Genetically Modified Foods †Friend or Foe Essay

In 1998 the first genetically modified (GM) food was approved for public consumption. Since then GM foods have become part of the world’s food supply and are produced in several countries. While horror stories in the 90s promised dire consequences for introducing GM foods to the populace most of those problems have failed to arise as promised. Some scientists say that GM foods are completely safe and the proof might be that we are all still here to debate the point. GM foods are not labeled in the United States and chances are that most Americans have already eaten GM foods. Still, how much is known about the GM foods that Americans are unknowingly feeding to their families? Is managing to survive the experiment the only yardstick we should use to measure risk? Genetically modified foods might be dangerous and more testing is desperately needed to avoid health hazards. While the FDA and their scientists say that GM foods are safe, the U. S. government is already aware that there have been problems with GM foods. Even before genetic modification became the industry it is today there were problems linked with hormonally enhanced foods. Small changes in our food supply can cause large results. Of course, the problems are just a small percentage of the whole. In 1998 Harvard Medical School released a study (as cited by Larsen, 1998, Â ¶ 1) showing evidence that a product known as Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rBST) increased the chances of humans developing cancer. Bovine Somatotropin is a hormone produced by cattle which is also known as Bovine Growth Hormone. The Recombinant status means it was synthetically produced using recombinant DNA technology. The synthetic chemical is injected into cows to stimulate milk production. Milk cows in the United States and England were once treated with this chemical but England banned its use after the link between rBST and cancer was shown (Larsen, 1998). The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) says that the chemical is safe and not only approves of its use but does not allow labeling of the products that come from the cows that are injected with rBST (Epstein, 1996; FDA Consumer, 1999). Of secondary concern when dealing with rBST injected cattle is the worry of infection. The more milk a cow produces the more likely it becomes that she will suffer from udder inflammation. This inflammation is regularly treated with antibiotics to which the cows are developing a resistance to over time. Not only can this resistance be passed along to the humans who drink the milk but humans can also have allergic reactions to the antibiotic traces left in the milk (Epstein, 1996). In 1989 approximately 5000 individuals became suddenly ill. This illness was later traced back to a health food supplement that had been created using GM enhanced bacteria. Of those 5000 people, 37 later died and 1500 were permanently disabled. The toxin which caused the problem was present in only 0. 01% of the product. One percent is below the level that would have caused concern or a halt of production. In 1996 a company created a B2 vitamin to be sold with GM bacteria and the FDA approved it as long as any contaminants were not found at greater than 0. 01%. With that standard in place the 1989 toxin problem would not be detected even if it happened today (Antoniou, 1996, Â ¶ 5-6). While the FDA does set the standards there is very little actual oversight of the biotech companies. As of 1992 (as cited by Whitman, 2000) the FDA policy is that biotech companies may voluntarily ask for a consultation with the FDA. The consultation is not compulsory and even if used the company does not have to follow the FDA recommendations. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has the power to quarantine crops that are a danger but the biotech companies do not require a permit from the USDA as long as their product meets a short set of standards created to ensure the safety of the crop itself. To put it simply, the FDA is responsible for food safety and the USDA is responsible for plant and crop safety (Whitman, 2000, Â ¶ 32-35). The FDA sets the requirements that GM foods must meet to be declared safe. The main requirement for safety is that the modified food being judged is substantially equivalent to the original non-modified food (Physicians and Scientists for the Responsible Application of Science and Technology [PSRAST], 2006). For example, if a biomed modified potato is found to still be substantially equivalent to a regular potato then no further testing is needed. The theory is that being substantially equivalent gives them the same level of safety. For a food to be judged substantially equivalent it must be similar on several points, which are chosen by the manufacturers themselves. There must be no overt difference between the GM food and the non-GM food in regard to taste, appearance, and several points selected by the manufacturer in the areas of chemical composition and nutritional composition. The only other test required is to do an analysis looking for allergen markers. If the computers find no reason to believe that the product can cause allergies then the product is approved. Human testing is never required (PSRAST, 2006, Â ¶ 20-25). If genetically altering foods is an inherently safe procedure then the above tests are a perfectly logical way to test GM foods. If the foods are as unsafe as some claim then it is a dangerous policy for the biotech companies and the U. S. government to decide upon. In 1994 the FDA stated that modified foods were as safe as their non-modified counterparts and policy decisions have been based on that statement. The government believes so strongly in the safety of GM foods that they do not require labeling of any kind to differentiate GM foods from non-modified food sources (Whitman, 2000, Â ¶ 38-43). Since there is no way to differentiate GM from non-GM products there is no way for Americans to know if they are eating GM foods. In 2003 six countries produced 99% of the transgenic crops, also known as GM crops, sold in the world. Of these six countries the United States sold, by far, the largest percentage of these crops (James, 2003). The chart below lists the acreage of these crops by millions. Figure 1 Obviously, not all is doom and gloom when looking at the above figures. Although biotechnology can do harm it can also help the world, maybe. According to Raney, Pingali, T. R, & R. R. in 2007 a new variety of rice named Golden Rice was modified to produce beta-carotene. The rice was developed specifically to help the starving and poor in third world countries who become ill from vitamin A deficiencies (p. 108). Three servings of Golden Rice a day will provide an adult with 10% of their daily requirement of Vitamin A. While this does not seem earth shattering it shows a company attempting to use biotech to help others. Of course, even assuming the FDA is right and the problems caused by GM foods are an aberration there is the USDA’s bailiwick to ponder. Are the crops safe for the biosphere itself? That is a difficult question to answer, as well. Just like the food safety issue there are people on both sides of this argument who are convinced that they are right. On one side are the scientists who fully believe that the creation of GM foods cannot harm the biosphere and on the other are the scientists who believe that cross pollination will cause problems. According to the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University (2004) a list of recommended separation distances for GM crops was released by the USDA. According to the USDA if the separation distance is maintained and divider crops are planted then the risk for migration or cross pollination is minimal. Divider plants are tall plants that will block the flow of pollen from wind caused migration. With these precautions in place biosphere damage is supposed to be minimal. A photo taken by Percy Schmeiser and provided by The Nature Institute in 1994 shows that even if the worry of cross pollination or plant migration is overblown it is not an unproven phenomena. The field in the picture was planted with wheat in 1999. In the year 2000 they allowed it to lie fallow, in layman’s terms they did not plant anything so to regenerate the soil. They sprayed the soil twice with a weed killer known as Round Up but somehow an herbicide resistant strain of canola plants migrated into the field. The bushes in the below picture are all a GM crop that was never planted by the farmer. No one is sure how it appeared in the field (Holdrege, 2004, Â ¶ 11). Figure 2 Even discounting the possibility of seed migration via accident or wind there is always the chance of cross pollination. With cross pollination one plant can pollinate or breed another plant via insect help or wind that it was not scheduled to pollinate. In this way a plant type that was supposed to be non-GM can be infected with GM genes without the farmer or company being aware of the problem. This has happened before to rice crops that were sold to Europe from the U. S. and caused the temporary halt of rice exports to certain companies in Europe. The rice in question was not approved for human consumption and no one is sure how it appeared either in the field or the food supply (Vogel, 2006). Besides cross pollination and migration one other crop issue needs to be addressed. Monsanto has produced crop plants that either target the RNA in insects to kill off their larvae, are tolerant of herbicides like Round Up to kill off weeds, or produce pesticides of their own to kill predatory insects (Whitman, 2000, Â ¶ 4-5; Webb, 2007). While these functions are beneficial to farmers in that they save money and protect the crops, there are some concerns with these changes. There is always the possibility of cross breeding or cross contamination affecting a species for which these changes were not intended. There is also the chance that the insect killing modifications will kill off non-pest insects like butterflies. Lastly, there is a chance that plants that produce pesticides will be toxic to the humans or animals that ingest it (Whitman, 2000, Â ¶ 18-22). While opinions still vary on GM food safety, what becomes obvious is that there are more questions than answers. More testing and more rigorous safety and control laws are needed to protect the populace from unmeant harm. While GM foods can be a boon to the world they can just as easily become a curse. Disease, poisonings, and even dangers to the biosphere itself are just some of the risks we currently run. The best way to safeguard our future is to demand that congress takes our safety seriously. References Antoniou, M. (1996). Is GM food devoid of DNA safe. Retrieved January 21, 2008, from http://www. purefood. org/ge/noDNA. htm Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University. (2004). Concerns about current farming practices. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://cls. casa. colostate. edu/TransgenicCrops/croptocrop. html Epstein, Samuel S. (1996). Unlabeled milk from cows treated with biosynthetic growth hormones: a case of regulatory abdication. International Journal of Health Services, 26(1), 173-185. Holdrege, C. (2004). The trouble with genetically modified crops. Retrieved January 15, 2008, from http://www.natureinstitute. org/pub/ic/ic11/gmcrops. htm James, C. (2003). Preview: Global status of commercialized transgenic crops: 2003. Ithica,NY: International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications [ISAAA]. Larsen, H. (1998). Milk and the cancer connection. Retrieved December 27, 2007, from http://www. vvv. com/healthnews/milk. html Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Application of Science and Technology [PSRAST]. (2006). Inadequate safety assessment of GE foods. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from http://www. psrast. org/subeqow. htm Raney, T. , Pingali, P. , T. R. , & P. P. (2007, September). Sowing a gene revolution. Scientific American, 297(3), 104-111. Retrieved December 7, 2007, from EBSCOhost database. Safety of rbST Milk Affirmed. (1999, May). FDA Consumer, 33(3), 4. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from EBSCOhost database. Vogel, G. (2006, September). Tracing the transatlantic spread of GM rice. Science, 313(5794), 1714. Webb, S. (2007, November 10). Silencing pests. Science News, 172(19), 292. Retrieved December 7, 2007, from EBSCOhost database. Whitman, B. (2000). Genetically modified foods: harmful or helpful. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from http://www. csa. com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview. php.

Middlemarch Comment Essay

George Elliot wrote Middlemarch in the year 1871. Middlemarch is the town where the novel takes place. George Elliot’s incentive for having started writing was to create a new, different kind of writing which distanced itself to the melodramatic novels which female authors were writing at the time. Middlemarch is a novel about a character called Dorothea, who is an inhabitant of the town and stands out for her striking beauty and surrealistic views on life. The author first described Dorothea’s character and then conveyed her attitude towards Dorothea through the use of literary techniques. She used the town of Middlemarch as the background of the plot to help portray Dorothea’s life path. Dorothea (otherwise known as Miss Brooke) is immediately portrayed as the main character that had striking beauty, which was â€Å"thrown into relief by a poor dress.† Her figure was very feminine; from her hands, wrists, to her stature and profile create a delicate feminine figure. This property she has separates her from the average towns person. Dorothea is an exceptional woman: she is smart, pious, and beautiful, and the governing principle of her character is her desire to help the needy. She is also quite intelligent. However, despite all of Dorothea’s good properties she is always viewed in comparison with her sister Celia. Celia’s wit and â€Å"common sense† seemed more normal than Dorothea’s. Hence people were often suspicious of Dorothea. This is also due to the fact that Dorothea’s strong willed personality leads her to diverge from the common ideas of marriage that others have tried to inflict on her, such as marrying an older man. Dorothea is clearly an independent woman that seeks a man with strong values. She does not want a marriage with â€Å"good looks, vanity, and merely canine affection.† What Dorothea wants is a marriage with substance and love. Dorothea is always trying to help others in her town and wherever she goes. Her presence is described as her big brown eyes in comparison with her simpler sister. George Eliot’s perception in the novel is conveyed from the point of view of a woman writing about a woman. George Eliot clearly prefers the character of Dorothea describing her as a much more beautiful, intelligent and all round good person in the book as opposed to her sister. He uses compound sentences within the structure to convey this. Eliot doesn’t fail to use this technique to portray the elaborate Dorothea. The author highlights Dorothea’s unwillingness to compromise with the world through humor, and in doing so reveals Dorothea’s naivety. This can be understood when Eliot writes â€Å"riding was an indulgence which she allowed herself in spite of conscientious qualms,† Which was started to stress Dorothea’s unconventional methods and attitude to a simpler minded individual. Even though Dorothea is the main character in the novel, Eliot seems to be very interested in her fate whilst she makes fun of her character and the rest of the world. It seems as if Eliot is also trying to persuade the readers of the book to be fond of Dorothea. This turns out to be successful, even though she is a dull character, Dorothea compensates for her lack in ingenuity thanks to her fellow residents of Middlemarch and her ability to overlook the ordinary and her authenticity, when she is her greatest enemy. This gives readers a positive reflective view of Dorothea’s character. Middlemarch is a small town that has been chosen for the main setting of the novel (hence the title). Middlemarch is a fairly typical story, which consists of a character in a small town that creates a plot out of a young woman’s life, and not following a character around throughout the book. Middlemarch is a small town, which is strikingly similar to the town where Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen takes place. The two novels have similar properties as well, in terms of marriage. In the end it seems that Middlemarch took points and values out of the novel Pride and Prejudice as it was written afterwards. Due to the kinds of mentality these small towns in the 19th century hold in novels, we can see that Dorothea will most likely choose the wrong husband. However, the realization of her mistake in marring the man she chose would allow her to mature and become more sensible, and with her new point of view she will be able to lead her life in a more mature manner. In conclusion, we can see that George Eliot’s main focus in the novel Middlemarch is to portray women in context of a rural society, and their views on marriage. She uses marriage to show woman’s position in society during that century in such a small rural town. Dorothea is a exceptionally beautiful woman which has â€Å"childlike ideas about marriage† and is the main focus of the story which contrasts from her sister. This also shows what would happen when a woman in that century had different views on a topic such as marriage. This passage from Middlemarch, which was previously compared to Pride and Prejudice, confronts the way society reacts towards Dorothea and portrays the themes of marriage and feminism, in both cases from a female point of view

Our freedom to make ethical choices is only an apparent freedom Essay

Agent Smyth: Why, Mr. Anderson? Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you’re fighting for something? For more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Yes? No? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Vagaries of perception. The temporary constrects of a feeble human intellect trying to desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself, although only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson. You must know it by now. You can’t win. It’s pointless to keep fighting. Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why do you persist?! Neo: Because I choose to. In every person the most basic desire of all is to be free, being able to act at will, not under compulsion or restraint. As I democratic society, we like to think of ourselves of being 100% free, but we are not. In every choice we make there are compulsions and restraints inflicting on the choices we have ever made from the beginning. The older and more independent we appear to be the more of these constraints we are compelled with. These choices we make can be applied to morality. There are many ways in which our freedom, in reality, is limited. By law we are restricted to acts that systems of government deem acceptable. Social acceptance means the majority to act within a bracket of normality and within bounds of what is socially acceptable. If I wanted to go to school naked on every Friday I would socially and lawfully be unable to this. Therefore I am not free to express myself due to external laws forced upon me against my free will. However even though these laws are in place I still have the power to break them therefore making me free. Merovingian: Please Mon Cherie, I have told you, we are all victims of causality. I drank too much wine, I must take a piss. Cause, and effect. Au revoir. Causality also means that I a person can never truly become free. If I already know the consequences of an action then my choice has already confined. For example I would like to throw microwaves off motorway bridges but I know that this may cause innocent motorists to die therefore I don’t. The mind with which we make our decisions has been influenced by a whole range of external factors. These must reduce our moral responsibility and hence be restricting of true freedom. Personal and psychological differences within people will provide them with different abilities and hence different freedoms and limitations. People can only act in the way that their personalities allow them, by causing them to react to situations in a specific way. But what if free will is non-existent and we are only convinced we have self-control because devices in fact control us beyond our own perception. In this case everything is pre determined and the choices we face are pre decided for us leaving us with the illusion that we have chosen ourselves and decided our own fate; exercised free will. Morpheus: Everything begins with choice. Merovingian: No, wrong. Choice is an illusion created between those with power, and those without Hard determinism, considers everything in the present to be directly caused by events that preceded them. Everything including the actions we take and the choices we make are caused directly by another event. Each human mind is the product of its experiences and in every situation will react according to what it has learnt, in a similar way to a computer that has been programmed. However this links back with responsibility, if a human was already pre destined to perform a certain task they should receive no praise for correctness in taking the action, as what they have done was done not out of free will, but because they were programmed, or already decided. The action says nothing about the moral worth of the person as it had an external cause, and was not done through free will and intention. The hard determinist view that everything is decided by a constant line of causes, and that humans are not free simply because every thing we supposedly decide is already caused and so determined, ultimately means that human free will is an illusion. Free will is something we feel we experience when making decisions and choosing but is really non-existent, the actions we partake in are already set and what we feel we decide is irrelevant to anything that actually happens. For example if I sat down in a room I would be free to step out of until I realised the door was locked. I am free to make this choice but when but my choice is irrelevant as I unable to do anything about it. Determinism removes this moral responsibility and so removes ethical decisions. However with freedom comes responsibility. Libertarianism presents the opposite idea that we are completely free therefore giving people total moral responsibility. The existence of human free will are largely based on the defined different between ones personality and ones moral self. While we have a sense of freedom, a sense deliberating over our options. Because of this, they would argue that universal causation is not necessarily relevant to human actions. They do not deny any influence to the human mind that could have an effect on the way in which one might act, but they claim that there is still a large aspect of freedom of choice involved. Oracle: Bingo! It is a pickle, no doubt about it. Bad news is there’s no way if you can know whether I’m really here to help you or not. So it’s really up to you. You just have to make up your own dam mind to either accept what I’m going to tell you or reject it. Candy? Neo: Do you already know if I’m going to take it? Oracle: Wouldn’t be much of an Oracle if I didn’t. Neo: But if you already know, how can I make a choice? Oracle: Because you didn’t come here to make the choice, you’ve already made it. You’re here to understand why you made it. I thought you’d’ve figured that out by now. Neo: Why are you here? Oracle: Same reason. I love candy. Libertarians views are idealistic they provides to us with the ultimate goal of being totally free. But if take this freedom then we should also be prepared to accept the responsibility that comes hand to hand with. For example if I allow my son to watch pornography involving a 15 year old and he turns out to be a paedophile than I would be totally to blame for these consequences. As with all workable theories finding the right balance is essential. Soft determinism is the third deterministic view and one where determinism and free will are completely compatible. It describes that we are morally responsible for our action although some are determined. Therefore the decisions we are free and able to make in our own minds count as the causes by which everything is made to occur. The midway position suggests that some of our actions are conditioned while others have a complex number of causes. For example there could be a number of reason why someone does not eat food, whether it be a diet, religious beliefs, famine or lack of money. â€Å"Real freedom,† in the question seems to suggest the freedom to take these fully conscious, and reasoned ethical decisions without relying a higher power. To conclude I believe that as human beings we are not free. Our behaviour and morals will always be determined social acceptance, laws, causality, and upbringing. However we have the power in ourselves to break down these constraints and become free, if a door is locked then break it down, if I want to throw microwaves of motorways then I will do so. When we become totally free this leads to anarchy and chaos. When it comes down to it is not a case of whether we are free or not it is whether we choose to be. Architect: Precisely. As you are undoubtedly gathering, the anomaly is systemic, creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations. TV Screens: You can’t control me! I’m gonna smash you to f***ing bits, I’m gonna show you, you can’t make me do anything. Neo: Choice, the problem is choice

Ch.5 and 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ch.5 and 6 - Essay Example Ethos is another type of appeal that presents the good character of the speaker as proof of the point being made. â€Å"My faith in the Constitution is whole†¦and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, subversion, destruction of the Constitution†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jordan puts herself forth as an example of a good American citizen. Mythos is an appeal founded on cultural values. She stresses the contrast between â€Å"a president grown tyrannical† versus the â€Å"preservation of the independence of the executive† as one of the time-honored distinctions made by the democratic American. The first is the proposition of fact, which deals with alleged facts which are debatable or inconclusive. An example of this is the allegation that: â€Å"The police power of stop and search is used by police officers to discriminate against members of the black race.† The second is the proposition of value, which treats on the morality, rightness, merit or worth of an idea or an action. This is illustrated by the statement: â€Å"Abortion is the taking of human life and is thus a crime.† The third is the proposition of policy, which encourages an audience to agree with an idea or to take an action. It goes beyond making a categorical statement and espouses the adoption of a policy or the pursuit of a course of action. An example of this type of proposition is: â€Å"Millionaires who lost their jobs in the recent recession should not be allowed to claim welfare.† There are six steps to building an argument. The first step is to develop a proposition. The proposition is that central idea that you would wish to convince your audience of, and it is best stated in a clear, declarative statement. Second, lay out a variety of compelling and coherent evidence. The evidence must be directly supportive of the proposition, not only tangentially related to it. Also, the evidence must have a clear connection in the mind of the audience,

Music Trends Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Music Trends - Essay Example I believe that sampling is a positive thing in modern music. Sampling has gained a negative connotation among some people who argue that it is merely plagiarizing other peoples’ work or creations. Instead, sampling constitutes a means of creating new and hybrid forms of art. When one considers all forms of innovation there is the recurrent theme of past material being remixed or reimagined into new forms. Sampling then allows musicians to take complete advantage of digital technology and implement past styles and songs in the creation of new forms of musical expression. In some situations musicians should be required to pay other musicians for the use of their material. I believe that have a regulatory environment that places a strong emphasis on copyright infringement is not in the best interest of society. When independent or small scale musicians run the risk of a fine or lawsuit for sampling another musician’s music, then the legal system is too restrictive. However , in situations when the musician sampling the music is already well-established and there is significant monetary gain that is achieved, then I believe the law should be active in instituting regulations.

Management Consulting in the UK Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Management Consulting in the UK - Research Paper Example    Today, the industry is more worth than 9 billion pounds and hires more than 80,000 consultants. The industry extends a wide range of firms, most of which undertake pure management consulting work, of which are part of larger firms that also undertake IT and change programmes and from training individuals and team to provide expert advice in specialized fields (Bushko 45). Essential to the success of the whole consulting industry is their capabilities to deliver high-quality services that enable create sustainable value to organizations. To this end, the MCA has a Code of Practice to which all MCA members pledge. The MCA also encourages the positive contribution made by the industry to the economy and the wider society through the annual MCA Awards (Buono 45). As its clients look for integrated solutions to their IT requirements and management, many consultancy firms are entering into treaties with software suppliers, telecoms or communications firms in order for them to provide a broader range of quality services and outspread their global reach. At the same time, the consultant/client relationship is changing. Boundaries are distorting. Consultants can become part of the client organization for some time, and may as well sometimes share the profits as well as the risks of a scheme or project (Bushko 34). Consultancy firms that have in history compete d are now more or less working together on client projects and there will be continuing union within and outside the industry as firms co-operate and join in order to offer better services to their clients (Buono 59).   

Generally Accepted Auditing Standards Paper Essay

Generally Accepted Auditing Standards Paper - Essay Example The audit opinion resulting from verification of financial statements provides a reasonable assurance that the statements give a true and fair value in accordance with the frameworks of financial reporting; therefore, Mobitech Accessories Ltd. does not expect auditors to produce absolute assurance by detecting all aspects of errors and fraud. Types of audits that organizations can perform include statutory, internal, external, and compulsory audits. Various standards, Acts, and boards have been initiated to guide the auditing function. Generally Accepted Auditing Standards provides a basis for performing and judging the quality of audits (Catty, 2012). The general requirements of GAAS include maintenance of independence in audit matters, adequate technical training, and proficiency for audit performance, and exercising professional care during audit performance and report preparation. Mobitech Accessories Ltd enables auditors to obtain sufficient understanding of the enterprise and allows auditors to access sufficient evidence by performing audit procedures in accordance with GAAS. GAAS also require the auditor to express an opinion regarding the financial statements; an opinion can be qualified, unqualified or disclaimer (Huault & Richard, 2012). Mobitech Accessories Ltd auditors usually state reasons in the report where they cannot express an overall opinion. GAAS provide assumptions, principles, and constraints to achieve basic objectives and implement fundamental qualities (Huault & Richard, 2012). The accounting entity assumption assumes that the business entity is a being and separate and distinct from its owners and managers. The going concern assumption assumes that the business will remain in operation indefinitely. The historical cost principle requires companies to report their liabilities and assets based on costs of acquisition rather than fair market value. The principle of revenue

Prescription drugs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Prescription drugs - Research Paper Example The large numbers of emergency room admissions from prescription drug abuse in the US are a compelling argument against DTC advertising. There is the need for pharma companies to show a higher degree of restraint in such DTC advertising, keeping in mind that the messages are viewed by people with varying levels of understanding of possible side effects from improper use of prescription drugs. Key words: Prescription Drugs, DTC advertising 1. Introduction The US is the only country in the world (apart from New Zealand) that permits Television advertisements for prescription drugs. The US Federal Drugs Administration (FDA) relaxed its requirements for information content needed in such advertising in 1997. The pharma industry’s spending on DTC (direct-to-customer) advertisements has grown rapidly since the FDA rule change and reached a peak of over $ 6 billion in 2006 and 2007 before falling off due to the global economic crisis. The spending in 2012 was still a high $ 3.47 bill ion (Mack, 2013). The European Union does not permit DTC advertising by pharma companies. This was reaffirmed in December 2010 when 22 of the 27 EU countries voted against the proposal despite lobbying by the pharma industry. Instead, the new ad regulations have become even tougher with the focus â€Å"on the rights of the patient to get the information he needs and not on the rights of pharma companies to spread information† (Golby, 2010). This paper examines the arguments in favor and against DTC advertising prescription drugs. PhRMA, the pharma industry association, in its 2008 guidelines for DTC advertising lists the benefits of DTC advertising as increased patient awareness about disease and the treatment options. The ads motivate patients to contact their doctors and engage in a dialogue about health concerns and increases likelihood of receiving care for conditions that get under-diagnosed or under treated. The advertisements also help patients to continue taking the prescribed medication (PhRMA, 2008). The beneficial effects of DTC advertising based on surveys of patients and doctors are shown in the chart below (Shaw, 2008). The chart shows that 95% of the benefit is from patient awareness and better discussion the doctor can have with the patient. The question clearly is whether these benefits outweigh potential negative effects of DTC advertising. 3. Top pharma companies advertising budgets in 2012 The table below shows the 2012 advertising budgets of the top 10 global pharma companies. The tabula tion has been made from data published on 26 February 2013 in FiercePharma.com (Palmer, 2013) Pharma Ad Spend 2012 ( in $ million)                   TV Magazine Other Total   Products       Pfizer 342.7 240 39.6 622.3 Celebrex- pain drug, Viagra, Lyrica - pain drug Eli Lilly 367.3 43.4 22.7 433.4 Cymbalta for pain, Cymbalta for depression, Cialis Abbott 264 35 2.7 301.7 Humira for arthritis, AndroGel, Humira for Crohn's disease Merck 133.7 87.8 64 285.5 Shingles awareness, Nasonex, Zostavax Amgen 164 52.1 13.2 229.3 Enbrel for arthritis, Prolia, Enbrel for psoriasis Astra Zeneca 156.5 41 11.8 209.3 Nexium - stomach , Symbicort, Crestor - cholesterol Allergan 85.9 107.2 0.23 193.3 Restasis, Botox for wrinkles, Botox for migbraine Boehringer 119.6 54.7 0.36 174.7 Spiriva, Pradaxa Glaxo SmithKline 70.3 84.8 15.5 170.6 Advair Diskus - respiratory , Lovaza - cholesterol , Jalyn Otsuka 73.9 41.2 0 115.1

The Facts Behind Distracted Driving Debate Essay

The Facts Behind Distracted Driving Debate - Essay Example But not for the better it seems. According to a nationwide insurance study, 20 percent of drivers are either sending or receiving text messages while at the wheel of a moving vehicle. Even more startling is the information that these numbers increase to 66 percent when the driver is within the age range of 18 to 24 (Schulte). A sector of our society believes that teenagers are unfairly targeted in these experiments simply because they are young and often impulsive in their actions when at the wheel of their cars. But the reality of the situation is that these figures accurately describe the driving habits of some teenagers within the aforementioned age bracket. In fact, during a simulated test conducted by Car and Driver Magazine, the results of the distracted driving tests showed that when driving unimpaired, a person (regardless of age) requires at least .54 seconds to brake, while it took an average of 36 additional feet for a driver who is reading an email while at the wheel to c ome to a full stop. But more worrisome is the fact that an additional 70 feet of braking room is required by a driver who is composing a text while navigating a car (Austin). People who consider themselves experts at texting while driving claim that they always keep the additional space between them and the next car in order to allow for the required braking distance in the event of an emergency. However, this safety measure becomes irrelevant and useless considering the fact that these people still maintain their normal driving speed while multitasking at the wheel. These road hazards compose 73 percent of the distracted drivers on the road according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – a statistic that results in 89 percent of road accidents involving other cars per the collated data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (â€Å"Facts about Using Cellphones While Driving†). Those drivers who consider themselves at multitask ing are not familiar with the five second rule. It only takes five seconds for one to take his eyes off the road and end up in a fatal accident with another car. That translates to at least 23 percent of all vehicular accidents caused by drivers whose eyes were taken off the road in order to respond to or read a text message. We can explain it in more visual terms this way: a car can travel 70 miles an hour, the equivalent of 100 yards, or the length of a football field. A distracted driver can cover that distance in 5 seconds (Wilkins). Most teenagers view their lives with a sense of invulnerability. They are adventurous and always willing to push their limits just to see what they can get away with. The most adventurous kind tends to think in terms of â€Å"It can never happen to me† when it comes to possible life altering situations. One of these cautionary tales is from a widely publicized 2008 texting while driving fatal car accident. Writer Bret Schulte retells the stor y as (â€Å"Outlawing Text Messaging While Driving†): A fiery crash made headlines in June when five female friends died in a collision with a tractor trailer just a week after graduating from their suburban Rochester, N.Y., high school. Police discovered the teenage driver had been texting moments before the crash. Similar accidents are happening with increasingly regularity nationwide. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety further solidifies the sense of invincibility carried by most of the teenagers with

Article Reviews Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Article Reviews - Essay Example Tablets, smart-phones, notebooks and other accessories will experience significant growth in the U.S. market over the next year. The global market for consumer electronics is predicted to rise close to $210 billion and experience 3 percent growth. This sharp economic growth bucks the trend against a sluggish economy; however, this consumer demand for mobile devices will continue to grow for years to come. Only 16 percent of U.S. households have a tablet, so there is plenty of room to grow. In terms of the product life cycle, consumer electronics can be said to still be in the growth stage because sales are still climbing. The maturity stage looks a long way off at present because the rate of sales growth for mobile devices does not look like slowing down anytime soon. The largest Italian insurance company, Assicurazioni Generali, has bought a 49 percent stake in a joint venture known as GPH. Generali, which brokered the deal with the help of the European equity firm PPF Group, will pay 2 and a half billion Euros for the deal to go through. The deal will happen gradually, with Generali paying 1.29 billion Euros by March for a 25 percent stake in the joint venture, and then Generali will pay the remaining balance to acquire another 24 percent by the end of next year. With economic uncertainty still present in Central and Eastern Europe, this deal will reduce the risk of Generali entering those markets. As a result of the deal being announced, Generalis share price rose by 1.25 percent, as investors look to shore up their investment in the company. Marketers need to be open to a range of ideas so that a firm does not miss out on market opportunities. Marketing strategies need to be linked with the objectives of an organization so that marketing campaigns can be well-perceived by the target market. In order to make a brand stand out from a saturated market, a brand needs to be able to offer some form of differentiation that makes a customer

Feng Shui in the Home Essay Example for Free

Feng Shui in the Home Essay Feng Shui, as a part of the Chinese culture, is considered an art and a science of how the chi or energies that exist in spaces of nature are to be placed or positioned in order to nurture productivity and the flow of positive forces that influence the quality of life of human beings. Feng Shui, which literally means â€Å"wind† and â€Å"water† in the Chinese language, looks at all the features of the earth as constituting one of the five elements – earth, fire, water, metal, and wood. Moreover, Feng Shui follows the traditional principle of the Yin and Yang which suggests two opposite aspects of life that are complementary to each other which sustains the flow of balance in the world and in life. (Allen) Feng Shui is put into practice through the positioning or ordering of objects or things in spaces or dwellings as a means of facilitating the flow of positivity and harmony through the guidance or assistance of a Compass specially designed for the purpose and the Bagua. (Tchi) These concepts – the chi, the five elements, Yin and Yang, the Compass, the Bagua – and more will be explored in the remainder of this discussion. In Ancient China, dynasties or political parties applied the principles of Feng Shui in order to make decisions that positively affect harvests, wealth and the economy, the endurance of dynasties and political parties, and such. During that time, the art and science of Feng Shui was practiced by only selected educated individuals such as â€Å"scientists, architects, astronomers, and land surveyors† (Stohn, 1). They were expected to apply Feng Shui principles by applying their sound judgments and reasoning guided by plans and estimates influenced by astrological signs and patterns. For instance, individuals who put the Feng Shui into practice may utilize the Compass or the â€Å"loopan† in order to determine areas that bring positive and negative energies to human beings who occupy particular spaces or rooms inside a house or a building. The use of the Compass is guided by the positions of heavenly bodies, such as the earth, the sun, and the planets in the solar system. (Stohn, 2-3) The chi energy, or a life force that is known to be part of all the things and man, is the basis for the success of Feng Shui. According to Feng Shui principles, the chi should be placed in particular positions that will establish a flow of energy from all the elements surrounding man and himself in order to produce positive forces that contribute constructive and positive impacts to life. The role of interior designing in realizing the goals and objectives of Feng Shui is the practice of designing the internal components of spaces or dwellings in order to facilitate the continuous flow of chi or energy. According to Feng Shui principles disharmony and negative energy exists when there are barriers in the surroundings that disrupt the flow of chi or energy. Basing it on the five elements – that is earth, fire, water, metal, and wood – barriers that cause disruptions are caused by the misplacement of interior components of spaces of dwellings violating the concepts of the â€Å"Cycle of Creation,† â€Å"Cycle of Reduction,† and â€Å"Cycle of Control or Domination. † (Stohn, 6-10) These three cycles explain how the five elements affect each other, establishing the basis of how things in the surroundings should be placed in order to ensure that these objects or things, which all belong to one of the five elements are arranged in order to foster the harmony between them and not the opposing features that each element possess against other elements. For instance, the â€Å"Cycle of Creation† discusses how each element gives birth to the other, such that fire is born out of wood, the ashes that come after the fire becomes part of the earth, some parts of the earth constitutes ores that are considered as metals, through the process of condensation, metals become water which nourishes the life of wood. On the other hand, the â€Å"Cycle of Reduction† and the â€Å"Cycle of Control or Domination† similarly discusses how one element cancels out the other, such as the water that relieves fire, and such. (Stohn, 10-11) Interior designing in this case, considers the make or the composition of interior components of the home according to the five elements, and how they are arranged in order to follow the â€Å"Cycle of Creation† which facilitates the continuous flow of chi or positive energy. Another way by which the Feng Shui is put into practice through interior designing is by the utilization of the Bagua. The Bagua is considered as a map of energy which directs interior designing into ensuring that the interior components of a space or dwelling coordinates the nine essential principles that brings about harmony and positivity within it. Interior designing through the use of the Bagua necessitates the consideration of the four directions – North, South, East, and West – and how the nine areas – courage, stillness, joy, receptivity, synchronicity, integrity, strength, gratitude, and connection – are inclusive in each designated position inside spaces. (Stohn, 11-15) Some popular examples of interior designing techniques and practices that follow the principle of Feng Shui include the designation of areas that pertain to directions following the five elements in the surroundings. For instance, the North direction is designated to cover the area of career and business. The North is supposed to be a door or an entry way inside the home which signifies the entry of good career and the development of business. In order to sustain the flow of positive energy in the North direction to foster one’s career and business, this area or space should be free from clutter or dirt. It should always be clean and decorated with new and shiny things or objects. According to Feng Shui, the North direction is also designated to the element of water. Therefore, it is ideal to place fountains, aquariums or fish tanks, or other decorations that connote the presence of water in them. This is followed all throughout the house, such that each area wherein a particular element is designated, things or objects in it should be made from such elements. (Stohn, 18-20) Since the principle of Feng Shui constitutes the arrangement of things or objects in spaces or dwellings, it has become one of the most valuable, not to mention widespread, foundations of interior designing. The demand for interior designing practices that are based on Feng Shui principles has definitely contributed to its addition as a custom in the industry of interior design. The Feng Shui, as an Eastern art or science practiced by the Chinese, has successfully infiltrated the Western culture. (Skinner Price, 6) Popular personalities, such as the late Princess Diana, Prince Charles (Alexander), and Donna Karan, Betty Buckley, and Terry Sweeney (Stukin), have consulted Feng Shui experts for their interior designing needs and some of them have attested to the positive changes in their lives that have happened after following Feng Shui principles in their homes. Works Cited Alexander, Jane (1996). â€Å"The Healing Touch that Starts in Your Home; The Secrets of Feng Shui. † London, England: The Daily Mail. Allen, Marites. (2006). â€Å"Demystifying ‘Feng Shui. ’† Retrieved from Manila Standard Today Online. 05 Feb 2009. http://www. manilastandardtoday. com/? page=myMoney02_april20_2006. Skinner, Stephen Price, Graham. (2004). â€Å"Feng Shui Style: The Asian Art of Gracious Living. † North Clarendon, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing Stohn, Nancy. (2005). â€Å"Feng Shui Simplified: A Family Guide to Creating Harmony and Love in Your Home. † British Columbia, Canada: Trafford Publishing. Stukin, Stacie. (2000). â€Å"Home Shui Home. † The Advocate. Tchi, Rodika. (N. D. ) â€Å"What is Feng Shui – Feng Shui Theory and Feng Shui Tools. † Retrieved from About. com. Website: http://fengshui. about. com/od/thebasics/qt/fengshui. htm

Martin King and Henry Thoreau Essay Example for Free

Martin King and Henry Thoreau Essay Martin King and Henry Thoreau both write persuasive expositions that oppose majority ideals and justify their own causes. While this similarity is clear, the two essays, Letters from Birmingham Jail by King and Civil Disobedience by Thoreau, do have their fair share of differences. Primarily in the causes themselves, as King persuades white, southern clergy men that segregation is an evil, unjust law that should be defeated through the agitation of direct protesting, and Thoreau, writing to a more broad, non addressed audience, and focusing more on the government itself, contends that at its present state, with the war with Mexico and the institution of slavery, that one should do as he does and refuse to pay government taxes that support such evil practices or traditions. While both Thoreau and King prevail in establishing a firm impression for what they strongly believe in, they each succeed in their persuasive efforts through different means. Chiefly, in the way that King draws emotional appeal with the usage of a burning passion and devotion, and Thoreau, while still making it evident that he is devoted in what he believes in, draws more emotional appeal through being more distressed and concerned than naively hopeful and optimistic. However, similarities remain to be as numerous as differences as both Thoreau and King bring credibility or ethical appeal to their assays essentially with allusions to Christ and the Bible. First, Kings emotional appeal is what above all contrasts his essay with Thoreaus. As virtually everything else; the theme of disobeying unjust laws, their admiration for the minoritys viewpoint, and even, coincidently, where they wrote their essays prison, is all the same. King makes two references to conversations shared with his children. Once with his little girl who wants to go to the public amusement park and is quickly developing tears in her eyes as her father has to sadly explain the reality that black children arent allowed in Funtown. Promptly once again, King refers to being forced to somehow concoct an acceptable answer to his five year old sons question why do white people treat colored people so mean?. King does not stop there with his ability to throw his readers into the harsh emotional realities that he had to face. While answering the same question of why we cant wait in regards to protesting, King refers to the tragic sadness of how his wife and mother are almost  never granted with the respectable title of Mrs and how his own name has virtually been transformed from Martin Luther King to Nigger Boy John in the heartland of discrimination in the South. The rhetorical use of detail is Kings second element that he takes advantage of to draw such tremendous, but necessary emotional appeal. With his despairing response to the clergy mens appraisal of the policemens ability to maintain peace and order when he asserts with great detail that maybe they wouldnt be so warmly supportive if they would have been in the streets to witness the police slapping Negro men and boys with sticks and pushing and cursing old Negro women and girls in such a cold-hearted and cruel fashion. Furthermore, Kings account of what the South would be like if blacks sided more with the Black Nationalists than himself brings emotion to all that contemplate his perception of streets flowing with blood during the central time of the otherwise inevitable racial nightmare. Thoreau, on the other hand, never consents to revealing such frightful nightmares and makes only one brief reference to his children. Instead, Thoreau draws emotional appeal through many different techniques in the art of persuasive writing. Most predominantly, with despaired and concerning rhetorical questions such as when he asks about established governments viewpoint on great men, why does it always crucify Christ and excommunicate Copernicus and Luther, and pronounce Washington and Franklin rebels?. And again when he provokes the question of how men assert their grievances when he asks How can a man be satisfied to entertain and opinion merely and enjoy it?. As stated above, Thoreau and Kings great persuasive similarity is in the way they give their essays ethical appeal. They both repetitiously make use to references of the Bible. King first asserts that he is in Birmingham for the same reason that the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the Gospel of Jesus. Once again, in comparing his civil disobedience to that of Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego when they refused to obey the worship laws of Nebucadnesser. Finally King affirms to not being offended by the criticism of being called an extremist by the thought of how many great extremists there where in the past, such as Abe Lincoln, Martin  Luther, and Jesus Christ. Thoreau in the very same manner and with many of the same figures, continues with his own set of biblical allusions. He subscribes to the verse of Christ and the Herodians when they ask him about his stance on taxes and Christ replies to give Caesar what is Caesars, and to give God what is Gods. And then, more broadly, Thoreau poses the question of why after eighteen hundred years of being written, no legislator in America or anywhere else has taken advantage of the science of legislation revealed in the New Testament. In conclusion, both Thoreau and King succeed in establishing their points on the benefits of civil disobedience. I feel that King does succeed farther with his inclusion of more passionate emotion and easier to understand, heartfelt metaphors. Though it is debatable that the scientific and matter of fact tone Thoreau uses ultimately make his case more credible by establishing his work as not only a great personal exposition, but also a considerable scientific exposition that could be considered among the ranks of Thomas Paines Common Sense or even Machiavellis The Prince.

Nature Of Competition Collusion And Pricing Airline Industry Economics Essay

Nature Of Competition Collusion And Pricing Airline Industry Economics Essay The enactment of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 eliminated price and entry regulation of the domestic airline industry. Since then the U.S. airline industry has grown tremendously. The US domestic market competes in an oligopoly landscapes. Hence there is certain level of barriers to competition. For example, control over the computerised reservation systems used by travel agents provided the majors with a powerful weapon for disadvantaging smaller competitors. American Airlines Sabre system and Uniteds Apollo system together accounted for three-quarters of all national computer reservation systems by the late 1980s. Control of this important avenue for travel agents to make reservations enabled the majors to discriminate against smaller firms in a variety of ways-from instituting screen bias favouring the on-screen presentation of the controlling firms flights, to charging exorbitant fees to other carriers for displaying their flights on these computer systems (transferring up wards of a half-billion dollars annually from the smallest to the largest carriers).[2] More recently, the Big Five carriers have joined together to collectively market their tickets online through their Orbitz Web site-an alliance that may enable them to better coordinate their non-competitive oligopoly pricing and to circumvent rules put into place to prevent them from anticompetitive using their computer reservation systems while, at the same time, disadvantaging competing distributors of air tickets.[3] Predatory Pricing Furthermore, dominant carriers were suppressing competition through predatory pricing. For example, when Spirit Airlines attempted to penetrate Northwests Detroit hub with a one-way Detroit-Philadelphia fare of $49, Northwest Airline responded by slashing its average fare on the route by 71% (from $170 to $49) and scheduling 30% more seats. Once Spirit abandoned the route, Northwest raised its fare to $230 and cut its seat capacity.[36] Similarly, when Frontier Airlines initiated service from Denver (United-dominated hub) to Billings, Montana, it offered an average $100 fare, half the prevailing fare charged by United. United slashed its fare to match Frontier; when Frontier exited the route, United raised its fare above its original level.[37] Collusion Collusion is a difficult game to play when the number of conspiring rivals is large. It is hard to keep a hundred firms in line when their cost structures differ, when their production facilities vary, and when some have an incentive to cheat on a price agreement or to violate output restrictions. Numbers make a difference. When numbers are large, conspiracies are difficult to organize, difficult to conceal, and difficult to enforce. However, public policy faces a serious challenge in oligopolistic industries like the case of the Airline industry where major carriers eschew outright collusion and rely instead on a course of conduct characterised as tacit collusion, or recognition of mutual interdependence to resemble the effects of outright conspiracy. The mechanics of tacit collusion is apparent particularly in an oligopoly market dominated by a few major players. Each carrier naturally recognises the mutual interdependence between it and its rivals. Carrier X knows that it if were to cut price in order to increase its market share, its aggression would immediately be detected by carriers Y and Z, which would respond with retaliatory price cuts of their own. Market shares would be unaffected, but all carriers would now operate at lower prices and profits. Henceforth, Carrier X cannot expect to increase its market share or revenue at the expense of its rivals. It cannot afford to calculate in terms of maximising its own profits in isolation but instead must constantly ask whether a particular decision on price or output will be not only in its own self-interest, but also in the best interests of its rivals. By recognising mutual oligopolistic interdependence, it must be concerned with group profits and group welfare. In other word, under oligopoly landscape, independent, aggressive, genuinely competitive behaviour is perceived as counterproductive-an irrational strategy for the individual carrier. In an oligopoly, groupthink will influence a carriers strategy when it is contemplating price increases as it cannot act alone. In other word, groupthink replaces the calculus of individual advantage, and each carrier must behave as a responsible member of the oligopoly group rather than as a reckless, self-seeking competitor. In oligopolies, this recognition of mutual interdependence may extend to non-price competition. For example, if carrier A refrains from aggressive price competition but seeks to increase its market share through aggressive innovation program, it cannot expect its rivals to sit idly by. It must expect them to increase their research efforts as a simple matter of self-defence, thereby nullifying its expected gains. Anticipating such retaliation which could erode oligopoly profits- carrier A might refrain from innovation for the same reasons it would avoid price-cutting. Rationality again commands responsible nonaggressive behaviours; the most effective profit-maximisation rule under oligopoly is to get ahead by getting along. Nevertheless, the level of oligopolistic interdependence and collusion varies from situation to situation. It depends on such factors as whether the oligopoly is tightly knit (small number of firms) or loosely knit (a larger number);whether it is homogeneous or heterogeneous; whether it is symmetrical (having firms of roughly equal size) or asymmetrical (with one firm disproportionately larger); whether or not the industry is mature (having had time to develop its internal arrangements and institutions to promote cooperation); whether the industry is populated by reasonable managers or by a few mavericks. In the US domestic market, the advent of the Internet has increased the efficient of signaling or collusion. Carriers can see what the competition is doing immediately by going to the Internet that allow them to react quickly by adjusting their own prices. This is a far cry from the days when price books were set in type and could not be changed for months. Now most prices can be adjusted several times a day, if needed. Apparently, this is a game that the airlines are particularly adept at. As consumers have more transparent access to real-time flight pricing through online services like Orbitz, so the airlines are almost obligated to adjust to each other. This is particularly apparent on routes where there is no rogue player, like Southwest Airlines or JetBlue as they are (within limits) free to adjust prices upward. As long as the members of the oligopoly with real selling power tacitly agree that a major price war is not in their interest, chances are that prices can quickly readj ust themselves, keeping in mind the balance of costs and optimal prices for maintaining profitable sales levels. Nevertheless, the combined market share of the Big Five network airlines (Delta, United, American, US Airways, and Northwest ) that peaked in 1992 has been declining since deregulation [ *]. Furthermore, with the influx of several low-cost carriers, tacit collusion is becoming difficult to organize, conceal and enforce even though oligopolistic rationality and its collusive consequences are inevitable concomitants of oligopoly industry structure. Pricing Pricing is important for the carriers. If prices are too low or too high, it can drag down profits. Thus, it is important for the carriers to derive profitable airfares and discourages unprofitable one. To maximise profits, the carriers should set prices so that marginal revenue just equals marginal cost. In other words, it should use profit-maximising prices as the starting point. The economic model of pricing ****show diagram****, which is called marginal cost pricing, clearly identifies a pricing strategy that will maximise profits. This pricing strategy also identifies the information needed to set prices, thus simplifying the process. In other words, the profit-maximising price is where the incremental margin percentage equals the reciprocal of the absolute value of the price elasticity demand  [1]  [ **] Based on pricing rule, the carriers should adjust its price where there are changes in the price elasticity of demand or marginal cost since the carriers compete under oligopoly landscapes with homogeneous services. Airfares have dropped significantly over the years [***] since deregulation which helped to simulate competition resulting in the entrance of several low-cost carriers. This could partially due to regulator and oligopolies increase efficiencies, putting direct or indirect price pressure on their suppliers as well as putting pressure on the wages and benefits of their employees Hence there is growing belief is that oligopolies can be price-neutral as opposed to manipulating prices. The strategic variable for airline carrier is price in the short run. Generally without product and service differentiation, the basic service offered by the carriers would be homogeneous. Under the Bertrand model, the carriers which produce at constant marginal cost and compete aggressively on price in order to gain a bigger share of the market. Under such condition, the market equilibrium is perfectly competitive pricing. However, in a loosely knit oligopoly structure, the individual carrier has incentive to offer heterogeneous services. Through heterogeneous services, it can charge personalised pricing or group pricing based on passenger willing-to-pay to achieve higher profits. For example, if carrier X sells its airfares at a single, it loses in two ways. Firstly, some passenger would be willing to pay more than $100 for a ticket during the last hour of the flight. Secondly the carrier does not sell to passengers who are willing to pay more than $50 but less than $60. This is illustrated in the graphic below, where P=price and Q=quantity. By charging such passengers at different price, the carrier could profitably sell to a much larger passenger base. Furthermore, with differentiated services, should one carrier cut its price below other carriers price; it would take away only part of the other carriers entire demand. Thus, carriers should have strong incentive to differentiate its offering in order to raise their equilibrium prices. However, there is a risk of loosing the market if the services are not on par with its pricing and demand. The carriers must balance their desire for market share at the same time avoid head-to-head price competition since the less differentiation in their services, the more direct will be in price competition among them and the lower would be incremental margins.

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe Essay -- Fall House

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe Symbols and imagery of horror and death in a story touch the reader like a fingertip against a chord and can make the heart resonate with fear and woe as the suspended lute with tone. The verbal illustration that is used in the opening phrase in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" is as strong as the imagery of dismay utilized throughout the rest of the story, like the dark and gloomy house. The vivid colors and visuals in the story not only force the reader to picture the surroundings in his or her mind, but also contain the hidden connotations of gravity and despair. The inclusion of sounds, like the "distinct, hollow, metallic, and clangorous, yet apparently muffled reverberation," (Poe 27) and aural references to musical instruments, such as the lute quote by De BÃ ©ringer suggests that the reader experience the mood of the tale in a more auditory and sensory appealing fashion. The mood of the story is one of horror that is set up by visual and aural stimulation a nd is well used in the tale of Roderick Usher. As in many of Poe's stories, the colors and images that describe the setting and characters are not only visually stimulating but carry dark connotations that give the story‚s horror more depth and feeling. The tale of the narrator‚s trip to the House of Usher begins with an eerie depiction of the building and its surroundings, the overview of the setting, "a scene in which decay and death are the presiding elements" (P.Quinn 85). In "A Key to the House of Usher," Darrel Abel notes that the description of the setting serves two purposes: ...to suggest a mood to the observer which makes him properly receptive to the horrible ideas which grow in his... ...g of fright and shock. "If ever a mortal painted an idea, that mortal was" (21) Edgar Allen Poe. Works Cited: Abel, Darrel. "A Key to the House of Usher." Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Fall of the House of Usher. Ed. Thomas Woodson. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1969. 43-55. Gordon, Caroline and Tate, Allen. "View Points." Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Fall of the House of Usher. Ed. Thomas Woodson. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1969. 27-30. Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Fall of the House of Usher." The Prentince Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Ed. Gary G. Roberts. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. 16-28. Quinn, Patrick F. "That Spectre in My Path." Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Fall of the House of Usher. Ed. Thomas Woodson. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1969. 82-90.

Adam smith :: Essays Papers

Adam smith Adam Smith, (1776), of the division of labor According to Adam Smith, economic growth is rooted in the increasing division of labor and the specialization of the labor force by the breaking down of large jobs into many little ones. Under this regime, each worker becomes an expert in one area of production and workers do not have to switch tasks during the day. This will increase efficiency by saving time and money. Smith illustrates his theory very well with an example of the production pins. He says that an individual could not make as many pins as he or she could produce concentrating on a single operation of its manufacture. Smith tells us that there are three reasons for this: First, the individual has improved dexterity in concentrating on a single task; Second, there is a disadvantage of expanding time changing from one task to another and third, the machines used are designed in a way to perform their task quickly and efficiently for that particular function. Adam smith's division of labor theory was very useful and was introduced into the factories of the 19th century with the assembly line technology. Almost any factory in our days considers the division of labor as a key element for efficiency and for increasing productivity. In the assembly lines of car factories for example, one worker or robot is specialized in assembling the interior, another is responsible for placing the engine, and a third is specialized with the installation of the gear box. However, one should not ignore the disadvantages of this theory. Adam Smith's theory considers men as robots and expects them to do the same task for their whole life. Adam smith :: Essays Papers Adam smith Adam Smith, (1776), of the division of labor According to Adam Smith, economic growth is rooted in the increasing division of labor and the specialization of the labor force by the breaking down of large jobs into many little ones. Under this regime, each worker becomes an expert in one area of production and workers do not have to switch tasks during the day. This will increase efficiency by saving time and money. Smith illustrates his theory very well with an example of the production pins. He says that an individual could not make as many pins as he or she could produce concentrating on a single operation of its manufacture. Smith tells us that there are three reasons for this: First, the individual has improved dexterity in concentrating on a single task; Second, there is a disadvantage of expanding time changing from one task to another and third, the machines used are designed in a way to perform their task quickly and efficiently for that particular function. Adam smith's division of labor theory was very useful and was introduced into the factories of the 19th century with the assembly line technology. Almost any factory in our days considers the division of labor as a key element for efficiency and for increasing productivity. In the assembly lines of car factories for example, one worker or robot is specialized in assembling the interior, another is responsible for placing the engine, and a third is specialized with the installation of the gear box. However, one should not ignore the disadvantages of this theory. Adam Smith's theory considers men as robots and expects them to do the same task for their whole life.

Machiavelli :: essays research papers

A great leader is someone who appears to be priceless. Great leader is the main example of his people; he should have the characteristics of higher standards therefore developing his followers into something better. Extraordinary leaders need to have communication skills to understand what the followers expect from him. "You serve as an influential role model for your players and everything you do will be watched. Vince Lombardi says, "Leaders are made, they are not born; and they are made just like anything else has every been made in this country - by hard work."" (Sugarman). Great leader must be seen as being great not actually being one. Machiavelli suggests this idea in D1. To seem to have the qualities is necessary as opposed to having the qualities without the people knowing about them. This is true for all leaders not just political. D1 suggests flexibility is needed, "†¦ but you must have the mind so disposed that when it is needful to be otherwise you may be able to change to the opposite qualities." Flexibility is important; the leader all in all has to give the people what they want satisfying the majority. D1 says that great leaders are sometimes obligated to do evil if constrained without deviating from what is good (if possible), "†¦ being often obligated, in order to maintain the state, to act against faith, against charity†¦" Communication and timing are important. Great leaders are great when they get something across to the followers that the followers want to hear, there is a clear understanding from both sides. "The great leader is a master in the art of communication. He or she is aware of the strong need for actions to match words. Leaders need to possess a willingness to listen to input with an open mind." (Sugarman), "Leadership is about building connections. Effective leaders make people feel they have a stake in common problems." (Goodwin). Great leaders are good with timing; "Timing is (almost) everything. Knowing when to introduce an initiative, when to go before one's constituents -- and when to hold off -- is a crucial skill." (Goodwin). Leaders must care about their people (and of course show them that they care): "A leader who does not hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader" (a quote of Golda Meir) (Spanoudis). This sets an example for the followers to care about their leader too.

Alien Coursework

I am in this room alone, petrified and exasperated of what the humans did to me. They attempted to execute me just because I was unequivelent to them. My feelings are hurt, they aren't adequate words in this world to portray my feelings. I was innocent, my only felony was being born an alien . Surviving that harrowing assault was simply impossible. I have mixed emotions about surviving the attack, I'm ecstatic to get out alive, but a part of me wishes I just perished in that attack in order to exit my long-term melancholy. Not knowing where I was, was an idea that petrified me. Observing my other friends getting murdered was an indescribable horror. I am now left solitary in this abnormal world, This whole incident has been appalling, I never thought in a million years that I'd have to face such a tough ordeal. Thank god the humans living in this house don't know where I am, or else I would've been brutally slaughtered too. Those humans are callous , any random creature they see, they will jump to the conclusion that this creature is detrimental also must be eliminated from this planet. My feelings for the humans is filled with vexation, they literally took my life away. A part of me doesn't blame them because some people don't intend to hurt us, they are just simply intimidated and only want to protect their loved ones from this contrasting creature. All I want to do now is go home. I am working really hard to find a way out of this world, it took time, but I finally came to the conclusion that there is just no way out of here. My nightmare has arrived and that is being trapped with people who loathe you and also are out there to dispatch you. Whatever happened to the saying â€Å"Where there's a will there's a way†? I explicitly have the will but couldn't figure out the way. Perhaps I should've died along with my fellow friends who were with me in this entire tribulation. Being dead is certainly much better than thinking of what do next. Continuation Next page As my friends vanished, I felt that I vanished too. They were a part of me, If they were not gone I would collaborate with them. All I want to do now is get out of this gruesome planet, find a new futuristic place where people actually adore and appreciate you, also treat you benevolently. But I know, this is all a hallucination and is dubious to become true. I have no idea where life will take me next, but I do know I want to get out of this ghastly house. I have learned today that life is arduous. No matter what you do there will always going to be some complications that are unpreventable, but it all comes down to how you face your problems. The way I'm going to face it is move on and try to forget about what happened, I ought to acquire a way out of here.

Working with Children: Child-Centered Practice

The family institution is an important entity in the society that has implication on the future of children and the nation at large. In order to realize the importance of family institution, the parents and their parenting role should be placed at the centre of success strategy. This realization explains why there is an intense national interest in parenting and the associated societal forces influencing parenting such as child care support organizations and inter-professional bodies that enhances an enabling environment to foster children development. Essential bodies that frequently interact with the parents and their children in their upbringing are: the family, friends and neighbours, professionals, voluntary workers or self-help groups such as Playgroups, and formal organisations for children such as Nurseries, Schools, After-School Clubs, children’s homes, hospitals. Developmental Scholars have established that child’s growth and development is shaped by the environment in terms of total interaction between parenting process and societal forces. The critical role played by societal complex forces and institutions that influences parents and early child rearing practices can not be underestimated but can be evaluated to enhance its effectiveness in developing a healthy and all round future generation. Having a child centered practice means providing care for the children from preconception, prenatal and breastfeeding. Therefore, improving a child care network system invokes addressing issues such as breastfeeding, parent’s time with their children, social and economic challenges of parenting and support services for parents in early child rearing process. In this regard, this paper shall analyse and discuss how to improve children’s lives and provide a plan that reflects inter-professional, collaborative approaches to meeting their needs. In order to achieve paper’s objective, an overview of prenatal and preconception, and breastfeeding child care current practices and their necessary remedies shall be suggested. Introduction Parenting is a challenging topic to scholars and as a result it has received much attention in the recent past owing top its importance to the society’s sustainability. This much received attention received is due to knowledge expansion in fields of behavioral, developmental psychology and neurosciences which have emphasised the importance of child’s early years in children’s long term growth and development in areas of behavior, health and long term learning. In this regard, various scholars and institutions have looked at the issue in detail from various perspectives that are determined by factors that influence process of bring up of children by parent-substitutes or parents . Attkisson (1992) report that the nation realizes many benefits by investing in the children’s early intervention programs welfare. However, the issue of children welfare in relation to their development ought to be understood on a wider concept in terms of societal expression of the families and children. Unfortunately, the public polls clearly indicate that 82% of the adults believe that it is difficult to undergo childhood phase than it used to be in the past decades . While on the parental roles and responsibilities borne by parents, statistics show that most parents face hard times that they need help to successfully raise their children. It is evident that both the family and public sectors have heavily invested in the development of children. An estimated $16,030 is allocated to a child annually that translates to about 14. 47 percent of the GDP . This is just a tip of ice burg in resources allocation because it does not include indirect cost such valuation of the time parents spend caring for their children together with the direct out-of-pocket costs like housing, health care and food . On average, the expenditure ration allocation of child care varies greatly between the private and the public sector with respect to earnings distribution . The major section being supported by the government is that of children education and health care . However, before the children enroll in the elementary schools the responsibility of child care and development is carried by the parents. In the past decades, the child development documentation highlights that the early years of a child have an important bearing on the entire human life. Therefore, to improve child care systems requires a clear understanding of the parental behaviours and the contextual factors that affects the parenting at these early years. In this line of thought, this paper shall look at preconception and prenatal care, and breastfeeding as part of having a healthy children parenting. Preconception and Prenatal Care Most early childhood interventions usually target the children from birth up to five years. In contrary, the child’s bright future should start before birth. tates that prenatal and preconception child care are critical as they play key role in preventing: the risk of low birth weight, birth defects and prematurity problems which in normal circumstances are major attributes that lead to high cases of childhood disabilities and infant mortality . For instance, developmental psychologists report that pregnant women who access adequate prenatal care are likely to give birth to right weight infants as opposed to their counterparts that received inadequate prenatal care who report infants with less weight of about 5. 5 pounds . In addition to that, prenatal and preconception care prop up reduction in risk taking behaviours, provide for parental support and education and healthy behaviours. Moreover, Halfon N et al. (2002) reports that effective and adequate preconception and prenatal child care have a positive impact that extends up to adulthood. Therefore, it is important to be included in the preconception and prenatal child care in construction of the childhood care services. The national child care guideline highlight and emphasizes that the preconception and prenatal practices should be considered as integral part of the parenting and parent care incentives. This because the prenatal care involves a process that identify conditions that can hamper successful child bearing or pregnancy like birth defects but there is an intervention that can ameliorated them before a routine preconception care . Prenatal care can be relied on as a good strategy to prevent most recorded birth defects because most pregnant mothers usually start prenatal care before day seventeen and 56 days after their pregnancy, when the foetus is vulnerable to external effects that can result to birth defects . However, the extent of utilization of the preconception and prenatal care by pregnant mothers has been put to question as many pregnant women exposes foetus to risk during and after pregnancy. Evidently, the study of pregnant women between the age of 18 to 45 by (Gilian 1997) showed that 1in 7 women was underweight, 1 in 4 was an overweight, 1 in 5 was a smoker, 1 in 8 engaged in risky sexual behaviours that lead to contaminating STIs or HIV/AIDS infections, 1 in 15 was alcoholic, and 2 in 5 breastfed their infants after being discharged from hospital. Extend of exposure risk among pregnant women exhibits disparities across the population’s social, class and race. The age group disparities in birth rates show that the teenage birth rate is high in Hispanic with 64 births for 1,000, Africans had 48, and white ladies had 14. On the other hand the rate of infant mortality has relatively declined from 7. 9 per 1,000 from 1997 to 5. 9 in 2004 with most cases reported from low income and middle income families. Additionally, low weight births increased significantly by 6 percent with record of very low birth weight infants at 11percent of an equivalent of less than 3. pounds . However, the African born infants in all circumstances were likely to be twice as heavy as white infants. Available Interventions There are a number of programs that pregnant woman can access in order to actualize prenatal and preconception care for the children. These services include: private insurance for reproductive age women, Medicaid and the Comprehen sive Prenatal Services Program (CPSP) that provides for low income women, Access to Infants and Mothers (AIM) provide low cost insurance cover to middle income women and their infants. Additionally, Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grants that funds maternity and prenatal care, Adolescent Family Life Program (AFLP) aims at educating teenage parents to minimize their chances of conception while increasing their chances of graduation, Migrant and Community Health centers serves and supplements food for low income mothers and their infants reducing infants deaths by 40 percent . Gaps The research reveals that there are still many gaps alongside barriers within the child care networking system. However, understanding the gaps and barriers is necessary to fill these gaps and lower the barriers in order to foster and promote quality early childhood development. Some of the fundamental gaps in child care are: First, lack of the defined framework for administration, funding and service delivery of prenatal and preconception child care for low income pregnant mothers. Second, the insufficient instructional design for parental education that lacks home and car safety, cognitive development in children, new born immunization needs, infant-parent bonding techniques and normal infant behaviours and needs. Third, there is insufficient or costly smoking cessation education which is unaffordable to low income parents that does not meet their needs . And lastly, there is no sufficient efforts geared towards taming domestic violence against pregnant women as statistics reveal that 4 to 8 percent of pregnant parents are physically abused annually causing deformity, diseases and damage to the foetus . Barriers The barriers that are evident to the prenatal and preconception hinders service utilization and as a result the target populations can not benefit it fully . Some of the barriers includes: low valuation of the prenatal and preconception intervention programs by the service providers and expectant mothers. This attitude is believed to be caused by lack of knowledge for expectant mothers and unaware of program benefits by the services providers. The diversity nature of the population need cultural and linguistic competency to dispense child care services of which the nation lacks. Lastly, there is a barrier in terms of service coordination for prenatal care providers and the closely associated programs. Improving prenatal and preconception care. Based on the gaps and barriers, it gives an opportunity to search for possible measures to improve prenatal and preconception child care. It is appoint of worth to note that, it is difficult to do everything for everyone; but if a few priority areas are identified and addressed, then a small input can yield a tangible returns in early child growth and development. The priority areas which need to be improved on include: promotion of outreach incentives in order to encourage pregnant women which have shown positive impact in the past in terms improved access to child care and birth outcomes. Enhancement of service capacity is requiring so that it can serve any increasing number of pregnant women when they show up after outreach campaigns, promotions and awareness. There is need to invest heavily in parenting education by designing and sustaining parenting classes for parents expecting or those with infants with partnership with local agencies and professional bodies. Smoking and alcohol abuse cessation efforts especially to Africans and teens to minimize that risk of exposing foetus to this external hazard . The government and other stake holders should work hard to design policies that aim at arresting domestic violence against pregnant women by use of group counseling, abused women care and prosecution of criminals. Psychological support is needed at each level through development of the family resource centre to provide the population with psychological support and skills for parents in regard to flexible work schedules against responsibilities, child care and paternity leaves for male spouses to support infant growth and development . Enhancement of the services coordination and integration of the system between the early childhood health systems and the reproductive health by: supporting the local effort to enhance capacity, facilitate service coordination and experiment more on prenatal and preconception care to gain better insight . Moreover, there should be adequate funds allocation for research and evaluation of the program in order to feedback to further improve the services. There is need however, to promote cultural competency in services delivery. Lastly, the programs for prenatal and preconception intervention shall be helpful to the pregnant women if there is an additional investment to the program . However, to reframe the prenatal and preconception phases of child care special attention should be given to aspects such prenatal services as being point of entry for other services, service platform such as administrative platform, partnership between obstetrician and pediatrician and the service providers training and sustainability is key. Breastfeeding After prenatal and preconception care as the child is born, the immediate step is the breastfeeding. Gilian, (1997) notes that breastfeeding is not only an important aspect in the sense that it denotes how organized the family is, but also determines the infants initial nutrition and the feeding . Breastfeeding is perceived today as an old age essential behavior for survival purposes of species, its utilization has declined sharply in present century due to cow’s milk formula availability. As a consequence, breastfeeding have not remain to be an automatic behaviour to be exhibited by lactating mother for the child’s survival, but a choice that depends on the family, health system factor and social factors. It should be noted that many families today are reaching a decision to breastfeed the infant though not easy to arrive at as it involves a complex adaptations and decision. Despite the ups and down of arriving at the decision to breastfeed, there are many long term benefits accrued to breast feeding. In fact, the infants that are breastfed usually experiences less chronic and infectious illnesses and shape optimal child growth and development. Therefore, as medical and social practitioners this is an opportunity to adopt, support and sustain this vital health promoting behavior by addressing barriers such as workplace, social and economic factors that hamper breastfeeding . The challenge that is evident as far as breastfeeding is concerned is the sustainability of breastfeeding after the period of six moths after discharge from the hospital; thus many infants fail to get full benefits resulting from breastfeeding. The challenge of breastfeeding has emerged in early 1940s due to introduction of â€Å"formula† or artificial baby milk replacing mother’s milk. As a result, breastfeeding is no longer valued as universal health source for infant’s nutrition. As a consequence of declined breastfeeding culture, three barriers emerge. These barriers are: Lactation management is no longer a serious priority, few nurses and physicians were trained for care and support of breastfeeding and breastfeeding was not recognized as primary choice for infants feeding. Therefore, the decline resulted to elimination of knowledge base and model for pregnant women to use in supporting or teaching breastfeeding. Evidently, these barriers have to be handled at any cost due to the tangible benefits of breastfeeding. Some of the Developmental and Health benefits of breastfeeding are: mother’s milk is a source of complete nutrition for infant’s hydration and optimal growth during the first six months of life. Breastfeeding reduces infectious illnesses such as botulism, meningitis, otitis media and bacteremia . Additionally, there are reduced chances of chronic illnesses that can affect the infant Crohn’s infection, food allergies, SIDS and bottle tooth decay. Provides the needed 30 percent of calories between 1 and 2 years of growth and development ; Infant improves his or her Intelligent Quotient and performance of the developmental assessments and lastly breast milk reduces infant risk of retinopathy of prematurity. The mother through breastfeeding her infant benefits by keeping off chronic diseases such as ovarian cancer, hip fractures and premenopausal breast cancer. Secondly, the lactating mother can quickly recover from childbirth, high self esteem, minimal risk for parental depression, can rapidly return to pregnancy weight and reduces her risks for hemorrhage. Economically, breastfeeding proves to less expensive and reduces health care expenses because there are healthy children’s. Improving breastfeeding Breastfeeding is an important undertaking vital for human race survival. However, communication issues emerges to be one of the most urgently needed to be addressed as breastfeeding is no longer seen on our local or international media such as radio, internet, TVs, magazines, news papers, journals and posters. The media shall play a key role in changing the public attitude towards this important health support activity for infants . Secondly, there is need to invest in lactation management support and services in child care centers and educate parents sufficiently. And thirdly there is need to Integrate and Coordinate Services, Programs, and Funding in breastfeeding to realize a positive impact. This will help to build and develop a strong child-community centered, comprehensive and integrated child care breastfeeding system that can support almost all families. Conclusion In conclusion, the paper ahs discussed elaborately how to improve child care by looking at the preconception and prenatal. Thereafter, the paper has looked at the immediate phase of breastfeeding which need to be addressed if the nation has to keep the infants healthy and fit as future generation. However, the parenting part remains of impact in terms parent-infant interaction. The research shows that the relationship or interaction between the parents and the infant has positive cognitive, social and emotional development effects. In fostering this, the parents should be guided and counseled in relation to making of conscious choice geared towards caring for children over that for job, mothers to have husband support and that of other family allies, work organization, connecting to other social or agencies providers and need for balancing family obligations with that of job are essentials that facilitate successful parenting at advanced infant years of the child.

Carrie Chapter Twenty-one

Part Three Wreckage From the national AP ticker, Friday, June 5, 1979: CHAMBERLAIN, MAINE (AP) STATE OFFICIALS SAY THAT THE DEATH TOLL IN CHAMBERLAIN STANDS AT 409, WITH 49 STILL LISTED AS MISSING. INVESTIGATION CONCERNING CARIETTA WHITE AND THE SO-CALLED ‘TK' PHENOMENA CONTINUES AMID PERSISTENT RUMOURS THAT AN AUTOPSY ON THE WHITE GIRL HAS UNCOVERED CERTAIN UNUSUAL FORMATIONS IN THE CEREBRUM AND CEREBELLUM OF THE BRAIN. THIS STATES GOVERNOR HAS APPOINTED A BLUE-RIBBON COMMITTEE TO STUDY THE ENTIRE TRAGEDY. ENDS. FINAL JUNE 5 030 N AP From The Lewiston Daily Sun, Sunday, September 7 (p. 3): The Legacy of TK Scorched Earth and Scorched Hearts CHAMBERLAIN – Prom Night is history now. Pundits have been saying for centuries that time heals all wounds, but the hurt of this small Western Maine town may be mortal. The residential streets are still there on the town's East Side, guarded by graceful Oaks that have stood for two hundred years, the trim saltboxes and ranch styles on Morin Street and Brickyard Hill are still neat and undamaged. But this New England pastoral lies on the rim of a blackened and shattered hub, and many of the neat houses have FOR SALE signs on their front lawns. Those still occupied are marked by black wreaths on front doors. Bright-yellow Allied vans and orange U-Hauls of varying sizes are a common sight on Chamberlain's streets these days. The town's major industry, Chamberlain Mills and Weaving, still stands, untouched by the fire that raged over much of the town on those two days in May. But it has only been running one shift since July 4th, and according to mill president William A. Chamblis, further lay-offs are a strong possibility. ‘We have the orders,' Chamblis said, ‘but you can't run a mill without people to punch the time clock. We don't have them. I've gotten notice from thirty-four men since August 15th. The only thing we can see to do now is close up the dye house and job our work out. We'd hate to let the men go, but this thing is getting down to a matter of financial survival.' Roger Fearon has lived in Chamberlain for twenty-two years, and has been with the mill for eighteen of those years. He has risen during that time from a third-floor bagger making seventy-three cents an hour to dye-house foreman; yet he seems strangely unmoved by the possibility of losing his job. ‘I'd lose a damned good wage,' Fearon said. ‘It's not something you take lightly. The wife and I have talked it over. We could sell the house – it's worth $20,000 easy – and although we probably won't realize half of that, we'll probably go ahead and put it up. Doesn't matter. We don't really want to five in Chamberlain any more. Call it what you want but Chamberlain has gone bad for us.' Fearon is not alone. Henry Kelly, proprietor of a tobacco shop and soda fountain called the Kelly Fruit until Prom Night levelled it, has no plans to rebuild. ‘The kids are gone,' he shrugs. ‘If I opened up again, there'd be too many ghosts in too many corners. I'm going to take the insurance money and retire to St Petersburg.' A week after the tornado of '54 had cut its path of death and destruction through Worcester, the air was filled with the sound of hammers, the smell of new timber, and a feeling of optimism and human resilience. There is none of that in Chamberlain this fall. The main road has been cleared of rubble and that is about the extent of it. The faces that you meet are full of dull hopelessness. Men drink beer without talking in Frank's Bar on the corner of Sullivan Street, and women exchange tales of grief and loss in back yards. Chamberlain has been declared a disaster area, and money is available to help put the town back on its feet and begin rebuilding the business district. But the main business of Chamberlain in the last four months has been funerals. Four hundred and forty are now known dead, eighteen more still unaccounted for. And sixty-seven of the dead were Ewen High School Seniors on the verge of graduation. It is this, perhaps, more than anything else, that has taken the guts out of Chamberlain. They were buried on June 1 and 2 in three mass ceremonies. A memorial service was held on June 3 in the town square. It was the most moving ceremony that this reporter has ever witnessed. Attendance was in the thousands, and the entire assemblage was still as the school band, stripped from fifty-six to a bare forty, played the school song and taps. There was a sombre graduation ceremony the following week at neighbouring Motton Academy, but there were only fifty-two Seniors left to graduate. The valedictorian, Henry Stampel, broke into tears halfway through his speech and could not continue. There were no Graduation Night parties following the ceremony; the Seniors merely took their diplomas and went home. And still, as the summer progressed, the hearses continued to roll as more bodies were discovered. To some residents it seemed that each day the scab was ripped 69 again, so that the wound could bleed afresh. If you are one of the many curiosity-seekers who have been through Chamberlain in the last week, you have seen a town that may be suffering from terminal cancer of the spirit. A few people, looking lost, wander through the aisles of the A&P. The Congregational Church on Carlin Street is gone, swept away by fire, but the brick Catholic Church still stands on Elm Street, and the trim Methodist Church on outer Main Street although singed by fire, is unhurt. Yet attendance has been poor. The old men still sit on the benches in Courthouse Square, but there is little interest in the checkerboards or even in conversation. The over-all impression is one of a town that is waiting to die. It is not enough, these days, to say that Chamberlain will never be the same. It may be closer to the truth to say that Chamberlain will simply never again be. Excerpt from a letter dated June ninth from principal Henry Grayle to Peter Philpott, Superintendent of Schools. †¦ and so I feel I can no longer continue in my present position, feeling, as I do, that such a tragedy might have been averted if I had only had more foresight. I would like you to accept my resignation effective as of July 1, if this is agreeable to you and your staff. . . Excerpt from a letter dated June eleventh from Rita Desjardin, instructor of Physical Education, to Principal Henry Grayle: †¦ am returning my contract to you at this time. I feet that I would kill myself before ever teaching again. Late at night I keep thinking: If I had only reached out to that girl, if only, if only †¦ Found painted on the lawn of the house tot where the White bungalow had been located: CARRIE WHITE IS BURNING FOR HER SINS JESUS NEVER FAILS From ‘Telekinesis: Analysis and Aftermath' (Science Yearbook, 1981), by Dean D. L McGuffin: In conclusion, I would like to point out the grave risk authorities are taking by burying the Carrie White affair under the bureaucratic mat-and I am speaking specifically of the so-called White Commission. The desire among politicians to regard TK as a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon seems very strong, and while this may be understandable it is not acceptable. The possibility of a recurrence, genetically speaking, is 99 per cent. Ifs time we planned now for what may be †¦ From Slang Terms Explained.. A Parents' Guide, by John R. Coombs (New York: The Lighthouse Press, 1985), p. 73: to rip off a Carrie. To cause either violence or destruction; mayhem. confusion; (2) to commit arson (from Carrie White, 1963-1979) From The Shadow Exploded (p. 201): Elsewhere in this book mention is made of a page in one of Carrie White's school notebooks where a line from a famous rock poet of the '60s, Bob Dylan, was written repeatedly, as if in desperation. It might not be amiss to close this book with a few lines from another Bob Dylan song, lines that might serve as Carrie's epitaph: I wish I could write you a melody so plain/ That would save you, dear lady, from going Insane/ That would ease you and cool you and cease the pain/Of your useless and pointless knowledge†¦ From My Name Is Susan Snell (p. 98): This little book is done now. I hope it sells well so I can go someplace where nobody knows me. I want to think things over, decide what I'm going to do between now and the time when my light is carried down that long tunnel into blackness †¦ From the conclusion of The State Investigatory Board of Maine in connection with the events of May 27-28 in Chamberlain, Maine: †¦ and so we must conclude that, while an autopsy performed on the subject indicates some cellular changes which may indicate the presence of some paranormal power, we find no reason to believe that a recurrence is possible or even likely †¦ Excerpt from a letter dated May 3, 1988, from Amelia Jenks, Royal Knob, Tennessee, to Sandra Jens, Maiken, Georgia: ? ­and your little neece is growin like a weed, awfull big for only 2. She has blue eyes like her daddy and my blond hair but that will porubly go dark. Still she is awfull pretty & I think sometimes when she is asleep how she looks like our momma. The other day wile she was playin in the dirt beside the house I sneeked around and saw the funnyest thing. Annie was playin with her brothers marbles only they was mooving around all by themselfs. Annie was giggeling and laffing but I was a little skared. Some of them marbles was going right up & down. It reminded me of gramma, do you remember when the law came up that time after Pete and there guns flew out of there hands and grammie just laffed and laffed. And she use to be able to make her rocker go even when she wasen in it. I gave me a reel bad turn to think on it. I shure hope she don't get heartspels like grammie did, remember? Well I must go & do a wash so give my best to Rich and take care to send us some pitchers when you can. Still our Annie is awfull pretty & her eyes are as brite as buttons. I bet she'll be a worldbeeter someday. All my love, Melia