HTC Marketing

IntroductionThe mobile phone handling is on the rise day after day and it is transforming the field of technology and people’s lives across the world. In today’s modern life; people spend considerable amount of time using mobile phone for various purposes. Thus making it the most wanted gadget that people use most frequently. HTC is one of the biggest brands in mobile phone & telecommunications industry globally.HTC has shipped around 32. 6 million unit of mobile phone accounting 4.6 % of the global market; placing the HTC brand as number 4 mobile phone globally in 2012. The Taiwan based company HTC caters mostly for the middle end segments. HTC has its presence in every segment of the market. It offers the cheapest of smart phones with the most basic features as well as high-end phones with all the latest features and was the first to introduce android. (http://htcsource. com/) The purpose of this assignment is to produce an outline with justification of HTC’s p roduct market decision to the international business under the following topics.What is international marketing? Firms entering international markets Researching international markets & emerging markets International marketing environment International marketing strategies of HTC Product & pricing strategies of HTC The marketing plan of HTC The marketing mix of HTC International marketing culture of HTC International marketing communication strategies This will help how HTC’s way fits in to the theories of International Business Marketing.History of HTCHTC Corporation (HTC) is a Taiwanese operation with the most part of being influential, creative and leading players in global telecommunications with an escalating influence in the industry’s future. HTC is the synonym of â€Å"High Tech Computers† it starts its operation in 1997 and has made a name for itself in the global market and has been identified as one of the fastest brand & technology growing in the fie ld of mobile communication. HTC’s portfolio includes smart-phones and tablets powered by the Android software and HTC Sense operating systems (HTC Annual Report, 2010).It has started marketing its mobile phones under its own brand name (HTC) since 2006. Founded by Cher Wang, HT Cho and Peter Chou, which also reflects their initials in the brand name, the company has been the runner up in several successful operator branded devices, with established close partnerships with key players in the operator dominated mobile markets in Europe and Asia. HTC’s products are the most flourished in the world at the moment and thus since it has launched its own brands which have registered the fastest growth rate in the History of HTC.Its products are highly innovative & predictive of the future market trends, needs and demand with product range includes the full array of multimedia, wireless and web resources. HTC is related to the primary objective of most businesses entity which i s profit maximisation. Surprisingly for many specialists of the mobile phone technologies; HTC has been classified by the Business Week magazine in 2007 as the second best performing Technology Company in Asia while it was the third largest globally in year 2006.HTC has been ahead of one of its competitor Apple by breaking the technology trends in touch screen mobile telephones from 2002 onwards. (http://www. roc-taiwan-hn. com/) International Marketing A company becomes a ‘multinational corporation-MNC’ when it conducts any business function beyond its domestic borders’ (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2010). Internationally HTC has captured markets of Asia & Europe. Their principles are to promote trust, openness, teamwork, and professionalism, and pride as part of their principles across the globe.From a global market share of 2% in 2010, HTC is aiming to hold 10 -15 % of the global smart-phone market share. The CEO of HTC Mr Chou has announced that there are four Americ an telecom carriers have been promoting the device in the U. S. market. This marks the first time that HTC has collaborated with four U. S. telecom operators to simultaneously promote sales of a single HTC handset. Adding to this part of the company's new marketing strategy to enter international markets Source:Gartnerr Research HTC Entering International Market HTC is probably inexperienced with dealing with political issues associated with different countries. Therefore, it is most likely a good idea that HTC decided not to merge with a company that was involved in different world markets such as Apple, Samsung or Nokia. They have instead chosen to take a slower route to internationalization, e. g. the US market which was a difficult market to get through as it is a closed market.Therefore HTC can’t sell its mobile phones directly to customers, so it has to be sold to network providers and then the operators sell it to their customers on behalf of HTC as agreed partnership (http://www. behance. net/). Researching international markets & emerging markets According to thomaswhite. com, whatever the reasons are; the East Asian nations of South Korea and Taiwan have transformed themselves from being the manufacturing backyards of the USA and Japan into high-tech giants in just over a generation.Their expertise in the field of electronics is impressive and all-encircling. The market for mobile phones includes of two significant markets segmentations; 1st the fundamental, ultra-inexpensive mobile phones which offers very little or just the basic function of the traditional communications boundaries. These inexpensive devices come with the basic voice telecommunication and text messaging services.2nd the technologically advanced types of phones are widely referred as smart-phones, they are assembled in and from a variety of technologies, scoping from the internet to video-calling. Both segments of the market are ultra-competitive, although the smart-phones s egment offers slightly better margins. Therefore the emergence of the Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer, HTC which was involved in the design and manufacturing of cell phones for other organisations such as Microsoft and Google, has therefore transformed itself into a mobile phone brand (HTC) in recent years.International marketing environment The major component of external environment that affect businesses in various ways are the forces of globalisation (Paul, 2006) and the way the organisation has go forward from its start to its actual position, shows that HTC own this force at first and foremost. HTC started operations as an individual Brand on the global scale since 2006, thus because of the globalisation, HTC reached its customers on the global marketplace.According to Shelly and Rosenblatt (2009) nowadays organisations cannot operate at all without the use of the internet in a way or another. The internet as an external factor had considerable achievements on the developm ent of HTC at two levels. 1st: HTC was competent to differentiate and improve its smart-phones on the basis of internet, by including one of its key features which is the internet browsing possibility. Other companies on the marketplace manufacturing mobile phones do not have many advanced elements that can be found on HTC smart-phones.Therefore without the external factor of the internet, HTC would have never developed to its current level of brand image and profitability on the international market 2nd: HTC has greatly benefited from internet in the same way that most other business benefited as well. In particular, internet was an external factor that assisted HTC to be ahead of its current level through endow with platform to reach to the global market area, to promote its products globally and to get your hands on strategic partners as well as to correspond with its stakeholders at the global level.International Marketing Strategies The international marketing strategies of HTC have its uniqueness compared to some of its competitors. The marketing management of HTC has helped the organisation to penetrate numerous new markets and carried out efficient changes with rigid formulas within the existing markets. HTC has been identified in the leadership position through the process of adopting innovative approach in production & design and introducing to the market the first tri-band UMTS 3G device on the Microsoft Windows Mobile platform (2006), the first Microsoft Windows Smartphone (2006), the first Tri-band UMTS PDA, and the first spontaneous touch screen to allow finger tip navigation (2007) (Products and Innovation, 2010).By analysing HTC’s strategy, product differentiation and cost leadership are regarded as to be the lane to the market scope; whereas segmentation strategy is a narrow market scope (Porter, 1998) Product expansion is rarely used by HTC when the company introduces new creations to its existing active markets. Recent growth was real ized by the company by introducing the HTC One and previously with HTC Titan as well as the HTC Desires series for the medium-low range  market (htc. com).Product & Pricing Strategies As per Condor (2010) HTC’s marketing strategy is going through massive changes since the company is introducing more low-cost devices. The mid-pricing strategy adopted by HTC has been ultra-successful, since the company believes that its products are specifically customised to gratify customer’s desires. HTC’s customers are willing to pay even a higher price as they believe that HTC’s products has features that worth the premium prices.HTC smart-phones prices vary from a country to another according to the economical status of the country (htc. com). Marketing plan of HTC HTC’s marketing plan was in reverse gear in 2012 compared to 2011, where the mobile phone manufacturer did better according to the company’s annual report 2012. The CEO of the Organisation M r Chou ultimately believes it was HTC's poor marketing that led to disappointment in year 2012. He revealed that HTC can be expected to redouble its promotional efforts in 2013 (http://www. theverge. com/).The chief marketing officer (CMO) John Wang has decided to go for a more passive and aggressive direction with its marketing plan as from 2013 to boost up profit maximisation through innovation and customer satisfaction. Marketing mix of HTC Marketing mix is well thought-out to be the fundamental element of marketing communication. Buhler et al (2009) revealed that marketing mix was at the outset referred to as 4P’s of marketing with the combination of product, price, place & promotion. The 4P’s can be study individually as part of a broad HTC marketing strategy analysis.HTC products are widely known for their range of smart-phones which are innovative in their design and functions. Product HTC’s own brand was developed from the personal digital assistant (PDA ) market to smart-phone products manufacturer (Asemi et al, 2011). It depends on the products specifications and the number and types of functions the product can perform. It also values the segmented market of the product such as low-cost, mid range or high end market. HTC’s products focus on the mid range & high end segment.Prices of HTC products are not unlike dramatically compared to the products of its competitors, such as Apple, Nokia and others, and the price of each individual category of mobile phone. Place in the case of a mobile phone manufacturer is to have the widest possible market share globally. HTC has got a massive presence in Europe & Asia, with emerging markets over USA and Africa. On the Australian continent the Taiwanese manufacturer of cellular phone has also been powerful due to the increasing number of Android software user on the continent.The place element of the HTC’s marketing mix are available from many locations within all forty countries the company has operations in, as well as through the company web-site. Promotional techniques used by HTC to advertise their products are mainly posters promotions via mobile phone shops windows and promotions in popular media such as magazines, newspapers and TV channels to penetrate the larger market. In essence HTC marketing strategy that has allowed the company to enter new markets was based on innovation and ensuring the high level of friendly user interface in its products.International marketing culture of HTC One of the most important factors to consider when penetrating an international market is the local cultural differences which can be a source of massive challenge. HTC usually take into account the cultural factors when engaging in international expansion. Each individual or group of people have different perceptions of life, different life values, beliefs and different ways of doing things. Without any doubts these differences would reflect on how they perceive HTC brand in general, and each specific products in particular as well.These issue are addressed the management of the organisation in the most efficient approach, since international expansion has been identified as the foundation of strategic plans of any company (Gray, 2013. htcsource. com) So far, all the challenge associated with various local cultural differences where HTC has entered has not yet affected HTC negatively. Particularly when the possible issues associated with cultural differences narrate to combine marketing communications efforts of any foreign corporation engaged in business in a country. E. g. the marketing communication efforts in most European countries and USA would at times involve women to feature in their publicity with allusions to their sex appeal.While such type of publicity are perfectly suitable in the western world, the same publicity would be judged to be offensive in some Asian, and Arab countries, due to cultural, religious or else differences. Any global organisation aiming for further international expansion that prefer ignoring such issues in their marketing communications and other aspects of their businesses, would be at risk to attract negative reputation for their brand image, which will damage the value of the brand on the long-term basis.International marketing communication strategies HTC do not take on a â€Å"me-too† strategy and persists not to follow or directly competing with its clients in the market. The mobile phone organisation has put into practice as its marketing communication strategies the transformation of the company from Taiwanese to International by sustaining the silicon-valley culture to promote innovation. This has been implemented by the formation of a global marketing resource team. Their primary target market is the first time smart-phone user.The marketing communication strategy has been driven by the branding strategy and product awareness.HTC’s SWOT Analysis Swot-Internal Ana lysis:Weakness: Leading PDA & Smart-Phone Manufacturer High Manufacturing Cost Strong Research & Development Set-up Low Brand Awareness Strong Relationship with Business Partners Lack of Products in Low Price Category Branded & Perceived as â€Å"Value for Money† Products Do not have own operating system Swot-External Analysis:Opportunity: Threats: Increasing demand for touch screen phones with 3G Technologies Patent Wars Fast Growing & Emerging MarketsLess Customer Loyalty Development of App’s to add value to customers Rapid Technological Change HTC mini tablet could be the next Market sensation Expected competitors tie-up, e. g Google acquiring.Motorola SWOT Critical AnalysisThe brand position of HTC is appropriately perfect; smart-phone is the proper choice of most customers. Without doubt the smart-phone market is a prospective market for HTC to keep investing. However, in significant markets such as China and USA, where most people still use cheap phones the deman ds for mid-range or mass price cell phones are still huge.HTC do have a pricing advantage over Apple and Samsung, but the low brand awareness do not appeal to the young generation or even first time smart-phone users. Therefore having some low price product branded HTC might be a threat to the mid range & high end market, if we take as example the story of Toyota & Lexus, which has disappointed many luxury car customers when they have found that Lexus was a product of Toyota. However as tablets are very fashionable at the moment, HTC could accelerate its research & development in to the manufacturing of an HTC tablet.RecommendationRecommendation 1: As a major player in the telecommunications industry, it is highly recommended that HTC consider opening its own application storefront as this will help creating their own operating platforms which will give them more control over their operations.Recommendation 2: According to the HTC annual report (2012), 5% of its revenue is reinveste d into research & development, they should therefore participate into launching new products range such as tablets and messaging systems; since they already have a strong structure in implementing new product lines.Recommendation 3: The slogan of HTC is â€Å"Quietly Brilliant† and it is recommended that HTC develop an aggressive and noisy marketing campaign to build up their brand awareness and position themselves among Samsung & Apple. Conclusion As a mobile phone manufacturer, HTC has mainly diverse components and do assemble them in an eye-catching way to sell to its customers. Being able to bring to the market the very first touch screen smart-phone three weeks before Iphone, clearly shows the capacity of HTC’s engineers and this is the main reason for their success in the industry.HTC’s management team and engineering team can pride themselves for manufacturing one of the best brand mobile phones on the market nowadays. HTC also have various sources of dif ferentiation such as innovation, style & quality. As outlined above, the competitive advantages of HTC are their Research & Development, customization abilities, and partnerships with software, operators such as Microsoft & Google. This is a more powerful resource for HTC to open its own storefront and build up customer loyalty.

Carrie Chapter Fourteen

‘They will,' she said. ‘I set it up.' it won't even be close. Why do they keep applauding? What's going on in there?' ‘Don't ask me, babe. The school song suddenly roared out, full and strong on the soft May air, and Chris jumped as if stung. A soft gasp of surprise escaped her All rise for Thomas Ewen Hiiiiyyygh. . . ‘Go on,' he said. ‘They're there.' His eyes glowed softly in the dark. The odd half-grin had touched his features. She licked her lips. They both stared at the length of jute cord. We will raise your banners to the skyyyyy ‘Shut up,' she whispered. She was trembling, and he thought that her body had never looked so lush or exciting. When this was over he was going to have her until every other time she'd been had was like two pumps with a fags little finger. He was going on her like a raw cob through butter. ‘No guts, babe?' He leaned forward. ‘I won't pull it for you, babe. It can sit there till bell freezes.' With pride we wear the red and whiiyyyte A sudden smothered sound that might have been a scream came from her mouth, and she leaned forward and pulled violently on the cord with both hands. It came loose with slack for a moment, making her think that Billy had been having her on all this time, that the rope was attached to nothing but thin air. Then it snubbed tight, held for a second, and then came through her palm harshly, leaving a thin burn. she began. The music inside came to a jangling, discordant halt For a moment ragged You continued oblivious, and then they stopped. Then was a beat of silence, and then someone screamed. Silence again. They stared at each other in the dark, frozen by the actual act as thought never could have done. Her very breath turned to glass in her throat. Then, inside, the laughter began. It was ten twenty-five, and the feeling had been getting worse and worse. Sue stood in front of the gas range on one foot, waiting for the milk to begin steaming so she could dump in the Nestle's. Twice she had begun to go upstairs and put on a nightgown and twice she had stopped, drawn for no reason at all to the kitchen window that looked down Brickyard Hill and the spiral of Route 6 that led into town. Now, as the whistle mounted atop the town hall on Main Street suddenly began to shriek into the night, and falling in cycles of panic, she did not evert immediately to the window, but only tamed the heat oft under the milk so it would not burn. The town hall whistle went off every day at twelve noon and that was all, except to call the volunteer fire department during grass-fire season in August and September. It was strictly for major disasters and its sound was dreamy and terrifying in the empty house. She went to the window, but slowly. The shrieking of the whistle rose and fell, rose and fell. Somewhere, horns were beginning to blast, as if for a wedding. She could see her reflection in the darkened glass, lips parted, eyes wide, and then the condensation of her breath obscured it. A memory, half-forgotten, came to her. As children in grammar school, they had practised air-raid drills. When the teacher clapped her hands and said, ‘The town whistle is blowing,' you were supposed to crawl under your desk and put your hands over your head and wait, either for the all-clear or for enemy missiles to blow you to powder. Now, in her mind, as clearly as a leaf pressed in plastic, (the town whistle is blowing) she heard the words clang in her mind Far below, to the left, where the high school parking lot was – the ring of sodium are lamps made it a sure landmark, although the school building itself was invisible in the dark -a spark glowed as if God has struck a flint-and-steel. (that's whew the oil tanks are) The spark hesitated, then bloomed orange. Now you could see the school, and it was on fire. She was already on her way to the closet to get her coat when the first dull, booming explosion shook the floor under her feet and made her mother's china rattle in the cupboards. From We Survived the Black Prom, by Norma Watson (Published in the August, 1980, issue of The Reader's Digest as a ‘Drama in Real Life' article): †¦ and it happened so quickly that no one really knew what was happening. We were all standing and applauding and singing the school song. Then – I was at the usher's table just inside the main doors, looking at the stage – there was a sparkle as the big lights over the stage apron reflected on something metallic. I was standing with Tina Blake and Stella Horan, and I think they saw it, too. All at once there was a huge red splash in the air. Some of it hit the mural and ran in long drips. I knew right away, even before it hit them, that it was blood. Stella Horan thought it was paint, but I had a premonition, just like the time my brother got hit by a hay truck. They were drenched. Carrie got it the worst. She looked exactly like she had been dipped in a bucket of red paint. She just sat there. She never moved. The band that was closest to the stage, Josie and the moonglows, got splattered. The lead guitarist had a white instrument, and it splattered all over it. I say: ‘My God, that's blood!' When I said that, Tina screamed. It was very loud, and it rang out clearly in the auditorium. People had stopped singing and everything was completely quiet. I couldn't move. I was rooted to the spot. I looked up and there were two buckets dangling high over the thrones, swinging and banging together. They were still dripping. All of a sudden they fell, with a lot of loose string paying out behind them. One of them hit Tommy Ross on the head. It made a very loud noise, like a gong. That made someone laugh. I don't know who it was, but it wasn't the way a person laughs when they we something funny and gay. It was raw and hysterical and awful. At the same instant, Carrie opened her eyes wide. That was when they all started laughing. I did too. God help me. It was so †¦ weird. When I was a little girl I had a Walt Disney storybook called Song of the South, and it had that Uncle Remus story about the tarbaby in it. There was a picture of the tarbaby sitting in the middle of the road, looking like one of those old-time Negro minstrels with the blackface and great white eyes. When Carrie opened her eyes it was like that. They were the only part of her that wasn't completely red. And the light had gotten in them and made them glassy. God help me, but she looked for all the world like Eddie Cantor doing that pop-eyed act of his. That was what made people laugh. We couldn't help it. It was one of those things where you laugh or go crazy. Carrie had been the butt of every joke for so long, and we all felt that we were part of something special that night It was as if we were watching a person rejoin the human race, and I for one thanked the Lord for it. And that happened. That horror. And so there was nothing else to do. It was either laugh or cry, and who could bring himself to cry over Carrie after all those years? She just sat there, staring out at them, and the laughter kept swelling, getting louder and louder. People were holding their bellies and doubling up and pointing at her. Tommy was the only one who wasn't looking at her. He was sort of slumped over in his seat as if lied gone to sleep. You couldn't tell he was hurt, though: he was splashed, too bad. And then her face †¦ broke, I don't know how else to describe it. She put her hands up to her face and halfstaggered to her feet. She almost got tangled in her own feet and fell over, and that made people laugh even more. Then she sort of †¦ hopped off the stage. It was like watching a big red frog hopping off a lily pad. She almost fell again, but kept on her feet. Miss Desjardin came running over to her, and she wasn't laughing any more. She was holding out her arms to her. But then she veered off and hit the wall beside the stage – It was the strangest thing. She didn't stumble or anything. It was as if someone had pushed her, but there was no one there. Carrie ran through the crowd with her hands clutching her face, and somebody put his foot out. I don't know who it was, but she went sprawling on her face. leaving a long red streak on the floor. And she said, ‘Ooof!' I remember that. It made me laugh even harder, hearing Carrie say Oof like that. She started to crawl along the floor and then she got up and ran out. She ran right past me. You could smell the blood. It smelled like something sick and rotted. She went down the stairs two at a time and then out the doors. And was gone. The laughter just sort of faded off, a little at a time. Some people were still hitching and snorting. Lennie Brock had taken out a big white handkerchief and was wiping his eyes. Sally McManus looked all white, like she was going to throw up, but she was still giggling and she couldn't seem to stop. Billy Bosnan was just standing there with his little conductor's stick in his hand and shaking his head. Mr Lublin was sitting by Miss Desjardin and calling for a Kleenex. She had a bloody nose. You have to understand that all this happened in no more than two minutes. Nobody could put it all together. We were stunned. Some of them were wandering around, talking a little, but not much. Helen Shyres burst into tears, and that made some of the others start up. Then someone yelled: ‘Call a doctor! Hey, call a doctor quick!' It was Josie Vreck. He was up on the stage, kneeling by Tommy Ross, and his face was white as paper. He tried to pick him up, and the throne fell over and Tommy rolled on to the floor. Nobody moved. They were all just staring. I felt like I was frozen in ice. My God, was all I could think. My God, my God, my God. And then this other thought crept in, and it was as if it wasn't my own at all. I was thinking about Carrie. And about God. It was all twisted up together, and it was awful. Stella looked over at me and said: ‘Carrie's back.' And I said: ‘Yea, that's right.' The lobby doors all slammed shut. The sound was like hands clapping. Somebody in the back screamed, and that started the stampede. They ran for the doors in a rush. I just stood there, not believing it. And when I looked, just before the first of them got there and started to push, I saw Carrie looking in, her face all smeared, like an Indian with war paint on. She was smiling. They were pushing at the doors, hammering on them, but they wouldn't budge. As more of them crowded up to them, I could see the first ones to get there being battered against. them, grunting and wheezing. They wouldn't open, and those doors are never locked. It's a state law. Mr Stephens and Mr Lublin waded in, and began to pull them away, grabbing jackets, shorts, anything. They were all screaming and burrowing like cattle. Mr Stephens slapped a couple of girls and punched Vic Mooney in the eye. They were yelling for them to go out the back fire doors. Some did. Those were the ones who lived. That's when it started to rain †¦ at least, that's what I thought it was at first. There was water falling all over the place. I looked up and all the sprinklers were on, all over the gym. Water was hitting the basketball court and splashing. Josie Vreck was yelling for the guys in his band to turn off the electric amps and mikes quick, but they were all gone. He jumped down from the stage. The panic at the doors stopped. People backed away, looking up at the ceiling. I heard somebody – Don Farnham, I think-say: ‘This is gonna wreck the basketball court.' A few other people started to go over and look at Tommy Ross. All at once I knew I wanted to get out of there. I took Tina Blake's hand and said, ‘Let's run. Quick.' To get to the fire doors, you had to go down a short corridor to the left of the stage. There were sprinklers there too, but they weren't on. And the doors were open – I could see a few people running out. But most of them were just standing around in little groups, blinking at each other. Some of them were looking at the smear of blood where Carrie fell down, the water was washing it away. I took Tina's hand and started to pull her toward the EXIT sign. At that same instant there was a huge flash of fight, a scream, and a horrible feedback whine. I looked around and saw Josie Vreck holding on to one of the mike stands. He couldn't let go. His eyes were bugging out and his hair was on end and it looked like he was dancing. His feet were sliding around in the water and smoke started to come out of his shirt. He fell over on one of the amps – they were big ones, five or six feet high – and it fell into the water. The feedback went up to a scream that was head-splitting, and then there was another sizzling flash and it stopped. Josie's shirt was on fire. ‘Run!' Tina yelled at me. ‘Come on, Norma, Please!' We ran out into the hallway, and something exploded backstage – the main power switches, I guess. For just a second I looked back. You could see right out on to the stage, where Tommy's body was, because the curtain was up. All the heavy light cables were in the air, flowing and jerking and writhing like snakes out of an Indian fakir's basket. Then one of them pulled in two. There was a violent flash when it hit the water, and then everybody was screaming at once. Then we were out the door and running across the parking lot. I think I was screaming. I don't remember very well. I don't remember anything very well after they started screaming. After those high-voltage cables hit that water-covered floor †¦ For Tommy Ross, age eighteen, the end came swiftly and mercifully and almost without pain. He was never even aware that something of importance was happening. There was a clanging, clashing noise that he associated momentarily with (there go the milk buckets) a childhood memory of his Uncle Galen's farm and then with (somebody dropped something) the band below him. He caught a glimpse of Josie Vreck looking over his head (what have i got a halo or something) and then the quarter-full bucket of blood struck him. The raised lip along the bottom of the rim struck him on top of the head and (hey that hurt) he went swiftly down into unconsciousness. He was still sprawled on the stage when the fire originating in the electrical equipment of Josie and the Moonglows spread to the mural of the Venetian boatman, and then to the rat warren of old uniforms, books, and papers backstage and overhead. He was dead when the oil tank exploded a half hour later. From the New England AP ticker, 10:46 P.M.: CHAMBERLAIN, MAINE (AP) A FIRE IS RAGING OUT OF CONTROL AT EWEN (U-WIN) CONSOLIDATED HIGH SCHOOL AT THIS TIME. A SCHOOL DANCE WAS IN PROGRESS AT THE TIME OF THE OUTBREAK WHICH IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEENELECTRICAL IN ORIGIN. WITNESSES SAY THAT THE SCHOOL'S SPRINKLER SYSTEM WENT ON WITHOUT WARNING, CAUSING A SHORT-CIRCUIT IN THE EQUIPMENT OF A ROCK BAND. SOME WITNESSES ALSO REPORT BREAKS IN MAIN POWER CABLES. IT IS BELIEVED THAT AS MANY AS ONE HUNDRED AND TEN PERSONS MAY BE TRAPPED IN THE BLAZING SCHOOL GYMNASIUM. FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT FROM THE NEIGHBOURING TOWNS OF WESTOVER, MOTTON, AND LEWISTON HAVE REPORTEDLY RECEIVED REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE AND ARE NOW OR SHORTLY WILL BE EN ROUTE. AS YET, NO CASUALTIES HAVE BEEN REPORTED. ENDS. 10:46 Pm MAY 27 6904D AP From the New England AP ticker, 11:22 P.M. URGENT CHAMBERLAIN, MAINE (AP) A TREMENDOUS EXPLOSION HAS ROCKED THOMAS EWIN (U-WIN) CONSOLIDATED HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SMALL MAINE TOWN OF CHAMBERLAIN. THREE CHAMBERLAIN FIRE TRUCKS, DISPATCHED EARLIER TO FIGHT A BLAZE AT THE GYMNASIUM WHERE A SCHOOL PROM WAS TAKING PLACE, HAVE ARRIVED TO NO AVAIL. ALL FIRE HYDRANTS IN THE AREA HAVE BEEN VANDALIZED, AND WATER PRESSURE FROM CITY MAINS IN THE AREA FROM SPRING STREET TO GRASS PLAZA IS REPORTED TO BE NIL. ONE FIRE OFFICIAL SAID. ‘THE DAMN THINGS WERE STRIPPED OF THEIR NOZZLES, THEY MUST HAVE SPOUTED LIKE GUSHERS WHILE THOSE KIDS WERE BURNING.' THREE BODIES HAVE BEEN RECOVERED SO FAR. ONE HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS THOMAS B. MEARS, A CHAMBERLAIN FIREMAN. THE TWO OTHERS WERE APPARENT PROM GOERS. THREE MORE CHAMBERLAIN FIREMEN HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO MOTTON RECEIVING HOSPITAL SUFFERING FROM MINOR BURNS AND SMOKE INHALATION. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE EXPLOSION OCCURRED WHEN THE FIRE REACHED THE SCHOOL'S FUEL-OIL TANKS, WHICH ARE SITUATED NEAR THE GYMNASIUM. THE FIRE ITSELF IS BE LIEVED TO HAVE STARTED IN POORLY INSULATED ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT FOLLOWING A SPRINKLER SYSTEM MALFUNCTION. ENDS. 11:22 PM MAY 27 70119E AP Sue had only a driver's permit, but she took the keys to her mother's car from the pegboard beside the refrigerator and ran to the garage. The kitchen clock read exactly 11:00. She flooded the car on her first try, and forced herself to wait before trying again. This time the motor coughed and caught, and she roared out of the garage heedlessly, dinging one fender. She turned around, and the rear wheels splurted gravel. Her mother's '77 Plymouth swerved on to the road, almost fishtailing on to the shoulder and making her feel sick to her stomach. It was only at this point that she realized she was moaning deep in her throat, like an animal in a trap. She did not pause at the stop sign that marked the intersection of Route 6 and the Back Chamberlain Road. Fire sirens filled the night in the cast, where Chamberlain bordered Westover, and from the south behind herMotton. She was almost at the base of the hill when the school exploded. She jammed on the power brakes with both feet and was thrown into the steering wheel like a rag doll. The tyres wailed on the pavement. Somehow she fumbled the door open and was out, shading her eyes against the glare. A gout of flame had ripped skyward, trailing a nimbus of fluttering steel roof panels, wood, and paper. The smell was thick and oily. Main Street was lit as if by a flashgun. In that terrible hallway between seconds, she saw that the entire gymnasium wing of Ewen High was a gutted, flaming ruin. Concussion struck a moment later, knocking her backwards. Road litter blew past her on a sudden and tremendous rush, along with a blast of warm air that reminded her fleetingly of (the smell of subways) a trip she had taken to Boston the year before. The windows of Bill's Home Drugstore and the Kelly Fruit Company jingled and fell inward. She had fallen on her side, and the fire lit the street with hellish noonday. What happened next happened in slow motion as her mind ran steadily onward (dead are they all dead carrie why think carrie) at its own clip. Cars were rushing toward the scene, and some people were running in robes, nightshorts, pyjamas. She saw a man come out of the front door of Chamberlain's combined police station and courthouse. He was moving slowly. The cars were moving slowly. Even the people running were moving slowly. She saw the man on the police-station steps cup his hands around his mouth and scream something; unclear' over the shrieking town whistle, the fire sirens, the monster-mouth of fire. Sounded like: ‘Heyret! Don't hey that ass!' The street was all wet down there. The light danced on the water' Down by Teddy's Amoco station. ‘-hey, that's-‘ And then the world exploded. From the sworn testimony of Thomas K. Quillan, taken before The State Investigatory Board of Maine in connection with the events of May 27-28 in Chamberlain, Maine (abridged version which follows is from Black Prom: The White Commission Report, Signet Books: New York, 1980): Q. Mr Quillan, are you a resident of Chamberlain? A. Yes.

Reduse Usage of Plastic Bags

Plastic bags are not biodegradable, so they get littered onto a wasteland which causes soil erosion causing damage and harm to the trees. If plastic bags are burnt, they emit hazardous gases causing air pollution which causes damage on the ozone layer. The Plastic can be reduced by u not using lots of plastic and use things in yr homes then going to buy a plastic bottle from the shop. Plastic bags are made out of non-biodegradable substance. (not organic)Because they are durable they do not rot. Scientist believe that it would take up to 1,000 years to break down. In that time plastic bags separate into smaller toxic particles that contaminates the soil and even waterways. Even if we try to burn them, it pollutes the atmosphere Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are made worldwide. That means that 1 million plastic bags are made each minute, but then billions end up as litter each year. Making plastic bags can lead to exhaustion of oil, because to make a lot of plastic bags, we need a lot of oil. If we reduce oil we could save much more oil. You can actually drive about 460 meters with the oil which is used for only one plastic bag. Plastic bags even kill a lot of marine animals. Plastic bags gets blown into the ocean and floats around like a jelly-fish. A lot of sea-creatures choke and die for mistaking them as their food. Each year, thousands of sea turtles choke on plastic bags after mistaking them for jellyfish, their favourite food. Even other sea critters like sea lions and dolphins have also been found with their stomachs filled with plastic bags! GOVERNMENT SHOULD BAN PLASTIC BAG The society's consumption rate is now estimated over 500,000,000,000 plastic bags annually. The Malaysian Federal Government is considering banning plastic bag for environmental reason. There are some big company have take the challenge to make â€Å"say no to plastic bag† campaign such as IKEA, AEON and Factory Outlet Store (F. O. S). There are many drawbacks of the use of plastic bags. In some other countries, there are proposals to charge for the use of plastic bags. The objective of this paper is to educate shoppers to use reusable bags instead of plastic bags whenever possible. In the other hand, many people think it would be nuisance because there are so many practical uses for plastic bags. The United States Environmental Protection says paper bags are worse for the environment than plastic. Plastic bags require much less energy to manufacture and recycle because of this plastic generates less greenhouse gas. Plastic bags cause less air and water pollution. They compress to a small size in landfills. Nevertheless, this paper is to agree that government should ban plastic bags because of several factors which are environment, economy and health. Firstly, the idea of banning plastic bags and use reusable bag is good for the environment. In the other hand, many people think it would be ineffective because, according to Hilary Chiew (Chiew, 2009) in article high usage from Startwo’s newspapers, paper degrade at a slower rate compared to plastic in a landfill. In modern landfills nothing completely degrades due to the lack of water, light and oxygen. University of Arizona have done a research on paper, paper does not degrade even in 3 decades. So, paper takes up more space than plastic in landfill. While according to Abu Bakar Yang (Bakar, 2009) in article â€Å"Ancaman plastik dan botol plastik† about 100,000 of marine animals like†¦

English 2 Investor Relations Officer Assignment

English 2 Investor Relations Officer - Assignment Example It even extends up to other disciplines like the business administration field of professionalism. This means that getting an employment in this industry is not a walk in the park; however, a good self-marketing strategies and a well placed resume would lead one right into the business. The main reason why one would want to venture into this field is the huge amount of potential cash that one can get in the field. We have seen how successful people can be in the real estate marketing industry. The world is in a position whereby very many constructions are going on with each passing day. There is the need for many real estate agencies to market and help bring up these buildings. The other reason why some people have ventured into this business is the self-drive and passion for such things as real estate marketing (Securities Data). Some people have a personal liking for marketing and message delivery in the real estate industry. They follow this passion and get through all the obstacles that might get in their way to pursue their dreams. These are the most persistent candidates for the job since they rarely take no for an answer. They look for jobs in one office after another without despair. An investor relations officer links the company to the outside world as he helps in the conveyance of the different kind of messages to the intended persons. He helps to settle the company’s legal need so that there are no complications. The real estate industry is infested with so many legal wrangles between the member companies and, in some cases, with the public too (Basskaran 76). As an amateur in the business, it would not be easy finding your way into the various fields. One is often bullied by those with experience. The more one gets the needed experience, the better they are at their job. As much as academic qualifications matter in the job, in most cases, it is one’s character that bails them out; how you would express yourself when your company is in need

International and Pacific Asian Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

International and Pacific Asian Business - Essay Example These factors contributed to the shift from multinationalism to globalization. Since the millennium, academics and business people were more concern about ways in which globalization could affect domestic and international economy (Tierney 2004; Smith and Yaw 2002, p. 1). The purpose of globalization aims to promote the practice of free trading in the world market by removing barriers like import and export taxes which could prevent business people from taking advantage over the use of natural resources around the world (Nanduri 2006). By linking the trade and development in one country to other countries around the world, globalization makes it possible for businessmen to have the opportunity to maximize the use of the available natural resources and manpower (Krugman & Obstfeld 2009, p. 27, 273). As part of examining the new economy in the international and pacific Asian business, this report will analyze and discuss ways in which international trading is being conducted using the new trade theories as tackled by Paul Krugman. Eventually, trade theories which could accurately explain the competitiveness of business locations will be tackled in details. In line with this, economic theories related to economics of scale, demand led, product life cycle, the significance of monopolistic competition will be applied in different case scenarios by providing real-life examples and evidences. Prior to conclusion, the key trade patterns will be critically evaluated. The New Economy in International and Pacific Asian Business Because of globalization, fast economic growth and continuous business expansion can be observed in the modern international and pacific Asian businesses. In order to gain competitive advantage over other businesses in the world market, the new economy in International and pacific Asian businesses are heavily focused over the need to rely on the practice of trading goods and services within and outside a given country. As part of increasing the com petitive advantage of each business, large-scale companies are competing with one another not only in terms of acquiring the cheapest yet high quality raw materials but also in terms of hiring competitive and highly skilled employees at a minimum wage level (Steger 2003, p. 37). As a basic rule in business, high profit can be achieved not only when a company is able to produce enough supply based on the market demand but also when a company is able to keep its business operational cost at a very low price. Specifically the low operational cost can be achieved either by maximizing the use of the available human resources through the use of high technology and machineries or through economies of scale. Economies of Scale As explained by Krugman and Obstfeld (2009, p. 114), economies of scale in microeconomics is all about the cost advantage each businesses could earn by maximizing the use of its available technology and human resources. In line with this, a company is able to keep the unit price of certain product low each time the buyer purchases specific item by bulk. In other words, reducing the unit cost of a product is possible because producing a single item by volume can be manufactured on a large scale without the need to spend more money spent human resources. For

Homeless person and health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Homeless person and health - Essay Example As Hudson and Nandy found out in their research, homeless youth registered a higher level of substance abuse (178). In this essay, I will compare various views of different authors about health and homelessness, and compare their study findings and assumptions about the same, to establish how they agree or disagree about various aspects in health and homelessness. Hudson and Nandy compared different health issues among homeless people. These are substance abuse and high-risk sexual behaviour (178). In their study, they aimed at establishing the rate of substance abuse, high-risk sexual behaviour, and depression symptoms among youth, who were homeless. McNeil on the other hand, in his research, aimed at finding out how substance abuse among homeless people was a health concern among the population in Canada. In another study, Walls and Bell studied the correlates of the young and adult homeless youth, in engaging in survival sex. Finally, Nicholson, et al in their study, used a generalized approach to study the overall health situation of the homeless in Downtown Calgary. The findings of the different researches mainly agree about different health aspects and situations of the studied homeless populations. First, Hudson and Nandy pointed out that both the homeless youth exposed to foster care and those not exposed to foster care use tobacco, alcohol, and other illicit substances. They also studied the variance of depression and risky sexual behaviours among the group. However, only their degree of use varied within these groups. While the homeless youth who had previously been exposed to foster care used more drugs, compared to those not exposed to foster care. They have argued that when youth are rendered homeless, they always suffer from anxiety and depression. Since these cannot access health care while on the streets, they turn to â€Å"self-medication† through use of drugs and alcohol

U.S Departments of Justice versus Eight Cigarette Companies Assignment

U.S Departments of Justice versus Eight Cigarette Companies - Assignment Example In addition, they stood accused of luring thousands of children to start smoking by producing enticing adverts that did not have risks attached to them. Furthermore, the companies were accused of making money illegally through unscrupulous means and hence should return their profits made since 1953 to the U.S government. According to the information provided, the tobacco companies stood accused of breaching their duty to care. In as much as they had reports of research conducted in the 1950’s about the dangers of cigarette smoking, they still went ahead to market their products to consumers, created a chance to get children to smoke, and make more people addicted to the product which eventually led to deaths related to cigarette smoking (Ellet 27). By breaching their duty to care for their consumers, the companies were supposed to be sued. In the duty to exercise care, a company is required to take measures which should prevent injury or damages resulting from the use of their products. According to the US government, they sued the 8 cigarette companies since they were aware of the risks of smoking cigarettes, yet went ahead to market them. The solution, in this case, will be to ensure that the 8 companies use the amount gained through unscrupulous ways to promote the public on the dangers of smoking (Ellet 89). The government in a bid to protect the citizens from deaths caused by advertisements which are misleading wanted to give back to the people what they had lost. A lot of American citizens had been misled by their adverts since 1953 by encouraging the use of smoking and attributing it to not cause lung cancer. The US government is suing the cigarette companies was supposed to make sure that such practices are not carried out.  

Construction Law and Safety Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Construction Law and Safety - Essay Example The offense is one of strict liability, which means that it does not matter if the statement was intentional or negligent, but, rather, just that the statement was made and that the statement was false. So, in this case, Jimmybuild Ltd., if they made a statement with regards to the condition of the building, any kind of statement to Nina along those lines, and did not mention the fact that the foundation was defective, they would be liable under the Property Misrepresentations Act 1991. A statement that contains an omission would make Jimmybuild Ltd. liable under the Act, so, because any statement regarding the condition of the property would contain that omission, Jimmybuild Ltd. would be liable. Peter, the surveyor, may be at risk of negligence. According Murdoch (2005) surveyors may be guilty of negligence when they do not use skill in preparing their reports and the homeowner relied upon the surveyor’s report (Murdoch, 2005, p. 1). Privity of contract has historically been used as a defense on the part of the surveyor, as there was not privity of contract between the homeowner and the surveyor. Therefore, historically, the homeowner could not recover damages from the surveyor. However, the case of Hedley Byrne v. Heller [1964] AC 465 changed this rule. Heldley concerned appellants who were advertisers with a client named Easipower. Easipower defaulted on contracts to advertise on certain television and radio programmes that were procured by the appellants, making the appellants personally liable on the contracts. The appellants, however, had relied upon reports prepared by the defendant bank in which the defendant bank, Heller and Partners, which stated that Easipower was creditworthy, when, in fact, Easipower was not. The lower court ruled that the bank did not owe a duty of care to the Appellants, because the lack of privity of contract. However, the decision in the House of Lords was that proximity was not necessary to establish when attempting to show whether there was a duty of care owed (Hedley Byrne v. Heller [1964] AC 465). Therefore, privity of contract is not necessary, and an individual may sue a surveyor for negligent misstatements or omissions. Yianni v. Edwin Evans & Sons [1982] QB 438 carried this principle through, and this case is on point for the facts at hand. In Yianni, the surveyors made a representation that a house was suitable for a loan of ?12,000. However, because of structural and foundational flaws, the house was actually worth very little, yet the appellant relied upon the representation that the house was worth ?12,000 and procured a loan based upon this representation. The court still found in favor of the appellants, thus establishing the fact that privity of contract was not necessary for the appellants to collect damages. (Yianni v. Edwin Evans & Sons [1982] QB 438). Thus, Yianni established that not only does there not need to be privity of contract to sue, but that, if the individual who reli es upon the report is of modest means, there are no grounds for contributory negligence. These cases establish that privity of contract is not necessary. Nina did not have a contract with the surveyors, but, rather, had a contract with Jimmybuild Ltd., but this does not matter, she can still sue Peter and

17- Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

17- - Coursework Example To explain the former, this decision gives House the hope to prove his innocence in the lights of the new evidance, that is if he is innocent in the first place. Unlike as in an appeal, in habeas corpus federal court, DNA samples can be produced in this case as a new evidence which can greatly influence the decision of the Judges if the evidence goes in Houses’ favor. Now to see the effect of this decision on the society as a whole, a common citizen would have more confidence in the Judicial System and would know that he has a great chance of proving his innocence if convicted wrongly. The Judicial System over the years has been adversely affected by the cold war between the conservative and liberal governments. This trend has not allowed consistency to prevail in the Judicial System. This new decision gives a hope that the judgments made by the judiciary would neither be conservative nor liberal, but rather would be just. This decision by Justice Kennedy would be referred to by legal experts while solving cases of such nature. To those convicted wrongly, this decision would appear to them as a ray of light leading to a free life. Whether House makes his way out or not because of this decision, it certainly would give convicted people a chance to prove their innocence presenting new evidences in the future. In my personal view, the less-conservative decision made by the conservative judge is the right one, as it might not be possible in certain cases to gather and produce all or the vital evidence during the trial period. Giving the convicted a second chance for producing new evidence and arguing his way out constitutionally, cannot be termed a lenient decision on part of the convicted, but rather a fair one. Though this would lead to additional burden on the courts, but it would ensure that justice is served. Provisions have been made in the law to give a

Economic development Essay Example for Free

Economic development Essay Today, education is the most important tool for the development of society. There is a direct correlation between education and development of society. The countries that realize this fact, giving the required importance for their education system, have become highly developed. Education should be promoted since it is the most important factor for the development of a country. The promotion of the education is depended on the factors like literacy rate in a country, schooling rate in the primary, secondary and higher education, proliferation of training technologies, and the quality of the education. This promotion process should be considered as a necessary condition for economic, technological and social development for a nation. In other words, the process of a successful development depends on the fact of gibing the society a conscious of change which is highly connected to education. Fist of all, education enlightens people. The educated person is the person who improves oneself. A person increases her/his level of knowledge through education, so he/she has a better understanding and analyzing of daily matters and an agenda. That person can make logical deductions based on the knowledge he gains and refuses the traditional corrupted understanding. Individual’s ability of the interpretation of knowledge through one’s intelligence and skills is supported by education; accordingly, increasing the creativity and intellectual thinking. An individual can learn about different cultures, lifestyles and history from past to present; hence education provides universal perspective to an individual. The most important differential of uneducated person is having a narrow point of view. A person should be educated in order to learn taking objective decisions and being liberated from the social pressure. Besides, educated people respect the rights of others and they have a fair understanding of the concept of equality, right to life, and right to property. The reason why developed countries show highly respect to the individual rights is that the education level of the country is being fairly high. On the other hand, the reason why there are deep inequalities between women and men or rich and poor in under-developed countries is that the education level in there is being fairly low. Besides, there is also a lack of respect to the human rights in these under-developed countries due to low education level. Secondly, education affects the development of science and technology of a country. Technological developments increase by knowledge and research which is provided by education. It is the advancement and proliferation of technology that makes countries developing by the production of knowledge, schooling of creative minds leads countries develop economically, technologically and politically. Education, advancement of technology and development are in a circle movement which produces itself. Cakmak also says that as a result of the creation of science and technology, mobility of scientific knowledge, and nurturing of individuals with creative minds, countries have experienced important economic and political changes which lead to infinitive competition among them in the fields of education, development and innovation (Cakmak O. 2008). In addition, developed countries use technology as a part of their education system. Thus, every student can follow technology and learn about the newest advancements which lead them learn better and improve their intelligence. Finally, education leads knowledge turn into money that improves the economy of a country. Educated people knowing to learn how to invest, produce, expand the business adjusts and improves the economy causing the increase of gross domestic product per capita. Education also gives more job opportunities to people in the business sector. According to OECD, the effect of education to the economic development is proved in the researches of economic growth in 1960s. The researches show that contribution of education to the economic growths is really important and this percentage differs as %7 in England, %15 in USA, %14 in Belgium, %16 in Argentina, and %25 in Canada (OECD, 2005). Some may argue that education does not affect the economic development of a country. There are lots of uneducated but successful business men. People can learn how to run a business without an education. To illustrate, â€Å"Sak? p Sabanc? , who is the founder and chairman of the Sabanc? Holding due to the reason suffering from pneumonia three successive years, had to leave the high school and start to work in BOSSA Flour Factory in 1950 with a wage of 50 TL† (NTV Haber). Considering his life, it is obvious that one can learn how to run a business without education. Hence, it is not only education but also experience that makes one successful in business. All in all, economic, social and technologic development of a country is highly related to the education level of that country. Without education, a country can not develop. The only way of individual’s enlighten and learning to use knowledge, and increase of technology is education. Thus, education should be promoted since it is the most important factor for the development of a country. Oznur Sakar.

Introduction to MATLAB

Introduction to MATLAB 3.1.1. What Is MATLAB? MATLABÂ ® is a high-performance language for technical computing. It integrates computation, visualization, and programming in an easy-to-use environment where problems and solutions are expressed in familiar mathematical notation. Typical uses include Math and computation Algorithm development Data acquisition Modeling, simulation, and prototyping Data analysis, exploration, and visualization Scientific and engineering graphics Application development, including graphical user interface building. MATLAB is an interactive system whose basic data element is an array that does not require dimensioning. This allows you to solve many technical computing problems, especially those with matrix and vector formulations, in a fraction of the time it would take to write a program in a scalar non interactive language such as C or FORTRAN. The name MATLAB stands for matrix laboratory. MATLAB was originally written to provide easy access to matrix software developed by the LINPACK and EISPACK projects. Today, MATLAB engines incorporate the LAPACK and BLAS libraries, embedding the state of the art in software for matrix computation. MATLAB has evolved over a period of years with input from many users. In university environments, it is the standard instructional tool for introductory and advanced courses in mathematics, engineering, and science. In industry, MATLAB is the tool of choice for high-productivity research, development, and analysis. MATLAB features a family of add-on application-specific solutions called toolboxes. Very important to most users of MATLAB, toolboxes allow you to learn and apply specialized technology. Toolboxes are comprehensive collections of MATLAB functions (M-files) that extend the MATLAB environment to solve particular classes of problems. Areas in which toolboxes are available include signal processing, control systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic, wavelets, simulation, and many others. 3.2: The MATLAB System The MATLAB system consists of five main parts: 3.2.1: Development Environment This is the set of tools and facilities that help you use MATLAB functions and files. Many of these tools are graphical user interfaces. It includes the MATLAB desktop and Command Window, a command history, an editor and debugger, and browsers for viewing help, the workspace, files, and the search path. 3.2.2: The MATLAB Mathematical Function This is a vast collection of computational algorithms ranging from elementary functions like sum, sine, cosine, and complex arithmetic, to more sophisticated functions like matrix inverse, matrix eigen values, Bessel functions, and fast Fourier transforms. 3.2.3: The MATLAB Language This is a high-level matrix/array language with control flow statements, functions, data structures, input/output, and object-oriented programming features. It allows both programming in the small to rapidly create quick and dirty throw-away programs, and programming in the large to create complete large and complex application programs. 3.2.4: Graphics MATLAB has extensive facilities for displaying vectors and matrices as graphs, as well as annotating and printing these graphs. It includes high-level functions for two-dimensional and three-dimensional data visualization, image processing, animation, and presentation graphics. It also includes low-level functions that allow you to fully customize the appearance of graphics as well as to build complete graphical user interfaces on your MATLAB applications. 3.2.5: The MATLAB Application Program Interface (API) This is a library that allows you to write C and FORTRAN programs that interact with MATLAB. It includes facilities for calling routines from MATLAB (dynamic linking), calling MATLAB as a computational engine, and for reading and writing MAT-files. 3.3: MATLAB Working Environment 3.3.1: MATLAB Desktop MATLAB Desktop is the main MATLAB application window. The desktop contains five sub windows, the command window, the workspace browser, the current directory window, the command history window, and one or more figure windows, which are shown only when the user displays a graphic. The command window is where the user types MATLAB commands and expressions at the prompt (>>) and where the output of those commands is displayed. MATLAB defines the workspace as the set of variables that the user creates in a work session. The workspace browser shows these variables and some information about them. Double clicking on a variable in the workspace browser launches the Array Editor, which can be used to obtain information and income instances edit certain properties of the variable. The current Directory tab above the workspace tab shows the contents of the current directory, whose path is shown in the current directory window. For example, in the windows operating system the path might be as follows: C:MATLABWork, indicating that directory work is a subdirectory of the main directory MATLAB; WHICH IS INSTALLED IN DRIVE C. clicking on the arrow in the current directory window shows a list of recently used paths. Clicking on the button to the right of the window allows the user to change the current directory. MATLAB uses a search path to find M-files and other MATLAB related files, which are organize in directories in the computer file system. Any file run in MATLAB must resides in the current directory or in a directory that is on search path. By default, the files supplied with MATLAB and math works toolboxes areincluded in the search path. The easiest way to see which directories is soon the search path, or to add or modify a search path is to select set path from the File menu the desktop, and then use the set path dialog box. It is good practice to add any commonly used directories to the search path to avoid repeatedly having the change the current directory. The Command History Window contains a record of the commands a user has entered in the command window, including both current and previous MATLAB sessions. Previously entered MATLAB commands can be selected and re-executed from the command history window by right clicking on a command or sequence of commands. This action launches a menu from which to select various options in addition to executing the commands. This is useful to select various options in addition to executing the commands. This is a useful feature when experimenting with various commands in a work session. 3.3.2: Using the MATLAB Editor to create M-Files The MATLAB editor is both a text editor specialized for creating M-files and a graphical MATLAB debugger. The editor can appear in a window by itself, or it can be a sub window in the desktop. M-files are denoted by the extension .m, as in pixel up. m. The MATLAB editor window has numerous pull-down menus for tasks such as saving, viewing, and debugging files. Because it performs some simple checks and also uses color to differentiate between various elements of code, this text editor is recommended as the tool of choice for writing and editing M-functions. To open the editor, type edit at the prompt opens the M-file filename. m in an editor window, ready for editing. As noted earlier, the file must be in the current directory, or in a directory in the search path. 3.3.3: Getting Help The principal way to get help online is to use the MATLAB help browser, opened as a separate window either by clicking on the question mark symbol (?) on the desktop toolbar, or by typing help browser at the prompt in the command window. The help Browser is a web browser integrated into the MATLAB desktop that displays a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) documents. The Help Browser consists of two panes, the help navigator pane, used to find information, and the display pane, used to view the information. Self-explanatory tabs other than navigator pane are used to perform a search.

Essay --

The Views of Hawthorne on Puritanism Nathaniel Hawthorne's knowledge of Puritanism and his close relationship with the religion has impacted his views on those in the society. Hawthorne is critical of the Puritans and he thinks that they are hypocrites for having rules and morals that they do not follow. He sees the underlying sin that others may not. Through his many writings he makes known to his readers that everyone is guilty of sin. The Puritan's main goal was to save themselves from the sin in the world, but Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays their morals and society as troublesome through his works, "Young Goodman Brown," "The Minister's Black Veil," and The Scarlet Letter. Through the work of "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne is able to express his views of hypocrisy in Puritanism. Goodman Brown was convinced that his Puritan family was sinless and deserved to be honored. When traveling through the forest he says, "My father never went into the woods on such an errand, nor his father before him. We have been a race of honest men and good Christians since the days of the martyrs" ("Young Goodman Brown" 238). What Goodman Brown does not know is that his previous generations have taken part in these sinful actions that occurred in the woods. Although Brown's ancestors were supposedly righteous Puritans, they were involved in lashing a Quaker woman and setting fire to an Indian village, according to the traveler speaking with Brown. Through these stories that the traveler tells, Hawthorne makes known to his readers that Puritan's are hypocrites because they say they are holy and pure when in reality they are committing impious actions. Throughout this stor y Young Goodman Brown takes his journey through the woods and sees nearly eve... ... like Hester. He is implying that she is the victim and that the Puritans are actually at fault for this sin. Hawthorne's main goal is to convey the Puritans as sinful and unholy. He does not approve of the sin they hide and he thinks there should be punishment for their actions. To Hawthorne there are many problems in Puritan society. He exposes their transgressions of secret sin and hypocrisy. Hawthorne was haunted by his Puritan past, as he saw all the sins and immoral acts that the society committed. He expresses that everyone sins, no matter how holy or pious they may appear. Hawthorne points out their unrighteousness despite the Puritans claim to be pious. He sees no benefits in being involved in the society. Hawthorne expresses his negative views on Puritanism through his three works, "Young Goodman Brown," "The Ministers Black Veil," and The Scarlet Letter.

The Impact of NAFTA on the U.S. Textile Industry Essay -- Essays Paper

The Impact of NAFTA on the U.S. Textile Industry When the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect in 1994, many expressed fears that one consequence would be large job losses in the US textile industry as companies moved production from the United States to Mexico. Opponents of NAFTA argued passionately, but unsuccessfully, that the treaty should not be adopted because of the negative impact it would have on employment in the United States, particularly in industries such as textiles. A glance at the data four years after the passage of NAFTA suggests the critics had a point. Between 1994 and mid-1997, about 149,000 US apparel workers lost their jobs, over 15 percent of all employment in the industry. Much of this job loss has occurred because producers have moved production to Mexico. Between 1994 and 1997, Mexico's apparel exports to the United States trebled to $3.3 billion. In 1993, the US jeans maker, Guess?, sourced 95 percent of its product domestically. Now it gets about 60 percent of its clothing from o utside the United States, with Mexico as one of the biggest suppliers. Similarly, in 1995, Fruit of the Loom Inc., the largest manufacturer of underwear in the United States, said it would close six of its domestic plants and cut back operations at two others, laying off about 3,200 workers, or 12 percent of its US work force. The company announced the closures were part of its drive to move its operations to cheaper plants abroad, particu...

Japan :: essays research papers

Japan, a country made up of islands, has a very extensive history that goes along with it. Recorded Japanese history beings about A.D. 400. It is believed that Japan was created by the sun goddess, from whom the emperors descended. The first emperor was Jimmo, who supposedly ascended the throne in 660 B.C. There're two main reasons for this report. To give people an overview of Japanese History, and what happened to make it what it has become. Also, to give a better understanding on what happened, and facts that led up to certain Japanese events.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In approximately A.D. 400, the Yamato clan, eventually based in Kyoto, managed to exact a control of the other family groups of central and western Japan. Korean contact introduced Buddhism to Japan. Through the 700's, China greatly influenced Japan, and there was an imperial court set up much similar to that of China. The authority of the Imperial court in the ensuing centuries was undermined, and various family clans vied for control. During this time, warrior clans were rising as a distinct clan known as samurai. In 1192, the Minamoto clan set up a military government under Yoritomo, their leader. Yoritomo was designated shogun (a military dictator). For the next 700 years, shoguns from different clans ruled in Japan, and the imperial court existed in relative obscurity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In about 1542, Japan had its first encounter with the Western World. An off course Portuguese ship arrived in Japanese waters. Soon after, Spanish, Dutch, and English traders followed. From Christianity, and the Portuguese support of a Japanese revolt, the shoguns of the Tokugawa period (1603-1867), cut off all trade with the foreign countries, only allowing the Dutch trading post at Nagasaki. The western countries tried to renew the trading, but failed up until 1853. In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry, from America, sailed a fleet of American ships into Tokyo Bay. Trade was forced upon Japan, under terms not favorable to the Japanese. Struggles caused by these actions brought the shogun rule to an end. Emperor Meiji came to the throne in 1868   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1889, an Imperial army was formed, and also a parliamentary government. The Japanese began to make steps to extend their empire. In 1894-95, there was a brief war between Japan and China. Japan gained Taiwan (Formosa), the Pescadores Islands, and part of southern Manchuria. China also recognized the independence of Korea, which Japan annexed in 1910.

Hiv Prevention

HIV/AIDS LIFE SKILLS – EDC 121 – TONI SYLVESTER Nataniel P. Marthinus Student Nr. 3142910 Assignment 1 Due Date: 01 March 2011 INTRODUCTION1 Eight Fundamental considerations or steps to be followed before and after administering a blood test for HIV. 1 Voluntary Counseling & Testing1 Food and Nutrition1 Prevention & Onward Transmission of HIV1 Follow-up Counseling1 Stigma & Discrimination2 Spiritual Support2 Sexually Transmitted Infections2 Palliative Care2 Strategies for the provision of HIV-related Treatment, care and support services2Ensuring the continuation of education (EDC121 Course Reader: 41)2 Providing psychosocial support for children (EDC121 Course Reader: 42)2 Treatment education at school2 Successful school-based HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support programmes3 Caring School Environment3 Child Centered Programmes3 Build on existing services3 Community Involvement3 The UNAIDS (2000) article4 Demographic effects4 Health effects4 Family-life effects4 Welfare effects4 Education effects4 UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS5 REFERENCES6 INTRODUCTION HIV/AIDS is the fastest growing epidemic here in Africa.In fact, the virus is so widespread you will find people with the virus all over the world. According to statistics in November 2007, people living with HIV & AIDS around the world are the most in Africa. It also shows that the disease occurs mostly around infants who acquire the virus from their mother. (EDC121 Course Reader: 55). I will be discussing various topics concerning the virus. Eight Fundamental considerations or steps to be followed before and after administering a blood test for HIV. Voluntary Counseling & TestingThrough counseling and knowledge of the virus, it could help a person with following a healthy lifestyle so that he or she can live longer and prevent other infections. People who learn that they are negative could learn to change their behavior towards people living with the virus. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Food and Nutrition Goo d nutrition only cannot keep a person permanently healthy. Nevertheless it may help lengthen the lifespan of a person living with HIV. Nutrition plays a huge role in the medication process of a person living with HIV. It can also increase the risk of HIV transmission from mother to baby. EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Prevention & Onward Transmission of HIV Counseling on sexual behavior is advised. Provide condoms and must have a supportive environment. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Follow-up Counseling HIV affects all aspects of a person’s life. It can help someone understand, live with and accept their status. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Stigma & Discrimination Stigma is fueled by mythical concepts. Thus it is a barrier to prevent future infections and further treatment. Communities have a various concepts around AIDS and how the virus is spread.This indicates a lack of knowledge and understanding towards the disease. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Spiritual Support Support from spiritu al leaders and priests may be comforting. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Sexually Transmitted Infections STI co-contribute to HIV transmission. If treated, it can help reduce AIDS spread through sexual intercourse and can keep a person healthier for longer. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Palliative Care Because of a lack of health infrastructure there are insufficient Palliative care institutes for people who are approaching the end of their lives.Palliative care provides comfort and support for people who are terminally ill and helps people die a comfortable death. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Strategies for the provision of HIV-related Treatment, care and support services Ensuring the continuation of education (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Providing psychosocial support for children (EDC121 Course Reader: 42) Treatment education at school HIV-positive learners and educators will need support in their workplace and the learning environment so that they can get treatment whilst on school grounds .Here are a few related issues: * Treatment support for HIV-positive students; * Support for students and teachers to visit medical centers for checkups; * How the affects of the treatment will impact on the learner and educators ability to teach and learn; * Adapting to the curricula of HIV & AIDS so that the learners and teachers wont teach information that is out of date; * Educating students about treatment and the harm caused caused by stigma and discrimination so that they can give better support to their parents and families. (EDC121 Course Reader: 43) * Home-based care and educationAcross Southern Africa, in many schools students and teachers are providing outreach work to support the community members. This support can be categorized as follows: * Learners supporting sick members of the community; * Educators proving home-based educations to sick students. (EDC121 Course Reader: 43) * Universal precautions (EDC121 Course Reader: 44) * Support for basic needs (EDC121 Course Reader: 44) * Teaching livelihood skills (EDC121 Course Reader: 45) * Social grants (EDC121 Course Reader: 45) Successful school-based HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support programmes Caring School Environment It is a work-based policy based on the rights of children. * The recreation of opportunities for staff and students. (EDC121 Course Reader: 46) Child Centered Programmes * Policies reflecting a rights-based approach. * Children and young people should be involved in the design and carrying out of the programmes. (EDC121 Course Reader: 46) Build on existing services * Uniting HIV elements with existing policies rather than letting it stand alone. (EDC121 Course Reader: 46) Community Involvement * Policies that are developed with close consultation with members of the community. Strategy development including more help of men in the care and support system. * Socioculturally sensitive policies without compromising the shared fundamental traits of the programme. (EDC121 Course Rea der: 46) The UNAIDS (2000) article Demographic effects Half of South Africa’s population are children and more then 60% of them live in poverty. Because there is an association between poverty levels and HIV infection, this percentage can serve as a figure for the number of children with AIDS. (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Health effects Children that lives in an infected community struggles with ill health and poor nutrition.In rural areas children’s nutritional status suffers because they are dependant on household labour. (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Family-life effects The household traditional structures is changing in communities that are affected and children that are vulnerable need to adapt to the demands of a non-traditional family and further deepening poverty. (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Welfare effects Economically families and households are very hard hit by this. Because of illnesses and poor health productive family members they are often unable to work.Famil ies are poor and are more vulnerable by the cost of illness and care. (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Education effects Poor attendance in school already characterizes the landscape of South African education. HIV-infected children do not want to go public with their status. They do not want to feel ashamed at school. (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Psychosocial effects Children’s psychosocial hardship and emotional shock is often not as visible as other problems but central importance. There are various difficult challenges that children have to face such as grief, loss of identity, stigma, rejection, death, etc. EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Orphanhood effects Disrupted families and death of parents and close relatives have created a huge number of abandoned South African children. By some calculations the number of orphans will have grown 9-12% of the countries population by 2015. (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS Precautions basically include: – Caring for wounds- Have emergency supplies on hand – Cleaning up blood spills- Gloves – Safely disposing of medical supplies- Medicines (EDC121 Course Reader: 44) REFERENCES EDC121 Course Reader, 2011

Chapter 7 The Boggart in the Wardrobe

Malfoy didn't reappear in classes until late on Thursday morning, when the Slytherins and Gryffindors were halfway through double Potions. He swaggered into the dungeon, his right arm covered in bandages and bound up in a sling, acting, in Harry's opinion, as though he were the heroic survivor of some dreadful battle. â€Å"How is it, Draco?† simpered Pansy Parkinson. â€Å"Does it hurt much?† â€Å"Yeah,† said Malfoy, putting on a brave sort of grimace. But Harry saw him wink at Crabbe and Goyle when Pansy had looked away. â€Å"Settle down, settle down,† said Professor Snape idly. Harry and Ron scowled at each other; Snape wouldn't have said ‘settle down' if they'd walked in late, he'd have given them detention. But Malfoy had always been able to get away with anything in Snape's classes; Snape was head of Slytherin House, and generally favored his own students above all others. They were making a new potion today, a Shrinking Solution. Malfoy set up his cauldron right next to Harry and Ron, so that they were preparing their ingredients on the same table. â€Å"Sir,† Malfoy called, â€Å"sir, I'll need help cutting up these daisy roots, because of my arm –â€Å" â€Å"Weasley, cut up Malfoy's roots for him,† said Snape without looking up. Ron went brick red. â€Å"There's nothing wrong with your arm,† he hissed at Malfoy. Malfoy smirked across the table. â€Å"Weasley, you heard Professor Snape; cut up these roots.† Ron seized his knife, pulled Malfoy's roots toward him, and began to chop them roughly, so that they were all different sizes. â€Å"Professor,† drawled Malfoy, â€Å"Weasley's mutilating my roots, sir.† Snape approached their table, stared down his hooked nose at the roots, then gave Ron an unpleasant smile from beneath his long, greasy black hair. â€Å"Change roots with Malfoy, Weasley.† â€Å"But, sir –!† Ron had spent the last quarter of an hour carefully shredding his own roots into exactly equal pieces. â€Å"Now,† said Snape in his most dangerous voice. Ron shoved his own beautifully cut roots across the table at Malfoy, then took up the knife again. â€Å"And, sir, I'll need this shrivelfig skinned,† said Malfoy, his voice full of malicious laughter. â€Å"Potter, you can skin Malfoy's shrivelfig,† said Snape, giving Harry the look of loathing he always reserved just for him. Harry took Malfoy's shrivelfig as Ron began trying to repair the damage to the roots he now had to use. Harry skinned the shrivelfig as fast as he could and flung it back across the table at Malfoy without speaking. Malfoy was smirking more broadly than ever. â€Å"Seen your pal Hagrid lately?† he asked them quietly. â€Å"None of your business,† said Ron jerkily, without looking up. â€Å"I'm afraid he won't be a teacher much longer,† said Malfoy in a tone of mock sorrow. â€Å"Father's not very happy about my injury –â€Å" â€Å"Keep talking, Malfoy, and I'll give you a real injury,† snarled Ron. â€Å"?C he's complained to the school governors. And to the Ministry of Magic. Father's got a lot of influence, you know. And a lasting injury like this† — he gave a huge, fake sigh — â€Å"who knows if my arm'll ever be the same again?† â€Å"So that's why you're putting it on,† said Harry, accidentally beheading a dead caterpillar because his hand was shaking in anger, â€Å"To try to get Hagrid fired.† â€Å"Well,† said Malfoy, lowering his voice to a whisper, â€Å"partly, Potter. But there are other benefits too. Weasley, slice my caterpillars for me.† A few cauldrons away, Neville was in trouble. Neville regularly went to pieces in Potions lessons; it was his worst subject, and his great fear of Professor Snape made things ten times worse. His potion, which was supposed to be a bright, acid green, had turned — â€Å"Orange, Longbottom,† said Snape, ladling some up and allowing to splash back into the cauldron, so that everyone could see. â€Å"Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one cat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?† Neville was pink and trembling. He looked as though he was on the verge of tears. â€Å"Please, sir,† said Hermione, â€Å"please, I could help Neville put it right –â€Å" â€Å"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger,† said Snape coldly, and Hermione went as pink as Neville. â€Å"Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly.† Snape moved away, leaving Neville breathless with fear. â€Å"Help me!† he moaned to Hermione. â€Å"Hey, Harry,† said Seamus Finnigan, leaning over to borrow Harry's brass scales, â€Å"have you heard? Daily Prophet this morning — they reckon Sirius Black's been sighted.† â€Å"Where?† said Harry and Ron quickly. On the other side of the table, Malfoy looked up, listening closely. â€Å"Not too far from here,† said Seamus, who looked excited. â€Å"It was a Muggle who saw him. ‘Course, she didn't really understand. The Muggles think he's just an ordinary criminal, don't they? So she phoned the telephone hot line. By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he was gone.† â€Å"Not too far from here †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Ron repeated, looking significantly at Harry. He turned around and saw Malfoy watching closely. â€Å"What, Malfoy? Need something else skinned?† But Malfoy's eyes were shining malevolently, and they were fixed Harry. He leaned across the table. â€Å"Thinking of trying to catch Black single-handed, Potter?† â€Å"Yeah, that's right,† said Harry offhandedly. Malfoy's thin mouth was curving in a mean smile. â€Å"Of course, if it was me,† he said quietly, â€Å"I'd have done something before now. I wouldn't be staying in school like a good boy, I'd be out there looking for him.† â€Å"What are you talking about, Malfoy?† said Ron roughly. â€Å"Don't you know, Potter?† breathed Malfoy, his pale eyes narrowed. â€Å"Know what?† Malfoy let out a low, sneering laugh. â€Å"Maybe you'd rather not risk your neck,† he said. â€Å"Want to leave it to the Dementors, do you? But if it was me, I'd want revenge. I'd hunt him down myself.† â€Å"What are you talking about?† said Harry angrily, but at that moment Snape called, â€Å"You should have finished adding your ingredients by now; this potion needs to stew before it can be drunk, so clear away while it simmers and then we'll test Longbottom's†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Crabbe and Goyle laughed openly, watching Neville sweat as he stirred his potion feverishly. Hermione was muttering instructions to him out of the corner of her mouth, so that Snape wouldn't see. Harry and Ron packed away their unused ingredients and went to wash their hands and ladles in the stone basin in the corner. â€Å"What did Malfoy mean?† Harry muttered to Ron as he stuck his hands under the icy jet that poured from the gargoyle's mouth â€Å"Why would I want revenge on Black? He hasn't done anything to me — yet.† â€Å"He's making it up,† said Ron savagely. â€Å"He's trying to make you do something stupid†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The end of the lesson in sight, Snape strode over to Neville, who was cowering by his cauldron. â€Å"Everyone gather 'round,† said Snape, his black eyes glittering, â€Å"and watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned.† The Gryffindors watched fearfully. The Slytherins looked excited. Snape picked up Trevor the toad in his left hand and dipped a small spoon into Neville's potion, which was now green. He trickled a few drops down Trevor's throat. There was a moment of hushed silence, in which Trevor gulped; then there was a small pop, and Trevor the tadpole was wriggling in Snape's palm. The Gryffindors burst into applause. Snape, looking sour, pulled a small bottle from the pocket of his robe, poured a few drops on top of Trevor, and he reappeared suddenly, fully grown. â€Å"Five points from Gryffindor,† said Snape, which wiped the smiles from every face. â€Å"I told you not to help him, Miss Granger. Class dismissed.† Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed the steps to the entrance hall. Harry was still thinking about what Malfoy had said, while Ron was seething about Snape. â€Å"Five points from Gryffindor because the potion was all right! Why didn't you lie, Hermione? You should've said Neville did it all by himself!† Hermione didn't answer. Ron looked around. â€Å"Where is she?† Harry turned too. They were at the top of the steps now, watching the rest of the class pass them, heading for the Great Hall and lunch. â€Å"She was right behind us,† said Ron, frowning. Malfoy passed them, walking between Crabbe and Goyle. He smirked at Harry and disappeared. â€Å"There she is,† said Harry. Hermione was panting slightly, hurrying up the stairs; one hand clutched her bag, the other seemed to be tucking something down the front of her robes. â€Å"How did you do that?† said Ron. â€Å"What?† said Hermione, joining them. â€Å"One minute you were right behind us, the next moment, you were back at the bottom of the stairs again.† â€Å"What?† Hermione looked slightly confused. â€Å"Oh — I had to go back for something. Oh no –â€Å" A seam had split on Hermione's bag. Harry wasn't surprised; he could see that it was crammed with at least a dozen large and heavy books. â€Å"Why are you carrying all these around with you?† Ron asked her. â€Å"You know how many subjects I'm taking,† said Hermione breathlessly. â€Å"Couldn't hold these for me, could you?† â€Å"But –† Ron was turning over the books she had handed him, looking at the covers. â€Å"You haven't got any of these subjects today. It's only Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon.† â€Å"Oh yes,† said Hermione vaguely, but she packed all the books back into her bag just the same. â€Å"I hope there's something good for lunch, I'm starving,† she added, and she marched off toward the Great Hall. â€Å"D'you get the feeling Hermione's not telling us something?† Ron asked Harry. ****** Professor Lupin wasn't there when they arrived at his first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. They all sat down, took out their books, quills, and parchment, and were talking when he finally entered the room. Lupin smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk. He was as shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had had a few square meals. â€Å"Good afternoon,† he said. â€Å"Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands.† A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. They had never had a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts class before, unless you counted the memorable class last year when their old teacher had brought a cageful of pixies to class and set them loose. â€Å"Right then,† said Professor Lupin, when everyone was ready. â€Å"If you'd follow me.† Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Professor Lupin out of the classroom. He led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was Peeves the Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum. Peeves didn't look up until Professor Lupin was two feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song. â€Å"Loony, loopy Lupin,† Peeves sang. â€Å"Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin –â€Å" Rude and unmanageable as he almost always was, Peeves usually showed some respect toward the teachers. Everyone looked quickly at Professor Lupin to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling. â€Å"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves,† he said pleasantly. â€Å"Mr. Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms.† Filch was the Hogwarts caretaker, a bad-tempered, failed wizard who waged a constant war against the students and, indeed, Peeves. However, Peeves paid no attention to Professor Lupin's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry. Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand. â€Å"This is a useful little spell,† he told the class over his shoulder. â€Å"Please watch closely.† He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, â€Å"Waddiwasi!† and pointed it at Peeves. With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing. â€Å"Cool, sir!† said Dean Thomas in amazement. â€Å"Thank you, Dean,† said Professor Lupin, putting his wand away again. â€Å"Shall we proceed?† They set off again, the class looking at shabby Professor Lupin with increased respect. He led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door. â€Å"Inside, please,† said Professor Lupin, opening it and standing back. The staffroom, a long, paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Professor Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth. As Professor Lupin came in and made to close the door behind him, Snape said, â€Å"Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this.† He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him. At the doorway he turned on his heel and said, â€Å"Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear.† Neville went scarlet. Harry glared at Snape; it was bad enough that he bullied Neville in his own classes, let alone doing it in front of other teachers. Professor Lupin had raised his eyebrows. â€Å"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation,† he said, â€Å"and I am sure he will perform it admirably.† Neville's face went, if possible, even redder. Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap. â€Å"Now, then,† said Professor Lupin, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As Professor Lupin went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall. â€Å"Nothing to worry about,† said Professor Lupin calmly because a few people had jumped backward in alarm. â€Å"There's a Boggart in there.† Most people seemed to feel that this was something to worry about. Neville gave Professor Lupin a look of pure terror, and Seamus Finnigan eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively. â€Å"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces,† said Professor Lupin. â€Å"Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks — I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice.† â€Å"So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a Boggart?† Hermione put up her hand. â€Å"It's a shape-shifter,† she said. â€Å"It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most.† â€Å"Couldn't have put it better myself,† said Professor Lupin, and Hermione glowed. â€Å"So the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears. â€Å"This means,† said Professor Lupin, choosing to ignore Neville's small sputter of terror, â€Å"that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?† Trying to answer a question with Hermione next to him, bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet with her hand in the air, was very off-putting, but Harry had a go. â€Å"Er — because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?† â€Å"Precisely,† said Professor Lupin, and Hermione put her hand down, looking a little disappointed. â€Å"It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake — tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening. ‘The charm that repels a Boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a Boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. â€Å"We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please†¦riddikulus!† â€Å"Riddikulus!† said the class together. â€Å"Good,† said Professor Lupin. â€Å"Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville.† The wardrobe shook again, though not as much as Neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows. â€Å"Right, Neville,† said Professor Lupin. â€Å"First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?† Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out. â€Å"I didn't catch that, Neville, sorry,† said Professor Lupin cheerfully. Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, â€Å"Professor Snape.† Nearly everyone laughed. Even Neville grinned apologetically. Professor Lupin, however, looked thoughtful. â€Å"Professor Snape†¦hmmm†¦Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?† â€Å"Er — yes,† said Neville nervously. â€Å"But — I don't want the Boggart to turn into her either.† â€Å"No, no, you misunderstand me,† said Professor Lupin, now smiling. â€Å"I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?† Neville looked startled, but said, â€Å"Well†¦always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. And a long dress†¦green, normally†¦and sometimes a fox-fur scarf.† â€Å"And a handbag?† prompted Professor Lupin. â€Å"A big red one,† said Neville. â€Å"Right then,† said Professor Lupin. â€Å"Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?† â€Å"Yes,† said Neville uncertainty, plainly wondering what was coming next. â€Å"When the Boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape,† said Lupin. â€Å"And you will raise your wand — thus — and cry â€Å"Riddikulus† — and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag.† There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe wobbled more violently. â€Å"If Neville is successful, the Boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn,† said Professor Lupin. â€Å"I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The room went quiet. Harry thought†¦What scared him most in the world? His first thought was Lord Voldemort — a Voldemort returned to full strength. But before he had even started to plan a possible counterattack on a Boggart-Voldemort, a horrible image came floating to the surface of his mind†¦. A rotting, glistening hand, slithering back beneath a black cloak†¦a long, rattling breath from an unseen mouth†¦then a cold so penetrating it felt like drowning†¦ Harry shivered, then looked around, hoping no one had noticed. Many people had their eyes shut tight. Ron was muttering to himself, â€Å"Take its legs off.† Harry was sure he knew what that was about. Ron's greatest fear was spiders. â€Å"Everyone ready?† said Professor Lupin. Harry felt a lurch of fear. He wasn't ready. How could you make a Dementor less frightening? But he didn't want to ask for more time; everyone else was nodding and rolling up their sleeves. â€Å"Neville, we're going to back away,† said Professor Lupin. â€Å"Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward†¦Everyone back, now, so Neville can get a clear shot –â€Å" They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready. â€Å"On the count of three, Neville,† said Professor Lupin, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. â€Å"One — two — three — now!† A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville. Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes. â€Å"R — r — riddikulus! † squeaked Neville. There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag. There was a roar of laughter; the Boggart paused, confused, and Professor Lupin shouted, â€Å"Parvati! Forward!† Parvati walked forward, her face set. Snape rounded on her. There was another crack, and where he had stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy; its sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to walk toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff arms rising — â€Å"Riddikulus!† cried Parvati. A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off. â€Å"Seamus!† roared Professor Lupin. Seamus darted past Parvati. Crack! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floorlength black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face — a banshee. She opened her mouth wide and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, wailing shriek that made the hair on Harry's head stand on end — â€Å"Riddikulus!† shouted Seamus. The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone. Crack! The banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then — crack!- became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before — crack! — becoming a single, bloody eyeball. â€Å"It's confused!† shouted Lupin. â€Å"We're getting there! Dean!† Dean hurried forward. Crack! The eyeball became a severed hand, which flipped over and began to creep along the floor like a crab. â€Å"Riddikulus!† yelled Dean. There was a snap, and the hand was trapped in a mousetrap. â€Å"Excellent! Ron, you next!† Ron leapt forward. Crack! Quite a few people screamed. A giant spider, six feet tall and covered in hair, was advancing on Ron, clicking its pincers menacingly. For a moment, Harry thought Ron had frozen. Then — â€Å"Riddikulus!† bellowed Ron, and the spider's legs vanished; it rolled over and over; Lavender Brown squealed and ran out of its way and it came to a halt at Harry's feet. He raised his wand, ready, but — â€Å"Here!† shouted Professor Lupin suddenly, hurrying forward. Crack! The legless spider had vanished. For a second, everyone looked wildly around to see where it was. Then they saw a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of Lupin, who said, â€Å"Riddikulus!† almost lazily. Crack! â€Å"Forward, Neville, and finish him off!† said Lupin as the Boggart landed on the floor as a cockroach. Crack! Snape was back. This time Neville charged forward looking determined. â€Å"Riddikulus!† he shouted, and they had a split second's view of Snape in his lacy dress before Neville let out a great â€Å"Ha!† of laughter, and the Boggart exploded, burst into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, and was gone. â€Å"Excellent!† cried Professor Lupin as the class broke into applause. â€Å"Excellent, Neville. Well done, everyone†¦Let me see†¦five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the Boggart — ten for Neville because he did it twice†¦and five each to Hermione and Harry.† â€Å"But I didn't do anything,† said Harry. â€Å"You and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class, Harry,† Lupin said lightly. â€Å"Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on Boggarts and summarize it for me†¦to be handed in on Monday. That will be all.† Talking excitedly, the class left the staffroom. Harry, however, wasn't feeling cheerful. Professor Lupin had deliberately stopped him from tackling the Boggart. Why? Was it because he'd seen Harry collapse on the train, and thought he wasn't up to much? Had he thought Harry would pass out again? But no one else seemed to have noticed anything. â€Å"Did you see me take that banshee?† shouted Seamus. â€Å"And the hand!† said Dean, waving his own around. â€Å"And Snape in that hat!† â€Å"And my mummy!† â€Å"I wonder why Professor Lupin's frightened of crystal balls?† said Lavender thoughtfully. â€Å"That was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson we've ever had, wasn't it?† said Ron excitedly as they made their way back to the classroom to get their bags. â€Å"He seems like a very good teacher,† said Hermione approvingly. â€Å"But I wish I could have had a turn with the Boggart –â€Å" â€Å"What would it have been for you?† said Ron, sniggering. â€Å"A piece of homework that only got nine out of ten?†