The Winter Oak Yuri Nagibin Essay Example For Students

The Winter Oak Yuri Nagibin Essay What are the major themes of The Winter Oak and how does the author use the characters of Anna and Savushkin to develop these themes?There are four major themes in The Winter Oak. There is one obvious, very important theme, which is the huge contrast between both the settings and environments of the classroom and forest, and the ways the two main characters, Anna Vasilevna and Savushkin, behave in these places. Also, there is the theme of education, and how it continues from the classroom into the forest yet changes its ways. There is a less obvious political side to the story, where the classroom atmosphere and events stand for communism in Russia, the forests qualities point to freedom, and the winter oak is seen as a royal, godly protector and single ruler (this idea is very anti-communist). The final theme is one of the more important themes in the story, the role reversal of teacher Anna Vasilevna and pupil Savushkin, and the way Savushkin becomes more of a teacher in the forest. One of several contrasting factors in the story is the way Anna feels towards Savushkin, and how it changes. We will write a custom essay on The Winter Oak Yuri Nagibin specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now When Savushkin arrived late to that mornings English lesson, Anna questions Savushkins lateness, clearly not for the first time, only this time her question sounded plaintive, as if she felt saddened by his repeated lateness, and at how her efforts at changing him were failing. Later, Anna fails to understand Savushkins excitement when he calls out Winter oak, and she finds herself hiding her irritation with difficulty. This suggests she is finding Savushkins behaviour annoying, and she soon snaps and tells him to see her at break. To herself, she thinks him to be a difficult boy. Her attitude towards Savushkin soon changes in the forest. The first sign of Anna appreciating him is that upon being corrected by Savushkin about the current in the stream, she simply bit her tongue, instead of being annoyed at what she might earlier have interpreted as answering back. Her attitude towards Savushkin changes so significantly throughout the events in the forest that as she leaves, she is looking on him as the most amazing thing in all of the forest, a mysterious and wonderful future citizen. The great contrast between this point and the start of the story is there to emphasise the power the forest has on people. Another contrast is the way Annas behaviour differs in the schoolroom to that in the forest. She starts of the morning feeling very self-confident, thinking back on how she used to feel about teaching a lesson. The fact she smiled at this memory suggests she no longer fears her class. Her trail of thought after Savushkins late arrival makes her think of the shrivelled little old geography mistress, and how she had complained about how difficult the first lesson is. It made Anna feel self-assured that it wasnt that difficult for her. As well as confident, Anna Vasilevna also seems authorative and in control. When she said thats enough, the class had fallen silent, showing her power over the class. However, in the forest Anna behaves very differently. She allows herself to be led by Savushkin, and is more relaxed. Have you seen one? asked Anna Vasilevna excitedly. Her excitement was definitely not seen in the schoolroom. This excitement and loss of control increases and she gets enthralled by a creature in the snow. Annas authority can be seen to be lost when she timidly approaches the oak. Until this point she had been looking down on everything and everyone-they were inferior. Again, the forests effect can be seen.The banging of desk lids, squeaking of benches, and the sound of a heavy lorry with a trailer outside make for a noisy, packed atmosphere in the schoolroom. .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8 , .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8 .postImageUrl , .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8 , .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8:hover , .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8:visited , .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8:active { border:0!important; } .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8:active , .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8 .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ubfe53c725aa8f18f3980dbbef31333e8:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Indian Ethos and Values Essay There is a hint of tension when Anna says Thats enough, and Quiet. In contrast to that, the forest feels serene and tranquil: not a sound could be heard, even though there was the movement of birds above. It is described by the author as an enchanted world of peace and silence. This is a very strong sentence- the word enchanted gives

Click and Drag a Delphi Form Without the Caption Bar

Click and Drag a Delphi Form Without the Caption Bar The most common way to move a window is to drag it by its title bar. Read on to find out how you can provide dragging capabilities for Delphi forms without a title bar, so the user can move a form by clicking anywhere on the client area. For example, consider the case of a Windows application that doesnt have a title bar, how can we move such a window?  In fact, its possible to create windows with a nonstandard title bar and even non-rectangular forms. In this case, how could Windows know where the borders and the corners of the window are? The WM_NCHitTest Windows Message The Windows operating system is heavily based on handling messages. For example, when you click on a window or a control, Windows sends it a wm_LButtonDown message, with additional information about where the mouse cursor is and which control keys are currently pressed. Sounds familiar? Yes, this is nothing more than an OnMouseDown event in Delphi. Similarly, Windows sends a wm_NCHitTest message whenever a mouse event occurs, that is, when the cursor moves, or when a mouse button is pressed or released. Code to Input If we can make Windows think that the user is dragging (has clicked on) the title bar rather than the client area, then the user could drag the window by clicking in the client area. The easiest way to do this is to fool Windows into thinking that youre actually clicking on the title bar of a form. Heres what you have to do: 1. Insert the following line into your forms Private declarations section (message handling procedure declaration): procedure WMNCHitTest(var Msg: TWMNCHitTest) ; message WM_NCHitTest; 2. Add the following code into the implementation section of your forms unit (where Form1 is the  assumed form name): procedure TForm1.WMNCHitTest(var Msg: TWMNCHitTest) ;begin   Ã‚   inherited;  Ã‚   if Msg.Result htClient then Msg.Result : htCaption;end; The first line of code in the message handler calls the inherited method to obtain the default handling for the wm_NCHitTest message. The If part in the procedure intercepts and changes your windows behavior. This is what actually happens: when the operating system sends a wm_NCHitTest message to the window, together with the mouse coordinates, the window returns a code that states which portion of itself has been hit. The important piece of information, for our task, is in the value of the Msg.Result field. At this point, we have an opportunity to modify the message result. This is what we do: if the user has clicked in the forms client area we make Windows to think the user clicked on the title bar. In Object Pascal words: if the message return value is HTCLIENT, we simply change it to HTCAPTION. No More Mouse Events By changing the default behavior of our forms we remove the ability of Windows to notify you when the mouse is over the client area. One side effect of this trick is that your form will no longer generate events for mouse messages. Captionless-Borderless Window If you want a captionless borderless window similar to a floating toolbar, set the Forms Caption to an empty string, disable all of the BorderIcons, and set the BorderStyle to bsNone. A form can be changed in various ways by applying custom code in the CreateParams method. More WM_NCHitTest Tricks If you look more carefully at the wm_NCHitTest message youll see that return value of the function indicates the position of the cursor hot spot. This enables us to play some more with the message to create strange results. The following code fragment will prevent users to close your forms by clicking on the Close button. if Msg.Result htClose then Msg.Result : htNowhere; If the user is trying to move the form by clicking on the caption bar and dragging, the code replaces the result of the message with a result which indicates the user clicked on the client area. This prevents the user from moving the window with the mouse (opposite to what we were doing in the begging of the article). if Msg.Result htCaption then Msg.Result : htClient; Having Components On a Form In most cases, well have some components on a form. Lets say, for example, that one Panel object is on a form. If Align property of a panel is set to alClient, the Panel fills the entire client area so that it is impossible to select the parent form by clicking on it. The code above will not work - why? Its because the mouse is always moving over the Panel component, not the form. To move our form by dragging a panel on the form we have to add few lines of code in the OnMouseDown event procedure for the Panel component: procedure TForm1.Panel1MouseDown  Ã‚   (Sender: TObject; Button: TMouseButton;  Ã‚   Shift: TShiftState; X, Y: Integer) ;begin   Ã‚   ReleaseCapture;   Ã‚   SendMessage(Form1.Handle, WM_SYSCOMMAND, 61458, 0) ; end; Note: This code will not work with non-window controls such as TLabel components.

Supply Chain Management Essay

Supply Chain Management Essay Supply Chain Management Essay Introduction Majors in supply chain management focuses on processes of excellence for the organization. Supply chain management focuses of the flow of information, services and goods that target at delivering maximum value to the organization’s customers. Supply management has the responsibility of supplying services and goods that the organization deals with to the customers. They also manage the transformation and conversion processes that target at converting input to output. Supply chain management functions within the scope of organizing, planning and controlling the flow of bought materials within the organization. The Majors gives close attention to the analysis and selection of vendors, price determination and value analysis. Supply chain Majors also have the responsibility of disposing surplus and scrap materials. It places emphasis on the efficient application and usage of transportation by the management of business within the framework of logistics. Supply chain manages resourc es, procurement, fabrication, production, storage and production. It consists of interconnected components, which are required for the transformation of ideas to delivered services and products. Through execution, Exel operated most part of the supply chain. These traditional activities lowered the costs of storing and moving products and improving the speed of delivery for HM. However, this represents a minute portion of the capabilities of the firm. Using the execution strategy, supply chain did not manage costs and opportunities available to customers. This included opportunities in the matching of supplies and demands. This is where the firm could manage the highest payoff. The planning function of supply chain has the potentials of enabling the firm attain its allocation and purchasing functions. Planning also ensures that the firm has better execution capabilities. Planning eliminates instances of the â€Å"just in case† behaviors that occur in ordering extra inventory. Planning has the potentials of ensuring that the firm’s shipments reach the customers on time. Planning confers deeper knowledge of supply chain, which would result to enormous savings. For instance, the lack of knowledge resulting from failures in execution would strain the firm in realizing the advantages of cost savings arising from consolidated trucks. Planning eliminates risks because of the expansion of the relationship between customers and the firm. Planning enables the exchange of greater stakes in the activities of the firm and its performance. Technology firms have approached Exel for a portion of its financial planning in order to increase their share of savings. Planning increases the confidence of the firm, which enables it exceed expectations. A clear understanding of the strategy will enable the firm move swiftly with its planning strategy. One of the executives at Exel noted that he needed to present a case for moving towards planning strategies for its supply chain. The ability of the execution team to execute the plans developed by the firm plays an enormous role in ensuring that the firm continuously develops creative planning strategies. Execution ensures the firm can lower the cost of storage and transportation and deliver products to customers effectively. The firm should become aware of the potentials of adding operations to its expertise, and to the customer is a planning function. The ability of ensuring smooth planning in allocation and purchasing requires the execution team performs effectively and understands its role. Planning and execution should be carried out jointly to ensure that nothing goes wrong in the supply chain. Professional essay writers at company can provide you with a high-quality custom essay on Supply Chain Management written from scratch!

Outline a basic model of interpersonal communication Essay

Outline a basic model of interpersonal communication - Essay Example [4] First and foremost are the verbal communication skills. There are five communication skills in human beings that determine the ability (to communicate).Two for sending; writing and speaking and two receiving skills; reading and listening. The fifth skill namely reasoning, affects all the above mentioned skills and is important to both sending and receiving. [1] The second factor is that of Knowledge or more precisely the level of knowledge about the subject in focus during communication (of either the sender or receiver). Take for example an electrical engineer talking to a doctor on medical issues might be ill at ease and vice versa since the knowledge domains of the two are entirely different. AT the same time, however both might be quite comfortable in discussing the current political situation. [1] The position of the sender and the receiver in their respective social systems is also one factor that affects the nature of communication. The position can be looked at from different dimensions such as those of age, gender, religion or other demographic factors as well as social status, income level e.t.c. one can either be in a similar, higher, or lower position in their respective social systems.

Fossil Fuels Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Fossil Fuels - Essay Example This paper presents an argument that the use of fossil fuels that has been in existence for some time now, for instance, coal and oil belongs to the past (Pfeiffer, 2006). The use of this fuels can be attributed on how inconvenient and adverse effects that fossil fuels have to the environment. Most countries in the world depend entirely on the fossil fuels, hence there is a possibility that if the government do not come up with other power sources, they will be at risk of running out of fossil fuels. It is significant to note that fossil fuels are non-renewable resource hence it can be easily depleted. According to some research that was conducted, fossil fuels might run out in about fifty years to come. In this case, fossil fuels should be regarded to belong to the past since there are other convenient sources of power, for instance, solar energy that may run continuously without the worry that the power may run out in future. Some countries like Pakistan have the largest coal reserves approximately 10,000 square kilometers (Sherman, 2004). Despite Pakistan having such large amount of coal reserves, the reserves have began to reduce which will cause Pakistan to start finding an alternative means of energy. Most of the countries that are entirely depend on coal, have adopted some technologies, for instance, Clean Coal Technologies which aid in reducing the harmful emissions that result from the combustion of the fossil fuels. These technologies are expensive to maintain and does not completely eliminate the risk caused by emission. Further, compared to using the modern sources of power such as solar energy where such technologies are unnecessary, it becomes expensive. When the fossil fuels undergo combustion, they generate a lot of hydrocarbon containing pollution. Large amounts of carbon dioxide are emitted and this has detrimental effects to the global climate, for example, change of the

Jennifer Hudson Essay Example for Free

Jennifer Hudson Essay Jennifer Hudsons I Got This is a personal memoir of her life, from her early childhood to her current life. Jennifer talks about her journey to stardom including her challenges, tragedies, and her triumphs. Throughout the book Jennifer continuously talks about how her weight had kept her from getting the parts she would audition for. However, once she lost the weight many doors were open for her. She also gives high praises to Weightwatchers for helping her lose over 80 pounds. Jennifer Hudson made it clear that she was always comfortable with her body and only lost the weight so that she could be a healthy mother for her son. She did not lose the weight for anybody else but for herself and her son. This book was published in January 2012. Jennifer Hudson was born September 12, 1981, in the Englewood area of Chicago. She was the third child of her parents of her parents, Darnell Hudson Donnerson and Samuel Simpson. She was raised in a single parent home with her brother, Jason Hudson, and her sister, Julia Hudson, by her mother. As a little girl Jennifer was very small, so small that you could see her ribs through her shirts. Her mother took her to the doctor because she thought something was wrong with her. Being skinny was not common in the Hudson family. You see food was a central focus for the majority of all the Hudson family gatherings. Jennifer’s best friend and personal assistant is a gay guy named Walter. She met Walter in the sixth grade and they have been best friends ever since. The first time he heard her sing was in music class and from that day he has been her number one fan. Walter made it his personal goal to make Jennifer a star. During her high school years she would sing in different contests and talent shows all over Chicago that Walter would sign her up for; soon thereafter he began booking performances ranging from weddings to funerals for Jennifer. At one point she was in a singing group, with two other girls called Final Notice, but this didn’t last long. They kept her around, as long as they did because she had the most talent, but they let her go because she had the most weight. By the age of nineteen she had reached her peak weight of 236 pounds. This is around the time she realized that her weight was out of control and she was getting passed over for singing gigs because she didn’t look the part. Needless to say, she was astonished that she was being judged on her appearance and not her talent. Jennifer was signed to her first record label, Righteous Records, a Chicago based independent label. It was during this time that she was first motivated to lose weight because the head of the company pitted her against another girl on the label to lose weight. He told them that whoever lost the most weight would win money and be able to release their album first. On this journey of losing weight, Jennifer stopped eating fried foods, red meat, pizza, carbonated soda, and ice cream; which were all of her favorites. She started working out every day and twice on some days. This went on for years. She would lose weight because someone said she needed to if she wanted the job, only to regain the weight upon completion of the part. In the summer of 2002 American Idol made its television debut, Jennifer was encouraged by her mother to audition for the show. Jennifer was not impressed and did not want to have anything to do with the show, that is, until Kelly Clarkson was named the first American Idol. Although the show had sparked something in Jennifer she still resisted auditioning for the second season since she had landed a job with Disney working on a cruise ship. After eight months, away from home, performing on the ship, Jennifer had had enough and went back home. To her surprise, when she got back to Chicago Walter had two airline tickets for Atlanta to go to the audition for season three of American Idol. Being on American Idol, Jennifer had gained a great deal of exposure, which opened the door for her next gig, which was a record deal to record her first album. While she was working on this album she started hearing rumors about a new movie, which was Dreamgirls; and that the producers wanted her for the role. After auditioning twice she was chosen to play the part of Effie in the movie. She had not done any professional acting until this role and the rest is history. For the first time in her career she was told she needed to gain weight, they wanted her to gain twenty pounds so she could really look like Effie. This was a total shock to Jennifer, especially after so many years of being passed over and judged on her appearance over her talent. Well, she gained the weight and starred in her first motion picture. After the production of Dreamgirls, Jennifer returned home and started her mission to lose the weight she had gained for the role. She went right back to the only way she knew to lose weight. Eating only brown rice, chicken, and broccoli, coupled with running every day. She worked hard the entire summer losing the extra pounds only to have the producers call her, near the end of the summer, needing to get some pickup shots of her to finish the film, and oh yeah telling her to regain the weight. She refused to succumb to their request and they found a way to work around it. In September of 2008, Jennifer’s mother, brother and nephew were killed in a shooting; Jennifer stepped out of the limelight for three months. After the birth of her son, Jennifer was again around 236 pounds. This was precisely the time she made the conscience decision to make a permanent change in her life to lose weight and keep it off. She initially began this quest the only way she knew how by limiting herself to very few food choices, but then she was introduced to Weightwatchers. Eighty plus pounds later, Jennifer is pleased with her decision to give Weightwatchers a try, and now she is a spokesperson for the program.

Cochlear Implants :: Hearing Deafness Auditory Essays

Cochlear Implants As the life expectancy of the general population continues to increase, so has the number of people experiencing varying types of perceptual loss. One area of perceptual loss that is gaining more and more recognition is auditory functioning. The number of individuals experiencing a post-lingual hearing loss, or hearing loss after the acquisition of language, is increasing among the older adults in our society. This increase has facilitated a need for a means of managing such a loss of functioning. The group of people affected by hearing loss is by no means strictly limited to older adults. Pre-lingually deaf children and adults, as well as, postlingually deafened individuals can benefit from the technology that is currently being developed and refined for the management of hearing loss. The conventional hearing aid is probably the most common device pictured when thinking in terms of managing hearing loss. However, another option that may not be as well known is the cochlear implant. The cochlear implant is a relatively new option in the management of hearing loss. Cochlear implants amplify sound, code sound into an electrical signal, and send those signals into the auditory nerve. The signal then travels to the auditory brainstem and onward to the temporal lobe of the brain for interpretation. The cochlear implant system consists of internal and external components. The internal components include a receiver, an internal magnet, and an electrode array. During a surgical procedure, a space is made in the mastoid bone behind the ear. This space holds the internal magnet and receiver. The electrode array is then placed in contact with the nerve endings in the cochlea. After implantation surgery, the skin and hair around the incision are allowed to heal for about five weeks. Then the patient is fitted with the external components of the implant. These components include a microphone, an external transmitter coil, cords, and a speech processor. The microphone is attached to the ear by means of an earhook. The microphone picks up sound waves and sends them to the transmitter for convertion into an electrical signal. The transmitter coil is held in place against the patient's head by means of an external magnet that is attracted to the internal magnet. A cord connects the microphone to the transmitter coil. Another cord then connects the microphone to the speech processor. The speech processor contains a software program that determines how sound waves will be coded and transformed into electrical impulses.

Imt Case of Study Tech Essay

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Background of the Study Evolution of Fort Wayne Plant The Fort Wayne plant facility, originally from WILMEC, was constructed in mid-1960’s specifically to manufacture the type of custom machine called a â€Å"large vertical†. In 1985, WILMEC moved its â€Å"medium horizontal† production capability to Fort Wayne, Indiana. After 5 years, GE Inc. abandoned its custom machine business and sold it to WILMEC’s. GE’s production equipment was then moved to WILMEC’s Fort Wayne plant, however, the GE technology is very different from the 2 custom machines which WILMEC produces, it is called â€Å"large horizontal†. With the 3 machine types, Fort Wayne continued its production until in mid-1995 WILMEC’s sold all of its custom machine engineering, manufacturing and sales operation to IMT. The Fort Wayne Plant transitioned from a busy single-product, focused factory to a factory that was nearly closed (due to a lack of orders) and employed only a few hundred workers. It then evolved into a facility that supported three technically different products (large-horizontal, large-vertical, and medium-horizontal custom machines) that had originated from three different factories with three different engineering design systems. In mid-1993, IMT closed the Cleveland site and transferred the engineering and marketing staffs to either Fort Wayne or Chicago. As the Fort Wayne plant evolved to support multiple product lines, numerous informal procedures emerged to handle day-to-day situations. These undocumented processes worked despite the incompatibilities among the three different technologies, which used three separate drafting systems as well as unique manufacturing processes. Very little capital had been invested to upgrade the operations during the last several years of WILMEC’s ownership. Not until IMT had completed the purchase of the technology and the factories in 1995 had a major capital upgrade program even been considered. Low margin and capital budget limits had prevented significant upgrades. In early 1996, the plant was reorganized into three product lines. Each of the three machine types was considered a separate product line and profit center. The Hardware Platform of the IS Division The IS division uses IBM mainframes: †¢IBM model S/390- The current mainframe †¢IBM AS/400- inherited from General Engineering during the acquisition. The MIS personnel attempted to facilitate these mainframes, transferring data between the two systems. However this was not easily achieved due to information security issues. Since 1996, the heaviest use of the mainframe was from the computer-aided drafting (CAD) and engineering users. Its usage was approximately sixty-five percent (65%) of the current mainframe and about fifty-four percent (54%) of the S/390’s CPU capacity. Statement of the Problem In this study the major problem is how to find a good decision and direction for IMT Information Systems without the need of exerting too much effort and money in the hardware platform or system’s upgrade. Cited below are some of the specific problems of the case study: †¢How will the company balance the need for technological changes to continue accomplishment of routine task? †¢What are the problems encountered by the current IS environment? Objectives General Objective The objective of the study is to propose a new and latest hardware platform that will suit best on the applications needed by the Fort Wayne’s Information System. Specific Objectives †¢To improve the software used by the company for several years. †¢To evaluate the managerial issues of computing, including the centralization and decentralization of computing. †¢To make an assessment of which of the three (3) given options by Browning are more appropriate for the company to use. CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY Research Design The study used qualitative research at the beginning of the design process to uncover innovations. This results with the advantage of being useful when budgetary decisions have to be taken into account. This research design is also useful even if you know little about the topic. It uses plain observation as a main source of data. Naturalistic observation was used since the objective is to examine each department for root causes of problems. Sources of Data The study acquires data simply through observations, existing studies and documentations. Research Instruments Since the research design has limited means to gather data, the only research instrument used in developing the entire system was the case itself and some readings from the internet. Data Gathering Procedure Data were gathered through data mining, which is much easier than the survey and interview techniques. The proponents simply took time in going to the school library and surfing the net collecting various information from books, websites and other documentations which is required to begin and to finish the study. CHAPTER 3 DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS In this chapter, the data acquired through the examination of the different subunits under the Information System’s (IS) division are further discussed. Figure 2.1 Data Flow among Functional Areas of IMT CMCI’s Information System Figure 2.1 presents the flow of significant data among the different subunits under the IS division. From the different division the following findings below were notably considered: †¢Marketing – This unit uses a mainframe negotiation program written in COBOL where results from the technical description of specification for a new machine of a customer were interpreted and has a Query System used to analyze data from ongoing negotiations as well as contracts won or lost. †¢Admin and Finance – The purchase order, accounts payable and accounts receivable were the three (3) systems, which were custom developed by GE’s MIS staff on the AS/400. †¢Engineering – This subunit was responsible for handling three (3) separate design systems for the three (3) types of custom machine that Fort Wayne produces. †¢Drafting – At Fort Wayne, CAD applications ran on the IBM mainframe and consisted of eighty-five (85) seats of CAD. (A â€Å"seat† was one hardware CAD setup with a high-resolution screen, keyboard, function button box, and a pointing device that functioned like a mouse.) The development of the automatic drawing progress was very convenient with both CAD and the custom machine design program on the same platform. †¢Manufacturing – When all the drawings for a custom machine were completed, the BOM (Bill of Material was manually transferred from the drawings into the BOM database system, called DBOMP. With the three (3) types of custom machine, DBOMP could not handle the large drawing numbers and no one at Fort Wayne knew the DBOMP code well enough to make changes. In this case, the MIS group was backlogged in supporting the rapid changes that were occurring at the Fort Wayne Plant. †¢Test – Test information was written on a form that was interpreted and copied from the customer’s specification in marketing and engineering. Test department had several PCs connected to LAN. †¢Human Resources – There were no plans to connect the LAN with Fort Wayne’s mainframe due to security corners over the confidentiality personnel records residing on the HR’s computers. Besides, the HR organization was not even considered a local support issue because its applications were supported from the corporate MIS group in New York. After acquiring the findings above, the group cited specific problems encountered on some of the subunits of the IS, and they were as follows: 1.The Admin and Finance is the only subunit which is not under the current mainframe of the Fort Wayne. The systems for this department are developed in the IBM AS/400 mainframe. 2.At the Manufacturing Department, when a computerized system failed to provide needed functionality, paper systems were created to support the information needs. This is due to the large number of drawings in CAD that DBOMP could not handle. 3.PCs in the Test Department are connected to the mainframe but only used occasionally. Furthermore, electronic test result data were not shared on the mainframe but remained in the test department LAN only. Below are three (3) major options presented by Charles Browning: 1.Centralized Computing. Commit to staying with the current mainframe for all important applications such as the CAD and the DBOMP though it would be a long-term venture. Discourage the use of UNIX work stations and eliminate the AS/400 and place the Admin and Finance along with the other department systems in one mainframe. 2.Workstation Computing. A strategy that will discard the mainframe, make significant investments in the UNIX workstations, PCs, servers and LANs and will architect a full client/server environment. Install high-speed network to link all computers via LAN and install gateways to bridge between networks. One database would serve the entire UNIX network system. And CAD and other major applications will be shifted off the mainframe to dedicated UNIX workstations. But the process is expected to take approximately 10 years before mainframes could be downgraded and migrated to workstations. 3.Watch Carefully. Do not act yet. Wait and see what develops and decide only as circumstances force key issues. This means that each decision would be made in response to immediate demands and on lowest risk and least expensive alternative at decision time. CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Summary The case study was conducted to propose an intelligent strategy for the Information Systems Department of the Fort Wayne Plant, which is a subsidiary company of International Machine and Tool (IMT-USA). The IS division made several proposals of incremental solutions for the needs of their system, however, they could not acquire the specific solution which will show them what modifications should be done and how would it be done. The proponents examined different units under the IS departments and searched for the root problems existing in the division. The third option, â€Å"Watch carefully. Do not act yet.† was chosen by the group as the best among the options presented and strategically developed the plans to solve the problems. Conclusions After the study has been conducted, the proponents concluded that to be able to plan a working solution for an existing system. A careful observation and examination of functionality of units under the system must be done in order to trace the root causes of problems and to provide direct solutions to it.

Ethics Paper Essay

The role of ethics and social responsibility are vital to the success of business. This also is very important to the stakeholders and should be even more important to management executives who have to make the decisions on whether to be ethical or unethical. This seems like a no brainer, but top level officials have the daunting task of making difficult decisions that affects groups involved in the success of the company. This paper will bring into focus the ethics and social responsibility in creating a strategic plan while taking in consideration stakeholder needs and agendas. Business Ethics is a form of ethics, which examines the ethical principles, and moral problems that occur in a business today. Ethics plays an important role in business today by establishing policies, procedures, and practices when creating a strategic plan. One such policy to have as a driving force for the company is a code of ethics, which outlines how an employee should behave while on the job. Having a code of ethics in place will not only help employee’s behavior, but the implementation of strategic plan of guidelines that will take in consideration for stakeholder needs and agendas. Social responsibilities are the responsibilities of private corporations to society that goes beyond that of making a profit. When implementing a new strategic plan you have to take in account the affects it will have on society as well as the organization. Strategic decisions influence other entities internally and externally. For instance, a decision to down size by closing some distribution centers and discontinuing manufactured goods, affects not only the employees, but also the neighborhoods where the plants are located. This also hinders the consumers and suppliers with having no other source for the discontinued products (Wheelen & Hunger, 2010). These types of decisions bring forth questions as to regarding, the appropriateness of certain missions, objectives, and strategies of businesses. Management must be able to come to compromise the difference in interests in an ethical manner to formulate a realistic strategic plan to meet the needs of the stakeholders. To answer this question, the corporation may need to engineer a strategy, which can explicitly articulate the organization with the role of ethics with stakeholders. This requires not only that management a clear picture of the organization key ethical approach but also that it understands the organization societal context, and undertakes stakeholder analysis to identify the issues and duties of each stakeholder (Wheelen & Hunger, 2010, pg.76). While researching an industry that continues to overstep it’s boundaries for stakeholder agendas. Pfizer, the world largest pharmaceutical company has been continually marketing and selling drugs with unapproved uses. In 2004 Pfizer plead guilty to two felony counts of marketing a drug for unapproved uses and paid 430 million in fines and penalties (Evans, 2009). United States attorney’s office was assured by Pfizer lawyers that they will stop promoting drugs for unauthorized purposes. Five years later Pfizer plead guilty again for directing over 100 salespeople to promote Bextra, another unapproved medication. The fine this time was an America’s highest recorded fine ever of 1.19 billion. Since May 2004, Pfizer, Eli Lilly & Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and four other pharmaceutical companies have paid a total of $7 billion in fines and penalties for marketing drug for unapproved uses (Evans, 2009). This shows that not only Pfizer, but other pharmaceutical companies are taking the approach of maximizing profits for the sake of stakeholders. In the readings it states that shareholders were unmoved by the actions of the company because each time the company had to pay out billions in penalties the share price went up (Evans, 2009). This practice of marketing and selling unapproved medications have shown how irresponsible, unethical, and socially unaware these companies are. Lives are being lost or changed forever because of some of the side effects of these medications that are being push by these organizations for a buck. To prevent such heinous acts we need only one of the pharmaceutical giants to step up and implement a strategic plan using more of an ethical approach in producing new drugs to the market. This can be attain by having the research done well in advance, publically documenting their finding, have more transparent marketing strategies, and making sure that all medications are FDA approve first before any distribution of a single pill. Another strategy to improving the industry is by using the input of the stakeholders which can give other alternatives to what route can the industry can use to maximize the benefits for all. In conclusion we can clearly see the importance of roles of ethics and social responsibilities are within an organization’s strategic plans. Once a company has put itself in a position to use ethics and society to govern it duties to make sure business is held to a standard higher values. Only then will organizations such as Pfizer will understand that it’s more about the people than the profit. Stakeholders have a pivotal role in the advance of business because each company that have taken notice continues to thrive today even in a recession.

Deluxe Corporation Case Essays

Deluxe Corporation Case Essays Deluxe Corporation Case Paper Deluxe Corporation Case Paper By: Michael Malone Statement of the Problem Rajat Singh, a managing director at Hudson Bancorp, needs to find a way to rejuvenate the paper check corporation. One main part that needs to be calculated is the appropriate mixture of debt and equity for the firm. The company needs to determine the correct mixture so that they can both minimize the cost of capital and increase the shareholders value. I will analyze the current and future situation of the company, trying to find the correct credit rating to use that will increase income. With the new credit rating, I will be able to recommend a certain amount of debt for the company to take on and be profitable. Facts and Assumptions When trying to accurately calculate the cost of capital, the one main method stands out the most. I had to calculate the WACC of the firm for the various credit ratings. In order to accurately calculate this, I had to incorporate the repurchase of shares and add the newfound debt to the total debt from 2001. The project debt used by the corporation didn’t factor in the repurchase of shares and therefore it was calculated wrong. To help me solve the equation for the best WACC, I had to make some basic assumptions about the case. For starters, as shown in case, I decided to use a 37% tax rate like the analysts for Bancorp did because I felt that it would be comparable to the numbers that they calculated in the projection. Next, I decided to use the 5-year note yield because analysts provided information to show that the market would mature after 5 years and paper checks would be nonexistent. Furthermore, I had to use the CAPM equation to figure out what my numbers would be for the WACC equation. To show this, I used the equation: CAPM = Rf + (Rm-Rf) ? Through the use of the case, I was able to assume a risk free rate of 3. 45% while I used 11. 03% for the market risk premium and 0. 85 and the beta. This led us to the calculation of the cost of equity, which we could then use to find the debt. Once the debt was found, I needed to find the bond rating perfect or it and I believe that I found a winner. Analysis Using CAPM to provide the calculation for the equity, this presents both positive and negative effects. Advantages 1. Calculates the amount of compensation the investor demands for taking additional risk 2. Compares the returns of the asset to the market over a period of time (Beta) Disadvantages 1. Based on historical data onto the future (Beta is an estimate) 2. Simplifies assumptions about the market and how investors will actually behave. Taking the CAPM equation, we were able to figure out eh cost of equity and in its credit range CAPM = Rf + (Rm-Rf) ? =3. 45%+(11. 03%3. 45%)*0. 85 CAPM= 9. 89% With this, we can then find each of the costs for equity by averaging them within each of the bond rating categories. This showed a very flat performance in cost of equity. I we compare that to the market beta, our answer for CAPM would change from the 9. 89% to the 11. 03%. According to exhibit 8 in the case, a cost of equity of 11. 03% is between a BBB and BB bond rating. Therefore, if they were to repurchase stock from investors, there share prices would in theory go up because they are investing more and more money into the company. With the three debt instruments in the case, hundreds of millions of dollars would become readily available to the company and be at their disposal. Each of the financing opportunities provides their own money in different forms. Great companies need these different financing ideas to succeed. Recommendation Based on the analysis performed, Deluxe should definitely consider the different financing opportunities that are presented to them. By epurchasing stocks with debt, the stock price will increase from $41. 58 to $47. 04. This will bring some much needed value to both the company and its investors. In my opinion, the company shows a good potential to continue to grow during the recession through he addition of new financing opportunities and buyback of some stock. To get this to happen, it would require the company to use 1,140. 10 million dollars of debt which would equate to a mixture of 64. 85% debt and 35. 15% equity.

An Overview Of Liver Cirrhosis

An Overview Of Liver Cirrhosis The liver is a dark reddish brown organ weighing about 3 pounds located in the upper right hand portion of the abdominal cavity. It is the largest compact organ in human body. The word cirrhosis stem from a Greek word meaning yellowish, tawny, that is the orange à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ yellow color of the diseased lever. Verrill et al, 2008 describe the term cirrhosis as a broad church that include at one end biopsies with extensive fibrosis with normal numbers of hepatocytes, and at the other end, liver samples in which only isolated nodules of hepatocytes remain. Shibli et al, 2006 summarizes cirrhosis as an advanced stage of liver diseases due to an array of insults to hepatic parenchyma including infections, autoimmune processes, genetic disorders and toxins. Widespread fibrosis with nodule formation and interruption of normal hepatic blood flow is distinctive in liver cirrhosis. A healthy lever is important because it is involved in numerous complex metabolic functions essent ial to life. It takes out nutrients from the blood and processes them for later use. The liver manufactures bile used by the digestive system in assisting in the absorption of fat and certain vitamins. The liver is also critical in the removal of medications and toxic wastes from the blood stream excreting them into the bile. These can be harmful to the body. The liver serves as the main factory for blood proteins especially clotting proteins necessary for blood to clot. Clotting tests can be done to measure liver function. Lever cirrhosis is scarring of the liver due to inflammation and repair of injured and killed cells. According to the American College of Gastroenterology (www.acg.gi.org) cirrhosis is among the top ten leading causes of illness and death in the United States in adults of ages between 25 and 64. They further argued that the number of people suffering from cirrhosis will continue to escalate. The most common causes of cirrhosis in the United States are excess alco hol consumption and chronic infection with hepatitis B and hepatitis C (Larson, 2010). Other causes include fatty liver disease; drug induced injury, autoimmune diseases, bile duct disorders and inherited disorders. In some patients lever cirrhosis may be due to a combination of the causes, for example excess alcohol and viral hepatitis. There is also cryptogenic cirrhosis which is due to unidentified causes. The consequence scar tissue bands disrupt the normal structure of the liver. This affects liver blood filtering to the heart from the digestive system. The scar tissue causes increased resistance to blood flow through the liver resulting in a condition called portal hypertension. Portal hypertension is a process whereby high pressures develop in the veins that drain into the liver. Consequently the blood will return to the heart through alternate low pressure veins that bypass the liver. The liver is thus unable to either add or remove substances from the bypassing blood. Sympt oms of Cirrhosis The signs and symptoms of liver cirrhosis may be invisible or non specific at early stages. The non specific symptoms include fatigue and itching. Fatigue is a common symptom of cirrhosis. It is important to screen out other causes of fatigue that may have nothing to do with liver cirrhosis. Itching is also a common symptom of cirrhosis. Itching in patients with liver cirrhosis is due to bile duct disorders. Itching due to liver cirrhosis can result in itching over large parts of the body and can be severe. As liver function deteriorates, a variety of liver related symptoms may develop. A condition called Jaundice may manifest through yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes. Darkening of the urine and pale stool may occur prior to yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes. The yellowing is a result of accumulation of bilirubin in the blood stream. Bilirubin is a yellow orange colored compound resulting from breakdown of hemoglobin from red blood cells. Liver cirrhosis patients may also develop varices inside the digestive system resulting in digestive tract bleeding. Varices are abnormally enlarged veins. They do not cause symptoms unless they rapture and bleed. Vomiting blood or passage of maroon or black tarry stools may be an indication of bleeding varices. Esophageal varices bleeding are a medical emergency that requires emergency treatment. Other symptoms and signs of liver cirrhosis include development of mental slowing, confusion, excess drowsiness, and slurring of speech, a condition known as hepatic encephalopathy.

The 13th Bracey Report on the Condition of Public Education (Phi Delta Essay

The 13th Bracey Report on the Condition of Public Education (Phi Delta Kappan Oct2003, Vol. 85, issue 2, p148164, 17p - Essay Example Therefore, the NAEP's definition will predominate and, given that numerous institutions and organizations have assessed it as "fundamentally flawed," this is hardly a positive development (Bracey, 2003, p. 149). As proof of the problematic nature of flawed and discrepant proficiency definitions, Bracey (2003) points towards the fact that while the assessment tests used in Texas declared over 9 out of 10 eighth grade students proficient at mathematics, the NAEP assessment tests put the number at only 2.4 students out of every 10. The implication here is that the absence of a single, agreed-upon definition for proficiency leads to flawed and inaccurate assessment tests. Matching the problematic nature of the proficiency issue is the NCLB's "requirements for highly qualified teachers" (Bracey, 2003, p. 149). Stating that by 2005-2006 all teachers had to meet the new qualification standards, the NCLB quite effectively called for the impossible. In the first place, the 100% expectation is unrealistic and virtually impossible to fulfill. In the second place, while one of the criterion for qualification is "full state certification," the NCLB does not identify the components of full certification (Bracey, 2003, p. 151).