Current Liabilities and Payroll Accounting

Teaching Objectives:Make clear the concepts such as current and long-term liabilities and their characteristics, known liabilities, estimated liabilities, contingent liabilities and payroll accounting. Teaching Focus: how to define, classify, measure, report, and analyze these liabilities so that this information is useful to business decision makers. What is liability? A liability is a probable future payment of assets or services that a company is presently obligated to make as a result of past transactions or events.Classifying LiabilitiesLiabilities can be classified into current liabilities and long-term liabilities according to term of payment. Current liabilities are obligations due to be paid or settled within one year or the operating cycle, whichever is longer. They are usually settled by paying out current assets such as cash. notes payable, mortgages payable, bonds payable, and lease obligations)Long-term LiabilitiesLong-term liabilities are obligations not due within one year or the operating cycle, whichever is longer. (notes payable, mortgages payable, bonds payable, and lease obligations)Known LiabilitiesMost liabilities arise from situation with little uncertainty. They are set by agreements, contracts, or laws and are measurable. These liabilities are Known Liabilities, also called definitely determinable liabilities. Known Liabilities include accounts payable, notes payable, payroll, sales taxes payable, unearned revenues and lease obligations Known Liabilities— Sales Taxes Payable Sales taxes are stated as a percent of selling prices. The seller collects sales taxes from customers when sales occur and remits these collections to the proper government agency. Since sellers currently owe these collections to the government, this amount is a current liability. Example:On May 15, 2009, Max Hardware sold tools and supplies for $7,500 that are subject to a 6% sales tax. $7,500 ? 6% = $450 Known Liabilities—unearned revenues Unearned Revenues (also called deferred revenues, collections in advance, and prepayments) are amounts received in advance from customers for future products or services. Example: On May 1, 2009, A-1 Catering received $3,000 in advance for catering a wedding party to take place on July 12, 2009. Known Liabilities—Short-term Note Payable A written promise to pay a specified amount on a definite future date within one year or the company’s operating cycle, whichever is longer.  NOTE GIVEN TO EXTEND CREDIT PERIODA company can replace an account payable with a note payable. A common example is a creditor that requires the substitution of an interst-bearing note for an overdue account payable that does not bear interest. Example: On August 1, 2009, Matrix, Inc. asked Carter, Co. to accept a 90-day, 12% note to replace its existing $5,000 account payable to Carter. Matrix would make the following entry: On October 30, 2009, Matrix, Inc. pays the note plus interest to Carter. Interest expense = $5,000 ? 12%   (90 ? 360) = $150NOTE GIVEN TO BORROW FROM BANKA bank nearly always requires a borrower to sign a promissory note when making a loan. When the note matures, the borrower repays the note with an amount larger than the amount borrowed. This difference between the amount borrowed and the amount repaid is interest.FACE VALUE EQUALS AMOUNT BORROWEDOn September 1, 2009, Jackson Smith borrows $20,000 from American Bank. The note bears interest at 6% per year. Principal and interest are due in 90 days (November 30, 2009). On November 30, 2009, Smith would make the following entry: $20,000 ? 6% ? (90 ? 360) = $300PAYROLL LIABILITIESEmployers incur expenses and liabilities from having employees.   FICA Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA)   Medicare Taxes Employers must pay withheld   taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)   Federal Income Tax State and Local Income Taxes Employers must pay the taxes withheld from employees’ gross pay to the appropriate government agency? Voluntary Deductions Amounts withheld depend on the employee’s request. Examples include union dues, savings accounts, pension contributions, insurance premiums, and charities. Employers owe voluntary amounts withheld from employees’ gross pay to the designated agency. Gross pay is the total compensation an employee earns including wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, and any compensation earned before deductions. Wages usually refer to payments to employees at an hourly rate. Salaries usually refer to payments to employees at a montly or yearly rate. Net pay, also called or take-home pay, is gross pay less all deductions. Payroll deductions, commonly called withholdings, are amounts withheld from an employee’s gross pay, either required or voluntary. Required deductions result from laws and include income taxes and Social Security taxes. Voluntary deductions, at an employee’s option, include pension and health contributions, union dues, and charitable giving.   WithholdingsRECORDING EMPLOYEE PAYROLL DEDUCTIONSThe entry to record payroll expenses and deductions for an employee might look like this. $4,000 ? 6. 20% = $248 $4,000 ? 1. 45% = $58EMPLOYER PAYROLL TAXESEmployers pay amounts equal to that withheld from the employee’s gross pay.RECORDING EMPLOYER PAYROLL TAXESThe entry to record the employer payroll taxes for January might look like this Current Liabilities and Payroll Accounting Teaching Objectives:Make clear the concepts such as current and long-term liabilities and their characteristics, known liabilities, estimated liabilities, contingent liabilities and payroll accounting. Teaching Focus: how to define, classify, measure, report, and analyze these liabilities so that this information is useful to business decision makers. What is liability? A liability is a probable future payment of assets or services that a company is presently obligated to make as a result of past transactions or events.Classifying LiabilitiesLiabilities can be classified into current liabilities and long-term liabilities according to term of payment. Current liabilities are obligations due to be paid or settled within one year or the operating cycle, whichever is longer. They are usually settled by paying out current assets such as cash. notes payable, mortgages payable, bonds payable, and lease obligations)Long-term LiabilitiesLong-term liabilities are obligations not due within one year or the operating cycle, whichever is longer. (notes payable, mortgages payable, bonds payable, and lease obligations)Known LiabilitiesMost liabilities arise from situation with little uncertainty. They are set by agreements, contracts, or laws and are measurable. These liabilities are Known Liabilities, also called definitely determinable liabilities. Known Liabilities include accounts payable, notes payable, payroll, sales taxes payable, unearned revenues and lease obligations Known Liabilities— Sales Taxes Payable Sales taxes are stated as a percent of selling prices. The seller collects sales taxes from customers when sales occur and remits these collections to the proper government agency. Since sellers currently owe these collections to the government, this amount is a current liability. Example:On May 15, 2009, Max Hardware sold tools and supplies for $7,500 that are subject to a 6% sales tax. $7,500 ? 6% = $450 Known Liabilities—unearned revenues Unearned Revenues (also called deferred revenues, collections in advance, and prepayments) are amounts received in advance from customers for future products or services. Example: On May 1, 2009, A-1 Catering received $3,000 in advance for catering a wedding party to take place on July 12, 2009. Known Liabilities—Short-term Note Payable A written promise to pay a specified amount on a definite future date within one year or the company’s operating cycle, whichever is longer.  NOTE GIVEN TO EXTEND CREDIT PERIODA company can replace an account payable with a note payable. A common example is a creditor that requires the substitution of an interst-bearing note for an overdue account payable that does not bear interest. Example: On August 1, 2009, Matrix, Inc. asked Carter, Co. to accept a 90-day, 12% note to replace its existing $5,000 account payable to Carter. Matrix would make the following entry: On October 30, 2009, Matrix, Inc. pays the note plus interest to Carter. Interest expense = $5,000 ? 12%   (90 ? 360) = $150NOTE GIVEN TO BORROW FROM BANKA bank nearly always requires a borrower to sign a promissory note when making a loan. When the note matures, the borrower repays the note with an amount larger than the amount borrowed. This difference between the amount borrowed and the amount repaid is interest.FACE VALUE EQUALS AMOUNT BORROWEDOn September 1, 2009, Jackson Smith borrows $20,000 from American Bank. The note bears interest at 6% per year. Principal and interest are due in 90 days (November 30, 2009). On November 30, 2009, Smith would make the following entry: $20,000 ? 6% ? (90 ? 360) = $300PAYROLL LIABILITIESEmployers incur expenses and liabilities from having employees.   FICA Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA)   Medicare Taxes Employers must pay withheld   taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)   Federal Income Tax State and Local Income Taxes Employers must pay the taxes withheld from employees’ gross pay to the appropriate government agency? Voluntary Deductions Amounts withheld depend on the employee’s request. Examples include union dues, savings accounts, pension contributions, insurance premiums, and charities. Employers owe voluntary amounts withheld from employees’ gross pay to the designated agency. Gross pay is the total compensation an employee earns including wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, and any compensation earned before deductions. Wages usually refer to payments to employees at an hourly rate. Salaries usually refer to payments to employees at a montly or yearly rate. Net pay, also called or take-home pay, is gross pay less all deductions. Payroll deductions, commonly called withholdings, are amounts withheld from an employee’s gross pay, either required or voluntary. Required deductions result from laws and include income taxes and Social Security taxes. Voluntary deductions, at an employee’s option, include pension and health contributions, union dues, and charitable giving.   WithholdingsRECORDING EMPLOYEE PAYROLL DEDUCTIONSThe entry to record payroll expenses and deductions for an employee might look like this. $4,000 ? 6. 20% = $248 $4,000 ? 1. 45% = $58EMPLOYER PAYROLL TAXESEmployers pay amounts equal to that withheld from the employee’s gross pay.RECORDING EMPLOYER PAYROLL TAXESThe entry to record the employer payroll taxes for January might look like this

Frankenstein Final Essay

Frankenstein Final Essay When referring to the following quote stated by Harold Bloom, â€Å"The greatest paradox and most astonishing achievement of Mary Shelley’s novel is that the monster is more human than his creator. † I agree with his statement because it’s vivid to see that Victor lacked on some human characteristics such as emotions and feelings. Despite the fact that after being treated the way he was by others, the monster seeks revenge for Victor’s abandonment and for making him an unbearable scene to be seen by mankind.Throughout the novel, the creature seeks revenge by killing Victor’s love ones one by one. In Chapter 11 when the monster is telling his tale to Victor he states, â€Å"†¦ but I had hardly placed my foot within the door, before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted†¦and fearfully took refuge in a low hovel†¦ † Yet, after seeing the dark side of the monster Victor is still un-human for h is abandonment of his creation. It’s a horrible thing to abandon one’s creation and very cruel to leave a defenseless thing roams about by itself in the world and hoping that it will die soon.Victor was wrong to abandon his creation because of its appearances; he didn’t bother to get to know the poor monster. The author did a great job making the reader feel more sorrow for the monster than for Victor. The monster has been attacked and hurt for doing either nothing at all or helping others. What made the monster more human is Victor’s thirst for the secret to expand life. He was too involved in the making of his creation that he stopped at nothing at all. Not even for those bodies that were resting in peace in their grave.The most disturbing aspect of the novel was the part when Victor visit graves in the middle of the night and start detaching several dead body without a sense of hesitation. Every night Victor would visit the cemetery to dig up fresh bod y parts and he would take what he finds back to his lab and reattach them together to make the monster. This is very low for any human being. Referring back to the beginning of the story, the monster was never from the start as a violent, aggressive monster instead he was very sweet and generous. The monster shows far more human qualities then Victor Frankenstein.Like every human being in this planet needs a partner or at least somebody that accept them or love them, this specific trait Victor lacked. Victor also abandoned his family to continue with his creation. He did not once bother to take a minute to write back to his neither father nor Elizabeth. He would much rather keep on working then give time to those that love him. On the other hand, the monster after running away several times, has always wanted someone who loves him for who he is. The creature in fact, expresses his feelings far more than this own creator.Victor was often going insane in his mind and could not describ e his emotion toward Elizabeth or anybody in his case. The monster was very sympathetic towards Victor because even though he dragged him from places to place, the monster always helps him stay alive by providing him food. All and all the creature is definitely more human than his own creator. There are many key traits for being classified as a human. In this case, to be human one must have a heart that feels kindness towards anything, show sympathy and being humane. Even human are not human just because they lacked in multiple traits.

Alliteration and Symmetry in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Note on poetic meter: Gawain is typical of Middle English alliterative poems in that it is written in alliterative long lines, following the basic metrical principles of Old English verse. Each long line consists of two half-lines, each half with two stressed syllables and a varying number of unstressed syllables. Most importantly, the two half lines are connected by alliteration ? that is, repetition of the same consonant sound on at least two, often three, of the stressed syllables. For example, the poem begins: â€Å"Sithen the sege and the assaut was sesed at Troye† (line 1), with the â€Å"s† sound recurring five times within the single long line. The long lines do not rhyme with each other. However, they are organized in stanzas of fifteen to twenty-five lines, and each stanza concludes with a construction known as a â€Å"bob and wheel. † This term refers to a group of five short lines, which do rhyme, to the pattern of ababa. If you are not reading Gawain in the original Middle English, the poetic structure may not be maintained in the translation. Some modern English translations keep the rhyme and meter strictly; others are only prose translations. SYMMETRY Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has a symmetrical structure. Everywhere in the poem is balance, contrast and antithesis. The poet highlights number symbolism to add symmetry and meaning to the poem. For example, three kisses are exchanged between Gawain and Bertilak's wife; Gawain is tempted by her on three separate days; Bertilak goes hunting three times, and the Green Knight swings at Gawain three times with his axe. The number two also appears repeatedly, as in the two beheading scenes, two confession scenes, and two castles. [55] The five points of the pentangle, the poet adds, represent Gawain's virtues, for he is â€Å"faithful five ways and five times each†. [56] The poet goes on to list the ways in which Gawain is virtuous: all five of his senses are without fault; his five fingers never fail him, and he always remembers the five wounds of Christ, as well as the five joys of the Virgin Mary. The fifth five is Gawain himself, who embodies the five moral virtues of the code of chivalry: â€Å"friendship, generosity, chastity, ourtesy, and piety†. [57] All of these virtues reside, as the poet says, in the â€Å"Endless Knot† of the pentangle, which forever interlinks and is never broken. This intimate relationship between symbol and faith allows for rigorous allegorical interpretation, especially in the physical role that the shield plays in Gawain’s quest. [59] Thu s, the poet makes Gawain the epitome of perfection in knighthood through number symbolism. The number five is also found in the structure of the poem itself. Sir Gawain is 101 stanzas long, traditionally organised into four ‘Fitts' of 21, 24, 34, and 22 stanzas. These divisions, however, have since been disputed; scholars have begun to believe that they are the work of the copyist and not of the poet. The original manuscript features a series of capital letters added after the fact by another scribe, and some scholars argue that these additions were an attempt to restore the original divisions. These letters divide the manuscript into nine parts. The first and last parts are 22 stanzas long. The second and second-to-last parts are only one stanza long, and the middle five parts are eleven stanzas long. The number eleven is associated with transgression in other medieval literature (being one more than ten, a number associated with the Ten Commandments). Thus, this set of five elevens (55 stanzas) creates the perfect mix of transgression and incorruption, suggesting that Gawain is faultless in his faults. The format of â€Å"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight† works on the principles of repetition and multiplication. Think about the number of departures for adventure, the almost eerie property of â€Å"threes,† the characters who play multiple roles, the five points of the pentangle and so on.

Media Campaign Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Media Campaign - Essay Example With the continuous technology advancements and subsequently altering as well as widening reach of mass media campaigns today, non-profit organisations have also taken a footstep ahead to use the communication tool for channelising their messages to the targeted audiences. In many instances, mass media campaigns have proved as beneficial in persuading the audiences to believe the message communicated and thereby alter their behaviours accordingly (Johnston, â€Å"Can Mass Media Change Behavior†). Contextually, there are various factors associated with a media campaign designed to promote a public service goal, which tend to impose significant influences in determining the success of the organisation in effectively conveying the intended message. Based on this particular learning, the discussion henceforth will focus on identifying, discussing and evaluating the influencing factors associated with a planned campaign intended towards the attainment of a public service goal of Co rporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to â€Å"promote an educated and informed civil society through high-quality content and services delivered across multiple platforms† (CPB, â€Å"CPB's Goals and Objectives†). Thesis Statement The discussion will begin with a brief overview of the planned campaign moving forth towards the identification of the most important elements or factors associated with its overall designing, construction and execution. With this objective, the discussion will address the most pertinent factors associated with the planned campaign with adequate rationalisation on the basis of the role played by mass media. The potential disadvantages of using media campaigns, both from a generalised perspective and specific viewpoint in relation to the planned campaign will also be studied in the essay. Before concluding on the key specifications of the essay, moral and ethical considerations attached to the media campaign will also be elaborated in the d iscussion. Overview of the Media Campaign CPB is renowned internationally as a non-profit private organisation which was established in the year 1967 by Congress. Since then, it has been serving the worldwide communities with various services, rendering praiseworthy support to mitigate various issues. Stating precisely, the broadcasting organisation intends to ensure high-quality journalism and reporting transparency with the aim to aid contribution from the society in facilitating the overall growth of the economy and prosperity of the mankind. In its course of strategic executions, the organisation has been focusing on various objectives amongst which, one particular public service goal can be considered as quite crucial which focuses on the promotion of an educated, liberalised and adequately informed society based on multiple platforms for the applications of high-quality contents as well as services. The objectives determined by the organisation for the attainment of this parti cular goal further emphasises on satisfying the public needs for education and information, especially among the diversified cultural groups in particular, which can be attained

Public budgeting Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Public budgeting - Article Example The article starts by laying down the statistics from the Federal Reserve displaying the high number of Americans, and the all-time $975 billion dollars in the year 2008. The projections as of the time was that debt would keep on increasing since people kept reaching for the credit cards debts in order to make ends meet. According to the statistics from the Sachs & Williamson (2009), many consumers have more than five credit cards, with an average total of about five each per family. The psychological look at the consumers by the researchers termed the consumers as having a low debt recovery modality owing to the many debts they find themselves wading. As such, they stray from what they term as normative debt management principles (Amar, et al., 2011). Consumers go forward and start paying individual debts while not looking at the value of each and every debt and prioritizing them. The total redemption from indebtedness is difficult, something that sometimes prompt consumer’s adoption of sub-goals that are normally aimed at settling the individual debts. They sometimes settle the small debts and remain with the huger ones. The oblivion borne by the consumers to the larger debts and misplaced focus by them is what takes a huge toll in the paper as the author analyses the things to do when one is indebted (Heckler, 2013). To the authors, paying of the small debts and remaining with the bigger ones might help relieve the burden but the amount to pay keeps sk y-rocketing as one dilly-dallies. The article is well arranged as the authors move from the obvious to the completely hard stuff concerning debt management. The authors lay down the statistics, the trend in debt management, then finally give their opinion of what should really be happening in the real world concerning the issue of contention. Authors term paying off of debts with larger

Moral, Legal, Political and Practical Dimensions of Assassinations and Research Paper

Moral, Legal, Political and Practical Dimensions of Assassinations and The Assassination of John F. Kennedy - Research Paper Example Publicly, a man named Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested as the sole perpetrator of the crime but intense questioning of Oswald was prevented by another fatal shooting, this time conducted by a man named Jack Ruby who shot Oswald as he was being transported and then died in prison shortly afterward as a result of illness. However, reports continued to come in that shots were heard from another direction from that in which Oswald was hidden, reports that were given more credence once the president’s body was examined. In order for Oswald to have killed the president, it was argued, he would have had to have had a ‘magic bullet’ that was capable of ricocheting around inside the president’s body in an unnatural way before finding an exit. While this report does not promise any definitive answers to what actually happened that day in Dealey Plaza, it does take a look at the event as it is known and some of the controversy that has emerged surrounding the Warren Com mission’s report. President Kennedy was the nation’s 35th president, was the youngest president up to that time and was the first Irish Catholic president to serve (â€Å"John Kennedy†, 2007). As president, Kennedy worked to further the cause of Civil Rights and worked for the rights of the common man, extending America’s hand to other nations as an aid and support for these same efforts. Also under Kennedy, the Cold War heated up, coming to near blows with the Cuban Missile Crisis in early 1963. Following this event, Kennedy began working for â€Å"a world of law and free choice, banishing the world of war and coercion† (â€Å"John Kennedy†, 2007).  

Evaluation Forms and their Application Assignment

Evaluation Forms and their Application - Assignment Example As the aim here is to evaluate Australian Cancer Education Prevention fund, the best approach here at this stage would be to monitor the existing situation of the fund, the health department, health care facilities and general awareness level of people of Australia. At this stage as monitoring is important for further decision making, the best evaluation approach will be to use monitoring form as tool. This tool will help in making final choice amongst various probable steps that could be taken. The second form for the study of Australian Cancer Education Prevention fund would be the study of impact form. Looking at the topic under discussion (which is Australian Cancer Education Prevention Fund) it is important to study the impact of this fund in spreading awareness and controlling this health issue. The best approach thus would be to use impact form as a tool in this case. While evaluating anything related to the field of health and medicine, it is important to note that not every time researchers get a second chance. Human lives are involved. It is very important that evaluation in this field is done very carefully. For that purpose, monitoring and impact forms can help in decision

Deaf Again Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Deaf Again - Assignment Example In the case study, Mark was born without this disability but later grew deaf. His parents were deaf. However, the mark was a lucky child since his parents without the use of sign language, which in a way could have interfered with his speech and later affect his studies, educated him. The author states that the parents opted not to use sign language when educating mark. They had the belief that sign will interfere with Mark’s ability to speak. This could later interfere with his level of understanding during education. On the Fence is another collection from the deaf writers that depicts the hidden world that those with hearing disabilities live as a virtually invisible population. The parents and grandmother of Mark feel much proud that Mark is educated without the use of sign language that they believed might interfere with is education. As per the argument of Mark Drolsbaugh, a child should pick up a language at the age of one to two years. This will enable their parents to identify any disability and be in a position to employ corrective measures before the situation is severe. This will also enable the deaf children to establish whether they can pursue learning with or without the use of sign language. The picking of language at this age also establishes a foundation on the education basis, enabling the child to pursue the various aspects of learning like speaking, reading and writing more effectively. Mark, although he was deaf, remained determined. The support he goes from his parents gave him chance to pursue learning and prosper in education. The author regrets his slow growth and development of emotions. It took him so long to appreciate and be proud of the ‘deaf culture’. The deaf people should appreciate themselves and get encouraged that they can still prosper regardless of their disability. After a deaf child is implanted, the parents have a responsibility to support him or her.

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Project management - Essay Example (Knapp, B. W., 2010, p.62) CPM is used for analyzing the projects by estimating the longest series of tasks or with those tasks which have least slack by a project network. I prefer it because even after being a traditional technique it is most frequently used in managing the project. (Uher, T. E., 2003, p.38) It has the ability to calculate starting and finish date of the given project, enabling project managers to find out exact dates for every activity and compare what should be happening to what is actually happening and respond accordingly. It has following added advantages over other techniques and methods. My decision for choosing CPM technique was justified once I compared it with other traditional technique, PERT and scheduling analysis technique like critical chain scheduling. Both other techniques have some limitations, like probabilistic nature of PERT, in which estimations are unsure. (Schwalbe, K., 2010, p. 236). Pert lays more stress on the time element while in CPM efforts are made to make optimum use of resources. PERT can only be used on entirely new projects only. (Singla R. K., 2010, p. 283) The Critical Chain approach has stated advantages over the conventional approaches. This approach has its own limitations, like in the scenario where simultaneously different projects are handled using the same resource is not workable, due to loss of resource productivity. (NocêRA, R. D. J., 2013, p.283) While on the other hand CPM can handle multiple projects simultaneously. (Demkin, J. A., 2008, p.733) Critical chain scheduling not a revolutionary approach, fundamentally it is based on CPM theory. (Levine, H. A., 2002, p.89) Another major limitation of Critical Chain Scheduling is that it is expensive to implement, and depending on the project has certain degree of in accuracy as well. (Sebastian N., 2007,

Personal Educational Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal Educational Philosophy - Essay Example In the process of learning, it is important to realize that learning can take place either consciously or subconsciously. The effect of learning can be seen in the modification of behavior or the skills that one had possessed. Learning, whether conscious or subconscious can be said to be contextual. This means that one does not learn everything all at once. One builds on the knowledge that he had previously learnt, a. what one learns in different situations is also dependent on the knowledge that one already possesses. There are five main categories in which learning can be classified. These include learning being a quantitative increase in the knowledge that one possesses. Learning can also be classified as the storage of information that can be reproduced at a later date. The third classification of learning is that it involves acquiring skills and facts or information that can be used to achieve certain purposes. The classifications also include being able to derive meaning from a bstract concepts and interpreting the surroundings in the appropriate way. Education can be defined as the process through which a person learns and acquires information and knowledge. Education takes place through formal learning and informal learning. Formal learning is carried out in institutions, while informal learning takes place through life experiences. In carrying out formal learning, my philosophy is based on the need to assist in settling problems that make implementation of education process difficult. In as much as the problems exist, one of the philosophies that seek to ensure that fairness and justice is brought to education is that students ought to be educated in accordance to their abilities, interests, and capacities. Thus, there are different levels of education that relates to age of individual students and mental capabilities of the same students. Students who cannot perform and qualify from the elementary level are not allowed to proceed to the secondary and t he same apply to all the level. This means that in the process of formal education, I seek to ensure that the students are taught the content that is in line with their level of competence and their abilities. It is important for the education process to be encouraged among all members of the society. This is especially important for the younger generations. In the process of formal education, the provision of special education for the students with special needs should also be considered. The curriculum that is followed in the process of education should seek to ensure that it meets the needs of the students. It should also be designed in such a way that it takes into consideration the interests of the students. It is also important that one puts it into consideration the potential problems that may arise in the process of offering education to students and the potential solutions that can be used to overcome the problems anticipated. In understanding the concept of education, it i s important to understand schooling. Schooling

Discussion Topic 2 Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion Topic 2 - Personal Statement Example He pays attention, listening with keenness and with increased interest in the topic. Looking straight into his face, he exhibits the characteristics of a good listener, as his face is always to his communicating partner. By giving a person the opportunity to speak, he ensures that they talk in turns, making the communication process successful. Moreover, while talking to the audience, he maintains a steady eye contact, ensuring that all the people are paying attention. More interesting about him is his use of body language while communicating. Every action that indicates any emotional feeling, the pastor shows it out effectively, making his mode of communication understandable. Having mastered his reactions and gestures, his message is more understandable when compared to other speakers, as Leonard (78) points out that body language is part of communication, with increased influence on the understanding of a speaker’s message. He is always audible when talking to a person or t he congregation, and avoids too much information that is likely to be a hindrance to the understanding of his message. If there is one thing that I would borrow from the pastor is his use of body language. The manner in which he uses body language is captivating. The timing of his gestures and application of body language fascinates to me more, as it complements his speech

Kevin Stevenson retires as AASB Chair Essay Example for Free

Kevin Stevenson retires as AASB Chair Essay This article is concerned with the accomplishments and achievements of Kevin Stevenson upon his retirement as the Chairman of the Australian Accounting Standards Board on 30th June 2014. During his tenure, Kevin Stevenson ensured that the long traditions of financial reporting were upheld both internationally and domestically and also provided counsel on issues concerning the FRC. Mr. Stevenson was an example of pioneer standard setters for generations down the line as he was among the founding members of the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum of the International Accounting Standards Board. Through his leadership, the AASB’s Research Centre was established as Stevenson served the Asian-Oceanian Standard Setters Group’s chair. His main focus was to work in the interest of the public, as stated by Lynn Wood, the FRC’s chair and trustee of the IFRS Foundation. In concurrence is Ian Mackintosh, the former Chair of the PSASB of Australia and Deputy Chair of IASB. According to Mackintosh, Stevenson largely contributed in the moves by Asia countries like Nepal and Korea to the IFRS. From the onset of the 1970s, Mr. Stevenson’ attention was driven towards setting ‘principal based’ standards and developing a Conceptual Framework to be used in financial reporting. He advocated for accounting regulations as evidenced by his association with the Accounting Research Foundation and later on watched over the growth of the AARF upon being appointed its Director. He was at the forefront of setting the international pace in the development of com mon accounting standards for both the public and the private sectors. Stevenson largely contributed to the formation of the Public Sector Accounting and also played a significant role in the establishment of the stable platform of International Financial Reporting Standards in 2005 for adoption in Australia and the entire Europe. Concepts, ideas and facts                      Teamwork and leadership are two important components that must be in alignment so as to provide effective high quality and efficient accounting services. A strategic human resource management model provides guidance to accounting teams and leaders to deliver high-quality services in a timely manner. Accounting operates within a performance measurement that tolerates no errors. Therefore, a state-of-the-art investigation requires scientific leadership working with major stakeholders as a team to provide the best accounting services to a fraud investigation. The new techniques of accounting are significant steps in the right direction and they require leaders with skills and business tools to apply concepts such as efficiency, cost benefit analysis, economies of scale and cost-effectiveness analysis that will measure continuous improvement on a regular basis. Effective leadership is needed to develop, design and implement a solution that would resolve the core competency of an organization. Strategic leadership in accounting provides quality and timely accounting services to a company. Such leadership like that o Stevenson brings together a fragmented system consisting of thousands of accountants working within a fragmented system of organizations. Effective teamwork and leadership in accounting shows the way through the development of new innovative fraud investigations for the future. Leaders in positions like that of Stevenson are encouraged to consider both the social and moral implications of their decisions with regard to how their decisions will affect the clients and shareholders of the company. It is the ethical responsibility of every employee to ensure their company does not illegally evade income taxes or allow questionable deductions. They should ensure that the company finds are allocated to the appropriate activities based on their importance and determine the important elements of the business. The accounting issue                      One major way of improving the confidence in financial reporting and accounting is to ensure that there is improvement in ethical standards, reporting mechanisms, strengthening of governance and adequacy of financial management. It is ethical to maintain the right to the truth while practicing accounting and financial reporting. Those who use financial statements have the right to accurate and truthful information when engaging in investment strategies. Clients have a legal right to receive competent and professional services from accountants who have a legal obligation to perform their responsibilities within the constraints of their skills. It is often argued that most accountants lack ethical ability to recognize and solve ethical dilemmas. This has necessitated the need to include ethics education as a major component of the accounting profession. The development of professional ethics and values should be initiated early in the accounting profe ssion and be emphasized throughout the career. Major issue of the article                      Stevenson clearly shows that it is the responsibility of management to serve the best interests of the company that they are providing auditing and accounting services for, investors and society as a whole. This can be done by providing truthful and accurate financial records. Ethical guidelines require that management should be honest, concise, accurate and complete while recording financial data to ensure ethics are held to the highest degree. It is also the duty of every employee to make wise, informed decisions about the future of a company. These accounting standards are useful in financial reporting and accounting as they are processes that are currently under a great deal of scrutiny. The two are important functions that organizations should take care of and ensure that they exhibit a high code of ethics. This is because clients and shareholders use accounting and financial reports in their decision making process. Legal and ethical issues ar e important elements of financial reporting and accounting as has been demonstrated by the positions assumed by Mr. Stevenson. These issues prompted Stevenson to establish financial reporting and accounting departments to set up specific sets of rules that govern the functioning of any organization. Relevant topics and theories                      The long traditions of financial reporting applied Positive Accounting theory by focusing on various aspects that are of major interest to accounting techniques and the issues that provided an informative background and the gives in depth details of the functionality of accounting in financial reporting. Positive Accounting gives a holistic description of what is currently unknown and proposes future considerations. Financial reporting and accounting apply to any economic entity relating to the company’s future business. The major ethical elements involved are objectivity, competence, independence and integrity. These ethical elements require that accountants and financial reporters are independent of the clients to whom they provide financial and accounting services. Ethical obligations help to determine the effectiveness of accounting and financial report and redress any imbalance that may alter information symmetry. The move by Nepal and K orea followed the ethical guidelines of financial reporting and never let the desire for a better living and acquiring more possession get in the way of their financial obligations. It is ethical for any employee of the accounting or financial department working in the public or private sector to remain loyal and impartial to ethical obligations when reviewing both individual and financial reports. It is usual for one to encounter various ethical issues and it is therefore important for one to remain vigilant to resist temptations to manipulate financial records that could violate ethical guidelines. Transparency and integrity are important ethical elements of normative accounting theory. Some companies may receive pressure from management to maintain a certain public image. This is because some public companies have the burden of succeeding at high levels and it becomes an ethical issue for them to maintain true reports of the company assets, profits and liabilities without succumb ing to the pressure from management. It is unethical for management to alter the financial records of its company and manipulate the numbers to create a false image of the success of the company. This only leads to prosperity in the short term since such fraud cases are discovered by the Securities and Exchange Commission ultimately spelling the downfall of the company. For these reasons, accounting theories assert that companies must remain ethically vigilant to avoid breaching the code of conduct. High standards of ethical behavior are expected for those people engaging in accounting and financial reporting. These standards provide rules and guidance to employees in the performance of their professional obligations. Poor decision making by management based on faulty or manipulated financial records aimed at deceiving the public about a company’s financial health has negative consequences on the business. It is therefore unethical for management to overlook such behavior. Gi ven how tempting it is for companies to manipulate their financial records in order to portray an image of economic health, management should provide the last defense possible to prevent accounting fraud. In comment letter 1, the Financial Reporting Committee of the IMA wrote to express its views on financial accounting standards on simplification of the income statement presentation through the elimination of the concept of extraordinary items. The FRC is in charge of several accounting books of different companies this in essence means that they are charged with the responsibility of making timely responses to statements, pronouncements, research legislations, proposals and pending legislations. Their main concern in this letter is the complex nature of financial statements in FASB comment letters. They support the simplication initiative adopted by the board as regards to making the financial statements easier to understand by the common folk CITATION Sch l 1033 (Schroder, 2014). Their support is on the elimination of elimination of extra ordinary items as in most times this criterion is not always met. Their proposal thus rids of the tedious work in the preparation of financial documents and whether this requirement is met by auditors in the process of doing their work. Their support is based on the fact that it reduces to a great extending the complex nature of the time for the allocation of the provision of income tax by reducing the occurrence of other income items occurring. They thus advocate for a thorough examination of the details of this suggested proposal CITATION Sch l 1033 (Schroder, 2014). In comment letter number 2, Marcum Accountants and Advisors write to the FASB regarding the proposed accounting standards through the simplification of the income statement by elimination of the concept of extraordinary items. Their letter is generally a response to several questions regarding the process of simplification of the income statement. They support the concept of elimination of extra ordinary items from the General Accounting principles. Their contention is based on the difficulty of application the extra ordinary items in accounting practice CITATION Giu14 l 1033 (Giugliano, 2014). They thus support the application for extra ordinary items in previous accounting periods. A sudden change of the rules would otherwise lead to confusion in the accounting practice. The ease of application of the proposed update makes it easy to make these recommended changes quite easy to adopt. They thus suggest the immediate adoption of the proposed update. They are in agreement with the decision by the board to stick to the principle of separate disclosure of infrequent transactions. Items must thus meet the definition of occurring infrequently in recurrent expenditure. They list the following examples as those that should not be classified as unusual or infrequently occurring: occupancy related expense, routine tax audit returns and losses and gains from reimbursements from insurance CITATION Giu14 l 1033 (Giugliano, 2014). They thus suggest the importance of offering guidance on the determination of unusual items. Proper definitions should thus be provided of the unusually occurring items. In comment letter 3, Ford Motor Company also writes in support of the simplication initiative by FASB. Their agreement is based on the objective of evaluation, identification and improvement of the generally accepted accounting principles CITATION Cal14 l 1033 (Callahan, 2014). This thus means that the reduction of the cost of complexity is possible with the simplification of the income statement. They are also in agreement with the board that such an update would not lead to data loss. The overall benefit would be to the end users of such financial statements. References Callahan, S. (2014). Ford Company. Giugliano, G. (2014). Marcum Accountants. Schroder, N. (2014). Institute of Management Accounting. Source document

Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining

Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Melchor Abejon With the increasing use of electronic health records (EHR), data collection in many Health Care Organizations (HCOs) has improved and accumulated at a remarkable pace. EHRs have enabled HCOs to generate and collect a vast amount of data and information from their daily encounter of patients. And this is when Health Informatics (HI) comes into play- to develop and employ computational theories, tools and techniques that can assist in extracting useful information and knowledge from these volumes of data, and use this knowledge to uncover useful patterns and to create models that can enhance decision-making and processes in the healthcare and HI industry. This process is called the Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDDM). The purpose of this paper is to give an overview on why KDDM is a necessity in the healthcare and HI industry, and also to discuss how the aforementioned technique continues to improve the healthcare and HI industry. Benefits of KDDM in the Healthcare Industry The abundance of data and information in healthcare had made KDDM a necessity. According to Taranu (2015), with the growing rate of data accumulation in HCOs, there is a need for expert analysis of these vast medical data. The ability to use these data in order to extract useful information is a key factor for many health institutions to establish quality healthcare. Listed below are some of the benefits of KDDM in the healthcare industry: Increase in the accuracy of diagnoses. The use of predictive algorithms can help healthcare providers such as the physicians to make diagnosis more accurate and decide for the appropriate treatment for their patients. Prediction of patient population risk. KDDM enables the creation of programs and risk models that can be employed to recognize and detect high-risk patients and chronic diseases. Because of this, healthcare providers are able to design the right clinical intervention for their patients. Reduction in the rate of hospital admissions and readmissions. The creation of algorithm and predictive analytics can enable the identification of patients who are at high risk for hospital admissions, thus enabling providers to design more efficient clinical interventions to better treat their patients. Enhancement of clinical decision support. KDDM enables the comparison of symptoms, causes, treatments and analysis of effective clinical intervention for a group of patients. Prevention of diseases and promotion of general public health. The application of predictive analytics particularly in genomics can aid physicians to recognize their patients who are highly at risk of certain diseases. Also, through predictive analytics, pharmaceutical companies are able to develop drugs that suit the needs for specific groups of people. Better patient-related decisions and patient satisfaction. The identification of usage patterns, preferences and the current and future needs of patients can give information that will assist staff in their interaction with their patients. Patients will also be happy because they will be receiving a treatment that will really work for them. Detection of medical insurance fraud and abuse. The detection of unusual claims patterns can assist insurance companies in the detection of medical insurance fraud and abuse. Benefits of KDDM in the Health Informatics Industry According to Shukla, Patel and Sen (2014), HI can be subdivided into four main subfields which are the (a) clinical care, (b) administration of health services, (c) medical research, and (d) education and training; and that each subfield and can be extended and improved with the application of KDDM. Clinical care. One of the applications of HI in healthcare is in the aspect of clinical decision-making through the implementation of the Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS). This computer program is designed to assist healthcare providers in making clinical decisions through (a) information retrieval, (b) alert systems, (c) reminders, (d) suggestion systems, and (e) prediction models. The application of KDDM techniques on the database will render health providers analytical tools and as well as predictive tools that go beyond what is evident from the surface of the data. For example, predictive models can assist physicians to decide whether a certain patient would be treated as inpatient or as an outpatient. Administration of health services. Being an administrator of a healthcare entity can be a very tough job as this position requires daily critical decision making. The quality of information that these critical decisions are based on is an essential factor for this job. The KDDM technique can help in the creation of systems that can predict disease outbreaks, and can give representation of the benefits and the costs of the different preventive measures that are effective against a disease outbreak. Medical research. The application of KDDM is very successful in the medical research. Data mining methods can be applied on the vast medical data to extract useful patterns, predictive scoring systems and cause and effect relationships. Nelson and Staggers (2014, p.56) states KDDM can also be used to patch weaknesses in clinical data that pose a barrier to research. Education and training. E-learning is one of the rapidly growing method of learning in the healthcare and even in the HI industry. The application of KDDM in e-learning can efficiently monitor the progress in the learning process and as well as enhance the learning experience of students, administrators, and educators by recommending different learning methods, resources, and study materials. For educators, it can provide objective feedback about the course and students learning patterns. For administrators, they can learn about the users behavior, so that servers can be optimized and network traffic can be distributed. Through KDDM, the effectiveness of educational programs can be efficiently assessed. Conclusion With the growing accumulation of data in healthcare, no wonder KDDM will continue to be an indispensable tool than can be utilized to extract knowledge and insightful patterns which are essential in the development of systems and models to improve the safety and quality of healthcare. And as the use of health information systems continue to grow, KDDM will continue to mend the weaknesses and imperfections in clinical data to make these data more usable for the benefit of the healthcare and HI industry. References Crockett, D., Johnson, R., Eliason, B. (2014). What is data mining in healthcare? Retrieved January 15, 2017, from https://www.healthcatalyst.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/What-is-data-mining-in-healthcare.pdf Fayyad, U., Shapiro, P., and Smyth, P. (1996). From data mining to knowledge discovering in databases. Retrieved January 15, 2017, from http://www.aaai.org/ojs/index.php/aimagazine/article/viewFile/1230/1131 Miner, L.A. (2014). Seven ways predictive analytics can improve healthcare. Retrieved January 15, 2017, from https://www.elsevier.com/connect/seven-ways-predictive-analytics-can-improve-healthcare Nelson, R. Staggers, N. (2014). Health Informatics: An Interprofessional Approach. St. Louis, MO.: Elsevier Mosby Shukla, D.P., Patel, S.P., Sen, A.K. (2014). A literature review in health informatics using data mining techniques. Retrieved January 15, 2017, from http://ijournals.in/ijshre/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/IJSHRE-2220.pdf Taranut, I.(2015). Data mining in healthcare: Decision making and precision. Retrieved January 15, 2017, from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=0be35910-eda5-4fda-a7c2-1a72f0962ec8%40sessionmgr102vid=2hid=114 The Modeling Agency (2015). How data mining is helping healthcare. Retrieved January 15, 2017, from https://the-modeling-agency.com/how-data-mining-is-helping-healthcare/

Pussy Riot Trials In Russia Cultural Studies Essay

Pussy Riot Trials In Russia Cultural Studies Essay Sources related closely to Pussy Riot will be taken online and from newspaper articles as information on the subject is still fresh in peoples minds and not yet in book form. Mankind has always been eager to be the strongest, largest, most powerful, fundamentally the finest in everything. This statement is clear for the Russia who is deemed the largest country in the world. Russia manages to cover one sixth of the whole globes land mass and has played a significant role in modern history. Although, in order to comprehend how a country has developed into what it is now, one must reflect at its society. A countrys society reflects not only its people but also its expectations of the future and history. Many things reflect Russias varied culture but two of the main factors are of art and the church.    Like numerous other countries, religion has definitely played an immense role in the structure of Russian society and its values towards success. Their main place of worship is known as the Russian Orthodox Church, this holy place being around one thousand years old and in the region of half of the countrys population belonging to it. This being said, the vast majority of Orthodox believers do not attend church on a regular basis. Russians have also turned to various new beliefs, parties, and religious denominations. However, the Russian Orthodox Church is very much valued amongst advocates and agnostics, who see it as an icon of Russian tradition, heritage and culture.   Ã‚   Since Pussy Riot formed they have made numerous headlines with a series of illicit guerilla performances that included performing a piece aptly named Revolt in Russia on the symbolic Red Square in January 2012. Eventually they were arrested under Russia stern illegal protest laws, but at the time all eight band mates were released to march another day. The recent Pussy Riot trials in Russia have highlighted the continuing need for women to challenge authority and assert their independence within Western Society. It may appear as if women have achieved much over the last fifty years, but recent statistics have shown that as a result of the economic recession it has been women who have taken the brunt of the cuts. With un-employment amongst women aged 50 to 64 has a rising of 39% in two years compared with 5% rise for all over-16s in the UK alone1 whether it is a student, breadwinner, daughter or carer, this is the glue that holds society together, if they write off this part of society then we as a whole are lost. Females who are at risk of the cuts are most definitely not an industry or interest group they are 50% of this nation. In Stalinist Eastern Europe, political parties were banned and criticism of the government was dangerous. Just as todays North Korea or Assads Syria, public spaces were forced, propaganda was across the board and fear was extensive. Yet even in a civilization engrossed by fear, young individuals created ways to communicate their discontent, as they have recently in the Arab world and North Africa. Much like the young women of Pussy Riot in Russia, they too have also learned how the use of pop culture and the ever growing power of social media sites can be used as a means of resistance against the communist regimes.   Modern Communism was thought up and developed by a man named Karl Marx who was the brains behind creating Marxism and this is what communism as we know it today was based upon. Karl Marx created this philosophy in the 1840s and the first communist party to come to authority was the Bolshevik Party which gained control of Russia and created the Soviet Union. This happened in the early 20th century and so from this we can establish that communism has been around from 1910s-20s through to present day. This was when the art movement Socialist Realism was created and then, in later years, used by the communist governments to create an alliance of the people within the country. This realistic art was also used to romanticize the truth and to glorify the roles that the working class societies were playing within the country; this was to make the people feel they were personally involved with the sustained existence of the country. At the beginning of the 20th  century in Russia, during the civil war, the innovative government largely used the arts as a means of advertising its ideas and aims. One of the most significant types of Russian propaganda art of that time was the influential political poster. It is through this form of medium and with the power of mass media in which the government called on the nation to learn to read and write, lend a hand those less fortunate or in need, and have a passionate love towards their country, making it a proud and immensely successful nation, fighting for freedom and justice. Soviet posters began to first appear in Russia during the Proletarian Revolution and so  bringing Communist Partys slogans to the masses. A number of posters would be hand drawn; producing the posters this way would give these artists independence from the press and thus making it possible to react straight away to the most current issues as rapidly as possible. This way of producing has become an important attribute of Russian propaganda art. The posters themselves had individual characteristics: bold shapes, vibrant colours, clear lines with lack of small details and additional strength. One unconventional example of Russian propaganda art had brought around a unique phenomenon in Russian art of the early 20th century; agitation porcelain which proclaimed the ideas and ideals of the revolution and was an important propaganda weapon for the new rulers. Agitation porcelain was produced by artists such as Kazimir Malevich and Nikolai Suetin in dreary conditions, from time to time in starvation, under the management of Sergey Chekhonin. In 1923-24, they designed their globally- famous Suprematist works, which included classics of design history; Malevichs white teapot and the half-cup. Agitation porcelain immediately became enthusiastically wanted and sought after by international art collectors. However it didnt become used by the masses or art for the people. Instead of ordinary floral and idyllic subjects these porcelain objects embellished with symbols of the Soviet Republic. With designs such as the hammer and sickle, and slogans like à Ã… ¡Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾ à Ã‚ ½Ãƒ Ã‚ µ Ñâ‚ ¬Ãƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒ Ã‚ ±Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒ Ã‚ µÃƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, Ñ‚Ã Ã‚ ¾Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ à Ã‚ ½Ãƒ Ã‚ µ à Ã‚ µÃƒâ€˜Ã‚ Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡-Those who dont work dont eat. Today Soviet agitation porcelain, representing Russian propaganda art; are now popular items in collections of museums in Russia and overseas as well as private collections. Communism has long been connected with Russia. Even as this country rose to a democracy, suggestion of Russias socialist past still linger over this supposed forward thinking country. Pussy Riot had made global headlines with their taped performances in controversial locations. Yekaterina  Samutsevich, 30, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, were found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred due to the staged performance in February 2012 rallying against president Putin ahead of the countrys elections in March. Pussy Riot are a feminist performance group formed of friends that embraced similar principles at anti-Putin rallies in Moscow, forming a revolution based around punk ethics and political activism. The identities of the collectives members are hidden from the public; wear eye catching bright, colourful attire and balaclavas to their protests and events, inviting other members of the public who share the same ideals to join, disguised as well. When asked about the chosen name of the group one member named Garadzha stated; A female sex organ, which is supposed to be receiving and shapeless, suddenly starts a radical rebellion against the cultural order, which tries to constantly define it and show its appropriate place. Sexists have certain ideas on how a woman should behave and Putin, by the way, also has got a couple thoughts on how Russians should live. Fighting against all that thats Pussy Riot. (Vice magazine 2012) On February 21st, the group crossed the threshold of the altar and began singing and dancing in front of tourists and clergy at Moscows Cathedral of Christ the Savior. They delivered approximately forty seconds of the Punk Prayer; Mother of God, put Putin away asking the Virgin Mary to drive out Russian president Vladimir Putin from the church, before being removed by security guards. Pussy Riot assured their performance in Moscows main cathedral was not to be an anti-church demonstration, and was entirely based on criticizing President Vladimir Putin.  Some see the song itself as Punk poetry whilst others describe it as blasphemous. But the fact of the matter is Pussy Riot live, vote, pay their taxes in a country in which the Russian Orthodox Church and its deep links in structures of power have had a colossal control over their lives, politically and culturally. During the 20th century, the bodies of artists, and the public alike, were beginning to be commonly used more and more as both the entity and the subject matter, the piece itself. Bound, beaten, unclothed or highlighted features etc: the body is presented in all possible guises, as the artist quite literally lives his or her art either publicly, in performances or privately, in video and photography. This long standing tradition of self portraiture had began to take a distinct left turn, and the influential performance artists were at the forefront of this defiant movement to take art outside of the galleries and into the unconventional media, and in some cases controversial spaces much like Pussy Riot today, its clear to see that performance art would have played a distinct role in their political piece. The ties between art and life itself would then be worn away, as were the ties between somewhat sensual and visual experiences amongst viewers. By establishing narratives of real life situations, their own experiences within the perspective of performance, the artists point out the extent in to which history, gender, and identity are all socially constructed performances and are the main focus to the manipulations of power. Before Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina  Samutsevich were members of a collective named Voina (meaning War).Voina is a made up of a controversial group of Russian actionist artists that engage in radical street protest actions; Political protest art. The collective have protested against the somewhat total elimination of freedom of speech, against the violation of human rights, and against the complete liquidation of democracy that has taken place in Russia in current years. The popularity of politically engaged art tends to surge and decline, depending, of course on the current socio-political and economic climates. Commodity artists and activist artists coexist. We had sex in public and this doesnt frighten us anymore, we invaded a police station and this doesnt frighten us anymore. What more is there that can scare us? We will deal with death in the future. Soon we will be completely fearless. (2012) To this day, over 200 activists have participated in Voinas artistic protest actions and at least 20 criminal investigations into the groups activities have been initiated (Free-voina.org). On Voina, curator Artur Ã…Â »mijewski had said (to gazeta.ru), The art group participates directly in politics, something no other group in Europe does. They are absolutely unique. Their actions test the durability of democracy. Their fame is linked to the fact that their actions reflect the Russian political process, the process itself is split in two: partly European yet wildly different. And has also written The Voina group are the last of the righteous, who speak to us of how things should be, so that they may once again come true. http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbh6yrMGFG1qgejhto1_500.jpg A VOINA activist in a police uniform covered by an Orthodox priests cassock with a massive cross performed robbery in a high-class supermarket in Moscow. Accompanied by the group, Mentopop carried outside, without paying, 5 large bags with delicatessen and elite alcohol. The crime was committed with the impunity enjoyed by priests and cops in todays Russia. Femen, a Ukrainian feminist group have gained much interest due to their scrupulous attitude of self-proclaimed sextremism which has turned into becoming infamous for organising naked protests. Some of the prominent examples of their work are the topless protests at the 2012 Olympics in London, in hostility towards  bloody Islamist regimes  or the  cutting down of a crucifix in Kiev, in support for fellow feminists, Pussy Riot   just as a Moscow court was due to deliver its verdict in the  case.   This goal of feminism expressed by Femen and their strategies are indicative of the idea that Western ways of thinking are in some way essentially legitimate and greater. Their feminism however, is not a cultural paradigm that can be applied to all. - Riot grrrl has always been a force to be reckoned with; it was an underground feminist movement that began early on in the nineties, which was very much united with punk music, feminism, radical politics, and a DIY aesthetic. Riot Grrrl activism concerned meetings, the creation of zines, artwork alike and a national network of support for females performance, whether it be musically, poetically or indeed artistically. Although many say the movement lasted until the mid nineties, others argue that it never ended. With the recognition of  Sara Marcuss book  Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution, it appears that there may be various truths to that assertion. And there are many zines, which tell the tale of the origins of the movement (Jigsaw-1988, Girl Germs-1989, Bikini Kill-1990, SNARLA; to name a few). In 1993, according to a Canadian newspaper (as mentioned in  Girls to the Front), 40,000 zines were published in North America alone. (2010) But as the next quote states, the power of Riot Grrrl managed to travel its way overseas and influence a whole new group of European followers wanting to reach out, create and thus inspire women and know that they were not alone. Why is there something odd and unnatural about women who want to try to do something with their lives? Why are women such fucking appendages in everything? Feminism isnt over, it didnt fail, but something new must happen- Riot Grrrlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Next time a guy feels your ass, patronises you, slags off your body- generally treats you like shit- forget the moral highground, forget hes been instilled with patriarchy and is a victim too, forget rationale and debate. Just deck the bastard. 1993 issue of Leeds and Bradford Riot Grrrls zine. We live in a generation of apathy and ignorance. We live in towns that no-one has any respect for anymore. We live lives and abide by the rules set for us, day in and day out. Media subliminally feeds us ideas of how we should be, look like, what we should think and what our tastes should be; its bullshit and it needs to change. The Barbie dolls we see on the front of red-top newspapers and on TV are not our sisters. They arent our friends and they are not a force to change the sexism in this world. Male-domination has well and truly taken over the media/music/films etc. We are not second class citizens and we have as much right to be here as men do. This is not acceptable. But when does art become music? Pussy Riot have been described as a feminist punk rock group, a punk rock collective. Released member of the group. Since the jailing of Pussy Riot the Moscow City court has established for the second occasion its verdict banning all LGBT pride events in the Russian capital for the next century. In the nearest future we will contest the authorities actions over the 100-year ban on gay pride events in the European Court of Human Rights. Through this we will eventually achieve that the bans are recognized as unlawful, not only for the past, but for the future gay parades in the Russian capital, the Interfax news agency quoted Alekseyev as saying. Pussy Riots performance of the Punk Prayer included a reference to the countrys victimized LGBT community with the line Gay pride sent to Siberia in chains. A court in Moscow has chosen four videos made by the feminist punk protest group Pussy Riot as extremist. The Zamoskvorechye District Court in the Russian capital ruled that access to all websites hosting the videos must be limited. In relation to the courts decision, websites that do not remove the Pussy Riot videos will face administrative penalties, which include fines up to 100,000 Rubles (around  £2000). On June 8, 2012, Putin signed into law a measure imposing weighty fines on citizens who organize or take part in unauthorized demonstrations, giving the Russian authorities authoritative leverage to clamp down on the large antigovernment street protests ignited by his decision that he planned to return to the presidency and re-energized by his inauguration in May. Four days later, around 10,000 protesters gathered  in central Moscow in defiance of the Kremlin ban. Tracy + the Plastics is the name of the  electro pop  solo project of  Wynne Greenwood, a  lesbian  feminist  video artist based in  Olympia, Washington she started this project with, what she describes as myself and myself and myself. She played all the roles of the band Nikki (keyboards), Cola (drums) and Tracy (singer). Live, Nikki and Cola would be included as imagery in a projected landscape that backs her up and fills her in. Pre-recorded music would begin to play through speakers. She would then begin to sing live and talk to her band mates in between songs. Nikki asks Cola why she puts socks down her pants to look like a dick or a third dimension? Cola turns to Tracy and asks her for advice. I dont put socks down my pants she does it to look more real. Theres a history, a reality created by the interaction between the self and the image of the self. When an individual in a marginalized group talks to a recorded image of themselves it empowers the individual to open the door to the understanding and celebration that she/he/it can be deliberate. It is an interaction with a fragmented self. By fragmented, Greenwood means a consistent individuality thats constructed from different, often contradictory, elements of culture, society, and existence that we identify with because popular culture has no complete identity to offer its audience except one that resembles the ruling class. We can come out. And then come out again. We can rearrange our world how we want it. Wynne Greenwood (2001) Defining Miranda July is like trying to define a colour (Chang, 2000) when faced with the sheer range of her work single channel video, experimental audio, multimedia performance, fanzines, riot grrrl film and videotape distribution.   July is a Portland, Oregon-based artist spellbound by codes, systems, and the erroneous belief of the ordinary affected by things such as education and IQ tests, also a somewhat fascination with human interactions and relationships. Shes at her finest when she manages to show systems breaking down, altering, or cleared of the substance that gives them meaning. July began to catch local attention whilst still in high school in Berkeley, MI, when she created a play (The Lifers) derived from a pen pal relationship with a convict in the California prison who was jailed for murdering a man who had frequently stole from his petrol station. She found him through an advert for a prisoner pen-pal type program in the back of a magazine. July went on to move to Portland, OR, and became emerged into the Riot Grrrl scene since this appeared the place to be for DIY music and art specifically targeting women with a voice, who needed an outlet. In 1996, out of this eager hotbed of creative female community arose the  Big Miss Moviola  project (but legal threats from the owners of the word Movieola strained July to modify the name of her project to  Joanie4Jackie) a creative and incessant video chain letter. Female filmmakers and performance artists alike would produce a short film. The recorded piece would then be added to a compilation tape contai ning ten other female artists. The tape would then be sent back to the contributor. http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/inside_out/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/mj_amateurist_web.jpg You always suspected it and now you know its true: Girls and women are making movies everyday Joanie4Jackie All women were invited and encouraged to participate, despite technical skills, using any medium that was available to them, By August 2000 there were upwards of 100 films still in distribution. The initiative for Moviola  emerged from Julys observation that the earth is full of inspirational films and people that cannot be seen or heard. And she takes this farther by stating she is also stimulated by films that yet to be made. July claims all of her writing is taken from the subconscious.   The curators for this project included Miranda July, Rita Gonzalez, and Astria Suparak. The  Joanie4Jackie  series was also screened at film festivals and DIY movie events. So far, thirteen editions have been released, the latest in 2002. Prominent DIY filmmakers who have contributed to the project include  Mary Billyou,Tammy Rae Carland,  Lisa Hammer,  K8 Hardy,  Sarah Jacobson,  G.B. Jones,  Tara Mateik  and Miranda July herself. Nowadays, her films illuminate the ordinary, lampoons of relationships, the fundamental weirdness of sex, and remind us of what it feels to be human. July plays on the tension of relationships, the uncomfortable bits and the joys. She makes you snigger, and feel good without making you feel like a simpleton in the process. She allures you not with trickery, but with what is desired as truth, or at least something within reach. For the male spectator, her films also offer the unusual delight of inhabiting a characteristically woman sensibility.

Increase in Crime in the United States :: Crime Research Papers

A crime is defined as "an act committed in violation of a law forbidding it and for which a variety of punishments may be imposed." Crimes are classified into two basic groups; "mala in se" which are crimes that are evil in themselves, and "mala prohibitita" which are crimes that are only crimes because society at the time deems them wrong. In these days crime is more easy perceived by society. Surveys of public opinion in the United States show that more and more people believe that crime is increasing. People feel less safe in their environment and have thus taken measures to protect themselves. But is this view accurate? Most of the crime rates from 2003 to 2015 have risen greatly. In 2003 there was a murder every 27 minutes. Now there is a murder every 22 minutes. The astounding fact is in 2003 there was a violent crime every 6 minutes but now it has increased to a murder every 16 seconds. Crime per thousand from between 1993 and 2015 rose 9.4 percent but from 2010 to 2015 it went down 4 percent. In recent years crime has been decreasing. Property crime, murder, robbery, and burglary have all decreased at least three percent in recent years but that is not much. There is one exception; rape which has gone up 3 percent. Violent crime has risen 40.9 since 1997 while in recent years it has only gone down a tenth of a percent. This may be one of the reasons people feel less safe. People aren't afraid of larceny or property crimes. They are afraid of violent crimes, which is why is recent years they feel insecure. Many people believe the problem is in the trial system itself. Not enough people are convicted. In our trial system where you are innocent until proven guilty and to be proved guilty it must be done beyond reasonable doubt or preponderance of evidence in civil cases. After it has finally been very well proven a judge or jury must unanimously decide the criminal is innocent or guilty or it is declared a hung jury. It also is too easy to get a shorter sentence on a plea bargain. For instance a person accused of armed robbery, an offence that on average a person would get thirty years for; the criminal will often plead guilty to a lesser offence such as carrying a concealed weapon. Carrying a concealed weapon would often give a six year sentence but the criminal often gets off in half that time. So you see how the sentencing just

series reasons :: essays research papers

These are reasons from every Evangelion episode and movie. Most of the information isn't in order. I really hae to go back and fix that, but you can deal with it for now . . . Episode I: 1) Rei appears as a mirage in the the beginning. This could have many meanings, like it tell us what kind of person Shinji is. When Shinji met Rei in front of Eva Unit 01 later in the show, he looked at her, as if he'd seen her before. De ja vu = love, and I don't think they put that there for no readon. (Borrowed from Ryan Xavier's Shinji/Rei site) 2) Shinji pilots Evangelion Unit 01 (who has rejected everyone up to now) and uses it to fight the Third Angel just so Rei won't pilot it and get destroyed. We can call Rei the damsel in distress in this scene. Episode II: 1) We only see Rei one in this episode, and that's when she's on a stretcher. She merely gazes at Shinji, and Shinji gazes back. We all know Rei is a thinking person, questioning her feelings. She could be contemplating why this boy decided to pilot Unit 01 just so she wouldn't die. Remember, she is "expendable". Episode V: 1) Shinji notices that Rei is always alone. He wonders why, and continues to think about this "girl who has no friends". 2) He gropes over her. Accident or no accident, it's undeniably intamacy. Episode VI: 1) Shinji burns his hands and leaves permenant marks on them while trying to pull Rei out of the entry plug. After he sees Rei is alright, he breaks down in tears. I don't remember him doing so for anyone else. 2) Rei smiles for Shinji. The firt time in her fourteen years of life she does so for another person. (Gendou doesn't count, he was a parent figure) Episode IX: 1) Shinji and Asuka have been living in the same apartment, yet Shinji and Rei pull off a perfect synch during the synch training. Many people have said this is because Yui Ikari's soul is within Rei. Wrong. Yui's soul is within Unit 01. The perfect synch between the two could be a sign . . . Episode XI: 1) As the Eva Pilots are going to Nerv, and when the pilots are climbing the vents, Rei's eyes go to Shinji.

Assessing the Impact of Using Internet for Competitive Intelligence

Assessing the impact of using Internet for competitive intelligence Here is the summary of an interesting scientific paper dealing with the impact of using the Internet for competitive intelligence. The Internet, as an information-rich resource and interorganizational communication tool, has transformed the way that firms gather, produce and transmit competitive intelligence (CI). The aim of this article is to assess the impact of the Internet on CI and the subsequent effects on the organization. What is CI?It is a process of knowing what the competition is up to and staying one step ahead of it, by gathering information about competitors and ideally, applying this information in short- and long-term strategic planning. It refers to actionable information about the external business environment that could affect a company’s competitive position. CI is not industrial espionage given that 90% of all information that a company needs to make critical decisions and to understand it s market and competitors is already public or can be systematically developed from public data.The growth of the Internet has led to CI professionals exploiting its information richness and hypermedia capabilities for CI activities. By using the Internet, a company can monitor the presence, posture, products, and prices of other players in its industry. It can track the views of customers and seek out new ideas and expertise internationally. Model : they examine the downstream effects of using the Internet (for research, internal and external use) on quality of CI information and its subsequent effects on organizational performance.Concretely, the model could be summarized as followed: Research + Internal Use + External Use Quality of CI information Impact on organization The first three components symbolized the Internet Usage. Results and implications The results of this study indicate that using the Internet has a positive impact on the quality of CI information. There is a posit ive relationship between usage of CI information and organizational performance. It shows that the improved quality of CI information through Internet usage has a positive impact on organization.The results suggest that there is a direct positive link between usage of the Internet (for research, internal or external purpose) and the quality of CI information, and a positive downstream impact on the organizations’ strategic benefits. Although there may be some concerns about the reliability and timeless of information published on the Internet, there is little doubt that it is one of the most cost-effective means of obtaining information. However, data must be transformed into knowledge and order has to be created from the chaos of the Internet.The information overload from the Internet also makes focused research difficult but ‘intelligent agents’ have to be developed to automate and alleviate the CI professional’s information gathering workload. My opinio n: This paper has been written in 2001, which means a very long time ago when we are talking about the Internet and its information storage capabilities. Do you think this paper is no longer suitable for the current situation we are experiencing (empowerment of the customers through social medias, increased access to the Internet, hackers and so on) ?Moreover, they say that the ‘intelligent agents’ have to learn how to scan the information to find the relevant one and that it’s the most cost-effective means of obtaining information, do you think this notion is still true or must be nuanced ? Bron: â€Å"Assessing the impact of using Internet for competitive intelligence† Thompson S. H. Teo & Wing Yee Choo Information & Management 39 (2001) 67-83 http://www. cuaed. unam. mx/puel_cursos/cursos/d_gcfe_m_tres/modulo/modulo_3/m3-4. pdf

The impingement of circumstances and how man has failed in their presence: a comparison of A&P and Araby

John Updike’s A&P and James Joyce’s Araby were born out of close contexts. In fact, both writers are being tagged with a similar designation. Both are believed to be modernist writers.They are read side by side the modern temper – the rise of industrialization, the attenuation of man’s substance and the meaning of his world and the dominance of several routines which stapled itself on man’s life and reduce his essence.As we look at A&P and Araby, we can confirm that they both uphold the modern temper, as they both mark pointed facets of this period – the apparent inability to rise from one’s circumstances and the extent by which these circumstances govern us.In A&P, Sammy resigned on his job after he felt like his boss in the shopping store humiliated the girls who wore bathing suits in the store. Ultimately, he felt obliged to stand up for his gesture of quitting and not turn away from it. He stood up for his decision and even though the future has suddenly looked uncertain for him, he kept on going, knowing that he can no longer revert from his action.Meanwhile, in Araby, a young boy was eaten up by his frustration after he failed to purchase something for the girl he felt infatuated for. He was late in going to the bazaar – or the araby – as he had to wait for his uncle from whom the money he needs will come from.Upon reaching the bazaar, he saw that most of the stalls were already closed and he can no longer fulfill his promise of buying something for the apple of his eye. In the end, he was utterly frustrated and he seemed inert as that feeling gobbled his whole self.Having these two texts at hand, we can find a common theme that is both incorporated in both of them. We can see in these stories how the characters were carried away and frustrated by their circumstances. The concept of the circumstantial forces impinging themselves on human beings and molding the form of their lives is visible in both Updike’s A&P and Joyce’s Araby.The only difference between the two stories in terms of that theme is the way the characters have responded to that force of circumstances.In A&P the entrance of the â€Å"scandalously dressed† ladies created a commotion inside the A&P – a convenience store that is open to the public. The commotion was caused by the fact that the ladies were inappropriately dressed. The store was located on the town – right at the very heart of the city. Evidently, the store was located in a public place.The ladies were wearing clothes as if they are by themselves only and not exposed to many people. One wears a plaid two-piece in green while another wears an off-shoulder bathing suit. The incompatibility of these two elements signals the emergence of the idea that the ladies were swerving from the norm and a necessary action must be done to check what they were doing.This action was made by the manager of the store, Lengel. Wit h all grit and strictness, he accosted the ladies and gave them some serious verbal beating. He established his authority to scold the girls and show to them his disapproval of their deportment and his implication that they leave the store: â€Å"Girls, this isn’t the beach.† (Hart 134).Queenie, the head of the ladies tried to argue for their case against the overture made by the manager but she failed. Lengel did not turned out to be gentle and a pushover. He really intended to assert his position and drive the ladies away –which he actually did.

The Golden Lily Chapter 10

THE SAN DIEGO TRIP continued to bother me, even though I knew I should let it go. As I often reminded myself, Adrian wasn't my concern, not like Jill and the others. Yet, I couldn't stop thinking about the terrible confrontation with him and Nathan – or Adrian's face afterwards. I felt even worse when a worried Eddie came to talk to me about Jill during breakfast on the following Monday. â€Å"Something's wrong with her,† he told me. Immediately, I looked up toward the cafeteria line, where Jill was waiting with her tray. There was a vacant look on her face, like she was barely aware of her surroundings. Even with no magical talent for auras, I could practically see the misery radiating off of her. â€Å"Micah's noticed it too,† Eddie added. â€Å"But we don't know anything that could be upsetting her this much. Is it because of Lia? Or is she being harassed again?† In that moment, I wasn't sure who I felt worse for: Adrian, Jill – or Eddie. There was practically as much pain in Eddie as there was in Jill. Oh, Eddie, I thought. Why do you keep doing this to yourself? He was clearly worried about her but wouldn't dare approach her or offer comfort. â€Å"There's nothing wrong with Jill. It's Adrian, and she's feeling it through the bond. He's going through a rough time.† I offered no more details on Adrian's situation. It wasn't my story to tell. Eddie's face darkened a little. â€Å"It's not fair that she has to endure his moods.† â€Å"I don't know,† I said. â€Å"Seems like it might be a fair trade for her being alive.† Adrian using spirit to bring Jill back from the dead was still a troubling matter for me. Every bit of Alchemist training I had said that kind of magic was wrong, far worse than any of the other magic I'd witnessed. One could even argue that what he'd managed was only a few steps away from the undead immortality of Strigoi. At the same time, whenever I saw Jill bright and alive, I was convinced that Adrian had done a good thing. I'd meant it when I said as much to him in San Diego. â€Å"I suppose,† said Eddie. â€Å"I wish there was a way she could block him out. Or at least a way to make him a little less moody.† I shook my head. â€Å"From what I've heard, Adrian was like that long before Jill was shadow-kissed.† Still, that conversation stuck with me, and I spent the day asking myself: what could I do to make Adrian happier? A new father obviously wasn't possible. I would have tried that on myself years ago if I could. Slushes were also out, partially because they only offered ten minutes of comfort and because I was still recovering from the last one. An idea finally came to me later on, but it wasn't one I could easily implement. In fact, I knew my superiors would say it was nothing I should even attempt – which is why I decided to do it in a way that wouldn't leave an e-mail or paper trail. I couldn't do it today, however, so I made a mental note to deal with it later. Besides, who could say? Maybe Adrian would shake off the effects of his fatherly encounter on his own. These hopes were actually reinforced when I saw Jill the next day at a school assembly. Assemblies like this were still a new concept to me, and we'd had exactly two since school started. One had been a welcoming gathering during our first week. The other had been a pep rally to cheer on the football team before Homecoming. Today's was called â€Å"Healthy Lifestyles.† I couldn't figure out what it was about or why it was important enough to interrupt my chemistry class. We were seated by grade in the school's gym, putting Jill and me in separate sections of the bleachers. Craning my neck to get a glimpse of her, I saw her sitting down near the front with Angeline and several friends she'd made through Micah. They'd welcomed her easily once they got to know her, which wasn't a surprise with how nice she was. Even Laurel, a girl who'd once tormented Jill, now gave her a friendly look. Angeline said something that made Jill laugh, and, overall, there was definitely an improvement in Jill's attitude. A very big improvement, judging from how much she was giggling. My spirits rose. Maybe Adrian really had bounced back. â€Å"Can someone tell me what this is about?† I asked. I had Eddie and Micah on one side of me, Trey on the other. â€Å"It's this group that comes to school and gives presentations about things like drugs and safe sex,† explained Micah. He was pretty active in student government, so I wasn't surprised he knew about today's agenda. â€Å"Those are kind of big topics,† I said. â€Å"Isn't this just supposed to be an hour? Doesn't seem like they can really provide thorough coverage of these issues.† â€Å"I think it's just supposed to be a quick overview,† said Trey. â€Å"Not like they're trying to do a seminar or anything.† â€Å"Well,† I declared. â€Å"They should.† â€Å"Did we miss anything?† Julia and Kristin pushed their way through others and squeezed themselves in between Trey and me. Trey didn't seem to mind. â€Å"We're trying to explain the point of this to Sydney,† Trey told them. â€Å"I thought the point was to get out of class,† said Julia. Kristin rolled her eyes. â€Å"This'll show you what you were missing by being homeschooled, Sydney.† Nothing could have prepared me for the spectacle that followed – mostly because never in my craziest dreams had I imagined weighty social issues would be addressed in musical numbers. The group performing for us called themselves Koolin' Around, and the inappropriate use of that K was nearly enough to make me walk out then and there. Before each song, they'd give a quick and totally vague info-blurb about the topic or – even worse – a skit. These little lectures always began with, â€Å"Hey, kids!† The first song was called â€Å"STDs Are Not for Me.† That was when I took out my math homework. â€Å"Come on,† Eddie told me, laughing. â€Å"It's not that bad. And people should know about this stuff.† â€Å"Exactly,† I said, not looking up from my homework. â€Å"In trying to be ‘hip' and ‘relatable,' they're trivializing issues that need to be taken more seriously.† The only time I tuned in again was when Koolin' Around had moved on to the evils of alcohol. One of the lyrics in their particularly atrocious song was, â€Å"Don't listen to what your friends say / Bourbon will totally ruin your day.† â€Å"Ugh. That's it,† I muttered. I sought out Jill again. She was watching with kind of a stunned disbelief, but just like earlier, there was none of that despair or melancholy. Some gut instinct told me why she'd had the mood change. Adrian hadn't snapped out of his gloom. Most likely he was drinking his way through it. Sometimes Jill would pick up some of the sillier side effects of intoxication – like the giggling I'd observed earlier – but eventually, alcohol actually numbed the spirit bond. The bright side of his indulgence was that it spared her some of his depression. The down side was that she could actually suffer the physical effects of a hangover later. Koolin' Around mercifully reached their last song, a big production number celebrating the joys of feeling good and living a healthy, happy lifestyle. They pulled up members of the student body to dance with them, earning a variety of reactions. Some students just stood there frozen and embarrassed, wearing expressions that said they were counting the seconds until this ended. Other students – particularly those who normally sought attention in class – made the biggest, most outlandish spectacle they could of themselves. â€Å"Sydney.† The warning note in Eddie's voice stopped me as I was about to return to my homework. That kind of concern could only be reserved for Jill, and I immediately looked at her again. Only, she wasn't the issue. Angeline was. One of the Koolin' Around members was trying to coax her out and even grabbed her hand. Angeline shook her head emphatically, but the guy seemed oblivious. Angeline might be okay around wild dances in the backwoods of West Virginia, but this was not a situation she was comfortable with. To be fair, what happened next wasn't entirely her fault. He really should have left her alone when she said no, but I guess he was too caught up in his feel-good mood. He actually managed to drag her to her feet, and that's when Angeline made her disapproval perfectly clear. She punched him. It was pretty impressive since the guy had almost a foot on her in height. I supposed that came from Eddie's training in how to take out taller Moroi. The guy staggered backward and fell, hitting the floor hard. There was a gasp from most of the students sitting nearby, though only one of the band members – a guitarist – noticed. The rest kept on singing and dancing. The guitarist hurried forward to her fallen colleague and must have threatened Angeline's personal space because Angeline punched her too. â€Å"Eddie, do something!† I said. He turned to me in astonishment. â€Å"Like what? I'd never make it there in time.† It was true. We were two thirds of the way up in the bleachers, surrounded by others. I could only watch helplessly as the rest of the spectacle unfolded. The band soon caught on that something was terribly wrong, and their music faltered, finally coming to silence. Meanwhile, a group of teachers had rushed the floor, trying to pry Angeline away from Koolin' Around's bass player. There was a frantic look in her eyes, like a trapped animal that had gone beyond reason and only wanted escape. The teachers finally managed to restrain her, but not before she'd thrown a speaker at the lead singer (she missed) and punched the school's shop teacher. Trey leaned forward, mouth gaping. â€Å"That's your cousin? Wow.† I didn't even bother responding. All I could think about was how in the world I was going to do damage control this time. Fighting was a serious offense in and of itself. I couldn't even imagine what attacking a motivational musical group would elicit. â€Å"She took out, like, three people twice her size!† Kristin exclaimed. â€Å"And I mean took out. Knocked them to the floor.† â€Å"Yeah, I know,† I said dismally. â€Å"I'm right here. I saw it all.† â€Å"How was she even able to do that?† asked Julia. â€Å"I taught her some moves,† remarked Eddie in disbelief. Unsurprisingly, no one even bothered sending this to Mrs. Weathers. Angeline was referred directly to the principal and vice principal. After her display, maybe they felt there was safety in numbers. It may have been Mrs. Weathers's recommendation or simply the fact that our fictitious parents (and â€Å"cousin† Angeline's) were notoriously hard to get a hold of, but I was asked to accompany her when she met with the administration. My pre-briefing with Angeline was short and to the point. â€Å"You will act apologetic and contrite,† I told her as we sat outside the principal's office. â€Å"What's contrite mean?† â€Å"Apologetic.† â€Å"Then why didn't you just say – â€Å" â€Å"And,† I continued. â€Å"If pushed for reasons, you will say you were overwhelmed and panicked. You'll say you don't know what came over you.† â€Å"But I didn't – â€Å" â€Å"And you will not mention how stupid they were or say anything negative whatsoever.† â€Å"But they are – â€Å" â€Å"In fact, don't speak at all unless you're asked something directly. If you let me handle this, it'll be over fast.† Angeline apparently took that to heart because she crossed her arms and glared at me, refusing to say anything else. When we were ushered into the office, the principal and vice principal – Mrs. Welch and Mr. Redding, respectively – were both sitting on the same side of one desk. They were side by side, presenting a united front that again made me think they feared for their lives. â€Å"Miss McCormick,† began Mrs. Welch. â€Å"I hope you know that what you did was completely out of line.† McCormick was Angeline's fake last name around here. â€Å"Violence and fighting of any kind are not tolerated at Amberwood,† said Mr. Redding. â€Å"We have high standards – standards meant to ensure the safety of everyone at this school – and expect our students to adhere to them. None of your other violations of school rules come close to what you did today.† â€Å"Even if we didn't have those other transgressions on file, there can be no question here,† said Mrs. Welch. â€Å"There is no place for you at Amberwood.† My stomach sank. Expulsion. Although the Keepers weren't entirely uneducated, her academic background had hardly been up to that of average high school students in the modern world. She was in a lot of remedial classes, and getting her into Amberwood at all had been quite a feat. Expulsion wasn't as bad as someone investigating how a petite girl like her could do so much damage, but it still wasn't an outcome I wanted. I could already imagine one of my superiors asking, why didn't you realize how volatile the school was making her? To which I would have to respond: because I've been too busy going on dates and helping vampires who aren't my concern. â€Å"Do you have anything to say for yourself before we notify your parents?† asked Mrs. Welch. They looked at Angeline expectantly. I braced myself for an irrational tirade. Instead, Angeline managed to produce some tears which, I had to admit, certainly looked contrite. â€Å"I†¦ I panicked,† she said. â€Å"I don't know what came over me. So much happened at once, and that guy was so scary, and I just freaked out. I felt threatened. I wanted everyone to get away from me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I was nearly convinced, probably because it was seeded with truth. Angeline had had a number of flustered moments at Amberwood, no matter her bravado. There were more people at the school than had been in her mountain community, and she'd been so overwhelmed in her first week that we'd had to take turns escorting her to class. I really should've been paying more attention to her. Mr. Redding looked a tiny bit sympathetic – but not enough to change his mind. â€Å"I'm sure that must have been hard, but it was hardly reason for you to act in that way. Injuring three people and damaging expensive audio visual equipment were in no way appropriate responses.† Understatement. I was tired of the formalities and needed to fix things before they escalated further. I leaned forward in my chair. â€Å"You know what else isn't appropriate? A thirty-year-old guy – because that's how old he was, no matter how young and cool they were trying to be – grabbing a fifteen-year-old girl. It was bad enough that he did so when she clearly didn't want to go with him. The point is he never should have touched her in the first place. She's a minor. If a teacher did that, he'd be fired. I've read the book teachers are given from your HR department.† It had been an attempt to see if Ms. Terwilliger was abusing me. â€Å"Medical emergencies and breaking up a fight are the only times teachers can lay hands on students. Now, you might argue that that guy wasn't a teacher or employed by the school, but his group was invited here by the school – which is obligated to keep its students safe. You're a private school, but I'm certain the California Department of Education would have a few things to say about what happened here today – as will Angeline's father, who's a lawyer.† He was actually the leader of a bunch of mountain vampires and had multiple wives, but that was beside the point. I looked back and forth between Mrs. Welch and Mr. Redding's faces. â€Å"Now then. Shall we renegotiate your position?† Angeline was in awe after we left the office and went back to our dorm. â€Å"Suspension,† she exclaimed, a bit too much joy in her voice for my liking. â€Å"I really just get to skip class? That sounds more like a reward.† â€Å"You still have to keep up with your homework,† I warned. â€Å"And you can't leave the dorm. Don't even think about sneaking out because that will get you expelled, and I won't be able to save you again.† â€Å"Still,† she said, practically skipping, â€Å"this was all pretty easy.† I came to a halt in front of her, forcing her to face me. â€Å"It was not easy. You got off on a technicality. You've continually resisted efforts to follow the rules around here, and today – well, that was off the charts. You aren't back home. The only time you should even think about fighting here is if Jill is attacked. That's why you're here. Not to do whatever you want. You said you were up to the challenge of protecting her. If you get expelled – and it's a miracle you weren't – she's at risk. So get in line or start packing for home. And for God's sake, leave Eddie alone.† Her face had been kindling with anger as I spoke, but that last bit caught her off guard. â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"I mean, you constantly throwing yourself at him.† She sniffed. â€Å"That's how you show a guy you like him.† â€Å"Maybe among the uncivilized! Here you need to back off and start acting like a responsible human being – er, dhampir. Whatever. You're making him miserable! Besides, you're supposed to be cousins. You're screwing up our cover.† Angeline's jaw dropped. â€Å"I†¦ I'm making him miserable?† I almost felt bad for her. The look of shock on her face was so great that it was obvious she really hadn't known what she was doing to Eddie was wrong. I was too worked up to feel much sympathy right then, though. Jill had acted out when we'd first arrived, and that had been just as frustrating. I'd come to enjoy our peace, and now Angeline was threatening all of that. Unlike Jill, she didn't seem to realize it, and I didn't know if that made things better or worse. I left an upset and frustrated Angeline off at her dorm room and also verified with Jill that Adrian had indeed been drinking. That and my agitation were more than enough to make me want to leave campus, if only for the escape. Brayden had asked earlier if I wanted to go out, but I wasn't up to that. I sent a quick text: Can't go out tonight. Family stuff. Then I headed off to Clarence's. I'd called ahead to make sure Dimitri and Sonya were there since I had no interest in having a one-on-one visit with the ancient Moroi. He wasn't around when I arrived. I found Dimitri and Sonya huddled over some cards with blots of dried blood, speculating on how to proceed. â€Å"It'd be interesting to get Strigoi blood and see if anything happened when I applied spirit,† she was saying. â€Å"Do you think you could manage that?† â€Å"Gladly,† said Dimitri. They noticed me. As soon as she looked up, Sonya asked, â€Å"What's wrong?† I didn't even bother asking how she knew. My face probably said more than my aura did. â€Å"Angeline got into a brawl with a motivational group at school.† Dimitri and Sonya exchanged looks. â€Å"Maybe we should go get some dinner,† he said. He grabbed a set of keys from the table. â€Å"Let's go downtown.† I never would've imagined that I'd look forward to going out with a Moroi and a dhampir. It was yet another sign of how far I'd advanced – or regressed, by Alchemist standards. Compared to most of the other people in my life, Dimitri and Sonya were grounded and stable. It was refreshing. I gave them a rundown of Angeline's behavior, as well as my thinly veiled legal threat. That part seemed to amuse Sonya. â€Å"Smart,† she said, twirling spaghetti on a fork. â€Å"Maybe you should be in law school instead of the Alchemists.† Dimitri found it less funny. â€Å"Angeline came here to do a job. She wanted out of the Keepers and swore she'd devote every waking minute to protecting Jill.† â€Å"There has been a bit of a culture shock,† I admitted, unsure as to why I was defending Angeline. â€Å"And those guys today†¦ I mean, if they'd tried to get me to join their sing-along, I probably would've punched them too.† â€Å"Unacceptable,† said Dimitri. He used to be a combat instructor, and I could understand why. â€Å"She's here on a mission. What she did was reckless and irresponsible.† Sonya gave him a sly smile. â€Å"And here I thought you had a soft spot for reckless young girls.† â€Å"Rose never would have done anything like that,† he countered. He paused to reconsider, and I could've sworn there was the hint of a smile there. â€Å"Well, at least not in such a public setting.† Once the Angeline topic was put to rest, I brought up the reason I'd come here. â€Å"So†¦ no experiments today?† Even Sonya's good nature faltered. â€Å"Ah. No, not exactly. We've gone over some notes on our own, but Adrian hasn't been†¦ he hasn't been quite up to the research this week. Or up to going to class.† Dimitri nodded. â€Å"I was over there earlier. He could barely answer the door. No idea what he'd been drinking, but whatever it was, he'd had a lot.† Considering their rocky relationship, I would've expected disdain in discussing Adrian's vices. Instead, Dimitri sounded disappointed, as though he'd expected better. â€Å"That's what I wanted to talk to you about,† I said. I'd eaten little of my dinner and was nervously tearing a roll into pieces. â€Å"Adrian's current mood isn't entirely his fault. I mean, it is, but I can kind of understand it. You know we saw his dad this weekend, right? Well†¦ it didn't go well.† There was a knowing glint in Dimitri's dark eyes. â€Å"I'm not surprised. Nathan Ivashkov isn't the easiest man to get along with.† â€Å"He sort of tore down everything Adrian's been trying to do. I tried to make a case for Adrian, but Mr. Ivashkov wouldn't listen. That's why I was wondering if you guys could help.† Sonya couldn't hide her surprise. â€Å"I'd gladly help Adrian, but something tells me Nathan's not going to really put much stock in what we have to say.† â€Å"That's not what I was thinking.† I gave up on the bread and dropped all the pieces to my plate. â€Å"You guys are both close to the queen. Maybe you could get her to tell Adrian's dad how†¦ I don't know. What an asset he's been. How much he's been helping. Obviously, she couldn't explain exactly what he's doing, but anything might help. Mr. Ivashkov won't listen to Adrian or anyone else, but he'd have to take a commendation from the queen seriously. If she'd do it.† Dimitri looked thoughtful. â€Å"Oh, she'd do it. She's always had a soft spot for him. Everyone seems to.† â€Å"No,† I said stubbornly. â€Å"Not everyone. There's a split. Half condemn him and write him off as useless like his dad. The other half just shrug and indulge him and say, ‘Well, that's Adrian.'† Sonya studied me carefully, a trace of that amusement returning. â€Å"And you?† â€Å"I don't think he should be babied or disregarded. If you expect him to do great things, he will.† Sonya said nothing right away, and I shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny. I didn't like when she looked at me like this. It was about more than auras. It was like she could see into my heart and soul. â€Å"I'll speak to Lissa,† she said at last. â€Å"And I'm sure Dimitri will too. In the meantime, let's hope that if we follow your advice and expect Adrian to sober up soon, he will.† We had just paid the check when Dimitri's cell phone rang. â€Å"Hello?† he answered. And like that, his face transformed. That fierceness I so associated with him softened, and he practically glowed. â€Å"No, no. It's always a good time for you to call, Roza.† Whatever the response on the other end was, it made him smile. â€Å"Rose,† said Sonya to me. She stood up. â€Å"Let's give them a little privacy. You want to take a walk?† â€Å"Sure,† I said, rising as well. Outside, dusk was falling. â€Å"There's a costume store a few blocks away I actually want to check – if they're still open.† Sonya glanced at Dimitri. â€Å"Meet us there?† she whispered. He gave a quick nod. Once we were outside in the warm evening air, she laughed. â€Å"Ah, those two. In a fight, they're lethal. Around each other, they melt.† â€Å"Is that how you and Mikhail are?† I asked, thinking there wasn't much melting with Brayden and me, no matter how much I enjoyed spending time with him. She laughed again and glanced up at the sky, painted in shades of orange and blue. â€Å"Not exactly. Every relationship is different. Everyone loves differently.† There was a long pause as she chose her next words. â€Å"That was a nice thing you chose to do for Adrian.† â€Å"There was no choice to be made,† I countered. We crossed onto a busier street, full of brightly lit stores with water misters outside that were meant to cool off hot shoppers. I winced at what that mist was doing to my hair. â€Å"I had to help. He didn't deserve that kind of treatment. I can't imagine how Adrian's put up with that his whole life. And would you believe that what worried Adrian the most was that I would think less of him?† â€Å"Actually,† said Sonya softly, â€Å"I can very much believe that.† The costume store was still open, thanks to extended Halloween hours, but only for ten more minutes. Sonya wandered around the aisles with no real goal, but I headed immediately for the historical section. They had exactly one Greek-style dress left, a plain white gown with a gold plastic belt. I knelt down to take a better look. Opening the package, I felt the fabric. It was cheap, probably flammable. The dress was also an XL, and I wondered if Jill had learned enough in sewing club to take it in for me. With less than a week until the dance, my options were limited. â€Å"Really?† a voice beside me said. â€Å"Haven't you insulted me enough without resorting to this trash?† Standing above me was Lia DiStefano. Her curly hair was bound up with a bright red scarf, and a voluminous peasant blouse made her petite body look like it had wings. She peered down at me disapprovingly with kohl-lined eyes. â€Å"Are you following me?† I asked, getting to my feet. â€Å"Every time I'm downtown, here you are.† â€Å"If I were following you, I never would have let you set foot in here in the first place.† She pointed at the costume. â€Å"What is that?† â€Å"My outfit for Halloween,† I said. â€Å"I'm going Greek.† â€Å"It's not even the right size.† â€Å"I'll get it taken in.† She tsked. â€Å"I'm so appalled, I don't even know where to start. You want a Greek dress? I'll make you one. A good one. Not this monstrosity. My God. People know you know me. If you were seen in that, it'd ruin my career.† â€Å"Yeah, because what I wear to a high school dance will really make or break you.† â€Å"When's your dance?† she asked. â€Å"Saturday.† â€Å"Easy,† she declared. She gave me a once-over and nodded in satisfaction. â€Å"Easy measurements too. Is your sister dressing just as badly?† â€Å"Not sure,† I admitted. â€Å"She talked about making a fairy dress in sewing club. A blue one, I think.† Lia blanched. â€Å"Even worse. I'll make her a dress too. I've already got her measurements.† I sighed. â€Å"Lia, I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work. Jill absolutely cannot model for you again. It doesn't matter how much bribery you try.† Lia attempted an innocent look that was in no way convincing. â€Å"Who said anything about bribery? I'm doing this out of charity. It'd be a disgrace to let you two go out in anything less than the best.† â€Å"Lia – â€Å" â€Å"Do not buy that,† she warned, pointing at the costume. â€Å"It's a waste. You might as well set your money on fire – although, it probably wouldn't light as fast as that dress. I'll let you know when your costumes are ready.† With that, she turned on her high wooden heels and walked away, leaving me staring. â€Å"Did you get a costume?† Sonya asked me later, once the closing store forced us to leave. â€Å"Weirdly, yes,† I said. â€Å"But not from there.† Dimitri apparently wasn't done with his call, since he hadn't joined us yet. We strolled leisurely back toward the restaurant, wanting to give him more time with Rose. Other stores were closing, and the tourists were beginning to thin out. I explained the meeting with Lia. Sonya found it more amusing than I did. â€Å"Well, don't knock it,† she said. â€Å"If a designer wants to make you something, you're not obligated to give her anything else. Maybe she could help me out with bridesmaid dresses.† We crossed a less busy street and cut through a narrow alley with a brick building on one side and a tree-filled church lawn on the other. I'd admired the church on our way over, but now, in only a short time, evening had filled it with shadows and given it a foreboding look and feel. I was glad I wasn't walking through here alone. It felt strange to be reassured by a vampire's presence. â€Å"Lia does make amazing things,† I admitted. â€Å"But I don't know if we should encourage her.† â€Å"Fair enough,† said Sonya. â€Å"Maybe one of these days, you'll help me look for dresses. You've got a really good sense of – â€Å" She suddenly spun around toward the darkened churchyard. There was a look of fear on her face, but I saw nothing alarming – at first. Seconds later, four figures in black jumped out from behind the trees. One of them threw me against the brick wall while the other three pinned Sonya to the ground. I pushed back against my captor, but a muscled arm held me tightly. In the faint light, I saw a glimmer of something I never expected to see on the streets of Palm Springs: a sword. The dark figure poised it over Sonya's neck. â€Å"Time to go back to Hell,† he said.