The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 1

â€Å"Dear Diary,† Elena whispered, â€Å"how frustrating is this? I left you in the trunk of the Jaguar and it's two o'clock in the morning.† She stabbed her finger on the leg of her nightgown as if she had a pen and was making a period. She whispered even more softly, leaning her forehead against the window, â€Å"And I'm afraid to go outside – in the dark – and get you. I'm afraid!† She made another stab and then, feeling tears slip down her cheeks, reluctantly turned her mobile on to record. It was a stupid waste of the battery, but she couldn't help it. She needed this. â€Å"So here I am,† she said softly, â€Å"sitting up in the backseat of the car. This has to be my diary entry for today. By the way, we made a rule for this road trip – I sleep in the Jag's backseat and it's the Great Outdoors for Matt and Damon. Right now it's so dark outside that I can't see Matt anywhere†¦. But I've been going crazy – crying and feeling lost – and so lonely for Stefan†¦. â€Å"We have to get rid of the Jaguar – it's too big, too red, too flashy, and too memorable when we're trying not to be remembered as we travel to the place where we can free Stefan. After the car is sold, the lapis lazuli and diamond pendant Stefan gave me the day before he disappeared will be the most precious thing I have left. The day before†¦Stefan got tricked into going away, thinking he could become an ordinary human being. And now†¦ â€Å"How can I stop thinking about what They might be doing to him, at this very second – whoever ‘They' are? Probably the kitsune, the evil fox spirits at the prison called the Shi no Shi.† Elena paused to wipe her nose on her nightgown sleeve. â€Å"How did I ever get myself into this situation?† She shook her head, hit the seatback with her clenched fist. â€Å"Maybe if I could figure that out, I could come up with Plan A. I always have a Plan A. And my friends always have a Plan B and C to help me.† Elena blinked hard, thinking of Bonnie and Meredith. â€Å"But now I'm frightened that I'll never see them again. And I'm scared for the entire town of Fell's Church.† For a moment she sat with her clenched fist on her knee. A small voice inside her was saying, â€Å"So stop whining, Elena, and think. Think. Start from the beginning.† The beginning? What was the beginning? Stefan? No, she had lived in Fell's Church long before Stefan came. Slowly, almost dreamily, she spoke into her mobile. â€Å"In the first place: who am I? I'm Elena Gilbert, age eighteen.† Even more slowly, she said, â€Å"I†¦don't think it's vain to say that I'm beautiful. If I didn't know I was, I'd have to have never looked in a mirror or heard a compliment. It's not something I should be proud of – it's just something that was passed down from Mom and Dad. â€Å"What do I look like? I have blond hair that falls in sort of waves past my shoulders and blue eyes that some people have said are like lapis lazuli: dark blue with splashes of gold.† She gave a half-choked laugh. â€Å"Maybe that's why vampires like me.† Then her lips tightened and, staring into the utter blackness around her, she spoke seriously. â€Å"A lot of boys have called me the most angelic girl in the world. And I played around with them. I just used them – for popularity, for amusement, for whatever. I'm being honest, all right? I considered them to be toys or trophies.† She paused. â€Å"But there was something else. Something that I knew all my life was coming – but I didn't know what. I felt as if I were searching for something that I could never find with boys. None of my scheming or playing around with them ever touched my†¦deepest heart†¦until one very special boy came along.† She stopped and swallowed and said it again. â€Å"One very special boy. â€Å"His name was Stefan. â€Å"And he turned out not to be what he looked like, a normal – but gorgeous – high school senior with rumpled dark hair and eyes as green as emeralds. â€Å"Stefan Salvatore turned out to be a vampire. â€Å"A real vampire.† Elena had to pause to take a few choked breaths before she could get the next words out. â€Å"And so did his gorgeous older brother, Damon.† She bit her lips, and it seemed a long time later that she added, â€Å"Would I have loved Stefan if I'd known he was a vampire from the beginning? Yes! Yes! Yes! I'd have fallen in love with him no matter what! But it changed things – and it changed me.† Elena's finger traced a pattern on her nightgown by touch alone. â€Å"You see, vampires show love by exchanging blood. The problem was†¦that I was sharing blood with Damon, too. Not really by choice, but because he was after me constantly, day and night.† She let out a sigh. â€Å"What Damon says is that he wants to make me a vampire and his Princess of the Night. What that translates into is: he wants me all to himself. But I wouldn't trust Damon on anything unless he gave his word. That's one quirk he has, he never breaks his word.† Elena could feel an odd smile curling her lips, but she was speaking calmly now, fluently, the mobile almost forgotten. â€Å"A girl involved with two vampires†¦well, there's bound to be trouble, isn't there? So maybe I deserved what I got. â€Å"I died. â€Å"Not just ‘died' like when your heart stops and they resuscitate you and you come back talking about almost going into the Light. I went into the Light. â€Å"I died. â€Å"And when I came back – what a surprise! I was a vampire. â€Å"Damon was†¦kind to me, I suppose, when I first woke up as a vampire. Maybe that's the reason I still have†¦feelings for him. He didn't take advantage of me when he could have easily. â€Å"But I only had time to do a few things in my vampire life. I had time to remember Stefan and love him more than ever – since I knew, then, how difficult everything was for him. I got to listen to my own memorial service. Ha! Everybody should get a chance to do that. I learned to always, always wear lapis lazuli so I wouldn't become a vampire Crispy Critter. I got to say good-bye to my little four-year-old sister, Margaret, and visit Bonnie and Meredith†¦.† Tears were still sliding almost unnoticed down Elena's face. But she spoke quietly. â€Å"And then – I died again. â€Å"I died the way a vampire dies, when they don't have lapis lazuli in the sunlight. I didn't crumble into dust; I was only seventeen. But the sun poisoned me anyway. Going was almost†¦peaceful. That was when I made Stefan promise to take care of Damon, always. And I think Damon swore to take care of Stefan, in his mind. And that was how I died, with Stefan holding me and Damon beside me as I simply drifted away, like going to sleep. â€Å"After that, I had dreams I don't remember, and then suddenly, one day everyone was surprised because I was talking to them through Bonnie, who is very psychic, poor thing. I guess I had landed the job of being Fell's Church's guardian spirit. There was a danger to the town. They had to fight it and somehow, when they were sure that they had lost, I got dumped back to the world of the living to help. And – well, when the war was won I was left with these weird powers I don't understand. But there was Stefan, too! We were together again!† Elena wrapped her arms around herself tightly and held on as if she were holding Stefan to her, imagining his warm arms around her. She shut her eyes until her breathing slowed. â€Å"About my powers, let's see. There's telepathy, which I can do if the other person is telepathic – which all vampires are, but to different degrees unless they're actually sharing blood with you at the time. And then there are my Wings. â€Å"It's true – I have Wings! And the Wings have powers you wouldn't believe – the only problem being that I don't have the faintest idea how to use them. There's one that I can feel sometimes, like right now, trying to get out of me, trying to shape my lips to name it, trying to move my body into the right stance. It's Wings of Protection and that sounds like something we could really use on this trip. But I can't even remember how I made the old Wings work – much less figure out how to use this new one. I say the words until I feel like an idiot – but nothing happens at all. â€Å"So I'm a human again – as human as Bonnie. And, oh, God, if I could only see her and Meredith right now! But all the time I tell myself that I'm getting closer to Stefan every minute. That is, if you take into account Damon's running us up and down and everywhere to throw off anybody trying to track us down. â€Å"Why would anyone want to track us down? Well, you see, when I came back from the afterlife there was a very big explosion of Power that everyone in the world who can see Power saw. â€Å"Now, how do I explain Power? It's something that everybody has, but that humans – except genuine psychics like Bonnie – don't even recognize. Vampires definitely have Power, and they use it to Influence humans to like them, or to think that things are different from reality – oh, like the way Stefan Influenced the high school staff to think his records were all in order when he ‘transferred' to Robert E. Lee High School. Or they use Power to blast other vampires or creatures of darkness – or humans. â€Å"But I was talking about the burst of Power when I dropped down from the heavens. It was so big that it attracted two horrible creatures from the other side of the world. And then they decided to come see what had made the burst, and if there was any way they could use it for themselves. â€Å"I'm not joking, either, about them being from the other side of the world. They were kitsune, evil fox spirits from Japan. They're something like our Western werewolves – but much more powerful. So powerful that they used malach, which are really plants but look like insects that can be no bigger than a pinhead or big enough to swallow your arm. And the malach attach themselves to your nerves and feather out along your entire nervous system and finally they take you over from inside.† Now Elena was shuddering, and her voice was hushed. â€Å"That's what happened to Damon. A tiny one got into him and it took him over from inside so that he was only a puppet of Shinichi's. I forgot to say, the kitsune are called Shinichi and Misao. Misao is the girl. They both have black hair with red all around the tips, but Misao's is long. And they're supposed to be brother and sister – but they sure don't act like it. â€Å"And once Damon was fully possessed, that's when Shinichi made Damon's body†¦do terrible things. He made him torture Matt and me, and even now I know that sometimes Matt still wants to kill Damon for it. But if he'd seen what I saw – a whole thin, wet, white second body that I had to pull out with my fingernails from Damon's spine – with Damon finally passing out from the pain – then Matt would understand better. I can't blame Damon for what Shinichi made him do. I can't. Damon was†¦you can't imagine how different. He was crushed. He cried. He was†¦ â€Å"Anyway, I don't expect to ever see him like that again. But if I ever get my Wings' powers back, Shinichi is in big trouble. â€Å"I think that that was our mistake last time, you see. We finally were able to fight Shinichi and Misao – and we didn't kill them. We were too moral or too gentle or something. â€Å"It was a bad mistake. â€Å"Because Damon wasn't the only one who got possessed by Shinichi's malach. There were girls, young girls, fourteen and fifteen and younger. And some boys. Acting†¦crazy. Hurting themselves and their families. We didn't know how badly until after we'd already made a bargain with Shinichi. â€Å"Maybe we were too immoral, making a bargain with the devil. But they had kidnapped Stefan – and Damon, who was already possessed by then, had helped them. Once Damon was unpossessed, all he wanted was for Shinichi and Misao to tell us where Stefan was, and then for them to leave Fell's Church forever. â€Å"In exchange for that, Damon let Shinichi into his mind. â€Å"If vampires are obsessed with Power, kitsune are obsessed with memories. And Shinichi wanted Damon's memories for the last few days – the time that Damon was possessed and torturing us†¦and the time when my Wings made Damon realize that he had done it. I don't think Damon himself wanted those memories, either of what he'd done or of how he'd changed when he had to face that he'd done it. So he let Shinichi take them, in exchange for Shinichi putting Stefan's location into his mind. â€Å"The problem is that we were trusting Shinichi's word that he would leave then – when Shinichi's word meant nothing at all. â€Å"Plus, ever since then he's been using the telepathic channel that he opened between his mind and Damon's to take more and more of Damon's memories without Damon even knowing. â€Å"It happened just last night, when we were pulled over by a policeman who wanted to know what three teenagers in an expensive car were doing that late at night. Damon Influenced him to go away. But just a few hours later Damon had forgotten the policeman completely. â€Å"It frightens Damon. And anything that frightens Damon – not that he would ever admit it – scares me to death. â€Å"And, you might ask, what were three teenagers doing out in the middle of nowhere, in Union County, Tennessee, according to the last road sign I saw? We're heading toward some Gate to the Dark Dimension†¦where Shinichi and Misao left Stefan in the prison called the Shi no Shi. Shinichi only put the knowledge into Damon's mind, and I can't get Damon to say much about what kind of place it is. But Stefan is there and I'll get to him somehow, even if it kills me. â€Å"Even if I have to learn how to kill. â€Å"I'm not the sweet little girl from Virginia I used to be.† Elena stopped and blew out her breath. But then, cuddling herself, she went on. â€Å"And why is Matt along with us? Well, because of Caroline Forbes, my friend since kindergarten. Last year†¦when Stefan came to Fell's Church, she and I both wanted him. But Stefan didn't want Caroline. And after that she turned into my worst enemy. â€Å"Caroline was also the lucky winner of Shinichi's first visit to any girl in Fell's Church. But more to the point: she was Tyler Smallwood's girlfriend quite a while before she was his victim. I wonder how long they were together and where Tyler is now. All I know is that, in the end, Caroline hung on to Shinichi because she ‘needed a husband.' That was how she put it herself. So I assume – well, what Damon assumes. That she's going to†¦have puppies. A werewolf litter, you know? Since Tyler is a werewolf. â€Å"Damon says that having a werewolf baby turns you into a werewolf even faster than if you're bitten, and that at some point in the pregnancy you gain the power to be all wolf or all human, but before that point you're just a mixed-up mess. â€Å"The sad thing is that Shinichi scarcely gave Caroline a second glance when she blurted it all out. â€Å"But before that Caroline had been desperate enough to accuse Matt of – of assaulting her – on a date that went wrong. She had to have known something about what Shinichi was doing because she claimed her ‘date' with Matt was at a time when one of the arm-swallowing mallach was attacking him, making marks on his arm that looked like a girl's fingernail scratches. â€Å"That sent the police after Matt, all right. So basically I just made him come with us. Caroline's father is one of the most important people in Fell's Church – and he's friends with the district attorney in Ridgemont and the leader of one of those men's clubs where they have secret handshakes and other stuff that makes you, you know, ‘prominent in the community.' â€Å"If I hadn't convinced Matt to run instead of facing Caroline's charges, the Forbeses would have lynched him. And I feel the anger like a fire inside me – not just anger and hurt for Matt, but anger and the feeling that Caroline has let all girls everywhere down. Because most girls aren't pathological liars, and wouldn't say something like that about a boy falsely. She's shamed all girls by doing what she did.† Elena paused, looking at her hands, and then added, â€Å"Sometimes when I get angry at Caroline, cups shake or pencils roll right off the table. Damon says all this is caused by my aura, my life force, and that ever since I came back from the afterlife it's been different. First of all, it makes anyone who drinks my blood incredibly strong. â€Å"Stefan was strong enough that the fox demons could never have forced him into their trap if Damon hadn't tricked him in the beginning. They could only deal with him when he was weakened and surrounded by iron. Iron is bad news for any eldritch creature, plus vampires need to feed at least once a day or they get weak, and I'll bet – no, I'm sure that they used that against him. â€Å"That's why I can't stand to think about what shape Stefan might be in right this minute. But I can't let myself get too afraid or angry or I'll lose control of my aura. Damon showed me how to keep my aura mostly inside, like a normal human girl. It's still pale gold and pretty, but not a beacon for creatures like vampires. â€Å"Because there's one other thing my blood – maybe even just my aura – can do. It can†¦oh, well, I can say anything I want to here, right? Nowadays, my aura can make vampires want me†¦the way human guys do. Not just to bite, get it? But to kiss and all the rest. And so, naturally, they come after me if they sense it. It's as if the world is full of honeybees and I'm the only flower. â€Å"So I have to practice keeping my aura hidden. If it's just barely showing, then I can get away with seeming like a normal human, not somebody who's died and come back. But it's hard to always remember to hide it – and it hurts a lot pulling it in suddenly if I've forgotten! â€Å"And then I feel – this is absolutely private, all right? I'm putting a curse on you, Damon, if you replay this. But it's then that I feel like I want Stefan to bite me. It eases up the pressure, and that's good. Being bitten by a vampire only hurts if you fight it, or if the vampire wants it to hurt. Otherwise, it can just feel good – and then you touch the mind of the vampire who's done it, and†¦oh, I just miss Stefan so much!† Elena was shaking now. As hard as she tried to quiet her imagination, she kept thinking about the things that Stefan's jailers might be doing to him. Grimly, she gripped her mobile again, letting tears fall on it. â€Å"I can't let myself think of what they might do to him because then I really start to go crazy. I become this useless shaking insane person who just wants to scream and scream and never stop. I have to fight every second not to think about it. Because only a cool, calm Elena with a Plan A and B and C is going to help him. When I have him safe in my arms, I can let myself shake and cry – and scream, too.† Elena stopped, half laughing, her head bent against the passenger's seatback, her voice husky with overuse. â€Å"I'm tired now. But I have a Plan A, at least. I need to get more information from Damon about the place we're going, the Dark Dimension, and anything he knows about the two clues Misao gave me about the key that will unlock Stefan's cell. â€Å"I guess†¦I guess I haven't mentioned that at all. The key, the fox key, that we need to get Stefan out of his cell, is broken into two pieces that are hidden in two different places. And when Misao was taunting me about how little I knew about those places, she gave me flat-out clues about where they were. She never dreamed I'd actually go into the Dark Dimension; she was just showing off. But I still remember the clues, and they went like this: The first half is ‘in the silver nightingale's instrument.' And the second half is ‘buried in Bloddeuwedd's ballroom.' â€Å"I need to see if Damon has any ideas about these. Because it sounds as if once we get to the Dark Dimension we're going to have to infiltrate some people's houses and other places. To search a ballroom, it's best to somehow get invited to the ball, right? That sounds like ‘easier said than done,' but whatever it takes, I'll do. It's simple as that.† Elena lifted her head in determination and went still, then said in a whisper, â€Å"Would you believe it? I looked up just now and I can see the palest streaks of dawn in the sky: light green and creamy orange and the faintest aqua†¦. I've talked all through the darkness. It's so peaceful now. Just now the sun peeked up o – â€Å"What the hell was that? Something just went BANG on the top of the Jag. Really, really loud.† Elena clicked off the recorder on her mobile. She was scared, but a noise like that – and now scrabbling sounds on the roof†¦ She had to get out of the car as fast as possible.

Employee benefits are one of the most important factors

Employee benefits are one of the most important factors in the retention of registered nurses where the threat of turnover is very high. Often, RN’s leaves a hospital for another because it offers better compensation and attractive benefits. Kennedy Hospital has offers an attractive benefits package but many other hospitals may offer much more. To determine how Kennedy compares to its competition an analysis of the components in its benefits package is presented. The benefits package compared are those of Kennedy, Virtua, Lourdes and Genesis. In terms of health insurance, all hospitals offered multiple plans to choose from but it is Kennedy alone that includes prescription coverage, while Genesis and Kennedy has covers vision and all of them has dental insurance. For life insurance benefits, Kennedy, Virtua, Lourdes and Genesis all offers basic life, supplemental life and short term disability, however Kennedy does not have long term disability insurance while the other three hospitals have provisions for it. Kennedy and Lourdes however provides child and spouse life insurance. Kennedy’s paid leave benefits is the most comprehensive compared to the other hospitals, it covers personal, extended sick leave, bereavement, family/medical and military leave as well as paid time off for vacations, Virtua also provided the same paid leaves while Lourdes and Genesis had less. Kennedy does not have 401k plans, provisions for elder care, on-site child care, free basic health care, quarter century club, relocation assistance and series/savings bond. Virtua and Lourdes, has on-site child care and only Virtua offers free basic health care while Virtua and Genesis has 401k. On the other hand, Kennedy has 403b plans, has a credit union, and invests on internal career development, adequate parking and referral bonuses, as well as sign on bonus, transfer opportunities, a wellness program and workers compensation. In sum, Kennedy has a very attractive benefits program, what it does not offer can be compensated by the other benefits that they provide, for example they do not have free basic health care, but their health insurance coverage is from vision, dental and medicines. Virtua’s benefits package is comparable to Kennedy while Lourdes and Genesis have fewer benefits.

Assignment 2: Case 3-3, Easycar.Com

Assignment 2: Case 3-3, easyCar. com 1. In Western Europe, the rental car industry is made up of many companies competing against each other, but only a handful of companies are actually dominant. According to the text, in most countries, the companies that were dominant were national or regional companies rather than companies that had a strong international presence. Many smaller companies also operated in each different country but generally only operated in a few locations. The rental car industry in Europe can be split into two segments: a business segment and a leisure segment. The text says that the business segment wasn’t very price conscious, whereas the leisure segment was very price conscious. These characteristics can influence how service is delivered in this industry because it’s difficult for a company to enter a new market if they aren’t a national or regional company and aren’t aware of what each segment wants in that market. 2. To keep prices low, easyCar only stocked one type of vehicle at each of its locations, so they didn’t have to buy multiple types of vehicle for each location. When it came to choosing where to put locations, they stayed away from the price airport spaces to avoid higher leasing costs. They also kept their physical locations to a minimum. They usually rented out space in an already existing parking garage and employees worked out of a small cubicle within the garage. Each location generally had about 150 cars, however, since their vehicles were rented 90 percent of the time, they only needed 15-20 spaces to keep the cars that weren’t rented out at the time. This kept the cost down significantly because they didn’t need to keep space for all 150 of their cars. These are just a few examples of how easyCar kept their costs down. 3. I would say that the level of quality that easyCar provided its customers was decent, but people can’t necessarily expect the best from a company that has such low prices. The thing that really got me was the fact that they gave people their vehicles with a relatively low fuel tank. Also, the fact that customers had to take a shuttle to get to the rental car area wouldn’t necessarily be a popular choice. The car was also to be cleaned thoroughly before returned and although it’s always good practice to do a quick cleanup of a rental car, not many companies require a customer to get the car detailed inside and out. These policies don’t really make me eager to use them when I’m looking for a rental car, despite the lower price. 4. EasyCar could be a viable competitor to taxis, buses and trains because of their cheap prices. In some cities, taxis are pretty expensive so if easyCar’s prices are lower, then they would likely be an option that people would choose instead. Buses and trains in Europe aren’t that expensive and trains especially can get a customer to a place they need to be pretty fast, so I’m not sure easyCar would be as much competition for them. 5. By offering cheaper prices for people who make reservations on easyCar. com, the company seemed to be looking at competing with the dominant companies. Their advertising line of â€Å"the best reason to use easyCar. com can be found at hertz. nl† would indicate that their website is better and easier to use than Hertz. To compete with companies like Hertz, they need to have lower prices but they need to have better service.

Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Night by Elie Wiesel - Essay Example The grave question of Elie Wiesel is how can the Nazis throw the babies into gas chambers and spray bullets to kill them in the most heinous options? The horrid conditions in the concentration camps baffle any sane individual. He and his father are often shifted to different camps and each time they think that it is the last journey and they are not sure of reaching another destination. With each shifting, the count of internees decline. They are killed like animals in a slaughterhouse. Animal slaughter has an economic perspective. Killings human beings with whom the killers have no previous personal enmity are heinous acts. Wiesel is just a boy of fifteen when he is separated from the rest of the family, but his father is with him. He finds inner strength to absorb the effect of such tragic events that engulf one after another only because his father is with him during the most critical phase of his life. Finally they are liberated by the Allied Forces. Wiesel is a writer by compulsion, not by choice. He candidly says that it is not his intention to describe the nature of brutalities and the main purpose of the book are committed to a hearty prayer that such gory incidents shall never be repeated by humanity. The commitment to world peace is possible, not through political philosophies, but change of heart of each individual. Religious tenets as they are practiced today by the followers will not herald the changing process. Not the blind following but practice of true spirituality can bring about the desired change. Spirituality is something that transcends the mind. At that level, all differences cease; conflicts are no more there. We need to give such an orientation to human beings, right from childhood. When the thought process of the individuals changes, the action process also changes! With such noble human beings, universal peace becomes an attainable reality. Notwithstanding his experiences at the portals of near death, wher e survival is a matter of chance, Elie Wiesel remains an optimist. He says in his Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech delivered in Oslo on December 10, 1986, â€Å"Thank you for building bridges between people and generations. Thank you, above all, for helping humankind make peace it’s most urgent and noble aspiration.†(117) He cautions people about complacency, why one must strive one’s best in performing one’s duty to humankind, â€Å"That I have tried to keep memory alive, that I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices.†(118) The book is written straight from the heart by Wiesel. It value is, therefore, more than that of a well-researched document. Human heart is the best research laboratory. The devastating circumstances that he encounters as a young boy will turn any individual cynical and one’s belief systems will shatter. But Wiesel gradually draws strength from his inner world to reaffirm his belief that some Supreme Power runs the world. At the same time he lays much importance to the secular efforts that must continue without intermission to build

Managing ethic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Managing ethic - Essay Example of transparency and that is only achievable through having an open mind and not bias against gender or color for one to have the trust and confidence of all the employees and the team as a leader. This paper uses the implicit Association Test to measure the affiliations and biases that one has and how they would influence a leader and his job to lead an organization or a company. This paper uses the results of two tests in the IAT to examine the leadership traits present and also investigate the different aspects that generally need to be improved for one to be a great leader. The first test was complete to measure the racial preference score of an individual. The results were that the data suggested there is a slight preference for white people compared to black people. The second test measured how one associates a person with the good aspects of their lives and how the two related in filling up the study. For the second test the results revealed that there was no preference identified for one person or deeds over the other. In the two tests there is a difference in the type of results since although one shows that there is bias in terms of color the other shows one as a leader that can be able to handle the people without any form of bias. The two results are mixed, however, in the first test there is only a slight preference to the whites as compared to the black people in the society. The IAT results have revealed some facts about my preferences that I previously did not know that I had especially the preference to the Black people. I have considered myself to be very partial and not discriminative of the color of skin since I have been raised in a region where I have interacted with people from all racial backgrounds throughout my life. However, the fact that the results only give a slight preference in the preference scales reveals that although I may be considered to be biased it is at a very low and minimal scale. This further compounded by the second

How does Learning and Employee Development Contribute to Research Paper - 2

How does Learning and Employee Development Contribute to Organisational Success and Performance Within Social Care Services - Research Paper Example The most essential component of a learning and development plan as per the respondents’ view are the skills and second most essential learning component required to enhance service delivery quality according to the respondents is that of knowledge. These findings are very positive and reflect a developmental, growth-oriented attitude. Trained staff is more competent and can perform better than untrained staff. To attain training there must be motivation among the members and they must be interested in learning and developing in order to benefit from the training programs offered to them. The research study has revealed that all the respondents realize the importance of learning and development training programs and are willing to learn and grow for the betterment of their selves and organization in turn. Garavanfurther suggested that a strategically integrated model of Human Resource Development would ensure that the concepts of training, development, education, and learning and backed up and embedded in strategic plans, operational plans, policies, and work practice. The findings reveal that the respondents are well informed about the importance of all these components of training and therefore it can be safely said that such a plan as suggested by Garavan can be very feasible for an organization like Loretto Care where chances of its acceptance at the managerial level appear to be quite high.

Comparison of Two Recovery Room Warming Methods for Hypothermla Coursework

Comparison of Two Recovery Room Warming Methods for Hypothermla Patlents Who Had Undergone Spinal Surgery - Coursework Example Highlighting the differences and the essence of the research results, findings and conclusions can also be considered to play a major role in a research article analysis. With the above information in hand, this paper will analyze the research article namely The Comparison of Two Recovery Room Warming methods for Hypothermia Patients Who Had Undergone Spinal Surgery. The key element of this research article concerns the concept of homeostasis, whereby the human body is able to maintain a relative equilibrium state under fluctuating environmental (temperature) conditions. Thus, the human body is able to regulate the body temperature with the assistance of the hypothalamus. This research article also makes a detailed study on the time needed to reach the specified temperature by the hypothermia patients who have undergone spinal surgery. The efficiency of two major warming methods such as the warm cotton blankets and a radiant warmer for the patients in a post anesthetic care unit is c ompared in the article. The analysis of this research article can be centered on the evaluation of the validity of the results which in turn depends on the research plan measurement, data collection and analysis process. Thus, the research plan measurement can be further classified into fragments such as cases, observations, variables and unit of analysis. In this article, the cases that are taken for research were of the hypothermia patients who had undergone the spinal surgery. These patients were kept under observation with respect to their body temperatures. The variables implemented in this case would be the different types of warming methods. Hence, the research had a concrete plan on which the data collection, analysis and interpretation of the results were built up effectively. The other vital area to be focused would be the data collection process. â€Å"This study was conducted according to a quasi-experimental design. Data was collected from a medical referral centre in northern Taiwan.† (Yang, Lee, Chu, Su, Ho and Fan 2). Thus, the data collection process included selecting the study samples from patient group in Taiwan, who are older than eighteen years, also who were under general anesthesia during the course of the surgery as well as those who were conscious and able to communicate. Above all, the other parameters that were included in the process of data collection were selecting the patients who had had no fever for seventy two hours before carrying out the study, had an operation time of about three to six hours, and patients who had a tympanic temperature of about 34 to 35 degrees Celsius. Thus, based on the above criteria, the sample data were collected and the effectiveness of the warming devices on these patients was studied. After the completion of the data collection process, the next step would be data analysis and arriving at conclusions and results. The basic framework of the data analysis would be to measure the efficiency of the warming equipments with respect to the rewarming time required for the patients who had undergone the spinal surgery. â€Å"The data were analyzed using SPSS version 17 software for Windows and significance level was set at p

Death as Fact of Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Death as Fact of Life - Essay Example Grief is believed to be the emotional imbalance felt by individuals after a certain loss. Grief turns to be quite complex in nature and sometimes it is misunderstood. Unfortunately, Grief is part of our lives since we all will experience it at one time or another in our lifetime (Becker, 23). The stages of grief remain the same whether brought through divorce, death or some other loss. We have five stages of grief, and it is believed that if an individual is stuck in one of these stages the grieving process is said to be incomplete. This means that the individual will not fully heal when there is a loss. The grieving stages occur differently in each individual since each individual has his own healing pace (Becker, 54). Therefore, an individual will only move to the next stage when he or she is ready. Individuals must complete the five stages of grieving for healing to occur. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross has reviewed the grief stages (five) experienced by individuals after a serious loss: d enial, bargaining, anger, sadness, and acceptance. Her study greatly involves dying patients’ process until their death finally comes. These emotional stages occur in human life before their death in an unpredictable order. Her study also revealed that the emotion reactions ranged from one individual to another due to the uniqueness possessed by people (Becker, 74). The reactions could have also been affected by various strategies used by individuals to overcome the stressing moment. Denial is the first stage of the Kubler-Ross model. This is where patients refuse to accept that they are in the progression towards death. Her research reveals that most of her patients claim that they feel fine, and others cannot believe that they are awaiting death. Denial is usually a short-term defense mechanism for the dying individuals (Kubler, 102). Some of the individuals make this stage worse when they think of the property they will leave behind after their death. When individuals cons tantly refuse to accept the fact that they on the dying edge they find themselves locked in this stage. When they are locked in this stage, they find themselves in a stressful moment. Kubler recommends that the health professionals and relatives to the dying individual should not keep the patient in dark about his or her real condition of health. When patients are hindered from the truth, he is prevented from adjusting to acceptance that death is surely going to happen. Anger is another emotional state where the dying individual has a number of questions. The individual is in question â€Å"Why me?† or â€Å"How can this be happening to me?† When anger arises in the victims, feelings are complicated for anyone to understand due to the patient’s fury and jealousy. Patients express their anger in different ways where some characters are annoyed of themselves or because of other people. Kubler advises that we should not judge individuals who are in anger out of gri ef. Moreover, we should continue showing love and care to help them get through the most difficult time of their life. Some of the individuals experiencing this stage may opt to commit suicide (Kubler, 103). After the individuals are past the anger stage, they face the bargaining stage. During this stage, individuals are ready to do anything just to delay their death. Most victims cry out to God to extend their life, and if they were granted a second chance, they would modify their lifestyle. According to the psychiatrist

American history between 1800 and 1877 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

American history between 1800 and 1877 - Essay Example Overview of the battle As discussed by Campbell the battle ensued with the Union and the Confederate taking sides on their meeting in Manassas, Virginia (109). With both sides planning to attack the other’s side, the armies were prepared for the toughest battle of the time. However, the plan aborted on the side of the Union, as the Confederates discovered the Union’s plan to attack the Confederate’s side; thus, a withdrawal to the north, in Washington. However, the army of the Confederate did not follow the Union’s troops. Young is clear to say that the confederate army was not well prepared to fight the Union, and their failure was more of automatic (178). This First Battle of Bull Run did not have a lasting significance in terms of military ability. Young is of the opinion that the battle was simply one that was keen to draw an army of amateurs, and led by amateurs (178). Campbell adds on to say that the 1861 Battle of Bull Run was one that was really hu miliating and the defeat of the 35000 men under General McDowell Irvin is one that is notable(108). In this case, it is justifiable to say that this historical moment is memorable in the history of the great nation. Campbell insists that the Bull Run was a dismay series of the Union’s loss in the battlefield under Lincoln administration (108). Implications of the 1861, 1st Battle of Bull Run The Battle- End of slavery and segregation Carlisle & Golson indicate that the Southern defeat in the Battle had a profound implication on the military history of USA, as well as the entire political arena (54). The defeat of the Confederation disrupted the conditions of coming up with a Civil Rights Movement in the 1860s and completely end the discrimination and segregation of persons in the United States of America (54). In as much the war led to the loss of a lot of lives, discrimination was still prevalent in the society, though the war was instrumental in the ban of slave trade and s lavery in USA. However, Carlisle& Golson argue that despite the fact that the war was short-lived, the society in America was slowly being reconstructed and that a new identity was beginning to unfold in America (54). No party was fighting for supremacy and control of territory and that amendments were made to improve the social landscape of the country (Carlisle & Golson 54). In this case, the Battle of Bull Run was instrumental in creating a civil war that would see to the rights of Americans adhered to, and the abolition of slave trade that had profound effects on the lives of the Americans. The Battle can then be described as the pillar of hope to the equality, justice and impartiality enjoyed by the American citizens. It is evident that the Confederate side won the 1861, Battle of Bull Run. However, it is of great importance to note the challenges facing the Confederate in the quest to succeed in the battle. It is evident that the troops were terribly disorganized in such a way that they could barely administer authority on pursuing the Yankees, who had earlier arrived in Washington by 22nd July (Haven 60). The First Manassas in the South cost the Union about 3000 casualties as opposed to the 1750 on the side of the Confederates (Haven 58). According to Haven, the outcome of the war rendered the persons of the north hold on to a false hope, and the southerners’ false hope of being the successful group (59). In real sense, the Union and

You will be analyzing the hyrdrodynamics of different swimming strokes Lab Report

You will be analyzing the hyrdrodynamics of different swimming strokes - Lab Report Example The major purpose of this lab report was to analyze the hydrodynamics of different swimming strokes through considering several factors such as swim time, stroke frequency, stroke length and perceived effort, in the comparison process. From the results, scenario B assumes a shorter swim time and higher stroke frequency than in the case of scenario A. Further, the perceived effort used in B was less than that used in A. The reasons for the observed phenomena, depends on such factors like gravitational pull, friction force and outside pressure. When a swimmer is partially submerged, as shown in A, there is increase in atmospheric pressure and gravitational pull acting thereby resulting in reduced speed. Further, while partially submerged, some parts of the body remain exposed to the air thereby triggering action of friction force between swimmer’s body and air. At the same time, scenario A allows the subject to breath, which in turn reduces the stroke frequency because more time is spent in breathing. The situation is different to scenario B, where swimmer’s body is fully submerged in water leading to reduction in friction force, gravitational pull and atmospheric pressure acting. This triggers shorter swim time, higher stroke frequency and less perceived effort (Stager & Tanner, 2005). The results also manifest differences between scenario C and D, where dolphin kick was used for both with difference being one is submerged while the other is not. C, where full submergence was assumed, both swim time and perceived effort was less than D (not submerged. This can be attributed to the fact that dolphin kick becomes more effective when there is reduced friction and gravitational force through ensuring full submergence (Maglischo, 2003). The reduced forces leads to less perceived efforts and swim time as observed in scenario C. For situation D, more force is allowed to act on the swimmer in addition to efforts spent on breathing

A New Architecture for Sustainable Development Research Proposal - 1

A New Architecture for Sustainable Development - Research Proposal Example Though the article is quick to blame developing countries for this problem, nothing has been mentioned of the role played by developed countries or the efforts that the developing countries may be putting in place to deal with this problem. Therefore, other than blame games, if developing countries have to embrace sustainability (which they should), developed countries have to reward them as a motivation to follow sustainable paths and to abscond from doing exactly what the developed countries did some few decades ago. UNIT Globalization and sustainability Confino, J. 12 July 2013. Should sustainability professionals fly less? The Guardian. [online] Available at http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/should-sustainability-professionals-fly-less DESCRIPTION: Thanks to globalization, the world has become a borderless global market with companies establishing their operations anywhere around the world. A good number of companies are based in westerns countries though they have their operations in Asia, Europe, and Africa or virtually in any corner of the world. This means that most executives make numerous business trips around the planet. What they do not realize is that by traveling in vehicles and taking flights, they are contributing to the same pollution that they are trying to fight in their businesses’ social corporate responsibility policies RELEVANCE: The article highlights the challenge that globalization has on the essence of sustainability. Global sustainability refers to the possibility of meeting the current needs without affecting the chances of future generations meeting theirs (Hart & Milstein, 2003) REFLECTION: By making numerous flights, we increase environmental pollution. Such pollution has the potential of preventing future generations from meeting their basic needs, which contradicts with our sustainability efforts. Maybe to solve this contradiction, it would be advisable to use more video conferencing and other real-time com munication channels to reduce our trips across the globe. Sustainable Organisations Eccles, R.G. & Serafeim, G. May 2013.The Performance Frontier: Innovating for a Sustainable Strategy. Harvard Business Review. [online] Available at http://hbr.org/2013/05/the-performance-frontier-innovating-for-a-sustainable-strategy/ar/1 DESCRIPTION: The article explains the culture of organizations in innovating strategies that would lead to sustainability in their business. Many organizations have put in place diverse measures towards achieving sustainability, some of which do not align with their business objectives. Therefore, the main question is what should an organization focus on to remain sustainable or to achieve sustainability? Today, there are numerous educational programs critical in bending the curve of the current world towards a more sustainable future ( Dey, Kurucz & Colbert, 2010).  

Mainland Chinese in Hong Kong Essay Example for Free

Mainland Chinese in Hong Kong Essay Everyone in Hong Kong should have heard of the mainland parallel-goods traders who discriminated by the local citizens. The MTR Corporation’s new policy setting limit to the weight of the luggage and the demonstration against the traders held by the local citizens are some of the evidences showing the discrimination against the mainland Chinese in Hong Kong (Lee Lo, 2012). Actually, the mainland Chinese settling in Hong Kong faces lots of barriers in different aspects. According to the United Nation, the living standard of a people will be degraded by the social, political, environmental, cultural and economic barriers (The United Nation, 1976). This essay will discuss the barriers occurred, the response by different stakeholders and the Hong Kong government’s role in this issue. The reason why the mainland Chinese migrates to Hong Kong may help understand the issue. In 1962, the Hong Kong government adopted the Touch Base Policy, which allowed the mainland Chinese arriving the city area to settle in Hong Kong. Since there was starvation in China at that time, thousands of people who were strong and young migrated to Hong Kong by swimming and climbing the hill. They devoted themselves to work for the factories and increased the productivity of light industry (The Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding, 2001). Due to the booming economy of Hong Kong and the introduction of the Basic Law in 1997, many mainland Chinese came and gave birth to their children to enjoy the right of abode in Hong Kong (Ming Pao, 2011). Therefore, the two main purposes for the mainland Chinese to settle in Hong Kong are working and enjoying the welfare. The social barriers faced by people are defined by the lack of help from the society, the exclusion from the welfare and the disconnection from the social network (The United Nation, 1976). As mentioned above, the mainland Chinese settle in Hong Kong to enjoy the benefit provided by the government. However, the one who does not have the right of abode cannot enjoy the welfare. The most familiar case is the difference in the fee of medical service. The charge of the service of accident and emergency for the local citizen is $100 per attendance while that of people with no right of abode charges $570 per attendance which is five times to the local one (Hospital Authority, 2007). This shows that the mainland Chinese staying in Hong Kong less than 7 years cannot enjoy the medical services at the lowest cost. Even the mainland Chinese with the right of abode cannot fully enjoy the welfare of the society. Consider the free education provided to the children with the right of abode, it is obvious that the mainland children in Hong Kong may have difficulties in learning using English and Cantonese which are not their mother tongue (Caritas Hong Kong- Tsuen Wan Community Centre, 1998). There is no extra resource to help the migrated children to adapt to the learning environment which is different from that of mainland China. Beyond the social barriers are the economic barriers, which are known as the lack of participation in production, trading and consumption (The United Nation, 1976). Another purpose of settling in Hong Kong is to get the employment opportunity as stated above. However, it is difficult for the mainland Chinese to find a job in Hong Kong. According to the report conducted by the Hong Kong government, the employment rate of the mainland Chinese in Hong Kong was 45.7%, lower than the overall employment rate in Hong Kong (60.3%) in 2006 (Hong Kong Government, 2007). This can be caused by their small social network and low education level of the migrated mainland Chinese. Moreover, there are not many types of work they can choose. 82% of the mainland Chinese in Hong Kong was having works with low-technique in 2006 (Hong Kong Government, 2007). As the mainland Chinese are of low education level with few techniques for work, most of them work as sales assistants but not technician. This implies that the mainland Chinese has a relative low chance to earn high profit in Hong Kong. Actually, the income rate of the mainland Chinese are much lower than that of the local citizens. The median of income of the mainland Chinese is around $6000 while that of the local citizens is $10000 (Hong Kong Government, 2007). Having a low income set them into living problem as they may have difficulty in buying necessity, paying utilities expense and paying for the meal. Getting low income not only leads to the difficulty in buy food and stuff, but also leads to the residential problem. The environmental barriers mean the poor living condition of the residents and the negative atmosphere of the environment (The United Nation, 1976). According to the report of Society for Community Organization in 2009, the median of monthly rent of bed space apartment is $1265 and that of suite is $2300 (Society for Community Organization, 2009). If the mainland Chinese chooses to rent a bed space apartment or a suite, they will spend a large part of their income to live in an area with poor condition. They can also choose to rent the public housing or purchase their private house, but this will cost them more which they may not afford. Moreover, the characteristic of the district they lived may create negative emotion to the mainland Chinese. If you are living in a city that was degraded by many people, you will probably become sad all days. Actually, when the mainland Chinese rent the public housing in Hong Kong, they may often be allocated to the Western part of New Territory, as it is the new developed town with more space. The problem faced by the mainland Chinese when they are settling will create sad emotion which will be accumulated. This leads to the high rate of unemployment, suicide and family violence and also leads to the name of ‘city of sadness’ for Tin Shui Wai (Chang, 2007). Fung is an example described in the program of the New Magazine. She is a mainland woman settled in Hong Kong for 10 years with no husband and she find it hard to live in Tin Shui Wai as there are many cases similar to hers (New Magazine, 2007). It is obvious that the mainland Chinese may face both physical and mental barriers raised by the environment. In concord with the environmental barriers, the mainland Chinese may face cultural barriers. It is about the loss of the acceptance of their cultures and behaviors from the society (The United Nation, 1976). While you are walking on the street, you may have the experience that the Chinese near you are not saying the same language compared to yours or do not familiar with Cantonese. Actually, many migrated mainland Chinese has their only accent or dialect. From the data of the Population Census 2011, 5.3% of the resident in Hong Kong spoke Putonghua or other Chinese dialect (Hong Kong Government, 2012). This leads to the obstruction for them to communicate with the local citizens. Moreover, the habits of the mainland Chinese are different from that of the local people. For example, there are many cases of corruption in the mainland and the residents there usually bribe the government officers or the manager of the company to enjoy services earlier than others or obtain other benefits. When the mainland Chinese settles in Hong Kong, they cannot change this practice which is not accepted here immediately. Therefore, they will be discriminated by the local citizens when they want to jump the queue by giving extra money (Ming Pao, 2012). Obviously, such behaviors may create discrimination against the mainland Chinese and they may find it hard to communicate with the local citizens. Above the previous four kinds of barriers is the political barrier. Political barriers occur when people are excluded in the procedure of establishing policies as no one can represent them to fight for their right (The United Nation, 1976). In the case of migrated Chinese, they only have the permanent right of abode and so the voting right in Legislative Council and District Council when they live in Hong Kong for more than 7 years (Hong Kong Government, 1997). Therefore, if they only live for less than 7 years, they cannot exercise their voting right to vote for the councilor who is willing to strive for their interests. Some may argue that there are still some councilors, who consider the right of mainland Chinese in Hong Kong, however; as there are too few councilors representing them, it is likely that the councilors cannot align the decision making in the council to the rights of the mainland Chinese. From the above, we find different barriers faced by the mainland Chinese in Hong Kong with different nature. Whether they should be included in the Hong Kong society has come to a controversial issue between the groups that advocate and the groups that oppose. ‘Citizens should tolerate the mainland Chinese in Hong Kong as they are only of different values with us.’ the former chief executive Donald Tsang said (RTHK, 2012). This is one of the points that support their inclusion in Hong Kong. As the mainland Chinese was adapted to their habits in China, they cannot change their mind step right after they settled in Hong Kong. It is rude to repel them just because their behaviors are different from us. Moreover, Hong Kong is an international city consisted of people come from different cities or countries. It is the common practice for the Hong Kong citizens to treat people with different race in the same way to encourage cultural diversification. If we only give respect to the white but detest the mainland Chinese, an image that Hong Kong is not a city that can include all kinds of groups may be created. This may probably damage the reputation and discredit the name of travellers’ paradise of Hong Kong. One of the possible outcomes is the decrease in amount of travellers and investment in Hong Kong and this will lead to the decrease in social benefits as well. Furthermore, exclusion of them in Hong Kong will create negative emotions to the society. When there are people blaming the mainland Chinese in Hong Kong, it will usually create ‘war’ between local Chinese and mainland Chinese. We can easily find posters and articles posted by them to insult each other on the Internet. People supporting each side will also organize campaigns that dishonor another side and this will aggravate conflict in the society (Ming Pao, 2011). Another negative impact raised by the exclusion is the deadly tragedy of mainland Chinese. When the mainland Chinese cannot settle down properly and are scorned by the Hong Kong people, sadness will accumulate. As there are not enough resources for the assistance or counseling to the mainland Chinese, they may try to solve the problem by themselves. The solutions usually include improper behaviors like committing suicide. This kind of negative news does cast a shadow on the society. On the other hand, there are groups that oppose the inclusion of mainland Chinese in Hong Kong. Firstly, they state that the mainland Chinese should respect the unique culture of Hong Kong. For example, some of the citizens think that the main language used by Hong Kong people should be Cantonese. Also, they may think that there are some hidden rules which are sometimes broken by the mainland should be kept up, such as queuing, talking softly in public area, and no eating on the train. If many mainland Chinese enters or settles in Hong Kong, they may influence the original culture of Hong Kong and make the society worse as they image. Secondly, Hong Kong is already very crowded that there should not be more people settle down. According to the world record, Mongkok is the most crowded place in the world and its average population density is 130 thousands. The public transports and facilities in Hong Kong are also fully used by the local citizens. If more mainland Chinese settle down here, a lot of place in Hong Kong will become more packed and this will create extra demand of the provision of public transportation. Thirdly, the mainland Chinese will use up the limited resources which originally belong to the local citizens. For instance, the medical services provided for the pregnant woman are limited, as there are limited doctors and bed in the public hospitals. Although the charges of the public medical services for the mainland Chinese are much higher, the mainland Chinese is still willing to give birth in order to enjoy higher service quality and evade the punishment under the one-child policy. Under this circumstance, the doctors will become more stressful and not enough public medical services will be provided to the local women. Some says that, the foreign migrants settled in Hong Kong may also use up the limited resources; however, the population of the China is very large compared to other countries (Li Lok, 2012). If we advocate the inclusion of mainland Chinese in Hong Kong, large amount of the mainland will rush to Hong Kong for varied reasons and the situation will be completely different compared to the case of the foreign migrants. We could find different points of view in the society which have already listed above and it is the government responsibility to balance between the opinions of the citizens for or against the inclusion of mainland Chinese. The most important thing needed to redeem the reputation of Hong Kong is to help the mainland Chinese overcomes their barriers faced in Hong Kong. To deal with the economic barriers, the government should help the mainland Chinese to find jobs with higher income by promoting their competitiveness. To begin with, the government can allocate more resources to the community centers for them to organize language and practical skill workshops which can enrich the abilities of the mainland Chinese so that they can attract the local employers. In addition, the government can take the initiative opening up more positions for the mainland Chinese to apply so that the private firms will follow and this will create job opportunity for them. To solve the social barriers, the government can appoint the school to create a better learning environment for the mainland children by adopting small class teaching of the English lesson or making tutorial class for them. This relies on the extra resources given by the government to help the children enjoy the education more effectively. To deal with the cultural barriers the mainland Chinese faced, the government should force them to abolish their bad customs. Specifically, the government should produce more advertisements about the moral standard of Hong Kong citizens which can be broadcast on TV and radio so that the migrated mainland Chinese will be influenced and follow our practices. Not only the mainland Chinese should be educated, but also the local residents should be inculcated about the equality of people with different cultures. As the economist said, good institutions always align self-interest with the social interest (Cowen Tabarrok, 2011). It is known that globalization encourages the movement of people from their countries of origin to another places. It will become more common that the mainland Chinese settles in Hong Kong as the relationship between Hong Kong and Chinese become closer. Therefore, it is for the social interest that local citizens should accept the existence of mainland Chinese in Hong Kong so that the conflicts in the society will be alleviated. To fulfill this social interest, institutions to the public should be introduced. The government should first strengthen the citizenship education about inclusion of mainland Chinese for the primary and secondary school students as they are the pillar of the society. Then, the government should produce more TV programs and large campaigns to change the whole atmosphere of the society. Actually, there are some programs on the TV promoting equally treatment to the mainland Chinese like ‘Southern and northern’, one of the episode of the program in RTHK talking about the difficulties faced by the migrated Chinese woman in Hong Kong (RTHK, 2011). As citizens in Hong Kong, we must be aware of the existence of mainland Chinese. There are increasing potential that the China will overtake Hong Kong to become a city with high CGDP. There is also globalization encouraging the inflow of mainland Chinese. Inclusion of mainland Chinese is a must in the 21st century and we should confront to the problem existed to alleviate the conflicts in the society. It is found that there are economic, political, social, cultural and environmental barriers faced by the mainland Chinese in Hong Kong. There are also increasing discussion on whether we should advocate the inclusion of them. When it comes to the benefits of the public, the government should act as the lubricant between groups with different opinions and create a harmonious atmosphere. In the coming future, it is possible that there is no discrimination against the mainland Chinese and they may become part of the Hong Kong. Reference: Caritas Hong Kong- Tsuen Wan Community Centre. (1998). The research on the view of the mainland Chinese in Hong Kong by the local citizens. Hong Kong: Tsuen Wan Community Centre. Chang, D. (2007, 12 14). Tin Shui Wai: City of Sadness. Asia Sentinel. Cowen,T., Tabarrok, A. (2011). Modern principle of Economics. Worth Publishers. Hong Kong Government. (1997). The Basic Law. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Government. Hong Kong Government. (2007). The recent employment state of the mainland Chinese in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Government. Hong Kong Government. (2012, 9 7). Usual Residents Aged 5 and Over by Duration of Residence in Hong Kong, Sex, Nationality and Usual Language, 2011. Retrieved from Population Census 2011: http://www.census2011.gov.hk/en/main-table/F118.html Hospital Authority. (2007). Fees and Charges. Retrieved from Hospital Authority website: http://www.ha.org.hk/visitor/ha_visitor_index.asp?Content_ID=10045Lang=ENGDimension=100Parent_ID=10044Ver=HTML Lee,A., Lo, C. (20 12, 10 6). MTRs new weight limit aimed at mainland traders. South China Morning Post. Li,C., Lok, A. (2012, 2 3). Hong Kong demonstration against mainland Chinese. Epoch Times. Ming Pao. (2011, 5 5). Little cost but large benefit for the mainland woman to give birth in Hong Kong. Ming Pao. Ming Pao. (2011, 10 23). Pregnant women demonstrate against the mainland children born in Hong Kong. Ming Pao. Ming Pao. (2012, 1 19). the local citiznes and mainland Chinese argue in the public hospital. Ming Pao. New Magazine. (2007). Home in Tin Shui Wai. RTHK. (2011). Southern and Northern. RTHK. (2012, 2 9). The confidence to the Hong Kong citizens of the tolerance to the mainland Chinese. RTHK. Society for Community Organization. (2009). Research on rental problem of bedspace apartment and suite. Hong Kong: Society for Community Organization. The Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding. (2001). History of Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region. Retrieved from The Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding website: http://www.sacu.org/hongkong.html The United Nation. (1976, 5-6). United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II). Retrieved 11 2012, from the United Nations website: http://www.un.org/Conferences/habitat/

Vertical Marketing System

Vertical Marketing System 1. Describe the concept of a Distribution Channel and what is a VMS (Vertical Marketing System)? A marketing channel is a series of marketing organizations that leads a product from producer to final user. A distribution channel consists of firms that have combined for their common good. Each channel member depends on the others. Distribution channels move products and services from businesses to clients and to other businesses. Also known as marketing channels, channels of distribution consist of a set of interdependent organizations such as wholesalers, retailers, independent producers and sales agents involved in making a product or service available for use or consumption. For example, a Ford dealer depends on Ford to design cars that meet consumer needs. In turn, Ford depends on the dealer to attract consumers, persuade them to buy Ford cars, and service cars after the sale. Each seeks to maximize its own profits, and there is little control over the other members and no formal means for assigning roles and resolving conflict but if all of them cooperate with each other, they can more effectively serve and satisfy the target market.Marketing channels perform many key functions such as some help complete transactions by gathering and distributing information needed for planning and aiding exchange, by developing and spreading persuasive communication about an offer, and by entering into negotiation to reach an agreement on price and other terms so that ownership can be transferred. Vertical marketing systems (VMS) is a distribution channel that provides channel leadership and consists of producers, wholesalers, and retailers acting as a unified system and consist of Administered, contractual, and corporate marketing systems. One channel member owns the others, has contracts with them, or has so much power that they all cooperate. Corporate VMS integrates successive stages of production and distribution under single ownership.Contractual VMS consists of independent firms at different levels of production and distribution who join together through contracts to obtain more economies or sales impact that each could achieve alone. Administered VMS, the leadership is through the size and power of one or a few dominant channel members. 2. What is a PUSH strategy as opposed to a PULL strategy in distribution channel management? A push strategy involves pushing the product through marketing channels to final consumers. The producer directs its marketing activities (primarily personal selling and trade promotion) toward channel members to induce them to carry the product and to promote it to final consumers. Personal selling and trade promotions are often the most helpful promotional tools for companies such as Nokia for example offering funds on the handsets to persuade retailers to sell higher volumes.In pull strategy, the producer directs its marketing activities (primarily advertising and consumer promotion) towards final consumers to induce them to buy the product. If the pull strategy is effective, consumers will then demand the product from channel members, who will in turn demand it from producers. Example Kraft products use heavy advertisement and consumer promotion to pull its products. 3. Define Retailing and Wholesaling. How do the two interact and describe the different types of wholesaling? Retailing includes all activities that are involved in selling goods or services directly to final consumers for their personal, non business use. It plays a very important role in most marketing channels. It is also undergoing so much change today due to factors like store size, price competition, and demographic shifts. Therefore retailers operate in a harsh and fast changing environment which offers threat as well as opportunities. Some of the trends in retailing include the rapid growth of nonstore retailing, retail coverage, the growing importance of retail technology etc. Department stores, like Burdines and Macys, discount stores like Wal-Mart and K-Mart, are all examples of retail stores. Wholesaling includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services to those who are buying for the purpose of resale or for business use. Wholesalers add value by performing functions such as transportation, Selling and promoting, Buying and assortment building and Warehousing etc. Like retailers, wholesalers should target carefully and position themselves strongly. Wholesalers continue to increase the services they provide to retailers like retail pricing, cooperative advertising, marketing and management information reports, online transactions etc. Wholesalers benefit from retailers because they serve as their advertisement. If a retailer is happy with his wholesaler, he/she has a high chance of telling his/her friends about it; thus, word-of-mouth advertising. Wholesalers then get to have more customers and more sales, earning them better reputation, quality and more profit. Without retailers, wholesalers would just have their stocks inside their warehouses, untouched. They would not be able to get back their expenses if they would not sell their merchandise to retailers, and hence would not get any profit. In the same way retailers benefit from wholesalers because they are the ones who give them material to sell. If a wholesaler is satisfied with the retailer, he/she might give them more concession and benefits, and give them better deals so they can both thrive in their own businesses. Different types of wholesalers are: * Merchant wholesalers are the largest single group of wholesalers, accounting for approximately fifty percent of all wholesaling. Merchant wholesalers take possession of the goods. They include full-service wholesaler (wholesale merchants and industrial distributor) where they provide a full line of services like carrying stock, maintaining a sales force and offering credit etc. and limited service wholesalers (cash-and carry wholesalers, truck wholesalers, drop shippers, rack jobbers, producers cooperatives, and mail order wholesalers) – these wholesalers offer fewer services to suppliers and customers. * Brokers and agents do not take title to goods and their main function is to facilitate buying and selling, for which they earn a commission on the selling price. A broker brings buyers and sellers together and assists in negotiation. Whereas agents represent buyers and sellers on a more permanent basis. * Manufacturers and retailers branches and offices are wholesaling operations conducted by sellers or buyers themselves rather than through independent wholesalers. Separate branches and offices are dedicated to either sales or purchasing. 4. What are the four promotion mix elements and explain how each are utilized. What is the major difference between Advertising-Publicity-Sales Promotion. A companys total promotion mix also called its marketing communications mix consists of the specific blend of advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion Advertising is any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Advertising includes broadcast, print, internet, and outdoor etc. Sales promotion – is a short term incentive to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service. It helps to stimulate demand for a product. Sales promotion includes discounts, coupons, displays and demonstrations. Personal selling means personal presentation by the firms sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relations. Personal selling includes sales presentations, trade shows, and incentive programs. Public relations is building good relations with the companys various publics by obtaining favorable publicity , building up a good corporate image, and handling or heading off unfavorable rumors, stories and events. Public relations include press releases, sponsorships, special events and Web pages.Direct marketing involves making direct connections with carefully targeted individual consumers to both obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships through the use of direct mail, telephone, direct-response television, e-mail, and the Internet to communicate directly with specific consumers. Some of the major differences are as follows: Difference between Advertising and Sales Promotion * Advertising uses the media to inform and convince; whereas sales promotion is the offering of an enticement to tempt a customer into a purchase. * The time frame for advertising is long term where as for sales promotion the time frame is short term. * The primary objective of advertising is to create a stable brand image whereas for sales promotion the primary purpose is to get sales quickly. * In case of advertising requests are emotional or purposeful in nature where as in the case of sales promotion appeals are reasonable or logical. Difference between Advertising and Personal selling * According to personal selling it involves personal interaction between two or more people, so each person can observe the others needs and characteristics and make quick adjustments. Advertising is impersonal and cannot be as directly influential as can company sales person. * Advertising can carry on only a one way communication with the audience but according to personal selling both have to communicate in order for business to run. Difference between Advertising and Public Relation/Publicity * The public relation exposure received is only spread once. An editor wont publish the same press release two or three times in their magazine. Since one pays for the space, one can run the ads over and over for as long as one has the funds to pay for it. * Publicity is a kind of interaction, which is communicated through the mass media. The purpose of publicity is to demonstrate attention to a company and its products without having to pay the media for it but for advertising huge costs are incurred. 5. Describe the five international product and promotional strategies which are Straight Extension, Communication Adaptation, Product Adaptation, Dual Adaptation, and Product Invention. Five strategies for adapting product and marketing communication strategies to a global market Straight product extension means marketing a product to all countries without any change. For example Kellogg cereals and electronics like Black Decker tools and cameras are sold successfully in about the same form around the world. Straight extension is appealing because it involves no additional product development costs, manufacturing changes, or new promotion. Product adaptation involves changing the product to meet local conditions or wants in overseas markets. The adaptation of the product is carried out for reasons such as to meet the local regulations, to meet the customer needs and wants such as size; packaging preferences, quality; appearance and also to meet the beliefs of the consumer like McDonalds, for example, adjusts its menu for each foreign market, vegetarian hamburgers in India as many people dont eat non-vegetarian due to religious beliefs, mutton pot pies in Australia, and McSpaghetti in the Philippines. Burger King also has tried to adapt the market and satisfy their customers. Product invention consists of creating something new for a specific country market. It might also mean to maintain or reintroduce earlier products forms that happen to be well adapted to the needs of a given country. For example, Brewing companies have sold alcohol free beer in countries where sales of alcoholic beverages are prohibited. Communication adaptation is a global communication strategy of fully adapting advertising messages to local markets. Coca-Cola for example sells its low calorie beverage as Diet coke in North America, the United Kingdom, and the Middle and Far East but as Coke light elsewhere.Another example is Marlboro cigarettes; essentially use the same message in their international promotion programs. Dual adaptation involves altering both the product and the communications to reflect differences in both product function and use. Slim-Fast for instance get used to both product and promotion and abide by varying government policies around the world. 6. Describe the emergence of social media ( twitter, facebook, blogs ) and how marketers have adjusted and utilize it to connect with consumers. Social media is a term used to illustrate the type of media that is based on interaction between people online. Social media have been updated to reach consumers through the internet. In the early days of the internet, conventional forms of media (magazines, newspapers, and marketing brochures) were simply moved from print to online; interaction is still primarily one way. Forums and blogs began to change that, allowing prospective buyer to ask issues of dealer, and of each other. Now, Face book, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media tools have exploded this means. Conversations are less expensive than broadcasting from a media standpoint. This type of media has become appealing to big and small businesses. More and more people are using social media sites like Twitter and Face book to talk about companies and products with their friends and colleagues. The success of sites such as Face book and Twitter has confirmed that people feel the pull of social media globally. Social media is rapidly launching itself as a direct marketing channel and as such should be regarded as a valuable tool for any brand and marketing savvy company. Reliable brands are making the most of social media to reach customers and to build or retain the reputation. For example PepsiCo and even Starbucks look at social media as the best way to get direct dialog with their fans and for the company to hear from those fans without filters. As social media continue to grow, the ability to reach more consumers globally has also increased. Twitter, for example has expanded its global reach to many countries. This means that brands are now able to advertise in multiple languages and therefore reach a broader range of customers and clients. Social media can be used as a marketing tool but it requires concentration, supervision, practical knowledge and experience of the subject. One has to deliver materials in a customized way to suit the marketing needs of the clients. By using twitter, these brands through research and testing are learning and understanding more about social media and their customers. Marketers make links by adding value like putting some interesting resources or things that attract the consumers on their site and then they try and build trust and later build the relationship, so that the consumer feels comfortable and buys the product. Be it blogging, face booking or twittering, the same principal in understanding how to reach customers are similar. For example, HR Block reaches out to twitter members who have questions about taxes and need someone to support as customer service for those dissatisfied with their HR Block experience. The purpose for those who make contacts on Face book may vary. Some people are there to promote their businesses while others are there to become fashionable and get known like public figures, band, businesses and associations of all types who have created face book pages, where they often want to share a status update, a photo, a product or an event with many supporters. Famous personalities possibly will want to share special news or donations may want to put out calls for help to both their Face book fans and their Twitter followers, all at the same time. The main goal for using social media marketing is to increase buyer commitments, gather supporters to drive word-of-mouth and to increase brand loyalty.

Social Media Effecting Political Democracies World Wide Media Essay

Social Media Effecting Political Democracies World Wide Media Essay This paper will attempt to distinguish the connections between democratization and information and communications. The relationship will be addressed by focusing mainly on how the advancement of technology, in this case social media, has effected, and is effecting, political democracies world wide. In order to discuss the connections of democratisation and social media I will first attempt to provide a definition for democracy and the process of democratization. The essay will further discuss different scenarios in various countries that have either led to the declination of political empires, or assisted the rise of a political party, through the involvement of social media. Furthermore, these views will be supported by discussing the contrasting views of a cyber-utopian versus a cyber-cynic, i.e. Clay Shirky versus Evgeny Morozov, respectively. Democracy and its roots In order to understand democracy, it needs to be defined and like most concepts it is relative, like Clinton once quoted depends on how you define democracy. According to Ivo Mosley democracy is government by and for all the people which literally means the people rule'. However the definition has evolved through history, which is why it is necessary to backdate to its origins tracing it into the present. (Charles Tilly, 2007, Democracy, Cambridge University Press, New York). The word democracy originates from a Greek word demokratia and literally means people-power and this in itself is ambiguous. The ambiguity of the term aroused questions such as; did the power actually belong to the masses or specific qualified individual citizens? Many theorists believed that the word demokratia was a term exploited by enemies of democracy, said to be the elite class who were against being out voted by laymen who were classed to be economically and socially inferior. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtm) However, over the centuries democracy rose, fell and varied in character, where and when it multiplied (Charles Tilly, 2007). In the 18th century despite not being defined as democracy, the US showed interest in experimenting with the doctrine of natural freedom and equality. Their Constitution administrated a government elected by the masses and took into account to protect civil rights and liberties to some extent. (Jacqueline Newmyer, Present from the start: John Adams and America, Oxonian Review of Books, 2005, vol 4 issue 2). By the 19th century many European regimes adopted the Greek democratic model. They made effort to provide equality and citizen rights. Democracy, as a concept, can be molded according to local needs, however is not a blueprint that can be copied and pasted in all regions of the globe. It did, however, gain popularity around the 20th century; after WWII many new countries came into being due to decolonization, when democracy as a concept caught on, not because it was a norm the world valued, but because it was used as a weapon against the threat of communism. This was also the basis of the onset of the cold war. It was the war of ideologies, and democratization of the newly independent states begun. As Potter stated why has democratization been a strong impulse in some countries, a weaker or non-existent impulse in others? (1997, Democtatization, Blackwell, pg.1) He then defined democratization as political changes moving in a democratic direction (pg 3). Webster (2011) stated in his lectures that democracy is on the march, majority of the worlds states are now democratic. Amartya Sen (1999) defined democracy as A un iversal value. According to freedom house (2006) 47% of countries in the world are classified as free. Though the statistics show that the concept of democracy is being enforced around the globe, it is difficult to adapt in some parts of the world. North Korea being one of the controversial cases where they state that the country is officially the democratic peoples republic of Korea. According to modern economists North Korea is strikingly different as it is cut off from the existing world as they live in their own separate reality, where the leaders of the country maintain complete control and the masses have restricted freedom of expression; anyone opinionated against the regime can be detained. Many theorists including Potter and Barber discuss the existence of different political regimes in terms of strong and week democracies, also known as liberal and partial economy that lead to either the rise or the fall of economies. The USA being a prime example a capitalistic and democratic country enforcing democratization on nations as a tool to gain world dominance, or even to maintain their existing status as the global super-power. However the means of public expression, which is being enhanced through the internet and its various means of communication, is becoming a more accurate form of democratic thought. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Orkut, Hi5, Twitter, and even blogs has evolved to allow civil society to become more active in the governance in its countries. It has encouraged the process of bringing about a tool that enhances democracy through the true will of the people, even in strong dictatorship regimes. Within research, academics have attempted to explore civil society to explain processes of democratization by reference to societal context (laurence white head, 2002, democratization, theory 7 experience, oxford univeristy press). Macmillan defines civil society as the part of society that consists of organizations and institutions that look after people, their health and their rights. It does not include government of the family e.g NGOs, research institutes, e.t.c. http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/civil-society This leads to an interesting concept explored by Habermas which reflects suspicions on markets ability to answer democracys needs the public sphere concept that aids civil society to communicate. It focuses on social democratic perspective on information and society. Where citizens can get together and freely express their opinons. Webster lecture 2011). Benkler (2007:123) foucses on internet as one of the strong mediator to public sphere. which then gi ves birth to the rise of social media in playing a vital role in deciding the faith of these democratic nations. Gary C. Gibson December 20, 2007 a bloggist defined Democracy is about individual liberty and political primacy; corporatism and other forms of neo-authoritarianism such as socialism are about the primacy of collectives under the authority of elites. Another bloggist Rahman Haq March 21, 2008 stated Democracy is a beautiful concept not particularly for its denotative implication that puts the majority opinion into context but rather due to the values and ideals that constitute the bundles of liberties derivative of the concept. While Rayne Brit may 13 2008 commented that One of the most fantastic parts about democracy is freedom of speech everyone likes freedom of speech unless someone speaks in contradiction to them. But that is the beauty of our constitution it allows diversity of opinion. http://www.helium.com The key elements in this process of a public sphere are communication and information. How important are these to democracy and what is the link between them? The power of Communication/Information and the birth of social media In the modern society we live in, communication and information have rapidly built great importance and brought about a turning point in different sectors. (McNair, 2006:1). The information society plays a vital role in the development of the modern social analysis (webster, (2004), The Information Society Reader Routledge). The fast paced wide spreading of globalization and the rising of the network society have led this modern society to heavily depend on them, impacting the society to rely on informative communication networks that possess knowledge and views to either built or unbuilt trust, the decisive source of power. Power being the utmost important process in the society. (Communication Power, Manuell). According to Webster (2004, 2) in the wider society, the idea that we are entering a new information age, or knowledge society, is a common place. Max Weber defines social power as the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will, despite resistance, regardless of the basis on which this probability rests (1978,53). The ideology of social democracy a leftists political philosophy, which seeks to reform capitalism in line with principals of social justice, while upholding capitalistic approach of production, instead of creating a an entirely new socialist economic system has been the essence of debates of information. When analyzed it prominently points out the disadvantages of capitalism when providing information to its viewers: thereby suggesting that the market creates diversion, gossip and trivia, while being inadequate to supplying reliable news. In retaliation, the social democratic approach would recommend the state to intervene to make sure that the information requirements delivered to the public could be adequately met. Hence, it is understood as social democratic because of the inclination of the state intervention. A policy as such could be considered, by many, an inescapable introduction to tension seen as many of the advocates are impressionable to the growing of the spin within the literate society, the development of what they have galvanized as an antagonistic market to its inadequacies. Moreover Webster criticizes the argument that the market cannot be relied upon to produce information required to support a healthy democracy. A clear example that supports the argument of subjective and questionable informative medium is the invention of Wikipedia. A popular multilingual encyclopedia promoting free content and writers to contribute to this content from around the world. What makes it interesting is that anybody can edit an article, given the right references, using a wiki markup language eventually leading to a well balanced article including all the pros and cons. Even though Cass Sunstein10 and Brian Leither, 11 oppose citing Wikipedia, Sunstein (in Webster about Sunstein, 2006:2), states Wikipedia as an example of collective intelligence. Thus, indicating the decrease in the necessity of a public sphere. Ludovic Denoyer, Patrick Gallinari, Volume 40 Issue 1, June 2006 ACM New York, NY, USA This clearly emphasizes on Friedrich Hayeks theories of defending the free market system. He supported the principle that every human has rights and is free to make their choices. He argued against that the public sphere concept as he believed that all actions made by the consumers give messages to the market that are later adapted by them, he argued in favor of capitalism, Hayek (2002:8). Jimmy Wale stated Hayeks work is central to my own thinking about how to manage the Wikipedia project. However John Gray (1948) belonged to the conservative group who argued that free market can destroy order. He argued it is most obvious that changing the diverse world economy, on the basis of the singular model of the free market, would be an impossible task to carry out. The diversity of cultures around the world should be a self-evident reflection of the global varied economies. Thereby it would be safe to state that all economic systems are imperfect; no one system is universal, thus any attem pt to do so would result in a disaster. Yet the fantasy that the free market can and should be adopted throughout the world became for a while a litmus test of sound thinking, not only on the neo-liberal right but also in the ranks of the center left. http://www.scribd.com/doc/7221539/John-Gray-on-Free-Markets-Not-for-the-First-Time In the modern Information Age that we have entered, there is an effort to enhance brainpower by globally providing informarmation services and by implemention the power of computation as and when needed http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/what_is_internet.html. Technological innovations have given birth to information and communication mediums like television, radio, telephone etc. but one of the most powerful and upcoming media tool, a contribution to the network society is the Internet. This is considerably different from the old traditional ways, this allows more interactivity and many-to-many communication, rather than one-to-many. (THE PUBLIC SPHERE, SOCIAL NETWORKS AND PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA, Petros Iosifidis, 31 January 201). This impacts the youth mainly gen Y and Z the focal users of this platform when they find overflowing information and rely on just this medium for rational. Murru (2009, p. 143) contributes to this thought by adding, in online contexts anyone can potentially take the role of speaker with practically no cost, thus multiplying the source of news and freeing the flux of communication and information from any sort of system control (economic or political). Webster (2010) discusses that this overflow can lead to fragmentation of users creating information cocoons that filter undesirable information. According to Losifidis (2010) the ever existent Habermasian concept of the national public sphere as discussed earlier is now said to have given birth to a multi-dimensional platform of online and social networks. The idea of networking is not new; Websters dictionary dates the term to 1940. However these networks are now rapidly growing to become significant in engrossing and influencing citizens and also playing a vital role in the communication process within which realistic and legitimate discussion takes place. He further argues that the internet and new media in terms of social media is being mis represented by extreme exaggeration and it represents technological optimism due to reasons like chaotic open to all policy, censorship, inclusiveness, partisan content, and most importantly the absence of the very essence of the public sphere extensive dialogue and critical discussion. As social media is the new phenomenon taking over the world it is giving birth to new jargons like infosphere, blogosphere, twittersphere. Participants find this platform as an ideal place to start discussions mainly on public debate and social change. Stumpel (2009) in contrast emphasizes that these new online forums, which allows people to unite in discussions to exchange veiws and knowledge either political or economical even critical in nature portrays a patten of similarity to Habermass concept of the public sphere. He argues that forums like facebook, twitter, myspace and other net spheres are public places that are outside state control where public-minded rational consensus can be developed. This widespread of information is worrysome for some. Webster (2004:76) stresses that the society must prevent them from being misled as technological developments are always socially mediated. Fukuyamas fears that over flow of information in the society will substitute the traditional community based on religion, tradition, race or culture with the modern community based on a formal social contact among rational individuals (ibid:7) But can the Net act as a public sphere where critical discourse can emerge and influence political action? The power of Social media and it effect on democracy As we experience the rise of the communication platform, there seems to be a tremendous increment in the participants to engage in public speeches which is portrayed through blogsphere and more interestingly different events have contributed to the public taking collective action by using these advance technology mediums. In 2001, when the congress voted to protect the President of Philippines President Joseph Estrada and set aside crucial evidence against him, the citizens of Philippines in anger protested against their corrupt president. Just as the decision was announced, they arranged a rally Go to EDSA wear black to mourn the death of democracy through simple forwarded text messages which later counted close to seven million. Shortly millions of people arrived, causing a shutdown of traffic in Manali. This ability of the public to arrange such a tremendous response threatened the legislators of the country and they allowed the evidence to be presented. In 3 days on this protest Estrada was gone. this was the first time social media had aided to play a part in a democratic nation to lead to a downfall of a national leader. Estrada himself blamed the text-messaging generation for his downfall. (clay shirky) Since then this strategy has been on the roll. A similar case took place In Spain in 2004 after the Madrid train bombing where text messages aided to the downfall of Spanish Prime Minister Josà © Marà ­a Aznar who inaccurately blamed basque separatists for the act while the protesters who belived that it was the doings of Al Queda forwarded the phrase who did it and arranged anti-govenment rallies on the day before the spring election http://mason.gmu.edu/~cuytioco/papers/edsa2cellphones.pdf. The Communist Party lost power in Moldova in 2009 when massive protests coordinated in part by text message, Facebook, and Twitter broke out after an obviously fraudulent election. It is widely discussed by many theorists that the internet has provided an open channel of free communication of information that has come to be known as social media tools, which would include the very popular social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Facebook initially being invented as a means for introduction amongst university students and further networking is now rapidly becoming notorious for open communication for people to connect their political views and thoughts. Another example is that of the Twitter Revolution In Tunisia, in reaction to a street hawker setting himself on fire, for which it was banned in the country. The revolt was being rallied and coordinated through the social site ultimately bringing protesters to the streets, and tolling up to 70 people being shot by the police.. Consequently, the revolution led the president of Tunisia to abandon his post. Tunisia has only been the initial instigation of this fire which is spreading throughout the Middle East and Northern African countries. These sites are now fuelling younger generations to turn away from broadcast media one-to-many communication of information and through the inclination towards these sites finally becoming more involved in voicing their opinions via the many-to-many communication of information amongst themselves. A further result of this is evident in the reaction of the Libyan government as they have banned the social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, from their local internet services on state orders. The radical action can be interpreted that even the libyan state is beginning to recognize the extent to which these media tools are evolving to becoming a loud voice echoing in the public spheres. One of the main roles that has been played by the social media is that of a watchdog and whistleblower. Furthermore in many other cases public has taken aid from these social media tools to succeed in their protests. Another social media phenomenon that is gaining popularity widely in whistle blowing is through viral media. A prime example is the major protest and lawsuits the Catholic Church faced for child abuse and rape. In 2002 The Boston Globe exposed sexual abuse in the church that spread like viral online in just a few hours. Furthermore there are so many cases now that can be found on a new social platform Wikileaks. According to BBC it is a whistle blowing website now actively effecting news. Anonymous submission are published and leaked on different area of debate. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10757263 According to shirky (2010) The potential of social media lies mainly in their support of civil society and the public sphere. As I mentioned earlier that these tools can either aid or fail in helping the activists protest, many such cases have failed to produce positive results like in March 2006 in Belarus streets were full of protest which was arranged partly by email against their President Aleksandr Lukashenkos for vote rigging however the activists failed which led to the president to actively control social media. Similarly in 2009 during the month of June when the green movement was rising the activists in Iran tried very hard by using to protest against the miscount of votes for Mir Hossein Mousavi by using all sorts of technological coordinating tools but failed miserably. The use of social media tools text messaging, e-mail, photo sharing, social networking, and the like cannot be foreseen or predicted to any foretell outcome. Thus, any attempts to create an outline on their respective effects in the political arena are more often than none to duelling anecdotes. Let us take a look at Barrack Obamas presedentail online campaign of 2004 for instance. Castells (Volume II, 2004:379) states that it is also highly used in politics by describing Obamas internet campaign as an example. The use of social media tools enabled Obama to initially overcome a large portion of the presidential nominating race; and his ability to embrace the social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, was considered different which became advantageous to his campaign. This approach was considered so successful that according to Professor Thomas Patterson of Harvard University, Mr Obamas use of social media tools has led to mobilise younger generation. This has been consi dered a group which has traditionally been uninterested in politics, according to. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7412045.stm This makes us wonder do these digital tools enhance or destroy democracy? Cyber-Utopians vs. Cyber-Cynics Cyber-utopian optimist Clay Shirky in his paper The Political Power of Social Media, that appeared in the foreign affair magazine, (http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/01/politics_and_internet) makes a great distinction between the insturmental view and the environmental view of inetrnet freedom. He describes the instrumental approach as a means to avoid states from aiding censorship of external websites like, youtube, google, e.t.c. and thereby focuses more on the public spheres, emphasizing on the citizens speech and all the uses of digital media by private and social standards. An example that supports this was the call for anti-censorship software by Hillary Clinton, Americas secretary of state, in January 2010. This would particularly support the usage of sites such as Wikipedia and Google in states like Iran; give Burmese activists the freedom to blog without interference to blog; allow the Chinese public to utilise the use of instant messaging systems without being mon itored, among many others. However the challenges of anti-censorship software programs like Freegate and censorship-circumvention softwares like Haystack portray the hardship to weaponize social media to pursue country-specific and near-term policy goals. Many would argue that instrumental media overestimates the value of one-to-many form of communication information i.e. broadcast media while at the same time underestimating the value of many-to-many form of media communication of information i.e. social media tools including the internet. Instrumental media does provide a modest benefit to the freedom of information that it provides -confidential government information can get leaked through the open channels of information however it does not extend to the freedom of speech or assembly, which in turn the internet does provide. The popular belief about social media is a long-term tool to strengthen the civil society and the public sphere. The environmental view is the contradictitary outlook to internet freedom. A ground basis for internet freedom and environmental view is the gradual development of the public sphere which works like a forum of open to all opinions while relying on conversation information and media. Contrary to the Wests self-acclaimed view of holding the source code for democracy, the environmental view would assume that minor change occurs in political spheres without adoption of the ideas and opinions which circle in public sphere. The viewpoint professes that the access to information does not play as big of a vital role as the access to conversation. Furthermore, a public sphere is more likely to emerge as a result to the masses dissatisfaction towards economic factors in a country rather than some obscure political ideals. In contrast to Shirky, the cyber-cynic Evgeny Morozov disagrees, and states that while social media may have helped, its not clear how much it actually contributes. According to an article in the Guardian that analysed Morozovs The Net Delusion, he argues that, if read between the lines when praising technology and its advancements, you can decypher a misinterpretation of the internets political role and potential, through the combination of ignorance and a sense of utopianism. This idea was further elaborated to state that if careful measures are not ensued, the democratising power of new media will not promote democracy and freedom of thought, but an entrapment of authoritarian regimes around the globe. Critisizng cyber-utopianism, Morozov further believes that contrary to popular belief the internet is not emancipatory, and supports it through the arguement of the widely misguided belief in the example such as the one of Twitter-powered Green Movement of Iran in 2009 (pointing out figures that on the actual eve of the said elections, the participating numbers did not rise above 20,000 users), stretching it to larger heights of naive hopes that international exposure through the new media will bring a diminishing result of violence in areas around the world such as that of Africa and the Middle East. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/09/net-delusion-morozov-review Morozovs arguement emphasizes the insignificant contribution of the social media tools whereas Shirky promotes the idea that however small the contribution may be the governments should accept it and promote the communication of many-to-many as it is an aspect of democracy. With the growing numbers of the West where social networks such as Twitter and Facebook are used among the masses, in the East it is only a smaller percentage that have access, or the ability, to use it. Having said that, no matter how insignificant the numbers may appear to be at this point in time Shirkys arguement brings more to the debate as it is an escalating factor which supports the point that the public sphere, through social media tools, do play a rising role in todays democratic states around the world. Morozovs arguement supporting misguided beliefs about the cyber-utopians who cannot bring about any change in world, can also be refuted that in the short-run it may not display acute figures of revoluti on supporters, or how it affects political stance, but in many countries where the social media tools is used on a day-to-day basis it surely can take the initial step to creating awareness which could, in the long-run, create a stir in a mass so large that it cannot be ignored by any democratic country. These tools probably do not hurt in the short run and might help in the long run and that they have the most dramatic effects in states where a public sphere already constrains the actions of the government. Through the promotion of pro-democratic tools put forth by the government it is also aiding authoritarian governments to track down any revolts, while infiltrating social networks and propogating their own agenda, and out-smarting their beleaguered citizens. However, the debates tend to culminate in stalemate whenever put to discussion. Access to information is far less important, politically, than access to conversation. Authoritarian governments stifle communication among their citizens because they fear, correctly, that a better-coordinated populace would constrain their ability to act without oversight. Add to essay where ever required According to Marsha Mcluhan this world is now a global village. With the spread of globalization or as Herbert Schiller (1919-2000) would term it as Americanisation there has been a rise in the technological advancement hand in hand.Webster (2010, chapter 2:20) states that globalization is leading towards the irrelevance of a public sphere, or even to the establishment of multiple public sphere. Globalization of democracy said to be western and a form of imperialism. Fernand braudel commented (1902-85) thorugh globalization there is a homogeneity of cultural practices. A more tolerant framework within the society. Yet events like the Danish Cartoonist in 2006 who drew the forbidden drawing of the Holy prophet in an insulting manner led to unrest around the world or like the event posted up on Facebook in 2009 draw Muhammed day yet again let to unrest in the muslim world speacially Pakistan where the govenment was part of the protest to delete such an offensive page makes one think ho w far true are these motions of tolerance. However thinkers like Ronfeldt (in Allison, 2002:39) claims that the internet will not divide the world, but that it will provide community, democracy, empowerment, wealth and peace. Robins and Webster (1999:226) speak of a cyberculture on the internet with its endless circuit of communication that will create global cities. The cyber-culture has also given birth to e-democratisation which leads to e-govenment and e voting. however democracy demends to surville if all votters are eligible. it aso questions wheather bloggers are now acting as e democracts. However some critizise it by calling it couch potate politics.. Castells (2001:117) further adds that digital divide is a result of virtual communities that is another form of escapism. Conclision Carruthers (2000:201) argues that the global distribution and access of all modern technologies (telephone, radio, television and the internet) must first be continued and improved before we can truly speak of its global or universal effects However, if one scrutinizes the numbers involved in the actual protests, or what leads up to them, according to Morozovs The Net Delusion one cannot be entirely sure as to the extent of influence the uprising has towards the respective governments in the countries in question; the revolt in Iran in 2009 which was caused by Twitter it was said, however according to numbers tracked the number of users on the set day of election did not rise over 20,000. Shirkys arguement refutes these statements though stating that the numbers are escalating and the masses have found an efficient and free channel to communicate amongst themselves, and the result . This instrumental view of the matter where the state intervenes with censorship may cause a further uproar and more use of softwares created to slip through the crack; softwares such as Freegate and Haysmarket. It only seems to be a matter of time before the time bomb of the social media tools will explode and cause an uncontrolable uproar that even the strongest of states cannot even handle.