Sports Facility Funding an Example of the Topic Economics Essays by

Sports Facility Funding Introduction Need essay sample on "Sports Facility Funding" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed The game of Sports is often defined as a bodily process or experience wherein an inpidual can find enjoyment while at the same time have fun and exercise through different sports. In a sense, sports is as well regarded as a better way of entertainment for a majority of the people, more especially among those who consider themselves as enthusiasts. In addition to this, the game or the competition of sports also serves as a better way and at the same time the most entertaining way to instill confidence in inpiduals and maximized their full potential not just as an athlete but as more especially as an inpidual. However, the true essence of sports would be at risk when the primary venue for the sports which is that of the Sports Facilities are properly maintained and descent or modern enough to provide the athletes and the people the needed facilities in able to perform the game of sports. Thus, sports facilities should always remain in good condition and in-line with modernity as these primarily helps the athletes as well as the people to stay motivated and enthusiastic to play their reputable sports. College Students Often Tell EssayLab support: How much do I have to pay someone to write my assignment online? Specialists propose: Your Academic Success Is Our Goal Cheap Essays Not Plagiarized Write My Essay Online Best Essay Writing Service Cheap Writing Services Moreover, it is indeed true that through modern and well maintained sports facilities, outstanding performance among athletes and uplift the game of sports is achieved. Thus, with better sports facilities, it is clear that the athletes will have a better chance to practice their skills and capabilities as an athlete and for the people, more especially for the sports enthusiasts for continuous skills development. Therefore, to develop and improve the sports facilities are important in order to improve the quality of sports and produced great athletes. In this regard, this research paper will concentrate to investigate on the topic about the funding of sports facilities through bond issue. This, paper would fundamentally work to determine the entire procedure of the funding process. Bond Issue and Sports Facilities Funding In a sense, to build or construct a modern sports facility is not as cheap as just constructing a house or any establishments. The process of building and constructing of a high standard sports facility would require thousands and millions of dollars to be able to initiate the construction and pave the way towards the edifice of a modern or up to date sports facility. In time where all the construction materials are expensive and the world is on a global financial crisis, the funding of a modern and with high standard sports facility is more expensive and difficult to achieve. Moreover, the construction of modern sports facility needs sophisticated engineering design to able to reach highest standard of modernity. Thus, this would require a large amount of money to fund the construction for such sports facility. In a sense, there are various ways to fund the construction for modern sports facility. The funding may possibly come from the in house monetary budget of the organization which will basically serves as the fund that will be use for sports facility renovation and would directly originate from the from the revenue of the organization. Another way is through solicitations and donations. This is normally counted as charity works that involves the participation of the entire community. Certainly, it is seen that funding sports facilities through bond issue or agreement is regarded to be the most controversial way of initiating sports facility construction or renovation. As such, funding of sports facility under such method of bond issue is seen to have been often criticized and condemned mainly due to fact that the process for such way of funding often associates economical burden for the people. Bonds have become among the common methods used by cities or counties in order to raise the funds required in order to fund the sports facilities that are to be constructed (as cited in Sawyer, 2006). The trend of the use of bonds to fund this particular project has risen over the past decade, according to Fried (2005), which shows the popularity and the feasibility of this particular funding method. Formally defined, bonds are described by Howard and Crompton (1995) as a promise by the borrower (bond issuer) to pay back the lender (bond holder) a specified amount of money, with interest, within a specific period of time (as cited in Masteralexis, Barr, & Hums, 2004, p. 260). Among the examples of funding the construction of sports facilities through the use of bonds can be lifted from the experience of the Centerburg Ohio Public School. The bonds issue happened on October of last year after the approval of the voters is solicited by the Board of Education for the proposed plan of 1.72 million dollars property tax bond in order to finance the construction of the school facilities that is to be constructed outdoor. The primary purpose to which the money is intended involves the improvement of the sports facilities constructed outdoors and for the nearby restrooms and drinking fountains. A voting system serves as the means through which the proposed plan of property tax is approved. The constituents are considered to be participatory in this particular decision-making process wherein they are the ones upon whom the votes are gathered from as to whether the proposed property tax bond is approved or not in order for the project to push through. The voting has been proposed to take plae on November 2007 in order to make the final decision for the proposal. This serves as the first step towards the construction and implementation of the plan. Among the advantages of having the fund gathered from the bonds is primarily because of the speedier process associated with earning the needed finances for the project. This would speed up the process compared to waiting for funding from the public government which would require several processes as prescribed in the formal budget hearing. To this extent, the purpose of the project is also achieved in a faster manner. According to the Centerburg school board president Ed Lambert, the bond issue helps improve the sports facility that enhances the performance of the student athletes and increases the safety of the students. As the project pushes through, the students would have appropriate training areas instead of using alternatives that poses risks to their safety and health. With this, the enhancement of their performance and the achievement of a heightened sense of sports esteem is given at a faster pace than through other sources of funding. Furthermore, another advantage of this proposed property tax bond will definitely uplift the standard of Centerburg public school as a producer of quality students and athletes due to the fact that modern sports facilities will enable the school to produce outstanding student athlete, which can be a superstar in their own chosen sport. This enhances the reputation and the capability of the school in being a holistic learning institution that caters to the needs of the students in all respects whether it is on the academic setting or in the physical aspects. Among the disadvantages would be that the constituents of Centerburg has to sacrifice in order to pay the additional taxes that would have to be levied by the local government in order to slowly finish paying for the constriction of the public school outdoor sports facilities. This is true for all inpiduals whoa re eligible to pay for local government taxes whether they may be using the sports facilities or they do not benefit from it at all. It serves as a shared responsibility among the community which does not exempt anyone. However, it remains that the benefits and advantages of this particular project outweighs its disadvantages. It is seen more as a helpful project instead of a burden to the public because of the nonfinancial benefits that are earned by the community especially in encouraging the youth in engaging their selves in sports than in any other form of activity such as drug abuse. Despite this particular advantage seen in the use of the proposed property tax bond to fund the said project, it did not push through primarily because of the publics lack of information regarding both the financial and non-financial consequences of the project. It would have been better if there is a massive campaign that appeals to the public regarding the project. Moreover, it should have targeted the people who are directly involved in the project and who would benefit from it such as the parents of the children, more especially the athletes who are involved there. On the other hand, there are other available means to finance the said project aside from the ones proposed. The use of an intensified information dissemination regarding the project would have rendered the project more successful as compared to how it turned out since it already has the advantages that is required in order to achieve a successful outcome. References Fried, G. (2005).Managing sport facilities. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Investopedia (2008), Advantage of Bonds: Retrieved December 22, 2008 from http://www.investopedia.com/articles/00/111500.asp Love to Know (2008). Definition of sports. Retrieved December 22, 2008, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/sport Masteralexis, L., Barr, C., & Hums, M. (2004). Principles and practice of sport management. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Mount Vernon News (2007). Bond issue would provide money for construction of outdoor facilities at Centerburg. Retrieved Decmeber 23, 2008 from http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/election07/centerburg.levy.html Sawyer. T. Financing facilities 101: public funding, private funding, hard taxes, soft taxeswelcome to the complex world of facilities financing. JOPERD--The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. Retrieved December 24, 2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3218/is_4_77/ai_n29259085

Chromomorphic Fabric essays

Chromomorphic Fabric essays In todays image-conscious society, people are constantly looking for ways to distinguish themselves from the masses. Perhaps the most common way to achieve this desire is through the apparel one chooses to wear. The most noticeable aspects of apparel are style and color. While there are new styles appearing all the time, colors have virtually remained unchanged. Traditionally, the industry has worked to create fabrics which maintain their color regardless of environmental influences. (eg. Apparel that does not fade in the wash). Given societys individualistic, image conscious nature, ColorTek believes that there is a large, exciting, untapped market for apparel that changes color on demand. It is our goal to provide the textile and apparel industry with a series of new "chromomorphic" materials that can quickly change their color, hue, depth of shade, or optical transparency by the application of a user controlled outside influencing factor. ColorTeks research and development team will work to develop a chromomorphic film technology (CMF technology) which may be applied to fabrics and other materials. CMF technology can be incorporated into virtually all apparel, ranging from shoes, to accessories to clothing. It is imperative that the products using CMF technology maintain their physical properties such as texture, durability, weight, flexibility and fit. CMF technology must be resistant to water, atmosphere, extreme temperatures, pressures and stresses. The CMF technology must be impervious to color changes brought about by external, non-user-controlled stimuli (The electrical field generated by an airport security gate will not affect your apparel). Customers should not be able to detect any differences between their regular apparel and apparel featuring CMF technology except for the fact that they can change its color. The seven possible means by which chemicals can change optical properties ar...

US. Foreign Policy throttling the growth of Russian Economy Essay

US. Foreign Policy throttling the growth of Russian Economy - Essay Example The researcher has discussed that the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War left Russia with unresolved issues that the West vehemently needed to change. The imminent split of the Soviet Union had Russia with an area almost 70 percent of the former USSR. Moreover, all the nuclear warheads estimated to be about 27000 remain in the hands of Russia, making it a foe to the American national security interest. These factors influence policy in Washington to dislodge the power of the Russian Federation. The Russian relation with the U.S. has been shaky because of its domestic trajectory, regional influence, and its international department. Russia’s stance on Iran’s nuclear facilities, its increased energy activities in Europe as well as poor democratic processes have worried the U.S. for over two decades. Moreover, the Russia Georgia conflict was against the interests of America in the region. For these reasons, the U.S. has applied a tightened foreign policy toward Russia with the aim of weakening its economy. The aggressive foreign policy of the Reagan administration brought the imminent collapse of the Soviet Union. The U.S. support for guerrillas fighting in Afghanistan had negative consequences for the Russian defence spending. In addition, the U.S. programme in the defence system made the Soviet counteract with a similar programme, but it was expensive given that Russia could not match the U.S. defence spending. This brought strain to the Russian domestic economy. The programme coded â€Å"Star wars† negatively affected the Soviet political and economic institutions.

Use of Dollar Coins as Opposed to Dollar Bills in the US Essay

Use of Dollar Coins as Opposed to Dollar Bills in the US - Essay Example As the paper outlines. with the US budget deficit expected to reach the $1.5 trillion mark this year, the government is under immense pressure to initiate sustainable cost-cutting measures. Eliminating the dollar bill and replacing it with dollar coins should be one of the measures because the government will save the taxpayer more than $5 billion in the next 3 decades among other benefits. Cutting on spending is the biggest priority that the US government has so as to set the economy back in motion. The government currently spends a great deal of money printing and circulating the dollar bills. It will actually take 31 cents less to produce a dollar coin as opposed to a dollar bill according to Fiegerman. A coin will definitely last longer than a bill, therefore, saving on reprinting cost. The dollar bill is made of low-quality materials which tend to wear out within 3 years. This will not be the case with a dollar coin which can last for 34 years. It is also estimated that the doll ar bill will become more expensive to make owing to the fact that cotton prices are increasing steadily. This has shot up the cost of making paper by up to 50% as compared to the same time back in 2007. The EU and countries like Canada and Japan have relied on coins for their low denominations. Canada actually found that it saved more than 10 times their earlier estimated figures. Another issue relates to jamming of machines when producing the dollar bills. The Week states that more than $1 billion gets lost after vending machines jam thereby requiring repairs and companies losing on revenue from sales.  There are arguments that the dollar bill is one of the distinctive features of the United States economy and eliminating it will erode this uniqueness. There is also the belief that change to dollar coins will hurt the economy, especially in the current state.  

Firewall and Service Management on Linux Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Firewall and Service Management on Linux - Essay Example If the system is connecting to other systems for the purpose of sending data out, for any number of possible reasons, including data theft, or participation in a botnet as an example. netstat - an option lists all listening ports of TCP and UDP connections. It might be useful sometimes to be able to list them all when analyzing a client’s system, given that it gives the big picture. However, when context is needed, some more filtering should be done to get a better idea of the issues one is dealing with. Thus other commands need to be used in order to provide better context. However, if a port is open that the client system is not using then the port needs to be closed to protect the client system from an attacker. netstat –at shows all TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) port connections only. TCP statistics can show when a client system is being attacked, such as during denial of service attacks. TCP parameters which show dropped connection requests increase rapidly when under attack. netstat –ant shows the output without running a DNS query, which would slow down the command response time. Instead, it will only show the IP address without showing domain names. This might be more useful when time is of essence, and one needs answers fast in case of an attack on a client system. netstat –nlpu shows the process that owns listening UDP socket connections. sudo netstat –nlpu shows the process owner and process ID (PID). This is useful in determining which program is running a process. This can help determine whether it is a rogue process or not, and can help in hardening client systems. The netstat command shows detailed statistics of each network connection, interface, routing tables, network protocols and it also displays other network-specific information. The netstat command helps us to deal with network issues in Linux.  Network administrators are also encouraged to have enhanced performance measurement when they use the netstat command.

Business Level Strategies of Ashley Furniture

Business Level Strategies of Ashley Furniture Introduction of Ashley Furniture Ashley Furniture industries, Inc., founded by Carlyle Weinberger in Chicago in 1945 just as a sales operation, is a furniture manufacturing and distributing company, which headquartered in Arcadia, Wisconsin. Now the father and son team Ron and Todd Wanek own the company. Like many other furniture companies, Ashley Furniture Industries sells its products, such as home furnishing, accessories through two main distributions: one is independent channels; another is more than 400 Ashley Furniture Homestore retail furniture stores. All the stores are either owned by the company or licensed to other businessmen in North America countries, such as USA, Canada, Mexico, Central America and Japan. The mission to become the BEST Furniture Company reflects its proud past and shows the desire about future. And with over 60 years of innovation, creation and experience in the furniture industry, the company already became the leader in the industry which focuses on the quality of its furniture products. At present, the company has manufacture plants across the United States and Pacific Rim Countries, mainly in China. Business Level Strategies of Ashley Furniture One model can be used to give a full explanation of what happens in the real world at the level of the Strategic Business Unit and it can help identify those strategies which can be utilized to prevent the failure of business. The successful strategies can be illustrated as following levels: Low price/ low added value, Low price, Hybrid, differentiation without price premium and Focused differentiation. Low price/ low added value: providing lower price than it can be found elsewhere. Low price: based on a high volume with low margin product to bring cost leadership as its competitive advantage. Hybrid: Compete on price and seek to keep the margin by controlling the cost of products. Differentiation without price premium: Competition is principally on perceived benefits but not on price. Focused differentiation: Using unique qualities without substitution to get premium. The Strategic Business Unit chose for this research is the living room division of Ashley Furniture. According to what one of the Ashley Furniture Industries sales managers called Al Lopriore said, the business model of Ashley Furniture is different from other competitors, by establishing for over 65 years, the main business model of Ashley Furniture is the company design, build and deliver its own furniture, and the company is in control of all aspects to make sure the good quality. From the website of Ashley Furniture Industries, it can be seen from the homepage that the four cornerstones of its business models are quality, style, selection, service. They are all the foundations for Ashley Furniture making every decision and the guidelines and principles to help the company achieve the mission statement of being the best furniture company. Therefore, the main business model of Ashley living room furniture used to get competitive advantage is using Hybrid, which means by the methods such as outsourcing a series of its products from Pacific Rim countries to cut the cost of furniture and adding value to the products by quality, style, selection and service. Strengths and Weaknesses of Business Strategies The main strategy of Ashley living room furniture is Hybrid, which means that the division wants to compete other competitors on price and as well to control the cost of furniture to maintain the gross margin of the company. There are a series of advantages and strengths as follows: Strengths: Good price to attract customers: After the recession of economy crisis in 2008, the price of goods, especially furniture, become the main competitive advantage to attract customers to consume products on company. As the main reason that led to the economy crisis is the subprime lending which is related to the housing industry; and makes a drop in the sales of houses in North America, mainly in US. Although the recession had a negative impact on Ashley living room furniture, good price of its products keeps attracting the customers to purchase Ashley living room furniture. Variety of products: this means that based on variety of products, Ashley living room furniture is able to survive during the crisis. Even one product fails in the market, there are still other products succeed in the market to make up the loss that cost by the failure of that product. Besides, different kinds of products make those brand loyalty customers to purchase more and also increase the image of the brand. This helps the company achieve the mission of becoming the best furniture company in North America and even all over the world. Maintain the gross margin: Obviously, this technique assist the company to maintain the gross margin by controlling the cost of furniture. By using Hybrid strategy, the division still possesses the ability to control the cost of products. On the other hand, by adding more value through design, build and deliver the furniture to the customers, the products of Ashley living room furniture are still attractive. Weaknesses: Inevitably, there are some negative impacts by using this kind of business level of strategy, which can be identified as weaknesses. And the weaknesses of using Hybrid strategy are presented as follows: More funds spent on implementing the strategy: In order to supply and offer more furniture products to the customers, more funds will be spent on Research and Development, Design to find more solutions offered to the customers. Besides, the division possesses its own stores which cost much of its capital on investing in purchasing fixed assets, which may become a potential problem to the cash flow of the company. Competition of the similar products in the company: It can be seen from its website that the division provides more than 100 furniture products to customers to find out the most suitable furniture for their living rooms. Therefore, this results in the competition among the products within the same category. Although from some perspective, this attracts customers to purchase in Ashley living room furniture, it increases the competition in the products of the company, which can not be ignored. Lack of quality: It can be known that the products of Ashley living room furniture rely on quality and the mission of becoming the best furniture company in North America and even all over the world rely on quality; meanwhile, the business model of Ashley living room furniture depends on the quality of products. If the company concentrates on controlling the cost, such as the outsourcing price offered to those manufacturing companies in Pacific Rim countries, which may affect the quality of products of Ashley living room furniture. Then it will affect the paradigm of the division in the industry and then reduce customer brand loyalty. Report to the Board of Directors Dear Board of Directors: This report is a summary of the findings of the current research on the business level strategies based on the living room division of your company. And it will highlight the key information and findings; at the end, a couple of recommendations will be provided to help the division enhance the strengths and polish up the weaknesses. After analyzing the strategies used by your company, it can be viewed as Hybrid strategy. It do bring strengths to the division such as offering good price to the customers which helped the division survive during the recession of economy recession in 2008, offering different kinds of products which enhances the choice of customers, and the methods of controlling on the cost of furniture increase the competitiveness of the division. However, it brings a few negative impacts to the Ashley living room furniture. For example, it disperses the funds of the company to many different products; it also increases the competition among the furniture of the company, which is always ignored by many companies. The high intensity of cost control may affect the quality of products which will lead to a significant impact to the division. Therefore, Ashley living room furniture should pay more attention to this kind of issue and as well to enhance the strengths and polish up the weaknesses. The following will give a couple of recommendations. Enhance the strengths: Corporate with those plants in Pacific Rim countries. This means the Ashley living room furniture division collaborates with those plants in Pacific Rim countries. By using this technique, it is helpful for the division to control the quality of furniture. Besides, through collaborating with these plants, the division can share the information, knowledge and resources to achieve more competitive advantage to compete other competitors and make the mission of the company come true. Pay attention to the shipping cost. This is a significant part of the cost of the furniture, by outsourcing some products and manufacture at another side of Pacific Ocean, the division was charged a huge amount of capital on shipping cost. So it is necessary to use the strategy like preparing in South-east Asia, and assembling in US to cut down the shipping cost and then make the Ashley living room furniture more competitive. Polish up the weaknesses: Further design the products to differentiate them. The furniture needs to be design further and add more value functions to make it more attractive and valuable. By doing this, furniture can be classified to fit different size of living rooms, different kinds of decoration styles. Add TQM in Asia plants. Total Quality Management helps Ashley living room furniture to control the furniture quality and based on this, the division can have a vision of how the shipping furniture looks like; and based on this, the division can have an insight of the furniture quality to meet the customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ requirements. Funds spent on those more value-added actions. Donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t spend the money and capital on those non-value added processes, even those it is important to the division. In this case, it is better to outsource these processes rather than make it by the division itself. It is essential that the division pay attention to polish up the situation and make the products of the division more competitive and attractive. It is predictable that by enhancing the strengths and polishing up the weaknesses, it will accelerate the process of becoming the best furniture company in North America and even all over the world.

The Sadness of Poverty in Frank McCourts Angela’s Ashes Essay

The Sadness of Poverty in Frank McCourt's Angela’s Ashes â€Å"It is not the rich man you should properly call happy, but him who knows how to use with wisdom the blessings of the gods, to endure hard poverty, and who fears dishonor worse than death, and is not afraid to die for cherished friends or fatherland.† In the novel Angela's Ashes, (1996) by Frank McCourt, a life of poverty is the only life this family knows. It is a memoir about a young boy born in New York City. Frank, born ten months prior to his brother Malachy, was raised in a small apartment with his parents, Angela and Malachy McCourt. A dark haired boy with fair skin, little Frankie was forced to wear the same clothes day after day and be happy that he even had anything. The family's breakfast consisted of tea and sometimes bread. Dinner was usually a piece of fried bread dipped in more tea and supper was bread and tea and jam and sometimes mashed potatoes with butter and salt. Born to a father who became an alcoholic at a early age, Frank was used to those long waits on Friday nights, payday. The day when all the other fathers came home and gave the money to their families and then took some for themselves to go out and drink. Malachy McCourt was different, he took all his money, spent it on the drink and came home singing songs from his days in Ireland. He would stumble in the door and get the two young boys up and make them promise to die for Ireland. He would teach them his favorite song and they would all sing until Malachy passed out. "Up the narrow street he stepped Smiling and proud and young About the hemp-rope on his neck The golden ringlets clung, There's never a tear in the blue eyes Both glad and bright are they, As Roddy McCorley goes ... ...ey had. The doctors advised his mom to feed him eggs and beef but all she was able to feed him was some beef broth for a couple days. It takes a very skilled writer to relate his life to the world, especially such a painful one. Angela's Ashes portrays a life of starvation and lack of money. Living every day one at a time and when they so much as received an extra shilling or two, blowing it on the movies or a piece of candy. In those days, it was useless to save up unless you knew you or someone close to you was in definite need of it. When a simple story about a boy growing up in Ireland can make a person cry, that is the best way of touching a reader's heart. A good writer knows exactly how to do that and an even greater writer is brave enough to admit that this sad story. . . is theirs. Work Cited McCourt, Frank. Angela's Ashes: A Memoir. Scribner 1996.

A Summary of John Irving’s ‘A Widow For One Year’ and ‘The Fourth Hand’

In A Widow for One Year. Ruth Cole, the central character, is a successful American novelist whose writings reflect a deep need to make sense of her life.Born in 1954, the daughter of Ted and Marion Cole, is the replacement child for her two brothers, Thomas and Timothy, who were killed at ages sixteen and fifteen in a terrible automobile accident. Even though her brothers are dead, their memory remains a presence from which the family finds no relief. The mother, Marion, attempts to assuage her grief for her lost sons by hanging photographs of them on all available wall space.She bitterly blames her husband Ted for their sons' deaths, and she resents him for convincing her to have another child. She does not hate Ruth, but, preoccupied with her own loss, Marion is often unaware of her daughter's presence and she is afraid that she will transmit her grief, like a disease, to Ruth.Ruth witnessed her parents' divorce when she is four years old, followed by the disappearance of her moth er, Marion, who apparently feels that Ruth's father, Ted, although a womanizer and a drunk, will be the better custodial parent. Ted, a writer and illustrator of children's books, has hired sixteen-year-old Eddie O'Hare to serve as his errand boy, designated driver.When Ruth is four in that summer of 1958, she witnesses a primal scene, between her mother and Eddie O'Hare. She never forgets it, though she forgets some of the details. Eventually she comes to understand the relationship between Marion and Eddie and even to understand why her mother left. Ruth loses more than her mother, however; she also loses the brothers she knew only through the photographs. By the time Ruth is thirty-six (almost the age Marion was when she left Ruth), she is an internationally known writer, who gives readings to promote her novels. At one of these readings in New York City, she meets Eddie O'Hare again.Eddie is also a writer–of romance novels-and he introduces Ruth, who reads from her novel about a widow for one year. Ruth, contemplating marriage to her editor and possible parenthood, learns from Eddie why Marion left her with Ted and prepares to get on with her life; before she does so, however, Ruth will witness a murder in Amsterdam and Ted Cole will commit suicide.In the novel's concluding portion, Ruth gives birth to a son, her husband dies, and in 1995 she will get remarried, after one year, to the Amsterdam policeman who closed the books on a serial killer using Ruth's anonymous testimony. Soon thereafter, Marion reappears on the scene, reunited with Eddie, having achieved some success as a mystery writer in Canada.If someonÐ µ adores A Widow for OnÐ µ YÐ µar, one may bÐ µ a bit disappointÐ µd in ThÐ µ Fourth Hand. The main charactÐ µr of thÐ µ story, handsomÐ µ TV journalist Patrick Wallingford is obsessÐ µd with minutÐ µly dÐ µscribed onÐ µ-night stands.   HÐ µ is filming a package about an Indian circus, ThÐ µ GnÐ µsh, which is an Indian sym bol of nÐ µw beginnings whÐ µn a lion eats his lÐ µft hand. MeanwhilÐ µ, a total stranger in Wisconsin, Doris ClausÐ µn and hÐ µr husband Otto are obsÐ µssÐ µd with thÐ µ GrÐ µen Bay PackÐ µrs and with having a child.Mrs ClausÐ µn, seÐ µs a clip of it on TV, and writes to promisÐ µ Wallingford her husband's hand for transplant in thÐ µ evÐ µnt of her spousÐ µ's death. Doris cajolÐ µs Otto into willing his lÐ µft hand to Patrick and her husband shoots himsÐ µlf dead on the night of thÐ µ 1998 Super Bowl, and his hand is flown to Boston whÐ µre a brilliant surgÐ µon transplants it to Wallingford's left forÐ µarm. With the hand comÐ µs the griÐ µving widow, who has some intÐ µresting plans of hÐ µr own for the lucky rÐ µcipient. Mrs ClausÐ µn flies to mÐ µet Wallingford, whom shÐ µ promptly seducÐ µs with an eye to childbÐ µaring.Famous hand surgÐ µon Nicholas Zajak is, for his part, obsessÐ µd with dog fÐ µcÐ µs–also describÐ µd in Ð µndl Ð µss detail–which hÐ µ scoops up with his old lacrossÐ µ stick and hurls at rowÐ µrs on the CharlÐ µs RivÐ µr. Zajak attachÐ µs Otto's hand to Patrick, and Doris demands visitation rights with Otto's hand, as wÐ µll as with Patrick's child-producing Ð µquipmÐ µnt. On her first mÐ µÃ µting with Wallingford, thÐ µy have sÐ µx, Wallingford rÐ µcognizing Doris's voicÐ µ as one hÐ µ hÐ µard in a vision in India whilÐ µ rÐ µcovering from his accidÐ µnt.Doris, dÐ µspÐ µrate to gÐ µt prÐ µgnant, has hÐ µr own agenda. ThÐ µ pregnancy takÐ µs more succÐ µssfully than the husband's transplantÐ µd hand, which is evÐ µntually rejÐ µcted. AftÐ µr a fritter of othÐ µr affairs, Wallingford throws himself at Mrs ClausÐ µn and finds true lovÐ µ.Bibliography Irving, John. A Widow for One Year. New York: Random House, 1998Irving, John. The Fourth Hand. New York: Random House, 2002

porter Essays

porter Essays porter Essay porter Essay According to Porter (1985), the sustainability of a firms competitive advantage was, firstly, dependent on the ability of a firms strategies to resist erosion by competitive activities and, secondly, the firms ability to anticipate the evolution within the industry which it competed in. By strategies, Porter refers specifically to the three generic strategies of low cost, differentiation and focus which Porter posits could be a source of competitive advantage for the firm. However, for the strategy to ucceed the firm must possess some barriers that make imitation of the strategy by competitors difficult. The evolution within the industry refers to changes or challenges within the industry structure that could render the abovementioned competitive advantage ineffective. In addition, having a competitive strategy was insufficient. It must be translated into an above-average performance in the long run a sustainable competitive advantage. Porters generic strategy matrix, which highlights cost leadership, differentiation and focus as the three basic choices for irms, has dominated corporate competitive strategy for the last 30 years (Pretorius, 2008). According to this model, a company can choose how it wants to compete, based on the match between its type of competitive advantage and the market target pursued, as the key determinants of choice (Pretorius, 2008). Porters (Porter, 1998 and Porter, 1985), generic strategy typology remains one of the most notable in the strategic management literature (Salavou, 2010). A business can maximize performance either by striving to be the low cost producer in an industry or by ifferentiating its line of products or services from those of other businesses; either of these two approaches can be accompanied by a focus of organizational efforts on a given segment of the market. Any organization that fails to make a strategic decision to opt for one of these strategies was in danger of being stuck in the middle. The organization in failing to decide, tries both to be the cost leader and differentiator and achieved neither, and in the process confused consumers.

Jaws vs. Goldie essays

Jaws vs. Goldie essays There are many fish in the sea, and one is just right for me. Small, large, colorful, exotic, freshwater, saltwater, how do you know which one is right for you? By comparing the maintenance of a freshwater tank to a saltwater tank, types of fish, and the cost, you will be able to decide which one is right for you. Freshwater tanks are the easiest to maintain. Depending on your tank size, you should vacuum your freshwater tank every two weeks. For smaller tanks it is recommended to vacuum more frequently. You should not remove more than 25% of the water from your tank at one time. When you add water to the tank it is important to mix the water with a water treatment that will remove the chlorine from the tap water. In addition, it may be necessary at times to treat the water with anti-fungus, or clear water treatments. Experts suggest that you check the ph levels in your tank about every two to four weeks to maintain a balance in the water. With saltwater tanks there are more requirements you need to worry about. You need to follow the same procedure as the freshwater tank, but you will need to check the water ph levels at least once every ten days. Because the tank is a saltwater tank, you will need to buy a saltwater kit. The kit will include the salt, and the water treatments the tank will need. You should also buy a water testing kit, which will give you the opportunity to test the different elements that are in your water. Reports indicate there are at least 10,000 different species of freshwater fish. The most popular are Chiliads, Betas, Guppies, Oscars, Mollies, Platys, Tetras, Gouramis, Frogs, Loaches, Snails, Crabs and Goldfish. You can find these fish at your local pet store. Approximately there are a million different species of saltwater fish reported today. The most popular being Angel, Butterflies, Clownfish, Eels, Tangs, Tigers, Wrasse, Coral, Anemone, Clams, Crabs, Starfish, ...

Designing a new tool for warming tubular meat products Research Paper

Designing a new tool for warming tubular meat products - Research Paper Example The common meat products warmed are mutton, beef, mattock, fish fillet, chicken meat and pock. The most warming is done in the evening hours far many hours after cooking to keep the meat products warm and fresh. Meat products that remained and are kept for next day need to be warmed in the morning. The warming process roughly takes 30-45 minutes depending on the quantity and the device for warming. My concept of developing a new heating tool relies on the concept of efficiency and reliability. My new tool uses the concept of hot water bath heating. The existing source of heat which is being used for cooking is reused for warming it can be solar heating, charcoal or fire wood or electricity. A metallic container is set just alongside the cooking place and is half filled with water. The meat to be warmed is packed is small plastic bags the immersed in the container. The water gets heated as the cooking of other food is done warming the meat products. Castle L, Nichol J, Gilbert J. Migration of mineral hydrocarbons into foods: waxed paper for packaging dry goods including bread, confectionery and for domestic use including microwave cooking. Food Additives and Contaminants 1994; 1191):

Cover letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Cover letter - Essay Example I have always maintained an interest in computer software ever since I was a young child, but it was not until I worked as a summer intern at Perceptive Software in Shawnee, Kansas that I finally knew what career path I wanted to pursue for myself. While there, I was able to work with the software team to design and implement high-quality software, learn how to interface with other team members, and design and test the core components of the software projects. Once I had been hooked on computer software, I applied for and was accepted to a Computer Engineering major at Kansas State University. While studying at university, I have learned how to use various data structures in C++ and JAVA and OOP concepts in computer projects. I have also developed hardware design of digital boards and programming in C and JAVA. Although I have had little exposure to Microsoft .NET/C# and SQL technologies, I will learn as much as I can from the experienced developers who already work at Med Assets. The physical demands and work environment characteristics do not faze me at all as I already perform most of these tasks on a daily basis. Working with others who may have different work traits does not bother me in the slightest. I would also be willing to relocate to Plano, Texas on a permanent basis after I have completed my degree in Computer Engineering. I am looking forward to your response and will be waiting for the outcome. If would like to contact me to discuss this further then please call (785) 643-0378 or send me an email at roesner@ksu.edu. Thank you once again for your time and