European Business Environment Essay

Introduction This paper focuses on the enlargement of the European Union (EU) and its effects on external and internal relations. Taking into account the analysis and forecast presented before enlargement, it shows the real consequences of the development. The most essential consequences, as well as problems in part of decision-making and administration in the EU, social consequences of the enlargement, as well as the result of the possible economic enlargement of the on both existing member countries and new entrant countries. In taking into account the future of the European Union and the perception of regional European, the study specify that for the first time in many decades the EU has the opportunity to strengthen the global role of the society and reunify the continent supported by a common democratic standards and rules, a collapse in the process of European integration would mainly perhaps mean the gradual marginalization of Europe as a foremost actor of international associations. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the bipolar order greatly affected the development of European integration. One of the main basic challenges was the disappearance of the Eastern Bloc, as the threat of the Soviet hostility served for many years as a amalgamate aspect for the Western community (Baun, 2004). The next challenge was the unification of Germany, as it was obvious for most of European countries that the prospect role and position of the united German state would be stronger and further important than that of Cold War-era Western Germany. At the same illustration, the European Union, formally established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993, had to respond to broader problems about its international target and the future shape. It was apparent that the European Union possibly could not have opened its door to nation that was unwary or unable to prove the good organization of their democratic governance. Additionally, the setback for the EU was that planed to outlook for the relationship served as encouragement for the new democratic organization in East-Central Europe to carry on their complex and socially troublesome reforms, the flourishing results of which became significant for the strength of the whole continent. The solution was the Copenhagen condition, explained at the summit of the European Council in Copenhagen in 1993. The rules placed general necessities for starting effective democratic organizations, respect for individual and minority human rights, and suitable instruments for promised market economy (Lindner, 2003).Upon meeting the requirement, the first candidates was capable of open the accession talks in 1998. Ten new members that united the European Union on 1 May 2004 completed these consultations in 2002. Jointly with the growth in 2004, the EU-15 developed into EU-25; after Bulgarian and Romanian accession on 1 January 2007, the coming together became the EU-27. The growth from 15 to 27 member states was the biggest in the history of European incorporation process growing the number of the EU population from about 380 to 485 million. The new states members were medium-sized and small countries, though; each of the new associate has achieved the same rights as existing members of the EU. The enlargement of Eastern has been the major difficulties in the history of European integration, not simply because of the number of new states member joining the European Union at the same time, but mainly because of differences in the level of the gross national product (GNP) involving the old and the new members states of the EU. An evaluation of GNP per capita confirms that the richest new members state have not go beyond 40% of the standard EU-15 level and much bigger asymmetry is opened by the evaluation with the wealthiest states members of the old union (Miles, 2004). In reality, earlier enlargement rounds, like the one in 1973, to comprise the Ireland, Denmark and United Kingdom the one in 1995, to include Austria, Finland, and Sweden, was accessions of states similar in economic improvement and wealth. Merely the membership of Spain and Greece in 1981 and Portugal in 1986 caught up the enlargements of countries, which were much not as good as at the moment of their accession than the standard member of the society. This led to a question of harmony between the poorer members and the rich, and needed additional financial contribution of the wealthiest member states to sustain political and economic transformation in the new member countries. Although the old member countries reacted with hesitation, they finally agreed to such assistance, being aware that it would support democratic transformation on the Continent and support to eliminate intimidation of instability for the whole society, while contributing to formation of the common European marketplace. Nevertheless the Eastern enlargement twenty years later on was incomparable in its unevenness of economic potentials and the interns of GNP per capita involving the old and the new members still with the Southern growth of the European Community (EC) in the mid-1980s (Nugent, 2004). This irregularity of enlargement collectively with fears in Western Europe about social cost, problems of intra-union administration as well as the continuing crises of EU characteristics have compounded the face of the Eastern enlargement years after the enlargement, these concern continue to distress the integration development, consequently it is worth focusing on a few of them. Even ahead of agreement, it was obvious that the Eastern enlargement from 15 to 28 members would force management and decision-making processes in the European Union, as well as the possible to paralyze or at least make difficult the mechanisms formed in the EU-15. Predicting the enlargement, the old members attempted to organize the internal decision-making systems to incorporate the new members. The Amsterdam and Nice Treaties broaden the scope of verdict to be taken supported on Qualified Majority Voting (QMV), as an alternative of harmony, and the Nice Treaty formed a specific majority system (Schmitter, 2004). It established each of the 27 members an exact number of votes gleaming its demographical potential. The major members of the EU France, Germany, Italy and the UK, were awarded 29 votes each, and the smallest states: Luxembourg 3 and Malta 4 votes, correspondingly. Poland, as the largest new member, was given 27 votes, the equivalent to the number as Spain. However, the rule of the accord has remained at as the foundation of all decision-making in the EU, particularly when it comes to critical political decisions. Even so, the caution of Taylor remained applicable as the effectiveness of decision-making in the distended European Union needed further internal amendment. The response was Treaty making a Constitution for Europe signed in Rome on 29 October 2004. The new agreement went comparatively far in its application, yet Netherlands and the France rejected the European Constitution in referendums and the last effort to improve the internal utility of the EU was the Lisbon Treaty signed on 13 December 2007. The Lisbon Treaty is in actual fact a series of provisions originally presented in the European Constitution. It has make things easier for the   EU’s legal procedures and has established the European Union a legal personality, as well as helping harmonization of the EU’s policies establishing the posts of the EU President and Foreign Minister. It reflects the objections of some members who strained the principal independence of the member states, resultant in the cut of most references that could advocate for the character of the European Union as a (super-) state, counting the initial names of the new EU council. As an effect, the new EU Foreign Minister has lastly become the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. However, the prospect of the treaty had been vague for almost two years, as its implementation required confirmation in all member states. After the optimistic result of the second Irish referendum on 2 October 2009, the president of the Czech Republic, the Polish president, Vaclav Klaus and Lech Kaczynski, finally decided to sign the Treaty. This permitted the Lisbon Treaty to come in into force on 1 December 2009 (Nugent, 2004a). The approach of the citizens in the new member states towards European incorporation has generally been optimistic. For instance, the effects of the agreement referendum in Poland demonstrated support for the association at 77%. After enlargement, assistance in Poland is still at a high level of about 70% (Preston, 1997). The Office of the Committee for European Integration, Warsaw 2009 all together, still, enlargement provoked serious worries among Western EU member countries. The forecast of the enlargement were a basis of anxiety among the populace in the old, wealthier counties members of the EU, as well as the fears of joblessness and huge immigration of employees from the much poorer states of East-Central Europe. Piotr M. Kaczynski specified that the new states were better organized for enlargement as they projected changes and were required to plan for membership. The older members and their societies only experienced the test of the Eastern enlargement on the day of new members’ agreement (Nugent, 2004b). This resulted in the distribution of fears and slogans about the â€Å"Polish nurse† or â€Å"Polish plumber† frightening for employment chances for local Western Europeans. Few in Western Europe left devoid of the benefits of the Eastern enlargement for stabilization, democratization, and union of the continent. Yet the Westerners worried that Eastern enlargement would establish   the questions of decision-making, management, asymmetry in economic potentials and as well as raise the requirement for a broader process of structuring mutual consideration between the two share equally of Europe divided for almost 50 years by the â€Å"Iron Curtain.† (Hagemann, Sara/De, Julia 2007) Still, there were numerous forecasts concerning the migration prospective. Some of them projected that the immigration from the new states would differ from 6% to even 30% of their total populace (105 million), but those more practical showed that the migration would be approximately 3-5% or yet only 2% in the longer time, taking return migration into consideration (Nugent, 2004b). In actuality, the Eastern enlargement has only in part established the fears of Western European civilization and its social effects have been less serious than projected. At the same time, it has established most of the scholars’ forecasts. In agreement with the data obtainable by Euro stat for the end of 2008, the total digit of the immigrants from the new states members has been approximately 1.7 million (Guà ©rot, 2005).This does not comprise session seasonal personnel, the number of which could be expected as an additional few hundred thousand with a propensity to sluggish down for the reason that of the current world economic disaster. The most frequent immigrants were Poles (Poland being the most crowded new member state) and Romanians operating mostly in the Ireland, Spain, and United Kingdom. Polish specialist have projected that the actual number of Poles operating in the old member countries of the EU has been at the level of 1–1.12 million (out of entirety 38 million of populace) with a possible of additional 0.6 million of seasonal recruits (Stacey, and Berthold 2003). These numbers may seem considerable, but it would be difficult to treat them as a massive influx of workers from the East. All in all, the trouble of migration from the new state member cannot be overlooked and will go on to play an important role in the opinion of euro-skeptics, but it emerge to be much less grave than originally estimated. This is accurate mainly in the situation of the current world economic catastrophe and increasing social protests adjacent to the foreign employment force in the UK and other principal states of the European Union. It may perhaps also persuade the old members to formulate informal efforts at protectionism, although the regulations of the free movement of industry and capital within the European particular market. One of the areas of debate before enlargement was the cost of the process. Yet it seems that the Eastern enlargement of the European Union has not been overly expensive, especially in comparison to the benefits. Several authors have concluded that in the longer term the enlargement would have small but positive growth effects on the whole EU, although lower in the case of the old members and higher with regard to new member states, with forecasts of an additional overall EU growth by 0.5 to 0.7%. However, it is clear that the main benefits of the enlargement are political ones, namely the opportunity to reunify the Continent and in this context, the costs of the enlargement were indeed low (estimated for the financial framework 2004-2006 at 40.16 billion euro, or 1.08% of EU GNP) (Faber, 2009). Though, looking at the differences in economic prospective and wealth-level involving the old states and new states members, it seems not possible to expect that their convergence would be attained in the short or even medium time. This implies a tough need for aiding funds from the richest states of the European Union for the improvement of the new state members. Therefore, the dilemma of financial unity between the poorest and the richest in the EU will turn into much more grave for the future of the Union than whichever time before, still after the Southern enlargement in the 1980s (Falkner, 1996). The narrow financial wealth at the Union’s disposal has led to discussion in the EU about its financial point of view. The member states take up two differing positions. France and Germany, as the leading donors, have grown hesitant to increase their assistance to the common EU budget. The financial discussions for the period 2007-2013 incorporated the demand of the major net-contributors to edge the EU resources to 1% of the Community’s GNP. The ultimate resolution accepted a maximum of 1.045%, but the indecision of the richest members to wrap the additional expenditure of the enlarged EU was understandable. The new state members, conversely, joined the EU with the hope of financial support and harmony. Knowing that their active growth depend on the kindness of the richest states of the EU, the new state fear that, the imposing idea of harmony might crash with the exaction economic interests of the main EU members. Such a distribution of the EU members into the center of the most urbanized and wealthiest nations and East-Central Europe as an edge could intimidate European integration. Yet even though the limited economic resources exist in the EU budget, the supporting of the new members states has been reasonable so far. Poland, for instance, as the largest recipient, is getting a net-assistance of â‚ ¬60 billion in the episode of 2007-2013, mostly in the form of structural and solidity funds. However, the most important concern is to keep this level of the help in the next financial agenda (2014-2020). This will be the main issue of the future discussion. The wealthiest and strongest states of the EU have well thought-out reducing some forms of support to new member’s states and support spending that would center more on new technologies, competitiveness, and innovation of the EU in the global economy. Even if it is apparent that the EU requires being more successful on the global prospect, it is evident that the financial capital available in the upcoming EU budget for innovation and new technologies would most possibly help the wealthiest state of the Union. The new states with their much poorer economies and less innovative will not be capable to struggle for this money. The new East-Central European members projected full-fledged contribution in the decision-making method of the EU, as well as value for their opinion, despite their imperfect economic potentials. But the political discussion just after the Eastern extension, which led into the new suggestion of the European Constitution and the Lisbon Treaty, were challenging for the new members states and tackle them with the perception of the new form of the European Union only a few months following their agreement. These circumstances were most difficult for Poland the largest country in the group of new states, however a medium-size state members in the EU with its ambition of playing an active political task in the European Union. In the case of Poland, which was to lower some of its recognized position in the EU exacted in the number of votes in a number of Union institutions, it was hard to clarify to people why the regulations of the membership must be altered so quickly after the agreement. Examining the first epoch after the Eastern extension, Piotr M. Kaczynski sustains that the economic outcome of the growth have been clearly constructive. The new state members improved quickly and much earlier than expected. Though, he finds that the political aspect of the enlargement is harder to review. After a first period of compliance, the new state members, particularly Czech Republic and the Poland, became more self-confident in the EU, which resulted to some quarrel between the administration of these nations and EU system. Equally Czech Republic and the Poland mainly reacted to the thoughts coming from the Western part of the EU. Their political program, if any, were typically poorly set and cast off (Steunenberg, 2002a). Later, after the enlargement, Poland and all new members comprehend more visibly that it is not only the amount of votes that make a decision their place and ability to pressure decision-making procedures in the EU. They have attained convenient experience and become more familiar with the actual political device, including the regulations of effective alliance building and cooperation. Dirk Leuffen has explained it as a progression of â€Å"socialization† in which the new state members learn how to deal with the informal and formal rules and standards in the EU. From his perspective point of view, this socialization should be well thought-out as a medium-term development ( Dirk 2010). The skill gained; during the five years following the enlargement appear to back up that the time of socialization will be shorter relatively than longer. The current Polish-Swedish suggestion of Eastern Partnership (Steunenberg, 2002b), to reinforce collaboration with several Eastern neighbors of the inflamed European Union, helped by the other members of the EU, demonstrate that new states can efficiently take part to flourishing program, or at slightly be significant partners of doing well initiatives offered together with some old states members. As consequence, the succession of the new states from East-Central Europe has not been as â€Å"detrimental† to the EU administration as it was at times recommended in Western Europe earlier than the enlargement. In conclusions, the effects of the Eastern enlargement on external and internal relations of the European Union have not been as â€Å"tragic† as it was occasionally feared prior to enlargement. The addition from 15 to 28 member nations, as well as the significant economic unevenness between old state and new state member have shaped some administration problems for the EU, but they have not busted it. The European Union ought to now focus on amplification of its present instruments and institutions. The new states have rapidly learned the Union’s regulations and procedures and to place political conciliation before majority of votes. Thus, the agreement code has retained its center value in the EU. The significance of the incorporation process is the vision of a new regional individuality based on resolution among the European countries. The Eastern enlargement has opened the way to a real unification of the continent. After the occurrence of two World Wars on its region, it behooves Europe not to lose this opportunity. Thus, harmony between the old states and new members remains the subject to a flourishing future of the society. References Baun, Michael 2004: â€Å"Intergovernmental Politics†. In: Nugent, Neill (ed.) European Union Enlargement. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 132-145. Blockmans, Steven/Prechal, Sacha (eds.) 2008: Reconciling the Deepening and Widening of the European Union. The Hague: T.M.C Asser Press Dehousse, Renaud/Deloche-Gaudez, Florence/Duhamel, Olivier (eds.) 2006: Élargissement. Common l’Europes’adapte. Paris: Centre d’à ©tudes europà ©ennes, Presses Sciences Po. Dirk Leuffen 2010. â€Å"Breaking the Camel’s Back? Eastern Enlargement and EU Governance.† ECPR Paper Number 853, Center for Comparative and International Studies, ETH Zurich, p. 6 Faber, Anne 2009: â€Å"Eastern Enlargement in Perspective: A Comparative View on EC/EU Enlargements†. In: Loth, Wilfried (ed.): Experiencing Europe. 50 Years of European Construction 1957-2007. Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 305-325. Falkner, Gerda 1996: â€Å"Enlarging the European Union†. In: Richardson, Jeremy J. (ed.) European Union. Power and policy-making. London/New York: Routledge, pp. 233-246 Guà ©rot, Ulrike 2005: †Consequences and Strategic Impact of Enlargement on the (Old) EU†. In: Brimmer, Esther/ Frà ¶hlich, Stefan (eds.): The Strategic Implications of European Union Enlargement. Johns Hopkins University: Centre for Transatlantic Relations, pp. 53-72. Hagemann, Sara/De Clerck-Sachsse, Julia 2007: Decision-Making in the Council of Ministers: Evaluating the Facts. CEPS Policy brief No. 119, January 2007, available at http://www.ceps.be. Lindner, Johannes 2003: â€Å"Institutional stability and change: two sides of the same coin†. Journal of European Public Policy 10:6, December 2003, pp. 912-935. Miles, Lee 2004: â€Å"Theoretical Considerations†. In: Nugent, Neill (ed.) European Union Enlargement. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 253-265. Nugent, Neill (ed.) 2004: European Union Enlargement. Palgrave Macmillan. Nugent, Neill 2004a: â€Å"Previous Enlargement Rounds.† In: Nugent, Neill (ed.): European Union Enlargement. PalgraveMacmillan, pp. 22-33. Nugent, Neill 2004b: â€Å"Distinctive and Recurrent Features of Enlargement Rounds.† In: Nugent, Neill (ed.): European Union Enlargement. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 56-69. Preston, Christopher 1997: Enlargement and Integration in the European Union. London/New York: Routledg Schmitter 2004: â€Å"Neo-Neofunctionalism†. In: Wiener, Antje/Diez, Thomas (eds.): European Integration Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 45-74. Stacey, Jeffrey/Rittberger, Berthold 2003: â€Å"Dynamics of formal and informal institutional change in the EU†. Journal of European Public Policy 10:6, December 2003, pp. 858-883. Steunenberg, Bernard (ed.) 2002: Widening the European Union. The politics of institutional change and reform. London/New York: Routledge. Steunenberg, Bernard 2002a: â€Å"Enlargement and reform in the European Union†. In: Steunenberg, Bernard (ed.): Widening the European Union. The politics of institutional change and reform. London/New York: Routledge, pp. 3-20. Steunenberg, Bernard 2002b: â€Å"An even wider Union. The effects of enlargement on EU decision-making†. In: Steunenberg, Bernard (ed.): Widening the European Union. The politics of institutional change and reform. London/ New York: Routledge, pp. 97-118.

The First Presidential Debate in 2000

For the first time face to face the first debate of the 2000 presidential election was held at the campus of the University of Massachusetts. For ninety minutes last night, Democratic candidate Vice President Al Gore and Republican Candidate Governor of Texas George W. Bush battled one another over tax cuts, prescription drugs, Social Security, energy policy, abortion, and education. On issues such as tax cuts, the Vice President proposed a plan, which cut taxes for middle class families, balance budgets every year, and pay down the national debt. He accused the Governor of cutting taxes for only the wealthiest 1% of the population. Gore†s plan was for every $1 given to things like education and health, another $1 would be given for middle class tax cuts, and for every dollar spent there, $2 would be expended to bring down the national debt. Gore felt that it was important to resist squandering the budget surplus. He also felt the prosperity should be used to enrich families and help parents strengthen families, making sure the schools they attended were safe, and preventing exposure to â€Å"cultural pollution.† Governor Bush†s views on tax cuts differed. His proposal was to put one half towards Social Security, one fourth towards important projects and the remaining one fourth to the people who pay the bills. Also accusing Gore of â€Å"Medi Scare,† he said he would make sure all seniors have Medicare and a variety of options to choose from. He also proposed a plan, Immediate Helping Hand, in which seniors could get immediate healthcare if they needed it. Gore opposed his Medicare payment plan saying that it would fail to help seniors for the first four to five years and that Bush†s plan spends â€Å"more money on tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent, than all the spending he proposes for education, health care, prescription drugs and national defense combined.† He also had much to say about the energy crisis. He wants to explore local areas for gas and oil, thus reducing dependency upon foreign sources. Gore agreed that reliance overseas for oil should be reduced but had something else in mind to reduce it. He proposed the idea of new trucks, cars, and machinery that reduces pollution and uses less energy. Bush felt that we should, rather than import one million barrels of oil a day from Saddam Hussein, drill the oil here. He wants to also join Canada and Mexico in exploring the land for oil reserves. Out of all the comments that Bush made about Gore last night, the most prominent one probably was when he kept on asking why Gore†s priorities haven†t been accomplished by now. For example, on prescription drugs, he said, † It seems like they can†t get it done† And on energy policy to prevent future shortages he said,† He should have been tackling it for the past seven years.† Another would be when Gore did the math on Bush†s tax plan and demonstrated why it would not be a good decision, Bush replied that he was doing â€Å"fuzzy math.† and â€Å"phony numbers† They couldn†t even agree on the size of the tax cut. Bush said that he would return $1.3 trillion of the predicted ten-year budget surplus to taxpayers. Gore said it would be $600 billion more than that.

Answers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Answers - Assignment Example There are religious people, the seminarian and the priest. There are also his children: the son Hubert, the oldest daughter Genevieve, and Marie, the youngest daughter who died. He mentions his nephew Luc, and his sister in law Marinette who is Luc’s mother. Genevieve is married to Alfred, and they have a child, Janine who is married to Phili. Hubert is married to Olympe. Louis also has an illegitimate son called Robert. 2. Louis is the main character of this novel. What are the significant events of his life? Who is involved in the events of his life? Would you be able to fill out a timeline of Louis' life – Louis as a child and young man; Louis as an adult; Louis as he's dying? In the first phase of his life Louis has a lot of good fortune, despite his humble origins. He has a fine education and marries Isa, who is socially in a higher class than he is. He describes having children with her, but becoming distant with his wife in mid life , and leaving the church. He h as a lot of success in his job as a lawyer, but as he grows older he is unfaithful and bitter. As an older man he is sick, and wants revenge on his ungrateful children, but a part of him is conscious of his own faults in this life story so far. 3. What kind of man is Louis? How would you describe him? Does Louis change at all over the course of the novel? If you say 'yes,' why does he change? I would describe Louis as eloquent but somewhat self-absorbed. He analyzes everything in great detail, and holds a grudge for decades if something does not please him. He was undoubtedly a very unpleasant man in mid-life and as an older man, acting like a tyrant in his family and being very irritable. As death approaches, however, he does undergo some change, because he reflects on the whole of his life and looks behind superficial actions, both his own actions and those of others. I think this makes him more generous and accepting of human weakness than before, and so he does undergo some kind of transformation at the end. 4. What is the nature of Louis' relationship with his wife, Isa, at the time that Louis is writing this letter? How does Louis feel toward Isa? Why? Do we get any sense of how Isa feels about Louis? The best way to describe Louis’ feelings towards Isa is â€Å"mixed†. 5. Was Louis and Isa's relationship always as it is at this point in time? What was the effect on Louis of falling in love with Isa? Louis obviously loved her when he married her, and was jealous of the man she loved before she knew him. He had money and she had social status, and so in practical terms it was a good marriage. He thought he had attained the kind of wife he deserved, and she made him happy at first. 6. How does their relationship change and evolve over time? Why does it change? The relationship deteriorates because Louis cannot forgive a relationship she had with another man before her marriage to Louis. She continues to be a good mother to their children, but she withdraws from Louis, and he withdraws from her. Enmity creeps in, and he regards her as a hypocrite because she is very religious, and yet cold towards him. Louis thinks Isa does not properly recognize and value his work achievements (Part VI, p 77 â€Å"you were the only person who remained deaf to the universal applause of my gifts as a pleader†). 7. What is Louis' relationship to each of his children? How does he think of them? What does he feel about them? Louis is very fond of his youngest daughter Marie, who died. He is not friendly towards Hubert and Genevieve,

The Implications of American Outsourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Implications of American Outsourcing - Essay Example Over the years the American economy has taken a drastic turn for the worse, especially in the realm of job sustainability. In a study conducted by the University of California, "14 million white-collar jobs are vulnerable to being outsourced offshore" (Roberts, 2005). These include jobs requiring a high-level of skill including "information technology, accounting, architecture, advanced engineering design, news reporting, stock analysis, and medical and legal services" (Roberts, 2005). According to another study done by EconEdlink, America's unemployment rate has increased alarmingly since 2001, after having experienced a period of substantial lows throughout the mid-90s. After that the unemployment rate remained somewhat steady, with a spiked increase between 2003 and 2004 followed by occasional yet not extremely noteworthy decreases. (See Figure 1 & 2 for a visual depiction of this phenomenon). How can outsourcing be justified in the face of such figures To make matters worse, many of the persons displaced by outsourcing are those who have spent a great deal of time, money and energy at colleges or other academic institutions trying to acquire specialized skills. When education can no longer offer assurance for an individual's financial future, "the value of the investment in training, and in the individual, to promote growth in America's society, and economy, is diminished" (Torrance, 2006). In fact, it is not too uncommon to hear IT graduates mumble about how there are so few jobs available because the jobs they were trained to do are now being exported (Torrance, 2006). Consequently, professional workers affected by outsourcing must consider either negotiating lower wages or changing their vocation completely. The former option seems unrealistic especially considering "businesses who are outsourcing can set a minimum wage in developing countries that would never be accep ted as a minimum wage in America" (Torrance, 2006). The latter option only exists as long as there are industries that are willing to do business primarily in the United States. If other companies also believe outsourcing will improve their profitability, then where can the American worker turn Outsourcing proponents argue that even though outsourcing may take a few jobs away initially, in the long run it will put more money in America's pocket by lowering the cost of consumer goods and services. It will help create a sector of jobs more reliant on management and creativity than a fulfillment of 'worker-ant' responsibilities. All of this could be true as long as some form of employment remains available for Americans to earn money for spending. However, if everyone outsources it will get to the point that reduced costs won't matter because Americans simply won't have the money to

Strategies for Environmental and Resource Governance Term Paper

Strategies for Environmental and Resource Governance - Term Paper Example But it also further enriches a powerful minority, mainly the already wealthy, and this poses a major barrier to change.† Without effective interventions, we are teetering precariously near the edge of a precipice. This paper looks at the case of water as a prime example of a finite resource whose depletion, if left unarrested, will create serious problems for the world.Fresh water is a basic human necessity. We need it for drinking, sanitation and personal hygiene, irrigation, hydroelectricity, for the natural resources it contains (such as fish), to preserve ecological balance, as part of our cultural mythology and for enjoyment (as part of the scenery).Flowing river water is a common resource which confers user rights but no private ownership rights. Groundwater, on the other hand, is subject to private ownership and therefore vulnerable to excess exploitation. This also makes ground water harvesting practices more scattered and difficult to implement and monitor. As more and more parts of the world face increasing water shortages and water commoditization, the issue of water scarcity – how it is perceived, problematized and the consequences in the form of policy responses – becomes crucial. ... First and foremost, it is essential to study the concept of scarcity – its underlying assumptions and how these translate in policy terms. Scarcity is a central concept in economic theory, particularly neoclassical economic theory, which in turn has strongly influenced policy thought. This focus on scarcity as deriving from economic thought, has important implications for policy planners. Firstly, scarcity is a given in economics. Thus, policy makers need not necessarily try and understand the nature of the scarcity – whether it is absolute or relative, constructed or real (Mehta 2003 and 2006) They can simply accept it as a natural and inevitable condition, evaluating only the degree of scarcity and building responses accordingly. Secondly, under conditions of scarcity, the market is considered to be the most efficient allocator of resources. In many developing countries, the market is replaced by the state, but scarcity is still considered to be addressable external t o the situation either by the market (by privatising water for example) or by the state (through prioritising of needs and resources connected to water). Segerfeldt proposes that the problem is not the shortage of water, but the absence of or deficiency in effective policies. He states: Worldwide, 1.1 billion people, mainly in poor countries, do not have access to clean, safe water. The shortage of water helps to perpetuate poverty, disease and early death. However, there is no shortage of water, at least not globally. We use a mere 8 per cent of the water available for human consumption. Instead, bad policies are the main problem. Even Cherrapunji, India, the wettest place on earth, suffers from recurrent water shortages. In looking at the roots of the problem

Creative Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Creative Thinking - Essay Example Brainstorming has become part of every management problem solving issue and lateral thinking is now part of any well-rounded planning process. Human beings seem to be born with the capacity to think creatively. Children, in the guise of play, begin to form their personality and their mind sets very early on in life. They creatively experiment with their own limbs as well as with the world around them. It is believed that this creative process in children is one, among many, reasons they can develop skills more quickly than adults. Their capacity for language acquisition is never greater than before the age of eight. A flash of insight, a clever way to do something, a realization of some truth about ourselves--all signal the activation of the creative mind. We deploy its enormous potential for creating new solutions in our lives when we free ourselves from many of our automatic reactions, reeducate ourselves to speak in original ideas not slogans, suspend judgment, avoid arguments and ego battles, listen more attentively, and think in terms of options instead of one right way. (Albrecht, 2002, p. 39) As illustrated by Einstein’s example, our brains tend to think in imagery. Words and language are the process by which we communicate and we are often forgetful about using imagery and our imaginations. Thinking in words, according to most researchers, comes after the brain has associated imagery with those words. Pattern recognition, which are brains are expert at, kick in but often concepts can become so concrete in words that we leave ourselves no other way of looking at it. By deconstructing that process with techniques like brainstorming, random input or provocation, derails our usually linear thought processes into more creative avenues. In the present study, imaging ability had a significant influence on creativity. Good imagers scored significantly better than poor imagers on

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

Cancer - Essay Example There are many factors causing cancer but unfortunately, we have not been able to clearly identify them. However, the United States Surgeon General published a report in 1988 "that diet could be responsible for up to 70% of all cancers - with a (conservative) 'best estimate' suggesting that diet was responsible for 35% of all cancers." (Coleman, 1995). Agents or substances that promote cancer, called carcinogens, cause cancer through alteration of metabolism in the cells or directly damage the DNA structure in cells. Most of these carcinogens are obtained from food like stored grains, nuts and peanut butter, and numerous potent carcinogens, which are similar to those found in cigarettes, may also be produced in cooking protein-rich food at high temperatures like broiling or barbecuing meat. Evidences show that fruit and vegetable rich diet lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke. One study done as part of the Harvard-based Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, the longest and largest study about the subject in history in which dietary habits of roughly 110,000 men and women were monitored for 14 years. In this study, it is clear that the higher the average daily intake of fruits and vegetables, the lower the risk of acquiring cardiovascular illnesses, as compared to those with less fruits and vegetables intake, were 30% less likely to have a heart attack or stroke. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, early studies revealed that a fruit and vegetable diet is likely to be a protection against certain cancers. A research on fruits, vegetables and cancer by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the World Health Organization, states that: "There is limited evidence for a cancer-preventive effect of consumption of fruit and of vegetables for cancers of the mouth and pharynx, esophagus, stomach, colon-rectum, larynx, lung, ovary (vegetables only), bladder (fruit only), and kidney. There is inadequate evidence for a cancer-preventive effect of consumption of fruit and of vegetables for all other sites." However, considering all evidence from human epidemiological, animal, and other types of studies, it appears that eating more fruit "probably lowers the risk of cancers of the esophagus, stomach and lung" and "possibly reduces the risk of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, colon-rectum, larynx, kidney, and urinary bladder." Eating more vegetables "probably lowers the risk of cancers of the esophagus and colon-rectum" and "possibly reduces the risk of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, stomach, larynx, lung, ovary and kidney." All fruits and vegetables contribute to minimize the risk of heart diseases, but green leafy and cruciferous vegetables, and citrus fruits and juice are the biggest factors in this field. Two studies in Harvard show that adding fruit and vegetable intake by one serving a day can surely reduce risks of coronary diseases by 4%. For ten years, researchers at Johns Hopkins in the US and Yonsei Univerity in Korea monitored about

Foreign Exchange Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Foreign Exchange Market - Essay Example So the more dollar exchanged the greater the value of the peso has. The value of each currency is not really fixed; it may start with a bigger value at the beginning of the day and may decrease as the day ends. The market of foreign exchange however can be analyzed in terms of supply and demand. So as mentioned in the first paragraph, the more of that currency is supplied to a country, the lower its value. So for example, when someone buys a product of a different country in their locality doesn't really deal with foreign exchange. It's the person who bought the currency of that certain country to buy that product and sell that product to their locality. So if an American buys a Japanese doll, it's the person who is selling that doll in their locality that bought yen who dealt with foreign exchange market because he will be purchasing that doll in yen and not in their own currency. That's why the more investors in your country are, with that certain currency, the lower the value of their currency is in your own country. So what are the basics in foreign exchange market First is the forex trading or what we also call as currency trading is always done in pairs.

The Human Genome Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Human Genome - Assignment Example Other countries and their respective genome research departments involved in the project include The Australian Genome Research Facility, Beijing Genomics Institute, Japan Science and Technology Corporation Sequencing Projects, and other companies located in France, Germany, and other countries sich as Mexico, Spain, and others across the globe. Through this international collaboration the following milestones were achieved by the project in record time ( 2008): Although various scientific fields tended to benefit from the results of the research there were still ethical and legal concerns among various sectors due to societal concerns such as the â€Å"fairness in use of genetic information, privacy and confidentiality of genetic information, Psychological impact and stigmatization due to an individuals genetic differences, including reproductive and clinical issues (2011) as well. The Human Genome Project does not end with the results of the DNA Sequencing. Thanks to the results of their experiments and discoveries, we now have an updated periodic table of elements and an unprecendented increase in medical breakthroughs related to unlocking the connection between the human DNA sequence and illnesses / viruses. It is expected that these research projects and medical developments will continue well into the future and result in a longer life span for human beings regardless of age and

Standardized testing Essay Example for Free

Standardized testing Essay Standardized testing has assumed a well-known role in recent efforts to advance the quality of education. Regardless of where they went to school or what curriculum they followed, students are tested on the same material, which can be loosely grouped into knowledge domains and skill sets that encompass; natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, reading, speaking, writing, and mathematics. National, state, and district tests, combined with minimum competency, special program, and special diploma evaluations, have resulted in a greatly expanded set of testing requirements for most schools. By definition, a standardized test is a test where the same test is given in the same manner to all test takers. It is administered and scored in a consistent or â€Å"standard† manner. It is designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures and interpretations are consistent, and are administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. 3 Using standardized tests to perform assessments is beneficial for several reasons. First, because standardized tests yield quantifiable information (scores, proficiency levels, and so forth), and results can be used in screening programs. Second, standardized test results provide information regarding an examinees areas of strength and weakness. Third, standardized test results allow a student to be compared to age- or grade-peers. And lastly, standardized tests can be used to assess students progress over time (e. g. , re-administering tests after the application of an intervention or following the institution of a remedial program the most significant benefit of results from a test given in a standardized fashion is that the results can be documented and empirically verified. This then allows for the results to be interpreted and ideas about an individuals skills generalized. Although standardized testing is beneficial in some situations, the validity and value of traditional standardized tests are subjects of increasing debate. Recent studies raise questions about whether improvements in test score performance actually signal improvement in learning. Student’s performance on one particular day and does not take into account external factors. There are many people who simply do not perform well on tests. Many of these students are smart and understand the content, but it doesn’t show on the test. Many students also develop test anxiety which hinders performance. Finally, there are so many external factors that play into test performance. If a student has an argument with their parents the morning of the test, chances are their focus isn’t going to be where it should be. In elementary schools less time is being spent on sciences, social studies and the arts to make way for  preparing the students  to take the tests in math, reading and writing. Teachers feel strong pressure, especially from district administrators and the media, to improve their students test scores. With the stakes getting higher and higher for teachers, this practice will only continue to increase. The sad reality is that it fosters an atmosphere that is boring and lacks creativeness. Teachers have such pressure to get their students ready for these exams that they neglect to teach students skills that go beyond the tests. But despite criticisms of standardized testing, the proficient teachers of today do not accept that their students have limitations, or are incapable of learning any given concept. Instead these teacher work hard every day to make material relevant for their children and develop lesson plans that speak to individual lesson plans. While both critiques and proponents of standardized testing could debate their sides all day, the need to assess students to determine both their progress and the progress of their teachers and schools is undeniable. Standardized testing evaluates students early in their education on their readiness both scholastically and behaviorally Students and their parents are able to measure at least generally their progress and areas in which they need. Standardized test shape people’s futures, so they need to be created fairly, so everyone has an equal opportunity to have a successful future. While the jury is still out on whether or not there is a better method of determining individual student progress. The need for a common measure to compare students to bring about change is still more present than ever.

Five Point Environmental Strategy Of Marriott International Tourism Essay

Five Point Environmental Strategy Of Marriott International Tourism Essay Introduction Since 1987, when the concept of sustainability was mentioned on a coordinated international platform, the movement towards sustainability had expanded across the globe. The governmental and non-governmental organizations, corporations and consumers those focusing on the need to exist in harmony with their surroundings and environmental footprints are increasingly. The hospitality industry also not exception, therefore the concept of sustainability has begun to gain momentum in this industry. (Ernst and Young, 2008) http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/pdf8/e_y120408.pdf Alison Sperry (2010) defined that Going Green means: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Going Green is making the daily decisions with responsible that benefits to the environment and also can reduce waste and pollution. This concept also encourages a lifestyle of recycling, using chemical-free products, using alternative energy sources such as wind and solar and reducing the dependency on fossil fuels for energy. Hotel businesses developed and operated by the consumption of significant amounts of natural resources which are affected the sustainability of the natural environment. The field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) therefore, has grown considerably over the last decade due to an increasing number of companies formally recognising the impacts they have on the environment, on society and on the economy (Jones et.al, 2006). Going greens concept is a concept of people learns how to make the environmentally friendly choices. Going green also is a concept that supporters make some changes to encourage healthier and environmentally friendly living. http://www.ehow.com/about_6681447_concept-going-green.html Ernst and Young (2008) defined that green: not a black and white issue. The travelers that concerned about the environment were increasingly and they always make their own determination as to what constitutes greenness in the lodging industry. http://www.ehow.com/about_6681447_concept-going-green.html According to Deloitte Survey (2008) showed that, consumers, employees and individual travellers start to concerned more about the hospitality industrys sustainability. Most of the individuals also start to changes their lifestyles and accepting higher green standards for themselves and also to the companies that they cooperate with. http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/us_cb_sustainability_190608(1).pdf Marriott International has more than twenty-year commitment to start the environmental preservation. The Marriott International is working toward a greener, healthier planet and their operating units are employ methods to protect the surroundings of natural and resources (Marriott, 1996 2010). Every year, the Marriott International and its owners had spent around 10 billion just for buy the products and services for its 3,300 hotels around the world. Marriott International also expanding its green hotels and buildings portfolios. Besides that, approximately 275 of Marriotts hotels have received the ENERGY STAR ® label from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Marriott, 1996 2010). http://www.marriott.com/marriott.mi?page=green_buildings Last but not least, Marriott International also was ranked 42nd out of 100 in The Greenest Big Companies on Newsweeks first-ever list. Moreover, Marriott International also gets the 2009 Tourism for Tomorrow Award for Sustainability in the categories of the Global Tourism Business by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) (Marriott, 1996 2010). The Problem Statement The problem of this topic is about how Marriott International. Inc. practices their going green programs in their properties. Marriott International Corporation is a leading worldwide hospitality company (Marriott, 2010). Currently, Marriott has more than 3100 of lodging properties is in the United States and 65 is in other countries and territories across 17 lodging and vacation resort ownership brands (Marriott, 2009). Marriott has more than twenty-year commitment to environmental preservation (Marriott, 2010). In 2007, Marriott formed a Global Green Council, a cross-functional team of senior executives that collaborated with Conservation International, a global environmental organization, to evaluate its practices, set long-term goals, develop an environmental strategic plan and catalyze its progress (Marriott, 2010). Five-point Environmental Strategy of Marriott International was developed in collaboration with Conservation International which are includes (Marriott, 2009): Reduce Consumption of Water, Waste and Energy Greener Buildings, expansion of LEED-certified hotels Greening Supply Chain Protecting the Rainforest with Carbon Offsets Employee Guest Engagement Over the last decade, for, the Marriott International corporate organized the Going Green programs which involved in energy conservation by changed 450,000 of the light bulbs with fluorescent lighting, installed around 400,000 low-flow of showerheads and toilets and also introduced the linens reuse programs in their hotels worldwide (Marriott, 2009). Besides that, the Marriotts Retro-Commissioning (MRCx) program, planning process and a comprehensive evaluation that helps their properties become as energy efficient as possible, was conducted at more than 30 of its largest properties (Marriott, 2009). Through projects completed over the last few years and those currently under way, Marriott anticipate saving 12 million kilowatts of power (Marriott, 2009). In general, properties find that after it implement all the recommendations that evolved from an MRCx assessment, it energy costs decrease 5 to 25 per cent and they are achieving, on average, a payback on their investment in just 1.4 years (Marriott, 2009). In the Americas, Marriott achieved a 2.2 per cent reduction per available room (Marriott, 2009). In late 2009, through a partnership with a U.S.-based landscaping company, Marriott adopted a climate-specific approach to landscaping, using native plants and restricted colour palettes to reduce irrigation demands and cut the amount of fertilizer required to keep plants healthy (Marriott, 2009). In 2009, Marriotts landfill waste in the USA totalled 726,993 tons which reflects a 17 per cent reduction from 2007(Marriott, 2009). Additionally, its recycling rate also was increased to 69 per cent and all the header quarters waste also was diverted from the landfill to the waste-to-energy plant (Marriott, 2009). Also, Marriott expanding its existing of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle programs that already in place of 90 per cent of hotels which included guest room and meeting rooms (Marriott, 2009). Forty Marriott International hotels are expected to receive the LEED certification from the USGBC (USGBC, 2010). In addition, Marriott internationals global Headquarters in Bethesda was received the LEED-Existing Building Gold status (USGBC, 2010). Moreover, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also had awarded Marriott International for three following years with its Sustained Excellence Award and more than 275 of its hotels also placed the ENERGY STAR ® label (Marriott, 2010). Marriott International has greening its supply chain by introduce the greener solutions at no extra cost (Marriott, 2009). For instance, Marriott has purchased 24 million of Greener key cards which consists 50 per cent of recycled material, which had save around 66 tons of plastics from dumped into the landfill (Marriott, 2009). Moreover, Marriotts will begin replacing the 100,000 synthetic pillows with those Eco-pillows that filled with material made from recycled bottles. In addition, one million of Earth-friendly towels that Marriott purchases in North America are no need to be pre-washed, which had save six million gallons of water (Marriott, 2009). Marriott hotels in Central Europe were used a laundry detergent that already cuts approximately 100,000 kg amount of phosphates released into waste water (Marriott, 2009). Marriott has teamed up with many Corporation or organizations to help them support their efforts to preserve and protect the environment (Marriott, 2009). For instance, Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS), Conservation International, ENERGY STAR ®, International Tourism Partnership (ITP), and U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The Marriotts protecting the rainforest strategy is help to protect 1.4 million of acres in endangered rainforest for the Juma Sustainable Development Reserve which partnership with the state of Amazonas in Brazil (Marriott, 2009). Research Questions The followings are some key questions addressed by his research: Is the Marriott International had practiced the going green? How the Marriott International practiced the going green in this industry? Why the Marriott international will practiced the going green? What level of going green programs of Marriott International? What differences between Marriott Internationals going green program with other companies? Does the going green program increase the income of Marriott International? Research Objectives To answer the above research questions, this study seek to accomplish the following objectives: To investigate going green practiced among all Marriott Internationals properties. To determine how the Marriott International practiced the going green. To determine the reasons of Marriott International practiced the going green. To examine the level of going green practiced among all Marriott Internationals properties. To compare the level of going green with other companies. To determine the advantages and disadvantages of going green in Marriott International. To determine the effect of going green programs to Marriott International. Hypothesis Statement Theoretical/ Conceptual Framework Conceptual Framework Marriott International. Inc. Going Greens Programs The strategies and programs of going green in Marriott International. Inc. The programs or strategies of going green in hospitality industry. The Actions that practices by Marriott International corporate. Theoretical Framework This research mostly searches on the Marriott International Corporate practising the level of going green in most of their properties. The reason why Marriott International become famous in going green program because their organized a lot of events or activities to greening their companies. In the internet or newspaper, we can see that Marriott International corporate organized a lot of activities in greening and get a lot of award internationally in greening program. Besides that, their also is one of the famous go green corporate in the world. Moreover, the going green is not easy to practices in the companies because it need a lot of resources to make it really work. Scope and Limitation This study was carried out among all Marriott International in going green program. The Marriott International, Inc.s operations are grouped into the five business segments which are North American Full-Service Lodging, North American Limited-Service Lodging, International Lodging, Luxury Lodging and Timeshare. Significance of the study The significance of this research is to evaluate the level of going green activities that practices or organized by Marriott International Corporate. According to The New York Times (2009), the Marriott International announced that they would no longer deliver newspapers to every guestroom in the morning. They only will deliver to which guest rooms had requested a newspaper or can pick one up in the lobby. Although that change is arguably as much about saving money more than saving trees. Marriott had assessed that it would reduce the newspaper distribution at its hotels to about 18 million only annually. http://zoominlocal.com/santa-rosa-press-democrat/2009/10/25/#?article=621947 Furthermore, this research is for acknowledge people around the world to know how important and advantages of going green in hospitality industries now a days. Now, most of the knowledge people are targeting the greening companies to cooperate with than normal companies. This is why more and more companies going to practising greening in their company because followed by the trend of all around the world. Chapter Two Literature Review 2.1 Introduction The literature review will begin with an essential understanding of the key points needed in order to accomplish the aim of the project. The research will be analysed in the literature to help construct an academic structure on the definition and concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The literature will also evaluate the purpose of sustainable development in the hospitality industry and its advantages and limitations. One area which has been particularly analysed is the going green programmes that practice by the hospitality industry as it contains most of the key areas. Furthermore, the literature reviews also analysing the views, theories arguments and perspectives of previous authors for assessment. The literature reviews also will finally perform as a source with which to analyse the differing perspectives on these key points identify gaps for argument and highlight key issues associated with going green programme in hospitality. 2.2 Corporate Social Responsibility Definitions and Concepts The field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown considerably over the last decade due to an increasing number of companies formally recognising the impacts they have on the environment, on society and on the economy (Jones et.al, 2006). CSR issues are now being integrated into all aspects of business operations and explicit commitment to CSR is made in the visions, missions and value statements of an increasing number of companies all over the world (Ofori and Hinson, 2007). Definitions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) have, however, remained an area of deliberation from the concepts very beginnings. A variety of definitions have been framed. The Commission of the European Communities (2001, p.6 ) defines CSR as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in the business operations and in their interactions with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. CSR therefore, is not just fulfilling legal responsibilities but may also go beyond compliance to embrace wider social, environmental and economic goals (Commission of the European Communities, 2001). The concept of CSR is one which has emerged over the last 50 years to occupy a significant role in certain aspects of organisational theory and has only been in wide use since the 1960s (Meehan et al., 2006). CSR was eventually recognised as businesses that are part of society and have the potential to make a positive contribution to social goals (Jones et al., 2006). CSR therefore seems to be synonymous with charitable and voluntary acts by business organisations designed to improve social skills. Conversely, Donaldson and Preston (1995) believe that businesses are not responsible to society but responsible to their stakeholders and view CSR from this perspective. One of the more cited definitions of CSR is proposed by the World Bank (2003), which defines CSR as the responsibility of businesses to contribute to sustainable economic development-working with internal stakeholders, the local community, and society to improve the quality of life which is positive for business and development. The similarity among these different definitions of CSR is that companies should engage in CSR behaviour as part of their organisational strategy. Bevan et al. (2004) list nine potential benefits of CSR which include reduced operating costs; improved profitability and financial performance; enhanced capability to innovate; better risk and crisis management; long-term sustainability for companies and the workforce; improved staff commitment and involvement; good relations with government and society; enhanced reputation and brand value; and enhanced customer relationships and increased awareness of customer needs. 2.3 The Sustainability Development of the Hotel Industry International Tourism Partnership (2010) defines the term green in business as originally related to environmental issues; it has evolved to embrace all aspects of sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Sloan et al. (2009) define a sustainable hospitality operation as one which manages its resources in such a way that economic, social and environmental benefits are maximised in order to meet the need of the present generation while protecting and enhancing opportunities for future generations. Green Hotels Association (2010, p.2) provides a more resource-oriented definition of the Green Hotel: Green Hotels are environmentally-friendly properties whose managers are eager to institute programmes that save water, save energy and reduce solid waste, while saving money to help protect the earth. According to Green Hotels Association (2010), Green Hotels have gained a foothold in lodging operators contribution to societys concern for the environment which focuses on programmes which are designed to save water, save energy and reduce solid waste. Programme components such as towel rack hangers and sheet-changing cards have achieved positive responses by hotel management staff as well as guests for over ten years (Green Hotels Association, 2010). The UK hotel sector would appear to accept that it does have an impact on the environment (Brown, 1996). This is not only confirmed by exploratory research but also through the formation of the International Tourism Partnership (ITP). The ITP has published an environmental magazine, the Green Hotelier, whose readership cares about environmentally and socially responsible hotel behaviour as focused on positive sustainable travel and tourism development (International Tourism Partnership, 2010). According to research by the Carbon Trust (Green hotelier, 2010), rising energy prices and taxes are the biggest worries facing the British hospitality industry in 2010. This view is supported by Alexander and Kennedy (2002) who find that the most costly and wasteful use of resources in hotels are usually in the consumption of non-renewable energy, excessive water use, and the generation of waste Brown (1996) argues that however the general manger of a hotel would appear to be restricted in introducing environmental improvements in the hotel unless a cost saving or other tangible benefit is identified. This view is supported by Butler (2008) who finds that the hospitality industry has been waiting for increased consumer demand and lower costs before it fully embraced green operation. In part, the slow adoption of green building standards has followed the approach that most hotel guests did not think that being green was that important, particularly if recycling or other green activities increased room rates or was inconvenient (Butler, 2008). Without consumers demanding green hotels, the perception of greater cost for green hotel development was an obstacle to the industrys adoption. 2.3 Case study of Accor and Hilton Based on their total room number and location of their hotels, the tho hotel groups selected for case study were Accor Hotel Group (Europe) and Hyatt Corporation (USA), being in 2009 the top 10 hotel groups in UK (Caterersearch, 2010). Marriott International Corporate also is one of the top 10 hotel groups in UK. Company Number of hotels Number of rooms Number of hotels worldwide 1 Whitbread Hotel Company 577+ 40,000+ 580 2 InterContinental Hotels Group 248 34,955 4,200   3 Travelodge (Dubai  International Capital) 372 23,150 380+   4 Accor Hotels   138   19,996   4,000 5 Hilton Hotels Corporation 78   16,566 3,200   6 Best  Western   285   15,305   4,035   7 Wyndham Worldwide 122 12,274   7,000 8   Marriott Hotels   58   12,015   3,200   9 Carlson  Hotels Worldwide     50   9,718 1,030   10   The  Rezidor Hotel Group  Ã‚     42   7.759   380 Table 1: Top 10 Hotel Groups in the UK, 2009 by number of bedrooms. (Caterersearch, 2010) 2.3.1 Accor Group Hotels Accor currently manages 4,100 hotels under 13 different brands worldwide (Accor, 2010). Accors philosophy is based on hospitality and respect for diverse cultures, incorporating environmental best practices in all its operations (Accor, 2010). The goals of their Earth Guest programme, launched in 2006, are to reduce water and energy consumption, promote balanced nutrition and to double, in three years, the number of hotels that offer fair-trade products (Accor, 2010). The programme is divided into two parts which are a social responsibility development area (EGO) and an environmental responsibility development area (ECO) (Accor, 2010). EGO is includes programmes for local development, the protection of children, combating of epidemics and the promotion of healthy eating; and ECO is includes the reduction of water and energy consumption, and the improvement of waste sorting and recycling, as well as the preservation of biodiversity (Accor, 2008 and 2009). The Hoteliers Environmental Charter is Accors internal benchmarking tool and provides the local hotel managers with guidelines for environmentally sustainable business practices. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (2010), the Hoteliers Environmental Charter has been adopted by 88% of Accors 4,000 properties. The Charter gives hotel managers and employees clear instructions on how resources can be saved in the areas of energy, water and waste (Accor, 2008). The first and second point of Hoteliers Environmental Charter considers is energy and water (Accor, 2010). Compact fluorescent light bulbs are used in 82% hotels for areas that remain light 24 hours a day (Accor, 2010). Accor also continued to promote the use of renewable energy sources, installing solar-powered hot water systems in 32 hotels in 2009, with a total of 99 hotels now equipped worldwide (Accor, 2009). Accor is actively involved in water conservation measures and water consumption per occupied room was reduced by 4% between 2006 and 2009 (Accor, 2009). Moreover, flow-regulators have now been installed in showers and faucets in 89% of hotels (Accor, 2009). Accor actively promotes waste sorting and recycling as well as eco-designed products for instance, 51% of hotels recover paper, cardboard and glass (Accor, 2008). Accor has improved its performance in waste management by manage with a dedicated waste management module that monitor the amount of waste produced per room, the recovery rate and the cost of waste disposal (Accor, 2009). Waste Traceability mainly concerns the separation of waste, where the company already achieves a high score in France owing to its proactive information policy (Accor, 2008). According to Accor (2010), their hotel prefers eco-labelled suppliers. In 2002, Accor dispatched an environmental purchasing charter to its purchasing organisations as well as to over 2,000 preferred suppliers (Sloan et al., 2009). 2.3.2 Hilton Hotels Currently, Hilton Hotels Corporation has more than 3,200 hotels and 525,000 rooms in 77 countries. In 2009, Hilton is new global headquarters in McLean, Virginia which meets the highest environmental standard for his design, operation and construction. (Environmental Leader, 2009) http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/08/11/hilton-kimpton-hotel-chains-go-for-the-green/ Besides that, the sustainability target that aims in coming 2014 by Hilton Hotels was announced. Those include: 20 per cent: Reducing energy consumption from direct operations; 20 per cent: Reducing CO2 emissions; 20 per cent: Reducing output of waste; 10 per cent: Reducing water consumption. Hilton has already begun to green its hotel operations. Through the introduction of carbon-free electricity at its facilities in the U.K. and Ireland, Hilton says it reduced CO2 emissions in participating Hilton hotels by more than 64,000 tons, or 56 percent of its carbon footprint. The company says it has also reduced its energy and water consumption 10 percent over the last two years. Hilton Hotels reported in May that it has delivered energy savings of more than 10 percent last year across more than 80 hotels in Europe. A 2007 survey conducted by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives and KDS revealed that only one-third of corporate travel policies promote sustainable tourism. While many travelers said they would prefer a green hotel, other factors such as price win out when theyre booking. 2.3.3 Summary Most major chains are looking for ways to integrate green into their hotels, and water and energy conservation are popular routes. Marriott International has set the goal of lowering GHG emissions 2.2 million pounds by 2010, says Ed Fuller, president and managing director of the company. Wolfgang Neuman of Hilton Hotels sees near-term moves toward eco-friendly air-conditioning, solar heating, and heat recovery systems to extract waste water from one system and use it in another. And by 2010, 200 of Accors hotels in France will have solar panels. Chapter 3 Methodology 3.1 Introduction In this dissertation, in order to obtain broad knowledge about environmental operating practise in the hotel industry, a wide range of secondary sources will be reviewed. In addition, research strategy adopted was to conduct multiple case studies in three top hotel companies in Europe and the USA. The main data collection techniques used in this research study was documentation analysis and content analysis. This chapter is divided into three sections. In the first, the interpretive stance in the field of information system is examined. The next section is about the construction of the secondary research design which deals with the research design and covers the reasons for selecting resources. Finally, section three describes the research approach followed in case study research. 3.2 Research Design Currently, secondary literatures have increase rapidly, particularly as new resources which are developed or ready through the internet (Saunders et al., 2009). In this research project, secondary research will allow the research to incorporate suitable and reliable data of green operation initiative in hospitality, so that all the gathered data can respond to the research questions relating to the green behaviour of hotel in Europe and the USA. Secondary research differs from primary research in the collection of the information is not the responsibility of the analyst. Stewart and Kamins (1993) point out that the analyst enters the picture after the data collection effort is over in secondary research. On the other hand, in primary research, the analyst is responsible for the design of the research, the collection of the data, and the analysis and summary of the information (Stewart and Kamins, 1993). Secondary data although, has lack of direct control of the date, type, and proced ure for collecting and recording of the data (Sauder et al, 2009), however, secondary data is more financial and time saving. For instance, secondary data particularly not necessary to wait for or pay to marketing researchers for a research project to collect primary data. By using secondary data, author can has more time and effort in analysing and interpreting the data, as it has already been collected. Secondary research moreover may increase the quality of the research by targeting the real dilemma and mistakes. Consultation on secondary resources increases the efficiency of the research by targeting real gaps and oversights in knowledge. Primary research therefore has not been used in this project due to the wide variety of secondary data has been found. Primary research methods such as, questionnaires or interviews will not provide relevant information for this topic. On this basis, it can be concluded that secondary research is the main source of information provided in this study including information from academic journals, books, corporate reports and internet. Nevertheless, author should analyse cautiously the information gathered to determine its validity and reliability. This is because the research only uses one kind of research models and the argument generated about research topic. 3.3 Sources of Data 3.3.1 Primary 3.3.2 Secondary Secondary research is the key resource of information incorporate in this dissertation; however, different secondary resources might have different type of information. A guideline for obtain valid and reliable information from different resources therefore, has been designed which can found in Table 4. Table 4 Type of information Resources that might have that information Established facts and figures Reference books; official publications; government web sites General information on a topic Books of collected articles; text books; web sites of relevant organisations Reviews of the literature on a topic Journal articles; books of collected articles Publications of recent research results Journal articles; proceedings of conferences Professional and academic debates Journal articles; web sites of relevant organisations; newspapers Table 4: The types of resources that provide different information. In order to justify the authors arguments and offer a range of information about the research topic, secondary resources such as academic journals, books, corporate report and the internet have been used. Academic journals have offered different views and theories of Corporate Social Responsible (CSR) concept and environmental operating practise in hospitality. Journals such as Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management and Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research illustrate some research studies that have been conducted concerning the green operation initiative in hotel industry. All the relevant information gathered from these journals will be analysed and used to evaluate the level of green behaviour of top hotel company. Journals however often assembled to research aims that differ from the current research; therefore, data and complex arguments has to be carefully evaluated, as well as understood and interpreted. The information in books is normally written in more well-organized and accessible way which will help to clarify the research questions and objectives. In this research, text book is rarely used due to insufficient related books in library about sustainability in hospitality. Sustainability

Pop art was a direct response to the commercial and consumer society Es

Pop art was a direct response to the commercial and consumer society of modern time†. Explain why this might be true. Pop art was an art formed by artist expressing their views. â€Å"Pop art was a direct response to the commercial and consumer society of modern time†. Explain why this might be true. Pop art was an art formed by artist expressing their views on modern day society. Pop art originally emerged from England in the fifties; although it was not exploited in England, in fact during the fifties it wasn’t very well implemented. In the sixties, in New York, pop art began to have a high prospective. Many artists soon realized that pop art could be expressed in a variety of forms, this soon related to its commercial use. Pop art soon became a major category in the art world. Numerous artists couldn’t really differentiate between sculptures or paintings if they were pop art, cubism, mosaic and many others. The category pop art can extend to any reach of art. The answer was simple; they could be in more than one category. Pop art brought art to the 20th and 21st century. Pop art was originally a descendant of Dada, Dada was a movement in the 1920’s but came to halt in the thirties due to the great depression that shook the world. Marcel Duchamp tried to breach the gap between art and society, his goal was to bring them closer together. Roy Lichtenstein set the highest standard and led the way of pop art. Lichtenstein was and still is considered...

Analysis of Harlem by Langston Hughes Essay -- Harlem Langston Hughes

Analysis of Harlem by Langston Hughes Through the turbulent decades of the 1920's through the 1960's many of the black Americans went through difficult hardships and found comfort only in dreaming. Those especially who lived in the ghettos' of Harlem would dream about a better place for them, their families, and their futures. Langston Hughes discusses dreams and what they could do in one of his poems, "Harlem." Hughes poem begins: "What happens to a dream deferred..." Hughes is asking what happens to a dream that is being put off. What do these dreams do, do they do good, do they do bad, or do they do neither good nor bad? He continues by stating this simile:"Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" Using this simile he is stating that dreaming can be good or bad. A raisin is a grape that has been dehydrated by the sun. Hughes is conveying that dreams can suck the life out of a person, mentally dehydrating them. However a raisin is not necessarily bad. When the grape is dehydrated by the sun it turns the grape into a raisin, a sweet and delightful friut which can furnish ...

Descriptive Language and The Lady of Shallot Essay -- The Lady of Shall

Descriptive Language and The Lady of Shallot In any piece of lyrical poetry, authors must masterfully use the language of the poem to covey the intended meaning. In order to ensure the meaning is not lost, it is imperative that the author incorporates various aspects of the narrative to escalate the poem past its face value. Alfred Tennyson’s poem â€Å"The Lady of Shallot† is no exception to the rule. From lines like â€Å"blue unclouded weather† and â€Å"the gemmy bridle glitter’d free†, one can draw that descriptive language is Tennyson’s tool to revealing the underlying meaning (Griffith 334). In each of the four parts of â€Å"The Lady of Shallot†, Tennyson uses descriptive language to convey his intended meaning to the audience. Tennyson uses Part I to show the setting of the poem, and introduces the Lady of Shallot to the audience. Part I starts off with a description of â€Å"Long fields of barley and†¦rye that clothe the wold (hilly, open country)† (Griffith 332). From this line in the opening stanza, the reader already gets a sense of where the poem takes place, a gently rolling countryside of utmost beauty. In the second stanza, lines like â€Å"Willows whiten, aspens quiver, little breezes dusk and shiver† further our mental picture of the setting (Griffith 332). Later in the stanza, we learn of â€Å"four gray walls, and four gray towers† and that â€Å"the silent isle imbowers the Lady of Shallot† (Griffith 332). Tennyson’s description in the last couple of lines of this stanza introduces the Lady of Shallot and gives a feeling of her isolation (which is quite important toward the poem’s meaning, and will be built on later in the piece). The final stanza in Part I tells how early morning workers â€Å"hear a song that echoes cheerly ... ...tiful and powerful. As soon as the Lady of Shallot decides to leave the tower, she knows her fate. And after she dies, the people of Camelot finally learn of the â€Å"fairy Lady of Shallot† (Griffith 332). Tennyson’s descriptive language in â€Å"The Lady of Shallot† is beautiful, and drastically enhances the meaning of the poem. The description of everything in the outside world is so vivid that it brings the Lady of Shallot to loose everything she has ever known. She is willing to give up her life to experience the brilliant things seen in her mirror†¦even if it is only for a few moments. Without Tennyson’s eloquent descriptiveness, â€Å"The Lady of Shallot† is much more than mere words. Bibliography: Work Cited Griffith, Kelley. â€Å"The Lady of Shallot† Narrative Fiction. Ed. Ted Buchholz. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers. 1994. 332-336.

Factors for Going Public Through an Ipo Essay

When an organization is private they have decisions to make. Going public through an initial public offering, or IPO is one decision they can choose. When going through an IPO there is going to be increased capital. A public offering will allow a company to raise capital to use for various corporate purposes such as working capital, acquisitions, research and development, marketing, and expanding plant and equipment (FindLaw, 2013). Other advantages of choosing an IPO would be liquidity, increased prestige, valuation, and increased wealth. Weaknesses Even though going public has some advantages, it can also have some disadvantages too. The time and expense is probably one of the biggest disadvantages with this choice. It can take over a year and much money for fees to even start the process of an IPO. Other disadvantages to going public through an IPO would be disclosure, decisions based on stock price, regulatory review, falling stock price, and vulnerability. Disclosure is another part that can be costly when starting an IPO. That means that the organization has to make all financial records available to the public. Opportunities Going public is a way to increase public awareness of the company. The company will have more exposure of its product line. This awareness will increase sales because the product will be introduced to a new group of potential clients. An opportunity to increase clients will have an increase in market share. Investors will have a positive reaction to the company as it increases its market share. Threats As a public company, there will be accounting practices that will need to be met. The SEC requires public companies to comply with the regulations. The cost to comply with SEC regulations can be expensive in addition to the regulations the SOX Act will require an external accounting firm to audit the company adding additional cost. Since Lafleur will now be operating as a public company, they will have the pressure to perform for the market. â€Å"The actions of the company’s management also become increasingly scrutinized as investors constantly look for rising profits. This may lead management to perform somewhat questionable practices in order to boost earnings† (K. Balasubramaniam, 2009). Factors for acquiring another organization in the same industry Strengths An organization can also acquire another organization in the same industry. A major strength with acquiring another organization is that Lafleur Trading Company would be the owner of both organizations and would hold the power of both at the same time. The new organization loses its power and sometimes even loses the name. Acquiring another organization might be done to save the original smaller company while boosting sales for the larger company. If Lafleur would choose to keep the client list of the new organization it would be strength for them and those clients. The clients would still be able to receive the same products, but under new owners. With the new organization being in the same industry Lafleur would not have to buy any additional equipment for the new product. They could just bring the product over to their buildings. Weaknesses Acquiring another organization has its weaknesses too. Customers can become upset over this because they want to be loyal to the previous owners over the newer ones. Lafleur would have to pay a premium to the affiliate of the organization to keep the customers happy (if they can) and without upsetting cash flow. Opportunities There is opportunity in a company’s strengths. Lafleur can take advantage of the successes the acquired company has accomplished in the areas of product, marketing, research and development, and staffing. They can also avoid mistakes that have been made in the past. Using a synergy strategy in this process of acquisition will require Lafleur to be knowledgeable in the operations of the new company. Threats The threat of acquiring another company in the same industry is in its customer base and product line. Lafleur may not be gaining new clients or offering new or improved products. The sales team may be making the same sales calls to the same customers the other company. In this scenario, Lafleur will be gaining the company’s debt without the benefit of expanding resources for future growth. Merging with another organization Strengths Mergers are different than acquiring a new organization because when two companies merge they work together instead of taking full control of the weaker company. Mergers can help both organizations while also benefiting the public. The new firm will have increased market share, which reduces competition (Economics Help, n.d.). The merger will help financially because the company will get a better interest rate for the size. Efficiency is strength for mergers because the companies can bring the more experienced employees from both organizations together. An important strength of a merger is having diversity between the two original organizations. Other strengths would be research and development, avoiding duplication, and regulation of monopoly. Weaknesses Mergers have weaknesses just like any other choice to expand the organization. Mergers mean higher prices for products because competition is cut when two organizations become one. A merger also means fewer choices of products for customers. One of the biggest weaknesses for a merger would be fewer jobs in each organization. This means that Lafleur would have to let go of some of their employees while the organization it mergers with would have to also let go of some. The employees that are left might experience diseconomies of scale. This means that the employees will feel like they are part of a big corporation and their motivation will start to go away. Opportunities Opportunity lies in a merger with a larger well known company. Lafleur will gain the experience of growth from a larger company. There is also the opportunity of better benefits, salaries, increased revenue, and the expansion of offices in other markets. There must be research to be done to choose a company that will aid in future growth. This company will need to be a worthy partner and not a company that needs a lifeline to survive. Threats If a company does not have a growth opportunity on its own, it will not have growth opportunity when it merges with another company. The threat of Lafleur not benefitting from shared resources can result in failure for both companies. Another threat to a merger is mis-management. If the other company is poorly managed, Lafleur will suffer with unrealistic strategic goals, poor communication, and uncertain future success. It is because of these reasons that most companies do not experience more than one merger in their lifetime, they usually fail. Balasubramaniam, K. (2009). Advantages and Disadvantages for a Company Going Public. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/06/ipoadvantagedisadvantage.asp

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 25

Matt lunged at Damon in a rush that clearly demonstrated the skills that had gotten him a college football scholarship. He accelerated from utter stillness to a blur of motion, trying to tackle Damon, to bring him down. â€Å"Run,† he shouted, at the same instant.†Run!† Elena stood still, trying to come up with Plan A after this disaster. She had been forced to watch Stefan's humiliation at Damon's hands at the boardinghouse, but she didn't think she could stand to see this. But when she looked again, Matt was standing about a dozen yards from Damon, white-faced and grim, but alive and on his feet. He was preparing to rush Damon again. And Elena†¦couldn't run. She knew that it would probably be the best thing – Damon might punish Matt briefly but most of his attention would be turned to hunting her down. But she couldn't be sure. And she couldn't be sure that the punishment wouldn't kill Matt, or that he would be able to get away before Damon found her and had leisure time to think of him again. No, notthis Damon, pitiless and remorseless as he was. There must be some way – she could almost feel wheels spinning in her own head. And then she saw it. No, not that†¦ But what else was there to do? Matt was, indeed, rushing Damon again, and this time as he went for him, lithe and unstoppable and fast as a darting snake, she saw what Damon did. He simply sidestepped at the last moment, just when Matt was about to ram him with a shoulder. Matt's momentum kept him going, but Damon simply turned in place and faced him again. Then he picked up his damned pine branch. It was broken at the end where Matt had trampled it. Damon frowned at the stick, then shrugged, lifting it – and then both he and Matt stopped frozen. Something came sailing in from the sidelines to settle on the ground between them. It lay there, stirring in the breeze. It was a maroon and navy Pendleton shirt. Both of the boys turned slowly toward Elena, who was wearing a white lacy camisole. She shivered slightly and wrapped her arms around herself. It seemed unusually cold for this time of evening. Very slowly, Damon lowered the pine branch. â€Å"Saved by yourinamorata ,† he said to Matt. â€Å"I know what that means and it's not true,† Matt said. â€Å"She's my friend, not my girlfriend.† Damon just smiled distantly. Elena could feel his eyes on her bare arms. â€Å"So†¦on to the next step,† he said. Elena wasn't surprised. Heartsick but not surprised. Neither was she surprised to see, when Damon turned to look from her to Matt and back, a flash of red. It seemed to be reflected on the inside of his sunglasses. â€Å"Now,† he said to Elena. â€Å"I think we'll put you over there on that rock, sort of half reclining. But first – another kiss.† He looked back at Matt. â€Å"Get with the program, Matt; you're wasting time. First, maybe you kiss her hair, then she throws her head back and you kiss her neck, while she puts her arms around your shoulders†¦.† Matt,thought Elena. Damon had saidMatt . It had slipped out so easily, so innocently. Suddenly her entire brain, and her body, too, seemed to be vibrating as if to a single note of music, seemed to be flooded by an icy shower-bath. And what the note was saying was not shocking, because it was something that somehow, at a subliminal level, she already knew†¦. That's not Damon. This wasn't the person she had known for – was it really only nine or ten months? She had seen him when she was a human girl, and she had defied him and desired him in equal measure – and he had seemed to love her best when she was defying him. She had seen him when she was a vampire and had been drawn to him with all her being, and he had cared for her as if she were a child. She had seen him when she was a spirit, and from the afterlife she had learned a great deal. He was a womanizer, he could be callous, he drifted through his victims' lives like a chimera, like a catalyst, changing other people while he himself remained unchanging and unchanged. He mystified humans, confused them, used them – leaving them bewildered, because he had the charm of the devil. And never once had she seen him break his word. She had a rock-bottom feeling that this wasn't something that was a decision, it was so much a part of Damon, lodged so deep in his subconscious, that even he couldn't do anything to change it. He couldn't break his word. He'd starve first. Damon was still talking to Matt, giving him orders. â€Å"†¦and then take off her†¦Ã¢â‚¬  So what about his word to be her bodyguard, to keep her from harm? He was talking to her now. â€Å"So you know when to throw your head back? After he – â€Å" â€Å"Who are you?† â€Å"What?† â€Å"You heard me.Who are you? If you had really seen Stefan off and promised him to take care of me, none of this would have happened. Oh, you might be messing with Matt, but not in front of me. You're not – Damon's not stupid. He knows what a bodyguard is. He knows that watching Matt in pain hurts me as well. You're not Damon. Who†¦are†¦you?† Matt's strength and fast-as-a-rattlesnake speed hadn't done any good. Maybe a different approach would work. As Elena spoke, she had been very slowly reaching up to Damon's face. Now, with one motion, she pulled his sunglasses off. Eyes red as fresh new blood shone out at her. â€Å"What have you done?†she whispered. â€Å"What have you done to Damon?† Matt was out of the range of her voice but had been inching around, trying to get her attention. She wished fervently that Matt would just make a run for it himself. Here, he was just another way for this creature to blackmail her. Without seeming to move quickly, the Damon-thing reached down and snatched the sunglasses from her hand. It was too fast for her to resist. Then he seized her wrist in a painful grip. â€Å"This would be a lot easier on both of you if you'd cooperate,† he said casually. â€Å"You don't seem to realize what might happen if you make me angry.† His grip was forcing her down, forcing her to kneel. Elena decided not to let it. But unfortunately her body didn't want to cooperate; it sent urgent messages of pain to her mind, of agony, of burning, searing agony. She had thought that she could ignore it, could stand to let him break her wrist. She was wrong. At some point something in her brain blacked out completely, and the next thing she knew she was on her knees with a wrist that felt three times the right size and burned fiercely. â€Å"Human weakness,† Damon said scornfully. â€Å"It will get you every time†¦. You should know better than to disobey me, by now.† Not Damon,Elena thought, so vehemently that she was surprised the imposter didn't hear her. â€Å"All right,† Damon's voice continued above her as cheerfully as if he'd simply given her a suggestion. â€Å"You go sit on that rock, leaning backward, and Matt, if you'll just come over here, facing her.† The tone was of polite command, but Matt ignored it and was beside her already, looking at the finger marks on Elena's wrist as if he didn't believe them. â€Å"Matt stands up, Elena sits, or the opposite one gets the full treatment. Have fun, kiddies.† Damon had the palm-camera out again. Matt consulted Elena with his eyes. She looked at the imposter and said, enunciating carefully, â€Å"Go to hell, whoever you are.† â€Å"Been there, done that, bought the brimstone,† the not-Damon creature rattled off. He gave Matt a smile that was both luminescent and terrifying. Then he waggled the pine branch. Matt ignored it. He waited, his face stoic, for the pain to hit. Elena struggled up to stand by him. Side by side, they could defy Damon. Who seemed for a moment to be out of his mind. â€Å"You're trying to pretend you're not afraid of me. But you will be. If you had any sense, you would be now.† Belligerently, he took a step toward Elena.†Why aren't you afraid of me?† â€Å"Whoever you are, you're just an oversized bully. You've hurt Matt. You've hurt me. I'm sure you can kill us. But we're not afraid of bullies.† â€Å"You will be afraid.† Now Damon's voice had dropped to a menacing whisper. â€Å"Just wait.† Even as something was ringing in Elena's ears, telling her to listen to those last words, to make a connection – who did that sound like? – the pain hit. Her knees were knocked out by it. But she wasn't just kneeling now. She was trying to roll into a ball, trying to curl around the agony. All rational thought was swept from her head. She sensed Matt beside her, trying to hold her, but she could no more communicate with him than she could fly. She shuddered and fell to her side, as if having a seizure. Her entire universe was pain, and she only heard voices as if they came from far away. â€Å"Stop it!† Matt sounded frantic.†Stop it! Are you crazy? That'sElena , for God's sake! Do you want to kill her ?† And then the not-Damon-thing advising him mildly, â€Å"I wouldn't try that again,† but the only sound Matt made was a scream of primal rage. â€Å"Caroline!† Bonnie was raging, pacing back and forth in Stefan's room while Meredith did something else with the computer. â€Å"Howdare she?† â€Å"She doesn't dare try to attack Stefan or Elena outright – there's the oath,† Meredith said. â€Å"So she's thought this up to get at all of us.† â€Å"But Matt – â€Å" â€Å"Oh, Matt's handy,† Meredith said grimly. â€Å"And unfortunately there's the matter of the physical evidence on both of them.† â€Å"What do you mean? Matt doesn't – â€Å" â€Å"The scratches, my dear,† put in Mrs. Flowers, looking sad, â€Å"from your razor-toothed bug. The poultice I put on will have healed them so that they'll look like a girl's fingernail scratches – about now. And the mark it left on your neck†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mrs. Flowers coughed delicately. â€Å"It looks like what in my day was called a  ¡Ã‚ ®love bite.' Perhaps a sign of a tryst that ended in force? Not that your friend would ever do anything like that.† â€Å"And remember how Caroline looked when we saw her, Bonnie?† Meredith said dryly. â€Å"Not the crawling around – I'll bet anything she's walking just fine now. But her face. She had a black eye coming in and a swollen cheek. Perfect for the time frame.† Bonnie felt as if everyone was two steps ahead of her. â€Å"Whattime frame?† â€Å"The night the bug attacked Matt. It was the morning after that that the sheriff called and talked to him. Matt admitted that his mother hadn't seen him all night, and that Neighborhood Watch guy saw Matt drive up to his house and, basically, pass out.† â€Å"That was from the bug poison. He'd just been fighting the malach!† â€Å"We know that. But they'll say he'd just come back from attacking Caroline. Caroline's mother will hardly be fit to testify – you saw how she was. So who's to say that Matt wasn't over at Caroline's? Especially if he was planning assault.† â€Å"We are! We can vouch for him – † Bonnie suddenly stumbled to a halt. â€Å"No, I guess it was after he left that this was supposed to have happened. But, no, this is all wrong!† She took up pacing again. â€Å"I saw one of those bugs up close and it was exactly the way Matt described†¦.† â€Å"And what's left of it now? Nothing. Besides, they'll say that you would sayanything for him.† Bonnie couldn't stand just walking aimlessly around anymore. She had to get to Matt, had to warn him – if they could even find him or Elena. â€Å"I thoughtyou were the one who couldn't wait a minute to find them,† she said accusingly to Meredith. â€Å"I know; I was. But I had to look something up – and besides I wanted one more try at that page only vampires are supposed to read. TheShi no Shi one. But I've tweaked the screen in all the ways I can think of, and if there's something written here, I certainly can't find it.† â€Å"Best not to waste more time on it, then,† Mrs. Flowers said. â€Å"Come get into your jacket, my dear. Shall we take the Yellow Wheeler or not?† For just a moment Bonnie had a wild vision of a horse-drawn vehicle, a sort of Cinderella carriage but not pumpkin-shaped. Then she remembered seeing Mrs. Flowers' ancient Model T – painted yellow – parked inside what must be the old stables that belonged to the boardinghouse. â€Å"We did better when we were on foot than weor Matt did in a car,† said Meredith, giving the computer monitor controls a final vicious click. â€Å"We're more mobile than – oh, my God!I did it! â€Å" â€Å"Did what?† â€Å"The website. Come look at this.† Both Bonnie and Mrs. Flowers came over to the computer. The screen was bright green with thin, faint, dark green writing. â€Å"Howdid you do it?† Bonnie demanded as Meredith bent to get a notebook and pen to copy down what they saw. â€Å"I don't know. I just tweaked the color settings one last time – I'd already tried it for Power Saver, Low Battery, High Resolution, High Contrast, and every combination I could think of.† They stared at the words. Tired of that lapis lazuli? Want to take a vacation in Hawaii? Sick of that same old liquid cuisine? Come and visit Shi no Shi. After that came an ad for the â€Å"Death of Death,† a place where vampires could be cured of their cursed state and become human again. And then there was an address. Just a city road, no mention of what state, or, for that matter, what city. But it was a Clue. â€Å"Stefan didn't mention a road address,† Bonnie said. â€Å"Maybe he didn't want to scare Elena,† Meredith said grimly. â€Å"Or maybe, when he looked at the page, the address wasn't there.† Bonnie shivered. â€Å"Shi no Shi – I don't like the sound of it. And don't laugh at me,† she added to Meredith defensively. â€Å"Remember what Stefan said about trusting my intuition?† â€Å"Nobody's laughing, Bonnie. We need to get to Elena and Matt. What does your intuition tell you about that?† â€Å"It says that we're going to get into trouble, and that Matt and Elena are in trouble already.† â€Å"Funny, because that's just what my judgment tells me.† â€Å"Are we ready, now?† Mrs. Flowers handed out flashlights. Meredith tried hers and found it had a strong, steady beam. â€Å"Let's do it,† she said, automatically flipping off Stefan's lamp again. Bonnie and Mrs. Flowers followed her down the stairs, out of the house, and onto the street they had run from not so long ago. Bonnie's pulse was racing, her ears ready for the slightestwhipwhip sound. But except for the beams of their flashlights, the Old Wood was completely dark and eerily silent. Not even the sound of birdsong broke the moonless night. They plunged in, and in minutes they were lost. Matt woke up on his side and for a moment didn't know where he was. Outdoors. Ground. Picnic? Hiking? Fell asleep? And then he tried to move and agony flared like a geyser of flame, and he remembered everything. That bastard , torturing Elena, he thought. Torturing Elena. It didn't go together, not withDamon . What was it Elena had been saying to him at the end that had made him so angry? The thought nagged at him, but it was just another unanswered question, like Stefan's note in Elena's diary. Matt realized that he could move, if very slowly. He looked around, moving his head by careful increments until he saw Elena, lying near him like a broken doll. He hurt and he was desperately thirsty. She would feel the same way. The first thing was to get her to a hospital; the kind of muscular contractions brought on by that degree of pain could break an arm or even a leg. They were certainly strong enough to cause a sprain or dislocation. Not to mention Damon spraining her wrist. That was what the practical, sensible part of him was thinking. But the question that kept going around in his mind still made him reel in complete astonishment. Hehurt Elena? The way he hurt me? I don't believe it. I knew he was sick, twisted, but I never heard of him hurting the girls. And never, never Elena.Never . But me – if he treats me the way he treats Stefan, he'll kill me. I don't have a vampire's resilience. I have to get Elena out of this before he kills me. I can't leave her alone with him. Instinctively, somehow, he knew that Damon was still around. This was confirmed when he heard some little noise, turned his head too fast, and found himself staring at a blurred and wobbling black boot. The blur and wobble were the result of turning too quickly, but as quickly as he'd turned, he'd suddenly felt his face pressed into the dirt and pine needles on the ground of the clearing. By The Boot. It was on his neck, grinding his face into the dirt now. Matt made a wordless sound of pure fury and grabbed at the leg above the boot with both hands, trying to get a purchase and throw Damon off. But while he could grasp the smooth leather of the boot, moving it in any direction was impossible. It was as if the vampire in the boot could turn himself to iron. Matt could feel the tendons in his throat stand out, his face turn red, and his muscles bunch under his shirt as he made a violent effort to heave Damon off. At last, exhausted, chest heaving, he lay still. In that very same instant, The Boot was lifted. Exactly, he realized, at the moment when he was too tired to lift his head himself. He made a supreme effort and lifted it a few inches. And The Boot caught him under the chin and lifted his face a little higher. â€Å"What a pity,† Damon said with infuriating contempt. â€Å"You humans are so weak. It's no fun to play with you at all.† â€Å"Stefan†¦will come back,† Matt got out, looking up at Damon from where he was unintentionally groveling on the ground. â€Å"Stefan will kill you.† â€Å"Guess what?† Damon said conversationally. â€Å"Your face is all messed up on one side – scratches, you know. You've got sort of a Phantom of the Opera thing going on.† â€Å"If he doesn't, I will. I don't know how, but I will. I swear it.† â€Å"Careful what you promise.† Just as Matt got his arm working enough to prop him up – exactly then, to the millisecond – Damon reached out and grabbed him painfully by a handful of hair, yanking his head up. â€Å"Stefan,† Damon said, looking straight down into Matt's face and forcing Matt to look up at him, no matter how Matt tried to turn his face away, â€Å"was only powerful for a few days because he was drinking the blood of a very powerful spirit who hadn't yet adapted to Earth yet. But look at her now.† He twisted his grip on Matt's hair again, more painfully. â€Å"Some spirit. Lying there in the dirt. Now the Power is back where it should be. Do you understand?Do you – boy?† Matt just stared at Elena. â€Å"How could you do that?† he whispered finally. â€Å"An object lesson in what it means to defy me. And surely you wouldn't want me to be sexist and leave her out?† Damontched . â€Å"You have to keep up with the times.† Matt said nothing. He had to get Elena out of this. â€Å"Worrying about the girl? She's just playing possum now. Hoping I'll ignore her and concentrate on you.† â€Å"You're a liar.† â€Å"So I'll concentrate on you. Speaking of keeping up with the times, you know – except for the scratches and things, you're a fine-looking young man.† At first the words meant nothing to Matt. When he understood them, Matt could feel his blood freeze in his body. â€Å"As a vampire, I can give you an informed and honest opinion. And as a vampire, I'm getting very thirsty. There's you. And then there's the girl who's still pretending to be asleep. I'm sure you can see what I'm getting at.† I believe in you, Elena, Matt thought. He's a liar, and he'll always be a liar. â€Å"Take my blood,† he said wearily. â€Å"Are you sure?† Now Damon sounded solicitous. â€Å"If you resist, the pain is horrible.† â€Å"Just get it over with.† â€Å"Whatever you like.† Damon knelt fluidly on one knee, at the same time twisting his grip on Matt's hair, making Matt wince. The new grip dragged Matt's upper body across Damon's knee, so that his head was thrown back, his neck arched and exposed. In fact Matt had never felt so exposed, so helpless, so vulnerable in his life. â€Å"You can always change your mind,† Damon taunted him. Matt shut his eyes, stubbornly saying nothing. At the last moment, though, as Damon bent with fangs exposed, Matt's fingers almost involuntarily, almost as if it were something his body was doingapart from his mind, clenched themselves into a fist and he suddenly, unpredictably, brought the fist swinging up to deal a violent blow to Damon's temple. But – serpent-quick – Damon reached up and caught the blow almost nonchalantly in an open hand, and held Matt's fingers in a crushing grip – just as razor-sharp fangs opened a vein in Matt's throat and an open mouth fastened on his exposed throat, sucking and drinking the blood that sprayed upward. Elena – awake but unable to move from where she had fallen, unable to make a sound or turn her head – was forced to listen to the entire exchange, forced to hear Matt's groan as his blood was taken against his will, as he resisted to the last. And then she thought of something that, as dizzy and frightened as she was, almost made her pass out in fear.