to-one business communication (Ali, 1995). Saudi Arabia is the place of birth both of Islam and Arabic. As Arabic is the language of the Quran, the spread of Islam to non-Arabic countries, such as part of South Asia, Europe and North Africa, has also implied the diffusion of Arabic language in them (Hitti, 1970; Hourani, 1992; Chejne, 1965). However, even though all countries in the Middle East have a common heritage in the Arabic language, not all of them have employed Arabic as official first language. Arabic is therefore one of the most important factors that influence the communication style in Saudi Arabia. According to Kabasakal and Bodur (2002), the Arabic language has a very strong influence on the identity of an Arabic person as well as on their communication style. Arabic manages to develop a feeling of identity among Arab people that also has crucial consequences on the communication style. In particular, the Arabic language is very associative, different examples of association can be found within the Arabic language and in the Quran (Zaharna, 2009). Therefore, in order to get the true understanding of a text written in Arabic, the ability to read Arabic is not sufficient; it is instead necessary to understand the different associations among words within a certain context. Likewise, Saudis use an indirect business communication style, where single words will not probably be of significant meaning. According to Katz (2006), a simple word like yes might mean possibly and i t will be very rare that a Saudi would answer with a direct no. Instead, Saudis value beautiful, elegant rhetoric over concise and accurate communication. Eloquent people are considered to be more worthy of trust and respect and so they will often use extremely descriptive, emotive and even poetic language to communicate their point indirectly. This can often make it difficult for Westerners to decipher the intended message. Furthermore, body language and eye contact is very important in the Middle East, however in Saudi Arabia it is more restricted and controlled. The final aspect that will be analysed in this section refers to the interaction of Saudis with the foreign corporations and colleagues. Unlike UAE, as seen in section 1.2 where Emiratis have shown a more open, transparent and positive behaviour, Saudi Arabia is a much more conservative and closed society that also regulates the way Saudis work with expatriates (Mackey, 1987). Having a local intermediary can therefore be extremely important for a foreigner to initiate a business relationship with local people. The intermediary will help providing the contacts and leveraging on existing relationships. (Katz, 2006). In fact, as described previously, personal relationships are crucial in Middle East and in this particular case, in Saudi Arabia.

Modelling Tool for Photonic Crystal Device Issues

Modelling Tool for Photonic Crystal Device Issues Chapter 4 SIMULATION DETAILS OF THE PROJECT In the past 10 years, photonic crystals (PCs) have attracted much scientific and commercial interest. The research and design work for PCs starts from accurate modal analysis of the device. Once the modes are found, structure can be simulated for that particular mode and the results of power spectra can be observed at the detector. In this chapter we will discuss about the modelling tool used for solving various problems related to photonic crystal device mentioned in next chapters. In our work, Opti-FDTD v11.0, a proprietary of Optiwave is used as a simulating tool to fulfill this purpose. 4.1 Introduction to FDTD Opti-FDTD is a user-friendly graphical interface that allows the designing of photonic devices in an efficient manner. It provides accurate computer aided simulations with the proper analysis of results. It is a powerful and highly integrated software package which is based on the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. FDTD technique implies the solution of maxwell equations with finite-difference expressions for the space and time derivatives. FDTD schemes are especially promising for the investigation of PBG structures, as they provide an opportunity of analyzing the spatial distribution of the electromagnetic field in PBG structure. Opti-FDTD enables to design, analyze and test nonlinear photonic components for wave propagation, scattering, reflection, diffraction and other nonlinear phenomenon. The method allows for the effective simulation and analysis of structures with sub-micron details. Such fine scale implies high degree of light confinement and a large refractive ind ex contrast of materials to be used in design. Since FDTD method calculates electric and magnetic field at all points of computational domain, it is required for the domain to be finite. For this purpose, artificial boundaries are inserted in the simulation space. In FDTD perfectly matched layer (PML) acts as a absorbing layer for wave equations. In numerical methods, it truncates the computational regions while simulating problems. 4.2 Design Tools of Opti-FDTD Opti-FDTD is used to design photonic devices, simulate and analyze results. Design tools are available in toolbars and menu options. These tools include waveguide primitives, editing and manipulation tools, and special layout regions. Fig 4.1. Main layout of Opti-FDTD Designer Design tools of Opti-FDTD include designer, simulator and analyzer. 4.2.1 Opti-FDTD Designer This section created the desired layout on a wafer that is saved in a file with the extension .fdt. Opti-FDTD designer is opened from the start menu. This section enables a user to work on multiple layouts of project at the same time. One can store and retrieve projects using .fdt files. In addition to the standard cut, copy, and paste editing functions, we can: Scale elements or groups of elements swap overlapping elements snap elements to a grid of the layout zoom into or out of the project layout link elements together The main elements required to perform simulation of layout design include wafer, waveguide and input field. Wafer is the work area of design in Opti-FDTD. Each layout consists of only one wafer. It is a planar substrate on which we place and design the waveguides and cavities. The option of wafer properties is found in edit menu to modify the length, width and material of the wafer. Light wave propagates in Z-direction i.e. along the horizontal path on the screen. Discretization mesh is formed along the X-direction which corresponds to vertical path on the screen. Wafer is a necessary element for running a simulation. While starting a new project, the default material of wafer is air. Fig 4.2. Wafer coordinate system Waveguides are the building blocks of photonic circuits. Path perpendicular to the waveguide center defines the width of the waveguide. The default waveguide profile is air which can be changed while creating a new design. One can resize, rotate and move waveguides anywhere in the layout. Waveguide changes its color after selection. The orientation and shape of a waveguide can also be changed by dragging start/end handles. Properties of a waveguide can be viewed by double clicking it in the project layout. This opens the dialog box of waveguide properties where user can make required changes. Some major waveguide options provided by software include circular, elliptical and linear waveguides. From user point of view, waveguides can also be created by making some cells off in the photonic structure. Such a waveguide allows propagation of electromagnetic wave with minimum attenuation. The input field is an essential element in design to allow simulation to run. Its position is at an input plane which can be moved throughout the layout. It defines the light that enters the simulated structure. Geometric position of the input field and its orientation can be defined in the input field dialog box. Options available for input fields in the software are modal, gaussian, rectangular and user defined. The concept of input field is purely geometrical. It is a position and direction which defines a plane completely. Multiple input fields can be positioned on multiple input fields simultaneously. In a 2D design, input plane can be horizontal (perpendicular to X-axis) or can be vertical (perpendicular to Z-axis). Input field parameters must be defined carefully. The time domain parameters of input field can be specified as continuous wave or gaussian modulated continuous wave. Both the cases demand an input wavelength for the carrier wave. In Opti-FDTD all dimensions are defined in units of ÃŽ ¼m. Multiple input planes are distinguished with the help of ‘label’ facility provided by the software. Input wave can move in positive or negative direction depending on the option selected in the tab of wave configuration. An enable input field check box selects the input plane to be considered in calculation. Figures below show the placement of vertical and horizontal input plane. Fig 4.3. A vertical input plane for 2-D photonic crystal structure Fig 4.4. A horizontal input plane for 2-D photonic crystal structure Layout design in Opti-FDTD software includes profile designer, initial properties and layout designer. Profile designer define the material properties (refractive index of material) and channel profile. Initial properties set initial simulation domain properties including dimensions and material. Layout designer help to draw the lattice type (rectangular or hexagonal) and define the properties of the structure. 4.2.2 Opti-FDTD Simulator Opti-FDTD provides two types of FDTD simulations 32-bit simulation (performed by 32-bit simulators) 64-bit simulation (performed by 64-bit simulators) Opti-FDTD simulator monitors the progress, while the simulation is running. The simulation results are stored in a file with extension (.fda). After launching a 2-D simulation from Opti-FDTD designer, Opti-FDTD simulator displays the results of 2-D simulation. Fig. 4.5 shows the results of 2-D simulation for the structure shown in Fig. 4.3. Fig 4.5. 2-D simulation results (image map) in Opti-FDTD simulator Opti-FDTD simulator window contains output window and graph window. 4.2.2.1 Graph Window While running a 2-D simulation, a simulation window with several tabs appears. The first tab is the refractive index tab (Refr_Idx). Fig. 4.6 shows the refractive index distribution for the structure in Fig. 4.3. Fig 4.6. Refractive index distribution (image map) with palette Opti-FDTD simulator provides several types of views for graphs that include height plot and image map. Fig. 4.5 shows the image map of simulated field Ey. The height plot of the refractive index distribution of structure is shown in Fig. 4.7. Fig 4.7. Height plot of refractive index distribution 4.2.2.2 Output Window The output window contains notification and error tabs which display notifications regarding the status of simulations or any error that occur during simulation. Opti-FDTD simulator does not show this window by default. It can be accessed from tools menu. Figure below shows an example of output window. Fig 4.8. Output Window Simulation parameters can be accessed in Opti-FDTD_Simulator by selecting simulation > simulation parameters. For changing any of the parameters one should use Opti-FDTD_Designer. These parameters can’t be changed in simulator. Observation points can be used to obtain DFT and FFT transform. Observation line is used to observe power spectrum of the transmitted electromagnetic field. Opti-FDTD simulator provides the facility of PWE (plane wave expansion) solver. Fig 4.9. Simulation parameters dialog box Fig. 4.9. Simulation parameters dialog box The simulator provides tools for post-processing data analysis. Structure below shows the workflow of PBG structure analysis. Waveguide layout designer which provides necessary tools for designing a PBG crystal structure. After designing, PWE band solver simulation parameters are configured and PWE calculation is launched. After calculations results are automatically saved in .PND file and data is used for post-processing analysis. Fig. 4.10. Flow chart of PBG structure analysis The PWE band solver contains two windows including band diagram graph window and processing image window. PWE band solver graph window displays data of each eigen values based on each k-vector. During simulation, data is updated continuously from currently running calculations. Progress of calculations can be seen in the window. After completion of calculations, band diagram can be plotted either as band-gap data graph or line-connected data point graph. Fig. 4.11 shows a PWE band solver graph display for the structure shown in Fig. 4.3. Fig. 4.11. PWE band solver graph window Processing message window consist of notification and error tabs. This window displays textual information related to the activities performed in band solver. It provides notification on the k-vector value, tolerance, iteration number and time and date when results were being observed. Fig. 4.12 shows the notification window for the above-mentioned band solver. Error window displays notifications about processing errors. Fig. 4.12. Processing message window 4.2.3 Opti-FDTD Analyzer Opti-FDTD provides the facility to view power spectrum. Observation points are used for this purpose. To view the spectrum, observation area analysis can be accessed from tools menu. Fig. 4.13 shows the observation area analysis dialog box. Fig. 4.13. Observation area analysis dialog box The flow chart below summarizes the full procedure of designing, simulating and analyzing. Following algorithm is used to generate the flow chart. Create a new project Open Opti-FDTD designer Initialize the project Open waveguide profile designer Define the material Define 2-D channel profile Set up initial properties Create a design Draw a PBG crystal structure Set up the lattice properties Insert input plane Set up the input plane Insert observation lines Observe refractive index distribution Observe the refractive index distribution Set up observation lines Run the simulation Set up the simulation parameters Run 32-bit simulation Fig. 4.14. Flow chart of processing of photonic crystal structure using Opti-FDTD [ Courtesy: Ref. [28] ] Analyze the simulation results Open Opti-FDTD analyzer Observe power spectrum Export results The block diagram illustration of the same is depicted in Fig. 4.15. Fig. 4.15. Opti-FDTD block diagram [ Courtesy: Ref. [28] ] Opti-FDTD analyzer first loads the files and processes it to simulator. Simulator runs the proposed design and exports data to other file formats [30]. Further chapters provide the methodology to improve the performance of photonic crystal biosensors. They also explain the application of such device in the emerging field of DNA photonics. A comparative account is also prepared between the performances of photonic crystal biosensor and surface plasmon resonance biosensor which proves the superiority of PC biosensors over SPR devices.

The Simple Pleasures of Life Bring Happiness Essay -- Happiness Essays

"I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition." -- Martha Washington "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions." -- Dalai Lama An emotion is an intense feeling. Happiness is one of the many emotions humans experience. It may perhaps be the most important feeling a person can have and it is the one feeling everyone strives to achieve, yet strangely, for the most part, people seem to only get a glimpse of it. Pleasurable satisfaction, a state of well-being and contentment are the more outstanding elements of happiness. Happiness, known more formally as felicity, is good. A state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy and can be applied to almost every kind of enjoyment. It can be defined and characterized in several ways- metaphorically, by life’s everyday pleasures, and by the behaviors and accomplishments of a happy person. This emotion can be metaphorically compared with expressions such as, the sun shining through the rain and the â€Å"silver lining behind the dark cloud†. These expressions capture the optimistic outlook of happiness, they symbolize hope of a bigger, better and brighter future even in the midst of what could be termed as the â€Å"darkest hour†. Happiness is the essence of life, the wind gently blowing flowers in the open field, the puppies frolicking in a pile of leaves, and is reflected in the merriment of men. It is exciting, playful, full of good cheer and lighthearted and signifies life. It brings the smiles to the faces of children one to ninety-nine. Happiness i... ...e way. Apart from success, good health and longevity are associated with happiness. The lightheartedness that accompanies happiness has been said to lower the chance of strokes and heart attacks. Laughter releases tension and add to persons overall sense of well-being. Happiness is not death, or sorrow. It is not gloom, depression or heavy-heartedness. Happiness does not lament nor does it worry. It is neither moody nor pensive, neither wanton nor pessimistic. Happiness does not mourn for what was it instead rejoices in what will be. Happiness comes through good fortune and through loving and being loved. Eating a good meal, being in good health and enjoying the comforts of life can also achieve it. The simple pleasures of life bring happiness, whether it be enjoying a favorite dessert, smelling a rose or running in the rain. O happiness! our being's end and aim!

Functions of Management Essay example -- essays research papers

Functions of Management What are the four functions of management and how do they relate to my organization? The Management Process... as refereed to by our text describes four basic functions – Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling. While each of these functions on their own play an important role in management applied correctly they can be key to the success or failure of your organization. The first of these functions is that of planning. Planning is more than merely setting goals and deciding on a course of action. The text explains planning as â€Å"developing rules and procedures, developing plans (both for the organization and for those who work in it), and forecasting (predicting or projecting what the future holds for the firm)†. The process of this first function is performed on many levels of the organization. In our organization the process of planning generally starts with the Senior Leadership Team and then works its way thru the organization. During this annual process goals are determined, plans are developed and budgets forecasted. As the process cascades thru the organization each functional area is identified. Tasks are aligned with goals, and goals are aligned with tasks. Projects are aligned with plans and plans aligned with budgets. The second of these functions is organizing. The text explains organizing as â€Å"identifying jobs to be done, hiring people to do them, establishing departments, delegating or pushing authority down to subordinates, establ...

Assiduous Athletes :: essays papers

Assiduous Athletes Not many people know the onus of being a student athlete in college. This burden set on them has caused the graduation rate of scholarship players to average at about fifty percent from 1995 to 1998. In order to be eligible to play, the athletes must be full-time students , which means taking at least twelve units a semester. Because these athletes are taking so many classes, they must make time for a considerable amount of studying and homework. Then add up the amount of practice their sport requires and I doubt they will find a second to rest. Student athletes are the hardest working students in college. Most student athletes have a demanding and rigorous schedule. This is partly because of the required twelve units minimum a semester to qualify as a full-time student. Without the full-time student status, they would be ineligible to play sports. That means at least three hours a day of courses on average. My schedule is similar to this, in that I am taking fourteen units this semester. It averages out to about three and a half hours of class a day. Scheduling the class times can also be a burden. It took my friend, Chris Carter, who plays baseball for Chapman University, two weeks to plan his class schedule around his job and his training. An athlete cannot have class on Fridays because some games occur on Fridays. Therefore, it makes it even harder to plan. My physical therapist, Jim Hairston, is a teacher at Chapman University and he said that many of his students who play sports have a harder time staying awake because of lack of sleep. These could all attribute to the recent fall in the graduation rate. Another conundrum student athletes must face is finding time for studying and homework. With classes half the day and training the other half, that leaves the night for studying. Most athletes do not get started until about eight o’clock because of late practices. Mr. Reames, a teacher at Foothill High School, said that we should expect to spend about four hours a night studying , and that does not include homework. Even if the athlete had only two hours of homework he would not get to bed until two o’clock in the morning. Many students have jobs to support them because they do not have full scholarships.

Napoleon Bonaparte Heir or Betrayer Essay

Napoleon Bonaparte has been one of the biggest known leaders and highly debated characters. Known for his leadership skills, but debated for the many different interpretations of his actions. Most historians have believed that Napoleon is either an Heir or a Betrayer. It was through his actions on how you can see how Napoleon is considered a betrayer to the French revolution. This is shown through different actions and the way he handled certain situations. The first sign that he was a betrayer against the French revolution was that he was established as an absolute dictator. Also, Napoleons betrayal is portrayed with the unnecessary wars that bankrupted France due to the idea of expanding his universal brotherhood. Lastly, Napoleons actions were considered to be completely contradictory to the French revolution motto of Liberty Equality Fraternity. As you can see through these three arguments, that Napoleon proves that he really is a betrayer to the French revolution. The basis of the French revolution was that the people wanted to get rid of the absolute monarchy that had no interest in serving the 3rd estate. Napoleon on the other hand, did the opposite of what the French revolution wanted. He maintained power, and became an absolute dictator that made all the decisions in his own interest. With all this power, Napoleon showed that he was a betrayer, because he did not do anything for the good of the people, rather he did it for his own interests. One example, is that instead of allowing people to vote, Napoleon established representative institutions that only gave the illusion of democracy because really they had no power. Also, in the beginning of his dictatorship, he established the â€Å"Coup D’Etat† which made himself the first consul which later on allowed him to crown himself Emperor. This can be considered a betrayal because he was crowning himself â€Å"king† in a sense. Clearly, these arguments show how Napoleon, although a great leader, was too focused on the power that he obtained from becoming Emperor and it clouded his decisions causing him to become a betrayer to the French revolution. Another big part of why people consider Napoleon as a betrayer to the French revolution, was his relentless quest for personal glory and his desire to conquer more than he could. Napoleons commitment to make everybody into a brotherhood completely went against what the French Revolution stood for. This is shown in his many unnecessary wars that took place. He started recruiting mass armies for the sole purpose of conquering other lands. Napoleons focus on universal conquest was shown by the year 1812, when almost every country besides Russia, Great Britain, and the Ottoman Empire, were under his control. Another aspect that shows how Napoleon betrayed the French revolution was when he implemented the Continental System, in which he resorted to economic warfare by forbidding his subjects and allies to trade with the English. Thus, further more affecting the already poor economy and worsening ties with England. These actions portray Napoleon as somebody who is entirely set on European domination and showing how his military focus lead his straying away from the idealistic French revolution. The French revolutions motto was Liberty Equality and Fraternity. The French expected Napoleon to honour these sayings and bring back peace, order and to consolidate the political and social conquests of the Revolution. But, Napoleon used other means of establishing a revolution. Unlike the motto, Napoleon used certain things such as censorship, the power of terror, and even execution to establish control. Napoleon to keep control of public opinion, he censored almost everything, and filtered what the people could hear. Also, Napoleon used the aspect of fear to keep people under his control, and he used force to subsidize anybody going against his will, thus showing how he did not follow the motto of the French Revolution. Also when he was in power, he rolled back many of the reforms of the Revolution, including the rights of women and basic protections for civil liberties. He anointed himself emperor and established his family members as hereditary monarchs of sovereign European nations. In this sense, he completely eviscerated the liberal reforms of the revolution. This depicts how Napoleon truly went against the motto of the French Revolution and showed how he truly was not an Heir, rather a betrayer. Napoleon to this very day is still argued as whether he is an heir or a betrayer. But in many cases, he is seen to be a Betrayer to the French revolution. This is shown through different ways, such as his absolute dictatorship and how he uses his total control of power to make decisions for his own interest. This shows how Napoleon became what the French revolution sought out to get rid of with the start of the revolution. Also, with his many attempts at European domination, you can see that Napoleon put too much focus onto wars and campaigns, instead of trying to create equality for everyone. Lastly, the revolution was about liberty and rights, as said in the French revolutions motto. But Napoleon went against that, and denied the peoples liberty, and their rights with things such as censorship and execution. Overall, you clearly see how Napoleon, in many situations, goes against what the French revolution stands for and shows how he really is a betrayer of the revolution.

Robot Operating System

ROS (Robot Operating System) is a framework for robot software development, providing operating system-like functionality on top of a heterogenous computer cluster. ROS was originally developed in 2007 under the name switchyard by the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in support of the Stanford AI Robot (STAIR[1]) project. As of 2008, development continues primarily at Willow Garage, a robotics research institute/incubator, with more than twenty institutions collaborating in a federated development model [1][2].ROS provides standard operating system services such as hardware abstraction, low-level device control, implementation of commonly-used functionality, message-passing between processes, and package management. It is based on a graph architecture where processing takes place in nodes that may receive, post and multiplex sensor, control, state, planning, actuator and other messages. The library is geared towards a Unix-like system (Ubuntu Linux is listed as ‘supp orted' while other variants such as Fedora and Mac OS X are considered ‘experimental') but is intended to be cross-platform.At present Windows is listed as having ‘partial functionality' [3]. ROS has two basic â€Å"sides†: The operating system side ros as described above and ros-pkg, a suite of user contributed packages (organized into sets called stacks) that implement functionality such as simultaneous localization and mapping, planning, perception, simulation etc. ROS is released under the terms of the BSD license, and is open source software. It is free for commercial and research use. The ros-pkg contributed packages are licensed under a variety of open source licenses.

Locke: Founder of British Empiricist

John Locke had a number of major influences on society in general, but his influences on education have stood the taste of time. His idea of Tabula Rasa, his introduction of empiricism, and idea of the use of all senses are all objectives that are used in schools today. The idea of Tabula Rasa is basically defined as a â€Å"blank slate.† Locke believed that everyone is born with a clean mind, a supposed condition that he attributed to the human mind before ideas have been imprinted on it by the reaction of the senses to the exterior world. â€Å"Thus the first capacity of human intellect is that the mind is fitted to receive the impressions made on it; either through the senses by outward objects; or by its own operations when it reflects on them. This is the first step a man makes towards the discovery of anything†¦Ã¢â‚¬  -John Locke (On Ideas as the Materials of All Our Knowledge) Locke considers the new mind as white paper or wax. It is to be moulded and formed as one pleases. It is up to the teacher to insure that it is formed the correct way and that there is no inate knowledge. This is incorporated into education the grade system. Children start out in kindergarten or pre-school with a blank slate; we start teaching the very basics as if they know nothing. The more information and experience they gather, the further they move along the grade continuum. Locke was considered the founder of British empiricist. He believed that all knowledge comes to us through experience. â€Å"No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience.† Basically, all knowledge has its origin and end in experience, or perception using the senses. He says, â€Å"Experience is twofold, sensation and reflection. From both sources we obtain ideas.† Sensation is the perception of external phenomena and reflection is the perception of the operations of the mind itself. This view of empirical thinking is widely used in schools today, especially in the science fields. Concepts and skills are much easier to learn if you can experience them. The empirical way of teaching has brought about the use of the scientific method. First, students must observe a situation and decide if there is a problem. Secondly, make an educated guess, or hypothesis, of what will happen. Next, test this hypothesis. If it is true then draw a conclusion. If not, make a new hypothesis and test again. This is a very valuable way to learn. The students get to experience the whole situation and will in tern retain and understand this information better. Along with using empirical methods of learning, Locke insisted that all the senses be used when learning. It is not enough for a teacher to just stand in front of a classroom and lecture; students are only using one sense (hearing) to try to comprehend the material. Locke feels that you must hear, feel, see, smell, taste everything in order to get the full potential knowledge. This is very relative to today's teachings because we, as teachers, need to appeal to all learning styles. Some students learn better visually, others orally and so on, so we have to hit all area in order to give all students an equal chance to learn. In closing, John Locke was a very significant figure on how we educate children today. He gave us the idea of starting students with a clean slate, the use of the scientific method, and the essential use of all the senses. All these ideas are important aspects of today†s classroom and will most assuredly be a continued use in the future.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 13~14

Chapter 13 To-Do List of the Fashionably Doomed When you know the future is grim, there is no need for speed. Tommy decided to walk to the financial district. He shuffled along with the hang-dog look of the cosmically fucked. He walked through Chinatown, spotted three of the Wongs buying lottery tickets at a liquor store, and headed up to the room to get his typewriter and clothes before they returned. His spirits lifted a little when he climbed down the narrow stairway for the last time, but Madame Natasha's words came back to dump on him again: â€Å"I don't see a woman in your near future.† It had been one of the reasons he had come to San Francisco – to find a girlfriend. Someone who would see him as an artist. Not like the girls back home, who saw him as a bookish freak. It was all part of the plan: live in the City, write stories, look at the bridge, ride cable cars, eat Rice-A-Roni, and have a girlfriend – someone he could tell his thoughts to, preferably after hours of godlike sex. He wasn't looking for perfection, just someone who made him feel secure enough to be insecure around. But not now. Now he was doomed. He looked up at the skyline and realized that he had navigated wrong, arriving in the financial district, several blocks from the Pyramid. He zigzagged from block to block, avoiding eye contact with the men and women in business suits, who avoided eye contact in turn by checking their watches every few steps. Sure, he thought, they can check their watches. They have a future. He arrived at the foot of the Pyramid a little breathless, his arms aching from carrying his belongings. He sat on a concrete bench at the edge of a fountain and watched people for a while. They were all so determined. They had places to go, people to see. Their hair was perfect. They smelled good. They wore nice shoes. He looked at his own worn leather sneakers. Fucked. Someone sat down next to him on the bench and he avoided looking up, thinking that it would just be another person who would make him feel inferior. He was staring at a spot on the concrete by his feet when a Boston terrier appeared on the spot and blew a jet stream of dog snot on his pant leg. â€Å"Bummer, that's rude,† the Emperor said. â€Å"Can't you see that our friend is sulking?† Tommy looked up into the face of the Emperor. â€Å"Your Highness. Hello.† The man had the wildest eyebrows Tommy had ever seen, as if two gray porcupines were perched on his brow. The Emperor tipped his crown, a fedora made of panels cut from beer cans and laced together with yellow yarn. â€Å"Did you get the job?† â€Å"Yes, they hired me that day. Thanks for the tip.† â€Å"It's honest work,† the Emperor said. â€Å"There's a certain grace in that. Not like this tragedy.† â€Å"What tragedy?† â€Å"These poor souls. These poor pathetic souls.† The Emperor gestured toward the passersby. â€Å"I don't understand,† Tommy said. â€Å"Their time has passed and they don't know what to do. They were told what they wanted and they believed it. They can only keep their dream alive by being with others like themselves who will mirror their illusions.† â€Å"They have really nice shoes,† Tommy said. â€Å"They have to look right or their peers will turn on them like starving dogs. They are the fallen gods. The new gods are producers, creators, doers. The new gods are the chinless techno-children who would rather eat white sugar and watch science-fiction films than worry about what shoes they wear. And these poor souls desperately push papers around hoping that a mystical message will appear to save them from the new, awkward, brilliant gods and their silicon-chip reality. Some of them will survive, of course, but most will fall. Uncreative thinking is done better by machines. Poor souls, you can almost hear them sweating.† Tommy looked at the well-dressed stream of business people, then at the Emperor's tattered overcoat, then at his own sneakers, then at the Emperor again. For some reason, he felt better than he had a few minutes before. â€Å"You really worry about these people, don't you?† â€Å"It is my lot.† An attractive woman in a gray suit and heels approached the Emperor and handed him a five-dollar bill. She wore a silk camisole under her jacket and Tommy could make out the top of her lace bra when she bent over. He was mesmerized. â€Å"Your Highness,† she said, â€Å"there's a Chinese chicken salad on special at the Cafe Suisse today. I think Bummer and Lazarus would love it.† Lazarus wagged his tail. Bummer yapped at the mention of his name. â€Å"Very thoughtful of you, my child. The men will enjoy it.† â€Å"Have a good day,† she said, and walked away. Tommy watched her calves as she went. Two men who were passing by, embroiled in an argument about prices and earnings, stopped their conversation and nodded to the Emperor. â€Å"Go with God,† the Emperor said. He turned back to Tommy. â€Å"Are you still looking for a domicile, or just a woman now?† â€Å"I don't understand.† â€Å"You wear your loneliness like a badge.† Tommy felt as if his ego had just taken a right to the jaw. â€Å"Actually, I met a girl and I'm going to rent us a place this afternoon.† â€Å"My mistake,† the Emperor said. â€Å"I misread you.† â€Å"No, you didn't. I'm fucked.† â€Å"Pardon?† â€Å"A fortune-teller told me that there was no woman in my future.† â€Å"Madame Natasha?† â€Å"How did you know?† â€Å"You mustn't give too much credence to Madame Natasha's predictions. He's dying and it darkens his vision. The plague.† â€Å"I'm sorry,† Tommy said. In fact, he felt relieved, then guilty for the reason behind it. He had no right to feel sorry for himself. The Emperor had nothing except his dogs, yet his sympathy was all directed toward his fellowman. I'm scum, Tommy thought. He said, â€Å"Your Highness, I have a little money now, if you need†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The Emperor held up the bill the woman had given him. â€Å"We have all that we need, my son.† He stood and tugged on the ropes that held Bummer and Lazarus. â€Å"And I should be off before the men revolt from hunger.† â€Å"Me, too, I guess.† Tommy stood and made as if to shake hands, then bowed instead. â€Å"Thanks for the company.† The Emperor winked, spun on one heel, and started to lead his troops away, then stopped and turned back. â€Å"And, son, don't touch anything with an edge while you're in the building? Scissors, letter openers, anything.† â€Å"Why?† Tommy asked. â€Å"It's the shape of the building, a pyramid. They'd rather people not know about it, but they have a full-time employee who just goes around dulling the letter openers.† â€Å"You're kidding.† â€Å"Safety first,† the Emperor said. â€Å"Thanks.† Tommy took a deep breath and steeled himself for his assault on the Pyramid. As he walked out of the sun and under the massive concrete buttresses, he could feel a chill through his flannel shirt, as if the concrete had stored the damp cold of the night fog and was radiating it like a refrigerator coil. He was shivering by the time he reached the information desk. A guard eyed him suspiciously. â€Å"Can I help you?† â€Å"I'm looking for the Transamerica personnel department.† The guard made a face as if Tommy had been dipped in sewage. â€Å"Do you have an appointment?† â€Å"Yes.† Tommy waved Jody's papers under the guard's nose. The guard picked up a phone and was punching numbers when a second guard came up behind him and took the receiver. â€Å"He's fine,† the second guard said. â€Å"Send him up.† â€Å"But – â€Å" â€Å"He's a friend of the Emperor.† The first guard hung up the phone and said, â€Å"Twenty-first floor, sir.† He pointed to the elevators. Tommy took an elevator to the twenty-first floor, then followed the signs until he found the right department. An officious-looking older woman told him to have a seat in the reception room, she would be right with him. Then she took great pains to act as if he had been sucked off the planet. Tommy sat on a black leather sofa that sighed with his weight, chose a magazine from the black stone coffee table, and waited. During the next hour he read a household-hints column (â€Å"Coffee grounds in that cat box will fill your house with the delightful aroma of brewing espresso every time kitty heeds the call†); an article on computer junkies (â€Å"Bruce has been off the mouse for six months now, but he says he takes life one byte at a time†); and a review of the new musical Jonestown! (â€Å"Andrew Lloyd Webber's version of the Kool-Aid jingle is at once chilling and evocative. Donny Osmond is brilliant as Jim Jones.†) He borrowed some whiteout from the officious-looking woman and touched up the finish on his sneakers, then dried them under a halogen reading light that looked like a robot's arm holding the sun. When he started pulling cologne sample cards out of GQ and rubbing them on his socks, the woman told him he could go on in. He picked up his shoes and walked into the office in his stocking feet. Another officious-looking woman, who looked remarkably like the first officious-looking woman, down to the little chain on her reading glasses, had him sit down across from her while she looked at Jody's papers and ignored him. She consulted a computer screen, tapped on a few keys, then waited while the computer did something. Tommy put his shoes on and waited. She didn't look up. He cleared his throat. She tapped on the keys. He reached down, opened his suitcase, and took out his portable typewriter. She didn't look up. She tapped and looked at the screen. He opened the typewriter case, rolled a piece of paper in the machine, and tapped on a few keys. She looked up. He tapped a few more keys. â€Å"What are you doing?† she asked. Tommy tapped. He didn't look up. The woman raised her voice. â€Å"I said, what are you doing?† Tommy kept typing and looked up. â€Å"Pardon me, I was ignoring you. What did you say?† â€Å"What are you doing?† She repeated. â€Å"It's a note. Let me read it for you. ‘Couldn't anyone else see that they were all slaves of Satan? I had to cleanse the world of their evil. I am the hand of God. Why else would security have let me into the building with an assault rifle in my suitcase? I am a divine instrument. † Tommy paused and looked up. â€Å"That's all I have so far, but I'll guess I end it with an apology to my mom. What do you think?† She smiled as if hiding gas pains and handed him an envelope. â€Å"This is Jody's final paycheck. Give her our best. And you have a nice day now, young man.† â€Å"You too,† Tommy said. He gathered up his stuff and left the office whistling. Fashionable SOMA looked to Tommy an awful lot like a light industrial area: two- and three-story buildings with steel roll-up doors and steel-framed windows. The bottom floors housed ethnic restaurants, underground dance clubs, auto-repair shops, and the occasional foundry. Tommy paused outside of one to watch two long-haired men pouring bronze into a mold. Artists, Tommy thought. He had never seen a real artist, and although these guys looked more like bikers, he wanted to talk to them. He took a tentative step through the doorway. â€Å"Hi,† he said. The men were wrestling with a huge ladle, the two of them gripping the long metal handle with asbestos gloves. One looked up. â€Å"Out!† he said. Tommy said, â€Å"Okay, I can see you guys are busy. ‘Bye.† He stood on the sidewalk and checked his map. He was supposed to meet the rental agent somewhere around here. He looked up and down the street. Except for a guy passed out on the corner, the street was empty. Tommy was thinking about waking the guy up and asking him if this was, indeed, the fashionable part of SOMA, when a green Jeep pulled up beside him and skidded to a stop. The driver, a woman in her forties with wild gray hair, rolled down the window. â€Å"Mr. Flood?† She said. Tommy nodded. â€Å"I'm Alicia DeVries. Let me park and I'll show you the loft.† She backed the Jeep into a spot that seemed too short for it by six inches, running the wheels up over the curb, then she jumped out, dragging after her a purse roughly the size of Tommy's suitcase. She wore sandals, a dashiki, and multicolored Guatemalan cotton pants. There were chopsticks stuck here and there in her hair, as if she were prepared at any minute to deal with an emergency stir-fry. She looked at Tommy's suitcase. â€Å"You look like you're ready to move in today. This way.† She breezed by Tommy to a fire door beside the foundry. Tommy could smell the patchouli in her wake. She said, â€Å"This area is just like Soho was twenty years ago. You're lucky to have a shot at one of these lofts now, before they go co-op and start selling for a million dollars.† She unlocked the door and started up the steps. â€Å"This place has incredible energy,† she said, without looking back. â€Å"I'd love to live here myself, except the market's down right now and I'd have to sell my place in the Heights.† Tommy dragged his suitcase up the steps after her. â€Å"Do you paint, Mr. Flood?† â€Å"I'm a writer.† â€Å"Oh, a writer! I do a little writing myself. I'd like to write a book myself some weekend, if I can find the time. Something about female circumcision, I think. Maybe something about marriage. But what's the difference, right?† She stopped at a landing at the top of the stairs and unlocked another fire door. â€Å"Here it is.† She threw the door open and gestured for Tommy to enter. â€Å"A nice work area and a bedroom in the back. There are two sculptors that work downstairs and a painter next door. A writer would really round the building out. What's your take on female circumcision, Mr. Flood?† Tommy was still about three topics behind her, so he stood on the landing while his brain caught up. People like Alicia were the reason God made decaf. â€Å"I think everyone should have a hobby,† he said, taking a shot in the dark. Alicia jammed like an overheated machine gun. She seemed to look at him for the first time, and did not seem to like what she saw. â€Å"You are aware that we'll need a significant security deposit, if your application is accepted?† â€Å"Okay,† Tommy said. He entered the loft, leaving her standing on the landing. The loft was roughly the size of a handball court. It had an island kitchen in the middle, and windows ran along one wall from floor to ceiling. There was an old rug, a futon, and a low plastic coffee table in the open area near the kitchen. The back wall was lined with empty bookshelves, broken only by a single door to the bedroom. The bookshelves did it. Tommy wanted to live here. He could see the shelves filled with Kerouac, and Kesey, and Hammett, and Ginsberg, and Twain, and London, and Bierce, and every other writer who had lived and written in the City. One shelf would be for the books he was going to write: hardbacks in thirty languages. There would be a bust of Beethoven on that shelf. He didn't really like Beethoven, but he thought he should have a bust of him. He resisted the urge to shout, â€Å"I'll take it!† It was Jody's money. He had to check the bedroom for windows. He opened the door and went in. The room was as dark as a cave. He flipped the light switch and track lighting along one wall came on. There was an old mattress and box springs on the floor. The walls were bare brick. No windows. Through another door was a bathroom with a freestanding sink and a huge claw-foot tub that was stained with rust and paint. No windows. He was so excited, he thought he would wet himself. He ran out into the main living area where Alicia was standing with her hand on her hip, mentally shoving him into the pigeonhole of abusive barbarism she had made for him. â€Å"I'll take it,† Tommy said. â€Å"You'll have to fill out an – â€Å" â€Å"I'll give you four thousand dollars in cash, right now.† He pulled the wad of bills out of his jeans. â€Å"How many keys will you need?† Chapter 14 Two Losts Do Not Make a Found Consciousness went off like a flashbulb of pain: a dull ache in her head, sharp daggers in her knees and her chin. Jody was slumped in the shower. The water was still running – had been running on her all day. She crawled out of the shower stall on her hands and knees and pulled towels out of the rack. She sat on the bathroom floor and dried herself, blotting away the water with rough terry cloth. Her skin felt tender, almost raw. The towels were damp from fourteen hours of steam. The ceiling dripped and the walls ran with condensation. She braced herself against the sink and climbed to her feet, then opened the door and stumbled through the room to the bed. Be careful what you ask for, she thought. All the regret about waking up a little too alert, coming out of sleep like a gunshot, came back on her. She hadn't thought about falling asleep in the same way. She must have been in the shower at sunup, dropped to the shower floor, and stayed there throughout the day. She sat up on the bed and gently touched her chin. Pain shot up her jaw. She must have hit it on the soap dish when she went out. Her knees were bruised as well. Bruised? Something was wrong. She jumped to her feet and went to the dresser. She turned on the light and leaned into the mirror, then yelped. Her chin was bruised blue, with a corona of yellow. Her hair was hopelessly tangled and she now had a small bald spot where the water had worn away at her scalp. She backed away and sat back on the bed, stunned. Something was wrong, seriously wrong, beyond her injuries. It was the light. Why had she turned on the light? The night before she would have been able to see herself in the mirror by the light filtering in under the bathroom door. But it was more than that. It was a tightness in her mouth, pressure, like when she had first gotten braces as a child. She ran her tongue over her teeth and felt the points breaking through the roof of her mouth just behind her eyeteeth. She thought, I'm breaking down from lack of†¦ She couldn't even make herself think it. This will get worse. Much worse. Now she could feel the hunger, not in her stomach, but in her entire body, as if her veins were going to collapse on themselves. And there was a tension in her muscles, as if piano strings were tightening inside her body, sharpening her movements, making her feel as if she would jump through a window any second. I've got to calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. She repeated the mantra to herself as she got up and walked to the phone. It seemed to take an incredible effort to push the zero button and wait for the desk clerk to come on. â€Å"Hi, this is room two-ten. Is there a guy in the lobby waiting? Yes, that's him. Would you tell him I'll be down in a few minutes?† She put down the phone and went to the bathroom, where she turned off the shower and wiped down the mirror. She looked at herself in the mirror and fought the urge to burst into tears. This is a project, she thought. She turned her head and looked at her bald spot. It was small enough that she could cover it with a new part held by a couple of hairpins. Her bruised chin might require some explaining. She started to run her fingers though her hair to facilitate the preliminary untangle, fighting the tension in her arms that seemed to be increasing every second. A large moth buzzed into the bathroom and went for the light above the mirror. Before she knew what had happened, she snatched it out of the air and ate it. She stared at her reflection and was horrified by the red-haired stranger who had just eaten a moth. Even so, a warmth ran though her like good brandy. The bruise on her chin faded as she watched. The first thing she saw when she turned the corner at the lobby was Tommy's grin. â€Å"Good,† he said. â€Å"You're dressed for moving. I like your hair pinned up like that.† Jody smiled, and stood awkwardly in front of him, thinking she should greet him with a hug, but afraid to get too close to him. She could smell him and he smelled like food. â€Å"You found a place?† â€Å"An incredible loft, south of Market. It's even furnished.† He seemed as if he would burst with excitement. â€Å"I used all the money; I hope that's okay.† â€Å"Fine,† Jody said. She just wanted to get him alone. â€Å"Get your stuff,† he said. â€Å"I want to show it to you.† Jody nodded. â€Å"I'll be just a minute. Have the desk clerk call a cab.† She turned to leave. Tommy caught her by the arm. â€Å"Hey, are you okay?† She motioned for him to move within whisper range. â€Å"I want you so badly I can hardly stand it.† She pulled away and ran up the steps to her room. Inside she gathered what few belongings she had and checked herself in the mirror one last time. She was wearing jeans and the chambray blouse from the night before. She unbuttoned her blouse and did a straitjacket escape from her bra, then buttoned the blouse halfway up. She stuffed the bra into her day pack and locked the room for the last time. When she returned to the lobby, Tommy was waiting outside by a blue DeSoto cab. He opened the door for her, climbed in, and gave the driver the address. â€Å"You're going to love it,† he said. â€Å"I know you are.† She moved closer to him and held his arm tightly between her breasts. â€Å"I can't wait,† she said. A tiny voice in her head asked, What are you doing? What are you going to do to him? It was so faint and foreign that it might have come from someone outside on the street. Tommy pulled away from her and dug into his jeans pocket, coming out with an envelope. â€Å"Your check's in here. I didn't open it.† She took it and put it in her day pack, then moved on him again. He scooted to the door and nodded toward the driver, who was watching them in the rearview mirror. â€Å"Forget him,† Jody whispered. She licked Tommy neck and shuddered with the taste and warmth of his flesh. â€Å"I couldn't get your car out of impound. It has to be the owner.† â€Å"Doesn't matter,† she said, nuzzling into the space under his jaw. The cab stopped and the driver turned to them. â€Å"Six-ten,† he said. Jody threw a twenty over the seat, reached over Tommy and opened the door, dived out and dragged him out of the cab after her. â€Å"Where is it?† Tommy just had time to point to the door before she pushed him at it. She climbed on his back as he unlocked the door, then bolted past him and dragged him up the steps. â€Å"You're really excited about this, aren't you?† he asked. â€Å"It's great.† She stopped at the fire door at the top of the stairs. â€Å"Open it,† she commanded. Tommy unlocked the door and threw it open. â€Å"This is it!† She went through, catching the front of his shirt and pulling him in. â€Å"Look at all these bookshelves,† he said. She ripped his shirt off and kissed him hard. He pulled up for air and said, â€Å"The bedroom doesn't have any windows, just like you wanted.† â€Å"Where?† she demanded. He pointed to the open door and she pushed him through it. He fell face down on the bare mattress. She flipped him over, hooked her hands into the waist of his jeans and ripped them off him. â€Å"So you like it?† he asked. She ripped her shirt open and held him to the bed, one hand on his chest while she took off her own jeans. She climbed on him and muffled his next question with a kiss. He finally got the message and returned her kiss and tried to match her urgency, then didn't have to try at all. She pulled away from the kiss as her fangs unsheathed, then guided him into her as he moaned. Jody growled deep in her chest, pushed his head to the side and bit him on the neck. â€Å"Ouch!† Tommy shouted. She held him down and snarled into his neck. Dust from the old mattress filled the air and was stirred by the movement of their bodies. â€Å"Oh jeez!† Tommy shouted, digging his fingers into her bottom. Jody answered him with a catlike scream as she came, then fell on his chest and licked the blood that dribbled from the punctures on his neck. She twitched and shuddered while he repeated, â€Å"Oh jeez,† over and over again between gasps. After a few minutes she rolled off him and lay on the bed feeling the warm nourishment running though her. Tommy rubbed his neck. â€Å"That was great,† he said. â€Å"That was incredible. You are – â€Å" Jody rolled over. â€Å"Tommy, I have to tell you something.† â€Å"You're beautiful,† he said. Jody smiled at him. The urgency was gone now and she was feeling guilty. I could have killed him, she thought. Tommy reached over and touched her lips. â€Å"What's that on your teeth? Did you hurt yourself?† â€Å"It's blood, Tommy. It's your blood.† He felt his neck again, which was completely healed. â€Å"My blood?† â€Å"Tommy, I've never done anything like that before. I've never been that way before.† â€Å"Me either. It was great!† â€Å"I'm a vampire.† â€Å"That's okay,† Tommy said. â€Å"I knew this girl in high school who gave me a hickey that covered the whole side of my neck.† â€Å"No, Tommy. I'm really a vampire.† She looked him in the eye and did not smile or look away. She waited. He said, â€Å"Don't goof on me, okay?† â€Å"Tommy, have you ever seen anyone tear a pair of jeans like that before?† â€Å"That was my animal attraction, right?† Jody got out of bed, went to the bedroom door and closed it, shutting out the light from the living area. â€Å"Can you see anything?† â€Å"No,† he said. â€Å"Hold up a number of fingers. Don't tell me how many.† He did. â€Å"Three,† Jody said. â€Å"Try again.† He did. â€Å"Seven.† â€Å"Jeez,† he said. â€Å"Are you psychic?† She opened the door. Light spilled in. â€Å"You have an incredible body,† Tommy said. â€Å"Thanks. I need to lose five pounds.† â€Å"Let's do it again, without our shoes on this time.† â€Å"Tommy, you have to listen to me. This is important. I'm not kidding you. I am a vampire.† â€Å"C'mon, Jody, come over here. I'll take your shoes off for you.† Jody looked up at the ceiling. There were open steel beams twenty feet above. â€Å"Watch.† She jumped up and grabbed on to a beam and hung. â€Å"See?† â€Å"Jeez,† Tommy said. â€Å"Do you have a book here?† â€Å"In my suitcase.† â€Å"Go get it.† â€Å"Be careful. You could fall.† â€Å"Get the book, Tommy.† Tommy went into the living area, looking up at her as he walked under. He returned with a volume of Kerouac. â€Å"Now what? Come down from there. You're making me nervous.† â€Å"Close the door and open the book.† He closed the door and the room went dark again. Jody read a half page aloud before he opened the door again. â€Å"Jeez,† he said. She let go of the beam and dropped to the floor. Tommy backed away from her to the bed and sat down. â€Å"If you want to leave, I'll understand,† she said. â€Å"When we were making love†¦ you were cold inside.† â€Å"Look, I didn't mean to hurt you.† Tommy's eyes were wide. â€Å"You really are a vampire, aren't you?† â€Å"I'm sorry. I needed help. I needed someone.† â€Å"You really are a vampire.† It was a statement this time. â€Å"Yes, Tommy. I am.† He paused for a second to think, then said, â€Å"That's the coolest thing I've ever heard. Let's do it with our shoes off.†