Final Paper on Managerial Accounting

On this small plot of land in the middle of a bustling city called Bacolod, in the Negros Occidental province of the Philippines, lies home to the family of Jose and Teodula Tamera. Located on 79 Lacson Street, this place was especially home to one of their sons, Robin Tamera.After years of decadence in this little spot called home, Robin found himself working in Ontario, Canada. It was there that the inspiration to keep the property's memories alive was sparked. He had a desire to keep this lot not only as a memorial keepsake for himself, siblings, and relatives, but first and foremost as a reminder of his parents' love and care.Robin Tamera's concept was to open a very humble place for all to stay in Bacolod City, whether they were local or foreign visitors. He wanted a hotel that incorporated and adapted all of the finest amenities that other places in the world could offer.In 2006, after years of investment and construction, Robin's desire became a reality after converting their property to a bed and breakfast place. â€Å"The Tamera Plaza Inn† became not only a place to stay, but a memorial and tribute to the Tamera Family. The Inn offers overnight lodging and meals. It includes 1 Superior room, 8 De Luxe rooms , 6 standard double rooms, 5 standard single rooms, a function room, all air-conditioned with cable TV services. The Tamera Plaza Inn has 30 full time employees to date.Meanwhile, the inn faces very serious seasonal customer fluctuations. The average number of tourists in Bacolod is 70,000 per year, majority of which are during Summer and in October during the MassKara festival. The inn has about 2 % of these tourist choose them for accomodations. Although the place has no rental costs and the expenses in the contsruction of the inn has already been acquired, the inn has an opportunity to increase its profitiability.Below is the the cost allocation per year:For the purpose of this paper, Activity-Based Costing will be used to analyze the inn' s profitability and to present a recommendation. In Table 1, Activities Analysis and Assignment of Activities to Products (lodging and dining) by activity drivers. Labor, material and utility costs traced to activities are shown in columns (1)-(3) of table 2. Columns (4)-(11) present detail about how activities are allotted to each product by drivers. For example, the driver of the cleaning activity is the true cleaning time which is total 3061.6 hours. Using the driver to trace the cleaning activity to the two products separately, and assigning 2651.4 hours and 410.2 hours respectively, of cleaning time, the driver can allocate PHP 46,611 to lodging and PHP 7,212 to dining.Finally, adding all the allocation activities costs in each product we can get the total activity costs. The total product cost is the combination of the total activities costs, direct material costs, and outsource costs (laundry and transportation) in each product. Unit product cost is defined as the total produ ct cost divided by the total number of customers. The unit product costs of lodging and dining are PHP 340.67 and 71.31 per customer respectively for a year. The lodging and dining products of The Tamera Plaza Inn represent two market segments.After applying ABC to the The Tamera Plaza Inn case, the unit costs of each of the Inn's products in two market segments are clear. The cost information acquired from ABC in this case will be useful to the owners for marketing strategy, decision making and cost-volume-profit analysis.Table 1.In the second stage, all activities costs in the five activities centers are assigned to the three country inn’s products. Table 2 shows activities analysis and the assignment of activities to products by activity drivers. Labor, material and utility costs traced to activities are shown in the second to fourth column of table1 while fifth to tenth columns present detail about how activities are allotted to each product by drivers. For example, the d river of the cleaning activity is the cleaning time which is total 6810.6 hours. Using the driver to trace the cleaning activity to the three products separately, and assigning 2651.4 hours, 3749 hours and 410.2 hours respectively, of cleaning time, the driver can allocate NT$ 46,611 to lodging, NT$65,904 to hot spring use, and NT$7,212 to dining.Finally, adding all the allocation activities costs in each product we can get the total activity costs. The total product cost is the combination of the total activities costs, direct material costs, and outsource costs (laundry, hot spring water) in each product. Unit product cost is defined as the total product cost divided by the total number of customers. The unit product costs of lodging, hot spring use and dining are NT$ 306.21, NT$31.64 and NT$ 67.28 per customer respectively in the busy winter seasons. The lodging, hot spring use and dining products of this country inn represent three market segments. After applying ABC to the coun try inn case, the unit costs of each of the country inn’s products in three market segments are clear. The cost information acquired from ABC in this case is extremely useful to the inn’s owners (managers) for marketing, decision making and cost-volume-profit analysis.Table 1 Monthly Costs of ResourcesResource life time Replacement value Capital costs Cost per monthRent-a-land 30 ï ¼  ï ¼  700,000 Owner’s lands 30 150,000,000 13,324,092 1,110,341 Buildings 30 16,050,000 1,425,672 118,806Personnel Number Total Costs Cost per monthFull time staffs 23 9,060,000 755,000 Part-time staffs 13 2,448,000 204,000 Managers 2 1,320,000 110,000is the general manager. Meanwhile, the inn faces very serious seasonal customer fluctuations. The average volume of customers for hot spring use  can come to a maximum of 58,048 persons monthly in the winter season and a reaches minimum of 18,311 persons in the summer season. In addition, this hot spring country inn bears a heavy space and land costs due to the high cost of buildings and land in Taipei. The monthly costs of rent, lands, buildings and labor are showed in table 1.This inn doesn’t use any activity-based costing method in its accounting system except for the traditional one. Since activity-based costing can be very complex and time consuming, and even less in tourism industry, it is not widely applied in the manufacturing industries in Taiwan (Chen, 2001, p. 52). It is recognized that partial activity-based costing can be used to enhance rather than totally replace the accounting system when the company finds it too difficult to implement full-scale ABC-based accounting.Some companies also complain that the cost of ABC’s administrative and technical complexity, and of continuously generating activity data, exceeds any benefits subsequently derived from it, so that they reject proposals to implement ABC to their companies. Nevertheless, many firms still find they have success in co st reduction, product pricing, customer profitability analysis and output decisions when they adopt ABC (Chenhall and Langfield-Smith, 1998; Clarke et al., 1999; Innes and Sinclair, 2000; Cotton et al., 2003).Our traditional accounting cost information was gathered from 1 November, 2003 to 30 December, 2003. The figures for customers’ volume were acquired from the mean of the number of customers in these two months. In order to obtain a more accurate picture of Table 2Activities Analysis and Assigning Activity to Product Using Activity Drivers Resource Labor Materiall Total Quantities of Drivers Total Unit cost per Product cost Activity& Utility Cost Lodging Spring Dining quantity activity driver Lodging Hot-Spring Dining Cleaning 99,572 20,155 119,727 2,651.4 3,749 410.2 6810.6 17.58/hr 46,611 65,904 7,212(10.57%) (3.67%) (0.32%) Changing 1,455 607 2,062 960 0 0 960 2.15/hr 2,062 0 0 sheets(0.47%) (0%) (0%) Washing 32,225 22,196 54,421 830 1,832 188.6 2,851 19.09/hr 15,849 3 4,972 3,600(3.59%) (1.95%) (0.16%) Clear up 91,475 21,623 113,098 0 0 10,710 10,710 10.56/number 0 0 113,098(0%) (0%) (5.06%) Check on 5,454 2,276 7,730 450 0 0 450 17.17/number 7,730 0 0(1.75%) (0%) (0%) Ordering 54,451 1,994 56,445 0 0 11,203 11,203 5.04/number 0 0 56,445(0%) (0%) (2.52%) Carrying 75,220 2,754 77,974 0 0 103,754 103,754 0.75/number 0 0 77,974(0%) (0%) (3.49%) Re-supply 4,320 2,437 6,757 20 436 4 460 14.69/hr 294 6,404 59(0.07%) (0.35%) (0.00%) Cooking 297,968 58,945 356,913 0 0 2,010 2,010 177.57/hr 0 0 356,913(0%) (0%) (15.96%) Purchasing 73,886 605 74,491 18.5 24 198 240.5 309.73/hr 5,730 7,434 61,327(1.30%) (0.41%) (2.74%) Check in 263,806 90,647 354,453 232.47 1,891.67 692.5 2,816.64 125.84/hr 29,255 238,051 87,147 /out(6.64%) (13.26%) (3.90%) Admini- 36,608 1,049 37,657 210 779.2 102 1,091.2 34.51/space 7,247 26,890 3,520 strative(1.64%) (1.50%) (0.16%) Marketing 6,160 176 6,336 1,440 56,750 33,240 91,430 0.07/person 100 3,933 2,303(0.02%) (0.22%) (0.10%) Acc ounting 26,400 756 27,156 1,440 56,750 33,240 91,430 0.297/person 428 16,855 9,873(0.10%) (0.94%) (0.44%) Renting700,000 251.96 1,385.80 461.94 2,099.7 333.38/space 83,999 461,999 154,002(19.05%) (25.73%) (6.89%) Depreciation1,229,147 251.96 1,385.80 461.94 2,099.7 585.39/space 147,495 811,236 270,416(33.45%) (45.18%) (12.09%) Total 1,069,000 226,220 3,224,367*Total activity cost 346,800 1,673,678 1,203,889(78.65%) (93.21%) (53.83%)* All activities in column (3) added Direct material cost 61,137 116,843 1,032,498(13.87%) (6.51%) (46.17%)Outsource laundry 33,000(7.48%)Hot-spring water5,049(0.28%)Total product cost 440,937 1,795,570 2,236,387Total customers 1,440 56,750 33,240Unit product cost 306.21 31.64 67.28Allocated resource costs, working sampling (Tsai, 1996) is used to estimate the percentage of time spent on each of various activities for each staff member and manager. In this way an adjusted percentage of personnel time spent on each activity can be obtained. In the first st age, resources in this country inn are assigned to all activities in five activities centers by resource drivers.In the second stage, all activities costs in the five activities centers are assigned to the three country inn’s products. Table 2 shows activities analysis and the assignment of activities to products by activity drivers. Labor, material and utility costs traced to activities are shown in columns (1)-(3) of table 2. Columns (4)-(11) present detail about how activities are allotted to each product by drivers. For example, the driver of the cleaning activity is the true cleaning time which is total 6810.6 hours. Using the driver to trace the cleaning activity to the three products separately, and assigning 2651.4 hours, 3749 hours and 410.2 hours respectively, of cleaning time, the driver can allocate NT$ 46,611 to lodging, NT$65,904 to hot spring use, and NT$7,212 to dining.Finally, adding all the allocation activities costs in each product we can get the total act ivity costs. The total product cost is the combination of the total activities costs, direct material costs, and outsource costs (laundry, hot spring water) in each product. Unit product cost is defined as the total product cost divided by the total number of customers. The unit product costs of lodging, hot spring use and dining are NT$ 306.21, NT$31.64 and NT$ 67.28 per customer respectively in the busy winter seasons.The lodging, hot spring use and dining products of this country inn represent three market segments. After applying ABC to the country inn case, the unit costs of each of the country inn’s products in three market segments are clear. The cost information acquired from ABC in this case is extremely useful to the inn’s owners (managers) for marketing, decision making and cost-volume-profit analysis.TAMERA PLAZA INN Date Established: March 2006 #79 Lacson St., Bacolod City Tel No. 432-1708; Fax: 709-0886 Manager: Dina Serfino E-mail: [email  protected] C lassification: Economy Class No. of Rooms: 20 Rates: Superior 1 1,500.00 Deluxe 8 1,300.00 Standard Double 1,100.00 Standard Single 900.00 Extra Matress 250.00 Extra Person 100.00 Last Updated: September 11, 2013 Rates are subject to change without prior notice

Night World : Soulmate Chapter 15

Hannah's breath was taken away. She hadn't expected a coherent answer from Maya†¦ but she'd gotten one. And she did understand. Maya had devoted her life to keeping Hannah and Thierry apart. Her long life. Her thousands of years. If she lost at this point, that life became meaningless. â€Å"You don't know how to do anything else,† Hannah whispered slowly, figuring it out. â€Å"Oh, enough of the press conference. I know how to do lots of things-you'll find that out. I'm through fooling around with you, cupcake.† Hannah ignored the threat-and the insulting endearment. â€Å"But it won't do you any good,† she said, * genuinely bewildered, as if she and Maya were discussing whether or not to go shopping together. â€Å"You're going to kill me, sure, I understand that. But it won't help you get Thierry. He'll just hate you more†¦ and he'll just wait for me to come back.† Maya had knelt by the backpack, rummaging in it. she looked up at Hannah and smiled-a strange slow smile. â€Å"Will he?† Hannah stared at those red lips, feeling as if someone were pouring ice water down her backbone. â€Å"You know he will. Unless you kill him, too.† The lips curved again. â€Å"An interesting idea. But not quite what I had in mind. I need him alive; he's my prize, you see. When you win, you need a prize.† Hannah was feeling colder and colder inside. â€Å"Then he'll wait.† â€Å"Not if you're not coming back.† And how do you arrange that? Hannah thought. God, maybe she's going to keep me alive here†¦ tied up and alive until I'm ninety. The idea brought a wave of suffocating fear. Hannah glanced around, trying to imagine what it would be like to spend her life in this place. In this cold, dark, horrible†¦ Maya burst into laughter. â€Å"You can't figure it out, can you? Well, let me help.† She walked to where Hannah was sitting and knelt. â€Å"Look at this. Look, Hannah.† She was holding up an oval hand mirror. At the same moment she shone the flashlight on Hannah's face. Hannah looked into the mirror-and gasped. It was her face†¦ but not her face. For one instant she couldn't put her finger on the difference-all she could think was that it was Hana's face, Hana of the Three Rivers. And then she realized. Her birthmark was gone. Or †¦ almost gone. She could still see a shadow of it if she turned her head to one side. But it had faded almost to invisibility. God, I'm good-looking, Hannah thought numbly. She was too dazed to feel either vain or humble. Then she realized it wasn't just the absence of the birthmark that made her look beautiful. Even in the unnatural beam of the flashlight she could tell that she was pale. Her skin was creamy, almost translucent. Her eyes seemed larger and brighter. Her mouth seemed softer and more sensuous. And there was an indefinable something about her face†¦. I look like Poppy, she thought. Like Poppy, the girl with the copper hair. The vampire. Wordlessly, she looked at Maya. Maya's red lips stretched in a smile. â€Å"Yes. I exchanged blood with you when I picked you up last night. That's why you slept so long†¦ you probably don't realize it, but it's afternoon out there. And you're changing already. I figure one more exchange of blood†¦ maybe two. I don't want to rush things. I can't have you dying before you become a vampire.† Hannah's mind was reeling. Her head fell back weakly to rest against the post. She stared at Maya. â€Å"But why?† she whispered, almost pleadingly. â€Å"Why make me a vampire?† Maya stood. She walked over to the backpack and carefully tucked the mirror inside. Then she pulled out something else, something so long that it was sticking out of the top of the pack. She held it up. A stake. A black wooden stake, like a spear, about as long as Maya's arm. It had a nice pointed end on it. â€Å"Vampires don't come back,† Maya said. Suddenly there was a roaring in Hannah's ears. She swallowed and swallowed. She was afraid she was going to faint or be sick. â€Å"Vampires†¦ don't†¦ ?† â€Å"It's an interesting bit of trivia, isn't it? Maybe it'll be on â€Å"Jeopardy!† someday. I have to admit, I don't exactly understand the logistics-but vampires don't reincarnate, not even if they're Old Souls. They just die. I've heard it suggested that it's because making them vampires takes their souls away, but I don't know†¦. Does Thierry have a soul, do you think?† Everything was whirling around Hannah now. There was nothing solid, nothing to hang on to. To die †¦ she could face that. But to die forever, to go out†¦ what if vampires didn't even go to some other place, some afterlife? What if they just suddenly weren't? It was the most frightening thing she had ever imagined. â€Å"I won't let you,† she whispered, hearing her own voice come out hoarse and ragged. â€Å"I won't-â€Å" â€Å"But you can't stop me,† Maya said, amused. â€Å"Those ropes are hemp-they'll hold you when you're a vampire as well as when you're human. You're helpless, poor baby. You can't do anything against me.† With a look of pleasure in her own cleverness, she said, â€Å"I finally found a way to break the cycle.† She left the backpack and knelt in front of Hannah again. This time when the red lips parted, Hannah saw long sharp teeth. Hannah fought. Even knowing that it was hopeless, she did everything she could think of, lashing out at Maya with the strength of sheer desperation. But it wasn't any good. Maya was simply that much stronger than she was. In a matter of minutes, Hannah found herself with both hands pinned and her head twisted to one side, her throat exposed. Now she knew why Maya had forced her to drink vampire blood before. It hadn't just been random cruelty. It was part of a plan. You can't do this to me. You can't. You can't kill my soul†¦. â€Å"Ready or not,† Maya said, almost humming it. Then Hannah felt teeth. She struggled again, like a gazelle in the jaws of a lioness. It had no effect. She could feel the unique pain of her blood being drawn out against her will. She could feel Maya drinking deeply. I don't want this to be happening†¦. At last the pain faded to a drowsy sort of ache. Hannah's mind felt dopey, her body numb. Maya was wrestling her into a different position, tilting Hannah's head back and pressing her wrist to Hannah's mouth. I won't drink. I'll let myself drown first. At least I'll die before I'm a vampire†¦. But she found that it wasn't that easy to will yourself into dying from lack of air. Eventually, she choked and swallowed Maya's blood. She wound up coughing and sputtering, trying to clear her throat and get air. Maya sat back. â€Å"There,† she said, slightly breathless. She shone the flashlight into Hannah's face again. â€Å"Yes.† She looked judicial, like a woman considering a turkey in the oven. â€Å"Yes, it's going very well. Once more should do it. You'd be a vampire now, if so much time since the first we hadn't wasted exchange.† â€Å"Thierry will kill you when he finds out,† Hannah whispered. â€Å"And break his sacred promise? I don't think so.† Maya smiled and got up again, pottering with her backpack. â€Å"Of course, this wouldn't be happening if he hadn't broken his promise to me,† she added, almost matter-of-factly. â€Å"He told me that you wouldn't come between us anymore. But the next time I turn around-there you are! Shacked up in his house, no less. He should have known better.† Hannah stared at her. â€Å"He didn't even know I was there. Maya-don't you realize that? He didn't know-â€Å" Maya cut her off with a gesture. â€Å"Don't expect me to believe anything you say. Not at this point.† She straightened up, looked at Hannah, then sighed. She switched off the lantern and picked up the flashlight. â€Å"I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you for a while, now. I'll be back tonight to finish this little job. Don't worry, I won't be late†¦ after all, I have a deadline to meet. Tomorrow's your birthday.† â€Å"Maya †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I have to keep her here talking, Hannah thought. I have to make her understand that Thierry didn't break his promise. She was trying to ignore the chilling question that ran just under her thoughts. What if Thierry had been serious about what he'd told Maya? If he really wanted to be with Maya as long as Hannah was no longer between them? â€Å"Can't stay; must fly,† Maya said, trilling laughter again. â€Å"I hope you won't be too lonely. By the way, I wouldn't rock that pole too much. This is an abandoned silver mine, and that whole structure is unstable.† â€Å"Maya-â€Å" â€Å"See you later.† She picked up the backpack and walked away. She ignored Hannah's yells. And eventually, when Hannah couldn't see the beam of the flashlight anymore, she stopped yelling. She was in the dark again. And weaker. Drained emotionally and drained of vitality by what Maya had done. She felt sick, feverish, and itchy as if there were bugs crawling under her skin. And she was alone. Almost, almost, she gave in to the panic again. But she was afraid that if she lost control this time, she'd never get it back. She'd be insane by the time Maya returned. Time. That's it, girl, you've got some time. She's not coming back until tonight, so get your head clear and start using the time you have. But it's so dark†¦. Wait. Did she take the lantern with her? She turned it off, but did she take it? With the utmost caution, Hannah felt around her with her hands. Nothing-but then she couldn't lean very far because of the rope. Okay. Try your feet. Carefully. If you kick it away, it's all over. Hannah lifted one leg and began to gently pat the foot down toward the ground. Little pats, slow pats. About the third time she did it, her foot hit something that fell over. That's it! Now nudge it toward you. Careful. Careful. Closer†¦ almost†¦ now around to your side†¦ Got it! Hannah reached out and grabbed the lantern, holding it desperately with both hands like somebody holding a radio while sitting in the bathtub. Don't drop it †¦ find the switch. Light blossomed. Hannah kissed the lantern. She actually kissed it. It was an ordinary battery-operated fluorescent camping lantern, but she felt as if she were holding a miracle. Light made such a difference. Okay. Now look around you. What can you do to help yourself here? But looking around made her heart sink. The cavern she was in was irregular, with uneven walls and overhanging slabs of rock. A silver mine, Maya had said. That meant the place was probably blasted out by humans. On either side of her, Hannah could see more posts like the one she was tied to. They seemed to form a kind of scaffolding against the wall. So miners can get to it, I guess, she thought vaguely. Or maybe to help hold the roof up, or both. And it's unstable. As a last resort, she could simply do her best to bring the whole thing down. And then pray she died quickly. For now, she kept looking. The wall on her right, the only one she could see in the pool of lantern light, was surprisingly variegated. Even beautiful. It wasn't just rough gray rock; it was rough gray rock veined with milky-white and pale pink quartz. Silver comes in quartz sometimes, Hannah thought. She knew that much from her mom's friends, the rockhounds. But that doesn't do me any good. It's pretty, but useless. She was starting to panic again. She had a light, but what good was it? She could see, but she had nothing to work with. There's got to be something here. Rocks. I've got rocks and that's it. Hannah shifted to get away from one that was bruising her thigh. Maybe I can throw rocks at her†¦. Not rocks. Quartz. Suddenly Hannah's whole body was tingling. Her breath was stopped in her lungs and her skin felt electrified. I've got quartz. With shaking hands, she put the lantern down. She reached for an angular chunk of rock on the ground beside her. Tears sprang to her eyes. This is a quartz nodule. It's crystal. Fine-grained. Workable. I know how to make a tool out of this. She'd never done it in this life, of course. But Hana of the Three Rivers had done it all the time. She'd made knives, scrapers, drills†¦ and hand-axes. She would have preferred flint to work with; it fractured much more regularly. But quartz was fine. I can feel in my hands how to do it. †¦ Okay. Stay calm. First, find a hammer stone. It was too easy. There were rocks all around her. Hannah picked up one with a slightly rounded surface, weighed it in her hand. It felt good. She pulled her legs in, set the angular chunk in front of her, and started working. She didn't actually make a hand-ax. She didn't need to. Once she had bashed off a few flakes with long sharp edges, she started sawing at the rope. The flakes were wavy and irregular, but they were as sharp as broken glass and quite sufficient to cut the hemp. It took a long time, and twice she had to make new flakes when the ones she was using blunted. But she was patient. She kept working until she could pull first one length of rope, then another and another free. When the last strand parted, she almost screamed in sheer joy. I'm free! I did it! I did it! She jumped up, her weakness and fever forgotten. She danced around the room. Then she ran back and picked up her precious lantern. And now-I'm out of here! But she wasn't. It took a while for the realization to dawn. First, she walked back in the direction that Maya had come. She found what felt like miles of twisting passageways, sometimes so narrow that the walls almost brushed her shoulders, and so low that she had to duck her head. The rock was cold-and wet. There were several branching passages, but each one led to a dead end. And it was only when Hannah got to the end of the main passage that she realized how Maya had gotten into the mine. She was standing below a vertical shaft. It soared maybe a hundred feet straight up. At the very top, she could see reddish sunlight. It was like a giant chimney, except that the walls were nowhere near that close to each other. And nowhere near irregular enough to climb. No human could get out this way. I suppose they had some sort of elevator or something when the mine was working, Hannah thought dazedly. She was sick and numb. She couldn't believe that her triumph had turned into this. For a while she shouted, staring up at that square of infuriating, unattainable sunlight. When she got so hoarse she could scarcely hear herself anymore, she admitted that it was no use. Nobody is going to come and rescue you. Okay. S(c) you have to rescue yourself. But all I've got is rocks†¦. No. No, I'm free now. I can move around. I can get to the scaffolding. I've got rocks-and wood. Hannah stood paralyzed for a second, then she clutched the lantern to her chest and went running back down the passageway. When she got to her cavern, she examined the scaffolding excitedly. Yes. Some of this wood is still good. It's old, but it's hard. I can work with this. This time, she made a real hand-ax, taking special care to fashion the tip, making it thin and straight-edged and sharp. The final tool was roughly triangular and heavy. It fit comfortably in her hand. Hana would have been proud of it. Then she used the ax to chop off a length of wood from the creaking, groaning scaffolding. All the while she did it she whistled softly, hoping she wasn't going to bring the whole structure down on her head. She used the ax to shape the length of wood, too, making it round, about as thick as her thumb and as long as her forearm. She knocked off a quartz scraper to do the finer shaping. Finally she used a flake to hone one end of the stick to a point. She ground it back and forth against an outcrop of gritty stone to bring it to maximum smoothness and sharpness. Then she held out the finished tool and admired it. She had a stake. A very good stake. And Maya was going to get a surprise. Hannah sat down, turned the lantern off to conserve the battery, and began to wait.

A case study on suffering with depression

A case study on suffering with depression Depression is a whole body illness, meaning it affects your body, mood and thoughts. It can be a very serious illness which affects the way you eat and sleep, the way you feel about yourself and the way you think about things. It is more than just a passing mood, and is very different from the usual feelings of sadness and feeling fed up. The feelings of depression usually last more than a few days; they can last for months or even years. If left untreated, these feelings can interfere with the daily life of the individual and can also have an effect on the people around them. Depression can affect anyone at any age, including children, although it is more likely to occur if there has been a family history of depression. Health professionals use different terms to describe depression, these are: depression, depressive illness and clinical depression (NHS, 2009). It is commonly thought that depression is not a real illness. It is seen more like a weakness or a failure in an individua l however, just because it is not visible does not mean it is not real. Types of depression There many different forms of depression, these can range from mild depression through to severe depression and individuals who suffer with severe depression may also show psychotic symptoms. Major depression, probably the most common form of depression, is manifested by a combination of symptoms that interfere with the individual’s ability to eat, sleep, work and study. Usually the individual will lose interest in once pleasurable activities and also has a feeling of hopelessness. Some individuals only have a single depressive episode, while others have recurring episodes. (Psychology Information Online, 2009) Dysthymia is a mild, chronic state of depression and the symptoms are similar to major depression, but less severe. A person may suffer from dysthymia depression for years before being diagnosed, thus they would still continue with everyday life and may not even realise that the y are suffering with depression, they could just have a feeling that something is not quite right. (Psychology Information Online, 2009) Atypical depression is different to major depression in the way that an individual will feel better temporarily when a positive life event occurs, whereas an individual suffering from major depression will nearly always feel low. This type of depression can last for a couple of months or can be with an individual for their entire life. (Depression About.com, 2009) Bipolar disorder, or manic depressive disorder, is an emotional disorder â€Å"in which an individual alternates between states of deep depression and extreme elation.† (Bipolar About.com, 2009) It is characterised by sudden changes in mood, thoughts and behaviour and there is a high suicide rate seen in individuals who suffer from manic depression. The two extremes of depression are where the individual feels very low and mania where the individual feels very high. (NHS, 2009) Pos tpartum depression affects woman, almost always, immediately after childbirth. It is thought that postpartum depression is triggered by the hormonal changes that follow childbirth. Some woman have severe and long lasting symptoms that require treatment, others can generally beat the baby blues with good self-care and support from friends and family. (Depression About.com, 2009)

Nursing Interventions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing Interventions - Essay Example As the nature of problems of a community change over time, the nursing structure in a community should know about the needs and the nature of interventions necessary for the community and how do they change. One important aspect that can be avoided by nursing interventions and feedback is that the control of epidemics. In this paper the community considered is the one that needs the psychiatric nursing care and interventions. The care and interventions prevent the community members from being vulnerable to the psychiatric problems and to contain the inability of facing the challenges. However, it is important to consider the population density, for community nursing regarding psychiatric care as the psychiatric care needs more counseling when compared to physical illnesses (Kelly, Anne (Author), (2003). As mentioned above, the community considered above is that needs psychiatric care and the survey on this community showed that 388 clients referred and about 80 people are not seen. Most of the clients are referred by general practitioners and clients to the community care centers. Hence, the nature of referrals indicates the need of nursing interventions for the people in the community that have psychiatric problems regarding social interactions. ... One third of clients was living in private rented accommodations or no fixed home. In addition to that the half of the clients was unemployed or living in families that have no employed member. As a result the clients lacked the close emotional support offered by partners or family members. Three fifths of the clients were not receiving social service or psychiatric support and 38 percent of them have contacted for psychiatric services. The important request from the referrers was for assessment, advice, and counseling and for hospital admission. Hence, the important problem in the community considered is that to identify the psychiatric and social and health problems of clients and to provide the required intervention. The important problems identified are as follows: 1. Emotional and relationship problems 2. Neurotic problems and personality disorders (Sheppard, Michael (Author). (1991). Plan for Monitoring That Decides on Intervention According to the problems mentioned above timely counseling is necessary for the people in the above mentioned community. Hence, the community nurses should have a plan to visit the houses of the people in the community to know about their status and another itinerary to offer counseling to them. Hence, they can divide the plan into two halves. The first 10 days in every month can be used to know the problems and the status of the patients in the community and the next 20 days can be used to offer counseling to the patients suffering with the problems mentioned in the above chapter. As a result the patients can get timely counseling and the nurses can monitor the condition of the people in the community every month. Interventions for Emotional and Relationship Problems The

Juvenile Crime and Violence in Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Juvenile Crime and Violence in Schools - Essay Example The society suffers on this count nonetheless. The discriminatory policies have been brought to the fore with the ever-increasing firing and sniping cases within these schools and colleges of late. The discrimination basically stems from the fact that teachers and fellow students have shown differential treatment towards the students who hail from world’s varied regions and continents. Then there is the important element of not meeting up to the financial basis of these schools and college and hence the pressure exerted on the students takes it toll in a very negative fashion. This paper takes a keen look at the ways and means through which juvenile crime and violence has been propagated in schools and colleges and discerns the ways and means through which this could be brought to an end. The juvenile crimes and violence within schools and colleges has increased because students have felt frustrated on most of the occasions. They opine that injustice is meted upon them and that they do not feel like a part of the usual school and college realms. The students who receive bad grades and who consistently fail within the school’s educational domains are thus the recipients of such injustice. They eventually succumb to pressure which is exerted upon them by the school authorities. They vent their feelings by being violent, give into the crime angle and thus make their destinies go all wrong. The perspective changes in essence and their thinking mechanisms start to change for the worse. One more aspect that comes to the fore here is that of looking trendy and different on the part of the students. They want to manifest their violent basis and thus need more control over the fellow students in these schools and colleges. What this suggests is the fact that the author ities within the helm of affairs have failed in their efforts to curb the violent regimes in place within these schools and colleges

Write an annotation entry consisting of a Citation, a brief Summary, Essay - 8

Write an annotation entry consisting of a Citation, a brief Summary, and a short paragraph Evaluation of the text below - Essay Example sident Obama acknowledged the fact that there is no need to have the Ferguson’s report to establish the truth that racial discrimination still exist in the current generation. Nia-Malika views that part of the speech as a way by which the president is making a call that people need to be cowards but focus on the past and not just the events of Ferguson to justify the existence of racial discrimination. Gwen reflects on the recent statement by the attorney general at the same event and asks if that is a responsibility or a burden to the first black president. In giving her response, Amy says that it is both a burden as well as a responsibility but admits that the speech by the president sought to offer hope and the realization not all is lost in the quest for a generation of impartial racial treatment. She admits that inequality still exist in the America society and it is closely tied to education and income. Gwen proceeds on another part of the speech in which the president directed his statements on close to 100 members of the Congress in the wake of their call to renew the voting rights Act. The president acknowledged the fact that the voting rights Act was one of the greatest achievement of American democracy which was as a result of the efforts by both the Republicans and the Democrats. The act was signed by various former presidents such as Reagan and Bush while they were in the Oval Office. Henderson argues that the statement has a lot of impact among the Republicans whom she considers to be a bit different from those of the past hence they are likely to show a different view of the Act. Amy considers the Act to be partially partisan in relation to geographical distribution of the various races in the Unites States. On the part of Hillary Clinton using her personal emails for official duties, Amy comments that she has to stand out on her own to defend herself without expecting the help of anyone. The interview by Gwen is very useful as it offers a deeper

Managerial account decision making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managerial account decision making - Essay Example st 2008 financial crisis, the company began focusing on lean practices reducing time and cost in several of its processes and its outcome, subsequently, reflected in its annual reports right from 2009 through 2013. Starbucks is facing stiff competition from McDonalds Corp and Dunkin’ Brands Inc. The paper aims at exploring how Starbucks has been able to carve a niche through lean approach in the market place. As such, lean production is a new buzz word among companies vying for a place in a highly competitive arena. Toyota, a popular Japanese auto manufacturer, is known to have pioneered the lean approach in their operations successfully. Taking clue from it, Starbuckss management focused on lean approach aiming at not only on waste reduction but also on how to reduce time on several processes. (Yunos, 2013). Carter(2014) argues that lean thinking firm focuses on customer value enhancement through carefully choosing work processes. That means lean thinking takes a diversion from the traditional approach eliminating non-value added activities such as procedures, policies in their work flow. In a lean company, the most important parameter to consider is time. That means the lean organization focuses on time reduction methodologies. Work must flow continuously and uninterruptedly so that the cycle time of the entire value stream is reduced and throughput enhanced. Traditional firms focus only on crucial operations – all hidden or less important operations are neglected. However, in this process, less important operations interrupt the flow of work increasing customer lead time. Not only more time is consumed but cost also increases. Lean organizations create and share information among employees and assess performance by measuring the cycle times and lead times of all activities. Jargon, (2009) argues that Starbucks Corporation began its business as the anti-fast food outlet. Scott Heydon, the Vice President of the company, is a major force behind lean thinking

Ethic Diversity in China Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ethic Diversity in China - Term Paper Example Although these two groups, Tibetans and Mongolians are the vast majority groups, which have the biggest population, China is ethnically very diverse nation. Based on the country’s provincial data for the years 1982 to 2007, there is evidence that the neoliberal process in China has many impacts on the minority groups in the country. Apart from the eastern coastal regions, the other parts of China are highly ethnically diverse (Smith 76). The other parts of the country are four times more ethnically diverse than the coastal parts. Most of these minority ethnic groups in China are highly affected by the neoliberal process over the last years. Neoliberal process affects these groups in terms of economical, political, and social conditions. Over the last thirty-five years, China has gone through a fast economic development and growth in the world. However, according to many studies the coastal provinces have an average growth, which is much higher than in the other provinces. During the 1970s and 1990s, the GPD per capita of the coastal province grew by a rate of 10% much higher than in the other provinces (Schiller and Ayse 178). The inequality of income generation between the coastal regions and the other poor provinces, which accommodates the majority minority groups of china such as Tibetans and Mongolians, continued to increase over time. Nowadays, the majority of the poor citizens of China are found with these minority groups living in the western China. The gap between the rich and the poor keeps on increasing hence portraying the impacts of neoliberal process in the country. The big question asked by many people is, why are coastal provinces richer than the other provinces in China? Many studies have investigated the factors that affect the income inequality in the country. Most of the studies conclude that it is due to the neoliberal process in the country that

Enron Corporation Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Enron Corporation - Movie Review Example Enron had implemented fraud transactions and accounting deceit. It had filed in erroneous details and accounting figures, keeping the whole world in the dark. Financial corruption has been personified by Enron, which had finally filed for bankruptcy. As shown in the movie, the traders of Enron manipulated the whole setup of transactions. This they did, by reducing power supply and by effecting and increment in the prices for power. They targeted poorer consumers and indulged in such activities, at their expense. The need to beget more money, the greed to possess was the recognized motive behind such activity of the traders. Enron Corporation had employed the 'mark-to-market' type of accounting procedure, wherein they had reported the entire financial year's estimated value, as the profit rather than making periodical assessments of the profit margin, as cash came in. Therefore, the high level of profits reported were untrue and misleading, which can be considered frauds. 4.

Financial institutions and markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Financial institutions and markets - Essay Example There are a number of benefits of OBS activities that a given bank can reap. It has been mentioned earlier that the bank is required to make a committed, which it is expected to honor. As a consequence, the bank charges some amount of fee while making this commitment. This fee charged by the bank charges constitutes the initial benefit of the off-balance-sheet activities to the bank. The structure of the normal interest rate is also applicable to the commitment if it is a requirement that the bank honors this initial commitment. This happens as the normal interest rate structure moves onto the bank’s balance sheet. However, the need to use either equity or deposits in funding the asset is an operation that the bank avoids. This is due to the fact that the original commitment by the bank never appears on the balance sheet. Possible additional deposit insurance premiums as well as reserve requirement balances are thus avoided by the bank as the bank improves its stream of earnin gs. A bank may encounter some risks while engaging in OBS activities, with the borrower’s credit risk being the primary risk on the bank’s asset’s side. On many occasions, until the borrower encounters a credit-worthiness altering financial situation or problem, the borrower does not utilize the bank’s commitment. The other risk is the negative impact that the movement of the off-balance-sheet activities into the balance sheet has upon the foreign exchange and rates of interests of the bank. Off-balance-sheet mortgage-backed securities were created and also held during the financial crisis by the largest FIs. However, these are some associative losses with regard to these securities, which lead to the acquisition, failure and bailout of some of these FIs. Additionally, the world’s economic as well as financial systems almost experienced some melt down. Based on

Going home Essay Example for Free

Going home Essay This is a first person narration of a soldier in Iraq who had been victim to an evening ambush by offensive troops. The narration begins with the soldier already in the infirmary, months after the ambush incident, nursing a fractured right foot. At about this time, word also came out that President Bush was going to withdraw five thousand plus men from Iraq so that they could be home for the holidays. The soldier hopes that he is part of the list of men who would be recalled. In the meantime, the soldier recounts the events that led to his current situation. The soldier reveals that many had died in the ambush and he was merely one of those who survived. The ambush took place while they were on their way to the North US Detachment. While recounting the story of how he had become a wounded US soldier, the narrator also offers insights into how war can be patriotic and how it can change the course of events for the world at large. The soldier also mentions in his reminiscing that they were not the true heroes of war, rather the true heroes were the families they left back home. The narrator dwells on this topic and comprehensively explains how the families back home should be the real heroes in a war and not the soldiers who are actually in the war. The soldier also offers insights into how gruesome a war can be and how wasteful it is when it comes to lives wasted; but despite his views on the war, the soldier remains steadfast in his beliefs and holds on to the thought of his family waiting back home. The narration ends with the soldier being called to the mess hall along with many others for the announcement of the list of recalled soldiers. Find out if he is one of those who will return home. (YOUR FULL NAME) (PROFESSOR’S NAME) (COURSE AND SUBJECT) (DATE OF SUBMISSION) GOING HOME – A SOLDIER’S STORY Christmas is fast approaching and I am hoping to have an early Christmas gift as President Bust announced last September that about 5,000 plus of us would be home for the Christmas holidays. This was part of the limited troop reduction that was to be implemented on US troops before the military surge in March next year. We are still waiting for the final list of soldiers who would be sent home and I am hoping that I would be in the list. I am useless here in the field anyway. I have been in the infirmary tent for the past three months because my right foot suffered segmented fractures after an ambush attack on our team while we were driving to the North detachment. We were fifteen in the truck. I was one of the lucky seven who came out of the attack alive. I was in the back of the truck and as usual, I felt like I had to watch my own back as well as I was watching the backs of the other soldiers who were with me in the truck. It was about eleven in the evening. We all had to travel in the cover of darkness to avoid being detected by hostile troops. From a distance, the sound of mortar seemed as natural as the crack of thunder on a balmy evening. A false, red sunrise could be seen from the horizon as flames from explosives incessantly lighted up the horizon. It was cold – in the desert, the temperatures are extreme. Daytime is extremely hot and the evening can be as cold as it is hot during the day. We were all in our camouflage uniforms, but these were only flimsy fabric – weak protection from possible bullets coming our way or even stray shrapnel from distant explosions. I feared for my life but also thought of the country, and the world, and what it would be like if the US did not launch an offensive against hostile troops here in Iraq. In my heart I could not understand why I had to go through such horror and put my life on the line for such a cause; but when I think of my young wife waiting for me back home, and my three month old daughter, I understand why I have to be here. The weapons of mass destruction that Iraq may be hiding from the world may be cause for the destruction not only of the US but also of the world as we know it and this alone told me that my being here was worth everything I had; but then again, I can never deny the fact that there could have been better days. About an hour into the trip, the truck grinded to a halt; a co-soldier who was seated beside the driver saw something through his night vision binoculars. A group of armed men were stationed about half a mile away and it seemed that they did not notice our approach because they were huddled together in a close circle seemingly having a drink. We did not find this cause for alarm because sporadically, throughout the road, were friendly troops from the other side who were securing travel routes for civilians. However, since we could not identify them from a distance, there was no choice but to be on guard and move forward until we were close enough to identify them. The driver had turned off the headlights and slowed down to a crawl to prepare for our approach. When we were just a few meters away, I heard one of the men stationed at the road cry out a piercing yell that to me sounded like a death sentence. At that very moment a volley of gunfire punctuated the distant explosions and we all lay flat on the floor of the truck. In what seemed like forever, the truck turned around and sped towards the other direction back to the camp. The gunfire continued and it was at this moment that I felt warm liquid seeping into the fabric of my uniform from the back. I turned around to see one of my co-soldiers slumped on my back with blood streaming from his neck. I quickly stood to check on the other men with me in the back of the truck. Four of them had been badly hit, two were unharmed, and seven of us suffered minor injuries. Mine was a gunshot wound that pierced my right ankle. Later, it turned out that the driver had been badly hit as well, so it was the other army officer with him in the front seat who was already driving the truck. We made camp about three hours after the incident. We had already been halfway through the six hour trip that was supposed to take us to the North detachment. We were all brought to the infirmary and the dead immediately interred into shiny black body bags that reflected the red glare that rose up from the distant horizon. The camp chaplain said a prayer over the dead and another officer bend down to take out their dog tags, they name patches, and some of their personal effects. I imagined how difficult this was for the officer. I imagined how it would have been had I been one of them. The following day two or three officers from the US Military back home would be at the porch of our house delivering the sad news to my wife and my daughter. I imagined how they would feel, and how much they would hate the state for sending me to war; but I was lucky to be alive, or not. Now, I had to deal with the gruesome images that I had witnessed. I had to spend my life thinking of what is and what could have been. I would probably be found gazing into the blackness for many solitary hours trying to find a decent and even logical reason for this manslaughter – but I was determined to go home in one piece, if not for my wife and daughter, at least for a country and a world that was waiting for a glimmer of hope that could come out of this bloodshed. Logically, bloodshed is bloodshed and nothing good could come out of war. It was always like choosing between two evils – the lives of hundreds of men and women in exchange for the peaceful future of my country and the world. The choice was always easy and I found it an honor to be fighting for this cause, albeit momentary periods of questioning and reasoning and questioning again. I felt that I was not a hero here; the real heroes are the families we have left behind; mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, daughters, and sons. They are the real heroes for having to deal with our absence and having to live their lives every day with the knowledge that we may not even return alive. They are the real heroes for having to lie to the innocent ones about fathers and mothers who were out there fighting for the country because this was the only way to ensure the future – of course, there are other ways, but when some other ways seem bleak and unfeasible, war is often the method of choice. These people are the real heroes not because they sacrificed anything but because they refuse to just fade into the sunset and let go of the prospects of peace and unity for the whole world. They are there back home not for any reason, but for a reason that all of us in this world would one day recall and be grateful about. We, in the field, we are here because of them and their unfailing belief and hope in our cause; we are here because of their love and the fact that before we sleep at night our minds swim in oceans of faces – the faces of our real heroes. The bugle had been sounded. Our superior had called us all to the mess hall to announce who would be going home for Christmas and who wouldn’t. With my crutch in tow and a foot heavy with plaster dragging behind, I go to the mess hall. The superior went through the list. The lights have been turned out after the list was read. I was walking back to the infirmary. I was going home.

Slave History Essay Example for Free

Slave History Essay Summary I American Slavery, American Freedom written by Edmund S. Morgan captures the history of Virginia while keeping focusing on the social and political elements that uplifted the way of slavery. With the focus on Virginia, the book also probes the central paradox of American history: how a people could have developed the dedication to human liberty and dignity exhibited by the leaders of the American Revolution and at the same time have developed and maintained a system of labor that denied human liberty and dignity every hour of the day (pg. 4-5). The key to the paradox is presented in Virginia, the nations largest slave state and primary source of the ideology and leadership. Also the source of conditions which made slavery and freedom possible was discovered through the state of Virginia by the political and social history being discovered. According to Morgans preface, enslavement took more hold on the nations freedom than one may conclude. Indeed the freedom of free, the growth of freedom experienced in the American Revolution, depended more than we like to admit on the enslavement of more the 20 percent of us at that time. According to the book, The rise of liberty and equality in America had been accompanied by the rise of slavery (pg.4)†. Throughout book one of American Slavery, American Freedom the author discusses the start of the poor relationship between the American Indians and the Virginia colonist, and the increase of tobacco as an important crop grown by the slaves of Virginia. It was Virginia slave who grew most of tobacco that helped buy American independence (pg.5-6). The hostility began at the ill-fated Roanoke colony among the England colonist and Indians. Unlike the founders of Roanoke, Virginia refuse to depend on the Indians for subsistence and when the king placed the Virginians in charge, they could not capture the thought of the Indians being a part of the colony as well as slaves, and therefore suffered a labor shortage. The poor character from the immigrants resulting in unwillingness to work contributed to Virginias failure to provide and care for itself. Therefore, Virginia decided to give the land away to planters in hope to promote a better style of productivity and working in the new world becomes the new motive. However, similar to Morgan’s American Slavery, American Freedom, Sowande Mustakeem article also tells of slavery in a New  World. â€Å"She must go overboard, and shall go overboard†¦Ã¢â‚¬  by Sowande Mustakeem takes its reader through the journey of the middle passage while discussing the conditions of the environment, the relationship between the slaves and crewmen, as well as disease. The article begins by stating its purpose of the story telling of human life and lost contributing to, and bringing together several fields of knowledge (Mustakeem 302). In the article the author uses a black woman, anonymously, as a key point towards the slave ship experience. The black woman is diseased with the small pox, which held an exception place throughout the early modern Atlantic World at sea and even more on land creating on intensively fearful climate and also lacked the answer of treatment (Mustakeem 303-304). Due to her terrible illness the black woman was forced to be isolated from the rest of the ship. Already traumatized by the physical and emotional separation from her homeland the black woman was placed on the main top of the ship’s vessel where she then remained for two days alone. Her illness became worst and fear began to emerge. There were several ways today the black woman’s small pox diseases could have been cured; however, because of the lack of medical resources during the time being, there was little the captain and his crew men could do. It was either to keep the black woman aboard and endanger the captain’s crew and cargo or get rid of the woman and cease the spread of small pox. The risk of the woman’s health quickly became the centerpiece of the men’s conversation, and a decision had to be made. Wanting to save the cargo and crew, Captain D’Wolf came to the conclusion that there weren’t any alternatives and that the black woman was to be thrown overboard, whether dead or alive, into the sea. Some believe that many slave owners, traders, and anyone who participated in slave trading dehumanized slaves, although D’Wolf crew men seemed to have a heart towards the black woman, thus realizing she too was human and had feelings just like him. â€Å"Not everyone however, was completely convinced by D’Wolf’s argument. According to John Cranston, none of the sailors tried to overturn D’Wolf’s decision, but several indicated â€Å"that they would not have any Thing to do with it (Mustakeem 306-307).†Ã¢â‚¬  Strapped to a chair, while silenced and sightless by clothe the woman was lowered into the waters of the sea by the crewmen, forced to be a member of the unknown just like her disease. When it comes to American Slavery, American Freedom Preface and Book I in relation to †She  must go overboard, and shall go overboard†¦Ã¢â‚¬  the two demonstrated that there is more than just slaves, slave owners, and slave traders. There is the origin of the slave trade, the founding father s, the state of Virginia, the strategies, methods, conditions and circumstance, and much more. There was also the connection of the unknown that frightened many. For instance, the Indians, Spaniards, tobacco, and unwillingness to work presented in Morgan’s reading. As well as the small pox disease presented in Mustakeem’s reading. No one knew or quite understood what change and difference could do so many were closed minded. Another connection I noticed between the two is that everyone was trying to support and provide for their selves the best way they knew how in the New world, much similar to today’s society. Although we do not know if anyone had a family to provide and make a way for, but if so that could have been a motive towards their involvement in slavery. I know if I had a family and it was between to have to struggle or make a standard living from slave trading, I would have shifted towards slavery myself, although I would have a heart just like D’Wolf’s sailors, but that just a thought. What I believe is a key comparison between the two readings is the unknown. The unknown is pretty scary. Questions linger and confused feelings com about. However, the unknown we must not be frightened by but instead intrigued because within the unknown the truth lies and may be known.

Does The Freedom Of Press Affect Our Daily Life?

Does The Freedom Of Press Affect Our Daily Life? The first amendment gives us the right to express our feelings without any restrictions. Freedom of the press is usually defined as the right to communicate ideas, opinions, and information without government restraint (Dennis and Merill 5) The newspaper was one our main source of communication. Newspapers were mainly just for News. Now you could access to any type of information in the different sections that a newspaper have. Newspapers have sections that talk about Finance, Sports and even real estate. The internet has taken a lot of the audience that were served by the newspaper. The internet is more accessible than the newspaper. It is easier to search and access information. Many of us dont even have the time to stop and get the newspaper. The internet makes it easier to access the information of our interest and not those sections in the newspaper that we tend to skip. Cellphones and Portable devices lets us access the media on the Go. Many television channels and newspapers give access to certain shows or news that could be transferred to our portable players. The media is now more customized. There are several types of news that focus in different interests and targeted to different markets. There are Financial newspapers, Sports, Entertainment, Local news, International news and even in other languages. The news is less conservative now. We could have access to different news that could be access for free that wont be available in certain newspapers. It is easier for us to access the information online. It is easier to target this audience via internet. Most of us spend more time in front of a computer students use more internet sources for school projects. The online version is already replacing the Original print version of the newspaper because it is more accessible. In this fast paced world we do not like to wait. We like everything at out fingertips. Online we even have access to archives news; some sites require subscriptions to access the full content of the articles. The internet is slowly replacing newspaper, television and radio. We could have access our favorite channels and watch videos that were originally broadcasted on T.V. Just like we could have access to certain articles that were originally printed in the newspaper. And last but not least download songs that we usually just listen to on the radio. There will always be that small group that does not have access to the internet that will still get their newspaper in the morning and also watch T.V at 6pm. This is a slow transition that that is affecting our everyday life. The popularity of the internet as a resource of news raises questions about the future of traditional news media. Is the internet likely to become an addition to newspapers and television news, or a replacement used for these media? Along with the people who have access to television, the internet and newspapers some prefer to use the Web as a resource of news, while others prefer conventional news media. We access the news that we are interested in a video online. MTV, ESPN and other sites give us the option to subscribe to their newsletter and customize the information that we would like to receive. It also gives us the option to receive automatic updates of news. The ability of us being able to customize the information that we receive is great. We are able to just read the information that we are interested in. Rather than what happened to Angelina Jolie in Africa. Yes it is information that is good to know but not as important as knowing about local news or news that is that is affecting us directly. It is easier to filter the information that we want to read rather that standing in front of the T.V watching celebrity News. The internet and independent newspapers has helped journalist to be more original about what they write. There are certain articles that you will find in the web that will not be printed in the NY Times. The interment gives everyone the real meaning of the first amendment. We could basically write and post anything we want. The internet is not about ratings is about getting the information out to the public. Ratings is what T.V stations are looking for and thats why the advertise celebrity news because that is what people would like to see. But many of us want to know what is really going on in the real world and what is going on in our local areas and the war in Iraq. Journalism has changed ever since we made the transition from the radio to the television. We could access any kind of information if our portable devices and even our cell phones. I do not believe that the newspaper will disappear but I do believe that there will be more information available in the web that in the printed version. Some news channels give us the information of where to go if we want to find out more about a certain news or article.

Indo-Anglican Novel: Meena Shirwadkar Essay examples -- indian women

With the advent of the 20th century, the change in the statue and spirit of women has been noted by sociologists. In post-independence India, when women’s education commenced, life had started changing. The spread of education inculcated a sense of individuality among women and aroused an interest in their rights. The early writers presented the traditional type (sita) but the writers tried to show the emerging new woman. The new woman does not want to lead a passive married life of a sacrificial and shadowy creature because the education has matured her sense of individuality. R.K.Narayanan portrays a wide range of feminine characters from conventional to rebellious. Mulk Raj Anand wrote for the emancipation of women. Moreover feminist trends appeared on the horizon and they came into conflict with the conventional moral code. The image of woman in literature in recent decades is different from that of the past. Indian English fiction writers during the last two decades of th e 20th century provide a glimpse into the female psyche and deal with a full range of feminine experience. A study of the recent Indian English fiction reveals that the female protagonists are quite conscious of their identity and are no longer meek and submissive. There is a marked difference in their attitude as compared to the portrayal of woman in early literature. In ‘Images of woman in Indo-Anglican Novel’, Meena Shirwadkar claims the changes in Indian society. Novels have started to progress from depicting women characters solely as epitomes of suffering and womanly virtue as portraying more complex as well as real characters. In the recent years, this was taken to understand that writing was the only preference made by women. Through this medium of ex... ...ndian women novelists advocates independence and assertiveness of women by depicting their characters as survivors who successfully bear torment both physical and emotional. They must raise their voice against the brutalities and violence which is caused by the society. They tend to rebuke the male dominating society which discourages self-reliance in women. Works Cited: Seshadri, Vijayalakshmi. The New women in India- English Women Writers Since the 1970. Delhi: B.R. Publishing Corporation. 1995. Lakshmi C.S. The Face behind the mask : Women in Tamil literature, Stosius Inc/Advent Books Division ,1984. Shirwadkar, Meena. ‘Image of Woman in Indo-Anglican Novel’, Sterling Publishers Pvt., Ltd., 1979. Dhawan, R.K. ed ‘Indian Literature Today’. New Delhi: Prestige Books, 1994. Iyengar, K. R. S. ‘Indian Writing in English’ , New Delhi : Sterling Publication, 1985.

george washington carver :: essays research papers

Links Related to this Entry Commemorating Carver Related Categories 1860-1920 1920-1960 Educators Entries A-F Entries A-L History People Listed By Name Political Activists Technology Archive Photos George Washington Carver at Tuskegee Institute In 1896 George Washington Carver, a recent graduate of Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (now Iowa State University), accepted an invitation from Booker T. Washington to head the agricultural department at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for Negroes (now Tuskegee University). During a tenure that lasted nearly 50 years, Carver elevated the scientific study of farming, improved the health and agricultural output of southern farmers, and developed hundreds of uses for their crops. As word of Carver's work at Tuskegee spread across the world, he received many invitations to work or teach at better-equipped, higher-paying institutions but decided to remain at Tuskegee, where he could be of greatest service to his fellow African Americans in the South. Carver epitomized Booker T. Washington's philosophy of black solidarity and self-reliance. Born a slave, Carver worked hard among his own people, lived modestly, and avoided confronting racial issues. For these reasons Carver, like Booker T. Washington, became an icon for white Americans. George Washington Carver's interest in plants began at an early age. Growing up in postemancipation Missouri under the care of his parents' former owners, Carver collected from the surrounding forests and fields a variety of wild plants and flowers, which he planted in a garden. At the age of ten, he left home of his own volition to attend a colored school in the nearby community of Neosho, where he did chores for a black family in exchange for food and a place to sleep. He maintained his interest in plants while putting himself through high school in Minneapolis, Kansas, and during his first and only year at Simpson College in Iowa. During this period, he made many sketches of plants and flowers. He made the study of plants his focus in 1891, the year he enrolled at Iowa State College. After graduating in 1894 with a B.S. in botany and agriculture, he spent two additional years at Iowa State to complete a master's degree in the same fields. During this time, he taught botany to unde rgraduate students and conducted extensive experiments on plants while managing the university's greenhouse. These experiences served him well during his first few years at Tuskegee. When George Washington Carver arrived in Tuskegee in 1896, he faced a host of challenges.

The Price Of Freedom :: essays research papers

What is the price of freedom that was paid, and is being paid? Freedom was paid with anguish, pain, time, and lives. We, the inhabitants of America, are fortunate to see this land where we have unalienable human rights that are just basic and essential statutes. There is always a cost for something; furthermore there is a price on our freedom. We pay taxes, follow the land and society ¡Ã‚ ¯s regulations, vote, and so on. The topic of importance and eminence is how, why, and what paid for our freedom. Women have come a long way from being  ¡Ã‚ °House-Wives. ¡Ã‚ ± In many countries, women have little or no power, or role. Furthermore, that is why this country, America, gives freedom to women to carry their own individual dreams out. They paid for their current freedom, suffrage, and liberty by peaceful, yet passionate and touching demonstrating. They have paved the way for the future to evolve and develop. Immigrants have paid for their freedom by working, or literally paying for it. It costs these new immigrants a pretty penny to migrate to the so-called  ¡Ã‚ °Land of Opportunity, ¡Ã‚ ± and worked harder than anyone else just to exist and survive here. New societal regulations and government rules just make it harder for newcomers to assimilate to their new lives. This country is built on immigration and their hard labor work, using people ranging from Black slaves to Hispanic workers on the streets waiting for jobs. Furthermore, without them many tasks would have not been achieved. The Chinese for example migrated here and built the first railroads, in addition they worked on sugar plantations of Hawaii, only increasing Uncle Sam ¡Ã‚ ¯s wallet. All for their freedom and liberty in America. World War I, World War II, Vietnam War, Korean War, American Revolution, Civil War, French & Indian War, and so on. These wars all occurred for one main reason, to protect the people and their endowed rights. If brave and courageous warriors did not step on to the battlefield, and sacrifice themselves to their country, who knows what could have happened.

Krispy Kreme – Analysis

But also, they must have a solid consumer base In the United States and In Canada. They should focus on having franchisees on Southeast Asia, where people patronize products from the West. Some examples of these countries are Japan, Taiwan, China and the Philippines. Crispy Creme could put up franchise stores internationally from 30-50 locations on the next year. They should not be in a hurry and every decision must be well-studied, especially now that they are facing some financial setbacks and faculties.If Crispy Creme decide to put up more stores in Europe, it will be hard for them to penetrate fully the market. As we all know, Europeans are traditional when it comes to their food. They still prefer eggs and bacon for their breakfast, unlike the Americans who can eat doughnuts during the mornings. To lessen the cost of stabling the company In Europe continent, they might as well put up a factory of Crispy Creme there In order for them to save on transporting doughnut mixes and equ ipments from united States to Europe.If there is a factory in a European country, then it will be easier to transport the ingredients from another country in Europe. Crispy Seeker's number-one competitor is Dunking' Donuts. Here in the Philippines, Dunking' Donuts is tagged as the â€Å"Absolving Eng Banyan†. It has its own impact in the Filipino masses. One of their major strengths as a competitor is its name recognition and market saturation. Also, its advertisement has a recall to the public. It is true that Crispy Creme is Just starting as an international player but it could learn some points room Dunking' Donuts.The major problem In Crispy Seeker's current strategy Is that the Individual factory stores do not have different approaches to marketing even though they are located In very different areas. What Crispy Creme should do Is to study the geographical area where they will put up a store and adapt Its environment. Secondly, people patronize Dunk Donuts Decease teeny nave aquanauts Walt â€Å"better† nutritional value, I. E. , are lower in calories, fat and sugar. Why not, Crispy Creme adapts the same kind of strategy. They should develop new flavors that are owe or have zero-calories.This is because nowadays people are so health-conscious and sees to it that they do not intake too much calories and too much sweets. Crispy Seeker's doughnut products do not appeal to health/weight/nutrition/low-Carr conscious consumers. They must work on that. They could introduce a sugar-free doughnut and perhaps a reduced-Carr doughnut that will be seen by customers as an acceptable and tasty product-?thus helping revive demand and sales volume. Internationally, Crispy Creme must plan to follow Cataracts, Coca-Cola and McDonald's.These companies rely on the uniqueness of the American cultural experience to sell its product. They enriched their companies' histories in their own locations: Cataracts in Seattle, Coca-Cola in Atlanta and McDonald's in Calif ornia. Crispy Creme could use its history in North Carolina to sell its products. Uniquely, they are also arousing the people's curiosity with their mint-theaters inside their stores. I must admit, I bought my first Crispy Creme Doughnuts out of curiosity when I saw their store in Mall of Asia.Another way to discover what the customers want would be to apply a system hat would allow customers to take monthly surveys in exchange for perks and freebies. Crispy Creme would not only get what the customers desired but this strategy would create customer loyalty. The customers may feel that their voices and suggestions and comments are appreciated by the company. Crispy Creme Doughnuts has long been relying on free media publicity through word-of-mouth. They don't appear to have put much effort into marketing their product. The company spent very little on advertising, depending largely on word of mouth, and local publicity.Crispy Creme should engage on a public outreach campaign, in whic h they act as sponsors for local community events. For example, the company could sponsor a local awareness program for diseases, disabilities etc. Freebies and stuff with the Crispy Creme logo could be handed out to those taking part in the event. This could be a way for the company to touch the Filipino masses and not maintain its image as for the rich people only. These strategies may help the company along with a very good management and seriously and carefully planning before decisions are made.

Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 and Joan Littlewood’s Oh! What a Lovely War Essay

Compare the ways in which figures of authority are portrayed in Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 and Joan Littlewood’s Oh! What a Lovely War. Both Catch 22 and Oh! What a Lovely War are satirical comedies looking at the absurdity and tragedy of war. Being satires, they serve to expose the flaws in wartime situations and in doing so often develop criticisms of authoritative figures. Both texts approach the portrayal of authority in slightly different ways; being a play, Oh! What a Lovely War has a lot more scope for portraying its characters visually and aurally, whereas Catch 22 must work within its boundaries as a novel. Both texts employ humour to portray characters of authority; whereas Littlewood’s play is more focused on dark humour, Heller uses his own brand of absurd irony throughout the novel – this humour is central to most techniques used in both pieces of literature. Both texts were written in the 1960’s, (Catch 22 was published in 1961 whilst Littlewood’s play was performed two years later) an era synonymous with the development of youth culture and radical change. Although Catch 22 was initially snubbed by many of its critics, the novel found its readership amongst the emerging generation of men and women who were fiercely opposed to the Vietnam war. Littlewood did not face the same hostility in 1963 when Oh! What a Lovely War was first shown to the public. Performed by the Theatre Workshop – a company she had co-created – the play was warmly received by the audience and critics alike. Despite their different reactions, both texts were on the cutting edge of anti-war sentiment and continue to be modern classics. Although the texts focus on different wars and different perspectives (Littlewood’s play explores World War One from a primarily British perspective and Heller’s novel is an American outlook on World War Two) their main themes are similar. Both texts are exploring the tragedy of war, the utter absurdity of it, the thirst for power and money war brings, and the ignorance of authoritative organisations. Figures of authority are numerous in both pieces, and do not only include the upper ranks (such as Generals, Field Marshalls and Colonels) but also the representations of business and religious organisations, for they too can be viewed as having ‘authoritative’ roles in society, especially in wartime. One technique used by both authors is a demonstration of the lack of communication between commanding powers. Littlewood’s portrayal of the allied army leaders is very effective in signalling how inefficient they are at communicating with one another. The French General Lanzerac and British Field Marshall ‘French’ do not even speak the same language, and French’s unwillingness to do so reveals the total futility and worthlessness of their meeting: Aide: Do you think I ought to organise an †¦ interpreter? French: Don’t be ridiculous Wilson; the essential problem at the moment is †¦ the utmost secrecy.(p21) In this scene the obsession with secrecy over commonsense negotiations shows us how inefficient the allied army authorities are, and the analogy of the different languages spoken serves to demonstrate the complete lack of communication amongst authoritative powers that hold the fate of thousands in their hands. In the same way, Catch 22 looks at the problem of communication within the upper ranks. The call General Peckam receives from Ex P.C Wintergreen – the sole words being ‘T.S. Elliot'(sic) – has no hidden meaning but is interpreted in an absurd way; â€Å"Perhaps it’s a new code or something, like the colors of the day. Why don’t you check with Communications and see if it’s a new code or something or the colors of the day?† (p45). This sentence also shows us some insight into General Peckam’s intellect, which doesn’t seem to be substantial – demonstrated by the repetition and imprecision of speech. Another example of these communicative difficulties is the case of Major Major who receives documents to sign, which have his signature already. The squabbling within the upper ranks is evident in both texts and serves to show us the pettiness and idiocy of figures of authority. There are many instances in Catch 22 where the Generals are engaged in sneaky tricks against one another. General Dreedle’s hatred of his son-in-law Colonel Moodus for example, inspires him to keep a beautiful nurse just to torment him with, and the ‘Great Loyalty Oath Crusade’1 is started by Captain Black in an attempt to avenge himself on Major Major (who gained the promotion Captain Black was waiting for). Similarly in Oh! What a Lovely War, the Belgian, British and French army officials are at odds with one another. The Belgian army are in a sorry state, the French are angry at the British, and the British refuse to believe they have any responsibility in the war; ‘We’re not here under any obligation’ French persists in telling Lanzerac. The heated discussion only ends when Lanzerac is offered a medal on behalf of the King of England. This gesture pleases the General, who ‘kisses French on both cheeks’ and leaves, suggesting that the upper ranks of the army are only interested in recognition and promotion. This is a very powerful notion in Catch 22, in which key characters such as Colonel Korn and Colonel Cathcart will do everything in their power to be promoted. Cathcart says of his ambition: â€Å"What else have we got to do? Everyone teaches us to aspire to higher things. A general is higher than a colonel and a colonel is higher than a lieutenant colonel. So we’re both aspiring† (p450). One of the most important aspects of both texts is how different the experience of war is for the upper ranks and the ordinary men. The inability of authoritative figures to understand the realities of war and their cruel, seemingly deliberate ignorance in many situations is demonstrated in a number of key scenes. An important example of this in Oh! What a Lovely War is on pages 50/51 where a commanding officer reveals his detachment from ordinary trench life, and his unawareness of the death that surrounds the men every day; â€Å"Ye Gods! What’s that?† he asks the Lieutenant upon encountering a German limb that holds up the parapet, immediately telling the men to get rid of it as soon as possible. The Sergeant’s response reveals how clueless those in authority are to the brutalities of war: â€Å"Heads, trunks, blood all over the place, and all he’s worried about is a damned leg†. This warped, uninformed sense of priority and general detachment is evident in Catch 22, especially within Colonel Cathcart’s storyline. Heller’s novel is jumbled chronologically, but one dependable indication of time is the number of missions the men are forced to fly under Cathcart’s orders, which steadily increases as the story progresses. What is simply a number for the colonel is a very real death threat to the men of his squadron, many of whom reach the target just as the missions increase. Cathcart raises them for purely selfish reasons – he hopes to gain recognition for his squadron’s record and receive a promotion. The Colonel’s constant cry of â€Å"Doesn’t he know there’s a war going on† when Yossarian refuses to fly further missions is one of Heller’s brilliant lines of absurd irony, as it relates directly to the figures of authority in the novel. They seem to be playing an insane game, unaware of how t heir actions affect the men – they themselves don’t realise they’re fighting a war. Other instances of differences between upper and lower rank men can be found in both texts. The final scene of Oh! What a Lovely War portrays the men as lambs to the slaughter at the order of their glory-obsessed officer, and we find them shouting â€Å"Baaa – baaa – baaa †¦Ã¢â‚¬ (p86) as they advance towards the guns. In Catch 22 the Colonels are amazed that the ordinary men worship the same God as them, and after the revelation from the Chaplain refuse to believe it saying â€Å"What nonsense!† â€Å"Does he expect us to believe that?† and â€Å"Chaplain, aren’t you stretching things a bit far now?†(p407). A noticeable aspect of both texts is the portrayal of other key figures of authority – primarily those of big business and religion. Where Littlewood is severely critical of both, Heller holds some sympathy for his character the Chaplain (a representation of religion). Common to both writers is a disgust toward capitalists who exploit war for their own commercial gain. The munitions manufacturers in Oh! What a Lovely War are introduced on stage as members of a shooting party, an ironic analogy highlighting the part they play in the destruction of so many young men. They discuss the ‘peace scares’ that threaten their income, and congratulate one another for their inhuman schemes in money making: Britain: German chappies were caught on their own barbed wire?†¦.Dashed clever. (p46) In the same way, the character Milo Minderbinder in Catch 22 exposes the lack of morals and boundaries capitalism creates in wartime. His collaboration with the enemy goes unnoticed due to his profit-making, and he even ends up bombing his own men and planes as part of a German contract; ‘If I can persuade the Germans to pay me a thousand dollars for every plane I shoot down, why shouldn’t I?'(p273) he tells Yossarian. The forces of religious belief in Littlewood’s play are greeted with hostility as tools for the war propaganda machine, who support the war effort rather than fighting for the rights of the soldiers; Chaplain: †¦ it is no longer a sin to labour for war on the Sabbath†¦the Chief Rabbi has absolved your Jewish brethren from abstaining from pork in the trenches. (p77) Religion is portrayed in a slightly more sympathetic light in Heller’s novel. The Chaplain is the only character who really connects with Yossarian, and his efforts to help dissuade the Generals from raising the number of missions proves a real commitment and solidarity to the squadron. He is rejected from the Officer’s Hall and treated disrespectfully by the Colonels, showing us that even Christianity is powerless in the face of such frighteningly stubborn authority. Another key theme of both texts is the portrayal of war as a game, or as something frivolous and light-hearted by those in authority. The very form of Oh! What a Lovely War is as a musical show, with song and dance. Key song titles include ‘I’ll make a man out of you’ and the grand finale track ‘Oh it’s a lovely war’ which paints the text as a Broadway extravaganza rather than a harrowing look at battle. This technique is very effective in creating a bitter and attacking tone towards authoritative powers – especially considering the nature of the opening scene. In a circus like frenzy the MC brings on the players of the ‘war game’; France, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Great Britain and Russia. This structural difference between the play and Catch 22 means that Oh! What a Lovely War parodies authority more consistently. Littlewood constructed the play as a ‘show’, so the ability of characters in power to undermine the seriousness of war is endless. ‘The War Game’ is a classic example of this, as is the ‘grouse-shooting party’ which consists of munitions manufacturers from the key nations involved in war. Other techniques were available to Littlewood – lyrically bitter songs and the use of slides as an accompaniment to the speech, which both served as attacking forces against the power of authority in the play. Examples of this can be found in song titles such as ‘If the sergeant steals your rum’ and ironic lyrics like ‘with our old commander, safely in the rear’ in the hymn ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’. The use of slides and the ‘newspanel’ is used on many occasions as a reinforcement of the ignorance seen in authoritative men such as Haig: Newspanel: BY NOV 1916 †¦ TWO AND A HALF MILLION MEN KILLED ON WESTERN FRONT Haig: I thank you, God; the attack is a great success. (p78) They are also used comically to outline the stupidity of the Generals: British Admiral: †¦ Have you got a plan? British General: Of course. Slide 5: A blank British Admiral: Yes, I thought so. (p6) In a structural sense, the techniques available to Heller with which to parody authority are much more limited. In a novel, all character representations are formed with literary descriptions and cannot rely on visual or aural aids like a play. His technique of storytelling is not as varied or spectacular as Littlewoods, but the effects of his bizarre plots are as successful in criticising authoritative powers as the use of slides and song in Oh! What a Lovely War. Colonel Cathcart’s ‘bombing pattern’ is a sufficient example of this and bears comparison with the ‘War Game’ approach by Littlewood. Disregarding the fact that men are risking their lives on the insane bombardier missions they are forced to fly, Cathcart’s sole concern is whether their bombs create an aesthetically pleasing pattern from the air – ‘We didn’t get the bridge’ he tells Milo whilst recalling a previous mission, ‘but we did have a beautifu l bomb pattern. I remember General Peckam commenting on it’. (p†¦ The episodic form of both texts may disrupt the sense of progression, but it is noticeable that the tone of both pieces of literature changes as they near completion. The bitterness towards authority increases, and humour is more often interspersed with moments of seriousness and tragedy. In Act Two of Littlewood’s play, a moment of chaos reaches a serious climax with the juxtaposition of Haig and the British General’s telephone conversations against a background of men singing ‘They were only playing leapfrog’. The two men speak simultaneously in broken sentences until Haig’s final comment ‘No, you must reserve the artillery; we are using too many shells’ is uttered at the same time as the General’s last words, ‘Night has fallen. The clouds are gathering. The men are lost somewhere in no man’s land.’ This uncharacteristically sombre moment is shocking and serves to signpost the ignorance and inhumanity of Haig in times of crisis. In a similar way the absurd force of bureaucracy in Heller’s novel borders on seriousness when Don Daneeka is recorded as killed and remains dead due to the power of paperwork. His presence in the novel is a tragic reminder of the madness of war, and his character becomes a living ghost, ‘the sacks under his eyes turned hollow and black, and he padded through the shadows fruitlessly like an ubiquitous spook†¦then, only then, did he realize that, to all intents and purposes, he really was dead.’ (p366) The endings of both texts leave the reader with a slightly different outlook of authority and war. Whereas Oh! What a Lovely War finishes as it started, with a grand song in the traditional musical style, Catch 22 is much more subdued and understated. Both endings tell us something about the intention of the author, and of their opinion on the subject of war and authority. Littlewood wants to leave the audience feeling embittered and slightly outraged at the notion of the Great War as a show, in order to demonstrate the atrocities committed by those in authority against the ordinary men. The final songs ‘Chanson de Craonne’, ‘ I don’t want to be a Soldier’, ‘And when they ask us’, and ‘Oh it’s a lovely war’ express both comic elements (‘I’d rather stay at home †¦ and live off the earnings of a lady typist’) and the tragic undertones that run throughout the play (‘I don’t want a bayonet in my belly’). Although these final songs are more preoccupied with the tragedy and futility of warfare, their tone is still bitter towards commanding powers – such as the King and the Generals – who promised them a ‘lovely war’, and described the life of a soldier as the ‘cushiest job’ they would ever have. The cause of this great tragedy is clearly explained in Littlewood’s play as a direct result of the ignorance and greed of commanding powers, in particular the European Empires and Haig, along with his circle of title-seeking aristocrats. Within the play there are other specific objects of blame; firstly the British Generals, Field Marshall French, and the British Aristocracy. Other possible areas of criticism lie in the portrayal of religion, and of the capitalists who profited from the war. Oh! What a Lovely War is a text very much favouring the ordinary soldiers, all of whom are represented as decent, kind-hearted, and spirited young men. These soldiers are the victims of authoritative powers, they are the lambs going to slaughter, and the grouse at the shooting party. Littlewood is not vague or subtle in her attack of the commanding men, and portrays them as idiots, fat cats and cowards. She intends to show us that they were the main cause of madness in wartime, and that t hese men of authority should be held to blame for the destruction of a generation. The conclusion of Catch 22 is quite different, and ends with the spontaneous attempt by Yossarian to run away from the military base. Heller’s ending is a very interesting final act of defiance for his character, against the powers of authority in the novel. Despite having an easy route out of the air force – a simple but dishonest deal with Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn – Yossarian chooses to reject it. The presence of Nately’s whore at the very end of the novel, who unsuccessfully tries to stab him, is perhaps an indicator that Yossarian is making the right choice in escaping from the madness and corruption of ‘bureaucracy’ (the main authoritative force in Catch 22). The specific targeting of key characters is evident in Heller’s novel as it was in Oh! What a Lovely War, with the Colonels and Generals (Cathcart, Korn, Dreedle and Peckam among others) being the main hosts for criticism. However, I believe there is a difference between both texts regarding the role authoritative figures play in war. Whereas Littlewood shows us that the commanding men create the chaos due to their own callous stupidity, in Catch 22 the madness of war seems to be a character unto itself. Although the commanding officers are idiotic and dangerously selfish, this insane wartime logic affects most of the ordinary men – except for Yossarian and the Chaplain. A good example of this is near the end of the novel when Aarfy – one of the men in the squadron – rapes and kills a young girl. wYossarian’s utter horror when he discovers the scene is elevated further with the arrival of the police, who arrest him for being in Rome without a pass, completely ignoring the dead body on the pavement. Aarfy’s explanation ‘I hardly think they’re going to make too much of a fuss over one poor Italian servant girl, when so many thousands of lives are being lost every day’ seems to bear a lot of truth. The infuriating authority figures in this novel and the foolish stunts they are engaged in appear to be more a product of war madness than a cause of it. Therefore, although both texts portray figures of authority in similar ways, their intentions are fundamentally different. Littlewood blames the commanding individuals and glorifies the men who were sacrificed under ridiculous orders. Heller looks beyond these small but powerful characters to a greater evil – the madness of war and the insane chaos it creates in all; Colonels, Generals, Capitalists and even ordinary soldiers. 1 The Great Loyalty Oath Crusade was created to divert attention towards Captain Black and thus gain him a promotion – the men must swear an oath of allegiance ‘to get their pay from the finance officer†¦to have their hair cut by the barbers.’ (p125)