Character Analysis of Aibileen Clark from the Help Essay

Discrimination is a disease. â€Å"Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them† (Martian Luther King Jr.). The Help is a novel based on how a dozen coloured people express their thoughts on how it really feels to work as a black maid in the white homes of Jackson. The main theme of The Help is race. The coloured people are thought to be dirty, and filled with diseases. Aibileen is strong, brave and is known for her prayer powers. Despite all of that Aibileen is a character that is full of love for young children. Aibileen is thought to have some sort of connection with god that all the other black people of the community lacked. Aibileen is known for her prayers; furthermore anyone who gets on her prayer list is exceedingly lucky. It is as if Aibileen is sitting right in the ears of god and all the other people are in a waiting list for their prayers to be answered. Aibileen was asked by various people if she can pray for them since ‘Rumour is you got some kind a power prayer, gets better results than just the variety’ (Page 27). A time where Aibileen’s prayer was accepted was Eudora Green’s incident. â€Å"Eudora Green, when she broke her hip, went on your list, up walking in a week†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Page 27). Or even when Minny pointed out Lolly Jackson’s incident. †Lolly Jackson—heck, Lolly go on your list and two days later she pop up from her wheelchair like she touched Jesus†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Page 28). It is as if Aibileen does black magic to so me extent. It is impossible to deny that Aibileen is extremely strong and brave. Aibileen had the nerve to step up and be a role model for all the other maids by spilling out everything on how it feels to be a coloured person working for a white person. Notwithstanding what would happen to her if she were to get caught. After all the years of being treated unequally Aibileen finally changed. Aibileen says â€Å"A bitter seed was planted inside a me. And I just didn’t feel so accepting anymore† (Page 183). Aibileen took the risk of her house being burned down, losing her job and never getting a job ever gain and even  getting shot in front of her house. Aibileen is also strong and brave considering the fact that when her son Treelore died in an accident at work. Aibileen said â€Å"It took three months for I even look out the window, see if the worlds there†¦.Five months after the funeral, I lifted myself up out a bed† (Page 3). This is when Aibileen faced the real li fe and didn’t take every word that was said about her and her friends. Due to the fact that Treelore was also writing a book on how it feels to be a coloured man living and working in Mississippi. Aibileen took his steps and accepted to write the book. In the end what really mattered was that Aibileen and her community were proud of what she has done. More than anything else Aibileen possesses a heart filled with love for young children. Aibileen has a ponderous amount of love for her son Treelore and she has special love for Mae Mobley, daughter of Ms. Leefot. Aibileen has an extremely wonderful relationship with Mae Mobley to the extent that she named Mae Mobley her â€Å"special baby†. Aibileen teaches Mae Mobley many things, but one thing she really stresses is racial equality and civil rights. Aibileen tells baby that they have same features. They both have a nose, mouth, eyes, face, hands and everything else. But, the only difference is that Mae Mobley is white and Aibileen is black. Aibileen tells Mae Mobley many things about racial equality in order for her to have some different ways of thinking about race when she is being told different stuff at school. Aibileen also does not want Mae Mobley to become like her mother by making a separate washroom for her later maid, thinking that coloured people are dirty and carry many diseases. Mae Mobley takes Aibileen as her mother because since day one Aibileen took care of her and also due to the fact that her mother ignores her in many occasions and treats her in an extremely way by beating her for going to the coloured washroom. Aibileen even told Mae Mobley a secret story on discrimination every week. Aibileen was shocked one day by the way Mae Mobley was acting when she came back from school. Aibileen asked â€Å"What is wrong, baby? What happen?’ Mae Mobley cried I colored myself black’. Miss Taylor said to draw what we like about ourselves best.’ She said black means I got a dirty, bad face.†(Page 480,481). Aibileen felt a hard fist in her chest thinking that everything that she taught baby girl was about to go to waste on the account of her teacher. In conclusion, Aibileen Clark portrays the life of a maid living in Jackson, Mississippi.  Aibileen had a washroom built for her because she was thought to have many diseases. All the qualities that Aibileen possessed show what type of character she is. Simply, Aibileen is an extremely loving, devoted and strong character. Aibileen went through many struggles in her life. But at the end all that really mattered was that she was proud of herself. Despite being fired and her dearest person to her (Mae Mobley) was taken away from her. Bibliography Stockett, Kathryn. The Help. New York: Penguin Group Inc., 2009

Pygmalion and Pretty Woman Essay

â€Å"I feel just like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman except for that whole hooker thing.† It’s no surprise that Laney, the speaker of these words and heroine of 1999’s She’s All That should feel that way. She could have just as easily said that she felt like Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady because She’s All That is the latest example of a series of movies based on the Pygmalion myth, an occurrence that illustrates Hollywood’s long fascination with this myth. The original Pygmalion story is found in Ovid. Pygmalion is the story of a gifted young sculpter who is a woman hater. Ironically, the sculpture that most fascinates him and that he puts all of his genius into is a statue of a woman. The statue is exquisite, but Pygmalion wasn’t content. He kept tweaking the statue, working on it until it was so well-made that it looked real, and no other woman–real or sculpted–could compare. Pygmalion reached a point, however, where he could improve nothing else on the statue, and he fell in love with his creation. The poor sculpter tried to pretend that the statue was real; he caressed it, tried to dress it up, brought it the gifts he thought a real woman would enjoy. Ultimately, his pitiful situation of his passion came to Venus’ attention. On the goddess of love’s feast day, Pygmalion asked the goddess to let him find a maiden like his statue. Venus knew what Pygmalion really wanted, however, and the flames on her altar leaped up three times, signalling that Pygmalion would get his wish. When Pygmalion arrived home, he discovered that his statue was alive. He named her Galatea, and the two of them were married. What the Pygmalion myth boils down to is a man who creates a woman exactly as he would like her to be. Hollywood remains faithful to the basic events of the myth in each film version it creates. In each film, a man takes a flesh and blood woman and recreates her–usually through a physical makeover but sometimes the makeover goes deeper into thoughts and manners; each man also has the man falling in love with his creation now that she is the way he wants her to look, dress, and act. While Hollywood’s films try to have the male creator realize somewhat during the course of the makeover that the woman is a person in her own right, the actual perception of the man’s noble awakening is weak. Each film adaptation ultimately conveys the idea that the woman is not a worthy individual in her own right until she is molded by the man. His  love, now that she is worthy of it, brings her to life. My Fair Lady, the film musical starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, is actually based on the earlier play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The Galatea in this film is Eliza Doolittle (Hepburn), a poor, dirty flower seller in turn of the century England. The Pygmalion in this film is Henry Higgins (Harrison), a cocky, sexist linguist and phoneticist who believes that diction is what really sets the classes apart. He wagers with Colonel Pickering that through a change in dress and diction, he can turn the lower class Eliza into a lady that will fool high society. The only thing in the wager for Eliza is that she might be able to open her own flower shop and somewhat escape her lower class roots. He bullies Eliza and treats her as an object. To him, she is only an experiment, and it comes as a shock to him that she has feelings and opinions of her own. Higgins succeeds in turning her into a proper lady, but the irony is that as a proper lady, Eliza has almost become a statue, an object. She was a real woman in her natural state. Higgins’ experiment has robbed her of her identity and her natural feelings and has left her with too much class to ever be able to achieve her dream of being able to open a flower shop. She is no longer functional; with her higher class diction and appearance, Eliza is now decorative. While the movie ends with a sense of a love match between Higgins and Eliza, it is unconvincing. In Shaw’s play, Higgins and Eliza never get together, and the film never quite convinces the audience that Higgins’ Pygmalion falls in love with his Galatea. Pretty Woman is the early 90’s take on the Pygmalion myth. The time is modern and the setting has changed to California. The Galatea role has been similarly updated. Instead of being a lower class flower girl, the Galatea is Vivian (Roberts), a prostitute with little education. Vivian’s Pygmalion is Edward (Gere), a wealthy businessman who first appears to have little heart or little need for another person. The two meet over a car and continue their acquaintance because Edward needs a date for his social functions while in California. What is interesting about this film is its reversal of roles. Vivian and Edward fulfill both the Galatea and Pygmalion roles. Vivian undergoes a physical transformation through the designer  clothes necessary to her role as Edward’s date, and her new appearance seems to transform her life as she decides to leave prostitution and endows her with a new sensibility and nobility. Edward’s physical alteration of Vivian through clothes and the exposure to a more cultured society seemingly transforms her from a pretty doll into a real person, making her now worthy of him, and allowing a real relationship to develop between them. Interestingly, though, Vivian isn’t the only one who changes in the film. While Edward’s physical appearance and outer reality need no work, his spirit does. He is the real statue, wooden and without feeling. As Vivian’s noble nature begins to emerge because of her outer transformation, she begins to work transforming magic on him. He becomes a real person capable of feeling and capable of being the prince that Vivian desires. As a result, Pretty Woman might retell the Pygmalion myth the most faithfully. Just as Pygmalion became able to love a woman because of how his creation affected him, Edward is changed and improved through Vivian, his own creation. She’s All That, 1999’s version of the Pygmalion myth and starring Rachel Leigh Cook and Freddie Prinze, Jr., is probably the weakest adaptaton of the myth. Unlike the characters in the previous films, the characters is this film are high school students, and the setting has been moved to a high school. Like the other two films, She’s All That tries to make a social commentary by pitting the higher class, wealthier man against the lower class, poorer woman. The movie begins with rich, handsome Zack (Prinze Jr.) returning from Spring Break to find that his rich, beautiful, and vain girlfriend Taylor has dumped him for a former cast member of MTV’s The Real World. This rejection doesn’t sit well with Zack, who is practically king of the school. Attempting to raise Zack’s spirits, his best friend Dean makes a wager for Zack to prove his superior charms by turning any girl into a prom queen in six weeks. The guttersnip they select is Laney (Cook), a lower class Bohemian artist and outcast who unconvincingly hides her beauty under heavy glasses, paint-spattered clothes, and low self-esteem. Unlike the other films, the makeover in She’s All That isn’t a key element. In this film the makeover takes about five minutes and requires only a skimpy red dress, contact lenses, makeup, plucked eyebrows, and a hair cut to turn ugly duckling Laney into the swan. There also appears to be no other  transformation in Laney and Zack other than the five minute makeover. Unlike the other two films and the original myth itself, their characters do not grow. Zack is already a pretty good guy who never struggles with Laney’s eccentricities or has any emotional problems he must overcome. As for Laney, she may look better, but her character is exactly the same. Hollywood loves the Pygmalion myth as illustrated by the number of films that retell the myth. The problem with Hollywood’s film adaptations, though, is that they are often shallow and anachronistic. Is it really necessary on the cusp of the 21st century to still be making films that have the male trying to transform the heroine into something beautifl and better than what she was before he came along? Why does Hollywood always require the Pygmalion to be wealthy and handsome while the Galatea is poor and ugly–at least surfacely? If filmmakers are going to continue to retell this myth, why don’t they breathe some ingenuity and fresh life into it? Perhaps they cannot because to some extent, all of the films miss the point of the myth. The myth isn’t simply about a man who created his ideal woman; it is also about how two people transform each other into something better than they were before. Perhaps the best and most interesting example of the Pygmalion myth is Overboard, starring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. In this film, Hawn is the rich, vain, and selfish one, while Russell is the decent, hard working, yet flawed Pygmalion. When the two are thrown together, their lives change. Hawn becomes caring and unselfish, acting as cheerleader to Russell’s reinvigorated Pygmalion. The two have fallen in love and changed each other for the better. Pretty Woman  By Jim Emerson Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) is a whore. So is Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts). Only she works on Hollywood Boulevard and he stays at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. â€Å"You and I are both such similar people,† says the Wall Street corporate raider to the streetwalker. â€Å"We both screw people for money.† Pretty Woman sells itself as a contemporary Hollywood fairy tale — Pygmalion Meets Cinderella in Beverly Hills — about two floozies, a corporation man and an â€Å"indieprod† hooker (she keeps her rates low in the  free marketplace by choosing to work without a pimp), who (supposedly) find redemption, or at least financial security, in each other’s lovin’ arms. The fairy tale aspect of the picture almost works like a charm, thanks to some adroit and appealing comic performances (including Laura San Giacomo as Vivian’s hussy roommate and Hector Elizondo as the prim hotel manager) a few snappy one-liners, and Garry Marshallâ €™s sitcom-bright direction, which tries — but finally fails — to bleach out the movie’s darker, scuzzier implications about what money can and cannot buy in America’s culture of greed. Edward has bought and paid for virtually every relationship in his adult life; he treats everyone around him like an employee. While in LA for a week, he hires Vivian (originally in blonde wig, looking like a skinny, slatternly Angie Dickinson) to be his â€Å"date† for a series of business functions, including a fancy dinner and a polo match. Out of the bargain, she gets $3000 cash, a makeover, new clothes and a crash course in what fork to use. Unavoidably, they both get more than they bargained for because — surprise! — they fall in love. And that changes everything. Of course, Cyndi Lauper sang that â€Å"Money Changes Everything.† And in its original, darkly cynical incarnation, the script for Pretty Woman (which could’ve been called Working Girl ) was called 3000, because it was about the money that makes men and women unequal. But even in this heavily processed and polished Disney product, it’s not clear what has actually made the (unc onvincing) difference in these characters’ lives: the love or the money? Finally, all the movie says is that you can be a harlot — in executive offices or on the streets — but if you look like you live in Beverly Hills, then people will suck up to you and it won’t matter who you are or what you do to acquire your money, just as long as you spend lots of it. Of course, it is beyond the scope (or intention) Pretty Woman to sharpen this into an ironic or satirical point. The bleak notion is just there on the screen, acknowledged and reinforced, but never questioned. Vivian (the designated moral superior) compares what Edward does — buying companies, dismantling them, and then selling the pieces for profit — to stealing cars and selling the parts. Edward (the designated economic superior) argues that what he does is perfectly legal. It just doesn’t occur to him (yet) that it’s also parasitical and ethically deplorable. This same lesson appears to have been lost on the makers of Pretty Woman. The movie itself is like a stolen car  that’s been given a spotty paint job in an attempt to conceal the true nature of the vehicle underneath. Scratch this movie’s polished coat ever so slightly and you’ll see that Pretty Woman is a conflicted tale about prostitution and dreams: how we prostitute ourse lves to achieve our dreams, and how those dreams are defiled and compromised by our prostitution. For commercial reasons, the picture desperately tries to skirt or downplay its own underlying themes. Significantly, the crucial, ambivalent lines from Roy Orbison’s title song are buried somewhere in the middle of the movie’s upbeat music mix: â€Å"I don’t believe you/You’re not the truth/No one can look as good as you.† Orbison, at least, knew that enticing appearances could be deceiving. Pretty Woman (the motion picture) does not. In this movie, the clothes make the man (or woman) and if you cry at the opera, it proves you’ve got a cultured soul. Pretty Woman brackets its urban fable with appearances by a black street hustler/panhandler/chorus, who strides through the picture hollering stuff like: â€Å"This is Hollywood where people come to fulfill their dreams! Some dreams come true and some don’t! Believe in your dreams!† The first time this chipper fellow shows up, his comments are juxtaposed with sleazy slices of life on Hollywood Boulevard (crack dealers, pimps, a murdered whore stuffed in a dumpster). His exclamations serve as an ironic (and chilling) comment on what tourists find when they actually travel to the heart of Hollywood: The mythologized home of America’s movie dream factory has fallen into decay and corruption. And yet, when the chorus figure reappears at the film’s Happy Ending, his spiel is suddenly meant to be taken at face value — which, I guess, demonstrates just how corrupted the dream factory has become. So, what are this guy’s dreams? To prowl the streets of Hollywood day and night shouting at people? Pretty Woman doesn’t wanna know†¦ It would have taken the mordant wit and satirical sharpness of a Billy Wilder or a Preston Sturges to get you to appreciate both the emotional surface lie and the deeper moral truth inherent in a story like this — and to fully explore the ironic contrasts between the two. But Pretty Woman isn’t black comedy or satire. It’s tepid, force-fed pabulum, with a few cold and b itter lumps that have slipped through the studio strainer which make it very hard for all but the most inattentive viewers to swallow. Pretty Woman can’t handle the contradictions it raises. It’s simply schizoid — probably because the  aforementioned screenplay has been subjected to major Disnification in the development process, tarted up with an imperative feel-good ending that negates every valid observation that has preceded it. At one point, Vivian speaks for Disney (and audiences) when tells Edward, flat-out: â€Å"I want the fairy tale.† Inevitably, she gets it — thus violating all narrative and character logic. She knows it’s not true, and so do we, but we’ll take the Disney version so we don’t have to think about it. Apparently, test audiences wanted to buy into the fantasy, too — integrity and verisimilitude be damned. And so, a form of moral nausea creeps up on you as you watch â€Å"Pretty Woman,† growing from the realization that the unequal economic/power basis of this relationship isn’t going to change, Happy Ending or not. Vivian herself recognizes as much. Nevertheless, all your (and, it seems, Vivian’s) movie-conditioned reflexes make you hope-against-hope that these two will stay together. You want the Hooker with the Heart of Gold to make Edward see how degenerate his social and business practices are. You want him to play White K night and rescue Vivian from the streets, carrying her off to his penthouse castle. You want those Pavlovian wedding bells to ring so that you can salivate. Then you recall the real world, and people like Ivan Boesky or Michael Milken, and you want to puke in disgust. Edward becomes the movie’s hero when he prevents an associate from raping Vivian and decides not to commit a comparably despicable business transaction at work. During the Reagan ’80s, moral decisions we used to regard as minimum requirements for anyone with a conscience have somehow become grounds for sainthood in the movies. Maybe Pretty Woman isn’t really a tainted romantic comedy after all, but a sort of latent horror film about the ethical/economic decay of America. Sounds like a hit!

Louis Vuitton Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Louis Vuitton - Case Study Example Since the brand has loyal and a choosy customer base, its customers are highly likely to interpret such a move as a loss in the brand’s worth. The brand, however, may benefit from an increased presence in emerging high income countries and unexploited markets such as India. At an exchange rate of $ 1.50, the value of $ 8, 000 is equivalent to 10, 000 euros. When the price reduces by 10 percent, the value of revenues in dollars become $ 7, 200. At a strengthened exchange rate of $ 1.25, this presents a value of 9, 000 euros. The company, therefore, loses 1000 euros at the new exchange rate. It is essential to highlight that when the exchange rate weakens, the company loses some money out of the current revenues. The demand curve of a typical Louis Vuitton customer shapes differently because of notable reasons. To begin with, it is essential to note that a normal demand curve should show an inverse relationship between prices and level of consumption. This is because as prices increases, consumers buy less of given goods because their budgets are constrained. Louis Vuitton, however, is different because it sells luxury products that entail superior craftsmanship. A knowledgeable and loyal customer, therefore, is able to face a premium price in purchasing a given item. Besides, the brand builds on exclusivity and classiness that it would always strive to drive away its goods from mass consumption (Haig, 2006). Loyal customers are willing to pay higher prices because such prices exclude other ordinary customers from accessing the Louis Vuitton goods. Besides, the luxury market that Louis Vuitton exploits has wealthy customers whose demand curves are inelastic to price increases. In close relat ion to this, the performance of developed economies such as the US and Europe can withstand such price increases. When individuals face improved economic lives, there arises a new set customers of Louis Vuitton

Are Science and Religion in Conflict Research Paper - 1

Are Science and Religion in Conflict - Research Paper Example Many are the times when religion has various inconsistencies with science. While some people are alight with religion, some do not find this route appealing. As a matter of fact, there have been various debates that try to bring religion and science together. Many parties have come up with strong points that are aimed to settle the differences (Draper, 2010). However, not a single party is willing to water down their stand. As such, they have been in constant opposition as to which has a legitimate stand. Consequentially, some people are torn in between as they come to terms with issues raised by both sides of the divide. Most people only focus on the positive attributes of the two sides. As such, they do not have a concrete decision to fully settle for either religion or science. For these reasons, this paper answers the question as to whether there is a conflict between religion and science. Religion is based on religious practices and beliefs which are taught in defined settings a nd contained in various literature. Religious norms state that their followers have to uphold utmost faith in their beliefs. As such, they are to follow religious teachings and values at all times. One of the most outstanding issues in religion is that God is the creator of everything. Since He is the supreme creator, human beings have no legitimacy to compare themselves to the Supreme Being. In this case, humans have no reason to compare themselves to the Almighty through His mysterious ways (Radcliffe, 2012). The point is that religious fraternities are not in agreement with scientific innovations with scientists trying to compare their creations with those of the Almighty. The most outstanding example in this case is cloning. Science has made it possible for humans to create other humans through cloning, which is a scientific way of breeding humans through science. This is unacceptable to many religions as followers consider this to be mimicking their Creator. As a matter of fact , they consider the Almighty as a steadfast priority and should not be compared to anything else that exists or ever existed (Draper, 2010). For a human being to glorify cloning is ridicule to God as stated by the religious fraternities. Therefore, according to religious groups, the numerous scientific innovations are ill advised and should not try to compare their innovations with God’s creations. This has been a heated point of argument as scientists advance on their innovation in total disregard of the sentiments from the religious people. On the other hand, scientists state that there is no point of concern with their innovations in regard to cloning. In fact, some scientists state that the Almighty gave humans the brain as well as the right to fill the earth. As such, they are enhancing the Almighty’s task to multiply the human population and fill the earth. Since this is a strong point, scientists feel that they have an obligation to increase the human population in an easier and scientific way. Consequentially, religious fraternities state that this is not the intended approach to multiplication of the human kind. They state that the Almighty intended for the natural way of multiplying human beings. As such, these religious fraternities are totally against cloning of human beings. This creates a serious drift between the two parties as each tries to justify their opinions and approaches (Bury, 2010). Since they all have their supporting points and references, they seem to be in conflict. Apparently, this conflict seems to intensify with each development and cannot be solved on a round table agreement. Conflict arises between religion and science especially when there is such a profound contention. As a matter of fact, religious groups have one thing in common, which is their beliefs and faith in a superior being (Dennett & Plantinga, 2010). Therefore, all the people that interact with the religious groups will have to assert their beliefs

Poverty and Economic Devastation in Jamaica Essay

Poverty and Economic Devastation in Jamaica - Essay Example This essay analyzes not only positive changes that independence gave to Jamaican people, but also the negative role of multinational corporations, that was foreseen as early as 1776 by the father of Economics, Adam Smith. In his ground-breaking book, â€Å"Wealth of Nations† that was discussed in the essay and set the foundation for the field of modern Economics, Smith wrote that corporations would eventually work to cleverly escape the laws that govern the market, they would narrow the competition, raise their profits and try to meddle with setting of prices and control of trade. Such negative role of the corporation in the country's history happened in Jamaica as well. amaica’s problems began in 1962 when it secured independence from England. This essay focuses on effects of struggling economy that is characterized by chronic debts, illiteracy, and an ancient medical system. The researcher describes that the country badly needed finance to address its problems and app roached private banks, but only got the cold shoulder treatment. The researcher also describes Jamaican government policies on social topics and refers to cultural features of modern Jamaica and it's citizens through examples such as movies, books on the topic of economic devastation and poverty in the country. The Rastafari movement, that emerged as a platform to fight local poverty and disenchantment also is mentioned in the essay. In conclusion, the researcher hopes that proper boost in tourism can generate much needed revenue to Jamaica and its beleaguered citizens.

Ethical dilemma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Ethical dilemma - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that ethics is at the core of every practice in the field of childcare. When childcare workers deal with an ethical dilemma, they must be guided by the essential values which underpin ethical framework, honesty, and trust. When dealing with a dilemma, it is important to follow the Ethical Response circle (ERC) to resolve the dilemma. If one educator or director handles the issue without supporting evidence, the dilemma won’t be resolved completely. When a dilemma arises it is important that the staff follow the ERC using supporting documents to support them. The researcher’s   group chose Ethical dilemma 3. The dilemma centered around a preschool boy who was wearing a female clothing when his dad arrived to pick him up. The father got really angry seeing his son in female clothing. The childcare educator tried to explain the situation, but the boy’s father was really frustrated. So the researchers started the Ethical Response Circle, where I had the role of the child. Each of the group members posted a reactionary response according to the stages provided by the tutor.   At the end, the researchers reached a resolution. The child’s best interests were the main focus of the discussion between the parents and the childcare center staff. The researchers agreed to provide the boy's parents with information about our program, their son's interests and choices of activities by using the daily communication book.  ... But sometimes there is usually a difference between the parents knowledge and the career professional's knowledge. These are noted as factors inhibiting parent-career partnerships. In this dilemma there is a big gap between the partnership of the centre and the parents. That is why we looked at NQS Element 1.1.6. Each child’s agency is promoted, enabling them to make choices and decisions and to influence events and their world. Early childhood professionals have an important role in advocating for children (Smith, A. B. (2007). But advocating for children is not about undermining the role of parents. That was why we moved to the next level of the ERC; Professional Consideration. At this level, we believed that it was important to support our practice and policies by addressing the Code of Ethics as the key factor of our professionalism. The Code of Ethics acknowledged that in relation to children we must â€Å"Acknowledge his uniqueness and potential to ensure he enjoys his childhood†. Besides this we incorporated The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and the National Quality Standard (NQS) into daily life at our centre. Our professional staff plan daily activities based on their observations, extend them when children show interest in particular themes and we also use intentional teaching as part of our program. We encouraged the boy's parents to borrow the copies of EYLF and NQS to get a better idea about the principles that our professional team follows to enhance children’s learning and development. After that the boy's parents showed more interest in listening to us. This is when we moved to next circle in ERC. The next circle was ethical principles. According to

Management information system Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management information system - Research Paper Example w material, labor, managerial skills and manufacturing from the different parts of the world where they can be achieved at a good quality and rate, and use technology for communication, logistics and dispatch : (Magee, Copacino & Rosenfield, 1985). In this way, they are able to achieve a strategic fit between the company’s ability and the outcome expectation, increasing the efficiency rate and productivity. The use of technology alone is not a sufficient explanation of the countless possibilities and opportunities these invention pose. Their use varies from the customized machinery, sophisticated communication, swift logistics and the use of smart information systems to enhance the business processes. The strength of one or many of its key technologies can lead to them obtaining competitive advantage over the other market rivals. This brings us to the focus of this study i.e. Management Information systems. The aim of this paper is to highlight the concept and importance of MIS and how it helps B2B businesses to make their processes easier, faster, accurate and real-time. Businesses involve the management of an array of information that is accumulated from it various processing. For example, a simple sale has to show a decrease in the inventory, increase in the revenues and increase in the procurement order. Apart from the strictly business related processes, organizations also have to ensure that they are complete updated information of their employees, performance evaluations, compensation program briefs etc. there are several underlying areas of data underneath the title of these major ones. Managers of today have the task of using this information to gain meaningful data. They also strive to integrate their processes and link them technologically so that one change can automatically change the subsequent data that related to it. In this way managers have real-time information about the various processes at any given time. Management information systems are

Country Risk Premium Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Country Risk Premium - Essay Example The risk models that are often utilized for corporate financial valuation, it is essential to undertake the ultimate estimation with regards to the risk and return premiums for the average investments termed as equity or market risk premium. It is hence vital for validating the Capital AssetsPricing Model, since it is currently considered as the most utilized both in the practical and theoretical analysis.The research shows that; investors often have to make some cognitive strategies on the verge of investing in emerging countries. This is due to the fact that undertaking huge investments in emerging countries such as Latin America countries, Asia and South East Europe, among others is considered as being riskier than doing so in developed markets such as that of Japan, Western Europe, and the USA. Certainly, the investments returns are also a little bit lower in the developed markets as compared to that of the emerging markets. The estimates of the much-needed return rates based on the developed markets scenario is mostly done with the Capital Assets Pricing Model. The practical weaknesses of this perspective are greatly recognized although there is a wide acceptance of its theoretical fundamentals. In the case of the emerging markets, it is often deemed as being more challenging to assess the return rates. The country risk should usually be rewarded with the country risk premium based on the required return rate with regards to an equivalent rate of investment in the developed countries.

Disclousuer requirments in securities regulation between Saudi Arabia Research Paper - 1

Disclousuer requirments in securities regulation between Saudi Arabia and united States (compareson) - Research Paper Example Disclosures imply that public should be informed of any investment decisions, while the undermining of this confidence leads to the collapse of the securities market harming national economy for a very long period of time. Saudi Arabia is considered to be one of the largest developing stock markets in the world. Nowadays it shows increasing demands for various investments in corporate securities. While in 2006, Saudi Arabia securities market was regarded as the market which suffered from the lack of transparency and disclosure credibility less than average due to the economic crisis happened in this state. Great part of the investors received no compensation for the caused damages and had no any practical possibility to protect their rights with respect to the securities rights. Thus, some scholars define the current legislation of Saudi Arabia on the securities law and its disclosure as existing in place, but not functional in practice. Despite this fact, some states share the views that Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that has relatively strong disclosure requirements. This country is able to ensure investor’s protection during exercising of business transactions. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to describe the disclosure requirements applicable to the securities in Saudi Arabia and it comparison with the strong securities market conditions prevailing within the USA market. In Saudi Arabia, some principles applicable to the issuers of securities exist. Hence, issuers that offer securities through public offer are always subject to disclosure requirements involving shareholder voting decisions and equal treatment to each other. In any case, the body governing the issue of securities requires submission of the reports on the disclosure of significant amount of shareholders of the companies. At the same time, Saudi Arabia implements main

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Essay Example for Free

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Essay After reading the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I got a much better understanding of what that title means. When you think of part-time you normally think of having a part-time job when you only work some days but not all the time. Well that is a lot like the life of the main character in this story. Throughout the book, Junior manages to be â€Å"half Indian† and â€Å"half white. † He says â€Å" It was like being Indian was my job. How could someone be â€Å"half Indian† and â€Å"half white? † If you have ever moved to new town, or changed schools, then you probably have a pretty good idea how Junior felt throughout the book. After Mr. P talks Junior into getting out of the REZ the only option Junior has, is to travel twenty three miles to Reardan and attend school with the white kids. Being the weirdest and least popular kid, life on the REZ must have been tough. Having parents that drank all the time, and spent money that Juniors family did not have on Alcohol made it hard for him to have clean clothes, and a new outfit to wear now and then. But having a best friend like Rowdy made things a little bit easier. Rowdy was Juniors secret keeper, he also beat anyone up that tried to hurt Junior and was all ways there for him. Well up in till the day Junior changed schools, everyone on the REZ hated Junior they looked at him like he was some sort of trader or bad person. His first day at Reardan was tough, Reardan was the complete opposite of school back on the REZ. It was opposite of his family, and it was opposite of him. The only good part of the day was meeting Penelope. Junior gassed in wonder at her beauty, blond hair and blue eyes he had never seen anything so beautiful. Things were a lot different at Reardan, on Halloween Junior dressed like a homeless man, which was pretty easy for him since there was not much difference between his good clothes and his bad clothes.

Human Behavior Is Unpredictable Management Essay

Human Behavior Is Unpredictable Management Essay This research sought to find out the gaps that exist in the Karatina University Colleges performance management system and to come up with recommendations for adjustments that will put the institution on a path towards continuous performance improvement. The objective of the study was to determine how the institution conducts performance appraisal, the main challenges faced in the appraisal process, and the best practices that it can adopt for the process. Literature review was conducted on the subject touching on the various aspect of performance management. The study was conducted using a survey research design. Primary data was collected using self-administered questionnaires with supplements of secondary data used to add efficacy to the results. The questionnaires were administered on randomly chosen members of faculty in the common School of Business Staff room. Descriptive statistics were used including percentages and frequencies. The results were presented in tables in the an alysis for each objective. Human behavior is unpredictable and differs among individuals or even on the same individual at different points in time (Hunt, 2007). Human beings also differ in their abilities, background, training and experience. At the same time, Dr. Nigel Hunt notes that many problems facing most organizations today are social rather than technical or economic. It therefore goes that human resource at work is the most important component of the undertaking. It is therefore very important for organizations to measure performance of this critical resource as doing so ensures organisational success. 10 Performance Management (PM) has recently dominated the Human Resource Management (HR) as a profession owing to the realization that HR is the one of the most potent source of competitiveness in todays operating environment. Insights into performance management by leading thinkers in the recent past (Armstrong, 2009) point to the emergence of Performance Management as the most viable solution to address the productivity lag in most industries. Performance Management is a branch of human resource management whose objective is to support employees in their struggle to attain their goals as well as those of the organisation (Bhattacharyya, 2006). Bhattacharyya explains that PM gained prominence in the 1960s when competition in the operating environment led firms to reexamine their internal operating efficiencies to survive. A difficult operating environment coupled with a desire for productivity led firms to emphasize on productivity of not only their machines but also their human resource. Armstrong (2009) explains that Performance management as a term emerged in the 1970s and was later gained prominence in the 1980s as a distinct discipline within human resource management. Presently, most organizations have embraced performance management as a pillar of productivity in the organisation. As Abbey (2007) describes, performance management has taken prominence in organizations as a vehicle to deliver on organisational and indi vidual performance objectives. Abbey emphasizes that the incorporation of individual objectives into the performance management paradigm made performance management distinct from mere performance appraisal. Performance appraisal emphasized the degree of accomplishment of a given individual by supervisors without seeking the active involvement of the employee in the process (Management Study Guide, 2012). Measuring employee performance therefore goes beyond staff appraisal to include other aspects of performance such as learning and development, talent management and culture change as key contributors to organisational productivity (Armstrong, 2009). Performance management provides the only tool with which the management can evaluate departmental/sectional contributions to the overall organizational performance as well as determine the best options for intervention. For effective achievement of organizational objectives, employees must know what needs to be done and the overall objectives of the organisation (Dransfield, 2000). Besides the knowledge of the overall organizational objectives, individual employees must have knowledge of their particular role within the broader organisational setting. This way, and as Dransfield (2000) notes, all the players in the organizational production chain share a common objective and pull towards the same direction. This is particularly important in that it harnesses organisational synergies in pursuit of a common goal and aligns daily activities within an organization to the overall strategic objectives. Performance management is done to compare relative variations in performance over time for organizations. Output from performance management process is also used for comparison with similar industries or benchmarks and establishing basis for corrective action (Management Study Guide, 2012). The nature of organizational power structure means that senior management cannot keep a direct watch over the performance of the subordinates and therefore a self-corrective process has to be initiates to assess their performance against objectives of the organizations. Performance management also inculcates the culture of sticking to organisational objectives and ignoring the activities that do not add value to the organisational value chain (Management Study Guide, 2012). Though it is impossible to forestall all management challenges, performance management helps the management take steps in advance to improve organizational capacity to deal with unexpected situations The Management Study Guide website details the evolution of performance management as a discipline within the wider human resource management in four phases. The first phase involved filling of annual confidential reports to control employee behavior. Career development was pegged on positive evaluation in the annual confidential report. The second phase entailed communication of the contents of annual report to the employees to correct the identified failings. The last phase involved replacement of the annual confidential reports by performance appraisal process where employees could rate their accomplishment annually. Today, performance appraisals have given way to performance management. The process entails performing continuous reviews based on mutually agreed objectives. The focus of performance appraisal is quantifiable objectives behaviors and values as opposed to employee traits (Management Study Guide, 2012). Appraisal processes are more of directive than participative thus stifling team effort (Leung and White, 2004). The output from performance appraisal is not directly linked to pay as was for the performance appraisals process. Guest, D E et al, (1996) aptly described performance management process as concerned with assumptions, expectations, mutual obligations and promises of employees and the organization. With the continuous change in operating environment, businesses have leveraged on human resource as their basis of obtaining and maintaining competitive advantage (Bhattacharyya, 2006). However, appraisal processes misses the crucial aspects that sustain a firms competitiveness as earlier describes including the wider strategic framework within which the organization operates. A system that emphasizes on employee mentorship and development as opposed to remuneration and disciplinary action enhances organizational output (Tripathi Reddy, 2008). Performance Management requires continuous output by in time for action to be taken. Panagar (2009) explains that employees are disappointed when annual appraisals bring negative feedback and do not point to the areas of improvements that an employee needs to focus on. He offers that participative evaluation in performance management contextualize the management to the working environment and challenges them to facilitate positive change for achievement of objectives. Continuous and balanced feedback enhances coordination and cooperation in organizations (Heskett, 2006). Besides, Heskett cites that employees achievements should be emphasized as opposed to dwelling on areas of improvement to encourage them to do more. Human behavior is unpredictable and differs among individuals or even on the same individual at different points in time (Hunt, 2007). Human beings also differ in their abilities, background, training and experience. At the same time, Dr. Nigel Hunt notes that many problems facing most organizations today are social rather than technical or economic. It therefore goes that human resource at work is the most important component of the undertaking. It is therefore very important for organizations to measure performance of this critical resource as doing so ensures organisational success. 1.2 Statement of the Problem Upon appraising employees and provision of feedback, most organizations wait until the next planned appraisal exercise (Hunt, 2007). Hunt offers that performance management in most organisation stops at the employee evaluation process and mostly after there is sufficient evidence pointing to non-performance. However, this defeats the main objective of the performance management process as an undertaking in aligning employees goals to goals to those of the organisation. This keeps the whole organization focus on its strategic objectives by harnessing collective efforts of its workers. Hunt states four issues that need to be taken into consideration in the performance management process namely following up to ensure achievement of targets, evaluating the entire process to ensure that it is appropriate and fair and do not foster conflict in the organisation. Observance of these four standpoints guarantees employee job satisfaction and continuous improvement in the organization. In most organizations, employees harbor qualms on the appraisal process (Shaddock, 2010). Shaddock attributes the negative perception to the use of appraisal results as evidence of poor performance instead of discussing performance with the employees to find common ground. The infrequent manner in which appraisal process is conducted adds to the subjectivity of the results as managers are more prone to conduct the exercise when performance is deteriorating (Tripathi Reddy, 2008). Tripathi and Reddy explain that the effect of these appraisal processes leave employees disillusioned and afraid to take risks leave alone accepting the fact that continuous improvement can enhance their success and by extension that of the organizational. As a result, employees lose their sense of control over the situation and resign to the directives of the management without their own insights. This contrasts with the new human resource management paradigm that emphasizes on mentorship, coaching and emp owerment (Dacri, 2006). 1.3 Purpose of the Study This research sought to find out the gaps that exist in the KUCs performance management system and to come up with recommendations for adjustments that will put the institution on a path towards continuous performance improvement. 1.4 Research Questions 1.4.1 How does KUC conduct performance appraisal? 1.4.2 What are the main challenges faced in the appraisal process? 1.4.3 What are the best practices that KUC can adopt for performance appraisals? 1.5 Significance of the Study 1.5.1 Human Resource Managers and Practitioners The head of human resource at the institution as well as others will get insights into the performance of their organizations and the best practices they can employ to achieve the best output from the human resource. The research will reveal insights on the frequency of performance appraisal and how best to achieve the desired results. Besides, the research will reveal the benefits of communication between the managers and employees. It will lead to clear understanding of job descriptions by the employees and better performance measurement. This will go a long way in boosting efficiency and effectiveness at the workplace. 1.5.2 Organizations The research will emphasize the role of performance management process in the achievement of strategic objectives of the organization. It will also enlighten the employees on their role in the organisation as well as the opportunities they have to advance boost their performance and by extension their careers. The research will particularly emphasize on the role of the performance management process on continuous improvements within the organization. This will position organization on a path to responsive change needed for survival in todays operating environment (Management Study Guide, 2012). 1.5.2 Employees The research will provide employees with an opportunity to evaluate their performance appraisal system and to suggest adjustments to align it with the organisational objectives. The employees will have an opportunity to express their desired outcomes of the performance management process that best serves the interests of both them and the organizations. Besides, the research will expose new areas that employees need training. Lastly, the employees will feel that the organisation is concerned about their welfare just as much as it is concerned about the performance of the organisation. 1.6 Scope of the Study The study was performed on a group of workers at Karatina University College. Data was collected on the month of February and March to reflect the current operational context of the organization. a review of literature was performed as well as secondary data on performance management concepts, the challenges faced and benefits that can accrues in evaluating an organizations performance. 1.7 Definition of Terms 1.7.1 Performance Appraisal Performance Management is an ongoing communication process, undertaken in partnership, between an employee and his or her immediate supervisor that involves establishing clear expectations and understanding of the functions expected of the employee and their contribution towards the achievement of the organizational goals (Robert Basal, 1999). 1.7.2 Performance Management Performance management refers to the proactive system of evaluating and providing feedback on employee output in line with the desired results. It aims at harmonizing employee and organisational objectives to achieve operational excellence (Management Study Guide, 2012). 1.7.3 Benchmarking Benchmarking is adopting best practices in the industry to guide organizational effort. It involves leaning from success of others (Peters, 2006). 1.7.4 Key performance Indicators These are performance measurement for key values necessary to achieve success in an undertaking (Reh, 2010). 1.8 Chapter Summary This chapter puts into perspective the concept of performance management and its application in modern day operating environment. The chapter defines the concept and differentiates it from performance appraisal as more elaborate and supportive of firms strategic objectives. The chapter also detailed the purpose of the study that was to find out the gaps that exist in the KUCs performance management system and to come up with recommendations for adjustments that will put the institution on a path towards continuous performance improvement. In this pursuit, the three research questions to be answered were identified and the population from which the sample was drawn. Lastly, the research lists the beneficiaries of the research including employees, human resource managers and organizations keen to gain competitiveness from their human resource. CHAPTER TWO 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction Chapter 2 is a discussion on the various publications on the subject of performance management in line with the objectives of this research. The objectives of this research was to find out how performance appraisal is conducted, establish the main challenges faced in the appraisal process and identification of the best practices that KUC can adopt for performance appraisals. 2.2 The process of Performance Appraisal 2.2.1 Performance Appraisal explained Performance appraisal is a periodic assessment of employee performance and productivity line with the objectives of the organization (Manasa Reddy, 2009). Results of the process are used to gauge employees accomplishments as well as their potential for future improvements. Performance appraisal is done annually with the feedback used to counsel and develop employees, identify their training needs and align the compensation structures within the organisation (Manasa Reddy, 2009). Performance appraisal differs from performance management in that the earlier is carried out on a top-down basis with the supervisor acting as the judge with minimal employee involvement (Management Study Guide, 2012). Grote (2002) rightfully stated that the objective of the performance appraisal was to value each employees contribution against his rewards and take corrective action if the disparity is large. For this reason, performance appraisal was done on an annual or biannual basis depending on the particular entity. On the contrary, performance management focuses on the mutual objectives set by the employees and the management through a dialogue process (Management Study Guide, 2012). It is done continually and focuses on quantifiable objectives, behaviors and values (Management Study Guide, 2012). It thus leaves no room for subjectivity of the supervisor and aims at determining the points of improvements available to both the employer an employee. Performance management dates back to the early 20th century when Fredrick Taylor equated employees compensation to their output at work (Vroom, 1990). In those times, appraisal was less formal than it is today and involved the aspect of units produced per given time (Lyster, Eteoklis Arthur, 2007). ***** offers that performance appraisal is a mere step within the wider performance management paradigm. He notes that performance appraisal is an objective analysis of the facts and not the person. After getting the results of performance appraisal exercise, the wider process of performance management moves a step towards the final goal of aligning organisational and employees goals. According to ***, positive results are celebrated while negative results should prompt development of an improvement plan. Performance appraisal uses a number of methods including graphic rating, ranking, behavioral anchored rating and management by objectives (Cokins, 2009). Cokins explains that the choice of the method used for appraisal depends on the goals of the organizations. Zaffron and Steve (2009) add that regardless of the method used, regular communication and feedback from the managers is essential for success of the appraisal process. That way, work teams in an organization feel that they are working towards a common goal (Grote, 2002). 2.2.2 Purpose of Performance Evaluation. Heskett (2006) attributes the negative perception of performance appraisal among employees to the general lack of understanding about the purpose of appraisal. The Management Study Guide (2012) details out that performance management helps in defining responsibilities of both the individual and the team in the Key Result Areas. That way, coordination and control among the various departments in an organization becomes easy. The Management Study Guide notes that knowledge of responsibilities enables the employees to take initiative and work towards their set targets while improving their areas of weakness. This is as affirmed by Daniels (2006) that an objective and participative performance management process fosters learning and continuous improvement as opposed to breeding animosity. Performance management cultivates a feeling of shared mutual accountabilities within an organization (Shepard, 2005). This way, Sheppard notes that employees are able to overcome resistance to change and are ready to improve on KRAs. Leahy (2003) who offered that effective performance management anchors other operational metrics like the balanced scorecard has supported the views. Effective performance management is crucial in motivating employees (Akrani, 2011). Akrani notes that performance management starts with employees setting goals that they intend to achieve over a given period. The employee assesses what he/she has done against the set targets. Given that the employer and the supervisor mutually set the targets for performance, the employee strives to reach the set targets (Akrani, 2011). Performance below the set standard is taken as an opportunity to improve as it is within the employees capacity to achieve. Beach (2007) explains that the employees give up trying if they feel that the set targets will not be achieved. Since the performance management entails mutual goal setting, such incidences are unlikely to occur. Instead, and as Akrani points out, performance management helps organizations determine the training and capacities for each of their employees. Gamble, Strickland and Thompson (2007) explain that data obtained from performance appraisal is crucial in determining the right people to execute organizational strategy. Employees with the highest performance are easily identified and encouraged to undertake roles that are more challenging. In most cases, results from performance appraisals are used in the determination of employee compensation (Heathfield, n.d) a fact that Kirby (2005) detests. Appraisals are used to determine compensation and promotion levels that assist in linking rewards to performance among the staff (Heathfield, n.d). However, appraisals on their own should not be used as basis for promotions and rewards (Kirby, 2005). Given that the main goal of performance management process is to assist employees in setting goals and aligning them to those of the organization, it is crucial for performance and rewards framework be aligned to this process as opposed to mere performance appraisal (Lyster, Eteoklis Arthur, 2 007). Lastly, performance appraisals play a huge part in shaping behaviors and attitudes of employees (Panager, 2009). Panager notes that employees relate well with the management and are responsive to the changing demands of their workplace. This is consistent with the Conaty and Ram (2011) assertion that human resource is the strongest catalyst or inhibitor of organisational change efforts. Performance management helps an organization to gauge its human resources effectiveness in coping with change (Conaty Ram, 2011). 2.2.3 Common Performance Appraisal Practices. The most common performance appraisal practice involves ranking employees from the best to the worst (Griffin, 2007). The method is mainly subjective with the supervisors judgment being crucial in the ranking of each employee. This subjective approach exposes the process to bias and manipulation by the management. Lunenburg Ornstein (2011) offer that ranking involves the supervisor rating each employee based on employees traits and behaviors in comparison with the rest in the organisation. Despite its subjective nature, ranking gives a clear picture of employee performance relative to the rest of the employees within the organisation and offers them real models that they can follow within the organisation (Coens, Jenkins Block, 2002). However, Griffin (2007) offers that ranking method is prone to bias and can result in poor relationships within work teams. Besides, ranking stifles the opportunity for feedback within an organization and sows a feeling of inferiority among underachie vers (Coens, Jenkins Block, 2002). In the same way, Coens, Jenkins and Block note that persons who are consistently ranked on top of the rest lack an opportunity to improve on their performance as they feel they have done enough. Lastly, Beach (2007) explains that ranking creates an adversarial relationship between work teams that stifles the spirit of cooperation between employees. Paired comparison resembles ranking method only that the performance of each employee is compared to that of every other employee based on a single criterion (Mondy, 2008). If an employee receives the highest number of favorable comparisons, s/he is ranked the highest. The process is more objective compared to the ranking method but poses huge problems for organizations with large numbers of employees (Mondy, 2008). Another performance appraisal system commonly used in organizations is the graphic rating scale. Under the system, evaluators judge performance of employees on a scale of about 5-7 categories (Mondy, 2008). These categories depict the rating of the employees by use of appropriate adjectives such as needs improvement, outstanding, average, meets expectations etc. The method is good in that it can be quantified by assigning numeric values to the descriptors. It is also easy to administer and can be tailored to meet specific needs of a given organization (Mondy, 2008). Under the forced distribution method, the evaluator assigns individuals to a limited number of categories, similar to the normal frequency distribution curve. Few individuals get very high ratings while a few get very low ratings. Most of the employees rate at the center of the curve (Armstroong, 2009). Mathis and Jackson (2011) decry that this system explicitly calls for evaluators to distinguish between winners and losers even if their performance is not rightly so. For this reason, the method is unpopular among managers and employees as it stifles the concept of employee development and assumes that there must always be very good and very poor performers in the same organisation (Mathis Jackson, 2011). It also creates cutthroat competition among employees that disarrays synergy (Beach, 2007). Another employee appraisal technique is called critical incident method. Under the method, the evaluator maintains records of favorable and unfavorable performance during critical incidences (Mondy, 2008). These incident log records are maintained continually and are used as indicators of employee performance. Ostrom and Wilhelmsen (2012) explain that this method lacks intellectual merit as it is dependent on the frequency of occurrence of critical incidences. Behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) is an appraisal technique that aspects of critical incident method and the rating scale method (Mondy, 2008). Under the method, the performance level of each employee is described on a scale. The evaluator then compares the different performance of each employee to decide the best performing and those in need of more training. Mondy offers that this system is more objective but is hard to quantify for further analysis. One of the most common performance appraisal methods today is referred to as Management by Objective (MBO). Mathis and Jackson (2011) and Mondy (2008) define the method as a result based system under which the employees and managers set objectives together that form the basis of appraisal in the next appraisal period. The employee actual output is compared to the set performance targets and points of improvements identified (Griffin, 2007). Management by objectives arises allows management to see the wider picture of the organsaitional and the part that each employee plays in it and to remain on curse to achieving the overall strategic objectives of the firm (Drucker, 1954). Employees also conduct a self-audit of their performance potential and chart out the best course for attaining the mutually agreed goals (Pecora, Cherin Bruce, 2009). 2.3.4 Frequency of Performance Appraisals. In most organizations, employees and their supervisors deliberate on their performance over a given period typically annually, biannually or quarterly (Garber, 2004). Tripathi and Reddy (2008) list two major forms of performance appraisal namely summative and formative. They explain that a summative performance is done occasionally typically in three to six months relative to the organization in question. On the contrary, formative appraisal is done continually typically daily. Formative appraisals are important in that the employees can track their performance over time and determine their weak points for improvement. This is as opposed to summative appraisals under which employees have no trail of their past performance (Management Study Guide, 2012). Many scholars emphasis on the need to perform appraisals based on a schedule (Miller Braswell, 2010; London, 2003; Mathis Jackson, 2011). Routine performance appraisal avoids the temptation of focusing on irrelevant activities (London, 2003). That said, the management is responsible for ensuring continuous performance appraisal taking care not to forget critical incidences (Miller Braswell, 2010). Though appraisal is done continually according to the set schedule, it is important for the managers and subordinates to sustain informal communication throughout the performance period to take advantage of any opportunity to change negative trend (Edwards et.al, 2003). Edwards et al also cites the preemption of negative surprises at the end of an appraisal period as good reasons for maintenance of these informal contacts. Abbey (2007) notes that in most organizations, appraisal forms are used to capture employees accomplishment in the past year as well as some aspects such as their rela tionships with team members, their personality traits and flexibility, etc. 2.3 Challenges are faced in Performance Appraisal process Most organizations experience challenges in their appraisal processes. Deming (2000) once cited that performance appraisal is one of the most powerful inhibitor to quality and productivity. More recently, Lee (2006) offered that performance appraisals inspire hate and distrust among employees. Challenges in performance appraisal occur from the fact that the processes are based on widely held and invalid assumptions that hold back progress (Scholtes, 2008). Lee aptly described the processes as designed to measure and rate performance as opposed to improve it. Past research works (DeNisi Williams, 1988; Longenecker et al., 1987) cite subjectivity among the evaluators as well as different standards used for different employees as major problems in appraisal process. More recently, Lee (2006) cited lack of congruence with organizational objectives as well as lack of use of the results to improve performance. Lee adds that the results of performance appraisal should be used to motivate employees as opposed to instill fear and loathing as to stifle the spirit of teamwork. Hazard, (2004) and Nickols (2010) explain that performance appraisal demotivates the employees, is too subjective and unfair in application, and takes too much time and is seen as a management attempt to coerce employees to submit to management authority. 2.3.1 Employees Motivation Wilheir (2010) explains that motivation is the only effective tool for ensuring effective employee management. According to Wilheir employees, lose motivation when duties become repetitive, too difficult or too easy. The management should ensure that their employees remain motivated and productive throughout their engagement in the organization (Hazelden, 2010). Hazelden (2010) adds that the most common causes of employee demotivation include lack of information, unrealistic expectation by management, feeling of excessive control by authorities and lack of management appreciation of effort. Noone (2008) adds that to keep employees motivated, the management should develop clear goals and keep the roles interesting for the employees. That way, Noore asserts that employees are unlikely to deviate from the organisational mission. . Employee motivation is crucial to achieving the g

The Send-Off, by Wilfred Owen Essay -- English Literature:

The Send-Off, by Wilfred Owen, is an ironic and dark humored description of how the soldiers The Send-Off The Send-Off, by Wilfred Owen, is an ironic and dark humored description of how the soldiers we’re sent off to the battlefront, during World War I (keyword â€Å"The Send-Off†). In this poem, Owen conveys to us that the soldiers are being sent to their doom. From the very start we sense the soldiers’ lost fate. The soldiers go to the train, they are singing joyfully, as if they are being sent to a country picnic, but of course the narration is omniscient, we know what lies ahead of them, and so simultaneously the lanes are darkening around them. Secondly, the soldiers are surrounded by wreath and spray, a wreath and a spray are decorative flower arrangements usually plac...

veitnam war :: essays research papers

THE VIETNAM WAR Do you know why the Viet Nam war started, or when it really began? Well, it may surprise you to know that the war actually began shortly after the end of World War II. When WWII ended many countries had taken control of smaller countries in Asia. Vietnam was controlled by the French, but after WWII Vietnam wanted it’s independence. France did not want to give up it’s colonies because they needed the extra income to help rebuild it’s country after WWII. A man named Ho Chi Minh, who declared their independence from the French after the end of WWII, led Vietnam. His resistance force was first called the Viet – Minh, which stood for the Vietnam Independence League (DRV). Ho Chi Minh formed a government called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, although he was a true communist. Vietnam became divided into North and South Vietnam, with the French controlling South Vietnam and the DRV the North. As the French moved into North Vietnam fighting br oke out and the French became involved in a new kind of war. The General in charge of the DRV, a man named Giap used â€Å"guerrilla warfare† to defeat the French. In this type of war the General used small groups of men to kill or wound French soldiers and then run away into the jungle before the French could use a large army to fight back. This fighting lasted for years and the people in France did not like having French soldiers killed again as in WWII. By 1954 the French knew that they could not win a war against the DVR. They were defeated in a big battle at Dien Bien Phu and quickly left Vietnam. After this defeat a meeting was held in Geneva Switzerland and Vietnam was divided into North and South Vietnam along the 17th parallel of latitude. This was supposed to last two years and then the people of Vietnam would vote on whether to reunite the country and what kind of government all the people wanted. Well suddenly Dominos decide to help decide Vietnams fate. Yes, that ’s right, you know the game of Dominos. Well I’m sure many of you have seen or maybe even tried the trick of standing Dominos up and making all of them fall over. The United States thought of the countries in Southeast Asia as Dominos. They thought that if Vietnam became a Communist country all countries in the region would soon also become Communist’s.

Creating Tension throughout Red Room by Nicci French :: Red Room Nicci French Gothic Novels Essays

Creating Tension throughout Red Room by Nicci French This gothic story is about an arrogant man who has heard of the â€Å"Red Room† and believes he is above the caretakers. He makes his way through the house, commenting on his surroundings. When he arrives at the room he is less confident than he was before. He sits waiting with his revolver at the ready, expecting something solid to attack him. When the candles start to extinguish, he is suddenly unnerved. He panics and falls unconscious and awakes to find himself in the presence of the caretakers with several injuries. A gothic story is a type of romantic fiction that predominated in English Literature in the 1800’s, the setting for which usually a ruined gothic castle or abbey. The gothic novel, or romance, emphasized mystery and horror and was filled with ghost-haunted rooms, underground passages and secret stairways. The â€Å"Red Room† conforms to the gothic genre because it is about an ancient castle under the ruling of some elderly people who are terrified and have not yet visited the â€Å"Red Room† In this particular story the narrator seems to speak with an air of superiority â€Å"‘I can assure you,† said I, â€Å"that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me’†. He believes he is above the caretakers and is sneering at them. â€Å"‘And I stood up before the fire with my glass in my hand’† The narrator feels the elderly are beneath him and speaks condescendingly to them. There is tension between the narrator and the elderly: â€Å"If I see anything tonight I will be so much the wiser† He is unbelieving of the caretaker’s theory of a ghost’s presence and does not care to show them kindness. The narrator is scathing towards the caretakers and refers to them ruthlessly. â€Å"More bent, more wrinkled† It shows his lack of respect towards the caretakers and that he sees them as hideous monsters. The narrator is assertive and speaks to the caretakers with pomposity, â€Å"it is my owns choosing,† The elderly caretakers are hostile to one another from the beginning of the story, such words as â€Å"positive dislike† and â€Å"took no notice of his arrival† suggest this. The narrator is distant with the caretakers and is unfavorable, â€Å"wrinkled†, â€Å"bent† and â€Å"withered† illustrates this. The narrator sees the custodians as monsters showing them little respect. When the narrator tries to ask for directions to the room he is ignored many times by the elderly; this implies that there is tension between the custodians and the narrator. As he begins his journey he becomes startled and paranoid along with the feeling of fear towards the house â€Å"I stood rigid for half a minute

The Effects of Obesity in Adults

In today's society overeating can create a vast amount of changes, that may affect lifestyles of daily living. According to CDC, more than one-third of U.S. adults were obese in 2011-2012. The effects of obesity can lead a person down a road, which can be hard to manage in life. A BMI of 30 is about 30 lb overweight and equivalent to 221 lb in a 6'0†³ person and to 186 lb in one 5'6†³ (American Journal). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) now defines normal weight, overweight, and obesity according to BMI rather than the traditional height/weight charts (NIH). People with a body mass index of 30 or more are considered obese, and those with a B.M.I. of 40 or more are severely obese (NYTimes). Obese individuals have a high risk for chronic health conditions and complications. To name a few: hypertension, cardiovascular disease, knee / joint problems, psychological issues, diabetes, and death. Obesity is a measure by body mass index, which is determined by height and weight. If a person gains between 10-20 pounds they are at a high risks of hypertension (OAC). As you gain weight, so does stress throughout the body which causes hypertension. The more food and drink a person consumes in turn will increase their sodium level. Due to the increase of sodium and fat into the diet the endocrine system is forced to compensate and can result in an increase in blood pressure. Hypertension is a chronic condition caused by an increase in blood pressure and is a common complication for obese patients.Abdominal distention is a common complication due to layers of fat that have accumulated on top of muscle. The abdominal wall compressing against the diaphragm causes discomfort for an obese patient and also limits sleeping positions. Sleep apnea is another common complication of obese patients due to the softening of the tissue in the mouth and throat causing the airway to be obstructed. Many of these patients must be placed on a bipap machine while they sleep to help regulate their breathing. Obesity is also associated with knee and joint issues. Increase weigh strains the body, as a person tries to walk with additional weight. Ideal body weight is classified as 50 kilograms for 5 ft. Anything past 5ft is multiplied by 2.3 + 50 to get ideal body weight. For example; a 6'0 ft person ideal body weight would be 50 + 2.3 x 12 equals 77.6 kilograms. Any weight above the average weight is considered obese. Over time the tissues and connective tendons become damaged from the strain of the weight that is bearing down on the knee. Being only 10 pounds overweight increases the force on the knee by 30-60 pounds with each step (John Hopkins). Being overweight increases, the load placed on the joints such as the knee, which increases stress and could possibly hasten the breakdown of cartilage (John Hopkins). Clearly increase weight does have significant impact on walking, causing fatigue, and joint / knee issues.Psychological consequences of being overweight or obese can include lowered self-esteem and anxiety, and more serious disorders such as depression and eating disorders such as binge eating, bulimia and anorexia (MentalHelp). Obese people are made fun of and looked down upon. Obese people have less energy, due to taking more momentum to get their body going. More weight means more force needed to get moving. Hollywood paints an image that everyone around is thin. When it comes to obese people there's a tendency for depression, trying to compare with society. While being depressed obese people have a tendency to want to eat more and lay around doing nothing. Within that mind state leads to eating more and gaining additional weight. Over time, even ordinary tasks of daily life like going up a flight of stairs can lead to exhaustion and a sense of premature aging (Mentalhelp). Diabetes is another consequence associated with being obese. Obese people have a tendency, to eat more sweets, and carbohydrates that turn into glucose. People who are overweight or have obesity have added pressure on their body's ability to use insulin to properly control blood sugar levels, and are therefore more likely to develop diabetes (Obesity Society). Obese people are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, which often occurs in children or adolescents, is caused by the body's inability to make insulin or type 2 diabetes, which occurs as a result of the body's inability to react properly to insulin (insulin resistance). Type 2 diabetes is more prevalent than type 1 diabetes and is therefore seen in roughly 90% of all diabetes cases (Obesity Society). Compared with normal-weight adults, obese adults had at least 20% significantly higher rate of dying with cardiovascular disease (NIH). Plaque builds up due to more fats in diet, which leads to coronary artery disease. As the buildup continues throughout duration of life, so does blockage in the coronary arteries. A block in the coronary arteries with cause decrease cardiac output. With the decrease in blood flow, cardiac tissue death starts to form. Blockage in the heart creates myocardial infarction. Prolong tissue necrosis will lead to cardia death, resulting in death itself. For CVD, death was advanced by 10.3 and 12.8 years in adults aged 45 to 64 years categorized as grades II and III obese (Luisa N. Borrell). Obesity can cause a lot of issues that can be detrimental to activities of daily living. Just as a little of increase weight, the body starts to break itself down. While, normal healthy adult weight is less than BMI of 26, and obesity is anything above BMI 30. A little increase in weight can be life altering. The activities daily living related with obesity decreases in an adult's life. Several different diseases are involved with obesity, most can be cured with just a minor decrease in weight.

Coyote Blue Chapter 14~15

CHAPTER 14 Lies Have Lives of Their Own It took just six weeks for Samson Hunts Alone, the Crow Indian, to become Samuel Hunter, the shape-shifter. The transformation began with the cowboy on the bus mistaking Samson for a Mexican. When Samson left the bus in Elko, Nevada, and caught a ride with a racist trucker, he became white for the first time. He expected, from listening to Pokey all those years, that upon turning white he would immediately have the urge to go out and find some Indians and take their land, but the urge didn't come, so he sat by nodding as the trucker talked. By the time he got out at Sacramento, California, Samson had memorized the trucker's litany of white supremacy and was just getting into the rhythm of racism when he caught a ride with a black trucker who took amphetamines and waxed poetic about oppression, injustice, and the violent overthrow of the U.S. government by either the Black Panthers, the Teamsters, or the Temptations. Samson wasn't sure which. Samson was booted out of the truck in Santa Barbara when he suggested that perhaps killing all the whites should be put off at least until they told where they had hidden all the money. Actually, Samson was somewhat relieved to be put out; he'd only been white for a few hours and wasn't sure that he liked it well enough to die for it. His immediate concern was to get something to drink. He bought a Coke at a nearby convenience store and walked across the street to a park, where, under the boughs of a massive fig tree, amid a dozen sleeping bums, he sat down to consider his next move. Samson was just summoning up an obese case of hopelessness when a nearby bundle of rags spoke to him. â€Å"Any booze in that cup?† Samson had to stare at the oblong rag pile for a few seconds before he noticed there was a hairy face at one end. A single bloodshot eye, sparkling with hope, the only break in the gray dinge, gave the face away. â€Å"No, just Coke,† Samson said. Hope dimmed and the eye became as empty as the socket next to it. â€Å"You got any money?† the bum asked. Samson shook his head. He had only twelve dollars left; he didn't want to share it with the rag pile. â€Å"You're new here?† Samson nodded. â€Å"You a wet?† â€Å"Excuse me?† Samson said. â€Å"Are you Mexican?† Samson thought for a moment, then nodded. â€Å"You're lucky,† the bum said. â€Å"You can get work. A guy stops near here every morning with a truck – picks up guys to do yard work, but he only takes Mexicans. Says whites are too lazy.† â€Å"Are they?† Samson asked. He figured that after persecuting blacks, hiding money, stealing land, breaking treaties, and keeping themselves pure, maybe the whites were just tired. He was glad he was Mexican. â€Å"You speak pretty good English for a wet.† â€Å"Where does the guy with the truck stop? Has he been by today?† â€Å"I'm not lazy,† the bum said. â€Å"I earned a degree in philosophy.† â€Å"I'll give you a dollar,† Samson said. â€Å"I'm having trouble finding work in my field.† Samson dug a dollar out of his pocket and held it out to the bum, who snatched it and quickly secreted it among his rags. â€Å"He stops about a block from here, in front of the all-night diner.† The bum pointed down the street. â€Å"I haven't seen him go by today, but I was sleeping.† â€Å"Thanks.† Samson rose and started down the street. The bum called after him, â€Å"Hey, kid, come back tonight. I'll guard your back while you sleep if you buy a jug.† Samson waved over his shoulder. He wouldn't be back if he could avoid it. A block away he joined a group of men who were waiting at the corner when a large gate-sided truck pulled up, the back already half full of Mexicans. The man who drove the truck got out and walked around to where the men were waiting. He was short and brown and wore a straw Stetson, cowboy boots, and thick black mustache over the sly grin of a chicken thief. The men who worked for him called him patron, but ironically, the common term for his profession was Coyote. He scanned the group of men and made his choices with a nod and the crook of his finger. The men chosen, all Hispanic, jumped onto the back of the truck. The Coyote approached Samson and grabbed him by the upper arm, testing the muscle. He said something in Spanish. Samson panicked and answered him in Crow: â€Å"I'm on the lam, looking for a one-armed man that killed my wife.† To Samson's surprise, this seemed to satisfy the Coyote. The Coyote had been smuggling illegal aliens into the country for five years, and from time to time he encountered an Indian from the South, Guatemala or Honduras, who could not speak Spanish. Not being able to tell one Indian language from another, he assumed that Samson was one of these. All the better, he thought, it will take longer for him to find out. After the Coyote brought his men over the border, he gave them a place to live (two apartments in which they slept ten to a room), food (beans, tortillas, and rice), and three dollars an hour (for backbreaking work that most gringos would never consider doing). He charged his customers eight dollars per man-hour and pocketed the difference. At the end of each week he paid his men in cash, after deducting a healthy amount for food and lodging, then drove them all to the post office, where he helped them buy money orders to send home to their families, leaving them nothing for themselves. In this way the Coyote could keep a crew under his thumb for three or four months before they found out that they could make more money working at menial jobs in restaurants or hotels. Then he would have to go back to Mexico for another load. Lately, however, he had been augmenting his crew with Mexicans who had found their own way over the border, and this allowed him to stretch his time between bord er runs. The work was the hardest Samson had ever done, and at the end of the first day, back knotted and hands bloodied from swinging a pickax, he slept in the back of the truck until the patron slapped him awake and led him into the apartment to show him his cot. Sleeping in a room with nine other people was nothing new to Samson, and the food, although spicy, was plentiful and good. He fell asleep listening to the sad Spanish love songs of his co-workers and feeling very much alone. As the weeks passed he would hear the other men in the room whispering in the dark and this made him feel, even more, that he was the only person in a world of one. He had no way of knowing that they were talking about him, about how they never saw him send any money home, and about how they could take his money and no one would know because he was a dumb Indian and couldn't speak Spanish. Samson listened and imagined that they were talking about their homes and missing their families. He knew nothing of the Latin quality of machismo, which tacitly forbade the admission of a man's melancholy except in song. The plan was to wait until the boy was taking a shower, then go through his pants and take the money. If he protested, they would cut his throat and bury him on the large estate where they were terracing hills into formal gardens. Whether they would have really killed the boy was doubtful; they were good men at heart and had only turned their minds to murder because it made them feel worldly and tough. When the boy was gone their nocturnal whispers turned back to boasts of the women they would have, the cars they would buy, and the land they would own when they returned to Mexico. Samson was saved on a hot afternoon when the owner of the estate approached the Coyote while the crew was taking a break, eating cold burritos in the shade of a eucalyptus tree. â€Å"Immigration took one of the busboys in my restaurant,† the rich man said. â€Å"Do any of your guys speak English? I'll pay you to let him go.† The Coyote was shaking his head when Samson spoke up: â€Å"I speak English.† The Coyote's chicken-stealing grin dropped like a rock. He had thought that he would be able to hold on to the Indian boy for a long time, and here he had gone and learned English in his spare time. The boy was worthless now. Better to cut the loss and see what he could get. To quell their curiosity and dampen their ambition, the Coyote told the rest of the crew that the rich American had bought the boy for sexual purposes, and they all grinned knowingly as they watched Samson ride away in the long white Lincoln. Samson found that it was easier to be Mexican while working in the restaurant. The work, although fast paced, was not heavy, and he was given a cot in the storeroom to sleep on until he found a place of his own. The owner was content with speaking a pidgin English peppered with Spanish words and Samson answered him by speaking a modified version of Tonto-speak. By this time Samson had also picked up a few essential Spanish phrases (â€Å"Where are the spoons?† â€Å"We need more plates.† â€Å"Your sister fucks donkeys in Tijuana†) which helped him make friends with the Mexican dishwashers and cooks. From the moment he had arrived in Santa Barbara, a grinding homesickness began to settle in Samson's heart. When he lay in the dark storeroom at night, waiting to fall asleep, it would rise up and wash over him like a black tide, carrying with it a slithering blind predator that gnashed at the last shreds of his hope. â€Å"Forget what you know,† Pokey had told him. With this in mind he set to do battle with his rising hopelessness. He refused to think of his family, his home, or his heritage. Instead he concentrated on the conversations he overheard in the restaurant as he cleared tables and poured coffee. Because he was Mexican, and a menial laborer, he was invisible to the affluent Santa Barbara customers, who spoke openly about the most intimate details of their lives, oblivious to the Spanish fly on the wall†¦. â€Å"You know, Ashley has been having an affair with her plastic surgeon for six months and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"If I can get my legal ducks in a row, I should be able to push the convention center through the city council and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I want the bathroom Southwestern, but Bob likes Art Nouveau, so I called our attorney and I said†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I know the offshore drilling is ruining the coast, but my Exxon shares have split twice in two years, so I said to my analyst†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Susan and the kids went to Tahoe, so I thought it was the perfect chance to show Marie the house. The bitch spilled a whole bottle of massage oil in the hot tub and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I don't give a damn whether they needed it or not. If you do your job right you can sell air conditioners to Eskimos; need has nothing to do with it. Remember the three m's: mesmerize, motivate, and manipulate. You're not selling a need, you're selling†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Dreams,† Samson said, coming out of his shell to finish the sentence of a young insurance sales manager who had taken his agents to lunch so he could chew their ass. Samson surprised even himself by speaking up, but the man at the table seemed to be giving the same speech that he had heard from the powder-blue dream salesman. He couldn't resist. â€Å"Come here, kid,† the man said. He was wearing a wash-and-wear suit, as were the other five men at the table. A half-dozen acrid aftershaves clashed among them. â€Å"What's your name?† Samson looked around the table at the men's faces. They were all white. He decided at that moment to use a new name, not the Mexican name he had taken, Jose Cuervo. â€Å"Sam,† Samson said. â€Å"Sam Hunter.† â€Å"Well, Sam† – he extended his hand – â€Å"my name is Aaron Aaron. And I'll bet with some training you could outsell every man at this table.† He put his arm around Samson's shoulders and spoke to the rest of the group. â€Å"What do you say, guys? I'll bet you each a hundred bucks that I can take a busboy with the right attitude and turn him into a better salesman than any of you hotshots inside of a month.† â€Å"That's bullshit, Aaron, the kid's not even old enough to get a license.† â€Å"He can work on my license. I'll sign his applications. C'mon, hotshots, do I have a bet?† The men fidgeted in their seats, laughing nervously and trying to avoid Aaron's gaze, knowing from Aaron's training that the first one to speak would lose. Finally one of them broke. â€Å"All right, a hundred bucks, but the kid has to do his own selling.† Aaron looked at Samson. â€Å"So, kid, are you ready to start a new job?† Samson tried to imagine himself wearing a suit and smelling of after-shave, and the idea appealed to him. â€Å"I don't have a place to stay,† he said. â€Å"I've been saving so I can get an apartment.† â€Å"I've got it covered,† Aaron said. â€Å"Welcome aboard.† â€Å"I guess I could give my notice.† â€Å"Fuck giving notice. You only give notice if you're planning to come back. You're not planning on moving backwards, are you, Sam?† â€Å"I guess not,† Samson said. At twenty-five, Aaron Aaron had already accumulated fifteen years of experience in the art of deception. From the time he skimped on the sugar at his first lemonade stand to the time he doubled the profits on his paper route by canceling his customers' subscriptions, then stealing the papers out of a vending machine to continue the deliveries, Aaron showed a near-genius ability for working in the gray areas between business and crime. And by balancing dark desires with white lies he was able to sidestep the plague of Catholic conscience that kept him from pursuing an honest career as a pirate, which would have been his first choice. Aaron Aaron was a salesman. At first, Aaron's only interest in Samson was to use the boy as an instrument of embarrassment to the other salesmen, but once he dressed the boy in a suit and had him trailing along on sales calls like a dutiful native gun bearer, Aaron found that he actually enjoyed the boy's company. The boy's curiosity seemed boundless, and answering his questions as they drove between calls allowed Aaron to bask in the sound of his own voice while extolling the brilliance of his last successful presentation. And too, the rejection of a slammed door or a pointed ;no; seemed softened in the sharing. Teaching the boy made him feel good, and with this improvement in attitude he worked more, sold more, and allowed the boy to share in the prosperity, buying him clothes and food, finding him an apartment, and cosigning for a loan on a used Volvo. For Samson, working under the tutelage of Aaron was perfect. Aaron's assumption that no one beside himself had the foggiest idea of how the universe worked allowed Samson the opportunity to hear lectures on even the most minuscule details of society, information he used to build himself into the image that Aaron wanted to see. Samson delighted in Aaron's self-obsession, for while the older man waxed eloquent on the virtues of being Aaron, it never occurred to him to ask Samson about his past, and the boy was able to surround himself in a chrysalis of questions and cheap suits until he was ready to emerge as a full-grown salesman. As the years passed and his memories of home were stowed and forgotten, learning to sell became Samson's paramount interest. And Aaron, fascinated with seeing his own image mirrored and his own words repeated, failed to notice that Samson had become a better salesman than himself until other companies began approaching the boy with offers. Only then did Aaron realize that most of his income was coming from the override commission on Sam's sales, and that for five years Sam had trained all the new salesmen. To avoid losing his golden goose, Aaron offered Sam a fifty-fifty partnership in the agency, and with this added security, the business became Sam's shelter. -=*=- Now, after twenty years with the business as his only security, Sam was going to Aaron to sell his shares. As he entered Aaron's office he felt a deep soul-sickness that he had not felt since he had left the reservation. â€Å"Aaron, I'll take forty cents on the dollar for my shares. And I keep my office.† Aaron turned slowly in the big executive chair and faced Sam. â€Å"You know I couldn't come up with that kind of cash, Sam. It's a good move, though. I'd have to keep paying you out of override, and with interest you wouldn't even take a cut in pay. I don't think you're in a position to negotiate, though. In fact, after the call I got this morning, I think twenty cents on the dollar would be more than fair.† Sam resisted the urge to dive over the desk and slap his partner's bare scalp until it bled. He had to take his fallback position sooner than he wanted to. â€Å"You're thinking that because Spagnola can put me with the Indian I have to sell, right?† Aaron nodded. â€Å"But just imagine that I ride this through, Aaron. Imagine that I don't sign off, that the insurance commission suspends my license, that criminal charges are filed and my name is in the paper every day. Guess whose name is going to be right next to mine? And what happens if I maintain my association with the agency and the insurance commission starts looking into your files? How many signatures have you traced over the years, Aaron? How many people thought they were buying one policy, only to find out that their signature showed up on a different one – one that paid you a higher commission?† A sheen of sweat was appearing on Aaron's forehead. â€Å"You've done that as often as I have. You'd be hanging yourself.† â€Å"That's the point, Aaron. When I walked in here you were convinced that I was hung anyway. I'm just making room for you on the gallows.† â€Å"You ungrateful prick. I took you in when you-â€Å" â€Å"I know, Aaron. That's why I'm giving you a chance to stay clean. Actually, you've got more to lose than I do. Once your files are open, then your income is going to become public knowledge.† â€Å"Oh!† Aaron stood and paced around to the front of the desk. â€Å"Oh!† He waved a finger under Sam's nose, then turned and walked to the water cooler. â€Å"Oh!† He kicked the cooler, then returned to his chair, sat down, then stood up again. â€Å"Oh!† he said. It was as if the single syllable had stuck in his mouth. He looked as if he were going to launch into a tirade; blood rose in his face and veins bulged on his forehead. â€Å"Oh!† he said. He fell back in the chair and stared at the ceiling as if his brain had pushed the hold button on reality. â€Å"That's right, Aaron,† Sam said after a moment. â€Å"The IRS.† With that Sam moved to the office door. â€Å"Take your time, Aaron. Think about it. Talk it over with your buddy Spagnola; he can probably give you the current exchange rate of cigarettes for sodomy in prison.† Aaron slowly broke his stare on the ceiling and turned to watch Sam walk out. In the outer office Julia looked up from applying lacquer to her nails to see Sam grinning, his hand still on the doorknob. â€Å"What's with all the ‘ohs, Sam?† Julia asked. â€Å"It sounded like you guys were having sex or something.† â€Å"Something like that,† Sam said, his grin widening. â€Å"Hey, watch this.† He opened the door quickly and stuck his head back in Aaron's office. â€Å"Hey, Aaron! IRS!† he said. Then he pulled the door shut, muffling Aaron's scream of pain. â€Å"What was that?† Julia asked. â€Å"That,† Sam said, â€Å"was my teacher giving me the grade on my final exam.† â€Å"I don't get it.† â€Å"You will, honey. I don't have time to explain right now. I've got a date.† Sam left the office walking light and smiling, feeling strangely as if the pieces of his life, rather than fitting back together, were jingling in his pocket like sleigh bells warning Christmas. CHAPTER 15 Like God's Own Chocolate I'd Lick Her Shadow Off A Hot Sidewalk Santa Barbara In spite of the fact that he was losing his home and his business, and was precariously close to having his greatest secret discovered by the police because of an Indian god, Sam was not the least bit worried. Not with the prospect of an evening with Calliope to occupy his thoughts. No, for once Sam Hunter was voting the eager ticket over the anxious, taking anticipation over dread. Calliope lived upstairs in a cheese-mold-green cinder-block duplex that stood in a row of a dozen identical structures where the last of Santa Barbara's working middle class were making their descent into poverty. Calliope's Datsun was parked in the driveway next to a rusy VW station wagon and an ominous-looking Harley-Davidson chopper with a naked blond woman airbrushed on the gas tank. Sam paused by the Harley before mounting the stairs. The airbrushed woman looked familiar, but before he could get a closer look Calliope appeared on the deck above him. â€Å"Hi,† she said. She was barefoot, wearing a white muslin dress loosely laced in the front. A wreath of gardenia was woven into her hair. â€Å"You're just in time, we need your help. Come on up.† Sam took the stairs two at a time and stopped on the landing, where Calliope was wrestling with the latch on a rickety screen-door frame that was devoid of screening but had redwood lattice nailed across its lower half, presumably to keep out the really large insects. â€Å"I'm having trouble with the dinner,† she said. â€Å"I hope you can fix it.† The screen door finally let loose with the jattering noise one associates with the impact of Elmer Fudd's face on a rake handle. Calliope led Sam into a kitchen done in the Fabulous Fifties motif of mint enamel over pink linoleum. A haze of foul-smelling smoke hung about the ceiling, and through it Sam could make out the figure of a half-naked man sitting in the lotus position on the counter, drinking from a quart bottle of beer. â€Å"That's Yiffer,† Calliope said over her shoulder as she headed to the stove. â€Å"He's with Nina.† Yiffer vaulted off the counter, on one arm, fully eight feet across the kitchen to land lightly on his feet in front of Sam, where he engaged a complex handshake that left Sam feeling as if his fingers had been braided together. â€Å"Dude,† Yiffer said, shaking out his wild tangle of straw-colored hair as if the word had been stuck there. Feeling like a chameleon that has been dropped into a coffee can and is risking hemorrhage by trying to turn silver, Sam searched for the appropriate greeting and ended up echoing, â€Å"Dude.† In jeans, a sport shirt, and boating moccasins with no socks, Sam felt grossly overdressed next to Yiffer, who wore only a pair of orange surf shorts and layer upon layer of tan muscle. â€Å"Calliope biffed the grub, dude,† Yiffer said. Sam joined Calliope at the stove, where she was frantically biffing the grub. â€Å"I can't get the spaghetti to cook,† she said, plunging a wooden spoon into a large saucepan from which the smoke was emanating. â€Å"The instructions said to boil for eight minutes, but as soon as it starts to boil the smoke comes out.† Sam waved the smoke from the pan. â€Å"Aren't you supposed to cook the noodles separately?† â€Å"Not in the sauce?† Sam shook his head. â€Å"Whoops,† Calliope said. â€Å"I'm not a very good cook. Sorry.† â€Å"Well, maybe we can salvage something.† Sam removed the pan from the heat and peered in at the bubbling black magma. â€Å"Then again, maybe starting over would be a good idea.† He put the pan in the sink, where a trail of ants was invading a used bowl of cereal. Sam turned on the water and started to swivel the faucet to wash the intruders away when Calliope grabbed his hand. â€Å"No,† she said. â€Å"They're okay.† â€Å"They'll get into your food,† Sam said. â€Å"I know. They've always been here. I call them my kitchen pals.† â€Å"Kitchen pals?† Sam tried to adjust his thinking. She was right – you couldn't just wash your kitchen pals down the drain like they were ants. He felt like he'd been saved from committing genocide. â€Å"So, I guess we should start some more spaghetti?† â€Å"She only bought one box, dude,† Yiffer said. â€Å"I guess we can eat salad and bread,† Calliope said. â€Å"Excuse me.† She kissed Sam on the cheek and walked out of the kitchen while he stared at the ghost of her bottom through the thin dress. â€Å"So, what do you do?† Yiffer asked with a toss of his head. â€Å"I'm an insurance broker. And you?† â€Å"I surf.† â€Å"And?† â€Å"And what?† Yiffer said. Sam thought he could hear the sound of the ocean whistling through Yiffer's ears as if through a seashell. â€Å"Never mind,† he said. He was distracted by the sound of a baby screaming in the next room. â€Å"That's Grubb,† Yiffer said. â€Å"Sounds like he's pissed off.† Unable to see the second b, Sam was confused. â€Å"I thought grub was biffed?† â€Å"No, Grubb is Calliope's rug-rat. Go on in and meet him. Nina's in there with J. Nigel Yiffworth, Esquire.† Yiffer beamed with pride. â€Å"He's mine.† â€Å"Your attorney?† â€Å"My son,† Yiffer said indignantly. â€Å"Oh,† Sam said. He resisted the urge to sit down on the floor and wait for his confusion to clear. Instead he walked into the living room, where he found Calliope sitting on an ancient sofa next to an attractive brunette who was breastfeeding an infant. The sofa was lumpy enough to have had a body sewed into it; stuffing spilled out of the arms where the victim had tried to escape. On the floor nearby, a somewhat older child was slung inside of a blue plastic donut on wheels, which he was gaily ramming into everything in the room. Sam gasped as the child ran a wheel up over his bare ankle on a kamikaze rush to destroy the coffee table. Calliope said, â€Å"Sam, this is Nina.† Nina looked up and smiled. â€Å"And J. Nigel Yiffworth, Esquire.† Nina pulled the baby from her breast long enough to puppet-master a nod of greeting from it, which Sam missed for some reason. â€Å"And that,† Calliope continued, pointing to the drunk driver in the blue donut, â€Å"that's Grubb.† â€Å"Your son?† Sam asked. She nodded. â€Å"He's just learning to walk.† â€Å"Interesting name.† â€Å"I named him after Jane Goodall's son. She let him grow up with baboons – very natural. I was going to name him Buddha, but I was afraid that when he got older if someone met him on the road they might kill him.† â€Å"Right. Good thinking,† Sam said, pretending that he had the slightest idea of what she was talking about and that he wasn't wondering in the least who or where Grubb's father was. â€Å"Nina moved in when we were both pregnant,† Calliope said. â€Å"We were each other's Lamaze coaches. I was farther along, though.† â€Å"What about Yiffer?† â€Å"Scum,† Nina said. â€Å"He seems like a nice guy,† Sam said, and Nina shot him an acid look. â€Å"As scum goes,† he quickly added. â€Å"He only lives here sometimes,† Calliope said. â€Å"Mostly when he doesn't have gas money for his van.† Nina said, â€Å"We're having a yard sale day after tomorrow to raise some money to get him out of here. You might want to look at the stuff down in storage before the sale, pick up a bargain before it gets picked over.† Yiffer entered the living room munching on a loaf of French bread. He stood next to Sam and thrust the bread under Sam's chin. â€Å"Bite?† â€Å"No, thanks,† Sam said. â€Å"Yiffer!† Calliope said. â€Å"That bread was for all of us.† â€Å"Truth,† Yiffer said. He held the loaf out to Calliope. â€Å"Bite?† â€Å"You ruined their dinner,† Nina said, letting J. Nigel's head drop and wobble. Yiffer grinned around a mouthful of bread and gestured toward Nina's exposed breast with his beer hand. â€Å"Looking good, babe.† Nina reattached J. Nigel and said to Sam, â€Å"I'm sorry, he's only like this when he's awake.† To Yiffer she said, â€Å"Take some money out of my purse and go down to the corner and get a pizza.† Sam reached for his wallet. â€Å"Let me.† â€Å"No,† Calliope and Nina said in unison. â€Å"Cool!† Yiffer exclaimed, sandblasting Sam with a spray of bread crumbs. â€Å"Go!† Nina commanded, and Yiffer turned and bounded out of the room. In a moment Sam heard the screen door open and footfalls on the steps. â€Å"Sit down,† Calliope said. â€Å"Relax.† Sam took a seat on the couch next to the two women and for the next forty minutes they exchanged pleasantries between the screaming demands of the babies until Nina handed a damp J. Nigel to Sam and left the room. Like most bachelors, Sam held a baby as if it were radioactive. â€Å"That fucking asshole!† Nina shrieked from the other room, frightening Grubb, who screamed like an air-raid siren. J. Nigel was following suit when Nina returned to the living room, her purse in hand. â€Å"He took my rent money. The asshole took all my rent money. Can you guys watch J. Nigel for a minute? I've got to go find him and kill him.† â€Å"Sure,† Calliope said. Sam nodded, adjusting J. Nigel for long-term holding. Nina left. Calliope turned to Sam and over the din of screaming infants said, â€Å"Alone at last.† â€Å"I think J. Nigel needs changing,† Sam said. â€Å"So does Grubb. Let's take them into Nina's room.† Sam had slipped into the personality he referred to as â€Å"tough and adaptable,† one he reserved for the more chaotic and bizarre situations he had encountered in his career. â€Å"I can do this,† he said with a grin. He hadn't changed a baby since the days on the reservation when he used to help with his cousins, but when he opened J. Nigel's diaper the memory came back on him like a fetid whirlwind, and he had to fight to keep from gagging. The adhesive strips on disposable diapers were a completely new adventure and he found after a few minutes that he had diapered his left hand perfectly while a squirming J. Nigel remained naked to the world. After changing Grubb and returning him to his plastic donut, Calliope liberated Sam from the diaper and started on J. Nigel, who giggled and peed like an excited puppy at her touch. Sam sympathized. â€Å"Don't feel bad,† she said. â€Å"The last time we let Yiffer baby-sit he duct-taped J. Nigel's diaper on and we had to use nail-polish remover to get the adhesive off.† â€Å"I haven't had much practice,† Sam said. â€Å"You don't have any kids?† â€Å"No, I've never met anyone I wanted to have kids with.† Sam wanted to smack himself for saying it. Remember, tough and adaptable. â€Å"Me either,† Calliope said. â€Å"But Grubb is the best thing that ever happened to me. I used to drink and do a lot of drugs, but as soon as I found out I was pregnant I stopped.† Sam looked for an opening to ask about Grubb's father, but none came and the silence was becoming awkward. â€Å"That's great,† he said. â€Å"I had my own battle with the bottle.† Actually it hadn't been much of a battle. Aaron had insisted that social drinking was part of the job, but each time Sam had gotten drunk he was haunted by the stereotype of the drunken Indian that he thought he had left behind. It had been ten years since he'd had a drink. â€Å"I'm going to put these guys down,† Calliope said. â€Å"Why don't you go in the living room and put some music on.† In the living room Sam found a briefcase full of loose cassette tapes. Most of the tapes were New Age releases with enigmatic titles like Tree Frog Whale Song Selections by artists with names like Yanni Volvofinder. With further digging he found one called The Language of Love by a female jazz singer he liked, but when he opened the box he found that the tape had been replaced with one called Catbox Nightmare by a band called Satan's Smegma, obviously a Yifferesque selection. Finally he found The Language of Love languishing boxless in the bottom of the case and popped it into a portable stereo on a bricks-and-boards bookshelf. Calliope returned to the living room just as the first song was rising in the speakers. â€Å"Oh, I love this tape,† she said. â€Å"I've always wanted to make love to this tape. I'll be right back.† She left the room again and returned in a moment with an armload of pillows and blankets, which she dropped in the middle of the floor. â€Å"Grubb sleeps in my room and he won't be asleep for a while.† She began to spread the blankets out over the floor. Sam stood by, trying to fight the objections that were rising in his mind about the speed at which things were progressing. She just assumed that he would say yes; it made him feel like – well – a slut. Then again, if this beautiful girl wanted to make love with him, who was he to object? Okay, so he was a slut; he was a tough and adaptable slut. Still, there was one thing that bothered him. â€Å"What if Yiffer and Nina come home with the pizza?† â€Å"Oh, I don't think they'll be home that soon. This first time will be pretty fast.† â€Å"Hey.† Sam thought he might have just been insulted, but on second thought he realized that the girl had just voiced something that he had really been worrying about, without even admitting it to himself. On second thought, she had relieved the pressure on him to perform. Calliope finished fluffing the pillows, then unlaced her dress and let it drop to the floor. She stepped out of it and went to the stereo, where she turned up the volume, then she crawled naked under the top blanket and pulled it up to her neck. â€Å"Okay,† she said. Sam sat on the couch, stunned. She was stunning. But where was the seduction, the deception, the sweet lies and tender posturing? Where was the hunt, the cat-and-mouse game? Sam just stared at her and thought, This is entirely too honest. â€Å"Are you okay?† she asked. â€Å"Yes, it's just kind of†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You want me and I want you. Right?† Who did she think she was? You can't just go around blurting out the truth like a prophet with Tourette's syndrome. He said, â€Å"Well, I guess. Yeah, that's right.† â€Å"Well?† She threw the covers back to make room for him. Sam leapt off the couch and fought his way out of his clothes. He was under the covers, taking her into his arms, before his shirt settled to the floor. At the touch of her skin, her warmth, he felt every muscle in his body tense, then melt against her. He kissed her for a long time with none of the fumbling or awkwardness that he expected. He entered her and they began to move together in slow rhythm to the music. Calliope let out a long, low moan and dug her fingers into the muscles of his back. He joined her in the moan and pushed deeper, losing suddenly any thoughts or images or reservations, damn near losing consciousness to the warm, dark rhythm. A door slammed, violently shaking the windows of the apartment. Sam pushed up on his arms. â€Å"What was that?† â€Å"Nothing,† she said, pulling him down. Another door slammed, louder than the first. Sam pushed up again. â€Å"They're home.† â€Å"No, that's downstairs. Please.† She wrapped her legs around his back and pulled him tight. Distracted, Sam began to move again and Calliope moaned. A door slammed, glass shattered, and J. Nigel began crying in the front bedroom. â€Å"What in the hell was that?† â€Å"Nothing. Not now. Make love to me, Sam.† The house shook with the impact of a slamming door, then another, and Grubb began to cry as well. Sam winced, and came completely without pleasure. â€Å"Sorry,† he said as he rolled over onto his back. Calliope stared at the ceiling for a moment as if she was bracing for the next impact. When it came she leapt to her feet and stormed naked out onto the balcony. She bent over the railing and shouted, â€Å"Why are you doing this?† Sam turned down the stereo and listened. Another door slammed, shaking the house, then a pathetic male voice came from below. â€Å"You've got someone up there. You slut.† â€Å"Don't talk to me that way. I don't act this way when you have someone down there.† Sam wanted to join her on the balcony, come to her defense (â€Å"Hey, buddy, she's not the slut here!†), but he couldn't seem to locate his pants. â€Å"You whore!† the male voice said. â€Å"I'm taking my son.† â€Å"No, you're not!† â€Å"You'll see,† the voice said. Another door slam. Sam flinched. He was getting a little shell-shocked trying to put the pieces of this mystery together between slams. â€Å"Jerk!† Calliope screamed. She stormed inside, slammed the door, and breezed by Sam on her way to tend to Grubb and J. Nigel. Sam sat naked on the floor wishing for a cigarette, or a clue, and repeating his new mantra in his head, tough and adaptable, tough and adaptable†¦ In a few minutes, after the door slams had dwindled to one every few minutes, as if the guy downstairs was calming down, then losing his temper in spurts, Calliope appeared in the doorway, still naked. â€Å"We need to talk,† she said. Sam was dressed now, desperately yearning for a cigarette, but he'd left them in the car and he wasn't about to pass the maniac downstairs without more information. â€Å"That would be good,† he said. Calliope picked up her dress and slipped it on, then sat down on the couch. â€Å"You're probably wondering who that is downstairs.† For the first time she seemed really uncomfortable, and Sam felt for her. â€Å"It's okay. I've had some trouble with my neighbors recently. It happens.† She smiled. â€Å"I used to be with him. He's Grubb's father.† â€Å"I gathered that.† â€Å"I was doing a lot of drugs then. He was exciting: riding his Harley, tattoos, guns.† â€Å"Guns?† â€Å"I left him when I found out I was pregnant. He didn't want me to have the baby and he didn't want me to quit getting high.† â€Å"But why move upstairs?† â€Å"I didn't. He moved in downstairs. You're the first man that I've had over since the split. I didn't know he'd act this way.† â€Å"Why don't you move?† â€Å"You know how Santa Barbara is. I couldn't even pay rent here if it weren't for Nina, let alone come up with first, last, and a cleaning deposit.† Sam could see that she was still embarrassed. â€Å"You could ask the landlord to remove his doors. It would be quieter.† â€Å"I'm sorry. I really wanted it to be nice.† â€Å"Maybe I should go.† Despite the weirdness, he didn't want to leave. â€Å"I wish you would stay. When Grubb goes to sleep we can go in my room. If we're quiet†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I'll stay,† Sam said. â€Å"He won't come up here and shoot us, will he?† â€Å"No, I don't think so. He keeps talking about getting custody of Grubb. Killing us would look bad with the judge.† â€Å"Right,† Sam said. So what if she had been involved with a psycho. At least it was a psycho who thought ahead. Calliope led Sam down a hallway to her room at the back of the apartment. â€Å"I'll get us some salad,† she said, leaving Sam to sit on the twin bed next to the crib where Grubb was drowsily gnawing a pacifier. The room looked like it had been decorated by a Buddhist monk from â€Å"Sesame Street.† On top of the dresser sat effigies of Buddha, Shiva, Bert, Ernie, and Cookie Monster, as well as an incense burner, a small gong, and a box of Pampers. A stuffed Mickey Mouse on the dressing chair wore a necklace of quartz crystal and a rawhide ring that Sam recognized as a Navaho dream catcher. The walls were hung with pictures of the Dalai Lama, Kali the Destroyer, and the Smurfs. Looking around, Sam felt tempted to construct an excuse and bolt. Now that he'd had a moment to think about it, his tough and adaptable veneer was feeling pretty thin. If he could just get back to normal for a while he'd be okay. Then it hit him: there was no normal to return to. The controlled status quo that had been his life was no longer there; it had been shattered by Coyote, and Coyote was out there somewhere. Calliope, and all the chaos around her, had made him forget. Even with Smurfs, psychos, and kitchen pals, the forgetting was worth staying for.