Succubus Blues CHAPTER 22

â€Å"You faked it†¦ faked being affected by me,† I realized, shock making my words come out thick and faltering. Still chuckling, he took a step toward me, and I cringed, frantically trying to find a way to run, to get out of my own apartment. What had moments ago seemed safe and inviting now became close and stifling. My apartment was too small, the door too far away. I couldn't breathe. The amusement on Roman's face shifted to astonishment. â€Å"What's the matter? What are you afraid of?† â€Å"What do you think I'm afraid of?† He blinked. â€Å"Me?† â€Å"Yes, you. You kill immortals.† â€Å"Well, yeah,† he admitted, â€Å"but I'd never hurt you. Never. You know that, don't you?† I didn't answer. â€Å"Don't you?† I backed up farther, not that I had anywhere to go. I was faced in such a way as to only keep moving toward my bedroom, not toward the front door. That wasn't likely to do any good. Roman still seemed floored at my reaction. â€Å"Come on, I can't believe this. I would never do anything to you. I'm half in love with you. Hell, do you know what a wrench you've already thrown into this operation?† â€Å"Me? What have I done?† â€Å"What have you done? You've wrapped my heart around your little finger, that's what you've done. That day†¦ when you solicited me at the bookstore? I couldn't believe my luck. I'd been watching you all week, you know, trying to learn your habits. Christ, I'll never forget the first day I saw you. How feisty you where. How beautiful. I would have gone to the ends of the earth for you right then and there. And later†¦ when you wouldn't go out with me after the signing? I couldn't believe it. You were originally going to be my first target, you know. But I couldn't do it. Not after I'd talked to you. Not after I'd realized what you are.† I swallowed, curious in spite of myself. â€Å"What – what am I?† He took a step toward me, a rueful half-smile on his handsome face. â€Å"A succubus who doesn't want to be a succubus. A succubus who wants to be human.† â€Å"No, that's not true†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Of course it is. You're like me. You don't play by the rules. You're tired of the system. You don't let them push you into the role they've dictated for you. God, I couldn't believe it, watching you. The more you seemed interested in me, the more you tried to back off. You think that's normal for a succubus? It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen – not to mention the most frustrating. That's why I finally decided to call you out today. I couldn't decide if you'd really cut me off for my own good or were just interested in someone else now – like Mortensen.† â€Å"Wait – that's why you arranged that stupid little game today? For your own fucking ego gratification?† Roman shrugged haplessly, still looking self-satisfied. â€Å"It sounds so shallow when you put it like that. I mean, okay, it was pretty stupid. And maybe a little childish. But I had to know where your affection stood. You can't imagine how touching it was to see you so worried about me – not to mention the fact that you checked on me first. That was the real kicker: I got priority over the others.† I almost protested that I'd actually worried about Seth first, having only called Roman beforehand because I thought Seth was already accounted for. Fortunately, I had enough sense to keep my mouth shut on that issue. Better to let Roman think he'd proven his point. â€Å"You have issues,† I said instead, perhaps unwisely. â€Å"Making me jump through hoops like that. Me and the other immortals.† â€Å"Perhaps. And I am sorry for any discomfort I caused you, but as for the others?† He shook his head. â€Å"It's good for them. They need it, Georgina. I mean, doesn't it piss you off? What they've done to you? You're obviously not happy with your lot, but do you think the folks in charge are going to let you change things? No. No more than they're going to give me or my kind a break. The system is flawed. They're locked in their fucking ‘this is good' and ‘this is evil' mentality. No gray area. No mutability. That's why I go around and do what I do. They need the wake-up call. They need to know they aren't the be all and end all of sin and salvation. Some of us are still fighting.† â€Å"Go around†¦ How often do you do this? This killing thing?† â€Å"Oh, not that often. Every twenty to fifty years or so. Sometimes a century. Doing it sort of cleanses me for a while, and then, over the years, I'll start getting pissed off at the whole system again and stake out a new place, a new set of immortals.† â€Å"Is it always the same pattern?† I remembered Jerome's symbols. â€Å"The warning phase†¦ then the main attack phase?† Roman brightened. â€Å"Well, well, haven't you done your homework. Yes, it usually works that way. Take out a few lesser immortals first. They're easy targets, even if I always feel a little guilty about it. Really, they're as much victims of the system as you and I are. Still, messing with them freaks out the higher immortals, and then the stage is set to move on to the main attraction.† â€Å"Jerome,† I stated grimly. â€Å"Who?† â€Å"Jerome†¦ the local archdemon.† I hesitated. â€Å"Your father.† â€Å"Oh. Him.† â€Å"What's that supposed to mean? You don't sound like he's a big deal.† â€Å"In the grand scheme of things, he's not.† â€Å"Yeah†¦ but he's your father†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"So? Our relationship – or lack thereof – doesn't really change anything.† Jerome had said almost the exact same thing about Roman. Baffled, I sat down on the arm of a nearby chair since it appeared my imminent destruction wasn't quite so imminent after all. â€Å"But isn't he†¦ isn't he the ‘real target' – the higher immortal you're here to kill?† Roman shook his head, face turning serious. â€Å"No. That's not how the pattern works. After I move on from the lesser immortals, I focus in on the local bigwig. The real powerhouse in the area. That tends to unsettle people more. Better psychological effect, you know? If I can take out the big man on campus, then they worry no one is safe.† â€Å"So, that would be Jerome.† â€Å"No, it's not,† he countered patiently. † Archdemonor no, my illustrious father is not the ultimate power source around here. Don't get me wrong; I'm getting a nice bit of satisfaction from pissing in his territory, so to speak, but there's someone else who dwarfs him. You probably don't know him. It's not like you'd have reason to hang out with him or anything.† Stronger than Jerome? That only left – â€Å"Carter. You're going after Carter.† â€Å"Is that his name? The local angel?† â€Å"He's stronger than Jerome?† â€Å"Considerably.† Roman gave me a curious look. â€Å"Do you know him?† â€Å"I†¦ know of him,† I lied. â€Å"Like you said, I don't hang out with him or anything.† In reality, my mind raced. Carter was the target? Mild, sardonic Carter? I could hardly believe he was more powerful than Jerome, but then, I knew almost nothing about him. I didn't even know what he did, what his job or mission in Seattle was. Yet, one thing that was obvious to me – and only me, apparently – was that if the angel really did outclass Jerome, then Roman couldn't do anything to him, not if the rule about nephilim power not exceeding parental power held true. Roman shouldn't technically be able to harm either angel or demon. I chose not to mention this to him, however – or the fact that I knew Carter better than Roman believed. The more delusional he was, the more of a chance we had to do something about him. â€Å"Good. I didn't really figure a succubus would be too friendly with an angel, but with you, it's hard to tell. You may have a sharp tongue, but you still manage to gather a lot of admirers.† Relaxing slightly, Roman leaned against a wall, crossing his arms over his chest. â€Å"God knows I've already gone out of my way to avoid your friends.† Anger helped me overcome my fear. â€Å"Oh really? What about Hugh?† â€Å"Which one's he?† â€Å"The imp.† â€Å"Ah, yes. Well, I had to keep setting an example, didn't I? So, yeah, I messed with him a little. He'd been impertinent to you. But I didn't kill him.† He looked at me in what I supposed was meant to be an encouraging type of way. â€Å"That was for your benefit.† I stayed silent. I recalled how Hugh had looked in the hospital. Impertinent? â€Å"And what about the others?† he pushed. â€Å"That annoying angel? The vampire that threatened you? I wanted to break his neck on the spot. I got rid of them for you. I didn't have to do that.† I felt ill. I wanted no deaths on my hands. â€Å"Most considerate of you.† â€Å"Come on, give me a break here. I had to do something, and really, once I'd met your vampire friend at the dance lesson, I couldn't bring myself to do anything to him at all. You put me in a really tight spot. I was running out of victims.† â€Å"Sorry for the inconvenience,† I snapped, ire rising at his pathetic show of compassion. â€Å"Is that why you took it easy on me that night?† He frowned. â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"You know what I mean!† Thinking back to my attack, it all made perfect sense. It had occurred after I'd been to Krystal Starz, the day after I'd run out on Roman at the concert. A perfect excuse for him to be angry and seek retaliation. â€Å"Remember? The day after Doug's concert? After I'd been with Seth?† Understanding washed over Roman's features. â€Å"Oh. That.† â€Å"That's all you have to say?† â€Å"It was a bit juvenile, I admit, but you can hardly blame me. It wasn't easy watching you cozy up to Mortensen after freaking out on me like that. I'd watched you go home with him the night before. I had to do something.† I sprang up from my seat, old apprehension returning. â€Å"You had to do something? Like beat the crap out of me in an alley?† Roman raised an eyebrow. â€Å"What are you talking about? I told you I would never hurt you.† â€Å"Then what are you talking about?† â€Å"I'm talking about that ice cream place. I'd followed you two around earlier in the day, and when I saw how cute you were getting over dessert, I got jealous and blew the door open. Juvenile, as I said.† â€Å"I remember that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I trailed off stupidly, recalling how the door had blown open at the parlor, letting the outside wind wreak havoc in the small store. Wind like that was certainly uncharacteristic here, yet I had never suspected supernatural influence. He was right; it had been juvenile. â€Å"So what's the alley thing you're talking about?† he prompted. I snapped out of my memory. â€Å"Later†¦ that night. I'd been running errands, and you†¦ or someone†¦ attacked me on the way home.† Roman's face turned cold, his eyes sharpening to aqua steel. â€Å"Tell me. Tell me everything. Exactly what happened.† I did, explaining my lead to the Harrington book, subsequent trip to Krystal Starz, and walk home in the dark. I edited the part about my rescuer, however. I didn't want Roman to know I had more than a casual acquaintance with Carter, lest the nephilim think I might be a deterrent to his plans. The more he thought I had no interest in the angel, the more likely I would be able to get out some kind of warning. Closing his eyes, Roman leaned his head against the wall when I finished, sighing. Suddenly, he looked less like a dangerous killer and more like a tired version of the man I'd come to know and nearly love. â€Å"I knew it. I knew noninterference was too much to ask.† â€Å"What†¦ what do you mean?† A strange feeling crawled down my spine. â€Å"Nothing. Forget it. Look, I'm sorry about that. I should have taken precautions beforehand to protect you. I knew too†¦ the next day? When I came by and you cut things off between us? I could tell you had been hurt, even through your shape-shifting. I could tell it was supernaturally inflicted too, but I never suspected†¦ I thought it was some other immortal – one of your own circle – you'd tangled with. You had sort of a residual effect on you†¦ the faint traces of someone else's power†¦ like a demon's†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"But that's not – oh. You mean Jerome.† â€Å"Daddy dearest again? Don't tell me†¦ don't tell me he did something to you too.† Roman's brief lapse into mildness faded, replaced by something more sinister. â€Å"No, no,† I said hastily, recalling Jerome's psychic slap, pinning me to the couch. â€Å"It wasn't like that. It was more of a show of power that I caught the edge of. He wasn't the one who hurt me. He'd never hurt me.† â€Å"Good. I'm still not happy about what happened in the alley, mind you, but I'll have a little chat with the guilty party and make sure it never happens again. When I saw you that day, I had half a mind to take out all the immortals in the area. The thought of someone hurting you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Closer and closer he came to me. Hesitantly, he squeezed my arm. I didn't know whether to recoil or reach out to him. I didn't know how to reconcile my old attraction with this new terror. â€Å"You have no idea how much I care about you, Georgina.† â€Å"Then how†¦ in the alley – â€Å" Before I could follow that thought to completion, another suddenly poked its head up at Roman's words. When I saw you that day. He had visited me the day after the attack, coming over while Carter investigated a nephilim signature. But that was impossible. I couldn't remember where that particular signature had occurred, but it had not been close by. Roman could not have flashed Carter and then made it over to my apartment so quickly. Iknew noninterference was too much to ask for. I'll have a little chat with the guilty party. I understood then why Roman felt he could take on Carter, why having less power than the angel would pose no concern. The realization sank into me like lead, heavy and cold. I'm not sure what look crossed my face, but Roman's suddenly softened with compassion. â€Å"What's the matter?† â€Å"How many?† I whispered to him. â€Å"How many what?† â€Å"How many nephilim are in the city?†

Answers to queries on Orwell’s 1984 Essay

In the essay Why I Write, Orwell explained that all the serious work he wrote since the Spanish Civil War in 1936 were â€Å"written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism. † (Orwell, 5) What can you add by looking at his life and his mental state when writing the novel? The author wrote the novel in 1947–1948 while critically ill with tuberculosis. The writer himself wrote about the stages of his life leading to the period when he wrote the novel: First I spent five years in an unsuitable profession (the Indian Imperial Police, in Burma), and then I underwent poverty and the sense of failure. This increased my natural hatred of authority and made me for the first time fully aware of the existence of the working classes, and the job in Burma had given me some understanding of the nature of imperialism: but these experiences were not enough to give me an accurate political orientation. Then came Hitler, the Spanish Civil War, etc. By the end of 1935 I had still failed to reach a firm decision (on political position)†¦. † (Orwell, 6 parenthetical interpretation mine. ) What was the world like in 1949 (the immediate post-WW II era) in terms of politics, economics, and particularly the media? After Allied victory, two opposing world views and ideology—capitalism ( that termed itself democracy) and socialism (that called itself the democracy of the working class) characterized the previously unified Allied Forces, the former led by  America, on the latter by the Soviet Union. The two worlds have polarized economic systems: capitalism (which espoused free enterprise) and socialism (which espoused economic central planning). The two blocks also had opposing media philosophy: the so-called free libertarian press, in the tradition of the US revolution, and that of the Marxian school which saw media as the tool of the socialist revolution. This was the cold war era, and the world was politically bipolar: the United States and the Soviet Union were the superpowers. Orwell’ s once mighty Britain had become an impoverished crumbling has-been, even as its newspapers were reporting false triumphs. When he wrote 1984, Orwell saw the betrayal and perversion of socialist ideals in his country, and his hope of â€Å"English Socialism† had crashed. The novel is aimed primarily as a critique against totalitarianism. But what kind? As his dream of â€Å"English Socialism† turned into a monstrous ideology of oppression, Orwell saw its dehumanization even as its source model has become oppressors of the Soviet nations. Many of the characters in the novel in fact are believed to be depicting real figures from the Soviet Union. He was focused on the British socialists but obviously he had the Soviet politburo in mind as well. And he was obviously sure the British-American partnership would be heading towards the same direction. Why is the novel perhaps even more relevant than it when it was first written Al Gore in his Assault on Reason panned against us present-day Americans in our failure to oppose Bush when he led us to a baseless war against Iraq, against the advice of his own policymakers and using fabricated lies. Through the power of the media and the arousal of fear in us, our leader and his media spinners led us to embrace his war without us raising a whimper. (Gore, 2007; Bossard, 2007) He also warned us against any future effort to gag the internet, in the manner China is now doing it—arguing that the internet is our last hope of interactive democratic dialogues through which an informed nation can guard itself against the media and other manipulative technologies of a ruling demagogue. There have been many instances when even the most intelligent of nations have een misled by their leaders—the example of Hitler for the German people, and the recent example of the Philippines (1986) where a dictator ruled for 30 years until a unified people power ended a despotic rule, incidentally American-supported. Initially, warnings of intellectuals like Orwell may be voices in the wilderness in, but as proven by world events, at the appointed time nations would heed them, and people will move against their oppressors. Tell me why you think the novel can be used to teach students about media, history, and what we think we know. What does the book teach us about how to respond to political campaigns and advertising? What does it say about us? Against the backdrop of experience, the novel tells us how revolutions devour their sons and fail their fathers. But what Orwell warns against is the use of our skills as media men in the overall scheme of Big Brother. In the novel, the main character Winston Smith, was a revisionist writer of history who wrote it according to the whim of Big Brother’s officialdom. The propaganda machines of Big Brother were staffed by media professionals. Media churns out materials tainted by political motives. Media people are potential instruments of oppression and deceit. Lastly, how is the novel truthful, original, and human? In Why I Write Orwell said : â€Å"(I write )†¦. because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing. † (p. 5) Yevgeny Zamyatin’s novel We was a primary influence for 1984. He also included the following as influences of the novel: Darkness at Noon and The Yogi and the Commissar by Arthur Kostner, The Iron Heel (1908) by Jack London, among other books. (Shelden, 1991) Surname 5 The humanity in this novel rests in its vigorous warning against falling into the trap that will lead humanity to the nightmare of 1984. The inhumanity of its characters ironically dramatically aroused a fear in us, so we its readers recoil in the lost of such human sensibility — which the novel helped recover for us, in its aspiration for a society of equals where people are human beings and not Big Brother robots.

African Americans and the Media Essay

African Americans are subject to stereotypes as if these stereotypes classify us as the type of people we are. Television shows tend to portray African Americans as loud, aggressive, violent, unfashionable and lacking etiquette. Examples of this are liberal shows such as â€Å"The Boondocks† and â€Å"Family Guy†. Both shows glorify behaviors that would make society assume African Americans are ‘Ghetto’. â€Å"Family Guy† and â€Å"The Boondocks† mock stereotypes of African Americans in a way that I find humorous but some viewers might find offensive. â€Å"The Boondocks† is a show that demonstrates the ignorance within our society particularly with African Americans. It revolves around a young African American family from Chicago, Illinois who move to a fictional suburban Woodcrest. The main characters are Huey Freeman, a 10-year-old boy who is candid and autonomous; Riley Freeman, an 8-year-old boy who idolizes Hip Hop culture and considers himself a gangster and Robert Freeman also referred to Granddad who is the overly abusive parent who just wants to enjoy his retirement. The Freemans represent a typical African American family from an urban area. Even though the intent is to highlight the negatives in black communities I can relate to the content and its characters. I do agree with the stereotypes of the characters but I can see how it may send out the wrong message about African Americans as people. Riley Freeman for instance is a prime example of how the media portrays African Americans as loud, aggressive, violent, and unfashionable. He wears oversized clothes, has cornrows, and is very vulgar. Throughout the series, Riley constantly refers to others as â€Å"N*ggas†, â€Å"Hoes† and other derogatory terms. His grandfather, Robert Freeman, sometimes does not approve of Riley’s actions so he enforces his rules with violence. African American parents are usually mocked for using corporal punishment towards their kids as a form of discipline. In season 1 episode 4 of â€Å"The Boondocks†, they refer to something called â€Å"a n*gga moment†. According to the show, â€Å"a n*gga moment† is â€Å"A moment where ignorance overwhelms the mind of an otherwise logical Negro male causing them to act in an illogical, self-destructive manner. I. E. , like a n*gga. † They are trying to say that black people cannot avoid altercations by any means because that’s who they are. A white man is shown bumping into a black male. The white male walks away because he says he is white while the black male tries to antagonize him to escalate the situation. This implies that white people can be civilized while black people are violent. â€Å"Family Guy† is the kind of show that’s mocks everybody but it shows how people can purely associate actions with African Americans. In season 7 episode 5 of â€Å"Family Guy†, Peter Griffin is shown working as a secretary at a firm. He is wearing long acrylic nails and his body language is in lack of a better term ‘ghetto’. Peter gets a phone call from a person by the name of Laronda, he then says â€Å"Hey Laronda. No I have four people on hold but I can talk. † Peter is a white male but I made an inference from the use of the name Laronda, the acrylic nails and him being unproductive at work that they are stereotyping African American female receptionist. This shows how influential media portrayal can be. African Americans are misrepresented by shows such as â€Å"Family Guy† and â€Å"The Boondocks† which portrays them, as people who do not have decorum, who are boisterous and have bad grammar by associating them with actions that would make society perceive them in that manner. The media & television constantly reinforce these images. The media conditions the mind to think a certain way and people give into it without thinking for themselves.

NoTopic Needed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

NoTopic Needed - Essay Example The first factor is culture. Culture has been termed as a people’s way of life comprising of people’s beliefs, values and norms. Culture affects consumption habits, people’s lifestyles and even access to information. Obesity educators in order to solve this barrier have to understand a community culture before they can propose any strategy to deal with obesity. A cultural assessment must be done to elicit beliefs, values, norms and language in order to design effective obesity education programs (Tripp-Reimer, Skemp, Choi, & Enslein, 2001). The second barrier is the content of the programs such that these provide too much detail on the pathophysiology and too little regarding the daily management of the illness. To solve this, educators must engage with the community in focus groups before initiating programs to address those areas of greatest concern (Tripp-Reimer, Skemp, Choi, & Enslein, 2001). Third is learning styles such that different communities and people require different learning styles. Some cultures have a strong oral tradition and therefore patient education should be centered on metaphors, storytelling etc. to convey health messages (Tripp-Reimer, Skemp, Choi, & Enslein, 2001). Obesity can be prevented with through the use of effective strategies. The best approach or strategies that can be used in the prevention of obesity are the primary prevention strategies. These aim at addressing the root cause of the problem, reducing the likelihood of development of a disease or disorder. Disease prevention aims at reducing the likelihood that a disease will affect a community or individual, interrupting or slowing its progress or the reduction of disability (Dehghan, Akhtar-Danesh, & Merchant, 2005). The first of such strategies is the activity. Physical activity has been found to be one of the best strategies to prevent obesity. Running, jogging and walking, engaging in sporting activities all help in burning access calories

This paper needs to be written on the topic of what changes one can Essay

This paper needs to be written on the topic of what changes one can expect when they move out of their parents home and on to their owen. See below for more details - Essay Example Generally, the advantage of living independently is that you learn how to manage your expenses, prepare your own food, manage your time to do household chores, be responsible in paying the bills on time, and to keep a job to sustain your daily needs. On the other hand, the disadvantages of living apart from your parents would sometimes prompt you to get a job and forget about going to college; this happens at times since teens cannot support their own studies unless they get help from their parents. Another disadvantages of moving out of your parents’ house is to maintain the security of your place; this means that you must always be cautious at all times for your security since you are not familiar with the neighborhood and the nature of the people in the community. Another inconvenience in living on your own is the time management; you must expect to have less time for studying and your social life since the household chores would take up some of your time unlike when you ar e in your parents’ house where your mother or your housekeeper usually performs these tasks for you. The first matter to consider before making that big decision is how to sustain our daily necessities. To do this, we need to find a good paying job that can cover the expenses for the rent, food, clothing, transportation, water bills, and electricity bills. Search for jobs in newspapers and online job portals. If you are lucky enough to find a good job, you must be ready to present the required documents for your job application. Some requirements for a job application includes: a copy of your birth certificate; your Social Security Card; your Driver’s License; a copy of your Diploma, your GED or certificates you have received from trainings you have attended (Surviving the Transition). Other requirements include your resume that contains information about your education and your work experiences; a well-composed

Ethical issue in Marketing related to Advertising Essay

Ethical issue in Marketing related to Advertising - Essay Example According to the research findings there are numerous advertising media including the traditional television, radio, newspapers, mail and billboards, and the postmodern computer based internet advertisement channels including email, blogs, websites, programs and search engines among others. The increased number of advertising channels and methods of collecting data for advertising have pushed advertising ethics even further, and an advertiser has to be keen not to cross the line between ethical and unethical. In addition, personalised advertising that exploits various approaches to data mining is so effective that the persuasive and exploitative aspects of advertising have become a matter of serious concern to various stakeholders. This has been linked to the ethical aspects of consumer privacy that has resulted in the enactment of policies that provide guidelines on online data collection and use. However, these policies aim at forcing advertisers to do no harm, and advertisers have to decide if they just want to avoid harming consumers, or they would want to do some public good too. The Advertising Standards Authority controls the content of advertisements in the United Kingdom, and the town and county planning system controls the content of outdoor advertisements. However, enforcement of advertising ethics goes beyond these bodies and extends to numerous independent consumer protection groups, and before advertising, a business entity has to predict the response that the advertisement is likely to elicit from these regulators. However, the regulators’ definitions of ethics are too broad, and the advertiser is largely responsible for the contents of advertisements (Hunt and Vitell, 2006: 150). Advertisement ethics is determined by the effects of the advertisement on the human, cultural, social, economic and political consequences of an advertisement on society. The aim of this term paper is to discuss the concept of marketing ethics as it relates to ad vertising. Background Information Common Advertising Media Advertising is the first communication between a firm and its prospective customers; therefore, the firm must do a decent job of it in order to have an impact and increase the likelihood of adverts translating to increased sales. Therefore, an advertisement must be designed create awareness, knowledge, liking, preference and conviction in a potential customer in order for him or her to make a purchase. Advertisers have always exploited the available media to the greatest extent, such that advertising accounts for a big portion of a firm’s expenditure. Traditional advertisements like radio are still in use today, though their use is reducing due to the emergence of more effective technologies that combine both the audio and visual components of advertisements (Kelley et al., 2011). Compared to other senses, visual reception causes the most impact on a person’

Brand Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Brand Analysis - Essay Example After a few years, Starbucks completely redefined the American coffee shops. High priced Brews, Lattes, Moccachinos, Cappuccinos and Frappes awakened the senses of 50 million customers across the globe (Burks, 2009, p.01). The company was formed in 1971, in Seattle. It was an initiative of a group of three friends-Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin and Zev. Initially, the store was named as ‘Starbucks coffee, Tea and Spices’ (Burks, 2009, p.01) and the brand logo depicted a chocolate brown colored two tailed mermaid (Gilbert, 2008, p. 13). Later, the name of the store was changed to ‘Starbucks’ and its logo was re-colored to bright green. Starbucks was initially formed with the motto of selling good coffee with a unique flavor that a regular coffee brand wouldn’t offer. After the company was listed in the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDAQ), the growth of the company accelerated and it opened 16,680 stores across the glob e. Today, it has become a global brand with its footing in 47 countries around the world and its net revenue reaching over $ 10 billion (Burks, 2009, p.06). Most of the consumers associate a brand with its logo, which reminds them of the brand promise that an organization makes. Brand Promise of a company is an attempt to make a promise for the benefits of the customers, conveying it and then delivering the promise through their products or service (Pringle, 2008, p.103). The brand logo should be very distinctive. Either the concept of the logo should be unique or colors used in the logo should be vibrant enough to attract the customers. Starbucks remained true to its vision and its promise to use the best quality beans. Consumers generally prefer Arabica beans over Robusta coffee beans. Arabica coffee accounts for 75% production of coffee beans all over the world (Burks, 2009, p.07). Brand Personality refers to a set of human like attributes associated with a particular brand. Bran d personality enhances the appeal of the brand to the consumers. Most of the consumers associate a brand to a person’s character; it can take the form of an actual person, animated figure or generalized person (Gelder, 2005, p. 41). Coffee consumption in America was not as high as in Scandinavia. From the 1990’s the American coffee market scenario completely changed when Starbuck’s redefined the coffee houses. The European Coffee houses were traditional and had an old charm to it and a warm atmosphere. Starbuck stores were modern and hip, offering variety of coffees including hot and cold beverages, fancy decoration, positive and uplifting environment and an access to Wireless Local Area Network connection (Strehle & Cruickshank, 2004, p.03). They connected with the requirements of customers. As the customer’s taste and preferences change, the company tries hard to introduce new flavors of coffee which suits the taste buds of the consumers (Rakocevic, 201 1, p. 13). Brand Value helps in differentiating between right and wrong. The brand values provide a perspective on how the company is expected to act towards its consumers. When a company expands its network in other countries, the original values are hard to retain because different countries have different cultural values and ethics (Gelder, 2005, p. 37). Starbucks’ success can be attributed to a strategy that focused on different sets of value drivers rather than on three big competitors: 1. Quality instead of quantity; 2. Restaurants instead of grocery stores; 3.Close

Energy Efficiency Standards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Energy Efficiency Standards - Essay Example For the provision of various services to the population in less-developed countries, electricity is of vital importance and its demand is increasing on regular basis as the people of these countries continue to improve their living standards. This increase is most notable in the non-residential sector. The governments in most of the countries are highly concerned about the increasing energy demands. Various courses of action and strategies have been devised by the government to limit the energy consumption by the buildings. These strategies and policies can be broadly classified into three categories: regulatory requirements (e.g. standards and codes), awareness programs (e.g. energy audits, energy saving campaigns on media, information sharing campaigns etc.) and economic incentives (e.g. energy pricing, cost-benefit analysis reports, easy loans, payback mechanisms and taxes exemption etc.). Very productive and useful steps are being taken forward regarding the implementation of the se programs by the public and private organizations which are also forming associations with each other. Some of the examples include the National Productivity Organization in China, Energy Star in the US and the Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme in the UK. Moreover private companies like the Synergy Solutions and the US Green Building Council have initiated a very unique and innovative award program for the energy efficient organizations giving new targets to the building industry. The main focus of the above mentioned schemes is setting standards of energy efficiency in buildings. The standards in practice are of various types depending on the mechanism of their enforcement; varying from voluntary initiatives according to some guidelines to obligatory requirements. Experts from various fields and organizations which include people from governmental organizations, corporate sector, construction industry, educational institutions, professional and technical societies have contr ibuted to the formulation and development of these energy efficiency codes and standards. Same is the case with the various energy efficiency techniques and strategies. The most important phase is developing the basic configuration of these codes based on the construction practices as well as the climate of a specific region or a country. After the development of this basic configuration, the codes and standards can be modified and amended accordingly with the development of technology and changing climatic conditions. Implementation of these standards results in a sustainable development in buildings, with increased life and better productivity in terms of service and occupancy. These standards are making the concept of energy efficiency understandable to common individuals by increasing awareness. People now think about the benefits of energy efficiency while constructing their buildings and this trend is also being followed in buildings with heavy renovation projects with an appr oach to upgrade the buildings in terms of energy efficiency. Energy standards are revolutionizing the energy efficiency in building industry because they provide a very easy and economically feasible approach to energy conservation but their formulation and implementation is not very easy. Most of the energy standards have been developed for the residential buildings but the detailed standards have not been developed fo

A study on strategic management as a determinant of organization Dissertation

A study on strategic management as a determinant of organization performance.(casestudy of coca cola plc) - Dissertation Example This is where business strategies or strategic management is required. This report, thus, aims to identify strategic management as a key determinant of organizational performance. The main objective of this research is to understand the importance of the strategic management in a business, so that organizations can utilize them for improving the efficiency of the business, as well of its employees. The report gives a literature review on the topic and also explains the rationale of the study. It discusses the studies and opinions of many analysts, who have clearly mentioned in their views the connection of the use of business strategies and high performance work. The research is believed to provide crucial knowledge on the impacts of strategic management as a factor for organizational performance. Interpretive research methodology has been used in the data collection and analysis. The research approach has been qualitative, where the literature review has been used, and case study me thod has been applied. A case study on the Coca Cola Company in Nigeria has been used for the research purpose, which has helped to answer the research questions. Apart from this, interviews have also been conducted, the records of which have been collected and analyzed. During the entire research program, all the ethical issues have been taken care of, and the purpose and procedures of the study have been clearly declared. The dissertation explains all the procedures applied for data collection, the results that have been obtained, and a clear analysis based on the examinations has been provided. Based on the analysis, a view has been provided on the importance of strategic management in business organizations and its role in determining the organizational performance. Acknowledgements Table of Contents Serial no. Topic Page no. Introduction 7 Limitation of the Study 10 The Research in Detail 11 1 Introduction, Aims & objectives 11 1.1 Introduction 11 1.2 Aims 12 1.3 Objectives 12 2 Literature Review 13 3 Research Methodology 23 4 Findings 28 5 Discussions 41 6 Conclusion 44 7 Recommendation 47 References 51 List of Figures Figure no. Topic Page no. 1 Response to Q.1 29 2 Response to Q.1 29 3 Response to Q.6 33 4 Response to Q.6 34 5 Response to Q.8 36 6 Response to Q.8 36 List of Appendices Serial no. Topic Page no. Appendix A Questionnaire 48 Introduction Different types of managers are present in an organization having different skills and capabilities. It is essential to make these skills work simultaneously to deal with various strategic tensions that an organization encounters (Joyce & Woods, 2001, p.3). A strategy is a cohesive and harmonized set of obligations and actions planned to develop core competencies and achieve competitive advantage (Sadler & Craig, 2003, pp.9-13). Strategic effectiveness is achieved when a firm successfully puts together and applies a value-creating approach. While choosing a strategy firms make choices among viable alternat ives. Such alternative courses of actions are accomplished using the strategic management process. A strategic management process is a full set of commitments, evaluations, and measures essential for a firm to achieve premeditated competitiveness and earn more than average returns (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisso, 2009, pp.4-6). It was as early as 1916 when Henry Fayol had suggested that planning should be used as a practice to

Early and silent cinema,cinema attractions Essay

Early and silent cinema,cinema attractions - Essay Example The reason for this choice is to show the gradual development of the filmy trends towards modernism. Both the films being silent motion pictures do not have any dialogue. So the actors’ dexterity is the main thing, which made them successful. The Kiss was one of the most popular movies in its genre in the end of the 19th century. This film concentrated more on romance than anything else. It was a challenging job for the director William Heise to make a romantic motion picture where dialogues were not possible to appear. Released in the year 1896, just as the name shows, this was the first film, which showed an onscreen kissing sequence. There were, however, alternative titles given to this film. They were like â€Å"The Mary Irwin Kiss†, â€Å"The Rice Irwin Kiss† and â€Å"The Widow Jones†. All these titles were mainly used in the United States of America where the connoisseurs appreciated the film. John McNally was a playwright who had an earlier work called â€Å"The Widow Jones†. Now this was where the idea of The Kiss was made. The kissing scene is actually said to be the last of McNally’s drama. This work of art is one of the first vaudeville performances transformed into a film. There was no well-knitted plot in this film as such. All it involved was just a kiss. A couple kisses – and this is where the film starts as well as it ends. Rice and Irwin were two popular stage personalities of the late 19th century and they were the only two people who performed in this movie. Kissing on the screen was something, which raised a great hue and cry wherever it was released. Moreover, some viewers were also excited to see a couple kissing on each other’s lip as this was perhaps the first erotic approach made in the world of motion pictures. There were even some controversies regarding the sequence as it was taken to be pornographic as ‘kissing†™ was made public. (Heise, 2008) Voyage à   travers limpossible, Le on the other hand, was a film which involved

Corporate Social Responsibility in India Essay Example for Free

Corporate Social Responsibility in India Essay The basic principle of the sustainable development and Corporate Social Responsibility is the combination of needs important both from the point of view of an institution, as well as a group of entities operating in its environment (employees, shareholders, stakeholders, borrowers, local society) within its business policy. Thus, the goal of a contemporary organisation should be to maximise its shareholders’ value satisfying, at the same time, expectations of other stakeholders (stakeholders’ value) by integrating economic, social and environmental operations. There are many factors that make us interested in Corporate Social Responsibility 2: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ New problems and expectations of citizens, customers, public authorities and investors in the context of globalisation and significant industrial changes; Social criteria have bigger and bigger influence on investment decisions made by units and institutions playing both the role of consumers as well as investors; Bigger and bigger care for damages caused to natural environment by business activities; Transparency of business activities supported by media and IT technologies. Corporate Social Responsibility principles, as well as the quality of information in their web sites and annual reports, the main sources of knowledge about the company for potential investors, counterparties and local communities. In the near future, we should also expect that as a result of the globalisation of financial markets, Polish listed companies will meet investors that are more aware of Corporate Social Responsibility and consumers that invest and co-operate better with companies supporting environmental and social development. The analysis of awareness rates and progress in implementing the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility in the sector of Polish companies covered all joint stock companies listed in the Warsaw Stock Exchange4, excluding listed banks (covered in the analysis of the banking sector) and national investment funds. Results of the study are based on information disclosed and presented in web sites and annual reports of the analysed companies and they refer to the following aspects: †¢ †¢ †¢ reporting on Corporate Governance principles adopted by the company, including audit rules; reporting on the company’s environmental policy, reporting on the company’s social policy. The study covered possibilities of an access for investors, local communities, potential business partners to the information about the company’s financial standing, and strategies in progress. The principles for reporting on Corporate Governance were stipulated in the resolution of the Stock Exchange Council of October 16, 2002 (58/952/2002) on best practice in public companies in 2002. Pursuant to this document, companies were obliged to publish and deliver, by July 1, 2003, their first statement confirming their will to observe the newly introduced rules. The study carried out by the Institute shows that over 90 percent of companies publish their reports on incorporating (adopting) principles of Corporate Governance in their business strategies. However, we have to point out that the quality and availability of the information presented in web sites and in annual reports of companies for potential investors and society is relatively low. 4 The analysis was carried out from August – October 2003. 5 The Gdansk Institiute for Market Economics Among the listed companies under the study, only 40 percent disclose and publish detailed information about the structure of their Corporate Governance, and mostly in web sites, where companies present the information about the composition and structure of their management board (74. 4 %) and the composition and structure of their supervisory board (62. 2 %). Chart 1. 1. 1 Do domestic companies publish detailed information about the structure of their supervisory bodies? 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Board structure Supervisory board structure Responsibilities of board member Definition of independence 25,6% 37,8% 51,7% 87,2% 99,4% 99,4% 74,4% 62,2% 48,3% 12,8% 0,6% Any supervisory board Commities 0,6% Individuals responsible for implementation, oversight and audit of economic, social and environmental policies YES NO Source: Own study based on research carried out by the Gdansk Institute for Market Economics. The Institute’s studies on the companies’ informing about the structure and responsibilities of their main bodies in charge of Corporate Governance also show that: †¢ domestic listed companies have not appointed persons in charge of implementing and supervising their policy related to Corporate Social Responsibility, yet (only 0. 6%), †¢ companies usually do not disclose the information about the existing committees at their supervisory boards. Potential investors and business partners willing to establish co-operation with a given entrepreneur want to know external auditors analysing the company’s financial statements and know whether they are reliable. 6 The Gdansk Institiute for Market Economics The Institute’s study shows that 88 percent of domestic public companies presents information related to their audit policy in their web sites. The companies usually give procedures for selecting external auditors, principles for rotation (changes) of external auditors and point out that external auditors are independent of the company. Nevertheless, in Poland, companies still do not present statements on audit costs and costs of other services performed by auditors. The Institute’s analysis also shows that most listed companies under the study (86. %) have undertaken to respect such shareholders’ rights specified in the Best Practice like: †¢ †¢ right to express their opinion and make motions to the company’s management board; right to see minutes and reports from previous meetings (usually available to the shareholders at the company’s office); †¢ publishing information on future General Shareholders Meetings and their agenda. Chart 1. 1. 2 Do domestic companies publish information about audit, shareholders’ rights, implemented principles of their Code of Business Conduct / Code of Ethics? 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 12,8% 13,3% 98,9% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 87,2% 86,7% 1,1% 0% Does the Company disclose audit related Does the company disclose its policy on information? shareholder rights? Does the company disclose and report on its internal Code of Business Conduct/ Code of Ethics? YES NO Source: Own study based on research carried out by the Gdansk Institute for Market Economics. Assessing the awareness and progress in implementing the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility by Polish listed companies, it is worth underlining that still a small percentage of companies has developed and adopted the Code of Ethics and the Code of Business Conduct, 7 The Gdansk Institiute for Market Economics where the companies define, for example, principles for social, environmental policy, issues related to the protection of human rights, employment policy. The managements have to guarantee that the Code of Business Conduct is effectively implemented, monitored and improved. Therefore, the European Commission promotes companies which adopt and implement the Codes of Business Conduct prepared by international corporations. In the opinion of the European Commission, the Code of Business Conduct should 5: †¢ Be based on guidelines of the Convention of the International Labour Organisation, defined in the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work from 1998 and OECD’s guidelines for international companies related to social partners and their stakeholders; †¢ †¢ †¢ Incorporate mechanisms required to assess and verify the Code implemented; Involve social partners and other groups of stakeholders influencing the company’s operations in the dialog about the shape of the Code; Expand the experience related to best practice in European companies. The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility also assumes that the company should purposefully get involved in environmental protection. The study shows that domestic listed companies do not find it purposeful to present information about actions taken to protect t e natural environment. On the one hand, it h results f rom the fact that the companies are not aware of potential benefits they could obtain, according to the assumptions of Corporate Social Responsibility, for example if their environmental actions are positively perceived by their stakeholders. The research carried out by the Market and Opinion Research International (MORI) under the CSR Europe campaign on the sample of 12 thousand citizens representing 12 countries shows that around 70 percent of consumers buying a product or a service take into account the level which a given producer is involved in social and environmental activity to. At the same time, every fifth consumer is ready to pay more for goods produced by a socially responsible company. On the other hand, the lack of information about environmental actions taken by the companies results from relatively low financial expenses borne by these companies for environmental purposes.

Internet Gambling Essay Example for Free

Internet Gambling Essay The technoculture related topic that I am going to explore is the phenomenon of Internet gambling. With the emergence and explosion of gambling on television such as the World Series of Poker of ESPN or The World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel, online gaming has quickly become a major player in the technoculture of contemporary society. I feel it is important to explore this issue because of American societys fascination and obsession with gambling. Gambling can and has become a very serious and damaging activity to many people in this country. According to CNN. com, studies have shown that people who gamble on the Internet tend to have more serious addictions than people who wager through more traditional venues. Through my research, I hope to further explore why Internet gambling has the potential to be more dangerous than traditional casinos and how younger generations of Americans and the government are responding to this ever-growing phenomenon. Literature Review The research I discovered on Internet gambling is fairly recent and comprehensive. Since online gaming is a reasonably new trend, the material written on the matter was rather current. Furthermore, there was a substantial amount of information within these three sources. It was evident that the three authors conducted high-quality research, and it showed with the use of graphs, charts, and case studies. Also, the three sources had a very similar outlook on the present and future situation of online gaming. With that being said, given that online gaming is at the peak of its existence, it is imperative that further exploration and examination within the subject be carried out. Because of the instant access one has to a gambling venue and the privacy factor of the Internet, online gaming has become a risky undertaking for many. According to David Schwartz (2003), Internet gambling presents new problems for individuals and society (p. 214). Instead of driving to an actual physical casino, problem gamblers can enjoy betting in the comforts of their own home. At home, they are not monitored by other gamblers and/or casino personnel which results in the ability to set their own limit. The Internet also allows the gambler to maintain a level of privacy not found in real casinos. If there are no friends or family around to supervise, then the gambler can engage in irresponsible betting without any time constraints. Finally, unlike real casinos, Internet casinos are readily available at the click of a button. If an online gaming organization will not accept ones money, one can bet that there are thousands of others that will be happy to take ones funds. The demographics of gambling are interesting to investigate within the subject. According to Rachel Volberg (2001), adults ages 18 to 29 are substantially more likely than older adults to have gambled privately (p. 34). Young adults are also more likely to gamble for excitement compared to older adults (Volberg, 2001). This is not a difficult concept to grasp. Normally, young adults have a less appreciative concept of money because they do not have as great of a responsibility as older people in regards to providing for family, paying bills, and spending money on expenses that are traditionally not familiar to a younger person. Furthermore, young people are usually unsupervised, especially in the collegiate demographic. Without the approval from mommy and daddy, young adults all across America are enjoying the financial freedom to do whatever they want with the money they have. In addition, according to Thomas Barker and Marjie Britz (2000), many college students have deep pockets ? Mom and Dads (p. 139). With this new found autonomy and fiscal assistance from parents, college kids are engaging in online gaming for fun and excitement. However, if left untreated and unsupervised, the fun and excitement can soon turn into a dangerous addiction with serious consequences and ramifications. With the possibility of Internet gambling becoming a serious problem, the government has been asked to step in and legislate the situation. According to Volberg (2001), The fact that Internet gambling is conducted in a networked, data-intensive environment offers opportunities for regulation and oversight in several critical areas, including licensure, testing for game integrity and site security, auditing and oversight, taxation, and consumer protection (p 97). Basically, Volberg is supporting a regulatory system that will be able to monitor the activities not only of the individual gambler, but of the gambling website as well. If the government actually does get involved, certain problems can be remedied. For example, every transaction made by a player can be closely followed and tracked. If a player indicates behaviors that suggest irresponsible decision-making, the player can be flagged and possibly suspended from a gambling website. However, all in all, Internet gambling will most likely always have its problems. Just like alcohols are with minors, people will get their hands on something they probably should not be touching. Internet gambling is an intensifying activity in American culture. With all the limitless possibility and endless potential of the Internet, online gaming will continue to be a major player in the world of technoculture and the information society. Nevertheless, what is important within this public sphere is to be able to responsibly deal with the world of Internet casinos. We need to come to a positive middle ground between the two sides of the spectrum; the fun and excitement of gambling and the spiraling addiction. Current Trends Like anything in life, when you create stimulus you are going to yield a response. In regards to online gaming, the stimulus that was created was the buzz generated by the constant bombardment of gambling programs on television. ESPN annually televises The World Series of Poker during the summer in which thousands of people descend upon Las Vegas to gamble in all types of events including poker, blackjack, craps, etc Many times they tell the story of some average Joe who enters a tournament and eventually ends up winning thousands of dollars. This false sense of hope has grabbed millions of Americans into thinking that they too, have the ability to win a substantial amount of money. The response to this stimulus has been the emergence of online casinos. However, instead of people winning money, crime has actually been the fallout of this risky behavior. According to ABCnews. com (2006), a Lehigh University student by the name of Greg Hogan Jr. attempted to rob a local bank in order to pay off his gambling debts. He was eventually caught and pleaded guilty to the offense and now faces up to three years in jail. During his interview with Good Morning America, Mr. Hogan blamed his addiction to online gambling websites for his setback, and cautioned the American public to the dangerous power of Internet gaming. In addition to his story, according to ABCnews. com (2006), 2. 9 million Americans between the ages of fourteen and twenty-two gamble with cards online at least once a week, and fifty percent of male college students and twenty-six percent of female college students gamble on cards at least once a month. To combat this growing epidemic, the House of Representatives took a proactive stance on the matter by passing legislation that would make it illegal to use credit cards on gambling websites and make it significantly more difficult to access these sites. Whether it gets passed by the Senate and the Executive Branch is another matter, however, at least the government is recognizing the problem sooner rather than later. In conjunction with this theory of crime, many Internet scammers have found opportunity within this growing trend. An article on ABCnews.com (2006) describes an elaborate scheme where bookies took sports bets through an Internet gambling site. The insecurity of the website allowed these thieves to launder millions of dollars and corrupt the free enterprise system of the Internet gaming business. Fortunately, these criminals were caught. Nevertheless, it makes you wonder how frequent this sort of thing exists in the online world. Some have argued, nonetheless, that Internet gambling has its benefits. According to Tom W. Bell (1998), the inclusion of the Internet has fostered competition to a business that has long enjoyed the sanctuary of restraining licensing practices. Rather than having to fly out to isolated casinos in Vegas or Atlantic City, you can enjoy the experience of gambling in the comforts of your own home. Bell (1998) also supports the belief that gambling in your home allows an individual to escape the traps found in real, physical casinos. A person does not have to be surrounded in a windowless structure while being harassed by cocktail waitresses carrying a tray of free booze. Because of online gaming, the business world has more free enterprise and has given the individual a sense of security not found in traditional locales. In terms of my own personal experience, I actually signed up to one of these gambling websites to investigate how they attract and seize the public. The website was www. gambling. com and in order to register, all I had to give them was a current e-mail address. I found it sort of comforting to know that they pledged that they would not pass any of my information on to any other company and/or website because I did not want my stagweb to become flooded with junkmail from these websites. Immediately after becoming a member, I was granted 400 Ludos. I had no clue as to what Ludos were, but after some probing, I discovered that they were basically a form of Internet currency. For every twenty five Ludos, I received a dollar. That equals sixteen dollars. But, heres the catch. For me to actually receive the Ludos and use them to gamble, I would have to give them my credit card information and pay a montly fee which was actually just about as expensive as the Ludos themselves. Brilliant. Moreover, the website contained links in which I could learn how to play games by reading tutorials, and then, actually play those games. I conducted a little experiment of my own to see how many times I won during one of the games. Out of twenty-five spins on one of the slot machines, I ended up winning sixteen times. That is a sixty-four percent average of winning. Now, anyone who understands anything about gambling knows that the absolute best percentage of winning is fifty percent. However, most of the games are not even close to that percentage. My suspicion leads me to believe that these websites give a false sense of hope to their members. If they succeed in tempting people to try these games, and these games yield a winning percentage better than fifty percent, more often than not, someone is going to believe that they actually have a great chance of making money. It actually is a genius scheme to lure in the public. Make them believe. Once they have accomplished that, these websites have them right where they want them. Conclusions The effects of online gaming are now becoming more clear and transparent to technoculture and the information society. It is apparent that online gaming has become a microcosm of the digital divide that exists within society. According to one of our readings during the semester written by Oscar H. Gandy, Jr. (2002), the differences that make up the digital divide are more than just social constructions. The actual construction is molded due to the new systems of communication that have surfaced within the last twenty years. In relation to online gaming, Internet gaming websites are now competing to display the flashiest, most hypertextual sites in order to attract customers. Due to this competition, better bandwidth and enhanced software will result, thus highlighting the digital divide. Data mining and this notion of surveillance has also entered the conversation regarding online gaming. Because an individual has to present private information about ones self on a website to facilitate gambling, the possibility of gambling website selling personal information in return for financial gain is a distinct possibility. As aforementioned, the site I visited before pledged that they did not engage in data mining. Yet, this seems to suggest that other sites do exercise this right which effectively gives companies useful information about yourself. Moreover, whenever someone uses the Internet, especially in a situation where one willingly submits personal information such as credit card and phone numbers, the possibility of third party surveillance is always present. It really conveys the authentic risks one undertakes when participating in the latest innovation. Another theory that online gaming illustrates is the constant tension between structure and agency. The government represents structure. As a stable entity, it looks to control the path of Internet gambling by establishing rules and regulations in hopes of creating some order. Internet gambling, on the other hand, is the perfect example of agency. Gambling, in and of itself, is the exact definition of what agency represents: the ability of uncertainty and chaos to influence the parameters through which we live. However, as much as these two concepts seem unrelated, there is an interdependence that spurs the creation of new technologies, not only in the world of online gaming, but throughout the technological landscape. Annotated List of Relevant URLS 1. http://www. playwinningpoker. com/resources/sites2. html : This website is a resource for gamblers.It allows the user to learn new games, find new games, and contact certain people involved with gambling. 2. http://www. gambling. com/best/online-gambling-sites. htm : This website directs users to the best gambling websites on the Internet. It has a list on the left hand side with about sixty different links to other gambling sites. 3. http://www. out-law. com/page-6655 : This website is about illegal activities on the Internet. It contains a few articles on illegal mishaps that have occurred through Internet gambling websites. 4. http://www. becker-posner-blog.com/archives/2006/08/on_internet_gam. html : Blog that contains articles about Internet gambling. Website constructed by Gary Becker and Richard Posner. 5. http://www. cardplayer. com/blog/entry/179 : Blog that is pro-Internet gambling. Players write their feelings on why they think Internet casinos are fun and exciting. 6. http://www. istoppedgambling. com/ : Website founded to help people with gambling problems. Includes personal stories, how-to instructions, and negative articles about gambling. 7. http://www. nomoregambling. com/ : Website founded to help people with Internet gambling problems. Has a hotline and other medias to help combat irresponsible Internet betting. Works Cited Barker, Thomas Britz, Marjie (2000). Jokers Wild: Legalized Gambling in the Twenty-first Century. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. Schwartz G. , David (2003). Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis Books, Inc. Volberg A. , Rachel (2001). When the Chips Are Down: Problem Gambling in America. New York, NY: The Century Foundation, Inc. http://www. cato. org/testimony/ct-tb052198. html.

The wembley national stadium

The wembley national stadium   Introduction It was built to be the new ‘home of football; to be one of the largest and magnificent stadiums in the world and designed to be state-of-the-art with a seating capacity of 90,000. Designed by the World Stadium Team led by Mott MacDonald, the Wembley Stadium now stands as the most expensive stadium ever built, the longest single-span roof structure in the world (315m), second largest stadium in Europe and the tallest in the world (133m) with every seat under roof cover.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The concept was to build a state-of-the-art stadium, with none that can compare anywhere else in the world. The new stadium has a partly retractable roof which can be adjusted to allow sunlight to reach all parts of the pitch. During bad weather, the roof can be retracted in about 15 minutes to cover every seat (http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/wembley/).  £120 million from the Lottery Fund was invested into the stadium with an additional loan of  £426 million through West Deutsche Landesbank. A fixed price contract was reached between the client and contractors. This made provision for a building cost of  £352 million and total project costs of  £757 million (Public Accounts Committee, 2004). However, like most iconic construction projects of national interest, the Wembley project was not spared its own share of controversies, accusations, rumours, anxieties and fascination. The Football Association (FA) must have imagined a spectacular 2006 FA Cup grand finale, the biggest UK soccer championship at Wembley National Stadium. Unfortunately, this important event had to be moved all the way to Wales! What was wrong? Wembley Stadiums extraordinarily ambitious re-development was utterly behind schedule.The project later opened in March 2007, almost a year behind schedule and  £70million over budget and has since then kept some of the finest construction lawyers in constant employment. The Wembley Stadium concept was definitely ambitious and the product stands now impressively. Even more breathe taking is the 133m arch which when lit up at night shinning gloriously, and can even be seen across London. Wembley has indeed become Englands new icon of football. The client for the project was the Football Association (FA) working through its subsidiary the Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL). The main contractor was Multiplex Constructions with Mott MacDonald being the Lead Designers. The project used two project advisors; Tropus at the initial stages (1997-2001) and Capita Symonds (2001-2006). The initial steel contractor was Cleveland Bridge Problems During The Project A litany of problems can be identified that bedevilled the construction of the Wembley Stadium mainly adversarial contracts, unreasonable risk allocation, cash-flow problems, design changes, poor performance, poor site management and litigations. These are presented in details below: Delays and indecisiveness even before the project begun: Plans for a new stadium were beset with delays, management problems and increasing costs since December 1996. The designs were revealed   in 1999 and the stadium should have been completed in 2003 but the work itself started only in September 2002 due to many political and financial problems. The project was finally rescheduled to complete in May 2006 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2119413.stm).   Design Problems: Multiplex argued that ‘Mott MacDonald`s design for the Wembley steel work was not fit for purpose and that the initial designs were not correct, constructible, co-ordinated and consistent. It further stated that Mott MacDonalds deficient design, failure to warn and/or take action is shown in many thousands of individual acts or omissions (Technology and Construction Court (TCC), 2006).   Scope Creep: The initial scope was to accommodate athletics, rugby and football in the same stadium. This later became very controversial and resulted in the removal of athletics from the scheme in 1999, because of the technical and commercial challenges of accommodating the three sports within the same stadium. In December 2001, the scope was further changed with the removal of a hotel from the project, the expansion of hospitality suites and considerable changes to the north side of the stadium bowl. This took the Mott Consortium 7-8 months to redesign. These changes increased the cost of the project especially in steel works (TCC, 2006). Procurement Issues: In the conclusions of Public Accounts Committee (Eighth Report of Session 2003-04), it stated that â€Å"Best procurement practice has not been followed on what is a high profile project Organisations responsible for managing projects should be expected to set out a formal procurement process, which treats all bidders equally to avoid giving any one a potential advantage over the others.† It further criticised Wembley National Stadium Limited for failing to follow a detailed and overt formal procurement process and having dialogue with Multiplex prior to starting the procurement process. A report by former Wembley project manager Tropus, said ‘the appointment was made with undue speed. The James Report also concluded that there had ‘been serious flaws in the procurement policies.'(James Report, 2002) Poor Communication: Apart from the major changes in the scope of the works, Multiplexlamented not given access to vital design information which made them underprice the steelwork. Mott on the other hand thought â€Å"Multiplex was aware of the state of design, having managed the design process and having been intimately involved in the design work.†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (Wembley Stadium into Injury Time, 2002) Poor Planning and organisation: A lot of decisions seem to have been made hastily. No wonder several changes had to be made at later stages. When it became a prime objective to finish the project in time for the FA Cup finale in May 2006, efficiency and cost effectiveness became secondary issues. In my opinion, a lot of problems could have been avoided if Multiplex did not have to rush the job to meet unrealistic deadlines. Multiplex claims that it has sustained significant losses as a result of a multitude of breaches of contract and/or acts of negligence by the consultant, which had far-reaching effects for Wembley (TCC, 2006; Baloch, 2008). Disputes and disagreements: Cleveland Bridge (CB), the steel contractor terminated their   contract   in 2004 because they did not believe they would be paid for materials and that there were seemingly insurmountable difficulties between them and Multiplex. A sustained input from a steelwork subcontractor could have greatly influenced the timely completion of the project but eventually CB had to be replaced with all attending problems of a new project team member. Health and Safety problems: In March 2006, a temporary roof support fell by over half resulting in the evacuation of all construction workers and delay of work. Another accident occurred January 2004 resulting in the death of one construction worker and the injury of another when a platform collapsed without warning, trapping the men underneath (http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/wembley/) Poor Performance by Cleveland Bridge: Delays were caused by CB as not all the steel sent to China could be fabricated in time to comply with the programme. So the steel sent to China was often shipped back to England with   most not fabricated. Furthermore the steel sent to site was often missing crucial pieces (meaning it could not be erected) or else was untagged with the consequence that site staff could not identify the relevant pieces of steel (TCC, 2006). Poor Supervision by Sports England: The Government was less than happy with the level of supervision offered by Sport England. It stated that â€Å"Sport   Englands performance in monitoring the progress of the project has been lack, slovenly and supine.† This ultimately resulted in supply team missing the focal point of the project right from the beginning and before long, a lot was out of hand (Wembley Stadium into Injury Time, 2002). Poor Stakeholder management: In a statement by The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sports Committee, it blamed some of the problems encountered on the project on poor stakeholder management. It said, â€Å"the project had been undermined by the ‘fundamental failure to include all representatives at the outset in planning the redevelopment† (www.publications.parliament.uk). The resignation of Ken Bates in 2001 as chairman of WNSL gives a further hint. He cited a lack of support from the board and that he had been undermined by senior figures within both the government and the FA. He remarkably said, Even Jesus Christ only had one Pontius Pilate I had a whole team of them. (www.forbes.com). The Problems Encountered: The Role Of Project Management Project Management (PM) is the â€Å". . . application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to achieve project requirements.† (PMBoK, 2004). This same theme runs through other standards for PM including BS6079 and ISO 10006. Suffice it for now to say that PM is the managerial responsibility and actions involved in completing a project on time, in budget and to the specified quality standards, in accordance with the traditional performance criteria. The role of PM in the Wembley project will now be appraised under some of the key knowledge areas identified in the PMBoK. Project Scope Management This involves developing a scope statement that will define the boundaries of the project and verify the amount of work to be done. PM uses such tools as brainstorming, fast diagrams, Value Management workshops to define the project. This is because if you have the wrong definition, you may come up with the right solution—to the wrong problem!(Lewis, 2007). If scope definition is not holistically carried out, major changes such as those experienced on Wembley may occur later and cause delays, cost variations leading to claims and litigations. This, I believe, was the ‘akiles heel of this iconic project. Where change becomes inevitable, PM should manage them to protect the project from the effects of scope creep. Wembley failed in this area resulting in the considerable cost and time overruns. Lewis (2007) rightly said, â€Å"I have become convinced that projects seldom fail at the end. Rather, they fail at the definition stage.† Project Time Management PM adorns itself with yet another accolade of being able to effectively estimate time frame for projects realistically and defining work packages and milestone to achieve this target. It employs one of its popular tools of Critical Path Method and scheduling in this respect. Many softwares including Primavera and MS Project have also been developed to helped in the management of time. Kaming (1997), Elinwa (2001) and Aibini (2006) however reveal that the occurrence of time overruns is high and that overruns can occur of projects irrespective of its size. Wembley was no exception. Some of the disputes, changes, cash flow problems, design problems etc. that caused resulted in the project being delivered in 10 months late and the subsequent changing of the FA Cup finals to Wales could have been avoided through effective project time management. PM should have helped to come out with a realistic duration for the project. Project Cost Management This involves estimating the cost of all resources and such things as travel and other support details. After this is done, costs are budgeted and tracked to keep the project within that budget (Rad, 2002). This is very important in PM as the first question most clients ask is ‘how much will it cost? It is the duty of the PM to realistically determine what it will cost to achieve a particular scope. The tough question then arises. Was Wembleys initial cost of  £445million realistic? Why did cost rise astronomically to  £757million at completion? The project even had to be stalled ‘into injury time just to seek additional funding. Why couldnt PM prevent this? Much of the blame lies squarely on PMs failure to realistically estimate cost at conception. Project Communications Management â€Å"This is the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, storage, and disposition of project information.† (PMBoK, 2004). Multiplexclaims it was not given access to vital design information and that this led to increased steelwork costs. Mott MacDonald on the other hand dismisses this saying, â€Å"Multiplex was aware of the state of design, having managed the design process and having been intimately involved in the design work† (TCC, 2006). PM is supposed to create a smooth communication interface between all parties to forestall these misunderstandings. Project Procurement Management This helps in selecting the most appropriate contractors and suppliers, administers the contract as well as form the best working relationships between all parties to achieve project goals. The Public Accounts Committee (2003-04), stated that â€Å"Best procurement practice has not been followed on what is a high profile project† PM should have also salvaged the problem between Mott, Cleveland and Multiplex before it got out of hand, resulting in Cleveland walking away from the project with its attending problems. More also, it is known that competitive tendering and cost as a selection criteria has produced poor results in construction over the years and PM should have helped in designing the best procurement approach to prevent the problems (Egan, 1998). The contract used for the project was fixed cost method in which the client cleverly shirks risk to the contractor. This form of contract invariably results in creating an adversarial environment with where each party   involved focuses their attentions on the needs and risks of their businesses as opposed to those of the project (Morriss, P. and Hollis, A., 2005).This may well be another area that grossly affected the results on Wembley and effective PM should have prevented this. Stakeholder Management: Freeman and McVea (2001) describe this function as â€Å"looking out from the firm or project and identifying, and investing in all the relationships that will ensure long-term success.† At concept stage, this is used to collect views of all interested parties, especially those of end users who usually hold vital information that may be critical to the design, function and success of a project. If this was effectively done, it would have prevented the acrimony that grew between some of the contractors and would have saved the project from unnecessary delays and increased cost of replacing Cleveland Bridge. It would have helped to produce the best fitting design as well as sort out the fact that athletics, football and rugby in the same venue would present a lot of technical and functional difficulties at the design stage saving the project from about 8 months of redesign. Site Management: Chan (1997) showed that out of 8 group factors that caused delays in construction projects, poor site management and supervision was amongst the top five. The accusations and counter-accusations during the hearing at the Technology and Construction Court between Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge gives us yet another glimpse into an area of failure of PM on Wembley. The site was poorly managed as it was littered with random pieces of steel that had been delivered in the wrong order and a significant quantity of steel was sitting on trailers adjacent to the site or around the perimeter. This had the potential of disrupting flow of activities and even causing accidents (TCC, 2006). The Actions And Measures That Should Have Been Taken The influential Latham (1994) and Egan (1998) reports called for new approaches to construction- one in which client leadership is key and where there is greater collaborative working between firms within the construction supply chain. Egan summarised five key drivers of change namely committed leadership; a focus on the customer; integrated processes and teams; a quality driven agenda; and a commitment to people. Some of the necessary actions and measures that should have been taken is now presented below: Key Client Leadership: The new Terminal Five at Heathrow is a widely acclaimed example of current construction best practice. The approach was unique and tailored to the very needs of the project i.e. the client took a level of ownership of project thus creating a clear vision for how it wanted the project delivered and also staying close enough to the project from inception to completion (Brady, 2008). Latham (1994) recommended that â€Å"the client should be at the core of the construction process† because â€Å"clients [essentially] drive best practice.† Egan (1998). The Client in the Wembley Stadium project was the Football Association and thus should have: 1. stayed close enough to the project, monitoring it and to make sure things dont go out of hand; 2. ensured that major changes to the scope of works was frozen at a particular point on the project or avoided altogether. These changes often result in dispute, delays and extra expense; 3. made sure that adequate funding was secured for the project before it even begun and that the estimation of both time and cost were realistically carried out; 4. come out with clear, concise, realistic and unambiguous objectives at the conception of the project involving all necessary stakeholders so that major changes, such as those that were experienced, could be avoided; 5. shared in risk of development/construction rather than cleverly shoving it to contractors. The â€Å"Heathrow Method†: Terminal 5 was an audacious development project that involved more than 60 contractors and 16 major projects. British Airways Authority (BAA) adopted a unique approach to the project to make sure it is completed both on time and within budget. It used â€Å"an innovative form of cost-reimbursable contract the ‘T5 Agreement under which BAA holds all the risks associated with the project rather than transferring the risks to external suppliers and guarantees a level of proï ¬ t for suppliers.† (Brady, 2008). The Agreement included an incentive payment for contractors that achieved a certain level of performance. It decided to reimburse the costs of delivery and to reward exceptional performance and punish mediocre and poor performance only in terms of proï ¬ tability. This created some sort of win-win environment for all parties and motivated the contractors to focus their attention   on the needs of the project and collectively so lve problems rather than concentrate on their own business risks and interests. These are the fundamental reasons why T5 achieved the laudable success of staying within budget and cost at completion. Cleveland would not have walked out of the job if it was given firm assurance of re-imbursement of cost incurred. The contracts should have been designed with an approach that offered incentives to all, for improvement in cost, time or quality and not in an adversarial environment associated with fixed cost contracts. Integrating the Supply chain: Both Latham (1994) and Egan (1998) underscored the importance of using integrated teams to realise project goals. The T5 approach used by BAA combined two main principles: the client always bears the risk; and partners are worth more than suppliers. ‘It provides an appropriate environment for integrated team working [†¦] to enable suppliers to work effectively and focus on meeting the projects objectives not only in relation to the traditional time, budget, and quality measures but also in relation to safety and environmental targets (Brady, 2008). ‘By doing that you take away negativity, allow space for innovation and create any opportunity for people to perform at levels they havent been allowed to before (Mylius, 2005). Involvement of end users: End users often hold vital information as they are usually in a better position to comment on the detailed requirements for a building than senior management who may not even be the occupants of the building when it is completed. After all, the users have first hand experience of what makes a building successful or otherwise (Menches, 2008). By the use of such methods as   focus groups, value management workshops and major surveys, the issue of athletics, rugby and football in the same venue could have been resolved even before any detailed design and thus eliminating the extensive delays and cost implications it had on the project (Barrett, P., and Stanley, C., 1999). Use of a Project bank: In an attempt to integrate project teams in an atmosphere of trust, collaboration and openness, the National Audit Office (NAO) of the UK suggested the   use of a project bank account. To ensure better construction, it said, ‘suppliers [require] greater certainty that they will be paid on time to re-enforce the trust that should exist between all parties for collaborative working to operate effectively. This was endorsed by the Specialist Contractors who indicated that ‘payments for the project delivery team should be protected and secure, which would, in turn, significantly reduce disputes and, more importantly, will encourage closer working relationships between all parties. (Parliamentary Newsletter, Issue 3, Spring/Summer 2006). Best Project Management Practice: At the execution level, much of the problems that occurred on the project could have been avoided or its impact attenuated if best project management practice was adopted by all especially Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge. Problems of poor site management practice, poor or incorrect fabrication of steel, design change management and communication could have been arrested with proper planning, organisation and control. Careful Monitoring: Projects rarely stay on track in terms of time and cost. the more likely occurrence is that projects will be behind schedule yet over budget at any point in time. Good project management carefully and critically appraises all factors that a likely to push a project off schedule (Office of Government Commerce, 2005). Monitoring progress carefully and instigating timely corrective actions by both WNSL, Multiplex as well as the FA, would have helped identify the likely impact of any problems so that action can be taken to get the project back on track. Conclusion Experience is a great asset to professionals practicing in any discipline, whether that experience comes from success or failure and whoever fails to learn from his mistakes is doomed to repeat them. Some of the key lessons on Wembley Stadium is thus now summarised below:   Adequate time and effort needs to be invested in the strategic planning phase of every project to come out with clear, realistic, and unambiguous project objectives;   Project team must engage effectively with users and other external stakeholders especially at the concept stage of any scheme to save the project from major changes with its attending problems;   Construction procurement must move away from competitive tendering and cost as the selection criteria and develop procedures that use performance and team partnering and capability;   Contracts must be designed to provide incentive to all for cost and time improvement and also forge a ‘win-win environment between clients and supply chain members;   Enough resources have to be made available for the project based on realistic estimates;   Clients must assume central roles in projects for they essentially drive best practice;   Continual change in project requirements and scope can be very detrimental for the project;   Dysfunctional relationships and fragmentation can turn a perfect project scheme into a complete chaos and thus project teams must operate as a cohesive unit, with clear allocation of roles and responsibilities. Finally, it is evident, at least from the Wembley Stadium project that a poor knowledge and a lack awareness of the fundamental project management skills by the client can lead to failure as clients essentially drive best practice. An effective and successful outcome of project management on any project in most cases will only be achieved if both the client and the contractor or project management organisations are effective in the skills of project management. A poor client organisation, in terms of project management, may well drive a good project manager and his team into poor performance. Agreeably, it may not be a panacea due to many circumstances and occurrences that may well be out of its control. However, Project Management stands the chance of producing laudable results if the construction industry stopped treating it casually and unprofessionally but rigorously apply the great worth of knowledge and experience its gathered over the past years, through both its success and failure stories. References 1. Aibinu, A.A et al (2006), Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, volume 132, Issue 7, pp. 667-677 (July 2006) 2. Barrett, P., Stanley, C., (1999), Better Construction Briefing, Blackwell Science Ltd 3. Brady, Tim(2008)Learning to Deliver a Mega-project: The case of Heathrow Terminal 5. New Challenges to Managing Organisations in Project Business. St Petersberg State University,St Petersburg, Russia,pp.137-158. 4. Briefing Team, Published by Construction Excellence, 2004. 5. Carter, P., (2002) EnglishNationalStadiumReview, FinalReport, A report submitted to the HouseofCommons. 6. Chan, D.W.M., and Kumaraswamy, M.M, (1997) A comparative study of causes of time overruns in Hong Kong construction projects, International Journal of Project Management Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 55-63, 1997. 7. Design and Build Projects, www.designbuild-network.com/projects/wembley 8. Egan, J. (1998) Rethinking Construction, Construction Task Force Report for Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, HMSO, London. 9. Elinwa A.U.,et al (2001), Time-Overrun Factors in Nigerian Construction Industry, Journal of Construction Engineering Management, Vol 127, Issue 5, pp. 419-425 (Sept/Oct 2001) 10. Evan, M., (2005), Overdue and over budget, over and over again, The Economist. 11. GovernmentResponse totheSixthReportfromthe Culture,MediaandSportSelectCommittee Session2001-2002, Wembley National Stadium Into Injury time. 12. House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts, Eighth Report of Session 2003-04, The English national stadium project at Wembley 13. James Report, Cited in Wembley Stadium Into Injury Time(2002), Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 14. Kaming, P.F., et al (1997) Factors influencing construction time and cost overruns on high-rise projects in Indonesia, Construction Management and Economics, 15: 1, 83 — 94 15. Latham, M. (1994) Constructing the Team, Final Report of the Government/Industry Review of Procurement and Contractual Arrangements in the UK Construction Industry, HMSO, London. 16. Lewis J.P., (2007) Fundamentals of project management (3rd Edition), AMAKOM Books 17. Menches, C.L., et al (2008) Impact of preconstruction planning and project characteristics on performance in the US electrical construction industry, Construction Management and Economics, 26: 8, 855-869. 18. Morriss, P. and Hollis, A., (2005), Matching Contract Style to your business, Contract Conference Paper, Snowden Consulting Group. 19. Mylius, A. (2005) ‘A game of two halves Supply Management, 6 October 2005. 20. Office of Government Commerce, (2005), Common Causes of Construction Failure, Best Practice Guide. 21. Project Management Institute, (2004)A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK),(2004 Edition). 22. Rad, P.F., (2002), Project Estimation and Cost Management, Management Concept Inc. 23. The Heathrow Terminal 5 Project, www.airport-technology.com/projects/heathrow5 24. The Judgement, (2006) Technology and Construction Court, EWHC 1341TCC 25. The Wembley Blame Game, www.forbes.com 26. UK Government, Parliamentary Newsletter, Issue 3, Spring/Summer 2006.

The Versailles Treaty :: European Europe History

The Versailles Treaty The Treaty of Versailles was intended to be a peace agreement between the Allies and the Germans. Versailles created political discontent and economic chaos 1in Germany. The Peace Treaty of Versailles represented the results of hostility and revenge and opened the door for a dictator and World War II. November 11, 1918 marked the end of the first World War. Germany had surrendered and signed an armistice agreement. The task of forming a peace agreement was now in the hands of the Allies. In December of 1918, the Allies met in Versailles to start on the peace settlement.2 The main countries and their respective representatives were: The United States, Woodrow Wilson; Great Britain, David Lloyd George; and France, George Clemenceau. "At first, it had seemed the task of making peace would be easy".3 However, once the process started, the Allies found they had conflicting ideas and motives surrounding the reparations and wording of the Treaty of Versailles. It seemed the Allies had now found themselves engaged in another battle. Woodrow Wilson (1856 - 1924), the twenty-eighth President of the United States (1913 --1921).4 In August of 1914, when World War I began, there was no question that the United States would remain neutral. "Wilson didn't want to enter the European War or any other war for that matter".5 However, as the war continued, it became increasingly obvious that the United States could no longer 'sit on the sidelines'. German submarines had sunk American tankers and the British liner, 'Lusitania', in May 1915, killing almost twelve hundred people, including 128 Americans.6 This convinced Wilson to enter World War I, on the allied side. As the war continued, Wilson outlined his peace program, which was centered around fourteen main points. "They (fourteen points) were direct and simple: a demand that future agreements be open covenants of peace, openly arrived at; an insistence upon absolute freedom of the seas; and, as the fourteenth point, the formation of a general associat! ion of nations."7 The fourteen points gave people a hope of peace and lay the groundwork for the armistice that Germany ultimately signed in November 1918. Although the United States was instrumental in ending the war, Wilson was still more interested in a "peace without victors"8 than annexing German colonies or reparations (payment for war damages). However, as the Allies began discussions of the peace treaty, the European allies rejected Wilson's idealism and reasoning.