Internal Security Challenges

Ved Marwah Shri N N Vohra, Shri K Santhanam, Director IDSA, Ladies and Gentlemen: I deem it a privilege to be invited to deliver the IDSA Foundation Lecture. Since inception in November 1965, under the stewardship of the late Shri Y B Chavan and the subsequent direction provided by Shri K Subrahmanyam, former Director, the IDSA has acquired a creditable profile. Over the years, the IDSA has played a commendable role in enriching the security discourse and deliberations in India. It is in this context that I propose to share my thoughts with you on a matter of concern to all of us, namely, â€Å"India’s Internal Security Challenges†. India was partitioned in the backdrop of large-scale communal riots, but the partition of the country on religious lines, without taking into consideration its multiple identities, instead of bringing the communal tensions down, in fact, worsened the situation. The two-nation theory created Pakistan, and it still survives on this theory. Pakistan finds it difficult to accept the reality that India continues to be a democratic, plural, multireligious society and that India today has more Muslim citizens than Pakistan. Read this  Chapter 2 – Why Security is Needed The Government of Pakistan has taken upon itself the responsibility of not only protecting its own citizens, but also the Indian Muslims. The power structure in theocratic Pakistan, dominated by the army, the feudal landlords, the bureaucracy and the religious leaders has been able to retain its hold over the levers of power by playing the antiIndia and Islamic cards. Pakistan plays the Islamic card in its foreign policy also. It misses no opportunity to club India as an anti-Islamic country where Muslims are not safe. The continuing tensions between India and Pakistan have a direct bearing on the internal situation in India. They have further complicated the internal security situation. * IDSA Foundation Day Lecture delivered by Shri Ved Marwah, Governor of Jharkhand on November 11 2003. Strategic Analysis, Vol. 27, No. 4, Oct-Dec 2003.  © Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses â€Å"India’s Internal Security Challenges† 503 The management of internal security, therefore, assumes great importance. If the internal security issues are tackled effectively, subversion by the external forces to that extent becomes more difficult. Unfortunately, the rise of contentious politics based on sectarian, ethnic, linguistic or other divisive criteria, is primarily responsible for the many communal and secessionist movements flourishing in India. The presence of hostile neighbours enables the internal conflicts to get external support, which includes money, arms and sanctuaries. The vested interests exploit these conditions to pursue their own agenda. In a well-established political system and a developed economy, conflicts between the various group identities are kept under check as in due course they get assimilated into the national identity. But that has not happened in India as yet, where the wounds of the partition and the colonial rule have still not fully healed. Moreover, the dependence on the government by a large section of our people for their very survival sharpens these conflicts among them. The democratic institutions and the state structures are still not strong enough to fully harmonise these conflicts in a peaceful manner. Violence erupts when conflicting interests cannot be consensually reconciled. The hostile external forces, taking advantage of this situation through subversive propaganda, further accentuate these conflicts. They give material and ideological support to aggravate this sense of grievance to such an extent that a small minority are willing to become tools in their hands to subvert the stability and security of the country. In addition, a number of secessionist and the so-called revolutionary movements are operating in India today. Their goal could be to overthrow the government and bring about revolutionary changes in the structure and functioning of the state, or even secession from the Indian Union. Ever since independence, India has been facing all types of violent conflicts based on religion, caste, language, ethnicity and regional loyalties. Political insecurity further compounds the problem. Preoccupied with the problem of survival, the governments in some of the most affected states are not looking at the problem from a long-term perspective. They have bought temporary peace by compromising with the subversive forces. Such shortsighted policies can have disastrous consequences in the long run. Instead of effectively dealing with them in the initial stages when the problem is manageable, they have allowed these anti-national forces to take roots and spread their tentacles far and wide. When a state government 504 Strategic Analysis/Oct-Dec 2003 is unable to effectively deal with them, instead of strengthening the state police machinery, it rushes to the Centre to hand over its responsibility at the first sign of any serious trouble. It is not surprising that in these states some sections of the police have actually joined hands with the subversive forces against the central forces. If you cannot fight them, join them†. Finding themselves at the mercy of these subversive forces, the people tend to change sides and start supporting them instead of supporting the security forces. It would be wrong to assume that all those supporting, directly or indirectly, these forces are sympathetic to their ideology. Far from it! For most of them, preoccupied with the daily battle of survival, this is the obvious choice, because the police are unable to protect them. Polarisation on caste and religious lines can further reduce the credibility of the police in the minds of the people. The police-politician-criminal nexus can embolden the criminal elements. Their activities can create an environment of lawlessness, where influential and rich people violate the law with impunity. The police is not the only component of the criminal justice system that has suffered because of this nexus. In fact, the entire criminal justice system is under strain. Not all crimes are being registered and those registered are not being properly investigated; and even out of those charge-sheeted, very few are ending in conviction. The conviction rate in case of heinous crimes is steadily falling. In some North-Eastern states it has reached almost zero level, where the police have stopped even submitting the charge sheets in the insurgency-related cases. When the fear of legal punishment disappears, organised crime finds it convenient to spread its tentacles. The crime syndicates are finding the new communication and information technology very useful. Extortion and payment of the so-called ‘protection money’ is more widespread than we would like to believe. According to some reports, direct extortion from the government funds runs into hundreds of crores of rupees. Many of the insurgent and militant groups are not driven by ideology, but by sheer greed. Money power is a bigger motivating factor than ideology. Vested interests have developed around these groups with active connivance of corrupt politicians, police officers and civil servants. Some politicians even take their assistance during election times. They have to return their favours when they come to power. This mutually beneficial relationship has seriously damaged the quality of governance in the interior areas. The real losers are the people. The development process â€Å"India’s Internal Security Challenges† 505 gets seriously hampered in a violent environment. When large development funds are siphoned out by this unholy alliance between the criminal and corrupt forces, even the delivery of the most basic services like water, power, healthcare, education and communications becomes a stupendous task. A vicious circle starts. The deprived and the marginalised sections of the society, unable to survive in the present system, get alienated. The militant and extremist forces thrive in this environment. The rise of Left extremism is more due to these compulsions than on ideological grounds. There are media reports about the carving out of a corridor by the Left extremist forces from Nepal to Tamil Nadu. Even if there is no truth in these reports, the involvement of hostile external forces in support of the Left extremist forces to destabilise the country cannot be ruled out. The mushrooming of armed ‘Senas’ on caste and ethnic lines in some parts of the country is a direct consequence of the polarisation of the society. This phenomenon has also affected the police and the administration in general. Loss of public confidence in the capacity of the state to protect their life and property is the primary cause of this dangerous development. Far from controlling them, a politicised and partisan police actually encourages this development. The tensions in some parts of the country, especially in the tribal areas, due to a perceived threat to their identity is not new, but the rise of so many violent movements is a relatively recent development. In the border states these movements become secessionist because of the support they receive from the hostile neighbouring states. The rise of fundamentalist forces is posing the most serious threat to India’s security. Fired with religious zeal these forces have created an entirely new situation. The intelligence agencies in our neighbourhood and the organisations, like Al Qaida, and Jaish-e-Mohammad, are encouraging the so-called ‘Jehadis’ to enter India from outside. After first targeting the border states they have now spread deep inside the country. These bands of fanatics are not only indulging in subversive activities, but are spreading the virus of fundamentalism among the Indian Muslims. The break-up of the Indian Union continues to be the main goal of Pakistan’s domestic and foreign policy. Easy availability of deadly weapons with the subversive groups operating in India has created new dangers for India’s security. With the ‘Golden Crescent’, and the ‘Golden Triangle’ in India’s neighbourhood, drug trafficking poses yet another threat to our security. 506 Strategic Analysis/Oct-Dec 2003 Drug syndicates are generating huge funds, a part of which is being used to give financial support to some of these subversive groups. The intelligence agencies like the ISI are recruiting a number of ‘carriers’ in drug trafficking as their agents. These agencies provide legal immunity for their criminal activities in their own country in addition to giving them financial and logistical support. Internal security challenges are not confined to any one area, but the North-East, Jammu and Kashmir, and the areas afflicted by Left extremism deserve special mention. North-East The Naga leadership under Z. A. Phizo had challenged their integration into the Indian Union even before India became independent in 1947. The Naga insurgency started way back in the early 1950s. Since then the insurgencies in this region have multiplied and spread to many new areas. In this extremely diverse and strategically sensitive region, there are different reasons for the ethnic upsurges and insurgencies in different states. Some seek secession from the Indian Union, some others seek separate states and yet others greater autonomy within the existing state. The number of such insurgent groups could reach three-digit figures. In Manipur alone, more than twenty-five groups are operating. Thousands have died in the insurgency-related violence. Insurgencies have seriously affected the economic life of the region. The whole developmental process is seriously hampered because of this unending violence. One can imagine the plight of the people who are already living on the margin. What to talk of getting a share of the fruits of development, they are deprived even of the most basic services. Unfortunately, unlike Jammu & Kashmir, these violent movements do not stir much response in national consciousness. Even serious incidents of violence hardly find any mention in the so-called mainstream media. The geo-strategic importance of the North-East is not sufficiently appreciated even in the security establishment. All the states in the North-East share an international border with other countries and the seven North-Eastern states are linked to the rest of the country only by a narrow strip of land. The lack of physical, cultural and emotional links has encouraged a feeling of alienation, which is being exploited by the nottoo-friendly neighbours to pursue their own agenda. They are giving support and sanctuaries to many of these groups to use them as leverage against a much bigger and more powerful neighbour. â€Å"India’s Internal Security Challenges† 507 The roots of these many insurgencies in the North-East lie deep in its history and its geography. But, it would be wrong to treat it as one homogeneous region with common problems, or social systems and customs. Even physiographically, the region can be divided into three broad areas — hills, plateaus, and plains. The many ethnic groups, speaking many different languages and dialects, who inhabit this remote part of the country consider themselves as separate people with little in common with the people in the rest of the country. The lack of physical, cultural and emotional links has encouraged this feeling of separation. The partition of the country seriously dislocated the old system of communications with serious demographic consequences. At the heart of the problem, however, is the new political consciousness and an urge for asserting their identity, especially among the fiercely independent tribal communities. The partition left the entire region land-locked, and even the old road, railway and river-waterway links with the rest of the country were severed, because they all passed through East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The new rail link via North Bengal is circuitous and too long and expensive for easy access to the region. The air link is not only expensive, but also unreliable due to climatic conditions. The people have to bear enormous additional transport cost for all their supplies. Another intractable problem is created by the influx of migrants from East Pakistan and now continuing from Bangladesh. In the beginning it was confined to the Hindus leaving East Pakistan due to insecure conditions, but later, because of intense population pressure even Muslims started migrating. The fear that immigrant population will one day dominate them is keeping many of the insurgent and secessionist movements alive. The terrain in this region is eminently suitable for insurgency. The hilly terrain and dense forests provide convenient hiding places to mount ambushes on the moving convoys of the security forces. Large parts of the interior areas have little or no police presence. The insurgent groups virtually control the administration in these areas. After attacking the security force they can easily disappear into the local population. Because of deprivation and alienation, a large section of the people tend to be sympathetic to the members of these groups. It is the alienation of the people that has sustained insurgency all these years, though logistic support and sanctuaries provided by the neighbouring states play a vital role in sustaining them. The dispersion of ethnic groups across the international 508 Strategic Analysis/Oct-Dec 2003 boundaries has profoundly influenced the nature of political conflicts. However, it needs to be emphasised that internal-external linkages originate with the failure of the domestic political and administrative system in coping with the internal conflicts. Secessionist leaders often adopt alternative strategies to achieve their goal. They keep on changing their tactics and demands according to the ground situation. The intensity of the conflict depends very much on how strong the public support is. Ethnicity can become an important dimension of internal conflict when it becomes intertwined with other social, political and economic issues. As conflicting groups go from one crisis to the next, they learn by experience to raise their demands to increase their bargaining power. Political changes that offer new opportunities for personal gain and extending their influence can spark violent conflicts. Even though most of them are conscious of the fact that secession is not a viable option, they keep on raising this demand to bring together the various contending conflicts on one platform. Making common cause against the Indian state is how many of these groups with conflicting ideologies cooperate with each other in their fight against the Indian state. The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) was born out of the demand to throw out the migrants from Bangladesh, and yet its top leaders are today finding sanctuary in that country. The South Asian ountries have more in common with India than with other countries in the region. They do not even have a common boundary with each other. But this reality has not made them friendlier towards India. History and geography have encouraged negative sentiments rather than positive sentiments about India in these countries. The big powers too have not hesitated to fish in troubled waters. Till the 1970s, China was directly supporting the ins urgencies in the North-East. Strategically, politically and economically the North-East is the most sensitive part of the country and should receive the serious attention it deserves. The ongoing dialogue between the government and the NSCN (IM) is a positive development, but it is going to take a long and torturous route. The NSCN (IM)’s claim on the Naga-inhabited areas in the neighbouring states has created serious complications. The riots in Manipur in 2001 following the extension of the ceasefire to the areas beyond the boundaries of Nagaland are a pointer to the difficult road ahead. The situation in â€Å"India’s Internal Security Challenges† 509 Assam has shown some signs of improvement, but large-scale extortion by the ULFA and other groups is posing serious problems. The NLFT and the ATTF continue to be active in Tripura. They have sanctuaries in Bangladesh. Mizoram is quiet, but there are problems between the Mizos and the Chakmas, and the Mizos and the Reangs. Thousands of Reang refugees from Mizoram are staying in camps in Tripura. In spite of many rounds of negotiations between the Mizoram government and the representatives of the Reangs, so far no solution appears to be in sight. The unending internecine feud between the NSCN (IM) and the NSCN (K) has spilled over from Nagaland to the neighbouring states and even to Myanmar. A number of Meitie and Kuki groups have sanctuaries in the Chin Hills in Myanmar. The ULFA and the Bodo groups have sanctuaries in the forests of Bhutan. There are unconfirmed reports of some sort of tie-up between the ULFA and the LTTE. A number of groups have also come up in Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. Many experts have called the Naga insurgencies as the mother of all insurgencies in the North-East. The level of violence, however, in this explosive region continues to be high in spite of the fact that the ceasefire agreement with the NSCN (IM) has been in place since 1997. This only goes to show how difficult the road to peace is going to be in this trouble-torn region. It is truism to say that it is not only a law and order problem. It has many other dimensions. No strategy will succeed unless it strikes a right balance between political, economic and security measures. There is need for closer co-ordination among the policymakers. Ideally, there is need for a consensus among the major political parties. The pursuit of narrow political agenda can be exploited by the subversive groups. Many political leaders in this region indulge in double-speak. They mouth nationalist slogans in Delhi but have no hesitation in making strong anti-national statements and collaborating with the insurgent groups in the state. Nor do they have any reservation in changing parties. They frequently hop from one political party to another. In Manipur some politicians have changed sides as many as six times in a year. A chief minister changed his party three times in one month, and his coalition partners three times in 48 hours. A party label has very little meaning. Money and muscle power with active support of the insurgent groups play a key role in the elections. Most of these states are not financially viable. They hardly collect any revenue and depend almost entirely on the Union government for financial 510 Strategic Analysis/Oct-Dec 2003 support. This has caused lack of responsibility in incurring public expenditure. For example, Manipur has created a huge bureaucratic structure with a workforce of almost 100,000 on its pay roll. Over 80% of its total revenue (both Plan and non-Plan) is spent on payment of salaries and pensions. Extortion by the insurgent groups, the leakage’s of huge funds through corrupt practices leave very little for development. And they conveniently put the blame on the Centre for not giving them adequate funds. Through years of neglect this potentially rich region is today the most backward, almost primitive, part of our country. In these appalling conditions an alienated population becomes an easy target for the secessionist propaganda. Jammu & Kashmir The problem has been with us since independence even though Pakistan has no legal case. The ruler of this erstwhile princely state decided to accede to India. According to the Independence Act it was for the rulers of the princely states to decide to join India or Pakistan. Pakistan has been disputing the legality of the accession signed by the then J&K ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh. The initial hesitation of the Maharaja to accede to either India or Pakistan and the unilateral Indian offer to find out the wishes of the people of the state has given Pakistan an excuse to challenge the legality of the accession. It has been doing everything for the last 56 years to grab this state. It has not been able to achieve its objective through wars with India. So, it has started a proxy war since 1989. Waging of a proxy war fits into the Pakistani designs of bleeding India. Unfortunately, the weaknesses of the state and of the administrative systems have provided Pakistan with opportunities to fish in troubled waters. More interested in perpetuating their rule than governing the state, its rulers have been exploiting regional and religious differences. Anti-national forces thrived in this environment and Pakistan has missed no opportunity to support and encourage them. Over the years it has succeeded in building a proPakistan base in the state. Frustrated in their efforts to gain power through democratic means, some politicians joined the anti-India front, more to put pressure on the Indian government than on ideological grounds. In a state, where the overwhelming population was against communal politics at the time of partition, the fundamentalist forces have managed to penetrate into the secular polity. The many serious problems of the people have to be addressed. It is not a coincidence that Pakistan’s efforts to destabilise â€Å"India’s Internal Security Challenges† 511 he situation in the state received some success only when our own political mismanagement provided it with an opportunity to intervene, as in 1965 and again in 1989. One of Pakistan’s main aims is to divide the polity on communal lines. The attitude of the Pakistani military government is unlikely to change in the near future. But that does not mean that Pakistan should be allowed to set the Kashmir agenda. Moves will have to be made on all fronts to regain the initiative on both political and diplomatic fronts. The proposals made in the announcements by the Cabinet Committee on Security on October 22 are steps in the right direction, but the ground situation does not justify over-optimism. There are likely to be many ups and downs on this long torturous road to peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Left Extremism Making a beginning in Naxalbari in West Bengal and Telengana in Andhra Pradesh in the 1970s, the movement has since spread to many states: Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The root cause for the rise in Left extremism is the inability of the states to address the many genuine grievances of the people. The gap between the unrealistic expectations, fuelled by populist rhetoric, and their actual fulfilment has increased and not decreased over the years. The younger generation is no longer willing to put up passively with injustice and humiliation without a fight. The bitterness of the angry young man against the prevailing unjust socio-economic system is spilling over. The older generation is not unsympathetic to them. An educational system which produces unemployable young boys and girls has not helped. Pressure on land has made the task of survival on agriculture more difficult. A callous district administration, especially in the rural areas, a clogged judicial system and feudal attitudes have compounded the problem. The land disputes have multiplied, but the land records and the judicial system to settle them is in disarray. There is a sense of frustration and anger. The most prominent among the groups, that have mushroomed in the recent years, are the People’s War Group (PWG) and the Marxist Communist Centre (MCC) . But it is not ideology and revolutionary zeal that is driving them. For many, joining these groups is the only way to survive. Their main activity is extortion. Huge funds amounting to hundreds of crores of rupees are being extorted by them. What they cannot 512 Strategic Analysis/Oct-Dec 2003 get through legitimate means they obtain through arms and explosives. Their tactics are no different from the insurgents and terrorists. Create terror and extort money. They are, however, not secessionists. Their aim is to overthrow what they call an unjust socio-economic system. But they are in no hurry to achieve their ideological aims as long as they can extort enough money. Corrupt politicians, policemen and civil servants have made their own adjustments with these groups. A live-and-let live attitude is mutually beneficial to all of them. Who knows how much money goes to the extremists and how much goes to the others. The real sufferers are the very people for whom the extremists are waging this war against the state. In public perception a government that is unable to discharge all its responsibilities is more likely to respond when the demand is loud, organised and backed by acts of violence. The many progressive, wellintentioned legislations are not eing implemented effectively and sometimes have done more harm than good by creating more bitterness and frustration, e. g. , the Minimum Wages Act. The marginal and deprived sections of the society are the worst hit. Social and economic factors are important, but even more important are religion and identity. The secessionist movement in J&K is politically motivated, but its ideological base is built ar ound religious funda-mentalism. Fired by religious fervour, the young recruits have no hesitation in attacking ruthlessly what they consider the decayed political and moral order, which they perceive as hedonistic. Once the instruments of governance are discredited, it is not too difficult to justify their destruction as in J&K, the North-East or in the states afflicted by Left extremism. In another sense, however, the aim of all these movements is no different from the aim of legitimate political movements. They too seek to acquire power, measured in terms of exercising influence or control over the people and acquisition of wealth for them is the source of all power. Extortion, therefore, becomes an essential part of their strategy. Their goal and strategy could change during the course of the movement. In the initial stages some of them may only demand economic and political justice or more autonomy in the existing political system, like the Bodos in Assam, but they can take a more extremist stand and demand secession in the later stages. Effective steps to reduce ethnic and social inequalities, disparities in educational and employment opportunities, and for creating an effective machinery for the redressal of public grievance, are absolutely essential to â€Å"India’s Internal Security Challenges† 513 mprove the environment in which extremist violence flourishes. Steps to reduce economic deprivation and improve the delivery of essential services can erode the base of public support on which the extremist movements survive. It is relatively easier to find solutions to seemingly intractable political problems, like in J&K, in an environment where people are by and large satisfied with the function ing of the government agencies and are not deprived of essential services. More than anything else, it is the economic policies that would ultimately determine the future of these movements. A thriving economy, which gives hope and opportunity to the people, is more likely to defeat all types of extremist movements than any other strategy. The need for a well co-ordinated security apparatus can hardly be overemphasised. It should include the police, the paramilitary forces, the army and the intelligence agencies. A composite force on the lines of the National Security Guards (NSG) should be organised in all the states, even in those states where the internal security situation is not so serious. It is easier to deal with the problems at the initial stages, than later, when the state police is no longer able to cope with them. But in the states where the situation has gone beyond their control, the Centre, as laid down in the Constitution, is duty-bound to intervene, notwithstanding the fact that law and order is under the State List. The Union government is charged with the responsibility of protecting the states from internal disturbances under Article 353 of the Constitution, even though law and order comes under List-II, the State List. The Union government can issue directions to the state under Articles 257-258. Action for non-compliance of the directions from the Union government can be taken under Article 365. A state government can be dismissed under Article 356, if a situation arises in which the administration of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. A national emergency can be declared under Article 352. But, even if the Centre decides to intervene, the state’s role cannot be minimised. The primary responsibility to deal with the security challenges must rest with the state governments. A situation should not be allowed to develop where the state government washes its hands off, or its forces instead of cooperating with the central forces, actually work against them. The many internal security challenges can be met effectively only with full cooperation between the central and the state governments. The police, 514 Strategic Analysis/Oct-Dec 2003 the paramilitary forces, the army and all the intelligence agencies must act in close co-ordination. The hostile foreign forces can and will take advantage of the internal situation to destabilise the country in pursuit of their own agenda. All serious internal security problems: communal and sectarian violence, organised crime, drug-trafficking, labour and students’ unrest, political violence and even economic crimes, if not checked effectively can develop an external dimension. There is an urgent need to make the police and the paramilitary forces more professional. The emphasis has to shift from ‘more numbers’ to ‘more professionally trained forces’. The internal security problems should not be treated as merely law and order problems. They have to be dealt with comprehensively in all their dimensions and at all levels — political, economic and social. They are all interlinked. At times, the required measures will conflict with each other. Going too far in one direction could be counter-productive. The security requirements have to be met, but that does not mean giving the security agencies a free hand. Striking the right balance is the key to success in meeting these challenges effectively. We need a comprehensive security policy that will be implemented effectively at all levels. Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for your indulgence. It has been my endeavour to offer a personal perspective on the nature of the internal security challenges that India currently faces. I hope these thoughts and observations would encourage greater deliberations amongst you. From this interaction we could perhaps distil a collective perspective that would be relevant both to the policy makers and the civil society. And finally, my best wishes to the entire IDSA fraternity on this occasion — and may your stature grow.

Predicting Performance

Mix between current method and intelligence test. Evaluate Alternatives: 1. Intelligence tests. If Intelligence tests are used by corporations to screen Job applicants, colleges could use the same methodology. Also this will give a future opportunity for the students after graduation, to be familiar with this kind of test. Also corporations looking new employees will be confident that the graduated students have already passed the intelligence test, so they can give priority for students graduated from New England College.In addition the New England College, based on this alternative, could do agreement with potential recruiters, to give priority for student graduated from the college as they can ensure their Intelligence level. This will give an advantage to overcome any possibility of discrimination and to be more fair for poor and minorities, as it will be based on real evaluation for intelligence level for students. 2. Keep existing selection criteria. As Alex has no prior exper ience in college admissions, and in the same time she didn't eave enough time to collect all data and verify It by real study.All her reservations about using SAT scores based on concerns, the only evidence Is that coaching improves the SAT score. So keeping the current selection criteria will overcome the risk of failure in case of any change in the process of selection, also as the people who design the SAT argue forcefully that these test scores are valid predictors of how well a person will do in college. But Alex could gain time during keeping the current selection process to collect and analysis data before thinking about other alternative o challenge this argue. . MIX between current method and Intelligence test. As SAT Is only three sections Mathematics, Critical Reading, and Writing. It Is preferable also to measure the intelligence of the students. For this it's required to redistribute the scoring as per the below. High school grades (20 %); Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores (30 %); Intelligence tests scores (30 %); Extra-curricular activities and achievements (10 %); And the quality and creativity of a written theme submitted with the applicationThis alternative will make the selection criteria based on measuring the mathematics; critical reading and writing in addition to the proper intelligence level, and avoid discrimination for poor and minorities. Taking into account the students character and their ability to manage activities and have achievement, and their ability to express their writing capabilities and creativity. Also this alternative will have the advantages of first alternative. Recommendations: To use the third alternative by having mix between current methods and intelligence test.

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Education in the World of Politics - Essay Example It can be recalled that the sovereign theory refers to the submission of individuals or a group to a one common sovereign who can protect them against violent death. This submission can also be looked at as a master-slave relationship where those who do not abide form the law is subjected to punishment. In this case, education is important since this is the means or the main tool for the followers and even for the leaders to know their duties and or responsibilities in the group or in the society where they belong. Hobbes also said that since humans are grounded to passions, it is important that humans know how to correctly reason out and that has something to do with logic. Also, with the basic idea that man lives for his own selfishness, there is always a tendency to act through emotion and therefore, with proper education, logic can be attained. On the other hand, there is also another idea from Plato about education. This has something to do with the "guardians" of the "just city." According to him, the guardians, in order for them not to use their power for their own benefits to rule over the people they are protecting, they should be properly educated to know not just their limitations but also their privileges.

The Issue of Discrimination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Issue of Discrimination - Essay Example The country has literally shed blood of innocent civilians to fight for few basic rights that are God-given. Racism and prejudice are clearly present through Terkel’s narration of Ellis as he projects his emotional level of prejudice, his self-justification, and his displaced aggression. One of the main concepts of prejudice and racism that is outlined in Ellis’s narration is his level of prejudice that is prevalent throughout his life. Vincent Parillo, author of Causes of Prejudices questions the whole essence of social categories of racism, which is then depicted in Terkel’s work. When people are nurtured in an environment where they are biased culturally against a group of individuals; they naturally assume that those views are correct. This can be no doubt detrimental as these perspectives are embraced and become the foundation for hatred. Prejudicial attitudes are prevalent amongst many groups and are a key catalyst towards conducing hatred. In this particul ar scenario, the narrator shows his hostility towards African Americans as he terrifies the young African American kid with a gun. The whole narration is brilliantly captured in this scenario below: Clearly, here his emotions got the best of him as he traumatized the African American kid without any remorse. Undoubtedly, his anger got the best of him as he held a hostile attitude for no logical reasoning. Clearly one cannot conduct an analysis of the root causes of prejudices without understanding the true cognitive roots of the psychology that individuals possess regarding this issue. The psychological approach to this issue tends to mainly focus on the levels of prejudice, self-justification, personality and frustrations that become key components of this issue.  Again, Ellis is the remarkable example of that as he joins the KKK to self-justify his actions. The human nature undoubtedly in many matters is to self-justify their actions from their own reasoning. Self-justifying hat red and racism is derived to logical thinking that humans are blessed with. However, philosophers argue that humans although have the great capacity of justifying the wrong reasoning for our actions. A brilliant example of this is prevalent throughout history. The genocide of Jews that occurred during World War II serves as a dark reminder of how an extremist group can rally for support and modify the perspective of a huge society. Another classical example can be seen throughout the reign of the Crusaders in which the Muslims and the Jews suddenly were public enemies for the name of Christ. Sociologists tend to emphasize the fact that self-justification can work the other way too.   A great example of a self-justifying group can be clearly seen through the rise and the terror caused by the KKK. The re-enlightenment of the second era had many different views than its predecessors. Post 1920, the Klan grew a strong membership of 4 to 5 million. Unlike the first Klan movement in the reconstruction era, it extended beyond the traditional motives. The second wave of the Klan continued to focus national agendas at hand that went beyond the agrarian economy. Since the Klan compromised majority of white and Protestant, it was vital that they

B2B and Reseller Markets Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

B2B and Reseller Markets - Coursework Example Thus, the report provides a view about which business relationship the organisation should develop by taking into concern the theories of business relationship and b2b marketing. Every successful business is established on the basis of solid and progressive relationship with the customers. The origin of business relationship has been traced back to the 19th century and since then the idea of business relationship has changed considerably. Traditionally, b2b market is dependent on encompassing the predominant view of consumer marketing. It was fairly unsophisticated approach, which was subjected towards manipulation of certain marketing variables such as products, price and promotion among others for raising desired rate of returns. The viewpoint of customer relationship was overwhelmingly adversarial and short-term in nature. However, after 1990s, it was appreciated that such aspect does not satisfactorily reflect the intricacies of how b2b market perform. Rather, it was argued that b2b marketing is long-run in nature and involve proper relationship between buyers and sellers to reap mutual advantages (Buttle, 1996). Unlike b2c model, customers in b2b model are basically organisations or companies, which signify that there are few customers for Airslash to serve in its respective market. However, it is worth mentioning that although there are small number of customers, they make large amount of purchases and the purchasing procedure is quite complex in nature. Besides, in comparison with business to consumer (b2c) customers, relationship in b2b customers are quite close in nature. In general, Airslash can develop two types of relationship with its customers namely transactional or cooperative. In this similar context, transactional relationship comprises timely interchange of basic services for extremely competitive prices and cooperative relationship constitutes strong ties established over times with the aim of accomplishing shared

Philosophy Or Beliefs About Grammar Teaching Article

Philosophy Or Beliefs About Grammar Teaching - Article Example This report explores an in service English teacher teaching of grammar in a second language classroom at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston Salem North Carolina. The main objective is to focus on the perspective of personal pedagogical system, beliefs, knowledge, theories, assumptions, and attitudes that plays a significant role in shaping a teachers’ way of teaching. It throws light on the teachers' actual practices in an adult high intermediate ESL classroom. Forsyth Technical Community College is a preparatory type of institution that prepares ESL students to easily engage in the community, and bring their language skills to the required standard usage of English within the community. Enrollment into Forsyth Technical Community College is non-selective with incoming students being enrolled into different levels ranging from beginner to high intermediate. Enrolment using an in-house placement test is a priority, implying that students advance to upper levels when they improve their English language skills at that specific level. The institution set speciï ¬ c learning objectives for each level which were assessed by in-house tests and which teachers were required to teach towards. One set of objectives related speciï ¬ cally to the teaching of grammar. The institution has two fully equipped writing labs and a small corner library at the main hall. The labs are equipped with fifteen computers with numerous software programs installed and the internet is accessible on each computer for the student use. Regular classrooms are arranged to accommodate 15-20 students and this ensures improved interaction between the teachers and students. The classrooms are carpeted and contain whiteboards, overhead projectors and a chair used by the teacher and students during presentations. All teachers working in the institution, including the participant of this report, teach full-time (20-25 hours per week). Students are mostly have Spanish as their first language. During the study, some students had recently arrived in the United States while others had been around for a period of time and they aged 25-35. The teaching context is a monolingual setting where all teachers are native speakers of English. The preparatory school does not have its own sy llabus and in-house textbooks and the teachers are encouraged to select textbooks and adapt to a syllabus that suits their students or teaching contexts to ensure the success of the teaching process. This is because a curriculum is often perceived by teachers as being fairly rigid. The participant teacher background Data on this report was collected through five non-participatory classroom observations. I refrain from naming the participant and restrict the following information to only assist readers in making sense of the specific features of the context to protect his anonymity. Prior to conducting this report I made a pre-observation interview with the instructor to see if he would be willing before formally requesting his participation as I felt that would provide an improved overall picture in order to determine the kinds of teaching beliefs he was mostly interested in and to what extent he put those beliefs into practice in L2 teaching. The Participant of this report was a 36 -year-old native English speaker with an overall experience of ESL of 7 to 10 years. He taught ESL classes at various levels from beginner to upper intermediate. He started his career at the elementary level for two years and then started teaching at the ESL adult-level for the last six years in programs which service adult refugee and continuing education populations. He had other teaching experiences prior to his present ESL positions. He held an ESL teaching certificate, as well as a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. Philosophy or beliefs about grammar teaching The perceptions the

Analyzing Project Feasibility Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analyzing Project Feasibility - Research Paper Example The firm may want to maintain the independence of its business when making such investment decisions. Consequently, the choice of the criterion may be based on the availability of personnel resources, time and expertise required to analyze the project as well as the capital constraints that make the liquidity of a project a principal issue (Joos & Zhdanov, 2008). Dell Corporation is a large firm that has its operations based on the manufacture of electronic items; particularly computers (desktops and laptops). In the determination of the feasibility of its projects, Dell Corporation estimates the cash flows and net present value as + $10. The recognition or dismissal of the venture is dependent on the type of analysis that the corporation adopts (Danielson & Scott, 2006). The best type of analysis that can be used to regulate the practicability of the project is the discounted cash flow analysis method. The discounted cash flow analysis method is a project valuation method that applies the time value of money concept, particularly in relation to the estimation of the investment opportunity. This method is essential in the case of Dell Corporation given that it will use the future cash flow projections to attain the present value by discounting by discounting the values, mostly by the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) (Danielson & Scott, 2006). This method works in the manner that if the project’s value is higher than the current investment cost, the project may be a good one for Dell Corporation to invest. Subsequently, the method conveys certain essential economic information about the firm under certain circumstances such as when faced by the issue of capital constraints. Besides, the corporation’s use of the method will be justified by the fact that the firm has always been changing its product lines. The discounted cash flow analysis is quite useful in the assessment or evaluation of the project given that, in this case, it would be quite easy

Guido of Arezzo A change in Music History Research Paper

Guido of Arezzo A change in Music History - Research Paper Example For a 10 year period from approximately 1015 to the time he left Pompey, there is very little documented reference to his life. (Adduci) He left the Monastery in 1025 because of his undocumented (musical) differences.The church wanted to maintain the oral tradition. They were threatened by innovation. Losing control over the chants would give more power to the people to compose. The church had recognized a sort of power by forbidding any composition other than church composition. After leaving Pompey, he went to Arezzo where he was given a job as teacher in the cathedral and possibly regain his previous job as cantor. He lived there until his death until 1050. During this time he wrote treatises, his famous hand and changed the staff system of notation.Music notation in the 10th century was complicated and not comprehensible to the majority of the catholic monks. It was mostly an oral tradition that was common in most cultures. In the Hebrew Torah, the voice rises and lowers accordin g to a notation that is learned through oral tradition today. The use of lines and dots was common to the Greeks also. The neumes could only be read by a select few. It was highly improbable that the chants of the Northern cathedrals were recognizable by Rome. As they only indicated the direction of the voice, the sound of the chant changed depending on the region of the church. The same chant sung in Northern Europe would not sound the same as it would in Rome. The neumes showed the inflection and descent of the voice.... He lived there until his death until 1050. During this time he wrote treatises, his famous hand and changed the staff system of notation. Music notation in the 10th century was complicated and non comprehensible to the majority of the catholic monks. It was mostly an oral tradition that was common in most cultures. In the Hebrew Torah, the voice rises and lowers according to a notation that is learned through oral tradition today. The use of lines and dots was common to the Greeks also. The neumes could only be read by a select few. It was highly improbable that the chants of the Northern cathedrals were recognizable by Rome. As they only indicated the direction of the voice, the sound of the chant changed depending on the region of the church. The same chant sung in Northern Europe would not sound the same as it would in Rome. The neumes showed the inflection and descent of the voice. The development of early church notation lead towards fewer and fewer monks chanting. As the church grew there were fewer men to pass on the oral tradition. The first illustration shows the lines of the neumes. Guido d'Arrezo A change in Musical History Early notation of pre d'Azzero church chants were signs above the words. The inflection of the voice were indicated by complicated, non standardized notation which had been used for generation upon generation. There are factures which must be taken into consideration as to the difficulty of the form of notation. The chanting was only allowed to be performed by the Church. Each chant was passed from one generation to another. The notation was based on the inflection of the voice not on changes of tone. Church documents were limited due to fewer and

Advertising and Identity through Consumer Culture Essay Example for Free

Advertising and Identity through Consumer Culture Essay Never before in the history of the modern world has advertising become so prevalent, ubiquitous, and an â€Å"undeniable essential† to a modern man’s everyday life than that of our century. Advertising images of all sorts, now flood public spaces: from billboards with eroticized images to the blinding electronic billboard, down to the â€Å"comfort ads† which oddly stares back in the rest rooms of malls. Magazines and televisions are also full of products that entice the readers and the audience to buy and patronize a certain brand. Similarly, cultural events cannot be seen without a popular brand nor is a sporting event complete without a corporate ad. Indeed, advertising has become part of today’s culture and has become an inescapable ghost that dominates our media, our road, and our home. The road towards the advertising era began its transition during the 1880’s to1920’s. It is during this period that ads focused largely on the products themselves. Products took the center stage, using heavy texts to introduce, feature and market the product. â€Å"Real† representation of people were absent in advertisements, but rather representation of people who stand for the social values such as   family structure and status differentiation were seen during this stage (Jhally, 1990, p. 228). With the written material properly explaining visual the visual imagery, ads during this period were instructional. At the same time they were also educational as well as promotional. These ads taught the consumer audience how to read commercial messages. However, by the postwar period, education was replaced for a puzzle of numerous visual messages. Visual images then took the limelight during the 1950’s. Texts were highly reduced and were then replaced by icons and images to allure the consumer. These visual imageries eventually took over the product. The image, rather than the product, became the main message that is communicated to the consumer audience. The once educational ads were now replaced with a hodge-podge of photos and visuals (Jhally, 1990, p. 229). As the 21st century ushered in, the idea of â€Å"identity† was then marketed to the buying audience, convincing the public that the products they buy represent their identity; identity which can now be brought in the nearest mall and will assure not only satisfaction but happiness as well. This paper will discuss the contemporary culture in the advertising industry as it permeates and even molds today’s idea of beauty, style, as well as identity. Similarly, it will discuss how people are influenced by this media medium by citing several studies and researches related to the mentioned topic. Apart form this, it will also discuss the benefits and the disadvantages brought about by the culture of advertising. Ours is an era whose society is in constant struggle to find their true identity. Never before has a mankind been so engrossed in a quest for an identity, life, and beauty only to be directed to the market place. Ads that promote images with identity are prevalent. A popular celebrity endorsing this line of clothing, for instance, will give the audience the message that buying these kinds of clothes will make you happy, beautiful, or popular. Likewise, purchasing this brand of shoes will make you a part of the â€Å"cool† or â€Å"in† group. Through these visual representations, consumers desire to be like the image they see on ads, and the consumption of this certain product will help them imagine, create, and sustain their idea of themselves, their image, and their identity. The idea of beauty is perhaps one of the most capitalized and used advertising ideas. Numerous magazines often represent a beautiful woman as someone who is skinny, blond, tall, and has a porcelain-like skin.   These faces are evidently plastered on every magazine cover. Of course, a brand logo is placed along side the photo of the model as if saying: You can be just like me if you use this brand†. Aside from this, almost every celebrity has the same body type. A small or fat woman would consequently mean that she is not conforming to society’s image of beauty, which therefore automatically makes her ugly. With all of these images, it is no wonder why millions of girls from different parts of the world accept the idea that in order to be beautiful, one should look like a cover girl or a celebrity. This also means that buying that certain skin care line or wearing the same brand of clothes would automatically transform them as they conform to the idea of beauty as well as their identity. In a report which studied the consumption patterns of youth, consumers regard consumption not as a mode of cultural activity, but rather as a rationalized process of fulfilling their desires. This means that a number of individuals actually believe that buying a product will fulfill their desire to look a certain way. Since their idea of perfection is duly represented by images of stunning models and celebrities, their pursuit of what is perfect can only be realized by using the same products or items that these models endorse. Although these ideals of perfection somehow give directions to the consumers, the truth is the images presented are first and foremost unattainable. More often than not, the audience is oblivious to the fact that the images they see, both on screen and on print, has already undergone a process of â€Å"editing† in order to make it even more perfect. The idea of beauty did not used to be boxed up with the idea of being skinny. In fact, during the prehistoric times, women are portrayed not as a wafer thin woman but rather as a full-bodied female with breasts, hips, abdomen, and thighs. The statuette called Venus of Willendorf for instance, has been revered as a goddess of beauty and fertility. Similarly, the statuette Venus of Moravany and Mal’ta are both revered because of their physical attributes. These images of beauty however, began to change as advertising emphasized the need to fit in a size two dress. This is particularly used by companies who promote diet and weight -lose products. Likewise, other manufacturers and business also saw the need to create slimming pills, slimming tea, and so much more. This eventually led other manufacturers to create clothes that will emphasize a woman’s thin frame. Apart from a person’s physical attribute, a person’s lifestyle is also used as a handle by the advertising world to create a market-based image. According to the same report, more than half of the young consumers believed that the products they buy represent their identities and lifestyle in some way. For them, identities are expressed in a variety of products such as shoes, clothes, cosmetics etc. Even seemingly trivial things are supposed to express their lifestyles. For instance, 36 percent of young males answered that their choices of telephone/ mobile equipment represent in some way their identities, and 63 percent of young females think that their choices of hair salon is a representation of their identities (Report on Youth Consumption Trend, 1994, p. 114). The one hour documentary entitled â€Å"Merchants of the Cool† is perhaps one of the most scathing examinations of how popular culture and advertising are entwined together. Exactly as the title suggests â€Å"Merchants of the Cool† chronicles how the media both reflects and influences pop culture. A large amount of money is paid to â€Å"cool hunters† in order to find out what is cool and what is hip. This information is then coursed through mediums such as the television. MTV for example, pay its â€Å"cool† audiences as well as the hosts and performers to attend to their party to make it look even â€Å"cooler†. Behind all these happening, there lies a big logo of a soft drinks brand. Much like how a ventriloquist controls a puppet, it is also the same with how a company and how advertising is behind how the image of â€Å"coolness† is presented (Frontline, 2001). This construction of a sense of identity, according to British sociologist Robert Bocock (1993), can be seen as a process which may make use of items of consumption such as clothing, footwear, popular music or sporting activities, including being a supporter of particular music groups, singers or soccer clubs. Such consumption patterns could be used as a central means of defining who is a member and who is outside a specific group. It is through material items that eventually determine an individual’s social group, which then ultimately gives him or her identity. A brand is a powerful tool that associates commodities with consumers because it symbolizes various elements of the product so that consumers have relative liberty in finding the association between their identities and commodities. The visual images, even the endorser of the brand also plays a crucial role in alluring the consumer to believe that by purchasing this product, you will become like me or that you will be popular or will have an identity like mine (Bocock, 1993, p. 4). However, the more important question is how does an individual associate his or her identity through the purchase of a certain brand or a certain product? The research mentioned above illustrates the characteristic mentality of a young consumer. I do not care about what other people choose. I think of design as an important consideration when I choose things, and my choices of commodities express a part of my personality. This statement underlines the prevalent belief that the freedom of choice of the consumer leads to the expression of his or her identity. In other words, since it is the choice of the individual that made him or her wear this particular pair of shoes, this particular pair then represents the identity of the individual who made the decision. Representative form of their self-identities derives from the individual level; individual consumers make a decision by themselves to buy things in order to express their own identities (Hattori, 1997, p.10).

Components of Supply Chain Management (SCM) Essay Example for Free

Components of Supply Chain Management (SCM) Essay The main elements of a supply chain include purchasing, operations, distribution, and integration. The supply chain begins with purchasing. Purchasing managers or buyers are typically responsible for determining which products their company will sell, sourcing product suppliers and vendors, and procuring products from vendors at prices and terms that meets profitability goals. Supply chain operations focus on demand planning, forecasting, and inventory management. Forecasts estimate customer demand for a particular product during a specific period of time based on historical data, external drivers such as upcoming sales and promotions, and any changes in trends or competition. Using demand planning to develop accurate forecasts is critical to effective inventory management. Forecasts are compared to inventory levels to ensure that distribution centers have enough, but not too much, inventory to supply stores with a sufficient amount of product to meet demand. This allows companies to reduce inventory carrying costs while still meeting customer needs. Moving the product from warehouses or manufacturing plants to stores and ultimately to customers is the distribution function of the supply chain. Supply chain integration refers to the practice of developing a collaborative workflow among all departments and components involved in the supply chain to maximize efficiencies and build a lean supply chain. 2 Walmart’s Method of Managing the Supply Chain Walmart has been able to assume market leadership position primarily due to its efficient integration of suppliers, manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution to stores. Its supply chain strategy has four key components: vendor partnerships, cross docking and distribution management, technology, and integration. Walmart’s supply chain begins with strategic sourcing to find products at the best price from suppliers who are in a position to  ensure they can meet demand. Walmart establishes strategic partnerships with most of their vendors, offering them the potential for long-term and high volume purchases in exchange for the lowest possible prices. Suppliers then ship product to Walmart’s distribution centers where the product is cross docked and then delivered to Walmart stores. Cross docking, distribution management, and transportation management keep inventory and transportation costs down, reducing transportation time and eliminating inefficiencies. Technology plays a key role in Walmart’s supply chain, serving as the foundation of their supply chain. Walmart has the largest information technology infrastructure of any private company in the world. Its state-of-the-art technology and network design allow Walmart to accurately forecast demand, track and predict inventory levels, create highly efficient transportation routes, and manage customer relationships and service response logistics. 3 Benefits of Efficient Supply Chain Management Wal-Mart’s supply chain management strategy has provided the company with several sustainable competitive advantages, including lower product costs, reduced inventory carrying costs, improved in-store variety and selection, and highly competitive pricing for the consumer. This strategy has helped Walmart become a dominant force in a competitive global market. As technology evolves, Walmart continues to focus on innovative processes and systems to improve its supply chain and achieve greater efficiency. How to Manage the Bullwhip Effect on Your Supply Chain The goal of any supply chain is to get the right selection of goods and services to customers in the most efficient way possible. To meet this goal, each link along the supply chain must not only function as efficiently as possible; it must also coordinate and integrate with links both upstream and downstream in the chain. The keystone for a lean supply chain is accuracy in  demand planning. Unforeseen spikes in demand or overestimations of demand stimulate the supply end of the chain to respond with changes in production. Production and supply issues then impact the consumer end of the supply chain and the effects ripple up and down the chain. This is often referred to as the bullwhip effect. 1 What Causes the Bullwhip Effect? Supply chain management is a complex process. There are several issues that can lead to the bullwhip effect and those issues can be exacerbated by delays in transmitting information, and a lack of coordination up and down the supply chain. Some causes of the bullwhip effect include: Consumer demand swings Natural disasters that disrupt the flow of goods and services Overcompensation when addressing inventory issues Ordering processes, such as order batching, can also contribute to thebullwhip effect. Organizations may accumulate larger orders before processing them in an effort to reduce costs and create transportation economics. They may also wait to place larger orders to benefit from lower prices offered during a promotion. Demand forecasting manipulation is another cause. By padding the forecast to compensate for possible errors, the organization loses sight of true customer demand. Customers can also contribute to the bullwhip effect by engaging in shortage gaming during periods of short supply by purchasing more than they need. Additionally, customers taking advantage of liberal return policies can create problems with developing accurate demand forecasts. 2 How to Minimize the Bullwhip Effect The first step in minimizing the bullwhip effect is to understand what drives customer demand planning and inventory consumption. Lack of demand visibility can be addressed by providing all key players in the supply chain  with access to point of sale (POS) data. Suppliers and customers must then work collaboratively to improve both the quality and frequency of information communication throughout the supply chain. They may also choose to share information through an arrangement such as vendor-managed inventory (VMI). Eliminating practices that introduce spikes in demand, such as order batching, can also help. The higher order cost associated with smaller or more frequent orders can be offset with Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and computer aided ordering (CAO). Pricing strategies and policies can also help reduce the bullwhip effect. Eliminating incentives that cause customers to delay orders, such as volume transportation discounts, and addressing the causes of order cancellations or reductions can help create smoother ordering patterns. Offering products at stable and fair prices can prevent buying surges triggered by temporary promotional discounts. Special purchase contracts can be implemented to encourage ordering at regular intervals to better synchronize delivery and purchase. 3 Adopting Supply Chain Management Best Practices Using sound chain management processes and systems will result in the efficient flow of goods from a raw stage to the consumer while enhancing ROI for the company. Reviewing case studies and other resources detailing best practices can suggest opportunities for improvement. Adopting successful practices such as Walmart’s use of cross docking, or Dell’s process of bypassing the middle man by offering made-to-order computers directly to customers, can contribute to a lean supply chain and minimize the bullwhip effect. Reducing the bullwhip effect requires a thorough evaluation of organizational policies, measurements, systems, and practices. Based on the positive implications an efficient supply chain can have on costs, sales, profits and customer satisfaction, it’s an undertaking well worth the investment and effort.

History of Globalization

History of Globalization INTRODUCTION: Historical Background of Globalisation For developing countries, globalization means integration with the world economy. In simple economic terms, globalization refers to the process of integration of the world into one huge market. Such unification calls for the removal of all trade barriers among countries. Even political and geographical barriers become irrelevant. At the company level, globalization means two things: (a) the company commits itself heavily with several manufacturing locations around the world and offers products in several diversified industries and (b) it also means the ability to compete in domestic markets with foreign competitors. In the popular sense, globalization refers mainly to multi-plant operations. International Monetary Fund defines globalization as the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through increasing volume and variety of cross border transactions in goods and services and of international capital flows and also through the more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology. Charles Hill defines globalization as, the shift towards a more integrated and interdependent world economy. Globalization has two main components- the globalization of market and the globalization of production. Interdependency and Integration of individual countries of the world may be called as globalization. Thus globalization integrates not only economies but also societies. The globalization process includes globalization of markets, globalization of production, globalization of technology and globalization of investment. Globalization encompasses the following: Doing or planning to expand, business globally. Giving up the distinction between the domestic facilities on a consideration of the global outlook of the business. Locating the production and other physical facilities on a consideration of the global business dynamics, irrespective of national considerations. Basing product development and production planning on the global market considerations. Global sourcing of factors of production, i.e., raw materials, components, machinery/technology, finance etc., are obtained from the best source anywhere in the world. Global orientation of organizational structure and management culture. A company, which has gone global, is called a Multinational (MNC) or a transnational (TNC). An MNC is, therefore, one that, by operating in more than one country, gains through Research and Development (RD), leading to substantial production, marketing and financial advantages in its cost and reputation that are not available to purely domestic competitors. The global economy views the world as one market, minimize the importance of national boundaries, raised capital and market wherever it can do the job best. To be specific, a global company has three characteristics: i) It is a conglomerate of gathering multiple units (located in different parts of the globe) but all linked by common ownership. ii) Multiple units draw on a common pool of resources such as money, credit, information, patents, trade names and control system iii) The units respond to some common strategy. Nestle International is an example of an enterprise that has become multinational. It sells its products in most countries and manufactures in many. Besides, its manager and shareholders are from many nations. The other MNCs whose names can be mentioned here are IBM, GE, McDonald, Ford, Shell, Philips, Sony, and Uniliver. Stages of Globalization/globalization process Globalization does not take place in a single instance. It takes place gradually through an evolutionary approach. According to Ohamae, globalization has five stages. They are: 1) Domestic company exports to foreign countries through the dealers or distributors of the home country. 2) In the second stage, the domestic company exports to foreign countries directly on its own. 3) In the third stage, the domestic company becomes an international company by establishing production and marketing operations in various key foreign countries. 4) In the fourth stage, the company replicates a foreign company in the foreign country by having all the facilities including RD, full-fledged human resources etc. 5) In the fifth stages, the company becomes a true foreign company by serving the needs of foreign customers just like the host countrys company serves. 6) Thus, globalization means globalizing the marketing, production, investment, technology and other activities. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT Economic globalization refers to the increasing economic interdependence of the national economies across the world through the rapid increase in the cross-border movement of goods, service, technology and capital. Whereas, it is centered on the diminution of international trade regulations as well as the tariffs, taxes, and other impediments that suppresses global trade, it is the process which increasing economic integration among countries, leading to the emergence of a global marketplace or single world market. Depending on the paradigm, economic globalization can be viewed as either a positive or a negative phenomenon. Economic globalization comprises the globalization of production, markets, competition, technology, and corporations and industries. Current globalization trends can be largely accounted for by developed economies integrating with less developed economies, by means of foreign direct investment, the reduction of trade barrier as well as other economic reforms and, in many cases, immigration. As example, Chinese economic reform began to open China to the globalization in the 1980s. Scholars find that China has attained the degree of openness that is unprecedented among the large and populous nations, with competition from foreign goods in almost every sector of the economy. Foreign investment helped to greatly increase quality, knowledge and standards, especially in heavy industry. Chinas experience supports the assertion that globalization greatly increases wealth for poor countries. As of 2005-2007, the Port of Shanghai holds the title as the Worlds busiest port. Economic liberalization in India refers to ongoing economic reforms in India that started in 1991. As of 2009, about 300 million people-equivalent to the entire population of the U.S-have escaped extreme poverty. In India, business process outsourcing has been described as the primary engine of the countrys development over the next few decades, contributing broadly to GDP growth, employment growth, and poverty alleviation. SUPPORT AND CRITICISM In general, corporate businesses, particularly in the area of finance, globalization as the positive force in the world. Many economists cite statistics that seem to support such positive impact. For example, per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth among post-1980 globalizing countries accelerated from 1.4 percent a year in the 1960s and 2.9 percent a year in the 1970s to 3.5 percent in the 1980s and 5.0 percent in the 1990s. This acceleration in growth seems even more remarkable given that the rich countries saw steady declines in growth from the high of 4.7 percent in the 1960s to 2.2 percent in the 1990s. Also, the non-globalizing developing countries seem to fare worse than the globalizes, with the formers annual growth rates falling from highs of 3.3 percent during the 1970s to only 1.4 percent during the 1990s. This rapid growth among the globalization is not simply due to the strong performances of China and India in the 1980s and 1990s-18 out of the 24 globalizers expe rienced increases in growth, many of them quite substantial. Economic liberals generally argue that higher degrees of political and economic freedom in the form of free trade in the developed world are ends in themselves, producing higher levels of overall material wealth. Globalization is seen as the beneficial spread of liberty and capitalism. Jagdish Bhagwati, a former adviser to the U.N. on globalization, holds that, although there are obvious problems with overly rapid development, globalization is a very positive force that lifts countries out of poverty by causing a virtuous economic cycle associated with faster economic growth. Economist Paul Krugman is the staunch supporter of globalization and free trade with a record of disagreeing with many critics of globalization. He argues that many of them lack a basic understanding of comparative advantage and its importance in todays world. EFFECTS OF GLOBALISATION Globalization is both beneficial and harmful for different stakeholders. Globalization has both benefits and limitation. Benefits of Globalization: (1) Free flow of capital: Globalization helps for free the flow of capital from one country to the other. It helps the investor to get a fair interest rate or dividend and the global companies to acquire finance at lower cost of capital. Further, globalization increases capital flows from surplus countries to the needy countries, which in turn increase the global investment. (2) Free Flow of Technology: As stated earlier, globalization helps for the flow of technology from advanced countries to the developing countries. It helps the developing countries to implement new technology. (3) Increase in Industrialization: Free flow of capital along with the technology enables the developing countries to boost-up industrialization in their countries. This ultimately increases global industrialization. (4) Lower Price with High Quality: Indian consumers have already been getting the products of high quality at lower prices. Increased industrialization, speed up of technology, increased production and consumption level enables the companies to produce and sell the products at lower prices. (5) Cultural exchange and demand for a variety of products: Globalization reduces the physical distance among the countries and enable people of different countries to acquire the culture of other countries. The cultural exchange, in turn makes the people to demand for a variety of products which are being consumed in other countries. For example, demand for American pizza in India and demand for Masala Dosa and Hyderabadi Birayani and Indian styles garments in USA and Europe. (6) Increase in Employment and Income: Globalization results in shift of manufacturing facilities to the low wage developing countries. As such, it reduces job opportunities in advanced countries and alternatively creates job opportunities in developing countries. For example Harwood Industries (US cloth manufactures) shifted its operation from US (paying wages $ per hour) to Honduras (wage rate was 48 % per hour). However, advanced countries can specialize in producing high technology product resulting in enhancement of employment opportunities. For example, Microsoft Cell Phone in USA. (7) Higher Standards of Living: Further, Globalization reduces prices and thereby enhances consumption and living standards of people in all the countries of the world. Though the globalization process produces a variety of benefits/advantages, developing countries including, India have bitter experiences. These bitter experiences are due to the disadvantage of Globalization. Limitation of Globalization (1) Heterogeneity of Problems: A major hurdle in the path of globalization is the absence of a universally accepted set of solution of the problems which have to be tackled. Some of these problems happen to be political and social ones, but even their solutions have economic implications. Frequently, the proposed solutions are such that some countries view them as more harmful than beneficial. Usually, the developed countries are not ready to share the gains of globalization with developing ones on an equitable basis and this hinders a smooth transition to globalization. (2) Reluctance of Developing Countries: The developing countries, on their part, have the bitter experience of being forced into giving trade and non-trade concessions to the developed countries at the cost of their own interest. They realize that, with them, the developed countries want to have free trade and not fair trade. The developed countries keep finding fresh reasons for adding to the trade disadvantages of the developing countries. (3) Non- Economic Hurdles: Any form of economic integration, by its very nature, necessitates a corresponding compromise of national sovereignty; and it is more so in the case of global economics integration. This poses a very difficult and often unacceptable choice for national governments. For example, a national government may find itself forced to abandon measures for providing food security, or jobs during a natural calamity, etc. (4) Factor Mobility: Globalization necessitates unhindered international factor mobility. Developing countries feel that unrestricted mobility of capital and finance can be damaging for them; while developed countries are apprehensive about the effects of unrestricted immigration of low wage labor. In other words, while globalization is expected to bring about free factor mobility and factor price equalization, most countries are apprehensive about such phenomena. (5) Social Security: With globalization, it becomes increasingly difficult for a government (particularly of a developing country) to create and finance a social security system. Such like provisions tend to lose their priority in a market-oriented globalization. (6) Risks and Uncertainties: Progress towards globalization is also hindered by uncertainties relating to a possible shift in political and economic philosophy of some member countries; the fear of nationalization by the MNCs, the resistances to cultural invasion associated with unrestricted inflow of foreign capital and enterprises, and so on. (7) Infrastructure: Provision of economical and efficient infrastructure is essential for economic development. However, the responsibility of providing it remains essentially with the government of country. Therefore, there is a risk that a poor country, which is not able to provide infrastructure for inviting foreign investment capital, may remain perpetually poor and suffer from inferior terms of trade in the bargain.

Diary Of Anne Frank :: essays research papers

The Dairy of a Young Girl The autobiography I read "The Dairy of a Young Girl" written by Anne Frank" is about a young girl who suffered a lot in the Holocaust. Anne Frank kept a diary, which made her a very well known teenagers. She has inspired people from all over the world. Her writings explain the true feeling of being in the World War II. She kept her dairy from June 12,1942 and ended when it was discovered in August 1944. On her 13th birthday on June 12, 1942 Anne received a diary from her parents, Otto and Edith Frank. Two days later, she started writing about her thoughts. A few weeks later, Anne sister, Margot Frank received a notice from the Nazi to report for work at a labor camp. Which is called the concentration camps. On July 5th, 1942, Anne and her family moved to the "Secret Annex". It’s a secret hiding area where her father builded in back of his office. When her family hide from the Nazis, who arrested and victimized Jews, Anne took her diary everywhere she goes. She called it “Kitty,'; and the two years of spending in the Secret Annex, her diary was her friend. Eight people lived in the Secret Annex. There were the four members of the Frank family, Otto Frank, Edith Frank, Margot and Anne. Three from the Van Pels family, Herman and Auguste Van Pels and their son Peter, and an elderly named Pfeffer. The four people acted as helpers for the Frank family an d the people living in the Secret Annex. They brought them food, supplies and news. Anne and the seven people, who shared the Secret Annex, were sent to Westerbork camp. A few weeks later, they were later sent to other camps. When they were leaving from Auschwitz, Otto Frank was separated from his family. Otto Frank was in the camp infirmary and was left behind. Otto Frank tried to convince Peter to hide in the infirmary, but he was afraid. He soon found out that his wife died, but it was not until some time after returning home that he found that Margot and Anne died. Otto Frank was the only one of the 8 people from the secret annex to survive.

Great Expectations: Pip’s Transition :: Great Expectations Essays

In the novel, Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens the principal character, Pip, undergoes a tremendous change in character. I would like to explore with you the major incidents in Pip’s childhood that contribute to his change from an innocent child to someone consumed by false values and snobbery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pip’s transition into snobbery is, I believe, a steady one from the moment that he first meets Miss Havisham and Estella. Even before that Pip started to his fall from innocence when he steals from his sister to feed and free â€Å"his† convict.   But that was not easy for young Pip as his conscience played on him as he heard the floor boards screaming in vain attempts to alert Mrs. Joe.   It is obvious that Pip was not comfortable doing this deed for â€Å"his† convict as he thought for a while before taking the pork pie, which was so appreciated by Magwitch. At Satis House it is almost straight away made clear to him from Estella’s language, that she considers him to be inferior.   It is here that, he is for the first time introduced to a girl whom he is later to fall madly in love with.   It is here that he is referred to only as boy.   It is here that he forms his â€Å"Great Expectations†.   From these experiences Pip finds out about what he considers polite society, but Satis House is a place where society is anything but polite.   This is exemplified by Estella’s blatant lack of regard for Pip’s feelings; she points out to him for the first time his faults such as his â€Å"coarse hands†¦. thick boots† and the fact that he is nothing but â€Å"a common labouring boy†.   This not only points out Pip’s own faults but also leads to his awareness of Joe’s.   Estella is the main incident in Pip’s life that ultimately leads to his obnoxious and contemptible behavior in the future.   This is because of his love for her, even after their first encounter he describes Estella as â€Å"very pretty† yet â€Å"very insulting†.   Unperturbed by this description, Estella continues her disgraceful treatment of the young and impressionable boy when she feeds, and treats him as if he were an animal, continuing to address him like an animal, she does not bother to learn his name, still referring to as boy.   She also confuses him; when he fights with the young Herbert Pocket he is permitted to kiss the beautiful young girl, but then she slaps him, knocking him back and shocking him. Great Expectations: Pip’s Transition :: Great Expectations Essays In the novel, Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens the principal character, Pip, undergoes a tremendous change in character. I would like to explore with you the major incidents in Pip’s childhood that contribute to his change from an innocent child to someone consumed by false values and snobbery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pip’s transition into snobbery is, I believe, a steady one from the moment that he first meets Miss Havisham and Estella. Even before that Pip started to his fall from innocence when he steals from his sister to feed and free â€Å"his† convict.   But that was not easy for young Pip as his conscience played on him as he heard the floor boards screaming in vain attempts to alert Mrs. Joe.   It is obvious that Pip was not comfortable doing this deed for â€Å"his† convict as he thought for a while before taking the pork pie, which was so appreciated by Magwitch. At Satis House it is almost straight away made clear to him from Estella’s language, that she considers him to be inferior.   It is here that, he is for the first time introduced to a girl whom he is later to fall madly in love with.   It is here that he is referred to only as boy.   It is here that he forms his â€Å"Great Expectations†.   From these experiences Pip finds out about what he considers polite society, but Satis House is a place where society is anything but polite.   This is exemplified by Estella’s blatant lack of regard for Pip’s feelings; she points out to him for the first time his faults such as his â€Å"coarse hands†¦. thick boots† and the fact that he is nothing but â€Å"a common labouring boy†.   This not only points out Pip’s own faults but also leads to his awareness of Joe’s.   Estella is the main incident in Pip’s life that ultimately leads to his obnoxious and contemptible behavior in the future.   This is because of his love for her, even after their first encounter he describes Estella as â€Å"very pretty† yet â€Å"very insulting†.   Unperturbed by this description, Estella continues her disgraceful treatment of the young and impressionable boy when she feeds, and treats him as if he were an animal, continuing to address him like an animal, she does not bother to learn his name, still referring to as boy.   She also confuses him; when he fights with the young Herbert Pocket he is permitted to kiss the beautiful young girl, but then she slaps him, knocking him back and shocking him.

Causes and Effects of Cheating Essay

School systems today are so indulgent in their rules, guidelines and consequences; thus causing cheating, copying or forgeries to be regularly used. Students take advantage of copying someone else’s work whenever they are given the chance, because they abhor doing their own work. Other times, students will have someone else do their work and turn it in as their own, not realizing the aftermath this can create. This creates a lack of creativity, no sense of responsibility and the students will never acquire new knowledge. This type of behavior should be discussed academically by the school administration. Thus, the school teachers should try to abolish and try to amend this type of cheating. These practices of cheating, copying and forgery by students are unethical and should be brought to the surface whenever possible. Students that copy other student’s work are hurting themselves in the long run. Their creativity altitude plunges every time they copy or have someone el se do their work. After a while of copying and forging, the student’s ability to think creatively and successfully becomes almost nothing. In order for people to keep their minds as functional as possible, they need to do their own work. Students also accommodate others in school work,and don’t acknowledge what they are doing is amiss. When teachers catch students cheating they shouldn’t grant amnesty to the student and also chasten him/her. It is easy for students to buy a student’s paper that had the same class the year before, modify it a little, and turn it in as their own. Students are no longer able to do their own work like writing essays by themselves because someone else can do it for them. Students also begin to lose the sense of responsibility when they have other people do their work. Some losses of responsibility comprise the following: they feel that they have to do nothing to pass a class, only that as long as they turn in a paper, their thoughts or not, they will receive grades for the assignment. This creates the feeling that life will always be a handed to them easily. Beside with losing their responsibility, the students that copy other’s work never get to feel that sense of accomplishment that comes when the paper you have been working on is finally complete. They don’t get the inspiring feeling when they get their paper back if their grade is good. The feeling isn’t there because the work isn’t their own. They use other people to receive the grade, but they feel nothing, and this is very wrong. If they never have that feeling, there is nothing to motivate these people  to do better the next time around. This is why cheating is catastrophe. Up till now, there may be one thing that is the worst of all when people pass off someone else’s work as their own. That would be that the faker doesn’t gain any knowledge. Teachers should censor the person who did the paper for the student. People can only learn from the things they do, and if someone else is doing their work, they are never going to learn anything. Making mistakes and learning from them may be one of the most effective methods of learning. For instance, if a student performs extremely poorly on a very important assignment, some chances are that student will always remember what they did wrong and what would have been better. If people donâ€⠄¢t do the work themselves, they can never learn from their mistakes. These people that cheat will go through life expecting someone else to always be there to do their work. When the time comes that they will actually have to do the work themselves, they aren’t going to have a clue on what to do or where to start from. They will be so used to simply taking someone else’s work. These people need to be stopped not only for their sake but because it is not fair to the people whose work they are always stealing. People work hard and should receive credit for the things they do, the people that don’t work hard, should not receive any credit. In conclusion, it is very consequential for each student to do their own work without anyone’s help. If a student doesn’t do his own work he won’t gain anything and the he won’t care for the grade because he didn’t do any work. These students that cheat will always think there will be someone to help them. In the future, these students will regret what they used to do because they will come to one point in life and will be stuck and won’t know what to do.

The Twilight Saga 4: Breaking Dawn 16. Too-Much-Information Alert

16. Too-Much-Information Alert I took off early, long before sunrise was due. I'd gotten just a little bit of uneasy sleep leaning against the side of the sofa. Edward woke me when Bella's face was flushed, and he took my spot to cool her back down. I stretched and decided I was rested enough to get some work done. â€Å"Thank you,† Edward said quietly, seeing my plans. â€Å"If the route is clear, they'll go today.† Tillet you know.† It felt good to get back to my animal self. I was stiff from sitting still for so long. I extended my stride, working out the kinks. Morning, Jacob,Leah greeted me. Good, you're up. How long's Seth been out? Not out yet,Seth thought sleepily. Almost there. What do you need? You think you got another hour in you? Sure thing. No problem.Seth got to his feet right away, shaking out his fur. Let's make the deep run,Itold Leah. Seth, take the perimeter. Gotcha.Seth broke into an easy jog. Off on another vampire errand,Leah grumbled. You got a problem with that? Of course not. I just love to coddle those darling leeches. Good. Let's see how fast we can run. Okay, I'm definitely up forthat Leah was on the far western rim of the perimeter. Rather than cut close to the Cullens' house, she stuck to the circle as she raced around to meet me. I sprinted off straight east, knowing that even with the head start, she'd be passing me soon if I took it easy for even a second. Nose to the ground, Leah. This isn't a race, it's a reconnaissance mission. I can do both and still kick your butt I gave her that one. know. She laughed. We took a winding path through the eastern mountains. It wasa familiar route. We'd run these mountains when the vampires had left a year ago, making it part of our patrol route to better protect the people here. Then we'd pulled back the lines when the Cullens returned. This was their treaty land. But that fact would probably mean nothing to Sam now. The treaty was dead. The question today was how thin he was willing to spread his force. Was he looking for stray Cullens to poach on their land or not? Had Jared spoken the truth or taken advantage of the silence between us? We got deeper and deeper into the mountains without finding any trace of the pack. Fading vampire trails were everywhere, but the scents were familiar now. I was breathing them in all day long. I founda heavy, somewhat recent concentration on one particular trail – all of them coming and going here except for Edward. Some reason for gathering that must have been forgotten when Edward brought his dying pregnant wife home. I gritted my teeth. Whatever it was, it had nothing to do with me. Leah didn't push herself past me, though she could have now. I was paying more attention to each new scent than I was to the speed contest. She kept to my right side, running with me rather than racing against me. Were getting pretty far out here,she commented. Yeah. If Sam was hunting strays, we should have crossed his trail by now. Makes more sense right now for him to bunker down in La Push,Leah thought. He knows we're giving the bloodsuckers three extra sets of eyes and legs. He's not going to be able to surprise them. This was just a precaution, really. Wouldn't want our precious parasites taking unnecessary chances. Nope,I agreed, ignoring the sarcasm. You've changed so much, Jacob. Talk about one-eighties. You're not exactly the same Leah I've always known and loved, either. True. Am I less annoying than Paul now? Amazingly†¦ yes. Ah, sweet success. Congrats. We ran in silence again then. It was probably time to turn around, but neither of us wanted to. It felt nice to run like this. We'd been staring at the same small circle of atrail for too long. It felt good to stretch our muscles and take the rugged terrain. We weren't in a huge hurry, so I thought maybe we should hunt on the way back. Leah was pretty hungry. Yum, yum,she thought sourly. It's all in your head,I told her. That's the way wolves eat. It's natural. It tastes fine. If you didn't think about it from a human perspective – Forget the pep talk, Jacob. I'll hunt I don't have to like it Sure, sure,I agreed easily. It wasn't my business if she wanted to make things harder for herself. She didn't add anything for a few minutes; I started thinking about turning back. Thank you,Leah suddenly told me in a much different tone. For? For letting me be. For letting me stay. You've been nicer than I had any right to expect, Jacob. Er, no problem. Actually, I mean that. I don't mind having you here like I thought I would. She snorted, but it was a playful sound. What a glowing commendation! Don't let it go to your head. Okay – if you don't let this go to yours.She paused for a second. think you make a good Alpha. Not in the same way Sam does, but in your own way. You're worth following, Jacob. My mind went blank with surprise. It took me a second to recover enough to respond. Er, thanks. Not totally sure I'll be able to stop that one from going to my head, though. Where did that come from? She didn't answer right away, and I followed the wordless direction of her thoughts. She was thinking about the future – about what I'd said to Jared the other morning. About how the time would be up soon, and then I'd go back to the forest. About how I'd promised that she and Seth would return to the pack when the Cullens were gone___ want to stay with you, she told me. The shock shot through my legs, locking my joints. She blew past me and then put on the brakes. Slowly, she walked back to where I was frozen in place. won't be a pain, I swear. I won't follow you around. You can go wherever you want, and I'll go where I want. You'll only have to put up with me when we're both wolves. She paced back and forth in front of me, swishing her long gray tail nervously. And, as I'm planning on quitting as soon as I can manage it†¦ maybe that won't be so often. I didn't know what to say. I'm happier now, as a part of your pack, than I have been in years. I want to stay, too,Seth thought quietly. I hadn't realized he'd been paying much attention to us as he ran the perimeter. like this pack. Hey, now! Seth, this isn't going to be a pack much longer.I tried to put my thoughts together so they would convince him. We've got a purpose now, but when†¦ after that's over, I'm just going to go wolf. Seth, you need a purpose. You're a good kid. You're the kind of person who always has a crusade. And there's no way you're leaving La Push now. You're going to graduate from high school and do something with your life. You're going to take care of Sue. My issues are not going to mess up your future. But – Jacob is rightLeah seconded. You're agreeing with me? Of course. But none of that applies tome. was on my way out anyway. I'll get a job somewhere away from La Push. Maybe take some courses at a community college. Get into yoga and meditation to work on my temper issues†¦. And stay a part of this pack for the sake of my mental well-being. Jacob – you can see how that makes sense, right? I won't bother you, you won't bother me, everyone is happy. I turned back and started loping slowly toward the west. This is a bit much to deal with, Leah. Let me think about it, ‘kay? Sure. Take your time. It took us longer to make the run back. I wasn't trying for speed. I was just trying to concentrate enough that I wouldn't plow headfirst into a tree. Seth was grumbling a little bit in the back of my head, but I was able to ignore him. He knew I was right. He wasn't going to abandon his mom. He would go back to La Push and protect the tribe like he should. But I couldn't see Leah doing that. And that was just plain scary. A pack of the two of us? No matter the physical distance, I couldn't imagine the†¦ the intimacy of that situation. I wondered if she'd really thought it through, or if she was just desperate to stay free. Leah didn't say anything as I chewed it over. It was like she was trying to prove how easy it would be if it was just us. We ran into a herd of black-tailed deer just as the sun was coming up, brightening the clouds a little bit behind us. Leah sighed internally but didn't hesitate. Her lunge was clean and efficient – graceful, even. She took down the largest one, the buck, before the startled animal fully understood the danger. Not to be outdone, I swooped down on the next largest deer, snapping her neck between my jaws quickly, so she wouldn't feel unnecessary pain. I could feel Leah's disgust warring with her hunger, and I tried to make it easier for her by letting the wolf in me have my head. I'd lived all-wolf for long enough that I knew how to be the animal completely, to see his way and think his way. I let the practical instincts take over, letting her feel that, too. She hesitated for a second, but then, tentatively, she seemed to reach out with her mind and try to see my way. It felt very strange – our minds were more closely linked than they had ever been before, because we both were trying to think together. Strange, but it helped her. Her teeth cut through the fur and skin of her kill's shoulder, tearing away a thick slab of streaming flesh. Rather than wince away as her human thoughts wanted to, she let her wolf-self react instinctively. It was kind of a numbing thing, a thoughtless thing. It let her eat in peace. It was easy for me to do the same. And I was glad I hadn't forgotten this. This would be my life again soon. Was Leah going to be a part of that life? A week ago, I wouldve found that idea beyond horrifying. I wouldn't've been able to stand it. But I knew her better now. And, relieved from the constant pain, she wasn't the same wolf. Not the same girl. We ate together until we both were full. Thanks,she told me later as she was cleaning her muzzle and paws against the wet grass. I didn't bother; it had just started to drizzle and we had to swim the river again on our way back. I'd get clean enough. That wasn't so bad, thinking your way. You're welcome. Seth was dragging when we hit the perimeter. I told him to get some sleep; Leah and I would take over the patrol. Seth's mind faded into unconsciousness just seconds later. You headed back to the bloodsuckers?Leah asked. Maybe. It's hard for you to be there, but hard to stay away, too. I know how that feels. You know, Leah, you might want to think a little bit about the future, about what you really want to do. My head is not going to be the happiest place on earth. And you'll have to suffer right along with me. She thought about how to answer me. Wow, this is going to sound bad. But, honestly, it will be easier to deal with your pain than face mine. Fair enough. I know it's going to be bad for you, Jacob. I understand that – maybe better than you think. I don't like her, but†¦ she's your Sam. She's everything you want and everything you can't have. I couldn't answer. know it's worse for you. At least Sam is happy. At least he's alive and well. I love him enough that I want that. I want him to have what's best for him. She sighed. I just don't want to stick around to watch. Do we need to talk about this? I think we do. Because I want you to know that I won't make it worse for you. Hell, maybe I'll even help. I wasn'tborn a compassionless shrew. I used to be sort of nice, you know. My memory doesn't go that far back. We both laughed once. I'm sorry about this, Jacob. I'm sorry you're in pain. I'm sorry it's getting worse and not better Thanks, Leah. She thought about the things that were worse, the black pictures in my head, while I tried to tune her out without much success. She was able to look at them with some distance, some perspective, and I had to admit that this was helpful. I could imagine that maybe I would be able to see it that way, too, in a few years. She saw the funny side of the daily irritations that came from hanging out around vampires. She liked my ragging on Rosalie, chuckling internally and even running through a few blonde jokes in her mind that I might be able to work in. But then her thoughts turned serious, lingering on Rosalie's face in a way that confused me. You know what's crazy?she asked. Well, almost everything is crazy right now. But what do you mean? That blond vampire you hate so much – totally get her perspective. For a second I thought she was making a joke that was in very poor taste. And then, when I realized she was serious, the fury that ripped through me was hard to control. It was a good thing we'd spread out to run our watch. If she'd been within biting distance†¦ Hold up! Let me explain! Don't want to hear it I'm outta here. Wait! Wait!she pleaded as I tried to calm myself enough to phase back. C'mon, Jake! Leah, this isn't really the best way to convince me that I want to spend more time with you in the future. Yeesh! What an overreaction. You don't even know what I'm talking about So whatare you talking about? And then she was suddenly the pain-hardened Leah from before. I'm talking about being a genetic dead end, Jacob. The vicious edge to her words left me floundering. I hadn't expected to have my anger trumped. I don't understand. Youwould, if you weren't just like the rest of them. If my â€Å"female sfu/T – she thought the words with a hard, sarcastic tone – didn't send you running for cover just like any stupid male, so you could actually pay attention to what it all means. Oh. Yeah, so none of us like to think about that stuff with her. Who would? Of course I remembered Leah's panic that first month after she joined the pack – and I remembered cringing away from it just like everyone else. Because she couldn't be pregnant – not unless there was some really freaky religious immaculate crap going on. She hadn't been with anyone since Sam. And then, when the weeks dragged on and nothing turned into more nothing, she'd realized that her body wasn't following the normal patterns anymore. The horror – what was she now? Had her body changed because she'd become a werewolf? Or had she become a werewolf because her body was wrong? The only female werewolf in the history of forever. Was that because she wasn't as female as she should be? None of us had wanted to deal with that breakdown. Obviously, it wasn't like we could empathize. You know why Sam thinks we imprint,she thought, calmer now. Sure. To carry on the line. Right. To make a bunch of new little werewolves. Survival of the species, genetic override. You're drawn to the person who gives you the best chance to pass on the wolf gene. I waited for her to tell me where she was qoinq with this. If I was any good for that, Sam would have been drawn tome. Her pain was enough that I broke stride under it. But I'm not There's something wrong with me. I don't have the ability to pass on the gene, apparently, despite my stellar bloodlines. So I become a freak – the girlie-wolf – good for nothing else. I'm a genetic dead end and we both know it. We do not,I argued with her. That's just Sam's theory. Imprinting happens, but we don't know why. Billy thinks it's something else. I know, I know. He thinks you're imprinting to makestronger wolves. Because you and Sam are such humongous monsters – bigger than our fathers. But either way, I'm still not a candidate. I'm†¦ I'm menopausal. I'm twenty years old and I'm menopausal. Ugh. I so didn't want to have this conversation. You don't know that, Leah. It's probably just the whole frozen-in-time thing. When you quit your wolf and start getting older again, I'm sure things will†¦ er†¦ pick right back up. might think that – except that no one's imprinting onme, notwithstanding my impressive pedigree. You know, she added thoughtfully, if you weren't around, Seth would probably have the best claim to being Alpha – through his blood, at least. Of course, no one would ever consider me†¦. You reallywant to imprint, or be imprinted on, or whichever? I demanded. What's wrong with going out and falling in love like a normal person, Leah? Imprinting is just another way of getting your choices taken away from you. Sam, Jared, Paul, Quit†¦ they don't seem to mind. None of themhave a mind of their own. You don't want to imprint? Hell, no! That's just because you're already in love withher. That would go away, you know, if you imprinted. You wouldn't have to hurt over her anymore. Do you want to forget the way you feel about Sam? She deliberated for a moment. think I do. I sighed. She was in a healthier place than I was. But back to my original point, Jacob. I understand why your blond vampire is so cold – in the figurative sense. She's focused. She's got her eyes on the prize, right? Because you always want the very most what you can never, ever have. You would act like Rosalie? You would murder someone – because that's what she's doing, making sure no one interferes with Bella's death – you would do that to have a baby? Since when are you a breeder? I just want the options I don't have, Jacob. Maybe, if there was nothing wrong with me, I would never give it a thought. You would kill for that?I demanded, not letting her escape my question. That's not what she's doing. I think it's more like she's living vicariously. And†¦ if Bella askedme to help her with this†¦She paused, considering. Even though I don't think too much of her, I'd probably do the same as the bloodsucker. A loud snarl ripped through my teeth. Because, if it was turned around, I'd want Bella to do that for me. And so would Rosalie. We'd both do it her way. Ugh! You're as bad as they are! That's the funny thing about knowing you can't have something. It makes you desperate. And.. . that's my limit Right there. This conversation is over. Fine. It wasn't enough that she'd agreed to stop. I wanted a stronger termination than that. I was only about a mile from where I'd left my clothes, so I phased back to human and walked. I didn't think about our conversation. Not because there wasn't anything to think about, but because I couldn't stand it. I would not see it that way – but it was harder to keep from doing that when Leah had put the thoughts and emotions straight into my head. Yeah, I wasn't running with her when this was finished. She could go be miserable in La Push. One little Alpha command before I left for good wasn't going to kill anybody. It was real early when I got to the house. Bella was probably still asleep. I figured I'd poke my head in, see what was going on, give 'em the green light to go hunting, and then find a patch of grass soft enough to sleep on while human. I wasn't phasing back until Leah was asleep. But there was a lot of low mumbling going on inside the house, so maybe Bella wasn't sleeping. And then I heard the machinery sound from upstairs again – the X-ray? Great. It looked like day four on the countdown was starting off with a bang. Alice opened the door for me before I could walk in. She nodded. â€Å"Hey, wolf.† â€Å"Hey, shortie. What's going on upstairs?† The big room was empty – all the murmurs were on the second floor. She shrugged her pointy little shoulders. â€Å"Maybe another break.† She tried to say the words casually, but I could see the flames in the very back of her eyes. Edward and I weren't the only ones who were burning over this. Alice loved Bella, too. â€Å"Another rib?† I asked hoarsely. â€Å"No. Pelvis this time.† Funny how it kept hitting me, like each new thing was a surprise. When was I going to stop being surprised? Each new disaster seemed kinda obvious in hindsight. Alice was staring at my hands, watching them tremble. Then we were listening to Rosalie's voice upstairs. â€Å"See, I told you I didn't hear a crack. You need your ears checked, Edward.† There was no answer. Alice made a face. â€Å"Edward's going to end up ripping Rose into small pieces, I think. I'm surprised she doesn't see that. Or maybe she thinks Emmett will be able to stop him.† â€Å"I'll take Emmett,† I offered. â€Å"You can help Edward with the ripping part.† Alice half-smiled. The procession came down the stairs then – Edward had Bella this time. She was gripping her cup of blood in both hands, and her face was white. I could see that, though he compensated for every tiny movement of his body to keep from jostling her, she was hurting. â€Å"Jake,† she whispered, and she smiled through the pain. I stared at her, saying nothing. Edward placed Bella carefully on her couch and sat on the floor by her head. I wondered briefly why they didn't leave her upstairs, and then decided at once that it must be Bella's idea. She'd want to act like things were normal, avoid the hospital setup. And he was humoring her. Naturally. Carlisle came down slowly, the last one, his face creased with worry. It made him look old enough to be a doctor for once. â€Å"Carlisle,† I said. â€Å"We went halfway to Seattle. There's no sign of the pack. You're good to go.† â€Å"Thank you, Jacob. This is good timing. There's much that we need.† His black eyes flickered to the cup that Bella was holding so tight. â€Å"Honestly, I think you're safe to take more than three. I'm pretty positive that Sam is concentrating on La Push.† Carlisle nodded in agreement. It surprised me how willingly he took my advice. â€Å"If you think so. Alice, Esme, Jasper, and I will go. Then Alice can take Emmett and Rosa – â€Å" â€Å"Not a chance,† Rosalie hissed. â€Å"Emmett can go with you now.† â€Å"You should hunt,† Carlisle said in a gentle voice. His tone didn't soften hers. â€Å"I'll hunt when he does,† she growled, jerking her head toward Edward and then flipping her hair back. Carlisle sighed. Jasper and Emmett were down the stairs in a flash, and Alice joined them by the glass back door in the same second. Esme flitted to Alice's side. Carlisle put his hand on my arm. The icy touch did not feel good, but I didn't jerk away. I held still, half in surprise, and half because I didn't want to hurt his feelings. â€Å"Thank you,† he said again, and then he darted out the door with the other four. My eyes followed them as they flew across the lawn and then disappeared before I took another breath. Their needs must have been more urgent than I'd imagined. There was no sound for a minute. I could feel someone glaring at me, and I knew who it would be. I'd been planning to take off and get some Z's, but the chance to ruin Rosalie's morning seemed too good to pass up. So I sauntered over to the armchair next to the one Rosalie had and settled in, sprawling out so that my head was tilted toward Bella and my left foot was near Rosalie's face. â€Å"Ew. Someone put the dog out,† she murmured, wrinkling her nose. â€Å"Have you heard this one, Psycho? How do a blonde's brain cells die?† She didn't say anything. â€Å"Well?† I asked. â€Å"Do you know the punch line or not?† She looked pointedly at the TV and ignored me. â€Å"Has she heard it?† I asked Edward. There was no humor on his tense face – he didn't move his eyes from Bella. But he said, â€Å"No.† â€Å"Awesome. So you'll enjoy this, bloodsucker – a blonde's brain cells die alone.† Rosalie still didn't look at me. â€Å"I have killed a hundred times more often than you have, you disgusting beast. Don't forget that.† â€Å"Someday, Beauty Queen, you're going to get tired of just threatening me. I'm really looking forward to that.† â€Å"Enough, Jacob,† Bella said. I looked down, and she was scowling at me. It looked like yesterday's good mood was long gone. Well, I didn't want to bug her. â€Å"You want me to take off?† I offered. Before I could hope – or fear – that she'd finally gotten tired of me, she blinked, and her frown disappeared. She seemed totally shocked that I would come to that conclusion. â€Å"No! Of course not.† I sighed, and I heard Edward sigh very quietly, too. I knew he wished she'd get over me, too. Too bad he'd never ask her to do anything that might make her unhappy. â€Å"You look tired,† Bella commented. â€Å"Dead beat,† I admitted. I'dlike to beat you dead,† Rosalie muttered, too low for Bella to hear. I just slumped deeper into the chair, getting comfortable. My bare foot dangled closer to Rosalie, and she stiffened. After a few minutes Bella asked Rosalie for a refill. I felt the wind as Rosalie blew upstairs to get her some more blood. It was really quiet. Might as well take a nap, I figured. And then Edward said, â€Å"Did you say something?† in a puzzled tone. Strange. Because no one had said anything, and because Edward's hearing was as good as mine, and he should have known that. He was staring at Bella, and she was staring back. They both looked confused. â€Å"Me?† she asked after a second. â€Å"I didn't say anything.† He moved onto his knees, leaning forward over her, his expression suddenly intense in a whole different way. His black eyes focused on her face. â€Å"What are you thinking about right now?† She stared at him blankly. â€Å"Nothing. What's going on?† â€Å"What were you thinking about a minute ago?† he asked. â€Å"Just†¦ Esme's island. And feathers.† Sounded like total gibberish to me, but then she blushed, and I figured I was better off not knowing. â€Å"Say something else,† he whispered. Tike what? Edward, what's going on?† His face changed again, and he did something that made my mouth fall open with a pop. I heard a gasp behind me, and I knew that Rosalie was back, and just as flabbergasted as I was. Edward, very lightly, put both of his hands against her huge, round stomach. ‘The f – † He swallowed. â€Å"It†¦ the baby likes the sound of your voice.† There was one short beat of total silence. I could not move a muscle, even to blink. Then – â€Å"Holy crow, you can hear him!†Bella shouted. In the next second, she winced. Edward's hand moved to the top peak of her belly and gently rubbed the spot where it must have kicked her. â€Å"Shh,† he murmured. â€Å"You startled it†¦ him.† Her eyes got all wide and full of wonder. She patted the side of her stomach. â€Å"Sorry, baby.† Edward was listening hard, his head tilted toward the bulge. â€Å"What's he thinking now?† she demanded eagerly. â€Å"It†¦ he or she, is †¦Ã¢â‚¬  He paused and looked up into her eyes. His eyes were filled with a similar awe – only his were more careful and grudging. â€Å"He's happy† Edward said in an incredulous voice. Her breath caught, and it was impossible not to see the fanatical gleam in her eyes. The adoration and the devotion. Big, fat tears overflowed her eyes and ran silently down her face and over her smiling lips. As he stared at her, his face was not frightened or angry or burning or any of the other expressions he'd worn since their return. He was marveling with her. â€Å"Of course you're happy, pretty baby, of course you are,† she crooned, rubbing her stomach while the tears washed her cheeks. â€Å"How could you not be, all safe and warm and loved? I love you so much, little EJ, of course you're happy.† â€Å"What did you call him?† Edward asked curiously. She blushed again. â€Å"I sort of named him. I didn't think you would want†¦ well, you know.† â€Å"EJ?† â€Å"Your father's name was Edward, too.† â€Å"Yes, it was. What – ?† He paused and then said, â€Å"Hmm.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"He likes my voice, too.† â€Å"Of course he does.† Her tone was almost gloating now. â€Å"You have the most beautiful voice in the universe. Who wouldn't love it?† â€Å"Do you have a backup plan?† Rosalie asked then, leaning over the back of the sofa with the same wondering, gloating look on her face that was on Bella's. â€Å"What if he's a she?† Bella wiped the back of her hand under her wet eyes. â€Å"I kicked a few things around. Playing with Renee and Esme. I was thinking†¦ Ruh-nez-may.† â€Å"Ruhnezmay?† â€Å"R-e-n-e-s-m-e-e. Too weird?† â€Å"No, I like it,† Rosalie assured her. Their heads were close together, gold and mahogany. â€Å"It's beautiful. And one of a kind, so that fits† â€Å"I still think he's an Edward.† Edward was staring off into space, his face blank as he listened. â€Å"What?† Bella asked, her face just glowing away. â€Å"What's he thinking now?† At first he didn't answer, and then – shocking all the rest of us again, three distinct and separate gasps – he laid his ear tenderly against her belly. â€Å"He loves you,† Edward whispered, sounding dazed. â€Å"He absolutely adores you.† In that moment, I knew that I was alone. All alone. I wanted to kick myself when I realized how much I'd been counting on that loathsome vampire. How stupid – as if you could ever trust a leech! Of course he would betray me in the end. I'd counted on him to be on my side. I'd counted on him to suffer more than I suffered. And, most of all, I'd counted on him to hate that revolting thing killing Bella more than I hated it. I'd trusted him with that. Yet now they were together, the two of them bent over the budding, invisible monster with their eyes lit up like a happy family. And I was all alone with my hatred and the pain that was so bad it was like being tortured. Like being dragged slowly across a bed of razor blades. Pain so bad you'd take death with a smile just to get away from it. The heat unlocked my frozen muscles, and I was on my feet. All three of their heads snapped up, and I watched my pain ripple across Edward's face as he trespassed in my head again. â€Å"Ahh,† he choked. I didn't know what I was doing; I stood there, trembling, ready to bolt for the very first escape that I could think of. Moving like the strike of a snake, Edward darted to a small end table and ripped something from the drawer there. He tossed it at me, and I caught the object reflexively. â€Å"Go, Jacob. Get away from here.† He didn't say it harshly – he threw the words at me like they were a life preserver. He was helping me find the escape I was dying for. The object in my hand was a set of car keys.