An Edible History Of Humanity Essays - Food And Drink, Agriculture

An Edible History Of Humanity Essays - Food And Drink, Agriculture An Edible History Of Humanity 57169051905000For this task, first read the passages from Tom Standage's An Edible History of Humanity, accessible on Blackboard. In view of your perusing, react to the accompanying inquiries. Your reactions must be composed, in Calibri or Times New Roman size 12, and be in full sentences. While there is no set length limit, every reaction ought to plainly state and clarify the appropriate responses. This task will be reviewed as Skills Demonstration. Date Due:_________________________________________________ Kindly append this sheet to the front of your reactions when you present your task! Rubric Designing: follows headings for task, finished altogether 5% Reactions: Questions addressed completely and with reflection/supporting subtlety varying. Reflects comprehension of the inquiries and the perusing 90% Syntax: clear, familiar language with few/no spelling or syntactic mistakes 5% The Invention of Farming Food as Technologies What does Standage mean when he says cultivated land is as much a mechanical scene as a natural one? Does cultivating spread from one point outward around the globe? Where and when does it create? The Man-Made Nature of Maize Standage features a few contrasts among teosinte and maize. Portray those distinctions and how they profited ranchers. How did early ranchers change a characteristic procedure of choice into intentional development of explicit qualities? In view of Standage's clarification, do you thing cultivated corn is regular? Grain Innovation Clarify how extreme rachis, a transformation unwanted for plant endurance, profited early people, and how it turned into the prevailing characteristic in around 200 years. For what reason was taming awful for plants like rice and wheat? Use models in your answer. Clarify what Standage depicts as an exchange off in human training of creatures, giving models. Allude to the guide on page 12. In light of what you think about early people, what do you think clarifies why maize was tamed such a great amount of later than wheat or rice? Underlying foundations of Modernity An Agricultural Mystery State what Standage calls the most mind boggling, and most significant inquiry in mankind's history. Standage contends that cultivating was not a freedom from the on edge hand-to-mouth presence of the agrarian. Do you concur with this declaration? Clarify your method of reasoning. The Origins of Farming Clarify and break down in any event 3 contributing variables that prompted the move towards cultivating. For what reason was it inconceivable for people to return to a migrant way of life? Did Farmers Spread, Or Did Farming Spread? Characterize demic and social dispersion. Portray the archeological proof of demic dispersion. Portray the semantic proof of social dispersion. How did the Khoisan of southern Africa change from chasing and assembling to taming? For what reason does Standage think cultivating was a half and half of the two components? Man, An Agricultural Animal Is man abusing maize for his own motivations, or is maize misusing man? What does Standage mean by this? How did the progress to horticulture sway the nourishments we eat today? Concentrate on the last passage of page 27. Do you concur with the position Standage assumes the development of cultivating? Clarify your method of reasoning, including models from the content.

Relationship Between Total Quality Management And Business Performance Management Essay

Connection Between Total Quality Management And Business Performance Management Essay For a long time, it has been talked about that Total Quality Management improves the presentation of business associations. In most recent investigations, Total Quality Management set up generous notification and has likewise been proposed to enlarge the business execution. This examination has been done to discover the connection between Total Quality Management and business execution. This exploration investigates experimentally the extent of Total Quality Management and business execution just as how much them two are connected. This investigation will likewise empower to convey how Total Quality Management effects on a few degrees of business execution. Associations are making due in troublesome circumstances with the exception of they make the total serious lead over their challengers and this is the consequence of such serious condition which is taken out from advancement and globalization (Adam et al., 2001; Samson Terziovski, 1999). By methods for rising serious condition with business pressures just as oneself propelled confirmed client arranged condition, Total Quality Management is viewed as a generally objective and key issue which may make an impressive enthusiasm of supervisors and scientists towards it (Ahire et al. 1995; Benson et al. 1991; Flynn et al., 1995; Powell, 1995; Sousa and Voss, 2002). In 1980s, thinking about Total Quality Management as one of the effective method of improving the serious leads of any firm or association (Keiu et al, 2001). It is likewise pronounced by the essential starts of value working around there, for instance Deming (1986) and Juran (1993) that serious lead might be acquired through the arrangement of value products or administrations. In addition, presently days worldwide commercial center requests high caliber as a basic serious lead is considered by holding quality in such serious worldwide condition and commercial center (Eng Yusof, 2003). Also, Total Quality Management is estimated as a strong administration gear which is utilized to give organizations by methods for improvement, soundness and success (Issac et al, 2004). The fundamental points of interest of value improvement may not exclusively be an indication of diminishing expenses yet additionally to augment business benefit proportion. As indicated by Freiesleben (2005), it is stressed on augment the benefits and income age as far as diminishing expenses just as upgrading quality however it ought to be affected on quality and prevalence over create benefit. Henceforth, this exploration on connection between quality administration and hierarchical execution is fundamentally surveyed for organizations just as to show signs of improvement understanding the impacts of value the executives on different unique degrees of firms business exhibitions. In order to achieve the whole necessities of value, business associations must need to invest energy notwithstanding the endeavors to execute Total Quality Management. Associations will initiate genuine quality administration rehearses however imparting Total Quality Management guideline or reasoning effectively. Furthermore Total Quality Management and its applications may be actualized so as to improve the relationship among associations and their providers. Moreover, the execution of Total Quality Management may likewise improve consumer loyalty by methods for giving most amazing products or administrations. By the stand spoint of CEO of Intel about quality that is shown at Intels site and that is quality is considered as top six companys key qualities truth be told. Also, Intel is resolved for persuading the universes top class quality by embracing or set up one of its quality frameworks as a regular occurrence. As indicated by Otellini (2006), with this exertion, Intel is devoting itself to hold the unrivaled quality, best expectations and disperse merchandise which satisfy the predetermined targets of Intel. Going before considers (for instance AlKhafaji et al, 1998; Mandal et al, 1999) expressed that way of thinking of Total Quality Management is pertinent for any association, firm or organization that includes administration, assembling or data related associations. Take the case of Taiwan and the develop development of data innovation organizations in Taiwan that has set it up conceivable expected for balanced out overall economy (Einhom et al, 2005). It has end up being significant to consider how Total Quality Management may be impacted on business execution, in order to make the data related business in Taiwan increasingly serious and thriving. Points and targets Resulting study is to discover the relationship between Total Quality Management and business exhibitions of associations. In light of this examination, essential point of this exploration is to check how Total Quality Management and business execution are interlinked and how various elevations business exhibitions are impacted by Total Quality Management. The key targets of this investigation are To comprehend the idea of absolute quality administration To examine the complete quality administration models and hypotheses from existing writing To consider the all out quality administration approaches applied in Tesco To decide the impacts of TQM execution on the presentation of Tesco To investigate the difficulties in the execution of TQM rehearses at Tesco Research Question What are the impacts of winning achievement of Total Quality Management on the exhibition of Tesco? Writing Review Points of interest of Total Quality Management and its powerful execution might be concentrated alongside three unique edges. On the top, Total Quality Management practice is one of the developing and hot subjects initiating the operational methodology, and it might be utilized to apply upgraded execution and overall intensity for both scholarly world and business industry (Flynn et al, 1995; Samson Terziovski, 1999). The association which applied fruitful execution of Total Quality Management practices might have the option to accomplish inward points of interest for instance quality upgrade, improved efficiency, or securing improved working pay (Corbett et al, 2005; Hendricks Singhal, 1997). As indicated by Corbett et al, (2005) the subsequent explanation is from monetary execution approach, cautious plan or execution of trustworthy, solid and perceived Quality Management frameworks that can increase the value of high class execution of organizations critically. In addition, finally b utilizing the methodology of information the executives (KM), Total Quality Management practices and its usage may likewise empower to improve and amplify hierarchical information that goes to encourage valuable thought of how Quality Management practices can impact on authoritative exhibitions (Linderman et al, 2004). Both of the board ways of thinking have different similitudes when Total Quality Management and information Management. As indicated by Hsu Shen, (2005) Total Quality Management and information Management can commend each other if there should be an occurrence of arranging them two appropriately. Most recent explores have had the option to establish the relationship between Total Quality administration rehearses and a few degrees of business execution (Das et al, 2000; Kaynak, 2003; Mohrman et al, 1995). Anyway a few going before examines have been come about and hold up the positive impacts of Total Quality Management on firms business execution (Hendricks Singhal, 1997; Kaynak, 2003; Madu et al, 1995; Sun 2000; Samson Terziovski, 1999). As per Choi Eboch, (1998) distinct scientists have made their looks into to establish the execution of Total Quality Management that may accompany to the idiocy of hierarchical execution. The reason to which results of these examines have divergent undoubtedly come about because of the demeanor of research structure for instance using Total Quality Management rehearses or authoritative business exhibitions as an individual element. Through this exploration, the specialist will researches the connection between significant seven characteristics of Total Quality Management and a few degrees of hierarchical execution just as how every one of Total Quality Management property effects on other trait and by the writing these properties are Client centers The board authority Plan Management Procedure Management Information quality and Reporting Providers Management Human asset Management These are the primary builds on which this investigation is based. Speculations Development Relied upon the results of hypothetical structure of this exploration, the seven above talked about components are closed to be the most driving quality expected for an adequate execution of Total Quality Management. These seven characteristics are focal point of the client, the executives authority, human asset the board, provider the board, information quality and detailing, plan the board, and procedure the board also (Flynn et al, 1994; Samson Terziovski, 1999; Sousa voss, 2002; Kaynak, 2003). As indicated by Samson Terziovski, (1999) for the execution of Total Quality Management rehearses client center is the preparation hypothesis for any association. Since complete execution of Total Quality Management rehearses are exceptionally impacted and approved by top administration. In this way dedicated commitments from senior managemt with respect to the finish of Total Quality Management rehearses are most likely a need. Henceforth this examination right off the bat proposed speculation that is Theory One Customer Focus is totally connected to the Management Leadership. Theory Two Management Leadership is totally connected to Human Resource Management, Supplier Management and Design Management. Theory Three Human Resource Management is totally connected with Data quality Reporting. Theory Four Quality Data detailing is totally corresponded with Suppliers the board, plan Management just as Process Management. Theory Five Suppliers Management is straightforwardly and emphatically associ

Review The Science Class You Wish You Had

Review The Science Class You Wish You Had As Ive written here in the past, I dream of students who begin to prepare for the TOEFLfar in advance of actually taking the test. A huge problem students have with the TOEFL is that they lack the ability to comprehend academic texts in English. And by the time they realize this problem, it is far too late to really do anything about it. All they can do is familiarize themselves with the question styles, learn a few strategies and hope for the best.In my dream world, though, students start preparing for the TOEFL a couple of years in advance. Or they spend all of their undergraduate years working on their English skills. If someone reads a non-fiction book a month for four years, theyll ace the reading section of the TOEFL. Really. That person will develop the required comprehension skills and the required vocabulary to do well without using a single strategy. Not only that, but theyll be totally comfortable reading academic texts (something that even native speakers struggle with).A nyways, Ive been working on a list of books Id recommend to such a student. A little while ago I wrote about Reading for Thinking. Today I want to write about a fun book called The Science Class You Wish You Had. This book fits all of my criteria for recommendation:It covers a lot of the same topics used in the TOEFL reading sectionIt is written using language at a similar level to the TOEFL reading sectionIt is divided into chunks somewhat similar in length to the TOEFL reading sectionIn particular, this book covers scientific topics, and takes a history of science approach, which is something that often shows up on the test. It attempts to introduce readers to the seven greatest scientific discoveries in history which are:Gravity and the basic laws of physicsThe structure of the atomRelativityThe Big BangEvolutionThe cell and geneticsDNAEach of these gets a chapter, and the chapters are each broken into short essays of about 5 to 10 paragraphs in length. Obviously that is longer t han what youll see on the TOEFL, but it is close enough. This is the sort of book that you might give to a recent high school graduate preparing for their freshman year. Thats absolutely perfect in terms of difficulty level, as the TOEFL reading passages are generally designed to look like they came from freshman textbooks.To use your time most efficiently, you may wish to skip the chapter on relativity as that is way more abstract than what you will find on the test but Ive always found the most difficult TOEFL reading passagesare those that deal with abstract concepts, so maybe just struggle through it.There ya go. Read this book. By the time you finish with it, Ill have a recommendation that covers history or the social sciences.

Poetry Analysis - 783 Words

Poetry Analysis Essay â€Å"Poema para los Californios Muertos† Lorna Dee Cervantes poem, â€Å"Poema para los Californios Muertos† (â€Å"Poem for the Dead Californios†), is a commentary on what happened to the original inhabitants of California when California was still Mexico, and an address to the speakers dead ancestors. Utilizing a unique dynamic, consistently alternating between Spanish and English, Cervantes accurately represents the fear, hatred, and humility experienced by the â€Å"Californios† through rhythm, arrangement, tone, and most importantly, through use of language. Many times readers do not grasp a strong sense of the meaning or provocation of a poem simply through its title. However, the title â€Å"Poema para los Californios†¦show more content†¦The most important aspect that differentiates this poem from many others is the dramatic use of dual language. Because many readers must use the translated notes to understand the Spanish portions of the poem, it requires them to deeply consider the speakers connotations. Many readers will not realize Cervantes intentional placement of the Spanish portions. Stanzas one, two, and three begin in English and end in Spanish. However, stanza four begins in English and ends in English with only one line in the middle consisting of Spanish. Though it is overlooked, this tactic offers a path upon which the subconscious may embark. To the speaker, California has been overrun and forever changed by the white people, represented by English. The single Spanish line is a representation of the speaker her self and exemplifies how truly lost she feels in this place. â€Å"Poema para los Californios Muertos† is a prime example of the importance of a dynamic use of language and the strength it brings to a poem when utilized to its fullShow MoreRelatedRule Analysis : Poetry By Poetry1353 Words   |  6 PagesRule Analysis: Poetry Introduction Poetry is a genre that expresses feeling through rhythm and tone, while creating a realistic vision of what the poet is imagining. Poems can either be short or could be lengthy, but they all have a meaning to them. A poem is often read for its message that it carries. The message is usually hidden in the context of the poem. Poetry is difficult because its language that is used is often indirect with the reader. 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Use of Cell Phone in Modern Courtship Among Nursing...

USE OF CELL PHONE IN MODERN COURTSHIP AMONG NURSING STUDENTS OF ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY-ECHAGUE A Thesis Presented to The faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY Echague, Isabela In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree BACHELOR OF ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION By: MELODY Q. PINEDA March 2008 APPROVAL SHEET The thesis attached hereto entitled USE OF CELL PHONE IN MODERN COURTSHIP AMONG NURSING STUDENTS OF ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY- ECHAGUE, prepared and submitted by MELODY Q. PINEDA, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree BACHELOR OF ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION is hereby endorsed. ADVISORY COMMITTEE ANNALIZA T.†¦show more content†¦The Researcher DEDICATION I humbly and heartily dedicated this piece of work To My beloved and supportive loving parents, Mr.Gilberto Pineda and Mrs. Cherlita Pineda to my brothers Darwin, Mario and Randy, to my sisters, Judilyn, Gemmalyn, Levy and Melanie, to my friends, board mates and Jace who provided care and love, financial, spiritual and moral support and sacrifices which serves as her strength, courage and determination that paved the way to the fulfillment of this manuscript, Above all our Dear Lord for His endless love. Thank you very much. This is the reward of your hardship and sacrifice. This piece of work is dedicated to all of you. -MeLoDz- TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ...i APPROVAL SHEET†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...........ii ACKOWLEDGEMENT†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦................ iii

The Last Dance Chapter Six Free Essays

They went in with a No-Knock arrest warrant and Kevlar vests because from what Betty Young had told them, the dude in here was no cookie-cutter. The trouble with most tenement buildings in many parts of this city was that they hadn’t been designed for close police work. Maxwell Corey Blaine did not live on a ranch in Beaucoup Acres, Louisiana, where the sheriffs folk could drive up a tree-lined, moss-covered driveway and then storm the front door with a battering ram, five cops on either side of it – my how all dee catties was afeard. We will write a custom essay sample on The Last Dance Chapter Six or any similar topic only for you Order Now Maxwell – or Maxie, as he was familiarly called by his once and former rat fink girlfriend – lived in a six-story walkup on a narrow street in Calm’s Point, part of a section that had once been beautiful and civilized, had since become ugly and barbarous, and was currently targeted for gentrification in the next ten years, a cycle that was doomed to repeat itself though no one on the city council had a clue. The building was constructed of red brick dimmed by the soot of centuries. The stairways were steep and the hallways narrow. There were four apartments on each floor, and at this hour of the morning – they had assembled outside at a quarter to two – the sounds of deep slumber rumbled from behind double-locked doors. They felt clumsy in the heavy-duty vests. They were dressed for winter as well, wearing layered clothing under the vests, gloveless now that they were inside the building, all of them carrying AR-15 assault rifles. No room for a battering ram in these turn-of-the-century hallways, stairs winding back on themselves until the men reached the fifth-floor landing and regrouped. These men were colleagues and friends. There were no petty quarrels to settle here, no one was trying to trick anyone else into â€Å"taking the door,† which defined the ten most dangerous seconds in any policeman’s life. Kling simply told the others he would take the door. It was him and Brown, he said, who’d initially caught the pizzeria squeal, so this was their case and officially their bust, z/they made a bust here tonight, so he’ d take the door, with Brown and Carella as flankers, and Willis and Meyer as backups. It was very cold on that fifth-floor landing. His breath feathered from his mouth as he whispered all this to the others. He was holding the heavy Colt carbine in both hands. Inside the apartment here, there was a man who’d maybe committed murder, a man the judge had felt was sufficiently dangerous to merit a No-Knock. The team was a good one. These men had worked together before, and they knew exactly what was coming down here tonight, exactly what they were supposed to do. Carella and Brown would flank the door. Kling would kick it in. The moment the lock was history, all three would rush the room, with Willis and Meyer fanning in behind them. If they were lucky, it would all be over in two, three minutes. Kling put his ear to the wood, listening. He heard nothing. He kept listening a moment longer, backed off the door, and ascertained with little head nods that the others were ready. He took a deep breath, brought up his right knee, the left arm extended for balance, his right hand grasping the pistol grip of the rifle. The force of his kick, combined with his forward momentum and the weight of his body, smashed the wood gripping the lock’s bolt to the striker plate and jamb. He followed the splintered door inward, Carella and Brown peeling off from either side of the doorway and rushing after him into the apartment, Meyer and Willis not a heartbeat behind. â€Å"Police!† Kling shouted and behind him the voices of the others echoed the word, â€Å"Police! Police!† as the men fanned into the apartment, eyes darting. Willis hit a wall switch and a ceiling light snapped on. They were in a small, shabby living room crowded with overstaffed furniture. To their left was a tiny walk-in kitchen. On the right wall, there were three closed doors. They guessed the one nearest the entrance opened on a closet. The bathroom was probably behind the middle door, the bedroom behind the last door on the wall, where it would have windows facing the street. No one commented aloud on any of this. They had been in many similar apartments and they knew tenement layouts. They simply moved behind Kling toward the last door on the wall, no hinges showing on this side of the door, it would open inward. He grabbed the knob, twisted it, again shouted â€Å"Police!,† and hurled the door open, the assault rifle leading him into the room. Kicking in the door, rushing the room, zeroing in on what they expected was the bedroom had maybe taken all of thirty seconds. In that same amount of time, the man who’d presumably been in bed when they arrived had already crossed the room to the dresser, opened the top drawer in it, yanked out what looked like a nine-millimeter pistol, and now turned to point it at Kling. â€Å"Gun!† Kling shouted and hurled himself flat on the floor, rolling away from the shooter as Brown and Carella started into the room. The bedroom was dark. In the faint spill of light from the living room, they didn’t see the girl in bed until she screamed, and she didn’t scream until the giant standing at the dresser in white Jockey shorts and a white tank-top shirt fired two shots in rapid succession, not at Kling, but at the doorway, now filled with Brown’s considerable bulk. Brown hurled himself to the left just as the shots exploded. The first slug missed him, missed Carella as well, who was coming through the door behind him. The second slug buried itself in the door jamb. â€Å"There’s a gun!† Meyer shouted back to Willis, and ran through the doorway, firing in the direction of the muzzle flashes. The girl was screaming hysterically now. The guy in his underwear was blasting away at anything that came through that door, hitting nothing but the door and the doorjamb until Willis, the smallest of the targets, came in like a dancer and took a hit in his thigh where there was no vest to protect it. The slug spun him around. His leg slid out from under him. The guy at the dresser suddenly realized there were five guys with heavy assault weapons here, and only one of them was down. He could keep firing away for the rest of the night, with that crazy bitch on the bed screaming and screaming, or he could call some kind of truce here before somebody riddled him like a polka dot pie. â€Å"Cool it, boys,† he said, and threw down the gun. Brown swatted him with an open hand that felt like a ten-pound hammer. On the floor, Willis was trying to stanch the flow of blood from his thigh. The one thing that could take all the joy out of police work was the sudden realization that it wasn’t all fun and games. The graveyard shift had relieved at a quarter to midnight. The assault team had arrived a half hour later, to begin gearing up in the locker room. Now, at a little past four a.m., almost every detective on the squad came to the building on Grover Avenue, wanting to know what the hell had happened. Men not due to relieve until eight that morning came in because they’d â€Å"heard† something. Men who were supposed to be on vacation or out sick came drifting back to the squadroom, wanting to know all the details. Sergeant Murchison told them Hal Willis had got shot, something all of them already knew or they wouldn’t have flocked back here. What they wanted was details, man, but the only people who had the details were the four other cops who’d been along on the bust. Two of them, Kling and Brown, were locked in with the lieutenant and Maxie Blaine. The other two, Carella and Meyer, were at St Mary’s Hospital with Willis. There was no one accessible who seemed to have any hard information, and so the gathered detectives settled for speculation instead. All they knew was that something had gone terribly wrong in that apartment. And since Bert Kling had been leading the assault, the musing cops began thinking perhaps he was the one who’d done something wrong and was therefore somehow responsible for Willis being in the hospital. On the other hand, some of the detectives began thinking that maybe Willis himself had been responsible for his â€Å"accident,† and this led to the further consideration that possibly he was a hard-luck cop. Because either he wasn’t doing his job right – and this was merely whispered – or else he was jinxed. Either way, he was not a man to be partnered with. Police work was dangerous. You did not want to be riding with a hoodoo jinx of a cop who raised the odds. Or so some of the detectives on the squad began thinking, and a few actually began saying, on that bleak December morning. Loyalty among policemen was somewhat like loyalty among soldiers. When the shit was flying, it was all for one and one for all. But that didn’t mean you had to go out drinking together after the battle was fought and won. Or lost, as seemed to be the case tonight, despite the fact that an arrest had been made. All in all, Willis getting shot cast a pall over the squadroom that made business as usual seem not as musketeerlike as it appeared on television. In the squadroom that early morning, there was the usual collection of miscreants dragged in the night before: your snatch of hookers, your stealth of burglars, your clutch of muggers, your dime bag of pushers. Hookers were normally treated with jolly forbearance, the cops copping an occasional feel when opportunity allowed, the girls engaging in mock barter for leniency though they knew from experience that none was in the offing. This morning, it was different. The girls rounded up the night before were brusquely herded into the wagons that would take them downtown to Central Booking, no Sally-and-Sue banter this morning; they were whores, and a cop had been shot, and there was no time for jovial bullshit. Burglars – unless they were junkie burglars – were usually treated with some measure of respect. For reasons understood only by cops, a burglar was mysteriously considered to be some kind of gentleman, even though he invaded a person’s home, violated his privacy, and ran off with his personal goods. Professional burglars were very rarely violent. Cops appreciated this. They would kick a junkie burglar’s ass six times around the block, but they would treat a pro like an equal who merely happened to be on the opposite side of the law. Not this morning. This morning, a cop had been shot, and there was no Hello-George-When-Did-You-Get-Out familiarity. This morning, everybody was a fucking criminal and everybody was guilty. This morning, the victimizers suffered most. Assault was never a very popular crime, but this morning if you’d beaten up an old lady in the park and stolen her purse, you were in for it, man. A minor assault wasn’t the same as shooting somebody, but to the cops of the Eighty-seventh Precinct, it came damn close on this morning when one of their own had been assaulted with a deadly weapon. But â€Å"if you had to be detained at the Eight-Seven this morning, the worst thing to be was a narcotics peddler. Too many police officers had been shot and killed by men selling dope to school kids, and whereas such criminals were never made to feel welcome in any precinct in the city, this morning the association of narcotics to murder and especially the murder of policemen was very keenly felt here at the Eight-Seven – especially when word had it that the perp being interrogated by Kling and Brown was an enforcer for the Colombian cartel. Even aware of recent screaming headlines and protests and marches to City Hall, even cognizant of a public scrutiny that could escalate minor incidents into federal cases, the cops of the Eight-Seven were a mite careless this morning, if not downright reckless, shoving shackled prisoners into holding cells or vans when a mere invitation might have sufficed, using abusive and derisive language, acting-out all their personal fears, rages, and hatreds, treating criminals of any color or stripe exactly like the scumbags, shitheads, and evil sons of bitches they were, while at the same time themselves behaving like the brutal, detestable pricks the citizens of this city always knew they were. Crime did not pay on this particular Thursday morning. Not with a cop in St Mary’s Hospital. She had known Kling was leading a No-Knock arrest early this morning and when she’d first answered the phone and was informed that there was a cop down and he’d been taken to St Mary’s with what was first reported as a stomach wound, she thought it might be Kling. She was relieved to learn that he hadn’ t been the victim, but any cop shot was a problem for Sharyn Cooke because she was a deputy chief surgeon in the police department and her job was to make sure any cop injured on her watch received the best treatment this city had to offer. The unfortunate spelling of Sharyn’s first name was due to the fact that her then thirteen-year-old, unwed mother didn’ tknow how to spell Sharon. This same mother later put her through college and then medical school on money earned scrubbing floors in white men’s offices after dark. Sharyn Cooke was black, the first woman of color ever appointed to the job she now held. Actually, her skin was the color of burnt almond, her eyes the color of loam. Off the job, she often wore smoky blue eye shadow and Yfkk!ft.t coo cS.sM^ywS^ ^we,. To ^j otk, stae, ^ ore to makeup at all. High cheekbones, a generous mouth, and black hair worn in a modified Afro gave her the look of a proud Masai woman. At five-nine, she always felt cramped in the compact automobile she drove and was constantly adjusting the front seat to accommodate her long legs. It took her forty minutes to drive from her apartment at the farther reaches of Calm’s Point to St Mary’s Hospital in th e depths of lower Isola, close by the apartment building in which Maxie Blaine had been captured. St Mary’s was perhaps the second-worst hospital in the city, but that was small consolation. A visit to Willis in the ER assured Sharyn that this wasn’t the stomach wound she’d been dreading, but some two to three percent of all fatal bullet wounds occurred in the lower extremities and the bullet was still lodged in his thigh, close to the femoral artery. She did not want some jackass fresh out of medical school in the Grenadines to be poking around in there and possibly causing severe hemorrhaging. She went immediately to the head of the hospital, a nonpracticing physician named Howard Langdon. Langdon was wearing a gray flannel suit with wide lapels that had gone out of style ten years ago. He was wearing a pink shirt and a knit tie a shade darker than the suit. He had white hair and a white goatee. He looked as if his picture should have been on a fried chicken carton. Langdon had once been a very good surgeon, but that didn’ t excuse the way he now ran St Mary’ s. Sharyn herself was a board-certified surgeon – which meant she’d gone through four years of medical school, and then five years as a resident surgeon in a hospital, after which she’d been approved for board certification by the American College of Surgeons. She still had her own private practice, but as a uniformed one-star chief she worked fifteen to eighteen hours a week in the Chief Surgeon’s Office for an annual salary of $68,000. In this city, some twenty to thirty police officers were shot every year. Sharyn wasn’t about to let one of them languish here at St Mary’s. As politely as she could, she told Langdon she wanted Detective Willis ambed over to Hoch Memorial, half a mile uptown – and three hundred light years away in terms of service and skill, which she did not mention. Langdon looked her dead in the eye and asked, â€Å"Why?† â€Å"I’d like him to be there,† she said. Again, Langdon asked, â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because that’s where I feel he’ll receive the sort of care I want him to have.† â€Å"He’ll receive excellent care here as well,† Langdon said. â€Å"Doctor,† Sharyn said, â€Å"I really don’t want to argue this. The detective needs immediate surgery. I want him ambed over to Hoch Memorial right this minute.† â€Å"I’m afraid I can’t discharge him,† Langdon said. â€Å"It’s not your call to make,† Sharyn said. â€Å"I run this hospital.† â€Å"You don’t run the police department,† she said. â€Å"Either you have an ambulance at the ER door in three minutes flat, or I’ll have him nine-elevened out of here. Say, Doctor.† â€Å"I can’t let you do this,† Langdon said. â€Å"Doctor, I’m in charge here,† Sharyn said. â€Å"This is my job and my mandate. That detective is moving out of here now† â€Å"They’ll think it’s because St Mary’s isn’t a good hospital.† â€Å"Who are you talking about, Doctor?† â€Å"The media,† Langdon said. â€Å"They’ll think that’s why you moved him.† â€Å"That is why I’m moving him,† Sharyn said coldly and cruelly and mercilessly. â€Å"I’m calling Hoch,† she said, and turned on her heel, walked to the nurses’ station, and snapped her fingers at a telephone. The nurse behind the counter handed it to her at once. Langdon was still floating in the background, looking angry and defeated and sad and somehow pitiable. Dialing, Sharyn told the nurse, â€Å"Get an ambulance around to the back door, and wheel the detective out. I’m moving him.† Into the phone she said, â€Å"Dr Gerardi, please,† and waited. â€Å"Jim,† she said, â€Å"this is Sharyn Cooke. I’ve got a cop with a thigh wound, he’s being transferred right this minute from St Mary’s.† She listened, said, â€Å"Tangential,† listened again, said, â€Å"Nonperforating. It’s still in there, Jim, can you prepare an OR and a surgical team, we’ll be there in five minute s. See you,† she said, and hung up, and looked at the nurse who was standing there motionless. â€Å"Is there a problem, Nurse?† she asked. â€Å"It’s just . . .,† the nurse said, and looked helplessly across the counter to where Langdon was standing. â€Å"Dr Langdon?† she asked. â€Å"Is it all right to order an ambulance?† Langdon said nothing for several moments. Then he said, â€Å"Order it,† and walked away swiftly, down the long polished tile corridor, not looking back, turning a corner, out of sight. Sharyn went to Willis where he lay on a wheeled table behind ER curtains, an oxygen tube in his nose, an IV in his arm. â€Å"I’m getting you out of here,† she said. He nodded. â€Å"You’ll be uptown in five minutes.† He nodded again. â€Å"I’ll be with you. Do you need anything?† He shook his head. Then, quite unexpectedly, he said, â€Å"It wasn’t Bert’s fault.† Section 125.27 of the Penal Law stated that a person was guilty of murder in the first degree when he caused the death of a police officer engaged in the course of performing his official duties. Maxie Blaine hadn’t killed anyone, but he’d opened fire indiscriminately on a roomful of cops armed with an arrest warrant. This meant they had him cold on five counts of attempted murder one, a Class A-1 felony punishable by fifteen to life as a minimum on each count. In this city, you didn’t shoot a cop and walk. No self-respecting D.A. would even consider a plea when he had four other police officers ready to testify that ole Maxie Blaine here had repeatedly pulled the trigger of the gun that downed a fellow police officer. If they needed civilian corroboration, they were sure they could get that from the eighteen-year-old girl who’d been screaming in Maxie’s bed, and whose lawyer had advised her to remain silent until he saw which way the wind was blowi ng here. The girl’s lawyer – whose name was Rudy Ehrlich – didn’t yet know the wind was blowing toward lethal injection, the penalty for first-degree murder in this state. So far, all Ehrlich knew was that his client’s â€Å"friend† had wounded a police detective, and that she’d been a possible witness to the shooting. In such cases, Ehrlich’s motto was â€Å"Speech is silver, silence is golden.† As a matter of fact, this was Ehrlich’s motto in any criminal case. He got a lot of money for this advice, which was only common knowledge to any schoolyard kid who’d ever been frisked for a firearm. Maxie Blaine knew instinctively and through bitter experience on his meteoric rise through Georgia’s criminal justice system that â€Å"Silence Is Golden† was really and truly a terrific rule to follow whenever you were dealing with law enforcement types. He also knew that he had just now popped a cop, and he knew in his secret heart of hearts that a month or so ago he had killed a man the media had later identified as a police informer, so long, Ratso. He suspected the reason the cops had come a-rappin on his door at two in the morning was they needed desperately to know had he really done that little rat bastard. Which he wasn’t ready to admit since he wasn’t pining just yet for a massive dose of Valium. In an instance such as this, where they already had him on inadvertently plugging a cop in a moment of panic, the damn girl shrieking like a banshee and all, Blaine shrewdly calculated that maybe there was a deal to be made if he played his cards right. So whereas he asked for a lawyer – no experienced felon ever did not ask for a lawyer when he was in custody – he nonetheless figured he’d answer their questions until he saw where they were going. The minute he figured out what they really had here – he didn’ t see how they could possibly tie him to the pizzeria shooting – why that was when he could maybe squirm his way out of this, maybe talk the D.A. into covering everything he’d done including the Guido’ s thing for a plea that might grant him parole in twenty years, maybe even fifteen. In other words, he thought the way many criminals think: he thought he could outsmart two experienced detectives, a lieutenant who’ d seen it all and heard it all, and even his own attorney, a man named Pierce Reynolds, a transplanted good ole boy from Tennessee, who naturally urged silence. The interrogation started in the lieutenant’s office at six o’clock on that morning of December 2, by which time Blaine’s attorney had arrived and consulted with him, and Blaine had been read his rights and verified that he understood them. To protect his own ass in any subsequent client-lawyer law suit, Reynolds went on record as having advised Blaine to remain silent and Blaine went on record as having been so advised. All the bullshit out of the way, the questioning proper began at six-fifteen a.m. with Detective-Lieutenant Peter Byrnes himself eliciting from Maxwell Corey Blaine his full name, address, and place of employment, which was a pool parlor in Hightown, or so he said, but then again he wasn’t under oath. If Blaine was in reality breaking heads for someone linked to the Colombian cartel, as Betty Young had informed them, he couldn’t very well tell the cops this was his occupation. Not if he hoped to outfox them and cut a deal later. There was no official police stenographer here as yet, and no one from the District Attorney’s Office. Blaine figured the deck was stacked in his favor. The cops figured they could nail him on shooting Willis whenever the spirit moved them. Getting someone to ride uptown from the D.A.’s Office was a simple matter of making a phone call. But they were angling for bigger fish. They were looking for Murder One. Byrnes opened with a laser beam straight to the forehead. â€Å"Know anyone named Enrique Ramirez?† Blaine blinked. â€Å"Nossir,† he said, â€Å"I surely do not.† â€Å"I thought you might have done some work for him,† Byrnes said. â€Å"Is that a question?† Reynolds asked. â€Å"Counselor,† Byrnes said, â€Å"could we agree on some basic ground rules here?† â€Å"What basic rules did you have in mind, Lieutenant? I thought I was familiar with all the rules, basic or otherwise, but perhaps I’m mistaken.† â€Å"Mr Reynolds,† Byrnes said, â€Å"we don’t need courtroom theatrics here, okay? There’s no judge here to rule on objections, there’s no jury to play to, your man isn’t even under oath. So why not just take it nice and easy, like the song says, okay?† â€Å"Does the song say anything about a cop getting shot tonight?† Reynolds asked. â€Å"Which is why my client is here in custody, isn’t that so?† â€Å"Well, Counselor,† Byrnes said, â€Å"if you’d let him answer my questions, we could maybe find out why we’re here, okay? Unless you want to call the whole thing off, which is your client’s right, as you know.† â€Å"For Chrissake, let him ask his goddamn questions,† Blaine said. â€Å"I got nothing to hide here.† Famous last words, Byrnes thought. Reynolds was thinking the same thing. So was Kling. Brown was wondering if the son of a bitch was going to claim police brutality cause he’d smacked him upside the head back there in his apartment. Blaine all of a sudden thought he had to be very careful here because somehow they’d learned about his relationship with Enrique Ramirez, and that was a road that led directly to Guide’s Pizzeria and a lot of spilled tomato sauce. Byrnes was thinking he had to walk a very careful line here because they’d promised Betty Young sanctuary, they’d asked her to trust them, and he couldn’t now reveal her name or how he’d come into possession of the information she’d given them. â€Å"This pool parlor you work for?† he asked. â€Å"Who owns it?† â€Å"I got no idea.† â€Å"You don’t know who the boss is?† â€Å"Nope. The manager pays me my check every week.† â€Å"What’s the manager’s name?† â€Å"Joey.† â€Å"Joey what?† â€Å"I haven’t the faintest.† â€Å"How’d you get this job?† â€Å"Friend of mine told me about it.† â€Å"What’s your friend’s name?† â€Å"Alvin Woods. He’s gone back home to Georgia.† Go find him, he was thinking. Doesn’t exist, Byrnes was thinking. â€Å"Know a man named Ozzie Rivera?† â€Å"Nope.† â€Å"Oswaldo Rivera?† â€Å"Never heard of him.† â€Å"How about a man named Joaquim Valdez?† â€Å"Nope.† â€Å"That wouldn’t be the Joey who pays you your check every week, would it?† â€Å"I don’t know what Joey’s last name is.† â€Å"Rivera had both his legs broken last April. Were you living in this city last April?† â€Å"I surely was. But I don’t know anything about this Ozzie Rivera or both his broken legs. That sure is a shame, though.† Like to smack him again, Brown thought. â€Å"What were you doing on the morning of November eighth?† Byrnes asked. Here we go, Blaine thought. â€Å"November eighth, let me see,† he said. â€Å"Take all the time you need,† Byrnes said. â€Å"Would that have been a Saturday morning? Cause Saturday’s my day off. I sleep late Saturdays.† â€Å"No, this would’ve been a Monday morning.† â€Å"Then Fd’ve been at the pool hall.† â€Å"Doing what? What do you do at this pool hall, Maxie?† â€Å"I’m a table organizer.† â€Å"What’s that, a table organizer?† â€Å"I see to it that there’s a flow.† â€Å"A flow, uh-huh. What’s that?† â€Å"I see to it that the tables are continuously occupied. So we don’t have people waiting for tables or tables not being played. It’s an interesting job.† â€Å"I’ll bet. Did you ever hear of a man named Danny Nelson?† â€Å"Sorry, no.† â€Å"Danny Gimp is another name he went by.† â€Å"No. Never heard of him.† â€Å"Would you be surprised if I told you he’d stiffed your boss on a minor-league dope deal. . .† â€Å"My boss? Who’s supposed to be my boss?† â€Å"Enrique Ramirez. Who owns the pool hall you work for.† â€Å"I don’t know anybody named Enrique Ramirez, I already told you. Nor Danny Gump, neither.† â€Å"Gimp.† â€Å"I thought you said Gump.† â€Å"Gimp. It means a guy who limps.† â€Å"Has all this got to do with some sort of drug violation?† Reynolds asked. â€Å"Two keys of cocaine,† Byrnes said, nodding. â€Å"Worth forty-two large.† â€Å"You know,† Reynolds said, â€Å"I really think you people should either charge my client with a specific crime or else. . .† â€Å"Ramirez paid a man named Danny Nelson to deliver two keys of coke to a dealer in Majesta,† Byrnes explained genially. â€Å"Danny never showed up and neither did the coke. You don’t do that to Enrique Ramirez.† â€Å"I don’t know anything about any of this,† Blaine said. â€Å"I especially don’t know this Enrique Ramirez person, who I guess you’re saying is somehow involved with dealing dope.† â€Å"El Jefe ? † Byrnes said. â€Å"Ever hear him called that?† â€Å"No. Is that Spanish, what you said?† â€Å"We think El Jefe hired you to kill Danny Nelson,† Byrnes said. â€Å"Ooops, that’s it, Lieutenant,† Reynolds said. â€Å"No, that’s okay,† Blaine said, grinning. â€Å"I don’t know any of these people he’s talking about, so just relax, it’s okay. I’ve got nothing to worry about here. Nice and easy, okay? Like you said, Lieutenant.† Smack him right in the fuckin eye, Brown thought. â€Å"On the morning of November eighth,† Byrnes said, â€Å"did you tell a friend of yours you were going out for some pizza?† Kling looked at him. So did Brown. The lieutenant had just come dangerously close to revealing Betty Young’s identity. If Blaine walked out of here today . . . â€Å"No,† Blaine said. â€Å"What friend?† â€Å"Excuse me, lieutenant. . .,† Kling said. â€Å"What friend?† Blaine insisted. â€Å"A friend you told you were going out for pizza, on the morning Danny Gimp . . .† â€Å"Lieutenant. . .† â€Å"Did you tell a friend you were going out for pizza?† â€Å"This is Betty Young, right?† Blaine said. Oh Jesus, Kling thought. The Loot just gave her up. â€Å"Never mind who it is. Did you . . . ?† â€Å"It’s that fuckin bitch Betty, ain’t it? Who else could it be? What else did she tell you?† â€Å"I would suggest. . .† â€Å"If you don’t mind, Counselor. . .† â€Å"Mr Blaine . . .† â€Å"What did you mean when you said you were going out for pizza?† Byrnes asked. â€Å"I meant I was going out for pizza, what the fuck’s wrong with that? Oh, I get it. She spotted me on the tape, right? She’s going for the re . . .† â€Å"What tape?† Byrnes asked at once. Blaine suddenly shut up. â€Å"Are we finished here?† Reynolds asked. â€Å"Unless Mr Blaine has something else he wants to tell us,† Byrnes said. â€Å"We’re finished here,† Blaine said. â€Å"You heard him. In which case . . .† â€Å"Like what?† Blaine said. â€Å"Come on,† Reynolds said. â€Å"Let’s go.† â€Å"No, like what?† Blaine insisted. â€Å"What would I want to tell you?† â€Å"That’s up to you,† Byrnes said. â€Å"You think it over. Meanwhile, we’re gonna hold you here for a few hours while we assemble some witnesses from the pizzeria. Run a little lineup for them, see if they can recognize you a little better in person than on that tape you were just talking about. The law allows us . . .† â€Å"That was it, am I right? She spotted me on the tape, that fuckin bitch.† Kling was staring at the lieutenant. They had asked Betty Young to trust them. But the lieutenant had given her up. â€Å"You want whose name went in with me?† Blaine asked. â€Å"Is that it?† It was contagious. The black man who’d been Blaine’s partner on the pizzeria shivaree was a dark-skinned Colombian named Hector Milagros. They arrested him in a diner at nine that morning, having breakfast alone in a corner booth. Milagros knew there was no sense trying to force his way out of a situation where his back was to a plate glass window and he was looking at three nines as compared to his singleton thirty-eight. He asked them could he finish his eggs before they got cold. They told him they’ d order more eggs for him up at the station house. Casually, he asked, â€Å"Wass thees all abou, anyways, muchachosT â€Å"We’ve been talking to an old friend of yours,† Brown said. â€Å"Old shooting buddy of yours,† Kling said. â€Å"Maxie Blaine,† Carella said. â€Å"Remember him?† â€Å"Mierda! † Milagros said, and stabbed his fork into one of the egg yolks. Yellow ran all over his plate. By the time the network news broke the following day, both Milagros and Blaine had been indicted by a grand jury for the murder of Daniel Nelson. Expecting they would both be held without bail, Betty Young showed little temerity about revealing herself as the person responsible for their arrest. Ever on the prowl for promotional opportunities, Restaurant Affiliates arranged for presentation of the $50,000 reward check (blown up to gigantic viewing size) on that evening’s six-thirty network news. It did not hurt that Betty Young was an attractive woman with a dazzling smile and a blameless bust. Winsomely grinning into the camera, she thanked RA, Inc. for the check she would use to buy nursing care for her bedridden mother in Florida and a new Chevy Geo for herself. She then expressed the fervent wish that those two ruthless killers would receive the maximum penalty – otherwise she’d be looking over her shoulder the rest of her life, she did not say to the televis ion audience. Literary agents all over the city wondered if there was a book and subsequent movie in this. School children all over the United States wept sympathetic tears into their beers and went out to buy a nicer pizza, hopeful they’d accidentally stumble into a Guido’ s killing of their own and glean a fifty-K reward as a result. Watching the show in bed, eating Chinese food with Sharyn Cooke, Kling wondered aloud if Lieutenant Byrnes had done the right thing. â€Å"Because you know, Shar,† he said, â€Å"Pete had no idea Blaine would suddenly open up. No idea at all. He just threw her to the lions, was what he did. After she gave us her trust.† â€Å"She didn’t look so shy accepting that check,† Sharyn said. He watched her manipulating the chopsticks. She worked them like a pro, clamping them onto morsels of food as if she’d been born in Beijing. He was almost hypnotized. â€Å"What?† she said. â€Å"I like the way you do that.† â€Å"Yeah?† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"You do it pretty good yourself, Big Boy,† she said. â€Å"I keep dropping rice.† â€Å"Just don’t get it all over the bed.† â€Å"She really does have a bedridden mother in Florida, you know?† â€Å"Reason she needs the Geo,† Sharyn said. â€Å"Drive on down there to visit the old lady.† â€Å"Stop for a pizza on the way,† Kling said. â€Å"Fifty thousand bucks is gonna buy a whole lot of pizza,† Sharyn said, and pincered a mushroom and popped it into her mouth. â€Å"I never won anything in my life, did you?† she said. â€Å"I grew up with my mother playing the numbers every day of the week, most she ever won was five, ten dollars. I never won a nickel.† â€Å"I won a bicycle once.† â€Å"When?† â€Å"When I was twelve. At a street carnival.† â€Å"No kidding?† â€Å"Yeah. One of these roulette-wheel kind of things. I still remember the number.† â€Å"What was the number?† â€Å"Seventeen. It was black with white trim.† â€Å"The number?† â€Å"The bike.† â€Å"Just like us,† Sharyn said. â€Å"But you know,† he said, â€Å"she didn’t win anything. This was a reward.† â€Å"Right, for ratting on him,† Sharyn said. â€Å"We try to discourage that sort of thinking,† Kling said. â€Å"What sort?† Sharyn said. â€Å"And who’s ‘we’?† â€Å"The police. The sort of thinking that equates performing a public duty with ratting on somebody.† â€Å"Gee, is that whut youpo-licemens try to do?† she said, and put her plate and chopsticks on the night table on her side of the bed, and finished her cup of tea and then slid over to him and kissed him on the mouth. She tasted of every black woman he had ever known. Matter of fact, she was the only black woman he had ever known, the only woman of whatever color he ever hoped to know in the near or distant future. He considered it fortunate that she felt the same way about him, that somehow in this troubled tribal universe, two people from very definitely different tribes had met and decided to give it an honest shot. He thought it miraculous, and so did she, that in the face of overwhelming odds, they were actually making a go of it. Just think of it. A little colored girl from Diamondback grows up to be a deputy police chief, and a white boy on a bicycle he won grows up to be a police detective, and in this hurried hating city, they find each other. And fall in love with each other. Go tell that to your Hutus and Tutsis, your Albanians and Serbs, your Arabs and Jews. They both knew that the God, Country, and Brotherhood bit they’ d each and separately had drummed into their heads in school wasn’t quite where it was at today. They were a black woman and a white man living together in the real world. What they shared was not some idealistic democratic sentiment premised on alikeness. They knew that much of what they felt for each other had to do with identical likes and dislikes, yes, but that really wasn’t all of it. They had similar senses of humor, yes, and they were in the same line of work, more or less, and yes, they had the same tastes in movies and books and plays and they both liked basketball and they both voted identically and yearned for a house and three kids if that was in their future somewhere – but this was America, you know, and so they wondered and worried about that future, and were cautious about wishing too hard for it. In the darkness of the night, where there was no color or lack of color, if they ever thought about whether their samenesses had created the strong and unusual bond between them, they each and separately might have concluded that it had also been their differences. They were not color blind. Any white or black person in America who told you he or she was color blind was lying. In fact, Kling had been attracted to her because she was black and beautiful and he was curious, and Sharyn had been attracted to him because he was so goddamn blond and white and good-looking and forbidden. There were differences between them that spanned continents and oceans and spoke of jungle drums and sailing ships and slaves in chains and white men bartering in open markets and blood on the snow and blood on the stars and blood mixing with blood until blood became meaningless. These very differences brought them closer together. In each other’s arms, in each other’s lives, they shared an intimacy each had never known before, Kling not with any other woman, ever, Sharyn not with any other man, ever. â€Å"A black and white bicycle, huh?† she said. â€Å"Black with white trim.† â€Å"You sure it wasn’t white with black trim?† â€Å"I’m sure.† â€Å"You know what trim is?† â€Å"I know.† â€Å"You know what black trim is?† â€Å"I know.† â€Å"How come you know such dirty things?† â€Å"How come I love you so much?† he asked. â€Å"Sweet talker,† she said. â€Å"You love me, too?† â€Å"Oh, yeah,† she said. How to cite The Last Dance Chapter Six, Essay examples

Amherstburg Freedom Museum-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Emancipation Celebration and African-American History in Amherstburg Freedom Museum. Answer: African-American History in Amherstburg Freedom Museum It is always a pleasure and scintillating experience to visit some interesting places or attend some memorable events in order to not only have a sense of relaxation but also to develop a thorough understanding regarding several aspects of mankind and its history. With regards to the current assignment, I visited the Amherstburg freedom museum. The museum is popular for offering evidence for educating and inspiring the visitors on the history of the Black people (African-Americans) of the country. The museum provides numerous texts and artifacts which are critical to understanding the history of African-Americans in the country. Furthermore, the preserved records, evidence, and texts help the African-Americans to develop a critical understanding of their own historical backdrop from socio-economic, socio-cultural, and educational perspectives (Amherstburg Freedom Museum, 2017). The experience of visiting this experience provided me with a great source of knowledge and understanding r egarding the history of African-Americans both in USA and Canada. Melvin Simpson and his wife Betty were the first individuals to incorporate the Amherstburg freedom museum in 1975 (Kotsis, 2015). This particular data along with several other critical information regarding the museum was found from the museum archives as well as different writings. The founders had an aim of promoting and glorifying the historical context as well as the development of the African-Americans in the scenario of Canada. The museum also includes a church named as the Nazrey A.M.E. Church which was constructed by numerous slaves as well as independent black people (Kotsis, 2015). The museum occasionally arranges several different kinds of events and programmes. Recently, on 4th August, the museum organized a critically successful event named as the Emancipation Gala Friday night (River Town Times, 2017). The event was arranged in order to celebrate the abolition of slavery through the conceptual introduction of the Slavery Abolition Acton 1st August, 1833 and the actual enforcement of that act exactly after one year (River Town Times, 2017). The event was attended by over 180 people most of whom were from the African-American origins (Harris, 2017). However, a number of other notable individuals including the president and the vice-president of the museum, the former curator of the museum, and several scholars and experts. It should be noted that the celebration of emancipation day started in the region of Windsor during the 1830s and the Amherstburg was one of those primary communities that started such a tradition of celebration (Harris, 2017). Therefore, this event was indeed remarkable not only from the perspectives of the African-Americans' historical contexts but also as per the revival of one of the earliest celebration of emancipation. The event reiterated the fact that the Amherstburg freedom museum is dedicated toward providing service to diverse groups of African-Americans who might have adopted different cultural prospects but still mat ch with each other regarding their historical backgrounds. The lectures and speeches presented during the event helped in assessing why and how exactly the museum was created, the main purposes of establishing the museum, the validity and reliability of the preserved documents or artifacts, and the significance of those materials in evaluating the history of African-Americans in both USA and Canada. References Amherstburg Freedom Museum. (2017).About the Amherstburg Freedom Museum.Amherstburg Freedom Museum. Retrieved 10 August 2017, from https://www.amherstburgfreedom.org/about-the-amherstburg-freedom-museum.html Harris, T. (2017).'The spirit is still here' as emancipation celebrated in Windsor 183 years later.Windsor Star. Retrieved 10 August 2017, from https://windsorstar.com/news/local- news/the-spirit-is-still-here-as-emancipation-celebrated-in-windsor-183-years-later Kotsis, J. (2015).Amherstburg Freedom Museum to mark the 40th anniversary.Windsor Star. Retrieved 10 August 2017, from https://windsorstar.com/news/amherstburg-freedom- museum-to-mark-40th-anniversary. River Town Times. (2017).Emancipation Gala presented by Amherstburg Freedom Museum.River Town Times. Retrieved 10 August 2017, from https://rivertowntimes.com/emancipation-gala-presented-by-amherstburg-freedom- museum/

The Best College Essay Intros That Actually Worked

If youre starting to give some thought as to what you should write about in your college application essay, remember: admissions officers have thousands of application essays to read. That means you need to have an essay introduction that will grab your readers attention, even if they just give it a quick glance. In the midst of the Class of 2020s acceptance, we bring to you some of the best college essay examples that actually worked:A.oh29Washington University in St. Louis(St. Louis, MO) When I was six years old, I loved to lie down on a grassy hillside by my house and stare at the clouds, anticipating what animal or object I might be able to discern in the white, whispy wonderland. My mind swirled with these breathtaking figures; they were astronomical. As a rebellious child, I sought cloud-watching to escape my seemingly monotonous home life. Even now, I will never become bored from just staring at the blue yonder. Read on.Mit_student_45 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) All my life Ive been stuck right in the middle between fitting in and feeling completely different from everybody else. It wasnt easy making friends as that kid who got dropped off by his abuela every morning at a primarily white elementary school, and then again as the only Americano after my family relocated to Tlaxcala, Mexico†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. At the time, I didnt realize how many of my differences were actually strengths, but the real hindrance about this was that neither did anyone around me. View profile. serena2020Harvard University(Cambridge, MA) . . . I recently helped clean up around Cody High School with my church. I had long looked forward to doing mission work in inner-city Detroit and this was the perfect opportunity. As I picked up litter from highways and around abandoned houses near Cody, I couldn’t help wondering about the kids there. Through some radio podcasts, I learned about the dire academic and graduation outcomes of Codies.Continue reading. Grant2020 University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) It was a dark and stormy night — but actually, it was. A new tradition arose a few years ago at our band camp, the Hunger Games (dont worry, there is absolutely no murder involved); it is an amalgamation of small, seemingly-pointless minute-to-win-it games that pit the different sections of the band against each other, proving who truly has the most spirit. Continue Reading. C.smith20 Middlebury College (Middlebury, VT) Everyone knows the old saying â€Å"How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice; Practice; Practice!† Never in a million years did I imagine that would ever be true for me. Maybe it was some arbitrary alignment of the cosmos, or maybe it was a choice. Choices as simple as what to have for breakfast can change our lives. They can affect us in ways we never imagined; they can change the very fabric of our existence. Read on. Found these college essay intros helpful? Create an account andaccess 60,000+ successfulcollege application filesuploaded by college students (they get paid when you view them). is a community of students helping students. Our goal is to bring much-needed transparency to higher education.

Airlines

Airlines Are the changes in baggage handling helping ease the mind of the frequent flier? The tragic events of September 11 caused a tremendous ripple of changes in the United States. One large and important response has been a deep revision of an important form of travel. Airport security over the past four months has been looked at under a microscope. The change in baggage handling has drawn a lot of concern. The old lackluster method for checking bags is a way of the past. The new method calls for all bags that are checked to be examined. Is this justified? Is the government worrying about the wrong aspects of air travel? Will changes like these promote or deter people from flying? The government is passing legislation to tighten up all forms of security in airports. Will this make passengers safer? Will people be compelled to fly if they know that all the baggage in the planes belly has been searched? Most people never thought the events on September 11 could happen.Biometric United State s passport issued in 2007Will this change prevent problems on airplanes? These days less people are willing to travel. If things do not get better soon many people might never fly again. It only makes sense that the government should try and make it clear in the minds of the travelers, that every possible thing is being done to make air travel safer. Are the procedures that are being put in place making people feel safer, or are they making flying a hassle for the passengers? The things that are being done by the government should make the current status of air travel better. Are United States Citizens once again becoming comfortable with flying?

Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Government - Essay Example storical and legal front, the fact that American constitution and history never granted the approval for same sex marriages until recently on state level is another reason put forth by all those who oppose the moves of same sex practices. Going by the previous rulings of Supreme Court in the form of previous cases such as Bowers vs. Hardwick which came forth in 1986 where the actions and practices related to sodomy and homosexuality were declared illegal and illegitimate, and further the case of Romer vs. Evans case in 1996 where the final verdict was upheld as 6-3 against the grant request for allowing homosexual practices on state level, similarly other accounts of proceedings and cases put forth reveal that Supreme Court has been against the concept and practices of same sex marriages. Originally the constitution guarded for the opposite gender marriages. The pattern of same sex marriages became more prevalent towards 1990s when the formally existent law of First Restatement of Conflicts, on Marriage and Legitimacy was questioned and challenged in the court. This law was existent and related to the rulings of 1934. The long practiced customs of opposite sex marriage limitation has been challenged and questioned, both on legal and argument level grounds. It is being termed as the violation of the basic rights to the people. Freedom of expression with regard to their personal life, personal orientations and personal sexual desires and tendencies is also accounted for a reason why the same sex marriage must be allowed for practice and legal approval. As an effort to reduce the domestic expenditure, the forestry spendings is an area where the possible cut is possible. This would help the already incurred heavy losses in the form of 1 trillion plus U.S dollars. It will have positive impact on the different variables and factors associated with the annual budget and the normal living standard of the common American citizens. The possible slash on the forestry

Entry for Graduate Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Entry for Graduate Program - Essay Example aw enforcement officer with close to three years of professional experience, I know that a graduate degree will invaluably contribute to my professional development. I have worked in, and with, all of the Fishkill village Police Department, the NYPD, the NY Special Enforcement Bureau and the United States Secret Service and, can confidently assert that I have no doubts that law enforcement is my preferred career choice. While acknowledging that many before me, as shall many after me, have said this, as a law enforcement officer I feel fulfilled. My sense of fulfillment and satisfaction come from my awareness that I am doing my part to make life in this country just a little but safer. On a personal level, while I believe that all Americans must contribute to the increased security and safety of their society, a select few, this nation’s law enforcement officers, must devote their lives to this goal. As a foreign-born American citizen, the protection of this country and all tha t it stands for, from crime, is especially meaningful. It is meaningful because it represents my way of trying to give something back to this country and her people. I am fully cognizant of the fact that the United States is hardly short of law enforcement officers and realize that this is hardly an easy career. Nevertheless, after much soul-searching, I discovered that this is where my career interests lie. Certainly, one does not need a graduate degree in Criminology to be a law enforcement officer but, given the nation-wide crime rate, it is imperative that those who enter this profession law have a solid academic grounding. Indeed, what distinguishes one law enforcement officer from another is his/her grasp of the aforementioned. It is because of my personal determination to become an effective law enforcement officer, one who can play a role in crime deterrence or reduction that I have decided to pursue a graduate degree. On a more pragmatic level, my decision is further

Adrienne Rich and Nancy Sommers | Comparison

Adrienne Rich and Nancy Sommers | Comparison Adrienne Rich and Nancy Sommers are both women writers, that in When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision and Between the Drafts respectively, are struggling to identify themselves as writers through the revision of their own work. In both texts we can follow their travel in past through which they recognize and analyze all those things that influenced them and formed their writing style. They are both facing the same fear. They do not write as themselves. For different reasons and each with her own perspective they are trying to break free from the bond that holds them in another writers shoes. Though Rich and Sommers are both dealing with the research of their writing self and despite the similarities in their arguments and some of their conclusions their approach differs as issues of identity, gender and tradition arise. Adrienne Rich mainly bases her text on the fact that literature and poetry where created by men, whose perspective of woman became a tradition in writing. She defines revision as the act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes, of entering an old text from a new critical direction1. For a writer she claims that this is an act of survival. Literature until recently gave us a view of how life is, how we see ourselves or how we would like others to see us. She recognizes a pattern in the majority of texts and poems. Women are considered a luxury for a man. They are creatures of grace and beauty. Silent, yet powerful a woman is a dream and a terror2 for men, in the words of Jane Harrison. Always distant and with almost never emotional outbreaks the historically image of a woman is that of a muse, model, nurse, cook, comforter, a bearer of his seeds3. Her inevitable fate is to suffer for love. The writer sees herself as a captive of that image. For a very long time she has been writing for women, as a man would. At first, in order to please and seek acceptance from her father, to whom she owed her education, then her professor, her mentor, followed by her fellow writers and the writing community, also male dominated. Similar to Adrienne Rich, Nacny Sommers also finds herself to write in a stereotype way. However she claims her influences came from the way she was brought up and more specifically from her parents. She does not put so much weight on her gender as a writer but she rather identifies the problem as not being able to combine academic and personal writing. Like there is an authority dictating the limits of personal and academic writing which she must not cross. This sense of authority is also something she inherited from her parents. Nancy Sommers came from German Jew Family that escaped Nazi Germany in 1939, moved to the United States where the children were brought up. She mentions examples of her family life, as evidence of parental authority. Her parents, even though they were speaking German fluently, bought tapes that instructed the language to their children, instead of talking to them. A specific ritual was followed for every lesson. The chairs at the same place, strict body posture and the voice of a German professor would for Nancy Sommes parents guarantee the right way to learn. Following the same principle of the right way to do anything her parents used a guide for their travelling, following strictly the instructions given, spending no more or no less time at each venue, making no additional stops. As if they did not have a voice of their own, as if they could not choose for themselves what to do or not to do, or even how to do it. Her parents gave her the world of two options: the right way or the wrong way. So, both our writers are influenced from authority. Rich, on the one hand, from the authority of men writers in a man dominated society, and on the other hand Sommers influenced from parental authority. When Sommer as a parent herself subconsciously embraced that same principle and projected it to her own child, she found out that, contrarily to her, her daughter had a voice of her own. Nancy Sommer had disguised herself and hid behind the title Researcher, reading and revising, exploring the knowledge of other writers. But she kept herself out of her own writing, being absent from her own work. Just like her parents hid behind the tapes and the guides and excluded themselves from their lives, creating and living someone elses experiences, she hid behind the authority of a researcher and used other peoples work to justify her statements. Never once did she use her personal experiences to support her statements. Another similarity between Rich and Sommers lies within their position on the role of the writer in respect to tradition. Rich is facing artistic tradition, of the way writers write about women, their image and how she as writer is able to cop with all her roles: that of a traditional female and of a writer. As a wife and a mother Rich found it hard to find free time, to think, to question, to imagine; free time that traditionally women never have as they are mainly loaded with the duties of raising children and caring for the family. But following the traditional way of performing female duties is in direct conflict with the main element of writing: imagination. Daily duties, put aside any imaginative activity, that can be put in words. Adrienne Rich felt the conflict between these two roles. She thought herself as a writer or as a mother. The choice of either and or was later replace by and. She sought ways to embrace both parts of her life, the creative one and the maternal one. Likewise Sommers faces again tradition, yet of another kind. Academic tradition is full with either/or sentences: the students are either taught to write academic or personal essays. This tradition seems to create a certainty, an illusion of control to the academic community. Everyone knows their exact role and what they are supposed to do. But Nancy Sommers identifies the fact that students carry their own experiences, their own voices and if encouraged they could use these experiences as evidence to support their own statements, thus creating a new reflective way of writing. In both texts, tradition is questioned, whether artistic or academic as a result of a revision, a deeper look in ones writing, from a different perspective, with a fresh eye. Both writers emphasize the importance of breaking the tradition, that narrows the imagination and this might be their most important common statement. Even though they are both objecting to different kind of tradition they both have the same objective, to help writers, including them, to write for themselves, to use their own experiences and voice, to write from their point of view, breaking every stereotype of either artistic or academic writing. Rich and Sommers mention incidents of their personal and family lives. It is interesting how these specific events reflect the obedience of authority they inherited from their close environment. They follow traditional models, artistic and academic, that forces boundaries to their imagination and self expression. Rich show us how the traditional female model kept her captive in just one role, that of a mother and eliminated her fantasy, thus her writing. Sommers from the other side illustrates how her parentss sense of authority influenced her own perception of authority, this time the academic one, upon her writing. Even though both writers are of female gender their arguments and conclusions also apply to non female writers. They are both looking for way to express purely themselves in their own writing, creating their own images, with no influence of tradition artistic or academic. Using a female point of view, they have managed to reach a problematic area for all writers. Both male and female writers should be able to speak for themselves and use their imagination, freely creating texts and statements which are supported with their own experiences. As mentioned before, both writers notice that there is something missing from their writing. And that something is their own voice, their own point of view. Trapped in the tradition they learned to obey they do not use their own experiences and images in their work. Their similarity lies upon the fact that they were both raised under the influence of tradition. Even though they have a different point of view when revising their work, they come to the same conclusion mainly because the source of their conservatism is the same: obedience to authority. According to Rich, the role of a writer is to create images through words. These images influence other writers and especially women, as they seek their path reading poetry and literature, trying to find ways of expression, looking for examples. And in this effort they come across again and again with the image of Woman in books written by men. But what they do not find is a way to express their own personality in their text, rather than reflect and reproduce a flattering or not image created by another writer. I find it easy to agree with Richs statement. I have often read literature and identified myself with the woman hero of the book. I found my self to be flattered with similarities of character. Of course, in every attempt to write about my self, or to tell a story, I tend to reflect the same image of the woman I read about in my own writing. It is not that I have nothing to say for myself, rather than I find that image charming and want others to see me in this way. Still like Sommers, I am absent from most of my texts. Certainly influenced by my female gender, I tend to have a more romantic and soft approach in my writing. My class and culture are also reflected in my texts as a have no experience from anything different and thus I can not write about it. However the presence of my own experiences is limited in my writing. Mainly because I think of myself as insecure and that I do not have a strong enough statement to make. Another reason is that I find it easier, and I believe I am not the only one to do so, to talk about others than talk about myself. Talking about oneself requires painful digging to reach to self awareness. Of course the fear of revealing personal experiences to others plays its part as well, as again I do not intend to mess my traditional female image, with outbursts of anger, anxiety, passion, and obsession. Adrienne Rich: When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision, p.18 J.G. Steward, Jane Ellen Harrison: A Portrait from Letters (London 1959), p. 140 Adrienne Rich: When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision, p.19

Case Study of the Spanish Retail Chain Zara

The Spanish retail chain, Zara, owned by Inditex is a retailer that has been so successful in our world of globalization and new technologies today by simply adopting a new approach in the industry. With their simple business model of speed, flexibility, and high fashion, Zara has the competitive advantage to be sustainable. Zara was founded by Amancio Ortega Gaona (Ortega), in 1975 and went on to become the flagship brand of the holding company, Industria de Diseno Textil, SA, popularly called Inditex, which was founded in 1979. As of 2002, Inditex operated six separate chains, that being, Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, and Oysho. However, each chain operates independently and is responsible for its own strategy, product design, sourcing and manufacturing, distribution, image, personnel, and financial results. Zara, which contributes around 80 per cent of group sales (Grant 2005, p. 398), is by far the largest, most profitable, and most internationalized of the chains. Its stores can now be found in the most important shopping districts of more than 400 cities in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. With year-on-year sales increasing at around 25% over the last 5 years, it has become one of the world’s fastest growing retailers (University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing). Discussion The global apparel market is a consumer-driven industry (Criag, Jones & Nieto, 2004) in which profits derived from â€Å"unique combinations of high-value research, design, sales, marketing, and financial services that allow retailers, branded marketers, and branded manufacturers to act as strategic brokers in linking overseas factories†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ with markets (Collins 2003, p. 44). Zara's business model can be broken down into three basic components: concept, capabilities, and value drivers. Zara's fundamental concept is to maintain design, production, and distribution processes that will enable Zara to respond quickly to shifts in consumer demands and tastes. The main business tactics of the company in context of its business model is:- (i) Short lead time: More fashionable clothes and embracing quick changing customer's tastes. (ii) Decentralized Management: Taking advantage of the intelligence and trust the judgment of employees. (iii) Lower quantities: Inventory will be formidable burden in perishable products. (iv) More styles: Providing more choices for customers and more chances of meeting the customers taste. At the heart of Zara's success is a vertically integrated business model spanning design, just-in-time production, marketing and sales. The distinctive vertical integration feature of Zara’s business model, has allowed the company to successfully develop a strong merchandising strategy. This strategy has led Zara to create a climate of scarcity and opportunity as well as a fast-fashion system. Currently, H&M is Inditex’s major competitor. Swedish retailer H&M has been growing at an average rate of 20% annually in the past two decades. These two European retailers are known for their ‘fast fashion’ had unique business models and growth strategies which have enabled them to expand quickly and successfully beyond their own borders. With the European markets becoming saturated, Both companies are expanding outside Europe and establish their hegemony in the world market. Yet what is it that distinguishes Zara from H&M and its other competitors? In its process of expanding globally, Zara, unlike its competitors such as Gap, Benetton, and H&M, does not use cheap Asian outsourcing. Eighty percent of Zara’s materials are manufactured in Europe, with fifty percent made in Zara controlled facilities in the Galicia region of Spain near headquarters. Though the cost of production in Spain more expensive compared to Asia, Zara still manages to maintain competitive advantage over its competitors in regards to operations. Zara maintains local strategic partnerships with manufacturers and suppliers in Europe and this proximity gives Zara great flexibility in adapting their product lines based on up to date market trends and consumer behaviour while decreasing costs of holding inventory. This proximity effect and the flexibility give Zara its competitive edge in comparison to their peers. However, the business strategies adopted by Zara, does have its setbacks to Zara’s success. The vertical integration concept often leads to the inability to acquire economies of scale, which means Zara cannot gain the advantages of producing large quantities of goods for a discounted rate which leads to higher costs being incurred as they have to set a higher pricing of Zara products outside of Europe in order to cover supply costs. Zara has not invested in distribution facilities to support their global expansion. As a result, despite being able to quickly supply their stores at present, they may not be able to supply to a larger number of retail locations due to their â€Å"centralized logistic† model. Even though Zara has been successful at scaling up its distribution system, the centralized logistics system might eventually be subject to diseconomies of scale as Zara continues to open stores all around the world and ships product from its single Distribution Center in Europe. This system may work well with the current number of stores because majority of the stores are centralised in Europe. However, Zara won’t be benefiting from short lead times and low operational cost with a single central Distribution Center model in terms of globalisation and branching out into other countries. Conclusion To successfully expand globally, Zara should focus on one country at a time. Our team concludes that Zara’s current focus should be international expansion in a country that has an open trade market with well formed trade regulations as this provides a safer business environment. During the globalization process, Zara should maintain short lead time, quick inventory turnover, leading fashion brand and low advertising cost as its competitive advantage. As a result of their product cycle, Zara gives their customers the feeling of scarcity because new items are presented weekly and are often not restocked, and this encourages customers to come to the stores and buy frequently. As such, Zara invests more in their store layouts as compared to marketing. Their cost advantage and ability to maintain brand recognition and customer loyalty along with other factors such as regional distribution center, vertical integration, outsourcing and eye-catching window displays are essential elements for Zara to build value in the company and to continue to re-invent and innovate themselves to stay fresh in the apparel industry.

Green Marketing Strategy of Businesses

Green marketing has been an important academic research topic since it came about (Coddington, 1993; Fuller, 1999; Ottman, 1994). Attention was drawn to the subject in the late 1970’s when the American Marketing Association organized the first ever workshop on ‘Ecological Marketing’ in 1975 which resulted in the first book on the subject, entitled, ‘Ecological Marketing’ by Henion and Kinnear in 1976. The first definition of ‘green marketing’ was according to Henion (1976); â€Å"the implementation of marketing programs directed at the environmentally conscious market segment† (Banerjee, 1999, p. 8). Peattie and Crane (2005) claims that despite the early development, it was only in the late 1980’s that the idea of green marketing actually made an appearance, because of the consumers’ growing interest in green products, increased awareness and willingness to pay for green features. Henion’s (1976) definition of green marketing has evolving and many more definitions of green marketing have arisen throughout the years. One of the latter definitions is Fuller’s (1999, p. ): The process of planning, implementing, and controlling the development, pricing, promotion, and distribution of products in a manner that satisfies the following three criteria: (1) customer needs are met, (2) organizational goals are attained, and (3) the process is compatible with ecosystems. The first indication of consumer interest in green products came through Vandermerwe and Oliff? s (1990) survey. This stated that more than 92% of European multinationals claimed to have changed their products in response to green concerns and 85% claimed to have changed their product systems (Peattie & Crane, 2005). Green product introductions increased by more than double to 11. 4% of all new household products in the USA between 1989 and 1990, and continued to rise to 13. 4% in 1991 (ibid. ). However, this optimistic start to the 1990’s was not sustained (Peattie & Crane, 2005. A report conducted by Mintel in 1995, showed only a very slight increase in green consumers since 1990, and showed a significant gap between concern and actual purchasing (ibid. ). This can be attributed to the fact that consumers do not want to compromise on price, quality or convenience when conducting a ‘green’ purchase (D?  Souza et al. , 2006). The frequency and prominence of green claims was also found to be in decline (Peattie & Crane, 2005). So instead of the â€Å"green revolution† in marketing forecasted for the 1990s, companies became more cautious about launching environmentally-based communications campaigns for fear of being accused of â€Å"greenwashing† (ibid). This is when a company hides the true effect of its products or actions on the environment, by making it seem as though the company is very concerned about the environment (Greenwashing, 2009). One challenge green marketers — old and new — are likely to face as green products and messages become more common is confusion in the marketplace. â€Å"Consumers do not really understand a lot about these issues, and there's a lot of confusion out there,† says Jacquelyn Ottman (founder of J. Ottman Consulting and author of â€Å"Green Marketing: Opportunity for Innovation†). Marketers sometimes take advantage of this confusion, and purposely make false or exaggerated â€Å"green† claims. Critics refer to this practice as â€Å"green washing†. Even though this revolution did not occur as predicted, the interest in the topic has not died down. Grant (2007, pp. 20-24) claims that green marketing is at a tipping point and that what we do next will decide if the topic continues to develop and gain momentum. The popularity of such marketing approach and its effectiveness is hotly debated. Supporters claim that environmental appeals are actually growing in number–the Energy Star label, for example, now appears on 11,000 different companies' models in 38 product categories, from washing machines and light bulbs to skyscrapers and homes. However, despite the growth in the number of green products, green marketing is on the decline as the primary sales pitch for products. On the other hand, Roper’s Green Gauge shows that a high percentage of consumers (42%) feel that environmental products don’t work as well as conventional ones. This is an unfortunate legacy from the 1970’s when showerheads sputtered and natural detergents left clothes dingy. Given the choice, all but the greenest of customers will reach for synthetic detergents over the premium-priced, proverbial â€Å"Happy Planet† any day, including Earth Day. New reports however show a growing trend towards green products.   This provides information regarding the setting of the study and/or general information about preview of the topic. The term Green Marketing came into prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The American Marketing Association (AMA) held the first workshop on â€Å"Ecological Marketing† in 1975. The proceedings of this workshop resulted in one of the first books on green marketing entitled â€Å"Ecological Marketing†. The first wave of Green Marketing occurred in the 1980s. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reports started with the ice cream seller Ben & Jerry's where the financial report was supplemented by a greater view on the company's environmental impact. In 1987 a document prepared by the World Commission on Environment and Development defined sustainable development as meeting â€Å"the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need†, this became known as the Brundtland Report and was another step towards widespread thinking on sustainability in everyday activity. Two tangible milestones for wave 1 of green marketing came in the form of published books, both of which were called Green Marketing. They were by Ken Peattie (1992) in the United Kingdom and by Jacquelyn Ottman (1993) in the United States of America. According to Jacquelyn Ottman, (author of Green Marketing: Opportunity for Innovation) from an organizational standpoint, environmental considerations should be integrated into all aspects of marketing— new product development and communications and all points in between. The holistichttp://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Holistic nature of green also suggests that besides suppliers and retailers new stakeholders be enlisted, including educators, members of the community, regulators, and NGOs. Environmental issues should be balanced with primary customer needs. The past decade has shown that harnessing consumer power to effect positive environmental change is far easier said than done. The so-called â€Å"green consumer† movements in the U. S. and other countries have struggled to reach critical mass and to remain in the forefront of shoppers' minds. While public opinion polls taken since the late 1980s have shown consistently that a significant percentage of consumers in the U. S. and elsewhere profess a strong willingness to favor environmentally conscious products and companies, consumers' efforts to do so in real life have remained sketchy at best. One of green marketing's challenges is the lack of standards or public consensus about what constitutes â€Å"green,† according to Joel Makower, a writer on green marketing. In essence, there is no definition of â€Å"how good is good enough† when it comes to a product or company making green marketing claims. This lack of consensus—by consumers, marketers, activists, regulators, and influential people—has slowed the growth of green products, says Makower, because companies are often reluctant to promote their green attributes, and consumers are often skeptical about claims. Despite these challenges, green marketing has continued to gain adherents, particularly in light of growing global concern about climate change. This concern has led more companies to advertise their commitment to reduce their climate impacts, and the effect this is having on their products and services. This provides the concise description of the issues that need to be addressed. It also provide why these variables are important so it focus on it. The ongoing marketing paradigm, according to Peattie (1999, p. 57), is based on using the earth’s resources and systems in an unsustainable manner. The traditional view on corporate social responsibility, which argues that corporation manager’s and director’s only responsibilities are to the â€Å"owners† of the firm and to maximize profit, started changing in the early nineties to include a responsibility not only to those with a vested interest in the corporation (Klonoski, 1991). Instead a company must consider the effect of its actions on all stakeholders, including nature and animals (ibid. ). Many of the serious environmental issues we face are due to modern development and the pursuit of econoy Peattie, 1999, p. 58). However, making these crucial changes occur requires more than individual change; change on a societal and economic level will be necessary (Grant, 2007, p. 47; Hartmann & Ibanez, 2006). Hence, governments will need to commit to developing forward thinking environmental policies (Peattie, 1999; Grant, 2008). Corporations must integrate greening into their business strategy and invest in the development of it as they would any other aspect of their business (Polonski & Rosenberger, 2001). Finally, the consumers have to actually purchase the environmentally friendly products they, so far, only claim to be interested in (Ginsberg & Bloom, 2004). In the end though, going green needs to make business sense for the corporation and not require a compromise on product attributes for the consumer. Marketers have a tremendous potential to help make this shift happen by pushing organizations to implement some form of a green marketing strategy (Peattie & Crane, 2005; Grant, 2007, p. 32). Marketers have the power to help „sell? new lifestyle ideas (Grant, 2007, p. 1) According to Ottman (1993) green marketing serves two key objectives: 1) To develop products that incorporate consumers? eeds for convenience, affordable pricing and performance while having a minimal impact on the environment. 2) To project an image of high quality, including environmental aspects, both in regards to product attributes and the manufacturer’s track record for environmental compliance. If a paradigm shift from conventional to green marketing occurs, corporations will need to incorporate sustainability into their strategies or risk being left behind (Grant, 2008). It will be important for organizations and marketers to be well-versed on the subject and have a thorough understanding of green marketing and how it can create value. Since the mid-nineties environmental legislation has increased, leading to a higher level of awareness of environmental issues in the business community and many corporations being required to consider these issues in their strategic planning in order to meet stricter environmental standards (Banerjee, 1999, p. 18; Olson, 2008). Regardless of legislation and standards many people are calling for corporations in general to take more responsibility for their actions and the consequences thereof. Green marketing concept is fairly young and as a consequence it has not been extensively explored or research yet (Grant, 2007, p. ; Hartmann & Ibanez, 2006; Baker & Sinkula, 2005). Olson (2008) claims that while many corporations have implemented some form of green initiative, very few have actually established an enterprise-level green strategy. He furthers states that, while it may vary depending on industry and possibly by individual business, early adoption of a formalized and well-articulated green strategy can allow companies the opportunity of a competitive advantage. Considering Olson’s statement, one wonders how corporations, that have indeed incorporated some form of green thinking into the business, have done so and for what reasons. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the subject of strategic green marketing by examining how strategic green marketing can be developed and what incentives companies have to do so. In order to fulfill this purpose, four research questions were developed. One objective of a marketing strategy is to optimize the marketing mix in relation to the wants and needs of the target market (Fuller, 1999, p. 330). Data from the targeted business consumers can provide valuable input for the decision making process (ibid. . 320). Fuller (1999, p. 330) further states that mass-undifferentiated marketing will often fail to ensure customer satisfaction and profit and that segmenting the market provides a more realistic market interpretation. The first research question is therefore: RQ1: How do companies segment their market based on business consumers’ green tendencies? Polonsky and Rosenberger (2001, p. 22) claim that â€Å"in true green marketing, environmental issues become an overriding strategic corporate focus rather than simply one strategic action†. When forming a green marketing strategy it is important to realize that, just as in conventional marketing, there is no single strategy that will work for all companies (Ginsberg & Bloom, 2004; Fuller, 1999, p. 330). Instead each company must examine what strategy will work best depending on its own individual objectives, resources, target market, competitive conditions and so on (Polonsky & Rosenberger, 2001). According to Olson (2008), many companies pass up significant benefits because they do not look at green opportunities in a strategic context. This brings us to research question two: RQ2: How do companies choose their green marketing strategy? Implementing a green marketing strategy requires a fundamental, holistic, integrated approach across all functional marketing areas, including the entire marketing mix of targeting, pricing, design, positioning and promotion (Polonsky & Rosenberger, 2001). According to Fuller (1999, p. 109), only companies that are truly committed to environmental concerns and are willing to translate those concerns into action through marketing mix decisions can develop viable green marketing strategies. Due to these facts, research question three was developed: RQ3: How do companies’ choices of green marketing strategy influence their marketing mix? Authors such as Porter and van der Linde (1995) and Elkington (1994) argue that environmentally superior strategies exist, which can create a competitive advantage by stimulating innovation and tapping into consumer concerns. Fuller (1999, p. 39) states that worldwide corporate practices suggest that a competitive advantage can indeed be earned and companies not implementing a green marketing strategy will be viewed as uncompetitive, unresponsive, and out of touch with emerging global markets. However, others argue that greening strategy is difficult to do in practice (Walley & Whitehead, 1994). Managers need strategies that transform environmental investments into sources of competitive advantage by optimizing the economic return on their investments (Orsato, 2006). This lead to the fourth, and final, research question: RQ4: How do companies obtain a competitive advantage through their green marketing? The obvious assumption of green marketing is that potential consumers will view product or service's â€Å"greenness† as a benefit and base their buying decision accordingly. The not-so-obvious assumption of green marketing is that consumers will be willing to pay more for green products than they would for a less-green comparable alternative product – an assumption that, in my opinion, has not been proven conclusively. This green marketing approach is largely used as a gimmick by the gigantic corporate houses in order to make a difference in the consumer’s point of view when it comes to major market decisions. Many firms are beginning to realize that they are members of the wider community and therefore must behave in an environmentally responsible fashion. So green marketing is also a way of looking at how marketing activities can make the best use of these limited resources while meeting corporate objectives. Thus an environmental committed organization may not only produce goods that have reduced their detrimental impact on the environment, they may also be able to pressure their suppliers to behave in a more environmentally â€Å"responsible† fashion. Final consumers and industrial buyers also have the ability to pressure organizations to integrate the environment into their corporate culture and thus ensure all organizations minimize the detrimental environmental impact of their activities. With the human wants escalating heavily, the resources are decreasing. Hence it has become mandatory for the marketers across the globe to use the resources efficiently and not waste them under any circumstances. Worldwide surveys indicate that consumers globally are changing their behavior towards products and services. Green marketing is almost inevitable as the market for socially responsible products is increasing greatly. This provides what the study covers and fix its boundaries. Limitations specify certain constraints in the study which are essential, but which the researcher has no control of. Although the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment is a major contributor to the damage of the global environment and that a significant change in attitude is necessary, this thesis will only focus on the business-to-business (B2B) segment. The study is not limited to one industry but is examining a range of B2B firms with the purpose of gaining a deeper understanding of green marketing strategies in an overall business context. Most research conducted on the topic of green marketing is focused on the B2C market and the author’s consider there to be a significant lack of knowledge available when it comes to the B2B market. Furthermore, the authors? were intrigued by the apparent opportunities available to companies choosing to go green.