The Da Vinci Code Chapter 30-32

CHAPTER 30 Security warden Claude Grouard simmered with rage as he stood over his prostrate captive in front of the Mona Lisa.This bastard killed Jacques Sauniere! Sauniere had been like a well-loved father to Grouard and his security team. Grouard wanted nothing more than to pull the trigger and bury a bullet in Robert Langdon's back. As senior warden, Grouard was one of the few guards who actually carried a loaded weapon. He reminded himself, however, that killing Langdon would be a generous fate compared to the misery about to be communicated by Bezu Fache and the French prison system. Grouard yanked his walkie-talkie off his belt and attempted to radio for backup. All he heard was static. The additional electronic security in this chamber always wrought havoc with the guards' communications. I have to move to the doorway.Still aiming his weapon at Langdon, Grouard began backing slowly toward the entrance. On his third step, he spied something that made him stop short. What the hell is that! An inexplicable mirage was materializing near the center of the room. A silhouette. There was someone else in the room? A woman was moving through the darkness, walking briskly toward the far left wall. In front of her, a purplish beam of light swung back and forth across the floor, as if she were searching for something with a colored flashlight. â€Å"Qui est la?† Grouard demanded, feeling his adrenaline spike for a second time in the last thirty seconds. He suddenly didn't know where to aim his gun or what direction to move. â€Å"PTS,† the woman replied calmly, still scanning the floor with her light. Police Technique et Scientifique.Grouard was sweating now. I thought all the agents were gone!He now recognized the purple light as ultraviolet, consistent with a PTS team, and yet he could not understand why DCPJ would be looking for evidence in here. â€Å"Votre nom!† Grouard yelled, instinct telling him something was amiss. â€Å"Repondez!† â€Å"C'est mot,† the voice responded in calm French. â€Å"Sophie Neveu.† Somewhere in the distant recesses of Grouard's mind, the name registered. Sophie Neveu? Thatwas the name of Sauniere's granddaughter, wasn't it? She used to come in here as a little kid, but that was years ago. This couldn't possibly be her! And even if it were Sophie Neveu, that was hardly a reason to trust her; Grouard had heard the rumors of the painful falling-out between Sauniere and his granddaughter. â€Å"You know me,† the woman called. â€Å"And Robert Langdon did not kill my grandfather. Believe me.† Warden Grouard was not about to take that on faith. I need backup! Trying his walkie-talkie again, he got only static. The entrance was still a good twenty yards behind him, and Grouard began backing up slowly, choosing to leave his gun trained on the man on the floor. As Grouard inched backward, he could see the woman across the room raising her UV light and scrutinizing a large painting that hung on the far side of the Salle des Etats, directly opposite the Mona Lisa. Grouard gasped, realizing which painting it was. What in the name of God is she doing? Across the room, Sophie Neveu felt a cold sweat breaking across her forehead. Langdon was still spread-eagle on the floor. Hold on, Robert.Almost there.Knowing the guard would never actually shoot either of them, Sophie now turned her attention back to the matter at hand, scanning the entire area around one masterpiece in particular – another Da Vinci. But the UV light revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Not on the floor, on the walls, or even on the canvas itself. There must be something here! Sophie felt totally certain she had deciphered her grandfather's intentions correctly. What else could he possibly intend? The masterpiece she was examining was a five-foot-tall canvas. The bizarre scene Da Vinci had painted included an awkwardly posed Virgin Mary sitting with Baby Jesus, John the Baptist, and the Angel Uriel on a perilous outcropping of rocks. When Sophie was a little girl, no trip to the Mona Lisa had been complete without her grandfather dragging her across the room to see this second painting. Grand-pere, I'm here! But I don't see it! Behind her, Sophie could hear the guard trying to radio again for help. Think! She pictured the message scrawled on the protective glass of the Mona Lisa.So dark the con of man.The painting before her had no protective glass on which to write a message, and Sophie knew her grandfather would never have defaced this masterpiece by writing on the painting itself. She paused. At least not on the front.Her eyes shot upward, climbing the long cables that dangled from the ceiling to support the canvas. Could that be it? Grabbing the left side of the carved wood frame, she pulled it toward her. The painting was large and the backing flexed as she swung it away from the wall. Sophie slipped her head and shoulders in behind the painting and raised the black light to inspect the back. It took only seconds to realize her instinct had been wrong. The back of the painting was pale and blank. There was no purple text here, only the mottled brown backside of aging canvas and – Wait. Sophie's eyes locked on an incongruous glint of lustrous metal lodged near the bottom edge of the frame's wooden armature. The object was small, partially wedged in the slit where the canvas met the frame. A shimmering gold chain dangled off it. To Sophie's utter amazement, the chain was affixed to a familiar gold key. The broad, sculpted head was in the shape of a cross and bore an engraved seal she had not seen since she was nine years old. A fleur-de-lis with the initials P. S. In that instant, Sophie felt the ghost of her grandfather whispering in her ear. When the time comes, the key will be yours.A tightness gripped her throat as she realized that her grandfather, even in death, had kept his promise. This key opens a box, his voice was saying, where I keep many secrets. Sophie now realized that the entire purpose of tonight's word game had been this key. Her grandfather had it with him when he was killed. Not wanting it to fall into the hands of the police, he hid it behind this painting. Then he devised an ingenious treasure hunt to ensure only Sophie would find it. â€Å"Au secours!† the guard's voice yelled. Sophie snatched the key from behind the painting and slipped it deep in her pocket along with the UV penlight. Peering out from behind the canvas, she could see the guard was still trying desperately to raise someone on the walkie-talkie. He was backing toward the entrance, still aiming the gun firmly at Langdon. â€Å"Au secours!† he shouted again into his radio. Static. He can't transmit, Sophie realized, recalling that tourists with cell phones often got frustrated in here when they tried to call home to brag about seeing the Mona Lisa.The extra surveillance wiring in the walls made it virtually impossible to get a carrier unless you stepped out into the hall. The guard was backing quickly toward the exit now, and Sophie knew she had to act immediately. Gazing up at the large painting behind which she was partially ensconced, Sophie realized that Leonardo Da Vinci, for the second time tonight, was there to help. Another few meters, Grouard told himself, keeping his gun leveled. â€Å"Arretez! Ou je la detruis!† the woman's voice echoed across the room. Grouard glanced over and stopped in his tracks. â€Å"Mon dieu, non!† Through the reddish haze, he could see that the woman had actually lifted the large painting off its cables and propped it on the floor in front of her. At five feet tall, the canvas almost entirely hid her body. Grouard's first thought was to wonder why the painting's trip wires hadn't set off alarms, but of course the artwork cable sensors had yet to be reset tonight. What is she doing! When he saw it, his blood went cold. The canvas started to bulge in the middle, the fragile outlines of the Virgin Mary, Baby Jesus, and John the Baptist beginning to distort. â€Å"Non!† Grouard screamed, frozen in horror as he watched the priceless Da Vinci stretching. The woman was pushing her knee into the center of the canvas from behind!† NON!† Grouard wheeled and aimed his gun at her but instantly realized it was an empty threat. The canvas was only fabric, but it was utterly impenetrable – a six-million-dollar piece of body armor. I can't put a bullet through a Da Vinci! â€Å"Set down your gun and radio,† the woman said in calm French,† or I'll put my knee through this painting. I think you know how my grandfather would feel about that.† Grouard felt dizzy. â€Å"Please†¦ no. That's Madonna of the Rocks!† He dropped his gun and radio, raising his hands over his head. â€Å"Thank you,† the woman said. â€Å"Now do exactly as I tell you, and everything will work out fine.† Moments later, Langdon's pulse was still thundering as he ran beside Sophie down the emergency stairwell toward the ground level. Neither of them had said a word since leaving the trembling Louvre guard lying in the Salle des Etats. The guard's pistol was now clutched tightly in Langdon's hands, and he couldn't wait to get rid of it. The weapon felt heavy and dangerously foreign. Taking the stairs two at a time, Langdon wondered if Sophie had any idea how valuable a painting she had almost ruined. Her choice in art seemed eerily pertinent to tonight's adventure. The Da Vinci she had grabbed, much like the Mona Lisa, was notorious among art historians for its plethora of hidden pagan symbolism. â€Å"You chose a valuable hostage,† he said as they ran. â€Å"Madonna of the Rocks,†she replied. â€Å"But I didn't choose it, my grandfather did. He left me a little something behind the painting.† Langdon shot her a startled look. â€Å"What!? But how did you know which painting? Why Madonnaof the Rocks?† â€Å"So dark the con of man.† She flashed a triumphant smile. â€Å"I missed the first two anagrams, Robert. I wasn't about to miss the third.† CHAPTER 31 â€Å"They're dead!† Sister Sandrine stammered into the telephone in her Saint-Sulpice residence. She was leaving a message on an answering machine. â€Å"Please pick up! They're all dead!† The first three phone numbers on the list had produced terrifying results – a hysterical widow, a detective working late at a murder scene, and a somber priest consoling a bereaved family. All three contacts were dead. And now, as she called the fourth and final number – the number she was not supposed to call unless the first three could not be reached – she got an answering machine. The outgoing message offered no name but simply asked the caller to leave a message.† The floor panel has been broken!† she pleaded as she left the message. â€Å"The other three are dead!† Sister Sandrine did not know the identities of the four men she protected, but the private phonenumbers stashed beneath her bed were for use on only one condition. If that floor panel is ever broken, the faceless messenger had told her, it means the upper echelon has been breached. One of us has been mortally threatened and been forced to tell a desperate lie. Call the numbers. Warn the others. Do not fail us in this. It was a silent alarm. Foolproof in its simplicity. The plan had amazed her when she first heard it. If the identity of one brother was compromised, he could tell a lie that would start in motion a mechanism to warn the others. Tonight, however, it seemed that more than one had been compromised. â€Å"Please answer,† she whispered in fear. â€Å"Where are you?† â€Å"Hang up the phone,† a deep voice said from the doorway. Turning in terror, she saw the massive monk. He was clutching the heavy iron candle stand. Shaking, she set the phone back in the cradle. â€Å"They are dead,† the monk said. â€Å"All four of them. And they have played me for a fool. Tell me where the keystone is.† â€Å"I don't know!† Sister Sandrine said truthfully. â€Å"That secret is guarded by others.† Others who are dead! The man advanced, his white fists gripping the iron stand. â€Å"You are a sister of the Church, and yet you serve them?† â€Å"Jesus had but one true message,† Sister Sandrine said defiantly. â€Å"I cannot see that message in Opus Dei.† A sudden explosion of rage erupted behind the monk's eyes. He lunged, lashing out with the candle stand like a club. As Sister Sandrine fell, her last feeling was an overwhelming sense of foreboding. All four are dead. The precious truth is lost forever. CHAPTER 32 The security alarm on the west end of the Denon Wing sent the pigeons in the nearby Tuileries Gardens scattering as Langdon and Sophie dashed out of the bulkhead into the Paris night. As they ran across the plaza to Sophie's car, Langdon could hear police sirens wailing in the distance. â€Å"That's it there,† Sophie called, pointing to a red snub-nosed two-seater parked on the plaza. She's kidding, right? The vehicle was easily the smallest car Langdon had ever seen.† SmartCar,† she said. â€Å"A hundred kilometers to the liter.† Langdon had barely thrown himself into the passenger seat before Sophie gunned the SmartCar up and over a curb onto a gravel divider. He gripped the dash as the car shot out across a sidewalk and bounced back down over into the small rotary at Carrousel du Louvre. For an instant, Sophie seemed to consider taking the shortcut across the rotary by plowing straight ahead, through the median's perimeter hedge, and bisecting the large circle of grass in the center. â€Å"No!† Langdon shouted, knowing the hedges around Carrousel du Louvre were there to hide the perilous chasm in the center – La Pyramide Inversee – the upside-down pyramid skylight he had seen earlier from inside the museum. It was large enough to swallow their Smart-Car in a single gulp. Fortunately, Sophie decided on the more conventional route, jamming the wheel hard to the right, circling properly until she exited, cut left, and swung into the northbound lane, accelerating toward Rue de Rivoli. The two-tone police sirens blared louder behind them, and Langdon could see the lights now in his side view mirror. The SmartCar engine whined in protest as Sophie urged it faster away from the Louvre. Fifty yards ahead, the traffic light at Rivoli turned red. Sophie cursed under her breath and kept racing toward it. Langdon felt his muscles tighten. â€Å"Sophie?† Slowing only slightly as they reached the intersection, Sophie flicked her headlights and stole a quick glance both ways before flooring the accelerator again and carving a sharp left turn through the empty intersection onto Rivoli. Accelerating west for a quarter of a mile, Sophie banked to the right around a wide rotary. Soon they were shooting out the other side onto the wide avenue of Champs-Elysees. As they straightened out, Langdon turned in his seat, craning his neck to look out the rear window toward the Louvre. The police did not seem to be chasing them. The sea of blue lights was assembling at the museum. His heartbeat finally slowing, Langdon turned back around. â€Å"That was interesting.† Sophie didn't seem to hear. Her eyes remained fixed ahead down the long thoroughfare of Champs-Elysees, the two-mile stretch of posh storefronts that was often called the Fifth Avenue of Paris. The embassy was only about a mile away, and Langdon settled into his seat. So dark the con of man.Sophie's quick thinking had been impressive. Madonna of the Rocks. Sophie had said her grandfather left her something behind the painting. A final message? Langdon could not help but marvel over Sauniere's brilliant hiding place; Madonna of the Rocks was yet another fitting link in the evening's chain of interconnected symbolism. Sauniere, it seemed, at every turn, was reinforcing his fondness for the dark and mischievous side of Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci's original commission for Madonna of the Rocks had come from an organization known as the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, which needed a painting for the centerpiece of an altar triptych in their church of San Francesco in Milan. The nuns gave Leonardo specific dimensions, and the desired theme for the painting – the Virgin Mary, baby John the Baptist, Uriel, and Baby Jesus sheltering in a cave. Although Da Vinci did as they requested, when he delivered the work, the group reacted with horror. He had filled the painting with explosive and disturbing details. The painting showed a blue-robed Virgin Mary sitting with her arm around an infant child, presumably Baby Jesus. Opposite Mary sat Uriel, also with an infant, presumably baby John the Baptist. Oddly, though, rather than the usual Jesus-blessing-John scenario, it was baby John who was blessing Jesus†¦ and Jesus was submitting to his authority! More troubling still, Mary was holding one hand high above the head of infant John and making a decidedly threatening gesture – her fingers looking like eagle's talons, gripping an invisible head. Finally, the most obvious and frightening image: Just below Mary's curled fingers, Uriel was making a cutting gesture with his hand – as if slicing the neck of the invisible head gripped by Mary's claw-like hand. Langdon's students were always amused to learn that Da Vinci eventually mollified the confraternity by painting them a second,† watered-down† version of Madonna of the Rocks in which everyone was arranged in a more orthodox manner. The second version now hung in London's National Gallery under the name Virgin of the Rocks, although Langdon still preferred the Louvre's more intriguing original. As Sophie gunned the car up Champs-Elysees, Langdon said,† The painting. What was behind it?† Her eyes remained on the road. â€Å"I'll show you once we're safely inside the embassy.† â€Å"You'll show it to me?† Langdon was surprised. â€Å"He left you a physical object?† Sophie gave a curt nod. â€Å"Embossed with a fleur-de-lis and the initials P. S.† Langdon couldn't believe his ears. We're going to make it, Sophie thought as she swung the SmartCar's wheel to the right, cutting sharply past the luxurious Hà ´tel de Crillon into Paris's tree-lined diplomatic neighborhood. The embassy was less than a mile away now. She was finally feeling like she could breathe normally again. Even as she drove, Sophie's mind remained locked on the key in her pocket, her memories of seeing it many years ago, the gold head shaped as an equal-armed cross, the triangular shaft, the indentations, the embossed flowery seal, and the letters P. S. Although the key barely had entered Sophie's thoughts through the years, her work in the intelligence community had taught her plenty about security, and now the key's peculiar tooling no longer looked so mystifying. A laser-tooled varying matrix.Impossible to duplicate.Rather than teeth that moved tumblers, this key's complex series of laser-burned pockmarks was examined by an electric eye. If the eye determined that the hexagonal pockmarks were correctly spaced, arranged, and rotated, then the lock would open. Sophie could not begin to imagine what a key like this opened, but she sensed Robert would be able to tell her. After all, he had described the key's embossed seal without ever seeing it. The cruciform on top implied the key belonged to some kind of Christian organization, and yet Sophie knew of no churches that used laser-tooled varying matrix keys. Besides, my grandfather was no Christian†¦ . Sophie had witnessed proof of that ten years ago. Ironically, it had been another key – a far more normal one – that had revealed his true nature to her. The afternoon had been warm when she landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport and hailed a taxi home. Grand-pere will be so surprised to see me, she thought. Returning from graduate school in Britain for spring break a few days early, Sophie couldn't wait to see him and tell him all about the encryption methods she was studying. When she arrived at their Paris home, however, her grandfather was not there. Disappointed, she knew he had not been expecting her and was probably working at the Louvre. But it's Saturday afternoon, she realized. He seldom worked on weekends. On weekends, he usually – Grinning, Sophie ran out to the garage. Sure enough, his car was gone. It was the weekend. Jacques Sauniere despised city driving and owned a car for one destination only – his vacation chateau in Normandy, north of Paris. Sophie, after months in the congestion of London, was eager for the smells of nature and to start her vacation right away. It was still early evening, and she decided to leave immediately and surprise him. Borrowing a friend's car, Sophie drove north, winding into the deserted moon-swept hills near Creully. She arrived just after ten o'clock, turning down the long private driveway toward her grandfather's retreat. The access road was over a mile long, and she was halfway down it before she could start to see the house through the trees – a mammoth, old stone chateau nestled in the woods on the side of a hill. Sophie had half expected to find her grandfather asleep at this hour and was excited to see the house twinkling with lights. Her delight turned to surprise, however, when she arrived to find the driveway filled with parked cars – Mercedeses, BMWs, Audis, and a Rolls-Royce. Sophie stared a moment and then burst out laughing. My grand-pere, the famous recluse! Jacques Sauniere, it seemed, was far less reclusive than he liked to pretend. Clearly he was hosting a party while Sophie was away at school, and from the looks of the automobiles, some of Paris's most influential people were in attendance. Eager to surprise him, she hurried to the front door. When she got there, though, she found it locked. She knocked. Nobody answered. Puzzled, she walked around and tried the back door. It too was locked. No answer. Confused, she stood a moment and listened. The only sound she heard was the cool Normandy air letting out a low moan as it swirled through the valley. No music. No voices. Nothing. In the silence of the woods, Sophie hurried to the side of the house and clambered up on a woodpile, pressing her face to the living room window. What she saw inside made no sense at all. â€Å"Nobody's here!† The entire first floor looked deserted. Where are all the people? Heart racing, Sophie ran to the woodshed and got the spare key her grandfather kept hidden under the kindling box. She ran to the front door and let herself in. As she stepped into the deserted foyer, the control panel for the security system started blinking red – a warning that the entrant had ten seconds to type the proper code before the security alarms went off. He has the alarm on during a party? Sophie quickly typed the code and deactivated the system. Entering, she found the entire house uninhabited. Upstairs too. As she descended again to the deserted living room, she stood a moment in the silence, wondering what could possibly be happening. It was then that Sophie heard it. Muffled voices. And they seemed to be coming from underneath her. Sophie could not imagine. Crouching, she put her ear to the floor and listened. Yes, the sound was definitely coming from below. The voices seemed to be singing, or†¦ chanting? She was frightened. Almost more eerie than the sound itself was the realization that this house did not even have a basement. At least none I've ever seen. Turning now and scanning the living room, Sophie's eyes fell to the only object in the entire house that seemed out of place – her grandfather's favorite antique, a sprawling Aubusson tapestry. It usually hung on the east wall beside the fireplace, but tonight it had been pulled aside on its brass rod, exposing the wall behind it. Walking toward the bare wooden wall, Sophie sensed the chanting getting louder. Hesitant, she leaned her ear against the wood. The voices were clearer now. People were definitely chanting†¦ intoning words Sophie could not discern. The space behind this wall is hollow! Feeling around the edge of the panels, Sophie found a recessed finger hold. It was discreetly crafted. A sliding door.Heart pounding, she placed her finger in the slot and pulled it. With noiseless precision, the heavy wall slid sideways. From out of the darkness beyond, the voices echoed up. Sophie slipped through the door and found herself on a rough-hewn stone staircase that spiraled downward. She'd been coming to this house since she was a child and yet had no idea this staircase even existed! As she descended, the air grew cooler. The voices clearer. She heard men and women now. Her line of sight was limited by the spiral of the staircase, but the last step was now rounding into view. Beyond it, she could see a small patch of the basement floor – stone, illuminated by the flickering orange blaze of firelight. Holding her breath, Sophie inched down another few steps and crouched down to look. It took her several seconds to process what she was seeing. The room was a grotto – a coarse chamber that appeared to have been hollowed from the granite of the hillside. The only light came from torches on the walls. In the glow of the flames, thirty or so people stood in a circle in the center of the room. I'm dreaming, Sophie told herself. A dream. What else could this be? Everyone in the room was wearing a mask. The women were dressed in white gossamer gowns and golden shoes. Their masks were white, and in their hands they carried golden orbs. The men wore long black tunics, and their masks were black. They looked like pieces in a giant chess set. Everyone in the circle rocked back and forth and chanted in reverence to something on the floor before them†¦ something Sophie could not see. The chanting grew steady again. Accelerating. Thundering now. Faster. The participants took a step inward and knelt. In that instant, Sophie could finally see what they all were witnessing. Even as she staggered back in horror, she felt the image searing itself into her memory forever. Overtaken by nausea, Sophie spun, clutching at the stone walls as she clambered back up the stairs. Pulling the door closed, she fled the deserted house, and drove in a tearful stupor back to Paris. That night, with her life shattered by disillusionment and betrayal, she packed her belongings and left her home. On the dining room table, she left a note. I WAS THERE. DON'T TRY TO FIND ME. Beside the note, she laid the old spare key from the chateau's woodshed. â€Å"Sophie! Langdon's voice intruded. â€Å"Stop! Stop!† Emerging from the memory, Sophie slammed on the brakes, skidding to a halt. â€Å"What? What happened?!† Langdon pointed down the long street before them. When she saw it, Sophie's blood went cold. A hundred yards ahead, the intersection was blocked by a couple of DCPJ police cars, parked askew, their purpose obvious. They've sealed off AvenueGabriel! Langdon gave a grim sigh. â€Å"I take it the embassy is off-limits this evening?† Down the street, the two DCPJ officers who stood beside their cars were now staring in their direction, apparently curious about the headlights that had halted so abruptly up the street from them. Okay, Sophie, turn around very slowly. Putting the SmartCar in reverse, she performed a composed three-point turn and reversed her direction. As she drove away, she heard the sound of squealing tires behind them. Sirens blared to life. Cursing, Sophie slammed down the accelerator.

Motion to suppress qrant or denial

â€Å"Search and seizure law is drawn primarily from the Fourth Amendment, which has been called the most ambiguous of the 10 amendments that make up the Bill of Rights. â€Å" (McWhirter, 1994, pg 1)The extent to which police may stop and frisk suspicious people who are in public and may be armed and dangerous has been of issue in many cases, (e.g. Terry v. Ohio.)   The defendant was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon.   The court ruled that police may stop and frisk such people without probable cause if the police have a reasonable suspicion that the people pose a threat to public safety.The opinion of the Court., â€Å"This case presents serious questions concerning the role of the Fourth Amendment in the confrontation on the street between the citizen and the policeman investigating suspicious circumstances,† (McWhirter, 1994, pg 60).   However in our case involving the possession of an illegal substance, the seizure was not a follow up to a search incident o f a lawful arrest.â€Å"Constitutional flaws in the methods used to arrest, search, and interrogate may be uncovered, and the defense attorney can also establish a basis for a motion to suppress and therefore bar crucial evidence from a subsequent trial.† (Bamberger 1972, PG 119)The â€Å"War on Drugs† has led to the development of aggressive or innovative, depending on your point of view, police tactics.   The Supreme Court has developed three broad categorizations addressing the â€Å"encounters† between citizens and police.   Overall intent is to protect the right of the citizens to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures.   â€Å"The Constitution does not permit police officers, without probable cause or reasonable suspicion, to restrain the liberty of American citizens.† (Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19 n. 16 (1968.)Granted in a police department, law enforcement officials must simultaneously respond to a myriad of situations. An off icer may enter the residence to find no burglar or any other person and numerous marijuana plants belonging to the absent homeowner.   As in either of these cases, happen stance yields an illegal product.Generally, officers must make their initial warrant-less entry into the home or commercial building immediately after realizing an emergency is at hand. Under some circumstances though, courts have allowed police to delay their initial entry. â€Å"In these cases, police may be facing either an ongoing emergency, such as a kidnapping, or gathering facts to determine whether assistance is truly needed, such as in a missing persons case. If there is a reasonable explanation for the officer's delay, the entry, even though delayed, will most likely be construed as lawful under the emergency exception.† (10th Cir. 1994) (9th Cir. 1986)Sam Wardlow, a â€Å"middle-aged African-American male,† was standing in front of a building holding a bag†¦he ran before an arrest wa s made and a gun was confiscated. â€Å"Should running from police in â€Å"high crime areas† be viewed differently from running from police in â€Å"low crime areas†? If so, are there various shades of Fourth Amendment protections throughout the country, depending upon which neighborhood you live in?† (Slade, 1999, pg. 86)An additional indirect case that correlates the two â€Å"passenger† example, a defendant's motions to suppress confiscated drugs, State v. Kaluna, was granted on the ground that it had been illegally seized. The state supreme court affirmed this suppression order.   Following an arrest for robbery, â€Å"the defendant was told to strip for a search. She then reached into her brassiere and pulled out a piece of folded tissue. Handing it to the matron, she claimed that this was all that she had. The matron unfolded the tissue and found a barbiturate. â€Å"(Friedelbaum, 1988, pg 134)District court judge Santiago Campos granted motion to suppress (U.S. v. Zapata (1992, 1993) the physical evidence and statements. This ruling exemplifies the two â€Å"passenger† cases fact for fact.   The initial encounter between the passengers and the narcotics agent was â€Å"an involuntary and nonconsensual seizure† in violation of the Fourth Amendment. â€Å"In a public compartment on an Amtrak train with his wife and infant son†¦DEA Special Agent boarded the train†¦ identified himself as a police officer, blocked Zapata's egress from his seat, and asked if he could search Zapata's bags, Zapata seemed to agree. Zapata stood up, took down the bags, and opened them†¦several kilograms of cocaine.†Ã‚   (Renteln, 2004, pg 91)For the press, it is one of the most difficult situations, a hearing on a motion to suppress evidence.   â€Å"If the report of a confession reaches them, trial delays are almost certain. If the defense asks for a change of venue the judge will be put under additional s train, particularly if he decides to go ahead with the jury selection process.† (Gerald, 1983 pg. 51)Reference(s)Darien A. McWhirter, Publication Year: 1994. Search,Seizure and Privacy.Contributors: Publisher: Oryx Press. Place of Publication: Phoenix. Page Number: 1.Darien A. McWhirter. Publication Year: 1994. Search,Seizure and Privacy. Contributors: TERRY v. OHIO, MR. CHIEF JUSTICE WARREN, Publisher: Oryx Press. Place of Publication: Phoenix.. Page Number: 60.Richard Bamberger, Publication Year: 1972, Justice Is theCrime: Pretrial Delay in Felony Cases. Contributors: – Lewis Katz – author, Lawrence Litwin – author. Publisher: Press of Case Western Reserve University. Place of Publication:Cleveland, OH.. Page Number: 119.Florida v. Bostick, 1968 Washington, 151 F.3d at 1357(citing 501 U.S. 429, 439 (1991); Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19 n. 16 ( (112.) Washington, 151 F.3d at 1357.(656) See United States v. Bute, 43 F. 3d 531, 537-39 (10thCir. 1994)stressi ng importance of â€Å"immediacy† requirement).(657) See, e.g., U.S. v. Echegoyen 799 F.2d 1271 (9th Cir.1986) (court upheld warrantless entry under exigent circumstances despite the fact that officers were on the premises for approximately two and one-half to three hours before they entered the home).David C. Slade, Publication Date: December 1999, Run! It'sthe Cops!: Police Protector or Enemy in High Crime Neighborhoods. Contributors: – author. Magazine Title: World and I. Volume: 14. Issue: 12.. Page Number: 86. COPYRIGHT 1999 News World Communications, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale GroupStanley H. Friedelbaum, Publication Year: 1988, HumanRights in the States: New Directions in Constitutional Policymaking. Contributors: – editor. Publisher: Greenwood Press. Place of Publication: New York.. Page Number: 134.Alison Dundes Renteln, Publication Year: 2004, The CulturalDefense. Publisher: Oxford University Press. Place of Publication: New York.. Page Number: 91.J. Ed ward Gerald, Publication Year: 1983 News of Crime: courts and Press in Conflict. Contributors: – author.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Publisher: Greenwood Press. Place of Publication: Westport, CT.. Page Number: 51.

Manage Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Manage Care - Essay Example Both organizations and individuals in the U.S. managed care system are faced with a challenging situation. First of all, the requirement for high quality care, doubled by the social responsibility to patients, is counterbalanced by an increasing pressure to lower costs and to remain afloat financially. For this reason, numerous health care providers are doomed to fail from a business perspective, being forced to close. More and more practitioners will perform as part of groups or systems, but the process of integration will not impose itself in the short term. Based on these considerations, it can be asserted that no standard model will emerge as dominant. The Institute of Medicine released few years ago a report that red-flagged the poor quality of health care in the US (Institute of Medicine 2001). A number of facts that contributed to this situation were identified, and special emphasis was put on the structure of the present health care payment system. Traditionally, doctors and medical institutions are paid regardless of the quality of the health care they provide, leading to no financial incentives or, in the case of certain clinical situations, even to disincentives for quality. These findings lead to an increasing demand to link payment to performance. The concept of pay-for-performance

Performance and career management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Performance and career management - Essay Example While talking some inherent skills like that of communication and proper body language become transparent. Some common questions related to sales activities might make the understanding stronger. The career management process should be continuous and new goals should be set as soon as the previous ones have been achieved. (Career management 2002) This is achieved only through a periodic feedback process after assessment. The performance evaluation might be done according to the performance appraisal form given above. This will lead to an appraisal/ reprisal according to the assessment. After the feedback sheet is sent through email to every employee a group meeting will be called. In general all the common weaknesses and areas of improvements in order to gains stability should be discussed. If some team member has surpassed expectations then he or she should be presented as a role model before others. After this session a one-to-one session will be held where every employee will be given a chance to speak about their problems and even grudges against the mangers or their immediate seniors. Any psychological issue, which is hindering them from improvement, should also be dealt with and explained as much as possible. Individual weaknesses should be pointed out and if anyone has done miserably he or she should be warned. However the employees will be given a chance here to even challenge any assessment made under any of the categories. Examples need to be cited by them to prove their point. In case they are uncomfortable to pick such issues in face-to-face conversation, they might even send an email. After all these contradictions are dealt with, a final evaluation sheet is sent to them base don which the appraisal takes place. Identification of one’s strength and weaknesses is a major part of career management and the feedback system enforces

International Business Strategy term paper Essay

International Business Strategy term paper - Essay Example Nokia and Apple are major smartphone multinationals based in the Finland and the United States respectively with operations in other parts of the world including Asia, Europe and Africa. However, when Apple and Nokia introduced their smartphone products into the United Kingdom, the response was varied and this contributed to the success and failure of the products. While Apple smartphone received a positive review and was widely accepted by the customers in the UK, Nokia smartphone received a negative review and this affected the sales of the products in the UK. Nokia was forced into the drawing board to determine the causes of the failure and evaluate its strategies to enable it reintroduce the product again. In this paper, a comparison of the tow multinationals will be done to determine the factors that contributed to the success and failure of the two multinationals in the sale of their smartphone devices in the United Kingdom (Stevenson, 2012). Nokia, being a Finish based multinationals has had significant impacts in the mobile telephony industry especially in Europe with previous studies indicating its dominance in the overall mobile market. However, the introduction of smartphones by Apple and Samsung pushed the company into venturing into the market in an attempt to protect its hold on European markets. However, the response that the company received from the market did not favour the continued production of the smartphones and this led to the failure of the initiative. A number of factors contributed to the failure of Nokia in the United Kingdom, a market that was predominantly controlled by the multinational before apple introduced its smartphones (Donnelly, 2008). In 2007, Nokia introduced its first iPhone into the European market in a response to the emerging mobile telephony in the region and in other markets

MPM IP3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MPM IP3 - Essay Example This paper tries to explain the roles and importance of WBS to any project tasks in the organization as well as identifying the purpose of the roles, the responsibilities of the roles, the reporting relationship of the roles, skills, qualifications, and experiences required (Haugan, 2002). Project teams are groups of people who are responsible for a proper planning and execution of the project. Project teams consist of the project manager, and a number of members of the project team, they are brought to deliver the tasks assigned for them in considerate to the scheduled project. The project manager is one who is responsible in making sure that the projects or tasks allocated are completed by the project team. He develops a project plan with teams and manages team’s performance of the project tasks. The key responsibility of a project manager is to secure an acceptance plus the approvals of the deliverables from the project sponsor as well as stakeholders. The project manager is also responsible for status reporting, for communication and risk management, and makes sure that projects are delivered at the correct time. There are some larger projects, which require project team members who may act as Team leads. Team leads provides tasks, and other technical leadership they sometimes maintains apportion of a project plan. The other project team member is the executive sponsor who is a manager and demonstrates the interest in out coming of the project; he is also responsible for securing as well as resources for project. Actually, an executive sponsor is the highest-ranking manager in project plan. The executive sponsor has the responsibility of providing support to the project, and has gotten the final approval of the scope changes as well as, signing off the approvals of succeeding the project phase. He may also elect delegates, which are above the responsibility to project Director. Other project

USING YOUR MANAGER SKILL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

USING YOUR MANAGER SKILL - Essay Example According to the Lanham Act, trademark infringement and any representation which has the possibility of confusing consumers on the origin and the description of the goods is prohibited. The Act provides that there are three distinct elements which have to be established by the plaintiff to warrant an injunction and damages for trademark infringement. The first element to be is that the plaintiff, safe Choices in this case, has a valid claim over the mark and that the mark is registered or capable of being registered. The plaintiff must also show that the defendant used the mark and that the mark was used in commerce and the use in commerce was without the consent of the plaintiff who is the owner of the mark (WIPO, 1997). Finally, the plaintiff has to show that the use of the name has the effect of causing confusion to the consumers, in that it misrepresents on the origin or the manufacturer of the goods and the use in essence creates a relationship between the plaintiff’s pro ducts and the defendant’s products. Safe Choices have to show that they own the trademark that should be easy because Safe Choices already registered that trademark in 2002. The fact that its already registered means that it’s a valid trademark capable of being protected as a plaintiff cannot prevent others from using a name that does not belong to him. Therefore, in this case, Safe choices have to prove that the defendant used the trademark, and the use is an action thing and should not be lightly interpreted to curtail the functions of the defendant. The use in this case is valid, since Simply Green Company printed the name on its packaging materials and used the name to market the packaging materials. The second element to be is that the use was in commerce, and the use in commerce means that the defendant used the plaintiffs name in activities that bring economic

Rhetorical analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Rhetorical analysis - Essay Example The audience, who happen to be the citizens of United States and Ohioans to be precise, and the topic, came in time when the United States was in a verge of collapsing economically and addressing economic issues and combining them with the political good will was objective. The use of pathos, logos and ethos by the Ohio governor, Mr. John Kasich, combined with imagery and rhetoric questions was not only objective but convincing in delivery of his speech on opportunities and the appropriate approach to end the Ohioans’ misery of poverty and joblessness. The use of imagery to describe the wellbeing of Ohioans in the wake of a new political era drove the point home of what Ohioans wanted for a long time. For instance the use of â€Å"digging into a bowl of chicken soup at a Bob Evan’s restaurant† signifies the economic wellbeing of the consumer, who in this case is the Ohioan, which is a revelation of good leadership focusing on the common citizen. This is because n ot all of Ohio residents would afford chicken and/or an expensive meal in one of the remarkable restaurants and creating job opportunities would somehow guarantee such a meal even if it means thrice a week. The use of figurative language in the description of importance of helping the poor, Mr. John Kasich drives his point home and the authoritative aspect of his speech is broadly brought out. For instance, when he stresses out the need for uplifting the needy by asking, â€Å"when you die and go to heaven, St. Peter is not probably going to ask you much about what you did to keep the government small, but what you did for the poor†, he broadly brings out the political will he has for the people of Ohio and the outcome of his actions which will be graded by satisfaction of the people. As an experienced politician and longtime serving public servant, Mr. Kasich uses ethos to lure Ohio residents into re-electing him again in the polls. For instance, his experience on matters of finance and taxation enabled him sign the biggest tax cut in the country after converting a $7.7 billion budget deficit into a $2.5 billion surplus. The authoritative aspect is brought out by his connective aspect of politics and religion in a bid to drive his mission of â€Å"More Aid for Poor† forward and still maintaining the cliche of the people and political future. For instance, by arguing that he was raised as a catholic but drifted in faith at adulthood converting to evangelical protestant for the last 25 years and claiming that â€Å"to a larger mission one of his Christian faith has called him to shoulder; helping the poor, the beleaguered and the downtrodden, and trying to heal them and lift them up, shows the connective aspect of politics and religion in a bid to solve the long-term historical miseries. The timing of the speech rhymed well with the economic hardship moment in the United States economy in that during the time there were struggles by the national government to increase national tax to finance its spending. The use of a practical approach, guided by his exemplary experience in the management field, gave him a hand of driving his agenda home and convincing the residents. His agenda

Views on Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Views on Marriage - Essay Example Both of these pieces present marriage in a similar fashion. In â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† the main character is, at first, experiencing sorrow over the death of her husband. After a brief time; however, the character starts to feel joyful about the situation. At one point Mrs. Mallard reveals why it is she is experiencing this joy: â€Å"She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!"†(Chopin). She realizes at this moment that the death of her husband has released her from the bonds of marriage. â€Å"There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Chopin). Due to the fact that she was experiencing so much happiness at the thought of being free and getting to do what she wanted to do with the remainder of her life, it is a terrible shock when she soon finds her very much alive husband downstairs. Earlier in the story, it is made known that Mrs. Mallard is in poor health and when she sees her husband, she dies. The doctors claim that she died of joy, but the audience is left to consider the fact that she more likely died of disappointment or heartbreak at the sudden loss of her newfound freedom. In this particular story, marriage is portrayed as oppressive and all consuming. Similarly, in the play â€Å"Trifles,† Mrs.

Curtis Keim's Mistaking Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Curtis Keim's Mistaking Africa - Essay Example The west has propagated many myths and misconceptions about Africa over the years. Though some of these myths are negative and untrue, they have been strongly held and believed as true. These misconceptions are passed tot eh kinds from their young age. The media has not helped put things in perspective as they often portray an exaggerated dark side (Curtis 57). Many students and graduates as well have no idea that Africa is a continent consisting of 54 independent nations and not a single country. In fact, all countries in Africa consist of many ethnic groups, use different currencies, and have unique national flags and varying political systems among many other differences. Social economic circumstances are different in each country, with different regions having different economic activities and social processes. The difference is so huge that English and French are the major languages through which people from different regions can communicate to one another. News on leading telev ision channels often portrays Africa as chaotic, violent and dangerous. Scenes of child soldiers, pirates and kidnappers in the Indian Ocean, civil wars and massacres strongly reinforce the myth that Africa is indeed a dangerous place. What the media denies its audience is the calm and peaceful side of Africa. Rarely will countries like Ghana, Tanzania or Malawi, which are peaceful, feature on television. Whenever there is coverage on the continent, it will most likely be about civil war in Sudan, Somali pirates, the famous Rwanda genocide, post election violence in Kenya and Ivory Coast, revolution in North Africa and severe droughts in the horn of Africa. All these paint a picture of violence and great danger in the continent, a factor that contributes to entrenching of this myth from generation to generation. For a long time, nongovernmental organizations, faith based organizations and government agencies have engaged in mobilising resources to fund development projects, respond to emergencies and fight diseases and ignorance in Africa. This translates to a misconception that Africa is poor and diseases ridden. Whereas poverty is commonplace in Africa, the continent is not all poor. A closer look reveals that wealth distribution is the key problem. For instance, South Africa has a bigger GDP than some western countries, with many natural resources, good education and health care systems, organised business districts and ultramodern infrastructure. Unfortunately, poor sections of the society cannot access these facilities and are condemned to deplorable conditions in slum areas. In respect to diseases, poor sections across the continent bear the blunt of serious diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, polio and malaria, since they cannot access primary health care. Similarly, many poor children only attain primary education, which is cheap, often lacking finances to proceed to high school and collages. Election periods are very chaotic in many countries across Africa. Corruption across many African countries is responsible for keeping some old guards in power for as long as they wish. However, many countries including South Africa, Zambia and Ghana among others have exercised democracy to the latter. Western and Asian countries with economic interests in countries with weak constitutions have in the past championed for status quo in order to retain tyrants who protect their interest. Audit reports indicate that high-level corruption in international agencies and nongovernmental organizations in Africa has deep involvement of the administrators of such funds, who are mostly western. This indicates that corruption is not just an African affair, but has a back up from many western societies. Both high school and

Socrates Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Socrates Philosophy Essay And now, Athenians, I am not going to argue for my sake, as you may think, but for yours, that you may not sin against the god, or lightly reject his favor by condemning me. For if you kill me you will not easily find another like me, who, if I may use such a ludicrous figure of speech, am a sort of gadfly, given to the state by the god; and the state is like a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. (Socrates, The Apology) Socrates also refers to himself as a gadfly because he bites, and buzzes at the self-satisfied, which, indebted them to consider matters of virtue. He is also like a gadfly because he is likely to get swatted away because of his bite or words of wisdom. His job was to sting the sleeping horse of the Athenian conscious into wakefulness. Socrates said he was doing a service to the Athenian people by bringing them into reality. What Socrates meant by bringing them into reality was that he was enriching the people with questions and problems that made them think. He wanted them to think for themselves and not just agree with other people like the rich and powerful. He wanted the people to not be scared to think for themselves and he wanted them to learn. When Socrates refers to himself as a gadfly during his trial, he means that he is like an examiner of things. He said that he was given to the state by the god.(Socrates, The Apology) He means by this that he was put here to ask questions to examine life and its surroundings. Socrates is like a gadfly because he pesters his objects or people to hopelessness. He asked so many questions and his questions were so profound and intense, that many people became annoyed at him because they probably could not answer them because they were either too scared to answer them (because they knew that Socrates would probably ask another question on top of the first question if they were able to answer it), or they were just to confused to answer the question Socrates had asked. When Socrates referred himself to a gadfly, it opened up a window to new generations of philosophers who, acted like gadflies themselves. Everywhere we look, we see humanitys philosophical side waking up. People nowa days are asking more questions. I think one of the biggest philosophical questions is where did we come from? Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? From Socrates, we have learned a way to ponder these questions and to come up with our own answers. The role of philosophy is important because people need to ask questions to understand life and reality and what is going on around them. I think that asking questions and trying to find the answers to them makes our souls grow and be healthy. We need a healthy soul to be alive. Socrates wanted people to not be ignorant because he said that was unhealthy for the soul. The only way to not be ignorant is to ask questions. And that is exactly what Socrates did. I think that the whole ordeal of Socrates says that the conduct of philosophy changes. Philosophers conduct themselves in a manner to which they are essential and irreplaceable because of their minds, they have a great presence about them, and they dont criticize others for their beliefs, except for Socrates. On the other hand, people who listen to philosophers or go against them, sometimes are rude, they are ignorant, and they dont understand the point a philosopher is trying to make. The conduct of philosophy depends on the person and how they view things. The conduct of philosophy is like the conduct of gadflies because many people get annoyed by the philosophers because of their questions. By how in depth the questions are and by how many questions the philosophers ask. Some people think that philosophers are bothersome. In conclusion, I think all of these things and other things help to define what philosophy is today. If we didnt have people like Socrates and Plato and other great philosophers, where would we be to day in the realm of philosophy? Would people actually want or learn to question certain subjects? I think that if they hadnt ever been born, then we wouldnt think for our selves, or think great thoughts. We would be living in a pretty boring world.

Affirmative Action is Reverse Discrimination Essay Example for Free

Affirmative Action is Reverse Discrimination Essay Racial discrimination has long been an issue especially in the United States which is considered as a melting pot of different people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Black people have experienced extreme even radical form of discrimination for centuries, but now, the black people found an ally in the affirmative action policy. This policy, after some time of implementation sparked debate since some people, even the blacks themselves, say that giving racial preferences is never a good thing. The policy has affected admission aspects in schools and employment in jobs. Two job applicants, a white male and a black male, even with the same qualifications, the black male will likely get the job because of racial preference provided by affirmative action. Black people are being given a definite advantage and white people would find this an unfair treatment. The same goes for school admission policies where minorities are being given a higher preference over white people in order to maintain a diverse student body. Thesis Affirmative action laws were made to eliminate or reduce discriminatory acts but there are numerous claims that these laws have reversed the tide. Affirmative actions laws may no longer be considered fair in this current setting since it only results in reverse discrimination and it is no longer an effective means of providing opportunities for minority groups. This reverse discrimination is constituted by racial preferences for blacks. This racial preference clouds the judgment of many educational institutions and employers since racial background is being analyzed instead of just the plain qualifications which some white people might find inappropriate. Affirmative action was envisioned to put an end to racial discrimination especially against black people. Under this policy, black people were given higher preferences in job and in admission policies in universities. This is however not an answer to eliminating discrimination. Instead of giving higher preferences to those people who are being discriminated such as the black people, a better alternative solution to racial discrimination would be to find steps to eliminate discriminatory acts and leveling the field so that all people from different ethnic backgrounds will be presented with equal opportunities. Since the black people are being given higher preferences, this may appear as a form of discrimination against white people. Affirmative action, instead of fulfilling its intention of eliminating discrimination, rather contributes to it. One of the major focuses of the affirmative action debate is its inclusion in university admission policies which show higher preferences for black applicants. Many people have been calling for the ban of the use of affirmative action in the public arena. Voters in California, Washington and Michigan have already submitted amendments to their state constitutions that would prohibit the use of affirmative action in the public setting (Prince Ryan, 2007). According to actor and columnist Joseph Phillips, affirmative action is not an issue of nondiscrimination, it is now about racial preferences. He emphasized on the point that racial preferences is not an effective way of fighting racism, instead, it brings about negative stereotypes especially in the educational sector wherein it pertains to a person’s intellectual capacity and academic capabilities (Prince Ryan, 2007). In a Supreme Court ruling in 2003 which involves the University of Michigan which makes use of racial preferences in its admission policies, the court highlighted the goal of having a diverse student body which is brought about by affirmative action but critics say that this decision by the court would only spark more law suits and that the critics of affirmative action would continue to put pressure on the Department of Education to discontinue the use of the policy (Marklein, 2003). Evidences have been presented regarding the effects of affirmative action; however, these evidences always seem imperfect and ambiguous. A review of the policy during the Clinton administration indicated that active federal enforcement of the policy in the 1970s resulted in government contractors moderately increasing the hiring of minority workers. Studies have indicated that there is only a meager increase in the employment of black males. Employment share of black males in contractor firms in 1974 was 5. 8 percent and this figure only increased to 6. 7 percent in 1980. On the other hand, the increase in non-contractor firms was from 5. 3 percent to 5. 9 percent. Also, a substantial number of black government employees got their jobs or promotion to managerial rank because of affirmative action even if qualifications are questionable (Galston). In the education sector, it was only during the height of the affirmative action policy that the enrollment of black people was on a steady rise. From only 4. 9 percent in 1955, black enrollment went up to 7. 8 percent in 1970. The figure further increased to 9. 1 percent in 1980 and 11. 3 percent in 1990. On the other hand, according to a report from the Census Bureau, Hispanics holding bachelors degrees or other advanced degrees went up to 9 percent in 1994 from only 5 percent in 1970 while the rate for blacks is 12. 9 percent from 4. 5 percent (Galston). Another issue that rises with affirmative action is that minority groups may gain an image of inferiority since the whites may think that a black student was able to enter the university or a black person is able to get a job only because of affirmative action even if the black person has all the necessary qualifications (Hoffman). Overall, the past 30 years has been fruitful for the black people as they generally lived better lives with better education and income all because of racial preferences. This has resulted into what Seymour Martin Lipset classifies as a â€Å"growing differentiation† within the community of black people from the growing black middle class to the ghetto poor. The affirmative action program would work better if it would remove barriers for those who have the credentials to succeed instead of giving them a definite advantage in admissions. Anti-Thesis Supporters of affirmative action make use of the argument that it is necessary for the people compensate for years of discriminations against blacks. Many black people approve of affirmative action because it provides recompense against the discrimination that they have experienced and endured in the past but not all black people share this kind of insight. Steele said that, theoretically, affirmative action is in moral symmetry with fairness. She described the policy as reformist and corrective as well as repentant and redemptive. The country is trying to make up for its sins and wants to correct it but black people will lose more than what they will gain from the policy (Steele). Some also argue that it is difficult to remove stereotyping and discrimination without the policy and that it is needed to maintain diversity. Another argument states that affirmative action should continue because racism still exists in this society. The argument that affirmative action is needed for the white people to compensate for the discrimination against blacks is shrouded in hatred and appears as a form of retaliation against the white people. However, retaliation will not improve the situation. It might even spark more discrimination against black people if affirmative action policies continue to be implemented and this could lead to more hatred and discrimination against the minority groups. According to Kimberle Crenshaw, a professor of law at the University of California, affirmative actions removes the obstacles so that people from the minority groups can qualify and compete. With affirmative action, blacks, Hispanics and other minority group find it easier to get a job because of racial preferences geared toward these minorities (Prince Ryan, 2007). Affirmative action exists because there is discrimination, if there is no discriminations, affirmative action would not be needed in this society. The fact that affirmative action exists is because there is still discrimination and it is still needed in the current setting. Those who believe that affirmative action is in conflict with their interest must be made to see what benefits it provides to the society. Racism is still dominant in the United States which is why affirmative action must stay (Noguera, 1996). According to Linda Chavez, founder and president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, the Michigan University case speaks of admission and scholarship programs for minority groups which make use of substantially different standards and must include the racial background. People against the policy said that they will take their case to the ballots but the court has already made it clear that it is the universitys prerogative to include race in the admission policy to ensure the diversity of the student body (Marklein, 2003). The 2003 Supreme Court ruling allowed admission officials to consider race in the selection process. Colleges and universities have no obligation to use racial preferences but they may adopt such policies to meet a satisfactory level of student diversity. Arthur Coleman, a former official under the Department of Education said that adopting diversity is a choice and is not mandated by any law or policy. According to a survey by Public Agenda, 79 percent of Americans agreed that it is important for schools to have a diverse student body while only 54 percent approved of affirmative action programs. In a separate poll conducted by Gallup before the court handed out its ruling, only 49 percent said that they are in favor of affirmative action while 43 percent said that they are not in favor (Marklein, 2003). Synthesis Affirmative action was made to eliminate discrimination but discrimination would not likely be eliminated if the method used to eliminate it is discriminating in itself since it results in a reverse discrimination. Instead of blacks being discriminated, the white people are now the ones being discriminated because of racial preferences given to black people in school admission policies and employment opportunities. Arguing that affirmative action is fair because blacks were once discriminated to a great extent is not valid since it is only driven by hatred towards white people who were discriminating the blacks and other minorities (Steele). Also, continuing affirmative actions only causes white people to hate the blacks because of the racial preferences that they are being handed. White people who believe that they have the qualifications but are turned down while a black person gets in may think that affirmative action gave him a disadvantage and not because the black person is really qualified (Hoffman). Affirmative action will not eliminate racial discrimination but it rather contributes to it. The policy may have its benefits every now and then, but generally, it is no longer applicable in the current setting as more and more white people are feeling the negative effects of the policy. It does remove barriers so that people from minorities can compete but it comes with a price. They gain an image of inferiority because people may think that it is only because of affirmative action that they have reached a certain level of success and not because they are really qualified (Hoffman). The Supreme Court has handed out its decision in the Michigan University case and the decision maintained that the school may use the race as part of the admission policy to maintain the diversity of the student body. Even without affirmative action, colleges can use race as a basis of application to meet a desired rate of student diversity since having a diverse student body promotes a better learning environment (Marklein, 2003). Ultimately, data indicates that affirmative action is no longer effective which means that it is time to adopt an alternative policy (Galston). A better way of embracing diversity would be to encourage minorities from a young age to work for their goals and get a good education. Assisting people from poor socio-economic backgrounds to gain resources and motivation should also be done so that they will also be competent when it comes to school admission and job-seeking. This is a lot better than giving them preferential treatment because they would not be treated as inferiors (Hoffman). Conclusion To conclude, affirmative action may have been an effective way of reducing racial discrimination against minorities, but now, it is no longer applicable to be used in the current setting since it results in reverse discrimination. The white people are now put in a seat that was once held by other minorities. Affirmative action might trigger hate targeted towards the blacks and other minorities because of the reverse discrimination. The policy which gives racial preferences also connects inferiority with minority groups. A better way of eliminating discrimination is by leveling the playing field not by racial preferences but by providing equal opportunities for whites and minority groups. References Prince, Andrew Ryan, Erica. 21 November 2007. Is it Time to End Affirmative Action?. National Public Radio. Retrieved July 8, 2008 from http://www. npr. org/templates/story/story. php? storyId=16337441 Marklein, Mary Beth. 24 June 2003. Despite ruling, affirmative action debate is far fr

Reflective Essay on Dementia

Reflective Essay on Dementia My first administrative position in mental health was working on a Geriatric Psychiatric unit of the local hospital. Many of the patients were elderly patients with Alzheimers. This was my first experience with Alzheimers disease and the effects it has on their families. Alzheimers is the most common type of dementia and is incurable, degenerative, and terminal (Wikipedia) . Symptoms of Alzheimers begin slowly and become worse until they interfere with daily life and patients are unable to even carry on conversations. Families become caregivers for their loved ones who dont know who they are any more. The prognosis is not good for patients afflicted with this type of dementia but researchers continue to look for new treatments and possible preventions. A few of the Alzheimers patients I worked with on the Geriatric unit are very memorable. There was a gentleman who was in the moderate to severe stage of the disease. His job for most of his life was that of a hospital administrator. My office door was always open and some patients would wonder in time and again. My office must have triggered something in him because he would come in and need to sign papers. He would sit in my office for hours and sign papers. Another patient was a woman who had 12 children. She was always wondering the unit looking for her babies. The nurses bought her a baby doll and she carried it everywhere and it also calmed her down. Another aspect of Alzheimers is sundowners syndrome. Many of the Alzheimers patients would start to get agitated between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. They would become more aggressive, oppositional and agitated. Sundowners syndrome is an increased time of memory loss, confusion, agitation, and even anger. For family members who care for Alzheimers patients, witnessing an increase in their loved ones symptoms of dementia at sunset can be nothing short of troubling, if not also painful, frightening, and exhausting (Sundowners Syndrome). Alzheimers is not a new disease. Alzheimers was first described by German psychiatrist and neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906. In 1901, Alzheimer observed a patient at the Frankfurt Asylum named Mrs. Auguste Deter. The 51-year-old patient had strange behavioral symptoms, including a loss of short-term memory. This patient would become his obsession over the coming years. In April 1906, Mrs. Deter died and Alzheimer had the patient records and the brain brought to Munich where he was working at Kraepelins lab. Together with two Italian physicians, he would use the staining techniques to identify amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (Wikipedia). Amyloid plagues are extracellular deposits that consist of a dense core of a protein known as B-amyloid, surrounded by degenerating axons and dendrites, along with activated microglia and reactive astrocytes, cells that are involved in destruction of damaged cells. Neurofibrillary tangles consist of dying neurons that contain intra cellular accumulations of twisted filaments of hyperphosphorylated tau protein (Carlson, 2008). These abnormal structures are also found in brains of patients with Down syndrome. Unlike Down syndrome, Alzheimers is a progressive degenerative disease that gradually destroys a persons memory and daily functioning. Currently Alzheimers is diagnosed by symptoms, and only confirmed by brain examination after death. There are warning sides of Alzheimers disease that include memory loss that disrupts daily life. Challenges in planning or solving problems when there were no problems before. Difficulty completing familiar tasks or leisure activities they a person used to do. Confusion with time and place, which is what most people know about Alzheimers. This is when family members forget where they are going or days of activities. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships or new problems with words speaking or writing. Misplacing things and the inability to retrace steps. Decreased or poor judgment and withdrawal from work and social activities. Changes in mood and personality, which is another warning sign that most people are also familiar with from media, etc. Grandma turns from sweet to irritable (Stages and Warning Signs of Alzheimers). The Alzheimers Association is a strong national organization that supports and funds Alzheimers research. Their website has a vast amount o f information on symptoms, treatment, prevention and research of this disease. Taken from their website there are seven stages of Alzheimers. They include: Stage 1 where there is no impairment. Stage 2 there is very mild decline. Stage three there is mild decline. Stage four there is moderate decline. Stage five there is moderately severe decline and stage six and stage seven there is severe decline and very severe decline (Stages and Warning Signs of Alzheimers). The current major treatment for Alzheimers is medication management and each stage of Alzheimers requires a different medication. Mild to moderate Alzheimers is treated with cholinesterase inhibitors. These types of medications are prescribed because they may help delay or prevent the symptoms from becoming worse for a time and also help manage behaviors. The medications include: Razadyne (galantamine), Exelon (rivastigmine), and Aricept (donepezil). Another drug, Cognex (tacrine), was the first approved cholinesterase inhibitor but is rarely prescribed today due to safety concerns (Alzheimers Disease Medications Fact Sheet, 2010). Most people have heard of Aricept because is used often and advertised on the media more so than others. Moderate to severe Alzheimers is treated with a drug that regulates glutamate, an important brain chemical. The medication known as Namenda (memantine), an N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist. Aricept has also been approved by the FDA to treat modera te to severe Alzheimers. These drugs main effect is to delay progression of some of the symptoms and they may allow patients to maintain certain daily functions a little longer than they would without the medication. The medication may help a patient in the later stages of the disease maintain his or her ability to use the bathroom independently for several more months, a benefit for both patients and caregivers (Alzheimers Disease Medications Fact Sheet, 2010). There is research going on to provide diagnosis by a simple blood test, this was reported by American researchers just last month. Also, other researchers have shown spinal fluid tests, which require a spinal tap, can detect early changes that signal the onset of Alzheimers. Imaging companies such as privately held Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, General Electrics GE Healthcare and Germanys Bayer are racing to finish clinical trials on new agents that can make brain lesions called plaques visible on positron emission tomography o r PET scanners (Anonymous, 2010). Researchers also are looking at any possible prevention or slow down of the disease. Currently at Rush University is leading a nationwide clinical trial of a nutritional drink to determine whether it can improve cognitive performance in people with mild to moderate Alzheimers. The study follows recently released results from an earlier trial conducted in Europe showing that the drink, called Souvenaid, improved verbal recall in people with mild disease who were followed for three months (Anonymous., 2010). Alzheimers affects approximately 10 percent of the population above the age of 65 and almost 50 percent of people over the age of 85 years (Carlson, 2008). The number of Americans age 65 and older who have this condition will increase from the 5.1 million today to 13.5 million by mid-century. A recent report from the Alzheimers Association states that the cost of Alzheimers to the United States will be $20 trillion over the next 40 years. Changing the Trajectory of Alzheimers Disease: A National Imperative shows that in the absence of disease-modifying treatments, the cumulative costs of care for people with Alzheimers from 2010 to 2050 will exceed $20 trillion, in todays dollars (Report: Alzheimers disease to cost United States $20 trillion over next 40 years, 2010). Statistics taken from the Alzheimers Association break it down as follows; Alzheimers disease costs business $24.6 billion in health care. In the US 7 out of 10 people with Alzheimers live at home where 75% of costs are absorbed by the family. The remaining 25% of care costs cost an average $19,000 a year. It is estimated that Alzheimers caregivers cost business $36.5 bill ion. This includes the costs of absenteeism and lost productivity. The average cost of a nursing home in the US is $42,000 a year. However in some areas those costs can be at least $70,000. Medicare costs for beneficiaries with Alzheimers disease were $91 billion in 2005. Medicare costs are expected to increase by 75% to $160 billion in 2010. Medicaid expenditures on residential dementia care were $21 billion in 2005. These costs are estimated to rise by 14% to $24 billion in 2010( (Kennard, 2010). The stress of caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimers is high. The frustration and challenges of caring for an adult who no longer complies with reasonable requests is a daily consequence of a loved one with Alzheimers. There are many support groups and resources for caregivers. Some tips for managing an Alzheimers patient is to have patience, be flexible, reduce frustration, reduce choices, reduce distractions to create a safe environment (Research, 1998-2010). Patience and flexibility are easy to figure out. Patience because a patient with Alzheimers will be oppositional at times, will not know their caregiver at times as well as not remember family members. The Alzheimer patients mood and reactions to daily tasks will change sometimes daily as the disease progresses. Flexibility with caring for Alzheimers patients is tied into their changing needs and abilities from day to day. Reducing frustration, choices and distractions would be like raising a toddler. Not too many choices or distractions for them to be overwhelmed with. A safe environment is pretty clear and we hear about Alzheimers patients wandering off reported on the news more often. Alzheimers patients who have been left in an unsecured house or got into a unlocked car. Doors should always be locked so the Alzheimers patient is unable open or figure out how to open. The car is easy to figure out, keep it locked! Take the car keys are keep them on you or hidden. There was a poem on the Geriatric unit w all where I worked. The author is unknown and it is taken from Coach Frank Broyles Playbook for Alzheimers Caregivers.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  The poem is a good reminder of what Alzheimers is all about and a good conclusion to this report.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Do not ask me to remember. Dont try to make me understand. Let me rest and know youre with me. Kiss my cheek and hold my hand. Im confused beyond your concept. I  am sad and sick and lost. All I know is that I need you, to be with me at all cost.   Do not lose your patience with me. Do not scold or curse or cry. I cant help the way Im acting, cant be different though I try. Just remember that I need you,  that the best of me is gone. Please dont fail to stand beside me, love me till my life is done.

La Cosa Nostra Essay -- essays research papers fc

La Cosa Nostra Perhaps one of the most poignant moments in American cinema is the closing scene in the film â€Å"The Godfather† when Don Vito Corleone’s son Michael takes over his father’s position... and one of the most unforgettable moments, a severed horses’s head lies bloody in a man’s bed. It is this tradition and brutality that characterizes the Mafia, a secret Sicilian society that lives and functions just as much today on American soil as it did and does still in Italy. To understand this organized crime, one must begin to understand how it came to be organized in the first place. During the medieval times in Sicily, Arabs invaded the land and native Sicilians fled and took refuge in the hills. Some of these refugees formed a secret society that gave protection to the people in exchange for money. This group took their name, â€Å"Mafia† based on the Arabic word for refuge. In America today, one can hear it also be called â€Å"La C osa Nostra†, or â€Å"This Thing of Ours.† In the 1700s,Wealthy people would receive a card with a black hand drawn on and if they did not pay the money, they could expect murder, theft, and violence. During the time Mussolini was ruling Italy, this secret society was under heavy persecution and many fled to the United States. â€Å"Don (term for the boss or head of a Mafia family) Vito Cascio Ferro fled to the United States in 1901 to escape arrest. He is known as the Father of American Mafia.† (La Cosa Nostra) Many Italian immigrants came to the United States through Ellis Island in New York, which is today the most important center of organized Mafia crime in the United States. The new American Mafia came to power during the Prohibition by organizing the sale of outlawed alcohol, but after Prohibition was revoked, the Mafia needed a new â€Å"racket.† During the war, the Mafia got government issued ration stamps and sold them on the black market. These days the Mafia is involved in running prostitution, unions, construction, and gambling. New York, also called the â€Å"City that never sleeps,† houses the Five Families of New York. These Families are highly influential and powerful crime families and each holds claim to certain â€Å"rackets.† The Five Families are: Gambino, Bonano, Lucchese, Colombo, and Genovese. While all people in the Mafia are required to maintain certain silence about the workings of the Family, a code of silence called â€Å"Omerta,† d... ...si in America as it was in Sicily. â€Å"Say what you will about me, but don’t think it applies to my family.† (Godfather II) The Mafia, a group of stylized criminals, exists as a hidden power in our world today and shall remain to do so into the new millenium by controlling underground markets and making this world an offer they can’t refuse. Bibliography The Godfather. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan. Paramount, 1972. The Godfather, Part II. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Al Pacino, Robert Duvall. Paramount, 1974 â€Å"La Cosa Nostra.† Online. World Wide Web. 4 June 1999. Available http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/9880/index.html La Vien, Douglas and Papa, Juliet . (1993) The Mafia Handbook. Penguin Books. Machi, Mario. â€Å"Mario’s Mafia Page.† Online. World Wide Web. 4 June 1999. Available http://www.naxs.com/people/mmachi/mafia Malta, J. Geoff. â€Å"The Godfather Trilogy.† Online. World Wide Web. 1 June 1999. Available http://www.jgeoff.com/godfather.html Wiseguy & Company, Inc. â€Å"Unofficial Homepage of the New York Mafia.† Online. World Wide Web. 4 June 1999. Available http://www.users.aol.com/whizkid01/index.html Word Count: 1132

Physics of Water Waves :: Lab Report

All waves possess the properties of reflection, refraction, diffraction and interference. These phenomena's were observed with the use of a ripple tank. A ripple tank consists of a large rectangular tray with a transparent bottom. Water is placed in this tan to a depth of approximately one centimeter. A light source is then placed above the tray of water. When the water is disturbed it can be seen on a white surface positioned under the tray. The first phenomenon observed was reflection. It was found that water waves also follow the law of reflection. As straight waves strike a hard straight surface they are reflected at an angle equal to the angle of incidence. After reflection the wave has the same speed, frequency and wavelength as it did prior to the collision. This is similar to the reflection of circular waves off a straight barrier. The reflected waves are also circular, however they have a centre point that is position behind the barrier. This point is known as the "image" of the source. Reflection of a parabolic or concave barrier can be closely compared to that of light waves off a concave mirror. If the incident wave was straight, the reflected waves are curved, and they converge at a fixed focal point. After passing through the focus, the radius of the curves increase. The opposite is so when circular waves strike a concave barrier. The reflected waves are then straight. The next phenomenon observed was the refraction of water waves. The refraction was demonstrated in the ripple tank by dividing the tank into a deep and shallow region. This was achieved by placing a rectangular object into one end of the tank. When straight waves travel from a deep region of water into a shallow region, it is found that the speed of the waves is slower in the shallower region. Since the frequency of the wave stages the same, it is obvious that there must be a corresponding decrease in wavelength. If the waves pass from deep to shallow water at an angle other than

Escherichia coli 0157:H7 Essay -- Essays Papers

Escherichia coli 0157:H7 Encounter and history: Escherichia coli are gram negative, rod shaped bacteria that are often used in laboratory studies and are usually harmless, residing in the human digestive tract as part of the normal flora. E. coli 0157:H7 is a pathogenic strain of E. coli that was first identified as a cause of disease in the United States in 1982, during an investigation into an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness. The organism is also called enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) because it causes abdominal pain with diarrhea that may contain blood. It lives in the intestines of healthy cattle and can contaminate meat during slaughter. It is believed that the widespread use of antibiotics by American farmers has promoted the horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance genes and pathogenicity islands that has led to the creation of new pathogenic strains such as E. coli 0157:H7. The verotoxins that cause the disease are also called shiga toxins because they were acquired from Shigella strains. The illness predomi nantly occurs in the U.S., Canada, Japan and other industrialized nations of Europe. The average incidence in most countries ranges from 1-30 per 100,000 and the number of confirmed cases is increasing. In the U.S, about 73,000 people are infected anually, with an average of 61 deaths per year. Entry, Spread and Multiplication: After food contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7 is ingested, it travels through the digestive system and attaches to the mucosal epithelial cells of the large intestine and forms a pedestal, which leads to destruction of the microvili. The bacteria will then multipy and produce toxins, which, in addition to diarrhea cause vomiting in 50% of cases and fever in 30%. The av... ...ays to prevent contamination of EHEC during the growth, slaughter, proccesing of beef. A vaccine for cattle is not practical because the bacteria do not cause illness in cattle and therefore do not stimulate their immune response. It is recommended that physicians have any patient with bloody diarrhea tested for EHEC. There are a variety of ways to detect it in the laboratory. It is possible to screen for EHEC by inoculating stool specimens onto MacConkey medium containing sorbitol instead of lactose. PCR tests for verotoxin are also available. References: http://www.who.int/inf-fs/en/fact125.html http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/escherichiacoli_g.htm http://www.cps.ca/english/statements/ID/id95-03.htm http://www.enceph.com/feature_archive/gastro/v25n4p205.html http://microbes.historique.net/ecoli.html http://www.i-sis.org.uk/ecoli.php

Krushers Kfc

[pic] Report Title: â€Å"Krushers† – Marketing Strategic plan Submitted By: Group name: Date: 15 April, 2010 Submitted To: Dr Melodena Stephens Balakrishnan Assistant Professor, Faculty of Business and Management, University of Wollongong in Dubai Table of Contents 1. Background3 1. 1. Introduction and Objective3 1. 2. Situational Analysis3 1. 3. Constraints and Assumption. 5 1. 4. Product Need and Value. 7 2. Segmentation, Target & Positioning8 2. 1. Segmentation and Target8 2. 2. Positioning Map9 3. Marketing Mix10 3. 1. Product strategy10 3. . Pricing strategy10 3. 3. Place strategy11 3. 4. Promotion strategy12 4. Business Plan12 4. 1. Sales and Profits12 Bibliography13 Appendix14 Background 1 Introduction and Objective Introduction: KFC Corporation, also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants known all over the World since 1952, however the history of the company goes back to 1930. â€Å"KFC† is serving more than 12 million cust omers in 109 countries throughout the world every day. Company is actively franchising across the World during 58 years[1]. Loyal customers can find their favorite restaurant in almost every developed country across the Globe. â€Å"KFC† established strong position in the market place and recognized by millions of people in the World for its â€Å"finger lickin’ good† chicken. â€Å"KFC† is serving more than 12 million customers in 109 countries throughout the world every day. Currently, The Company is the most popular chicken restaurant chain in the entire Globe. This particular report is focusing on KFC Arabia, United Arab Emirates in particular. KFC restaurants introduced to the Middle East region by franchise partner Americana since 1973. Currently, there are KFC branches in over 70 different locations across United Arab Emirates. Menu offered to the Arab World is more focused on chicken sandwiches and Colonel’s Crispy Strips, and also includes side items that are suited to local preferences and tastes. [2] Product Portfolio: The fact that, â€Å"KFC† restaurants are associated by the customers with chicken, does not limit the range of products has been offered to the customers. Currently, more than 300 different types of products have been introduced by the company all over the World. World Famous menu contains of chicken pieces, salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, wraps, kebabs, snacks, sweets and sides, beverages. â€Å"KFC† Corporation constantly upgrades its menu with new innovative products in order to satisfy unmet needs of their current and future customers. KFC is introducing a new product called â€Å"Krushers† to the region; a new refreshing frozen drink. This new refreshing frozen drink first was introduced in 3 different flavors â€Å"Strawberry†, â€Å"Chocolate Krumble†, â€Å"Kookies N Kream†, followed by â€Å"Karamel Krunch† flavor that has been introduced later on in the Middle East. Objective: The objective of this report is to create strategic marketing plan for â€Å"Krushers† product and successfully launch it in the UAE. 2 Situational Analysis External environmental analysis: PESTEL Environmental (competitors): â€Å"Krushers† is introduced in a very competitive environment. There are several direct competitors in this product category, the biggest ones are MC flurry from MC Donald’s and Hand-Scooped shake from Hardees’s, these are traditional competitors for KFC in the fast-food segment and have similar products to the â€Å"Krushers†. Other competitors in this product category include Baskin Robins, StarBucks and Jonny Rockets as they offer frozen drinks as part of their product portfolio. Indirect competitors include Lipton’s Ice tea and Pulp Juice bar’s frozen drinks, they are considered as indirect competitors because they offer product replacements or substitutes to the â€Å"Krushers†. Sociological: The UAE population has higher levels of disposable income compared to the rest of the world, according to HSBC bank study, UAE is the fifth top country in the World in terms of disposable income. 3] As a result, eating out is almost a daily activity in the social life of UAE residents, which in turn produces a bigger market for restaurants and food outlets. In addition to that, In terms of age groups, the UAE has a dominant young population, with the 25-29 years emerging as the largest group of about 777,000 at the end of 2008. It is projected by the Ministry to peak at 830,000 at the end of 2 009. [4] This combination of high disposable income and young population makes the UAE a perfect market for KFC â€Å"Krushers† product which targets age group of 18-24. Technological: From a technological point of view, production of cold beverages relies heavily on the right equipment. KFC has state of the art production equipment. The company also utilizes advanced CRM solutions to gear its direct marketing efforts. Economic: â€Å"In the UAE over two-thirds of expats in the UAE stated that their attitudes to spending had changed as a result of the economic crisis, however over three-quarters of expats (82%) living in the UAE also said that they had not considered a move home. [5] Having said that, the UAE remains one of the strongest economies in the region (third in the region after Saudi Arabia and Iran). [6] As mentioned earlier, the disposable income in the UAE is cooperatively high, which makes it an ideal market for KFC and the new product â€Å"Krushers†. Industry Analysis: Porter’s Five Forces Market Rivalry: â€Å"Krushers† is a product category that faces high rivalry from various direct and indirect competitors. T hese competitors do not only include fast food chain restaurants with a similar product category, but also chains that focus exclusively on that market niche (frozen shakes and drinks). The fact that â€Å"Krushers† is a hybrid or mix of different products (i. e. ice cream, milk, smoothie, ice, fruits, juice, cookies, etc) makes it difficult to place it in a specific product category and thus exposes it to higher competition from those various product categories. In addition, competing products have been established in the market and have a healthy market share. It would be a challenge for KFC to strongly compete in this product category, partly because the product is new and partly because they are not strongly associated with frozen drinks like â€Å"Krushers†. Bargaining power of suppliers: KFC is one of the largest purchasers globally; all their suppliers go through a very rigid screening process to meet their quality standards. Having said that, KFC only uses high quality suppliers with which they have strong relationships, therefore, the threat of suppliers is minimized. Threat of Substitutes: â€Å"Krushers† falls into the frozen drinks category, due to this point, it faces a high threat of substitution from a number of relevant product categories including carbonated drinks, milk shakes, ice cream, ice tea, ice coffee, frapuccinos, fresh juice and smoothies. In order to offset this threat, KFC has to rely strongly on their established brand image and large customers base to market and sell the product. Bargaining power of buyers: As it mentioned earlier, the target segment(s) (18-24) are high in population, however, there is a large number of product substitutes available to them. Therefore, they enjoy a fairly high power of bargaining. Barriers to entry: The barriers to entry to this specific product market are relatively low. The investment needed is not very high and the health regulations can be met with reasonable effort. However, due to the size and the number of KFC branches across the UAE, it would be very difficult for new players to significantly compete with KFC’s market share unless they make significant financial investments, thus reversing the barriers to entry to very high. 3 Constraints and Assumption. Constraints: There are several constraints that KFC face in the introduction level of a new product â€Å"Krushers†. Customers are not aware of a new product that has been introduced by KFC. Lack of awareness can be explained by poor promotion and advertising, training of the employees. â€Å"Krushers† should be prepared within 1 minute, however, according to the survey, almost 95 percent of the consumers received their â€Å"Krushers† during the time frame 3 minutes to 6 minutes. [7] KFC is known all over the World for its â€Å"finger lickin good† chicken, it would be difficult for consumers to associate KFC as a place where they can purchase â€Å"Krushers†. The company didn’t define the product for the customers whether it is a milk shake or it is a desert, etc. However official launch of the product might solve these constrains. Assumptions: KFC does not publish any sales figures as a reference point; therefore the sales forecasts are based on an assumption that each branch will be able to sell 5 â€Å"Krushers† per hour on an average from their branch traffic. Assuming that branches operate from 10 a. m. to 3 a. m. that makes a total of 17 working hours a day. According to data published on the Americana website, they have 70 locations across the UAE, which equals total working hours of 1,190 per day (17X70). Assuming that the price of â€Å"Krushers† is at 9 drh per drink without a meal, and 4 dhs per a drink with a meal and based on the research conducted with consumers, 25 percent of the consumers will buy a â€Å"Krushers† with a meal and 75 percent of the consumers will buy it without the meal. [8] Based on these assumptions, we can conclude the following: Total number of â€Å"Krushers† sold per a day = total working hours X number of â€Å"Krushers† sold per hour = 1,190 X 5 = 5,950 â€Å"Krushers† per day across all locations. Therefore, total revenues per day would be calculated as following: Revenue of â€Å"Krushers† sold with a meal = (5,950 X 25%) X 4 = 5,950 dirham Revenue of â€Å"Krushers† sold without a meal = ( 5950 X 75% ) X 9 = 40,162dirham Total revenue of â€Å"Krushers† per day = revenue with meal + revenue without meal= 5,950 + 40,162 = 46,112 Monthly Total revenue of â€Å"Krushers† = total revenue per day X 30 days = 46112 X 30 = 1,383,375 dirham Annual revenue of â€Å"Krushers† = monthly revenue X 12 = 1,383,375 X 12 = 16,600,500 dirham Since KFC spends 6% of the total revenue on marketing and promotion, we can estimate the annual marketing budget for â€Å"Krushers† at annual revenue of â€Å"Krushers† X 6% = 16,600,500 X 6% = 996,030 dirham Due to the lack of information on variable or direct costs, we will limit our forecasts to only revenues. However there is more accurate way to estimate net profit of the company from â€Å"Krushers †. Target segment that has been chosen by the company is the youth in the age range 18-24 of UAE, which has been estimated to 1,417,300 people. It has been assumed that 60 percent of the total youth in the age range 18-24 would be a potential target of the â€Å"Krushers†, according to the chosen target segment â€Å"UAE explorers†, which is 850,400 people. [9] Penetration has been assumed according to seasonal demand, such as hot summer weather effect. Shopping festival was another reason to estimate increase in penetration in the month of December, and there is other reasons that has an effect on penetration percentages across the year, which is explained in the business plan section 4. 1 of the report. Revenue has been calculated according to the total users that would purchase the â€Å"Krushers† and the selling price. Expenses that would go on the marketing part of the â€Å"Krushers† have been assumed by the group and calculated in the business plan section 4. 1. Expenses have been estimated according to: Magazine = 150,000 dirham Newspaper = 168,000 dirham Facebook = 20,000 dirham In house AD: 30,000 dirham TV = 600,000 dirham Road signage = 200,000 dirham Billboard = 300,000 dirham Campaign = 50,000 dirham 4 Product Need and Value. |KFC’s value characteristics |Consumers need analysis | |KFC is a well known brand as a value for money all around the |Consumers would search for a reliable drink with no risk to | |world. |their health. |KFC has large number of branches, as well as big variety of |People living in gulf countries such as UAE would always search| |items, all delivered in a timely fashion, all of these give |for a drink which refreshes their feeling. | |high value of convenience. |Consumers would go for a product which is faster to be | | |delivered to them and easier t o carry with them while doing | | |their normal routines during the day. | | |Actually people are always after new things in their life. | |Those things could be a new product like â€Å"Krushers† or even its| | |new flavors to be introduced to the market in future. | | |There many other important factor in the consumers mind to be | | |considered as their needs of product such as pricing, great | | |taste and optional choice. | â€Å"Krushers† value analysis based on the mentioned needs above: †¢ â€Å"Krushers† is introduced as a smoothie drink that doesn’t have negative effect or risk on consumer’s health. It supposed being a drink to be alternative to those of energy drinks fulfilled of caffeine. â€Å"Krushers† came up with different flavors for variety seekers and those valuing a product based on optional choice. †¢ Offering â€Å"Krushers† as a value-added to meal as of satisfying perception of value for money p romised by KFC. They offer customers to add 4dhs to their meal and have â€Å"Krushers† with their meal in spite of soft drink or juice. †¢ Soon enough â€Å"Krushers† could be a replacement for cold drink at KFC by offering less than half the price if it is with any KFC meal. †¢ †¢ As of the discussed need of customer relating the weather of UAE then â€Å"Krushers† could be the best solution for relieving the thirst and the heat. Segmentation, Target & Positioning 1 Segmentation and Target Segment 1 â€Å"Academia’s† University students actively socialize in groups for many reasons, be it for regular chat ups between classes, for examinations studying or even group assignments etc. Therefore as the above points display that a â€Å"Krushers† will fit in perfectly with all three areas of a university student. Students usually have a red bull or a coffee or a milk shake etc with them while working on assignments with a group or while studying in order to keep them going. It’s become more like habit to do so. This is where we feel a â€Å"Krushers† can come in to play as it is a thick ice cream based shake with different flavors that will be able to fulfill a student’s need and want in terms of a having a drink that goes with what they do. Segment 2 â€Å"Beach & Shopping mall goers† (Fun) For this group what we really mean is the lifestyle of having fun and constantly active. We used the beach and shopping mall as examples of places where those who are in constant search of fun and activity can have a â€Å"Krushers†. The reason we used the beach and shopping mall as examples is due to the fact that a â€Å"Krushers† can be consumed in both situations / locations where on the beach it can be used as a refreshing cold drink to keep cool under the sun where as in the same time people don’t usually take food with them to the beach as it spoils under the sun and so having a â€Å"Krushers† on the beach is like a two in one feeling as it has real bits in some of its drinks like â€Å"kookies n kream†. Where as in the mall those shopping around can have a â€Å"Krushers† as a drink to walk around with while shopping or/and even as a drink to just and relax with while taking a break or even while meeting friends for a â€Å"coffee†. Segment 3 â€Å"UAE Explorers† This is a group of people who are constantly out and about but don’t really engage in activity. They just simply roam around places such as the mall or the JBR walk etc. by just watching other people or ‘window shopping’ or even simply go for drives around the city in search of something to do. Basically they don’t have anything to do and just want to keep themselves busy. Generally they do this in groups of two or more. The reason why have inserted such a lifestyle in our segment is because a thick shake like â€Å"Krushers† can be very appealing to them in terms of keeping them busy with a drink in their hand. Not only do they have a choice from a variety of flavors but the fact that it takes only a minute to prepare the drink of their choice , thus allowing them to think â€Å"its quick, ill stop and get one on the way†. There is a KFC available in almost if not every mall in Dubai, as well as on popular roads such as the Jumeirah beach road where a drive through option is available. Target Segment & Justification (U. A. E Explorers) †¢ †¢ According to feedback, most people would consume a Krushers ‘on the move’. †¢ They look at it more of a milkshake like drink with pieces in it than anything else. Krushers drink does not fit in with the food served at KFC, and therefore existing KFC customers will not have one at a dine in time especially considering the y don’t see it as a desert either. †¢ Sports people have energy bars and drinks to consume. †¢ University students opt for a red bull or coffee based drink to keep them up and alert. †¢ The ‘fun’ group of people would not really consider having a Krushers as it is not suitable for them. They would not meet for a ‘coffee’ in KFC nor would they buy a Krushers and sit on a bench for a chat. †¢ Therefore the best group and lifestyle is that of a UAE â€Å"Explorer† as on a drive they can go to a KFC drive through almost anywhere in Dubai, Krushers is available at almost every mall in Dubai and at the famous JBR walk too. A Krushers fits in well with a UAE Explorers activities as it is packaged in a way that can be taken in almost any environment and placed almost anywhere easily without risk of leak or spilling over etc. 2 Positioning Map â€Å"Krushers† is perceived as a refreshing shake that you can have between your m ain meals. It can satisfy both thirst and hungers basic needs of a person. There are two main benefits which â€Å"Krushers† has over its competitors in relation to the target segment, such as Brand Image and Store Location K FC’s brand image in the UAE is stronger than that of McDonalds and Hardees. Therefore having a strong brand image is advantageous to the consumer in terms of trusting to try a new product and actually consuming it. Store location is a big factor to the target segment as KFC’s stores are more convenient in terms of reach and comfort. Basically this is because KFC is available at all leading malls in the UAE, but so are its competitors McDonalds and Hardees but what makes the difference here are famous roads and hang out spots such as JBR where there is a KFC restaurant but no McDonalds or Hardees. Not only that, in one of the most famous areas for food in Dubai, the Diyafah area there is no McDonalds yet there is a KFC restaurant there too. There is no McDonalds or Hardees in the Knowledge village area or the AUS (American University in Sharjah) food court but there is a KFC. UAE Explorers are on the go and so with KFC restaurants being on their ‘way’ (drive thru) Jumeirah Beach Road, which is one of the most famous cruising streets a â€Å"Krushers† will be just the thing they will go after as it keeps them busy through their drive or walk at JBR etc. Marketing Mix 1 Product strategy â€Å"Krushers† is a sub product that has been represented by KFC. Introduction of this product increases variety of the product line available in KFC Corporation. â€Å"Krushers† has been introduced in order to bring customers throughout the day. The drink is available in 4 different flavors in the region. â€Å"Strawberry†, â€Å"Chocolate Krumble†, â€Å"Caramel Krunch†, â€Å"Kookies N Kream† are the types of flavors that has been introduced by KFC. According to the survey, customers identified two most popular flavors which are â€Å"Kookies N Kream† and â€Å"Chocolate Krumble†. Currently it is represented in 1 size. It is advisable to add more size options to suit different needs of the consumers. KFC offers â€Å"Krsuhers† as a value-added to a meal by just adding 4Dhs by customer to their meals which is less than the real price of â€Å"Krushers† purchased separately. The promise of great and natural taste is given by KFC through their advertising slogan by saying â€Å"full of real bitZ†. This slogan says that â€Å"Krushers† contains real pieces of fruits and chocolates in it. Thus one of the other augmented products of â€Å"Krushers† is the stated promise. 2 Pricing strategy One of the most important factors that must be considered carefully by companies is appropriate price strategy. â€Å"Krushers† is a new product, due to this point it is recommended to follow penetration strategy while pricing process. However it must be based on â€Å"Krushers† demand, as the demand are more for â€Å"Krushers† it is more obvious that penetration might be superior strategy to follow. Beside they also can gain some market share in marketplace however the supplier of â€Å"Krushers† must be assure when they imply this strategy for their product , they are capable to handle demanders and distribution channels . After all consideration about KFC â€Å"Krushers†, it is better off if they follow penetration strategy. According to the survey, 23 percent of the respondents were dissatisfied, 40 percent were neutral, which makes it total of 63 percent of the respondents (which is more than a half), that were not satisfied with the current price choices. Cutomers are unhappy which means the price does not affect their objectives toward purchasing products. [10] Normally the fixed cost for supplier is 60% of variable cost of products, Krusher is 9 Dhs, 60 % of variable cost would be 5. 4 Dhs which is the fixed cost and the profit approximately might be 3. 6 Dhs on each â€Å"Krushers†. According to the interview made with one of the KFC stuff, assumptions were made as followed: Integrant of â€Å"Krushers† for each cup: 60 % of each cup contains ice cream (2Dhs for each cup) Because they purchase the ice creams in retail, it costs less than an ice cream that is selling in stores). 0 % Slash (blended water and sugar), (30 fils for each cup) Flavor (1 ounce), with consideration that the ba ttle is 30 Dhs but for each cup they use just one ounce), (Around 30 fels). These amounts of materials imply for the entire available flavor. All the calculation is Close to 3 Dhs and approximately 1Dhs or less for packaging; in overall it cost 4 or 5 Dhs for company. Option Price: There is just one size of krusher available in all of the outlets; however option price are as below: †¢ 9 Dhs for any flavor in regular cup size †¢ 5 Dhs for having a Krusher with the meal. 3 Place strategy KFC Corporation uses one channel distribution across the World, which is their network of restaurant outlets or branches. Krushers† are sold directly to the customers without having any middlemen. KFC branches are available almost in every neighborhood across the country. Restaurants spread out across 70 different locations in United Arab Emirates. Examples would be: †¢ Shopping mall food courts(Dubai Mall, City Centre) †¢ Close to schools and universities(knowledge village) †¢ Petrol stations (Emirates Petrol station) †¢ Office buildings (Sheikh Zayed Road) †¢ High traffic roads like (The Walk in Dubai)[11] Customers can dine in the branches of KFC that accommodate dining areas, as well as choose take-away option and consume their â€Å"Krushers† outside in any other location they would prefer to have it. In the Introduction stage of the â€Å"Krushers† Corporation did not represent delivery service for the product; these might be due to ice ingredients in it. Before opening any store KFC conduct market research to estimate and consider the population of that area, consumer’s demographic details and major streets which are close to that specific location. It is worth mentioning that the †Krushers† is not part of the home delivery service due to the physical nature of the product (is it cold and can melt). 4 Promotion strategy In promotion strategy there are some factors that can be used to promote the products base on MARCOM mix that is used for KFC â€Å"Krushers† promotional strategy. Direct marketing: As a direct marketing, KFC departments can hire some people mostly young girls and boys to promote the â€Å"Krushers† in a very small cup to let the volunteers just taste it and promoters can encourage and motivate the volunteers to go for the bigger â€Å"Krushers†, and the best place for this sort of promotion is in the malls, at the foot court entrance. Sales promotion: KFC already gives the customer this chance that if they want â€Å"Krushers† with their meal the price will be reduced for them to 4 Dhs, which the price is 9 Dhs regularly. While the loyal customers buy a combo from KFC outlet , as a promotion they can give the customers coupons with four blank checklist , that if they buy KFC combo meal for four times as a promotion they can get one free â€Å"Kruchers† with their flavor choice. Generally it can be profitable for Kentucky chicken part sales and for â€Å"Krushers†, and also that would lead to better result for KFC and keep the customer loyal to the brand. Advertising: Coupons are Another tools in sale promotion, KFC can sign contract with well known and famous companies or organization which stated whenever they have customer who purchase something from the companies or organization, they give the customers KFC voucher, the vouchers are for specified items but this sort of promotion can bring the customer to the outlet to use their voucher and make them to try new or their favorite products that are available in outlets. It is very important to use online marketing today. Print advertising is another way to market the product. Sample has been developed by the group. There are twelve pieces of ice, with person inside each of it. There is one person standing in it and one of the piece contains Kentucky in four of the ices the â€Å"Krushers† flavors are representing and in the other ice pieces there are all the smiley faces that is representing the , iciness ,freezes , tastiness and freshness of the â€Å"Krushers† and The people in the ice are young and fresh people because it is related to our target segment which is the youth from age 18 – 24 who are the young generation whenever you look at the advertising it gives a positive , delight feeling about the product and the taste, the choice of putting people in the ice pieces is showing the coldness and freezing feeling that â€Å"Krushers† can give the customers. â€Å"Krushers† has been displayed in the official website, however social networks should be taken into consideration as well as the popular search engines etc. Also it is advisable to use media advertisement, such as radio, tv, etc. Also print advertising like ne wspapers magazines etc. Business Plan, 2010. 1 Sales and Profits |Jan |Feb |march |april |may |june |july |Aug |Sep |Oct |Nov |Dec | | |potential segment |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 |850 400 | | |heavy user |3% 5% |10% |13% |15% |30% |40% |50% |52% |55% |60% |65% | | | |25512 |42520 |85040 |110552 |127560 |255120 |340160 |425200 |442208 |467720 |510240 |552760 | | |moderate user |2% |4% |8% |10% |11% |25% |32% |40% |43% |46% |50% |57% | | | |17008 |34016 |68032 |85040 |93544 |212600 |272128 |340160 |365672 |391184 |425200 |484728 | | |Total user |42520 |76536 |153072 |195592 |221104 |467720 |612288 |765360 |807880 |858904 |935440 |1037488 | | |(SP=9) X 75%(users) |287010 |516618 |1033236 |1320246 |1492452 |3157110 |4132944 |5166180 |5453190 |5797602 |6314220 |7003044 | | |(SP=4) X 25%(users) |42520 |76536 |153072 |195592 |221104 |467720 |612288 |765360 |807880 |858904 |935440 |1037488 | | |total revenue |329530 | 593154 |1186308 |1515838 |1713556 |3624830 |4745232 |5931540 |6261070 |6656506 |7249660 |8040532 | | | expense: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |magazine | | | |150000 | |150000 | |150000 | |150000 | | | | |newspaper | |168000 | | |168000 | |168000 | |168000 | | |168000 | | |radio |135000 | |135000 | |135000 | |135000 |135000 | |135000 |135000 |135000 | | |facebook , |20000 | |20000 |20000 |20000 | | |20000 |20000 | |20000 | | | |In house Ad | | | |30000 |30000 | |30000 |30000 |30000 | |30000 | | | |Tv | |600000 | | |600000 | | | |600000 | |600000 | | | |road | | |200000 | |200000 | | |200000 | | |200000 | | | |billboards |300000 | | | | |300000 | | | | | |300000 | | |campaign | | | |50000 | |50000 | | | |50000 | |50000 | | |total |455000 |768000 |355000 |230000 |1153000 |500000 |333000 |535000 |818000 |335000 |985000 |653000 | | |profit/loss |-125470 |-174846 |831308 |1285838 |560556 |3124830 |4412232 |5396540 |5443070 |6321506 |6264660 |7387532 | | |total profit | | | | | | | | | | | | |40727756 | | Bibliography KFC official website, 2010, URL: [www. kfc. com], [last accessed April 6, 2010] KFC Locator, 2010, Americana group official website, URL: [ http://www. americana-group. net/Default. aspx? Id=1207 ], [last accessed April 7, 2010] KFC, 2010, Wikipedia, URL: [http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/KFC],[last accessed April 4, 2010] KFC Arabia official website, 2010, URL: [http://www. kfc-arabia. com/new_products. html#Krushers],[last accessed April 8, 2010] Annual report, 2008, Americana group, URL: [http://www. americana-group. net/Default. aspx? Id=1316], [last accessed April 14, 2010 ] Annual report, 2008, Yum, URL: [http://www. yum. com/annualreport/docs/annualReport08. pdf], [last accessed April 4, 2010 UAE population to exceed five million by year’s end, 2009, UAE Interact, URL:[ http://www. uaeinteract. com/docs/UAE_population_to_exceed_five_million_by_years_end_/37085. htm], [last accessed April14,2010] Appendix Graph 1. [pic] Graph 2. [pic] Graph 3: [pic] Graph 4: [pic] Based on: 1. Strongly dissatisfied 2. Dissatisfied 3. Neutral 4. Satisfied 5. Strongly satisfied ———————– [1] KFC corporate website (2010) 2] Americana group website (2010) [3] AMEinfo press release, June 24-2009. http://www. ameinfo. com/201597. html [4] Ministry of social affairs, annual statistic, 2008 [5] AMEinfo press release, June 24-2009. http://www. ameinfo. com/201597. html [6] Wikipedia, 20 10 [7] Appendix, Graph 1, page () [8] Appendix: Graph 2, page ( ) [9]URL:[http://www. uaeinteract. com/docs/UAE_population_to_exceed_five_million_by_years_end_/37085. htm] [10] Appendix, Graph 4, page () [11] Americana group website (2010) ———————– High Brand Image KFC Krushers McDonalds Shake High Store location convenience Low Store location convenience Hardees Shake Hardees Shake Low Brand Image