Environment Analysis Essay

Marketing Environment Analysis An underlying assumption of the introduction to marketing course is that students learn best and retain more when they actively apply and work with the concepts presented in the course materials rather than simply read about them. Therefore, the purpose of this assignment is to apply concepts and knowledge learned in class to real situations to enhance your understanding. A marketing environment analysis is an examination of the major external forces and trends that have impacted or may mpact a market and thus present opportunities and threats for marketers. It involves an assessment of the key components of a company’s task (micro) environment and macroenvironment (see Chapter 3). This information is necessary input into the development of a strategic plan for companies who are involved or plan to become involved in the industry. Project Summary Your short paper should contain the following two parts. Part 1. part 2. Examine the current market micro and macro environmental situation for an industry f your choice (for example, please see the list on page. 5). That is, explore the market, customer, competitive, distribution, demographic, economic, ecological, technological, political/legal, and cultural situations for the industry with particular emphasis on those changing environmental factors that may provide opportunities and threats for companies in the industry (see Chapter 3 for more details; This is primarily sections II and Ill below). Demonstrate your understanding of core marketing concepts that you have not incorporated into Part 1. A partial list of the concepts that should be addressed is provided below (Section ‘V). You are not limited to this list. Examples, both real (preferable) and conjectural (i. e. , things that you think are likely), should be provided to demonstrate your understanding. Most of these concepts should be addressed in your industry analysis (i. e. , Part 1). You do not need to repeat any of the core concepts that are covered in Part 1 . While all parts of this project are important, your demonstration of your nderstanding and ability to use core marketing concepts is particularly important. Regardless of the section (Part 1 or Part 2) in which you discuss the core concepts, please use bold type to highlight the concepts. Please note that this assignment will be completed individually. Your written report should conform (more or less) to the format listed below. The body of the analysis should not exceed six double-spaced typed (12-point type) pages. However, extensive use of appendices (such as charts, tables, industry-related ads etc. is acceptable. The page count begins with the â€Å"Task (micro) Environment Description† (point II. in the format given below) and not with the summary or table of contents. Each item in the appendix must be individually referenced in the body. References (i. e. , sources of information) must be cited in the main text (include author’s name, year) and listed in a reference section (section VI). As with all written assignments, your analysis will be evaluated on its professional appearance, readability, and apparent ettort, as well as on its content.

Reading Assessment Essay

In chapter 7, Taking Notes From Reading Material, my scores for the pre- assessment (550) and the post assessment (750) increased slightly. One process that made my score increase was that I initially did not understand how to effectively highlight my material. Highlighting is so very critical because a person could waste time and energy when they could be doing other assignments. For a moment I thought the author had gone back into time and took a look at my notes from yesteryears. I was a perfect example of a passive learner who would highlight un-important phrases and sentences until I had a colored a lot of nothing. Active learners highlight less and try to grasp as much as they can while reading, thus avoiding re-reading. The highlighting issue was definitely a weakness of mine, but I will apply the techniques from the text to curb that problem. While not a great highlighter I can say that my note taking ability has always been a strong suit for me. I plan on taking some steps from the lesson to improve on that as well. Effective note taking saves time and makes learning easier to retain. 3 In Chapter 8, Improving Reading Comprehension, my pre-assessment scores (550) and my post assessment scores (650) are almost identical. I believe that to be because most of the reading I had never experienced before or it could have been due to the fact that I have been out of school a very long time. Nevertheless, there are certainly some habits that I need to build upon to improve my personal reading comprehension. Knowing your purpose and reading responsibility is very important while learning. A person’s reading purpose could be for their own greater good, to just challenge themselves, or to just be intent. One’s reading responsibility allows you to be able to answer questions during an exam or just keeping for use later on. If a person doesn’t have a purpose or responsibility they have no direction and time is wasted. I did learn that being more engaged helps me learn better. In Chapter 9, Revving Up Your Reading, my scores for the pre-assessment (350) and the post assessment (600) nearly doubled. This was in result to the fact that speed reading is totally new to me. I have never experienced or taught how to speed read so this is a new learning curve to me. One weakness that I discovered about myself if that I prefer to read moving my lips or out loud slightly. According to the text, talking to yourself while reading tires you out, slows you down, and it limits one’s comprehension. This is a sign of a passive reader, which also is referred to as low gear. Low gear generates 100-300 words per minute. Everyday reading (magazines, newspapers) would be considered as middle gear. This generates 300-600 words per minute. High gear puts out about 600-1000 words per minute and is mostly used for skimming and pre-viewing. 4 The first activity (page 201) helped me understand a few traits that I learned about myself. Though I am a slow reader, I have been able to take good notes, understanding the information and having a fairly wide vocabulary. To keep my mind from wandering I am going to make an attempt to become a faster reader, which should help me focus better and not lull myself into a daze. The phrasing activity (page 241) was a very interesting challenge. Phrasing allows active readers to take a key word or thought and put a slash in between key words or phrases. This allows a person to get information without reading it verbatim. While most passive readers read one word at a time, phrasing allows a person to read more effectively and saving time in the process. My next reading project I plan on using phrasing and becoming a more passionate, engaged reader which in turn helps me retain what I am reading. The steps and ideas that I have learned will enable me to become a better reader who enjoys while learning. Speeding up my reading in addition to my note taking skills should allow me to finish more projects faster and then be able to move on to something else. Reference 5 Beale, A. M. (2007). Success Skills: Strategies for Study and Lifelong Learning. Mason OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Analysis of Kentucky Fried Chicken-Free-Samples for Students

KFC founded by Colonel Harland Sanders, also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is an American fast food chain popular for their fried chicken items. They have their headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky. It is the world’s second largest chain of restaurant after McDonalds with its presence in almost 20,000 locations globally in 123 countries (Alviola IV et al.,2014). KFC was one of the foremost American restaurants to expand internationally in Canada, Mexico and United Kingdom in the mid 1960s. The KFC chain is a subsidiary of the Yum brands, a brand that also owns pizza hut and taco bell chains (Kelly & Swinburn, 2015).   KFC’s original product was the fried chicken piece that was seasoned by Sander’s secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices. However, since the 1990s they expanded their menu to include chicken fillet burgers, wraps, salads, side dishes like French fries and soft drinks. A PESTEL analysis is a method used to analyze and monitor the external marketing environment that has its impact on an organization, which is used to identify threats and weaknesses of the firm. PESTEL stands for political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal. Political factors study how and to what extent the government intervenes into the functioning of the economy. This includes the policies of the government, the political stability or instability in the market, tax policy, foreign trade policy, environmental law, legal law and trade restrictions. India has a steady government. The labor force is expensive and the companies have to pay high taxes, which reduces the profit rate in the country. The government has given freedom to the companies to do their business there way (Samnani, 2014). KFC designs the pricing structure keeping in mind the income of the people that way KFC can cater to all the classes. The political climate of India is friendly towards international businesses, which is an advantage for KFC. The operation of KFC is affected by the government rules and policies regarding the fast food industry. Currently government is controlling the fast food restaurants because of the various health issues and obesity related proble ms attached to it. KFC maintains a good relation with the government by paying taxes properly and increasing employment opportunities for the masses and follows the legal rules and restriction. Economic factors have important impact on how an organization work and how profitable they are. Economic factors include the rate of economic growth, interest rates, inflation, income of the consumers, exchange rates and so on. KFC is struggling in many economies like china where their sales are declining due to its health factors (Schrà ¶der & McEachern, 2005). With the growing health consciousness among the people, the sale of KFC is declining in many economies. Every outlet of KFC gives employment to around 10-15 people in a way it curbs unemployment ("Home | KFC", 2018). India’s economic condition is extremely good and per capita is high. Population being low resources is abundant. Though earlier the target of KFC was the upper classes, later on they changed their target market to include the middle-income group. The economic condition of India is an advantage for the company as this increases its sales. This area involves the social and cultural beliefs of the consumers. This includes population growth, age distribution, career attitudes and so on. These factors are extremely important because this directly affects how marketers understand their consumers. In the social issues KFC luring of children to their unhealthy food, unethical treatment of animals and low wages to employees are widely criticized (Shoyemi, 2014). It is rumored that the chicken used by KFC are genetically modified to store more fat, which makes the chicken incapable to carry its own body weight. Many animal welfare organizations like PETA condemn KFC for such heinous issues. The social system in India is beneficial for the further growth of the company. The banking system is also strong and literacy rates are high. India being a capitalistic economy the income of the people are high, and the busy schedule of the people makes them resort to these fast food restaurants. KFC very tactfully adapts to the culture of the country they operate in. the busy lifestyle of the masses makes them resort to these unhealthy fast foods. The growing awareness about the harmful effects of fast food is proving to be a threat for KFC. The technological progression of the country affects the organization’s marketing and daily operations India has a very high per capita income and literacy rate. There technological development is also very advanced (Kelsey, 2015). Thus internet usages and exposure to advanced technology is high. KFC uses strategy to introduce new technology when they feel it is needed.   In the technological era KFC has started mobile apps with the help of which ordering and payment online is made possible. In a developing country like India this acts as an opportunity because this increases its sales and growth. With the growing concern on environment, this factor has come to the forefront in the recent years. It has become extremely important due to the scarcity of raw materials. KFC buys their packaging materials from companies that contribute to deforestation (Tiwari, 2017) This particular company also uses underage children to work for them in order to pay fewer wages to them. KFC’s treatment of the chickens used for the meal is said to be injected to make them obese. This harms the chicken and makes them extremely toxic for human consumption. This also poses several difficulties for the chickens that sometimes die because of the injections. The educated people condemn these various factors since they pose as a threat for the KFC chain. This includes the health and safety factors, advertising standards, equal opportunities, consumer laws and rights, product safety and product labeling. Every company need to know what is legal and what is not in the economy they are operating. For organizations that are global this is a difficult area to act because every country has different rules and laws (Smith et al.,2014). The government in India changes after every five years, corruption level is low. International companies are invited to start their business but their profit is low because of the high taxes. The government gives enough freedom to the firms to conduct their business and does not intervene unnecessary in the daily workings. KFC has to abide by the legal rules and regulations laid down by the government of India for the smooth operations. The above analysis clearly provides an overview of the external environmental conditions faced by the company KFC. The external environmental conditions form an important part of the company and often it is seen that they are beyond the control of the company. The company however, can utilize the external environmental conditions by turning the risks or threats faced by it into future opportunities. Global diversity can be defined as the process by means of which one company can distinguish itself from another not only on the basis of the services provided by them but also on the basis of the strategies as well as the global plan followed by them. This is an important process by means of which the various companies can adapt themselves to the global market and it also allows them to work as per the needs and the requirements of the customers. The company Kentucky Fried Chicken uses the various aspects of global diversity to market its products in more than 198 different countries of the world ("Home | KFC", 2018). The company KFC, in India itself has more than 350 outlets, thereby making India as one the largest center of its business ("Home | KFC", 2018). America is another country where the products of the company KFC are in much demand ("Home | KFC", 2018). The company KFC, as a matter of fact has its headquarters in Kentucky, United States of America ("Home | KFC", 2018). The cultural characteristics of the country India on the basis of the Hofstede’s cultural model would reveal the following facts- Figure 1: Hofstede’s Cultural Insights for India Source: ("Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights", 2018) The above figure clearly indicates that the Indian people score low on the individualism quotient, which means the people like to work in groups and group culture is prevalent there ("Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights", 2018). The people of India score very high on the power distance score which means that the people appreciate the hierarchy system prevalent at their work place and they are very dependent on their bosses or the higher authorities for the performance of their job roles ("Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights", 2018). The score of India on the Hofstede’s culture for the aspect of masculinity indicates that the Indian society is driven by competition, success and achievement ("Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights", 2018). The low score of the nation for the aspect of uncertainty avoidance indicates that the people have low preference for avoiding uncertainty ("Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights", 2018). The cultural characteristics of the country United States of America on the basis of Hofstede’s cultural model would reveal the following facts- Figure 2: Hofstede’s cultural insights for United States of America Source: ("Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights", 2018) The above figure clearly indicates that the people of the United States of America are very individualistic and like to work in an individualistic manner (Taras, Steel, & Kirkman, 2012). The low score on the power distance aspect indicates that the people of the United States of America do not endorse the inequality of the division of power in the society ("Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights", 2018). The high score on the aspect of masculinity indicates that the people of the United States of America are driven by factors like success, competition and achievement ("Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights", 2018). The low score on the uncertainty avoidance indicates that the people of America are fairly tolerant towards the changes in technology, innovations and the desire to try out new things ("Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights", 2018). Therefore, from the above discussion it becomes clear that if the American company, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is to expand its business in India then it will have to take into consideration the various aspects of the culture of the Indian nation. The company will especially have to make adjustments in the aspects of power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance as well as masculinity. KFC opened its first outlet in India at Bangalore in the year 1995 ("Home | KFC", 2018). The company currently owns more than 350 outlets in the nation ("Home | KFC", 2018). This is a reflection of the successful collaboration of the company KFC with the franchise Yum ("Yum! Brands – A World with More Yum!", 2018). It is to be noted that the company has transformed some of the traditional products offered by it in order to suit the taste as well as the needs of the Indian customers (Sania, Kalpina, & Javed, 2015). It is to be noted that in the initial phase the company had to face some protest as the regards the type of raw materials used by it for the preparation of its products. Then there were others who protested to the non-vegetarian products sold by the outlets ("Home | KFC", 2018). The company KFC, therefore in order to capture the needs as well as the requirements of the customers started its new brand of products and food items with the slogan â€Å"So Veg, So Goodâ €  ("Home | KFC", 2018). This plan was introduced as part of its Indian-specific promotional strategy, which was much appreciated by the Indian customers. The second important strategy adopted by the company in a bid to capture the Indian market was the introduction of the 5-in-1 meal boxes and the use of the local dabbawalas for the purposes of the delivery of the products to the office goers (Shoyemi, 2014). It is to be noted that the Indian dabbawalas are known for their efficiency as well as timely delivery services (Shoyemi, 2014). Therefore, this strategy proved to a vital one for the company as it not only enabled them to procure a reliable delivery system but also enabled them to capture the office goers customers of the nation. Another, important strategy utilized by the company is the introduction of the new system of Watt a Box, which is similar in many respects to the traditional 5-in-1 meal boxes of the company with the only difference being that in this particular r espect the customers can order their meals over the phone (Hussain, 2014). The company even follows effective pricing policy as well as provides discount services in a bid to attract more customers to its outlets. These in short are some of the strategies, which the company has utilized over the years to capture the market of the Indian nation. The company offers a wide range of products to its Indian customers like Hot & Crispy Chicken, Chicken Zinger Burger, Fiery Grilled bucket chickens, Rice Bowlz and various others ("Home | KFC", 2018). The company also provides a wide range of vegetarian products to the Indian customers. This is something which is not seen among the range of products offered by the company in its American outlets. The pricing strategy followed by the company in its Indian outlets is different from the ones which it follows in its American market. The company follows a pricing strategy in its Indian market as per the needs and the requirements of the customers and the market conditions. The company uses the social media and newspapers for the purposes of promotion of its products. The company in order to attract more customers had tie up with various other companies like Yum brands and Pepsi Co ("Home | KFC", 2018). They even offer attractive offers like combo meals and others to attract the customers. The primary supplier of raw materials for the company is Venky’s, which is the largest supplier of raw chickens in India ("Home | KFC", 2018). The operational strategy followed by the company in India are listed below- It is to be noted that the business of the company grew by 8% in the country of India in the year 2017 ("Home | KFC", 2018). The company owns more than 350 outlets in the country ("Home | KFC", 2018). The supplier system of the company in the country India is shown by the following figure- The primary competitors of the company KFC in India are McDonalds, Subway, Domino’s and various others ("Home | KFC", 2018). Initially, the target customer base of the company was just the office going population and to capture that customer the company effectively utilized the services of the dabbawalas. However, over the years, the focus of the company has changed significantly and to grab the attention of the other part of the population of the nation, the company started to focus on its vegetarian menu. The company, presently, is trying to grab the attention of the younger generation of the Indian population in the age range of 18-40 ("Home | KFC", 2018). It is commonly seen that the people in this particular age range are the ones who live a fast life and are more open to the kind of products offered by the company KFC. Risk can be defined as the potential situation in which a person or an organization stands to lose or gain something of considerable value (McNeil, Frey, & Embrechts, 2015). It is to be noted that risk forms an important aspect in the process of business management (Schermerhorn et al., 2014). It is often that the companies which are willing to come out of their comfort zone and take considerable amount of risks are the ones which succeed in the longer run (McNeil, Frey, & Embrechts, 2015). The company, KFC is an example of this particular doctrine. The company KFC is one of the largest and most loved brands of the United States of America. The company could have stayed content with its monopoly of the business world. However, the company undertook a considerable amount of risk when it decided to venture into the market of India. It is to be noted that the culture as well as the eating habits of India is completely different from the country of the United Nations of America. There wa s a considerable element of risk involved in the process. However, the company decided to take the risk and judging by the performance of the company in the recent few years in the Indian nation it would be fair to say that the risk taken by the company KFC paid off. The company in the recent times has enjoyed considerable success in the Indian nation. However, there are some risks as well which the company faces in the country of India- The company KFC can manage the above listed risks by various effective strategies like the ones mentioned bellow- Therefore, from the above discussion it becomes clear that the companies need to take various factors into consideration for the purpose of doing business in other countries of the world. It is normally seen that various companies embark on the path of globalization without taking into consideration the cultural, political, environmental, legislative and other aspects of the countries in which they are about to open their business centers. This often instead of expanding the business of the company causes several problems for the parent companies. Therefore, it is advisable for the companies to take into consideration the internal as well as the external environments of the countries into consideration before opening their business centers into those countries. The companies also need to take into consideration the various risks faced by them and develop effective risk management strategies which would mitigate the risks faced by them. It is often seen that an effective management of risks can lead to the overall growth as well as the development of the company concerned. Alviola IV, P. A., Nayga Jr, R. M., Thomsen, M. R., Danforth, D., & Smartt, J. (2014). The effect of fast-food restaurants on childhood obesity: a school level analysis.  Economics & Human Biology,  12, 110-119. Cotti, C., & Tefft, N. (2013). Fast food prices, obesity, and the minimum wage.  Economics & Human Biology,  11(2), 134-147. Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights. (2018).  Hofstede Insights. Retrieved 7 February 2018, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/the-usa/ Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights. (2018).  Hofstede Insights. Retrieved 7 February 2018, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/india/ Home | KFC. (2018).  Online.kfc.co.in. Retrieved 7 February 2018, from https://online.kfc.co.in/ HUSSAIN, S. (2014). The impact of sensory branding (five senses) on consumer: A case study on KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken).  International Journal of Research in Business Management,  2(5), 2347-4572. Kelly, S., & Swinburn, B. (2015). Childhood obesity in New Zealand.  The New Zealand medical journal,  128(1417), 6-7. Kelsey, J. (2015).  Reclaiming the future: New Zealand and the global economy. Bridget Williams Books. Klijn, F., Kreibich, H., De Moel, H., & Penning-Rowsell, E. (2015). Adaptive flood risk management planning based on a comprehensive flood risk conceptualisation.  Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change,  20(6), 845-864. McNeil, A. J., Frey, R., & Embrechts, P. (2015).  Quantitative risk management: Concepts, techniques and tools. Princeton university press. Samnani, A. (2014). Macro-environmental factors effecting fast food industry.  Food Science and Quality Management,  31, 37-40. Sania, U., Kalpina, K., & Javed, H. (2015). Diversity, employee morale and customer satisfaction: The three musketeers.  Journal of Economics, Business and Management,  3(1), 11-18. Schermerhorn, J., Davidson, P., Poole, D., Woods, P., Simon, A., & McBarron, E. (2014).  Management: Foundations and Applications (2nd Asia-Pacific Edition). John Wiley & Sons. Schrà ¶der, M. J., & McEachern, M. G. (2005). Fast foods and ethical consumer value: a focus on McDonald's and KFC.  British food journal,  107(4), 212-224. Shoyemi, A. O. (2014).  Consumers' perception of international quick service restaurants in Nigeria: a case study of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)  (Doctoral dissertation, Dublin Business School). Shoyemi, A. O. (2014).  Consumers' perception of international quick service restaurants in Nigeria: a case study of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)  (Doctoral dissertation, Dublin Business School). Smith, C., Gray, A. R., Fleming, E. A., & Parnell, W. R. (2014). Characteristics of fast-food/takeaway-food and restaurant/cafà ©-food consumers among New Zealand adults.  Public health nutrition,  17(10), 2368-2377. Taras, V., Steel, P., & Kirkman, B. L. (2012). Improving national cultural indices using a longitudinal meta-analysis of Hofstede's dimensions.  Journal of World Business,  47(3), 329-341. Tiwari, M. (2017). KEYWORDS PESTEL Ps-Product, Price, Promotion, and Place.  RECENT TRENDS AND CHALLENGES IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS-A CASE STUDY ON GROWTH STRATEGY OF KFC., (210). Wang, S. Y., Yiu, K. F. C., & Mak, K. L. (2013). Optimal inventory policy with fixed and proportional transaction costs under a risk constraint.  Mathematical and Computer Modelling,  58(9-10), 1595-1614.

The Hitler Youth in WWI and WWII Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Hitler Youth in WWI and WWII - Essay Example The designer of the organization was Kurt Gruber, a law undergraduate and follower of Hitler from Palauan, Saxony. He merged collectively quite a few of the underground youth units to shape a developing national organization. It was named as the Greater German Youth Movement or the GDJB. After a short influence fight with the competitor group, the Gruber succeeded and his Greater German Youth Movement developed into the Nazi Party's authorized youth organization. In 1926, the organization was renamed as Hitler Jugend, Bund deutscher Arbeiterjugend which meant Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth, and for the first time in the history, the organization formally turned into an important branch of the Sturmabteilung. In 1930's, the Hitler Jugend had enrolled more than 25,000 boys, who were the age of fourteen and onwards. It also arranged a secondary subdivision for small children which were named as the Deutsches Jungvolk, for the boys of age 10 to 14. However, girls from 10 to 18 were also specified with their own similar organization, the Bund Deutscher Mdel (BDM), the League of German Girls. In 1932, the Hitler Youth was prohibited by the Chancellor Heinrich Bruning in an endeavor to end the extensive political hostility. Although by June 1932, the ban was removed by his heir, Franz von Papen as the means of reassuring Hitler whose political leading light was rising swiftly. An additional noteworthy growth force began in 1933, when Baldur von Schirach converted into the initial Reich Youth Leader, dispensing a lot of time and greater amount of wealth into the development of the organization. (Michael H. Kater, 2004). The Hitler Jugend's were sighted as the upcoming "Aryan supermen" who were trained in anti-Semitism. Their major aim was to inspire the enthusiasm that would allow the Hitler Jugend associates as the armed forces, to battle devotedly for the Third Reich. The Hitler Jugend or HJ set additional importance on physical and military preparation than on scholastic education. After the boys scout progress was prohibited by the German restricted states, the HJ corrected a lot of its activities, though altered in content and purpose. Such as, several HJ activities personally looked like military training, with artillery training, battering classes and fundamental policy. Some brutality by the grown-up boys to the younger ones was endured and they were even encouraged, as it was considered that this would prepare the weak and make others strong. However, the Hitler Jugend was prearranged into groups under mature leaders. From the start of 1936, membership of the Hitler Jugend became obligatory for all youthful German men. The Hitler Jugend was also observed as a significant stone moving forward to future membership of the privileged Schutzstaffel. Members of the HJ were mostly proud to be granted with the solitary Sig Rune which means the victory symbol. The Schutzstaffel or SS used two Sig Runes as their mark and this sign provided to characteristically connect the two units. The HJ, moreover, maintained numerous groups intended to expand upcoming officers for the Wehrmacht. The unit presented professional pre-training for every one of the particular armaments for which the HJ member was eventually designed. The Marine Hitler Youth, for instance, was the biggest group

Which habits of the mind you are going to set for yourself as your Essay

Which habits of the mind you are going to set for yourself as your highest personal goals for the rest of this semester - Essay Example Striving for accuracy will help me to set a goal in my mind and check the progress. This habit of mind will help to review the criteria, rule and confirm the works that are completed exactly matching the specification (Hyerle 76). This will help to get aware of the expectation of the faculties and standard that needed to be done to meet the requirement. This might take maximum effort and devotion but ultimate finished product will help me to succeed in this semester. Checking continuously on the goals that are set by me and finding out ways to improve and succeed in this semester. And to make sure that I am doing my best is concentrating on my aim and blocking everything else. Goals set by me might me higher, but this habit of mind can help me to improve constantly to find out best possible results for this semester. `This can be concluded that striving for precision and accuracy will help me to identify flaws, strength and weakness. Constantly correcting my work and flaws will help me to find out best possible result to achieve my goals for this

Analyze a Piece of Music from a Concert Hall Essay

Analyze a Piece of Music from a Concert Hall - Essay Example Several times through the rendition observed the major key D exudes positivity and the desire to simply lean back and enjoy is overwhelming. There is a full orchestra accompanying the verbal portion of this particular piece which is reminiscent of the full sound that can be seen in Claude Debussy’s La Mer. While relaxing La Mer had more significant changes in its harmonic rhythm than did Ave Verum Corpes. There was no unresolved dissonance within the recitation itself. As I believe Leonard Bernstein is one of the pre-eminent conductors of our time a small amount of bias may in fact exist from my viewpoint. This rendition was completed and recorded in 1990 and is grainy yet beautiful. Ave Verum Corpes was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and reflects his rendition of the Eucharist hymn with the same title; this hymn dates from the 14th century and is frequently used during the Benediction of Blessed Sacrament. This particular hymn is attributed originally to Pope Innocent VI dating approximately 1362. In 1791 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his rendition for a friend Anton Stoll and it was used to celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi. (Ave Verum Corpus 1) With a small 46 bars of music this particular piece serves to introduce transition and end the piece. ... When he was born in 1756 his given name was, Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. He personally preferred Wolfgang Amede Mozart to the given name and the name he is known by today. The middle name spelled in that manner reflected his appreciation of French culture and language. Mozart never attended a formal educational facility to advance his abilities. (Mozarts life 1) When I listen to the piece I feel as though the very sky is around me, I feel relaxed, and as if I am floating on the clouds. I am also immediately transported to the past and religious services attended. I see robes, crosses, sunlight and clouds. This is a piece that is easy to enjoy and I am no exception to those who enjoy it. It is short, however, even in its relative shortness it is complete and lends itself to the easy listening sometimes required to relax. I enjoyed this piece simply because it allowed me to feel as though I was in another place if only for a few short minutes. By closing oneâ₠¬â„¢s eyes the full quality and beauty of the piece is made readily apparent. With the vibrant crescendo of sound from the full accompaniment in the background it is easy to find myself slipping from the now into the warmth and comfort provided by my imagination. Additional repetitions listening to the piece from a variety of composers lends credence to the idea that a well written musical number is hard to play or perform poorly. One of the more easily enjoyed renditions was the poorly recorded rendition performed by Diana-Marina Fisher in 2008. This particular rendition brought forth a variety of tonal qualities and did nothing to hinder personal enjoyment, in fact

Positive Effects of Using Correct Writing Strategies Research Paper

Positive Effects of Using Correct Writing Strategies - Research Paper Example Mistakes are part of learning and should thus be taken positively. The student can assess their mistakes and those of their peers and learn from the experience. However, the learning process occurs when correcting mistakes. The correction process should involve giving positive feedback, which enlightens the learner on the areas that require improvement. There are different types of mistakes that learners of a second language can make. Some errors are serious to an extent that they hamper communication. This happens when the learner is incapable of constructing comprehendible sentences. The main errors that make communication through writing impossible are mainly grammatical errors, which can be corrected. There are varying strategies that can be used by teachers to correct learners. In my leaning inkshedding and peer review turned out to be very helpful and enabled me to learn how to write correctly. Inkshedding could help students learn a language since it enables them to realize the best strategies to use in writing to communicate their idea to others effectively. In most cases, learners are unaware of their mistakes and require someone else to help them identify and correct their mistakes. On the one hand, inkshedding helps the ESL to communicate with the teacher, and the teacher is able to give valuable comments that enable the students to identify their weaknesses and improve their writing skills. Additionally, inkshedding enables the teacher to motivate the learners without making them feel anxious. After identifying their mistakes, the students are able to correct them even on their own. According to W. Susan, (2001)"Teacher can get an immediate glimpse into what each student thinking, this is more useful than the limited amount of feedback one receive from few students who are just routinely talking." Indeed, whenever I get my inkshed back, I see many valuable comments ma de by the instructor.  Ã‚  

Reading Reflection In Mixed Company (Rothwell) Essay

Reading Reflection In Mixed Company (Rothwell) - Essay Example Rothwell (2007) says that every group member should first generate their own list and then for the group to come together so everyone’s ideas can be ranked in order of importance. This helps group meetings function smoother because it cuts down on ideas that are of no relevance. However, this only works as long as everyone in the group can come up with their own ideas. From a personal perspective, I can incorporate this concept with my father’s appliance repair business. I live in San Diego and he lives in Orange County, so it is really important that on the occasions when we can meet that we have prepared ideas first. This will make our decision making more efficient because we will already have a list of ideas to work from the moment we begin our discussion. Identify an idea from the reading that connected with other things you already knew. How can you connect it to your present job or life circumstances? Please use pages 273-275 from In Mixed Company and expand on m y responses Thank You. Brainstorming is something that I am already familiar with because I do it often in my daily life without realizing it. There are some days when I wake up and don’t know what to do, so I think of a few options and pick the one that appeals to me the most. Rothwell (2007) tells of nine different ways how brainstorming can function during a business meeting. After reading these few pages, I realize that already use many of these nine techniques when I’m brainstorming. Perhaps that one that I use the most is that our ideas stay focused on the topic. It is, however, still important to promote creativity, so I will make sure that these guidelines are followed when I’m working in my father’s appliance repair shop. Identify an Idea from the reading that something you already know or read about make much more sense; this would be an idea that created an â€Å"ah-hah† moment for you. How can you connect it to your present job or life circumstances? Please use page 273-275 from mixed company My â€Å"ah-hah† moment once again came during when I was reading the nine things to avoid or carry out while brainstorming in a meeting. This made me realize that many of my failed meetings in the past have been due to not following the nine techniques. Now that I understand how to brainstorm properly, I will make sure that I remain on track while still encouraging creative thoughts. I hope to apply these techniques not only in my work setting but also in my personal life because brainstorming is one of the basic things that we do in life. Based on the reading for this week, what is one thing you could do differently in your job tomorrow to improve your work performance? Identify specific behaviors you would perform. Please use page 278 in mixed company The one thing that I could do differently in my job tomorrow to improve my work performance is to expand the pie or use the bridging technique. In my father’s b usiness, we work in groups of three to sell appliances. Sometimes the groups are competitive and wish to only sell the best appliances at all times. The problem is that only one or two groups ever sell anything because they have the best appliances and leave the other groups with the poorer quality machines. One way to solve this would be to give an equal amount of each machine to each group so there would be no complaining. This way, it would be left up to the marketing techniques of each individual group to sell more products than the other groups. Discussion question for

Marcel Duchamp - Modern Painting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marcel Duchamp - Modern Painting - Essay Example The essay "Marcel Duchamp - Modern Painting" discusses the works of Marcel Duchamp. The techniques of representation, canonized by the Renaissance masters, were accepted by artists until the late nineteenth century just as the musicians had accepted the rules of tonality. However, constant repetition had weakened their effectiveness, and change seemed to be demanded. The beginnings of change we have already noted in Impressionistic painting, which put the emphasis less on the subject represented and more on the attitude of the artist toward his subject. This changed emphasis led artists to Abstraction, which must be thoroughly understood because it is the basis of much of modern art. The verb â€Å"abstract† has two meanings: â€Å"to take away† and â€Å"to summarize.† Both meanings were known and employed by the old masters. Cubism is a form of abstraction in which objects are first reduced to cubes and then flattened into two-dimensional shapes arranged in ove rlapping planes. In â€Å"Nude Descending a Staircase† by Marcel Duchamp we find another preoccupation of analytical Cubism: that of expressing sequential movement in time. The Cubist thus opened up many new possibilities in visual experience. The movement to regain structure in painting was initiated by Cezanne, who is known as the Father of Cubism. He advised painters to â€Å"treat nature by the cylinder, the sphere, the cone, everything in proper perspective, so that each side of an object or a plane is directed toward a central point.†

Background information on Jo Malone London Essay Example for Free

Background information on Jo Malone London Essay 1.1 JO MALONE LONDON Jo Malone London was originally founded by Joanne Lesley Malone, in her kitchen in 1983. She is a British perfumer and is particularly known for her scented candles. Joanne Lesley Malone had severe dyslexia and left school without any qualifications that, however, did not stop her from creating the company with her mother Eileen. In her early twenties, Joanne Lesley Malone followed in her mother’s footsteps and became a facialist. Unable to afford her own workspace at that time, Joanne Lesley Malone had to work out of her apartment. As her business grew, Joanne Lesley Malone came up with the idea of gifting her clients a small token of appreciation and came up with her very first concoction â€Å"Nutmeg and Ginger’ by mixing batches of bath oil on her stove. Her clients loved it and went back to her to purchase more of her products which made her business grew. Despite having no substantial training, Joanne Lesley Malone began making perfumes as well. Most fragrances would have a complex blend of light, medium and heavy notes, Joanne Lesley Malone’s scents only had one or two notes. After the fledging business took off, Joanne Lesley Malone and her husband found and renovated a London retail space, that became the site of her eponymously named store. Lines of customers formed down when Jo Malone London opened its first outlet at 154 Walton Street, London in 1994. Jo Malone London became popular after Joanne Lesley Malone made an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. In 1999, Joanne Lesley Malone launched her flagship store in London’s Sloane Street. In the same year, although initially reluctant to give up a company no matter what the price, Joanne Lesley Malone eventually sold Jo Malone London to Està ©e Lauder. Joanne Lesley Malone continued to work for the brand as the creative director until 2006, where she sold the company to Està ©e Lauder in its entirety and was barred from creating a new fragrance or skincare line for 5 years due to a non-compete agreement. 1.2 HIERARCHY DESCRIPTION OF LEARNING EXPERIENCE 2.1 JOB RESPONSIBILITIES: DEMONSTRATE THE ABILITY TO PROVIDE INSPIRATIONAL, AUTHENTIC AND PERSONALIZED CUSTOMER SERVICE / IDENTIFYING CUSTOMERS’ NEEDS: Every customer has different needs and wants when they step into the store. As every customer has different preferences, it is essential to personalize the experiences for different customers. To find out what the customers are looking for, we need to ask TED questions. Through the answers the customers give, we will have better insights and understanding about what they are looking for. PROVIDING INFORMATION ON PRODUCTS / EDUCATING CUSTOMERS: Fragrances: As important as sales is, educating the customers is equally crucial. What makes Jo Malone’s colognes so unique is that it is light so it can be layered. They are good on its own but when layered, you will get truly individual effects. Therefore, customers can come up with their own bespoke scents. Candles and diffusers: For every customer that buys the candles and diffusers, our job is to teach them how to use the products. For candles, the customers can only burn for up to four hours and then extinguish it and after burning, the wick of the candle must be trimmed to prevent the candle from tunneling. ASSIST IN DAILY RETAIL OPERATION: Co-ordinate and check merchandise on display: Except for the testers, the products on display are not displayed pieces but actual selling stocks. In Jo Malone London ION Orchard, it often gets busy and customers are always rushing in this fast-paced city so we often do not take the stocks from the cabinets and just sell the products on display instead.During our free time, we will replenish the merchandise on display. By doing so, it would also minimize external theft as we would be able to immediately realize that the product is missing and then report to our superiors and request for them to check the surveillance cameras. By coordinating and checking the merchandise on display, we will also have better insights on approximately how much of each product needs to be reordered. Handle exchanges of merchandise: A lot of the customers that comes to Jo Malone London are customers that are looking for gifts for their family, friends or loved ones. They often do not know what to buy and often purchase the options between our recommendations.To successfully close these deals and not let our potential customers slip out of our hands, we would persuade them to buy by letting them know that we will issue them a sales memo so that the receiver may bring the unused products to exchange for something they like should they not like the gift. DISPLAY PROFESSIONAL IMAGE AND ETIQUETTE: In Jo Malone London, we are required to wear our uniforms, wear formal footwear and put on our aprons and name tags once we are on the sales floor. Grooming is of great importance as it will not only portray our professionalism, our customers will also place their trust in our recommendations when they see how well-dressed we are. What we say to them will seem more professional and convincible to them too. Other than attire-wise, makeup is also required as it would add colors to our face making us look more refreshed and it will also positively affect the perception people has on us. PERFORM DAILY HOUSEKEEPING: As our store is an open layout store with no automatic doors that opens and closes when a customer walks in and out, there is a lot of dust in the store. What adds to this issue is that we have many spotlights in the store which makes the dust a lot more visible. Therefore, it is essential that we wipe the shelves and the tables every morning. On Sunday mornings, we would wipe all products, shelves, and tables. I do not wipe the shelves and tables, it would make our store look dusty, deserted and unsanitary. 2.2 GOOD OR BAD MOMENTS EXPERIENCED GOOD: Seeing the reactions of my customers when I tell them that I am merely an intern. After a few days of the internship, I feel more confident with the amount of knowledge I have which really played a huge part in my ability to persuade customers to purchase. BAD: During our orientation, we were thought to ask TED questions. And then further suggest scents or products to customers based on our insights. But there often are customers that ask what the best sellers are when they step foot in. What makes this situation tricky is the customers because what may be the bestseller may not be what they like. â€Å"May I know what kind of scents you like, miss? Because what may be the bestseller may not be what you would like† would earn me some glares and angry customers that would stomp off. I often encounter such customers and as much as I want to stay unaffected, I really am. 2.3 COLLEAGUES, I HAVE WORKED WITH Stella (Assistant Boutique Manager) Shieh Ling (Senior Stylist, Second In-Charge) Siew Fong (Senior Stylist) Daryl (Senior Stylist) Cheryl (Stylist) Victoria (Intern converted to part-time) Jasmine (Part-timer) Jamie (Part-timer) Sim (Previous stylist) Ivor (Previous part-timer) Ryan (previous part-timer) REFLECTION ON THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE 3.1 THOUGHTS ABOUT THE INTERNSHIP 3.2 POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE THOUGHTS 3.3 WHAT I LEARNT 3.4 SIGNIFICANT LESSONS LEARNT REFERENCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Malone_London APPENDIX

Different viewpoints and opinions on education

Different viewpoints and opinions on education Indoctrinational vs. democratic/participatory teaching methods and techniques John Dewey argued that education should use a critical democratic approach to raise student consciousness about values, attitudes and worker responsibilities. He stated that the primary purpose of education in United States was to foster the growth of democratically minded citizens, and Dewey made no distinction in the education of those who would manage the companies and those who would work on the shop floors. Dewey strongly advocated vocational exploration as a means to acquire practical knowledge, apply academic content and examine occupational and societal values. However, he adamantly opposed the use of vocational education as merely trade education as it would overemphasize technical efficiency. If this occurred, and some would argue it has, education would then become an instrument of perpetuating unchanged the existing industrial order of the society, instead of operating as a means of its transformation (Dewey, 1916). Dewey believed that it was educations role to combat soc ial predestination, not contribute to it. In contrast, Charles Prosser and David Snedden advocated an indoctrinational approach for teaching work value and attitudes; students should learn, without question, the ethical standards of dominant society and the professional ethics of the desired professional area (Prosser, 1939). Supporters of this approach believed the primary purpose of public education was the development of human capital for the success of industrial economy. To accomplish this, they argued that scientific management principles, drawn from the industrial sector, were employed in the public school setting, creating a hierarchically structured and production oriented educational system (Spring, 1990). Prossers sixteen theorems of vocational education support this vision of schooling. According to him, vocational educational should replicate the occupational environment (i.e. processes, machinery, tools), emphasize efficiency (e.g. outputs, costs) and teach functioning facts rather than in the mere acquiring of abstract and socially useless knowledge (Prosser Quigley, Vocational education in a democracy, 1949). In the past thirty five years the argument initiated by Dewey, Prosser and Snedden has resurfaced between educational theorists, outside the realm of vocational education, and business leaders concerned about the decline of industrial productivity in industrialized nations. Expanding upon Deweys perspective, these educational theorists have used a socio-political-economic framework to guide their critique. Specifically reproduction theorists have criticized vocational education for transmitting work values and attitudes necessary for a compliant workforce as well as primarily employing indoctrinational pedagogies for work values and attitudes instruction (Bowles Gintis, 1976). Reproduction and critical theorists have argued that the indoctrinational approach is exploitative because it produces attitudes in students that correspond to the type of work in which students will most likely participate upon completion of their formal education (Anyon, 1980); (Giroux, 1983); (Macleod, 1987 ). Another facet of this debate was represented in the report Americas choice: high skills or low wages! which focused on corporate organizational structure and its relationship to worker behaviors (National Center on Education and the Economys Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, 1990). It stated that about 80% of United States companies utilize a pyramidal mass manufacture model that values reliable and compliant workers who perform their tasks almost robot like. This is in contrast to democratically structured organizations that need workers who are adaptable, resourceful, critical and capable of making decisions. While Dewey and critical theorists are concerned primarily with implementing democracy in the schools and the workplace to create a more just and equitable society, the industrial sociological literature has provided evidence that work organizations that employ democratic processes or participatory management also increase worker productivity (Hall, 1987); (J ain, 1980); (Zuboff, 1983). The Commission suggested that, while there is a trend towards companies implementing more participatory management, vocational education needs to teach democratic skills and utilize primarily democratic strategies so that future workers will be prepared to participate in, and assist in transforming companies into high performance organizations. Ineffective learning The nature of work has changed and our understanding of how people learn has also changed. Both developments call into question the organization, goals and pedagogy of our educational system. What makes these developments so powerful is that our new understanding of both work and learning suggest very similar directions for reform. Strengthening the educational system so that it conforms more to the ways people learn will also directly enhance the ability of that system to prepare students for the type of workplaces that are emerging in factories and offices throughout the industrialized world. The following discussion of effective learning emerges from a powerful knowledge base known as cognitive science. From the perspective of cognitive science this discussion purports to underscore two basic points about learning and teaching. First, school routinely and profoundly violates what we know about how people learn effectively and the conditions under which they apply their knowledge appropriately to new situations. Second, these practices seem to permeate all levels and sectors of education and training in developed countries right from elementary grades to corporate training. Mistaken assumption # 1: The educational enterprise assumes that people predictably transfer learning to new situations As a society, we presume that the ultimate point of schooling is to prepare students for effective and responsible functioning outside of school. Accepting this assumption means that we have to confront what is known as the knowledge transfer problem. Knowledge transfer simply means the appropriate use in a new situation of concepts, skills, knowledge and strategies acquired in another. Historically, lower-skilled workers had a very limited need for transfer. Transfer becomes important when you encounter the unfamiliar and non-routine, and lower skilled workers encountered little that was not familiar and did not have the responsibility for handling the non-routine that they did encounter. Goods and services were limited in number, allowing long production runs of the same thing or service and reducing the number of events that have not been previously encountered. Within this limited product or service range, companies organized the work as specialist work workers had responsibility for a narrow range of activity. Supervisors and managers were expected to handle the non-routine events that did occur within this narrow, repetitive world. That is, responsibility for events that required problem solving, judgment, heuristics, analogues, or other mental activities enhanced by the access to knowledge and skills acquired in other situations was detached from lower-skill jobs and vested in middle-skill managerial jobs. However, technological innovations and changed market conditions ushered by globalization and in its wake increased competition means an increased number of non-routine events. Companies in developed countries are gradually shifting from highly specialized and repetitive jobs at lower skill levels toward teams expected to handle a broader range of activities, and they are also increasingly vesting problem-solving, supervisory responsibilities in these teams. Thus, a broader range of workers is being asked to exercise the mental activities enhanced by access to knowledge and skills acquired in other situations. Extensive research, spanning decades, shows that individuals do not predictably transfer knowledge in any of the three situations where transfer should occur. They do not predictably transfer school knowledge to everyday practice (Pea, 1989); (Lave, 1988). They do not predictably transfer sound everyday practice to school endeavors, even when the former seems clearly relevant to the latter. They do not predictably transfer their learning across school subjects. We focus on the first two transfer problems: from school to nonschool and from nonschool to school. Transferring from school to outside of school: This transfer situation is at the heart of schooling. Usually, the major claim for school-type instruction is its generality and power of transfer to situations beyond classroom (Resnick, 1987). The fundamental question is whether knowledge, skills and strategies acquired in formal education in fact get used appropriately in everyday practice. Students in college physics courses designed for physics majors can solve book problems in Newtonian mechanics by rote application of formulae. However, even after instruction, they revert to naÃÆ' ¯ve pre-Newtonian explanations of common physical situations to which their school learning is relevant (diSessa, 1983). Studies of expert radiologists, electronic troubleshooters and lawyers all reveal a syrprising lack of transfer of theoretical principles, processes or skills learned in school to professional practice (Resnick, 1987). For example, Morris and Rouse found that extensive training in electronics and troubleshooting theories provided little knowledge and fewer skills directly applicable to performing electronic troubleshooting (Morris Rouse, 1985) Transferring from outside of school to school: People learn outside of school all the time. The question then is what people do with what they learn outside of school when they move into school. Does sound, everyday practice get transferred to get used in school learning? How does incorrect learning outside school affect correct learning inside school? Dairy workers, although almost errorless in their use of practical arithmetic at work, performed badly in on arithmetic tests with problems like those encountered in their jobs (Scribner Fahrmeir, 1982). Brazilian street vendor children successfully solved 98% of their marketplace transactions, such as calculating total costs and change. When presented with the same transactions in formal arithmetic word problems that provided some descriptive context, the children correctly solved 74% of the problems. Their success rate dropped to 37% when asked to solve the same types of problems when these were presented as mathematical operations without descriptive context (Carraher, Carraher, Schliemann, 1985). Other studies show that training on one version of a logical problem has little, if any, effect on solving an isomorphic version that is represented differently (Hayes Simon, 1977). Teaching children to use general context-independent cognitive strategies has no clear benefits outside the specific domains in which they are taught (Pressley, Snyder, Cariglia-Bull, 1987) Cognitive experts agree that the conditions for transfer are not fully understood. Even though studies cited in previous paragraphs continue to find no evidence of transfer, others identify conditions under which transfer seems to occur (Holyoak, 1985); (Nisbett, Fong, Lehman, Cheng, 1987); (Lehman, Lempert, Nisbett, 1988); (Singley Anderson, 1989). We know that people routinely apply skills such as reading, writing and arithmetic to new situations with some success. These skills are used most effectively in well understood content domains. For example, readers get more out of their reading when they know something about the domain in which they are reading than when they do not. Nonetheless, skills such as reading do let us enter unfamiliar content areas we do use these skills in new situations, and they do help us. At the same time, we also keep finding lack of transfer. We now know that certain practices in school impede learning. More effective learning may not be sufficient for transfer, but poor initial learning will certainly impede it. Mistaken assumption # 2: Learners are best seen as passive vessels into which knowledge is poured In a typical schoolroom or a corporate training session, the teacher or expert faces the learners in the role of knowledge source. The learner is the passive receiver of wisdom a glass into which water is poured. This instructional arrangement comes out of an implicit assumption about the basic purpose of education: the transmission of societys culture from one generation to the next. The concept of transmission implies a one-way flow from the adult members of the society to the societys young, or, from the expert to the novice (Lave, The culture of acquisition and the practice of understanding: Report No. IRL88-0007, 1988). In fact, schooling is often talked about as transmission of canonical knowledge in other words, of an authoritative, structured body of principles, rules and knowledge. Education as canonical transmission thus becomes the conveying of what experts know to be true, rather than a process of inquiry, discovery and wonder. This view of education leads naturally to the student as the receiver of the word, to a lecture mode of teaching, and to the teacher as the controller of the process. This organization of learning, with the teacher as order-giver and the student as order-taker, fits the traditional organization of work for lower-skilled workers in both civilian workplaces and the military. The workers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ responsibility was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ to do what he was told [to do by the management] (Callahan, 1962). Ben Hamper, an auto assembly line worker, uses more colorful language: Working the line at G. M. was like being paid to flunk high school for the rest of your life (Marchese, 1991). The assumption that the teacher is the pourer and the student the receptacle has several unfortunate consequences. Passive learning reduces or removes chances for exploration, discovery and invention: Passive learning means that learners do not interact with problems and content and thus do not get the experiential feedback that is key to learning. Students need chances to engage in choice, judgment, control processes and problem formulation; they need chances to commit mistakes. The saying, experience is the best teacher, is borne out by the research you learn what you do. While not sufficient for effective learning, doing is nonetheless necessary. However, schools usually present what is to be learned as a delineated body of knowledge, with the result that students come to regard the subject being studied mathematics, for example as something received, not discovered and as entity to be ingested, rather than a form of activity, argumentation and social discourse. This organization of learning mirrors the traditional organization of work, especially for lower skilled workers. Under the system of industrial management known as scientific management or the Taylor System, each mans task was worked out by the planning department. Each worker received an instruction card which described in minute detail not only what is to be done, but how it is to be done and the exact time allowed for doing it' (Callahan, 1962). This system was highly prescriptive; it left no room for deviation or innovation. Passive learning places control over learning in the teachers, not the learners, hands: Passive learning creates learners dependent on teachers for guidance and feedback, thus undercutting the development of confidence in their own sense making abilities, their initiative and their cognitive executive skills. The example of Brazilian street vendor children may be recalled at this juncture. The researchers found that when the children tried to work school math problems, they did not check the sensibleness of their answers by relating them back to the initial problem. Although virtually errorless in their street math activities, they came with preposterous results for school math problems (Carraher, Carraher, Schliemann, 1985). In a study of supermarket shoppers use of arithmetic, the researchers assessed the shoppers command of structurally similar school math problems. The shoppers spoke with self-deprecation about not having studied math for a long time. Lave clarifies what is happening here. Individuals experience themselves as both subjects and objects in the world. In the supermarket, for example, they see themselves as controlling their activities, interacting with the setting, generating problems in relation [to] the setting, and controlling problem solving processes. In contrast, school à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ create[s] contexts in which children à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ experience themselves as objects, with no control over problems or choice about problem-solving processes (Lave, Cognition in Practice, 1988) in sum, control in the teachers, not the students hands undercuts students trust in their own sense making abilities. As companies have started shifting decision-making power to the shop floor, managers find that workers conditioned to depending on their supervisors telling them what to do are frightened and lack confidence in their ability to solve problems and make decisions. In addition to its effects on confidence, passive learning also undercuts the development of a particular set of higher order cognitive skills called the cognitive self-management, or executive thinking, skills. These are simply the skills that we use to govern our problem-solving attempts. They include goal setting, strategic planning, checking for accurate plan execution, monitoring our progress and evaluating and revising our plans. We now know that those who function as independent and effective learners are people with these skills. However, as Pea has observed, passive learning is disastrous for developing them. Classroom studies of reading, writing, and math and science instruction show that the executive processes for controlling thinking and learning processes are under the teachers control, not the students. These processes seem to get developed when the learning situation is structured to shift control from the teacher to the student, the teacher gradually removing the support that students need initially as they begin to show the ability to work autonomously (Pea, 1989). Passive learning creates motivational and crowd control problems: Jordan describes a Mexican public health training program designed to improve the practice of Mayan midwives. Her analysis spotlights behaviors that American teachers constantly complain about their students (Jordan, 1987). The teaching is organized in a straight didactic material in a mini-lecture format. When these lectures begin, the midwives shift into what Jordan calls their waiting-it-out behavior: they sit impassively, gaze far away, feet dangling, obviously tuned out. This is behavior that one might also observe in other waiting situations, such as when a bus is late or during sermons in church, (p. 3). We see the same behaviors in American third graders. Hass found that students were deeply engaged in team problem-solving during their drill and practice time, but invested little attention or involvement in the teachers instructional sessions. During three weeks of observation, the children did not adopt any of the specific strategies demonstrated by the teacher during general instruction time (Hass, 1988). As teachers know it so well, motivational problems often end up as crowd control problems, as illustrated by the behaviors of different groups of children at a Metropolitan Museum display of Ice Age art and artifacts. Most of the school groups were moved from one exhibit to the next, pausing before each to hear a guides or teachers lecture. Since the children were bunched in front of an exhibit, they could not all hear the lecture, and even when they could, they lacked understanding of the time frames involved or the archaeological significance of bits of bone. Teachers had not set up the museum visit so that students became involved in what they were going to see. Groups were therefore restless and crowd control became the teachers primary concern. One junior high school class behaved very differently, exhibiting a quiet intensity as they moved through the exhibit gallery. They had packets of worksheets with questions about issues and problems that they were expected to solve at the exhibit. Some questions were factual, but most required inference and thought. The students had to figure out for themselves where and what the evidence would be concerning particular questions (Farnham-Diggory, 1990). Motivational and crowd control problems with students have shown up for decades with lower-skilled workers in the forms of high turnover, absenteeism and, in extreme cases, sabotage. Mistaken assumption # 3: Learning is the strengthening of bonds between stimuli and correct responses Based on his animal experiments, the brilliant psychologist Edward Thorndike developed a new theory of learning. As Cremin observed, the theory presumed that learning was the wedding of a specific response to a specific stimulus through a psychological bond in the neural system. The stimulus [S] then regularly called forth the response [R]. the bond between S and R was stamped in by being continually rewarded; an undesired bond was extinguished through punishment or failure (Cremin, 1961). For the purpose of this research, this psychological theory had three major effects. It led to the breakdown of complex ideas and tasks into components, subtasks and items (stimuli) that could be separately trained. It encouraged repetitive training (stamping in). And it led to a focus on the right answer (successful response) and to the counting of correct responses to items and subtasks, a perspective that ended up in psychometrically elegant tests that were considered the scientific way to measure achievement. The result was fractionation: having to learn disconnected subroutines, items and subskills without an understanding of the larger context into which they fit and which gives them meaning. As Farnham-Diggory notes, fractionated instruction maximizes forgetting, inattention and passivity (Farnham-Diggory, 1990). Since children and adults seem to acquire knowledge from active participation in complex and meaningful environments, school programs could hardly have been better designed to prevent a childs natural learning system from operating (p. 146). The phrase a childs natural learning system goes to the heart of why the usual school programs do not meet their own learning objectives well. Human beings even the small child are quintessentially sense-making, problem-solving animals. The word Why is a hallmark of young childrens talk. As a species, we wonder, we are curious and we want to understand. Pechman talks about the child as the meaning maker. Fractionated and decontextualized instruction fails to mobilize this powerful property of human beings in the service of learning (Pechman, 1990). Mistaken assumption # 4: What matters is getting the right answer Bothe the transmission and the behaviorist views of learning place a premium on getting the right answer. A transmission view stresses the ability of the learner to reproduce the Word; a behaviorist view, the ability of the learner to generate the correct response. The end result is the same: students and teachers focus on the right answer, jeopardizing the development of real understanding. The focus plays out in several ways. An instructional focus on the right answer discourages instruction in problem solving: A right answer focus encourages an emphasis on facts. Facts are important, but by themselves constitute an impoverished understanding of a domain; a fact-focus does not help students abilities to think about the domain in different ways. Cognitive analyses of a range of jobs show that being able to generate different solutions to problems that are formally the same is a hallmark of expert performance (Scribner, Head and hand: An action approach to thinking, 1988).Employers and college educators both complain that American high school graduates are limited in their thinking and problem-solving abilities, deficiencies that stem partly from an educational emphasis on facts and right answers. Students resort to veneers of accomplishment: Students respond to a focus on right answers by learning to test right within the school system. They figure out what answers the teacher or the test seems to want, but often at the cost of real learning. These surface achievements have been called the veneer of accomplishment (Lave, Smith, Butler, Problem solving as an everyday practice, 1988). Also, Jordans analysis of a Mayan midwives training program illuminates basic truths about the learning and testing of American students (Jordan, 1987). She found that midwives who had been through the training course saw official health care system as powerful, in that it commanded resources and authority. They came to distinguish good from not good things to say. Specifically, they learned new ways of legitimizing themselves, new ways of presenting themselves as being in league with this powerful system, but with little impact on their daily practice. Although they could converse appropriately with supervisory medical personnel, their new knowledge was not incorporated into their behavioral repertoire. It was verbally, but not behaviorally fixed. Jordan notes that the trainers evaluated their program by asking the midwives to reproduce definitions, lists and abstract concepts. She observes that if these tests measure anything at all, they measure changes in linguistic repertoire and changes in discourse skills [not changes in behavior] (pp. 10-12) The same behaviors show up with Hasss American third graders. He noticed that in mathematics lessons the students got much practice in problem-solving methods that they had brought into the classroom with them methods that were not being taught and were not supposed to be used. The children used these methods to produce right answers, which the teacher took as evidence of their having grasped the formal procedures that she was teaching them. In fact, all that had happened was the appearance of learning. Teachers do not get behind the answers: We end up with appearances of learning because, in their search for right answers, teachers often fail to check behind the answers to insure that students really grasp the principles that they want the students to master. In typical American classrooms the time devoted to a lesson on a particular topic makes it hard to bring to the surface, let along change, the ideas and assumptions that individuals bring to the lesson. Traditional curriculum design is usually based on a conceptual analysis of the subject matter that ignores what is already in the learners head, with the result that students make mistakes that arise from undetected ideas that they brought to the lesson. Or they can play back memorized canonical knowledge and conceptions but return to their own ideas when confronted with unfamiliar questions or non-routine problems. As noted earlier,, students in college physics courses designed for physics majors can solve book problems in Newtonian mechanics by rote application of formulas, but even after instruction revert to naÃÆ' ¯ve pre-Newtonian explanations of common physical situations (Raizen, 1989). Teachers do not focus on how to use student mistakes to help them learn: In their search for right answers, teachers tend to regard student errors as failures rather than as opportunities to strengthen students understanding. American teachers placed little emphasis on the constructive use of errors as a teaching technique, a practice that the researchers attribute to the strong influence of behaviorism in American education. Behaviorism requires teaching conditions that help learners make only correct responses that can be reinforced through praise. Mistaken assumption # 5: To insure their transfer to new situations, skills and knowledge should be acquired independently of their contexts of use This idea is often talked about as decontextualized learning, which simply means learning out of context or meaning. The rationale for decontextualised learning goes back to the presumed conditions for the transfer of learning. As Lave observes, extracting knowledge from the particulars of experience was thought to make that knowledge available for general application in all situations (Lave, Cognition in Practice, 1988). Almost seventy five years ago, John and Evelyn Dewey wrote about the learning costs of decontextualized education. A statement, even of facts, does not reveal the value of the fact, or the sense of its truth of the fact that it is a fact. Where children are fed only on the book knowledge, one fact is as good as another; they have no standards of judgment or belief. Take the child studying weights and measures; he reads in his textbook that eight quarts make a peck, but when he does examples he is apt, as every schoolteacher knows, to substitute four for eight. Evidently the statement as he read it in the book did not stand for anything that goes on outside the book, so it is a matter of accident what figure lodges in his brain, or whether any does. But the grocers boy who has measured out pecks with a quart measure knows. He has made pecks; he would laugh at anybody who suggested that four quarts made a peck. What is the difference in these two cases? The schoolboy has a result without the activity of which it is the result. To the grocers boy the statement has value and truth, for it is the obv ious result of an experience it is a fact. Thus we see that it is a mistake to suppose that practical activities have only or even mainly a utilitarian value in the schoolroom. They are necessary if the pupil is to understand the facts which the teacher wishes him to learn; if his knowledge is to be real, not verbal; if his education is to furnish standards of judgment and comparison. (Dewey Dewey, Schools of tomorrow, 1915) Get over the traditional distinctions between head and hand The indictment of traditionally organized learning was coming out of a powerful research base, cognitive science. At the heart of this research was the presumption that intelligence and expertise are built out of interaction with the environment, not in isolation from it. It thus challenged the traditionally held distinctions between: Head and hand Academic and vocational education Knowing and doing Abstract and applied Education and training School-based and work-based learning Recent EU policy indicates a reassessment both of the relationship between work and education and the role of work experience in academic and vocational programs, on the basis that globalization is generating the need for new learning relationships between education and work which will support lifelong learning (European Commission, 1995). Thus, in the case of work experience in both general and vocational education, it is now envisaged that it could fulfill an important new role, providing an opportunity for those young people in full-time education and training to develop their understanding about changes in the world of work, to enhance their key skills and to make closer links between their formal programs of study and the world of work (Green, Leney, Wolf, 1999). However, although there has been

A Man For All Seasons - Friend or Foe :: A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt

Friend or Foe In the book, A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt there are a few people that can’t be trusted by Sir Thomas More, the main character in the book. Richard Rich is definitely one of those men who can’t be trusted and along with Thomas Cromwell the two destroy More’s life slowly but surely and to the point of death. In the end of the book More is executed for high treason and his family goes from being very well off to having to start over. So this book shows that through deceitfulness of two, one can fall. There are two main reasons that Rich would be considered a â€Å"Foe† and those are his weak moral character and his devalue of More’s friendship. These are reasons to make someone a â€Å"Foe† because if a person doesn’t hold true to their morals then they are easily persuaded and if a person had the friendship of More then they would be idiots not to keep that friendship and respect. In the following paragraphs I will give examples from the book of these reasons. One reason why Rich is a â€Å"Foe† is because his moral character isn’t very strong and throughout the book there are many times where it is shown that Rich doesn’t have a strong moral character, for example: Rich: But every man has his price? More: No-no-no- Rich: But yes! In money too. More: No no no Rich: Or pleasure. Titles, woman, bricks-and-mortar, there’s always something. More: Childish. In this quote (pg.4) it shows that Rich can be bought and he is trying to tell More that this is normal because everyone â€Å"has his price†. However, More, being the kind and charitable man he is, tries to explain that being able to be bought is not normal and it is a moral weakness in someone’s character and tries to help him get a job as a teacher where there is no temptation of bribery. Another example of how Rich’s moral character is weak is when he is talking to Cromwell and Cromwell tells him that he is to become Secretary to the Council, which he asks Rich not tell anyone about it. However when Cromwell repeats the question over and over, Rich, finally, says he would but it would depend on the bribe.

Cruel and Unusual? Exploring JLWOP Sentencing Essay -- Criminal Justic

The JLWOP sentence (or juvenile life without parole) has been the topic of controversy lately. Many have battered the issue back and forth, based on the morality level of American society. Should juveniles be sentenced to life without parole? In some cases people are viewing children in our society as less than competent, despite the majority of countries around the world that view adulthood as beginning shortly after puberty. It is impossible to deny the emotional and physiological differences between adolescents and adults. However, I think that despite these natural changes we go through as humans, occasionally there are deformities that can be the cause of some to deviate from this natural pattern of progression. I believe in some cases, once a juvenile has crossed the line of murder and victimization, there is very little anyone can do to prevent it from happening again. Because of this, I support JLWOP sentencing when the psychological stability of the juvenile is compromised. The JLWOP sentence is a sentencing guideline that is being debated by the Supreme Court following the ruling against children receiving the death sentence in 2003. The Supreme Court ruled that death sentences for minors were deemed â€Å"cruel and unusual punishment† and violated the Eighth Amendment of the constitution. The Supreme Court is now looking to the JLWOP with a moral parameter based on that 2003 ruling, attempting to decide whether or not JLWOP is considered unconstitutional by means of being cruel and unusual. In order to determine cruel and unusual punishment, the Supreme Court would have to find that JLWOP was excessive and disproportional to the crime of a juvenile. In rare cases, it is the only option for some young people today, despite... ...ders committed by juveniles that do not warrant this sentencing. Rather, the juvenile court system should view each case individually, despite the charge and make the best decision for the offender, the victims and the community. If the JLWOP continues to be mandated, society in general should demand stringent guidelines to ensure we are not punishing the adults of tomorrow, but rather to keep society safe from those individuals that pose a lifelong threat. Works Cited Lockup: Hollman. Dir. Hillary Heath for MSNBC. Perf. Kenny Loggins. 2006. M.D., Dr. Glen Gabbard. Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders Third Edition. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, 2001. Sukhoi, Yevgney. Killing for Kicks, Youth Confess to 21 Murders. Moscow: Russia Today, 2008. Totenberg, Nina. "Supreme Court Ends Death Penalty for Juviniles." National Public Radio. 2005.

Cultural and Technical Metaphors Essay -- Language Linguistics

Cultural and Technical Metaphors Intro Everyday conversation is riddled with metaphoric analogies. Most often, they go unrealized by the speaker as well as the listener. Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines a metaphor as â€Å"a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (as in drowning in money)† (Metaphor 1). Metaphors are a quick and simple way of relating a message without divulging unnecessary details that would otherwise cloud the ultimate point. This is especially useful in technically related fields and subjects such as Information System Management (IS). IS is responsible for the management of computers, networking, and data that supports different levels of decisions at different levels of the organizational hierarchy (What is IS? 1). Even as the technical functions of computer systems develop new and detailed complexities, everyday users, not familiar with the ins and ou ts of their particular system, are able to effectively communicate problems or concerns to trained professionals. Similarly, experts in the Information Technology (IT) field are able to explain to users how to manage their systems using heuristically tested metaphors such as â€Å"desktop† and â€Å"recycle bin† which have become standard jargon/usage. Just as different fields of study adopt their own list of commonly accepted metaphors, the use of metaphors crosses lines of culture and ethnicity as well. Body Common Metaphors Sitting about 400 miles south of the US mainland is the tiny island of Jamaica. Known for its beautiful beaches and clear waters, Jamaica has become a great vacationing spot. It is also the birthplace... ... â€Å"Metaphor†. Merriam- Webster's Online Dictionary. 2006-2007. Merriam-Webster.com. 4 June 2007. â€Å"Rasta/Patios Jamaican Phrases and Proverbs†. 15 June 1997. Croal Islands Associates. 4 June 2007. â€Å"Renà © Descartes†. Wekepedia.com. 4 June 2007. Wekemedia Foundation Inc. 5 June 2007. â€Å"Songs of Freedom: The Music of Bob Marley as Transformative Education†. 2005. ReligiousEducation.net. 4 June 2007. â€Å"What is IS?†. Webopedia.com. 24 April 2007. Internet.com. 9 June 2007.

The Age of Social Influence

We know that the once linear and transaction-centric purchase funnel is now multi-directional, random and heavily influenced by opinion and information gathered by consumers. And we know that because of social media and technology, consumers can now enter the purchase cycle at various points, and spontaneously influence others as they travel along the path the purchase. But do we really understand how marketers can unlock the real value of all this? Do we know how social media works with other more established media?And do we know how to harness the power of social media for real commercial gain? In order to find aanswers to some of these crucial questions, Initiative set out to explore the individual and combined strength of TV, social and mobile, and how consumer interaction with each has altered the path to purchase. Specifically, we wanted to investigate: †¢ Howdoweproducegreatersynergybetweenoursiloed media,socialandmobilebudgetsandtacticsthatresultina greaterreturnoninvest ment? †¢ Whataretheimpactofsocial,TVandmobileonshopper decision-making? †¢ Whatroledoesconsumerinfluenceplayalongthepathto purchase?However, our study found that while the integration of social, TV and mobile has indeed altered the way consumers make decisions about brands, it is not because of their ability to simply multiply brand messages. Increasingly, consumers are becoming the driving force powering what, when and where brand interactions occur. Based upon our findings, Initiative believes that by leveraging the consumer’s natural inclination to engage with media across multiple screens and social media, we can create a consumer-powered media synergy effect that is both non-linear and emotional – driving deeper engagement and trust.

Deception Point Page 85

Rachel's body went rigid. She wanted to step back from the railing, but she could not move. She was transfixed by the petrifying vista. â€Å"Incredible, aren't they?† Tolland said. His hand was on her shoulder again, comforting. â€Å"They'll tread water in the warm spots for weeks. These guys have the best noses in the sea-enhanced telencephalon olfactory lobes. They can smell blood up to a mile away.† Corky looked skeptical. â€Å"Enhanced telencephalon olfactory lobes?† â€Å"Don't believe me?† Tolland began rooting around in an aluminum cabinet adjacent to where they were standing. After a moment, he pulled out a small, dead fish. â€Å"Perfect.† He took a knife from the cooler and cut the limp fish in several places. It started to drip blood. â€Å"Mike, for God's sake,† Corky said. â€Å"That's disgusting.† Tolland tossed the bloody fish overboard and it fell thirty feet. The instant it hit the water, six or seven sharks darted in a tumbling ferocious brawl, their rows of silvery teeth gnashing wildly at the bloody fish. In an instant, the fish was gone. Aghast, Rachel turned and stared at Tolland, who was already holding another fish. Same kind. Same size. â€Å"This time, no blood,† Tolland said. Without cutting the fish, he threw it in the water. The fish splashed down, but nothing happened. The hammerheads seemed not to notice. The bait carried away on the current, having drawn no interest whatsoever. â€Å"They attack only on sense of smell,† Tolland said, leading them away from the railing. â€Å"In fact, you could swim out here in total safety-provided you didn't have any open wounds.† Corky pointed to the stitches on his cheek. Tolland frowned. â€Å"Right. No swimming for you.† 102 Gabrielle Ashe's taxi was not moving. Sitting at a roadblock near the FDR Memorial, Gabrielle looked out at the emergency vehicles in the distance and felt as if a surrealistic fog bank had settled over the city. Radio reports were coming in now that the exploded car might have contained a high-level government official. Pulling out her cellphone, she dialed the senator. He was no doubt starting to wonder what was taking Gabrielle so long. The line was busy. Gabrielle looked at the taxi's clicking meter and frowned. Some of the other cars stuck here were pulling up onto the curbs and turning around to find alternative routes. The driver looked over his shoulder. â€Å"You wanna wait? Your dime.† Gabrielle saw more official vehicles arriving now. â€Å"No. Let's go around.† The driver grunted in the affirmative and began maneuvering the awkward multipoint turn. As they bounced over the curbs, Gabrielle tried Sexton again. Still busy. Several minutes later, having made a wide loop, the taxi was traveling up C Street. Gabrielle saw the Philip A. Hart Office Building looming. She had intended to go straight to the senator's apartment, but with her office this close†¦ â€Å"Pull over,† she blurted to the driver. â€Å"Right there. Thanks.† She pointed. The cab stopped. Gabrielle paid the amount on the meter and added ten dollars. â€Å"Can you wait ten minutes?† The cabbie looked at the money and then at his watch. â€Å"Not a minute longer.† Gabrielle hurried off. I'll be out in five. The deserted marble corridors of the Senate office building felt almost sepulchral at this hour. Gabrielle's muscles were tense as she hurried through the gauntlet of austere statues lining the third-floor entryway. Their stony eyes seemed to follow her like silent sentinels. Arriving at the main door of Senator Sexton's five-room office suite, Gabrielle used her key card to enter. The secretarial lobby was dimly lit. Crossing through the foyer, she went down a hallway to her office. She entered, flicked on the fluorescent lights, and strode directly to her file cabinets. She had an entire file on the budgeting of NASA's Earth Observing System, including plenty of information on PODS. Sexton would certainly want all the data he could possibly get on PODS as soon as she told him about Harper. NASA lied about PODS. As Gabrielle fingered her way through her files, her cellphone rang. â€Å"Senator?† she answered. â€Å"No, Gabs. It's Yolanda.† Her friend's voice had an unusual edge to it. â€Å"You still at NASA?† â€Å"No. At the office.† â€Å"Find anything at NASA?† You have no idea. Gabrielle knew she couldn't tell Yolanda anything until she'd talked to Sexton; the senator would have very specific ideas about how best to handle the information. â€Å"I'll tell you all about it after I talk to Sexton. Heading over to his place now.† Yolanda paused. â€Å"Gabs, you know this thing you were saying about Sexton's campaign finance and the SFF?† â€Å"I told you I was wrong and-â€Å" â€Å"I just found out two of our reporters who cover the aerospace industry have been working on a similar story.† Gabrielle was surprised. â€Å"Meaning?† â€Å"I don't know. But these guys are good, and they seem pretty convinced that Sexton is taking kickbacks from the Space Frontier Foundation. I just figured I should call you. I know I told you earlier that the idea was insane. Marjorie Tench as a source seemed spotty, but these guys of ours†¦ I don't know, you might want to talk to them before you see the senator.† â€Å"If they're so convinced, why haven't they gone to press?† Gabrielle sounded more defensive than she wanted to. â€Å"They have no solid evidence. The senator apparently is good at covering his tracks.† Most politicians are. â€Å"There's nothing there, Yolanda. I told you the senator admitted taking SFF donations, but the gifts are all under the cap.† â€Å"I know that's what he told you, Gabs, and I'm not claiming to know what's true or false here. I just felt obliged to call because I told you not to trust Marjorie Tench, and now I find out people other than Tench think the senator may be on the dole. That's all.† â€Å"Who were these reporters?† Gabrielle felt an unexpected anger simmering now. â€Å"No names. I can set up a meeting. They're smart. They understand campaign finance law†¦ † Yolanda hesitated. â€Å"You know, these guy actually believe Sexton is hurting for cash-bankrupt even.† In the silence of her office, Gabrielle could hear Tench's raspy accusations echoing. After Katherine died, the senator squandered the vast majority of her legacy on bad investments, personal comforts, and buying himself what appears to be certain victory in the primaries. As of six months ago, your candidate was broke. â€Å"Our men would love to talk to you,† Yolanda said. I bet they would, Gabrielle thought. â€Å"I'll call you back.† â€Å"You sound pissed.† â€Å"Never at you, Yolanda. Never at you. Thanks.† Gabrielle hung up. Dozing on a chair in the hallway outside Senator Sexton's Westbrooke apartment, a security guard awoke with a start at the sound of his cellular phone. Bolting up in his chair, he rubbed his eyes and pulled his phone from his blazer pocket. â€Å"Yeah?† â€Å"Owen, this is Gabrielle.† Sexton's guard recognized her voice. â€Å"Oh, hi.† â€Å"I need to talk to the senator. Would you knock on his door for me? His line is busy.† â€Å"It's kind of late.† â€Å"He's awake. I'm sure of it.† Gabrielle sounded anxious. â€Å"It's an emergency.† â€Å"Another one?† â€Å"Same one. Just get him on the phone, Owen. There's something I really need to ask him.† The guard sighed, standing up. â€Å"Okay, okay. I'll knock.† He stretched and made his way toward Sexton's door. â€Å"But I'm only doing it because he was glad I let you in earlier.† Reluctantly, he raised his fist to knock.