Monday, September 30, 2019

Financial Reporting Problem Part 1 Essay

The company’s annual report is important because it gives the shareholders a clear picture and understanding about how the company is doing financially. The annual reports provide thorough information on very significant section of the accounts, such as the balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash flow statement. The information presented in the annual report would also be essential to potential investor, employee, and any other people that may have interest in financial aspect of the business. The company’s total assets at the end of December 2013 were $77,478,000 (PepsiCo, n.d.). Although, for the reporting period at the end of December 2012, the total was $74,638,000. This information is important because it demonstrate what the company owns and how the company has grown over the years. It gives an understanding of the financial condition of the company, and how well they are doing, or have not done over the time frame. The current assets are the first thing on the balance. These are listed by the company so they have a tangible list of what it may convert into cash in a short period of time if the situation calls for that. This can usually be done in less than a year. Because these assets can easily be turned to cash by the company, they are referred to as â€Å"liquid† assets. Cash and cash equivalents are the most liquid assets found on the company’s balance sheet. PepsiCo’s cash and cash equivalents for the year end of December 28, 2013 were $9,375,000 and in December 2012 the company had $6,297,000 in cash and cash equivalents (PepsiCo, n.d.). This includes short-term investments, accounts and notes receivable, inventories and prepaid expenses, and other current assets. This represents the company’s liquidity. The more of the above that the company has access to what gives them a high risk of success because management can use the money to carry through tough periods. All accounts  payable are the debts owed by the company to various vendors for products and services purchased on credit. Upon review of the current financial statement for PepsiCo they have a total amount of $12,533,000 owed to vendors (Yahoo Finance, 2014). This is one of the largest current liabilities because of the fact the companies are constantly ordering new products or paying vendors for services or merchandise. As shown on PepsiCo’s balance sheet, the company recorded $12,274,000 in their accounts payable for their previous annual reporting period, 2012 (Yahoo Finance, 2014). This says that PepsiCo purchased supplies, products, and services on credit. They were liable to pay this amount to their vendors and suppliers at the time they were due. Net incomes are proceeds from a sale of an asset, minus the commissions, taxes, and other expenses related to the sale. For example, a case of Pepsi was sold in a store. The net incomes made from that sale, what money is left after the expenses, commissions, and taxes are paid. Another example of net income would be the profit made from the sale of a truck, land, or building that PepsiCo owned. PepsiCo reported $6,740,000 in net income for 2013 (Yahoo Finance, 2014). This is an increase from the reported net income in 2012. In 2012 PepsiCo reported $6,178,000 in net income (Yahoo Finance, 2014). As shown, there was a bigger increase in net income between 2012 and 2013. Net income is one of the most important signs of a business’ financial stability. The net income is generally the amount remaining after the expenses have been met or deducted. This is known as the bottom line because it is found on the last line of the income statement. PepsiCo reported their total current assets at the end of their most recent annual reporting period, 2013, at $22,203,000 (Yahoo Finance, 2014). This figure includes their current assets such as cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, net receivables, and inventory. Cash includes currency on hand as well as deposits in their financial institution. Cash equivalents are investments with maturities of three months or less. Net receivables are the amount due from customers or clients within one year on the balance sheet date. The inventory will include the raw materials, work in process, and finished goods. They value these at the lower to cost or market. In 2012, PepsiCo reported $18,720,000 in their total current assets  (Yahoo Finance, 2014). It is evident that between the years of 2012 and 2013 their total current assets increased. The annual report contains the information above and is very important to the business, and can be used for many different reasons. The owner s can use the information to decide whether or not they should continue to operate. The information on the total assets and the amount of the accounts payable can benefit potential investors because it shows them strong the company is financially, by stating what the company owns and how much it owes. The finance department can use the information above to make reasonable â€Å"decision about debt and equity financing and how to distribute in dividends† (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kieso, 2011, p. 41). Last, but not least: the human resources department can use the information to see how much cash the company has and its total income in order to figure out how much money is available in order to give incentives, raises, bonuses, benefits, rewards, or other types of gifts etc. to the employees. According to our text, it also states that â€Å"if employees can read and use financial reports all employees will be better informed about the basis on which they are evaluated, which will increase employee morale† (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kieso, 2011, p. 41). References Kimmel, P. D., Weygandt, J. J., & Kieso, D. E. (2011). Financial accounting: Tools for business decision making (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. PepsiCo. (n.d.). Investors. Retrieved from http://www.pepsico.com/Investors/Annual-Reports.html Yahoo Finance. (2014, April). http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=PEP+Historical+Prices

Sunday, September 29, 2019

2 Random Speeches Bob Marley and Beauty (Ideas)

Speech September 27, 2012 Bob Marley the Rastafarian I. Nesta Robert Bob Marley was born February of 1945. Bob Marley was born in Jamaica. You might know him as a singer, song writer, a rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of the Wailer’s. He stayed with the group through most of his life. Bob is the go to guy for spreading Jamaican music and the Rastafarian movement. Some of his most popular songs are: I Shot the Sheriff, No Women No Cry and Jamming to name a few, I listen to some of his music, which for me is inspirational. Gives me something to think about, what was going on in his mind mentally and the thoughts about war, peace and love.II. One of my favorite quotes from Bob is â€Å"I don’t have prejudice against white people because then I would have prejudice against myself. My father is white my mother is black. I’m not on the black men side or the white men, I’m God’s side. Bob Marley was raised Catholic, but became a devoted Rastafarian and started growing dreads, which is very important to them, it’s like the anatine tuning meaning you’re into the universe. Rastas are also vegetarian. Bob was a jiglo with eleven kids, some you might know like Damien Marley and Ziggy Marley. III.Rastafarians also were avid pot heads which is a Rastafarian belief were ganja or that kush is a holy sacrament. The difference between Rastas and non Rastas are that they smoke for religious and medicinal purposes. Another quote I like is â€Å"why do government people want the herb to be illegal, why something that makes people so happy, so relax so illegal? Some people smoke weed because you rebel makes you question what is and what isn’t. Exercise your mind frees your mind in a society that tries to involve it’s self in everyday life telling you what is right and wrong! † IV.In July 1977 Bob found out that out that he had cancer all throughout his body, he even had spots his brain the size of quarters that the doctor didn’t understand how he last so long without any medication or medicine assistance. He was buried near his birth place; his last words were to his son â€Å"mommy can’t buy life†! I know that for me inner beauty supposed to shine through to reveal your outer beauty; and it’s taken me awhile for me to truly understand why men and women choose physical beauty over inner beauty. Physical beauty and inner beauty can be similar and dissimilar.Inner beauty are the actions we take, whether it’s giving up a smile to a stranger, eating the right foods, wearing clothes that shows our physique, or using the right hair tools: such as curling irons, flat iron, and gel. These are things we do to take care of ourselves, and they add up to make us the unique person that we and you are! Physical and inner beauty can be similar or dissimilar: they both attract people. People in general are attracted to both physical and inner beauty. I may be drawn to M orris Chestnut’s appearance; while my big sister will love his personality. Physical and inner beauty are both equally important though.Let’s take for example: Beyonce, who many young girls and women admire for her unique sense of style (myself included). I’ve never met her in person, but it seems to me that she has this balance of inner and outer beauty. As the face of L'Oreal, a brand known for their quality cosmetics: hair and nail colors; we have seen Beyonce’s alter ego Sasha Fierce! She’s a bad Bitch! She also appears to be very comfortable in her own skin either portraying Etta James in Cadillac Records or Deena Jones in Dream Girls. When I watch Beyonce being interviewed, she seems very genuine, candid, and confident when sharing bits and pieces about her life.I sense that she pay close attention to details: hair, make-up, perfume and the clothes she wears. Finding balance between inner and outer beauty doesn’t just happen overnight. It’ll take some inner soul searching and discovering of our own uniqueness: hat beauty could be in the form of how we dress or the way we shine! Most importantly it’s the way we feel about ourselves, and having the awareness that beauty consists of both the inner and outer, we are the first step to becoming more authentic and the real person that we were meant to be, Beautiful!

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Shimomura Crossing the Delaware Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Shimomura Crossing the Delaware - Essay Example Racial stereotypes – including the notorious â€Å"yellow peril† stereotype - have been the key matter of concern for the artist, and the strategy he adheres to is emphasizing them in an ironic or parodical form in order to eliminate and diffuse them. Thus, this idea functions as a core motif in Shimomura’s work. What is also remarkable and attractive about these works is the style involving a balanced combination of Japanese woodblock printing traditions based on the features of ukiyo-e genre and bold American pop art style which became extremely popular in the 1960s. The paintings are colorful and remind strongly of comic books with their bold limes, saturated colors and the way of depiction, however, this is mixed with the conventional visual elements of ukiyo-e. One of the painter’s most remarkable works – a spicy â€Å"mockery† for ethnicity stereotypes – is a painting created in 2010, â€Å"Shimomura Crossing the Delaware† .In fact, the painting is a daring parody for the classical picture of Emanuel Leutze celebrating the historically significant event of the American Revolution. The original painting depicts crossing Delaware on the Christmas night of 1776 led by George Washington.Conducting a little research on the background of the current painting, one is able to single out the key strategy deployed in it. The principal strategy the author uses is appropriation. Appropriation is understood as taking (involving) an already preexisting symbol, object or artwork into the new one applying no or little transformation. Appropriation uses the images that already exist and recontextualizes them in order to create a new concept behind them. â€Å"Shimomura Crossing the Delaware† complies with this definition as it is an ironical reconsideration of the already existing object (the work of art).

Friday, September 27, 2019

Jet Blue - Strategic Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Jet Blue - Strategic Management - Assignment Example Jet Blue embarked on an ambitious expansion plan, adding new planes and routes much faster than it added passengers. With the added capacity for more passengers, but customer base falling due to competition, Jet Blue started to face its most crucial problems. The profits started declining until in 2006 Jet Blue reported its first ever loss. Jet Blue could not utilize its planes to full capacity to meet the increasing fuel charges. Till now, Jet Blue hasn't been able to recover fully although the company is profitable again. (Press Release - Jet Blue, 2006) (Kahn, 2004) The shareholders of a company want higher returns on the shares in the form of dividends and value of the share. On the other hand, a community does care what returns the shareholders get. They want the company to conduct a business that either gives a positive return to the community or does not hinder the community in either way. To balance between these two, a company must realize that most of the shareholders are a part of the community; hence they would want the well being of the community as well as their own interests in the company. Therefore a company should concentrate more on the needs of the community which eventually would be in the best interests of the shareholders as well. 2 - Getting loyal customers to put out a phone "request for proposal" soliciting competitors' bids - This is ethical since you don't your the customers actually don't need the bids, therefore, this practice is not encouraged. 5 - Buying competitors' products and taking them apart - after buying something, it becomes your property (unless stated otherwise) therefore taking it apart to analyze is okay. 2 - Hiring management consultants who have worked for competitors - consultants are not your employees thus this practice is not appropriate since it would be unethical if consultants give some information about the competition   

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Analyzing the present state of Jamaica Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analyzing the present state of Jamaica - Essay Example However, the founding of Jamaica was officially articulated to the discovery made by the Spanish explorer called Christopher Columbus in the 15th century1. He discovered that Jamaica comprised of over 200 hundred villages of the indigenous population in the southern part of the country. Thereafter the British proclaimed the Jamaican colony and Spanish conceded defeat, as they were militarily weak to engage in a battle with the British. Therefore, Henry explored further into the northern parts and established British settlements after realizing that the colony had rich soils that would promote agricultural projects. From a critical analysis of the book â€Å"The present state of Jamaica†, the following discussion explains on the tremendous exchanges in the Jamaican history that resulted to distinct cultures, political systems, economic practices, and social exchanges through demographic dimensions. Spanish colonies were the most established in the Caribbean islands since their founding by Christopher Columbus in the early 1450s. On occupying Jamaica, the Britons realized that all the surrounding colonies belonged to the Spanish and were prosperous in all their economic, social and cultural environments. The Britons lacked financial capabilities to ensure that all activities ran in accordance to the desired set of plans. This period whereby the British tried to weigh out the surrounding circumstances and the possible methods of achieving success in the colony is directly relative to invasions they made in the Spanish rich territories. A young Henry Morgan engaged in the military in his early age, gained experience and turned out to be an aggressive privateer, and through him most of the Britons in Jamaica benefited from the ambushes he laid against the Spanish territories the Spanish. He owned ships and privateers who reflected aggression in all expeditions that Henry termed as profitable2. The book referred to as the present Jamaica is a reflection of the activities aged before 1665 in Jamaica and the extent at which they shaped the subsequent environment in the country. These intercultural relations are born of Captain Morgan’s invasions, and the British military slavery practices in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Jamaican colonial masters traded in slavery in order to yield enough manual labor for farming. Most of the slaves were from the African continent while the rest comprised of the South Americans, Asians, and the indigenous population of Jamaica3. Throughout the past 6 centuries, Jamaica has been a hub for many of the world’s notorious pirates, a factor articulated to the practices of Henry Morgan. Ancient practices continually passed through generations and the country’s current culture of Jamaica is comprised of notorious and aggressive individuals, many of whom are youths. The rise in crimes and indulgence in drugs, and the considerable praise heaped on the legendary Captain Morgan reflect to the c urrent practices. In the 15th century, the British were well established and had begun to rear a wide variety of domestic animals ranging from fowl, flocks of sheep, horses, mules, and wild birds of whose products would be of vital use at their homes. The masters argued out that all the present animal and food variety were of better quality compared to those present in their homeland, Britain. As the colony continuously amassed strengths and engaged in worthwhile economic activities, their Spanish predecessors would make surprise attacks, but all were combated by the military

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

World Hunger Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

World Hunger - Essay Example Poor countries that are in the process of developing do not have enough economic reserves and human capital to provide for the sustenance of their population. Furthermore, they are made to export their few assets particularly their natural resources that leads to a reduction in their capital stock. Also, investors ignore developing countries because they cannot produce feasible profits due to lack of infrastructure. Thus, major businesses do not invest their capital in the developing countries and without the investment, the productivity ceases to increase. Cycle of economic distress keeps the countries in a permanent stage of poverty and under development. Developing countries all around the globe basically lack the general infrastructure that is important for these countries to rise above the economic deficiency that is the leading cause of hunger. The general infrastructure includes a solid road system, warehouses and good irrigation systems and the lack of these causes an increase in transport expenses, deficient facilities for storing and poor water supplies. This limits the average farming produce and hence results in a lower amount of food being available. Considering the major problems, the answer to hunger is building reliable systems of energy, effective means of transportation and communication. This would provide incentives to the potential investors and hence result in generation of capital in the developing nations. Economic growth is possible by the investments coming from the private sector. Business activities increase proportionally to the growth of investment which in term increases the productivity as well as the distribution of goods. This assists in the satisfaction and fulfillment of the common people. In the underprivileged areas of the world, for example the sub-Saharan Africa, poor geographical location and political turmoil has led to small and unreachable

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Mobile Payment Processing Systems and Analytics Research Paper

Mobile Payment Processing Systems and Analytics - Research Paper Example These standards provide the retailers and other merchants with a clear guidance on the payment process. Kaletunc (45) asserts that this kind of payment is very complex; hence, it is plausible for an entity to indulge in it when this technology is inevitably required. In addition, there are risks associated with the interlinking of card payments through mobile devices. The Mobile payment processing entails the use of credit cards on the mobile devices to effect payments with regard to various business transactions. Poor and Lang (37) posit that in this form of payment processing, any consumer handheld devices like the tablets and iPads can be used to effect payments. These devices can only serve as mobile payment processing devices when they get text data clearly. In fact, the consumers have the choice of providing their own mobile devices to effect payment. This has created efficiency and effectiveness in the payment processing due to the fact that the consumer traffic is eliminated and there is personal responsibility in case of any hitch in the payment processing. However, the scenario of the consumer bringing his own device for payment processing at the merchant business location has got its challenges. For instance, the merchant cannot manage to take control of the configuration of the client device. This compromises the retailer’s service delivery and it can culminate in craftiness and fraud among clients. The ‘payment card industry data security standards’ help in guiding the payment processes when the merchant has his own mobile device to serve customers. The standards ought to be complied with in order to avoid any inconvenience and probable fraud in the course of effecting of payment processing. This implies that the standards do not cover any eventuality pertaining to the mobile device ownership by the customers. In this regard, merchants must be very cautious and diligent while affecting the payment processing .This entails analyz ing the payment processes and verifying identity of various cards presented by the clients. The point of sale payment processing is the only scenario which applies with regard to the ‘payment card industry data security standards’. Sparck and Galliers (28) claim that square's mobile card reader technology is covered by the data security standards. The application of the mobile payment processing technology can only be successful when there is transaction security, application security and the mobile device security. There must be prevention of the customer account data from interception during the processing of payment. There must be prevention of data from interception while it is being transmitted from the mobile payment device. This is usually ensured through the use of strong encryption codes for the effecting of payment transactions. The merchants usually protect the customer’s account data through limitation of physical access to the device during transacti ng time. In fact, this is affected through the use of one-on-one service delivery at the point-of-sale (MobileReference, 37). This technological application should be protected from viruses, which destroy the customer payment data. For instance, the creation of malware, spams, Trojan and recycler computer viruses have led to massive destruction of vital documents online. This has also resulted in a total breakdown of some systems where no backup of documents

Monday, September 23, 2019

'Energy infrastructure often involves cross-border mega-development Essay

'Energy infrastructure often involves cross-border mega-development projects. International law is equipped to deal with the env - Essay Example Developed countries invest in developing countries for their own interest while this results beneficial for the host country too.1 During this entire process of launching a new energy project cross borders, the number of problems and issues are countless. Sometimes this mega energy project faces challenges and creates issues on a global level.2 These may include environmental, human, social, political issues etc. To overcome and to respond to these issues as they may threaten themselves and the world is very important. In this regard international laws are designed so as to maintain and ensure that proper scheme and strategy is being followed and that there are no threats and the project will not in any way harm the environment or humans or any other factor of that country or the world. This paper is aimed to study the effectiveness of the international environmental laws and the challenges faced by the energy mega projects cross borders. Moreover the paper will also discuss their ef fects on the environment and human lifecycle.3 Before launching or planning any energy-mega development project on cross borders, the owners, the engineers, and the project managers have to go through all these policies and laws so as to ensure that their project is in accordance with all the legal laws and regulations and will in no way harm or destroy the environment or human challenges. This will also decrease the chances of failure of the project.4 Mega Energy Projects and International Laws Mega energy projects are one of the most influential entities in the domain of economic growth for any country in the modern world. The utilization of energy in the age of industrialization has immensely increased and it has become a need to develop any country in the economic system of the world.5 The need of energy in order to maintain the development is fulfilled by several energy projects. These energy projects include dams, hydro power plants, gas pipelines and several more to its list. 6 The globalization has congealed each aspect of this world in which all the states are interlinked with each other with the relationship of dependency. Due to globalization, cross border energy projects were firstly introduced which are considered as popular diplomatic agreements among states. The cross border energy mega projects are considered to be the significant force of diplomatic alliances and economic growth for all of the agreed states involved in any certain energy mega project.7 These energy mega projects are not independent of laws on the basis of which the economic growth is evitable. International laws are those laws which involve the common consent of numerous states and nations upon it.8 It is a set of rules which is accepted and generally regarded as the binding force between the nations, even those which are involved in any kind of dispute. International law does not only work as the mediator between the disputed parties that are the public and the stake holders o f energy mega projects but also as the regulator in this diplomatic act.9 The set of international law contains numerous legislations regarding human rights, environmental laws, laws regarding sovereignty and several other laws which are based on past disputes and judicial decisions.10 Cross border energy mega projects often involves more than two states in which international law comes to play its intrinsic role to mediate the consent among the nations. The involvement

Sunday, September 22, 2019

What Principles of Time and Stress Management are Violated by Chet Assignment - 1

What Principles of Time and Stress Management are Violated by Chet - Assignment Example Chet is more focused on how effective he was during that day forgetting that an effective manager should have results for what he has done during the day. Indeed he is a manager who has studied his work habits, a very crucial step to determine his strengths and weaknesses but his work habits survey is mainly based on time management and not the results. As a manager, he should be more concerned with performing top-level management functions which will include long-term decisions planning and delegate the other duties to middle and first line management. The structure of management in Chet’s company has a major role to play in his shortcomings, there doesn’t seem to be a defined middle level and supervisory branch this is seen when the pressmen report directly to him instead of reporting to a foreman Carl Jung in his trait theory categorizes people into type A and type B in relation to their ability to handle stress. Type A personalities when in a managerial post tend to not trust their subordinates to handle anything so they do it all themselves. This leads to them being stressed because they have too much work to handle all at once. Chet, in this case, is a type A personality. The second aspect of his personality is that he anticipates stress and does not have a procedure to handle them he instead faces them head-on. This increases his level of stress and negatively affects his ability to make the sound judgment on what’s important and what’s urgent. Chet should, in this case, adopt type B personality. This personality when in a management post according to Carl Jung is one who is good at delegating duties to his subordinates, he focuses only on important aspects of the institution leaving the rest to be sorted by middle or first line management. He should try as much as possible to delegate the trivial duties to other employees.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Business Plan Final Essay Example for Free

Business Plan Final Essay Castle’s Family Restaurant Business Plan: Stage III Executive Summary The purpose of this business plan is to understand the restaurants business and its operations to improve its customer service and its employee relations. The Castle Family Restaurant has eight restaurants that operate under one regional manager that also acts as the Human Resource Manager for the restaurants. The goal is to develop a plan that can decrease the travel time of the regional manager so; that he, Jay Morgan, can save on gas due to high gas prices since each restaurant is located in the northern California area. The objective is to introduce a HRIS application and one vendor that can assist in the developing of the HR department and ease the transitioning of one individual HR manager to multiple employees. There are restaurants with profits in mind and provide the same food and service while the Castle’s Family believes in family, partnerships and developing relationships with one another for a great customer service. Introduction The Castle’s Family Restaurant has eight restaurants in northern California with about 300-340 employees. Most of the employees are part time with about 40% of them full-time. This business plan is to determine strategies that will eliminate the Human Resource position from Jay Morgan, so that he can reduce his travel time to all eight locations and to develop an HR department for the restaurants. In addition, the business plan is to enable Jay Morgan to concentrate on his operation manager duties. Company Review The factors that cause many issues to the Castle’s Family restaurant business are having one individual with so many responsibilities. Therefore, hiring an HR manager to schedule, recruit, hire and assist the employees in their needs will help in creating order. In addition, the restaurant must hire an assistant to help in the administration work; it will decrease the amount of  paperwork for the general manager. And each restaurant must have a manager to overseas the employees and the operation of the restaurant. The managers will conduct meetings monthly to provide the sales, revenues and customer services of each restaurant. Managers can communicate through emails, phone calls if they have questions for each other, or have any concerns. A needs assessment must be conducted to determine if an HRIS is needed for the company. In order to have a successful restaurant business every factor must be considered. For example, customer service to the customers is a big factor becau se that is what brings in the revenue. For a restaurant to have a successful business they must have the right food for their customers to enjoy and to assist the customers any way they can. In the last year, there had been some speculation into how the government will help the small restaurants and that the fiscal will prevent any type of savings in when tax time comes around. These HRIS and vendor application that will be stated in this business plan is there to develop and help maintain the restaurant’s H R department and increase growth in the company. Business Analysis We have acquired an HRIS system that will help in developing the HR department to provide easy process for the employees. The Sage HRIS application is an innovative way to ease the transition from traditional HR to a strategic HR. The Sage applications provide variety of options to assist in the HR process. For example, the payroll application should be implemented to help the restaurant establish tax, earnings, and deduction codes to perform critical payroll functions and to modify the system to the restaurant’s needs. This is the first time Castle’s Family Restaurant is developing a HR department, having the right tools to run a department the right way will allow less mistakes to be made; with eight different locations, adding the sage application will help in the transitioning all locations into one. Furthermore, it is critical for a company to have leadership to help establish the employee’s strengths and improve their weaknesses. In addition, the sageâ€⠄¢s time and attendance can help manage the employee’s attendance and work time. The system enables you to collect, analyze, and take control of employee’s attendance and labor data. The  application will help the company in providing perks to employees that always come to work on time. In addition, the performance management application tracks employee’s performance; help identify their critical skills to help the employees in their career development. Furthermore, I have compare and contrast a vendor that would benefit your company. These two vendors provide great services but one match your company’s true values and its missions. The Castle’s Family Restaurant need a vendor that can help in developing long lasting relationship and demonstrates positivity so that individuals can be their best. Furthermore, automation is viable to reduce the need of human errors that can results in more major consequences. Automation errors can occur at any time, the solutions are easy to fix, and automation provide easy data that can be change, delete and edit. HRIS Type/Comparison The type of HRIS that the Castle Family Restaurant should implement is the Sage application as I have stated before. In order for such application to be developed a vendor must be selected to help in the process. The sage application is a best fit for the company because it has a group of team that can help in assisting in any technical difficulties. When developing new HR department, errors will consist and questions will need to be answered. Therefore, a new training program will need to develop to increase each employee’s skills and performances in the Human Resources Department. The Sage application has the career enhancement training; they have created a system that can help in detecting IT skills, leadership’s skills, etc.; that can benefit your restaurant. The application has an easy to read system. The vendors that I have selected are the ADP and the Rideau Recognition Solutions. The ADP provides all services for domestic international, small or large companies, it does not matter where you operate, and they are there to assist in developing the business. The Rideau Recognition Solutions provide services that inspire employees to succeed to the vendor’s belief. Their expertise is to help their clients build positive relationships with their people to reflect the company’s values and increase customers’ expectations. The Rideau main purpose and their definition of a business are being inspirational and providing inspiration to others. While  ADP is well recognized company that can assist in developing an HR department, and have the tools to performed the job, but because of the deep meaning and relationship that can develop with the Rideau Recognition Solutions and the restaurant being a family company; I believe that the Rideau is the best solution for the Castle’s restaurant. HRIS Vendor Recommendation I have recommended that your company, The Castle’s Family Restaurant, to choose the Sage HRIS application and the Rideau Recognition Solution as your vendor. They have the right tools that can establish the restaurant business, and their tools can assist in the development of the HR department. In the restaurant business there will be a lot of risks such as food poising, slip and fall and property damages. Once these types of risks occur this is where the HR department comes in to assist in resolving the situation. This why there should be training when these disadvantages come to light. The sage applications have the proper tools to help decide the professional way to handle such situations. The HRIS application provides professional training to each individual HR employee. While these risks can occur, another problem that cans cause small businesses disadvantage are the fiscal cliff which this year small business operators tax rate has increase by 5 percent. Furthermore, knowing these disadvantages will allow you, the Castle’ Restaurant to prepare yourself as a restaurant. In addition, using these vendors and HRIS system will permit better training; and develop great communication between the HR department and the employees and managers for great customer service. It is important to know the negative factor and a positive factor on owning a small business restaurant and to prepare for any tactics on a professional level. In conclusion, I recommend the Sage as your HRIS application and the Rideau Recognition Solution as your vendor. Conclusion The Castle’s Family Restaurant has been operating on one person basis, with eight restaurants to oversee. There are many duties to maintain to assure a  smooth business; with such issues that can arise in each restaurant, developing an HR department to oversee these tasks will reduce risks that can occur. I have concluded that the Sage HRIS and Rideau Recognition Solution are the chosen application and vendor for your company to help in the developing your restaurant business. The application and vendor will and can assist you in many different factors and help improve employee communication. References Frumkin, Paul. â€Å"How fiscal cliff deal impacts small restaurateurs, franchisees.† Nations’s Restaurant News. Jan 9, 2013. Retrieved on 8/24/2013 http://nrn.com/latest-headlines/how-fiscal-cliff-deal-impacts-small-restaurateurs-franchisees

Friday, September 20, 2019

How leaders enlist and enable others to act

How leaders enlist and enable others to act Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow (Kouzes et al., 2007). Leaders must master the dynamics of this relationship. They must learn how to mobilize others to want to struggle for shared aspirations. This means that leaders need to acquire the understanding, skills, and experience to collaborate successfully. Within this context, leaders move away from being the sole decision maker to involving others such as staff, and community members in the decision making process. I have looked deeply into the leader-constituent relationship. Through case analyses, books and journal articles, I have discovered that leaders at all levels follow rather similar paths as they guide others along pioneering journeys. By these studies, I was able to identify one of the most important practices common to most leadership achievements that is enabling others to act. This practice has stood the test of time, and it is available to anyone, in any organization or situation, who accepts the leadership challenge. This essay discusses the broader study that focused on collaboration in order to contextualize and highlight the findings related to the affective elements of collaborative leadership. The essay examines how the leader supports collaboration in their organisation to enlist and enable others to act and analyses the emotional competencies involved in. Finally, consideration is given to how leaders might be supported in the development and acquisition of the key skills required for affective leadership in their organisation. This essay also highlights the data related to how the leaders support collaboration. It specifically describes the perceptions that leaders and other stakeholders had regarding the role of the leader in fostering collaboration. The essay includes the description of behaviours exhibited by leaders and perceived by participants in the study as supporting collaboration. The purpose of the essay is to analyse these collaborative behaviours in terms of their emotional component. It is important to note that the goal of this study was not to examine emotional competencies of leadership. Data related to the affective domain of leaders work emerged as significant findings of the research question. Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations Motivation is what drives individuals to work in the way they do to fulfill goals, needs or expectations. These are numerous, varied and changing. (Bush, T. et al, p237) People can imagine an exciting, highly attractive future for their organization. Leaders may be driven by their clear image of possibility and what their organization could become. In this case, leaders passionately believe that they can make a difference. They create the way that no one else has ever produced. They uplift peoples spirits with an ennobling perspective about why they should strive to be better than they are today. This means that to create an organised movement as well as significant change, leaders need to enlist others. They also must appeal a shared aspiration because people will not follow until the vision is accepted as their own. Leaders must speak others language to enlist them in a vision. Leaders not only understand peoples needs but also have their interests at heart when they are to sign up for journeys into the future. Leaders breathe life into visions through vivid language and an effective style. Their own enthusiasm and excitement are contagious and spread from the leader to constituents. Their belief in and enthusiasm for the vision are the sparks that ignite the flame of inspiration. (Kouzes et al. 2007, p. 16-18) Breath life into your vision and align your dream with the peoples dream According to Kouzes et al. (2007) and Hallinger et al. (2002), people desire to do something that can make a profound difference to the future of their families, friends, and communities and their life as well. Therefore, leaders not only show the directions and set the standards but also effectively communicate a vision. Visions are about our strong desire such as ideals, hopes, dreams and aspirations to achieve something great. In communicating shared visions, leaders need to make them meaningful by awakening dreams, breathing life into them, and arousing the belief that they can get extraordinary things done before bringing these visions into the conversation. In order to make their visions become true, leaders need to keep people focused and excited about the meaning and significance of their work. Leaders have to animate the vision and make manifest the purpose so that others can see it, hear it and feel it. It is not leaders dream alone but is the peoples vision. Hall (2002) shows that they need to show how their individual and collective efforts could make a positive difference and make sure that each team member could repeat the vision not just by rote but also from the heart. This would enable them to realize these aspirations and make all people have the power within themselves to accomplish whatever they desire. Expand your communication and expressiveness skills to animate the vision Kouzes et al. (2007), Shriberg et al. (2005), Green (2000) and Ginsberg et al. (2003) show that to enlist others and arouse them to go decisively forward, leaders not only appeal to their ideas, animate the vision and breathe life into it but also help them understand how their own interests and dreams are aligned with the vision. The constituents will become internally motivated to commit their individual energies to its realisation if leaders recognise that their enthusiasm and expressiveness are indispensable factors in their efforts to generate commitment in their constituents. People always desire to work more effectively and find out the fastest way to achieve their common goals but it will be very difficult if the visions are not images in their mind. Therefore, to enlist others and inspire a shared vision, leaders must be able to paint word pictures that best portray the meaning of their vision and that others get a natural mental image of what things will be like in the future. To find the ways of giving expression to their collective hopes for the future, leaders face some challenges. Firstly, extraordinary things are often very difficult to get for leaders and their constituents. They may be dispirited while facing these difficulties. In this situation, leaders must recognise that their constituents look for them to demonstrate an enthusiastic and genuine belief in their capacity and supply the means to achieve and express optimism for the future to remain passionate despite obstacles. These mean that their vital tasks are to foster team spirit, breed optimism, promote resilience as well as renew faith and confidence. Thus, leaders must look the situation at the bright side and keep hope alive. They must strengthen their constituents belief that lifes struggle will produce a more promising future. (Kouzes et al. 2007, p. 147) Secondly, in mobilizing people to struggle for shared aspirations, their intensive enthusiasm is required to generate. Consequently, leaders are responsible for the energy of authentic excitement in their organization. They need to add more emotion by using all means of verbal and nonverbal expression to their words and their behavior to communicate with their constituents because it really makes their messages to be more memorable. In addition, the prerequisite to enlisting others in a shared vision is genuineness. The first place to look before taking to others about the vision of the future is in your heart (Kouzes et al., 2007, p. 151). If the vision is not leaders or they do not believe in what they are saying, it will be very difficult for them to enlist the others. As Staler (2005) point out, people identified specific communicative behaviours that the leader demonstrates which can support collaboration in the organisation. However, they felt that listening and openness are particularly important in providing support. Inherently, such behaviour is emotional work. Openness is related to the honest sharing and disclosure of information, both personal and professional. Similarly, Kouzes and Posner (1999) indicate that in order to become fully trusted, we must be open. Furthermore, when the leader takes the risk of being open, others are more likely to take a similar risk, thereby building interpersonal trust. The ability of the leader to foster such a safe environment, to promote and exemplify such a learning model is, in part, an emotional capacity. Foster collaboration by building trust and facilitating relationships In todays virtual organisations, cooperation can not be restricted to a small group of loyalists. It must include peers, managers, customers and clients, supplies, citizens. All those have a stake in the vision. (Kouzes et al., 2007, p. 20). Leaders have to know that to produce the good results people must feel a sense of personal power and ownership. Instead of the command and the control techniques of traditional management, the new effective way to enable others to act is to make people feel strong, capable, and committed by giving the power away. Show trust to build trust Need for trust working together, as Mayer, R. C. (1995) said, often involves interdependence, and people must therefore depend on others in various ways to accomplish their personal and organisational goals. The development of mutual trust provides one mechanism for enabling employees to work together more effectively. The emergence of self-directed teams and a reliance on empowered workers greatly increase the importance of the concept of trust (Golembiewski McConkie, 1975; Larson LaFasto, 1989). In the use of self-directed teams, trust must take the place of supervision because direct observation of employees becomes impractical. Further, a clear understanding of trust and its causes can facilitate cohesion and collaboration between people by building trust through means other than interpersonal similarity. According to Kouzes et al. (2007) and Grint (2003), trust must be at the heart of collaboration. Leaders have to be trust others if they want others to trust them. They can not lead without trust. Therefore, to create a climate of trust, leaders need to be the first to trust by being the first to open up, to show vulnerability and to let go of control. Self-confident and self-disclosure are also required to build interpersonal trust. Moreover, Dinham (2007) point out that leaders must understand that besides sharing information and resources to foster collaboration they need to care for others needs and interests that play a key ingredient to build the team around common purpose and mutual respect. They understand that mutual respect is what sustains extraordinary efforts. If leadership is built on trust and confidence, people will take risks to make changes and movements alive. Leaders have the most significant impact on their organisation, promote cooperative goals and build trust by engaging in frequent conversation. It is impossible for leaders to take their people or their organisation to the next level without meaningful, frequent, and consistent communication. Huber (2002) reveal that a collaborative environment leads to greater satisfaction of individuals within the organisation, and therefore enhances their performance. Yet a collaborative environment does not just emerge because one declares there will now be collaboration. It takes a great deal of trust and respect for this type of synergy to occur. A leader builds this trust by asking and utilizing others input, considering alternative perspectives, allowing others to make decisions, and communicating, communicating, communicating. When employees feel that they are trusted, they will become trustworthy. On the contrary, when individuals feel that they are not trusted, they will exhibit behaviors creating a toxic environment. In the book the Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner point out that trust is the most significant predictor of individuals satisfaction with their organisation. Highly effective leaders recognise that it is not important for them to be right, but rather to listen, take advice, lose arguments, and in some cases follow. Through these behaviors trust is built and performance is maximized. Get people interacting to facilitate relationship The most genuine way to demonstrate your care and interest in others is to engage them in conversation. Frequent conversations build trust while learning about anothers values, interests, concerns, and desires. People do not perform at their greatest levels when in isolation. Shribersg et al. (2005) argue that it is important that an organization provides opportunities to interact whether it is though social events, common meeting spaces, or regular staff meetings. Some leaders may see frequent social opportunities as wasteful or non-productive; the reality is an organization cannot develop shared priorities or reach common goals if there are not opportunities to interact both personally and professionally. In addition, Kouzes and Posner (2007) and Shriberg et al. (2005) showed that a sense of interdependent community in which everyone coordinate their efforts and need the others to be successful is one of the most crucial components to cooperation and collaboration. To bind others into cooperative efforts, a specific reason for being together must be provided by sharing and developing cooperative goals. It is also necessary for leaders to establish and keep the norms of reciprocity and fairness in their mind to improve relationship and decrease stress while working together. While people keeping the common goal in their mind, leaders need to help them to understand that they can not achieve the group outcomes unless they all play successfully their individual parts. People need to know that the long-term benefits of common group are more significant than the short-term benefits of working alone. There are many things that no one can gain on their own, but they can easily accomplish by working together. Moreover, Kouzes et al. (2007) pointed out that: group goals, reciprocity, and promoting joint efforts are all essential for collaboration to occur, but what is critical is positive face-to-face interaction. Nowadays, with the great help from technology people have many ways to connect with the others such as the emails, instant messages, and video conferences. However, the most effective interaction to build trust and promote teamwork is face-to-face conversation frequently. Durable and regular interactions between people make them always remember about how they have treated and have been treated by others. This helps them to have positive feelings on the rest of their group, which may be a solid foundation for success. Some people claim that face-to-face connection takes considerable amount of time, but despite this disadvantage, leaders need to make it one of their leadership imperatives because of the effectiveness it brings to them. Strengthen others by increasing self-determination and developing competence To allow people to feel more powerful and ultimately be more productive, it is critical to increase their ability to influence. This may be done through increasing their signature authority, reducing unnecessary approval steps, eliminating rules when possible, and assigning non-routine jobs. Unfortunately, in many organizations employees are charged with tremendous amounts of responsibility yet are not able to influence their environment to efficiently and effectively get the job done well. Employees must feel that they have the freedom to move around freely and maneuver resources necessary to accomplish an assigned task. (Jill Tomac) Creating a climate in which people are involved and feel important is at the heart of strengthening others. Leaders must make sure that everyone involve in all the group work. They need to listen to the opinions of others carefully and then help them to build up their capabilities as well as update their own information and perspective. When people are trusted and have more discretion, more authority, and more information, they are much more likely to use their energies to produce extraordinary results. (Kouzes et al., p. 21) Moreover, one key to success is that in order to gain respect leaders must also show respect for others. Jill Tomac shows that leaders are those individuals who are not widely known; they have very little interest in placing themselves in the forefront but are quite happy having their successors in the spotlight. In effect, these leaders create stars all around them, allowing others the glory. As a result, each member of the organization is performing at his/her maximum potential and bringing the organisation to new levels of achievement. Leaders recognise the importance of empowering others, through sharing information and assigning responsibility while enforcing accountability. A leaders ability to understand and appreciate others perspectives can be the critical distinguishing factor between a success and failure. Leaders who prefer to work by themselves and do not engage or believe in those around them have great difficulty achieving their goals. They have a tendency to share power and provide choice; allowing others the latitude to make choices and take responsibility. Of course, i t is valuable to provide the expectations, parameters, direction, and skill building needed to be successful. However, beyond that people must feel that they have the respect and trust of their superiors to get the job done. Effective leaders use their power in service to others through strengthening and supporting them. In effect, leaders turn subordinates into leaders themselves enabling people to consider variables, make choices, and act on their own initiative. As Kouzes and Posner state Leaders strengthen others when they give their power away, when they make it possible for constituents to exercise choice and discretion, when they develop competence to excel, when they assign critical tasks, and when they offer visible support. Increase individual accountability to enhance self-determination To help people increase accountability and then enhance self-determination, leaders need to act by following a scientific process. Firstly, as Riley et al. (2003) said, people can not finish their work as their group desire and can not make a difference if they have no freedom of choice about what they do as well as the way that they think fit. Thus, leaders need to help them to recognise their abilities and assign them to roles that they are comfortable by listening to their ideas and suggestions. By this way, every group member can bring value to the whole team and be responsible for their work Secondly, leaders must design work proactively to allow others discretion and choice. It means that people must have the latitude in decisions what they desire and believe should be done in their own creative and flexible ways. By this way, leaders can empower and strengthen others to do their best. Thirdly, personal accountability is a critical factor of collaboration. It seems to be a contradiction between cooperation and personal accountability as some peoples opinions. They argue that they will take less responsibility for their action while working collectively because others do their parts of work for them. Although they have a point in thinking that, their opinions are not true. This is because the team do not accept the slackers unless they increase their own responsibility. People are forced powerfully to do well by the expectations of the rest of their group. Therefore, by promoting collaboration, leaders simultaneously increase individual accountability. (Kouzes et al. 2007). Offer training support to develop competence Leithwood et al. (2003) indicate that when increasing the authority and influence a person has within the organization, it is critical for people to develop the needed skills and knowledge to perform effectively. It is foolish to ask people to begin making decisions or take actions that they have never been assigned before without preparing them to be successful. Through training, coaching, and mentoring staff, they will not only increase their abilities but also their interest and dedication to their work. (Jill Tomac) Valuing people means not only listening to what they have to say or contribute, but taking their input and using it to solve problems or make decisions. To value the contribution of other people, the leader supports the collaborative process by focusing on the interdependent nature of their work (Staler, 2005). However, as noted by Beatty (2000a), and the studies of Blase and Blase (2000), leaders may feel concerned about losing control while letting go of control. Therefore, they need to understand about shared responsibility. Advocacy for collaboration includes the promotion of beliefs, goals, and information about the value of collaboration. A principal advocates for collaboration by conveying the ongoing visible endorsement of, and participation, in collaborative activities (Leonard and Leonard 2001). As previously mentioned, when principals model collaboration they build credibility, because their actions are consistent with their words or they do what they say they will do. However, to set an example, principals need to be clear about their values and beliefs; they must know what they stand for. According to Kouzes and Posner (1999) thats the say part. Advocacy then might take the form of conveying information on the attributes and goals of collaboration or describing the decision making model for implementation. People say that the leaders advocacy for collaboration helps to support the process are in accordance with Gerbers view (1991: 48), that effective advocacy puts collaboration on the launching pad for take-off in the school. Goleman (1998) introduced the term emotional competency to describe learned, job-related capabilities or skills that individuals develop based upon their emotional intelligence. As Goleman (1995) identified, five domains of emotional intelligence are self-awareness, managing emotions, motivating oneself, empathy, and adeptness in relationships. People agreed that in collaboration, workplace skills related to emotional intelligence are required leadership competencies. Staler (2005) show that to understand others, leaders need to actively listen to their ideas and sympathise with their feelings, perspectives and concerns. In other word, the artful skill of understanding another persons perspective depends upon a communication skill such as emotional competencies. Emotional self-awareness that is also identified to relate to competencies is a crucial skills in collaboration. According to Goleman (1998), people who know their emotions engage in accurate self-assessment, and have a strong sense of their own self-worth. Having the courage to speak out is an emotional competency based on self-confidence. The development of self-awareness meant discovering their own voice and coming to their own sense of power. It also means that in a collaborative situation people need to recognise the strengths that they bring to the group (Slater, 2005). In addition, Options, latitude, and accountability fuel peoples sense of power and control over their lives. Yet as necessary as enhancing self-determination is, it is insufficient. Without the knowledge, skills, information, and resources to do a job expertly, without feeling competent to skillfully execute the choices that it requires, people feel overwhelmed and disable. (Kouzes et al. 2007). Without education, training and coaching to develop their skills, people may not know how to exercise their knowledge to operate their critical tasks because they are scared of making mistake. Therefore, leaders not only increase the latitude and discretion of their constituents but they also need to raise expenditures on training. This means that the group members need be understood and then to receive training in both basic and expert skills and problem-solving techniques. These investments will develop peoples competences and foster their confidence. They may be more qualified, more capable and more effective in taking their part of common work. Basing on understanding how the contextual factors of others jobs perform to designed their works to help them know what is expected of them is another important way that leaders can strengthen their constituents. Thus, leaders must to: provide sufficient training and technical support so that people can complete their assignments successfully. Enrich their responsibilities so that they experience variety in their task assignments and opportunities to make meaningful decisions about how their work gets accomplished. Create occasions for them to network with others in the organisation. Involve them in programmes, meetings, and decisions that have a direct impact on their job performance. (Kouzes et al. 2007, p. 264) Conduct coaching conversations to foster self-confidence As Kouzes et al. (2007) said, without adequate self-confident, people can not convince to take challenges. They will feel powerless to make choices and to face opposition because they do not believe in their skills as well as they are not sure to make decisions. The lack of self-confident also leads to the lack of self-determination. Therefore, fostering the confidence for people to accomplish their tasks is critical in the process of strengthening others. Similarly, Gold (1998) and Northouse (2010) point out that leaders must take a careful look at what people are doing and communicate to them that they can be successful if they persevere in their works. It is true that by helping people learn from their skills and experiences, leaders act as coaches. If coaching occurs regularly, people will become more capable because of being encouraged to broaden their skills and experiences. Jill Tomac indicates that to foster self-confidence, leaders create stars all around them. Rather than shine the spotlight on themselves, they sing the praises of others. Effective leaders need to find out what others doing well, then thank them for their contribution, and finally sharing it with others. CONCLUSION Evidences in this essay reveal the need for leaders to enlist and enable others to act in the process of collaboration. To this end, leaders need appropriate professional development of the fundamental abilities that are required in facilitating groups, reaching consensus as well as team building. In this way, leaders must develop new skills, behaviours, and essential knowledge. Firstly, to enlist others, leaders breathe life in to the shared vision that is meaningful to them. They make people feel proud to be a part of extraordinary common work. Secondly, to foster collaboration, leaders must create a climate of trust and facilitate effective relationship by getting people interacting. They must develop cooperative goals to make senses of collective purpose. Thirdly, to strengthen others, leaders have to extend power and responsibility to them. They develop others competence and confidence as well as enhance self- determination by offer training and coaching support. Accordingly, this essay has explored a crucial practice of leaders that is to enable others to act, in which collaboration is the central component. Understanding and managing the emotional aspects of the collaborative process is a challenge for leaders who wish to work in collaborative ways. The success of collaborative reform efforts and the improvement of organization performance rely on the leaders skilful implementation of the collaborative process. Consequently, further studies that examine the emotions of leadership would enhance our understanding of how leaders competencies in the affective domain can be used to build the capacity for leading in the modern time.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Perfect Class :: essays research papers

If you could design any class, anyway you wanted; do you know what you would do? Whether it is reclining chairs or nap time you want. You get to decide whether you want, one or the other or both. You get to design the class any way you want. If I could design the perfect class it would have to have†¦ The perfect class would have to have air conditioning. This would keep us cool and refreshed. Most students would concentrate better because they’re not distracted thinking about how hot and sticky they are. It would also help stu-dents and staff with asthma to breathe easier because air conditioning takes the humidity out of the air. Considering all these reasons I think air conditioning would further better our educational wellness. The perfect class would have to allow students to chew gum. This would satisfy the students so they are not constantly complaining. Chewing gum during a test could increase test scores up to 35%. It is a proven fact that chewing gum improves long and short term memory up to 15%. All these statistics not only prove that chewing gum satisfies the students, but that it increases our chances a higher education. The perfect class would have to have shorter lessons. Some teachers will teach a key lesson in a short time period because they think it’s best to teach it all at once. I think that they should break important lessons into 2 or 3 smaller more comprehendible lessons. This would give teachers more time to make sure that stu-dents thoroughly understand each individual concept of the lesson. Some students are so overwhelmed and confused by one element of the lesson that they are focus-ing only on that element that the miss the rest of the lesson. This is basic modifi-cation in

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place :: essays research papers fc

Ernest Miller Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois July 21, 1898. He died in 1961 at the age of 63. Hemingway is known to be one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. He has written more than one hundred short fiction stories, many of them are well known around the world. Some of these short stories have had just as powerful an impact as his novels. As a young man, Hemingway left his hometown in Illinois to go to Europe, where he worked for the Red Cross during World War I. His time spent there inspired him to write some of his most famous novels, most of which spoke of the horrors of the war. For instance, â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place† by Ernest Hemingway is a short story that focuses on three different age groups and their varying views on life. By analyzing the three different points of view, we see Hemingway’s perspective of an old man. The story is about an old man that every so often, sits in a very clean bar, drinks away at two o’clock in the morning and is the last one to leave. There are three waiters: one is a young man, one is an older gentleman, and the last is a very old man. All the waiters see him in a different way based on their ages. Furthermore, Ernest Hemingway had a different style of writing than the other authors of his time. "The Sun Also Rises is the book that established Hemingway as a literary force and it introduced the world to the Lost Generation" (5). The Lost Generation is referred to as the â€Å"disillusioned that fought in the war†. "Two of the novel's main characters, Lady Brett Ashley and Jake Barnes, typify the Lost Generation" (1). "This book has a lot of thematic issues, but the reader really needs to think to be able to pick up on all of them" (2). Friendship, stoicism, and natural grace under pressure are offered as the values that matter in an otherwise amoral often-senseless world (1). "His mind is set on writing only" (3). The only thing Hemingway thought about was writing and finishing The Sun Also Rises. "The writing is as strong and powerful as a swift kick to the head" (4). This quote is referring to Hemingway's strong and com plex style of writing. "Hemingway writes about the dreariness of everyday life but it is interesting at the emphasis on drinking during the age of prohibition" (3).

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Obese America :: Health

Fast-food restaurants have become archetypal in the past 30 years, and nearly all of Americans takes advantage of the tasty meals, quick service, and cheap prices. Convenient as they seem, these meals contain almost no nutrients. They are comprised mostly of saturated fats and highly refined carbohydrates and are loaded with sodium and sugar. Almost every fast food restaurant we all love to go to, doesn’t give us many option. When it comes to picking a healthy choice, instead of choosing between low fat or wheat we have the option of choosing how many patties, bacon or no bacon, cheese in the crust, how big of a soda, crispy or extra crispy. These are not very good alternatives. Another problem is when we see those large 64 ounce sodas at 7/11 that are way more for one person. Young kids buy them because they look cool, and adults, because they think it’s a good deal for a lot of soda. Why is that that in this country we have opportunities to many things we want, but wh en it comes to eating it seems like some of us always go the easy processed way. Why are there no alternatives to what we choose to eat or drink, especially in the fast food industry? The United States is home to the some of the most obese people in the world. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), obesity in adults has increased by 60% within the past twenty years and obesity in children has tripled in the past thirty years (Brownell). A staggering 33% of American adults are obese and obesity-related deaths have climbed to more than 300,000 a year, second only to tobacco-related deaths (Finkelstein). It is strange to see that America’s obesity numbers just keep getting higher and higher with really little signs of improvement. The people don’t have the problem it’s the Unites States in general that has the problem. According to Dr. Kelly Brownell, PhD, an expert on American diet and health, a study was conducted with the Pima Indians who live both in Mexico and Arizona. It was found that those Pima Indians who live in Arizona have much higher rates of obesity than their counterparts in Mexico, even though both group s of people have the same genetic and ethnic background. This is also true for many migrants of the US who have a much higher obesity rate than their relatives back home (Puhl).

Monday, September 16, 2019

Nuclear terrorism

The most recent threat of Nuclear attack attempted on the United States has come from North Korea, as such the following essay will delve into North Korea’s investment in nuclear terrorism and the plan of action the United States has against such action.   There are several links that associate North Korea to different factions of terrorism.   The following paper will give detailed examples of North Korea’s interaction and support of each group.   The support of terrorism has many forms such as weapons or money and North Korea’s handing over of monetary funds and weapons will also be documented in this essay.   The resources necessary for terrorism to exist has a partner in government and North Korea is just such a partner. The following paper will not only address the fact of terrorism affiliation between North Korea and reputed terrorist groups and countries but also that North Korea has their own terrorist group.   This fact can be found in North Korea’s treatment toward South Korea and reported assassination attempts of their presidents on several occasions.   The terrorist affiliation North Korea harbors is one that involves not only promoting terrorism through trade with notable terrorist groups but also their own participation in Afghanistan terrorist camps and the trading of weapons technologies with such groups (Graham 20-21). North Korea is a country with a specific dichotomy between public relations.   These relations deal mainly with money.   The reason North Korea is reported to be trading with terrorists is that their funding aids in the economic growth of their country.   The support that North Korea gives to terrorist is rewarded with monetary funds from such countries as Japan, Iran, and Iraq.   This paper will organize specific examples of each country and it’s trading policy with North Korea (what items it trades for what price etc.).   The essay will also focus on how North Korea opens up trade routes covertly using bribes and coercion. The year 2000 saw the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States government went through a series of terrorism talks and the future state of terrorism as well as cooperation of North Korea’s government in several documented terrorism actions.   Such actions include the 1970 hijacking of a Japanese plane bound for North Korea and the subsequent sheltering of the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction members or hijackers, or the safe haven North Korea provided to the terrorist who were involved in the hijack.   Also, DPRK has been suspected of selling weapons to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, as specified by the Philippine government. The monetary transaction was made possible through Middle East connections (Terrorism Files, 2002).   North Korea has been on the US terrorism list sin 1988 and continues to remain on that list because of its uncooperative procedures for information on terrorist after the September 11 attacks, as Secretary of State John Bolton stated, â€Å"’North Korea has a dedicated, national-level effort to achieve a biological weapons capacity and has developed and produced, and may have weaponized, biological weapons agents. Despite the fact that its citizens are starving,† said Mr. Bolton, â€Å"the leadership in Pyongyang has spent large sums of money to acquire the resources, including a biotechnology infrastructure, capable of producing infectious agents, toxins, and other crude biological weapons. It has a variety of means at its disposal for delivering these deadly weapons.’† (North Korea and Terrorism 2002). Another terrorism threat that North Korea poses and has been linked with is nuclear terror.   In this respect according to Pakistan and US sources (as well as Libyan) this is the current threat of North Korea:   they have been supposedly training Arab terrorists for at minimum ten years at the Kim Jung-il Political and Military University.   North Korea is also linked with Osama bin Laden in arms dealing, as Triplett (2004) states in North Korea and Nuclear Terror, of the existing relationship between North Korea and bin Laden, â€Å"This was discovered in 2000 when bin Laden financed a shipment of North Korean conventional arms to a Philippine Islamic terrorist group†. North Korean nuclear weapons were also being used as tests by Pakistan (in 1998).   Scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory suspect that these tests were a conglomeration between Pakistan and North Korea in nuclear testing.   Such joint ventures are not new for North Korea and their connection with terrorism.   Nuclear weapons are just the forefront of terror that North Korea has presented to the world. North Korea, since their cover-up in 1970 of the safe haven they provided to the airplane hijackers, have been affiliated with several terrorist groups as Triplett further states, â€Å"Recently a Japanese newspaper, citing military sources, reported Iranian military figures were seen at North Korea nuclear facilities. This leads allied intelligence to suspect the Iranians of trying to move their nuclear weapons program to North Korea, beyond the range of Israeli F-16 fighter-bombers†. The Pakistan, and North Korean conglomeration of trading weapons is a definite terrorism group.   The weapon testing near the Afghan border in 1998 was reported to have been the testing of Korean made missiles.   Another link between Pakistan and North Korea can be found with Major General (retired) Saltan Habib, who was responsible for covert acquisitions of nuclear technologies while presiding as the defense attachà © of Pakistan in Moscow, was posted as the ambassador to North Korea to ‘oversee the clandestine nuclear and missile cooperation between North Korea and Pakistan’ (Raman 2002). As the ambassador, Habib organized the covert shipment of missiles from North Korea to Pakistan.   Not only did Habib coordinate this shipment but he also was reported to have exchanged technology from North Korea to Pakistan on weapons technologies especially those dealing with missiles and nuclear devices as Raman states, â€Å"†¦the training of Pakistani experts in the missile production and testing facilities of North Korea and the training of North Korean scientists in the nuclear establishments of Pakistan through Captain (retired) Shafquat Cheema, third secretary and acting head of mission in the Pakistani embassy in North Korea from 1992 to 1996†. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is one in which North Korea has strong ties.   Prior to Habib’s position with North Korea it was filled by Major General Shujjat from the Baluch Regiment.   General Shujjat was not only working for the embitterment of North Korea but clandestine actions he performed were favoring ISI for five consecutive years as Raman states, â€Å"On Captain Cheema's return to headquarters in 1996, the ISI discovered that in addition to acting as the liaison officer of the ISI with the nuclear and missile establishments in North Korea, he was also earning money from the Iranian and the Iraqi intelligence by helping them in their clandestine nuclear and missile technology and material procurement not only from North Korea, but also from Russia and the CARs†. The limits of North Korea’s involvement in terror seem boundless.   Not only have they delivered ballistic missiles to Pakistan but also they are using very covert methods by which to trade.   The beginning of 2002 was witness to mass movements of nuclear weapons across the Karakoram Highway.   These weapons were being transported from China to Pakistan with the envoy containing spare parts and other assortments.   The transportation of this shipment however has ties with North Korea because China may have accepted this movement from Pakistan only in regards to North Korea’s wishes (Raman). North Korea, Iran, and Iraq are infamously known as the Axis of Evil, because of their terrorist ties and promotion of illegal arms dealing.   North Korea has managed to become well versed in terrorism through biological, chemical, and nuclear means.   In 1988 North Korea or DPRK as well as Kim Jong-il were suspected (and this probability is almost certain) of committing to assassinate South Korean president Chun in Rangoon (or Yangun as it is known today). The assassination was to take place by strategically placing bombs atop the Martyr’s Masoleum (in dedication to Aung San the founder of independent Burma).   Although president Chun was delayed in traffic and did not succumb to the bombings, â€Å"The huge blast ripped through the crowd below, killing 21 people and wounding 46. Among the dead were the Korean foreign minister, Lee Bum Suk, the economic planning minister and deputy prime minister, Suh Suk Joo, and the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Kim Dong Whie. The rest of those killed were presidential advisers, journalists, and security officials, most of them South Korean† (Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia). In finding evidence to support North Korea has having terrorist ties, it is presumably difficult.   The suspects who were responsible for the Rangoon bombings committed suicide by detonating hand grenades.   Such suspects are common in assisination attempts and thus true evidence is difficult to come by in linking North Korea directly with terrorism in some cases.   However, the 1970 safehaven as well as arms dealing that Philippine officials attest to are some of the supporting materials that accumalte against North Korea (Graham 80-85). In lieu of specific evidence to support terrorism affilitations from North Korea president Kim Jong-il admitted to the United States in 2000 that DPRK had willfully exported missiles abroad.   These missiles are traded to Syria and Iran in exchange for monetary compensation.   While Syria was reportedly a main buyer of missiles, Iran was said to be a primary buyer of not only ballistic missiles but technology as well (Wagner 2000).   The specific terrorism that exists in North Korea trading missiles to such countries exists in those countries’ intent for such exported ‘goods’.   In order for North Korea to stop association and trading of missiles, as Wagner states of the conference between the United States and North Korea held in July-August of 2000, Einhorn characterized the talks as â€Å"very useful† and said that he hopes to meet again with the North Koreans in the near future. However, on July 12, Jang â€Å"clarified† that North Korea would only continue the talks if the United States compensated Pyongyang â€Å"for the political and economic losses to be incurred in case we suspend our missile program.† During the meeting, the United States had once again rejected North Korea's long-standing demand for $1 billion per year in return for the cessation of missile exports. â€Å"North Korea should not be receiving cash compensation for stopping what it shouldn't be doing in the first place,† Einhorn said. This compensation is coercion and is a type of terrorism in and of itself.   North Korea should not be given compensation pay for ending its affilitation with terrorism simply because their economy would suffer slightly from the lose of funds selling missiles etc. had given the DPRK. North Korea has remained in close contact with different terrorist groups.   The Japanese Red Army who were given safehaven in 1970 after the plane hijacking are coherts of Middle Eastern terrorists and in this connection lies the bridge by which North Korea exports weapons (Fulford 2001).   As said prior Pakistan has a standing trade relationship with North Korea as missile buyers. The funding for such North Korean weapons development as Fulford states, â€Å"However, cutting off one of ruler Kim Jong Il's main sources of finance–illegal activities in Japan–might prove easier. North Korea's government has been manufacturing large quantities of heroin, amphetamines, weapons and counterfeit U.S. dollars to finance its weapons development programs. It sells them either through criminal gangs in Japan or via Russia and China to the U.S. and Europe, the Korea experts say.† Pakistan is also a main supporter of the Afghanistan Taliban regime and terror weapons that are used by Taliban are subsequently provided by North Korea (Fulford). Other avenues by which North Korea finds funding for weapons is through Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party.   The Party solicits succor toward North Korea in exchange for bribes as Fulford further states, â€Å"†¦when Japan gave 500,000 tons of rice aid to North Korea last year, politicians received kickbacks from North Korea, Lee says. â€Å"I was with a North Korean official as he phoned a Japanese member of parliament and told him a shipment of free fish had been sent to a company he owns,† he says.† This bribe system works by committing North Korean businessmen, who reside in Japan, to a loan.   This loan, or lend, is given by a bank and is paid back directly to North Korea and Japan.   Thus, the money cannot easily be traced.   Public money is being used to generate a working arms dealing relationship between North Korea and Japan. Public money is not the only money being used in corrupt manners:   The Japanese government aided North Korea’s atomic weapon development through its Fuji bank.   Fuji bank is one of the largest banks in the world and its involvement in the deal between North Korea and Japan was a catalyst in North Korean weapons building and trading.   Essentially Fuji paid approximately $350 million to a myriad of North Korean businesses and organizations who were prospering in Japan.   This money was given in exchange for debt collection services (Graham 61-63). The funding for weapons development in North Korea as it is funded by Japan and public money is the key component of rising terrorism at a global scale.   Due to North Korea’s association with several aforementioned terrorists groups, global terror does exist.   North Korea’s trade of missiles to different terrorist organizations promotes multilateral trade in a negative fashion because what North Korea is truly promoting is terrorism through trade. There also exist unofficial reports of North Korea terrorist involvement.   It has been established that North Korea has dealt ballistic missiles to countries: It gained the raw materials for the construction of these missiles from such countries as China.   These missiles are capable of delivering mass destruction in the form of biological as well as chemical warfare.   In late 2001 P’yongyang continued a type of global scavenger hunt for technologies dealing with the making of nuclear weapons. The procurement of the necessary plutonium for at least one nuclear weapon has set the world on edge.   As the Unclassified Congress Report (2001) states, â€Å"Spent fuel rods canned in accordance with the 1994 Agreed Framework contain enough plutonium for several more weapons.†Ã‚   Along this train of potential arms dealings P’yongyang laid the path to trade with Russia by signing the Defense Industry Cooperation Agreement. Among the trading partners that North Korea has established ties with include Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Angola, Burma, Cuba, Libya, and Syria.   Through trade with these countries North Korea is able to consistently manage its immense military operation (14% of its economic gross goes to the military despite calling in international aid to its starving people).   The trading that continues between the aforementioned countries and North Korea involves ‘arms, chemical and biological weapons materials, and even ballistic missile technology–in clear violation of the Missile Technology Control Regime. Libya, for example, recently bought 50 Rodong-1 missiles from North Korea with a range of 1,000 kilometers’ (Hwang, 2001). Among the trading countries that North Korea has ties and the materials thar are reportedly being traded, North Korea has also been invovled with overtly selling weapons to various terrorist groups such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the United Wa State Army.   The United Wa State Army is a drug affiliated Burma terrorist group residing in the golden triangle.   The golden triangle is the area between Thailand, Laos, and Burma. Not only is North Korea coordinating trading efforts with these terrorist groups but North Korea also has been training in Afghanistan terrorist camps (Hwang).   The Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, John E. McLaughlin stated of North Korean involvement of terrorism, â€Å"North Korea's challenge to regional and global security is magnified by two factors†¦first, the North's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles, and two, its readiness–and eagerness–to become missile salesman to the world† (Hwang). Not only is North Korea associated and in league with terrorist groups by harboring hijackers and participating in terrorist camps but North Korea is a terrorist.   In 1987 North Korean agents bombed a South Korean airplane.   North Korea has continuously be involved with terrorist attacks on South Korea a reported 300 instances.   North Korea has participated in covert assassination attempts of South Korean presidents and has traversed passed South Korean borders 15 separate times (Hwang). Not simply has North Korea been fully participatory in these incidences but as Hwang further states, â€Å"In one of the most blatant, 26 North Korean commandos in a submarine landed off the South Korean coast in September 1996; they, along with 17 South Koreans, were killed in the ensuing manhunt. Their mission is believed to have been to assassinate South Korean dignitaries†.   Therefore, North Korea guilty of fully participating in aiding terrorists through weapons and technologies and they are also delving into the leagues of terrorism by their chronic attack on South Korea (Graham 43-44). Along the lines of defining North Korea as having terrorist groups within its borders who are North Korean Hwang states that North Korea has kidnapped an unprecedented 3,600 Korean citizens since the year 1953.   In this fact there exists relevant material to consider North Korea as having terrorist intentions and actions.   Not only has North Korea abducted Koreans but reportedly also foreigners, of which ten Japanese foreigners are the most noted. In conclusion, North Korea is not only a country who supports terrorism through trade of weapons and technology but it is also a country which participates in terrorism through assassinations, and kidnappings.   North Korea then exists as a country spurned by monetary gain and by lines of distinction between trading partners and the uses those countries may have for nuclear weapons. Although the above pages attest to the development of North Korea and its invovlement with terrorism it must also be noted that the United States with the advocacy of the United Nations, has established an administration of foreign policy which will attribute to the goals of nuclear disarmament. Work Cited Allison, Graham.   (2005).   Nuclear Terrorism, The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe.   Owl Books, New York. Editorial.   North Korea and Terrorism.   2002.   (Online).   Available:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.ibb.gov/editorials/09924.htm Fulford, Benjamin.   North Korea, Another Outcropping of Terrorism.   Forbes.   September 2001. (Online).   Available:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/north_korea_another_outcropping_of_terrorism.htm Hwang, Balbina.   North Korea Deserves to Remain on US List of Sponsors of Terrorism. Asia and the Pacific.   November 2001.   (Online).   Available:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/BG1503.cfm Raman, B.   Pakistan and the North Korea Connection.   Asia Times, October 2002.   (Online). Available:   http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DJ22Df01.html. Terrorism Files.   State-Sponsored Terrorism North Korea.   2002.   (Online).   Available:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.terrorismfiles.org/countries/north_korea.html Triplett, William C.   North Korea and Nuclear Terror.   The Washington Times.   2004.(Online).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Available:http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20040406-101023-7315r.htm Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia.   Rangoon Bombing.   (Online).   Available:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangoon_bombing  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unclassified Congress Report.   2001.   (Online).   Available:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   https://www.cia.gov/cia/reports/721_reports/jan_jun2001.htm#5 Wagner, Alexander.   US-North Korea Terrorism Talks Resume; North Korea Admits to Exporting Rocket Technology.   Arms Control Association, September 2000. (Online).   Available:   http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2000_09/nkoreasept00.asp      

A Memory For All Seasonings Essay

Memory is one of the most important functions of the mind. Without our memories, we would have no identity, no individuality. The following article is about a mnemonist, a person with an extraordinary power of remembering. The title includes a pun, a form of humor based on a play on words. The usual phrase to describe something constant and dependable is â€Å"for all seasons†; here the phrase is changed to â€Å"for all seasonings.† (Seasonings is another word for spices, such as salt, pepper, and curry.) What hint does this give you about the mnemonist? (Early in the article you will find out.) One evening two years ago, Peter Poison, a member of the psychology department at the University of Colorado, took his son and daughter to dinner at Bananas, a fashionable restaurant in Boulder. When the waiter took their orders, Poison noticed that the young man didn’t write anything down. He just listened, made small talk, told them that his name was John Conrad, and left. Poison didn’t think this was exceptional: There were, after all, only three of them at the table. Yet he found himself watching Conrad closely when he returned to take the orders at a nearby table of eight. Again the waiter listened, chatted, and wrote nothing down. When he brought Poison and his children their dinners, the professor couldn’t resist introducing himself and telling Conrad that he’d been observing him. The young man was pleased. He wanted customers to notice that, unlike other waiters, he didn’t use a pen and paper. Sometimes, when they did notice, they left him q uite a large tip. He had once handled a table of nineteen complete dinner orders without a single error. At Bananas, a party of nineteen (a bill of roughly $200) would normally leave the waiter a $35 tip. They had left Conrad $85. Poison was impressed enough to ask the waiter whether he would like to come to the university’s psychology lab and let them run some tests on him. Anders Ericsson, a young Swedish psychologist recently involved in memory research, would be joining the university faculty soon, and Poison thought that he would be interested in exploring memory methods with the waiter. Conrad said he would be glad to cooperate. He was always on the lookout for ways to increase his income, and Poison  told him he would receive $5 an hour to be a guinea pig. Conrad, of course, was not the first person with an extraordinary memory to attract attention from researchers. Alexander R. Luria, the distinguished Soviet psychologist, studied a Russian newspaper reporter named Shereshevskii for many years and wrote about him in The Mind of a Mnemonist (Basic Books, 1968). Luria says that Shereshevskii was able to hear a series of fifty words spoken once and recite them back in perfect order fifteen years later. Another famous example of extraordinary memory, the conductor Arturo Toscanini, was known to have memorized every note for every instrument in 250 symphonies and 100 operas. For decades the common belief among psychologists was that memory was a fixed quantity; an exceptional memory, or a poor one, was something with which a person was born. This point of view has come under attack in recent years; expert memory is no longer universally considered the exclusive gift of the genius, or the abnormal. â€Å"People with astonishing memory for pictures, musical scores, chess positions, business transactions, dramatic scripts, or faces are by no means unique,† wrote Cornell psychologist Ulric Neisser in Memory Observed (1981). â€Å"They may not even be very rare.† Some university researchers, including Poison and Ericsson, go a step further than Neisser. They believe that there are no physiological differences at all between the memory of a Shereshevskii or a Toscanini and that of the average person. The only real difference, they believe, is that Toscanini trained his memory, exercised it regularly, and wanted to improve it. Like many people with his capacity to remember, Toscanini may also have used memory tricks called mnemonics. Shereshevskii, for example, employed a technique known as loci. As soon as he heard a series of words, he mentally â€Å"distributed† them along Gorky Street in Moscow. If one of the words was â€Å"orange,† he might visualize a man stepping on an orange at a precise location on the familiar street. Later, in order to retrieve â€Å"orange,† he would take an imaginary walk down Gorky Street and see the image from which it could easily be recalled. Did the waiter at Bananas have such a system? What was his secret? John Conrad would be the subject of Anders Ericsson’s second in-depth study of the machinations of memory. As a research associate at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Ericsson had spent the previous three years working with William Chase on an extensive study of Steve Faloon, an undergraduate whose memory and intellectual skills were  considered average. When Ericsson and Chase began testing Faloon, he could remember no more than seven random digits after hearing them spoken once. According to generally accepted research, almost everyone is capable of storing five to nine random digits in short-term memory. After twenty months of working with Chase and Ericsson, Faloon could memorize and retrieve eighty digits. â€Å"The important thing about our testing Faloon is that researchers usually study experts,† Chase says. â€Å"We studied a novice and watched him grow into an expert. Initially, we were just running tests to see whether his digit span could be expanded. For four days he could not go beyond seven digits. On the fifth day he discovered his mnemonic system and then began to improve rapidly.† Faloon’s intellectual abilities didn’t change, the researchers say. Nor did the storage capacity of his short-term memory. Chase and Ericsson believe that short-term memory is a more or less fixed quantity. It reaches saturation quickly, and to overcome its limitations one must learn to link new data with material that is permanently stored in long-term memory. Once the associations have been made, the short-term memory is free to absorb new information. Shereshevskii transferred material from short-term to long-term memory by placing words along Gorky Street in Moscow. Faloon’s hobby was long-distance running, and he discovered that he could break down a spoken list of eighty digits into units of three or four and associate most of these with running times. To Faloon, a series like 4 , 0 , 1 ,2 would translate as four mi nutes, one and two-tenths seconds, or â€Å"near a four-minute mile†; 2, 1, 4, 7 would be encoded as two hours fourteen minutes seven seconds, or â€Å"an excellent marathon time.† When running didn’t provide the link to his long-term memory, ages and dates did; 1, 9, 4, 4 is not relevant to running, but it is â€Å"near the end of World War II.† Chase and Ericsson see individual differences in memory performance as resulting from previous experience and mental training. â€Å"In sum,† they write, â€Å"adult memory performance can be adequately described by a single model of memory.† Not every student of psychology agrees with Chase and Ericsson, of course. â€Å"I’m very suspicious of saying that everyone has the same kind of memory,† says Matthew Erdelyi, a psychologist at Brooklyn College. â€Å"In my research,† he says, â€Å"I find that people have very different memory levels. They can all improve, but some levels remain high and some remain low. There are dramatic individual  differences.† It is unlikely that there will be any agreement among psychologists on the conclusions that they have thus f ar drawn from their research. The debate about exceptional memory will continue. But in the meantime it is interesting to look deeper into the mind of a contemporary mnemonist. Ericsson and Poison, both of whom have tested Conrad over the past two years, believe that there is nothing intellectually outstanding about him. When they began testing Conrad’s memory, his digit span was normal: about seven numbers. His grades in college were average. Conrad himself says that he is unexceptional mentally, but he has compared his earliest memories with others’ and has found that he can recall things that many people can’t. His first distinct memory is of lying on his back and raising his legs so that his mother could change his diapers. As a high-school student he didn’t take notes in class—he says he preferred watching the girls take notes—and he has never made a list in his life. â€Å"By never writing down a list of things to do, and letting it think for me,† he says, â€Å"I’ve forced my memory to improve.† Conrad does believe that his powers of observation, including his ability to listen, are keener than most people’s. Memory, he says, is just one part of the whole process of observation. â€Å"I’m not extraordinary, but sometimes people make me feel that way. I watch them and realize how many of them have disorganized minds and memories and that makes me feel unusual. A good memory is nothing more than an organized one.’ One of the first things Conrad observed at Bananas was that the headwaiter, his boss, was â€Å"a very unpleasant woman.† He disliked being her subordinate, and he wanted her job. The only way he could get it was by being a superior waiter. He stayed up nights trying to figure out how to do this; the idea of memorizing orders eventually came to him. Within a year he was the headwaiter. â€Å"One of the most interesting things we’ve found,† says Ericsson, â€Å"is that just trying to memorize things does not insure that your memory will improve. It’s the active decision to get better and the number of hours you push yourself to improve that make the difference. Motivation is much more important than innate ability.† Conrad began his memory training by trying to memorize the orders for a table of two, then progressed to memorizing larger orders. He starts by associating the entree with the customer’s face. He might see a large, heavy-set man and hear â€Å"I’d like a big Boulder Steak.† Sometimes, Peter Poison says, â€Å"John  thinks a person looks like a turkey and that customer orders a turkey sandwich. Then it’s easy.† In memorizing how long meat should be cooked, the different salad dressings, and starches, Conrad relies on patterns of repetition and variation. â€Å"John breaks things up into chunks of four,† Ericsson says. â€Å"If he hears ‘rare, rare, medium, well-done,’ he instantly sees a pattern in their relationship. Sometimes he makes a mental graph. An easy progression—rare, medium-rare, medium, well-done—would take the shape of a steadily ascending line on his graph. A more difficult order—medium, well-done, rare, medium—would resemble a mountain range.† The simplest part of Conrad’s system is his encoding of salad dressings. He uses letters: B for blue cheese; /-/for the house dressing; 0 for oil and vinegar; F for French; T for Thousand Island. A series of orders, always arranged according to entree, might spell a word, like B-O-O-T, or a near-word, like B-O-O-F, or make a phonetic pattern: F-O-F-O. As Ericsson says, Conrad remembers orders, regardless of their size, in chunks of four, This is similar to the way Faloon stores digits, and it seems to support Chase and Ericsson’s contention that short-term memory is limited and that people are most comfortable working with small units of information. One of the most intriguing things about Conrad is the number of ways he can associate material. Another is the speed with which he is able to call it up from memory. Ericsson and Poison have also tested him with animals, units of time, flowers, and metals. At first, his recall was slow and uncertain. But with relatively little practice, he could retrieve these â€Å"orders† almost as quickly as he could food. â€Å"The difference between someone like John, who has a trained memory, and the average person,† says Ericsson, â€Å"is that he can encode material in his memory fast and effortlessly. It’s similar to the way you can understand English when you hear it spoken. In our tests in the lab, he just gets better and faster.† â€Å"What John Conrad has,† says Poison, â€Å"is not unlike an athletic skiil. With two or three hundred hours of practice, you can develop these skills in the same way you can learn to play tennis.† (1945 words) I Comprehension Quiz Choose the best way of finishing each statement, based on what you have just  read. 1. The psychology professor discovered John Conrad’s incredible ability to memorize: a. in school b. on a test c. in a restaurant 2. Conrad agreed to let the professor study his memory because: a. Conrad was interested in psychology b. Conrad wanted to increase his income c. Conrad needed to improve his memory 3. The famous Russian mnemonist Shereshevskii used a memory trick called loci to remember objects by: a. associating them with events in Russian history b. imagining them placed along a street in Moscow c. picturing each one in his mind in a different color 4. The memory trick used by Steve Faloon was the association of certain numbers with: a. running times b. important dates c. both the above d. none of the above 5. Conrad had been: a. a gifted student b. a below-average student c. an average student 6. Part of Conrad’s motivation for developing memory tricks to aid him as a waiter was: a. his desire to get his boss’s job b. his great admiration for the headwaiter c. his fear of not finding any work 7. Imagine that four customers have requested that their steaks be cooked in the following way: well-done, medium, medium-rare, rare. According to John Conrad’s â€Å"mental graph† technique, this order would be remembered as: a. a steadily ascending line b. a steadily descending line c. a mountain range 8. From this article a careful reader should infer that: a. everyone has about the same memory capacity and can develop a superior memory through practice and motivation b. a good or bad memory is an ability that a person is born with and cannot change to any great degree c. there is still no conclusive evidence as to whether outstanding memories are inborn or developed II Finding Support For or Against a Hypothesis As the article points out, some psychologists today believe that extraordinary memories are simply the result of development through hard work and the application of a system. According to them, an average person could achieve a superior memory if he or she tried hard enough. Find evidence from the article to support this hypothesis. Then find evidence from the article that goes against this hypothesis. What is your opinion of this controversial question?