Island of the Sequined Love Nun Chapter 34~36

34 Water Hazard Jefferson Pardee was trying desperately not to look like a sea turtle. He'd managed to find the surface, catch his breath, and put his mask on. Blood from his nose was now swishing around inside it like brandy in a snifter. After locating the floating garbage bag that contained his clothes and propping it under his chest as a life preserver, his main focus was not to look like a turtle. To a shark living in the warm Pacific waters off Alualu, sea turtles were food. Not that there was any real danger of a shark making that particular mistake. Even a mentally challenged shark would figure out that sea turtles did not wear boxer shorts printed in flying piggies, and no turtles did not wear boxer shorts printed in flying piggies, and no turtle would be yattering streams of obscenities between chain-smoker gasps of breath. Still, a couple of harmless white-tipped reef sharks smelled blood in the water and cruised by to check out the source, only to retreat, regret-ting that in one hundred and twenty million years on the planet they had never evolved the equipment to laugh. The surf was calm and the tide low, and considering Pardee's buoyancy, the swim should have been easy. But when Pardee saw the two black shadows cruise by below him, his heart started playing a sternum-rattling drum solo that kept up until he barked his knees on the reef. An antler of coral caught the plastic bag, stopping Pardee's progress long enough for him to notice that here on the reef the water was only two feet deep. He flipped over on his back, then sat on the coral, not really caring that it was cutting into his bottom. Waves lapped around him as he fought to catch his breath. He lifted his mask and let the blood run down his face and over his chest to expand into a rusty stain in the water. Tiny blue and yellow reef fish rose around him looking for food and nipping at his skin, tickling him like teasing children. He looked toward the beach, perhaps two hundred yards away. Inside the reef the danger of sharks was minimal – minimal enough that he would sit here and rest for a while. He watched the waves breaking softly around him, lapping against his back, and realized, with horror, that he was going to have to do this again in a few hours, against the waves and probably the tide. He'd have to find someone with a boat; that was all there was to it. Ten minutes passed before his heart slowed down and he was able to steel his courage enough to swim the final leg. He picked out a stand of coconut palms above a small beach and slid across the reef toward the is-land. He kicked slowly, scanning the water around him for any sign of sharks. Except for a moment of temporary terror when a manta ray with a seven-foot wingspan flew out of the blue and passed below him, the swim to the beach was safe and easy. If manta rays are going to be harmless, they should look more harmless, Pardee thought. Fuckers look like aquatic Draculas. He sat in the wash at the water's edge and was tearing the tape that held the fins on his feet when he heard a sharp mechanical click behind him. He turned to see two men in black pointing Uzis at his head. Pardee grinned. â€Å"Konichi-wa,† he said. â€Å"You guys have a dry cigarette? I seem to have torn my garbage bag.† A seven iron, Tuck, thought. After all these years I need a seven iron. Tucker Case did not play golf. He'd tried it once, and although he'd en-joyed the drinking and driving the little electric car into the lake, he just didn't get the appeal. It seemed – and he'd examined the game closely be-cause his father had loved it – an awful lot like a bunch of rich white guys in goofy clothing walking around on an absurdly large lawn hitting ab-surdly small white balls with crooked sticks. If the greens were at opposite ends of the same fairway and foursomes had to play against each other, defending their own green while assaulting the opponents' and risking getting hit with a ball or a club at close quarters, well, then you'd have a game. If the game was scored on how quickly one got through the eighteen holes instead of the fewest strokes and they dropped small-block Chevys into the little carts, why, then you'd have yourself a game. (Maybe put those little Ben-Hur food processors on the wheels and make it legal to hamstring competitors.) But traditional golf, as it was, had always left Tuck cold. Strange, then, that he absolutely yearned for a seven iron, or maybe a shotgun. Tuck had been up since before dawn, awakened rudely and kept awake by what seemed like eight million roosters. It was now ten o'clock and they were still going strong. What joy to feel the thwack of a seven iron on red feathers, the satisfying impact of balanced metal on poultry (suddenly si-lenced and somewhat tenderized for your trouble). He saw himself wading into a bucket of roosters, swinging his seven iron madly (but always keeping his head down and his left arm straight), dealing death and de-struction like the Colonel's own avenging angel. Welcome to Tucker Case's chicken death camp, my little feathered friends. Now, kindly prepare to have your nuggets knocked off. Tucker Case was not a morning person. He decided that he'd give them five more minutes to shut up, then he was going to get dressed and go borrow a seven iron from the doc. Five minutes later he was preparing to leave when Beth Curtis knocked and opened his door without waiting for an answer. She was wearing disposable surgical blues and a hairnet; she wore no makeup and the vapid housewife smile was gone from her eyes. â€Å"Mr. Case, we need you to be ready to fly in two hours. Can you do it?† â€Å"Uh, sure. I guess. Where are we going?† â€Å"Japan. The navigational settings should already be programmed into the plane's computer. I need you to have your preflight finished and the Lear fueled and on the runway, ready to go.† Tucker felt as if he was talking to a different person than the one he had seen for the last week. There was no hint of the soft femininity, just hard business. â€Å"I haven't had time to go over the controls for the Lear.† â€Å"You took the job, didn't you? Can you fly it?† Tuck nodded. â€Å"Then be ready in two hours.† She turned and marched toward the hospital building. Tuck started to follow her, then noticed movement through the trees, down by the beach: men unloading fuel drums from a longboat onto the pier. He could see a white freighter anchored outside the reef. â€Å"Mrs. Curtis!† he called. She turned and regarded him like an annoying insect. â€Å"Yes, Mr. Case.† â€Å"That ship. You didn't tell me there was a ship.† â€Å"It doesn't concern you. They are simply delivering some supplies. Now please, prepare the plane.† â€Å"But if they're delivering supplies, why do we need to†¦?† â€Å"Mr. Case,† she barked, â€Å"do your job. The doctor needs me.† She threw open the hospital door and stepped inside. â€Å"Ask him if I can borrow his seven iron,† Tuck said weakly. Tuck shuffled back toward his bungalow. Just a few seconds in the sun had given him a headache and he felt as if he would pass out any second. He was going to fly again. He was sick and dizzy and suffered from talking bat hallucinations and he was going to get to do the only thing he had ever been any good at. It scared the hell out of him. It had been fifty years since men with guns had entered the village of the Shark People. As the four guards went from house to house, Malink walked the paths of the village, his cordless phone in hand so the people could see that he had things under control. He'd been calling the Sorcerer since the four Japanese had arrived in the village, but he'd only gotten the answering machine. He had told everyone to go inside their houses and not to resist the guards, and even now the village seem deserted, except for the sobs of a few frightened children. He could hear the guards kicking their way through the coconut husks that had been piled in the cookhouses for fuel. Suddenly Favo was at his side. Favo, who had seen the coming of the Japanese during the war, had seen the killing. â€Å"Why does Vincent allow this?† Malink really didn't have an answer. He had lit the Zippo and asked Vincent that very morning. â€Å"It is the will of the Sorcerer, so it must be the will of Vincent. They want the girl-man.† â€Å"We should fight,† Favo said. â€Å"We should kill the guards.† â€Å"Spears against machine guns, Favo? Should the children grow up without fathers like we did? No, they will find the girl-man and they will go away.† â€Å"The girl-man has gone to live with Sarapul. Did you tell them?† â€Å"I told them. I took the Sorcerer there.† The guards came out of the old church and crunched in single file down the path toward Favo and Malink. The old men stood their ground, making the guards walk into a stand of ferns to get around them. They made no eye contact and said nothing. Favo hurled a curse at them, but it had been too long since he had spoken Japanese and it was not a language suited for swearing. He ended up telling them that their truck tires smelled of sardines, which elicited no response whatsoever. â€Å"Excellent curse,† Malink said, trying to raise his friend's spirits. â€Å"It needs work. English is the best for swearing.† â€Å"They have machine guns, Favo.† â€Å"Fuckin' mooks,† Favo said. â€Å"Amen,† Malink said, crossing himself in the sign of the B-26 bomber. The two old men fell in behind the guards, following them from house to house, waiting outside on the path so the villagers could see them when they were roused out of their houses. For the guards' part, it was a wholly unsatisfying endeavor. They had been looking forward to kicking in some doors, only to find that the Shark People had no doors. There were no beds to throw over, no back rooms to burst into, no closets, no place, in fact, where a man could hide and not be exposed by the most perfunctory inspection. And the doctor had told them that no one was to be hurt. They did not want to make a mistake. For all the appearance of military efficiency, they were screwups to a man. One, a former security guard at a nuclear power plant, had been fired for taking drugs; two were brothers who had been dismissed from the Tokyo police department for accepting Yakuza bribes; the fourth, from Okinawa, had been a jujitsu instructor who had beaten a German tourist to death in a bar over a gross miscarriage of karaoke. The man who had recruited them, put them in the black uniforms, and trained them made it clear that this was their last chance. They had two choices: succee d and become rich or die. They took their jobs very seriously. â€Å"He might be in the trees,† Favo said in Japanese. â€Å"Look in the trees!† The guards scanned the trees as they marched, which caused them to bump into each other and stumble. Above them there was a fluttering of wings. A glout of bat guano splatted across the Okinawan's forehead. He threw the bolt on his Uzi and the air was filled with the staccato roar of nine millimeters ripping through the foliage. When at last the clip was empty, palm fronds settled to the ground around them. Frightened children screamed in their mothers' arms, and Favo, who was lying next to his friend with his arms thrown over his head, snickered like an asthmatic hyena. The guards scuffled for a moment, not sure whether to disarm their companion or shove their clips home and begin the massacre. Above the crying, the scuffle, the snickering, and the tintinnabulation of residual gunfire, a girl giggled. The guards looked up. Sepie stood in the doorway of the bachelors' house, naked but for a pair of panties she'd recently ac-quired from a transvestite navigator. â€Å"Hey, sailors,† she said, trying out a phrase she'd also acquired from Kimi, â€Å"you want a date?† The guards didn't understand the words, but they got the message. â€Å"Go inside, girl,† Malink scolded. Women, even the mispel, were not permitted to show their thighs in public. Not even when swimming, not when bathing, not when crapping on the beach, not ever. â€Å"Go back inside,† Favo said. â€Å"When they go away, you will be beaten.† â€Å"I have been beaten before,† Sepie said. â€Å"Now I will be rich.† â€Å"Tell her,† Favo said to Malink. Malink shrugged. His authority as chief worked only as long as his people willingly obeyed him. The key to retaining their respect was to find out what they wanted to do, then tell them to do it. He levied the most severe punishment he knew. â€Å"Sepie, you may not touch the sea for ten days.† She turned and wiggled her bottom at him, then disappeared into the bachelors' house. The stunned guards ceased their scuffle and moved tentatively toward the doorway, looking to each other for permission. â€Å"This is your fault,† Malink said to Favo. â€Å"You shouldn't have started giving her things.† â€Å"I didn't give her things,† Favo said. â€Å"You gave her things for† – and here Malink paused, trying to catch himself before losing a friend – â€Å"for doing favors for you.† 35 Free Press, My Ass Jefferson Pardee sat on a metal office chair in the corner of a windowless cinder-block room. The guard stood by the metal door, his machine gun trained on Pardee's hairy chest. The reporter was trying to affect an attitude of innocence tempered with a little righteous indignation, but, in fact, he was terrified. He could feel his heartbeat climbing into his throat and sweat rolled down his back in icy streams. He'd given up on trying to talk to the guards; they either didn't speak English or were pretending they didn't. He heard the throw of the heavy bolt on the door and expected the other guard to return, but instead a woman wearing surgical garb entered the room. Her eyes were the same color as the surgical blues and even in the oppressive heat she looked chilly. â€Å"At last,† Pardee said. â€Å"There's been some kind of mistake here.† He offered his hand, trying not to show how unsteady he was, and the guard threatened him with the Uzi. â€Å"I'm Jefferson Pardee from the Truk Star.† She nodded to the guard and he left the room. Her voice was friendly, but she wasn't smiling. â€Å"I'm Beth Curtis. My husband runs the mission clinic on this island.† She didn't offer her hand. â€Å"I'm sorry you've been treated this way, Mr. Pardee, but this island is under quarantine. We've tried to limit the contact with the outside until we have a better handle on this epidemic.† â€Å"What epidemic? I haven't heard anything about this?† â€Å"Encephalitis. It's a rare strain, airborne and very contagious. We don't let anyone off island who's been exposed.† Jefferson Pardee exhaled a deep sigh of relief. So this was the big story. Of course he'd promise not to say a word, but Time magazine would kill for this. He'd leave out the part about being taken prisoner in his flying piggy boxers. â€Å"And the guards?† â€Å"World Health Organization. They've also given us an aircraft and lab equipment, as I'm sure you've seen.† He'd seen an awful lot of lab equipment as he was led through the little hospital, but the aircraft was still a rumor. He decided to go for the facts. â€Å"You have a new Learjet, is that correct?† â€Å"Yes.† She seemed genuinely taken aback by his comment. â€Å"How did you know?† â€Å"I have my sources,† Pardee said, wishing he wore glasses so he could take them off in a meaningful way. â€Å"I'm sure you do. Information is like a virus sometimes, and the only way to find a cure is to trace it to the source. Who told you about the jet?† Pardee wasn't giving anything for free. â€Å"How long have you known about the encephalitis?† For the first time Pardee noticed that Beth Curtis had been holding her right hand behind her back the entire time they had been talking. He noticed because when the hand appeared, it was holding a syringe. â€Å"Mr. Pardee, this syringe contains a vaccine that my husband and I have developed with the help of the World Health Organization. Because you took it on yourself to sneak onto Alualu, you have exposed yourself to a deadly virus that at-tacks the nervous system. The vaccine seems to work even after exposure to the disease, but only if administered in the first few hours. I want to give you this vaccine, I really do. But if you insist on drawing out this little game of liar's poker, then I can't guarantee that you won't contract the disease and die a horrible and painful death. So, that said, who told you about the jet?† Pardee felt the sweat rising again. She hadn't raised her voice, there wasn't even a detectable note of anger there, but he felt as if she was holding a knife to his throat. Okay, to hell with the adventurous journalist. He could still get a byline based on what she'd already told him. â€Å"I talked to a pilot who passed through Truk a few months ago.† â€Å"A few months ago? Not more recently?† â€Å"No. He said he was going to fly a jet for some missionaries on Alualu. I came out to check it out.† â€Å"And that was all you heard? Just that we had a jet?† â€Å"Yes, it's pretty unusual for a missionary clinic to have money for a jet, wouldn't you say?† She smiled. â€Å"I guess it is. So how did you plan to get off the island after you got your story?† â€Å"The Micro Spirit was going to pick me up on the other side of the island. That's it. I was just curious. It's an occupational hazard.† â€Å"Who knows you're here, besides the crew of the Spirit?† Pardee considered her question; what would be the best answer. Surely she wouldn't let him die of some dreaded disease, but how stupid would he have been to come out here without telling anyone? â€Å"The people who work for me at the Star and a friend of mine at AP who I called for some background before I left.† â€Å"Oh, that's good,† she said, still smiling. Pardee couldn't help but feel pleased with himself. It had been a long time since he'd gotten any approval – or attention for that matter – from a beautiful woman. She uncapped the syringe. â€Å"Now, before I give you the vaccine, a few medical questions, okay?† â€Å"Sure. Shoot.† â€Å"You smoke and drink to excess, correct?† â€Å"I indulge from time to time. Another occupational hazard.† â€Å"I see,† she said. â€Å"And have you ever had a test for HIV?† â€Å"A month ago. Clean as a whistle.† This was true. He'd been motivated to take the test by a creepy rash on his stomach that turned out to be caused by skin-burrowing mites. The medic with the Navy CAT team had given him an ointment that cleared it up in a few days. â€Å"Have you ever had hepatitis, cancer, or kidney disease?† â€Å"Nope.† â€Å"How about your family? Anyone with a history of kidney disease or cancer?† â€Å"Not last time I heard. I haven't talked with my family in twenty-five years.† She seemed especially pleased at that. â€Å"And you're not married? No children?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Very good,† she said. She plunged the needle into his shoulder and pushed the plunger. â€Å"Ouch. Hey, you could have warned me. Aren't you supposed to swab that with alcohol first or something?† She stepped to the door and smiled again. â€Å"I don't think infec tion is going to be a problem, Mr. Pardee. Now don't panic, but in a minute or so you are going to go to sleep. I can't believe you bought that bit about the encephalitis. People get stupid living in the tropics, don't you think?† She went out of focus and the lines of the room started to heave as if the entire structure was breathing. â€Å"What was in†¦?† His tongue was too heavy; the words wouldn't come. â€Å"You don't have a staff and you didn't call anyone at AP, Mr. Pardee. That was a stupid lie. We'll have to put ‘self-importance' down under cause of death.† Pardee tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't obey him. He slid off the chair and his legs splayed straight out in front of him. Beth Curtis bent over him, pushed her lips into a pout, and baby-talked. â€Å"Oh, are his wittle wegs all wobbly?† She stood up straight and put her hands on her hips. To Pardee her face floated like the moon through clouds. She said, â€Å"You're probably thinking that I'm being unusually cruel to tease a dying man, but you see, you're not dying right now. Soon, but not right now.† Pardee tried to form a question, but the room seemed to go liquid and crash over him like a black wave. Sebastian Curtis walked down the dock to where the crew of the Micro Spirit was unloading fuel drums from a longboat. He was wearing his white lab coat over Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, a stethoscope hung from his neck like a medallion of power. The Micro Spirit's first mate, who was drinking a Coke while supervising the unloading, jumped up on the dock to meet the doctor. â€Å"Good morning.† â€Å"Good morning,† Curtis said. â€Å"Are you in charge here?† â€Å"I'm the first mate.† Curtis regarded the tattooed Tongan. â€Å"Mr. Pardee will be staying with us for a while. He's asked me to tell you not to wait for him.† â€Å"That don't bother you?† the mate asked. It seemed strange to him after the effort Pardee had made to sneak onto the island. â€Å"No, of course not. In fact, we've offered to fly Mr. Pardee to Hawaii when he finishes his work.† The mate had never heard Pardee's name in the same sentence as the word â€Å"work.† It didn't sound right. Still, he had his job to do and the doctor was paying double freight for these barrels. He said, â€Å"Is he going to pay his fare?† Curtis smiled and pulled a wad of bills out of the pocket of his shorts. â€Å"Of course. He asked me to give you the money. How much is it?† â€Å"From Truk, one way, is three hundred.† The doctor counted out a stack of twenties and held it out to the mate. â€Å"Here's six hundred. Mr. Pardee asked me to pay the round-trip fare, since that's what he originally contracted for.† The mate stared at the stack of bills. He had known Jefferson Pardee for ten years and had never even known the man to buy a beer; now he was just giving him three hundred extra dollars? Three hundred dollars that the company and the captain didn't know about. â€Å"Okay,† he said. He snatched the money out of the doctor's hand and shoved it into his pocket before the crew could see. He would get the whole crew drunk and they would toast the generosity of Jefferson Pardee. 36 Return to the Sky The Lear 45 was a working corporate issue, the seats upholstered in muted blues and grays, facing each other over small worktables. For some reason Tucker had expected something more unusual: bright carnival colors with a monkey in a flight attendant outfit perhaps; a stark metal interior stripped for cargo; maybe stainless steel over enamel with a lot of complicated medical gizmos. Nope, this was the standard, run-of-the-mill station wagon model of your basic four-million-dollar jet. He slid into the pilot's seat and a rage of adrenaline coursed through him, as if his body was reliving the crash of the pink Gulfstream. He fought the urge to bolt, let the adrenaline jag settle to a low-grade nausea, then started his preflight checklist. Everything looked normal; the instruments and controls were in place. He snapped on the power for the gauges and nothing happened: no lights, no LEDs, nothing. He felt the plane move as someone came up the retractable steps and suddenly one of the guards reached around him and inserted a cylindrical key into a socket on the instrument board. The guard turned the key several times and the cockpit whirred to life. â€Å"This thing has a main power cutoff?† Tuck said to the guard. The guard removed the key and walked off the plane without saying a word. â€Å"Nice chatting with you,† Tuck said. He'd never seen a plane with an ignition key and he was sure that this one was not factory-issue. Why? Who would steal a jet airplane? Who could? I could, that's who. The doctor had installed the key to keep him from re peating his performance in Seattle. The missionary bastard didn't trust him. Tuck checked the navigation computer. It was, as Beth Curtis had told him, set for an airfield in southern Japan. He watched as the LEDs on the nav computer came on, indicating that it was acquiring the satellites it needed to locate his position. When three were lit, his longitude and latitude flashed on the screen; when a fourth satellite was acquired, he had his current altitude: eight feet above sea level. He thought of Kimi navigating by the stars and felt a twinge of guilt for not trying harder to find him. He resolved to look for the navigator personally when he got back to Alualu. He ran through the checklist and threw the autostart switches for the engines. As the twin jets spooled up, Tuck felt his anxiety float away like an exorcised ghost. This is where he was supposed to be. This is what he did. For the first time in weeks he felt like his head was clear. He pushed the controls through their full range of motion and checked out the window to make sure that the flaps and ailerons were moving as well. Beth Curtis was coming across the compound toward the plane. At least he thought it was Beth Curtis. She wore a sharp, dark business suit with nylons and high heels. Her hair was pulled back into a severe bun and she wore wire-frame aviator sunglasses. She carried a small plastic cooler in one hand and an aluminum briefcase in the other. She looked like one of Mary Jean's corporate killer attorneys. Her third identity in as many days. She walked into the plane and the guard pushed the hatch shut behind her. She stashed the cooler and briefcase in the overhead, then climbed into the cockpit and strapped herself in the copilot's seat. â€Å"Any problems?† she said. â€Å"You look nice today, Mrs. Curtis.† â€Å"Thank you, Mr. Case. Are we ready?† â€Å"Tuck. You can call me Tuck. I need you to look out the window and tell me if the flaps and ailerons move when I move the controls.† â€Å"They look fine. Shall we go?† Tuck released the ground brakes and taxied out onto the runway. â€Å"I need to pick up some sunglasses while we're in Japan.† â€Å"I'll get you some. You won't be leaving the plane.† â€Å"I won't?† â€Å"We'll only be on the ground for a few minutes, then we'll be coming back.† â€Å"Look, Mrs. Curtis, I know you think that because of the circumstances that brought me here that I'm a total fuckup, but I am really good at what I do. You don't have to treat me like a child.† She looked at him and took off her sunglasses. Tuck wished he had sunglasses so he could whip them off like that. She said, â€Å"Mr. Case, I'm putting my life in your hands right now. How much more confidence would you like?† Tuck didn't really know how to answer. â€Å"I guess you're right. Sorry. You could be a little less mysterious about what's going on here. I know that we're not flying supplies, not with this plane and the kind of money you're paying me.† â€Å"If you really want to know, I can tell you. But if I tell you, I'll have to kill you.† Tuck looked from the instruments to catch her expression. She was grinning, a deep silly grin that crinkled the corners of her eyes. He looked at the instruments. â€Å"I'm going to take off now. Okay?† â€Å"And I haven't even shown you the best way to fight boredom on our little island.† Tuck concentrated on the gauges and the runway. He said, â€Å"What church do you and your husband work for?† â€Å"Methodist.† â€Å"You'll have to tell me about it.† â€Å"What's there to tell? Methodists rock!† she said, then she giggled like a little girl as Tuck pulled the plane into the sky. Malink joined the drinking circle late, hoping that everyone would be drunk enough to forget what had gone on that day. He'd spent most of the after-noon at Favo's house, afraid even to face his wife and daughters, but when the sun was well boiled in the sea, he knew he had to join the other men or face the consequences of tuba-poisoned theories and rumors aspiring to truth. He sneaked into an open spot in the circle and sat on the sand, even though several younger men moved so he could sit on a log with his back to the tree. He threw an open pack of Benson & Hedges into the center of the circle and Favo divided up the smokes among the men. Some lit up, others broke them into sections to chew with betel nut, and a few tucked them behind their ears for later. The distraction was short-lived and one of the Johns, an elder, said, â€Å"So why did Vincent send the Japanese into our houses?† Malink waved him off as he drank from the coconut shell cup and made a great show of enjoying his first drink before handing the cup to Abo, who was pouring. Then he stalled another few seconds by lighting a Benson & Hedges with the Zippo, making sure everyone saw it and remembered, then after a long drag he said, â€Å"I'm fucked if I know.† He said this in English – English being the best language for swearing. â€Å"It is not good,† said John. â€Å"They came to the bachelors' house,† said Abo, who, as usual, was angry. â€Å"They looked at our mispel's thighs.† â€Å"We should kill them,† said one of the younger men who had been named for Vincent. â€Å"And eat them!† someone added – and it was as if the air had been pulled on the circle before it could inflate to well-rounded violent mob. Everyone turned to see Sarapul walking out of the shadows. For once, Malink was glad to see him. The old cannibal seemed to have a spring in his step, seemed younger, stronger. â€Å"I need an ax,† Sarapul said. The men who owned axes all stared into the sand or examined their fingernails. â€Å"What for?† Malink asked. â€Å"I can't tell you. It's a secret.† â€Å"You're not going to start headhunting, are you?† Malink said. â€Å"We've put up with your talk of eating people, but I draw the line at headhunting. No headhunting while I'm chief.† Everybody grunted in agreement and Malink was glad to have been able to assert his authority in a way that no one could dispute. An anthropologist had once come to the island and given him a book about headhunters. Malink felt very cosmopolitan discussing the topic. Sarapul looked confused. He'd never read the headhunting book, had never read any book, but he did have a Classic Comics version of The Count of Monte Cristo, which a sailor had given him in the days before the Shark People were forbidden to meet visiting ships. He'd made Kimi read it to him every night. Sarapul liked the thread of revenge and murder that ran through the story. Sarapul said, â€Å"What is this headhunting? I just want to cut a tree.† â€Å"Cutting trees is taboo,† said one of the younger men. â€Å"I will get special dispensation,† Sarapul said, using a term he had learned from Father Rodriquez. Malink shook his head. â€Å"We don't have that anymore. We only had that when we were Catholics.† â€Å"I need an ax,† Sarapul said, as if he might do better if he started over. â€Å"And I need permission from the great Chief Malink to cut a tree.† Malink scratched a mosquito bite and looked at his feet. It was true that he could give permission to break a taboo, and Sarapul had distracted the circle before they ganged up on him. â€Å"You may cut one tree, on your side of the island, and you must show it to me before you cut it. Now, who has an ax?† Everyone knew who owned axes, but nobody volunteered. Malink chose one of the young Vincents. â€Å"You, go get your ax.† Then to Sarapul he said: â€Å"Why do you need to cut a tree?† Sarapul considered holding out, but decided that a credible lie would be better. â€Å"My house is falling down from the girl-man climbing in the rafters.† It was the wrong answer to give in front of a group of men whose houses had been rifled only hours ago. Malink cradled his head in his hands. The toughest part of the landing for Tuck was restraining himself from leaping out of the seat and demanding high-fives from the woman. It was perfect. He was back. Never mind the ghosts, the talking bats, the three-hour flight with a woman who could have been the model for the new Multiple Personality Barbie. She's elegant, she's fashionable, and she's the reason that Ken has no genitals! Have fun, but remember to hide the sharp stuff! Never mind all that. He was a pilot. They were somewhere in southern Japan, a small jetport, probably private, with no tower and only a few hangars. Tuck had gotten them there by following the nav computer, which, he found in midflight, had only two coordinates programmed into it: Alualu and this airfield. â€Å"What happens if we have a problem and have to divert?† he asked Beth. â€Å"Don't worry about it,† she said. She had spent most of the flight grilling him about the navigational instruments, as if she wanted to know enough to be able to check the course herself. He complied, feeling insulted by the whole conversation. Another Lear was spooling up on the tarmac and Beth Curtis instructed him to taxi to it. As the jet bumped to a stop and he prepared to shut down, she pulled her briefcase and cooler out of the overhead and turned to him. â€Å"Stay here. We'll take off in a few minutes.† â€Å"What about loading supplies?† â€Å"Mr. Case, please just prepare the plane for departure. I won't be long.† Two men in blue coveralls crossed the tarmac from the other jet and lowered the hatch for her. Tuck watched out the window as she met a third Japanese man in a white lab coat. She handed him the cooler and a folder from the briefcase, then traded bows with him and quickstepped back to the Lear. One of the men in blue coveralls followed her into the plane with a cardboard box, which he strapped into one of the passenger seats. â€Å"Domo,† Beth Curtis said. He bowed quickly, left the plane, and sealed the hatch. She stashed the briefcase in the overhead again climbed into the copilot's seat. â€Å"Let's go.† â€Å"That's it?† â€Å"That's it. Let's go.† â€Å"We should top off the fuel tanks while we're here.† â€Å"I understand why you might be a little nervous about that, Mr. Case, but we have plenty of fuel to make it back.† â€Å"One box. That's all we're picking up?† â€Å"One box.† â€Å"What's in it?† â€Å"It's a case of '78 Bordeaux. Sebastian loves it. Let's go.† â€Å"But I have to use the bathroom. I thought†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Hold it,† Beth Curtis said. â€Å"Bitch.† â€Å"Exactly. Now don't you need to do your checklist thingy?†

Blue Nile Study Questions

Marking Scheme Mid Semester Exams Lecturers: Anthony Oboe Spool and Robert Amok-LIndsay Section A (40 Marks) Provide Short and concise answers 1 Explain the term sustainable competitive advantage and why it is so Important to a winning business strategy. (5 marks) Suggested Answer A company achieves sustainable competitive advantage when an attractive number or buyers prefer its products/services over those of rivals and when the basis for this preference can be maintained over time.Competitive advantage could stem from offering lower prices than competitors for equivalent benefits or providing unique benefits that more than offset a higher price. (3 marks) Sustainable competitive advantage is necessary for a firm to win in the market place. It is required for a strategy to deliver on strategic and financial objectives (2 marks) 2. Using examples briefly explain and state the Importance of each of the following a) Strategic vision Strategic vision represents the destination that mana gement seeks to take a firm.Ford's vision â€Å"A car in every garage† Importance Give the organization a sense of direction Inform company personnel and other stakeholders what management wants Its business to look like Spur company personnel to action Provide managers with a reference point to (2. 5 marks for explanation and any 2 points mentioned as importance of strategic vision) b) Strategic mission Strategic mission of a firm focuses on its present business purpose. Strategic mission highlight the present products and services, types of customers served and how it intends to do that.Examples Beacon Books: â€Å"To inspire and equip business executives and entrepreneurs with essential information and knowledge they require for professional and personal growth† Google: â€Å"To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful† Importance: It focuses the business by identifying the boundaries of the current business It distinguis hes a firm from others and gives it an identity of its own. (2. 5 marks) (5 marks) 3. Explain the meaning and significance of each of the following: a. Strategic group mapping A strategic group is a cluster of firms in an industry with similar competitive approaches and market positions. Strategic group mapping entails plotting firms in n industry on a two-variable map using pairs of these differentiating characteristics e. G. Product line breadth, distribution channel use, geographic coverage, price, quality etc. It helps firms to know their positions in the industry versus their rivals It helps firms to know which competitors to focus on in their quest to make strategic moves It helps them to know which positions in the market or industry are attractive to players in the market. 2. 5 marks for explanation of strategic group mapping and any of the above points mentioned) b. ) The bargaining power of suppliers Bargaining power of suppliers defines the extent to which suppliers of in puts to competing firms in an industry are able to dictate the price, quality, quantity and even timing of supplies to these firms. The bargaining power of suppliers has an impact on the cost, profitability and a firm's ability to satisfy its customers and for that matter its competitiveness. Powerful 4.Identify and briefly explain any two of the factors that influence the strength or intensity of competitive rivalry among an industry member firms. (5 marks) Factors Competitors are active in making fresh moves to improve market standing and easiness performance Slow market growth Number of rivals increases and rivals are of equal size and competitive capability Buyer costs to switch brands are low Industry conditions tempt rivals to use price cuts or other competitive weapons to boost volume e. . Perishable or seasonal A successful strategic move carries a big payoff Outsiders acquire weak firms in the industry and use their resources to transform new firms into major market contend ers (5 marks for any two of the above factors mentioned and explained) 5†¦ Identify and briefly explain any two factors that lead to strong bargaining power on the part of suppliers. (5 marks)Industry members incur high costs in switching their purchases to alternative suppliers Needed inputs are in short supply Supplier provides a differentiated input that enhances the quality of performance of sellers' products or is a valuable part of sellers' production process There are only a few suppliers of a specific input Some suppliers threaten to integrate forward (5 marks for any two of the above factors mentioned and explained) strength and leverage of buyers. 5 marks) Buyer switching costs to competing brands or substitutes are low Buyers are large and can demand concessions Large-volume purchases by buyers are important to sellers Buyer demand is weak or declining Only a few buyers exists Identity of buyer adds prestige to seller's list of customers Quantity and quality of infor mation available to buyers improves Buyers have ability to postpone purchases until later Buyers threaten to integrate backward (5 marks for any two of the above factors mentioned and discussed) 7.Using examples explain the difference between a core competence, and a distinctive competence. A core competence is a well-performed internal activity central to a company's competitiveness and profitability. It tends to relate to a firm's ability to perform activities that are critical for success in an industry e. G. A better after-sale service capability A distinctive competence is a competitively valuable activity a company performs better than its rivals.For example Toast's low cost, high quality manufacturing of automobiles â€Å"Lean Production† is far superior to that of other automakers, (5 marks for explanation and establishing the difference between core competence and distinctive competence) 8. What is benchmarking and why is it a strategically important analytical tool? (5 marks) Benchmark focuses on cross-company comparisons of how certain activities are reformed and costs associated with these activities. It looks at things such as purchase of materials, management of inventories, getting new products to the market and so on. 2 marks) Identify best and most efficient means of performing various value chain activities Learn what is the best way to perform a particular activity from those companies who have demonstrated that they are â€Å"best-in-industry' or â€Å"best-in-world† at performing the activity Learn what other firms do to perform an activity at lower cost Figure out what actions to take to improve a company's own cost competitiveness (3 marks for NY 2 points identified and explained) Section B (80 marks 1 . Analyze the competitive forces confronting Blue Nile and other online retail jeweler's.Do a five-forces analysis to support your answer. State the relative strength of each competitive force. Below is a representative five -forces model of competition for the online Jewelry business: Rivalry among online Jeweler's?a moderate to strong competitive force that is likely to intensify in the years ahead. Students should conclude that rivalry among Blue Nile and other online Jeweler's is normal to moderate, but it is likely to grow ore intense (owing to the success that Blue Nile is enjoying).Rivalry is centered on such factors as Price and value delivered to customers Selection and breadth/variety of product offerings Ability to customize and customization options The caliber and trustworthiness of the information/guidance provided to online shoppers (educational information, in-depth product information, access to professional grading reports, and so on) Image/reputation Customer service User friendliness of web site?search functionality, ease of browsing through all the selections, finding and understanding the information provided, etc.Refund and return policies Advertising and promotion?Much of the adv ertising/promotion is being done online, but the online Jewelry business is not one that is a heavy user of TV, radio, and newspaper advertising on a regular basis. Word-of-mouth is a fairly big factor Most online Jewelry competitors pursued either a differentiation strategy to try to set themselves apart or else tried to attract shoppers via the appeal of very low prices (which entailed employing a low-cost strategy).Some rivals focused their efforts narrowly on particular Jewelry items/product categories while others had broad reduce lines. Several factors were working to affect rivalry among industry participants: All rivals seem to be actively and busily trying to attract Jewelry shoppers to their websites, partly via online advertising and promotional initiatives (including search engine listings)?fresh strategic initiatives on the part of various rivals heightens rivalry. Low switching costs on the part of buyers?it is simple for people shopping for jewelry online to locate an d visit competitor web sites.Rivalry decreases when the rate of market growth rises?sales of Jewelry online seem o be growing briskly (with the sales increases coming at the expense of brick-and mortar Jewelry retailers). There is reason to suspect that the online Jewelry segment of the overall retail Jewelry industry is in its infancy (an emerging business or industry in its own right); hence, online sales of Jewelry are likely to grow faster than sales of Jewelry in general?a condition which will act to contain rivalry among online jeweler's.Rivalry increases when one or more rivals are dissatisfied with their market position and launch moves to bolster their standing at the expense of rivals. A case can be Dade that Blue Nile and most all of its online rivals are â€Å"dissatisfied† and thus are likely to make further moves to bolster their market standing, image, and sales. Rivalry increases as the product offerings of rivals become more standardized? many of the online J eweler's seems to be offering shopper many of the same things? wide selection, customization, educational information, access to grading reports, and so on.We see the differentiation among online Jewelry rivals as growing smaller/ weaker, not larger/stronger?with the possible exception of reputation/image, where Blue Nile seems to be the standout leader. Threat of entry?a moderate to strong competitive force Blue Niles success and growing reputation will almost certainly draw more competitors into online Jewelry sales. The barriers to entry into the online segment of the Jewelry industry are moderately The costs of developing a Web site.Developing supply chain relationships Developing order fulfillment capability and achieving short delivery times Expenditures for advertising and promotion needed to draw visitors to a web site and build a trustworthy reputation/image. In addition, students should see that the pool of entry candidates is probably fairly rage?especially for brick-and- mortar retailers already in the Jewelry business. Hence, the entry threat in upcoming years should be viewed as fairly strong. There would seem to be ample opportunity for new entrants to gain a market foothold and to achieve a level of sales high to be profitable.But the longer a company delays entry, the harder it will be to compete effectively against online Jeweler's like Blue Nile that have built a clientele and that have formidable images/reputations. Competition from substitute sellers of Jewelry?a very strong competitive force. Obviously, Jewelry shoppers have many other options for buying Jewelry than from online retailers. Traditional brick-and-mortar Jewelry retailers have the lion's share of the market and currently are the retailers of choice for the big majority of Jewelry shoppers. Hence, the competition that online Jeweler's face from other Jewelry retailers is quite formidable.In addition, there are hordes of possible substitutes for Jewelry altogether (but most peo ple are unlikely to see these alternatives as good substitutes). Consequently, students should conclude that substitutes for buying Jewelry online re a strong competitive force, given that Acceptable substitute sources for purchasing Jewelry are readily available and the prices charged by some of these substitute types of Jeweler's are reasonably competitive Buyer costs to switch to substitute types of Jewelry retailers are relatively low Many consumers are familiar with and comfortable with buying Jewelry from other than online Jewelry retailers.The bargaining power and leverage of suppliers to the online Jewelry retailers and jeweler-supplier collaboration?a moderately strong competitive force, especially as encores the suppliers of diamonds/gems and other Jewelry items. Students should recognize that the suppliers of gems/diamonds/]leery items have considerable bargaining power and leverage in determining the prices and terms at which they will supply their products.Yes, there ar e many alternative suppliers, and it would seem relatively easy for a it is doubtful that suppliers compete aggressively with one another on price?in other words, switching suppliers is unlikely to lead to acquiring a particular gem of particular quality at a lower price.There is no evidence in the case that suppliers of monads/gems compete with one another on the basis of price (indeed, with the exception of Blue Nile and other online Jeweler's, there is little evidence that price competition is active in the market for fine Jewelry?that is, rival Jeweler's are not aggressively trying to compete with one another by selling a diamond of given cut, clarity, grade, etc. At a lower price than their rivals). Blue Niles lower prices stem from its lower costs of doing business, not from the fact that it obtains diamonds/ gems at lower prices than do traditional retail Jeweler's.What is important for students to recognize here is that Blue Niles close elaboration with its diamond/gem suppl iers has resulted in giving it a lower cost value chain as compared to traditional Main Street Jeweler's. The distinctive feature of Blue Niles supply chain was its arrangements with leading diamond and gem suppliers that allowed it to display the suppliers' diamonds and gems on its web site; some of these arrangement entailed multi-year agreements whereby designated diamonds of the suppliers were offered to online consumers only at Blue Niles websites.Blue Niles suppliers represented more than half of the total supply of high-quality diamonds in the U. S. Blue Nile did not actually purchase a diamond or gem from these suppliers until an order was placed by a customer; this enabled Blue Nile to minimize the costs associated with carrying large inventories and limited its risk of potential mark-downs. Other online Jeweler's seem to have similar collaborative arrangements with their diamond/gem suppliers.These collaborative arrangements offer a sizable cost advantage over Main Street Jeweler's?these cost- saving arrangements put added competitive pressure on traditional local Jeweler's because such collaboration (and the resulting lower cost business model) puts them t a cost disadvantage. The bargaining power and leverage of Jewelry shoppers?a weak competitive force Individuals have little power to bargain for a lower price on the Jewelry items they are looking to purchase (except perhaps in the case of very expensive items where some price haggling is often fairly normal).Individuals can, of course, choose to buy or not buy at the marked price but no one individual is usually in a position to enter into direct negotiations over the terms and conditions under which he or she will purchase a diamond ring or other Jewelry item from an online retailer. Any individual an certainly opt to buy from one retailer rather than another, but this does not equate to bargaining and exerting leverage.Conclusions concerning the overall strength of competitive forces: Competiti ve pressures in online Jewelry retailing are strong but not overwhelming so (the best evidence for this is Blue Niles record of attracting new customers and growing its sales at a rapid clip?a convincing sign that it is able to successfully contend with the prevailing competitive forces). Currently, we see competition from substitute types of forces.The entry of new competitors could also prove to be significant, if one or more f the new entrants have a well-recognized and trusted brand name and if such entrants opt to price their products competitively versus the prices charged by Blue Nile. Moreover, while competition is fairly strong, it is not so strong as to prevent companies like Blue Nile from being profitable. The online Jewelry retailing portion of the Jewelry industry is rather attractive from the standpoint of promising growth and attractive long-term profitability?Blue Nile is demonstrating that its business model and strategy are quite attractive.This is the big reason why new entry can be expected. But online sales of fine Jewelry is likely to remain a relatively small fraction of total sales of fine Jewelry for years to come?traditional brick-and-mortar local jeweler's are not going to be driven out of business by online Jeweler's in the foreseeable future. (5 Marks for each point well discussed with the appropriate verdict or conclusion on each competitive force) 2. Do a SOOT analysis of Blue Nile. What are key conclusions you can draw about the its situation?Blue Niles Resource Strengths and Competitive Assets the current market leader in the online retail Jewelry segment by a wide margin AAA teeter known brand name and reputation than rivals AAA first-rate strategy and business model AAA broad and attractive product line from customers to choose from AAA user-friendly web site with good search functionality and very good educational information A sizable and competitively potent cost advantage over traditional local Jewelry stores due to lean operating costs and a cost-effective supply chain Its collaborative partnership arrangements with important diamond/gem suppliers Good product customization and order fulfillment capabilities (core competencies) Blue Niles ability o grow sales with very little incremental capital investment Blue Niles Resource Weaknesses and Competitive Liabilities Limited brand name recognition?many shoppers for fine Jewelry have never heard of Blue Nile Limited financial resources relative to bigger and better-known retail Jewelry chains There is nothing proprietary about Blue Niles strategy and business model?both are subject to imitation by rivals Market Opportunities Geographic expansion?entry into the markets of foreign countries Lots of room to grow the business by attracting customers away from traditional local Jewelry stores in the U. S. ?Blue Nile still has such a relatively small market share of the total market for fine Jewelry in the U. S. That it can continue to employ its current st rategy for many years. The more that the word spreads about Blue Niles attractive prices and quality the more it stands to steal away customers from traditional local Jeweler's.Product line expansion External Threats to Blue Niles Future Well-Being The entry of more online Jewelry rivals that opt to employ much the same strategy and business model?especially if these new entrants should be retailers that have a brand name that is more widely recognized and trusted than Blue Niles. Diamond/ gem suppliers either become less willing for Blue Nile to display their inventories on Blue Niles web site or decide not to renew their multi-year agreements with Blue Nile whereby certain designated diamonds in their inventories are offered to online consumers only at Blue Niles websites. (Blue Niles suppliers represented more than half of the total supply of high-quality diamonds in the U. S. Untold numbers of people shopping for fine Jewelry are very leery of buying fine Jewel online and thus a re not likely to ever be customers of Blue Nile Key Pointed and Conclusions Blue Niles strategy, business model, resource strengths, and competitive capabilities put it in a very strong market position to succeed in the online retail Jewelry business in the upcoming years?it is easy to understand why the company has been extremely successful in growing its sales over the past several years. Blue Nile would seem to have a sustainable cost advantage over traditional brick-and mortar retailers of fine Jewelry. Blue Nile has no resource weaknesses that make it highly vulnerable to competitive attack from local Jeweler's.

Abraham Van Helsing Essay Example for Free

Abraham Van Helsing Essay Bram Stoker (35) , Lucy Westenra (6) , Count (5) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints ? Innocence, chastity, purity, and married life are just a few things that made up the ‘image’ of the nineteenth century Victorian woman. During this time, it was greatly looked down upon if a woman chose to stay single, as she would be pitied and dubbed a â€Å"whore†. Lucy Westenra is one of the main characters in the novel, Dracula by Bram Stoker. Lucy is a beautiful young lady whose innocence and virtuous being draws three suitors to her. Although, this portrayed innocence is not the only thing that is drawing these men towards her. Lucy has a sexual appeal to her personality, much different than her best friend Mina Murray and the typical Victorian woman. This sense of sexual desire will eventually lead her right into the dangerous and evil arms of Count Dracula. The Count only has the ability to attack willing victims, which is why the sexually driven Victorian woman, Lucy Westenra is the first character to become victimized by Dracula’s deadly spell. Count Dracula was an evil, lustful vampire who wanted nothing but power and control. He lived in an Eastern European country called, Transylvania. The Count preyed on any individual who would make him feel in control and powerful of the situation. This is why Lucy Westenra was targeted and made Dracula’s first victim. The first peculiar account Lucy and Mina experience was when they see a Russian ship wrecked near the shore and hear that the there was no life aboard and the captain had died holding a crucifix in his hands. Soon after the account, Lucy started mysteriously sleep walking many night in a row into the grave yard near her home. One night, Mina had awoken the Rowatt 3 find Lucy missing and not in her bed, she then found her outside with a creature with beaming red eyes hunched over her. Mina tried to save her friend but by the time she got over there, the creature was gone. In the morning Mina had found strange dots on Lucy’s neck and after struggling for weeks Lucy became deathly sick and started to change before everyone’s eyes. Unknowingly, she was transforming into a super natural and dangerous form of herself while dead and lying in a cold grave. â€Å"Indeed, it is not only Lucy and Mina who are dramatically transformed in the draining, but Dracula himself, whose transformations are much more varied and complex than those of his victims.† (Pg. 238, Viragh) Count Dracula had stripped this woman of her innocence and virtue by changing her to an evil vampire just like him. Dracula now had control over Lucy but only because she was willing to let him control her. In the nineteenth century, straying away from who a woman is supposed to be according to the Roman Catholic Church is heresy. A woman was never to be with more than one man, but was to be married and completely faithful to her partner. This century was ruled by â€Å"the belief that an individual’s sex and sexuality form the most basic core of their identity, potentiality, social/political standing, and freedom† (Pg. 1, Ridgway) Lucy Westenra had a completely different mindset as she expressed in a letter to her dear friend Mina. â€Å"Why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble?† (Pg. 66, Stoker) After Lucy states these words in her letter, she immediately admits to her thoughts and actions being heresy. Just because she confessed Rowatt 4 to this sin against the church and her beliefs does not simply alleviate Lucy’s sexual desire. This difference between Lucy and other nineteenth century virtuous women was not just a phase of rebellion, it was psychological. Lucy is fully aware that she is desired by many men and she lets that get into her head, essentially she is feeding off the attention. This vulnerability and openness is why Lucy Westenra is Count Dracula’s first and easiest target. The first time the Count starts to get into Lucy’s head is after her and Mina see the wrecked boat upon shore, containing the containers of dirt. These were Dracula’s sleeping quarters. This fact was not known by the women at the time, but soon after this event is when Lucy starts to sleep walk. This sleep walking is not a coincidence but is psychologically connected to her sinful desires of lustfulness. Count Dracula only has the power the attack willing victims, which could only mean Lucy knew in her subconscious what she was doing by going out to the cemetery at nights. This spell Dracula puts on Lucy is the same spell he put on the three women who now life in Dracula Castle with him. These women were just as innocent and virtuous as Lucy was and are now sex crazed and evil just as the Count is. This â€Å"spell† was a way to undermine women so that Dracula would feel powerful and controlling over them. In essence, Lucy Westenra was a seemingly virtuous nineteenth century Victorian woman who actually had underlying sexual desires. These desires made Lucy vulnerable to Count Dracula, who was consumed with gaining control over his victims. Because of her lustful manor, Lucy was drawn to the attack of Dracula and fell under his deep spell. From then on there was no turning back. Stoker, Bram. Dracula. 1897. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Viragh, Attila. â€Å"Can The Vampire Speak? Dracula As Discourse On Cultural Extinction.† English Literature In Transition, 1880-1920 56.2 (2013): 231-245. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 25 Sept. 2013. Ridgway, Stephan. â€Å"Victorian Sexuality† in â€Å"Sexuality and Modernity† originally written as a lecture for Sociology at Sydney University, 1996. Isis Creations. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. Abraham Van Helsing. (2016, May 08).

Hildegard Von Bingen, aka. St. Hildegard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hildegard Von Bingen, aka. St. Hildegard - Essay Example The first song, ‘Spiritus Sanctus’ is homage to the Holy Trinity and the Holy Spirit sung in beautiful Latin by angelic voices of piety. The song, as though speaking to one’s soul, reverberates with the power of the Holy Spirit as it is sent down to Earth by God to overlook His creation. It emphasizes the scope of the life that is given and how Man must overcome sin and celebrate the life that was given. Spiritus Sanctus is an affirmation of the power of singing and how it is associated with prayer. The song which is basically a chant is sort of an interpretation of its composer of the sounds of heaven and quite possibly how the angels must be singing to God in His praise. The harmony in the song is very eminent as it is sung in chorus by a group. It is a quintessential prayer where there are varied pitches in the middle of the song at a much faster pace wherein one or a couple voices are more audible. This is then followed by a harmonious chorus of the rest which backs the primary voices. Among the most piercing of the elements is the subsequent coming together of the voices from a lowered modulation to sing â€Å"Spiritus Sanctus† in unison toward the end with about less than a minute left. The song, which is a healing prayer, revitalizes the spirits and catapults it into a sense of euphoric sensation that brings about a relaxed but not an altogether uninterested feeling but of calmed but intensified realization. Ordo Virtutum The next song, ‘Ordo Virtutum’ is regarded as the oldest surviving morality play or also known as a liturgical drama of its time written by Hildegard. In the same way that most or almost all of the writers during her time claim that they were compelled by a vision to write or to produce, ‘Ordo Virtutum’ which literally translates to Play of Virtues was conceived in the same manner. It revolves around the age-old conflict between sins or the yearnings of the flesh and the upholding of virtues in order to better serve God and his plan. This creation of the composer has been performed a number of times by various groups including academic theatrical plays. It preceded all other liturgical dramas by over a century. Written in Latin and wholly in music, it â€Å"is thoroughly monastic and aristocratic in character† (Newman, p. 26) It is by its very purpose, a commentary and a form of teaching that aims to educate and forewarn people of their acts (ibid., p.13). The play is the struggle of the soul against the pulls of evil. This is illustrated through a journey where redemption is achieved through the necessity of the virtues. This struggle is depicted into an actual fi ght between virtues and their enemies. The Anima in ‘Ordo Virtutum’ was able to conquer the devil through the virtues. Virtues such as milites, fides and fear of the Lord (represented by Jesus) aserve as pivotal characters throughout the play. Another definitive concept is the importance given to the body as the dwelling place of the spirit and how this too must be taken cared of as essentially a temple of God (Kienzle, p. 36-37). This is

Trace the origins of H.R.M. and show how it has impacted on todays Essay

Trace the origins of H.R.M. and show how it has impacted on todays workforce - Essay Example Later was the formation of Welfare Workers Association, whose purpose was to bring out a Chartered institute of Personnel and Development. During World War I, there was a shift of the name from industrial welfare to Recruitment and Selection. There was a call to by the government to increase the use of individuals as well as starting girls-engagement during the First World War. In 1916, it was made compulsory for the existence of a welfare worker in the explosive firms where a lot of work was accomplished by the army majorly focused on ability and IQ testing ways and techniques. In 1921, result on the tests, interview methods, and training techniques were established and published by the psychologist of the national institute (Marciano, 1995). During World War II, the focus was based on a lot of issues hence the need to establish personnel department having well-skilled and competitive staff who were charged with recruitment, selection, and training. They also had to ensure improved worker morale and motivation, health and safety of the worker, maintain discipline in the workforce, better wage policies as well as ensuring joint consultations between workers and management. Later on, the name was changed to Industrial Relations. As a result of the widespread of the consultations, the personnel department was then held responsible for organizational and administrative roles and was to act as the business’s spokesman on discussions with trade unions. Therefore, there was the need for specialists to deal with issues of industrial relations, which paved way for the industrial relations, its specialists, and its collective importance as it was witnessed in 1970’s negotiations after the reinforcement; the personnel manager was left in the authority on negotiations pertaining to wage pay among other collective issues (Armstrong, 2012). Still in the 1970’s, due to an increase

Assessment and Application of International Affairs Theories Essay

Assessment and Application of International Affairs Theories - Essay Example ce of international relations in the society, mainly the application of the IR theories in the aforementioned fields has immensely shaped human existence. The theoretical frameworks within the discipline assist in the explanation of the global activities/events, the identification of the most important international actors, and the different means of exertion of influence from the international platform. Moreover, the IR theories assist nations or heads of states and their foreign policy advisors during the conduction of foreign policy. There exist different IR theories that work towards the presentation of the critical events and happenings around the world. These theories assist governments in the processes of policy making, relations with other governments, and activities that occur among nations. These theories include liberalism, neo-liberalism, classical realism, constructivism, post-structuralism, Marxism, and post-modernism. These are not, however, the only IR theories. While some may be insufficient in the explanation of the aforementioned, there are theories that can be combined to offer an articulate elucidation of global events, government relations and foreign policy, and the issue of power and interaction. Among the outlined theories, liberalism, classical realism, and post structuralism are the most effective in the explanation the contemporary and past experiences in the world, and the actors that exert international influence. In addition, these theories are the most effective in offering heads of states the assistance they need in conducting foreign policy. The application of the liberalism theoretical framework of the international theory can offer an articulate explanation of the relations among governments, and major occurrences that involve decisions by the heads of states. The development of theory emanates from the society’s quest to explain the relations through the disregard of classical realism. However, emphasizes on the exploration

Other Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Other - Article Example A proper grounding on child development in this case will be of help in making the educators understand how to touch the hearts of these little children. Male role models upon the lives of children are essential since they act the roles of models (Hendricks, Joanne &Patricia 24). This information is important in helping me develop proper strategies of shaping great morals and talents upon young children and encourage those seeking to be part of this field. As they say, it is easier to bend a tree while it is in its early stages†¦so are children. The four levels of the pyramid module as presented are designed to address the diverse needs of children. They include; the act of building and nurturing a responsive relation between children and other people, the implementation of high-quality supportive environments, the use of social and emotional supports in as teaching strategies and lastly planning intense individualized interventions with a motive of promoting and intensifying support to children. When designing and maintaining learning centers a number of factors need consideration. Placement calls for a clear set boundary to let children concentrate on their play and learning without interruption. It is important to consider the numbers by making sure that there are adequate centers to accommodate all the children without congestion. In addition to this, there should be enough materials enabling children carry out their plans in social play. Art material, dramatic play props and toys should be availed in these centers. Lastly, images that include books reflecting the diversity of the community also play a significant role in a learning centre. While striving to support peer interaction, it will be of importance for me to consider making enough centers that would allow children the opportunity of interacting with others socially. Selecting a wide range of materials and activities relevant to the different needs of children will be of importance too. According

Answer the Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Answer the Questions - Assignment Example In section 5, he suggests the date of the elections to be the same time as in 2003 (Taras & Waddell, 55). In addition, in 6, there is an introduction for the additional thoughts. In section 7, he gives hope to other Canadians who have cancer. In section 8, he thanks the members of his party for the support they accorded him and encouraged them not to be dissuaded by others. In 9, he talks of the fulfillment of national goals among other issues (Taras & Waddell, 59). In addition, in section 10, he thanks the members of the political class in parliament. He encourages them and acknowledges their working together. In 11, he thanks, Quebecers for making right decisions during elections. In 12, he encourages the young people and tells them to be always determined. In section 13, it is to all Canadians. He encourages them and tells them to make their decisions and not be swayed by anyone. In 14, he tells his friends to be loving and optimistic for them to change the world. Section 15 is the conclusion and with his name (Turk & Wahl, 80). The order of the topics and sections is in such a way that the previous topic leads to the next. In paragraph 2, parallel structure occurs when there is repletion of the word â€Å"my† in â€Å"my home†, â€Å"my spirit† and â€Å"my determination†. Climactic order has been achieved when arranging the words â€Å"notes†, â€Å"cards† and â€Å"gifts†. Parallel structure helps to achieve rhythm in the letter. In paragraph 7, an example of metaphor is â€Å"My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer†. An example of personification is, â€Å"To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The example of parallel structure is, â€Å"You have every reason to be optimistic, determined and focused†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Parallel structure also helps to achieve rhythm in the letter (Turk & Wahl,

Analisis of Peru political, governmental and economical system Essay

Analisis of Peru political, governmental and economical system - Essay Example World Bank has ranked Peru as upper middle income, and also it is the 40th largest in the world by the total GDP. In the year 2012 Peru was the one of the world's rapid-growing economies with the GDP growth rate of 6.3%.Presently it has a high human development index of 0.741 and per capita GDP above $12,000 by Purchasing power parity (PPP). The election in Peru’s members of the Regional Council, comprise the President and Vice-President, is consecutively held by direct suffrage for a phase of four years. They can't reassign their offices, but it can be revoked. Peru is a presidential democratic republic with a multi-party system. In the present constitution, the President is both the head of state and government; he or she is elected for one term that is five years and is not allowed to seek abrupt re-election, he or she must step down for at least one full constitutional term before being re-elected. The President can be in the office for a five-year term . Bills may be proposed by the executive or the legislative branch; they are assented law after they are passed by Congress and publicized by the President. Executive power is managed by the government. Legislative power is secured in both the government and the Congress In Peru the head of state, as well as the legislature, are directly elected by the people. The president is elected to rule the country for a five-year term. The Congress has 130 members, all elected for a term of five years by proportional representation.

Cementless Fixation of Total Hip Replacements Essay

Cementless Fixation of Total Hip Replacements - Essay Example Literature supporting or refuting both philosophies is available. Cemented fixation - Cemented stems have a variety of smooth, textured, and coated surfaces that bond to a layer of cement. These stems occupy 80% of the medullary canal to allow for a mantle (ie, cement-occupied space). A centralizer is added to many cemented stems to keep the stem in the center of the canal, which provides a uniform space for the cement around the implant. (Canale, 1998, 314). Differing philosophies guide surgeons in selecting cemented femoral implants for patients. There was a trend in the 1980s to use more cementless implants; in the 1990s, cemented implants regained popularity. Currently, surgeons are favoring cementless techniques again as a result of proven extended service life in long-term outcome studies on porous implants. Cement is indicated when a patient's bone quality cannot be stabilized satisfactorily with a cement-less implant (Wheeless', 2003). The basic principle of uncemented fixation is that the initial stability of an implant is achieved by mechanical interlock and initial apposition of implant surfaces to host bone is converted to long-term stability by the ingrowth/ongrowth of a stable biological interface (Bloebaum etal, 1997) Cementless or pressfit fixation - with use of cemented impant systems, problems related to cement fixation, including loosening, bone loss, and signs of fragmented cement, were identified. Research efforts led to fixation without cement by using femoral stems tightly fit into the canal. This technique often is referred to as pressfit. Pressfit femoral stems have a porous surface that allows bone ingrowth into the stem, referred to as biological fixation (Hoffmann, 2000). One of the coating systems for implants is calcium phosphate-based material called calcium hydroxyapatite. Hydroxyapatite is the inorganic phase of bone, is inherently compatible with the body, and has been shown to promote bone growth and enhance implant fixation (Geesink etal, 1987). It is used as an additional way to bond bone biologically to a stem and cup. These stems provide immediate implant stability and fit tightly to the endosteal cavity of the proximal femur. There are four basic shapes for press-fit femoral stems-anatomical (ie, bowed), modular, straight, and tapered (Canale, 1998, 315, Hoffmann etal, 2000). The anatomical stem has experienced increased popularity and market growth as a result of excellent long-term results documented in the literature (Hoffmann etal, 2000). The porous coated stem previously was indicated for use in active, young patients and for revision of cemented hips, but now surgeons are using pressfit stems in patients of all ages who have good bone stock (S Rapp, 2003, 14). Physiology of the cementless system Micromotion of 20 m or less at the bone-implant interface will create an environment in which stable bone ingrowth can occur, that motions of 40 m lead to less stable interfaces, and that motions of 150 mm will prevent this

Training and Development Initiatives in an Organization Essay Example for Free

Training and Development Initiatives in an Organization Essay Training and development refers to the process to obtain or transfer knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) needed to carry out a specific activity or task. It includes not just factual and explicit KSAs but also incorporates KSAs that are often difficult to articulate. Training and development will assist employees in the use of new technologies, and communicate and function better in improvised work systems. In order to meet the current and future challenges, training and development assumes a wide range of learning actions, such as training of the employees and knowledge sharing, which would then expand individual and organizational effectiveness. Thus, this would then allow the organization to fully utilize employee’s tacit and explicit knowledge and expands individual, group and organizational effectiveness. Why is Training and Development Important? Organizations are experiencing great, rapid changes due to new technologies, corporate restructuring, continuous rising competition and globalization. These factors have increased the importance of learning and capitalizing on human capital in order to have a sustained competitive advantage over the competitors. Tracey (2003) defined human capital as ‘the people that staff and operate an organization as contrasted with the financial and material resources of an organization. ’ Tracey (2003) also states that human resources refer to the organizational function that ‘deals with the people who manage, produce, market and sell the products and services of an organization. A comprehensive training and development program helps in the consideration of the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are needed to achieve organizational goals and to create a competitive advantage. (Peteraf 1993) Training and development process has assumed a strategic role in organizations. (Stavrou et al. 2004; Apospori et al. 2008). Apospori et al. (2008) had deduced that there is a considerable impact of training on employees’ performance. With the right training and development strategy, rganizations can benefit though enhanced innovation, efficiency, productivity and improvement in the quality of products and services they will be able to provide to their customers. This will yield higher financial gains and it will definitively enhance the organization’s reputation and allow the organization to compete competitively in its industry. Organizations that are consistently and extensively creating new knowledge implements it quickly within its organization through the adoption of new technologies. These activities determine a learning organization, which realize that creation of new knowledge through training and development is becoming the key to success (Vemic, 2007). Training and Development Initiatives: How and why the relationships are expected? Given that human capital play an enormous role in an organization’s competitiveness, training and development initiatives are designed in a way that will help the organization successfully implement its strategy and reach organizational goals. Training is regarded as critical to employee skill acquisition and has been shown to improve productivity at organizational and individual levels (Bartel, 1994). Training and development does increase employment duration and continuity (Gritz, 1993) and managerial advancement. Organization managements have also realized that training and development is an imperative procedure that can contribute to employees’ increased work morale as well as increased motivation and job satisfaction. With an increased motivation and job satisfaction, this would ultimately improve employees’ performance in the organization. Studies have also shown positive relationships between training and development strategies and employees’ performance and work morale (Vemic, 2007). This is especially so as the relationship between the organization and the employee has changed tremendously over the years. There is a greater importance and value attached to employees’ contributions. In today’s society, employees play a key role towards establishing a successful organizational performance. Training and Development has Positive Impacts on Employee’s Work Morale/Motivation Studies have also found that the success of training and evelopment is directly related to the degree of employees’ motivation (Colquitt, LePine and Noe, 2000). This is because employees’ motivation/work-morale is derived from the training and development opportunities, which allow them to enhance their skills and move up the corporate ladder. Employees consider training and development a non-monetary incentive or a form of reward for an employee. (Fischer and Nunn, 1992) In addition, when employees are selected for training and development programs, it increases employees’ post-training organizational commitment, self-efficacy and training motivation. Employees tend to feel a higher job satisfaction and empowerment in their workplace. Thus, the higher the training motivation, the more the employees are willing to participate in future training and development programs and the better the employee’s work morale/motivation becomes (Tharenou, 2001). Training and Development has Positive Impacts on Employees’ Performance Training and development allows organizations to achieve management objectives, resolve issues and align cultures to their mission and values. With training and development, employees learn new skills and knowledge, such as specialized skill training, which not only increase safety and productivity but also leads to improved employees’ performance. Studies have also found that it increases efficiencies in organizational processes and an increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods. In Chart’s (2000) Exploratory Benchmark Survey, 70% of the respondents have agreed that training and development has a positive impact on their work performance and organization’s ability to improve occupancy and overall financial profitability. In addition, well-trained employees are also happier with their jobs and are more likely to stay, hence increasing the retention rate in the organization (Berta, 2001). Theoretical Gap: Training and Development can have Negative Impact on Employees’ Performance and Work Morale However, training and development can also have negative impact on employees’ performances and work morale. In every organization, there are underrepresented groups who have fewer hours of training and development than others. Some are even deprived of training and development opportunities. For example, research has found that women are likely to gain fewer hours per year of training and development than men because they are at lower managerial levels. It could also be due to the fact that mostly female employees are having additional responsibilities from their families. Similarly, those with disabilities and from non-English-speaking backgrounds are found to have less training and development opportunities. Secondly, studies have also suggested that employees who are not selected for training and development programs will feel a high and intense level of deprivation in the organization. When employees are deprived of training and development opportunities, they tend to reflect on the loss and the valence of the outcome. This reflection leads to thoughts about how their outcomes could have been different if they were given the opportunity to participate in the organizations’ training and development programs (Epstude Roese, 2008). This would then lead to the recognition and resentment of this deprivation. Deprived employees will then start evaluating the unfairness and their disadvantaged situation. As a result, it further decreases their intention to participate in future training and development initiatives, as they feel resentful. Therefore, deprived employees may perceive unfairness in the organization’s structure and this will negatively affect and impact on their work performance and work morale/motivation. Lastly, training and development can also have negative impact on employees’ work morale/motivation especially when employees have participated in the training and development courses but there is no sense of self-efficacy in the workplace and employees feel alienation. In this case, employees’ work-morale/motivation is measured at a higher level such as the responsibilities given to the employees, the avoidance of routine tasks and the employees’ participation in organization’s decisions and strategic planning. Instead of feeling motivated after training and development, if the employee is not given the recognition or the desired opportunities to take up distinguished leadership roles in the organization, they become resentful, which will then affect their work morale and result in negative work performance (Pettigrew, 2002). Conclusion Overall, this research takes a step towards better understanding of the extent to how training and development initiatives in an organization can impact on employees’ performance and work morale/motivation. As the global economy becomes increasingly knowledge based, the acquisition and development of human capital has become increasingly essential to firm’s sustainability and success. Organizations often carefully select workers who are willing and eager to participate in training and development initiatives. However, organizations must have a better understanding about what their employees want to learn and improve in (Maxey, 2002). In addition, organizations should also provide equal and fair advancement opportunities to all employees within the organization, regardless of factors such as gender and work experience. Based on the above analysis, future research should focus on employees’ motivation for training and development. This would allow organizations to better identify the various reasons their employees are motivated to attend training and development programs. With a better understanding in this area, organizations can utilize these motivational factors to increase employees’ willingness and desire to participate in training and development programs. As such, this can then improve their work-morale and work performance. In addition, future research should focus on how to establish a fair training and development procedures as these procedures are important cues to employees about their worth within the organization and it also communicates respect and value to their employees (Smith Tyler, 1996).

Effects of gambling on the society Essay Example for Free

Effects of gambling on the society Essay * For most people, gambling is a form of entertainment that is enjoyed responsibly. * Many Australians gamble in some form at least once a year, whether it’s an occasional flutter at the races, buying a lottery ticket, playing the pokies or a night out at the casino. * In 2009, 70 per cent of Australians participated in some form of gambling. * Australians spent more than $19 billion on gambling in 2008-09; around $12 billion of which was spent playing the pokies. PROBLEM GAMBLING * Some people can experience significant harm from gambling. Up to 500,000 Australians are at risk of becoming, or are, problem gamblers. * The social cost to the community of problem gambling is estimated to be at least $4. 7 billion a year. * The actions of one problem gambler negatively impacts the lives of between five and 10 others. This means there are up to five million Australians who could be affected by problem gambling each year, including friends, family and employers of people with a gambling problem. * Only around 15 per cent of problem gamblers seek help. PROBLEM GAMBLERS AND POKER MACHINES * One in six people who play the pokies regularly has a serious addiction. * Problem gamblers lose around $21,000 each year. That’s one third of the average Australian salary. * Some poker machines can be played at extremely high intensity – a gambler could lose more than $1,500 in just one hour. * Young people (18-24 year olds) spend more on poker machines than any other age group. Many adult problem gamblers report having developed gambling problems during their teenage years (source: Delfabbro, P, Gambling Research Australia, A review of Australian Gambling Research, August 2008, p61). * Three-quarters of problem gamblers have problems with poker machines. It’s even higher for women – in 9 out of 10 cases poker machines are identified as the cause of problems for women (source: Delfabbro, P, August 2008, p67). IMPACT OF PROBLEM GAMBLING * Problem gamblers are six times more likely to be divorced than non problem gamblers (source: Thomas, S, and Jackson, A, Report to beyondblue, Risk and Protective Factors: Depression and comorbidities in problem gambling, 2008). * Problem gamblers are four times more likely to have problems with alcohol and four times as likely to smoke daily than non problem gamblers (source: Thomas, S, and Jackson, A, 2008). * Children with parents who are problem gamblers are up to 10 times more likely to become problem gamblers themselves than children with non gambling parents (source: The Problem Gambling Treatment and Research Centre, Children at risk of developing problem gambling, May 2010). FACTS MYTHS ABOUT PROBLEM GAMBLING IN AUSTRALIA * PDF [266KB] | DOC [66KB] References on this website are from the following publications: Productivity Commission 2010,Gambling, Report no. 50, Canberra; and Productivity Commission 1999, Australia’s Gambling Industries, Report no. 10, AusInfo, Canberra, unless otherwise identified.

Education and Gross Domestic Product of the Philippines

Education and Gross Domestic Product of the Philippines Marione Tomas T. Padilla ABSTRACT The research paper is about determining whether certain factors of Education have an effect on the overall Gross Domestic Product of the Philippines. Intuition would tell us that Education has an effect on GDP. In addition, budget allocations for education in the Philippines are high compared to the other sectors in the government. Table of Contents Introduction Background of the Study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 Statement of the Problem †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 Objectives of the Study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6 Significance of the Study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6 Scope and Limitation †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 Review of Related Literature Civilian Discretionary Spending †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Human Capital and Education †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Education in the Philippines Millennium Development Goals Similar Studies Theoretical Framework Gross Domestic Product IS-LM Model Operational Framework Variable List A-Priori Expectations Methodology Empirical Testing and Analysis of Results Conclusion and Recommendations References Introduction Background of the Study According to Jeffrey Sachs (2011), civilian discretionary spending is spending on public goods and services that the private economy cannot provide on its own[1]. In addition, one of the sectors he mentioned that are involved in civilian discretionary spending is education. Education is defined as the knowledge and development resulting from an educational process (Merriam Webster, 2014)[2]. In any country, education is one of the things that the government is in charge of and is one of the factors in the government’s expenditures which contributes to a percentage in a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP); the government takes into consideration the budget allocation for education, how they are going to make the educational sector competitive i.e. the quality of the service that the citizens of the country are to get, and many other factors. The Philippines currently has a literacy rate of 95.4% and rank 108th out of 215 countries in terms of literacy rate[3]. In addition, the educational system of the Philippines is currently experiencing a shift, because our educational system is being exposed to different factors such as the implementation of the K to 12 and the ASEAN Integration which are to be imposed soon. In the previous education system of the Philippines, kindergarten was not compulsory for students but now it is. In addition, Primary Education (Elementary) and Secondary Education (Junior and Senior High School) both require 6 years making a total of 12 years. Because of these adjustments and other factors, the budget and the expenditure for education increase every year. The Department of Education is one of the top departments that are given high budget allocations with their proposed 2014 budget being the highest at 293.3 billion pesos; according to an article in Rappler (2013), â€Å"the increase is focused on learning resources, as well as classrooms, chairs and school facilities†[4]. But despite all of this, the overall quality in the education has declined and this was due to certain factors (insert them here). With this given, this proves to be a challenge not just for the government but for the other Filipinos as well that could not cope up with the Philippines’ current system of education. According to World Vision (2011)[5], education has a relationship with growth of an economy i.e. lack of quality education is a threat to economic growth. In addition, World Vision also stated that 92 percent of Filipino children are able to enroll in primary education but 20 percent of these students who enrolled are able to finish. Statement of the Problem The Philippines experienced a decline in the quality of education due to certain factors such as the quality of the education, affordability, budget, and mismatch between training and the jobs[6]. With this, the researcher has prepared the following questions: a) How can the Philippine government fix or alleviate these factors? b) Were there any measures taken in line with the previous question? What specific measures were done and were they effective? c) Are Filipino students (both current and incoming) ready for K to 12 given the decline in the quality prior to the implementation? d) Is K to 12 really a step further for the Philippines? The researcher would also want to know if the budget that has been allocated to them is being used efficiently and in the end if it contributed to the output of the country. In addition, the researcher would also want to clarify if these expenditures in education really did make any changes. Objectives of the Study Given the background of the topic for this research, the researcher would like to accomplish the following objectives: a) Determine the relationship between certain factors of education i.e. number of enrolled students and education expenditure, and the Gross Domestic Product of the Philippines b) Be able to find ways to improve the quality of the educational system of the Philippines so that we can be really ready for future changes. c) Construct an econometric model that can be used in analyzing how GDP and Education go hand in hand. Significance of the Study A lack of quality education can hamper growth in the economy because the citizens are not equipped with the basic knowledge; in addition, a lot of Filipinos do not have access to even the basic education and because of this, the human condition is not improving. In the Human Development Forum held last March 2, 2011, U.S Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated that Education can be the bridge to factors such as eliminating gender inequality, poverty reduction, planet sustainability, preventing deaths and illnesses, and for peace. In addition, he stated that education is inseparable from the development of human capital, and that education is the new currency so that nations maintain economic competitiveness and global prosperity (Duncan, 2011)[7]. In line with the previous statement, this study is aiming to find a way to be able to improve the standard of education that the Philippines has and to make it competitive. In addition, this study aims to make a point that education plays a role in the growth of a country and is a step towards improving lives thus we should not take this lightly. The researcher believes that the government should look into the bigger picture and the root causes as to why our education is not accessible or feasible to the citizens. Scope and Limitation The data used in this study came from sources such as indexmundi, World Bank, NSCB, and UNData. The researcher took into consideration GDP, Education Expenditure (not including capital and equipment), and number of enrolled students per year level except the Tertiary Level due to unavailability of data; the research has 30 observations (from 1982 to 2011) and is focused on a Philippine setting. The researcher is using the multiple regression analysis to determine the influence of our independent variables to the dependent variable. Review of Related Literature Civilian Discretionary Spending The Huffington Post (2011), posted an article entitled â€Å"De-Mystifying the Budget Debate†; this article was written by Jeffrey Sachs. One of the things that Jeffrey Sachs pointed out was the issue on civilian discretionary spending. Civilian discretionary spending is spending on public goods and services that cannot be provided efficiently by the private economy alone (Sachs, 2011). In addition, the programs are called â€Å"discretionary† because the budget allocation is voted upon every year and contributes to about 4% of the GDP in the United States. He also mentioned the factors that make up civilian discretionary spending in the following quote[8]: â€Å"Discretionary spending includes national security (homeland security, diplomacy, development assistance); education and job training; science and technology; the justice system; public administration; environmental protection; community development and housing assistance; major infrastructure (highways, dams, levees, flood control, water and sanitation).† From the given definitions and statements, the aim of civilian discretionary spending is to make a country competitive and so that there would be more opportunities for economic growth. Human Capital and Education According to Investopedia, Human Capital is defined as â€Å"a measure of the economic value of an employees skill set† wherein it measures the labor input and is thought to be equal[9]. The term was coined by economist Theodore Schultz; this term mirrored human capacities and believed that human capital was like any other capital in general. Capital is defined as those long term assets used in the production of output by a firm. In the case of human capital, education, training and enhanced benefits are the factors to be considered when investing in human capital; in effect this will lead to an improvement in the quality and level of production. In addition, the education and the experience an employee has obtained merits economic value in the perspective of both employers and the aggregate economy. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) published a study in 2001 entitled Development Planning in a Market Economy; One segment of this study, The Role of Human Capital in Economic Development: Some Myths and Realities, explains how important Human Capital is in Economic Development[10]. The author stated that for human capital to create an impact on economic development, a nation needed to have at least a 70% literate population. In addition, it was also stated that if a large number of people in the population are literate, even if they are equipped with the basic education, the minds of the masses can be opened up (UNESCAP, 2001). It was also mentioned that the government has a role in this i.e. one of the factors as to why there are differences in human capital was because of the direction of the priorities and commitments of a nation towards the educations sector[11] (UNESCAP, 2001). An entry in the Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory (EEPAT), entitled Human Capital Theory and Education, one concept introduced is the Human Capital theory wherein it states that the framework for nation state policy framework is by enhancing the flexibility of labor in the labor market, and also enhancing skills through investment in education, training and employment schemes, and immigration focused on attracting high-quality human capital (Fitzimons , 1999)[12]. In that same entry, Fitzimons (1999) referenced Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations (1776) wherein Adam smith was able to formulate a basis for the science of human capital. In addition, two schools of thought were formed; the first school of thought distinguished acquired capacities that were classified as either capital or the human being themselves, who were not counted as capital. The second school of thought, on the other hand, claimed that human beings are considered capital. Operational Framework Variable List The table below presents the variables that have been used in the study. The model has four independent variables and one dependent variable. The regression to be performed will take into account the significance of the variables, both individual and overall References education. 2014. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved April 5, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/education Sachs, J. (2011, April 18). De-Mystifying the Budget Debate. The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 5, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-sachs/de-mystifying-the-budget_b_850332.html Geronimo, J. (2013, July 30). DepEds proposed 2014 budget biggest in history. Rappler. Retrieved April 5, 2014, from http://www.rappler.com/nation/35186-deped-proposed-budget-biggest-in-history Philippines. (n.d.). World Vision. Retrieved April 5, 2014, from http://www.worldvision.org/our-impact/country-profiles/philippines Philippines. (n.d.). Find the Data. Retrieved April 5, 2014, from http://country-facts.findthedata.org/l/111/Philippines Mankiw, G. (2013). The Data of Macroeconomics. Macroeconomics (8th Edition ed., p. 18). New York: Charles Linsmeier. Human Capital. (n.d.). Investopedia. Retrieved April 5, 2014, from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/humancapital.asp Gary S. Becker. Human Capital.The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.2008. Library of Economics and Liberty. Retrieved April 5, 2014 from the World Wide Web: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/HumanCapital.html Patrick Fitzsimons. (1999). Human capital theory and education. InThe Encyclopaedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory, M. Peters, T. Besley, A. Gibbons, B. Ã…Â ½arniĆ¡, P. Ghiraldelli (eds.). Retrieved 5 April, 2014 fromhttp://eepat.net/doku.php?id=human_capital_theory_and_education An Analysis on the Education and Gross Domestic Product of the Philippines 1 [1] Civilian Discretionary Spending will be elaborated in the Review of Related Literature. [2] Definition of education taken from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/education [3] Statistics taken from http://country-facts.findthedata.org/l/111/Philippines [4] The full article can be seen at http://www.rappler.com/nation/35186-deped-proposed-budget-biggest-in-history [5] Taken from http://www.worldvision.org/our-impact/country-profiles/philippines [6] Retrieved from http://www.ph.net/htdocs/education/issue.htm [7] The Full transcript can be viewed at http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0,,contentMDK:22848251~menuPK:282425~pagePK:64020865~piPK:149114~theSitePK:282386,00.html [8] This section explains the factors that make up civilian discretionary spending; note that this is an excerpt from the article mentioned. The article can be found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-sachs/de-mystifying-the-budget_b_850332.html [9] Definition taken from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/humancapital.asp [10] The file for the said part can be found at http://www.worldwewant2015.org/node/296253 [11] This quotation can be seen on the same file mentioned. Refer to footnote number 10. [12] Retrieved from http://eepat.net/doku.php?id=human_capital_theory_and_education