John Nash

Using the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM IV-TR) John Nash has been given the primary diagnosis of being undifferentiated. Plus abnormalities of the brain structure and function, disorganized speech and behavior, delusions, and hallucinations. Nash often has panic attacks, withdrawal from social activities, and loss of attention to personal hygiene and grooming, and the inability to separate real form unreal events. John Nash is classified under Undifferentiated Type because he had a number of symptoms such as delusions, disorganized behavior, disorganized speech, and hallucinations. He believes he is being forced to work for the government to decipher codes. That they inserted a coded chip in order to keep track of him, and if he doesn’t comply with their wishes, they will expose him to the Russians, who in turn will kill him. This interferes with his personal and work life tremendously. He also thought the imaginary person William Parcher, who belonged to the United States Department of Defense, was out to get him. In his mind, William Parcher was black-mailing him to do as he was told, or the US government would have him killed. I also believe that Nash could also be classified with anxiety and depression because after leaving the mental hospital, he wasn’t able to work, wasn’t able to properly take care of his child, or even feel attracted to his wife. Axis II: Schizophrenia Nash would be determined best under Schizotypical Personality. Nash has excessive social anxiety at times, few or no close friends, paranoia and suspiciousness, and odd disorganized speech. Axis III: John had a late onset of symptoms starting at around age 30. His first hallucination was that of a roommate who moved in shortly after he started at Princeton. His Thoughts are delusional and paranoid. He thought no one liked him and he had no close friends or relationships. He thought that every one of his peers where beneath him. He also thought he was a government agent. He thought people where following him, and he would show paranoid behavior by looking out the windows and over his shoulder. Axis IV: John Nash is a 51 year old, Caucasian male. He has a family wife and child,and is exceptionally smart. Nash’s stress can be blamed on his wife not understanding his problem or he felt like she did not believe him. Another is when Nash came home from the mental hospital and was brought into a house with a new child, which would be a big environmental stressor. He did not know how to take care of the child properly. Also, a new job promotion at Princeton University was also a stressor. Axis V— between 31 and 40 On the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale, I believe Nash is in between 31 and 40. John Nash had disorganized speech and disorganized thoughts. John Nash is extremely intelligent has no learning disorder and also had a strange fixation with mathematics. Treatment: Some medication individual psychotherapy so that the Nash can get regularly talked to, focuses on current and past events or problems, experiences, thoughts and feelings. Cognitive-Behavioral Conclusion: John Nash will probably never be completely cured of his mental disorders but the treatment plan that I recommended for him should make him suitable to certain thing so that he can fit into a normal society.

Magnolia Therapeutic Solutions Case Study

Magnolia Therapeutic Solutions is a well known nonprofit that provides psychotherapy for clients with Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder (PSTD). Magnolia contributed several hours of intensive help to the victims of 911. In return NYC gave the organization a large grant to help it meet the demands of PSTD services. Mary Stewart, the founder of the organization believed that the grant given in 2001 would be renewed in 2002 as well. Much to her surprise the grant was not renewed. The grant was already factored into her budget for 2002 and she had to go back and revise the budget. Mary was $500,000 short and in turn had to lay off one third of the employees. My Decision Versus the Boards The board of directors chose to approve the budget, based on Mary’s 2001 budget and financials. My decision would have been the complete opposite. The decision I would have made was to ask Mary for documents backing up the proposed budget. Mary made the budget based on her grants and fundraising from 2001. She did not take into consideration that the grant may not have been renewed. If she had made a lower budget, or even a back up budget, she would have had an alternative plan if NYC did not renew the grant. I made the decision I did because Mary’s 2002 budget was made up on monies she was not even sure that she would have. Mary even based the development department raising more money on a grant she was not even sure would be offered to the organization. Organizational infrastructure had a large affect on my decision to reject the budget. The policies and procedures that are put into place by an organization are done so to build accountability and adjust to internal and external requirements. According to Business Development Group, Inc (1999-2009), â€Å"Properly implemented policies and procedures prove to be very critical for achieving growth and profitability through the more efficient allocation and utilization of a company's limited resources† (para. 3). Causes Behind the Ultimate Problem There were several causes behind the ultimate problems Magnolia suffered. This seems to have stemmed from the lack of accountability and responsibility with the financial management. First, Mary had written a budget based on funds that were not guaranteed. She even based raising money for the organization on higher grants for 2002. Since the 2002 budget was written on false grants, this caused a huge problem and several staff members got laid off. This caused the organization to come to a stand still. This problem could have been solved a few different ways. Either by writing a budget with the grants and funds Mary knew 100% would be available. Or she could have written the budget with the NYC grant and had a back up budget incase it was not renewed. This way the board of directors could have seen either way Mary had a budget that could actually be carried out. Secondly, in 2001 the organization used the remainder of the grant to â€Å"increase other administrative services. † The surplus from the grants in 2001 should have been budgeted into the growing organization and the services provided, not administrative services. â€Å"The identification of a human service agency’s programs, the creation of a program structure, the assignment of program managers, and the designation of responsibility centers are the basic building blocks of financial management† (Martin, 2001, p. 16). Main Differences There are several differences in a non-profits inability to thrive and a for-profits inability to thrive. First, a non-profit can fail in acquiring â€Å"revenue† by not getting enough grants and not having enough staff. For-profits fail to get revenue by not making enough profit. Secondly, non-profits accrue expenses through program supplies, staffing, bills, and rental space. A for-profit accrues expenses through production, staffing, bills, paying out shareholders and owners, and getting the necessary supplies to keep up with newer products/technology. Lastly, non-profits do not have the resources to pay employees/volunteers for training or higher education. This could result in a nonprofit’s inability to thrive. Training key employees is usually part of most for-profit organizations. Money is typically not an issue and organizations that make a profit know if they put money into an employees training, the end results will come back to them. Risk Management â€Å"Risk management can be defined as the identification, planned control, and reduction of risks to a human service agency† (Martin, 2001, p. 187). Magnolia’s deficit happened because Mary and the organization did not have any risk management set in place. Had the organization had a risk management plan, Mary would have known better than planning a budget with unknown funds. â€Å"A formalized risk management program is one of the few ways a human service agency can reduce service delivery costs without cutting either staff positions or operating budgets† (Martin, 2001, p. 187). If Magnolia had used the essential tasks of risk management it may have been able to find a way to keep employees or get funding elsewhere. The five tasks are risk identification, risk evaluation, risk control, risk funding, and administration. These tasks are a key component in helping nonprofits thrive. Had Magnolia identified problems or issues that could potentially happen with the budget and shortfalls it could have minimized the outcome. Conclusion Because of Mary Stewart Magnolia had become a nonprofit organization that was helping in such a needed area, PSTD. Magnolia continued to thrive and receive many awards for the services performed. The organization received a large 1-year grant from NYC to help 911 PSTD victims. When it came time for Mary to write the budget for 2002 she included the 2001 1-year grant from NYC. In the end Mary’s budget caused a deficit in the organization and one third of the employees had to be laid off. If there had been a better risk management plan in order this could have been prevented. Also, if Mary had created a budget that was based on grants she knew they would be receiving the organization could have continued providing the excellent services at the same rate.

Men Continuous Searching for the New Avenue of the Known and Unknown Reality

The title itself gives a fascinating debate. The â€Å"Known Reality† can be broadly explained because humans already know what it is. It is already known by many people. If we give meaning to the â€Å"Unknown Reality† it is something we haven’t seen yet, went yet or even discovered. How will man find the access to that reality? Will we know if it is the unknown we’ve been searching for? I’ll give my opinion on the â€Å"Unknown†, maybe it is the reality that is already in front of us but we don’t see it because we neglect our understanding for it.Maybe we don’t open our minds and make that reality unknown. The avenue between the known and unknown is being open minded, trying to listen in both sides for us to understand both realities. If we keep tolerating ourselves in neglecting our capability to understand, then man will have an endless search for that avenue. Contradiction to that, if man has the determination and hunger to seek the truth, then they will find what they are looking for that both reality is there, and will realize that the avenue to it is the ability to listen and understand.If man continues to be blind, they will never reach that avenue and the â€Å"Unknown Reality† itself. Both realities are in front of us. But people only pay attention to only one side and brings an effect of ignorance to people. Many people have not yet realized the truth that is being laid down to them for being ignorant. I believe that what they are searching for is easily seen when we give understanding to it. Men Continuous Searching for the New Avenue of the Known and Unknown Reality The title itself gives a fascinating debate. The â€Å"Known Reality† can be broadly explained because humans already know what it is. It is already known by many people. If we give meaning to the â€Å"Unknown Reality† it is something we haven’t seen yet, went yet or even discovered. How will man find the access to that reality? Will we know if it is the unknown we’ve been searching for? I’ll give my opinion on the â€Å"Unknown†, maybe it is the reality that is already in front of us but we don’t see it because we neglect our understanding for it.Maybe we don’t open our minds and make that reality unknown. The avenue between the known and unknown is being open minded, trying to listen in both sides for us to understand both realities. If we keep tolerating ourselves in neglecting our capability to understand, then man will have an endless search for that avenue. Contradiction to that, if man has the determination and hunger to seek the truth, then they will find what they are looking for that both reality is there, and will realize that the avenue to it is the ability to listen and understand.If man continues to be blind, they will never reach that avenue and the â€Å"Unknown Reality† itself. Both realities are in front of us. But people only pay attention to only one side and brings an effect of ignorance to people. Many people have not yet realized the truth that is being laid down to them for being ignorant. I believe that what they are searching for is easily seen when we give understanding to it.

Eugenics and the Horrors of Genocide in Nazi Germany Essay - 1

Eugenics and the Horrors of Genocide in Nazi Germany - Essay Example In the 1870s industrialization began to create a thriving economy in Germany, but a wide gap between wealth created a society in which was exacerbated by a lack of infrastructure. The population was growing at a rate that was not in step with the provisions that were available at a social level. Mortality rates began to skyrocket and the development of a definable issue meant that solutions would soon also emerge. Medical ‘advances’ began to define the meaning of human existence, often through the delusions of prejudiced theories that supported an idea that there were a human race and a series of sub-human races. During the time between the 1870s and the 1930s, a relationship had developed between American eugenics experts and German scientists with the same goals. In the 1930s, however, the relationship became strained. The racism that developed in Nazi Germany involving those of an ethnic Jewish background became an issue of contention and the American scientists were not interested in the idea that being Jewish meant being inferior. One of the clear signs that the racism was infecting the society of Germany is that of the Nuremberg laws which stated that those with Jewish heritage in their background would not be allowed to have citizenship. Decrees began to emerge that were further and further limiting the rights of those with ethnic Jewish ancestry, creating a prejudicial climate that began to define the nature of the beliefs as being centered on the heritage that broke the code of acceptable genetics which was growing in the nation.

Summary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 23

Summary - Assignment Example However, while doing this, controversies and tradeoffs have been the order of the day. Zoos have also had to deal with issues of conservation of endangered species, and determining which species are endangered. The issue of elephants in captivity has been raising standoffs between animal welfare advocates and zoos (Cohn 714). On one hand, animal rights advocated feel that zoos have inadequate space to house a sufficient number of elephants comfortably. On the other hand, zoos feel that they are constantly improving and expanding. Zoos further argue that they prefer to house elephants because those elephants living in the wild are exposed to human conflicts, poaching, habitat loss, drought, and disease, a scenario that is not experienced if the elephants are housed in zoos. Animal welfare advocates are known to claim that keeping elephants in zoos has been causing baby elephants to be separated from their mothers, and those that have lived together for many years being split as they are sent to different zoos (Cohn 715). Birdwhistell used a film showing elephants being visited by families at zoos to demonstrate that physical gestures are cultural specific and not universal. According to Birdwhistell, the elephants held in zoos are like captives (Rothfels 480). They are usually irrelevant to the people who come to visit and view them at the zoos. He does not understand why people choose to interact with extraordinary animals such as elephants in small confined spaces such as zoos instead of visiting them in their natural habitats. He describes these interactions as limiting and pointless (Rothfels 481). Zoos are not a reflection of the world as it because they simply provide a fascinating paradigm of how people view the world. The animals in zoos are not as they are in real life because they are simply a creation of how we, or the designers of zoos, want them to be. Captive breeding has been under scrutiny because many critics have been

Workshop 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Workshop 5 - Essay Example Part of the restructuring that happened in the auto industry is the changing of the labour regulations and practices to enable the auto industry cope and compete with the new economic environment. The major labor regulation change in the auto industry was the Labour Conract Law which stipulate open term contract. It meant that employer-employee relationship mist be written in a contract the failure to do so would mean the indefinite employment which employers cannot just terminate. The law also stipulated labour dispatching which requires the labour contract between the service provider and the employee will be fixed for more than 2 years and the employee will be remunerated monthly even if there is no work to be done. In the labour practice, globalisation has provided employers greater latitude to easily reduce its workforce depending on the demand of the market. Where before workers had job security, it is now underpinned by a one year contract as stated by the new Labour Contract Law. 2. What is the role of unions in China? How does China’s Political System impact this? Should unions be founded on supporting the workers in China or the Organisations/Government? Justify your answer. The role of unions in China is to motivate employees to achieve the objective of the enterprise rather than represent and perform functions that are typically associated to HR in capitalist countries. This means that unions are still subordinated to the Communist Party, an arrangement compounded by the This set up of unions being subordinated to the Communist Party defeats the very purpose of union of why they were set up. Even in the former Soviet Union, workers were represented by the union whom in turn are represented in the Communist Party. With the current set up in China, workers are virtually powerless and voiceless to air their grievance or plight or to even make suggestion to make their conditions

Black popular culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Black popular culture - Essay Example Popular culture or media often labelled or stereotyped the truth about existence. For instance, Walker’s novel identified African descendants in the West as profoundly mythic due to novel’s portrayal of female circumcision (Dent, 2). Popular culture often lead the readers or viewers to create a representation of the subject, group, or message based on their own imagination and this is where stereotyping starts. Stereotyping is such as big issue and attention grabber that members of the popular culture often used a black protagonist to sustain their economy. Why media would dumped the idea of black liberalism where it could attract readers’/viewers’ attention to buy and patronize the story? Authors proposed that rather than introducing policies, we should study the effects of stereotypic gaze to resurrect the idea of communal privacy. Recent television shows like The Modern Family is an example of a show on which the media represents stereotyping as a story that would catch the public’s attention and eventually will be drawn to the story. The conversations between Gloria, Phil and Cam were the funniest among the scenes because they are sort of stereotypical. Media has created a picture of the society we live in where something stereotypic is something funny. In a scene, Gloria, struggling to fit in the American society was laughed at by the audience. In this case, is it right to laugh at a person or specifically at another race who is struggling to fit in an American culture or another’s culture? Basically, it is not! Hegemony is a dominant ideology or set of controlling ideas and beliefs as a result of the cultural politics of difference. Racial/cultural hegemony talks about the balance of power in society. There is always a â€Å"nothing ever changes, the system always win† attitude (Dent, 24). However, we could change this notion of the

HIV-1 Detection by Western Blot Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

HIV-1 Detection by Western Blot - Lab Report Example The antibody when exposed to the enzyme with the substrate will lead to the production of a band that is colored (Luttmann, Bratke, Kupper and Myrtek, 2006). The test is done several times in the positive and the negative control serum to bring the clear identification of the viral protein. In the carrying out the test, there is the consideration of the nine HIV specific bands. When the bands are exposed to the serum of the individual the reaction that occurs in the bands and the patterns is what results to the diagnosis of the individual with the HIV virus. In the experiment to determine the availability of the virus, the polyacrylamide gel is extracted from the tray and the nylon that is used in the experiment is place directly onto the gel. After the nylon membrane is placed on the gel, bands of protein are transferred to the surface of the nylon membrane which makes them to be absorbed by the nylon membrane through the hydrophobic bonds (Wikipedia, 2013). The transfer between the bonds is achieved in chambers that are specially designed through capillary flow or by application of vacuum. DNA and RNA microarrays have been used in the determination of the infection with HIV since they are the key ways in the understanding of the expression of the genes and the method also allow for the rapid quantification of many of the genes once in the given cell that is focused. The microarrays have focused on the determination of the effect of the HIV on the single viral proteins in the individual in the line of lymphoid cells. The microarrays are used in the determination of the HIV due to the instance that the expression of the genes in an individual are always altered during the time of infection with the HIV (Luttmann, Bratke, Kupper and Myrtek, 2006). Infection in the individual is confirmed when the microarrays multiplex leading to the detection and also differentiate the sources that has brought the infection in the individual. In the carrying out of

One page summary 2011 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

One page summary 2011 - Essay Example The scatter diagram simply provides graphical evidence that there is an existing relationship and will also provide some idea regarding the strength of the relationship. A scatter diagram is constructed by plotting the values of one variable on the horizontal axis, and the corresponding value of the other variable on the vertical axis. The strength of the relationship is determined by the variability of the cluster of points relative to a mathematical expression describing the association. A run chart is a time-ordered chart, that is, individual measurements are plotted in the order in which they occur, and then connecting the points for ease in interpretation. It is best used to identify sustained shifts or trends in the process average. A control chart is a run chart with control limits. These limits represent the maximum and minimum allowable values for any individual plotted point. Any point that exceeds these limits provides statistical evidence that the process average has changed and that the chart’s centerline is no longer a reliable approximation. Thus, a control chart tests the statistical stability of the

How Could E-learning Help People to Understand More About Malaria Essay

How Could E-learning Help People to Understand More About Malaria - Essay Example This essay stresses that e-learning also gives the instructor a lot of options in the way through which information is compiled and presented. This allows the entity providing the service to reach out to a more diverse customer base. This could also include various local processes and participants who might benefit from enhanced options and processes of updating their knowledge about a given phenomenon. Malaria has three main pointers of spread and this includes: breeding, contact and injection by the primary vector, mosquitoes. The main difficulty in malaria control lies in the fact that the mosquitoes and parasites’ ability to evolve and circumvent tools and systems used to control them. The main intervention systems include the control of breeding by maintaining more hygienic environments and proper systems and processes of preventing malaria bearing mosquitoes from breeding their young. This paper makes a conclusion that the website has to be functional and it has to meet the needs of all stakeholders, including the users and other third party stakeholders. It will also need to meet all the desires of donors and get their submissions brought into the fore. Therefore, there is the need for all primary stakeholders to be involved. This means that a detailed interview with all stakeholders including the government authorities, NGOs, volunteering organisations, community members and community leaders are also important. E-Commerce will be a crucial aspect and process.

Market Demand Essay Example for Free

Market Demand Essay The calculation above shows that Bonia Group practice elastic demand for the previous 10 years. This is mainly due to strong competition among competitors. Bonia Group, which target the mid-high price range market encounter a few international branding competitor like Calvin Klein, DKNY, Paris Hilton, Armani Exchange and Lacoste in the market and were highly competitive for years. Bonia Group was advised to avoid price increase for the coming years as sales figures for the past 10 years show that Bonia Group were in elastic demand. In order to increase yearly sales amount, the Group could actually remain or decrease price as in elasticity demand, sales growth is oppositely proportional to price. They are always encourage to remain or decrease the price, and at the same time remain the quality and material of goods to boost up the sales quickly and to show immediate results. Besides that, the mid-high price range in Bonia Group show that their products are actually inferior goods. In order to overcome the coming economic crisis and recession, lower down the price range to normal goods is another way to avoid for profit losing. Economists predict that beginning from this year, it would be another recession coming ahead. During recession, the average salary for population will decrease and unemployment increase. People will try to find out substitute for expensive goods. Thus, Bonia as an inferior goods brand will encounter sales decrease during recession. It is good to change from inferior goods to normal goods so that they can still gaining profit during recession.

Pharmacy as a Profession Essay Example for Free

Pharmacy as a Profession Essay My observation made me acknowledge that pharmacy is a profession that is concerned with the provision of health services to the members of the society. These services are always administered basing on the perspective of the therapy of drugs. The pharmacy health care professionals normally deal with the identification, prevention and resolving the drug therapy problems in the society. The health care services provided by the pharmacists are usually considered as the pharmaceutical care. In this care we find that the professional deal with the patients in order to meet the needs of the sick people. While doing this they also provide education to the patients on how to use the prescribed drugs and informing them on the effectiveness of the drugs administered to them. The societal commitment of the professionals is to take the responsibility of ensuring that the patients and other people in the society are given the best drug therapy possible and this have attracted many people to get in this unit of health care provisions. It is also used in the prevention of illnesses that occur in the society by providing education and information on the illness to the people, so that they may be able to prevent themselves from the infection. According to my observation I found out that this profession involves the interaction of the pharmacy practitioner with the clients, thus individuals are recommended to have an enormous knowledge in communication and an artistic mind that will help me to raise and solve issues successfully. This goes hand in hand with the pharmacological interventions whose main objective is to help the ill person to get well. More interestingly I found out that this step is consequently supposed to be done with a great care by being specific, recognizing how often the care practice should be done and also if the care plan is understood easily while following the specified directions. I also understand that, under the professions management one is enabled to carryout the evaluation process which is always done with an ambition of ensuring whether the patient was able to meet the goal of the pharmacological care to be provided; The other benefit that I noticed while pharmacy as a profession is that of intermingling with other health professionals who are believed to be of higher rank in the general public and through this there is an actual improvement in pharmacological skills. The best part of the profession that excited me was that for those who want to join this profession they are usually required to undertake an undergraduate course in pharmacy, after which the student is required to sit for a national board examination through the pharmacy examining board and then one should have a practical experience that is termed as an internship. The other requirement is that one needs to have a great knowledge in communication and a creative mind that will enable the person to raise and solve issues in an effective way. The individual must be willing to accept the responsibility of his actions since the whole society’s health depends on the individual. This implies that the person interested in the career should have the professional attitude while carrying out the health care associated activities. I also found out that after successfully completing the required pharmacist courses and obtaining license to work as a pharmacist an individual can open his/her pharmaceutical business, work   with community pharmaceuticals or government sponsored hospitals among others. The fundamental reward that pharmacists receive is the payment made by the patients who require prescriptions of drugs. There is also the benefit of intermingling with medical professionals believed to be of higher rank in the society.   The professionals under this career have the opportunity of working in various areas including hospitals, home, schools and also pharmaceutical industries whereby they usually work as consultants to the provision of drug therapy in the society.

Contract Strategy And The Contractor Selection Process Construction Essay

Contract Strategy And The Contractor Selection Process Construction Essay Contracts are the fundament of the project management. They are used to procure people, materials and services. Main components in the contractor selection process will be outlined in this chapter. This processes are influenced by many factors such as the nature of the parties included, project type, and the risk allocation between the parties. The project is always about achieving a result. The main problem of this that client usually can not or doesnt wish to provide all necessary resources to complete the project from the internal sources. Therefore there is a need of obtaining resources from external organizations in order to achieve planned results. The method chosen by the client plays the crucial point. Proper understanding of contract conditions and the way of administering them is therefore fundamental to the project manager. Different industries use different types of contract in order to achieve desired results. Therefore, standard types of work-based contracts used in construction industry are completely different to the result-based contracts used in manufacturing, oil and software industries. In addition, the most complex projects can be divided into several different contracts. They can be carried out under one turnkey contract, as well as can be broken down into separate contracts. Design can be carried out by one contract, site preparation by the second contract, and the service/operation of the completed facility under the third contract. They can be broken down into several contracts based on the skills of the contractor, one organization being responsible for production and installation of all necessary equipment for the plant, second organization being responsible for the site preparation and all construction work, a third being responsible for quality control (external for construction organization), and a fourth being responsible for authorship (to control works going according to the approved design). They can be broken down into small numbers of large contracts or large numbers of small contracts. Each will give the contractor advantages as well as the disadvantages. Depending on the nature of the project and the skills, contractor must decide. Finally, different contracts can be operated in different ways. According to Smith N.J. (2002) there are three different ways in which contract can be operated. The first one of which is price-based contract, under which the contractor responsible to provide service, equipment or materials on the fixed price. On the other hand there is a reimbursable contract, under which contractor is reimbursed with the cost of carrying out the work plus profit. Finally, somewhere between these two is the quantity based or rate based contracts. The type of contract or set of contracts should be selected by the client only after the consideration of the managers available to manage the contract, project goals and the skills required to achieve them, appropriate allocation of responsibilities and risks and time available to carry out the project. Factors affecting the contract strategy A number of factors need to be considered before the choosing contract strategy. Responsibilities such as design, construction, quality control, procurement, safety, installation and commissioning need to be determined. The risks also need to be allocated between parties. Then the payment method to contractors, as from this decision depend which contract to use. When making a contract, contractors always wish to make it flexible, because during the life cycle of the project changes may occur. However, one more important factor is that the contracts need to be fair, equitable methods of price changes for instance. However, interests of the client and contractor usually opposed to each other. For example, client carries minimum risk under the lump-sum contract, but contractor carries maximum. And vice versa for cost reimbursable plus percentage fee contract. Almost all of these factors are important for any project. Nevertheless some of these factors may dominate depending on the nature of a project. If the work is a building a power plant in a river, where during the spring period lowest level of water, time-scale obviously dominate. If the work is building the skyscraper, then the quality will dominate. Client have only one chance to choose the correct contract strategy, after deciding this, it can not be changed. There are a plenty of options, and project manager should advice the client which strategy to accept. The selection is definitely one of the most important decisions in any project. Smith N.J. states that the project manager should always remember the three Rs of the contract. (Figure 1) Figure 1 The three Rs (Smith N.J. 2002) Relationships. Whether being highly structured or not, relationship plays important role in a contact strategy. Unstructured relationship may develop during the life cycle of a project and according to the circumstances. There is no exactly the way under which relationships are managed, they need to be managed individually. Risks. Whatever type of contract strategy choused the client, risks present everywhere. It is important for the client to choose right contract strategy which carries out risks which the client is able to manage. When choosing the contractor, client needs to pay attention on the ability of the contractor organization to manage risks appropriate. By other words, every risk in a project should be divided and managed by each party because if something goes wrong, outcomes might be serious. Rules. Rules are necessary to keep the relationship in right way. According to the rules, client and contractors make their behavior, and there will not be many conflicts between them. These Rs are closely interrelated. Relationships, risks and rules formalize one word under which the contract will be governed during the life cycle of the project. Contractor selection After the selection of a contract strategy, client needs to select the contractor. The selection of a contractor is a crucial decision made by client. The criteria for selection might be cost, time or quality. Usually the price/cost criteria is dominate as the clients seek the most economic price. However, according to Smith N.J. (2002) dominating of one of these criteria may negatively affect to others. Figure 2 Project objectives (Barnes and Wearne, 1993). This triangle illustrates the conflict between the project objectives. If the client wants to minimize the cost to minimum, it will affect time and quality. The project will be finished with no desired quality and not within the time scale. Oppositely, if the client wish to increase the level of quality, then it affects on the one hand to cost (overbudget), on the other time (not within planned time-scale). Therefore, client always need to decide, which objective is crucial for the current project. This triangle shows the basic problem of contract strategy. In the planning of the contract, client need to be sure of reason employing a contractor. Client usually selects a contractor for one or more of the following reasons: To use the particular management, technical and organizational skills, and expertise of that contractor for the duration of the contract. To use the skills of the contractor after the project has been completed. To have the benefit of the contractors special recourses, such as licensed processes, unique design of manufacturing capability, plant, materials in stock, ect. To get work started quicker than would be possible by recruiting and training direct employees. To get the contractor to take some of the cost risks of a project, usually the risks of planning the economical use of people, plant, materials and sub-contractors. To use the contractor to provide the recourses, both physical and financial, needed for the project. To be free to use his own (limited) recourses for other purposes. To encourage the development of potential contractors for the future. To deal with a contractor who is already known to the promoter. Smith N.J. (2002) Whatever the reason, client always should make a decision based on it. N. J. Smith (2002) described six principal considerations of choosing type of contract which has to be made by contractor. Those are: discipline, incentive, risk, change, time-scale and relationship. These considerations describe analytical justification of contracts, mainly compared the two price-based and cost based contracts. However, in authors opinion these considerations are actually become an advantages and disadvantages of each form. Therefore, this will be discussed in Chapter 4. According to the M. Brook (1993) the main aim of contractor selection is to find out the lowest possible price, and the following: A reputation for good quality workmanship and efficient organization; The ability to complete on time; A strong financial standing with a good business record; The expertise suited to size and type of project. Also he agrees that, not only client has to consider financial ability of contractor, but the contractor needs to make sure that the client is able to pay bills on time. In the past contractors have not been considered this issue. However this has changed with the introduction of bonds and guaranties used by both parties. Usually contractors selected by two or combination of both: competition and negotiation. When there is an open competition, local newspapers or journals invite competitors to take part on the tender. A deposit normally required, in order to distinguish serious offers. Alternatively, tender might be selective. In this type of tender contractors are selected and invited to tender. M. Brook (1993) determined three ways in which selective tendering lists drawn up: An advertisement may produce several interested contractors and suitable firms are selected to tender. The consultants may contact those they would wish to put on an ad-hoc list. Many local authorities and national bodies keep approved lists of contractors in certain categories, such as work type and cost range. Contractors which are selected to add into list normally asked to provide their financial and technical performance, particularly on the area which is under consideration. Contractors can prepare the answers according to the Standard form of tendering questionnaire private edition written by the National Joint Consultative Committee for Building (NJCC). Questions on it is basically about the projects carried out for last three years. After the completion of questionnaire, it can be used for any further projects or particular project for which contractor invited as a competitor. On the other hand Code of Procedure for Single Stage Selective Tendering written especially for building industry by NJCC. According to this code, project success depends on the completion of design phase before tenders invited and the use of standard forms of contract. M. Brook (1993) classifies Code as follows: Preliminary enquiry contractors are given the opportunity to decide whether they wish to tender by receiving a preliminary enquiry letter, four to six weeks before the dispatch of tender documents. Number of tenderers the recommended number of tenderers is a maximum of six (three of four for design and build) and further names could be held in reserve. Tender documents the aim of the documents is that all tenders will be received on the same basis so that competition is limited to price only. Time for tendering normally at least four working weeks should be allowed, and more time may be needed depending on the size and complexity of the project. Qualified tenders tenderers should not try to vary the basis of their tenders using qualifications. Queries or unacceptable contract conditions should be raised at least 10 days before tenders are due. The consultants can then tell all the tenderers of their decisions and if necessary extend the time for tendering. A contractor should be asked to withdraw significant qualifications or else face rejection. This is necessary to ensure tenders are received on a like-for-like basis. Withdrawal of tenders a tender may be accepted as long as it remains open; a definite period is usually stated in the tender documents. The tenderer may withdraw his offer before its acceptable, under English law. Assessing tenders the tenders should be opened as soon as possible after they are received. Priced bills may be submitted in a separate envelope by all the contractors, or, more likely only the bills of the lowest tenderer will be called for and submitted within four working days. Once the contract has been let, every contractor should be issued with a list of tender prices. Alternatively, tender prices should be given in ascending order and the names listed in alphabetical order. Examination and adjustment of priced bills the PQS will treat the information in the tender documents as confidential and report errors in computation to the architect and client. There are two methods for dealing with errors. Alternative one gives the tenderer the opportunity to confirm his offer or withdraw it. Alternative 2 allows the contractor to confirm his offer or amend it to correct genuine errors. If the contractor amends his offer with a revised tender which is no longer the lowest, the tender of the lowest will be considered. Negotiated reduction of tender the code of procedure recognizes the needs to look for savings in the cost of a project where the tender exceeds the employers budget. This can be achieved by negotiation with the lowest tenderer, or the next lowest if negotiations fail. Two-stage selective tendering may be approved by the client, when the contractors involvement is needed at the design phase. The first stage will provide the competitive tender based on bill of quantities according to the preliminary design. The contractor selected at the first stage helps with the design, after completion of which submits documents for the second stage without competition based on the considered price. NJCC published codes for two-stage selection tender and selection tender for design and build. Those are almost same as the Code of Procedure for Single Stage Selective Tendering, except: Client should consider contractors design and build experience. Number of tenderers reduced to four. The price is not a key issue in the selection of contractors. Significant interdependence between cost, time and quality should be included in clients requirement. During the negotiation stage, contractors selected based on their past experience, performance, recommendation or familiarity with work under consideration. And only one contractor may be selected to proceed the work. Project organisation Often client employs a design consultant in order to advice on feasibility stage of project, or a project management consultant to advice the strategy and risks. As discussed earlier in previous chapter, it might be appropriate to the client to employ a single contractor for the whole project, or a consortium of companies as well as a two or more separate contractors. Further in this chapter will be discussed different types of project organisation. Package deal (turnkey, design and supply) According to the OGC report (2007), the main contractor has to be an experienced organisation to bring together all of the parties (design, construction, installation ect.) necessary to meet the clients expectations. Also further information stated in this report There is nothing to prevent a designer, facilities manager, financier or any other organisation from acting as the Prime Contractor, providing they have suitable ability and experience. Prime Contracting must demonstrate during the initial occupation period that operating cost and performance parameters can be met. It usually includes such features as pain/gain share (where the Prime Contractor as well as the client gains financially by reducing the project costs), target cost pricing (where prices are agreed on the basis of a reasonable profit for the supply team and value for money to the client) and open book accounting (where costs are made transparent to the client). (OGC report, 2007) In this type of arrangement, only one single contractor carries all the responsibility for the project from start to completion. Although main contractor responsible for the procurement, design, construction, equipment supply, installation, commissioning, these works can be sub-contracted to the specialist organizations. The main contractor usually responsible also for financing, design approval, working and state commissions ect. Although being simple, this arrangement has its advantages and disadvantages. The main strengths are: Estimating the cost of the project at the early stage may be possible, the clients requirements are known; The total cost of the project may be reduced; Early completion may be possible as result of design/construction overlap; Easier design integration; Better project organisation; Client has to deal with only one organisation for design and construction; Few recourses from the client need to be involved in a project; Fewer disputes caused by design failure or other defects. Weaknesses: Clients ability to control the contractor will be low; Clients expectations may not be met; Highly qualified staff needed to manage the contractor; No or little contact with the sub-contractors; Client in a negative position to introduce changes; Package deal contracts are commonly used in the service and process industries. Where the contractors are much more experienced in this type of contract rather than other types. (other types will be introduced in the next chapter) However package deal contracts are also used in civil engineering field, especially in building standard houses or office blocks. Package deal contracts are very effective when the client wish to start works early, but he has no sufficient recourses and advisors. Build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) This type of contract requires that consortium of companies or single contractor take responsibility to built, own and operate a facility. This usually undertaken by the government for the fixed duration (concession period), during which the client pays contractor (normally monthly). Contractor is completely responsible for the project from start to hand over after the concession period, including gaining necessary finance for the project at the start. At the end of concession period ownership of the facility returns to the client. Separation of design and implementation This tends to be the traditional contract. In that type of contract design separated from the construction. This normally achieved by employing the architect (designer) then the contractor for its construction. Despite the fact that there are many available and useful types of contract, this type of contract is still widely used in building and civil engineering industries. In practice, architect or design company supervises the construction process from the clients side. Smith N.J. (2002) states that, Construction is usually undertaken under a quantities/rates based contract, or occasionally under a lump-sum or reimbursable contract. Management contracting Management contracting is a type of contract where the client employs external organisation to control and manage the design and construction processes. External management organisation itself normally does not take part in any of the works. These are packaged into one or several contracts. When using the management contracting, client establishes the contractual and organisational system which is completely different from the conventional approaches. Management organisation employed by the client becomes a part of its team, therefore involvement of a client in the project increases. According to Smith N.J. (2002) payment for the management organisations staff normally is reimbursable plus fee, oppositely for engineering contracts this usually be a lump-sum or quantity based. The management contractor is appointed early, and it has a considerable involvement in a design process. Other participants such as design and construction contractors are employed in normal way. Management contracts have considerable advantage in a building and civil engineering industries, where traditional contracts can not be used. These advantages are listed below (depending of the needs of a client): Time saving. An early start to the project (political, budgetary or procurement policy reasons); Therefore an early completion of a project; When high probability that changes may take place, for instance, high technology or innovative projects. Organisational complexity. When client does not have sufficient resources or does not wish to manage a number of contractors, which may include two or more designers as well as the construction contractors. Although thesis has a construction emphasis, in authors opinion it would give the additional information about contracts if offshore oil engineering will be discussed as well. Offshore oil industry uses the same contracts as a construction industry, except concession contracts. However, industry called each contract in completely different ways. For example: EPC engineer, procure, construct contract; PC procure and construct contract; EPIC engineer, procure, install, commission contract; PIC procure, install and commission contract. In construction industry EPIC would be considered as a turnkey contract. The only one significant difference of oil industry from others is that oil industry contracts, including EPIC (turnkey equivalent) contracts, always concentrate in high level of clients involvement on the project. Direct labour Usually clients does non wish to employ external contractors to install or make equipments or construction activities, instead clients may use their in-house recourses, maintenance or construction department for instance. This is known as a direct labour or direct works. Each activity, such as design, construction or equipment installation normally responsibility of different departments within the company. These initial agreements are very similar to the external contracts, but the conflicts and disputes between departments would be solved in managerial level within the organisation rather than by external legal dispute resolution procedures. Bidding strategy The tendering process begins with the invitation to tender. (from the contractors point of view). Usually in practice, building contractors does not submit truly competitive tender. After the receiving the invitation, contractor must decide whether to accept or decline tender. If contractor accept, competitive bid must be submitted, however if the contractor does not accept, the bona fide tender still should be submitted. (definition of bona fide need here). Contractors always faced with to crucial decisions which are, whether or not submit competitive tender, and if so what is the bid price should be. Ansoff (1965) suggested five possible courses of action open for the contractor: Reject the project Provisionally accept the project Add it to a reverse list Remove a project from the reverse list and replace it with the current project Unconditional acceptance However Skitmore (1989) pointed out that the limited time available for tender restricts the use of reverse list, therefore normally contractors decide simply from two accept or reject options. Althouh contractor rejected the tender, it does not usually mean that the bid will not be submitted. If the contractor not interested in particular tender, but does not wish to reject (once contractor rejected the tender, it may not be invited to tender again), as it may cause problems in the future, contractor can submit the cover price. In practice, the decision whether or not to submit a tender depends on number of factors. According to the CIOB (1983), this decision depend on the type of work under consideration, if the contractor has an appropriate experience in particular area and necessary resources to prepare documents and carry out the work. However other authors agree that the key points in the decision would be the contractors present workload and availability of key personnel. Odusote and Fellows (1992) made significant effort in identifying the most important factors influencing the contractors decision. In this research, authors identified 42 considerations which are likely to influence the decision considered by other authors. Then constructed questionnaire and sent them to various building contractors each with a turnover of approximately 8m (or higher) per year. Figure 3 below illustrates these factors based on respond of 48 UK building contractors (ranked in order of importance). Client-related factors Type of work Value of the project Contractors current workload Estimating workload Likely profitability of the contract Location of the project Form of contract Physical recourses to do the job Identity of consultants Time available to tender Odusote and Fellows (1992) On the other hand, an American survey handled by Ahmad and Minkarah (1990) identified 31 factors affecting the bidding strategy of top USA companies. Further this list of factors used by Snash (1990) in his study. Snash formulated a questionnaire according to the list of factors, and submitted them to the top UK contractors asking them to rank the most important factor. Finally he received responds from 80 contractors, and the table has been produced based on contractors respond. Figure 4 illustrates the top 20 factors affecting bid/no bid decision. Contractors need for work Number of competitors tendering Experience in similar projects Current work load Owner/client identity Contract conditions Project type Past profit in similar projects Project size Tendering method (open/selective) Risk owing to the nature of the work Project location Type of contract Availability of qualified staff Rate of return Project cash flow Tender period Availability of other projects Availability of labour Completeness of the documents (Snash 1990) There is some similarity between two studies, however that does not necessary mean every contractor has to consider each factor. Some contractor may consider some, but others may consider completely different factors. Contractor should decide rather bid or no bid in particular project regarding his own status and circumstances. By other words, regarding to evidence (Odusote and Fellows, 1992) it can be said, that for large project, it would be decision of group of people rather than one individual. However, there is an alternative factor affecting bid/no bid decision. Contractors who have a number of contracts (portfolio of projects), can balance their overall risks by deciding to tender particular project. This approach first introduced in the financial sector, which basically says that the contractors can afford the risky projects if the overall risk can be reduced by balancing with the other less risky projects in contractors portfolio. Kangari and Riggs (1988) pointed out that this approach can not be used as successful as in the financial organisations. They concluded: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Diversification of the project portfolio can generally reduce but not eliminate overall risk exposureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Bid price After the decision to tender, contractor will be faced by the next important decision which is bid price. Normally contractor estimates the bid price according to the necessary inputs on the process. The management process estimating the level of bid price called adjudication. A significant number of researches have been carried out for last 40 years about submitting the best bid price. Different studies concentrated various model of bidding. If one researchers developed the mathematical model, method based on historical data, statistical bidding models and econometric based model, others concentrated on less mathematical models such as human decision-making process. However Moselhi et all. (1993) states: Markup estimation is a decision problem that is so highly unstructured that it is difficult to analyse and formulate an adequate solution mechanism. It is both time consuming and complicated to identify all the related factors that form a rational basis for such decisions, analyse their individual strength, and then quantify their combined impact on the decision. The usual practice is to make bid decisions on the basis of intuition, derived from mixture of gut feeling, experience and guesses. This implies some sort of pattern recognition is used rather than computation or deep reasoning about the problem elements. Alternatively, Park and Chapin summarised their research that: Many different theoretical approaches to competitive bidding have been proposed and tested with varying results. Any of these strategies should improve the contractors bidding effectiveness, and whichever one works best for a particular competitive situation is obviously the best one to use. It will be worth whatever time is required to at least become familiar with the different approaches; they all offer some good ideas, and even a bad plan is better than no plan at all. Factors considered by contractors Adjudication is the process about getting the best possible bid price, during which contractors should consider number of factors. Eastham (1987) identified 90 factors which are likely to affect the bid price. During the research questionnaire had been sent to ten contractors who identified only five most important factors. However those responds had not considered as important as in Easthams research. Subcontract requirements Type and size of job Competitors Client and professionals Labour requirements (Eastham 1987) Snash (1990) also identified factors affecting the bid price. This has been done through formulating the questionnaire. Degree of difficulty of the work Risk owing to the nature of the work Current workload Need for the work Contract conditions Anticipated cost of liquidated damages Owner/client identity Past profit in similar work (Snash 1990)

Resume :: essays research papers

OBJECTIVE:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Motivated, a proven performer in retail sales management and operations for multiple industries. Record-setting sales leader skilled in coaching best practices and maximizing profits. Fast-track career progression and history of repeated rewards. Committed to providing an atmosphere of exceptional employee morale and impeccable customer service. Dedicated to achieving sales targets while providing excellent customer service. EXPERIENCE:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  10/1999 - Present Footlocker Inc. Dearborn, MI   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Assistant Manager Manage day-to-day activities of sales floor with 1.9 million inventory and drive sales forward. Taking on responsibilities such as manager duties, open and closing procedures, dealing with prospective customers, sales, and handling merchandise. Also capable of scheduling for entire staff, meeting daily and monthly gains and goals, training other employees, hiring, supervising, dealing with an high quantity of inventory daily and also taking care of excessive paperwork daily. Selected contributions:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  *Store was ranked the #1 high volume store in entire league *Had contribulate in making the store a 1.9 million-dollar store for the entire year of 2004   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   5/2003 - 9/2003 Kraft General Foods Battle Creek, MI Factory Worker Had the experience to work in a factory doing jobs such as cleaning and running machinery. (Summer help only) 5/2000 - 5/2003 Allstate Insurance Battle Creek, MI Secretary Dealing with Insurance and having responsilibilites such as taking payments, getting claims and quotes for insurance, answering phones, typing, filing, and greeting customers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   EDUCATION:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  9/2001 - Present Wayne State University Detroit, MI   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pharmacy Major/Business Admin. Minor Focus on getting my Bachelor’s Degree in pharmacy. Later, go to graduate school and receive my Ph. D. Degree in pharmacy also. Also, working on getting my Associate’s Degree in Business Administration. 9/1997 - 6/2001 Battle Creek Central High School Battle Creek, MI A diploma received with general studies KEY SKILLS:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Merchandising, Service/Sales Incentive Programs, Strategic Planning, Record-Setting Retail Sales Growth, Fiscal Management, Loss Prevention Initiatives, Motivational Training, Supervision, Cost Control Strategies, and Customer service skills.

Business Essay -- Sociology, Culture, Melting Pot

In the past, the world was parts of continents and continents parts of countries which represent their culture separately. In addition, the communication between different cultures and communities slightly difficult or need so much time. Nowadays, we could imagine something different from the past which we hear terms of new world features like melting pot, globalization, culture, and global perspective. Al-Balabki (1995:570) concludes that, melting pot is a place where immigrants of different ethnicities, cultures or countries come to live together with variety of ideas and races. According to J. Jary (1991) that,†culture is defined as the unique ideas, customs, skills, arts, behavior, appearances and communication of a group of people†. To quote Wikipedia (n.d), â€Å"globalization refers to increasing global connectivity, integration and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural, political and ecological spheres†. Moreover, there are many examples for global culture which make all cultures around the world effective. However, I am going to write about internet, English as a global language and business in this essay. Internet is the largest sources of information in these days. It can provide a wide variety of information which anyone needs it. Internet revolution has made a huge change in many aspects in our lives. It becomes a method to know more and more about many different things. It helps the whole world to be small village. Now anyone could speak with another person in minutes or less than that. Moreover, you can communicate with people from different country, culture, lifestyle and geography. It is really amazing system which enriches the global development in most fields. Co... ...Birkat Almouz store. However, business ethics and management structure dive me real experience to deal with managers or customers to reach work performance and customer satisfaction in any work place around the world. In conclusion, globalization has its effects in different fields business, internet, and English language in the whole world. They are important examples which have influential causes and reasons. In my opinion, sometimes they are being positive and sometime being negative. For instance, some examples of global culture being useful just for the first world countries and in the same case being harmful for third world countries. However, globalization solve so much points like wasting time, make the distances between different counties are too small and easier. As a result, every country should modify each globalization example to be fitness.

Essay on Male Prejudices in Susan Glaspells Trifles :: Trifles Essays

Male Prejudices in Trifles Susan Glaspell's Trifles explores male-female relationships through the murder investigation of the character of Mr. Wright. The play takes place in Wright's country farmhouse as the men of the play, the county attorney, the sheriff, and Mr. Hale, search for evidence as to the identity and, most importantly, the motive of the murderer. However, the clues which would lead them to such are never found by the men. Instead it is their female counterparts who discover the evidence needed, and who are able to do so because of their gender. The male investigators need to find, as Mrs. Peters puts it, "'a motive; something to show anger, or--sudden feeling'" (357). Yet the men never see the uneven sewing on a quilt Minnie Wright was working on before the murder. The quilt is a symbol of Minnie's agitation--her anger. The men, though, laugh at the women's wonderings about the quilt. To them it is of little importance. Likewise, the bird and its cage are easily dismissed. In fact, the men just as easily believe a lie about this bird and cage. When the cage is noticed, its broken door overlooked, the county attorney asks, "'Has the bird flown?'" Mrs. Peters replies that the "'cat got it'" (360). There is actually no such cat, but the men do not know that and never question the existence of it. The bird, however, is vital to the case. Mr. Wright killed the bird, Minnie's bird, which may have provoked her to then kill him. In addition, the strangling of Mr. Wright, a form of murder which perplexes all when a gun was handy, is reminiscent of the strangling of that bird. It is another answer to the men's questions, but an answer they never find. The women, on the other hand, take note of all they see. They notice not only the bird, the cage, and the quilt but other things that the men call "trifles," like Minnie's frozen preserves and her request for her apron and shawl. These women are united, it seems, not only as country wives or as neighbors but on the basic level of womanhood. This is apparent from the start of the play. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters "stand close together near the door," emotionally bonded throughout the play and, here, physically, in a way, too. Mrs.

Research Paper of Gender and Identification Essay

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals receive unequal treatment from families and their peers. Many actions must be implemented in schools creating safer lifestyles for the minority youth and their mental health. This article covers the gender socialization of children and prospective adults, analyses adolescent sexuality & mental heath and looks at measures of increasing the socio-acceptance of LGBT individuals. The focus of this paper is to define how gender socialization shapes both gender and sexual identities; the consequences LGBT adolescents face in school and how we can mitigate these problems. Harold Garfinkle (1917-2011) coined the theoretical perspective of ethnomethodology based on three core assumptions. First, all people are epistemologists, people create knowledge and meaning in their everyday lives, and therefore we find subjectively in human affairs. This basically means that knowledge and meaning is derived and intuitively understood through socially constructed lessons. Second, language provides meaning to objects and social conditions; therefore discriminatory language against people is socially constructed symbols that have meaning only to the defendant. Lastly, objects have an indeterminate quality, because we get to determine what they’re used for. Furthermore, objects have many purposes, an individual should use that object in the means he feels most comfortable such as your mind and body. Ethnomethodology is based on the belief that you can discover the normal social order of a society by disrupting it(Garfinkel, 1967) Fixed Roles and Situated Actions by Murray Webster Jr. and Lisa Rashotte explain how two visions have shaped research and theory on gender socialization. The first vision is considered the older of the two theories describing how the family bases gender with the roles of functionality with the father being an instrumental leader(Webster, 2009). Instrumental activity entails giving orders, evaluating performance and exerting influence(Webster, 2009). On the contrary, the mother focuses on social-emotional activity; expressing feelings, nurturing, helping others manage feelings and keeping up with family traditions(Webster, 2009). Each role either instrumental or expressive roles are equally valuable and rewarded, both involving their own capabilities within the family(Webster, 2009). When socializing a child within the nuclear family using the functional role system, the offspring must learn either the instrumental or expressive role(Webster, 2009). Parents and relatives are responsible for identifying a child using gender appropriate belongings and reinforcing behaviors that conform to society’s norms(Webster, 2009). Since socialization has been practiced repetitively, roles have managed to become over-learned and individuals struggle to display the opposite of their own role(Webster, 2009). Hence, the reason for unharmonious communication styles due to the narrow scoped minds of opposite genders(Webster, 2009). If society were to change gender-role norms regarding male instrumental leading and female expressiveness, it would require the change immediately from birth and would need to involve all children to change society(Webster, 2009).

With the High Turnover Which Characteristic Employment

The highly turnover rate of employees in tourism, hospitality and event organisation, which is a serious issue concerned by every company, is defined as company’s employees leave their job at a relatively high rate in certain industry. High turnover can result from various numbers of issues of employee which may ignore or neglect by certain company in a certain extract (e. g. dissatisfaction of work, overload work, emergence of competitors, poor management etc).But what is the main reason that caused high turnover in certain industry is that organisations fail to realize the importance of engaging and motivating employees. They tend to assumed that this action is such a waste of time and it is more important to focus on employee’s performance. There are few factors that caused high turnover which can be listed out. Firstly, over burden of work may causes dissatisfaction among employees. They tend to think that they are doing a double or even triple job, but they only ge t a single salary which is underpaid.Moreover, it is common for a professional to know the benefits of equivalent positions. Thus, to fulfil the needs and wants of an individual, one will look for a job with a better salary and consumption and as a result leave the current organisation. Besides that, for an extended of time, some may feel tired of working in a boring and uninspiring job positions which would lead them to change job which is more attractive and challenging compare to the previous organisation.

Life is a Gift Essay

Life is a gift. It is an honor; a spark; an excitement. We all have a world of our own. A wise author, Albert Camus, once stated, â€Å"you will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life† (Albert Camus). Life is about living to your fullest abilities; why waste our time looking for the meaning of each breath we take? Each person is a part of life. Each life has a world of its own. I believe that the meaning of life, defined by Victor E. Frankl, is to find meaning in our own life. Each and every person on this planet has a meaning to his own life, and is a unique and independent individual. And so, the question comes along, â€Å"Who am I? † The answer is I. I am who I am, and not one person can ever change that. My life is exceedingly meaningful, and is made up of a series of rituals, experiences, a plentiful amount of mistakes, and many various emotions. According to the article, The Rite of Passage, a ritual â€Å"help[s] us understand the changes in our lives and give meaning to experiences† we undergo. Rituals express who we are today, as well as the sum total of our actions, feelings, and thoughts that makes each person in this world, a single, individual person. An example of a major ritual and life-changing event in the Odyssey is the trial of the bow. During this scene, a disguised Odysseus surpassed a difficult task, as he without effort strung the challenging bow. Odysseus, after laying the arrow on the arch, shot the mighty bow â€Å"with careful aim, not miss[ing] an axe’s ring from first to last† (Homer 2011). This scene makes a change in not only Odysseus’s life, but also his son, Telemachus, and his wife, Penelope. The trial of the bow is an important Rite of Passage, offering significance to each one of their lives. Just like Odysseus, I have progressed through a numerous amount of rituals, along with experiences, mistakes, truths and actions, all leading up to the fourteen year old girl I am today. Although each person has a different opinion on what surrounds us, I believe the nature of the universe is full of the unknown. The world is a scary place to be in, it encloses us in, with nothing but mystery. It is a frightening thing, to move on with your life not knowing what will happen in the next few moments, but that is what life is all about; the unknown. We surround ourselves with questions that can never be answered; yet we need to learn to live life in the present, not thinking about the future with every step we take. No one in this world is fearless, in fact, according to H. L. Mencken, â€Å"The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear – fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety† (H.L. Mencken). In agreement to Mencken, nothing in this world is safe; we waste seconds; minutes; hours; even days worrying about our fears. Worrying about our fears of the unknown. I believe we can’t relate to this unknown universe, however, we can live with it. Instead of waking up each day wondering what the unknown is, we need to wake up everyday focusing on what we do know, and interpreting that information into what we understand. In order to find the meaning in our lives, we each need control over our lives. I control my life one hundred percent. I make me own decisions, choose my individual actions, and control my responses. We have complete control over our own lives. However, the one think we do not have control over is other people’s actions and decisions. Although we have the power in our individual lives, others may influence our judgments, choices, and conclusions. All of these factors affect whom we are, along with the fact that we can’t control others reactions, which may cause poor influence on us. For example, in the novel, The Odyssey, Odysseus sails a long journey home, facing many distractions, challenges, and adventures. He encounters many different monsters that stop him in his path, including Cyclops, The Sirens, and Poseidon. Although Odysseus can control his actions, and the way he fights, he has a weakness when it comes to his opponents. Just like Odysseus, we can control our actions and responses, but when it comes to having others involves, we have no control over how they can act and make their choices. Living life freely, with no regrets, and accomplishing all of our goals. That is a satisfying life. Taking risks, without worrying, loving ourselves, being happy with our achievements, and experiencing all different emotions is what life is all about. A variety of different feelings occur throughout our lives; we need happiness, excitement, fears, anger, and even tears to lead a fulfilling life. In the independent reading novel, entitled Speak; Melinda Sordino writes about emotions and feelings, â€Å"When people don’t express themselves, they die one piece at a time† (Anderson 58). Melinda believes the reasons people need to express themselves is because everyone needs to experience all kinds of emotions in order to interact and stay alive. In the Odyssey, Both Odysseus and Telemachus are involved by an overwhelming amount of emotions. Without the emphasis of their feelings without the novel, the story would have much less meaning and would not be as dramatic. Emotions add to our everyday conversations and feelings towards each other. We need them to live a satisfying, enjoyable life. I believe, in order to find the meaning of my life, I need to sit back, relax, and let the question answer itself. In order to survive, and live for as long as possible, I have to enjoy my life in the present. Not be thinking about the future, and where life is going to take me; but live life as it is brought to me, rather then bringing myself to my life. By being patient and letting my life come to me as time goes on, I am sure to survive for a longer, happier, and more exciting period of time. Yet, at the conclusion to each person’s life, the certainty of death must strike. Getting ourselves ready for this unpredictable day is very easy, as long as we’ve accomplished everything that we have set out to achieve, death may appear whenever it feels the need to. It is a misfortunate thing, though, as some deaths develop so quickly and suddenly, we do not have time to say our goodbyes. Nor do the victims have time to achieve their goals, and pass on wishes. An example of a sudden death is in the novel entitles Lost for Words, by Alice Kuipers. In the story, Sophie’s older sister died traumatically in a sudden train bombing. Due to the death, it ripped Sophie’s family apart. They stopped talking to each other, and everything became awkward between her and her mother. Because of the unpredictable death at such a young age, her sister was, sorrowfully, not ready for her time to come. She may have not achieved her goals in life, and got to take as many risks as life leads her too, making it an even bigger tragedy for Sophie and her family. There were a number of dreadful deaths in the Odyssey as well. These included Odysseus’ crew, Odysseus’ mother, and many suitors. From reading all of these disastrous scenes and stories about death, I have learned that in order to reconcile myself for the inevitability of death, I need to start living my life with many risks, and no regrets. By living my life without any doubts, and enjoying my life in the present, I can be sure to live a long, satisfying life, ready for the fate of death for whenever it decides to doom on me. I believe the meaning of life, is to find meaning in our own, individual lives. By waiting for life to come to me, and enjoying the present in a way of happiness, enjoyment, and risks, I can be sure to eventually come to a full understanding of why I am here, living today. Each life has a world of its own, and each person his own life. Each person in this world will have a different story to share, and a different meaning and impact on our world today.

A Game of Thrones Chapter Twenty-eight

Catelyn My lady, you ought cover your head,† Ser Rodrik told her as their horses plodded north. â€Å"You will take a chill.† â€Å"It is only water, Ser Rodrik,† Catelyn replied. Her hair hung wet and heavy, a loose strand stuck to her forehead, and she could imagine how ragged and wild she must look, but for once she did not care. The southern rain was soft and warm. Catelyn liked the feel of it on her face, gentle as a mother's kisses. It took her back to her childhood, to long grey days at Riverrun. She remembered the godswood, drooping branches heavy with moisture, and the sound of her brother's laughter as he chased her through piles of damp leaves. She remembered making mud pies with Lysa, the weight of them, the mud slick and brown between her fingers. They had served them to Littlefinger, giggling, and he'd eaten so much mud he was sick for a week. How young they all had been. Catelyn had almost forgotten. In the north, the rain fell cold and hard, and sometimes at night it turned to ice. It was as likely to kill a crop as nurture it, and it sent grown men running for the nearest shelter. That was no rain for little girls to play in. â€Å"I am soaked through,† Ser Rodrik complained. â€Å"Even my bones are wet.† The woods pressed close around them, and the steady pattering of rain on leaves was accompanied by the small sucking sounds their horses made as their hooves pulled free of the mud. â€Å"We will want a fire tonight, my lady, and a hot meal would serve us both.† â€Å"There is an inn at the crossroads up ahead,† Catelyn told him. She had slept many a night there in her youth, traveling with her father. Lord Hoster Tully had been a restless man in his prime, always riding somewhere. She still remembered the innkeep, a fat woman named Masha Heddle who chewed sourleaf night and day and seemed to have an endless supply of smiles and sweet cakes for the children. The sweet cakes had been soaked with honey, rich and heavy on the tongue, but how Catelyn had dreaded those smiles. The sourleaf had stained Masha's teeth a dark red, and made her smile a bloody horror. â€Å"An inn,† Ser Rodrik repeated wistfully. â€Å"If only . . . but we dare not risk it. If we wish to remain unknown, I think it best we seek out some small holdfast . . . † He broke off as they heard sounds up the road; splashing water, the clink of mail, a horse's whinny. â€Å"Riders,† he warned, his hand dropping to the hilt of his sword. Even on the kingsroad, it never hurt to be wary. They followed the sounds around a lazy bend of the road and saw them; a column of armed men noisily fording a swollen stream. Catelyn reined up to let them pass. The banner in the hand of the foremost rider hung sodden and limp, but the guardsmen wore indigo cloaks and on their shoulders flew the silver eagle of Seagard. â€Å"Mallisters,† Ser Rodrik whispered to her, as if she had not known. â€Å"My lady, best pull up your hood.† Catelyn made no move. Lord Jason Mallister himself rode with them, surrounded by his knights, his son Patrek by his side and their squires close behind. They were riding for King's Landing and the Hand's tourney, she knew. For the past week, the travelers had been thick as flies upon the kingsroad; knights and freeriders, singers with their harps and drums, heavy wagons laden with hops or corn or casks of honey, traders and craftsmen and whores, and all of them moving south. She studied Lord Jason boldly. The last time she had seen him he had been jesting with her uncle at her wedding feast; the Mallisters stood bannermen to the Tullys, and his gifts had been lavish. His brown hair was salted with white now, his face chiseled gaunt by time, yet the years had not touched his pride. He rode like a man who feared nothing. Catelyn envied him that; she had come to fear so much. As the riders passed, Lord Jason nodded a curt greeting, but it was only a high lord's courtesy to strangers chance met on the road. There was no recognition in those fierce eyes, and his son did not even waste a look. â€Å"He did not know you,† Ser Rodrik said after, wondering. â€Å"He saw a pair of mud-spattered travelers by the side of the road, wet and tired. It would never occur to him to suspect that one of them was the daughter of his liege lord. I think we shall be safe enough at the inn, Ser Rodrik.† It was near dark when they reached it, at the crossroads north of the great confluence of the Trident. Masha Heddle was fatter and greyer than Catelyn remembered, still chewing her sourleaf, but she gave them only the most cursory of looks, with nary a hint of her ghastly red smile. â€Å"Two rooms at the top of the stair, that's all there is,† she said, chewing all the while. â€Å"They're under the bell tower, you won't be missing meals, though there's some thinks it too noisy. Can't be helped. We're full up, or near as makes no matter. It's those rooms or the road.† It was those rooms, low, dusty garrets at the top of a cramped narrow staircase. â€Å"Leave your boots down here,† Masha told them after she'd taken their coin. â€Å"The boy will clean them. I won't have you tracking mud up my stairs. Mind the bell. Those who come late to meals don't eat.† There were no smiles, and no mention of sweet cakes. When the supper bell rang, the sound was deafening. Catelyn had changed into dry clothes. She sat by the window, watching rain run down the pane. The glass was milky and full of bubbles, and a wet dusk was falling outside. Catelyn could just make out the muddy crossing where the two great roads met. The crossroads gave her pause. If they turned west from here, it was an easy ride down to Riverrun. Her father had always given her wise counsel when she needed it most, and she yearned to talk to him, to warn him of the gathering storm. If Winterfell needed to brace for war, how much more so Riverrun, so much closer to King's Landing, with the power of Casterly Rock looming to the west like a shadow. If only her father had been stronger, she might have chanced it, but Hoster Tully had been bedridden these past two years, and Catelyn was loath to tax him now. The eastern road was wilder and more dangerous, climbing through rocky foothills and thick forests into the Mountains of the Moon, past high passes and deep chasms to the Vale of Arryn and the stony Fingers beyond. Above the Vale, the Eyrie stood high and impregnable, its towers reaching for the sky. There she would find her sister . . . and, perhaps, some of the answers Ned sought. Surely Lysa knew more than she had dared to put in her letter. She might have the very proof that Ned needed to bring the Lannisters to ruin, and if it came to war, they would need the Arryns and the eastern lords who owed them service. Yet the mountain road was perilous. Shadowcats prowled those passes, rock slides were common, and the mountain clans were lawless brigands, descending from the heights to rob and kill and melting away like snow whenever the knights rode out from the Vale in search of them. Even Jon Arryn, as great a lord as any the Eyrie had ever known, had always traveled in strength when he crossed the mountains. Catelyn's only strength was one elderly knight, armored in loyalty. No, she thought, Riverrun and the Eyrie would have to wait. Her path ran north to Winterfell, where her sons and her duty were waiting for her. As soon as they were safely past the Neck, she could declare herself to one of Ned's bannermen, and send riders racing ahead with orders to mount a watch on the kingsroad. The rain obscured the fields beyond the crossroads, but Catelyn saw the land clear enough in her memory. The marketplace was just across the way, and the village a mile farther on, half a hundred white cottages surrounding a small stone sept. There would be more now; the summer had been long and peaceful. North of here the kingsroad ran along the Green Fork of the Trident, through fertile valleys and green woodlands, past thriving towns and stout holdfasts and the castles of the river lords. Catelyn knew them all: the Blackwoods and the Brackens, ever enemies, whose quarrels her father was obliged to settle; Lady Whent, last of her line, who dwelt with her ghosts in the cavernous vaults of Harrenhal; irascible Lord Frey, who had outlived seven wives and filled his twin castles with children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and bastards and grandbastards as well. All of them were bannermen to the Tullys, their swords sworn to the service of Riverrun. Catelyn wondered if that would be enough, if it came to war. Her father was the staunchest man who'd ever lived, and she had no doubt that he would call his banners . . . but would the banners come? The Darrys and Rygers and Mootons had sworn oaths to Riverrun as well, yet they had fought with Rhaegar Targaryen on the Trident, while Lord Frey had arrived with his levies well after the battle was over, leaving some doubt as to which army he had planned to join (theirs, he had assured the victors solemnly in the afterma th, but ever after her father had called him the Late Lord Frey). It must not come to war, Catelyn thought fervently. They must not let it. Ser Rodrik came for her just as the bell ceased its clangor. â€Å"We had best make haste if we hope to eat tonight, my lady.† â€Å"It might be safer if we were not knight and lady until we pass the Neck,† she told him. â€Å"Common travelers attract less notice. A father and daughter taken to the road on some family business, say.† â€Å"As you say, my lady,† Ser Rodrik agreed. It was only when she laughed that he realized what he'd done. â€Å"The old courtesies die hard, my—my daughter.† He tried to tug on his missing whiskers, and sighed with exasperation. Catelyn took his arm. â€Å"Come, Father,† she said. â€Å"You'll find that Masha Heddle sets a good table, I think, but try not to praise her. You truly don't want to see her smile.† The common room was long and drafty, with a row of huge wooden kegs at one end and a fireplace at the other. A serving boy ran back and forth with skewers of meat while Masha drew beer from the kegs, chewing her sourleaf all the while. The benches were crowded, townsfolk and farmers mingling freely with all manner of travelers. The crossroads made for odd companions; dyers with black and purple hands shared a bench with rivermen reeking of fish, an ironsmith thick with muscle squeezed in beside a wizened old septon, hard-bitten sellswords and soft plump merchants swapped news like boon companions. The company included more swords than Catelyn would have liked. Three by the fire wore the red stallion badge of the Brackens, and there was a large party in blue steel ringmail and capes of a silvery grey. On their shoulder was another familiar sigil, the twin towers of House Frey. She studied their faces, but they were all too young to have known her. The senior among them would have been no older than Bran when she went north. Ser Rodrik found them an empty place on the bench near the kitchen. Across the table a handsome youth was fingering a woodharp. â€Å"Seven blessings to you, goodfolk,† he said as they sat. An empty wine cup stood on the table before him. â€Å"And to you, singer,† Catelyn returned. Ser Rodrik called for bread and meat and beer in a tone that meant now. The singer, a youth of some eighteen years, eyed them boldly and asked where they were going, and from whence they had come, and what news they had, letting the questions fly as quick as arrows and never pausing for an answer. â€Å"We left King's Landing a fortnight ago,† Catelyn replied, answering the safest of his questions. â€Å"That's where I'm bound,† the youth said. As she had suspected, he was more interested in telling his own story than in hearing theirs. Singers loved nothing half so well as the sound of their own voices. â€Å"The Hand's tourney means rich lords with fat purses. The last time I came away with more silver than I could carry . . . or would have, if I hadn't lost it all betting on the Kingslayer to win the day.† â€Å"The gods frown on the gambler,† Ser Rodrik said sternly. He was of the north, and shared the Stark views on tournaments. â€Å"They frowned on me, for certain,† the singer said. â€Å"Your cruel gods and the Knight of Flowers altogether did me in.† â€Å"No doubt that was a lesson for you,† Ser Rodrik said. â€Å"It was. This time my coin will champion Ser Loras.† Ser Rodrik tried to tug at whiskers that were not there, but before he could frame a rebuke the serving boy came scurrying up. He laid trenchers of bread before them and filled them with chunks of browned meat off a skewer, dripping with hot juice. Another skewer held tiny onions, fire peppers, and fat mushrooms. Ser Rodrik set to lustily as the lad ran back to fetch them beer. â€Å"My name is Marillion,† the singer said, plucking a string on his woodharp. â€Å"Doubtless you've heard me play somewhere?† His manner made Catelyn smile. Few wandering singers ever ventured as far north as Winterfell, but she knew his like from her girlhood in Riverrun. â€Å"I fear not,† she told him. He drew a plaintive chord from the woodharp. â€Å"That is your loss,† he said. â€Å"Who was the finest singer you've ever heard?† â€Å"Alia of Braavos,† Ser Rodrik answered at once. â€Å"Oh, I'm much better than that old stick,† Marillion said. â€Å"If you have the silver for a song, I'll gladly show you.† â€Å"I might have a copper or two, but I'd sooner toss it down a well than pay for your howling,† Ser Rodrik groused. His opinion of singers was well known; music was a lovely thing for girls, but he could not comprehend why any healthy boy would fill his hand with a harp when he might have had a sword. â€Å"Your grandfather has a sour nature,† Marillion said to Catelyn. â€Å"I meant to do you honor. An homage to your beauty. In truth, I was made to sing for kings and high lords.† â€Å"Oh, I can see that,† Catelyn said. â€Å"Lord Tully is fond of song, I hear. No doubt you've been to Riverrun.† â€Å"A hundred times,† the singer said airily. â€Å"They keep a chamber for me, and the young lord is like a brother.† Catelyn smiled, wondering what Edmure would think of that. Another singer had once bedded a girl her brother fancied; he had hated the breed ever since. â€Å"And Winterfell?† she asked him. â€Å"Have you traveled north?† â€Å"Why would I?' Marillion asked. â€Å"It's all blizzards and bearskins up there, and the Starks know no music but the howling of wolves.† Distantly, she was aware of the door banging open at the far end of the room. â€Å"Innkeep,† a servant's voice called out behind her, â€Å"we have horses that want stabling, and my lord of Lannister requires a room and a hot bath.† â€Å"Oh, gods,† Ser Rodrik said before Catelyn reached out to silence him, her fingers tightening hard around his forearm. Masha Heddle was bowing and smiling her hideous red smile. â€Å"I'm sorry, m'lord, truly, we're full up, every room.† There were four of them, Catelyn saw. An old man in the black of the Night's Watch, two servants . . . and him, standing there small and bold as life. â€Å"My men will steep in your stable, and as for myself, well, I do not require a large room, as you can plainly see.† He flashed a mocking grin. â€Å"So long as the fire's warm and the straw reasonably free of fleas, I am a happy man.† Masha Heddle was beside herself. â€Å"M'lord, there's nothing, it's the tourney, there's no help for it, oh . . . â€Å" Tyrion Lannister pulled a coin from his purse and flicked it up over his head, caught it, tossed it again. Even across the room, where Catelyn sat, the wink of gold was unmistakable. A freerider in a faded blue cloak lurched to his feet. â€Å"You're welcome to my room, m'lord.† â€Å"Now there's a clever man,† Lannister said as he sent the coin spinning across the room. The freerider snatched it from the air. â€Å"And a nimble one to boot.† The dwarf turned back to Masha Heddle. â€Å"You will be able to manage food, I trust?† â€Å"Anything you like, m'lord, anything at all,† the innkeep promised. And may he choke on it, Catelyn thought, but it was Bran she saw choking, drowning on his own blood. Lannister glanced at the nearest tables. â€Å"My men will have whatever you're serving these people. Double portions, we've had a long hard ride. I'll take a roast fowl—chicken, duck, pigeon, it makes no matter. And send up a flagon of your best wine. Yoren, will you sup with me?† â€Å"Aye, m'lord, I will,† the black brother replied. The dwarf had not so much as glanced toward the far end of the room, and Catelyn was thinking how grateful she was for the crowded benches between them when suddenly Marillion bounded to his feet. â€Å"My lord of Lannister!† he called out. â€Å"I would be pleased to entertain you while you eat. Let me sing you the lay of your father's great victory at King's Landing!† â€Å"Nothing would be more likely to ruin my supper,† the dwarf said dryly. His mismatched eyes considered the singer briefly, started to move away . . . and found Catelyn. He looked at her for a moment, puzzled. She turned her face away, but too late. The dwarf was smiling. â€Å"Lady Stark, what an unexpected pleasure,† he said. â€Å"I was sorry to miss you at Winterfell.† Marillion gaped at her, confusion giving way to chagrin as Catelyn rose slowly to her feet. She heard Ser Rodrik curse. If only the man had lingered at the Wall, she thought, if only . . . â€Å"Lady . . . Stark?† Masha Heddle said thickly. â€Å"I was still Catelyn Tully the last time I bedded here,† she told the innkeep. She could hear the muttering, feel the eyes upon her. Catelyn glanced around the room, at the faces of the knights and sworn swords, and took a deep breath to slow the frantic beating of her heart. Did she dare take the risk? There was no time to think it through, only the moment and the sound of her own voice ringing in her ears. â€Å"You in the corner,† she said to an older man she had not noticed until now. â€Å"Is that the black bat of Harrenhal I see embroidered on your surcoat, ser?† The man got to his feet. â€Å"It is, my lady.† â€Å"And is Lady Whent a true and honest friend to my father, Lord Hoster Tully of Riverrun?† â€Å"She is,† the man replied stoutly. Ser Rodrik rose quietly and loosened his sword in its scabbard. The dwarf was blinking at them, blank-faced, with puzzlement in his mismatched eyes. â€Å"The red stallion was ever a welcome sight in Riverrun,† she said to the trio by the fire. â€Å"My father counts Jonos Bracken among his oldest and most loyal bannermen.† The three men-at-arms exchanged uncertain looks. â€Å"Our lord is honored by his trust,† one of them said hesitantly. â€Å"I envy your father all these fine friends,† Lannister quipped, â€Å"but I do not quite see the purpose of this, Lady Stark.† She ignored him, turning to the large party in blue and grey. They were the heart of the matter; there were more than twenty of them. â€Å"I know your sigil as well: the twin towers of Frey. How fares your good lord, sers?† Their captain rose. â€Å"Lord Walder is well, my lady. He plans to take a new wife on his ninetieth name day, and has asked your lord father to honor the wedding with his presence.† Tyrion Lannister sniggered. That was when Catelyn knew he was hers. â€Å"This man came a guest into my house, and there conspired to murder my son, a boy of seven,† she proclaimed to the room at large, pointing. Ser Rodrik moved to her side, his sword in hand. â€Å"In the name of King Robert and the good lords you serve, I call upon you to seize him and help me return him to Winterfell to await the king's justice.† She did not know what was more satisfying: the sound of a dozen swords drawn as one or the look on Tyrion Lannister's face.