Subprime Mortgage Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Subprime Mortgage Crisis - Essay Example This all lies in the fundamental of economics that teaches us that diversification is king and solution for reducing financial risk. It has now come back to haunt us. What can we learn from this That Harry Markowitz, father of financial risk management, and Thomas Friedman, father of globalization should maybe start writing about the correlation of such economics! Unfortunately, it is not that simple. But before we unleash an economic debate on this painful economic downturn we should intellectually dissect the individuals and the players responsible for the causes and facts that have resulted in the inevitable financial depression in the real estate industry. "It started with the real, it will end will real estate." "Sub-Prime lending typically has been characterized as lending at relatively costly interest rates and fees to credit impaired or otherwise high risk borrowers." (Lax, Manti, Raca, & Zorn, 2004). Subprime loans are among the newly popular mortgage products, such as interest-only loans, for people with strained budgets, including first-time buyers. Homeowners increasingly use them to refinance and consolidate household debts when their credit scores fall in the wake of bankruptcy, high medical bills, or other setbacks. (Blanton, 2005). It is generally believed that the subprime borrowers emerge due to lack of the good credit history on their back and since there number grew historically therefore banks and financial institutions by spotting the opportunity started lending to them at higher interest rates due to the perceived risks involved in these subprime loans. Not only these subprime borrowers pay higher interest rates but they also pay higher upfront fees also at the time of boo king their loans. Due to this profitable alterative, financial institutions take the risk and lend to those customers who would otherwise can not qualify for obtaining loans from the banking channels in the ordinary course of the business. In nutshell, we can say that subprime lending is lending to those who do not deserve it. US Housing Bubble Most of the subprime lending is made into the mortgages market of the Banks. Studies suggest that So-called subprime loans have helped boost US homeownership to a record 69 percent of households. They are being tapped by borrowers in all income ranges, who struggle with poor credit ratings stemming from modest incomes or excessive credit card or other debts. In Massachusetts, subprime loans, fueled by refinancing, have grown from 1.6 percent of mortgages in 2000 to 12.3 percent today. (Blanton, 2005). Apart from that, the surge in the mortgage market was a result of generous monetary policy stance adapted by FED in order to ease the recession caused by the dot com bubble. Due to this reason, the interest rates were lowered by FED. This reduction in interest rates also induced financial institutions to lower the interest rates on the mortgages also. With the lowering interest rates, the demand for the homes increased which ultimately raised the prices for the new homes. In order to capture this rise in the property market, many financial institutions started easing off their standards to bring in more and more customers. This loosening in the standards allowed those borrowers to obtain mortgage loans who were otherwise not eligible to obtain the loans. Once these loans were obtained and subsequently securitized by the issuing financial

Should Marijuana be Legalized Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Should Marijuana be Legalized - Essay Example ence is therefore taking the rounds of such quarters because marijuana creates a sense of high-ness within their bodies and they feel alienated from the rest of the world. Within public circles, it has already been treated in a staunchly negative way, where people do not accept of such people in entirety. Marijuana kills, and hence the people detest from its intake, and more so the ones who do not believe in the premise of consuming marijuana at all. There is a sense of discomfort amongst the people and the evidence thus provided is testimony enough to the same claims. It is being seen as a nuisance more than anything else. On the other hand, marijuana’s usefulness and benefits are something that cannot be denied at all. The medical marijuana is used within medicines as well as towards healing of a number of different ailments and diseases. The healing perspective is such that the drawbacks associated with marijuana could be canceled out as the positives are chalked out (Sager 1999). Medical science is bringing out more and more benefits that are linked with marijuana and there is reason enough to believe all that has been brought forward. If people are getting healed, one should believe that there is no problem in legalizing the use of marijuana. However the negatives still rule the roost for all the wrong reasons. The view of the people in the wake of legalizing marijuana must change because it would be for the betterment of one and all, if seen from a corrective standpoint. It is indeed about time that one and all should know about its benefits more than the drawbacks, because it is bringing about solid results in the wake of medical science more than anything else (Engs 1997). It has been proven with research that the crude form of marijuana contains within it nearly 400 chemicals which speaks for a great deal of usefulness on its part. When a person smokes marijuana, the 400 chemicals become split into thousands of varied chemicals. In the past, more than

Self Managed Learning, Definition and Discussion

Self Managed Learning, Definition and Discussion Introduction: Before completing this assignment, the main objective of this assignment will be to enable a chance for to assess and develop a range of professional and personal skills in order to promote future personal and career development. We will have to ensure also that it will develop ability to organize, manage and practice a range of approaches to improve performance as self-directed learners in preparation for work or future career development. To complete this assignment, at first we have to understand how self-managed learning can enhance lifelong development. Then we have to take responsibility for own personal and professional development. Next we have to implement and continually review own personal and professional development plan. Finally we have to demonstrate acquired interpersonal and transferable skills. Self-managed learning is a way in which individuals can manage their own learning. This means organizations can have self-managed learning programmers that fit within their structure and ensure staff is developing in a certain direction; or individuals can take responsibility for decisions about what and how they learn, and when and where they learn. Self-managed learning programs can be designed and developed, allowing individuals to lead and manage themselves through learning, so that can continue to extend their repertoire of capabilities without the need to necessarily be reliant on another human resource to teach or manage their learning. It is a form of development where we take the initiative in learning new skills, knowledge and attitudes with the support of the organization. Five question to start the self-managed learning: Where have I come from – what are our past experiences? Where I am now – what strength and weakness do I have? What is the current situation that I am in? Where do I want to get to – what goals/targets/objectives do I want to set for ourself? How will I get there – what programmed of study should I design to achieve our goals? How will I know if I have arrived – what criteria can I apply to assess our learning Clear goal setting – an overview Step 1: get the big picture. It will be a statement outlining idealized description of your lifes outcome that will inspire you and create your target Step 2: brainstorm your thoughts to come up with a wish-list for each of your relevant life aspects, career, family and friends Step 3: set achievable goals, even if that means taking a larger goal or dream and breaking it down into bite-size chunks. A personal SWOT analysis is a great way to work it out Strength Weakness Opportunities Threat Step 4: Prioritize – goal setting is a skill, how to set goals takes time and practice to become proficient. Once you achieve the easy, single goals, youll feel motivated to try the process on some harder goals and confident in applying the process. Step 5: when you have a set of personal goals that are meaningful and will help you achieve your big – picture, all you need to do is develop your chosen goals and make sure they are SMART: Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time bounce SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES A wealth of knowledge usually, presented by many speakers at one time in one place A lot of learning at one clip, with most material compressed into two or three days worth of time. Seminars and conferences gives people the opportunity to present their knowledge about something to other people who end up learning new things. Seminars and conferences helps people becoming confident in speaking in the public and develops presentation skills which are needed in the organization Internet A Personal Learning Environment is comprised of all the different Internet tools we can use for learning. Social software is increasingly being used in education and training through such applications as web logs, wikis, tools and applications for creating and sharing multimedia and tools for sharing all kinds of different personal knowledge bases including bookmarks and book collections. Examples of the software you can use for your personal learning environment include a word processor, an e-mail client for communication, a Web browser, making multimedia presentations, a content management system for creating websites, a photo editing program and sharing service. Task P2 Propose ways in which your lifelong learning in personal and Professional contexts could be encouraged. Kolbs four stage learning cycle shows how experience is translated through reflection into concepts, which in turn are used as guides for active experimentation and the choice of new experiences Concrete experience, either planned or accidental and where the leaner actively experiences an activity, is followed by Reflection, when the learner consciously reflect back on that experience Abstract conceptualization is where the learner attempts to conceptualize a theory or model of what is observed. Active experimentation is where the learner is trying to plan how to test a model or theory or plan for a forthcoming experience Proposed the ways in lifelong learning in personal and professional Set aside each day for yourself a little time to learn. Learning and doing homework, reading books should have benefited our life. Learning every day is the most basic method to improve our self forever. We should also do the daily schedule for ourselves. Every day have a lot of work to do, if not order them again, I will miss our work. Moreover, when there is a logical schedule, it will help our daily life became more reasonable. Participate in group activities; the forum is also developing a form of lifelong learning. In the group the Knowledge that I read, learned will be brought to share with everyone, so, knowledge that I know will be known by others. When all participants share the feeling, comment me, I will have deeply sight on what they share, therefore our knowledgell become richer. I need to participate in the long course and short term, be useful for future careers, such as courses to communicate with customers, soft skills, continuously improving English. After learning these things, I will apply their knowledge to practical work, which draws from the experiences themselves. Then I will use our knowledge to share and exchange with people in the same profession as me. Task P3 Evaluate the benefits of your self-managed learning to the individual and organization. Organization try to make sure their objectives are met and such objectives need to be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound), this is by evaluating the qualities and expectations they need from the staff to those whom they have contracted with in achieving such objectives. They need staffs that have potential skills such as leadership skills, time management, and team player. Writing and communication skills, ambitious etc, such skills could be linked with objectives of the organization. The first benefit of lifelong learning is helping us to adapt to change. A lifelong learner will keep up with society by staying current and aware of changes in such areas as technology, news and political trends or finance and money issues. We adapt and grow and seem to thrive on staying up on the latest technology. Lifelong learners look for opportunities to embrace the new technologies. The hugest benefit of lifelong learning is the enriching and fulfilling life it provides for us. To people for whom continuing education, they can look forward to active and meaningful lives. We all have subjects in which we are interested in. A lifelong learner uses opportunities to explore these topics which they find compelling. The end result can be less stress on the body, in the home, or marriage. Task M1 What can be the development opportunities to meet current and future needs for both personal and professional Current needs pursuing qualification higher national diploma in business our target is completing all the assignment by end of June so that our results or transcript could be used by the university to enroll us for the final year top up degree in BA Honors in business. And to score a good brand in ilets which will help us visa process and improvement of English skills. Future needs Opportunities are the chances that a person may have developing themselves further in another level of understanding and professional. Opportunity we have personally is continuing with further education that is joining university for the third year degree top up in Business. After that am planning to specialize in HR management, after our degree I will have various training in HR management as our future needs for both personal and professional. We also have the opportunity for doing our Masters in HR management. Task M2 Suggest personal and professional development plan for the learners. Everyone should develop personal and professional development plan to find out what are the required skill is necessary for the long term development in life. Education is the initial stage of our life to acquire knowledge and skill and professional life is stage where we can implement those knowledge and skill, Professional life is also help us to enhance our existing skill and knowledge. One should develop the personal and professional development plant at the early stage before the person leave the academic sectors. For example currently we are doing BA Honors and we want to be a human resource manager in our long term career plan. We will describe future career plan and we will also describe why we choose this career. We will describe what the skills currently we possess. We will use modern tools and techniques, to analyze our skills, values, interest and knowledge. We will also find out the gaps and develop the action plan for further development on that sector. This will show us a clear path for our future career progression in professional life. Career Selection Currently we are business administration students and we like be in HR management in future.HR is one of the most important roles in a company. HR manager is a very important role because he/she deals with human resource which is one of the most intangible valuable assets for the company. Organization success completely depends on the employee performance and human resource manager play an important to enhance those performances. One of the important roles of HR manager is to develop the organizational structure on which organization run successfully. There are several reasons why we choose HR manager as our career and they are described below: Each of the organization has employee and to manage the employee organization need a department named as HR department. All over the world each of the organization has its own HR department, so there is ample of job opportunities around the globe. This will ensure us a secure job for a smooth transition in our career. HR management role is very challenging job and much passionate about to take very challenging job role. HR manager play a significant role for development of organizational policy that is one of the integral part for organization to run very smooth way. Short term and Long term plan Short term career planning means to develop a career plan for less than 5 years. Short Term Plan: In the short term development plan we will start with the self-evaluation process. We will evaluate our personality skills by self-evaluation process. In the self-evaluation process we will conduct self-analysis where we will find what our interest, values, skill and personality is. One the other side we will conduct an occupational analysis. In this process we will try to find out what qualification is required and what id the occupational trend in the industry. In this stage we also select our goals what we want to achieve in the short term and long term. Long Term Plan: Long term usually refer to career plan more than 5 years. we want to practice our career as a HR manager next five years once we are promoted as a HR manager. After that we want to be an HR head or director. In this time period we want to conceptualized all the HR skills and learn all the tools and techniques during our work tenure. Our long term plan is to learn all the industry HR management skill, tools and techniques. Different industry has different organizational structure, recruitment, training process, appraisal system, policy development techniques and some other HR factors. Skill Required for Our Career: We want to be a successful HR manager, critically evaluate the job roles and responsibilities. After analyzing job responsibility and job specification, we found that following are the skills required for our further career development. Handle and manage difficult employee. Develop and consistent positive attitude Good verbal and communicational skill Efficient conflict of interest management skill Good negotiation skill and negotiate with more confidence Effective learning and listening skill Develop and conduct performance appraisal Good supervision skill Good knowledge about HR policy Efficient and effective implementation skill Complete understand about the HR rule and laws Our Self-Evaluation In the self-evaluation process one can easily find out what the skills the individuals have and what are the skills the individual need to acquire more. For self-assessment we use SWOT analysis tools and techniques that are described below. Strength: our main strength is to handle difficult people. We believe that we can effectively supervise the difficult people as a HR manager. We have the positive attitude for any difficult work to be handled more effectively. We can solve critical problem more effectively. We have strong communication skill both written and verbally. We can also handle the conflict management more effectively. We have also good negation skill that one HR manager should have during the salary selection. We are very good at work periodization, that means how to evaluate each of the jobs effectively and which work need to be perform first. Weakness: we have few weaknesses also. We need to develop our presentation skill that is required for employee training process. We have less customer service skill and we are not too much friendly with people. Again our selling skill is not that much effective. We can handle too much stress but we need to develop this skill because in HR management lot of work stress one has to take. We have very little knowledge in conducting performance appraisal. We need to know how the performance appraisal is conducted. We are very poor in networking development with people. Opportunities: There are lots of opportunities in HR sector. Each of the organization has HR department. So there are lots of job opportunities all over the world. So that is our biggest opportunity to select the career in HR department. we will graduate in business administration and we have some knowledge and skill from our university and with the initial amount of knowledge and skill in HR we can easily apply for jobs in initial entry level jobs. Threats: HR career is one of the most tentative careers for student, who is studying in business administration. HR job has a huge demand all over the world. So this our biggest treat. As there is lot of talented people in market this job sector is quite competitive. We need to acquire all HR skills and need to become more competitive in this regard. Continuous Profession Development Plan (CPD) Continuous professional development plan is the process and techniques that enables us to continuously develop our skills and knowledge. CPD helps individual to develop credibility and confidence. CPS also help to develop the own self-appraisal system. CPD also fix out any gaps in the career goal setting objectives. CPD makes individual more productive and efficient. Personality: Personality is the combination of emotion, behavior and attitude. We very honest person and hard working person. If any work is assigned to us, we feel that this is our own task and perform the task accordingly. We never tell lie, which is one of the biggest strong point in our personality. we like to work under pressure and also like to influence and motivate other people to work in more efficient and effective way. Interest: we are very much interested to work in environment where we can express our own skill and knowledge. We do not like other to monitor us too much. So we are a self-driven person and very much interested to read books, article and magazine to acquire more knowledge and skills. We are very much interested to help others and work with others. We are interested to work in a secure environment. Values: our main values are not to harm people, rather help people in their difficult time. We believe that honestly is the best policy and never tell lie to others. We are very flexible personalities, so we do not belief the hard and fast rule of anything. We are honest, and reliable. Skills: We a very good team worker and we can motivate to work more effective way. Our decision making process is very prompt and effective and understand any problem very effectively and develop the solution of the plan more effectively. In the critical time we can work alone and control our stress. We are very creative to provide any particular solution. We have very good communication skills in both orally and verbally. Action Plan we need to take certain action plan to remove all the gaps that are discovered from the self-assessment tools and techniques. we need to improve the public contact development skills that means the networking skills, we need to meet with more professional people and need to start using the all the social networking method such as LinkedIn, facebook, twitter and other internet social networking medium. We need to start reading more books and scholarly article during the problem solving situation. We need some other contact sources for more creative and effective solution. We need to contact with superior problem for better solution development. We need to be more self-confident and need to accept supervision and need understand the factor that the mentors are more experienced than us. Task D1 Recommendations for the learners in order to develop their learning skills Personal and professional development is very important for the individual to be successful in the long run. It is the process through which person can make the self-assessment and find out the gaps they have currently in the skills and knowledge. It also help individual to develop long term and short term plan. PPD is the process that help individual to set up the aim in life in the career. This is very important as the individual can act according to attain the career goals and objectives. The recommendations for the learners are that if they want to choose HR field in future should think the following aspects for their career development. They need to develop certain skills and knowledge that are necessary for long term development of their career. They should have certain basic skills such as communication skills, decision making skill, leadership skill, prioritizing skill, motivational skill, valuing other people, analysis skill, delegating skill and reporting skill. After achieving those skills, they need to make the proper plan for their future career succession plan. In the HR department one should have the skill of interpersonal skills, negotiation and diplomatic skills, work in own initiatives, work under pressure, budgeting skill, job responsibility and job specification development skills, basic knowledge of the employment rules and regulation and IT skills. In the short term personal development plan their plan will be to acquire all the skills to get entry in the industry. In the long term they need to acquire some advanced skills and techniques, such as effective way to solve a particular HR problem, conducting interview, outstanding negotiation skill, organizational structure development skills, employee salary structure development skills, develop retail and recruitment policy and advanced budgeting skills. We are planning to acquire all the skills in the long term. They will find out the scope of their job in different industry sector in HR and will also try to find out what are the opportunities and after that they will select the best industry to apply there. In this regard they will also select the factor where they want to work in local companies or multinational companies. They will develop there our mission and vision for our long term career development progression plan. And will develop their motivation in this stage. Once they develop their mission and vision, they will start acquire basic and advanced knowledge and skills to be a successf ul HR manager.

A Worn Path Essay -- essays research papers

â€Å"A Worn Path†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"A Worn Path† is, in my opinion, a very good story. It tells of an old black woman and the struggles she’s had to deal with throughout her life. The author names the woman Phoenix after a mythological bird that died and then came back to life through its ashes which makes it immortal. The author makes the woman â€Å"immortal† because she continues to have something to live for, her grandson, whom she apparently considers her biggest gift.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The author never says exactly how often the woman makes the journey, but we know she’s made it before because the attendants knew who she was when she came in the building. It is a very long trip because the hunter even said that he only goes into town when he is sick, and tells Ph...

Bold Flash Case Essay

BoldDisk, currently known as Boldflash, was founded in 1982 in Waltham Massachussets. Originally manufacturing computer storage medias like floppy disks for original equipment manufacturers and consumer markets, BoldFlash’s product mix has evolved in due course of time. In 2012, the company began offering customers contemporary solutions in flash memory for products such as digital cameras, mp3s and most importantly smartphones, the latter accounting for 40% of the overall market . However, the inability of the company to keep up to date with the dynamic nature of this 20 billion dollar market has led to the decline of the company in regards to product innovation and customer satisfaction. Even though there are macroeconomic factors that brought about this predicament, the effect of managerial inefficiency also has to be taken into account. This essay will do as such by critically viewing the top-down management approach this company has used from both the human relations and power perspectives. The situation that the company currently finds itself in can be attributed to several factors. When looking at Boldflash’s management from a human relations perspective, the issue of bad management becomes more apparent. The previous vice presidents decision of tackling issues through a top down approach can be one cause to the company’s failure in creating value for customers. One problem with this autocratic approach in an innovation company is that it leads to the breakdown of communication and teamwork. The numerous conflicts between manufacturing and sales can be attributed to the simple fact that the culture of the company was not based on communication between the two parties, it was based on following orders from corporate. This lack of vertical loading, or dispersal of authority, has on one hand an effect of inefficiency in trying to create value for the company and its customers, but it also causes the employees to feel neglected. This apparent disconnect between management and workers can and has caused conflicts within the organization that when not addressed can become, according to Herzberg, hygiene factors that inhibit motivation and therefore innovation in the company. Another problem with this management approach is that it acts as hindrance to the development of new products.  The ramifications of taking this McGregor’s Theory x approach, neglects non economic factors such as performance appraisal and participation which are considered as key motivators. Moreover, Maslow’s theory supports the argument that autonomy and room for personal growth are the key motivators for employees to add value to their company through the process of satisfying their own need for self actualization. When looking at this company from a political perspective, the question of how Harrison’s style of management had an effect on the company’s structure is relatively obvious. It is more important to emphasize that the crux of the matter was the major deficits in product development (2nd paragraph; further examined pp.2). According to the present paper, former vice president Jim Harrison commanded a rather strictregiment and had a management style that can be described as autocratic. That suggests the assumption that he made use of Luke’s first dimension of power, namely orders. A clearly visible way of solving conflicts with the results he was in favour of. It’s hardly surprising that this proceeding didn’t lead to a multifarious company culture, or a structure which encourages employees to bring in their ideas. in fact, it shows a second possible reason for BoldFlash’s failure in the tablet-chip market: the market’s potential was not r ecognized to its full extent and was therefore the opportunity was underplayed by management. Another side of BoldFlash’s structural problems are highlighted by the fact that the actual product development group was being led by the marketing department. Disregarded by Harrison ,Cahill notices a loose form of leadership, which – in his view – does not succeed in integrating the talents of the employees. Contrarily to the general culture of strict orders, power is not used much in this group – leaving Cahill with the impression that there were neither clear achievements nor direction in which to move the company. However. the structure of the company is changing as a result of the new vice president. under the structure of a divisionalized form, Robert Cahill leaves to its managers of divisions (Sales, Marketing etc.) the freedom of  decision and then controls the results. This enterprise makes sure that the standardization of outputs are respected through an important performance control. (meetings: definitions of targets, objectives and strategies for each division that decisions makers must keep in mind as they make specific decisions in the front). One can now notice that a formal communication exists -limited to transmission of results- between Cahill and the supervisors of each department. Nevertheless we can focus on what create a discord between all workers. It is mainly due to the division’s culture. We notice that even if all the members work at the same final goals, they all have a different vision of how to perform. Thus their main goal becomes to keep it like a â€Å"treasure† and make sure that nobody will treat it; they are on guard and make their best to keep their â€Å"territory† safe, acting without considering the others. In conclusion, the top down model used by the late Jim Harrison and its autocratic nature hinders organizational performance in respect to understanding the market as well as having a cooperative and innovative environment. this approach neglects the inputs of employees and affects their performance as well as their ability to stay motivated, ultimatly affecting the company’s overall success and profitability, as is the case with BoldFlash.Considering that Fiona Wilson wrote a whole book questioning the totalitarian ambition of management theories, it is not surprising that a vice president with an ambition like that analogically narrows the view of the whole organization.

Twilight 5. BLOOD TYPE

5. BLOOD TYPE I made my way to English in a daze. I didn't even realize when I first walked in that class had already started. â€Å"Thank you for joining us, Miss Swan,† Mr. Mason said in a disparaging tone. I flushed and hurried to my seat. It wasn't till class ended that I realized Mike wasn't sitting in his usual seat next to me. I felt a twinge of guilt. But he and Eric both met me at the door as usual, so I figured I wasn't totally unforgiven. Mike seemed to become more himself as we walked, gaining enthusiasm as he talked about the weather report for this weekend. The rain was supposed to take a minor break, and so maybe his beach trip would be possible. I tried to sound eager, to make up for disappointing him yesterday. It was hard; rain or no rain, it would still only be in the high forties, if we were lucky. The rest of the morning passed in a blur. It was difficult to believe that I hadn't just imagined what Edward had said, and the way his eyes had looked. Maybe it was just a very convincing dream that I'd confused with reality. That seemed more probable than that I really appealed to him on any level. So I was impatient and frightened as Jessica and I entered the cafeteria. I wanted to see his face, to see if he'd gone back to the cold, indifferent person I'd known for the last several weeks. Or if, by some miracle, I'd really heard what I thought I'd heard this morning. Jessica babbled on and on about her dance plans – Lauren and Angela had asked the other boys and they were all going together – completely unaware of my inattention. Disappointment flooded through me as my eyes unerringly focused on his table. The other four were there, but he was absent. Had he gone home? I followed the still-babbling Jessica through the line, crushed. I'd lost my appetite – I bought nothing but a bottle of lemonade. I just wanted to go sit down and sulk. â€Å"Edward Cullen is staring at you again,† Jessica said, finally breaking through my abstraction with his name. â€Å"I wonder why he's sitting alone today.† My head snapped up. I followed her gaze to see Edward, smiling crookedly, staring at me from an empty table across the cafeteria from where he usually sat. Once he'd caught my eye, he raised one hand and motioned with his index finger for me to join him. As I stared in disbelief, he winked. â€Å"Does he mean you?† Jessica asked with insulting astonishment in her voice. â€Å"Maybe he needs help with his Biology homework,† I muttered for her benefit. â€Å"Um, I'd better go see what he wants.† I could feel her staring after me as I walked away. When I reached his table, I stood behind the chair across from him, unsure. â€Å"Why don't you sit with me today?† he asked, smiling. I sat down automatically, watching him with caution. He was still smiling. It was hard to believe that someone so beautiful could be real. I was afraid that he might disappear in a sudden puff of smoke, and I would wake up. He seemed to be waiting for me to say something. â€Å"This is different,† I finally managed. â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He paused, and then the rest of the words followed in a rush. â€Å"I decided as long as I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly.† I waited for him to say something that made sense. The seconds ticked by. â€Å"You know I don't have any idea what you mean,† I eventually pointed out. â€Å"I know.† He smiled again, and then he changed the subject. â€Å"I think your friends are angry with me for stealing you.† â€Å"They'll survive.† I could feel their stares boring into my back. â€Å"I may not give you back, though,† he said with a wicked glint in his eyes. I gulped. He laughed. â€Å"You look worried.† â€Å"No,† I said, but, ridiculously, my voice broke. â€Å"Surprised, actually†¦ what brought all this on?† â€Å"I told you – I got tired of trying to stay away from you. So I'm giving up.† He was still smiling, but his ocher eyes were serious. â€Å"Giving up?† I repeated in confusion. â€Å"Yes – giving up trying to be good. I'm just going to do what I want now, and let the chips fall where they may.† His smile faded as he explained, and a hard edge crept into his voice. â€Å"You lost me again.† The breathtaking crooked smile reappeared. â€Å"I always say too much when I'm talking to you – that's one of the problems.† â€Å"Don't worry – I don't understand any of it,† I said wryly. â€Å"I'm counting on that.† â€Å"So, in plain English, are we friends now?† â€Å"Friends†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he mused, dubious. â€Å"Or not,† I muttered. He grinned. â€Å"Well, we can try, I suppose. But I'm warning you now that I'm not a good friend for you.† Behind his smile, the warning was real. â€Å"You say that a lot,† I noted, trying to ignore the sudden trembling in my stomach and keep my voice even. â€Å"Yes, because you're not listening to me. I'm still waiting for you to believe it. If you're smart, you'll avoid me.† â€Å"I think you've made your opinion on the subject of my intellect clear, too.† My eyes narrowed. He smiled apologetically. â€Å"So, as long as I'm being†¦ not smart, we'll try to be friends?† I struggled to sum up the confusing exchange. â€Å"That sounds about right.† I looked down at my hands wrapped around the lemonade bottle, not sure what to do now. â€Å"What are you thinking?† he asked curiously. I looked up into his deep gold eyes, became befuddled, and, as usual, blurted out the truth. â€Å"I'm trying to figure out what you are.† His jaw tightened, but he kept his smile in place with some effort. â€Å"Are you having any luck with that?† he asked in an offhand tone. â€Å"Not too much,† I admitted. He chuckled. â€Å"What are your theories?† I blushed. I had been vacillating during the last month between Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker. There was no way I was going to own up to that. â€Å"Won't you tell me?† he asked, tilting his head to one side with a shockingly tempting smile. I shook my head. â€Å"Too embarrassing.† â€Å"That's really frustrating, you know,† he complained. â€Å"No,† I disagreed quickly, my eyes narrowing, â€Å"I can't imagine why that would be frustrating at all – just because someone refuses to tell you what they're thinking, even if all the while they're making cryptic little remarks specifically designed to keep you up at night wondering what they could possibly mean†¦ now, why would that be frustrating?† He grimaced. â€Å"Or better,† I continued, the pent-up annoyance flowing freely now, â€Å"say that person also did a wide range of bizarre things – from saving your life under impossible circumstances one day to treating you like a pariah the next, and he never explained any of that, either, even after he promised. That, also, would be very non-frustrating.† â€Å"You've got a bit of a temper, don't you?† â€Å"I don't like double standards.† We stared at each other, unsmiling. He glanced over my shoulder, and then, unexpectedly, he snickered. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Your boyfriend seems to think I'm being unpleasant to you – he's debating whether or not to come break up our fight.† He snickered again. â€Å"I don't know who you're talking about,† I said frostily. â€Å"But I'm sure you're wrong, anyway.† â€Å"I'm not. I told you, most people are easy to read.† â€Å"Except me, of course.† â€Å"Yes. Except for you.† His mood shifted suddenly; his eyes turned brooding. â€Å"I wonder why that is.† I had to look away from the intensity of his stare. I concentrated on unscrewing the lid of my lemonade. I took a swig, staring at the table without seeing it. â€Å"Aren't you hungry?† he asked, distracted. â€Å"No.† I didn't feel like mentioning that my stomach was already full – of butterflies. â€Å"You?† I looked at the empty table in front of him. â€Å"No, I'm not hungry.† I didn't understand his expression – it looked like he was enjoying some private joke. â€Å"Can you do me a favor?† I asked after a second of hesitation. He was suddenly wary. â€Å"That depends on what you want.† â€Å"It's not much,† I assured him. He waited, guarded but curious. â€Å"I just wondered†¦ if you could warn me beforehand the next time you decide to ignore me for my own good. Just so I'm prepared.† I looked at the lemonade bottle as I spoke, tracing the circle of the opening with my pinkie finger. â€Å"That sounds fair.† He was pressing his lips together to keep from laughing when I looked up. â€Å"Thanks.† â€Å"Then can I have one answer in return?† he demanded. â€Å"One.† â€Å"Tell me one theory.† Whoops. â€Å"Not that one.† â€Å"You didn't qualify, you just promised one answer,† he reminded me. â€Å"And you've broken promises yourself,† I reminded him back. â€Å"Just one theory – I won't laugh.† â€Å"Yes, you will.† I was positive about that. He looked down, and then glanced up at me through his long black lashes, his ocher eyes scorching. â€Å"Please?† he breathed, leaning toward me. I blinked, my mind going blank. Holy crow, how did he do that? â€Å"Er, what?† I asked, dazed. â€Å"Please tell me just one little theory.† His eyes still smoldered at me. â€Å"Um, well, bitten by a radioactive spider?† Was he a hypnotist, too? Or was I just a hopeless pushover? â€Å"That's not very creative,† he scoffed. â€Å"I'm sorry, that's all I've got,† I said, miffed. â€Å"You're not even close,† he teased. â€Å"No spiders?† â€Å"Nope.† â€Å"And no radioactivity?† â€Å"None.† â€Å"Dang,† I sighed. â€Å"Kryptonite doesn't bother me, either,† he chuckled. â€Å"You're not supposed to laugh, remember?† He struggled to compose his face. â€Å"I'll figure it out eventually,† I warned him. â€Å"I wish you wouldn't try.† He was serious again. â€Å"Because†¦ ?† â€Å"What if I'm not a superhero? What if I'm the bad guy?† He smiled playfully, but his eyes were impenetrable. â€Å"Oh,† I said, as several things he'd hinted fell suddenly into place. â€Å"I see.† â€Å"Do you?† His face was abruptly severe, as if he were afraid that he'd accidentally said too much. â€Å"You're dangerous?† I guessed, my pulse quickening as I intuitively realized the truth of my own words. He was dangerous. He'd been trying to tell me that all along. He just looked at me, eyes full of some emotion I couldn't comprehend. â€Å"But not bad,† I whispered, shaking my head. â€Å"No, I don't believe that you're bad.† â€Å"You're wrong.† His voice was almost inaudible. He looked down, stealing my bottle lid and then spinning it on its side between his fingers. I stared at him, wondering why I didn't feel afraid. He meant what he was saying – that was obvious. But I just felt anxious, on edge†¦ and, more than anything else, fascinated. The same way I always felt when I was near him. The silence lasted until I noticed that the cafeteria was almost empty. I jumped to my feet. â€Å"We're going to be late.† â€Å"I'm not going to class today,† he said, twirling the lid so fast it was just a blur. â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"It's healthy to ditch class now and then.† He smiled up at me, but his eyes were still troubled. â€Å"Well, I'm going,† I told him. I was far too big a coward to risk getting caught. He turned his attention back to his makeshift top. â€Å"I'll see you later, then.† I hesitated, torn, but then the first bell sent me hurrying out the door – with a last glance confirming that he hadn't moved a centimeter. As I half-ran to class, my head was spinning faster than the bottle cap. So few questions had been answered in comparison to how many new questions had been raised. At least the rain had stopped. I was lucky; Mr. Banner wasn't in the room yet when I arrived. I settled quickly into my seat, aware that both Mike and Angela were staring at me. Mike looked resentful; Angela looked surprised, and slightly awed. Mr. Banner came in the room then, calling the class to order. He was juggling a few small cardboard boxes in his arms. He put them down on Mike's table, telling him to start passing them around the class. â€Å"Okay, guys, I want you all to take one piece from each box,† he said as he produced a pair of rubber gloves from the pocket of his lab jacket and pulled them on. The sharp sound as the gloves snapped into place against his wrists seemed ominous to me. â€Å"The first should be an indicator card,† he went on, grabbing a white card with four squares marked on it and displaying it. â€Å"The second is a four-pronged applicator -† he held up something that looked like a nearly toothless hair pick â€Å"- and the third is a sterile micro-lancet.† He held up a small piece of blue plastic and split it open. The barb was invisible from this distance, but my stomach flipped. â€Å"I'll be coming around with a dropper of water to prepare your cards, so please don't start until I get to you.† He began at Mike's table again, carefully putting one drop of water in each of the four squares. â€Å"Then I want you to carefully prick your finger with the lancet†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He grabbed Mike's hand and jabbed the spike into the tip of Mike's middle finger. Oh no. Clammy moisture broke out across my forehead. â€Å"Put a small drop of blood on each of the prongs.† He demonstrated, squeezing Mike's finger till the blood flowed. I swallowed convulsively, my stomach heaving. â€Å"And then apply it to the card,† he finished, holding up the dripping red card for us to see. I closed my eyes, trying to hear through the ringing in my ears. â€Å"The Red Cross is having a blood drive in Port Angeles next weekend, so I thought you should all know your blood type.† He sounded proud of himself. â€Å"Those of you who aren't eighteen yet will need a parent's permission – I have slips at my desk.† He continued through the room with his water drops. I put my cheek against the cool black tabletop and tried to hold on to my consciousness. All around me I could hear squeals, complaints, and giggles as my classmates skewered their fingers. I breathed slowly in and out through my mouth. â€Å"Bella, are you all right?† Mr. Banner asked. His voice was close to my head, and it sounded alarmed. â€Å"I already know my blood type, Mr. Banner,† I said in a weak voice. I was afraid to raise my head. â€Å"Are you feeling faint?† â€Å"Yes, sir,† I muttered, internally kicking myself for not ditching when I had the chance. â€Å"Can someone take Bella to the nurse, please?† he called. I didn't have to look up to know that it would be Mike who volunteered. â€Å"Can you walk?† Mr. Banner asked. â€Å"Yes,† I whispered. Just let me get out of here, I thought. I'll crawl. Mike seemed eager as he put his arm around my waist and pulled my arm over his shoulder. I leaned against him heavily on the way out of the classroom. Mike towed me slowly across campus. When we were around the edge of the cafeteria, out of sight of building four in case Mr. Banner was watching, I stopped. â€Å"Just let me sit for a minute, please?† I begged. He helped me sit on the edge of the walk. â€Å"And whatever you do, keep your hand in your pocket,† I warned. I was still so dizzy. I slumped over on my side, putting my cheek against the freezing, damp cement of the sidewalk, closing my eyes. That seemed to help a little. â€Å"Wow, you're green, Bella,† Mike said nervously. â€Å"Bella?† a different voice called from the distance. No! Please let me be imagining that horribly familiar voice. â€Å"What's wrong – is she hurt?† His voice was closer now, and he sounded upset. I wasn't imagining it. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to die. Or, at the very least, not to throw up. Mike seemed stressed. â€Å"I think she's fainted. I don't know what happened, she didn't even stick her finger.† â€Å"Bella.† Edward's voice was right beside me, relieved now. â€Å"Can you hear me?† â€Å"No,† I groaned. â€Å"Go away.† He chuckled. â€Å"I was taking her to the nurse,† Mike explained in a defensive tone, â€Å"but she wouldn't go any farther.† â€Å"I'll take her,† Edward said. I could hear the smile still in his voice. â€Å"You can go back to class.† â€Å"No,† Mike protested. â€Å"I'm supposed to do it.† Suddenly the sidewalk disappeared from beneath me. My eyes flew open in shock. Edward had scooped me up in his arms, as easily as if I weighed ten pounds instead of a hundred and ten. â€Å"Put me down!† Please, please let me not vomit on him. He was walking before I was finished talking. â€Å"Hey!† Mike called, already ten paces behind us. Edward ignored him. â€Å"You look awful,† he told me, grinning. â€Å"Put me back on the sidewalk,† I moaned. The rocking movement of his walk was not helping. He held me away from his body, gingerly, supporting all my weight with just his arms – it didn't seem to bother him. â€Å"So you faint at the sight of blood?† he asked. This seemed to entertain him. I didn't answer. I closed my eyes again and fought the nausea with all my strength, clamping my lips together. â€Å"And not even your own blood,† he continued, enjoying himself. I don't know how he opened the door while carrying me, but it was suddenly warm, so I knew we were inside. â€Å"Oh my,† I heard a female voice gasp. â€Å"She fainted in Biology,† Edward explained. I opened my eyes. I was in the office, and Edward was striding past the front counter toward the nurse's door. Ms. Cope, the redheaded front office receptionist, ran ahead of him to hold it open. The grandmotherly nurse looked up from a novel, astonished, as Edward swung me into the room and placed me gently on the crackly paper that covered the brown vinyl mattress on the one cot. Then he moved to stand against the wall as far across the narrow room as possible. His eyes were bright, excited. â€Å"She's just a little faint,† he reassured the startled nurse. â€Å"They're blood typing in Biology.† The nurse nodded sagely. â€Å"There's always one.† He muffled a snicker. â€Å"Just lie down for a minute, honey; it'll pass.† â€Å"I know,† I sighed. The nausea was already fading. â€Å"Does this happen a lot?† she asked. â€Å"Sometimes,† I admitted. Edward coughed to hide another laugh. â€Å"You can go back to class now,† she told him. â€Å"I'm supposed to stay with her.† He said this with such assured authority that – even though she pursed her lips – the nurse didn't argue it further. â€Å"I'll go get you some ice for your forehead, dear,† she said to me, and then bustled out of the room. â€Å"You were right,† I moaned, letting my eyes close. â€Å"I usually am – but about what in particular this time?† â€Å"Ditching is healthy.† I practiced breathing evenly. â€Å"You scared me for a minute there,† he admitted after a pause. His tone made it sound like he was confessing a humiliating weakness. â€Å"I thought Newton was dragging your dead body off to bury it in the woods.† â€Å"Ha ha.† I still had my eyes closed, but I was feeling more normal every minute. â€Å"Honestly – I've seen corpses with better color. I was concerned that I might have to avenge your murder.† â€Å"Poor Mike. I'll bet he's mad.† â€Å"He absolutely loathes me,† Edward said cheerfully. â€Å"You can't know that,† I argued, but then I wondered suddenly if he could. â€Å"I saw his face – I could tell.† â€Å"How did you see me? I thought you were ditching.† I was almost fine now, though the queasiness would probably pass faster if I'd eaten something for lunch. On the other hand, maybe it was lucky my stomach was empty. â€Å"I was in my car, listening to a CD.† Such a normal response – it surprised me. I heard the door and opened my eyes to see the nurse with a cold compress in her hand. â€Å"Here you go, dear.† She laid it across my forehead. â€Å"You're looking better,† she added. â€Å"I think I'm fine,† I said, sitting up. Just a little ringing in my ears, no spinning. The mint green walls stayed where they should. I could see she was about to make me lie back down, but the door opened just then, and Ms. Cope stuck her head in. â€Å"We've got another one,† she warned. I hopped down to free up the cot for the next invalid. I handed the compress back to the nurse. â€Å"Here, I don't need this.† And then Mike staggered through the door, now supporting a sallow-looking Lee Stephens, another boy in our Biology class. Edward and I drew back against the wall to give them room. â€Å"Oh no,† Edward muttered. â€Å"Go out to the office, Bella.† I looked up at him, bewildered. â€Å"Trust me – go.† I spun and caught the door before it closed, darting out of the infirmary. I could feel Edward right behind me. â€Å"You actually listened to me.† He was stunned. â€Å"I smelled the blood,† I said, wrinkling my nose. Lee wasn't sick from watching other people, like me. â€Å"People can't smell blood,† he contradicted. â€Å"Well, I can – that's what makes me sick. It smells like rust†¦ and salt.† He was staring at me with an unfathomable expression. â€Å"What?† I asked. â€Å"It's nothing.† Mike came through the door then, glancing from me to Edward. The look he gave Edward confirmed what Edward had said about loathing. He looked back at me, his eyes glum. â€Å"You look better,† he accused. â€Å"Just keep your hand in your pocket,† I warned him again. â€Å"It's not bleeding anymore,† he muttered. â€Å"Are you going back to class?† â€Å"Are you kidding? I'd just have to turn around and come back.† â€Å"Yeah, I guess†¦ So are you going this weekend? To the beach?† While he spoke, he flashed another glare toward Edward, who was standing against the cluttered counter, motionless as a sculpture, staring off into space. I tried to sound as friendly as possible. â€Å"Sure, I said I was in.† â€Å"We're meeting at my dad's store, at ten.† His eyes flickered to Edward again, wondering if he was giving out too much information. His body language made it clear that it wasn't an open invitation. â€Å"I'll be there,† I promised. â€Å"I'll see you in Gym, then,† he said, moving uncertainly toward the door. â€Å"See you,† I replied. He looked at me once more, his round face slightly pouting, and then as he walked slowly through the door, his shoulders slumped. A swell of sympathy washed over me. I pondered seeing his disappointed face again†¦ in Gym. â€Å"Gym,† I groaned. â€Å"I can take care of that.† I hadn't noticed Edward moving to my side, but he spoke now in my ear. â€Å"Go sit down and look pale,† he muttered. That wasn't a challenge; I was always pale, and my recent swoon had left a light sheen of sweat on my face. I sat in one of the creaky folding chairs and rested my head against the wall with my eyes closed. Fainting spells always exhausted me. I heard Edward speaking softly at the counter. â€Å"Ms. Cope?† â€Å"Yes?† I hadn't heard her return to her desk. â€Å"Bella has Gym next hour, and I don't think she feels well enough. Actually, I was thinking I should take her home now. Do you think you could excuse her from class?† His voice was like melting honey. I could imagine how much more overwhelming his eyes would be. â€Å"Do you need to be excused, too, Edward?† Ms. Cope fluttered. Why couldn't I do that? â€Å"No, I have Mrs. Goff, she won't mind.† â€Å"Okay, it's all taken care of. You feel better, Bella,† she called to me. I nodded weakly, hamming it up just a bit. â€Å"Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you again?† With his back to the receptionist, his expression became sarcastic. â€Å"I'll walk.† I stood carefully, and I was still fine. He held the door for me, his smile polite but his eyes mocking. I walked out into the cold, fine mist that had just begun to fall. It felt nice – the first time I'd enjoyed the constant moisture falling out of the sky – as it washed my face clean of the sticky perspiration. â€Å"Thanks,† I said as he followed me out. â€Å"It's almost worth getting sick to miss Gym.† â€Å"Anytime.† He was staring straight forward, squinting into the rain. â€Å"So are you going? This Saturday, I mean?† I was hoping he would, though it seemed unlikely. I couldn't picture him loading up to carpool with the rest of the kids from school; he didn't belong in the same world. But just hoping that he might gave me the first twinge of enthusiasm I'd felt for the outing. â€Å"Where are you all going, exactly?† He was still looking ahead, expressionless. â€Å"Down to La Push, to First Beach.† I studied his face, trying to read it. His eyes seemed to narrow infinitesimally. He glanced down at me from the corner of his eye, smiling wryly. â€Å"I really don't think I was invited.† I sighed. â€Å"I just invited you.† â€Å"Let's you and I not push poor Mike any further this week. We don't want him to snap.† His eyes danced; he was enjoying the idea more than he should. â€Å"Mike-schmike.† I muttered, preoccupied by the way he'd said â€Å"you and I.† I liked it more than I should. We were near the parking lot now. I veered left, toward my truck. Something caught my jacket, yanking me back. â€Å"Where do you think you're going?† he asked, outraged. He was gripping a fistful of my jacket in one hand. I was confused. â€Å"I'm going home.† â€Å"Didn't you hear me promise to take you safely home? Do you think I'm going to let you drive in your condition?† His voice was still indignant. â€Å"What condition? And what about my truck?† I complained. â€Å"I'll have Alice drop it off after school.† He was towing me toward his car now, pulling me by my jacket. It was all I could do to keep from falling backward. He'd probably just drag me along anyway if I did. â€Å"Let go!† I insisted. He ignored me. I staggered along sideways across the wet sidewalk until we reached the Volvo. Then he finally freed me – I stumbled against the passenger door. â€Å"You are so pushy!† I grumbled. â€Å"It's open,† was all he responded. He got in the driver's side. â€Å"I am perfectly capable of driving myself home!† I stood by the car, fuming. It was raining harder now, and I'd never put my hood up, so my hair was dripping down my back. He lowered the automatic window and leaned toward me across the seat. â€Å"Get in, Bella.† I didn't answer. I was mentally calculating my chances of reaching the truck before he could catch me. I had to admit, they weren't good. â€Å"I'll just drag you back,† he threatened, guessing my plan. I tried to maintain what dignity I could as I got into his car. I wasn't very successful – I looked like a half-drowned cat and my boots squeaked. â€Å"This is completely unnecessary,† I said stiffly. He didn't answer. He fiddled with the controls, turning the heater up and the music down. As he pulled out of the parking lot, I was preparing to give him the silent treatment – my face in full pout mode – but then I recognized the music playing, and my curiosity got the better of my intentions. â€Å"Clair de Lune?† I asked, surprised. â€Å"You know Debussy?† He sounded surprised, too. â€Å"Not well,† I admitted. â€Å"My mother plays a lot of classical music around the house – I only know my favorites.† â€Å"It's one of my favorites, too.† He stared out through the rain, lost in thought. I listened to the music, relaxing against the light gray leather seat. It was impossible not to respond to the familiar, soothing melody. The rain blurred everything outside the window into gray and green smudges. I began to realize we were driving very fast; the car moved so steadily, so evenly, though, I didn't feel the speed. Only the town flashing by gave it away. â€Å"What is your mother like?† he asked me suddenly. I glanced over to see him studying me with curious eyes. â€Å"She looks a lot like me, but she's prettier,† I said. He raised his eyebrows. â€Å"I have too much Charlie in me. She's more outgoing than I am, and braver. She's irresponsible and slightly eccentric, and she's a very unpredictable cook. She's my best friend.† I stopped. Talking about her was making me depressed. â€Å"How old are you, Bella?† His voice sounded frustrated for some reason I couldn't imagine. He'd stopped the car, and I realized we were at Charlie's house already. The rain was so heavy that I could barely see the house at all. It was like the car was submerged under a river. â€Å"I'm seventeen,† I responded, a little confused. â€Å"You don't seem seventeen.† His tone was reproachful; it made me laugh. â€Å"What?† he asked, curious again. â€Å"My mom always says I was born thirty-five years old and that I get more middle-aged every year.† I laughed, and then sighed. â€Å"Well, someone has to be the adult.† I paused for a second. â€Å"You don't seem much like a junior in high school yourself,† I noted. He made a face and changed the subject. â€Å"So why did your mother marry Phil?† I was surprised he would remember the name; I'd mentioned it just once, almost two months ago. It took me a moment to answer. â€Å"My mother†¦ she's very young for her age. I think Phil makes her feel even younger. At any rate, she's crazy about him.† I shook my head. The attraction was a mystery to me. â€Å"Do you approve?† he asked. â€Å"Does it matter?† I countered. â€Å"I want her to be happy†¦ and he is who she wants.† â€Å"That's very generous†¦ I wonder,† he mused. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Would she extend the same courtesy to you, do you think? No matter who your choice was?† He was suddenly intent, his eyes searching mine. â€Å"I-I think so,† I stuttered. â€Å"But she's the parent, after all. It's a little bit different.† â€Å"No one too scary then,† he teased. I grinned in response. â€Å"What do you mean by scary? Multiple facial piercings and extensive tattoos?† â€Å"That's one definition, I suppose.† â€Å"What's your definition?† But he ignored my question and asked me another. â€Å"Do you think that I could be scary?† He raised one eyebrow, and the faint trace of a smile lightened his face. I thought for a moment, wondering whether the truth or a lie would go over better. I decided to go with the truth. â€Å"Hmmm†¦ I think you could be, if you wanted to.† â€Å"Are you frightened of me now?† The smile vanished, and his heavenly face was suddenly serious. â€Å"No.† But I answered too quickly. The smile returned. â€Å"So, now are you going to tell me about your family?† I asked to distract him. â€Å"It's got to be a much more interesting story than mine.† He was instantly cautious. â€Å"What do you want to know?† â€Å"The Cullens adopted you?† I verified. â€Å"Yes.† I hesitated for a moment. â€Å"What happened to your parents?† â€Å"They died many years ago.† His tone was matter-of-fact. â€Å"I'm sorry,† I mumbled. â€Å"I don't really remember them that clearly. Carlisle and Esme have been my parents for a long time now.† â€Å"And you love them.† It wasn't a question. It was obvious in the way he spoke of them. â€Å"Yes.† He smiled. â€Å"I couldn't imagine two better people.† â€Å"You're very lucky.† â€Å"I know I am.† â€Å"And your brother and sister?† He glanced at the clock on the dashboard. â€Å"My brother and sister, and Jasper and Rosalie for that matter, are going to be quite upset if they have to stand in the rain waiting for me.† â€Å"Oh, sorry, I guess you have to go.† I didn't want to get out of the car. â€Å"And you probably want your truck back before Chief Swan gets home, so you don't have to tell him about the Biology incident.† He grinned at me. â€Å"I'm sure he's already heard. There are no secrets in Forks.† I sighed. He laughed, and there was an edge to his laughter. â€Å"Have fun at the beach†¦ good weather for sunbathing.† He glanced out at the sheeting rain. â€Å"Won't I see you tomorrow?† â€Å"No. Emmett and I are starting the weekend early.† â€Å"What are you going to do?† A friend could ask that, right? I hoped the disappointment wasn't too apparent in my voice. â€Å"We're going to be hiking in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, just south of Rainier.† I remembered Charlie had said the Cullens went camping frequently. â€Å"Oh, well, have fun.† I tried to sound enthusiastic. I don't think I fooled him, though. A smile was playing around the edges of his lips. â€Å"Will you do something for me this weekend?† He turned to look me straight in the face, utilizing the full power of his burning gold eyes. I nodded helplessly. â€Å"Don't be offended, but you seem to be one of those people who just attract accidents like a magnet. So†¦ try not to fall into the ocean or get run over or anything, all right?† He smiled crookedly. The helplessness had faded as he spoke. I glared at him. â€Å"I'll see what I can do,† I snapped as I jumped out into the rain. I slammed the door behind me with excessive force. He was still smiling as he drove away.

The English Proficiency Program Essays

The English Proficiency Program Essays The English Proficiency Program Essay The English Proficiency Program Essay SOCIAL WELFARE ADMINISTRATION Established in 1932, Shree Barbhaya Orphanage is an establishment that has been supplying aid to immature misss from Gujarati Hindu households that are either orphans or whose parents are helpless owing to societal or economic grounds to take attention of their kids. Since its constitution, one of our foremost aims has been to supply quality and holistic instruction for our kids. This twelvemonth, we plan to present an English Proficiency Program at Barbhaya, from July 2014 to March 2015 for the benefit of our misss, who are enrolled in two Gujarati medium schools in the locality. From our experience so far, the English being taught at the school degree has been unequal so far in fixing them for a mostly English talking puting one time they are out of school. The misss have the possible but need intensive coaching and exposure to the English linguistic communication. Hence a dedicated English proficiency programme is a must for them. In fact it is now an pressing demand as Science is now taught in English in the school where most of our kids are larning. For the above mentioned plan we will necessitate a amount of Rs. 75,000 and your aid for the plan at this point of clip is truly really valuable. Our purpose is to guarantee that our kids at Barbhaya have an easy entree to larning the English linguistic communication and therefore supply them a vocational accomplishment that will ever come ready to hand to them. We are really enthusiastic about the plan and look frontward to your support. Thank you for your consideration. Yours unfeignedly, Contact Person, Lydia Thomas Contact No. : +91 12345 12345 Electronic mail: lydia.thomas2013 @ tiss.edu Enclosure *Program Proposal Table OF CONTENTS Executive Summary Statement of Need Undertaking Aims Plan of execution Undertaking Activities and Outcomes Evaluation Organization Description Program Budget Executive Summary The English Proficiency Program for the kids at Barbhaya will be an attempt to expose them more than they already have been to the English linguistic communication, through the Activity Based Learning ( ABL ) attack. Following a baseline appraisal that was conducted to measure the girls’ clasp on the English linguistic communication, the demand for conveying about something a plan of this kind came up. The consequences that came about from the appraisal pointed out that there is an pressing demand for intercession, as they will otherwise battle subsequently on, when they have left the confines of a Gujarati medium school puting that they are in soon. The kids who live in the orphanhood are all from Gujarati households. This is because the orphanhood was set up harmonizing to the wants of Shri Muljibhai Barbhaya, as mentioned in his will ; and one of his demands were that all misss who were to be taken in should be Gujarati. The ground why the kids go to Gujarati medium schools is because they hail from unstable backgrounds, most of them being from Gujarat. Switching to a new course of study in English when they move to the orphanhood freshly is a hard stage, and is one of the grounds why the orphanhood continues to direct kids to Gujarati medium schools. The demand for a such a plan is necessary in such fortunes, where they have no entree to acquisition and utilizing English apart from school, which has been unsatisfactory so far. The coordinator of the Proficiency Program in English is Mrs. Vibhuti Desai, former Principal at M. M. M. Girls High School, which is one of the schools in which the misss are analyzing in at nowadays. The plan will be for a period of 10 months, i.e. , during the academic twelvemonth itself, from the month of July 2014 to March 2015. The entire cost of the plan will come up to Rs. 75,000. STATEMENT OF NEED Of the 29 misss populating with us at nowadays in Barbhaya, the 27 school traveling kids are enrolled in Gujarati medium schools. They converse largely in Gujarati and Marathi with each other and the house female parents severally. Their accomplishments in English speech production and composing are truly deficient, in malice of holding been taught English linguistic communication boulder clay 8Thursdaycriterion, after which even their topics are taught to them in English medium. On detecting this, we decided to carry on a baseline appraisal to estimate the children’s ability and clasp over the English linguistic communication. The appraisal was conducted for each kid at in the undermentioned countries: Listening Comprehension/Understanding ( vocabulary ; instructions ) Talking Reading Writing The consequences that followed are inexorable and inquire for pressing intercession. The misss have the possible but need intensive coaching and exposure to the English linguistic communication, as they do non hold sufficient exposure in school. Besides, being a Gujarati orphanhood, about all interactions with people from outside apart from their school couples are from givers and the legal guardians, most of who are Gujarati. The misss come from lesser privileged backgrounds, where English speech production is a rareness. In the yesteryear, misss who have passed out from Barbhaya after 10Thursdaycriterion have found it difficult get bying with English in their higher instruction every bit good as when it came to occupation chances. The English linguistic communication will come to their assistance in about everything they need as they grow up, wishing to prosecute peculiar classs and occupations thenceforth. Learning with each other, when most of them are at the same degree, will be easier for them every bit good as the voluntary instructors to travel frontward with the course of study. Hence, the demand for a plan dedicated to English proficiency is something that is traveling to be of aid to them non merely now but in the longer run, fiting them for when they have to go forth and stand on their ain two pess. The attack we will be doing usage of is the Activity Based Learning ( ABL ) attack which is both effectual every bit good as prosecuting in nature, necessary in order to prolong the children’s involvement in larning a linguistic communication they don’t seem to see the importance of. The attack is centered toward the scholar and is synergistic. Undertaking OBJECTIVES The aims of this plan are as follows: To develop a general proficiency in the English linguistic communication among all the misss. To make an environment within Barbhaya that will be contributing for larning English and doing usage of it. To supply single attending to each miss in the acquisition procedure. To assist the misss cope with their English medium surveies at school. To do the acquisition of the English linguistic communication an gratifying experience that would ensue in increased assurance degrees among the misss. To utilize the successful experience of the 3-week pilot summer undertaking conducted in April-May 2013 to carry on the current plan. Plan OF IMPLEMENTATION The plan will be coordinated by Mrs. Vibhuti Desai, who is a retired principal of M.M.M. Girls High School, one of the schools in which the misss are enrolled. Mrs. Desai already is a voluntary instructor at Barbhaya, and will go on the same, along with organizing the English Proficiency Program. Mrs. Desai will be assisted by voluntaries. The kids will be divided into batches, based on age-wise interruption up. Those in category 4 and below will organize one group, kids in categories 5 to those in category 8, and the last group will be those in category 9 and supra. The Program will be 10 months long, get downing in July 2014 and stoping in March 2015, co-occuring more or less with the children’s academic twelvemonth in school. We have done a baseline appraisal of all the kids and we will be holding on-going appraisal of each miss utilizing the baseline appraisal as the starting point. Undertaking ACTIVITIES AND OUTCOMES The misss are divided into three groups, based on their ages. Group 1 is comprised of misss in category 4 and below. Children in between categories 5 to 8 will organize Group 2, and the Group 3 will be those in category 9 and supra. Group 1 6 misss Group 2 13 misss Group 3 10 misss The English Proficiency Program is a planned plan which will be integrated into the children’s school category work and will take in history their demands. This procedure of acquisition will be done through a signifier of active intervening and feedback on a regular basis from the teacher’s portion. Some of the schemes that will be employed in the instruction procedure are: Stressing on accomplishments of hearing, observation, imitation and sharing. Supply the kids with chances to derive competency in English while at the same clip non ignoring or flinging their female parent lingua Gujarati. To avoid continual rectification of the children’s linguistic communication but give them infinite to turn into their comfort zone. Make usage of Gujarati as and when needed in order to ease better understanding what is seeking to be taught. One twenty-four hours of the hebdomad in the orphanhood will be aimed toward talking merely English, and consequently other two yearss will hold merely Gujarati and Marathi speech production yearss. This is already being practiced in the orphanhood and has helped the kids. Children will be given entree to both spoken every bit good as written text therefore working toward bettering non merely phonic accomplishments but their authorship accomplishments every bit good. Small groups and activities will on a regular basis be conducted which will let the kids a non-threatening environment and chance to pattern a new linguistic communication. Activities will be planned on a regular footing, to reenforce new things being taught. More than measure of what is being taught, more focal point will be on quality, on supplying clip and chance to do usage of what is being taught. Mrs. Desai every bit good as her group of 4 voluntaries have developed a wide course of study which they will follow, maintaining in head the above mentioned arrows. Results of the plan will be looked at through the undermentioned four skills- speaking, listening, reading and composing. Talking and listening- This will cover the ability to pass on with their equals every bit good as grownups in every twenty-four hours informal contexts. This will be through basic interaction in the schoolroom, brief presentations which will give them chance to talk every bit good as listen to their equals speak. Reading- this portion will seek to develop reading accomplishments in the kids to read short and familiar work written on subjects they know. This will help in comprehension of texts which are read and assist convey intending to it. Writing- this will be with the purpose of composing in order to convey a message or thought. It will convey to utilize grammar and punctuation, every bit good as spellings. Evaluation Evaluation will be done on a regular footing through appraisals of the advancement the kids are doing. During the rating procedure each child’s different background and ability in English will be considered. These appraisals will be unwritten every bit good as including reading and authorship. Materials which are to be used for appraisal are age appropriate, maintaining in head differences in developmental age, for illustration some will be at a novice phase and necessitating highly simplified stuff. Evaluation will be conducted based on the advancement the kid has made from the initial baseline appraisal conducted, which will demo in true light how much she has gained from the proficiency plan. Language appraisal will be conducted in a 1 on one footing so as to estimate in a better organize how much advancement the kid has really made. ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION Shree Barbhaya Orphanage For Hindu Girls was established in 1932 as per the wants of Shri Muljibhhai Barbhaya and his married woman Late Bai Harkorebai Barbhaya as mentioned in the will of Shri Muljibhai Barbhaya. The establishment became functional on 28ThursdayAugust 1932. In the last 80 old ages the orphanhood has served 472 misss who are either orphans or whose parents are incapacitated due to societal or economic grounds to take attention of their kids. This twelvemonth we have 29 pupils shacking in the establishment. While till the last academic twelvemonth we had merely school traveling kids shacking at the orphanhood, from this academic twelvemonth some of our kids who are now traveling to college besides stay at the orphanhood. Aims of the organisation To supply instruction to girl kids who are orphaned or whose parents are incapacitated to take attention of their kids To supply life accomplishments to kids that may assist them in hereafter To prepare the kids to go physically and mentally healthy and mature grownups To transfuse values like sharing, caring and uprightness We had three plans running till a decennary ago i.e. directing the kids to school, exposing the kids to kitchen work and twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours family jobs and learning the kids embellishment and knitwork. Earlier, at times, the administration besides bore the matrimony disbursal of the misss to assist them settle down in a good household. With altering times where adult females are playing a really active function in the broader society, the Trustees have bit by bit been presenting new plans that will fit the misss to stand on their ain pess and face the universe once they move out of the orphanhood, the focal point on English linguistic communication larning being one of them. The establishment is run chiefly by a board of legal guardians who oversee the administrative staff, viz. , the manager, an comptroller, an occupational healer who is presently the residential caretaker and the house female parents ( Thai, as the misss name them ) . The chief intent of the establishment in the present context is the instruction and holistic development of the kids who are enrolled and live here. The legal guardian board and disposal has made a figure of steps in order to run into this aim. Apart from school, the misss have group tuitions every bit good as voluntaries that come assist the weaker pupils. Children with acquisition disablements are assigned to particular pedagogues. Apart from instruction some of the activities our kids are engaged in are remedial categories for those with learning disablements, occupational therapy, computing machine preparation, dance categories and the similar. Plan BUDGET Our two beginnings of financess at Barbhaya are: 1 Income from investing 2 Contributions from persons and trusts It is the good will of the givers that has helped us continue giving quality attention and instruction to our kids over such a long period of 80 old ages in malice of gyrating monetary values. The disbursals to be incurred during the proposed undertaking period are described below. Non repeating budget Commodity Measure Sum Note books 29 pieces x Rs.60 Rs.1,740 Chart documents 10 nos. x Rs.8 Rs.80 Stationery ( pens, pigments, crayons, study pens, etc. ) Rs.2,000 Learning resources ( games, playthings, etc. ) Rs.3,000 Assorted disbursals Rs.3,180 Entire cost Rs.10,000 Recuring budget Forces Requirement Salary Undertaking Coordinator A stipend of Rs.6,500 per month- 10 ten Rs.6,000 Rs.65,000 Entire Cost Rs.65,000 Undertaking Coordinator: Mrs. Vibhuti Desai, ex-Principal, M. M. M. Girls High School The budget expected from the support organisation for a period of 10 months is Rs.75,000 merely. Outgo that may originate apart from this will be accounted for by the orphanhood.

Free Essays on Coldplay

History of Rock Music 287 Parachutes by Coldplay Label: EMD/Capitol, (recorded 2000). Produced by Ken Nelson and Kris Allison. Selections: Don’t Panic, Shiver, Spies, Sparks, Yellow, Trouble, Parachutes, High Speed, We Never Change, Everything’s Not Lost. Personnel: Chris Martin, vocals piano, Jon Buckland, guitar, Will Champion, drums, and Guy Berryman, bass. Coldplay recently won a Grammy award for Parachutes for Best Alternative Album. The only thing wrong with that is that Parachutes deserved to be nominated for Best Album. All of the quartet attended the University College of London. All four had been playing instruments since their early teens and been influenced by likes of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Eric Clapton. With only their full-debut album and a few EPs they have already joined the ranks of England’s elite including Oasis, Verve, and Radiohead. They are drawing comparisons with Scotland’s Travis and the late Jeff Buckley, who I recently have also taken an interest to. This album also earned the band a Mercury Music Prize nomination and won three Brit Awards nominations. The album was released in the U.K. in November 2000, and was released a month later in the U.S. They have released two singles off this album and they have both had tremendous success, Yellow then followed by Trouble. Many may have first heard their first single Yellow on ABC, because in 2000 it was chosen as the theme song for their sports promotion spots. This band has enjoyed almost instant success after signing with their label in April 1999. Parachutes is a perfect balance of sadness and elation, which they are able to switch back and forth in a heartbeat. The album begins with its shortest track (2:17) Don’t Panic, which starts with a sort of British folk-rock sound and evolves into a kind of spacey electric guitar piece with piano perfectly added in. Buckland’s Pink Floyd resembling guitar sound blends perfect... Free Essays on Coldplay Free Essays on Coldplay History of Rock Music 287 Parachutes by Coldplay Label: EMD/Capitol, (recorded 2000). Produced by Ken Nelson and Kris Allison. Selections: Don’t Panic, Shiver, Spies, Sparks, Yellow, Trouble, Parachutes, High Speed, We Never Change, Everything’s Not Lost. Personnel: Chris Martin, vocals piano, Jon Buckland, guitar, Will Champion, drums, and Guy Berryman, bass. Coldplay recently won a Grammy award for Parachutes for Best Alternative Album. The only thing wrong with that is that Parachutes deserved to be nominated for Best Album. All of the quartet attended the University College of London. All four had been playing instruments since their early teens and been influenced by likes of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Eric Clapton. With only their full-debut album and a few EPs they have already joined the ranks of England’s elite including Oasis, Verve, and Radiohead. They are drawing comparisons with Scotland’s Travis and the late Jeff Buckley, who I recently have also taken an interest to. This album also earned the band a Mercury Music Prize nomination and won three Brit Awards nominations. The album was released in the U.K. in November 2000, and was released a month later in the U.S. They have released two singles off this album and they have both had tremendous success, Yellow then followed by Trouble. Many may have first heard their first single Yellow on ABC, because in 2000 it was chosen as the theme song for their sports promotion spots. This band has enjoyed almost instant success after signing with their label in April 1999. Parachutes is a perfect balance of sadness and elation, which they are able to switch back and forth in a heartbeat. The album begins with its shortest track (2:17) Don’t Panic, which starts with a sort of British folk-rock sound and evolves into a kind of spacey electric guitar piece with piano perfectly added in. Buckland’s Pink Floyd resembling guitar sound blends perfect...

An Analysis of the Foreshadowing of Cleopatras Betrayal in Antony and Cleopatra, a Play by William Shakespeare

An Analysis of the Foreshadowing of Cleopatra's Betrayal in Antony and Cleopatra, a Play by William Shakespeare Foreshadowing Betrayal Cleopatra’s betrayal is not unexpected at all if one closely reads the text in Antony and Cleopatra. There is ample foreshadowing of Cleopatra’s corrupted morals and sense of self. Antony’s infatuation with Cleopatra leads him to overlook her behavior and forgive her almost instantly. His love is ultimately blinding and had Antony been more aware and focused with his brain rather than his heart, he would have understood what Cleopatra is truly like. What struck me as interesting were all of the little instances that warn of Cleopatra’s future betrayal that could easily be brushed over not only by Antony, but also by readers. Cleopatra’s behavior is brought to light when Enobarbus and Antony are speaking to each other in Act I, Scene II. The way Enobarbus speaks of Cleopatra implies that he had been close to her once before. As narrated, â€Å"Alack, sir, no, her passions are made of // nothing but the finest part of pure love // We cannot call her wins and waters sighs and tears; they are // greater storms and tempests than almanacs can // report. This cannot be cunning in her; if it be, she // makes a shower of rain as well as Jove.† (Act I, Scene II). Enobarbus paints Cleopatra to be this dramatic picture of a woman that he recognizes and wants Antony to acknowledge. Regardless of her â€Å"tempestuous† personality, she is also suggested to be gentler when she is associated with â€Å"showers of rain†. In effect, Enobarbus recognizes both Cleopatra’s harshness along with her ability to seduce and show affection. If one reads closely, one can also notice that Enobarb us speaks of Antony’s woman as though she was once his as well. Antony doesn’t seem to catch on to this or think of Enobarbus possibly having sexual encounters with Cleopatra. However, if the two did have prior relationships together, this foreshadows her disloyalty. Antony’s heart lies directly with Cleopatra and we see this as he refuses to listen to Enobarbus. As one can see, the foreshadowing of Cleopatra’s betrayal links the simple words of Shakespeare’s texts to the bigger consequences that Antony faces. Whether it is through Cleopatra’s behavior or her actions, with the help of inference and close reading, one can see the direction the play was headed towards from its opening pages. With the speech that Enobarbus provides, we gain insight on what other characters besides Antony think of Cleopatra and their own unique ways of describing her, eventually becoming embodied in her actions.

Euthanasia and Whether it is Morally Justified and Hence Ethically Essay

Euthanasia and Whether it is Morally Justified and Hence Ethically Acceptable - Essay Example There is need for the act of assisted suicide to be morally justifiable to make it ethical. However, the major question is to whom the act is meant to justify morality to. Every case that requires euthanasia should be considered differently with its own tenets. The use of euthanasia is morally justifiable and is therefore ethically acceptable since the use requires the opinion of medical practitioners. If their expert opinion is considered after the condition of the individual is thoroughly analyzed to make sure that all actions to alleviate their pain has been taken and no other options are available, then it is crucial for euthanasia to be applied for the good of the individual as well as that of the people closest to him/her. Many people may argue that there is a higher power that guides human life and that only that power and that power alone is responsible for giving and ending human life. I differ with this position vehemently and I strongly believe in the power of the human be ing to derive his/her own destiny. The advances in technology have given people the power to claim expertise in a certain profession. This is no different for the medical practice. This means that they opinion of these experts should be regarded in light of the advances in technology. ... The theory further suggests that in order for an end to be arrived at, a principle or maxim which is supreme and devoid of human influence is followed. This is the sole scale on which the moral worth of any action is weighed. The theory believes that all human beings were created supreme and as such have it in them an inherent capability to decide what is either good or bad. The father of this theory, Immanuel Kant, strongly believed that a categorical imperative is what is responsible for the actions that human beings choose to follow. The fact that the maxims contained in this theory are universal and as thus are right. The simplicity of this theory is that if for example a maxim stated that killing people who you dislike holds true, then the human race would not exist as ultimately, we will be forced to end the lives of all who we dislike and consequently, those who do not like us will kills us. On that example alone, the Kantian theory tends to suggest that it is impossible for a maxim to be untrue or wrong as it is not ultimately decided by the human being himself but rather on a power that is beyond the human being himself. The theory however only holds true where the human being applying the maxim believes in it and follows it to the latter. The Kantian theory is flawed in some aspects. First, when a person conceives the maxim to hold true but it is no longer a means to an end, then the result may not be what is desired by the theory. The above consequence of the Kantian theory is interpreted as a perfect duty as the maxim has been upheld. In the case of the use of euthanasia, then the end of human life may not follow the maxim since its following will not be the best option for the afflicted

Important Trends in Popular Music Emerged in the Early 1960s Assignment

Important Trends in Popular Music Emerged in the Early 1960s - Assignment Example It was in the sixties that Soul and Surf music, Latin tunes, Country and Folk hymns, and Psychedelic Acid Rock rise out from Rock ‘N Roll, making all of these accepted by that year’s generation. Apparently, though his about splashy tides of oceans, pretty ladies in bikinis, and muscular gents with surfing boards became the basis of â€Å"surf music.† Characteristics of its hymn include being brazen and â€Å"instrumental† like that of the sea’s excitement and captivating sense of â€Å"rush.† Since then, people associated the sport called â€Å"surfing† with it, that is why, famous tunes like Surf City of Jan and Dean, Misirlo of Dick Dale, and Surfin’ USA of the Beach Boys appeal to all surf-lovers even if the artists themselves are non-surfers. However, tunes are not all about shores and oceans since this had started in Hawaii as â€Å"chants† for their prayer and meditation purposes. Its impact during the sixties was so intense that even if there were no shorelines to relate with and buildings rather dominate the place, it was embraced by American youth at that time (â€Å"Surf Culture†). During the critical days of the sixties when violent things seemed to monopolize, the so-called Rhythm and Blues (R&B) in the industry have flunked shortly to give way to â€Å"soul music.† Inspired with the uprising of â€Å"civil rights,† the blacks have dominated it, though it was seen as a counterpart of white’s R&B; thus, it has given them the opportunity to defy cultural differences. With this, the songs were basically inspirational and were aiming to relay a message of peace, equality, and unity.  

The life of Paulo Mars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The life of Paulo Mars - Essay Example He would often go on the streets to beg and steal for hunger and the pale and sullen face of his mother drove him mad. In his mind’s eye he bred the dream of a life denied to him. When the Mercedes Benz dashed on the roadside his eyes snore. When he was caught pick pocketing and battered by the crowd the dying cinders of angst and revolt caught fire deep within his soul. Why should everybody else have everything and he nothing? Why should only he live a life of denial and death? Why should the people who live in skyscraping towers, who wear silk and satin and eat the Manna sent by God and he go empty stomach for many days and nights. Strangely and more mysteriously the life of Creme-de-la creme (upper classes) held a charm for him a deadly charm which would enmesh his whole life, his whole existence. When Paulo grew up the secret whisperer into his soul found a way. He sold himself to the devil by joining the drug trafficking racket. It promised him instant money, money the wi ndow to all that he dreamed, all that he desired. He struck a deal with nearby drug pedling guys who would give him the cocaine and hash which he would just have to transfer to a guy in a big white cabin in return he would get loads and loads of money. One fine morning he was supposed to pack on his body loads of cocaine and then cover up with a long jacket and over coat.

Original case final project Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Original case final project - Term Paper Example The more systematic and finely tuned this channel of communication is, the more effectively the firm may attain its strategic goals. In the situation that follows, flaws in communication within the organization cause problems in the firm’s delivery of services to its clientele. The developments in the case study shall be discussed and possible recommendations offered to address those issues of leadership communication; the identities of the company and persons involved will be concealed pursuant to an agreement to maintain confidentiality of the subjects. Description of the situation The Everest Stock Brokerage (not its real name) was riding the crest of a stock market bull run when Adam (not his real name) joined the company. Adam was a duly licensed stock trader authorized by the exchange to execute transactions on the computerized trading system. He was a perceptive and well schooled finance student in college, and his ambition was to be an expert stock analyst and eventual ly stock broker, thus in his academic program he gained as much training and information as he can on equities valuation and price forecasting. These are considered important core knowledge for any professional who would wish to work in stock investing, particularly in advising individual investors on their hard-earned placements. Everest seemed an ideal place for Adam to work in, because it specialized in retail stock brokerage (i.e., for individuals rather than institutions) and its president and chief executive officer, Mr. Henry Lorne (not his real name) is a recent past board member of the stock exchange. When Adam joined the company, sales were skyrocketing, profit was strong, and the brokerage was flourishing to the point that the company doubled its sales force and rented a second dealing room in the same high rise building that housed the corporate administrative offices and the first dealing room. (Off-floor trading was adopted years earlier when trading became computerize d and online trading became possible, even for clients in their homes.) Business continued to remain good for the next two years. Then, midway in 2008, the inevitable happened. The market faltered, sales thinned, then prices suffered a severe correction due to panic selling by investors because of the credit crunch that began in the subprime mortgage market. It was about this time that Mr. Lorne was beset by calls from clients that their orders were not being executed fast enough, or were not being confirmed to them as soon as they get done. Such delay created the impression in the minds of the customers that the particular traders handling their phoned-in orders were executing their own personal trades, which was against exchange rules, and passing on to customers the less advantageous trades (i.e., trades with losses, or minimal gains at best). Among its corporate values, the company had a policy of â€Å"attending to clients’ need for information promptly and transparentl y.† However, there were no definite guidelines by which to determine what is meant by prompt and transparent provision of information to clients according to their needs. On the contrary, there is an unwritten but consistently observed standard operating procedure (SOP) that all trades