Commentary on Robert Frost’s ‘Out Out’

‘Out Out' is a poem that tells the story of a young boy cutting his hand off while chopping wood and then dies, and how those around him cope with the death. This poem shows many techniques which are quite common in Frost's poems; such as imagery, ambiguity and it also has a universal theme to it. This poem can be perceived to have several themes, one of which may be the lives of those living in rural areas and how they have to get on with their lives when they have lost someone close, because there is nothing else they can do. Another theme to the poem could be that of child labour in rural areas, and although the poem is set in Vermont, this is a universal theme, as child labour is known to exist all over the world. The first line of the poem, ‘The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard' does many things for the poem. For a start, the line sounds quite threatening to us and immediately we think that the saw will later become a problem or an issue. The line also personifies the saw, which further makes us believe that the saw will later play a major role in the poem. Frost also personifies the saw by using words like snarled and rattled which makes the saw seem beast-like. The word buzz is onomatopoeic which again personifies the saw. The next line, ‘And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood' describes the saw's purpose in the poem; it makes us more familiar with the saw. The next few lines set the scene of the poem, ‘Five mountain ranges one behind the other, Under the sunset far into Vermont'. Some say that this is a reference to the bible, in Psalms*. The image that this line creates is soothing and contrasts with the first line, which can be perceived as being threatening. The phrase ‘Under the sunset' is ambiguous; it can be interpreted as a soothing image for some but for others it may resemble an ending of something more than just day. Generally, the first five lines set the scene of the poem. They tell us more about where the poem is set and what kind of life the boy lives- a rural life. The seventh line goes on to say ‘And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled', which is a repetition of the first line. The repetition here is used to show that a long time is passing by while the saw is being used and that perhaps the job is monotonous. This line also brings us back to the reality that the poem is trying to show us. The 2 lines just before line seven gives us a soothing and peaceful image but amongst all this beauty there is this saw, a saw that Frost describes as dangerous. ‘Call it a day, I wish they might have said' has a tone of regret and sympathy, showing that the persona knows what will happen to the boy, and this leaves us to think what will happen and we are left to fear the worst. ‘To please the boy by giving him the half hour that a boy counts so much when saved from work.' This line shows more regret and it is at this point that we realise that the poem involves a young boy and this saddens and worries the reader even more. The line also subtly suggests that if it was ‘called a day' then perhaps the incident with the saw would not have happened. In line 14, the boy's sister comes to him to tell him that it is time for dinner. At this point we are slightly relieved, as the word ‘supper' which is used in the line, relates to normality and we all feel safe in the domesticity and regularity of our own home and therefore, we think that perhaps what we had predicted to happen would not come true. Frost, again personifies the saw in lines 15 and 16, ‘At the word, the saw, as if to prove saws knew what supper meant†¦' Again, Frost makes us fear the worst, and in the next line our fears come true, ‘Leaped out at the boy's hand, or seemed to leap- He must have given the hand'. In the last phrase of this line, Frost has used irony; when someone gives their hand it usually means they are greeting someone or making an agreement on something. Frost words it in such a way as if he is suggesting that the boy welcomed the saw. He then goes on to say in line 18 ‘However it was neither refused the meeting. This again implies that the boy did nothing to stop the saw from hurting him. ‘The boy's first outcry was a rueful laugh'. In this line we are shown that the boy did not cry at first but laughed at his careless mistake, laughed as if to stop himself from crying, or perhaps just because the fact that he had hurt himself hadn't sunken in yet. When he showed his family what had happened he ‘swung toward them holding up the hand, half in appeal but half as if to keep the life from spilling'. In this line, the words ‘half' and ‘spilling' create very gory pictures in our minds. ‘Half' shows the image of half a hand, and ‘spilling' shows the image of red blood rushing out from his cut hand. ‘Then the boy saw all-‘. In this line Frost has used the word saw as a homonym; it could mean that he ‘saw' his life flash before him or it could mean ‘that he had sawed off all of his hand'. The pause after the word ‘all' creates suspense and emphasis and one again we are left to think of the consequences and of what will to the happen the boy. In line 25 we are told the boy's response ‘Don't let him cut my hand off- the doctor, when he comes. Don't let him sister!' This makes the whole poem even upsetting because throughout the poem we are told the story from an outsider but here in this line, we are suddenly given the boy's view on the accident. The poem reaches an anti-climax in line 32: ‘They listened at his heart. Little- less-nothing! – and that ended it.' As readers, it is almost impossible to believe that the boy died from the incident, and the fact that the word ‘death' is not mentioned makes us want to believe that the boy is not dead but has survived. However, some would say that the anti-climax was right at the end of the poem: ‘And they, since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs'. Here, we would expect the family to grieve and not be able to carry on the way they used, because that is how we would expect people to react in today's world. The reaction that the boy's family has showed is that of stoicism and in today's world, even if we do not realise it, examples of stoicism are common. Throughout the poem, we can see many of Frost's common techniques that he uses in many poems. For example, in line 6 he uses ambiguity with the word ‘sunset' which was mentioned earlier on in this commentary. Many of Frost's poems are in a conversational tone such as ‘Mending Wall', ‘Home Burial' and ‘After Apple-Picking'. To make the poem more conversational in ‘Out Out', Frost has used words such as ‘so', so as to make it seem like a live conversation. It could also have been used a gap-filler in the poem. Overall, I think that ‘Out Out' is a poem to represent the sadness and grief that families have to go through when they lose someone close and how they have to carry on with their lives just because there is nothing else they can do. It is the harsh truth of losing someone close to you, someone you love.

Prominent African-American Mathematicians

Jesse Ernest Wilkins, Jr. exemplifies and is addressed as one of America’s admirable unorthodox mathematicians. He was portrayed as the University of Chicago’s youngest student at the tender age of thirteen. Wilkins proceeded to his education there, earning his bachelor, master and doctorate degrees in mathematics. When he finished his Ph. D. at 19, he was recognized by the national press as a â€Å"negro genius. † (http://www. blackpast. org)Jesse Ernest Wilkins taught at the Tuskegee Institute (1943-1944) prior returning to the University of Chicago to contribute to the Manhattan Project (1944-1946). He then entered industry, advancing to high positions at: American Optical Company (1946-1950), United Nuclear Corporation (1950-1960) and General Atomic Company (1960-1970). He also earned bachelor and master degrees in mechanical engineering from New York University (1957, 1960). In 1970, Wilkins became the Distinguished Professor of Applied Mathematical Physics at Howard University.He was remembered as being very inspirational to his students and for starting Howard’s Ph. D. program in mathematics. (http://www. blackpast. org) J. Ernest Wilkins is a member of various professional societies and has been awarded several honors in his distinguished career including: President of the American Nuclear Society (1974-1975), Council Member of the American Mathematical Society (1975-1977) and Outstanding Civilian Service Medal by the U. S. Army (1980). He has published numerous papers in mathematics, optics and nuclear engineering.His greatest contribution to scholarship is the development of mathematical models to explain gamma radiation and his subsequent work on developing a shielding against gamma radiation. (http://www. blackpast. org) A fifth grade gifted program provided accessibility to William A. Massey to the introduction of Euclidean geometry and number systems of differing bases. His interests in drawing and graphic arts assisted him to comprehend the application of perspective and proportion. In seventh grade, William A. Massey executed an exam involving a type of abstract reasoning.He excelled and exceeded far beyond his classmates on the same exam. Essentially, from that moment, he apprehended the aspiration of becoming a mathematician. (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/William_A. _Massey) William A. Massey’s authentic comprehension of mathematics as a researcher initiated as a college student at Princeton University. He specialized in abstract algebra and number theory while acquiring real, complex and functional analysis. He maintained his scientific interests by taking physics courses all four years, as well.William A. Massey was awarded an aggressive Bell Laboratories fellowship that was established to increase the number of minority Ph. D. ’s in the sciences, which paid for his acquisition of the doctorate of philosophy in mathematics at Stanford University. (http://en. wikipedia. org/wi ki/William_A. _Massey) William A. Massey has made many original contributions as a mathematician by developing a theory of â€Å"dynamical queueing systems†. His research on queueing networks led to new methods of comparing multi-dimensionalone.One of William A. Massey most cited papers progresses an algorithm to find a dynamic, optimal server staffing schedule for telephone call centers with time varying demand and ultimately led to a patent. An additional highly cited paper initiates a dynamic model for the offered load traffic of wireless communication networks. (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/William_A. _Massey) In 1925 Elbert Frank Cox was allocated the Doctor of Philosophy degree in mathematics from Cornell and he is the first known Black to receive the Ph. D. in Mathematics in the United States; ultimately, in the world.In September 1925, he accepted a teaching position at West Virginia State College. Elbert Frank Cox remained there four years and in 1929 moved to Howa rd University. Cox remained at Howard until his retirement in 1965 and served as chairman of the Mathematics Department from 1957-1961. In 1975, the Howard University Mathematics Department, at the time of the inauguration of the Ph. D. program, established the Elbert F. Cox Scholarship Fund for undergraduate mathematics majors to encourage young Black students to study mathematics at the graduate level. http://www. maa. org/summa/archive/Cox_EF. htm) While Elbert Frank Cox did not live to see the inauguration of the Ph. D. program at Howard, it is comprehended by various individuals that Cox accomplished plenty to initiate such possibilities.He assisted to build up the department to the point that the Ph. D. program became a practical next step. He gave the department an extensive deal of credibility; primarily due to his personal prestige as a mathematician, due to the fact od exemplifying and exhibiting first Black to acquire a Ph. D. in mathematics, because of the nature and kin ds of appointments to the faculty that were made while he chaired the Department and because of the kinds of students that he attracted to Howard to study mathematics at both the undergraduate and graduate (master's) levels. Cox's portrait hangs in Howard's Mathematics Common Room as a consistent reminder of his contribution to the Mathematics Department, the University and the Community of Scholars in general. (http://www. maa. org/summa/archive/Cox_EF. htm)

Biology and Ecosystems Education Admission/Application Essay

Biology and Ecosystems Education The paper "Biology and Ecosystems Education" is an outstanding example of an application/admission essay on English. The environment in which we live, the uniqueness of different creatures across diverse ecosystems, as well as, how a man gets along with them has been a question that has always fascinated me. The way in which the environment and ecosystem relate to the future of humankind has always been an intriguing subject for me. When I joined a junior school that was my first experience with nature and interaction with human life. It was here that I noticed I had an affinity for the environment and animals. Nothing excites me more than seeing plants and animals behaving the same way as I have learned in the classroom. Immediately, I get the urge to share what I know and observe with people around me, feeling that they need to realize and appreciate the wonders of nature around us. I usually feel in these situations that man has forgotten the wonders of nature in his pursuit for p rofit and wealth.Understanding the environment and ecosystems has aroused curiosity in me and taught me to view the world from a new point of view. This passion has propelled me to chose NYU and focus on biology. It is my belief that this will be the best institution to conduct experiments in biology, as well as to learn how to conduct research with regards to the ecosystem. In high school, I built up my knowledge of different ecosystems through my work with the wildlife club and cleaning up beach land. Three years of high school have firmed up my determination to pursue biology, and it is my belief that NYU is the best institution to do this. With the advanced opportunities of research and the working partnerships between NYU and other universities around the world, I believe that I can improve my knowledge in biology and ecosystems greatly. Thank you.

Behaviour Management Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Behaviour Management Statement - Essay Example Due to individual differences and even disability, the skill of communication and understanding is important. Through this the educator can gain the interest and curiosity of the student, keep it and achieve an open line of communication towards learning, Misbehaviour is an important focus in the learning process of special children because it can hinder the learning process. There are different reasons why a student misbehaves. One instance is the lack of understanding with what a student is trying to communicate due to focus on another student. When the student is then asked to participate misbehaviour can occur. One reason is that the student can see the participation of other students and is anxious that he or she cannot perform the task. Another is that the student can see that I failed to understand reasons for the misbehaviour. In such situations, I consider that continuous effort to gain the students attention and interest as an important factor. This can be attributed to the fact that communication is the main alley for learning. This can only occur if variation in teaching methods is used. A group of students had different needs when it comes to learning. Some are active learners and others can be considered passive. Thus, it is important to have lessons addressing to both needs. For problematic students, knowing their possible problems such as home issues and peer pressures can also improve the approach that can be applied as a teacher. Determining the root of the misbehaviour is essential. As an educator, it is also important for me to prevent actions that can cause and trigger misbehaviour in students such as disregard to the individual differences of the students and failure to determine their capacity thus giving them activities they cannot accomplish. Being a bad example in behaviour and negative form of reinforcements are also needed to be prevented (Conway). The responsibility of an educator is not bounded

Organic Food Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organic Food - Research Paper Example and fertilizers are chemically prepared and most of the compounds used are harmful for the environment..During irrigation, sometimes these compounds mix with the water and reach into the nearby ponds and lakes. The chemicals mix with the fresh water and accelerate the growth of the weeds. When these weeds die, large amount of bacteria start acting on them for their decomposition using ample amount of oxygen present in the water. This results in the death of the aquatic life due to the scarcity of the dissolved oxygen. For instance, an 8,000 square mile ’dead zone’ was created in the Gulf of Mexico killing tons of fishes and other aquatic lives mainly due to fertilizer run-off Not only this, but these chemical compounds are also harmful for the soil. They decrease the fertility of the soil at a much faster rate making it sterile and useless. These fertilizers are also absorbed by the fruits of the plant. These are the same fruit which we buy and eat and consequently get sick. Moreover, also contaminate ground water and make them polluted (Koch, 775). Making our farming methods organic will not only result in production of better quality of food but also add to sustainability and environment friendly processes. It will preserve biodiversity along with increasing soil fertility. An average organic farm provides more natural habitats to the wildlife. The low concentration of pesticide remnants and the hazardous chemicals avoids the killings of the non-harmful insects and flora. Biodiversity balances the predominance of the growing crop by encouraging the diversity of species and genes. A system with the co-existence of varied species yields better quality of crop. Apart from the preservation of biodiversity, production of organic food also improves the soil quality by... This report stresses that the popularity of organic food is growing dramatically constituting more than 2% of all food sales and sales of organic food in united states surpassed $13.8 billion in 2005. Consumers going for organic food may do so for a number of reasons including the perceived benefits to the environment, welfare of the animals, safety of the workers and the perception that organic food are safer and more nutritious. This also indicates the greater health concerns of the public. By the way, while producing organic food, the farmer allows the fruit to ripe according to their natural time without manipulating it which might lead to small production compared to the large commercial farming. This paper makes a conclusion that even though organic food has many advantages over the conventional ones, still we cannot really say that which food system is better. Organic food uses no chemicals. However, it is not completely pesticide free. This is mainly due to many factors beyond the control of the farmers. For example pesticide drifts from adjacent fields or soil irrigation water and contamination. Also the data available does not allow for a comparison between export and domestic sales. Non certified organic food is difficult to survey in practice. Even though a lot has already been done in this field, still a lot remains to achieve especially in developing countries. New methods and ideas are needed in the market so that organic food can reach even to the poor. After all everyone has the right to be healthy.

PHILOSOPHY AND TRADITIONS IN MANAGAMENT RESEARCH Assignment

PHILOSOPHY AND TRADITIONS IN MANAGAMENT RESEARCH - Assignment Example Despite these assumptions of agent control and responsibility, human social, political, and economic aspects make business hardly imaginable. In this paper, I will critically evaluate some of the major business operations and use them in gauging whether they are free will, are there alternatives or simply not free at all. The organization’s operations include a firm’s establishments, finances, employees-boss relationship, public relations, the firm’s disciplinary, success, and moral responsibilities Before critically analyzing a firm, the firm must have started somewhere. Someone must have conceptualized the idea before making it real. Thus, the question is whether the entrepreneur or business owner started the firm out of free will or not. One definition of â€Å"free will† is that, it is means of fulfilling a certain desire through a selected line of action (OConnor, 2002). In such a scenario then, the entrepreneur’s choice to start a firm is free will when he/she accepts the notion. Thus, such endeavors also cement the idea of genuine will. Therefore, from a genuine free-will position, the entrepreneur can have done otherwise, but the â€Å"free will† aspect influences his/her decisions (Fiese, 2009). However, from the agent causal theory, one philosopher David Hume, holds that our preferences and decisions are results of other proceedings in the brain’s desires, beliefs, favorites, feelings, and so forth (OConnor, 2002). Therefore, regarding this theory it is clear that something informed the entrepreneur’s choice for the business and the decision to start a firm. For instance, the innate desires for best business outcomes such as profits, fame and riches and stability form the major determinants influencing an individual’s decisions about forming a company. Once a firm develops and manufactures products, an enormous task of

Managerial Discretion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Managerial Discretion - Essay Example er, managers need to be able to exercise their own judgment in hiring decisions, strategic planning, effective administration and resource allocation decisions. The consequence of not allowing such discretion would be a lumbering organization that is unable to take nimble actions that can keep it competitive in a global marketplace. Absence of managerial discretion would lead to a heavily bureaucratized company that takes much more time to make and implement strategic decisions than its competitors and thus would fall by the wayside. At the same time, allowing managers to run amok with their own preferences can be equally dangerous by setting up a situation in which conflicting decisions are made at different levels of an organization that end up stalling progress. The effective organization strikes just the right balance by allowing a high degree of managerial discretion while instituting appropriate constraints to keep the business functioning effectively. Defining Discretion Key (1997) defines discretion as "a belief that individuals can influence their environment. The concept of discretion, originally borrowed from the judiciary, involves decision making that is guided by individual principles and beliefs unfettered by external control" (par. 13). Thus, discretion is necessarily a subjective determination that a particular manager has a range of options available to him/herself. Key (2002) further maintains that "Discretion is based on the belief that one has responses available with which to influence the environment. Individual perception influences whether or not an individual believes there are actions available to him or her" (par. 2). This subjective determination has been described as "perceived latitude of action." The concept of managerial discretion... The importance of managerial discretion to modern companies is substantial, and has long been recognized as such. Discretionary behavior by mangers is essential to the strategic operation of a company; but at the same time allowing unfettered discretion can be hugely detrimental to the well-being of a corporation, as evidenced by the scandals that have taken place in recent years in the United States and elsewhere. While managers must have the ability to analyze a situation and determine and appropriate course of action, there must be some guidelines – or constraints as it were – placed on that discretion in order to protect the company from these types of damaging developments. Several studies on the scope and limits of managerial discretion have found that there are several variables influencing and limiting the exercise of discretion in modern business. These include such factors as age, length of tenure, educational attainment, gender, locus of control, and organiza tional culture. Each of these factors has a direct impact on the extent to which managers feel free to exercise discretion, or not; and consequently they affect the success or failure of a business. Ultimately, managerial discretion is a critical balancing act for any business that seeks to compete successfully in today’s global business environment.

International People Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

International People Management - Essay Example The research in this particular case applies to an aspect of international people management that is the international transfer of managers. We assess the immediate opportunities of such research as being determined by the number of international management transfers in any given period, the importance to the MNC of such transfers and the possibility of accessing useful data relating to these transfers. International management transfers are a frequent occurrence and there is a corresponding base of information that can be researched or is already available. Management transfers are also relatively important to MNCs. They want to make sure that it works: the impact of a good or bad managerial decision often weighs more that of a non-managerial employee, and this impact increases with ascending management rank. This also motivates MNCs and their representatives to respond to requests for data in the form of questionnaires, if these questionnaires are appropriately constructed and presented. The limitations of such research are in some ways connected with the discussion on the opportunities. The first limitation is that of the willingness or the availability of the relevant contacts in the MNCs to give the data required The second is the way on which such data is to be amassed, either by direct contact (telephone) which can be time-consuming, expensive and not necessarily effective, or by indirect means such as questionnaires sent through the post, which can then increase the elapsed time before results are available as well as the difficulty of chasing up replies and information. Not mentioned in this paper from 2001 are the possibilities now available by Internet with online questionnaires. As a first recommendation, consideration should be given to doing surveys of this time online where possible (Dr. Harzing has perhaps moved to internet-based questionnaires since she wrote this article). Although for a pure Internet-based solution it would also be necessary to know the email address of the person to be contacted, hybrid solutions are also possible: for example, send out a letter which contains instructions to go to a website to fill in a survey. The choice of a paper to critique Our choice of paper was determined by a number of aspects. We sought papers that reported empirical research, either from the creation of primary data, the utilisation of secondary data, or both. We also sought papers that had real meaning and relevance in the field of international people management. Of the various candidates reviewed, we selected Anne-Wil Harzing's paper as fulfilling these criteria. The aims and intentions of "An Analysis of the Functions of International Transfers of Managers in MNCs" The article states its aim as better identification for the reasons for which MNCs (multinational companies) send out

Decreasing agitation in demented resident in nursing home Assignment

Decreasing agitation in demented resident in nursing home - Assignment Example Keywords: agitation, dementia, nursing home, nurse leader, evidence based practice Decreasing Agitation in Demented Patients Living in Nursing Home Behavioral and emotional disturbances, particularly agitation, are the major problems commonly observed in impaired elderly people dwelling in nursing homes, particularly those who are suffering of dementia. According to Tariot, Daiello and Ismail (2002, p. 2), behavioral symptoms affect a large population of dementia patients in the United States, where â€Å"as many as 90% of patients with dementia develop significant behavioral disorders at some point.† Based on a clinical research conducted by Bartels, et al. (2003, p. 236), the condition of patients with dementia is â€Å"complicated by mixed agitation and depression accounts for over one-third of complicated dementia†. Compared with other subgroups, elderly patients with dementia which are also experiencing bouts of agitation have the â€Å"highest rate of hospitaliza tion, the greatest number of medical diagnoses, and the greatest medical severity, and they receive the greatest number of psychiatric medications (Bartels, et. al. 2003, p. 234)†. As such, there is a great need to decrease agitation in dementia patients especially in the nursing home settings. Studies on psychiatric disorders recommend that agitation symptoms in patients with dementia should be efficiently treated through proper diagnosis and medication, together with the efficient management of the nurses and caregivers in enhancing the clinical outcomes according to evidence based practices (Salzman, et al., 2008). Cohen-Mansfield, Marx and Rosenthal (1990, p. 3) defined agitation as â€Å"inappropriate verbal, vocal, or motor activity that is not a necessary by-product of the needs or confusion of the agitated individual.† Agitated behavior may be manifested as an appropriate behavior executed with inappropriate rate of recurrence or it may be inappropriate based on social standards for the particular situation, as exemplified by the three syndromes such as aggressive behaviors, physically non-aggressive behaviors, and verbally agitated behaviors. The abusive or aggressive behavior of a patient may be directed towards him or others and are often apparent in the advanced stages of dementia. Physically non-aggressive behaviors are observed as adaptive to nursing home residents during their deteriorated stage of dementia, where their bodies need to be stimulated or undergo physical exercise. Verbally agitated behaviors are regarded as a form of help-seeking behaviors by patients that are experiencing depression and physical diseases (Cohen-Mansfield, Marx and Rosenthal, 1990). In addition, agitation may be brought by various physical and emotional factors like fears, insecurity, frustrations, and false beliefs brought about by impaired hearing, sight, or aphasia, most commonly observed in persons with cognitive impairment (Cohen-Mansfield, Marx a nd Rosenthal, 1990). There are also reports that nursing home staff frequently misapprehends symptoms of cognitive impairment as agitation instead of thoroughly checking if the said behavior stems from other reasons such as pain, hunger, boredom, fatigue, environmental chaos, or consequence of medical issues or medications. Sedatives and atypical antipsychotic drugs are usually administered to patients exhibiting dementia-associated agitation and

Development of intelligence test performance Essay Example for Free

Development of intelligence test performance Essay Intelligence can be defined in several ways, ranging from broader definitions such as the ability to cope with life, to more specific definitions such as skill in problem-solving and reasoning. Intelligence tests are implemented by psychologists in order to assess such skills, and a quantitative measure of this intelligence is usually presented in the form of an IQ (intelligence quotient). IQ scores are the basis of much research into the development of intelligence test performance. One cultural factor which may have an affect on a childs measured intelligence is mother love; attachments may play a part in childrens cognitive development. This hypothesis can be tested by studying children who have been separated from an attachment object (i.e. a parent), and Skeels Dye found evidence to suggest that the formation of an attachment improves intelligence test performance. In their study, 13 of the most mentally retarded infants in an orphanage were moved to an institution for mentally retarded women, where they would form an attachment with a mildly retarded woman. Over the next four years, those who had moved had an average IQ gain of 32 points, compared with an average reduction of 21 IQ points for those who remained in the orphanage; this difference was still evident 27 years later. This study can be commended for its implications: at the time the accepted view was that IQ was constant throughout life, but the study showed that, with the right treatment, IQ can be significantly improved. Another factor in IQ development is quality of education. Schweinhart et al.s Perry Preschool Project provides evidence for this; compared to children given no pre-school education, those who had been given quality pre-school education appeared not only to have improved IQs later in life, but they were also less likely to commit crime and drop out of high school. This finding is duplicated by Operation Headstart, which provided children from disadvantaged homes with pre-school programs. There was an average IQ gain of 10 points in the first year and, although the IQ scores returned to average levels, subsequent progress such as high school graduation was higher in those who had taken part in the project. This indicates that an increased quality of education may lead to an increase in IQ. Another cultural factor that may influence the development of measured intelligence is a childs home environment. Bradley et al. Identified six factors, including parental involvement and the provision of play materials, which were significant in a childs development of intelligence, and called it the HOME inventory. If the HOME score of a child was low, a childs IQ may have declined between 10 and 20 points between the ages 1 and 3, whereas the opposite was true for those with high HOME inventory scores. This theory would be supported by Piaget and Vygotsky, the theories of both of whom suggest that the provision of age-appropriate play materials are likely to improve cognitive development. In addition, Vygotsky emphasises the role of culture in cognitive development, which is very much in line with the HOME inventory study. It may even be that diet is a cultural factor which has an influence on a childs development of intelligence. In a study by Schà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½nthaler Bier, children who had been given vitamin-mineral supplements performed better on a non-verbal IQ test than those who had been given a placebo. This supports the idea that diet has an influence on intelligence, but it it not necessarily the case that supplements improve IQ; the researchers suggested that it was a poor diet that diminished IQ, and the improved diet restored the cognitive abilities of the children who previously had a poor diet. The idea that it is environmental cultural factors, rather than race and genetic cultural factors, that have an effect on a childs intelligence test performance is supported by Scarr Weinberg, who found that both white and black children, when adopted by middle-class white families, performed better on IQ tests at age 7 than the average for their respective ethnic groups. They attributed this improvement to growing up in a culture of tests and schools, and exposure to better healthcare and socialisation. However, in a follow-up study ten years later, it was found that the black childrens IQs were not notably higher than the average for their group, indicating that an upbringing in a white, middle-class home had little or no influence on their intelligence. However, this does not necessarily indicate that it is a genetic cause, since skin colour and intelligence are believed to have very different genetic structures. It may be in indirect genetic influence, in that black children raised in a white home have lower self-expectation, or that they socialise with other black children at school (which may have more of an influence than their white, middle-class home). IQ tests have, however, been heavily criticised for lacking reliability, as an IQ result from one test can vary dramatically with an IQ result from another. Additionally, they have been criticised for being culturally biased; there are many different types of thought (e.g. language, problem-solving, pattern recognition, reasoning), and some types of thought are more valued in some cultures than in others. This may extend to sub-cultural differences between people of different socioeconomic status. For example, it has often been found that black American children perform less well on IQ tests than white children, however, Serpell (1979) found that white children performed significantly less well than black children on an IQ test aimed at black Americans. This brings into question the use of IQ tests as a valid method of measuring intelligence.

What Causes Ozone Depletion In Sydney Australia Environmental Sciences Essay

What Causes Ozone Depletion In Sydney Australia Environmental Sciences Essay This report aim to show the affect and the harmful of ozone depletion in the world specific in Australia country, this report show some information about ozone depletion in Australia such as the history, definition, causes, health effect and why Australia must take care about this issue. At the end, ozone depletion is very big issue in the world because it has a lot of affect in plant, human also the animals so must take care about this issue and government must tell the population about the risk that result from ozone depletion and ask them to must reduce used the product that may case ozone depletion such as refrigerators. Introduction: Ozone is a gas that is naturally present in our atmosphere. Each ozone molecule contains three atoms of oxygen and is denoted chemically as O3. Ozone is found primarily in two regions of the atmosphere. About 10% of atmospheric ozone is in the troposphere, the region closest to earth. The remaining ozone 90% resides in the stratosphere, primarily between the top of the troposphere and about 50 kilo-meter altitude. It is commonly called the ozone hole because the ozone depletion is so large localized. A thinning of the ozone layer also has been observed over other regions of the globe, such as the arctic and northern middle latitudes. Ozone forms a layer in the stratosphere that absorbs dangerous solar ultraviolet radiation. Increasing amounts of man- made chemicals are accelerating the speed at which ozone molecules are destroyed. These ozone-destroying chemicals come mainly from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used in a range of products from refrigerators and air conditioners to soft foams and cleaning solvents. Their quantities in atmosphere have been rising rapidly since the mid-1970s. For every 10 percent depletion of ozone layer, we can expect a 20 percent increase in ultraviolet radiation arriving at the ground in life-damaging wavelengths. This radiation could change genetic structure, alter immune systems, damage crops, disrupt the marine food web, and enhance greenhouse warming by affecting the carbon dioxide-absorbing capacity of plankton in the oceans. The incidence of human skin cancer could increase, and the sight of millions could be affected as more intense ultraviolet radiation damages eyes and causes cataracts. Plant growth may be inhibited by the extra ultraviolet radiation and crop yields may be reduced. How is ozone formed in the atmosphere? Ozone is formed throughout the atmosphere in multistep chemical processes that require sunlight. In the stratosphere, the process begins with the breaking apart of an oxygen molecule (O2) by ultraviolet radiation from the sun. In the lower atmosphere (troposphere), ozone is formed in a different set of chemical reactions involving hydrocarbons and nitrogen-containing gases. Why do we care about atmospheric ozone? Ozone in the stratosphere absorb of suns biologically harmful ultraviolet radiation. Because of this beneficial role, stratospheric ozone is considered good ozone. In contrast, ozone at earths surface that is formed from pollutants is considered bad ozone because it can be harmful to humans and plant and animal life. Some ozone occurs naturally in the lower atmosphere where it is beneficial because ozone helps remove pollutants from the atmosphere. Dose depletion of the ozone layer increase ground-level ultraviolet radiation? Yes, ultraviolet radiation at earths surface increases as the amount of overhead total ozone decreases, because ozone absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Measurements by ground-based instruments and estimates made using satellite data have confirmed that surface ultraviolet radiation has increased in regions where ozone depletion is observed. What Causes Ozone Depletion in Sydney Australia? Being in urban area that highly populated ozone depleting substances release heavily in Sydney. CFCs used by most of transportation and air conditioners along with commercial refrigeration equipment or air conditioners. Methyl chloroform release in the industrial factories of Sydney as a result of production. Health Effects: Skin and eyes affects by Ultraviolet radiation. Cancer is the most harmful diseases affect skin from the sunlight. By exposure Cancer is often brought to a mutagen, which can change the genes. Promotes chemical change in the DNA by Ultraviolet radiation is a well known mutagen. People over 40 years old are more likely to most skin cancers, when these people were children the actual damage that caused the cancer occurred. The highest incidence of skin cancer in the world is in Australia. With only .3% of the worlds population, they manage to account for 6 % of all lethal forms of skin cancer diagnosed globally. About 1200 people die each year in Australia as a result of skin cancer. Doesnt just cancer caused by Sunlight also painful sunburn, skin ages and eyes affected by radiation from the sun. Whats Being Done About Ozone Depletion? Damage to the earths protective layer has sparked unprecedented concern and action. Over 165 countries have signed the Montreal Protocol, an International agreement to phase out ozone depleting substances. As one of these countries, Australia continues to be a world leader in the phase out of ozone depleting substances, and is well ahead of the Protocol requirements. Sydneys approach has been based on a highly cooperative partnership between industry, the community, and all levels of government. since 1989,The manufacture, CFCs import and export, halon, and methyl chloroform have been controlled in Australia. Environmentally preferable alternatives are available for almost all applications and are gradually being switched to in Sydney. During 1990s the importation and production of CFCs stopped by the Australia. This saw the consumption of ozone depleting substances fall by 86%, from 832 Ozone Depleting Potential Tones (ODPT) in 1999 to 119 ODPT in 2009. This current level (119 ODPT in 2009) represents less than 1% of Australias consumption of ozone depleting substances in 1989. By about 2050, natural ozone production reactions should return to normal levels. We cant make enough ozone to replace whats been destroyed, but provided that we stop producing ozone depleting substances, Australiaà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s approach to disposal and destruction of ozone depleting substances Australia has developed a robust and functioning product stewardship programmed for the management of ozone depleting substances and synthetic greenhouse gases, which ensures the proper handling of these substances from their import into Australia through to their eventual disposal and destruction. It functions on the à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"polluter paysà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚  principle, with industry funding the scheme through a levy imposed on imports of bulk gases and gas contained in refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. Fees from issuing licenses also assist the Australian Government in administering the various license schemes connected to the consumption of ozone depleting substances and synthetic greenhouse gases. In recent decades, the Australian Government has been implementing a highly effective national strategy for the recovery, management and disposal of haloes. Conclusion: In summary, Ozone depletion has further increased the risk that Australians already face from overexposure to UV radiation resulting from their outdoor lifestyle. In much the same way a cloud blocks the heat on a hot day, the ozone layer in the stratosphere blocks out the suns deadly ultraviolet rays. It acts as our planets natural sun block. As the ozone layer diminishes, the harmful rays increase along with the rates of skin cancer. At the end, ozone depletion is very important issue around the world because it causes a lot of diseases for human and even plants and animals, so must take care about this problem and try to tell the people about the harmful of the ozone depletion to take awareness and reduce used the items which may cause ozone depletion such as: refrigerators and air-conditioned. United Arab Emirates University Department of Science Environmental science subject Name: Nouf Ali Hamad Alkaabi ID: 200907697 Section : 54 Dr. Truck untitled.bmp

Jihad - A Holy War Essay -- essays research papers

Jihad It was once a word unfamiliar to American ears. But in recent years it has become all too familiar. The actions of Muslim militants and terrorists have seared the word into American consciousness. Yet even with thousands of innocent civilians killed on American soil by Islamic terrorists, the full significance of the Muslim concept of jihad has not been grasped by the American public. In the days after September 11, 2001, American leaders rushed to portray Islam as a peaceful religion that had been "hijacked" by a fanatical band of terrorists. One hopes that these assurances were merely tactical—that nobody was meant to believe them and that they were meant to assure the Muslim world that the inevitable American reprisals were not directed at their religion as a whole. If the world Muslim community perceived America as attacking Islam in general then the duty of every Muslim to fight for his religion—the duty of jihad—would have been invoked on a broad scale. The war against terrorism, instead of simmering with occasional flare-ups, like the Cold War, would have boiled over into a global conflagration, with the Muslim countries of the world—1.2 billion strong—mobilizing against America and the West. Muslim apologists also rushed forward to assure the public that Islam was a peaceful religion. They disingenuously declared that the word Islam means "peace." And they tried to portray the terrorists as a fringe group outside the mainstream of Islam. These were lies. The usual meaning of Islam in Arabic is not "peace" but "submission." And if the terrorists were so far outside the mainstream, why did Muslims all over the world burst into joyful, spontaneous celebrations when the hijacked jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? Why are Islamic governments afraid to show "too much" public support for the war against terrorism? Further, why are all the governments that covertly support terrorism centered in the Muslim world? The truth is that Islam is not a religion of peace. This is not to say that every Muslim is violent at heart. Many are not. Muslims have the same aspirations for living peaceful lives that people have the world over. But they also have the same potential for violence as others, and Islam as a religion and an ideology seeks to exploit that potential. Thoug... ...volutionary movements. The conflict with militant Islam may last a long time—centuries, potentially—since even if curing Muslim society of its violent tendencies is possible, it would involve ripping out or otherwise neutralizing a tendency that has dominated Muslim culture since the days of its founder. This is not an easy task, for Muslims willing to make the change would be portrayed as traitors to their religion, amid renewed calls to practice Islam in its original, pure, and more violent form in order to regain the favor of God. The signs of the times suggest that we are, indeed, in for a "clash of civilizations" that will be neither brief nor bloodless. But what also is known is that God has a plan for history and that his grace can work miracles. It is yet possible that—through one means or another—God will bring about a more peaceful world in which militant Islam either is not a threat or nowhere near the threat that it is today. If this is to happen, our cooperation with God’s grace will require prayer, courage, resourcefulness, and a realistic understanding of the threat we are facing. Until then there can be no illusions about Islam and its endless jihad.

Free Essays - Role Playing in A Farewell to Arms :: Farewell Arms Essays

Role Playing in A Farewell to Arms In Hemingway's novel, A Farewell to Arms, the principle characters, Henry and Catherine, are forced by the war to face the fact of human mortality. As a defense mechanism, the two main characters, and several others, turn to "role-playing" as a way to escape reality. Hemingway utilized role-playing as a way to explore the strengths and weaknesses of the characters. By placing Henry's ordered life in opposition to Catherine's topsy-turvy one, and then letting each one assume a role which will bring them closer together, Hemingway shows the pair's inability to accept their own mortality. John Stubbs' has written an essay that examines the "role-playing" that Henry and Catherine use to protect themselves from the discovery of their insignificance and "powerlessness...in a world indifferent to their well being..." Stubbs begins by showing other examples, notably in In Our Time and The Sun Also Rises, in which Hemingway's characters revert to role-playing in order to escape or retreat from their lives. The ability to create characters who play roles, he says, either to "maintain self-esteem" or to escape, is one Hemingway exploits extraordinarily well in A Farewell to Arms and therefore it "is his richest and most successful handling of human beings trying to come to terms with their vulnerability." As far as Stubbs is concerned, Hemingway is quite blatant in letting us know that role-playing is what is occurring. He tells that the role-playing begins during Henry and Catherine's third encounter, when Catherine directly dictates what is spoken by Henry. After this meeting the two become increasingly comfortable with their roles and easily adopt them whenever the other is nearby. This is apparent also in that they can only successfully play their roles when they are in private and any disturbance causes the "game" to be disrupted. The intrusion of the outside world in any form makes their role-playing impossible, as evidenced at the race track in Milan, where they must be alone. The people surrounding them make Catherine feel uncomfortable and Henry has to take her away from the crowd. He goes on to describe how it is impossible for them to play the roles when they are apart and how they therefore become more dependent upon each other's company. Stubbs goes on to explain how, "neither mistakes role-playing for a truly intimate relationship, but both recognize that it can be a useful device for satisfying certain emotional needs.

Essay --

In the beginning of the play, Caliban and Prospero had a relationship similar to that of a father and son. Prospero took care of Caliban, and taught him how to speak. Caliban too, taught Prospero how to live on the island by showing him the places to get food. I feel that in the beginning, Caliban was naà ¯ve and innocent, with no ill intent. He truly felt that Prospero was his father, or a king, and in fact was a king that he loved. For instance, Caliban in Act 1, Scene 2 states â€Å"And then I loved thee.† Their relationship was one of love, and the want to help each other. After Caliban attempted to rape Miranda, Caliban’s and Prospero’s relationship changed drastically. Prospero became extremely hostile to Caliban, and insulted Caliban in their first conversation in the book in Act 1, Scene 2, â€Å"Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself. Upon thy wicked dam, come forth!† It is easily seen how their relationship has changed severely since then. Caliban, too, hurled curses at Prospero: As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushed With raven’s feather from unwholesome fen Drop on you both! A southwest blow on ye And blister you all o'er! Certainly, this would not have been the way they would have talked to each other if they had still loved each other. Their relationship was now one of loathe and revolt. Caliban became resentful and grouchy because of Prospero’s rejection of him after what he had done. However, Caliban, being a savage, was probably just heeding nature’s calls. After all, all of nature has a need to procreate, and Caliban was just following his instincts. Furthermore, Miranda was the only girl on the island who was of the right age to procreate, so thus Caliban’s actions were valid, to him at least. In addition, Calib... ...nces whereby Caliban’s actions affected his relationships with others, it was not due to sudden changes in character, but rather, due to the way he was brought up, and the impact of people’s actions on him which led to the final blow. Also, Caliban’s and Prospero’s relationship changed in various ways throughout The Tempest, where at a point it was a relationship of love, and at another time it was one of hatred. However, looking at the text as a whole, the overarching relationship the both had was still one of a master and slave. Even though they had a loving relationship in the beginning of the story, theirs was still one of superiority and inferiority. At the end of the play, their relationship returned to what it was initially. Hence, their relationship did not actually change throughout, but what changed was the way they spoke to each other throughout the play.

Anne Fausto-Sterling’s “The Five Sexes”

Exploring the Social Standards of Sex and Gender There are several sources that tell a person how to be a man or woman. Science tells us by recognizing the X or Y chromosomes. The media shows us through the physically ideal celebrities that grace the covers of magazines and flaunt their bodies in commercials. Sports, wrestling, cars, and blue for the boys. Dresses, make-up, painted nails, and pink for the girls. All of these sources, as well as others, have evolved into an expectation that has become institutionalized within society.This expectation, is placement and belonging into the binary system of person: the man or the woman. In Anne Fausot-Sterling's acrticles â€Å"The Five Sexes† and the â€Å"The Five Sexes, Revisited†, the binary system is exposed as being faulted. The author explores the harsh physical and psychological costs that come with the conforming to social standards. In order to understand this phenomena, an explanation of the â€Å"ideal† bo dy, and how that is determined is needed. Also, an explanation of any deviation to what is â€Å"ideal†, and how those people are treated, are important in understanding society's standards of sex and gender.Fausto-Sterling explains the ideal make-up of a man and a woman. â€Å"Males have an X and a Y chromosome, testes, a penis and all of the appropriate internal plumbing for delivering urine and semen to the outside world. They also have well-known secondary sexual characteristics, including a muscular build and facial hair. Women have two X chromosomes, ovaries, all of the internal plumbing to transport urine and ova to the outside world, a system to support pregnancy and fetal development†¦ †. (â€Å"The Five Sexes, Revisited†2). In the idealized world, Fausto-Sterling points out how human beings are a â€Å"dimorphic species†, that is, two kinds. Science takes into account the biological DNA sequence of chromosomes to determine male or female. T he genitalia of a person, his/her biological parts, are the visible factors. This is reinforced by the celebrities whose ideal bodies' are worshiped by society. But what about people who fall in between? Besides the genders male and female, there is also intersexed. Within that group of intersexed, there are subgroups.Fausto-Sterling explains this in her â€Å"The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female are Not Enough†: Firstly, the term â€Å"intersex† is used in medical literature to describe the â€Å"so-called true hermaphrodite† (possesses one testis and one ovary), â€Å"the male pseudohermaphrodite† (possess testes and some aspects of the female genitalia, but no ovaries), and â€Å"female pseudohermaphadites† (possess ovaries and some aspects of the male genitalia but lack testes). I had no idea that there were subgroups to the â€Å"intersexed†.Due to social conformity, along with the advancement of technology and surgical procedure interse xed persons are aimed to be â€Å"fixed† at birth. Although otherwise healthy, there is a need to perform surgery on the baby in order to remove certain sexual organs that don't fit with the perfect idea of what a girl or boy should look like. This often leaves scars, and the psychological and emotional confusion along with it. â€Å"The Five Sexes Revisited† focused on the importance of therapy over surgery. Medical ethicist Laurence B.McCullough of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor Collefe of Medicine in Houston, Texas â€Å"contend[ed] that in the process of assigning gender, physicians should minimize what he calls irreversible assignments: taking steps such as the surgical removal or modification of gonads or genitalia that the patient may one day want to have reversed†. (4) It is a dangerous gamble to perform â€Å"corrective† surgery and assign a sex shortly after birth because although that child may grow to accept his/her gender identity, there is no guarantee.The consequences of that gamble can cost the patient a lifetime of psychological trauma. The debate on the dangers/benefits of â€Å"corrective† surgery is strong no both sides. To argue in favor of it, one must remember how it was growing up. Children, more-so than adults, want to fit it. There really is, however, a yearning to fit in as a child growing up. As an intersexed child, fitting in would be nearly impossible because of his/her confusion of self.Sterling's insights on what pushed people to surgically alter themselves in order to comply to what society has determined to be â€Å"ideal†. The media constantly reinforces what a man should look like and what a woman should look like, and these, sometimes unrealistic, notions of ideal bodies, distorts people. It reflects how society forces people into a box, and judges anyone who do not fit into that box. These dilemmas stem from a society flawed sense of standard genders, and why a five sex system is a refreshing suggestion.Anne Fausto-Sterling's notion of a five sex system stems from the culture in which we live. There is a cultural idea that mandates that there are only two standards, man and woman, and everything in between is a deviation that needs to be fixed. In â€Å"The Five Sexes, Revisited†, Fausto-Sterling makes an analogy to the placement of intersexed and transgendered people. She says that â€Å"masculine and feminine, cannot be parsed as some kind of continuum. Rather, sex and gender are best conceptualized as points in a multidimensional space†.5) This is a fitting way to look at gender variation, unfortunately however, that is not the way society sees as the standard. This standard has been institutionalized within modern culture, and begins immediately at birth, and continues throughout life. Newborns are given a blue blanket if a boy, and a pink one if a girl. Bathrooms are either for men, or for women, with a cartoon fi gure to represent each. Passports, birth certificates, driver licenses, and other official documents, all require a declaration of male or female. There are no in-betweens.While the introduction of five sexes is certainly a noble idea, its practicality is limited. In Fausto-Sterling's â€Å"The Five Sexes Revisited†, the author postulated that 1. 7% of the general population is intersexed. That being said, introducing five sexes would call for a revamping of the infrastructures and institutions that were built on the binary system of sex and gender. The process would be costly and timely. Introducing the five sexes institutionally may seem out of reach, at least within the foreseeable future, however, its recognition certainly is not.Accepting the five sexes is progress. It can be comparable to the institutionalization of segregation in the United States. Segregation, the separation of black and white, was so embedded into the culture and laws of the United States that nobody ever imagined it would be done with. But through the determination of civil rights movements, segregation became illegal. Through the same determination, LGBQT would be able to achieve the same sense of acceptance, but it won't happen overnight, and probably not even in our lifetime.

Julian Assange: Hero or Terrorist

Attention Getter: George Orwell once said,† Political Language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. † 2. Bond: Link to Audience: It’s easy to take our 1st amendment rights for granted but imagine if we didn’t have them anymore. Can you imagine living in an America where it’s considered treason to say what you think and to tell the world what you know? Well, that is what the current battle between our government and Julian Assange is about. . †Credentials† of speaker: I have been following the developing story of Julian Assange for the last 3 years. So, it’s fair to say that I know a little bit about him. 4. Thesis: My research leads me to believe that Julian Assange should be afforded the same rights as every other journalist. 5. Speech Preview: First, I’m going to talk about the global smear campaign against Julian Assange. After that, I’m going to talk about the violations that the U. S. is posing to his human rights.Finally, I am going to talk about what America is going to look like if we don’t have our rights anymore. 6. Transition: But let’s start with the smears that have been dealt to Julian Assange. II. Body 1. Main Point #1: a. State Point 1: A global smear campaign is going on right this moment against Julian Assange. b. Argument: Some are saying that he is a woman raping terrorist. c. Proof: In an article by BBC News, Julian Assange said he believes that currently there is a global smear campaign to make him look disreputable and crazy.I read in an eBook called, Assange Agonistes that Nick Davies, a journalist for the New York Times, said that America’s preferred method of control is through Media management. He also said that the American government is,† the biggest media manipulation machine in the history of mankind. † I think that this is absolutely true because this isn ’t the first time the U. S. government has used smear tactics against someone who stood up against them. I discovered 2 other incidents where our government and a major bank had smeared someone’s name through the use of exual misconduct charges; the first being Scott Ritter. I watched a video on YouTube by The Young Turks, where they were discussing the allegations that were brought up against Julian Assange. In the video they were talking about how Scott Ritter, a decorated war veteran, who spoke out against the war in Iraq and said that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Soon after Ritter made that statement, alleged sex charges were brought up against him to make him look like a dirty old rapist who would do anything to make our government look bad.The second case I also discovered was about Elliot Spitzer, who accused the banks of insider trading. Suddenly the North Fork Bank reported to the IRS that Spitzer was using funds to pay for a hooker and s ex charges were brought up against him. Due to the media scandal he resigned from his position as Governor of New York because it painted a negative reflection on our government. d. Give an Example: In an article that I read on Wired. com it talks about a woman that has accused Julian Assange of raping her. In the article it describes the process by which this woman describes her â€Å"incident† with Assange.Ms. Anna Ardin said that he pinned her down to the bed when she reached for a condom, but then he consented and put a condom on. According to Ms. Ardin she feels she was raped because the condom broke at some point in time during the act. While I was investigating I found out that she had posted to her blog the â€Å"7 steps to get legal revenge. † I personally don’t find her story very credible after reading a translation of her blog. Ms. Ardin is known in Sweden for her feministic views  on how men achieve social dominance through sex.The government was anxious to pounce on her accusations of rape even though she is a known feminist with a history of reporting baseless rape. I do not find this a coincidence that a few days before the rape accusation Mr. Assange had released an embarrassing video of US soldiers gunning down no less than a dozen unarmed civilians in Iraq, while they were talking about it like it was a game of Call of Duty. Julian believes it was not a coincidence that after he embarrassed the U. S. by leaking this video, he was then accused of a crime that would have him extradited back to Sweden and then to the U. S. for further punishment.This was before they discovered there was nothing that the US government could charge him with and it was a violation of his human rights to send him to Sweden where he hadn’t been charged for the alleged crime. To date Julian has never been charged with the rape of this woman and has been confined to house arrest for more than 500 days without any charge against him. e. Re state the point: There is a global smear campaign set against Julian Assange because he is the face of WikiLeaks. g. Transition Sentence: Next, let’s talk about the violation to his rights. 2. Main Point #2: Solutions to those problems . State Point 2: The U. S. government is violating Julian Assange’s human rights.b. Argument: In an article by The Atlantic quoted Hillary Clinton saying that Julian Assange was attacking their international community. c. Refutation: Julian Assange is a journalist and is protected by the U. N. ’s Declaration of Human Rights under article 19. Under article 19 it says: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. . Give an Example: In 1968 when we were in the thick of the Vietnam War there was a man named Daniel Ellsberg that was courageous and released classified Pentagon documents to the New York Times. On History. com and from my uncle, who was a journalist in the Vietnam War, I learned that that the war ended earlier as a result of a public outcry, where 75% of the American population protested the war. Daniel Ellsberg also helped end the war by releasing classified documents that exposed the lies that made us go to war in the first place which forced President Reagan to withdraw from Vietnam.If we stand together and say that we need to stop unjustly blaming Julian Assange for promoting a more transparent government and take a look at what it is that we are unknowingly promoting. Julian Assange believes that we have the right to know about the lies and secret dealings going on by our government. It is our right to know what they are saying and doing behind closed doors. Yes, there are instances where our government needs to have secrets, but that doesn’t mean that they can to lie to us about the general majority of secr et dealings that are going on.If Julian Assange is attacking our International Community then maybe it needs to be attacked because what is going on right now and all the lies that we are being told need to be known. We need to see just what is going on. We need to know why the rest of the world hates us so much. e. Restate the Point: Julian Assange’s human rights are being violated and we need to do something about it. 3. Main Point #3: Visualization a. State Point 3: Imagine an America where it becomes treason to say what you think and to tell others about it. b.Argument: Our government would say that there is a need to be censored in order to keep us safe. c. Refutation: Our 1st Amendment rights are going to disappear if we don’t halt this violation right now. Pretty soon we’re going to be trapped in a world where we don’t have our most basic of rights. Imagine a world populated with militarized police and being under lock down in an authoritarian dict atorship where we no longer have any rights or freedom. How many of you believe that the governments placing cameras on the roads and on top of buildings are really about watching traffic?I believe that it is really about watching the people. So, it’s already begun. d. Give an Example: We need to stand together and we need to tell our friends and loved ones. Spread the word tell people about what’s going on! Everyone needs to know that our rights are at risk right now! e. Restate the point: America is going to change dramatically if Julian Assange is arrested for being a journalist. f. Transition: Let’s summarize what I have been talking to you about today. III. Conclusion 1.Restate thesis: Julian Assange should be afforded the same rights as every other Journalist. 2. Restate main points: Julian Assange is being attacked by so many companies and governments. His rights are being violated and it’s going to change America if our government succeeds in arre sting Julian Assange. 3. Call- to-Action: Protest! Say what you think! We need to challenge our government and show them that they are wrong because if we don’t America, the so-called land of the free, is soon to be the Soviet America.

“My Son the Marine” by Frank Schueffer Essay

The story â€Å"My Son the Marine† Is written by Frank Schueffer. The reason for this paper is to identify weather or no to author used logos ethos or pathos in the story. The story took place on a summer day. One day after high school a young boy decides he wanted to join the military. The young boy talks to almost all of the military recruiters except one. Later that afternoon there was a knock on his door from the one military branch he did not visit, The United States Marine Corp (USMC). The boy was taken by the appearance and demeanor of the two marines at his door. After his talk with the marines he decided that is he was to join the military he would definitely join the marine. The boy’s father could not understand his decision. he thought it was a waste of his son’s talent and could envision his soft son the one that like poetry would be tough enough to handle the mental, physical and emotional aspects of the journey to becoming a Marine . Later in the story the father starts to understand the question of why his son wants to join the USMC. The logos of this story is shown when the father changes his mind set from, my son couldn’t possibly be a Marine to thinking of his son as a Marine. â€Å"Did he have it in him to become a Marine? I knew that john’s idea of a good time was to curl up in front of the fireplace and rereading his favorite bits of The Hobbit.† To a parent worst fear is that there children will try something that is out of the area of knowledge and the child gets there hope up only to fall short of their goals. â€Å"When his son parade in†, a tall Marine† every parent dreams that there children will succeed. There are only a few examples of ethos; one was shown when the father was over thinking his son’s decision to join the military. â€Å"Why the hell was John going into the Marines†? The other example  of ethos, which is more profound, is the last par t of the story but certainly no least when the father hangs up the phone from talking to his son. â€Å"I stared at the television there were fire-fighters cops and military personnel struggling to find survivors and thousands dead. I felt deeply frustrated being able to do nothing. At least I knew that I could look the men and women in uniform in the eyes. My son, after all, was one of them†. The author did a great job of building repore and empathy for the father in the story. The author was able to use creative use of words to set the tone or mood of the father’s confusion about his sons need for to become the â€Å"few the proud a Marine†. The tone that was created was soft, protective, and thoughtful. And showed a change in tone and mode when the fathers son finally graduated and became a Marine The story, in conclusion, is a heartfelt story of a man and his son. It concerns the journey off what parents go through when saying goodbye to their children as they set off in unknown and unchartered territory. The pride the parents feel when their children suc ceed is exponential. The author wss able to capture the heart sting of the reader. Although the author used false logic to almost convince the father that his son was destined to fail. Works Cited Scueffer, Frank. My Son the Marine. Reading Literature and writing assignements 4th ed.

EMI and the CT Scanner Essay

In early 1972 there was considerable disagreement among top management at EMI Ltd, the UKbased music, electronics, and leisure company. The subject of the controversy was the CT scanner, a new medical diagnostic imaging device that had been developed by the group’s Central Research Laboratory (CRL). At issue was the decision to enter this new business, thereby launching a diversification move that many felt was necessary if the company was to continue to prosper. Complicating the problem was the fact that this revolutionary new product would not only take EMI into the fast-changing and highly competitive medical equipment business, but would also require the company to establish operations in North America, a market in which it had no prior experience. In March 1972 EMI’s board was considering an investment proposal for  £6 million to build CT scanner manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom. Development of the CT Scanner company background and history EMI Ltd traces its origins back to 1898, when the Gramophone Company was founded to import records and gramophones from the United States. It soon established its own manufacturing and recording capabilities, and after a 1931 merger with its major rival, the Columbia Gramophone Company, emerged as the Electric and Musical Industries, Ltd. EMI Ltd quickly earned a reputation as an aggressive technological innovator, developing the automatic record changer, stereophonic records, magnetic recording tape, and the pioneer commercial television system adopted by the BBC in 1937. Beginning in 1939, EMI’s R&D capabilities were redirected by the war effort toward the development of fuses, airborne radar, and other sophisticated  electronic devices. The company emerged from the war with an electronics business, largely geared to defenserelated products, as well as its traditional entertainment businesses. The transition to peacetime was particularly difficult for the electronics division, and its poor performance led to attempts to pursue new industrial and consumer applications. EMI did some exciting pioneering work, and for a while held hopes of being Britain’s leading computer company. Market leadership in major electronics applications remained elusive, however, while the music business boomed. The 1955 acquisition of Capitol Records in the United States, and the subsequent success of the Beatles and other recording groups under contract to EMI, put the company in a very strong financial position as it entered the 1970s. In 1970 the company h ad earned  £21 million before tax on sales of  £215 million, and although extraordinary losses halved those profits in 1971, the company was optimistic for a return to previous profit levels in 1972 (see exhibits 10.1 to 10.3 for EMI’s financial performance). Around that time, a change in top management signaled a change in corporate strategy. John Read, an accountant by training and previously sales director for Ford of Great Britain, was appointed chief executive officer after only four years in the company. Read recognized the risky, even fickle, nature of the music business, which accounted for two-thirds of EMI’s sales and profits. In an effort to change the company’s strategic balance, he began to divert some of its substantial cash flow into numerous acquisitions and internal developments. To encourage internal innovation, Read established a research fund that was to be used to finance innovative developments outside the company’s immediate interests. Among the first projects financed was one proposed by Godfrey Hounsfield, a research scientist in EMI’s Central Research Laboratories (CRL). Hounsfield’s proposal opened up an opportunity for the company to diversify in the fast-growing medical electronics field. ct scanning: the concept In simple terms, Hounsfield’s research proposal was to study the possibility of creating a threedimensional image of an object by taking multiple X-ray measurements of the object from different angles, then using a computer to reconstruct a picture from the data contained in hundreds of overlapping and  intersecting X-ray slices. The concept became known as computerized tomography (CT). Although computerized tomography represented a conceptual breakthrough, the technologies it harnessed were quite well known and understood. Essentially, it linked X-ray, data processing, and cathode ray tube display technologies in a complex and precise manner. The real development challenge consisted of integrating the mechanical, electronic, and radiographic components into an accurate, reliable, and sensitive system. Figure 10.1 provides a schematic representation of the EMI scanner, illustrating the linkage of the three technologies, as well as the patient handling table and X-ray gantry. Progress was rapid, and clinical trials of the CT scanner were under way by late 1970. To capture the image of multiple slices of the brain, the scanner went through a translate-rotate sequence, as illustrated in figure 10.2. The X-ray source and detector, located on opposite sides of the patient’s head, were mounted on a gantry. After each scan, or â€Å"translation,† had generated an X-ray image comprising 160 data points, the gantry would rotate 1 ° and another scan would be made. This procedure would continue through 180 translations and rotations, storing a total of almost 30,000 data points. Since the detected intensity of an X-ray varies with the material through which it passes, the data could be reconstructed by the computer into a threedimensional image of the object that distinguished bone, tissue, water, fat, and so on. At about the time of the CT clinical trials, John Powell, formerly managing director of Texas Instrument’s English subsidiary, joined EMI as technical director. He soon became convinced that the poor profitability of the nonmilitary electronics business was due to the diffusion of the company’s 2,500-person R&D capability over too many diverse small-volume lines. In his words, â€Å"EMI was devoted to too many products and dedicated to too few.† Because the CT scanner project built on the company’s substantial and well-established electronics capability, Powell believed it gave EMI an important opportunity t o enter an exciting new field. He felt that this was exactly the type of effort in which the company should be prepared to invest several million  pounds. Diagnostic Imaging Industry During the first half of the twentieth century, diagnostic information about internal organs and functions was provided almost exclusively by conventional X-ray examination, but in the 1960s hostemostel.com and 1970s, several new imaging techniques emerged. When the CT scanner was announced, three other important technologies existed: X-ray, nuclear, and ultrasound. EMI management believed its CT scanner would displace existing diagnostic imaging equipment in only a few applications, specifically head and brain imaging. x-ray In 1895 Wilhelm Roentgen discovered that rays generated by a cathode ray tube could penetrate solid objects and create an image on film. Over the next 40 to 50 years, X-ray equipment was installed in almost every healthcare facility in the world. Despite its several limitations (primarily due to the fact that detail was obscured when three-dimensional features were superimposed on a two-dimensional image), X-rays were universally used. In 1966 a Surgeon General’s report estimated that between one-third and one-half of all crucial medical decisions in the United States depended on interpretation of X-ray films. That country alone had more than 80,000 X-ray installations in operation, performing almost 150 million procedures in 1970. The X-ray market was dominated by five major global companies. Siemens of West Germany was estimated to have 22 percent of the world market, N.V. Philips of the Netherlands had 18 percent, and Compagnie Generale de Radiologie (CGE), subsidiary of th e French giant Thomson Brandt, held 16 percent. Although General Electric had an estimated 30 percent of the large US market, its weak position abroad gave it only 15 percent of the world market. The fifth largest company was Picker, with 20 percent of the US market, but less than 12 percent worldwide. The size of the US market for X-ray equipment was estimated at $350 million  in 1972, with an additional $350 million in X-ray supplies. The United States was thought to represent 35– 40% of the world market. Despite the maturity of the product, the X-ray market was growing by almost 10% annually in dollar terms during the early 1970s. A conventional X-ray system represented a major capital expenditure for a hospital, with the average system costing more than $100,000 in 1973. In the mid-1960s a nuclear diagnostic imaging procedure was developed. Radioisotopes with a short radioactive life were projected into the body, detected and monitored on a screen, then recorded on film or stored on a tape. Still in an early stage of development, this technology was used to complement or, in some instances, replace a conventional X-ray diagnosis. Both static and dynamic images could be obtained. Following the pioneering development of this field by Nuclear-Chicago, which sold the first nuclear gamma camera in 1962, several other small competitors had entered the field, notably Ohio Nuclear. By the late 1960s larger companies such as Picker were getting involved, and in 1971 GE’s Medical Systems Division announced plans to enter the nuclear medicine field. As new competitors, large and small, entered the market, competition became more aggressive. The average nuclear camera and data processing system sold for about $75,000. By 1973, shipments of nuclear imaging equipment into the US market were estimated to be over $50 million. Ultrasound had been used in medical diagnosis since the 1950s, and the technology advanced significantly in the early 1970s, permitting better-defined images. The technique involves transmitting sonic waves and picking up the echoes, which when converted to electric energy  could create images. Air and bone often provide an acoustic barrier, limiting the use of this technique. But because the patient was not exposed  to radiation, it was widely used as a diagnostic tool in obstetrics and gynecology. In 1973 the ultrasound market was very small, and only a few small companies were reported in the field. Picker, however, was rumored to be doing research in the area. The cost of the equipment was expected to be less than half that of a nuclear camera and support system, and perhaps a third to a quarter that of an X-ray machine. Because of its size, sophistication, progressiveness, and access to funds, the US medical market clearly represented the major opportunity for a new device such as the CT scanner. EMI management was uncertain about the sales potential for their new product, however. As of 1972, there were around 7,000 hospitals in the United States, ranging from tiny rural hospitals with fewer than 10 beds to giant teaching institutions with 1,000 beds or more (see table 10.1). Since the price of the EMI Scanner was expected to be around $400,000, only the largest and financially strongest short-term institutions would be able to afford one. But the company was encouraged by the enthusiasm of the physicians who had seen and worked with the scanner. In the opinion of one leading American neurologist, at least 170 machines would be required by major US hospitals. Indeed, he speculated, the time might come when a neurologist would feel ethically compelled to order a CT scan before making a diagnosis. During the 1960s the radiology departments in many hospitals were recognized as important money-making operations. Increasingly, radiologists were able to commission equipment manufacturers to build specially designed (often esoteric) X-ray systems and applications. As their budgets expanded, the size of the US X-ray market grew from $50 million in 1958 to $350 million in 1972. Of the 15,000 radiologists in the United States, 60 percent were primarily based in offices and 40 percent in hospitals. Little penetration of private clinics was foreseen for the CT scanner. Apart from these broad statistics, EMI had little ability to forecast the potential of the US market for scanners. EMI’s Investment Decision conflicting management views By late 1971 it was clear that the clinical trials were successful and EMI management had to decide whether to make the investment required to develop the CT scanner business. One group of senior managers felt that direct EMI participation was undesirable for three reasons. First, EMI lacked medical product experience. In the early 1970s EMI offered only two very small medical products, a patient-monitoring device and an infrared thermography device, which together represented less than 0.5 percent of the company’s sales. Second, they argued that the manufacturing process would be quite different from EMI’s experience. Most of its electronics work had been in the job shop mode required in producing small numbers of highly specialized defense products on cost-plus government contracts. In scanner production, most of the components were purchased from subcontractors and had to be integrated into a functioning system. Finally, many believed that without a working knowledge of the North American market, where most of the demand for scanners was expected to be, EMI might find it very difficult to build an effective operation from scratch. Among the strongest opponents of EMI’s self-development of this new business was one of the scanner’s earliest sponsors, Dr Broadway, head of the Central Research Laboratory. He emphasized that EMI’s potential competitors in the field had considerably greater technical capabilities and resources. As the major proponent, John Powell needed convincing market information to counter the critics. In early 1972 he asked some of the senior managers how many scanners they thought the company would sell in its first 12 months. Their first estimate was five. Powell told them to think again. They came back with a figure of 12, and were again sent back to reconsider. Finally, with an estimate of 50, Powell felt he could go to bat for the  £6 million  investment, since at this sales level he could project handsome profits from year one. He then prepared an argument that justified the scanner’s fit with EMI’s overall objectives, and outlined a basic strategy for the business. Powell argued that self-development of the CT scanner represented just the sort of vehicle EMI had been seeking to provide some focus to its development effort. By definition, diversification away from existing product-market areas would move the company into somewhat unfamiliar territory, but he firmly believed that the financial and strategic payoffs would be huge. The product offered access to global markets and an entry into the lucrative medical equipment field. He felt the company’s objective should be to achieve a substantial share of the world medical electronics business not only in diagnostic imaging, but also through the extension of its technologies into computerized patient planning and radiation therapy. Powell claimed that the expertise developed by Hounsfield and his team, coupled with protection from patents, would give EMI three or four years, and maybe many more, to establish a solid market position. He argued that investments should be made quickly and boldly to maximize the market share of the EMI scanner before competitors entered. Other options, such as licensing, would impede the development of the scanner. If the licensees were the major Xray equipment suppliers, they might not promote the scanner aggressively since it would cannibalize their sales of X-ray equipment and consumables. Smaller companies would lack EMI’s sense of commitment and urgency. Besides, licensing would not provide EMI with the major strategic diversification it was seeking. It would be, in Powell’s words, â€Å"selling our birthright.† the proposed strategy Because the CT scanner incorporated a complex integration of some technologies in which EMI had only limited expertise, Powell proposed that the manufacturing strategy should rely heavily on outside sources of those components rather than trying to develop the expertise internally. This approach would not only minimize risk, but would also make it possible to implement a manufacturing program rapidly. He proposed the concept of developing various â€Å"centers of excellence† both inside and outside the company, making each responsible for the continued superiority of the subsystem it manufactured. For example, within the EMI UK organization a unit called SE Labs, which manufactured instruments and displays, would become the center of excellence for the scanner’s viewing console and display control. Pantak, an EMI unit with a capability in X-ray tube assembly, would become the center of excellence for the X-ray generation and detection subsystem. An outside vendor with which the company had worked in developing the scanner would be the center of excellence for data processing. Finally, a newly created division would be responsible for coordinating these subsystem manufacturers, integrating the various components, and assembling the final scanner at a company facility in the town of Hayes, not far from the CRL site. Powell emphasized that the low initial investment was possible because most of the components and subsystems were purchased from contractors and vendors. Even internal centers of excellence such as SE Labs and Pantak assembled their subsystems from purchased components. Overall, outside vendors accounted for 75–80 percent of the scanner’s manufacturing cost. Although Powell felt his arrangement greatly reduced EMI’s risk, the  £6 hostemostel.com million investment was a substantial one for the company, representing about half the funds available for capital investment over the coming year. (See exhibit 10.2 for a balance sheet and exhibit 10.3 for a projected funds flow.) The technology strategy was to keep CRL as the company’s center of excellence for design and software expertise, and to use the substantial profits Powell was projecting from even the earliest sales to maintain technological leadership position. Powell would personally head up a team to develop a marketing strategy. Clearly, the United States had to be the main focus of EMI’s marketing activity. Its neuroradiologists were regarded as world leaders and tended to welcome technological innovation. Furthermore, its  institutions were more commercial in their outlook than those in other countries and tended to have more available funds. Powell planned to set up a US sales subsidiary as soon as possible, recruiting sales and service personnel familiar with the North American healthcare market. Given the interest shown to date in the EMI scanner, he did not think there would be much difficulty in gaining the attention and interest of the medical community. Getting the $400,0 00 orders, however, would be more of a challenge. In simple terms, Powell’s sales strategy was to get machines into a few prestigious reference hospitals, then build from that base. the decision In March 1972 EMI’s chief executive, John Read, considered Powell’s proposal in preparation for a board meeting. Was this the diversification opportunity he had been hoping for? What were the risks? Could they be managed? How? If he decided to back the proposal, what kind of an implementation program would be necessary to ensure its eventual success? CASE B The year 1977 looked like it would be a very good one for EMI Medical Inc., a North American subsidiary of EMI Ltd. EMI’s CT scanner had met with enormous success in the American market. In the three years since the scanner’s introduction, EMI medical electronics sales had grown to  £42 million. Although this represented only 6 percent of total sales, this new business contributed pretax profits of  £12.5 million, almost 20 percent of the corporate total (exhibit 10.4). EMI Medical Inc. was thought to be responsible for about 80 percent of total scanner volume. And with an order backlog of more than 300 units, the future seemed rosy. Despite this formidable success, senior management in both the subsidiary and the parent company were concerned about several developments. First, this fast-growth field had attracted more than a dozen new entrants in the past two years, and technological advances were occurring rapidly. At the same time, the growing political debate ov er hospital cost containment often focused on $500,000 CT scanners as an example of questionable hospital spending. Finally, EMI was beginning to feel some internal organizational strains. Entry Decision  product launch Following months of debate among EMI’s top management, the decision to go ahead with the EMI Scanner project was assured when John Read, the company CEO, gave his support to Dr Powell’s proposal. In April 1972 a formal press announcement was greeted by a response that could only be described as overwhelming. EMI was flooded with inquiries from the medical and financial communities, and from most of the large diagnostic imaging companies wanting to license the technology, enter into joint ventures, or at least distribute the product. The response was that the company had decided to enter the business directly itself. Immediately action was implemented to put Dr Powell’s manufacturing strategy into operation. Manufacturing facilities were developed and supply contracts drawn up with the objective of beginning shipments within 12 months. In May, Godfrey Hounsfield, the brilliant EMI scientist who had developed the scanner, was dispatched to the US accompanied by a leading English neurologist. The American specialists with whom they spoke confirmed that the scanner had great medical importance. Interest was running high in the medical community. In December, EMI mounted a display at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The exhibit was the highlight of the show, and boosted management’s confidence to establish a US sales company to penetrate the American medical market. us market entry In June 1973, with an impressive pile of sales leads and inquiries, a small sales office was established in Reston, Virginia, home of the newly appointed US sales branch manager, Mr Gus Pyber. Earlier that month the first North American head scanner had been installed at the prestigious Mayo Clinic, with a second machine promised to the Massachusetts General Hospital for trials. Interest was high, and the new sales force had little difficulty getting into the offices of leading radiologists and neurologists. By the end of the year, however, Mr Pyber had been fired in a dispute over appropriate expense levels, and James Gallagher, a former marketing manager with a major drug company, was hired to replace him. One of Gallagher’s first steps was to convince the company that the Chicago area was a far better location for the US office. It allowed better servicing of a national market, was a major center for medical electronics companies, and had more convenient linkages with London. This last point was important since all major strategic and policy decisions were being made directly by Dr Powell in London. During 1974, Gallagher concentrated on recruiting and developing his three-man sales force and two-man service organization. The cost of maintaining each salesman on the road was estimated at $50,000, while a serviceman’s salary and expenses at that time were around $35,000 annually. The production rate for the scanner was running at a rate of only three or four machines a month, and Gallagher saw little point in developing a huge sales force to sell a product for which supply was limited, and interest seemingly boundless. In this seller’s market the company developed some policies that were new to the industry. Most notably, they required that the customer deposit one-third of the purchase price with the order to guarantee a place in the production schedule. Sales leads and enquiries were followed up when the sales force could get to them, and the general attitude of the company seemed to have somewhat of a â€Å"take it or leave it† tone. It was in this period that EMI developed a reputation for arrogance in some parts of the medical profession. Nonetheless, by June 1974 the company had delivered 35 scanners at $390,000 each, and had another 60 orders in hand. Developing Challenges competitive challenge Toward the end of 1974, the first competitive scanners were announced. Unlike the EMI scanner, the new machines were designed to scan the body rather than the head. The Acta- Scanner had been developed at Georgetown University’s Medical Center and was manufactured by a small Maryland company called Digital Information Sciences  Corporation (DISCO). Technologically, it offered little advance over the EMI scanner except for one important feature. Its gantry design would accommodate a body rather than a head. While specifications on scan time and image composition were identical to those of the EMI scanner, the $298,000 price tag gave the Acta-Scanner a big advantage, particularly with smaller hospitals and private practitioners. The DeltaScan offered by Ohio Nuclear (ON) represented an even more formidable challenge. This head and body scanner had 256 ∞ 256 pixels compared with EMI’s 160 ∞ 160, and promised a 21/2-minute scan rather than the 41/2-minute scan time offered by EMI. ON offered these superior features on a unit priced $5,000 below the EMI scanner at $385,000. Many managers at EMI were surprised by the speed with which these products had appeared, barely two years after the EMI scanner was exhibited at the RSNA meeting in Chicago, and 18 months after the first machine was installed in the Mayo Clinic. The source of the challenge was also interesting. DISCO was a tiny private company, and ON contributed about 20 percent of its parent Technicare’s 1974 sales of $50 million. To some, the biggest surprise was how closely these competitive machines resembled EMI’s own scanner. The complex wall of patents had not provided a very enduring defense. ON tackled the issue directly in its 1975 annual report. After announcing that $882,200 had been spent in Technicare’s R&D Center to develop DeltaScan, the report stated: Patents have not played a significant role in the development of Ohio Nuclear’s product line, and it is not believed that the validity or invalidity of any patents known to exist is material to its current market position. However, the technologies on which its products are based are sufficiently complex and application of patent law sufficiently indefinite that this belief is not free from all doubt. The challenge represented by these new competitive products caused EMI to speed up the announcement of the body scanner Dr Hounsfield had been working on. The new CT 5000 model incorporated a second-generation technology in which multiple beams of radiation were shot at multiple detectors, rather  than the single pencil beam and the single detector of the original scanner (see exhibit 10.5). This technique allowed the gantry to rotate 10 ° rather than l ° after each translation, cutting scan time from 41/2 minutes to 20 seconds. In addition, the multiple-beam emission also permitted a finer image resolution by increasing the number of pixels from 160 ∞ 160 to 320 ∞ 320. Priced over $500,000, the CT 5000 received a standing ovation when Hounsfield demonstrated it at the radiological meetings held in Bermuda in May 1975. Despite EMI’s reassertion of its leadership position, aggressive competitive activity continued. In March 1975, Pfizer Inc., the $1.5 billion drug giant, announced it had acquired the manufacturing and marketing rights for the Acta-Scanner. EMI was then operating at an annual production rate of 150 units, and ON had announced plans to double capacity to 12 units per month by early 1976. Pfizer’s capacity plans were unknown. The most dramatic competitive revelation came at the annual RSNA meeting in December 1975, when six new competitors displayed CT scanners. Although none of the newcomers offered immediate delivery, all were booking orders with delivery dates up to 12 months out on the basis of their spec sheets and prototype or mock-up equipment exhibits. Some of the new entrants (Syntex, Artronix, and Neuroscan) were smaller companies, but others (General Electric, Picker, and Varian) were major medical electronics competitors. Perhaps most impressive was the General Electric CT/T scanner, which took the infant technology into its third generation (see exhibit 10.6). By using a 30 °-wide pulsed fan X-ray beam, the GE scanner could avoid the time-consuming â€Å"translate-rotate† sequence of the firstand second-generation scanners. A single continuous 360 ° sweep could be completed in 4.8 seconds, and the resulting image was reconstructed by the computer in a 320 ∞ 320 pixel matrix on a cathode ray tube. The unit was priced at $615,000. Clinical trials were scheduled for January, and shipment of production units was being quoted for mid-1976. The arrival of GE on the horizon signaled the beginning of a new competitive game. With a 300-person sales force and a service network of 1,200, GE clearly had marketing muscle. They had reputedly spent $15 million developing their third-generation scanner, and were continuing to spend at a rate of $5 million annually to keep ahead technologically. During 1975, one industry source estimated, about 150 new scanners were installed in the US, and more than twice as many orders entered. (Orders were firm, since most were secured with hefty front-end deposits.) Overall, orders were split fairly evenly between brain and body scanners. EMI was thought to have accounted for more than 50 percent of orders taken in 1975, ON for almost 30 percent. Market size and growth Accurate assessments of market size, growth rate, and competitors’ shares were difficult to obtain. The following represents a sample of the widely varying forecasts made in late 1975: †¢ Wall Street was clearly enamored with the industry prospects (Technicare’s stock price rose from 5 to 22 in six months) and analysts were predicting an annual market potential of $500 million to $1 billion by 1980. †¢ Frost and Sullivan, however, saw a US market of only $120 million by 1980, with ten years of cumulative sales only reaching $1 billion by 1984 (2,500  units at $400,000). †¢ Some leading radiologists suggested that CT scanners could be standard equipment in all short-term hospitals with 200 beds or more by 1985. †¢ Technicare’s president, Mr R. T. Grimm, forecast a worldwide market of over $700 million by 1980, of which $400 million would be in the US. †¢ Despite the technical limitations of its first-generation product, Pfizer said it expected to sell more than 1,500 units of its Acta-Scanner over the next five years. Within EMI, market forecasts had changed considerably. By late 1975, the estimate of the US market had been boosted to 350 units a year, of which EMI hoped to retain a 50 percent share. Management was acutely aware of the difficulty of forecasting in such a turbulent environment, however. international expansion New competitors also challenged EMI’s positions in markets outside the US. Siemens, the $7 billion West German company, became ON’s international distributor. The distribution agreement appeared to be one of short-term convenience for both parties, since Siemens acknowledged that it was developing its own CT scanner. Philips, too, had announced its intention to enter the field. Internationally, EMI had maintained its basic strategy of going direct to the national market rather than working through local partners or distributors. Although all European sales had originally been handled out of the UK office, it quickly became evident that local servicing staffs were required in most countries. Soon separate subsidiaries were established in most continental European countries, typically with a couple of salesmen, and three or four servicemen. Elsewhere in the world, salesmen were often attached to EMI’s existing music organization in that country (e.g., in South Africa, Australia, and Latin America). In Japan, however, EMI signed a distribution agreement with Toshiba which, in October 1975, submitted the largest single order to date: a request for 33 scanners. EMI in 1976: Strategy and Challenges emi’s situation in 1976 By 1976 the CT scanner business was evolving rapidly, but, as the results indicated, EMI had done extremely well financially (exhibit 10.5). In reviewing developments since the US market entry, the following was clear: †¢ While smaller competitors had challenged EMI somewhat earlier than might have been expected, none of the big diagnostic imaging companies had brought its scanner to market, even four years after the original EMI scanner announcement. †¢ While technology was evolving rapidly, the expertise of Hounsfield and his CRL group, and the aggressive reinvestment of much of the early profits in R&D, gave EMI a strong technological position. †¢ While market size and growth were highly uncertain, the potential was unquestionably much larger than EMI had forecast in their early plans. †¢ In all, EMI was well established, with a strong and growing sales volume and a good technical reputation. The company was unquestionably the industry leader. Nonetheless, in the light of all the developments, the strategic tasks facing EMI in 1976 differed considerably from those of earlier years. The following paragraphs outline the most important challenges and problems facing the company in this period. strategic priorities EMI’s first sales priority was to protect its existing highly visible and prestigious customer base from competitors. When its second-generation scanner was introduced in mid-1975, EMI promised to upgrade without charge the first-generation equipment already purchased by its established customers. Although each of these 120 upgrades was estimated to cost EMI $60,000 in components and installation costs, the US sales organization felt that the expense was essential to maintain the confidence and good faith of this important core group of customers. To maintain its leadership image, the US company also expanded its service organization substantially. Beginning in early 1976, new regional and district sales and service offices were opened with the objective of providing customers with the best service  in the industry. A typical annual service contract cost the hospital $40,000 per scanner. By year’s end, the company boasted 20 service centers with 150 service engineers – a ratio that represented one serviceman for every two or three machines installed. The sales force by this time had grown to 20, and was much more customer oriented. Another important task was to improve delivery performance. The interval between order and promised delivery had been lengthening; at the same time, promised delivery dates were often missed. By late 1975, it was not unusual for a 6-month promise to convert into a 12- or 15month actual delivery time. Fortunately for EMI, all CT manufacturers were in backorder and were offering extended delivery dates. However, EMI’s poor performance in meeting promised dates was hurting its reputation. The company responded by substantially expanding its production facilities. By mid-1976 there were six manufacturing locations in the UK, yet because of continuing problems with component suppliers, combined capacity for head and body scanners was estimated at less than 20 units a month. Organizational and personnel issues As the US sales organization became increasingly frustrated, they began urging top management to manufacture scanners in North America. Believing that the product had reached the necessary level of maturity, Dr Powell judged that the time was ripe to establish a US plant to handle at least final assembly and test operations. A Northbrook, Illinois site was chosen. Powell had become EMI’s managing director and was more determined than ever to make the new medical electronics business a success. A capable manager was desperately needed to head the business, particularly in view of the rapid developments in the critical North American market. Consequently, Powell was delighted when Normand Provost, who had been his boss at Texas Instruments, contacted him at the Bermuda radiological meeting in March 1975. He was hired with the hope that he could build a stronger, more integrated US company. With the Northbrook plant scheduled to begin operations by mid-1976, Normand Provost began hiring skilled production personnel. A Northbrook product development center was also a vision of Provost’s to allow EMI to draw on US technical expertise and experience in  solid state electronics and data processing, and the company began seeking people with strong technological and scientific backgrounds. Having hired Provost, Dr Powell made several important organizational changes aimed at facilitating the medical electronics business’s growth and development. In the UK, he announced the creation of a separate medical electronics group. This allowed the separate operating companies, EMI Medical Ltd (previously known as the X-Ray Systems Division), Pantak (EMI) Ltd, SE Labs (EMI) Lt., and EMI Meterflow Ltd, to be grouped together under a single group executive, John Willsher. (See exhibit 10.6.) At last, a more integrated scanner business seemed to be emerging organizationally. The US sales subsidiary was folded into a new company, EMI Medical Inc., but continued to operate as a separate entity. The intention was to develop this company as an integrated diversified medical electronics operation. Jim Gallagher, the general manager of the US operations, was fired and Bob Hagglund became president of EMI Medical Inc. While Gallagher had been an effective salesman, Powell thought the company needed a more rounded general manager in its next phase of expansion. Hagglund, previously executive vice president of G.D. Searle’s diagnostic business, seemed to have the broader background and outlook required to manage a larger integrated operation. He reported through Provost back to Dr Powell in the UK. While Provost’s initial assignment was to establish the new manufacturing and research facilities in the US, it was widely assumed within EMI that he was being groomed to take responsibility for the company’s medical electronics businesses worldwid e. However, in April 1976, while visiting London to discuss progress, Provost died of a heart attack. As a result, the US and UK organizations reported separately to Dr Powell. product diversification Since EMI wished to use the scanner as a means to become a major force in medical electronics, Powell argued that some bold external moves were needed to protect the company’s leadership position. In March 1976, EMI acquired for $2 million ( £1.1 million) SHM Nuclear Corporation, a California-based company that had developed linear accelerators for cancer therapy and  computerized radiotherapy planning systems. Although the SHM product line needed substantial further development, the hope was that linking such systems to the CT scanner would permit a synchronized location and treatment of cancer. Six months later EMI paid  £6.5 million to acquire an additional 60 percent of Nuclear Enterprises Ltd, an Edinburgh-based supplier of ultrasound equipment. In the 1976 annual report, Sir John Read, now EMI’s chairman, reaffirmed his support for Dr Powell’s strategy: We have every reason to believe that this new grouping of scientific and technological resources will prove of national benefit in securing a growing share of worldwide markets for high-technology products†¦ Future Prospects At the close of 1976, EMI’s medical electronics business was exceeding all expectations. In just three years, sales of electronics products had risen from  £84 million to  £207 million; a large part of this increase was due to the scanner. Even more impressive, profits of the electronics line had risen from  £5.2 million in 1972/73 to  £26.4 million in 1975/76, jumping from 16 to 40 percent of the corporate total. Rather than dwindling, interest in scanners seemed to be increasing. Although the company had sold around 450 scanners over the past three years (over 300 in the US alone), its order backlog was estimated to be 300 units. At the December 1976 RSNA meeting, 120 of the 280 papers presented were related to CT scanning. As he reviewed the medical electronics business he had built, Dr Powell was generally pleased with the way in which the company had met the challenges of being a pioneer in a new industry segment. However, there were several developments that he felt would need considerable attention over the next few years. First, Powell felt that competitive activity would continue to present a challenge; second, some changes in the US regulatory environment concerned him; and finally, he was aware that the recent organization changes had created some strains. competitive problems By the end of 1976, EMI had delivered 450 of the 650-odd scanners installed worldwide, yet its market share had dropped to 56 percent in 1975/76 (198 of 352 scanners sold that June-to-June period were EMI’s). The company gained some consolation from the fact that despite their premium pricing strategy and their delivery problems, they had conceded less than half the total market to the combined competitive field. They also felt some sense of security in the 300 orders they held awaiting delivery. Nonetheless, Sir John Read was clearly concerned: [We are well aware of the developing competition. Our research program is being fully sustained to ensure our continued leadership†¦ In mid-1976, the company announced its intention â€Å"to protect its inventions and assert its patent strength,† and subsequently filed suit against Ohio Nuclear claiming patent infringement. However, at the same time, EMI issued a statement proclaiming that â€Å"it was the company’s wish to make its pioneering scanner patents available to all under suitable licensing arrangements.† At the annual RSNA meeting in December 1976, sixteen competitors exhibited scanners. The year’s new entrants (including CGR, the French X-ray giant; Hitachi from Japan; and G.D. Searle, the US drug and hospital equipment company) were not yet making deliveries, however. The industry’s potential production capacity was now estimated to be over 900 units annually. GE’s much-publicized entry was already six months behind their announced delivery date, but it was strongly rumored that production shipments of GE’s third-generation scanner were about to begin. EMI Medical Inc. awaited that event with some trepidation. (A summary of major competitors and their situations as of 1976 is presented in table 10.2.) Regulatory problems By mid-1976 there were indications that government might try to exert a tighter control over hospital spending in general, and purchase of CT scanners in particular. The rapidly escalating cost of healthcare had been a political issue for years, and the National Health Planning and Resources Development Act of 1974 required states to control the development of costly  or unnecessary health services through a mechanism known as the Certificate of Need (CON) procedure. If they wished to qualify for Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements, healthcare facilities were required to submit documentation to their state’s department of health to justify major capital expenditures (typically in excess of $100,000). Before 1976, the CON procedures had generally been merely an administrative impediment to the process of selling a scanner, delaying but not preventing the authorization of funds. However, by 1976, the cost of medical care represented 8 percent of the gross national product and Jimmy Carter made control of the â€Å"skyrocketing costs of healthcare† a major campaign issue. One of the most frequently cited examples of waste was the proliferation of CT scanners. It was argued that this $500,000 device had become a symbol of prestige and sophistication in the medical community, so that every institution wanted its own scanner, even if a neighboring facility had one that was grossly underutilized. In response to heightened public awareness of the issue, five states declared a moratorium on the purchase of new scanners, including California, which had accounted for over 20 percent of total US scanner placements to date. In November, Jimmy Carter was elected president. organizational problems Perhaps most troublesome to Dr Powell were the organizational problems. Tensions within the EMI organization had been developing for some time, centering on the issues of manufacturing and product design. Managers in the US company felt that they had little control over manufacturing schedules and little input into product design, despite the fact that they were responsible for 80 percent of corporate scanner sales. In their view, the company’s current market position was being eroded by the worsening manufacturing delivery performance from the UK, while its longer-term prospects were threatened by the competitive challenges to EMI’s technological leadership. Although the Northbrook plant had been completed in late 1976, US managers were still not satisfied they had the necessary control over production. Arguing that the quality of subassemblies and components shipped from the UK was deteriorating and delivery promises were becoming even more unreliable,  they began investigating alternate supply sources in the US. UK-based manufacturing managers felt that much of the responsibility for backlogs lay with the product engineers and the sales organizations. Their unreliable sales forecasts and constantly changing design specifications had severely disrupted production schedules. The worst bottlenecks involved outside suppliers and subcontractors that were unable to gear up and down overnight. Complete systems could be held up for weeks or months awaiting a single simple component. As the Northbrook plant became increasingly independent, US managers sensed that the UK plants felt less responsibility for them. In tight supply situations they felt there was a tendency to ship to European or other export customers first. Some US managers also believed that components were increasingly shipped from UK plants without the same rigid final checks they normally received. The assumption was that the US could do their own QC checking, it was asserted. Both these assertions were strongly denied by the English group. Nonetheless, Bob Hagglund soon began urging Dr Powell to let EMI Medical Inc. become a more independent manufacturing operation rather than simply a final assembly plant for UK components. This prospect disturbed John Willsher, managing director of EMI Medical Ltd,  who argued that dividing manufacturing operations could mean duplicating overhead and spreading existing expertise too thin. Others felt that the â€Å"bootleg development† of alternate supply sources showed a disrespect for the â€Å"center of excellence† concept, and could easily compromise the ability of Pantak (X-ray technology) and SE Labs (displays) to remain at the forefront of technology. Product development issues also created some organizational tension. The US sales organization knew that GE’s impressive new third-generation â€Å"fan beam† scanner would soon be ready for delivery, and found customers hesitant to commit to EMI’s new CT 5005 until the GE product came out. For months telexes had been flowing from Northbrook to EMI’s Central Research Laboratories asking if drastic reductions in scan time might be possible to meet the GE threat. Meanwhile, scientists at CRL felt that US CT competition was developing into a specifications war based on the wrong issue, scan time. Shorter elapsed times meant less image blurring, but in the trade-off between scan time and picture resolution, EMI engineers had preferred to concentrate on better-quality images. They felt that the 20-second scan offered by EMI scanners made practical sense since a patient could typically hold his breath that long while being diagnosed. CRL staff were exploring some entirely new imaging concepts and hoped to have a completely new scanning technology ready to market in three or four years. Dr Hounsfield had conducted experiments with the fan beam concept in the early 1970s and was skeptical of its ability to produce good-quality images. To use sodium iodide detectors similar to those in existing scanners would be cost prohibitive in the large numbers necessary to pick up a broad scan; to use other materials such as xenon gas would lead to quality and stability problems, in Hounsfield’s view. Since GE and others offering third-generation equipment had not yet delivered commercial machines, he felt little incentive to redirect his staff to these areas already researched and rejected. There were many other demands on the time and attention of Hounsfield and his staff, all of which seemed important for the company. They were in constant demand by technicians to deal with major problems that arose that nobody else could solve. Sales people wanted him to talk to their largest and most prestigious customers, since a visit by Dr Hounsfield could often swing an important sale. They were also involved in internal training on all new products. The scientific community wanted them to present papers and give lectures. And increasingly, Dr Hounsfield found himself in a public relations role as he accepted honors from all over the globe. The impact was to greatly enhance EMI’s reputation and to reinforce its image as the leader in the field. When it appeared that CRL was unwilling or unable to make the product changes  the US organization felt it needed, Hagglund made the bold proposal that the newly established research laboratories in Northbrook take responsibility for developing a three- to five-second-scan â€Å"fan beam†-type scanner. Dr Powell agreed to study the suggestion, but was finding it difficult to evaluate the relative merits of the US subsidiary’s views and the CRL scientists’ opinions. By year’s end, Dr Powell had still been unable to find anybody to take charge of the worldwide medical electronics business. By default, the main decision-making forum became the Medical Group Review Committee (MGRC), a group of key line and staff managers which met, monthly at first, to help establish and review strategic decisions. Among the issues discussed by this committee were the manufacturing and product development decisions that had produced tensions between the US and UK managers. P owell had hoped that the MGRC would help build communications and consensus among his managers, but it soon became evident that this goal was unrealistic. In the words of one manager close to the events: The problem was there was no mutual respect between managers with similar responsibilities. Medical Ltd was resentful of Medical Inc.’s push for greater independence, and were not going to go out of their way to help the Americans succeed. As the business grew larger and more complex, Dr Powell’s ability to act both as corporate CEO and head of the worldwide medical business diminished. Increasingly, he was forced to rely on the MGRC to address operating problems as well as strategic issues. The coordination problem became so complex that, by early 1977, there were four subcommittees of the MGRC, each with representatives of the US and UK organizations, and each meeting monthly on one side of the Atlantic or the other. Committees included Manufacturing and Operations, Product Planning and Resources, Marketing and Sales Programs, and Service and Spares. powell’s problems As the new year opened, Dr Powell reviewed EMI’s medical electronics business. How well was it positioned? Where were the major threats and opportunities? What were the key issues he should deal with in 1977? Which should he tackle first, and how? These were the issues he turned over in his  mind as he prepared to note down his plans for 1977. Assistant Professor Christopher A. Bartlett prepared this case as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Information was obtained from public sources and third parties. Although employees of the subject company discussed with the researcher events referred to in the case, they did not participate in the preparation of the document. The analysis, conclusions, and opinions stated do not necessarily represent those of the company, its employees or agents, or employees or agents of its subsidiaries. Thorn EMI PLC, on its own behalf and on behalf of all or any of its present or former subsidiaries, disclaims any responsibility for the matters included or referred to in the study.