Being educated is not about certificates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Being educated is not about certificates - Essay Example He is against the traditional way of imparting education because it falls miserably short of what the "actual" aim of education should be. Kohn is of the firm view that being educated has no co-relation with having and/or acquiring certificates/degrees. He contends that the present cirriculum and the standardized system of testing in vogue today in the United States, should be abolished and a "progressive" system be put in its place. This is so because he wants the students to be no only well trained and literate in their chosen fields but also be well rounded personalities who on the one hand are intellectually sound and on the other hand are loving, caring and lovable individuals. The author has experience of people who have many certificates, but according to him they can in no way be considered educated because they lack the essential hands on experience to deal with many expected and unexpected situations/experiences that the real world affords them. They lack the qualities to face such situations because they (the students) have been brought up in a cloistered environment of the class room/school. To give an example, consider what would happen to a plant that has been grown in a controlled environment inside a laboratory, once the said plant/sapling, is exposed to the natural (uncontrolled) environment, it will wilt and die. 3. Both Kohn and the writer are in agreement that a great barrier in improving the standard of education in the United States is the out dated stance of the conservative politicians, the policy makers/ bureaucrats and the heads of big corporations who are in league that favors the traditional system because it serves their purposes. This traditional system provides an inexhaustible line of clone like individuals to the big corporations, who act according to their commands/orders without question and help run their mills and factories smoothly without

No Time to Think Essay Example for Free

No Time to Think Essay This week we were asked to analyse the following papers and a TED Talk presentation reflecting on how the accelerating pace of life and the distractions/noise in form of new means of communication are affecting our concentration and vanishing our â€Å"sanctuary† where we can dedicate time for thoughtful reflections. * â€Å"No time to think: Reflections on information technology and contemplative scholarship†, David M. Levy. (2007) * â€Å"Speed and the Unsettling of Knowledge in the Digital University†, Ray Land, (2011). TED Talk â€Å"5 ways to listen better†, Julian Treasure, (2011) Distractions serve anything but the knowledge It is true that today’s digitisation and networking tools speed up the pace of our communicative exchanges. In the other hand, these increasingly attractive tools are stealing our time and helping to distract us. These distractions serve anything but the knowledge because seriously limit our ability to focus and attention (and hence learning). Nowadays many people believe that reading an entire book is less attractive than commenting on their friends photos on Facebook or, open multiple tabs in a browser and quickly discover everything that is happening. It is precisely the possibility to access an incredible amount of information through the current digital technologies and encounter endless possibilities of knowledge that challenges our inability to build mental representations. Given the monumental supply of information obtained through the mass media, especially the Internet, the individual focuses his attention by very few moments in the data exposed on computer screens as they navigate through new links. However, the quality of these connections often contrasts with the amount of information, which are hardly assimilated because there is no time or effort to establish relations between concepts and thus, creating new meanings. As a result, individuals have habitual concentration difficulties, especially when connect with other people and at the same time read information in various news sites. It is not by chance the use of terms such as connect, Liked† and off to describe relationships between people. It is as if the email’s boxes or the tweets call us all the time so that messages must be read and answered immediately. The schools adopting the digital education model have already evidenced these concentration problems. The use of new technologies in the classroom econfigures everyday identities of their teachers and students and thus, their own teaching practice in the presence of the students’ limitless access to information through the Internet. I believe that the teachers, as the digital immigrants, and students, as the digital natives, are overwhelmed with the emancipatory potential of the Internet that in somehow they are experiencing a sense of loss as pointed out Ray Land: â₠¬Å"Paradoxically this may be experienced as a sense of loss as an earlier, more secure stance of familiar knowing has to be abandoned as new and unfamiliar knowledge is encountered†. The temporary downside of this digital turn is a viral pact of mediocrity, through which teachers and students pretend to teach and learn, to the extent that the contents of academic papers are copied and pasted in the text with less and less reasoning being developed. New teachers adapted to this modus operandi disregard ethical issues and do not refute the information that the student presents through consultation online. Improving concentration in the digital environment Considering the above scenario, I believe that we need to re-think our strategy to overcome distraction and increase our capacity to learn in digital environments. As David M. Levy mentioned: â€Å"It might well be possible to begin to explore different modes of thinking – routine and creative modes, as well as obsessive mind chatter – not only to develop more nuanced and refined understandings of these processes but to understand how to encourage or discourage them†. The starting point could be the understanding of the mechanisms of human attention, decode how it works and even how to develop it. I personally think that concentration is not innate to the human being, but a skill that can be taught throughout life and can always be improved. Recently I read an intriguing book called â€Å"The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force† (Jeffrey M. Schwartz and Sharon Begley, 2003) about the brain plasticity, which is the neurons’ ability to redistribute according to need and training. The conclusions regarding the brains ability to rewire itself and the idea that meditation may be driving neuroplastic changes are quite inspiring in the book. For J. Schwartz and S. Begley, the best way to ensure attention is to choose challenging activities. If the task is so hard that we almost cannot do it, will certainly require more focus. However, it is not always clear that we like or feel challenged by everything that we need to do. Sometimes the work is simply annoying, but still needs to be done. In these cases, the trick is to turn it into a kind of game, focusing on one phase at a time. Overcome steps, one by one, can leave the whole process more attractive. Something like the â€Å"gamification† strategies, i. e. points and titles that some programs or applications give each task is accomplished. Being totally concentrated has to do with the state of â€Å"flow† discussed in the week 4 of the IDLE course. The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi tried to understand the phenomenon by calculating the amount of information that our neural networks are capable of absorbing. He reached a number: only 110bps (bits per second). Listening to someone talking, for example, requires the processing of 40bps. That means, there are 70bps left in to use for distractions around. So we can scribble on paper or think in others to-dos while listening to the conversation. Using the 110bps in an activity would be the equivalent of what Csikszentmihalyi calls flow† that state of absolute concentration that makes us not even notice the time passing. Finally, the schools should debate more about the negative effects of distraction, the importance of the â€Å"white space† (or the sanctuary as we call at IDLE, the creation of physical spaces or times on the calendar for uninterrupted, unwired thinking and connection) and encourage students to apply basic practices to promote personal â€Å"white space†. These practices include: create a student routine, make lists with the priorities of the day, learn to organize time and to collect relevant study materials, learn to book time to solve everything else outside of the studies (a good way to fend off distractions is to take them out of our heads) and learn to absorb and to reflect on what has been collected.

The Atrocious Bombing of Dresden, Germany :: European Europe History

The Atrocious Bombing of Dresden, Germany On February 13-14, 1945 the British Royal Air Force gave the final clearance to commence what would later become known as one of the greatest atrocities that has ever been commited against a civilian population. That night the RAF launched 796 bombers and 9 Mosquitoes which carried 1,478 tons of explosives in addition to 1,182 tons of incendiary bombs (Dear 311) which turned the city of Dresden, Germany into a virtual inferno. This attack included another strike by the US Air Force the following morning. The attack on Dresden was never a legitimate act of war, and its result was the terroristic mass murder of over 135,000 people. Bombing civilian targets in enemy territory became an open issue on March 30, 1942 when the Prime Minister's science advisor, Professor F.A. Lindemann (who later was recognized as Lord Cherwell) delivered to Winston Churchill a report which contained a strong argument in favor of striking civilian targets. Cherwell's report contained the final rationalization for the program Bomber Command was undertaking, and it would henceforth be paper-clipped to the plans of the bomber offensive. (Hastings). In his report, Lindemann estimated that forty tons of explosives detonated in heavily populated areas would destroy the homes of 4,000-8,000 people. The report also stated that there was a population of 22 million people in fifty-eight of the major cities in Germany. Lindemann claimed that a nation of refugees could be the result of strategic air attacks. It is wildly believed among scholars that the information cont.ained in this report was the basis of the attack on Dresden. Lindemann's figures were correct, but his thinking was immoral and inhumane. The people to whom his statistics referred so objectively were innocent civilians, more than half of them women and children. The assault upon them was nothing more that out-right murder. Any benefit gained by destroying these civilians. lives, families, and homes was countered ten-fold by the moral reprehensibility of such a clearly criminal act. The city of Dresden was a historic center of Europe, and was known world wide for its splendid architecture. It was the capital of Saxony, and located along the banks of the Elbe river. Dresden had very little industrial activity, and it was a target only once before in a small raid by the US Air Force in October of 1944. It was a city that was also known for its production of fine China, and its glorious museums (Dear 311).

Middleware Essay

What is middleware? The term middleware is defined by one’s point of view. It is used to describe a broad array of tools and data that help applications use networked resources and services. Some tools, such as authentication and directories, are in all categorizations. Other services, such as coscheduling of networked resources, secure multicast, object brokering and messaging, are the major middleware interests of particular communities, such as scientific researchers and business systems vendors. One definition that reflects this breadth of meaning is â€Å"Middleware is the intersection of the stuff that network engineers don’t want to do with the stuff that applications developers don’t want to do. † Why is middleware important? Middleware has emerged as a critical second level of an enterprise IT infrastructure, sitting on top of the network level. The need for middleware stems from the increasing growth in the number of applications, in the customizations within those applications and the number of locations in our environments; these and other factors now require that a set of core data and services be moved from their multiple instances into a centralized institutional offering. This central provision of service eases application development, increases robustness, assists data management, and provides overall operating efficiencies. Okay, so it is important. Lots of things are these days. Why is it urgent? There are several drivers bringing middleware to campus; Advanced scientific computing environments such as PACI are placing requirements on campus researchers for middleware services such as authentication and directories. Library projects such as the UCOP/Columbia certificate project will be extending across a broader higher ed community . The Federal government is preparing requirements for digital signatures for student loan forms. New versions of software, such as Windows 2000, come with the tools to build ad hoc middleware components. What is urgent is that the campus builds a coherent infrastructure to respond to these drivers. What makes the higher ed and research communities distinctive in its need for middleware? Many companies and other communities of interest are rapidly understanding the importance of middleware to their missions and are proceeding with development. Higher education faces unique technical and policy issues in its deployment. Technical issues include the mobility of students, the diversity of equipment, and advanced application requirements. Policy issues include ownership of data, FERPA and other public records issues, and extended collaborative relationships. Together these considerations make the middleware deployment significantly harder within higher education. When middleware becomes part of the IT environment, how critical will a robust infrastructure be? The middleware components of the future IT environment will be every bit as critical as the underlying network infrastructure, requiring 7Ãâ€"24 service, high-performance, and appropriate redundancy. Directory services will be receive millions of hits per day; identifiers will have explicit control mechanisms; attribute services will be invoked by almost every application on campus; lawyers will place stringent operational constraints on security services. Is middleware a centralized or distributed issue on campus? It is both. Like network services on campus, there is a need for a consistent infrastructure across campus that is best provisioned centrally. At the same time, much of the contents of this infrastructure are best maintained by the individuals themselves and their departments. The trick is to create a centrally coordinated service that provides tools and authority for distributed management of the contents. Aren’t we going to get middleware from the commercial marketplace? It is certainly the case that most basic middleware products that higher education will deploy commercial products, from broad software companies such as Microsoft and Novell, and from specific product providers such as Netscape, HP, and ATT. However a number of distinctive characteristics of the higher ed community create design considerations that in turn cause complex implementations. In addition, the research part of the academic enterprise needs additional discipline-specific middleware that is likely not going to attract a commercial interest. Finally, the collaborative nature of higher education suggest interoperability issues that must be addressed within the community. What kind of investments will campuses need to make? Like networking, middleware will require considerable commitments of time and money. However, the types of costs are different. Networking has required large sums of capital (for fiber, routers, switches, etc. ) and considerable operating costs (for external access, maintenance, etc. ) Personnel costs have been relatively modest. For middleware, the hardware costs (servers, readers, etc. are likely to be relatively low. Software costs are unclear now, but there are clearly considerable expenses in building bridges to legacy systems and evolving middleware-enabled applications. Unlike networking, there is a second major cost component in middleware – process time. A campus must develop consensus and support for the need for middleware, clarify data ownership and management issues, specify relationships among individuals, groups and information technology objects, establish legal agreements and change the way that information is managed on the campus. How does the Internet2 Middleware Initiative intend to address these needs? Efforts will focus on advancing the level of middleware within higher education through a set of related activities, including fostering technical standards, aggregating and disseminating technical design and implementation strategies, fostering opportunities for vendors and Internet2 members to shape and deploy products, and integrating efforts with particular scientific and research communities. What should campuses be doing now? It is not to early for campuses to begin the processes that address the â€Å"policy-side† of the challenge, building awareness about the need for middleware, identifying key constituencies that will be involved in the process, and taking basic inventories of the data and management relationships on campus. At the same time, experimentation in the core technologies, most notably in directory services, should be undertaken.

Legal Implications of Being a Nutritional Consultant

Introduction Nutrition is among the present society’s number one needs. Aside from the fact that the nutritional knowledge of the people living within the society right now is indeed deteriorating, the role of nutritional consultants in assisting the society get a say with what they need from the governmental provisions especially concerning ample distribution of food is an essential factor contributing to the progress of the present human society. Certainly, from this, it could be noted that through ample application of the rules and regulations behind the job of a nutritionist, the global problem in nutrition application may as well be reduced or at best, it may even have a chance of being completely abolished. What is it that makes the people in this particular career seemingly important and mostly appreciated by the society? What is the nature of this career that particularly makes it one of the most important jobs given stress within the human society? These particular questions shall be discussed within the context of this paper. The Nature of the Job Nutritionists or Nutrition consultants are involved in creating possibilities in assisting the people within the human society in becoming nutritionally aware of their needs. Health is wealth. This is the usual saying that supports the major responsibilities that are vested upon the shoulders of professional nutritionists. Among the many people within the human society, only 43% actually get the correct amount of daily nutrition that is needed by the body to be able to sustain itself for bodily repairs and personal care procedures that the human body itself could take care of. There are different reasons behind the factual reports regarding nutritional issues that are submitted for public knowledge purposes. One reason could be the fact that the poverty line, especially among developing countries hinders the human population from actually being able to acquire the right nutrition that they ought to receive. This issue particularly spurs out from the fact that because of the population-boom that is globally experienced at present, scarcity of resources increase thus making it impossible for the governments to equally provide nutritional measures to both the ones who could afford buying the scarce resources and the ones who could not even afford to buy a single meal for a day. The role of nutrition consultants in the situation narrated above is certainly described with high regard to their responsibility of helping in the education of the society regarding their nutritional and dietary needs as well as their role in helping in researching the best possible ways to equally distribute the food resources of the present human society among all the population around the world. To add up to the said description of the job of nutrition consultants, Phoenix University, an online-based educational institution describes the career of nutrition consultants as: â€Å"Dietitians and nutritionists are health professionals who study and apply the principles of nutrition and food management. There are several kinds of dietitians and nutritionists. The largest group is made up of administrative dietitians. Administrative dietitians manage food services in hospitals, schools, nursing homes, restaurants, industrial plants, military bases, and other institutions. They plan and direct the purchase and preparation of food, as well as supervise other food service workers. Administrative dietitians ensure that the meals served are nutritious, appetizing, and within the institution's budget. †¦ Nutritionists study the use of food in the human body. They are not usually involved in feeding people. They deal instead with the broad principles of nutrition. They may teach others about scientific discoveries in the field of nutrition. These discoveries can then be applied to the planning of diets and menus. For example, a nutritionist might develop a course to teach poor families how to eat well on a small budget. Nutritionists are employed in the food industry, schools, hospitals, agriculture, and public health agencies.† As the role of the nutrition consultants had been carefully outlined, it is then necessary to consider the fact that the law, also usually bound the activities that the nutrition consultants engage with. From the clear understanding of the job performed by nutrionists, it should occur to readers that the laws concerning the legality of this particular career is related with the pharmaceutical measures of consideration when giving out samples of food supplements to people who are lacking certain types of nutrients within their body’s system. The law with regards this issue is aimed in protecting the patient’s health. It should occur to the nutrition consultants that recommending food supplement products such as synthetic vitamins and/or herbal medicines should be made within the basis of being of great help to the patient or the person who is being assisted. With regards considering this particular issue, it should be remembered that whatever it is that happens recommendation of the medicines should be measured with the actual nutritional requirements for the person being dealt with and not simply gaining profit from the producers of a certain nutritional supplement. This particular responsibility of nutrition consultants is highly given close attention especially within the areas of territory of several developed cities such as New York. This is particularly because of the fact that producers of fake nutritional supplements could be found everywhere else making it harder to identify what is really the true food supplement. Not being able to address this issue would surely cause problems with the health situation of the patient as well as with the reputation of the consultant in the said particular branch of medical profession. Reference: The Nutritional and Dietary Supplement Law.(2006). Nutritional supplements, dietary ingredients, functional foods and drinks, nutraceuticals and the law. http://nutrisuplaw.com/?page_id=68. (May 18, 2007). Phoenix University. (2007). Dietitian and Nutritionist Job Description, Career as a Dietitian and Nutritionist, Salary, Employment – Definition and Nature of the Work, Education and Training Requirements, Getting the Job. http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/342/Dietitian-Nutritionist.html. (May 18, 2007). ;

Essay on lab report qualitative

Essay on lab report qualitative Essay on lab report qualitative Running head: WHAT FACTORS INDIVIDUALS VALUE MOST IN A FRIEND Key Psychological Factors Influencing Individuals in Choosing Friends Iram Shah University Centre at Blackburn College Abstract Background Aim The current research programme examines the relationship between individuals and their friends. It aims to gain an insight on how individuals perceive friendship and what factors they value most in a friend. Sample A purposive sampling technique was used where participants were chosen on the basis of the relationship between the interviewer and interviewee. The researcher had some degree of understanding with the participant to build up rapport throughout the interview. 9 participants took part in the interview out of which only 7 provided their personal details. There were 5 females and 2 males who took part in the research with the age range of 32 and mean age of 27. Method The current research programme takes an ideographic approach to data collection and analysis. The method used in the research is a qualitative analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews with a small number of participants. An inductive-qualitative design was used when collecting data and the method of analysis used when analysing the transcript, was a Thematic Approach. Results The key findings and themes which emerged from the current researchers was that the main factor which individuals value in friendship is trust. Throughout all the interviews trust was one theme which seemed to crop up with every participant. Other factors which linked with trust included openness, in terms of how open individuals were with friends if they trusted them. Backbiting was also linked with trust as participants stated that friends who would talk negative behind they back were ones who could not be trusted. Other factors which cropped up in relation to what individuals value in friendship included loyalty towards friends, understanding one another, non-judgemental friends and how supportive friends were. Conclusion Keywords: [Your keywords go here] Key Psychological Factors Influencing Individuals in Choosing Friends This qualitative study aimed to explore the key psychological factors which influence individuals in choosing friends. There have been previous researches which examine different aspects of friendship such as The Importance of Friends: Friendship and Adjustment Among 1st-Year University Students (Buote et al., 2007). Another research conducted by (Parker, Summerfeldt, Hogan & Majeski, 2004) examined the transition from high school to university as the context for examining the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. The content of these studies have been inadequate to the narrow scope of the specific interests of researchers. This current study aimed to take a value-free approach to identify the main factors which influence individuals in choosing friends. There have been many studies of individuals understanding of friendship expectations and these notions have documented age-related consistencies in the child to adolescence development. Therefore it is a question for future research to find out what core characteristics of friendship are and what qualities/characteristics other than age, individuals look for in a friend. Therefore the current research aims to identify these factors or characteristics which influence individuals when choosing friends. Method Methodological rationale There were a number of qualitative methods that were considered appropriate in discovering participants views on friendship. These methods consisted of Grounded Theory (GT), Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), Discourse Analysis (DA) and Thematic Analysis (TA). As the interviews conducted were semi structured to allow some direction by the participant in the discourse, many issues were raised when using the IPA method. As the method used a rigorous structure, it was considered that

Dipolmacy essays

Dipolmacy essays Diplomacy is a very important issue. Diplomacy is relations between nations, and is usually the talking part. If the situation gets out of hand it may result in war. The US has just had a major situtation with China and luckly it ended in with good results and not war. The problem started when a US ARA4 spy plane was flying in international waters about 80 miles off the coast of China. China became intimidated by the us and sent up highly monuverable fighter jets that got really close to the US plane. With the fighters in the spy planes blind spot, it began to bank to the right breaking a prapeller and causing a Chinese to fall to his death. The US plane then made an emmidait landing in China, where the crew of 24 were held as detaines. In the 20 minutes that the us crew had between making the emergency call to land and the landing in China they went through mandatory presedures of breaking every piece of equiment on the plane. The Us spy plane has the ability to tap into phone conversations and read e-mails. if chins figures out how to replacate our technology they could do the same and spy on us! Lets not look at all the bad parts of the story, one good thing is that the Chinese execepted our not so sincere apoligies and let the crew go. But they hadnt we could have gone to war. With the technology we have today (Nucleaur weapons) nothing will be good about a war. ...

Null Hypothesis Definition and Examples

Null Hypothesis Definition and Examples In a scientific experiment, the null hypothesis is the proposition that there is no effect or no relationship between phenomena or populations. If the null hypothesis is true, any observed difference in phenomena or populations would be due to sampling error (random chance) or experimental error. The null hypothesis is useful because it can be tested and found to be false, which then implies that there is a relationship between the observed data. It may be easier to think of it as a nullifiable hypothesis or one that the researcher seeks to nullify. The null hypothesis is also known as the H0, or no-difference hypothesis. The alternate hypothesis, HA or H1, proposes that observations are influenced by a non-random factor. In an experiment, the alternate hypothesis suggests that the experimental or independent variable has an effect on the dependent variable. How to State a Null Hypothesis There are two ways to state a null hypothesis. One is to state it as a declarative sentence, and the other is to present it as a mathematical statement. For example, say a researcher suspects that exercise is correlated to weight loss, assuming diet remains unchanged. The average length of time to achieve a certain amount of weight loss is six weeks when a person works out five times a week. The researcher wants to test whether weight loss takes longer to occur if the number of workouts is reduced to three times a week. The first step to writing the null hypothesis is to find the (alternate) hypothesis. In a word problem like this, youre looking for what you expect to be the outcome of the experiment. In this case, the hypothesis is I expect weight loss to take longer than six weeks. This can be written mathematically as:  H1: ÃŽ ¼ 6 In this example, ÃŽ ¼ is the average. Now, the null hypothesis is what you expect if this hypothesis does not happen. In this case, if weight loss isnt achieved in greater than six weeks, then it must occur at a time equal to or less than six weeks. This can be written mathematically as: H0: ÃŽ ¼ ≠¤ 6 The other way to state the null hypothesis is to make no assumption about the outcome of the experiment. In this case, the null hypothesis is simply that the treatment or change will have no effect on the outcome of the experiment. For this example, it would be that reducing the number of workouts would not affect the time needed to achieve weight loss: H0: ÃŽ ¼ 6 Null Hypothesis Examples Hyperactivity is unrelated to eating sugar is an example of a null hypothesis. If the hypothesis is tested and found to be false, using statistics, then a connection between hyperactivity and sugar ingestion may be indicated. A significance test is the most common statistical test used to establish confidence in a null hypothesis. Another example of a null hypothesis is Plant growth rate is unaffected by the presence of cadmium in the soil. A researcher could test the hypothesis by measuring the growth rate of plants grown in a medium lacking cadmium, compared with the growth rate of plants grown in mediums containing different amounts of cadmium. Disproving the null hypothesis would set the groundwork for further research into the effects of different concentrations of the element in soil. Why Test a Null Hypothesis? You may be wondering why you would want to test a hypothesis just to find it false. Why not just test an alternate hypothesis and find it true? The short answer is that it is part of the scientific method. In science, propositions are not explicitly proven. Rather, science uses math to determine the probability that a statement is true or false. It turns out its much easier to disprove a hypothesis than to positively prove one. Also, while the null hypothesis may be simply stated, theres a good chance the alternate hypothesis is incorrect. For example, if your null hypothesis is that plant growth is unaffected by duration of sunlight, you could state the alternate hypothesis in several different ways. Some of these statements might be incorrect. You could say plants are harmed by more than 12 hours of sunlight or that plants need at least three hours of sunlight, etc. There are clear exceptions to those alternate hypotheses, so if you test the wrong plants, you could reach the wrong conclusion. The null hypothesis is a general statement that can be used to develop an alternate hypothesis, which may or may not be correct.

Financial services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial services - Essay Example Their qualifications are monitored and approved by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) which is a regulatory body for the UK financial services sector. There are over four hundred financial advisors in the UK financial services industry, guiding the clients regarding investments in the FTSE, stocks bonds, mutual funds, derivatives and other financial products. However, currently in UK the financial advisors are disappointing their clients by not providing the appropriate advice in the tough times of stock market volatility and economic slowdown. The times when people need their advice the most they are reported not fulfilling their duties promptly. â€Å"Not many people are the fans of the financial advisory industry in its current state in the UK, as most advisors are, when it comes down to it, just salespeople on commission.† (Dunwiddle 2008) Every individual in UK gets investment allowance and they need these advisors to help them with their investment decisions. However , the general impression shows that these advisors increase their wealth based on their clients’ money. Retail banks on UK are technology and service oriented offering customers with greater protection, more choices and competitive rates. The Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, RBS and Barclays are some of the major names in the UK retail banking. Currently UK is witnessing a decrease in the retail banks’ branches and the increase in the Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs). â€Å"To operate in the retail markets banks have traditionally required an extensive branch network. However, technological developments in particular the growth of automatic teller machines (ATM) networks, phone/internet banking, mobile phones and interactive digital television has enabled a new type of bank that does not need branches to conduct business. In UK the pioneer was First Direct, which began its telephone bank in 1989 and is an operation of HSBC.† (Buckle and Thompson 2004) Thus these bank s involve advancement of loans, and acceptance of deposits, customer credit services through credit cards and overdrafts etc and many other financial services. As per the requirement of the Bank of England they maintain their required cash ratios and other requirements. They are key players in regulating the money supply and providing customer with a protected, competitive and reliable financial services network in the United Kingdom. b. Customer Expectations v/s Financial Advisors & Retail Banks The financial advisors, who always face the risk of furnishing rosy pictures of investments to their clients, need to put extensive efforts to gain and maintain customer expectations and meet customer expectations. Recently, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been working on Treating Customer Fairly (TCF) and its outcomes and requiring all firms to present correct and proper information. The financial advisors try and validate the information provided to their clients through report s and researches. The appreciation of customer expectation for a financial advisor is difficult because the advice of the advisor does not guarantee success as other factors market and economic are responsible for the outcome of the investment. â€Å"One problem in the investment service industry is that the outcomes of investment decisions are largely beyond the control of investment advisors and investment managers.† (Redhead 2008) Thus in orders to appreciate the customer expectat

Forensic Questioned Document Examinations Essay

Forensic Questioned Document Examinations - Essay Example Forensic question document examination is also used to analyze documents that are being disputed. For instance, if there is any question that a document is legitimate, then a question document examiner will analyze the document to determine its validity. This is especially necessary in cases where fraud may be present. In some instances, question document examiners are asked to be witnesses in cases (Koppenhaver, 2007; Southeastern Association of Forensic Document Examiners 2010). To have a clear analysis of forensic question document examination, it is fitting that we look at both the advantages and the disadvantages of this element of forensics. First, we will analyze the advantages of question document examination. One advantage to using question document examination is that this element of forensics can enable forensic personnel to extract a number of very elaborate and extremely valuable details that will aid in speedily solving crimes and determining whether or not a particular document is fraudulent or valid. . There are a number of different technologies that facilitate this. For instance, there are techniques to determine what types of inks are used to write documents, which not only works wonders in determining validity but can also point to a particular suspect. Techniques, such as â€Å"high performance liquid chromatography and infrared spectroscopy with principal components analysis and linear discriminate analysis† facilitate the forensic classification of inks from various ballpoint pins (Kher, 2006). . When one knows the type of ink that has been used to write documents, this will possibly narrow down suspects because efforts will then be focused on analyzing documents written in only that particular ink and looking with pens that contain that particular ink at the crime scene, which will bring forensic personnel one step closer to solving the case. Then, there are the numerous analysis techniques and various technologies that enable

Describe the challenges of making decisions in environments of high Research Paper

Describe the challenges of making decisions in environments of high speed and complexity (See instructions) - Research Paper Example This essay stresses that with the replacement of human resource in this the digital age it becomes tricky to establish between the human resource and the digital resource on whose information to use in decision making. This is a challenge that must be addressed urgently, because the need for speed is inevitable while tactful decisions that the digital resource may not provide for may be vital to solve a problem. Excess use of the digital technology in the industry may overlook or pin down the human resource. Although the digital resource is important and accurate in decision making, human resource in the e- business remains the most important resource. This report makes a conclusion that the discrimination between the two important resources in the e- economy is vital for ensuring that the right decisions' are made while effectively using both resources. Debbie Maurice, the vice president of education in Novell, said in an interview that while she makes eighty percent of her decisions remotely using the information in the, she is forced to personally visit the customers personally in an attempt to understand their needs than rely on the internet to do all for her. The decision to take such an initiative remains to be done by the major segment of the e-business world. E- Commerce has been narrowed down into purchasing over the internet while in the real sense, it comprises of many other elements.

How is inclusion understoodan examination of different approaches to Essay - 1

How is inclusion understoodan examination of different approaches to meeting diverse needs - Essay Example vely developed in countries with different cultural and moral beliefs; The above questions are related to the following facts: the level at which social inclusion is supported by the government of a particular country is depended not only on the willingness of the political parties involved to face the specific problem but also on the level at which the relevant policies will be accepted by the local society. Current paper focuses on the social inclusion policies developed in Britain during the 21st century; emphasis is given on teenage mothers and the terms under which their inclusion in the British society is promoted. It is concluded that the position of British governments in regard to the specific issue has not been standardized being depended by the social conditions of each particular period; however, it is clear that the Labour party has been more supportive to teenage mothers compared to the Conservatives who emphasize on the moral aspects of the particular problem. The poli cies developed in Britain for the social inclusion of teenage mothers during the 21st century are analyzed by referring primarily to the concept of social inclusion – as a reflection of the social relationships and ethics of modern societies. The concept of social inclusion, as an element of social policies of governments worldwide has been explained using different approaches. In accordance with Munck (2005) the social inclusion should be considered as the result of globalization; it is noted that through the establishment of ‘global cities’ – ‘like New York, Tokyo, London, Paris’ (Munck 2005, p.33) new modes of life were developed; moreover, not all people have been able to align their daily activities with the new style of life; the exclusion of certain people of these cities, which was developed gradually, led to a series of severe social problems and turbulences which could be confronted only by developing effective social inclusion policies. From another point of

Does the Japanese state deserve most of the credit for Japan's Essay

Does the Japanese state deserve most of the credit for Japan's development - Essay Example During Japan's postwar economic miracle, it was the Japanese state that deserves most of the credit for successful industrial development. The state's use of industrial policy was the single most important cause of the transformation and growth of the economy. All factors, including external environment, political leadership, and the role played by the private sector, are insignificant when compared to industrial policy. Without the industry-specific interventionist policies followed by the MITI, the economy would not have developed at the pace or in the direction it ultimately did. At the outset, those who answered the question affirmatively can point out that the roots of Japan's successful post-war industrialization and economic development can be traced to efforts of the Japanese state as early as the period of the restoration of imperial rule in Japan. Prior to the restoration of Japanese imperial rule, the Tokugawa Shogunate after its experience with Commodore Matthew Perry's gunboat diplomacy in 1853 had accepted many unequal treaties leading to dissatisfaction among the country's samurais and feudal clans. For example, Japanese tariff rates were kept low and a system of extraterritoriality was established. Restoration of imperial rule through the installation of the political rule of Emperor Meiji became the rallying point of a significant portion of the country's ruling elite and leading warlords in expressing opposition to foreign encroachments. Japan is one of countries of Asia that started early in modernizing their banks. As early as 1872, Emperor Meiji established four national banks in Tokyo and other cities of Japan.

How is inclusion understoodan examination of different approaches to Essay - 1

How is inclusion understoodan examination of different approaches to meeting diverse needs - Essay Example vely developed in countries with different cultural and moral beliefs; The above questions are related to the following facts: the level at which social inclusion is supported by the government of a particular country is depended not only on the willingness of the political parties involved to face the specific problem but also on the level at which the relevant policies will be accepted by the local society. Current paper focuses on the social inclusion policies developed in Britain during the 21st century; emphasis is given on teenage mothers and the terms under which their inclusion in the British society is promoted. It is concluded that the position of British governments in regard to the specific issue has not been standardized being depended by the social conditions of each particular period; however, it is clear that the Labour party has been more supportive to teenage mothers compared to the Conservatives who emphasize on the moral aspects of the particular problem. The poli cies developed in Britain for the social inclusion of teenage mothers during the 21st century are analyzed by referring primarily to the concept of social inclusion – as a reflection of the social relationships and ethics of modern societies. The concept of social inclusion, as an element of social policies of governments worldwide has been explained using different approaches. In accordance with Munck (2005) the social inclusion should be considered as the result of globalization; it is noted that through the establishment of ‘global cities’ – ‘like New York, Tokyo, London, Paris’ (Munck 2005, p.33) new modes of life were developed; moreover, not all people have been able to align their daily activities with the new style of life; the exclusion of certain people of these cities, which was developed gradually, led to a series of severe social problems and turbulences which could be confronted only by developing effective social inclusion policies. From another point of

Wachovia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Wachovia - Research Paper Example All the major cause will be expansively presented in this paper. The valuable lessons learnt from the crisis will also be thrown light upon in this paper. Wachovia, Bear Stearns, AIG, Lehmann Brothers, Northern Rock, Goldman Sachs are some elite names that suffered the most because of the economic crisis also known as recession. Wachovia was once the fourth largest bank in America but it could not sustain the wrath of recession and was taken over by Wells Fargo in the year 2008. Lehmann brothers filed for bankruptcy while AIG and a few other elites just hung in there with the skin of their teeth. This economic crisis is still having repercussions on countries like Greece and Spain; the whole of Euro Zone is facing a financial turmoil. There are a few other countries that have been not so severely affected by the same. The crisis triggered off because of unchecked debt, banks kept issuing loans to people who invested heavily in buying assets, several things were taken for granted but when proved otherwise there was hardly a place in the world to hide. Overvaluation in real estate is perhaps the biggest cause of the current economic crisis, it is better known as the subprime crisis in the US. The likes of Lehmann Brothers and other financial services went bust because they kept issuing credit to the people who thought the property price would increase and they would be easily able to pay off the debt that they are borrowing. It did not turn out that way and there was a short of equity, this is exactly why the financial institutions went bankrupt. The overvaluation is the biggest factor that caused the current economic crisis. Factors like bad income tax practices have added insult to injury, bad mortgage lending also contributed heavily to this current economic crisis. â€Å"The way to address the root cause is to let house prices drop to where an average house is within the means of an average household.   (Or, alternatively, boost the income of the average h ousehold to the point that they can afford an average house.   But that's very hard.   Letting houses prices go on falling, although painful for everyone who owns a house or who has lent money to someone who owns a house, is very easy.)† (Root Cause of the Financial Crisis) The UK housing market was also greatly affected because of recession. The impact of the global economic crisis on UK property companies was dire. Previously well performing firms in terms of turnover and profits experienced drastic falls in profits and even losses. Tightened lending conditions and dips in confidence in the UK housing sector translated to inactivity in business and thus reduced turnovers, hindered growth and difficult operations. In the general pattern as the rest of the economy, property firms found it untenable to maintain workforce numbers as lack of activity and the heavy toll of remuneration on available resources. Reduced spending propensities and the lack of credit in the housing sector left most of these companies’ futures hanging in the balance. There is also the question of how the entire properties sector and the property companies have set out to recover from the economic crisis. Concerns also arise in terms of how well the instituted strategies can buffer such firms against an occurrence of another financial downturn in the future. The content analysis reveals that the property companies went through severe impacts on their management dispositions as well as on their employees. The managers were

England and the Colonies Essay Example for Free

England and the Colonies Essay The origins of the United States of America can be traced to the colonization of England in the 17th and 18th centuries. Thirteen of the states that are now part of the nation were initially English colonies. However, the relations between England and the colonies were severed when British policies proved to be too oppressive for the colonists. Eventually, the conflict led to the American Revolution, in which the colonies gained their independence from British rule. From the beginning, England and its colonies have differed in terms of social and political climate. These differences contributed in heightening the tension between the two. The colonies were established between the years 1607 and 1733 (Perry, 1989). The first colony was set up in Virginia in 1607. During that time, monarchy still existed in England, but the power of the Parliament in constricting royal authority had increased. This is the reason why the political climate in England was filled with tension. There was always a clash between the monarch and Parliament. When the first colony was founded, James I was the ruling monarch. He had constant disagreement with the Parliament, a disagreement which would eventually worsen with his successor and son Charles I. The tension between the monarch and the Parliament had become worse, prompting a civil war to occur in August 1642. The outcome of the war led to the execution of Charles I and the establishment of a republic. Royal rule was only restored in 1660, with Charles II as monarch (Perry, 1989). The social climate in England was also filled with tension. This was the result of the religious conflict which began during the reign of James I (Perry, 1989). When his predecessor Elizabeth I was the monarch, the Church of England dominated but many people embraced Protestantism. A group of Protestants known as Puritans wanted to remove what they thought was Roman Catholic influence on the Church of England. James I refused to acknowledge the Puritans’ clamor for religious change. During the rule of Charles I, the situation with the Puritans became more intense. William Laud was the archbishop of Canterbury and he promoted unjust treatment of Puritans. Because of his encouragement, many Puritans were fined and put in jail (Perry, 1989). The political climate in the colonies was significantly different from that of England. The colonists did not have a single, central government. They were not ruled by monarchy or Parliament. Those colonies located in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire had their own government and set of laws (Perry, 1989). In the Pennsylvania colony, William Penn even supported political freedom (Perry, 1989). This situation left no room for political conflict, as the colonies were left on their own to govern themselves. Hence, the political climate in the colonies was more calm and stable than that in England. It was not until the conflict with England that the colonies were forced to unite and fight the British in war. On the contrary, the social climate is somewhat similar to that in England. Most of the colonists were persecuted in England for their religious beliefs (Perry, 1989). The reason why some of them decided to move to America was because they sought to establish a community where they could freely practice their religion. Unfortunately, some colonists repressed religious preference the same way British leaders did. In the Massachusetts Bay colony, they refused to welcome people who did not embrace the Puritan religion. However, other colonies were more tolerant than others. For instance, the colony established by Roger Williams in Rhode Island permitted people to practice whatever religion they wanted. The same religious tolerance was extended by Penn (Perry, 1989). England and the colonies differed in terms of political and social climate. In England, there was tension due to political conflict and religious intolerance. In the colonies, individual governments avoided political unrest. Just like in England, religious freedom is also repressed in the colonies; nonetheless, this repression is not absolute. Some colonies tolerated differences in religion. These are the differences between England and the colonies. Reference Perry, M. (1989). A History of the World. Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin.

Realibility Engineering and Asset Management

Realibility Engineering and Asset Management The Strategic Process Workload Seems excessive for available resources KPIs Actual against planned performance not always recorded Standards/Procedures Lubrication not being performed properly The Work System Planning Apparent failure of entire process Utilisation of Manpower Staff seem to be overworked and/or not used properly Reliability Critical machinery is failing Reporting Too much expected on job completion Work Completion Excessive backlog of PM and defects repair The Feedback System Root Cause Analysis Not being performed Work Order feedback   Rarely completed by fitters Job Completion reports Not being reviewed The Continuous Improvement Process New Technologies Condition monitoring probe request rejected New techniques Training for maintenance staff not pursued Innovation No development of maintenance practices Corrective action No improvements being made to maintenance strategy The Environmental Process Production Pressure Plant is being sweated Shortage of Resources Appears to be insufficient for current workload The Strategic Process Maintenance Strategy Derek is busy at organising this but to the detriment of his focus on everyday items at the plant. Workload there seems to be an excessive amount in relation to the available resources. Mick states that the fitters are struggling to complete PMs and fix machine defects. Harry mentions later that the situation is worse and that they are way behind on PMs and defects. Plant patrols, which are part of the strategy, are not being performed due to time shortages. There is a possibility that the initial allocation of resources was adequate when the plant was in a healthier state but since the state of machinery has deteriorated, the maintenance staff are now overworked due to the high number of breakdowns. I believe that a collapse of the planning process is at the root of the ever increasing workload. KPIs Derek is aghast when he learns from Harry that Dougie wants to be consulted on new requirements for reporting. Derek reminds Harry and Mick that the maintenance strategy has always had a requirement for feeding back actual against planned performance. The fitters received a letter detailing job completion report requirements but instead of motivating, it seems to have riled them up. Standards/Procedures When quizzed about the cause of the compressor bearings seizure, Harry informs him that it was likely due to improper lubrication. There is either a failure of Standards or Procedures here i.e. either the lubricating standard was not correct or the lubrication procedure was not followed. The Work System Planning There has been a complete collapse in the planning process. Charlie has been instructed to concentrate on shutdown planning with no ownership being taken of the corrective maintenance activities. The planning function also includes reviewing job completion reports with the Maintenance Manager, this has also being neglected due to the focus on shutdown planning. Utilisation of Manpower There are certainly concerns with the utilisation of resources. Mick states this in no uncertain terms to Derek. There is a significant backlog of works to be completed and Mick and Harry believe that too much time is being spent on reporting and planning thus reducing tool time. Reliability Plant reliability is suffering extreme adverse effects. A failure of a critical piece of equipment has resulted in a minimum of five days downtime for the entire manufacturing operation. Reporting Reporting on equipment condition is not consistent. A fault report was filled out by Mick for the compressor in advance of its failure. However job completion reports are not being completed by all fitters. Work Completion It is clear from the scenario, that non-completion of maintenance tasks is a serious concern. Lubrication of the compressor bearings was not performed (either at all or to the right degree). Harry states also that the team are behind with their PM routines and have a serious backlog on defects. The Feedback System Root Cause Analysis Not only is root cause analysis not being performed at ACME, the maintenance supervisors are not even aware of the meaning of the concept. Harry and Mick are keen to learn about it, which instigates the Dictaphone recorded conversation. Work Order /Job Completion reports Only some of the fitters are filling in job completion reports despite it being part of the maintenance strategy. Derek is quite stunned when he learns this from Mick. To make matters worse one of the few fitters, Eddie Condon, that completes the reports is fed up as he feels that his efforts are being ignored. Plant Patrol fault reporting This is not being performed by the fitters. Because of the backlog in PM workload and fixing defects, Mick states they would have to do overtime to carry out what he refers to as detective work. Fault reporting A report on the compressor fault was completed by Mick and submitted to the planning office. However it went unnoticed by Charlie due to prioritisation of shutdown planning. Disconnect with Maintenance Strategy From the above points it is clear that there is no action being taken with the feedback that is performed at ACME. Derek states that he is too busy organising the maintenance strategy but yet he has failed to notice the breakdown in this process. The Continuous Improvement Process New Technologies Mick has been asking Derek for months to purchase the hand held condition monitoring probe. He believes that its advanced technology could provide great assistance in solving the plants equipment issues. Derek dismisses the probe as fancy stuff and requests instead that the department get back to basics. New techniques Harry reminds Derek that he was promised he could attend a training course on compressors. Harry believes that, had this advanced training been attended, ACME may not have had the compressor breakdown. However Derek reneged on his promise stating that he could not lose Harry for three weeks. Innovation There seems to be an utter lack of innovation in how maintenance is practiced at ACME. Derek appears to be disconnected from his subordinates and perhaps this is why they are stuck in a rut when it comes to changing how they do things. Corrective Action Because the feedback and feed forward loops have been severed, there are no corrections to the maintenance strategy taking place. Derek appears to be asleep at the wheel and is not aware of the challenges facing his troops. In Dereks defence, Jim Gordon has insisted that ACME embark on a time consuming World Class Maintenance Program this could be significant factor in distracting Derek from introducing the required corrective actions to the maintenance strategy. The Environmental Process Production Pressure It is clear in the scenario that production pressure has been ratcheted up. Derek has been castigated by Jim Gordon, the managing director of ACME. The plant is not running, due to equipment failure, and will not be operating for at least five more days. Such is the managing directors anger with the situation that Derek believes that his life would be in danger if a suitable weapon were present. When Derek, Mick and Harry are discussing the root cause of the compressor bearings failure, it comes up that operations have been hammering the plant due to a big order from Korea. Derek confirms that the plant has been running fifteen percent above nameplate capacity. He also feels that it may have been a factor in the compressor breakdown. His concerns were mentioned in a management strategy meeting but he was told to find a way to work around operation requirements. Shortage of Resources Harry states to Derek that the maintenance department is probably understaffed. Mick feels that they are not using the fitters in the best way. As stated earlier, ACME either does not have enough maintenance staff or how they are using them has caused the current situation of excessive work backlog to develop. There could well be a combination of shortage of resources and not optimum utilisation of the resources they have. The Strategic Process Workload Reason for high priority There are mentions throughout the scenario of the mismatch between the work that requires completion and the resources available to action it. Specific adverse effect A build up in the backlog of PMs and correction of defects. Responsible person Derek Piper. As maintenance manager, he must own the strategy and ensure that it is fit for purpose. The Work System Planning Reason for high priority I believe poor or non-existent planning is at the root of the work systems issues and it has created knock-on effects in manpower utilisation, work completion and ultimately poor machine reliability. Specific adverse effect Compressor failed because the planner was not focussed on operations and completely missed the fault report prior to its failure. Responsible person Derek Piper. Although it is Charlies role, Derek has instructed him to shift his focus to shutdown activities. The Feedback System Plant Patrol Fault Reporting Reason for high priority It is imperative that potential equipment failures are reported to the planning office. Specific adverse effect Impending failures were not recorded for processing by the planner. Responsible person Harry Warner and Mick Brice. They only informed the maintenance manager that the fitters were not performing this activity after the compressor had failed. The Continuous Improvement Process Corrective Action Reason for high priority Corrective actions are required to align the maintenance strategy with the changing availability/reliability requirements of the plant. Specific adverse effect The maintenance strategy has stagnated and is not fit for purpose in the operating environment that ACME has moved to. Responsible person Derek Piper. He could plead some defence here based on the directive from Jim Gordon to pursue the World Class Maintenance Program which is consuming his time. But ultimately he must be held accountable as maintenance manager. The Environmental Process Production Pressure Reason for high priority ACME is running the plant twenty four seven and fifteen per cent above nameplate capacity. Specific adverse effect Operations are not releasing the equipment for necessary maintenance. Responsible person Jim Gordon. For the managing director to not listen to the concerns of the maintenance manager regarding the sweating of the plant is inexcusable. Of particular note is Jims instruction to Derek to simply stop moaning. The Strategic Process Workload Recommended change The strategy needs to be reviewed by the maintenance manager in terms of dealing with current and medium term workload. An assessment on this workload will help decide the required resources to complete it. ACME may have to consider hiring temporary or sub-contracted maintenance resources to clear the backlog. There is also a minimum of five days immediately available for opportunity maintenance due to the compressor failure bringing the plant down, ACME should endeavour to capitalise on this and add a silver lining to the cloud that hangs over operations. Estimated cost High. Especially if ACME hires additional maintenance staff to clear the backlog. Feasibility Medium. There will be some difficulty in planning terms to coordinate self-delivered and outsourced resources. The Work System Planning Recommended change Hire a specialist temporary resource to support Charlie in the planning department. This will allow corrective and shutdown work to be planned concurrently. As part of this change, the weekly job completion reports review meetings will have to be immediately reinstated. In the longer term, a review will have to be undertaken on the level of planning detail for minor works as Harry states that it is excessive. Estimated cost Medium. If the shutdown is less than two weeks duration, recruitment costs should not exceed  £10k. Feasibility Medium. The maintenance manager will need to make a case to senior management that justifies this course of action and associated cost. If this option proves to be a success, it can be built into the strategy for future shutdowns. The Feedback System Plant Patrol Fault Reporting Recommended change Plant patrol fault reporting must resume. ACME may have to wait until the maintenance backlog is cleared before re-implementation. One option would be to resume it at a reduced frequency e.g. if its currently a daily activity, move it to a weekly activity in the medium term. Estimated cost Low. No additional expense should be incurred. Feasibility High. The Continuous Improvement Process Corrective Action Recommended change The maintenance manager has to be receptive to both feedback and feed forward information. He must use these inputs to align the strategy with the needs of the company. Estimated cost Low. It is part of the maintenance managers job. Feasibility High. The Environmental Process Production Pressure Recommended change All stakeholders including the managing director, operations manager and the Chairman need to work with the maintenance manager in creating a medium to long term maintenance strategy. This will help facilitate achieving the required production targets. Estimated cost High. Equipment investment and additional maintenance staff recruitment is highly likely in order to increase and maintain the nameplate capacity of the plant. Feasibility Medium. If Jim Gordon is serious about keeping the plant running at all costs, then the investment funds should be made available. The compressor failure and resultant plant downtime seems like an accident that was waiting to happen. When we analyse the circumstances surrounding the event, its clear that the maintenance system had failed. Through all of this, Derek Piper was lost at sea and to clash metaphors had his head buried in the sand. As a consequence, the planning process collapsed, feedback was not acted on and the maintenance strategy became unfit for purpose. He can claim that external pressure from the managing director, with the demand of increased plant output and reduced windows for PM activities, caused the system to fail. Although there may be some validity in this claim, I believe that every manager has two high level challenges: the first is to lead subordinates, the second being to manage the expectations of superiors. Times will come when a manager has to push back and stand up to unreasonable demands of company bosses. If a manager does not display this inner strength and backbone, he will likely be trampled on at some stage. Its clear at ACME that Jim Gordon had subdued Derek Piper and I believe Derek would not have had the strength to resist when the decision was made to sweat the plant and run it above nameplate capacity. If I was to apply a percentage weighting of blame for the situation that ACME finds itself in, it would be 65/25/10 for the maintenance manager, managing director and maintenance supervisors respectively. Its interesting that the question states if you were appointed maintenance manager as I believe the only option that will rescue the situation is the replacement of Derek Piper in his role. A rebuilding process is required in the ACME maintenance department. This should start from the top down with a new manager. Derek is in the unenviable position that football mangers often find themselves in, he has lost the confidence of both senior management and the dressing room the dressing room equivalent being the shop floor fitters. He now very much remains an isolated figure at ACME. A carefully chosen new appointee to the role of maintenance manager would bring a fresh impetus. The candidate should come from outside the company as such a person would not carry any baggage from the current ACME situation. In the Recommendations section of this paper, I have deliberately avoided mentioning Derek Piper by name and referred to the role of maintenance manager instead. This is because I do no t see him as part of the solution. He may be required to get the compressor repaired and the plant back running but once this is achieved, his removal and succession should be planned. If I was appointed maintenance manager, I would look to introducing a new style of leadership to the maintenance department. My approach would be to lead from the front, engage with the fitters and regularly visit their turf to get a feel for their daily challenges. A strong focus would have to be applied to resuming the effectiveness and efficiency of the planning function. Feedback and feed forward lines would have to be reconnected and the maintenance strategy would require improvement action when necessary. Strength of character and assertiveness would be required to deal with Jim Gordon in order to explain to him both the limits of production equipment and the necessity for appropriate maintenance. As maintenance manager, I would also have to ready myself for battle in securing investment for new equipment and possible recruitment of additional maintenance staff. Immediate consideration needs to be given to introducing redundancy for critical equipment. If there was a spare compressor to switch over to, the plant would have kept running. If the expense of a standby compressor is not approved, contingency needs to be made can we roll in a temporary machine and connect it in the event of a breakdown? The challenge here is to convince ACME senior management of the benefits of investment and consequences of not spending i.e. a repeat of the last major equipment failure. I know its very easy to state these high level objectives and will be much harder to drive them through to implementation but the job can only be tackled with the confident belief in success. ACME seems to be in a good place regarding sales orders, all that is needed now is a companywide belief in the importance of a sustainable maintenance system.

The Overuse of Antibiotics :: Medicine Health Persuasive Essays

Thesis: With the advent of antibiotics in 1929 Fleming said, "The time may come when penicillin can be bought by anyone in the shops.Then there is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant."With the overuse of antibiotics today we have seen this very idea come to be.Over usage is caused most prevalently by a lack of education on the part of the patient.Thus stated, the way to overcome such a circumstance is to educate, not only the patient but also the physician. Generally in life, an overabundance of anything is thought of as a blessing.For instance, most people would say that there is no point where someone has too much money, or too much time; however, having and using too many antibiotics can be a problem.With the advent of antibiotics in 1929 Fleming warned that, "The time may come when penicillin can be bought by anyone in the shops.Then there is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant."[1]Following with Fleming's words antibiotics need to be prescribed in a judicious fashion, not of one with a careless action, "one third of the 150 million outpatient prescriptions are unnecessary."[2]With the overuse of antibiotics today we have seen this very idea come to be.Over usage is caused most prevalently by a lack of education on the part of the patient.Thus stated, the way to overcome such a circumstance is to educate, not only the phys ician but also the patient. Alexander Fleming started the history of antibiotics in the 1920's with his discovery of penicillin.When penicillin was first discovered and used widely, it was touted as a wonder drug, and consequently was used as one.Though not necessarily harmful to the patient penicillin was used for much more infections than it was able to combat.Today the same practice is observed in the medical profession, however at this point it is due more to the detriment of an uneducated public.Studies have been carried out that show the huge over usage of antibiotics.In the seventies Soyka et al, concluded, "60% of physicians surveyed gave antibiotics for the treatment of the common cold."[3], and by common knowledge the common cold is a virus, something that cannot be treated by an antibiotic.Nyquist

Chapter 37 The Beginning

When he looked back, even a month later, Harry found he had only scattered memories of the next few days. It was as though he had been through too much to take in any more. The recollections he did have were very painful. The worst, perhaps, was the meeting with the Diggory's that took place the following morning. They did not blame him for what had happened; on the contrary, both thanked him for returning Cedric's body to them. Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of the interview. Mrs. Diggory's grief seemed to be beyond tears. â€Å"He suffered very little then,† she said, when Harry had told her how Cedric had died. â€Å"And after all, Amos†¦he died just when he'd won the tournament. He must have been happy.† When they got to their feet, she looked down at Harry and said, â€Å"You look after yourself, now.† Harry seized the sack of gold on the bedside table. â€Å"You take this,† he muttered to her. â€Å"It should've been Cedric's, he got there first, you take it -â€Å" But she backed away from him. â€Å"Oh no, it's yours, dear, I couldn't†¦you keep it.† Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower the following evening. From what Hermione and Ron told him, Dumbledore had spoken to the school that morning at breakfast. He had merely requested that they leave Harry alone, that nobody ask him questions or badger him to tell the story of what had happened in the maze. Most people, he noticed, were skirting him in the corridors, avoiding his eyes. Some whispered behind their hands as he passed. He guessed that many of them had believed Rita Skeeter's article about how disturbed and possibly dangerous he was. Perhaps they were formulating their own theories about how Cedric had died. He found he didn't care very much. He liked it best when he was with Ron and Hermione and they were talking about other things, or else letting him sit in silence while they played chess. He felt as though all three of them had reached an understanding they didn't need to put into words; that each was waiting for some sign, some word, of what was going on outside Hogwa rts – and that it was useless to speculate about what might be coming until they knew anything for certain. The only time they touched upon the subject was when Ron told Harry about a meeting Mrs. Weasley had had with Dumbledore before going home. â€Å"She went to ask him if you could come straight to us this summer,† he said. â€Å"But he wants you to go back to the Dursleys, at least at first.† â€Å"Why?† said Harry. â€Å"She said Dumbledore's got his reasons,† said Ron, shaking his head darkly. â€Å"I suppose we've got to trust him, haven't we?† The only person apart from Ron and Hermione that Harry felt able to talk to was Hagrid. As there was no longer a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, they had those lessons free. They used the one on Thursday afternoon to go down and visit Hagrid in his cabin. It was a bright and sunny day; Fang bounded out of the open door as they approached, barking and wagging his tail madly. â€Å"Who's that?† called Hagrid, coming to the door. â€Å"Harry!† He strode out to meet them, pulled Harry into a one-armed hug, ruffled his hair, and said, â€Å"Good ter see yeh, mate. Good ter see yeh.† They saw two bucket-size cups and saucers on the wooden table in front of the fireplace when they entered Hagrid's cabin. â€Å"Bin havin' a cuppa with Olympe,† Hagrid said. â€Å"She's jus' left.† â€Å"Who?† said Ron curiously. â€Å"Madame Maxime, o' course!† said Hagrid. â€Å"You two made up, have you?† said Ron. â€Å"Dunno what yeh're talkin' about,† said Hagrid airily, fetching more cups from the dresser. When he had made tea and offered around a plate of doughy cookies, he leaned back in his chair and surveyed Harry closely through his beetle-black eyes. â€Å"You all righ'?† he said gruffly â€Å"Yeah,† said Harry. â€Å"No, yeh're not,† said Hagrid. â€Å"Course yeh're not. But yeh will be.† Harry said nothing. â€Å"Knew he was goin' ter come back,† said Hagrid, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up at him, shocked. â€Å"Known it fer years. Harry. Knew he was out there, bidin' his time. It had ter happen. Well, now it has, an' we'll jus' have ter get on with it. We'll fight. Migh' be able ter stop him before he gets a good hold. That's Dumbledores plan, anyway. Great man, Dumbledore. ‘S long as we've got him, I'm not too worried.† Hagrid raised his bushy eyebrows at the disbelieving expressions on their faces. â€Å"No good sittin' worryin' abou' it,† he said. â€Å"What's comin' will come, an we'll meet it when it does. Dumbledore told me wha' you did. Harry.† Hagrid's chest swelled as he looked at Harry. â€Å"Yeh did as much as yer father would've done, an' I can' give yeh no higher praise than that.† Harry smiled back at him. It was the first time he'd smiled in days. â€Å"What's Dumbledore asked you to do, Hagrid?† he asked. â€Å"He sent Professor McGonagall to ask you and Madame Maxime to meet him – that night.† â€Å"Got a little job fer me over the summer,† said Hagrid. â€Å"Secret, though. I'm not s'pposed ter talk abou' it, no, not even ter you lot. Olympe – Madame Maxime ter you – might be comin' with me. I think she will. Think I got her persuaded.† â€Å"Is it to do with Voldemort?† Hagrid flinched at the sound of the name. â€Å"Migh' be,† he said evasively. â€Å"Now†¦who'd like ter come an' visit the las' skrewt with me? I was jokin' – jokin'!† he added hastily, seeing the looks on their faces. It was with a heavy heart that Harry packed his trunk up in the dormitory on the night before his return to Privet Drive. He was dreading the Leaving Feast, which was usually a cause for celebration, when the winner of the Inter-House Championship would be announced. He had avoided being in the Great Hall when it was full ever since he had left the hospital wing, preferring to eat when it was nearly empty to avoid the stares of his fellow students. When he, Ron, and Hermione entered the Hall, they saw at once that the usual decorations were missing. The Great Hall was normally decorated with the winning House's colors for the Leaving Feast. Tonight, however, there were black drapes on the wall behind the teachers' table. Harry knew instantly that they were there as a mark of respect to Cedric. The real Mad-Eye Moody was at the staff table now, his wooden leg and his magical eye back in place. He was extremely twitchy, jumping every time someone spoke to him. Harry couldn't blame him; Moody's fear of attack was bound to have been increased by his ten-month imprisonment in his own trunk. Professor Karkaroff's chair was empty. Harry wondered, as he sat down with the other Gryffindors, where Karkaroff was now, and whether Voldemort had caught up with him. Madame Maxime was still there. She was sitting next to Hagrid. They were talking quietly together. Further along the table, sitting next to Professor McGonagall, was Snape. His eyes lingered on Harry for a moment as Harry looked at him. His expression was difficult to read. He looked as sour and unpleasant as ever. Harry continued to watch him, long after Snape had looked away. What was it that Snape had done on Dumbledores orders, the night that Voldemort had returned? And why†¦why†¦was Dumbledore so convinced that Snape was truly on their side? He had been their spy, Dumbledore had said so in the Pensieve. Snape had turned spy against Voldemort, â€Å"at great personal risk.† Was that the job he had taken up again? Had he made contact with the Death Eaters, perhaps? Pretended that he had never really gone over to Dumbledore, that he had been, like Voldemort himself, biding his time? Harry's musings were ended by Professor Dumbledore, who stood up at the staff table. The Great Hall, which in any case had been less noisy than it usually was at the Leaving Feast, became very quiet. â€Å"The end,† said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, â€Å"of another year.† He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall. â€Å"There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight,† said Dumbledore, â€Å"but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here,† he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, â€Å"enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory.† They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, â€Å"Cedric Diggory.† Harry caught a glimpse of Cho through the crowd. There were tears pouring silently down her face. He looked down at the table as they all sat down again. â€Å"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house,† Dumbledore continued. â€Å"He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about.† Harry raised his head and stared at Dumbledore. â€Å"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort.† A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence. â€Å"The Ministry of Magic,† Dumbledore continued, â€Å"does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so – either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory.† Stunned and frightened, every face in the Hall was turned toward Dumbledore now†¦or almost every face. Over at the Slytherin table. Harry saw Draco Malfoy muttering something to Crabbe and Goyle. Harry felt a hot, sick swoop of anger in his stomach. He forced himself to look back at Dumbledore. â€Å"There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death,† Dumbledore went on. â€Å"I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter.† A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads turned in Harry's direction before flicking back to face Dumbledore. â€Å"Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort,† said Dumbledore. â€Å"He risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor him.† Dumbledore turned gravely to Harry and raised his goblet once more. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall followed suit. They murmured his name, as they had murmured Cedric's, and drank to him. But through a gap in the standing figures. Harry saw that Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and many of the other Slytherins had remained defiantly in their seats, their goblets untouched. Dumbledore, who after all possessed no magical eye, did not see them. When everyone had once again resumed their seats, Dumbledore continued, â€Å"The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened – of Lord Voldemort's return – such ties are more important than ever before.† Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbatons students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the Slytherin table. Krum, Harry saw, looked wary, almost frightened, as though he expected Dumbledore to say something harsh. â€Å"Every guest in this Hall,† said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, â€Å"will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again – in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open. â€Å"It is my belief- and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken – that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst. â€Å"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory.† Harry's trunk was packed; Hedwig was back in her cage on top of it. He, Ron, and Hermione were waiting in the crowded entrance hall with the rest of the fourth years for the carriages that would take them back to Hogsmeade station. It was another beautiful summer's day. He supposed that Privet Drive would be hot and leafy, its flower beds a riot of color, when he arrived there that evening. The thought gave him no pleasure at all. â€Å"‘Arry!† He looked around. Fleur Delacour was hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Beyond her, far across the grounds. Harry could see Hagrid helping Madame Maxime to back two of the giant horses into their harness. The Beauxbatons carriage was about to take off. â€Å"We will see each uzzer again, I ‘ope,† said Fleur as she reached him, holding out her hand. â€Å"I am ‘oping to get a job ‘ere, to improve my Eenglish.† â€Å"It's very good already,† said Ron in a strangled sort of voice. Fleur smiled at him; Hermione scowled. â€Å"Good-bye, ‘Arry,† said Fleur, turning to go. â€Å"It ‘az been a pleasure meeting you!† Harry's spirits couldn't help but lift slightly as he watched Fleur hurry back across the lawns to Madame Maxime, her silvery hair rippling in the sunlight. Wonder how the Durmstrang students are getting back,† said Ron. â€Å"D' you reckon they can steer that ship without Karkaroff?† â€Å"Karkaroff did not steer,† said a gruff voice. â€Å"He stayed in his cabin and let us do the vork.† Krum had come to say good-bye to Hermione. â€Å"Could I have a vord?† he asked her. â€Å"Oh†¦yes†¦all right,† said Hermione, looking slightly flustered, and following Krum through the crowd and out of sight. â€Å"You'd better hurry up!† Ron called loudly after her. â€Å"The carriages'll be here in a minute!† He let Harry keep a watch for the carriages, however, and spent the next few minutes craning his neck over the crowd to try and see what Krum and Hermione might be up to. They returned quite soon. Ron stared at Hermione, but her face was quite impassive. â€Å"I liked Diggory,† said Krum abruptly to Harry. â€Å"He vos alvays polite to me. Alvays. Even though I vos from Durmstrang – with Karkaroff,† he added, scowling. â€Å"Have you got a new headmaster yet?† said Harry Krum shrugged. He held out his hand as Fleur had done, shook Harry's hand, and then Ron's. Ron looked as though he was suffering some sort of painful internal struggle. Krum had already started walking away when Ron burst out, â€Å"Can I have your autograph?† Hermione turned away, smiling at the horseless carriages that were now trundling toward them up the drive, as Krum, looking surprised but gratified, signed a fragment of parchment for Ron. The weather could not have been more different on the journey back to King's Cross than it had been on their way to Hogwarts the previous September. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had managed to get a compartment to themselves. Pigwidgeon was once again hidden under Ron's dress robes to stop him from hooting continually; Hedwig was dozing, her head under her wing, and Crookshanks was curled up in a spare seat like a large, furry ginger cushion. Harry, Ron, and Hermione talked more fully and freely than they had all week as the train sped them southward. Harry felt as though Dumbledore's speech at the Leaving Feast had unblocked him, somehow. It was less painful to discuss what had happened now. They broke off their conversation about what action Dumbledore might be taking, even now, to stop Voldemort only when the lunch trolley arrived. When Hermione returned from the trolley and put her money back into her schoolbag, she dislodged a copy of the Daily Prophet that she had been carrying in there. Harry looked at it, unsure whether he really wanted to know what it might say, but Hermione, seeing him looking at it, said calmly, â€Å"There's nothing in there. You can look for yourself, but there's nothing at all. I've been checking every day. Just a small piece the day after the third task saying you won the tournament. They didn't even mention Cedric. Nothing about any of it. If you ask me. Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet.† â€Å"He'll never keep Rita quiet,† said Harry. â€Å"Not on a story like this.† â€Å"Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task,† said Hermione in an oddly constrained voice. â€Å"As a matter of fact,† she added, her voice now trembling slightly, â€Å"Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her.† â€Å"What are you talking about?† said Ron. â€Å"I found out how she was listening in on private conversations when she wasn't supposed to be coming onto the grounds,† said Hermione in a rush. Harry had the impression that Hermione had been dying to tell them this for days, but that she had restrained herself in light of everything else that had happened. â€Å"How was she doing it?† said Harry at once. â€Å"How did you find out?† said Ron, staring at her. â€Å"Well, it was you, really, who gave me the idea. Harry,† she said. â€Å"Did I?† said Harry, perplexed. â€Å"How?† â€Å"Bugging,† said Hermione happily. â€Å"But you said they didn't work -â€Å" â€Å"Oh not electronic bugs,† said Hermione. â€Å"No, you see†¦Rita Skeeter† – Hermione's voice trembled with quiet triumph – â€Å"is an unregistered Animagus. She can turn -â€Å" Hermione pulled a small sealed glass jar out other bag. â€Å"- into a beetle.† â€Å"You're kidding,† said Ron. â€Å"You haven't†¦she's not†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Oh yes she is,† said Hermione happily, brandishing the jar at them. Inside were a few twigs and leaves and one large, fat beetle. â€Å"That's never – you're kidding -† Ron whispered, lifting the jar to his eyes. â€Å"No, I'm not,† said Hermione, beaming. â€Å"I caught her on the windowsill in the hospital wing. Look very closely, and you'll notice the markings around her antennae are exactly like those foul glasses she wears.† Harry looked and saw that she was quite right. He also remembered something. â€Å"There was a beetle on the statue the night we heard Hagrid telling Madame Maxime about his mum!† â€Å"Exactly,† said Hermione. â€Å"And Viktor pulled a beetle out of my hair after we'd had our conversation by the lake. And unless I'm very much mistaken, Rita was perched on the windowsill of the Divination class the day your scar hurt. She's been buzzing around for stories all year.† â€Å"When we saw Malfoy under that tree†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Ron slowly. â€Å"He was talking to her, in his hand,† said Hermione. â€Å"He knew, of course. That's how she's been getting all those nice little interviews with the Slytherins. They wouldn't care that she was doing something illegal, as long as they were giving her horrible stuff about us and Hagrid.† Hermione took the glass jar back from Ron and smiled at the beetle, which buzzed angrily against the glass. â€Å"I've told her I'll let her out when we get back to London,† said Hermione. â€Å"I've put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, you see, so she can't transform. And I've told her she's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people.† Smiling serenely, Hermione placed the beetle back inside her schoolbag. The door of the compartment slid open. â€Å"Very clever. Granger,† said Draco Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him. All three of them looked more pleased with themselves, more arrogant and more menacing, than Harry had ever seen them. â€Å"So,† said Malfoy slowly, advancing slightly into the compartment and looking slowly around at them, a smirk quivering on his lips. â€Å"You caught some pathetic reporter, and Potter's Dumbledore's favorite boy again. Big deal.† His smirk widened. Crabbe and Goyle leered. â€Å"Trying not to think about it, are we?† said Malfoy softly, looking around at all three of them. â€Å"Trying to pretend it hasn't happened?† â€Å"Get out,† said Harry. He had not been this close to Malfoy since he had watched him muttering to Crabbe and Goyle during Dumbledores speech about Cedric. He could feel a kind of ringing in his ears. His hand gripped his wand under his robes. â€Å"You've picked the losing side, Potter! I warned you! I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this!† He jerked his head at Ron and Hermione. â€Å"Too late now. Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well – second – Diggory was the f-â€Å" It was as though someone had exploded a box of fireworks within the compartment. Blinded by the blaze of the spells that had blasted from every direction, deafened by a series of bangs, Harry blinked and looked down at the floor. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious in the doorway. He, Ron, and Hermione were on their feet, all three of them having used a different hex. Nor were they the only ones to have done so. â€Å"Thought we'd see what those three were up to,† said Fred matter-of-factly, stepping onto Goyle and into the compartment. He had his wand out, and so did George, who was careful to tread on Malfoy as he followed Fred inside. â€Å"Interesting effect,† said George, looking down at Crabbe. â€Å"Who used the Furnunculus Curse?† â€Å"Me,† said Harry. â€Å"Odd,† said George lightly. â€Å"I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the decor.† Ron, Harry, and George kicked, rolled, and pushed the unconscious Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle – each of whom looked distinctly the worse for the jumble of jinxes with which they had been hit – out into the corridor, then came back into the compartment and rolled the door shut. â€Å"Exploding Snap, anyone?† said Fred, pulling out a pack of cards. They were halfway through their fifth game when Harry decided to ask them. â€Å"You going to tell us, then?† he said to George. â€Å"Who you were blackmailing?† â€Å"Oh,† said George darkly. â€Å"That.† â€Å"It doesn't matter,† said Fred, shaking his head impatiently. â€Å"It wasn't anything important. Not now, anyway.† â€Å"We've given up,† said George, shrugging. But Harry, Ron, and Hermione kept on asking, and finally, Fred said, â€Å"All right, all right, if you really want to know†¦it was Ludo Bagman.† â€Å"Bagman?† said Harry sharply. â€Å"Are you saying he was involved in -â€Å" â€Å"Nah,† said George gloomily. â€Å"Nothing like that. Stupid git. He wouldn't have the brains.† â€Å"Well, what, then?† said Ron. Fred hesitated, then said, â€Å"You remember that bet we had with him at the Quidditch World Cup? About how Ireland would win, but Krum would get the Snitch?† â€Å"Yeah,† said Harry and Ron slowly. â€Å"Well, the git paid us in leprechaun gold he'd caught from the Irish mascots.† â€Å"So?† â€Å"So,† said Fred impatiently, â€Å"it vanished, didn't it? By next morning, it had gone!† â€Å"But – it must've been an accident, mustn't it?† said Hermione. George laughed very bitterly. â€Å"Yeah, that's what we thought, at first. We thought if we just wrote to him, and told him he'd made a mistake, he'd cough up. But nothing doing. Ignored our letter. We kept trying to talk to him about it at Hogwarts, but he was always making some excuse to get away from us.† â€Å"In the end, he turned pretty nasty,† said Fred. â€Å"Told us we were too young to gamble, and he wasn't giving us anything.† â€Å"So we asked for our money back,† said George glowering. â€Å"He didn't refuse!† gasped Hermione. â€Å"Right in one,† said Fred. â€Å"But that was all your savings!† said Ron. â€Å"Tell me about it,† said George. â€Å"‘Course, we found out what was going on in the end. Lee Jordan's dad had had a bit of trouble getting money off Bagman as well. Turns out he's in big trouble with the goblins. Borrowed loads of gold off them. A gang of them cornered him in the woods after the World Cup and took all the gold he had, and it still wasn't enough to cover all his debts. They followed him all the way to Hogwarts to keep an eye on him. He's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two Galleons to rub together. And you know how the idiot tried to pay the goblins back?† â€Å"How?† said Harry. â€Å"He put a bet on you, mate,† said Fred. â€Å"Put a big bet on you to win the tournament. Bet against the goblins.† â€Å"So that's why he kept trying to help me win!† said Harry. â€Å"Well – I did win, didn't I? So he can pay you your gold!† â€Å"Nope,† said George, shaking his head. â€Å"The goblins play as dirty as him. They say you drew with Diggory, and Bagman was betting you'd win outright. So Bagman had to run for it. He did run for it right after the third task.† George sighed deeply and started dealing out the cards again. The rest of the journey passed pleasantly enough; Harry wished it could have gone on all summer, in fact, and that he would never arrive at King's Cross†¦but as he had learned the hard way that year, time will not slow down when something unpleasant lies ahead, and all too soon, the Hogwarts Express was pulling in at platform nine and three-quarters. The usual confusion and noise filled the corridors as the students began to disembark. Ron and Hermione struggled out past Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, carrying their trunks. Harry, however, stayed put. â€Å"Fred – George – wait a moment.† The twins turned. Harry pulled open his trunk and drew out his Triwizard winnings. â€Å"Take it,† he said, and he thrust the sack into George's hands. â€Å"What?† said Fred, looking flabbergasted. â€Å"Take it,† Harry repeated firmly. â€Å"I don't want it.† â€Å"You're mental,† said George, trying to push it back at Harry. â€Å"No, I'm not,† said Harry. â€Å"You take it, and get inventing. It's for the joke shop.† â€Å"He is mental,† Fred said in an almost awed voice. â€Å"Listen,† said Harry firmly. â€Å"If you don't take it, I'm throwing it down the drain. I don't want it and I don't need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long.† â€Å"Harry,† said George weakly, weighing the money bag in his hands, â€Å"there's got to be a thousand Galleons in here.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Harry, grinning. â€Å"Think how many Canary Creams that is.† The twins stared at him. â€Å"Just don't tell your mum where you got it†¦although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it†¦.† â€Å"Harry,† Fred began, but Harry pulled out his wand. â€Å"Look,† he said flatly, â€Å"take it, or I'll hex you. I know some good ones now. Just do me one favor, okay? Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they're from you.† He left the compartment before they could say another word, stepping over Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were still lying on the floor, covered in hex marks. Uncle Vernon was waiting beyond the barrier. Mrs. Weasley was close by him. She hugged Harry very tightly when she saw him and whispered in his ear, â€Å"I think Dumbledore will let you come to us later in the summer. Keep in touch, Harry.† â€Å"See you. Harry,† said Ron, clapping him on the back. â€Å"‘Bye, Harry!† said Hermione, and she did something she had never done before, and kissed him on the cheek. â€Å"Harry – thanks,† George muttered, while Fred nodded fervently at his side. Harry winked at them, turned to Uncle Vernon, and followed him silently from the station. There was no point worrying yet, he told himself, as he got into the back of the Dursleys' car. As Hagrid had said, what would come, would come†¦and he would have to meet it when it did.