Strategic Options Available To Coast4Life For The Upcoming Fiscal Year

This report outlines the strategic options available to Coast4Life for the upcoming fiscal year. Through my research, I have identified the current situational analysis that is necessary to be considered for the options that will be provided in this report.Current situational analysis:Vision: Coast4Life cruise will be the first choice for vacationers who are seeking a safe, enjoyable and unique cruise experience in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Mission: Coast4Life meets the needs of vacationers by offering safe, enjoyable and unique cruises along BC coast at affordable prices and at a high quality of service. Coast4Life strives to minimize the safety effects of cruising on ecology and maximize the safety of customers, staff and marine life by ensuring ships are well maintained and environmental and safety regulations are exceeded.Preferences:The Board of Directors(BOD) preference is to be profitable and maintain a positive net income in light of upcoming economic downturn. The Gene ral Manager of the Fraser dry dock believes it defines the reputation on BC Coast for Coast4Life safety. Constraints: Cash available on hand is $10,461,000 and an after tax rate of return on 16%.Key Success Factors:Coast4life cruises wants to provide high quality services to the passengers. Refer to the passenger/crew ratio in comparison to industry averages(see Appendix 3-1).Current Financial Analysis(See Appendix 1- Financial Ratios): Ongoing increase to Coast4life’s abilities to meet its short-term obligations. In light of the slight increase of acquiring additional assets, our revenue streams still continues to outmatch this on a steady basis; however, the incremental revenue is declining with each year. Our service offerings grow; generating incremental income each year; nevertheless, Coast Native and Natural Splendour gross margin’s are the same, and each offers different services. Company’s ability to cover interest is growing over the years, and our debt s are declining. Coast4Life’s ability to convert investments into profit has increased. Strategic Options: To cut costs.Option#1: Divesture of the Fraser dry dock Pro(s): Gain on sale of $7,274,000; in favour of BOD preferences and in line of providing the necessary funds to maintain incremental financial targets for upcoming economic downturn(see Appendix 3- 2).Con(s):Against general manager’s preference, as can affect the reputation of the company – the quality of safety regulations the company adheres to. Option #2: Registering Coast4Life’s ships in LiberiaPro(s):Wages&Salaries will be cut by 30%; In favour of BOD’s preference to cut costs – $1,423,530 would be saved by outsourcing from Liberia(see Appendix #3- 3).Con(s): Affect quality of service provided by the crew; be against the mission statement Hiring unskilled labour can potentially increase management expenses(Additional Training). Minor options: For materiality purposes with res pect to revenue sources the following are minor options to generate additional revenue: Option #1: Switching customer target marketsPro(s): By targeting 40-60 year olds, revenue streams will increase by 20%, which could also increase all financial ratios by the same rate and, thus be in line with the vision statement. This target group can afford a more unique  experience given industry annual family income of $78,000. For ages 40 -60 Industry is higher by 8% so we have space to grow and target this age group (see Appendix 3-4).Con(s):By changing target there is no guarantee that revenues will be maintained throughout the downturn in the following fiscal year even with growth in tourism industry in Canada.Option #2: Implement a web-based booking systemPro(s): Can potentially save the company up to $1,341,250 [($2,146,000Ãâ€"10% reduction)/16% after tax rate of return] in travel agent commissions over the life of the company and assist in further increasing the company’s ac tivity ratio Can be paid off in less than 4 months. The payback formula proves that no cash is needed to be spent, as through the incremental savings this investment will be recouped(see Appendix 3-5).Cons:Decrease word of mouth advertising via travel agents. Increase global competition due to the online presence.RecommendationGiven the uncertain future ahead, it is best to be conservative and in line with the current mission statement for company objectives. It would be best that Fraser dock would be divested and web-based booking system would be implemented. This would cut costs and increase revenues via savings that can be earned without risking the reputation of the company or established revenue stream. With this consideration, the company will still have enough resources to maintain its financial position.

Compare and contrast the characters Curley’s Wife from ‘Of Mice and Men’ and Mally from ‘Malachi’s Cove’ Essay

There are lots of contrasts and comparisons between Curley’s Wife from ‘Of Mice and Men’ and Mally from ‘Malachi’s Cove’. ‘Of Mice and Men’ is set in California about 1930s, when the great depression hit the world whereas ‘Malachi’s Cove’ is set in Victorian England. In ‘Of Mice and Men’ Curley’s Wife is described as a â€Å"tramp†, â€Å"bitch†, â€Å"Jail-bait† and a â€Å"rat-trap†. This suggests to the reader that she may have had a bad past or because of her playful personality, whilst Mally is described as a well respected person, the â€Å"people spoke well of Mally because she was so good to her grandfather†. This possibly suggests to the reader that Mally is well known for her very noble personality. Steinbeck and Trollope both use language that shows the characters true personality in this case Curley’s Wife and Mally. Curley’s wife is described as a â€Å"tramp† which could relate to her attitude to prove a point. In ‘Of Mice and Men’ Steinbeck doesn’t give Curley’s Wife a name, this may suggest to the reader that she is not important to the storyline, but you could also argue that Steinbeck left Curley’s Wife without a name because, he wanted to emphise on Curley’s Wife, and to warn the other men, on the ranch to stay away because, she is married to Curley, the bosses son. Alternatively Mally does not have a name in the novel this may suggest that Mally is one of the more important characters in the novel ‘Malachi’s Cove’ In the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ Steinbeck describes Curley’s Wife as â€Å"heavily made up†¦she had full rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes and her hair rolled up in little clusters† whilst Trollope describes Mally as â€Å"Wild-looking, almost unearthly creature with wild-flowing black uncombed hair†. This suggests to the reader that Mally never â€Å"exercises any of those feminine attractions† whereas Curley’s Wife made the effort to dress up even though the clothes she wears might not be suitable for working on the ranch. Curley’s Wife is described ad â€Å"heavily made up† this may be because she is insecure with herself, whereas Mally is described as having a lot of confidence because she doesn’t care what people think about her appearance.

Persuasive Memo Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Persuasive Memo - Research Paper Example On the side of the company, the Affordable Care Act helps the company to attract more employees. These employees will want to apply for jobs in the company, this is because they know that there is good health insurance policy. If the Act is not active, this potential manpower will not be interested in the company. It is also an advantage to the company as the existing manpower will continue to serve in the company. This is because they are aware of the health insurance. Increase in productivity will be experienced by the company. This is the other thing that the company will benefit from the Affordable Care Act. This will be experienced as the number of employees increase in the company. This is because there will be enough manpower in the company. The Act will also reduce the number of absentees. Many of the employees will never want to be absent as they are aware of the Act (Burkhauser, 32). When an employer thinks of changing the company’s system, she should think of the expenses she will have to come across. Changing the system to have part-time employees will cost a lot to the company as the employees will need training before they are effective to their respective jobs. This will raise a marginal cost even if the part-time employees don’t change the system (Burkhauser, 92). In this Act, there is the employers’ mandate. This is a penalty made for those employers who do not abide by these rules. These are employers who have 50 and above employees in their firms and working full-time while they are not having the health insurance. These are also those employers who have the intension if changing their current health insurance system. The employers’ mandate ensures that the existing systems of these companies don’t change. There is a suggestion that a system of pay to play will be introduced so as to have direct taxation on the companies that do not obey this act. This can be done by having a percentage o the payrolls (Faguet,

EU ban on Tobacco advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

EU ban on Tobacco advertising - Essay Example This essay "EU ban on Tobacco advertising" outlines the negative effect of the tobacco products' advertisements and why it was restricted in the EU. The advertising of tobacco products, mostly cigarette smoking by the tobacco industry through a various forms of media including television, newspaper, magazine, direct mail, sale points, billboards, radio and sponsorship is called tobacco advertising. As part of their marketing strategy, tobacco companies use the help of advertisements and promotional schemes to boost sales and earn higher profits. On 7 December 1941 serious restrictions was imposed upon the advertisements of tobbaco. Opposition is against the advertisements trying to portray smoking as safe or as a representation of masculinity. They do not do any good except for giving misleading claims and leaving a bad impact on the young and pure minds of teenagers and youth. Pasting advertising posters and brochures along racing tracks, stadiums and rail tracks was outlawed as it give a vast exposure of this unhealthy product. Cooperation and support of anti-tobacco activists and NGO workers was highly encouraged. Advertising done through loudspeakers in stadiums during games and mail (postage stamps) was also banned. Companies use such advertising to create brand loyalty and brand image to consumers so that they choose their brand of cigarette amongst others available. Tobacco companies apportion principally large budgets for their advertising campaigns and strategies also to seek quick responses and to stimulate demand over a longer period of time. The Federal Trade Commission claimed that cigarette manufacturers spent $8.24 billion on advertising and publicity in 1999 which was the highest amount ever at that time. Later in 2005, the amount rose to $13.11. The increase, despite restrictions on the advertising in most countries, was an effort to target younger audiences mostly teenagers who get influenced easily by promotional offers and giveaways such as Zippos, ashtrays and lighters. Casey Stoner: Australia's new Marlboro Man He has become a role model to kids worldwide who see him (Sydney Telegraph picture) racing in his bike, his whole outlook endorsing a tobacco brand Tobacco companies bribe and give expensive prizes to retailers who stock cigarettes and cigars. The European Union have precised that the advertising of tobacco should not be allowed. The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 member states, located in Europe that have agreed to act collectively on a standardised system of laws and a wide range of issues rather than nationally. Certain legal requirements are enforced upon the packaging of tobacco cigarettes by some countries. For example in the countries of the European Union, cigarette packs must have a label notifying the health hazards associated with smoking. One of the ways was inserting cards into the packet of cigarette giving an illustration of how to quit smoking. An example of tobacco packaging carrying health warnings is shown below: For the benefit of peoples of EU, the Commission is stressing theentry into force of the EU tobacco advertising ban and to start its action, initiated three years ago. The EU directive of 2003 has a wide ban on tobacco advertising in all forms of the print media, on radio and over the more technologically advanced medium, the internet. It also prohibits tobacco sponsorship of cross-border cultural and sporting events notably Formula One racing and the European Football Championships. Most EU countries, except for Germany,have either passed the necessary laws or are in the course of

Graham T. Allison Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Graham T. Allison - Research Paper Example national security and defense policy with a special interest in terrorism. He was an assistant secretary of defense in the first Clinton Administration. As director of BCSIA, Dr. Allison has assembled a team of more than two dozen leading scholars and practitioners of national security to analyze terrorism in its multiple dimensions†2. He catapulted to fame from the books that he wrote all involving foreign policy decision making, terrorism, and other conceptual models that became bestsellers. Contributions In the field of public management, Lynn (2001) cited the contention of Allision in a seminal article that emphasized, ‘The effort to develop public management as a field of knowledge should start from problems faced by practicing public managers’3 .From among his notable books were: his first book, the â€Å"Essence ofDecision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (1971), was released in anupdated and revised second edition (1999) and ranks among the all-time be stsellerswith more than 450,000 copies in print. His latest book, Nuclear Terrorism:The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe, is now in its third printing and wasselected by the New York Times as oneof the ‘100 most notable books of 2004’†4.The three models of decision-making were deemed to be based on different levels of analysis. The Rational Actor or Unitary Government model assumed that the presence of the following factors: â€Å"unitary optimizing actor; government as a black box; government processes information according to the rules of optimizing rational action; complete information;and the internal structure of decision-making are based on rationality†5. The Organizational Process Model takes into perspectives the goals of the organization to be well defined and established; the choices are restricted on SOPs; where mission statements are explicitly stated and strategies and policies are directed towards the defined mission; and activities are depend ent on the resources and budget of the organization. Finally, the Governmental Politics Model, also called bureaucratic politics or government bargaining model, identified assumptions that focused on key individual decision makers as the unit of analysis; consider both formal and informal networks of power and communication as contributory and influential in decision-making; and where government action presupposed political bargaining process has been undertaken by various key players; to name a few. The different books that have contributed to expanding the knowledge of practitioners in the field of public management and foreign policy decision making are as follows: Avoiding Nuclear Anarchy; Bureaucratic Politics; Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis; Essence of Decision; Fateful Visions; Remaking foreign policy; Windows of Opportunity and the latest, Nuclear Terrorism:The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe6 . The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs John F. Kennedy School of Government (BCSIA) (2004) has acknowledged the recognition and awards attributted to Allison as follows: â€Å"He served as Special Advisor to the Secretary of Defense under President Reagan and as Assistant Secretary of Defense in the first Clinton Administration, during which Dr. Allison received the Defense Department's highest civilian award, the Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, for "reshaping relations

Rising unemployment does not stops the advance of globalisation Essay

Rising unemployment does not stops the advance of globalisation - Essay Example According to Goyal (2006), globalization refers to the integration of the world’s economies through trade, financial flows, and mutual exchanges related to both technology and knowledge. Moreover, it entails free inter- country movement of labour, while, in the developing countries, it entails providing a chance for foreign direct investment through the provision of facilities to foster investment in different economic activities. Prasad, Rogoff, Wei and Kose (2003) contend that globalization has assisted the developing countries to manage the output and consumption volatility in their countries. Therefore, importance of having a diversified global finance offers a chance of offloading their income risk in the world market to develop countries, and the developing counties benefit from international consumption risk sharing, whereby they sell off a stake of domestic output to gain returns from the global output. Unemployment is defined as the situation when people are facing crisis in job opportunities due to the unpredictable nature of economy. This happens despite the fact that people have education background and with eligibility for job they remain being unemployed. There are various types of unemployment, which are differing with the causes in the economy. These different types of unemployment have different effects on people in an economy. Alteration in demand for these goods and services is caused by everyday launching of new products in any particular market; thus, it creates opportunities in certain areas and in the same way reduces job opportunities in other places. The reemployment can only be possible if the workers relocate to other places where there are opportunities and this facilitates globalisation. Unemployment also occurs due to capital-labour substitution, which causes a reduction in demand for labour, and it can also be caused by long run decline in demand in the indust ry; thus, the unemployment increases due to a mismatch between skills and the requirements of the job vacant. Globalization relates to technology, whereby it facilitates the acquisition of technology especially in developing countries. According to UNDP (2007), the significance of technological advancement has a positive influence on the economic growth of developing counties through the increase of productivity of land, labour, capital, reduction of cost of production and improving the quality of outputs. Globalization also offers a chance for developing countries to be internationally competitive depending on the level of technological advancement. In fact, this contributes substantially to the export development and domestic production in the local markets, and it also leads to trade liberalization. However, technological advancement may cause unemployment among developing countries fostered by the globalization, and this becomes a vital element for competitiveness and economic v iability. Increasing unemployment among developing countries has been promoting globalization since people seek employment in other countries leading to interactions that promote globalization. On the other hand, globalization to the developing countries relates to international financing of countercyclical safety net programs that are established in the market economies affected by the crises of global liquidity (Birdsall, 1999). There is a condition that is set out to make the financing appropriate, and it entails solid records of substantial fiscal policy in the countries that are beneficiaries. It also focuses on the political capacity that equates to programs that are free from corruption, hence unwinding them during the crisis and long-run capacity for servicing the resultant external debt. Apparently, all this initiatives are made with a motive of dealing with

Corporate Structures and Governance Arrangements Coursework

Corporate Structures and Governance Arrangements - Coursework Example In the pre-bureaucratic corporate structure, there is a centralized structure with the role of strategic decision making left to the top management leaders, which is the best for solving very simple problems. This system is very common among the small corporate and mostly communication is done on one-on-one basis. Though, it lacks a fundamental role, that is, standardization of roles and responsibility, the consequences of this structure on managerial accountability is that it helps the strategic director to influence and control development and growth of the corporate organization2. How Appointment Rights and Removal Rights Differ and Their Consequences Having looked at the Hampel Report, one comes to consensus that corporate structures and governance arrangement vary from one country, an individual can use the same rights differ across the jurisdiction. The main explanation for this is that the structure of a particular and how it is governed would define how decisions and appointm ent rights come about in that particular corporation and as a result each decision comes about with its consequences3. It is how rights are allocated that would ensure that the corporation gives quality performance. For example, in a corporate structure where decision rights and appointments are left in the hands of the shareholders, there is a common tendency that the organisation would experience some positive effects in its operations. That is, the shareholders are at times driven by the desire to reap the highest revenues and profits from the company4. Therefore, it would make sure the appointment and removal of directors from the corporation is done in a transparent way and the appointments done based on merit. In countries where decision making and appointment rights are left to the chief executive officer because he/she has broader business knowledge than the shareholders. The main argument for the proponents of this structure is that the chief executive officer knows how eff ective the mangers are in their daily business operations. In fact, they know when and how to make strategic decisions. However, the consequences of this structure are that it takes a lot of time to transfer certain decision making information to the rest of the organisation. It is also tedious to make all the decisions by oneself, and in case of the appointment and dismissal of directors, then one can consider the action taken to be personal and bias, and this can bring about some unnecessary, tension, conflict and tension in the organisation5. Another different structure is that which foresees all the decisions and appointment rights based on the management, especially if the corporation is a family enterprise. This method is always considered cheaper in terms of experts/employees hiring costs. However, this structure and governance arrangement has its own demerits. Despite the savings on expenditure, decision making in this case is guided more by emotions and this out rightly aff ects the corporation negatively6. It also seeks to over centralize powers and rights to make decisions to the family members, this would mean that there might be lack of relevant information flowing down to other stakeholders of the corporation. However, it is important to note that decision rights and appointments have their own effects. Therefore, one should not be

Journal 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Journal 5 - Essay Example 2. My reaction about the distance activity was good in some distance. I mean this for personal distance and intimate distance because my partner was close to me and I could hear him. However, in other distances, public distance and social distance, I couldnt hear him very well because other students were talking too loud.  My comfortable distance was intimate distance and uncomfortable distance was public distance. 3. I learned a lot about myself and also about my team in the life highlights. For my life, the main event was when I graduated from my university. My team life highlights were different one of my team member’s life highlight was when he was in Miami. The other group member had her life highlight working with kids in a school. For the Johari window, I learned that it consists of four parts: open free area, blind area, hidden area, and unknown area.  For the team I learned some interesting things about them that I did not know before. Likewise, my teammates also got to learn about me some more. 4. For the group work together on the case study, we broke it down into smaller individual pieces so it was more manageable for each of us. Because the three of us each had to work on our own part, we had to communicate some extra with each other to see if everything was still on schedule. For the training presentation, we came up with some ideas like the lock of cooperation and communication among teams and how these problems can be fixed. This would be really helpful to everyone else because these types of issues arise in every group at some stage. 5. Team building exercises can be great to do both for morale and gaining trust among each group member. Also, promoting diversity leads to a better working experience because each member can contribute from a vastly different point of view. For my future career, I will be able to take this

Cultural Behaviour in the Workplace Research Paper

Cultural Behaviour in the Workplace - Research Paper Example According to Condon & Yousef (1975), people skills and intercultural communication competence contribute to successful cross-cultural business interactions. Culture determines the nature of the business interaction of individuals. Cross-cultural business interactions happen between different countries with distinct political, economic, and cultural backgrounds. For economic development, different countries and international companies collaborate to contribute positively to the global economy. However, cultural intolerance is a major cause of conflicts and misunderstandings experienced in the world today (Ayoko 2007). It is difficult for people of different cultures to understand each other since they are cultured to do things in a specific manner. Sebenius (2002) notes that this problem faces most companies engaged in cross-border business. Therefore, there is the need for all companies to adopt an international global perspective of conducting business.   This study based on the a ssumption that culture is important in determining business interactions in the workplace. Basing on the challenges experienced by employees, this study will answer the question; how does culture influence business interactions of Americans, Chinese, and Russians. This will also develop propositions for addressing challenges that arise in a multicultural workplace. The study findings will offer guidance on how to ensure effective business communication with Russians, Chinese, and Americans. The study setting is the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry. This United Arab Emirates Company serves a major purpose of organizing economic life and ensuring the prosperity of trade in the region. This includes making proposals for economic projects, engagement in legislation dealing with industrial and economic affairs, and launching opportunities for investment (SharjsaCityGuide n.d). The nature of this company allows for interactions with companies from different parts of the world, in or der to work jointly on projects or negotiate on business deals. During such cross-cultural communication, cultural differences lead to considerable challenges. The participants in this study are employees of this company, who have experience working with foreign delegates, specifically, Russian, American, and Chinese. These will share their experiences and major challenges in their dealings with the foreign delegates. Methodology This study aims at gathering information concerning the experiences of the employees of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry in dealing with delegates of Russian, American, and Chinese origins. The experiences of participants reflect their attitudes toward the foreign delegates, therefore, this study explores subjective data. Therefore, in order to achieve the aims of this study, a qualitative approach will be employed, as this is concerned with subjectivity understanding.

Varying Activity Preferences Essay Example for Free

Varying Activity Preferences Essay I have found that a persons culture has an impact on which physical activities individuals participate in to stay healthy. There is a very well known difference in the types of activities that everyone participates in, when culture is taken into account. It has a significant effect on what activities individual’s prefer. I interviewed three people about what kind of background they have, there age, and activities they do to stay in shape to prove it. The first person I interviewed was German Glosslin a 37 year old born and raised Canadian. Harris says I love the speed of the sport. Not just of the players, but how fast things change. I realized that you have to be constantly on your toes. Also, unlike like basketball, football and soccer, I find hockey requires abilities and skills. Theres no other sport that you have to skate or use a stick. Everyone is born with the natural ability to throw or kick, but hockey skills are learned. He also says that hockey is very popular in Canada. He plays whenever he gets the chance. The next person I interviewed is Jesus Espendosa a 17 year old high school senior, told me why he loved soccer so much, â€Å"soccer is actually a lot of fun. You have more planning and you don’t get hurt as much as you think. In fact you have to be more flexible then powerful to play the game. † I asked him if he thought that his heritage liked football more than other sports and he said, â€Å"Yes, because it was the only sport we could really play when we lived in Mexico, all my friends there play it too. Jesus is very active, and has participated in many soccer games. My last interview was with Drake Half. He is a 19 year old American high school graduate. He loves American football. He actually wants to play professionally someday. He said he doesn’t stop talking or thinking about football ever. American Football is very popular here in the U. S. Drake says â€Å"American Football is the best sport ever! † I dream of playing for the Dallas Cowboys someday.

The Development Of British Horror Films Film Studies Essay

The Development Of British Horror Films Film Studies Essay One aspect of the argument is that British horror developed around certain themes and key moments, the effect of imported horror will also be considered, in light of industrial cultural and social elements. It will also argue that the amount of development that took place did not develop or evolve enough to enable the genre to survive the 1970s foreign onslaught. The main thrust of the essay will consider the cultural and social background, including cinema audience and some industrial aspects. These are often linked as fuller employment generally leads to more disposable income for leisure purposes. Horror films are exploitation movies made for commercial gain not artistic endeavour, therefore winning formulae are often milked dry and copied by others . Prior to the advent of television, video tape, DVDs and more recently digital downloads, which provide an additional source of income, the product was made to be watched once and (discounting possible re-runs on minor circuits, or as part of double bills) expected to make its returns on the first release, and therefore needed to appeal to the target audience necessitating constant development and evolution. The investigation took the form of viewing cinematic texts to determine central themes in light of period conventions and audience. Various literate texts were also consulted to review the validity of the conclusions reached . It became apparent during the investigation that a key factor of British horror was its tendency towards being insular and local, unlike American and European horror which tended to lay great swathes of population and/or country to waste. A common element of the genre involved innocents, generally outsiders, being drawn into, or stumbling upon, a web of deceit, corruption and exploitation. This local theme was also a financial consideration, as it enabled production costs to be controlled and kept to a minimum as British horror was generally produced by cost conscious independent companies or studios. In a similar vein to the interpretation of the horror film, assessing the development of horror is by nature quite personal as aptly summarised by Dilys Powell: one mans frisson is another mans guffaw . Therefore, in order to minimise bias a large cross section of texts were consulted in order to present a balanced view . Horror has changed over the years as alien invaders, mad scientists and spectral creatures, challenging to both the individual and society, have gradually been superseded by killers and sadistic scientists, both often psychotic. British horror has classic attributes such as blood, death, the afterlife, a fear of the unknown and tends to be constructed around themes of Science-fiction, Gothic, Occult, Psychological, Historical / Mythological, or Medical . These attributes, combined with a local, claustrophobic, insular setting usually manifest as innocents being drawn into danger in a variety of imaginative ways, such as: location, being drawn into cultic rituals, or falling prey to outside influence . With the exception of psychological horror, the evil in the above is generally personified and usually recognisable. This is not normally the case with psychological horror, which often concerns the evil within where a normal facade hides a murderous psychotic nature. The 1950s saw increasing prosperity and the evolution of a youth culture with its own music, meeting places, high employment and disposable income along with a rebellious streak that challenged authority. This new youth culture saw the emergence of movements such as Beatniks and Teddy Boys, the latter associated with violence and racism, seen as being commensurate with the rising levels of upheaval in 1950s society . There were definitive attitudes to gender and roles, with men being seen as brave and women as helpless, this attitude would prevail until well into the 1970s. Increasing cinema admission prices, gritty realistic films and horror, which played on the new X certificate introduced in 1951, did not make for family viewing and consequently sounded the death toll for the family cinema outing. This was partially responsible for instigating the decline in cinema attendance that would continue in succeeding decades . This change in film production values made television an acceptable alternative to the older generation who stayed at home, happily sacrificing the shared audience experience of cinema viewing. They were replaced by the younger, more rebellious audience that demanded different films, a pattern that is still prevalent today. The British film industry struggled for finance, leading to a reliance on American backers who were tempted by lower production costs, funding and allowances put in place by the British government to try and bolster the ailing industry . In order to secure some of this finance many companies entered into joint productions with other parties, e.g. Hammer and Robert Lippert who distributed Hammers films in America. A requirement of this type of deal was often the use of known, though fading, American actors in lead roles to generate American interest. The V2 rocket and the atom bomb heralded the space and nuclear age, resulting in a welter of science fiction films. These involved alien invasions or creatures created by exposure to or feeding on radiation which supplanted the classic creatures of Americas first horror cycle which had begun with Dracula (1931) but had ran its course by the end of the 1940s. British production companies were not slow to jump on what they saw as a lucrative, potentially low cost, bandwagon. Hammer entered the fray with a mix of science fiction and gothic elements in The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) , set against the stark, scarred landscape of WWII and maintaining its local feel. This also commented on the changing nature of society as it emerged from the privations and horrors of war during the prosperous 1950s. The production was in line with their safe bet policy , on release it was vilified by the critics but loved by the audience. Audience surveys revealed that the horror element was responsible for the films success which resulted in Hammer embarking on their very successful gothic horrors, beginning with The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Dracula (1958) which contained amorality, graphic violence and gore in glorious colour assuaging the audiences senses within the boundaries of prevailing censorship. Colour enabled them to dispense with the moody shadowy world of monochrome horrors, which rather than the crafted tension to assault the audiences imagination with unseen horror. This allowed more direct depictions of violence, gore and smouldering sexuality requiring little imagination and virtually dispensing with the need to spend time on characterisations. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) heralded a new period in the history of horror that was not fully realised until well into the 1960s, as it combined dangerous science with blood, gore and sex. Apart from disregarding the proper order of things by usurping God and indulging in immoral activities it also replaced the more familiar happy restoration of order with death, sowing seeds of doubt that the evil had truly been eradicated. Thus was born the quintessentially British brand of gothic artificial horror, set in an ambiguous somewhat mythological past, but still incorporating the brave men and helpless women gender definitions of the decade and the dominance of the male. This was a monumental step in the development of British horror as it pushed the boundaries of censorship, providing the cinema audience with a new viewing experience that was depicted with the deadly seriousness which would become a trademark of many British horrors. These first steps, resulting in some two decades of British domination of horror, were quite a gamble as major Cinema chains such as Rank and ABC were reluctant to screen British horror, or X, films until 1960 and 1956 respectively confining their release to the more minor circuits. A further gamble involved finance and co-production as Hammer stood their ground in refusing to cast American actors in the lead roles, much to the consternation of their American partners . This re-definition of horror encouraged other producers including Amicus, AIP (American International Pictures), Anglo Amalgamated, Tigon and Tyburn to jump on the bandwagon Hammer had set rolling resulting in British horror rampaging through national and international Cinema until the mid-1970s. This depiction of horror was so new that there was no template to work to, it would generally fall to Hammer to develop it by trial and error with others following their lead. This was a double edged sword as in the early days it enabled British horror to steal a march on world horror but by the late 1960s the lack of further development on Hammers part for various reasons, especially finance, would eventually result in a stale and outdated commodity that did not suit the audience. The portrayal of science in the 1930s and 1940s was populated with overzealous, totally committed, scientists whose work to benefit man had unfortunate side effects. By the 1950s and beyond the image of science had become more sinister and threatening as the power of mass destruction and side effects, which could result in mutants and monsters, invaded public consciousness. The mystique and charm of the earlier mad scientists was rapidly being replaced by the cold, calculating, although often charming, scientists who would stop at nothing to achieve their goal. Horror in the late 1950s and early 1960s was not all gothic. Regal/Triads The Flesh and the Fiends (1958) journeyed into medical horror while Columbia/Sabres Night of The Demon (aka Curse of The Demon) (1957) conformed more to the prevailing moral standards along with a more sedate blend of occult and psychological horror combined with a reserved approach to violence and sex. This was similar to the subtle RKO horrors that had provided a counterpoint to Universals contemporary gothic, providing an alternative to gothic horror. Psychological horror such as Insignias Cat Girl (1957) was also beginning to make its presence felt, but it would not become more prevalent until the 1960s, promoted in part by censorship issues and the success of Shamleys Psycho (1960). Even considering the gore, violence, sexuality, eventual nudity and lesbianism British horror generally operated within a moral framework, focusing on the struggle between the spirit and the flesh, science and superstition, good and evil and using symbols of Christian belief, crucifixes and bibles, as weapons rather than contemplation and prayer until its demise in the 1970s. The late 1950s and 1960s would see the look of the inhabitants of 1930s and 1940s horror such as vampires, werewolves, zombies and psychotic scientists updated for the modern audience. The 1960s saw the advent of protest marches, the seeds of Womens Liberation, the Hippie movements free love and living culture all of which were seen as challenges authority . Society saw violence on the increase as the mods and rockers indulged in pitched battles at coastal resorts and the Skinhead and National Front doctrines and practices of racist violence. The cinema audience was also changing as the first phase of the baby boomers who, like the previous young generation had their own music, high levels of employment and disposable income joined their ranks. As with the previous decade this new section of the audience expected different types of film more in line with their standards and values. British film finance, along with the rest of the entertainment industry, would experience another boom and bust decade. In the case of film this would be closely linked with American finance, which reached an estimated 90% by 1967 . Americas determination to dominate the film industry and maximise profits led to them reducing the quantity of output to finance blockbusters, which would ultimately prove detrimental to their industry. This enabled British companies to fill a niche as this reduction in output resulted in a shortage of product for the cinema, leaving the door open for the independent producer. This fact was not lost on British based companies such as Anglo Amalgamated and Independent Artists who, as AIP had been doing in America since the 1950s, put their house in order to fill the gap in horror production which could, to a large extent, be accomplished with low budget productions. The closing of the 1950s and the dawning of the 1960s saw developments in sadistic violence with offerings such as Herman Cohens Horrors of The Black Museum (1959) which, along with Anglo Amalgamateds Circus of Horrors (1960) and Peeping Tom (1960) , formed a trilogy often termed sadian, but more properly Selwynian , movies. The first of these updated Grand Guingol theatre with its catalogue of gruesome crimes while the second turned to medical horror with a sadistic, megalomaniac plastic surgeon murdering his creations when they challenged his authority. Unlike the first two which can be seen as more violent takes on conventional themes the third film was a new development that centre staged the psychotic killer, the human monster hiding behind a faà §ade of normality. This was a comment on the paranoid fear of communism, perceived as the enemy within that had been growing since the mid-1940s. The films contemporary setting would lead to it being vilified by critic and public alike, with a general reaction of repulsion and disgust. Not only did it reflect the violence that society was more aware of due to news reports and the exposure of the seedy world of Soho (tolerated but swept under the carpet) it also portrayed the taboo subject of mental instability in the community. Unlike other movies it struc k home as its style implicated the audience in the voyeuristic pleasure that was derived by the killer, making them feel a part of the crime. This was not the unreal, detached, gothic horror they were used to viewing, this was more realistic and the vitriolic reaction that ensued would lead to the censor taking a harsh stand for the next four years . This tightening of censorship would in effect almost bring the development of horror to a halt from which it would never fully recover. There is not much doubt that had this not been the case it would have rightly assumed the mantle of father of the slasher/stalk and slash movie, bestowed on Psycho (1960), that would come to dominate 1970s American horror. The censors stand, combined with Psychos (1960) success, saw many production companies turn to developing the low budget psychological horror such as Hammers Maniac (1963) concerning a psychotic killer and Compton/Teklis Repulsion (1965) which traced a womans descent into madness culminating in violence. Despite this Hammer still continued to try and develop the horror theme by exploring new ideas such as sadistic violence in The Stranglers of Bombay (1960), veiled lesbianism in The Brides of Dracula (1960), Voodoo in The Plague of The Zombies (1965) and science fiction with The Damned (1963). Apart from the lesbian theme, which they would not re-visit until the 1970s, they did not pursue these ideas any further. This may have been for several reasons but it coincided with a time that they were concentrating more on their psychological horrors which were likely to be more lucrative. In doing this they missed out on future survival opportunities as the discarded themes eventually gained prominence in the late 1960s into the 1970s. They did challenge the accepted 1950s gender convention in The Gorgon (1964) giving a nod of recognition to Womens Lib by making a strong woman the central character (and the monster), something they would not repeat until the 1970s, beginning with Countess Dracula (1970) but that Tigon would pursue with The Blood Beast Terror (1968) albeit not with great commercial success. In general there was a lack of development due to lack of audience appeal as demonstrated by the commercial failure of Danzigers The Tell Tale Heart (1960). This was an attempt to enter Edgar Allen Poe territory and a challenge to the extremely cost conscious AIP who had cornered the Poe market in America. AIP in turn ventured into Britain in 1965 to continue their successful Poe series with a story of obsession / possession in The Tomb of Ligeia (1965) and also take excursions into horror themes that had been experimented with by British companies such as Voodoo in The Oblong Box (1969) and medical horror in Scream and Scream Again (1969), the latter being a joint production with Amicus. 1964 saw Amicus enter the frame who, with the exception of single features like The Deadly Bees (1966), concentrated more on the portmanteau format. This enabled them to incorporate several themes within a single framework, linked by a central thread, which would have a wider audience appeal. Their tongue in cheek approach and contemporary settings were very different to the period horrors of the time, allowing them in effect to incorporate more gore, so much so that they stole a march on Hammer as Dr. Terrors House of Horrors (1965) got a release on the horror shy ABC circuit. Apart from The Skull (1965) which chillingly charted possession and a descent into madness, they also incorporated Voodoo elements in the majority of their portmanteaus. Amicus did not really add to the genres development, as much of their material was taken from the American EC comics and partially Anglicised for the British audience. A further development was the depiction of some parts of societys willingness to accept extreme violence, both to subdue strong women to mens will and also as an acceptable means of restoring order. This was the subject of Tigons Witchfinder General (1968) which also challenged the current moral framework of British horror as the defeat of evil did not produce a clear winner and only resulted in madness. This is an important moment in horror as good does not really triumph, an idea that would re-surface in George Romeros horrors. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw British horror under attack from a resurgence of American horror which would eventually come to dominate the market. George Romeros Night of The Living Dead (1968) took the slow moving, brainless zombies of American Securities White Zombie (1932) and the British Plague of the Zombies (1965) endowing them with more fluid movement and a hunting instinct with a craving for human flesh. Just as Hammers The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Dracula (1958) had redefined horror in the 1950s he laid the seeds of a new type of horror, where the line between human and monster became blurred as infected humans themselves became the monster. More chillingly, these zombies were not Voodoo creations, but victims of an unseen infection that could spread uncontrolled and had no motive of any sort. The true horror, the disease, cannot be reasoned with or eradicated and was not personified as was the case with gothic horror. This change in American horror was not taken on board by the British producers, who were probably under the opinion that they were almost unassailable and were happy to rely on the old guard. Where this was not possible they came to expect too much of younger talent that they had to turn to in order to minimise costs, who had not been given the guidance, nurturing and development it needed. Not only would they struggle with their basic product, but more importantly they were no longer a source of new ideas, consequently resulting in their loss of audience. The British studios would carry on remaking the same scenario over and over again either little realising or refusing to accept the fact that the audience found it old fashioned and stale. This was something that would really come home to roost as the end of the Hays code in 1969 gave American producers the freedom to depict things and scenarios that had previously been the province of British and European producers meaning that Am erican money could be invested in their own horror productions. The 1970s saw great changes in the social and economic sense. Britains 1960s sexual revolution accelerated as women demanded more and more equality and sexual satisfaction via the Womens Liberation Movement. Continuing aspects of the hippies freedom culture were counteracted in part by the Punk Rock movement of the late 1970s. The full employment enjoyed in the 1950s and 1960s began to disappear as 1971 saw 1 million unemployed which, combined with price rises and higher inflation, would culminate in industrial unrest . This resulted in less disposable income for leisure, which became a factor in the further decline of cinema audiences. Another major factor of the decline was the lack of investment in cinemas fabric, which had become shabby and undermined the quality viewing experience that the audience had come to expect along with cinema closures . Financial problems once more plagued the British Film Industry and the boom and bust pattern of the early 1970s was similar to that of the 1960s. By the early 1970s American studios had withdrawn the majority of their finance to try and prop up their own ailing film industry, the aftermath of their blockbuster phase. The period following the release of The Exorcist (1973), which had reinvigorated the general publics interest in horror, proved difficult for British Horror. It struggled as it failed to adapt to the mix of innovative special effects and brutal violence of films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974).More importantly, as in The Night of The Living Dead (1968), this horror was contemporary not gothic, which had formed the backbone of British horror. The British horror industry reacted by fragmenting in many directions instead of developing their own generic product. They attempted, generally unsuccessfully, to ape the American satanic worship / possession based output, usually with low budget offerings such as Unicapital/Ranks I Dont Want to Be Born (1975) and Monumentals Satans Slave (1976) and some bigger budgeted affairs like Hammer/ Terra-Filmkunsts To the Devil a Daughter (1976). Although the latter incorporated the current satanic vogue it sacrificed its quintessential British style and placed an American actor in a lead role, a last gasp attempt that could only result in box office failure. British horror would not learn the necessary adaptation techniques until a younger breed of filmmaker emerged in the 1980s and beyond. By the mid to late 1970s the popularity of British horror was in decline which, to a large extent, was the fault of the production companies. Instead of trying to develop the more traditional forms of British horror to suit the changing, diminishing audience they, as in the 1960s, basically sat back on their laurels. There were some half-hearted attempts to transplant Dracula in the modern world as with Hammer/Warners Dracula AD72 (1972) but all it did was confine him to a gothic setting in a modern world that was more related to the previous decade in language and style. Hammer had become a shadow of itself, desperately trying to engineer the survival of its particular brand of gothic horror by spicing it up even more with sex and violence. Amicus was no different as they found that their more tongue in cheek approach was not compatible with the developing product of possession, gory, psychotic and often sadistic violence, sex and nudity. This enabled smaller companies such as Benmar and K-L Productions to come to the fore with a fresh approach ranging from zombie bikers in Psychomania (1972) to cannibalistic descendants in Death Line (aka Raw Meat) (1972). Even the return to science-fiction with TCF/Brandywines Alien (1979), which harked back to the Quatermass series of the 1950s with its mix of gothic type settings and horror, was short lived and was not really picked up as providing the shot in the arm or development lifeline that British horror desperately needed at the time. The relaxation of censorship and the desperate fight for finance and box office returns pulled the horror film towards sexploitation with films like Noteworthys Horror Hospital (1973), and the incorporation of more nudity and graphic violence in Gothic based fare of Hammer/AIPs The Vampire Lovers (1970), the first of the Karnstein Trilogy which played on the viewer being attracted to the lesbian act in a voyeuristic way. The lesbian vampire not only intruded on society, with her unnatural desires capable of undermining its authority, but also intruded into male dominated sexual territory as the erotic act of drawing blood emphasised what society deemed an unnatural sexual, non-procreative, pleasurable practice, further compounded by it depleting the victims body of blood, possibly affecting menstruation and a direct challenge to human reproduction. The theme was continued with Essay/Fox-Ranks Vampyres (1974) with the added twist that the lesbian couple used a bisexual relationship to satisfy some of their desires and need for nourishment. This formed a part of the 1970s movement that saw female sexuality become more aggressive as sex driven vampires and witches which, coupled with other offerings of invasion, bodily or otherwise, by supernatural beings or alien life-forms posed a threat to the secular world and highlighted what was being viewed by many as the decline of the males dominant role in society. It is worth noting that 1970s America saw pornographic films like Deep Throat (1972) make the transition from the adult into main stream, a further indication of the changing tastes of the cinema audience and giving a nod to the feminist movement as it showed a woman willing to take charge in satisfying her needs, rather than be a pawn to mens desires. More importantly the relaxation of censorship opened the door for the adult soft core pornography and sexploitation producers such as Pete Walker , Antony Balch and Tony Tenser to enter mainstream horror. They brought their extensive experience of making films on shoestring budgets and distribution networks to bear. They were happy to provide offerings of sadism and sex in films like Heritages The House of Whipcord (1974), which commented on societys view that girls who were just out for a good time should reap just punishment. They attacked established religion by having a murdering, non-celibate, Roman Catholic priest in The House of Mortal Sin (aka The Confessional) (1975). They also offered large doses of sex and horror in a combination of schlock and art-house style and stomach churning sadism in productions like The Secret of Sex (aka Bizarre) (1970) and mad surgeon horror, tinged with a perverse sexual desire in Horror Hospital (1973) generally appealing to an audience that had, or would, embrace the sexploitation market. Although operating in the blood soaked and grotty end of the market with their mix of sex and violence, which presaged the future American domination of the market, that had been so frowned upon by the censor in the 1950s, 1960s and part of the 1970s, they toyed with acc epted scenarios and added more chills in contemporary settings. It was not all sex and gore as Tyburn desperately tried to return to the gothic style that had once been a successful mainstay of British horror. Although they opted for higher budgets with films like The Ghoul (1975) and The Legend of the Werewolf (1976) they were doomed to box office failure, as they could not generate audience interest considering the prevailing contemporary horror climate with their efforts almost destroying the company. Films from the more recognised horror producers such as AIP and Hammer were laced with more sex and violence as they, like the sexploitation producers, challenged peoples beliefs as well as commenting on societys attitude that almost anything goes in the 1970s, especially in the search for truth or the restoration of order. This determination to Americanise, or even orientalise British horror as with Hammer/Shaws Kung Fu based The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974) robbed it of its quintessentially British touch, often resulting in pleasing neither one market nor the other. By the late 1970s the torrent of early independent 1970s horror, that had one eye firmly focussed on the American market, had slowed to a trickle eventually becoming a downward spiral that by the 1980s would prove almost terminal and it was becoming crystal clear that British horror would never again see the heady dominating days of the 1950s and 1960s. From 1978 onwards the horror film had moved on again as Gothic had had its day, partially the fault of the producers as their sequels which were remakes of the original offered little re-imagination, being replaced by the stalk and slash movie in the form of Halloween (1978) and Friday 13th (1980) to satisfy audience requirement for more gore and psychotic, senseless violence. The films of the 1970s had really become a combination of sex and violence which also set out to challenge the accepted sanctity religious beliefs as in Tigon/Chiltons Blood On Satans Claw (aka The Devils Skin) (1970) where the leader of the coven tries to seduce the local priest and also included a violent, graphic rape scene. This theme of gratuitous nudity, sex and violence would be a factor in many British horror films of the 1970s, a good demonstration of this gratuity are the opening sequences of AIPs Cry of the Banshee (1970) and in challenging conventional beliefs British Lions The Wicker Man (1973) wit h its survival of strong pagan beliefs involving animal and human sacrifice being depicted as the only course of action due to the failure of science. It can be seen above that the changes in the 1950s and 1970s were the most influential in British horror development. The 1950s saw the emergence of productions that not only pleased the audience but in doing so pushed against the existing boundaries of censorship and making full use of the adults only X certificate introduced by the BBFC in 1951. There is no doubt that this would have continued into the 1960s but for two crucial events. The first being the vitriolic reception to Peeping Tom (1960) which put the censor on the back foot, in a harsh clampdown until 1964. The other was the success of Psycho (1960) which had a two-fold effect. Firstly it was seen as the father of the slasher movie, which would gain prominence in the 1970s, secondly it provided a life line to British producers, who were having difficulties with finance and the censor in the early part of the decade, enabling them to realise revenue by developing their low budget psychological thrillers, which would be made in monochrome to reduce the effect of gore and be more acceptable to the censor. It also emerged that the development and production of British horror was subject Boom Bust cycles which occurred in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s due to their dependence on foreign investment. Also there was a continuously changing and declining, due to the proffered viewing experience and lack of investment in cinema fabric, audience that by the 1970s it had failed to evolve with. The most costly event in the development of British horror was its failure to monitor and adapt to changing audiences and looking to the future by developing new talent during the good times to enable them to keep up with changing trends. Many of the producers stuck with the old guard and virtually remaking the same film again and again with little imagination and the odd tweak to their characters behaviour, mistakenly believing that drenching it in more violence, nudity, sex and lesbianism would save the day. Even these embellishments could not hide the same old formula from the audience. They had not realised that they were heading towards times of the rejection of religious beliefs and acts of faith. The religious symbols from the 1950s-1970s defe

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Essay -- microchip radio waves i

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Radio frequency identification, or RFID, is a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify people or objects. There are several methods of identification, but the most common is to store a serial number that identifies a person or object, and perhaps other information, on a microchip that is attached to an antenna (the chip and the antenna together are called an RFID transponder or an RFID tag). The antenna enables the chip to transmit the identification information to a reader. The reader converts the radio waves reflected back from the RFID tag into digital information that can then be passed on to computers that can make use of it. RFID is a better technology than bar codes in many ways. The two are different technologies and have different applications, which sometimes overlap. The big difference between the two is bar codes are line-of-sight technology. That is, a scanner has to "see" the bar code to read it, which means people usually have to orient the bar code towards a scanner for it to be read. Radio frequency identification, by contrast, doesn't require line of sight. RFID tags can be read as long as they are within range of a reader. Bar codes have other shortcomings as well. If a label is ripped, soiled or falls off, there is no way to scan the item. And standard bar codes identify only the manufacturer and product, not the unique item. The bar code on one milk carton is the same as ever...

Beating Murphys Law :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Beating Murphys Law This article deals with the topic of how organizations should go about implementing new technology systems. The article is built around Murphy's Law that, "Whatever can go wrong, will." When organizations implement new system a lot of know problems cannot be avoided and unforeseen problems arise with even grater frequency. Chew outlines seven points to help launch a new system with greater success since they are essential for long-term survival. Key Notes: Â · It is estimated 50 to 70 percent of US firms experience failure in implementing advanced manufacturing technology. Â · New technologies often cause drops in productivity following introduction of new equipment that can exceed the price of the technology. This still occurs with incremental purchases of new inexpensive equipment. Â · Performance tends to drop shortly prior to installation, as firms make ready for new systems. Performance drops can last over a year after the introduction of new equipment. Â · The greatest cost stem from mismatches between the new technology 's capabilities and needs, and existing process and organization. Â · Lack of the different required knowledge about new technologies causes the failures and problems that arise. Solutions to problems usually lead to additional problems due to a lack of knowledge. Â · Rule #1 is Think of Implementation as R&D. Acquisition should instead be considered an ongoing process of data gathering and learning that evolves over time. The introduction of technology should be considered less an investment issue or technical issue and more a question of research design. Technical and organizational concerns should be addressed. The user and technology managers should work together in research of new technologies. Â · Rule #2 is Ask "What made it hard?" Not "How well did it work?" Firms should look to outside experience to not only help them decide what new technologies to invest in but also how to avoid the problems that arose from the technology. Inquiry should be an active even aggressive targeted search for information. Â · Rule #3 Learn in Many Ways at Once. Firms can learn through four methods: vicarious, learning from others experience, simulation, using models and experiments, prototyping, building and operating on a smaller scale, and on-line, examining the

Pedro Paramo Essay

The novel Pedro Paramo is about a young man who loses his mother and decides to take a journey to a ghost town called Comala to find his father, but instead dies of fear and finds out his father is dead. A central theme that runs through Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Paramo is the nature of hope and despair in a person’s life, which Rulfo demonstrates by Pedro Paramo’s love for Susana, Juan Preciado’s journey to Comala for his father, and Susana San Juan’s desire for her deceased husband. Rulfo exhibits Pedro Paramo’s hope for a future with Susana as a sometimes- ositive nature followed by the negative nature of despair he experiences from her demise. Pedro talks about how he has hoped Susana would return to him after many years of being gone since they were children: â€Å"I waited thirty years for you to return, Susana. I wanted to have it all. Not just part of it, but everything there was to have, to the point that there would be nothing left for us to want, no desire but your wishes† (Rulfo 82). Pedro has been persistent about Susana’s return after a long thirty years. He has loved for Susana since their childhood when they flew kites together, and thinks she will come to ove him upon her return. He went through all the trouble to gain power and land out of the hope that Susana would return and he could meet any request she wished. Pedro is talking to Don Fulgor about the plan to get rid of Susana’s father Bartolome San Juan: â€Å"We need it to be so. She must be left without family. We’re called on to look after those in need. You agree with that, don’t you† (Rolfo 85)? Pedro still hopes that Susana will realize she needs to return to him and come to love him. He believes that it will be easier for her to realize this once Don Fulgor as an order kills her father in the mines. Once he is alone with Susana he plans to comfort her now that her father is not with her or a distraction anymore. Pedro is miserable because Susana has just died: â€Å"I will cross my arms and Comala will die of hunger. † (Rulfo 117) Pedro is mainly portrayed as a selfish man, but not when it comes to Susana. According to Dorotea Pedro really did love Susana and wanted the best for her. When she died he lost it, he plummeted into depression and did not speak to anyone, because Susana meant the most to him. He promised vengeance on the town of Comala for not caring enough about Susana’s death. He choose to sit down and watch Comala collapse, because no money would circulate through the town since he owned all of it. The character Juan is like Pedro because he based his choice to go on a journey on a ray of hope only to fall into the shadows of despair. Rulfo displays Juan Preciado’s search for his father in Comala is based on hope of finding answers to his questions about his father, but is greeted with melancholy news. Juan’s mother Doloritas has just died and she had asked him to go to Comala and make Pedro pay them back for not being there to be a husband or father: â€Å"But before I knew it y head began to swim with dreams and my imagination took flight. Little by Little I began to build a world around a hope centered of the man called Pedro Paramo, the man who had been my mother’s husband. That was why I had come to Comala† (Rulfo 3). Juan’s mother wanted him to go to Comala to get what he deserves from Pedro and receive payback, but Juan quickly changed his mind about why he was going to Comala. Juan has never seen his father so he is quite ecstatic to see who Pedro is and what he looks like. Juan hopes that he will arrive in Comala to find his father Pedro and start a ew life for himself, and that they will develop a father and son relationship. Juan has received some disappointing information about his father from Abundio: â€Å"You were mistaken about the house. You told me the wrong place. You sent me ‘south of nowhere,’ to an abandoned village. Looking for someone who’s no longer alive† (Rulfo 8). Juan is speaking to his mother aloud out of anger about why she sent him to a ghost town to look for someone who is not alive anymore. Abundio had told Juan that Pedro was dead and that he represented ‘living bile’ to him. Juan has been stripped of any hope he had about is plans to find his father Pedro and answer any questions. Juan is dead and is in a coffin talking with Dorotea: â€Å"You’d have done better to stay home. Why did you come here? I told you that at the very beginning. I came her to find Pedro Paramo, who they say was my father. Hope brought me here† (Rulfo 60). Juan reminds Dorotea that he came to Comala to find his father mainly because he had hope. It is tragic how Juan dies out of fear and without any hope but sorrow. Juan died with despair knowing that his father Pedro was a horrible man and a dead man. Juan has lost his own life and everyone close o him, just like Susana who has lost her lover and father only to loose her own life shortly after. Rulfo demonstrates that Susana San Juan hopes to reunite with her deceased husband due to her craziness, and that once she figures out he is dead she does not know how to live without him. Susana is in her home dreaming about her deceased husband Florencio: â€Å"And what I want is his body. Naked and hot with love; boiling with desire; stroking my trembling breast and arms. My transparent body suspended from his. My lustful body held and released by his strength† (Rulfo 100-101). Upon her return to Pedro Susana persistently hopes that her dead husband will return to her. She believes this because she was driven crazy by a series of grave robbing’s with her father at a young age. She hopes for his return so much that she often has intense dreams with detailed memories of her lover. Susana is in her bed thinking about her dream she just had: â€Å"What shall I do now with my lips without his lips to cover them? What shall become of my poor lips† (Rulfo 101)? Susana has now realized that her deceased husband Florencio will never come back to life. She has suddenly lost all of her hope and is now filled with espair and fear of what will come. She never plans on being with Pedro and worries about what will happen to her lips since her deceased husband is the only one she wanted kissing her lips. Pedro is thinking about Susana in his thoughts while she is sleeping: â€Å"But what world was Susana San Juan living in? That was one of the things Pedro Paramo would never know† (Rulfo 95). Susana might live in the normal world but does not act like it, because she has crazy thoughts and dreams. Pedro will never know what is going on with Susana. She is always thinking about her dead husband because she lives in denial and is on Fantasy Island. The novel Pedro Paramo was about a young man who lost his mother and decided to take a journey to a ghost town called Comala to find his father, but instead died of fear and found out his father was dead. Juan Rulfo used the concept of the nature of hope and despair in a person’s life as a central theme for Pedro Paramo, and demonstrated it by using Pedro Paramo’s love for Susana, Juan Preciado’s journey to Comala for his father, and Susana San Juan’s desire for her past husband. Rulfo’s novel Pedro Paramo is an insightful source of how quickly a person’s hope can be taken and turned into despair.

Woman in White

Women's Rights Collins hammers home the point that women in England, regardless of their social standing, their education, their moral behavior or their finances, have few legal rights for protection. Laura Fairlie is robbed of her identity and her inheritance by a greedy, unscrupulous husband. Mrs. Catherick has her reputation ruined by a misunderstanding that leaves her divorced and alone at the mercy of the man who caused the misunderstanding. Anne Catherick is falsely imprisoned in a mental institution, as is her half-sister Laura Fairlie.Both escape without the help of any man and go into hiding. Countess Eleanor Fairlie Fosco is denied her rightful inheritance by her older brother Philip simply because he disapproves of her marriage. This drives her to crime to gain back her inheritance. Laura Fairlie is assaulted by her husband and finds no help from the law to protect her, and even her guardian, Frederick Fairlie,†¦ An Analysis of Female Identity in Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White  Ã‚   This article looks at the issue of female identity in Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White.It analyzes two key scenes from the novel to reveal how construction and style inevitably influence the representation of identity, as well as assessing the text in relation to genre, particularly the role of the Gothic in Collins's narrative. A prevalent theme in The Woman in White is confinement. Both Anne Catherick and Laura Fairlie are confined in a mental asylum by Sir Percival Glyde. The novel effectively reworks traditional Gothic conventions in its depictions of confinement and the female characters' jailer.The Woman in White belongs to the genre of ‘sensation' fiction, Collins's novel being regarded as innovative as it is the first, and arguably the greatest, of the English sensation novels. Sensation fiction is generally considered a hybrid genre in that it combines the elements of romance familiar to readers of Gothic fiction and the domestic context fami liar to readers of realist fiction. In The Woman in White the terrors of eighteenth-century Gothic fiction are transferred from their exotic medieval settings, such as those employed in the novels of Ann Radcliffe, and relocated in contemporary nineteenth-century English society.Melodrama is a genre closely related to sensationalism. Some of the features of melodrama, such as extreme states of being, situations, actions; dark plottings and suspense, are clearly apparent in the storyline of The Woman in White. The character of Laura Fairlie comes closest to a typical melodramatic heroine, especially in terms of physical appearance, being young, fair and beautiful. She also embodies both purity and powerlessness. However her role in the story is curiously passive as she is denied a formal narrative voice.Her passivity is the counterpart of her half-sister Marian Halcombe's activity. Marian is a complex individual whose characterization falls outside conventional literary or social mod els, partially evinced in the striking physical contrast between her face and body. Walter informs the reader that her figure is â€Å"tall, yet not too tall; comely and well-developed†¦ her waist, perfection in the eyes of a man† (p. 31). Yet her facial features are somewhat inconsistent with her body: â€Å"the dark down on her upper lip was almost a moustache. She had a large, firm, masculine mouth and jaw† (p. 32).The formal nature of Walter's description employs melodramatic techniques yet the incongruous content of this description appears to challenge melodramatic conventions. Sensation fiction's emphasis on plot means that it often depends on secrets, which seem never-ending: as when one secret is uncovered, another is revealed. The presence of secrets inevitably invites spying, an action Marian chooses to take in one of the novel's most suspenseful scenes, when, fearing that her half-sister's livelihood may be in danger, she spies on the villains Sir Perc ival and Count Fosco in the dead of night.A forbidding atmosphere is swiftly established with an air of menace clearly apparent in the imminent rain, described as being â€Å"threatening†, while the adjectives â€Å"black†, â€Å"pitch† and â€Å"blinding† are used to evoke the impenetrability of the night's inevitable â€Å"darkness†. Marian's decision to listen at the window seems to be partially determined by Count Fosco's opinions of her â€Å"sharpness† and â€Å"courage†. Later on in his and Percival's conversation, Fosco asserts that Marian has â€Å"the foresight and resolution of a man† (p. 30). The shedding of her womanly attire in order to facilitate her position on the roof goes someway to consolidate this identity as a ‘masculinized woman', a type fairly common in sensation fiction. However Marian is somewhat at odds with the heroines of most sensationalist novels in her fundamental moral probity, evinced in this scene with her eagerness to find one factor to justify her subsequent actions to herself: â€Å"I wanted but one motive to sanction the act to my own conscience† (p. 24), finding it in the form of her half-sister: â€Å"Laura's honour, Laura's happiness – Laura's life itself – might depend on my quick ears and my faithful memory tonight† (p. 324). The actual passages detailing her spying on Percival and Fosco are especially tense, partially through Marian's situation – her position on the roof is precariously close to the Countess's bedroom and it is apparent, from the light behind the window, that the woman is not yet in bed.The paragraph that discloses this fact to the reader is composed of sentences comprising numerous short clauses, some of only two words in length, as well as a copious use of dashes – stylistic effects that succeed in bringing the reader ever closer to the â€Å"strangeness and peril† (p. 328) of Marian's si tuation, and the â€Å"dread†, which she â€Å"could not shoulder† (p. 328). Also Collins's use of direct speech in depicting the villains' conversation consolidates this effect, and added with the moodily Gothic ambience, succeeds in bringing the reader into uncomfortably close proximity to Marian's current situation.The style of narrative an author adopts inevitably effects the nature of their characters. In The Woman in White we see the characters of female protagonists shaped by both formal and contextual decisions. This article has gone some way into revealing how identities are constructed through a combination of narrative methods and genre conventions, as well as the actual content of Collins's novel, such as other characters and settings. The Woman in White was an incredibly popular novel.Collins' masterful creation of suspense made for an immensely successful work amongst the Victorian populace. SENSATION FICTION: Contemporary Reviews and Responses The follow ing reviews of Victorian sensation fiction are arranged according to theme and author. The reviews included here are are only a small sampling of Victorian reaction to and enthusiasm for sensation fiction. In future, this collection will be more thorough and will feature full reviews rather than selected sections.Sensation Fiction in General At no age, so far as we are aware, has there yet existed anything resembling the extraordinary flood of novels which is now pouring over this land — certainly with fertilising results, so far as the manufacture itself is concerned. There were days, halcyon days — as one still may ascertain from the gossip of the seniors of society — when an author was a natural curiosity, recognized and stared at as became the rarity of the phenomenon.No such thing is possible nowadays, when most people have been in print one way or other — when stains of ink linger on the prettiest of fingers, and to write novels is the normal condit ion of a large section of society. Margaret Oliphant on Count Fosco from The Woman in White: The violent stimulant of serial publication — of weekly publication, with its necessity for frequent and rapid recurrence of piquant situation and startling incident — is the thing of all others most likely to develop the germ, and bring it to fuller and darker bearing. What Mr.Wilkie Collins has done with delicate care and laborious reticence, his followers will attempt without any such discretion. No divine influence can be imagined as presiding over the birth of [the sensation writer’s] work, beyond the market-law of demand and supply; no more immortality is dreamed of for it than for the fashions of the current season. A commercial atmosphere floats around works of this class, redolent of the manfactory and the shop. The public wants novels, and novels must be made — so many yards of printed stuff, sensation-pattern, to be ready by the beginning of the season. H. L. Mansel, Quarterly Review, 113 (April 1863): 495 – 6. Sensation Fiction and the Woman Reader [Today’s heroines in English novels include] Women driven wild with love for the man who leads them on to desperation before he accords that word of encouragement that carries them into the seventh heaven; women who marry their grooms in fits of sensual passion; women who pray their lovers to carry them off from the husbands and homes they hate; women †¦ who give and receive burning kisses and frantic embraces, and live in a voluptuous dream. †¦ the dreaming maiden †¦ aits now for flesh and muscles, for strong arms that seize her, and warm breath that thrills her through, and a host of other physical attractions which she indicates to the world with a charming frankness. On the other side of the picture, it is, of course, the amber hair and undulating form, the warm flesh and glowing colour, for which the youth sighs. †¦ this eagerness for physical sens ation is represented as the natural sentiment of English girls. * * * * * * * [Lady Audley’s Secret] brought in the rein of bigamy as an interesting and fashionable crime, which no doubt shows a certain deference to the British relish for law and order.It goes against the seventh commandment, no doubt, but it does it in a legitimate sort of way, and is an invention which could only have been possible to an Englishwoman knowing the attraction of impropriety, and yet loving the shelter of law. There is nothing more violently opposed to our moral sense, in all the contradictions to custom they present to us, than the utter unrestraint in which the heroines of this order are allowed to expatiate and develop their impulsive, stormy, passionate characters.We believe it is one chief among their many dangers to youthful readers that they open out a picture of life free from all the perhaps irksome checks that confine their own existence. †¦ The heroine of this class of novel is charming because she is undisciplined, and the victim of impulse; because she has never known restraint or has cast it aside, because in all these respects she is below the thoroughly trained and tried woman. Wilkie Collins The Woman in White Mr. Collins is an admirable story-teller, though he is not a great novelist.His plots are framed with artistic ingenuity — he unfolds them bit by bit, clearly, and with great care — and each chapter is a most skilful sequel to the chapter before. He does not attempt to paint character or passion. He is not in the least imaginative. He is not by any means a master of pathos. The fascination which he exercises over the mind of his reader consists in this — that he is a good constructor. Each of his stories is a puzzle, the key to which is not handed to us till the third volume.With him, accordingly, character, passion, and pathos are mere accessory colouring which he employs to set off the central situation in his narrative. †¦ Men and women he draws, not for the sake of illustrating human nature and life’s varied phases, or exercising his own powers of creation, but simply and solely with reference to the part it is necessary they should play in tangling or disentangling his argument. He is, as we have said, a very ingenious constructor; but ingenious construction is not high art, just as cabinet-making and joining is not high art.Mechanical talent is what every great artist ought to possess. Mechanical talent, however, is not enough to entitle a man to rank as a great artist †¦ Nobody leaves one of his tales unfinished. This is a great compliment to his skill. But then very few feel at all inclined to read them a second time. Our curiosity once satisfied, the charm is gone. All that is left is to admire the art with which the curiosity was excited. In response to Saturday Review commentary above: The Woman in White is the latest, and by many degrees the best work of an author who had already written so many singularly good ones.That mastery in the art of construction for which Mr. Wilkie Collins has long been pre-eminent among living writers of fiction is here exhibited upon the largest, and proportionately, the most difficult scale he has yet attempted. To keep the reader’s attention fairly and equably on the alert throughout a continuous story that fills three volumes of the ordinary novel form, is no common feat; but the author of the Woman in White has done much more than this. Every two of his thousand and odd pages contain as much printed matter as three or four of those to which the majority of Mr.Mudie’s subscribers are most accustomed, and from his first page to his last the interest is progressive, cumulative, and absorbing. If this be true — and it appears to be universally admitted — what becomes of the assertion made by some critics, that it is an interest of mere curiosity which holds the reader so fast and holds him so long? The thing is palpably absurd. Curiosity can do much, but it cannot singly accomplish all that is imputed to it by this theory, for it is impossible that its intensity should be sustained without intermission through so long a flight.If The Woman in White were indeed a protracted puzzle and nothing more, the reader’s attention would often grow languid over its pages; he would be free from the importunate desire that now possesses him to go through every line of it continuously; he would be content to take it up and lay it down at uncertain intervals, or be strongly tempted to skip to the end and find out the secret at once, without more tedious hunting through labyrinths devised only to retard his search, and not worth exploring for their own sake.But he yields to no such temptation, for the secret which is so wonderfully well kept to the end of the third volume is not the be-all and end-all of his interest in the story. Even Mr. Wilkie Collins himself, with all his cons tructive skill, would be at fault if he attempted to build as elaborate story on so narrow a basis†¦ Unsigned Review, Spectator, 33 (8 September 1860): 864. [pic] Henry James on Wilkie Collins: To Mr Collins belongs the credit of having introduced into fiction those mysterious of mysteries, the mysteries which are at our own doors. Mary Elizabeth Braddon M. E. Braddon] might not be aware how young women of good blood and good training feel. . [pic] Lady Audley is at once the heroine and the monstrosity of the novel. In drawing her, the authoress may have intended to portray a female Mephistopheles; but, if so, she would have known that a woman cannot fill such a part. The nerves with which Lady Audley could meet unmoved the friend of the man she had murdered, are the nerves of a Lady Macbeth who is half unsexed, and not those of the timid, gentle, innocent creature Lady Audley is represented as being. †¦All this is very exciting; but is also very unnatural. The artistic fa ults of this novel are as grave as the ethical ones. Combined, they render it one of the most noxious books of the modern times. Marian Halcombe from The Woman in White â€Å"I said to myself, the lady is dark. She moved forward a few steps –and said to myself, the lady is young. She approached nearer – and I said to myself with a sense of surprise which words fail me to express – the lady is ugly! †Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The Woman in White Victorian novels with poor, plain heroines are nothing unusual, but it’s rare to find one who is downright ugly.Then again, Marian Halcombe, the heroine of Wilkie Collins’ sensation novel The Woman in White, cares very little for social convention. In 1860, when even the first wave of feminism was yet to hit, Marian refuses to be content with a life that limits her to â€Å"patience, petticoats and propriety†. She knows that in a world where a woman is her husband’s legal property, marriage was not th e happy ending for women of her era that convention claimed: â€Å"No man under heaven deserves these sacrifices from us women†¦they take us body and soul to themselves, and fasten our helpless lives to theirs as they chain up a dog to his kennel.And what does the best of them give us in return? † She has a point – the novel revolves around a rather melodramatic plot by the sinister Sir Percival Glyde and the fiendish Count Fosco to gain control over the considerable fortune of Laura Fairlie, Marian’s angelic half-sister, and the attempts of both Marian and Walter Hartright, Laura’s equally poor would-be suitor, to rescue her from an abusive marriage.Our first glimpse of her is through Walter’s eyes, and the description is hardly intended to be flattering – she’s sporting a bit of a ‘tache, and he finds her pallor unattractively â€Å"swarthy† (Laura’s later reference to â€Å"Gypsy skin† suggests that Marian is of mixed heritage). But before feminist readers have time to draw an outraged breath, Marian proceeds to launch into a five-page monologue that establishes her as one of the most sparkling creations in the whole of literature. Ever.Although Walter is the overall narrator and inexplicably believes himself to be the hero of the hour, all the risks and major discoveries are made by Marian. It is her diaries that provide a large portion of the narrative, and her quick thinking that saves her sister from a grisly fate. In addition, she can beat any man at billiards, she’s a bit of an intellectual goddess, and she singlehandedly runs the entire household. On the downside, she’s a bit of a snob and prone to making rather rash decisions like taking off most of her clothes, climbing onto the roof and then doing a bit of eavesdropping.She is driven by her near-obsessive love for Laura and whilst their relationship is emotionally complex, it is never cloying or mawkish – instead it is intense, co-dependent and rather more passionate than their sibling bond should allow. Their closeness is such that Laura’s one act of assertiveness in the entire novel is to insist that Marian’s constant presence in her life be written into her marriage contract, and Laura extracts a promise from her that she â€Å"will not be fond of anybody but [her]†.When the wedding night approaches, it is Marian who explains what Laura is to expect: â€Å"The simple illusions of her girlhood are gone; and my hand has stripped them off. Better mine than his – that’s all my consolation – better mine than his. † Steamy stuff for 1860. But neither her implied queerness or her supposed ugliness stopped countless readers writing to Collins asking if Marian was based on a real woman, and if said woman happened to be single. Even the evil (and married) Count Fosco is taken with her, although he seems to be more attracted to her as a potential partner in crime as a candidate for a mistress.Whilst Marian may lack the ethereal beauty of her sister, critic Nina Auerbach describes her as â€Å"a truly sexy woman†, noting that she is in fact the embodiment of androgynous pre-Raphaelite sensuality. The end of the novel has drawn criticism from feminist readers – the plucky, independent heroine is now content to stay at home and help her sister and brother-in-law raise a family in true domestic bliss. However, true to the spirit of their multilayered relationship, Marian is less Laura’s unpaid babysitter than a co-parent, still threatening the bonds of hetero happiness long after the supposedly happy ending has occurred.In a world that presented marriage and motherhood as the only options, Marian rejects what Adrienne Rich would later describe as â€Å"compulsory heterosexuality† in favour of life as the devoted partner of another woman. She is an amateur detective, early feminist and, de spite her vulnerable position, refuses to be a damsel in distress. She was a groundbreaking character when she first appeared, and even 150 years later she remains one of the most memorable characters in Victorian literature.

Warning: This Is a Rights-Free Workplace

The article states about the economic factor in America. It sensitizes on the justice the workers in America should be given. The article talks about how the workers in America are treated with injustice. This is shown well when the article starts by, â€Å"If the laws of economics were enforced as strictly as the laws of physics, America would be a workers' paradise. † Visit the article in this link: http://www. barbaraehrenreich. com/workersrights. htm. Employee Rights in the Workplace The idea of employee rights involves many complex issues.An employee’s right to a workplace free of discrimination and harmful environmental factors is obvious. Yet, other issues surrounding privacy, personal expression, and communication monitoring are not as clear-cut. While employees may feel that they have the right to express their opinions and use business communications while working, not only may they be fooling themselves but they are acting in a way that is unethical. While bu sinesses do not have the right to control employee behaviors outside of the workplace, they do have the right to monitor and control communications and employee actions during paid time.As such, employees have the right to reasonable expectations in terms of communication, yet cannot (within limits) ethically demand a right to privacy, private communication, or personal expression while they are utilizing business property or on business time. Workplace privacy has been a hot issue in the last decade, as more and more workplaces incorporate email and Internet-use into the office environment. Many employees now use email and the Internet daily, not to mention the telephone (Nord, McCubbins, & Nord, 2006).With high volumes of communicatio employee privacy rights in the workplace Introduction Often the issues regarding privacy rights in the workplace focuses on employee rights to privacy in the workplace . Most advocacies support employee rights and criticize the efforts of companies t o monitor employees . However , despite the importance to protect every employee ‘s privacy , there should be a realization that Whether or not privacy is protected by law or contract , fostering a workplace culture where privacy is valued and espected contributes to morale and mutual trust and makes good business sense . Thus , privacy is not limited to rights but also entails employees ‘ responsibility to ensure that it is never abused and is not to the determent of the company ( Privacy in the Workplace , 2005 Challenges for Employers Employers have the right and responsibility to monitor their place of business to protect themselves and their employees from invasion . The irony is that this can only be possible if an employer is able to monitor communications and exchanges .Therefore , for a company to be able to afford the protection that employees need , they must surrender in trust their privacy to the company As much as a company should not invade the rights of i ts employees , it has the equal responsibility of ensuring that its privacy and that of its employees are not divulged or used in any personal intent by other employees . According to Nyman (2005 , more companies are being held accountable by employees whose privacy was compromised in the workplace because of what is seen as a lack in its measures to ensure their privacy .Therefore , if employers are being held accountable for such situations , Nyman believes that they should be given enough power to protect themselves from such liabilities An example given by Nyman is the case between Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA ) and Integrated Information Systems (IIS The allegation was that the latter allowed its employees to infringe the copyrights of MP3 s that the employees shared over the company ‘s networks . The settlement of the suit with RIAA cost IIS a million dollars .Aside from the settlement , the company also faced a public relations issue regarding the all eged sharing : IIS main service is electronic transmission of copyrighted material It would be safe to assume that the employees were aware of the issues regarding sharing and despite the IIS did not allow for the behavior , the fact that it did occur cast liability over the company The issue is not so much as an issue of whether the company was responsible for the sharing of the s but rather that it happened over its network Security RealitiesTechnology has afforded the transfer of a significant amount of information over the wires and with that has increased the risk that not just sensitive data or even whole databases and programs can easily be transferred in that manner . At the same time , other technologies in imaging have also increased the channels by which a person ‘s privacy can be compromised . From the perspective of employees , this has allowed for†¦If the laws of economics were enforced as strictly as the laws of physics, America would be a workers' paradise . The supply of most kinds of labor is low, relative to the demand, so each worker should be treated as a cherished asset, right? But there have been only grudging gains in wages over the last few years, and in the realm of dignity and autonomy, a palpable decline.What we need is nothing less than a new civil rights movement — this time, for American workers. Who will provide the leadership remains to be seen, but clearly the stakes go way beyond â€Å"labor issues,† as these are conventionally defined. We can hardly call ourselves the world's pre-eminent democracy if large numbers of citizens spend half of their waking hours in what amounts, in plain terms, to a dictatorship.