Employee Privacy Paper

The business world is rapidly changing with the introduction to new technologies and communication methods. Business corporations, both large and small, are adapting to the new norms of society and have started to apply the internet and email usage to everyday business activities. Within every business office one can find computers, internet, and other technologies that create a quicker, immediate means to communication and allow employees to perform their many tasks and duties associated with their jobs. In recent developments, businesses have begun implementing privacy policies on both employee internet and email usage at the office. Many believe that the invasion of privacy by employers is illegal, but to the contrary, many trials and court cases prove otherwise. To begin with, businesses and corporations that have offered their employees internet and email usage within the office provide a necessary and more convenient way to perform their job duties. These amenities are a privilege to employees and must be respectfully and responsibly operated. According to a recent court case, Fraser v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. , 352 F. 3d 107 (3rd Cir. 2003), the privacy rights of employees using company internet servers for email are negated. As ruled in the court, employers have the right to monitor all emails and internet usage by employees to a reasonable extent. If an employee sends, receives, or stores an email within the employers system, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (Friedman & Reed, 2007)a. Companies may have guaranteed the privacy rights of employees emails, but guarantees are not considered law. In the Smyth v. Pillsbury Company case, a supervisor emailed an inappropriate email to their subordinate via to a home email account. After the subordinate opened the email at home, he or she continued to send the email throughout the office using the company’s internet server. After the Pillsbury company came across the inappropriate email the subordinate was immediately fired (De Pree & Jude, 2006). Regardless to the company’s guarantee the court ruled in favor of the PIllsbury Company, stating â€Å"once the plaintiff (the subordinate) communicated the alleged unprofessional comments to a second person over the e-mail system that was apparently utilized by the entire company, any reasonable expectation of privacy was lost. Another example of the rules of internet and email privacy at the office can be explained through Dow Chemical v. Local No. 564, Operating Engineers, 246 F. Supp. 2d 602 (SD Texas, 2002). Some 254 employees working at Dow Chemicals were sending, receiving, storing, or involved with the creation of many inappropriate emails circulating throughout the office. The company had some sort of software application that took a â€Å"snap shot† of all the emails and internet activity in a given work day. After examining the many different emails, the company disciplined and terminated many of the employees involved. The court decided that the Dow Chemical company was following all laws and regulations associated with the review of company emails. Even though the advancement in email technology has increased the number of emails sent daily, companies have been increasing their privacy software to coexist. Although some of these court cases and examples may seem extreme, employers need these privacy policies to eliminate any possible negative media or lawsuits that are caused by the inappropriate emails. With todays technology, emails can be sent at incredible speeds across the internet to end up in a completely different country from its origin. It is important that employers have the legal right to overlook all emails being sent through their internet server to protect themselves from future prosecution. Implementing a software program that monitors emails in an employers internet server is inexpensive and most businesses have considered it an essential software program. Employers have the right to protect themselves and eliminate the misuse of internet and email through privacy policies because a simple inappropriate comment in an email could turn into a discrimination lawsuit with the employer at fault. Consider the employer avoids any lawsuits from discriminative or inappropriate internet usage, business must know how their employees are working. Thousands of dollars could be lost if employees take time out of their work day to tend personal email or non work related web searches. With the laws and regulations in favor of the employers and businesses, employees must recognize that their employee emails and internet usage are being monitored. Employees must assume that every activity, email, or website conducted on their office computer is being overlooked by their employer. According to Dee Pree & Jude, more than 75% of business internet connections are being monitored for inappropriate usage. Any activity that does not pertain to work or has sexually inappropriate content will be logged by the computer software and viewable to the employer. Employees must expect that their computer privacy is non existent. These privacy policies could also benefit the employees, if employees time on the internet is utilized to complete job duties. While the employer monitors internet and email activity, noticing each employees use of the internet. Employers may recognize the efficiency and effectiveness of the time spent at work and reward the appropriate employees. Currently at my profession there are not many instances when employees sit down and use the internet or the company email to send information. Moreover, there are some policies implemented in the company that prevents the employees from acting inappropriate during interviews, live games, and even in their personal social media profiles. Our organization stresses the importance of representing the organization with respect and with appropriate behavior. Our policies include using appropriate language during all interviews, never acting with poor sportsmanship or selfishness while playing a game, and making sure that you are represented well in all social media profiles. Our organization believes that we are walking representation for what values and beliefs the organization stands for, and enforces all their employees to follow accordingly. Privacy is given to each employee, but once the employee is in the â€Å"spotlight† of the public, policies are enforced to ensure inappropriate behavior never occurs. In conclusion, due to the advancements in technology in the business market, businesses can now conduct business more efficiently and effectively, but with a cost to their employees. Employers are starting to implement privacy policies to both their internet usage as well as their company email allowing them to monitor over their employees. There have been numerous lawsuits and court cases against employers invading the privacy of their employees, but only to find the rulings in favor of the employers. Employees must expect these conditions at their workplaces and review the privacy policies that are being enforced. While on the employers internet, work related activities should only be conducted, and making sure emails are appropriate for the workplace will prevent employees from being prosecuted from their employer.

Productive and Counterproductive Behavior

Productive and Counterproductive Behaviors An organization will have employees with one of two behavior types. They can either be productive or counterproductive. The root cause of counterproductive behavior can be rooted in employee turnover, attendance issues, or lack of training. It is up to the organization to make an attempt to identify what the causes of their employees’ counterproductive behavior and attempt to find a workable solution. Productive Behavior and its Impact on an Organization Employers want productive behavior out of their employees because productive employees create revenue for the organization. However, employees tend to think just because they are doing â€Å"something† and not idle they are being productive. Their way of thinking would be incorrect. Productive behavior is â€Å"employee behavior that contributes positively to the goals and objectives of the organization† (Jex & Britt, 2008). As we can see merely doing something to occupy ones time is not being productive. Whether or not an employee is being productive can be measured by the cost associated with the employee’s performance and how effective they are. For example, there are two employees in a shoe store with similar sales figures and they sell the same number of shoes each month. The only difference in these two employees is that employee A works ten hours per day and employee B works a six-hour day. Employee B is the more productive employee because employee B accomplishes the same goal in fewer hours. There is a lower cost associated with employee B making him the more productive employee. Efficient employees are productive because they complete large amount of work in a short period of time. When employees are being productive they are concentrating on performing â€Å"core tasks† (Jex & Britt, 2008) and are bringing in revenue for the organization. An organization with productive employees will see less employee absences and in their turnover rate. Counterproductive Behavior Counterproductive behavior is â€Å"behavior that explicitly runs counter to the goals of an organization† (Jex & Britt, 2008). Employees who are counterprodtive may be employees who have issues with absenteeism or frequently tardy, substance abuse, they may steal from the employer, or simply have â€Å"ineffective job performance† (Jex & Britt, 2008). Any behavior that prevents an employee from conducting their job and producing for the employer is considered counterproductive. An Employee who take all day to complete a task because they are there all day and getting paid by the hour is an employee that is counterproductive. Another behavior that is counterproductive is an employee that uses unsafe practices at work. By not following safety rules employees can cause an injury to themselves or to another causing the employee to miss work. As previously stated, absenteeism is a counterproductive behavior. Strategies to Increase Productive Behavior To increase productive behavior in an organization and decrease counterproductive behavior an organization must investigate the cause. Sometimes the reason an employee is counterproductive are out of the employees’ control. For situations that are within the employees’ control, the organization must clearly outline their expectations for their employees. An organization must also outline the consequences for such negative behavior. Drug and alcohol testing and an attendance guidelines policy can be established. These policies will let the employee know what is expected of them and the consequences for not complying. The organization should also make efforts to understand why their employees are not coming to work (Associated Content, 2007). There are times when a personal issue can have its affect on an employees’ behavior. An organization can begin an employee assistance program that would offer counseling to employees if such a program were within the organizations budget. Lack of training and the appropriate tools for performing necessary job functions are factors that are out of the employees’ control. The organization needs to ensure all of their employees have all the proper tools. They can easily do a visual survey and question employees asking them what tools they could use to better perform their job function. Organizations must also ensure all of their employees have the proper training. If employees are not adequately trained they do not know how to perform their job functions. Organizations must adequately train or retrain if necessary any and all employees that require training. At times performing follow up training with all employees ensures employees are all on the same page as far as what their specific job functions are. Performance appraisals also need to be performed on all employees in order for them to know how they are performing in according with their job expectations. These performance appraisals will also serve as a tool to help the employee improve their performance and productivity. A performance appraisal should also be used to praise employees and let them know what they are doing that makes a positive impact on the organization (hrVillage, n. d. ). Both of productive and counterproductive behaviors have their impact on an organization. There are a number of reasons an employee can be counterproductive. Once the root cause has been identified an organization can begin to turn the counterproductive behavior into productive behavior. References Associated Content. (2007). Call Centers: 6 Steps to Improving Employee Attendance and Performance. Retrieved, March 29, 2010, from http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/189770/call_centers_6_steps_to_improving_employee. html? cat=31 hrVillage. (n. d. ). Employee Productivity. Retrieved, March 29, 2010, from http://www. hrvillage. com/human-resources/employee-productivity. htm Jex, S. M. &Britt, T. W. (2008). Organizational psychology: A scientist-practitioner approach, 2nd ed. New Jersey: John Wiley and sons.

Professionalism in the Job Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Professionalism in the Job Environment - Essay Example Professionalism is comprised of attitudes and behaviors. Attitudes are often described and measured because of their relationship to behaviors. Behaviorists use recognition, praise, and a regular feedback system to tell the worker how he is doing. How we do our jobs has a direct impact on one's success in his/her job. When the conduct and behavior of workforce is perceived as unprofessional, it directly impacts the integrity and public relations as a whole in an organization. Unprofessional relationship between senior and junior could affect the morale in workplace. This will result in the emergence of environment of favoritism, misuse of authority and detract of manager's ability as a leader. In an office environment people treat coworkers with a professional respect; in a social setting they treat their friends completely different. The level of personalization in the workplace depends on the context, emotional support, expressions, trust, and situation of the environment. Dressing style is also a key component of professionalism. First impressions count. A professional consultant who doesn't take the time to maintain a professional appearance presents the image of not being able to perform adequately on the job. This professional dress code is codified because many professionals have never been taught appropriate professional appearance and demeanor. ... A fresh haircut, spit-shined shoes and a crisp suit go a long way in establishing a professional demeanor. It's also about quality; most professionals can spot a cheap suit at twenty paces and high-quality dress shoes are de-rigueur. To be successful, research and practice and carefully plan the professional image you want to project. For example, if you come to an interview dressed professionally, you will feel a sense of confidence and others will sense your self-assurance. Many employers interpret your appearance in terms of what you know about the world around you and what attention you give to detail. Effective communication is also the part of professionalism. How you present your ideas are equally important. These communication skills have to be developed, honed and added to on an on-going basis as a part of your job. They are at the heart of interpersonal skills and the greater your awareness of how it all works, the more effective your communication will be. However, even the best communicators can have their communication skills undermined when they get wrong-footed, face potential humiliation, feel misunderstood or get really surprised by someone else's behavior. That's when it all seems to fall apart and people regress to all kinds of inappropriate and unhelpful behavior. One can ensure positive interactions with his coworkers with the use of different mode of communications. If the audience isn't happy with your approach or the communication itself, it has not served its purpose. You can create a positive interaction by including your audience in small talk Just as what yo u say is vital, so is how you say it. Pay attention to kinesics or body movements,

CELL BIOLOGY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

CELL BIOLOGY - Essay Example Cholera toxin alters the ÃŽ ± subunit such that the G protein becomes constitutively activated. The result is an increase in cAMP and associated kinases that would amplify the cascade effect and therefore enhance the effect of norepinephrine. If the weaker interaction is still sufficient to activate the receptor but also allows for a faster exchange rate for norepinephrine molecules, then the result would be to enhance the effect of norepinephrine. If, instead, the interaction was not sufficient to activate the receptor, then the effects of norepinephrine would be inhibited because the inactive receptor would not respond to the norepinephrine signal. This will likely inhibit the effects of norepinephrine, because although binding of norepinephrine will still activate the receptor at the same rate, the receptor would no longer be stably associated with the G protein, and the signal will not be transduced from activated receptor to inactive G protein as efficiently. If the ÃŽ ± subunit is responsible for activating adenylate cyclase and signaling an increase in cAMP and activation of resulting cAMP-dependent kinases, then altering the interaction between the ï  ¢Ã¯  § and the protein kinase will have no effect. If instead, the ï  ¢Ã¯  § - protein kinase interaction is necessary for amplification of the norepinephrine signal, then weakening the interaction will have the effect described above (i.e. it will depend on whether or not the weaker interaction is still sufficient to activate the kinase.) ⇒By inhibiting protein phosphatases in general, protein kinases—activated by phosphorylation— and their downstream targets will have longer half lives because phosphatases won’t be available to hydrolyze their phosphate groups. If these kinases and downstream targets are required to potentiate the norepinephrine signal, then the effects of norepinephrine would be enhanced. 2. Receipt of extracellular signals can cause changes in cellular physiology. Some changes

Palestine Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Palestine Crisis - Essay Example Moreover, the Arabs argued that Israel without rhyme or reason had denied them access to their religious worship sites which were on the region. This included the Al-Assa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock (Brynen & El-Rifai, 2007). The notion spread abroad and some Jews living abroad developed a feeling that they were being excluded from specific parts in the society because of the presence of anti-Semitism forms in their midst. In addition, they believed that equality could not exist between them and the other European tribes since tribes which were not theirs were totally not interested in the issues that were affecting them. They, therefore, considered themselves to be second class citizens compared to other citizens coming from other European States. The hatred they felt amongst themselves drove them to form a political apparatus where they could freely stand up for their civil rights. Their intentions and ideologies in the begging were pure with secular connotations, but when reli gious Zionism was introduced, they joined as one and changed their ideology with their sole intention geared towards provoking conflict in the land. However, Zionism was strongly opposed by many for different purposes. Their objective was to acquire land for the Jews to be considered as country and they used different approaches to make this a success. Initially, the Zionist tried to figure out different ways to make the Jews leave the country for them. They knew that by constructing a building in the land of Israel, the Jews would be quickly attracted to the region and they partially succeeded in this because some Jews had started to purchase... This essay stresses that the Jewish at the time were very spiritual and they considered Israel, which is currently a nation to be a sacred place for worshipping God. They were further promoted by the biblical writings which argued that Jerusalem was a city of God. They believed that this land was promised to them by God and that the land was them as an eternal gift from God. Therefore, they did not take it lightly when strangers visited the land or possessed possession within it (Selby, 2003). Even after they came out of the country, many amongst them always longed to return to the land. The idea is still being nurtured by a sect amongst the Jewish like the religious Zionist who view the current resettlement process as part of God’s wider plan to see it become a reality. This paper makes a conclusion that the Palestine crisis has led to untold suffering amongst individuals who have kept the past to stick to their hearts. Finding a solution to the on going crisis will bring to an end the hatred that is felt by both conflicting sides and will lead to peace in the conflict torn region. The numerous peace negotiations between the two conflicting sides are symbol of hope for peace as different issues are addressed in these negotiations. In my opinion, because of the numerous challenges faced by the two sides in their attempts to find solutions, all sides should place an intense effort and should have an open and realistic mind during the negotiation process to find a peaceful solution for both Israel and Palestine.

Financial Advisor Career Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Financial Advisor Career Plan - Assignment Example For purposes of this career plan, I have used these two occupations interchangeably because these are two closely related entry-level occupations available in the financial services industry (Murdoch, 2005, p. 8). A financial analyst and a financial advisor can work at a commercial or investment bank, a stock brokerage, or for a private financial services company, analyse financial reports for the purpose of providing investment advice, and open up similar career opportunities within the diverse financial services sector. Both occupations also require similar personal and professional qualities such as good interpersonal, analytical, and decision-making skills. This section provides a thorough analysis of the labour market conditions of personal financial advisors, based on the situation in the U.K. where I plan to pursue the first ten years of my professional career. The main reason I chose U.K., more specifically London, is that this place is the generally acknowledged financial centre of the world. A recent article (Economist, 2006) confirmed this and cited geography as one of the main reasons for its success: it is between Tokyo and New York, the financial capitals of Japan and the United States, two of the world's economic superpowers. London's location means that it can trade with both cities every day, starting the day trading with Tokyo and, just as the workday is ending in London it can also start trading with New York. Throughout the day, it can also trade with other countries in Asia (China and Singapore), the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. It is the ability of London to trade any time with any other country in the world during a normal working day that makes it attractive for financial companies to have a branch in the City, as it is called. This gives us another reason why London has become the financial capital of the world: the number of finance companies based in London is growing. This means that there are more opportunities to find employment and to gain experience because of the high demand for workers and the high supply of jobs available. This is confirmed by a recent study (Murdoch, 2005) of career prospects in the financial services sector. As the Economist (2006, p. 76) article points out, London is an economic cluster in the fast growing field of global financing. Globalisation Another reason why London provides more job opportunities is globalisation. Micklethwait and Wooldridge (2000, p. xvi) called globalisation "the most important economic, political, and cultural phenomenon of our time" characterised by the "integration of the world economy, reshaping business and reordering the lives of individuals, creating social classes, different jobs, unimaginable wealth and, occasionally, wretched poverty." The globalisation phenomenon is exerting pressure on companies and governments to adopt a global strategy, which Stiglitz (2002, p. 9) defined as "the way firms cope with globalisation, the integration of countries and peoples of the world brought about by the enormous

S.O.A.P Analysis for the ten essays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

S.O.A.P Analysis for the ten essays - Essay Example Once being an ordinary man the narrator could enjoy sensitively the beauty of the sunset on the river but since he became an adept in steamboating he started reading rivers like signs: â€Å"Now when I have mastered the language of the water, and had come to know every trifling feature that bordered the great river as familiarly as I knew the letters of the alphabet, I had made a valuable acquisition†. (100) The author supposes that each and every person can share this experience that is why the auditory is broad. Twain refers to personal experience of every adult. As an example besides his steamboating the author mentions probably one of the most evident professions for such issues- doctors. The author thinks how doctors perceive people knowing so much about person`s body: â€Å"What does the lovely flush in a beauty`s cheek mean to a doctor but a â€Å"break† that ripples above some deadly disease?†. However, this comparison can be applied to every person with broaden consciousness and awareness (96). On the one hand, the author wants to feel compassion for his lost ability to see beauty of the most ordinary things. This observation is painful for him and he regrets that the knowledge of steamboiling made him â€Å"read† nature instead of â€Å"drinking† it. He applies his argument to the doctor`s work: â€Å"Since those days, I have pitied doctors from my heart†. On the other hand, the writer understands that such changes of perception are inevitable for human and he addresses the reader with a rhetorical question: â€Å"And doesn`t he (a doctor) sometimes wonder whether he has gained most or lost most by learning this trade?† (106). The author describes his previous pure perception of the river first. This picture is full of beautiful details: â€Å"A broad expanse of the river was turned to blood; in the middle distance the

The field of psychology addresses the constant question of whether Research Paper

The field of psychology addresses the constant question of whether humans are born hard-wired with specific characteristics and - Research Paper Example However, when it comes to understanding the causes behind severe behavior problems like addiction, anger, aggression, criminal bent of mind, sadism, depression, anti-social behavior etc., then understanding the role of nature and nurture in the development of these patterns becomes an important. Hence, people in the field of psychology and psychiatry continuously make efforts to find out what it is that makes human beings behave in certain way, nature or nurture. That is, they try to know if people are genetically programmed to behave in a certain way or if their behavior is shaped by the environment. However, studies in psychology have given a hope to human beings by showing that even though human beings are programmed through their genes to behave in certain way, the environment has the power to break the genetic programming and modify the behavior pattern of human beings in positive way by strengthening the ‘good’ genes and weakening the ‘bad’ genes. The Role Of Genes Variations In Genes Genes play an important role in the development of behavior and personality pattern of human beings. Different genes are responsible for development of different habits and behavior pattern in people. Every human being has same 20,000 genes present in the body but what makes them different is its ‘variants’ or ‘flavors’ (Frehley, 2010, para.1). ... However, it is important to note that scientists are not 100% sure of this information as it is not a statement but a ‘speculation’ (Frehley, 2010, para.2). Also, it is interesting to know that every human being possesses all the genes but what makes them differ in behavior is the â€Å"less than 1%† variance in the genes (Frehley, 2010, para.5). According to Ebstein et al. (1996), the variations in ‘specific’ geneses result in different social behavior patterns in different individuals (Nicolaou & Shane, n.d., p.2). It makes one wonder if such a small amount of genetic variation is ‘major’ enough to control the will power in human being. That is, can human being acquire skills or behavior pattern that he is not genetically programmed to acquire? Evolutionary psychology, also known as ‘modern Darwinism’, is the field that helps in answering this ‘nature or nurture’ question (Nicholson, 1998, p.135). Desire For Se curity It is a natural understanding that if the circumstances and the conditions of living change, then the behavior of human beings should also change. However, according to the evolutionary psychology, human beings living in today’s modern world, still display the same ‘survival’ traits that their ancestors living in the Stone Age had displayed to survive the threats in the environment (Nicholson, 1998, p.135). This shows that even if the environment and the surrounding situations change, human beings still carry the ‘innate’ fear from surrounding and are ‘hard wired’ to behave in certain way when they sense threat. For example, people from Stone Age were genetically programmed to gather and store enough food and have

THINKING HISTORICAL ASSIGNMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

THINKING HISTORICAL ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example Moreover, President Wilson’s decision was primarily motivated by the Germany’s resumption of submarine attacks on passengers and merchant ships in the year 1917. As a result of subsequent attacks on unarmed passenger ships by the German army, the united states was obliged to set certain terms and conditions that would prohibit this act. This treaty is called Sussex pledge. Violation of this agreement by the German government primarily motivated the United States’ entry in World War 1. The military leadership in Germany was however convinced that resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare would enable it to defeat the British within five months, thus they went forward and violated the pledge. However, this decision was conflicted by Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg. He claimed that violation of the pledge would motivate the American government Participate in the war on behalf of the Allies and he claimed that this would result in the German defeat in the war. Thus the common memory is reinforced since the violation of the pledge resulted in United States entry into the World War 1. The U.S. propaganda with the picture of a lady was meant to motivate women to contributed money that would sustain and give support to the army. It had the following writings on it â€Å"WOMEN OF AMERICA SAVE YOUR COUNTRY Buy WAR SAVINGS STAMPS.† This message was conveyed by the treasury department of United States America. Thus, propaganda uses a technique that appeals for emotion. The propaganda was however been successful since women were not involved in the war directly so they hard to support their country’s army financially. The technique employed by the propaganda appeals for emotion thus obliging women to support the country. The propaganda was successful due to the fact that the American army received support in varied form, varying from wheat to money while on the war front. War propaganda definitely played a significant role in World War 1 for most

Communication and crisis Essay Example for Free

Communication and crisis Essay The paper focuses on essential communication in the community crisis situation described in the provided scenario. The paper includes the following: The individuals or groups that will be communicating inside and outside the organization during this crisis situation Potential advantages and challenges associated with communicating within the organization and with the public and private sectors during this crisis situation Differences in communication processes used in crisis situations, including what you learned from the situations in the scenario and how you might incorporate that knowledge to improve health care communication strategies Appropriate technology, such as social media, affecting communication during the crisis situation and how these technologies may be used to enhance communication How technology might be used differently now than it was during the crisis situations described in the scenario Media opportunities during this management crisis The paper cites a minimum of three sources, one from the University Library and another from the course textbooks or Electronic Reserve Readings, to support the paper’s position. Additional Comments: The paper—including the title page, reference page, tables, and any appendices—is consistent with APA guidelines as directed by the facilitator. The paper is laid out with effective use of headings, font styles, and white space. Rules of grammar, usage, and punctuation are followed; spelling is correct.

STA Travel Business Strategy

STA Travel Business Strategy STA travels primary aim is attract young and active as well as adventurous consumers anywhere around the world. A sensible business strategy might be to offer what the customer want when they need it, By operating more than 400 retail agencies around the world STA continues to take more risky environment and would planning to expand into new markets to further its reach in to the student travel world. As many of organizations, STA travel managers give the impression that upgrading or changing components of information system will positively impact a business strategy. Therefore it takes advantage to expand it market by developing staff training mechanisms on networking system and modernizing its electronic communication with their customers. STA provided BLUEe which is a single booking system pointed to every purchase in STA travel by offering features on network, infrastructure, finance and operating system. Furthermore STA make available to their customers a highly interactive webs ite which attributing video reports STA customers about their travel destinations and freely downloading facilities the second life client or mainland as an advantage to becoming a playing member. It is important to balance the strategy triangle. By making any changes in the information strategy or organization strategy in first then the triangle getting out of balance and will be have an effect on other involving areas too. By considering on that view point when STA building their virtual world they do changes in business strategy like making staff are more productive and making widest possible work place opportunities. As well as STA travel is trying to attract more customers by holding expensive resources, using expertises knowledge and international programs in their group service division. By building these changes they trying to make connection between managers and their travelers. STA travel build a contract to develop their marketing attendance on second life through the computer simulated virtual world. As a well run organization the business strategy of the STA makes the rest of the organizational and informational strategy is not appear a big different. Organisation Strategy When considering the STA travel organisation design, STA had grown-up and spread out its global reach through a chain of mergers. To responsive to their globally distributed and various cultural consumers that the STA organised around responsiveness and would be including elements of autonomy, empowerment and authority as close to the action as possible. If organisation needs to have responsive, it would not work to have centralized decision making authority. Because it takes long time to get information up and decisions back to the field. The travelling process organised through the market analysis and service histories. Also they do series of organisational process (such as STA travel second life, by building a virtual world) and make sure customers the STA travel is able to actually ready to provide their booking service when customer need their service. STA designed web portal attract more travellers in to business and provide more information by downloading second life client software guide. From this second life web site STA travel offer their potential players to free download game and through the online the software connected to the grid computer servers and it is hosting one small area of many islands and the mainland. The new organisation structure in STA is centralized and provide more flexible infrastructure. Accordingly it has most advantageous of environment for monitor and implement new process. STA travel implements shared services measurement for certain processes and functions. And also STA provide level of structure when they making any decisions (CODA Group, p.3) In STA second life travel locations structure organisation would include; Dedicated portal and orientation island this will provide easy ways students to joint their second life and learn to find the way to the virtual world Virtual dorms helps to have private meetings and get together. Virtual travel destination provide experience in Mayan ruins, Asian temples and French cafes. STA travel main office provide the tour package information Produced Live weekly events and tours Sandbox provide practice to build own their virtual world. Information Strategy STA travels information strategy supports its business strategy through the innovation and openness. It has decentralized information strategy in each business unit and each unit responsible for their own IT operations. Currently STA has consistent and cost effective IT base that provide facilities to maintain of their world around operations. (Savvis ,2009,p.) Its web portal attract potential travellers by permitting their customers to downloads their client software and maintain online travel arrangements to suit the needs of the business. Their web sites provide mechanism to connect to their world wide travellers, to take their bookings, to provide services when the traveller needs more information regarding any destination and link to other branches. In STA most counties web pages consist look and feel and each country marketers feel free to design their marketing campaign using methods attach to internet. Fir instance, the US office run a virtual marketing campaign for spring break called body shots. To get more advantage they advised it on face book and Myspace too and also they offer facility to their customers to contact them through emails. STA taking the advantages of the through their new web technology such as they used to advertise, set up discussion groups and entertainment , use tools like second life to promote its services. Furthermore, STA travel information strategy support to their business strategy by helping to meet their business objectives of revenue generation as well as increasing referral income and improving online business sales conversion rates. Moreover, STA travel accept to work with IBM global Business Service and build up long term business plan with them to develop their business strategy. Also they help to STA travel to implement a global electronic commerce technology system to control STA across multiple web sites as the same time they offering the elasticity to adopt their local content. By having support from IBM and Open Text, STA travel keep up their latest online tends to get more benefit on their global business. The STA travel increasing their sites demand by offering new facilities, such as user generated travel log access and personal recommendation. Very speedily they rolled out new online services to thirteen countries. They can easily and quickly make the updates and changes in the web sites. Because the template or code of the web site updates are implement only once to the master project. (Open Text, 2009) It is good having virtual staff with proper information technology knowledge according to their whole system changes, because it will be more efficient and lead to increase their production and business operations. The STA travel flexible information structure supports the innovation and creativity to its business strategy. 2. According to porters value chain model STA travel also do some activities that create, deliver and support the organizations service. The real world From the beginning STA travel attract their customers through the retail travel agencies. Most of these agencies located in the near or on the campuses. When they started to run their application through internet they met new online competitors. For a instance, student universe and student city and less focused online travel agencies like Travelocity and Expedia. However porters value chain model suggests that competition can come from lowering the cost to perform activities and adding value to product or services. To be approachable to their global and culturally different customers STA travel gives more independent, responsibility and authority coverage. STA travel branches in each country have a power to maintain their own travel sales and marketing arms. north American STA division owned highly interactive web site which providing video reports about their travel destinations. As we can also think that there is tremendous relationship between STA travel business and information strategy. Because of the information system completely support what STA travel trying to accomplish in their business plan. Such as STA travel provide flexible and reliable information on a worldwide scale through their web site. They introducing different cultures, provide the experiencing with variety people and places around the world, make study groups, works and entertainment facilities. STA travel business model build up to meet the individual customer requirements through their on line booking and information system. STA travel expecting feed back about their quality vision from customers. Also they visible in the value chain on the product and service selling point, the place the where the travelers buying their tickets, in the airline operating point. STA always able to provide best value for their customers and had world class finance foundation in the financing system. (CODA Group, p.) The virtual world The work package as described in the contract with Electric Sheep Company (ESC) will develop virtual marketing on second life. This package given more attention to the island by designing high visibility site regarding on second life, producing the island and manage the events. Also by using electronic performers firm organized to marketing in virtual environment. From the second life web site players can download the client game software. Once in the online the client software connected to a grid of computer servers, each hosting area contain many islands and mainland which present in the second life. Machinima competition among current residents of second life is important point in the virtual world value chain because machinima is a style of movie making by using avatar as members of the cast and then using those entire make a film mix with virtual world context too. Selected videos provide within second life with their service information. STA travel provides opportunities to players to make up initial design of their online persona their avatar. From this mechanism players can see back of their avatar, nearby people, signs and buildings. And For new players system provide basic tool including instant massage and chat capabilities for communication with each other. In the contract mentioned that island include the STA mall and presenting free or with payment virtual goods which providing from second life trades, community lounge area, exhibition area for holding the events, STA information centre, various online initiatives and information about their travel partners. Further more plan to provide mix of tours of second life, live music from local musicians as well as tutorial sessions. 3. STA is a larger globally expanded student travel agency, presently attracting more than 6 million travelers world widely. It provide reasonably price as well as wide spread services to their customers. Such as financing air and train tickets, booking facilities for travelers accommodations, work and tours and study programmers. Furthermore they provide subsidiary services relating to their main services. Such as shopping discount cards, travel insurance, electronic visa processing system and discounted cell phone services too. Additionally, STA travel organization locates their retail agencies around the world and operates numerous call centers and stylish web site which make easier access to their world wide customers when their bookings and online travel research and customer support service. (Savvis ,2009,p.) STA travel is more competitive, well leading sales organization. By presence in second life, STA travel arranged more web base analysis and activities than earlier life. By providing free downloading client software to second life or occurring facilities to visit mainland. Because of more entertainment and new technology they use STA able to achieve more customer satisfaction and attraction. Second life strategy generates numerous destination islands to attract more customers and holding machinima competition among the second life clients. Machinima the movie making style make films by using avatar as cast members and with the context of virtual world. The main idea is to boast second life members who already make virtual world. STA travel used some of selected movies to provide information regarding existing visiting places and more details about those packages. The orientation island is another important element in the second life strategy. Most of the organization makes it to promote their island but it is main barrier to newcomers. For the eve ry newcomers orientation island provide lessons in communication, mobility and also avatar outfitting. However, it is difficult to maintain and attract return visitors in Destination Island. Newly, STA introduce new social community service to their customers such as share stories and questions with each other in the world. In the second life strategy STA travel try to maximize their online campaign by keep an eye on all activities on web applications. Additionally, make the improvement in visitors online visit by using analytics web tools and given that broader approaching to business performance. 4. As mentioned in case, still STA travels does not sign contact and its work package explain that commitments to develop virtual market in the second life. The Electronic Artists, a specializing company in marketing virtual environments will be going to create web blog. However keep the machinima completion with other second life residents. It is good idea making movie in the context of virtual world and planning to attract more clients and by using best selected movies to provide same real world services to second life. By taking advantage in virtual STA in second life customers can save time and money taking information from web portal before actually they make any tour. other interesting point in here is the earlier visit traveler can make an web account by placing their own tour experiment in second life and have a discussion group and also they can make feed back about STA travel campaign. STA virtual world applications help to predict customer behavior by providing Enjoyment attractions. 5. When considering the STAs virtual world, there are several threads we can face, such as use of new technology, IT support, business development, arising legal security issues, grown up content and discussion group and cost.For the large scale of virtual world need speedy computer processor and video cards with steady network. Therefore players want to familiar with the new technology parts and need to have knowledge in IT environment. STAs virtual world completely run by the grid computer server therefore it is essential for the IT support to maintaining and running the STAs virtual world. by considering current and future business development it is essential to take expertises support in their IT strategy and wants to handle the system carefully. Another challenge STAs virtual world has to face with the personal information safety and data protection. Players mostly concerns security issues given by the vendors before they enter to the second life. When bearing in mind the content o f the virtual world, concerns of the legal issues important point to vendors, for an instant gambling. When providing software guide about the virtual world it is vital to think about time they have to spend. Most of players expecting shot time leaning curves. STA needed carefully planned about their investment for lon term virtual world development.( Penfold, 2008,p.) The SWOT analysis used to concerns the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threads for STA virtual world in second life. Strengths Providing better travelling experience with enjoyment is main advantage I can see in the STA virtual world in second life. Pdf6 Considering the network services it is providing quicker, easier online facilities such as through the web portal they can access user travel logs and private advice. STA own independently running web sites all around the world. (Open Text, 2009) Weaknesses main disadvantage is the cultural differences they have to face with when they expanding globally. Technology difficulties are the next weakness that the STA has to familiar in their virtual world in second life. Because the there are able to occurring functionality difference from site to site. and also to provide learning-edge services to younger generation is more costly. (Open Text, 2009) Opportunities STA virtual world in second life adding variety of interactivity and enjoyment opportunities for their clients life. Social interaction and group communication is another opportunity can be able to access. ( Penfold, 2008,p.) During the team players communication virtual world helping them by providing instant feedback, can be set up trust through several communication paths and enable to remove boundaries in geographic and culture differences. Can offering a chance to improve their member attraction by providing playful environment. (Owens,Davis,Murphy,Khazanchi Zigurs, 2009) Threats when considering further more, the time limits, new technology support and available resources are main challenges in the second life. ( Penfold, 2008,p.) It is challenging to find new technology well-known and educated audience in each location. In addition, it is not easy task to control content of individual sites and always to keep STA travel organizations information current. (Open Text, 2009) 6. It is not true that attendance of STA virtual world cannibalizing its real world presence. STA virtual world just only taking more advantages in business strategy than real world by improving their earlier web based technology capabilities. For a instance the machinima style just has step further technology advantage only the content or the services by using it same as STA provided in their real world, providing existing visiting places information and information reflect to how to travelers get there. Because of virtual world capabilities providing more facilities to collaborate and interact its more attractive with second life members. Furthermore in the virtual world student can easily and quickly give feedback on their experience and to make upgrades and changes in the web sites is quicker than eailer. (Owens, Davis, Murphy, Khazanchi Zigurs, 2009) The virtual world development and vividness of environment have some similarities to the real world web. In the virtual business in second life have joint technology like stream media, 3D together with grid computing and all are apply in to the virtual world structure. Therefore in conclude can suggest development of the virtual business strategy is parallel to the earlier web base business development have in the real world. And these business relationships more effectively help to the virtual world developments. (Wei, 2007,p.) 7. To get better answer for this question I suggest it is important to go beyond with the benefits severing by STAs virtual world in second life. Second life is likely a virtual world society. Virtual world has brightness environment and new technology ability to make available occasion to build social interactions and partnership with other team members. Also virtual world and its technology ability support teams to take challenges in IT field. This technology facility is unique advantage in the virtual world. By using STAs virtual world technology capabilities quickly members can have face to face group discussion using their avatar in virtual space. Members can modify, design and build their avatars like to produce direct trust. Another advantage and possible chance that people can taken from current virtual world technology is can share virtual objects and documents in between virtual world and other software tools too. And new technology expertises expect that this opportunity will be explore within the virtual competitors. (Owens,Davis,Murphy,Khazanchi Zigurs, 2009) Furthermore, virtual world provide more cost effective platform to discover STAs travel destinations. For the newcomers they provide a flexible introductory programmers and chances to have an experience in virtual world and offering student support for innovation and research on traveling destination. Another point we need to bare in mind that most of second life competitors having the benefit from virtual world technology. Virtual world is not just a fun space it have potential improvement in educational programmes too. ( Penfold, 2008,p.) By considering above facts I suggest that STA management may taken this action by bare in mind that their main target audience is younger generation and usually students like to move to virtual world in second life fun to use, make more interest in learning and have an interactive experience. In addition, uses and technology capability provide in the virtual world in the second life be able to carry on wider grow globally. Because currently, most of the young people use virtual technology to learn, entertain and work as also build up more social interaction. More over, nowadays among the younger generation the time virtual world is becoming a more common place for communicating with each other including instant massage, chat facilities and email service in the virtual space. (Penfold, 2008)

Abortion Essay -- essays research papers

Partial-Birth Abortion Act During the Clinton administration the Partial-Birth Abortion Act, a bill that would make it illegal in all of the United States for a partial-birth abortion to be performed, caused major debate throughout the House of Representatives and the Senate; recently different versions of the bill had been passed through the both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In prior years Clinton had vetoed similar bills to ban partial-birth abortions. The House and Senate have passed somewhat different versions of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (S-1692), sponsored by Congressman Charles Canady (R-Fl.) and Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.). This bill would place a national ban on partial-birth abortions. President Clinton successfully vetoed similar bills in 1996 and 1998. When the Senate approved S.1692 last October, it was by a margin two votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. The congressional bills are similar to a Nebraska law that was struck down by a five-justice majority of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 in the case of Stenberg v. carhart. After carefully examining that ruling, the leading sponsors of the bill decided that it would be more productive to focus on other pro-life bills for the remainder of this congressional session. (National Right to Life News, August 2000) Partial-Birth Abortion is used after twenty weeks of pregnancy. The doctor pulls the baby out of the mother with forceps feet first and stops when the only thing remaining inside the mother is the baby’s head. The doctor then takes a pair of scissors and inserts them into the back of the neck of the child, spreads them apart and then proceeds to suction the brain of the child out of it’s head. The child is now no longer living and can be disposed of. Under current legislation the only factor that separates partial-birth abortion from homicide is the fact that the child’s head remains inside the mother while the procedure is performed. The Partial-Birth Abortion Act is not a bill to make abortion illegal just partial-birth abortions. Those who support this bill in the Senate are pro-life, whil... ...ter, June 2001) The laws were overturned by the United States Court of Appeals in Illinois and Wisconsin following the Supreme Court’s lead. United States District Judge Arthur Tarnow overturned the ban in Michigan. Planned Parenthood had challenged the laws in all three states and was said to be gratified by the decisions. â€Å"We are pleased with these rulings because they protect women’s health from being sacrificed to a dishonest campaign to demonize a safe and medically necessary procedure.† Planned Parenthood continued," And we are reminded again, as all Americans should be, of the importance of a fair-minded and independent federal judiciary.† Another problem with the ban on partial-birth abortions is what to do in the case of a health threat involving the mother. If a pregnant women faces death through the birth of her child do we save the mother or the child? Another problematic example is if the mother already has children, and partial-birth abortions are illegal, the child could potentially be born and the mother could pass leaving all of her children to grow up without a mother.

Defining Good Advice :: Definition Essays

Defining Good Advice What is good advice? As Rosymar stated, "Good advice is general, specific, and a helpful idea that could transmit confidence and security, usually, we get it from someone we trust." Good advice, to me, is some help in life that comes from a person that the advisee trusts. Advice is good when it is given thoughtfully to a person. It has to be from the heart, not just said for the sake of being said. Generally, good advice has to come from experience. I can't tell a friend that I understand a situation if I have never experienced it myself. Although, the advisor won't know everything about anything, with the advisors' experience, reliable advice should be given. I have found and observed that the best advice is given from someone that knows what it feels like to be in the same position. Otherwise, the advisor is just guessing as to what the right way to solve the problem. How does good advice work? Good advice is only found useful if it relates to the situation. Take road signs for example. A "watch for moose" sign wouldn't be placed in the middle of Los Angles. It is not right because (I am assuming) there aren't enough moose in Los Angles that people need to be careful while driving. The advice may be used later on in life, though, just as long as it applies. It also works when it is not forced on the advisee. The final result from the pressure is the advisee feeling rotten for the way he/she handled the situation. The only way the advisee will learn from the experience is if he/she decides which part if any to be used them selves. Advice doesn't work if it is not truthful. The advisee would not be asking the advisor for advice if a truthful, helpful, and understanding response wasn't expected. If the advisee respects the advisor enough to ask for help, the advisor should respect the advisee enough to give honest advice. I agree with the notion that good advice and good writing are connected. Language can be written or spoken, so I think that it is language and good advice that are connected. The language influences the way that a person interprets the message. If the advice is truthful and doesn't 'beat around the bush' it is more effective.

Ireland and Its Development Essay -- Irish Ireland Economy Essays

Ireland and Its Development 1. Introduction Ireland has faced extremely fast development in many industrial sectors during the last decades. This has not happened by accident and that is what made it for us an interesting case to study in more detail. The Irish government policy towards Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) has affected in large extend to Multinational Organizations’ investment decisions into Ireland. The FDI is one of the main focuses through the paper as we see that they have had a major impact on the development of Ireland during the 80’s and 90’s. In this paper we will focus on three main areas. First area is a view to the historical development of the country from the mainly agricultural driven society in the 50’s to a highly developed industrial country in the 21st century. The second part of this paper will focus more carefully on the reasons why this development has been possible. We will go through some theory about government policy in attracting Foreign Direct Investments. The last part of this paper will focus on the company point of view of FDI. We will go through one company example and discuss this according to an introduced theory of companies doing FDI. With this paper the group wants to give the reader a more specific view to the fast and well-planned development Ireland has been able to reach during the recent decades. We hope that this view encourages the reader to take a closer look to the fascinating Irish culture and we hope that the reader will get some perception what possible tools a government has to attract foreign firms to invest in the host country. 2. Economic History 2.1 Overview Ireland will go down in economic history as the economic miracle in the last decade of the twentieth century. For most of the 20th century although, even well into the late 1980s, Ireland was in economic terms quite unsuccessful. Chronic unemployment led to large emigration flows and dampened entrepreneurial activity. The country’s economic situation eventually reached crisis levels because of the spillover effects of the two oil shocks of the 1970s and the high interest rates resulting from the United States’ anti-inflationary policies of the early 1980s. By 1988, the public debt exceeded 140% of Irelands gross domestic product. But the unemployment situation was also serious, emigration resurged, the economy stag... ...Donnell Kevin D.; â€Å"The economic transformation of Ireland-Underpinnings, Impact and Sustainability of the Rapid Economic Growth†; Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, 1998 †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  OECD; â€Å"Knowledge worth the investment†, OECD 2003 (http://www.oecdwash.org/NEWS/LOCAL/oecdwash-jan2003.pdf) †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Somers Michael J; â€Å"The Irish Economy†, National Treasury Management Agency, 2000 (http://www.ntma.ie/Publications/Parismay00.pdf) †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Torkildsen, Erik et al.; â€Å"Ireland in the Global Market for Foreign Direct Investment-A study of Eight Norwegian Companies†; Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, 1996 †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  World Bank; "Social Policy and Macroeconomics: The Irish Experience", World Bank, 2001 (http://www.worldbank.org/transitionnewsletter/octnovdec02/pgs20-23.htm) †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  World Bank; â€Å"Ireland: Participation in macroeconomic policymaking and reform†, World Bank 2002 (http://www.worldbank.org/participation/web/webfiles/ireland.htm) Internet sources †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.ida.ie †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.oecd.org/htm/M00008000/M00008465.htm †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.cso.ie †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  www.finance.gov.ie †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ei.html

To what extent did the domestic reforms of Napoleon complete the work of the Revolution?

Napoleon had a plan for the revolution. The idea of it was that France would become an equal state. The main things that the revolution came forth with was the ability to give freedom of a religion, a more enforced law which would help try and deal with the crimes that were being committed throughout France, with the criminals getting away with their crimes. Napoleon’s main reform was to get France out of the huge debt they were in. Napoleon also heavily concentrated on the education reform, throughout all of France.One of Napoleons biggest accomplishments throughout France was that he gave people the right to practise their own religion wherever they wanted to without them having any consequences, such as being punished for not being a Christian. Napoleon even helped pass a new act, called the Citizen’s Act. This was a huge accomplishment for Napoleon as it meant it guaranteed freedom of religion, meaning you could practise any religion you wanted in France. Napoleon e ven granted a homeland for the Jews, he helped create a group to represent them which was elected by the Jews, to ensure they had what they desired in the elected group.One of his greatest accomplishments in religion was ensuring that Jews were no longer restricted to living only in the â€Å"Ghettos†. On top of this in 1807 he made sure that Judaism was made one of the already several official religions in France. Overall Napoleon was very successful with his freedom of religion as he was able to pass a citizens act and allowed Judaism to be added to the official religions of France, because of this Napoleon became increasingly popular with the Jews. Napoleon needed to improve the law and its enforcement during his domestic reform.He established and created something called the Prefecture. This was built up of several departments, each having its own leader of the department with the crime what was being committed in its area. Once this had been created France saw a fall in crime levels, so was reasonably successful in reducing the crime rate within France. Napoleon was very keen on improving the education throughout France. Napoleon had many ideas that he out into action. One of his most important idea was to introduce 4 different types of schools, these included; Primary school.Secondary school, lycees schools which were military schools run on the lines for the soldiers and technical schools. Depending on what the individual wanted to do as their chosen career, depended on what they were taught. For example, if a student wanted to be in a military background the school would teach the student things such as maths, physics and military tactics. Other jobs would teach students languages and philosophy. This procedure was proven to be extremely successful as more than 18,000,000 were attending the 36 schools on the military lines out of Frances 30 million people.Napoleon made sure that once a student has finished their selected teachings for their care r, they were guaranteed and job in the career they had chosen. Napoleon even tried to promote equality within his education reform by allowing females to study things such as religious studies. Napoleon was extremely successful with his education policies as he was able to get millions of people educated within France and got them all jobs after they had finished school, and even educated women. Napoleon continued to use the two types of money which were being used, the assignat and the franc.He also created of the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury as he also believed this would help France better their wealth overall. Napoleon used the National lottery, he did this so people would buy tickets so he could generate an income, and this generated around 9 million francs. Napoleon then also took about a further 3 million francs from bank loans. At the time, many of the tax collectors were corrupt and would take a lot of the money, to overcome this Napoleon employed 840, new and profe ssional tax collectors.This was done to get rid of the corrupt tax collectors stealing the money, which was intended to go the government. Once these tax collectors were employed, the French government gained about 660 million francs. The bank of France was also set up, where people could take out a loan with 6% interest. This increased the amount of money that the bank earned by quite a lot. Napoleon also decided to increase the tax on some of the items being sold in France. These included things such as tobacco and carriages.These items were on of the highest sellers in France, especially tobacco, which meant the government generated a huge amount of income from the tax on these items. The French government also bought and gave bread to the poor; this meant Napoleon never had to devalue the currency and was able to control inflation. Napoleon was also able to reduce poverty, while reducing the cost of living. Napoleon generated a huge income from these policies, generating 660 mil lion francs from tax collection alone. In conclusion, I think that Napoleon did complete the work of the revolution.He was able to give equal rights to people practising different religions such as Judaism. He was able to give a successful education to individuals to become a professional in their career and was even able to give women an education. He was successful in restoring law and order by giving each area a department in which they could control the law. He was incredibly successful in increasing income for France by increasing tax and replacing tax collectors. Overall I believe that Napoleon was very successful in restoring successful domestic reforms and was able to successfully complete the work of the revolution.

Releasing Protected Health Information Essay

When it comes to the handling of patient’s records and them being released, it is not an easy process. It is very important for each patient that opts to have their information released for whatever reason sign a release form stating that they authorize their information being released. There are times in which a patient’s records can be released without having their authorization. In this case, the records can be requested from government agencies, legal agencies or a representative, and a research that may subpoena a medical profession for this information. Every person that becomes a patient in a healthcare facility is protected by something called HIPAA. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law passed by Congress that amended â€Å"the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve portability and continuity of health insurance coverage in the group and individual markets, to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in health insuran ce and health care delivery, to promote the use of medical savings accounts, to improve access to long-term care services and coverage, to simplify the administration of health insurance, and for other purposes,† according to Essential of Healthcare Management (2011). HIPAA is a set of rules that address the use of privacy and confidentiality of an individual’s health records. Any facility that practices with the care of a patient is subject to the privacy rule of HIPAA. The covered entities would be considered privacy and disclosure of information as protected health information. The covered entity is required to obtain an individual’s authorization prior to disclosing any health information. Every patient when seen by a healthcare professional is made aware of their rights to how they want their medical information to be used. The reason for this is to keep patients information private and protected.  What it does allow is some information to be able to be transferred with the patient from physician to physician so that they the physician can know something about the patient to help them in the best way that they can. There are different circumstances by which agencies or covered entities have the right or legal obligation to access or obtain Patient’s Healthcare Information (PHI). PHI is under the HIPAA that gives the privacy regulation the privacy that should remain between the patient and doctor. Under some circumstances the gove rnment has the right or legal obligation to a patient’s medical records. Any health care data for analysis in support of policy, planning, regulatory or management functions, it is permitted to disclose information to other government agencies for health data systems (according to http://www.ncdhhs.gov/healthit/exchange/NCLaws_alignment.pdf). Any non-covered government entities may only maintain a limited amount of data sets of information. This is so that the identifiers (name, address and Social Security numbers) can be removed before the government agency receives them. When files are usually authorized to the law officials, it may be because the person can be a victim of domestic violence to a government authority, abuse, and neglect. In a case like the patient is informed that their information has been released unless the health facility believes that a serious harm will occur or the person may portray to themselves. Researchers may need to use files without being authorized to do so if they need to find a treatment for the person. Trying to receive the approval from a patient can be time consuming by which can getting a glimpse at the files and starting the job is much easier. I believe that no matter what kind of storage that is placed on medical records, it is secured and should be assessable when needed. Law official/ researchers are able to subpoena records due to research or something. I believe that they should be authorized to obtain records without a patient’s authority depending on the case. I believe that having records subpoena should go by a base-to-base case. I believe that privacy safeguards are adequate to support the law agencies, researchers, and government agencies of having them be able to obtain information about a patient even without their consent. I believe that in the long run, it makes it easier for some of these agencies to be able to do their job without any interruptions and debater. Before starting this class, I did not know as much as I do now. I believe that the HIPAA law  is something that protects patients from their PHI being exposed to the wrong people. It is something that is great that is in place! References Green, M. A., & Bowie, M. J. (2011). Essentials of Health Information Management (2nd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar, Cengage Learning. Legal Requirements for Consent to Disclose Patient Information. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.ncdhhs.gov/healthit/exchange/NCLaws_alignment.pdf U.S. Department Health & Human Services. (2013). Retrieved from http://ww

Bad Cafeteria FoodFinal

However, this only my opinion bout how feel about public school nutrition, but I will get more in-depth with this issue later in this research. The History Poor nutrition has been a problem for years in the public school system and contributing to childhood obesity. Before childhood obesity became an issue and what kind of nutrition a child was receiving from outside the home, people would come home from school/work to have lunch with their family. However, the concept of cafeteria school lunch choice did not exist in the early years (1930-1960).While time continued to move forward, the ideal of installing vending machines begin to emerge in a few public schools. Cafeteria's today lean more towards federal nutritional recommendations, regional culinary preferences, and portion sizes to cut down on food cost for that particular school district. The question often comes up â€Å"how health is cafeteria food in public schools? † There are numerous factors that points to the fact there is unhealthy eating in school. However when the food is prepared, the cafeteria has a large crowd to feed, therefore; nutrition is their least worries.I think that the school system wouldn't spend the extra money on better nutrition foods for the students. In recent surrey, taste cost and convenience were the main factors in why students choose to eat this unhealthy food. Environmental Stance From an environmental prospective, most public school systems are reaching out to local farmers and producers for their products. By getting their products from local farmers and producers, this will cut down on cost and slow down global warming through transportation.The public schools that continue to outsource their products, it has a high chance of bringing in parasites and other insects. I think school food environment plays a huge role in society and contributes to childhood obesity. There a many health risks that is associated with childhood obesity. The school cafeterias allow the students to purchase junk food and extras doing lunch hours. Although the students make a big transition from grade level to a higher grade level, their appetite gets bigger and requires more food consumptions.As the student gets older, they will become more particular on what they want to put in their body, and without the practice of eating healthy, this could promote health risks. This exemplifies that practicing eating healthy can contribute to an ongoing healthy lifestyle. What Can Be Done? I think that I have concluded that cafeteria food is unhealthy for students in public schools. However, think this could be change with the correct steps and strong support from the parents and staff. Once the correct changes have been put into place, I think the public school system could also promote a healthy eating lifestyle.So now the question is â€Å"what is the solution to this problem? † Finding a Solution We know that cafeteria food is bad for the students in the public sch ool systems and the contribution to childhood obesity. The Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, set nutrition standards for all food served in schools (school Nutrition†) to promote an early healthy lifestyle. However, since the problem has been revealed, the next thing to do is to put in a solution and advantages. There are a few options that I will discuss later during this research on different solutions that may prevent this ongoing problem.Hunger-Free The Hunger-Free Act of 201 0 improved the health of 32 million children that ate school lunches the whole time during their enrollment. (school Nutrition†) A lot of these improvements came from shrinking the meal size that the students were receiving. For example, some schools offered the students fruits instead of extra meats. The government released new changes in the duration such as, low calories meals and whole grain breads. Because of the government stepping in, a campaign was put in place to reduce the number of overwe ight students through exercise and a healthier lifestyle.Advantages From a political stand point, the government has organized programs to help the growing problem of childhood obesity as I stated earlier. The program will add more fruits and green vegetables to breakfast and lunches with less salt usage. (school Nutrition†) Therefore, the government also added to reduced starchy foods like rice and potatoes. The government estimates that the rules will add about 33. Billion in costs to the program for an efficient use. (â€Å"Cafeteria Food and Economic†) think that the improvements that the government is doing will decrease the rapid rate of childhood obesity. From our perspective, the new rules improve school nutrition, but at the same time give schools flexibility to serve a variety of foods to meet the standards,† said Carrey Henry. Some school districts are turning to their local farmers and producers to cut down on global warming. This is an advantage becau se, by getting the products locally the gas usage that is use doing shipping and which toxic chemicals are been release into the atmosphere. Another advantage is that there will be fewer chemicals used to preserve the produce as it's been shipped to the school.An estimated 25 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by people in industrialized nations can be traced to the food they eat Cafeteria Food and Global Warming' 2008). I think that this is a reasonable solution to help the environment while food is being disbursed throughout the school system. School meal programs across the country are run somewhat like restaurants, relying on federal and state subsidies that often make decisions for them. â€Å"Cafeteria Food and Economic†) However, when the federal government is involved more money can be moved around quickly and put to its proper use or plans. The federal government provides $2. 7 per meal for students eligible for a reduced-price lunch and 23 cents for st udents who pay full-price for their lunch. By lowering the price for meals, I think that will the student more money to eat a reimbursable lunch and breakfast during enrollment in school. The federal government helps the school system by providing funds and brightens up the economic side of things. Finding a Weakness There are many things that could be done to improve the food that's being served of the public school cafeterias. However, there are only so many ideals that can be brought up to a discussion about ways to make the food healthier.The federal government tends to oversee these things in the public systems, but its up to the student parents to enforce these rules and make sure their kids are getting the proper nutrition. Therefore, if there are some advantages, I am quite sure that there are some disadvantages among these solutions. The Disadvantage When you hear the word â€Å"disadvantage† what is the first thing that comes to our mind? However, school cafeteria f ood line may contain a number of unhealthy choices, most school cafeterias do include nutritious foods as well. I think most of the unhealthy food that is provided by the school, operates of the government budget which equals poor quality food for the students that attend that particular school district. Earlier in this research, I stated a few advantages that I feel may guide this situation in the correct direction. I hope that the disadvantages that I will state later in this research will not change your thoughts on the advantages. Stated Disadvantages Obesity is rising in the school system because of the poor nutrition that the students are receiving.Economy sits and psychologists are developing a new set of tools that promise to help relax the tension between these two competing views of school lunches. (â€Å"Cafeteria Food and Disadvantages†) However, one economic disadvantage is limited budgets for purchasing ingredients that go into a meal. Public schools are in the direst shape with only $1 per plate available for actual food costs. (â€Å"Cafeteria Food and Disadvantages†) By the school being limited on what ingredients to by, that old be a disadvantage to supplying poor nutrition to students.

Twilight 5. BLOOD TYPE

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