A Healthy Bulk

Nowadays, various supplements are taken due to the restricted and deficient nutrients as a result of widespread poor diet and environmental changes. But one of the most common health problems all over the world is obesity. The bigger question is how to lose weight, either naturally or artificially. Well, most of the times, it is better said than done. Exercise or increased activity, lifestyle changes, and healthy eating habits result to one thing – natural weight loss. But the real question that remains is how to maintain the new, lean body and how to keep losing weight while keeping it off in an invigorating and healthy manner.High fiber diet is a modified balanced diet with contents higher in fiber. Fiber is also known as the ‘forgotten nutrient’, ‘bulk’ or ‘roughage’. Aside from a healthy way of losing weight and preventing some of the digestive problems, it reduces a certain amount of sugar and fats in the bloodstream. Of all dietary management schemes, macrobiotic or high-fiber diet is one of the diet plans that answer the lingering question of how to remain toned and healthy. Maintaining a long-term weight loss is very challenging. Duyff stated ‘It is true that most of us need more fiber to promote good health.’A high fiber diet is not only for promoting weight loss since macrobiotics are present on this type of diet. It is one good way of boosting positive changes outside and inside the body. Fibers don’t supplicate calories because the body does not usually absorb fibers. These lead to the incorporation of low calorie group of food such as whole grains, vegetables, legumes, and fruits in weight loss diets. Abundance of fiber is found on the outer surface of this food group that is why using or eating whole grains and unpeeled fruits and vegetables is encouraged as much as possible.The more the food is in its natural form (unrefined), the higher is its fiber content. According to Peckenpau gh and Poleman: ‘If the adult has learned to like a variety of plant-based, high fiber foods and sugar- free drinks such as water, obesity is less likely to occur as caloric requirements decrease from having sedentary job or being incapacitated from illness or from aging. ’ It is important to establish a regular eating schedule in instituting a high fiber diet. Basically, breakfast should be the heaviest meal while supper is the lightest.Unrefined foods are recommended rather than processed or refined food. Legumes and nuts can be milk and fish substitutes. Leafy vegetables should be included in meals as frequently as possible and drinking as much water, too, is advised, thus, increasing fluid intake more. Fruits such as apple, banana, guava, star apple and the likes should be avoided if there is constipation. Instead, whole segments of papaya, pineapple, prunes, watermelon and oranges can be eaten. During high fiber diet, intake of alcoholic, carbonated and caffeine be verages should also be avoided.According to the fiber theory of weight reduction, fibers impede the intestines in absorbing fats and by being a bulk or roughage in the stomach, it gives satisfaction while caloric intake is reduced. David Reuben, a highly acclaimed author/psychiatrist stated that importance of modifying a typical American diet to decreasing cholesterol intake and correct the lack of natural fibers. High fiber diet can also prevent one of the leading cancers in the US, colon cancer. Today, there are considerable studies conducted for the outcome of high fiber diet.Here is what Assembly of life sciences has to say: ‘Most epidemiological studies on fiber have examined the hypothesis that high fiber diets protects against colorectal cancer. Results of correlation and case-control studies of dietary fiber have sometimes supported and sometimes contradicted this hypothesis. ’ The committee had also stated there are no conclusive evidence that can prove fiber a s a complete inhibitor of colon cancer though there is a possibility that some high fiber ingredients can help fight this cancer.If ever such thing happens, researches propose that only some of the specific elements and not the whole fiber itself are responsible for the occurrence. Though there is no monumental belief that this type of diet cannot actually prevent colon cancer nor believed to have a compelling effect on weight reduction, on the other hand, unlike other dietary schemes, it does not bear immediate health threats and may subsequently be of great help in prolonging healthy weight management.

Data Protection Act 1998 Essay

The data protection Act 1998 came into force in 2000 and aims to protect an individual’s right to privacy in relation to their personal data. This includes things like the person’s medical information, information about their current employees, their address, pay, bank detail etc. Santander has to make sure the information of their employees is kept secret and no one can access it. Businesses like Santander need information about people to increase the chances of people joining them. They also need information about their customers e.g. their address, their home phone number, their occupation etc. so the information stored by business on database must be: Obtained fairly and lawfully Used for purposes stated during collection Adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the intended use Accurate and up to date Not kept for longer than necessary Processed in line with your rights Subject to procedures to prevent unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction and damage to personal data Protected from transfer to an area outside the European economic area (EEA) unless adequate protection exists for that data in the area. Santander needs to make sure they follow all these laws or they can get prosecuted and their organisation can be closed down by the government for breaking the law. Santander needs to make sure all their employees obey these laws because if they break them then they are breaking the law. In order to make sure the employees working at Santander don’t break the laws, Santander provide them the information about these laws when they join to work for Santander and keep them up-to-date as the laws change. Freedom of information Act 2000: The freedom of information Act 2000 is a really important law. It provides individuals and organisations with the right to request information held by a public authority. This law came into effect in 2005. The public authority must tell the person asking for the information so the organisation or an individual if they (public authority) have the information or not and if they have the information then they must supply the information within 20  working days, in the requested format. Public authorities are the national, state or local government agency. The freedom of information Act 2000 does have exemptions to it for example if the cost of a request for information exceeds an appropriate limit, the public authority may decide whether a greater public interest is being served by denying the request or supplying the information. This law effect Santander because it can be used Santander to find important information about people, different trends etc. to increase the chances of peop le joining them. For example Santander can demand information about the statistics about people from public authority in order to help them sell their products. This law doesn’t affect the employees of Santander to much. This law doesn’t cause any conflict within the organisation so Santander doesn’t have to address it to much. Freedom of information Act 2000 can help Santander to persuade people to sell their items or what items to sell because they can get information about different trends or other statistics from the public authority which can show them what majority of people are like and what product they buy etc. For example the statistics about people who get life insurance after the age of 50 can help Santander sell life insurances because they will know what age group buy the most life insurance so they can target that age group and try to persuade them to join Santander. This is an important law which Santander can benefit from in order to progress faster as a company and make more profit. It doesn’t affect the customers or employees to much although in a way it does affect the employees, if Santander make more profit then they expected then they might give their employees higher bonuses. Computer Misuse Act 2000: This is a really important law because it prevents a lot of important things. The computer misuse act 1990 is a law in the UK that legislates against certain activities using computer for example hacking into other people’s account/system or misusing software’s to gain protected files. This means if someone tries to take another person’s personal file or hacks into their computer then they are breaking the law and can be prosecuted and jailed. The computer misuse Act is split into 3 different sections and these are: Unauthorised access to computer material. Unauthorised access to computer systems with intent to commit another offence. Unauthorised modification of computer material.  This is one of the most important laws for Santander to keep in mind because Santander has a lot of employees and this law applies to all of them. None of the employees can use another person’s information for their benefit or even look at it without a reason. If they do then they are breaking the law and will be sacked and reported to the police. In order to deterrent employees from looking at peoples information for their benefit, Santander sack anyone caught of committing this crime. It is really easy for people to commit frauds if they have other people’s personal information so this is another reason Santander has to make sure they handle people information carefully and they don’t send people’s personal information to other agencies and companies. If they do send their customer’s information to third parties without the customer’s permission then the customers can sue Santander. Santander has to make sure none of their employees commit any crime especially in regards to this law because it can lead to frauds being committed against their customer. Santander needs to make sure they take serious actions against anyone who breaks this law in order to deterrent people from doing it. This law protects the customers of Santander as well as the employees so it’s important. Health and Safety (display Screen equipment) Regulations 1992: This law is really important because it includes everyone associated with doing work on computers or other display screen equipment in Santander. Santander has a lot of people working on computers so this rule covers a lot of employees of Santander. This rule applies to employees who are a user of displace screen equipment, their work station have to be assessed with regard to the health and safety of the user. â€Å"The minimum requirements of the work station (i.e. display equipment, keyboard, software, accessories, disc drive, telephone, modem, printer, document holder, work chair, work surface or desk, etc. when provided are laid down in the Schedule. The scheduling of the work of a user shall be such that the work on the display screen equipment is periodically interrupted by breaks or changes of activity. Before a person is employed as a user that person has a right to have an appropriate eye and eyesight test carried out by a competent person. Such tests shall be available to users at regular intervals. Where normal corrective appliances cannot be  used when the operator is experiencing visual difficulties which reasonably may be considered to be caused by work on display screen equipment, the employer shall ensure special corrective appliances are provided.iâ€Å" When Santander recruits someone for a role which has the use of computers, they (Santander) should give them training regarding the appropriate health and safety to make sure they are safe whilst they do their job. In this rules a few things are covered such as: Equipment. Environment the person has to work. User/computer interface. Santander has to provide training for people who aren’t sure about how to operate stuff that includes display screens such as computer. This can be a expensive process for Santander because training sessions are expensive. On the other hand Santander can recruit people who are familiar with these regulation and rules in order to cut the costs of training them although it will be harder to find people like these because most of them have jobs. The more trained and experience Santander’s employees are, the faster the organisation will progress and the more profit they will make this is because if people know what they need to do then they will do it faster than people who struggle to do their role and need time to adjust or find the role hard. These laws mostly apply to employees in Santander so it is quite important for Santander to keep this law in mind and obey it. They need to make sure their employees are given proper health and safety guidance before they start and in addition Santander should regularly make their employees go to optician to get their eye sight checked. Santander have training sessions for people who aren’t familiar with these health and safety rules in order to make sure they don’t harm themselves while working.

Use of Formal Assessment Tools for Patients Spiritual Needs Essay

Use of Formal Assessment Tools for Patients Spiritual Needs - Essay Example From this essay it is clear that  the spiritual needs of the patients are less tangible compared to physical, because they are often difficult to measure, complex, and abstract hence, given lower priority than other needs especially physical needs. Spiritual needs are defined as factors that are needed to diminish the spiritual deficits or enhance spiritual strengths of a person. These needs are concerned with person’s relationship and meaning of things that transcends the material things.This paper outlines that to achieve much effectiveness and efficiency, formal assessment tools should take less time, be flexible, and be easy to use. The words used during assessment should encourage the patient to participate in the process. It should be conducted in a manner that is non- judgemental and non-threatening. There are three major formal assessment tools namely: FICA Model, Howden’s Spirituality Assessment Scale, and Jarel Spiritual Well-Being Scale.  The scale focuse s on four main areas namely: transcendence, inner resources, meaning and purpose in life, and unifying interconnectedness. Lastly, Jarel Spiritual Well-Being Scale is an assessment tool used by health professionals and is based on assessing spiritual needs of older adults. The tool is based on 21 statements which are rated according to a scale of â€Å"strongly agree† - â€Å"strongly disagree†.  These formal assessment tools are the best way for a health professional to ensure that assessment and care of patient’s spiritual needs are met.

Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Politics - Essay Example In a while we will be discussing the details of these problems, with particular focus on the depletion of ozone layer, endangered species and hazardous wastes as described by science. One striking feature of these environmental problems is being global in nature. It does not merely cover one territory and cannot be entirely solved by an effort of one or few countries. Environmental science has coined the term, â€Å"transboundary† to refer to both environmental problems and solution which cross borders (David Humphreys 201). The term is specifically used for the environmental policy of protected areas, in which â€Å"a viable population of an endangered species, or provide sufficient land area for a vulnerable ecosystem, in a way that simply might not be possible by national level action alone† (David Humphreys). The global nature of the problem indeed calls for a global solution. The question that this paper wishes to answer is whether this global environmental problems can be solved effectively by international agreements. But before this, it would be fitting to ask if an international agreement is in the fist place possible. On the study of three environmental problems plus climate change, we will look at the definition of effectiveness of environmental policy to provide us with the standard of assessing current international policies. We will also need to take a look at how the problems are defined such as what exactly do the terms ‘depletion of ozone layer’, ‘endangered species’ and hazardous wastes mean. To arrive at the conclusion, we will have a close examination of the international agreements done so far and assess them carefully of indeed they have been effective. Lastly, we will assess the strengths and the constraints of international agreement on environmental policies. A Warming World, a book that tackles on the climate change issue and the policies adopted by the

What is the Strategy of Annandale Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

What is the Strategy of Annandale - Assignment Example The reason that I arrived at the conclusion that Annandale Water Ltd is using an exclusivity strategy is because its products are not available for sales at supermarkets or convenient stores. The company has control of the distribution of the product which ensures the product is sold at the locations the firm desires. The business model the company utilizes is to sell its water products to exclusive location and to provide a full service to its customers. The company delivers the water to its major customers. The main markets of the company are weddings, two exclusive catering companies in London, direct sales from the bottling plant, direct sales to five exclusive hotels located in Edinburgh, and long-term contracts with Harrods and Fortnum and Mason in London. The company has a fleet of ten 40 ton articulated trucks; 15 smaller delivery vans, and 17 cars for the speedy and responsive deliveries. The transportation department has 15 full-time employees. The model the company used has lost value due to the fact that it has become extremely expensive to deliver the goods directly through its own trucking and vehicle fleet. The strength section of the SWOT mentioned a lot of the positive aspects of the business. The strength section failed to mention that the company has a superb executive management team. Companies with great leaders have a better chance to succeed than the firm that lacks human capital. The branding value of the product is its greatest strength. The company can capitalize on its brand by expanding the number of places that distributes the water products of the company. One of the main weaknesses identified in the SWOT analysis is the transportation costs. Gasoline is one of the main cost drivers of transportation costs. An issue with gasoline prices is that they are very volatile.

End of Semester wrap up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

End of Semester wrap up - Essay Example The organisation that has been studied is a healthcare institution. Since healthcare involves the exchange of personal information and various other security concerns that emanate thereafter, the model for information assurance has been strategically placed with goals like training and development, as well as entrepreneurial control that will help in better orientation for the implementation of the system. Risk, in case of varied operational decisions, is seen as a focus of single determinants of behaviour arising from risk theories. (Stephenson, 2004)1 Various unresolved contradictions can be reconciled by examining the usefulness of placing risk propensity and risk proportion in a more central role than has been previously recognised through effective risk assessment programs. Based on such analysis, it is believed that the propensity of risk dominates both the actual and perceived characteristics of the situation as a determinant of risk behaviour. (Stephenson, 2004) Such an observation can safely justify the finding that suggests that apart from being central to any and every business or organisation, risk is something that entrepreneurs in general, are averse to. This can be attributed to the fact that at the end of the day, any loss of information has far reaching implications of its own and is deeply rooted in the genesis of risk taking and management. Coming back to the issue of the risk averse nature of businesses in context of the XYZ organisation, the one question we need to ask before proceeding any further is whether mere risk assessment is enough to act as a strong foundation for resolving all those difficulties arising out of risk management in case of

Comparison between Shen Fus Father and Kang-Hsis Styles of Ruling Essay

Comparison between Shen Fus Father and Kang-Hsis Styles of Ruling - Essay Example This essay is the best example of comparison of the ruling styles of the fathers and rulers presented in the Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K’ang-hsi and Six Records of a Floating Life. Essentially, the father and the ruler of the state share the same stature in Confucianism. This is particularly so in the sense that human beings can be improved, made perfect, and improved through communal and personal initiatives. In this respect, K’ang-Hsi in the book Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K’ang-Hsi appears to go contrary to humanism as a style of ruling in his empire. This is specifically so in the sense that he strongly believes that he is the emblem of justice and in this regard, has the right of giving and taking life out of people. In his perception of the correction of human beings, K’ang-Hsi fully understands that while administrative errors are unavoidable, he can easily correct them through punitive measures that sometimes lead to execution. On the other hand, Shen Fu’s father shows great humanness and social harmony towards his wife Chen Yun. Perhaps this may have resulted from the teachings of his life during the Qing Dynasty but one thing for sure is that he loves his wife beyond measure and he demonstrates this by allowing her to do her social duties while he remains the head of the family. In fact, Shen Fu’s father confesses that his wife is the motivation behind him as far as writing the book Six Records of a Floating Life is concerned.

Macroeconomic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Macroeconomic - Essay Example The volatility in the expenditures made by the consumers can be explained by the volatility in the terms of trade. The economy of Australia can be characterized by less volatile terms of trade after the period of 1980s. It can be judged that economic growth shares close association with terms of trade. An economy moving along the growth curve is expected to witness terms of trade while the economy under the growth curve will face the declining terms of trade line. Question a The global prices of the exports as well as the imports and the goods basket offered to the consumers are the two prime components that make up the terms of trade. Australia can be treated to be the country that has the potential to affect the world prices of the goods. The terms of trade can also get influenced by the geographic boundary of an economy. Coal is abundant in the country and therefore Australia engages itself in coal export (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2011). A rise in the prices of coa l relatively to the prices of the other ICT goods will shed the effect in rising the terms of trade. The exchange rate of the economy and the terms of trade are closely associated. The nominal exchange rate got reduced being the resultant of financial crisis of 1990s. The influences with the geographical boundaries can play a part in volatility of import prices but the prices of the exports are influenced only by changes in world prices of the goods. In the short time period the fall of imports are steeper than the price of exports. The unstable growth in productivity in the sectors of tradable or non tradable goods played a part in boosting the exchange rate. The phase after the 1980s led to rapid productivity growth in the sectors of finance as well as insurance. The inflows of capital paved the way for strengthening of the U.S. dollar and this can be accounted to be the second factor. In the short run the exchange rate remained lower than the market rate. The economic growth rema ined at more or less at relatively stable state as the volatility in terms of trade played a major role. The less volatility in the terms of trade also contributed in keeping the rate of inflation at a lower level. In the initial phases of the new millennium the terms of trade began to rise. Over the last decade and a half Australia shifted from exporting price impulsive properties towards exports of goods whose price can be anticipated. Australia now engages itself in exporting the rural goods. It offers a wide variety of goods for export and experts are of the opinion that the export of the rural goods is an effective strategy for the country as exports of such goods can be assumed to capture a proportion of foreign market (Australian Government Productivity Commission, 2012). Therefore foreign capital will plight in into the country. The exports of the rural goods have taken the steep rising curve over the course of time and the exports of the goods comprises of vegetables and da iry products. Question b The terms of trade is influenced by the factors that are summarized below. The fluctuation in the levels of demand on the global platform The shocks in the market of commodities Globalization shock The fluctuations in the levels of demand on the global arena and the shocks on the commodity markets plays their part in raising the prices of the

Ethical dilemmas Essay Example for Free

Ethical dilemmas Essay Ethical dilemmas in the society have posted a major challenge to humanity since historical times. This has been contributed by the threats and immediate uncertainty that acts and reacts to kill the will and desire to do that which is good. Ethical dilemmas comprises of direct wrong acts in the society even when the correct acts are clear. However, the good actions are mostly never committed as they require dire commitment and are often interpreted in the wrong mode by the immediate peers and/ or work mates (Cyndi, 2008). In colleges, students are faced with major challenges related to their peers and the administration too. Ethics dictate that the students should not cheat in the exam rooms. Again, students are not supposed to steal others properties or sneak out of the school compound. The ethical thing to do in such a situation is reporting the case to the administration for disciplinary actions against the culprits. However, students do not report and remain silent in majority of the cases and therefore encourage repetition of the same acts. It is usually very hard to gather evidence since cases like those of cheating cannot have exhibits. Besides, there are long procedures to follow in filing such cases and therefore it appears as a waste of time by the students. Finally, it appears as a sabotage and betrayal of ones peers and therefore one risks being segregated. Therefore, majority of the students though willing never acts ethically as they are torn between acting correctly or maintaining the demands of the immediate associations (James Dean, 2008). Lawyers on the other hand are trusted with ensuring that the most ethical discourses are followed in the justice system. However, rarely does it happen as they defend their clients even when they are aware that he/she is on the wrong side. As a professional lawyer, bringing charges against another lawyer is hard even after clearly knowing that he/she has been on the wrong side (Scott Ronald, 2008). This is because it demands involvement in terms of time and vast resources to effectively defend the case. Besides, one keeps off as the peer dislike people who go against one their ideologies in the societies. Like the students case, one may be left alone and therefore unable to operate in the profession which requires strong cooperation. As indicated earlier, lawyers know how to cover what is bad with good and lots of evidence may be required to win particular cases against them. Lawyers Johnnie Cochran and F. Lee Bailey defended O J. Simpson in his murder case with little challenges from other lawyers of their firms even understanding their client had committed the crime (Cyndi, 2008). Besides, accountants have also been strongly involved in unethical deeds where they inflate or deflate the books of accounts in solidarity with their partners to ensure that they make a company or project fail in favor of another one. In such cases, though there is enough evidence to launch major complains, the rewards are generally hefty and the members commit never to reveal it and exposing the deal would lead to threats by other members. This has been highly unethical as it may lead to loss of jobs and investments for innocent people (James Dean 2008). An honor system application and use in the society has had many advantages to the immediate users and the society at large. It is cost effective as it is run by trust and enhancing efficiency is easy as it emanates from the individuals goodwill. For instance buses and trains can operate easily without waiting for routine tickets checking. Besides, it brings the groups together and promotes the spirit of team work in an organization or institutions thereby raising the efficiency of immediate operations. However, in the society where there is great tendency to do the wrong things than the correct one major businesses are bound to fail due to solidarity of the employees and staff. As a result, it promotes laziness and bad behavior as the employees act in solidarity to cover up their colleagues on the wrong sides in the organization or institutions (Scott Ronald, 2008). This system breeds the major dilemmas and acts to kill the good people in the society by pushing them into the major peer cocoons. Conclusion. Ethical dilemmas have posted some of the major threats in the society to humanity and the production systems. They have far reaching impacts to the society especially if they are amongst the peers in institutions and other management units. To add to that, these dilemmas operates at all levels from school to high professionals and administration management realms therefore posing major risks to the whole society. To address the situation, institutions require embarking on strong campaigns to fight the unethical behaviors in the society. Cooperation and communication based on mutual trust and low coercion in organizations and schools should be established. Besides, the leaders should act as the major role models for all the people in their organizations or institutions. Reference list. Cyndi, B. (2008). Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice. New York: Sage Publishers. James, L. Dean, B. (2008). Decision-making Near the End-of-life: Recent Developments and Future Directions. New York: CRC Press. Scott, A. Ronald, R. (2008). Executive Ethics: Ethical Dilemmas and Challenges for the C- Suite. New Jersey: IAP.

September 11, 2001 Essay Example for Free

September 11, 2001 Essay On September 11, 2001 before 9:58am Eastern Central Time, the world changed forever. It is not overly dramatic to state this. America and the West is now faced with a new and highly dangerous enemy who hijacked planes and a religion in order to spread their blurred message of a new Islam in which all who do not believe as they do, are meant to meet a cruel death. It does not matter to these hijackers that 99% of Muslims do not adhere to these principles and who have openly condemned the actions of the violent minority. What only matters is the idea that America supports Israel and therefore is evil. America yields too much freedom to their people and as a result, is seen as a threat to Muslim countries. On September 11, 2001 in New York City, The Pentagon in Washington and in a field in Pennsylvania, the terrorists added to their long list of attacks on the West. There have been multiple attacks by Islamic terrorists before 9/11 and many more in the years since. Many of these attacks have been attributed to, either by various factions of the American government, or by the terrorists themselves who call themselves Al-Qaeda. The history of this terrorist group is relatively new in the history of Islamic terrorists but which have contributed a great deal to the West’s perception that Muslims sponsor terrorists in its many forms and that the Qu’ran supports it. What also is not in doubt is the way in which life in America has been changed while this society is at war. In every war, America has tightened its civil liberties in one form or another in order to put the successful completion of the war at the top of its list of proprieties. There has been a segment of the population that has decried these actions of the government. This is not a debate as to which sides are right and what, if any measures need to be taken in order that the war meets its swift and successful completion. This report is to analysis the ways in which the attacks on 9/11 have affected America, the justification that Al-Qaeda gave for their attacks and the response that America has given, both in the Middle East and here in America. The war continues and as long as it continues and American seeks to end Islamic extremists from their quest to entice a holy war through their murder of innocent people in Madrid, London, New York, Yemen, various parts of Africa and Bali as well as failed attempts recently at JFK airport where five African nationalists sought to blow up the airport but which was fortunately stopped. (Pearson, 2007 pg. A4) It seems like a necessary aspect of future life in America as the dangers of terrorists, both home grown and abroad who seek to disrupt and kill Americans which has prompted a tightening of the civil liberties in this country. As a result, in a time of war, certain changes to the way in which we live, are imposed on the general public by the government. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the country wanted to know the: who, what, where and why of this most tragic event. Not since the bombing of Pearl Harbor had America been hit with such a blow from an overseas source. In the coming days, it was presumed by the government that Osama Bin Laden and the terrorist group Al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks. Despite the initial refusal to take credit or blame for the attacks by Bin Laden who stated in the immediate days following the attacks: â€Å"I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation,† soon changed into a proud proclamation of the responsibility which the government had known all along, belonged to Osama Bin Laden and the terrorist group Al Qaeda. Michaels, 2002 pg 108) It them fell upon the CIA and other various governmental groups who were part of the 7,000 member terrorist reaction force of the government to gather as much information about the above mentioned in order to help orchestrate a response, as well as being able to tell the public some important background information about a group, which before 9/11, few people had really known much about. (Page 2005 pg. A16) The origins of Al Qaeda date back to 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. (Michaels, 2002 pg. 339) This was a highly controversial action on the part of the Soviet Union which eventually prompted President Carter to boycott the 1980 Olympics which were to be taking place in Moscow that summer. After the invasion, a young Osama Bin Laden traveled to Afghanistan in order to join forces with the Afghan troops in dispelling the Soviets from their lands. After a very expensive war which took more than nine years, the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan and the force which was credited with this surprise victory, was soon labeled Al Qaeda. The mission statement of Al Qaeda consisted of three main points. They were their disapproval of what they considered to be US aggression towards the Iraqi people during the Persian Gulf War of 1991, the US military occupation of the Arabian Peninsula and most of all, America’s support for Israel. Due to the fact that at that time, America regarded the Soviet Union as being by far, the worse and more powerful of possible aggressors to the United States that Afghanistan or Al Qaeda could ever be, it is believed that support was given to Bin Laden in the form of guns and other supplies. Peter Bergan, the celebrated CNN journalist and one of the first in the West to interview Osama Bin Laden, commented on the idea that America was somehow to blame for the aggression which Bin Laden showed to America on September 11 and other terrorist attacks on America during the 1990’s. â€Å"The story about bin Laden and the CIA- that the CIA funded bin Laden or trained bin Laden- is simply a folk myth Bin Laden has his own money, he was anti-American and he was operating secretly and independently. The real story here is the CIA did not understand who Osama bin Laden was until 1996, when they set up a unit to really start tracking him. † (CNN, 2003) The latter part of this statement is definitely true. One of the fundamental flaws of both the Clinton and now Bush administrations was the inability of the government to understand that region of the world: the Middle East and how it operates, thinks and functions. In failing to do so, the war in Iraq as well as other factions of the war on terror, are at a severe disadvantage. The real hatred that bin Laden had for America came during the Gulf War of 1991. â€Å"When Saudi Arabia allowed the American military to work from their air and land space against Iraq, despite the fact that bin Laden was no friend of Iraq at that time and even offered his services to Saudi Arabia in the event of an attack by Iraq, bin Laden vowed to carry out strikes towards the United States and relations both the Saudi Arabia government, its royal family, as well as his own family who would soon come to disowned him. (CNN, 2003) What was clear and unmistakable was the fact that in the years leading up to 9/11, Al Qaeda would make itself known to the United States to such a degree that in the immediate days after 9/11 there was little doubt as to who was responsible for the attacks. The government and others around the world was able to support their first impressions only days after the attack with a plethora of proof of past attacks and harmful and hateful rhetoric towards the United States of America. One of the earliest attacks after the Gulf War was the bombing of the World Trade Centers in January of 1993. Ramzi Yousef used a truck bomb housed in the basement of the World Trade Center in an attempt to bring the massive structure down. Six people were killed and another 1,042 were injured. $300 million in damage had occurred but luckily, the structure was not destroyed. (Michaels, 2002 pg. 145) Yousef was eventually captured in Pakistan. In 1996, bin Laden, despite the lack of credentials within Islam to give such an edict, gave a fatwa or a religious edict which amounted to a declaration of war against the United States and all of its allies. Another fatwa was given on February 23, 1998 which stated: â€Å"The ruling to kill Americans and their allies-civilians and military- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and the holy mosque in Makka from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all of the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim†(CNN 2003) This was not the official stance of Islam because bin Laden did not possess the necessary credentials within Islam to give such an edict. In October 2000, Al Qaeda militants in Yemen bombed the missile destroyer the USS Cole in a suicide attack in which 17 servicemen and women were killed. The ship was damaged a great deal and the success of the attacks helped to embolden Al Qaeda for an attack on an even larger scale in the following year to occur. 9/11 was now being planned for a specific date to be fulfilled as soon as possible. After the attack on September 11, 2001, on September 27, 2001, the names and faces of the 19 hijackers were sent to the press, released by the FBI as part of their massive 7000 member force. The United States and soon to follow the United Kingdom placed their blame squarely upon the hands of bin Laden and Al Qaeda. This quick assertion as to who was to blame for the attacks stemmed in part to the various fatwas that bin Laden had sent to the United States as well, specifically the 1998 fatwa which called for the killing of American civilians on a large scale. Also, despite the fact that bin Laden originally rejected the idea that he was behind the attacks, in November 201, the US forces recovered a videotape which was retrieved from a destroyed house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan in which it records bin Laden admits foreknowledge of the attacks. On December 27, 2001, a second bin Laden tape was released to the press in which he stated: â€Å"Terrorism against America deserved to be praised because it was a response to injustice aimed at forcing America to stop its support for Israel which kills our people. (Dobbs 2005) In other video tapes messages, some dated as recently as 2005, bin Laden confessed that he had personally directed the 19 hijackers and encouraged similar and future attacks to take place on not only America but in the West. This would soon come to fruition when a train bomb in Madrid killed 200 innocent commuters and over 190 were killed in Bali, an island off the coast of Indonesia in 2002. Other attacks in London and further attempts to attack America in multiple plans which have since been stopped has convinced many in America, as well as the American government, that new and strong measures must be taken in order to ensure the future safety of all American citizens. This increased protection has come in the form of the Department of Homeland Security and the Patriot Act as being the most famous and self encompassing laws which the government has passed since the attacks on September 11th. One of the direct results of September 11 came in the form of governmental reaction and a desire to tighten the laws which had not functioned properly in the pursuit of keeping Americans safe which it states in the Constitution, is one of the most important functions of the government. The Patriot Act was passed only forty five days after the attacks on 9/11 which in comparison to the length of time it takes to pass any type of bill in Congress, this was done at lightening speed. The Patriot Act increases the ability of the federal government to enforce laws and to search telephone and email conservations and to spy on any that are deemed to be of a suspicious nature which may be harmful to the security of the United States and its allies. As a result, communication, financial, medical and other records; any records which are of a private nature are at the disposal of the American government when it is believed that its owner is either directly involved in or which contributes to any terrorist activity which puts the safety of America in jeopardy. Despite the controversial aspects of the bill, it was renewed on December 31, 2005. The Patriot Act is divided up into ten different titles or areas of interest which the newly formed Department of Homeland Security now has jurisdiction over these additions. They include terrorism, strengthening the borders, to crack down on international money laundering, strengthen the laws against terrorism, and enhance surveillance procedures and to improve intelligence and to provide for victims of terrorism and to promote the public safety of officers and their families. The last title, Title X states only: Miscellaneous. It is the vagueness of this and other aspects of the Patriot Act which has many at the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and others who are weary of government’s role in the lives of average Americans, which prompts outrage towards such expansions of the government’s power and control. The sheer majority of those who would criticize the government is no friends of terrorism and wants terrorism to be kept away from America’s shores. However, they are highly critical of the Patriot Act as they believe that when given additional power, more power from the government at the expense of the freedoms of the people, will be compromised. One example of this was the highly controversial surveillance program which President Bush used to spy on the email and phone conversations of hundreds of suspected terrorists or advocates of terrorism who were either making calls from or to America. Before the Patriot Act, any such surveillance programs would first require a court order. â€Å"During the Clinton Administration, more than a thousand such court orders were given to legally spy on the conversations of suspicious people. † (Michaels, 2002 pg. 87) President Bush felt that, and there were many to disagree, that under the increased powers which the Patriot Act gives the President, such court orders are unnecessary and only hamper the business of the government’s desire to keep America safe. Upon hearing this, many in Congress as well as their constitutions called for formal charges to be presented against the President. To date, no such charges which has been forthcoming? The Patriot Act falls under the large r government post called the Department of Homeland Security. Under this newly formed governmental organization, additional organizations were added to the government. The criticisms which are levied towards the Department of Homeland Security are two fold: One, it is seen by many as an intrusion on the average American’s civil liberties. Second, it is seen as simply an extension of ineffective governmental autocracy with their dealing of Hurricane Katrina being one of the worst examples. Since its formation only three short years ago, the Department of Homeland Security has been blamed for putting into practice, the surveillance of hundreds, if not thousands of individuals who 99% of the time, end up having no possible connection to terrorism of any kind. These operations cost the government billions of dollars and serves as a further fleecing of America as viewed by many. Also, despite its ability to foil plans of numerous plots to bring damage to the United States through the form of another terrorist attacks, new reports often emerge about the incompetence of the Department of Homeland Security. In August 2006, a bipartisan group of senators on the Appropriations Committee described the Sciences and Technology Directorate, the department which is in charge of the research for the Department of Homeland Security, as â€Å"a rudderless ship without a clear way to get back on course†. Michaels, 2002 pg. 199) However, this has not stopped the Department of Homeland Security from making public, the successes of the government who, by the end of 2004, had captured 368 individuals who were formally charged in criminal terrorist activities. The chief critics of Homeland Security, the ACLU, has stated that in these arrests, the gover nment has overstepped its boundaries and that such search and seizures tactics are unconstitutional as well as not being in the best interest of the American people. Since the war in Iraq not going as swiftly as promised, public support for the Patriot Act has faltered. In January of 2002, 47% of Americans were in favor of added measures by the government to stop terrorism, even if it meant the suspension of civil liberties. Two years later, in February of 2004, that number has dropped to 31% and is expected to further decrease. ( Page 2005 pg. A16) On September 11, 2001, the world as we know it changed forever. All those who were alive on that day will forever be able to tell their children and grandchildren where they were when they heard the news that America has come under attack by extremists as an attempt to bring America into subjugation towards their ideologies about the world. In the immediate months after the 9/11 the country was united against those who would seek to impose their ideology upon a democratic nation by way of terrorist attacks. In that surge of patriotism, the Patriot Act was passed which gave far reaching powers to the federal government in the form of increased power to regulate phone and email conversations as well as impose their will upon whomever the federal government felt was in league with terrorists in any way. These increased measures by the government has brought a lot of criticism from average Americans who are weary about this sudden and dramatic increase in the power of the federal government and see a furthering of the fleecing and ineffective use of the taxpayers’ money in the pursuit of these terrorists. Some derive this feeling from a disbelief in the severe motivations of the terrorists who have struck all around the world. Others derive these feelings because they so intensely hate the current administration and feel that nothing that they do is ever right or good enough. However, the majority who criticize the rapid increase in the government in this way, know all too well that the government runs like a highly ineffective and inefficient machine and that any efforts to stop the spread of terrorism to America, will come at a price of billions of wasted dollars, millions of hours of wasted time and to date, hundreds of people who have been sent to prison without the benefit of being formally charged, come to this new war on terror in the form of collateral damage. Some say that this is to be expected in a time of war. Others say that the federal government has gone too far in the expansion of their power in order to combat terrorism which it is felt, is not entirely true but that the spying of average Americans is the government’s true aim. Whatever the truth, all agree that another terrorist attack, similar to 9/11 must be avoided and that what happened on that day, which is still fresh in the minds of those who refuse to forget those who perished on that Tuesday morning; some jumping 1000 feet to their death, that those people should not have died in vain. To do nothing and hope that another attack will not come to American soil, does do a disservice to those who died and the pain that comes from the loss of a loved one. Al Qaeda is still alive and despite taking a major hit in Afghanistan, have since regrouped and have come back with a redoubled vigor as the troubles that America is having in Iraq seems to only embolden their cause. Whatever one believes about America’s roll in inviting these attacks or if such brutal hatred towards 3200 innocent men, women and children can have no justification as well as the more than 20 bombings accredited to Al Qaeda around the world or if the Patriot Act is seen as necessary or an intrusion of an ineffective and dishonest government, one must recognize that after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the world is a different and scarier place than it once was and it seems that in this new war on global Islamic terror, nobody is safe.

Business Dilemma: CRM and Management of Cafe

Business Dilemma: CRM and Management of Cafe CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT BUSINESS DILEMMA The most influential person in cafà © or in any business are the customers, since without customers, one does not have a business. Everything in a business environment revolves round customers. Similarly, in case of our cafà ©, customers are a key to a successful business at the end of the day. Knowing your customers and providing satisfaction to those customers would gain customer loyalty. Grandfather gave priority to customers thats why he knew all his customers. However, just knowing your customers is not enough; one needs to keep a record of its customers so that its easy to analyze. Since customers are really influential towards a business, business (in our case, cafe) should treat each and every customer as if they were the only customer. While serving each customer, one must keep in mind the needs of that particular customer only and should serve in such a way that the service exceeds their expectation. Giving most priority towards customers would enhance customer loyalty an d keep that customer attached to a particular business. Through customers, a business can improve its business as said by Bill Gates â€Å"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning†. Customer complains in fact is a key to improve the service, for instance, if a customer complains that the way coffee served was not pleasant and did not met the expectation, that complain can be used as a tool to improve the coffee serving process through further training workshops for employees in that area. Thus, customers complain can be seen as a challenge to be met in future to make him/her (customer) happy and attracted to the cafe. If you treat your customers well, your customers will go out of their way to return to you. Therefore, customer feedback and suggestion can help improve a service. However, the cafà © may not have answers or response for all of customer questions and suggestions. Customers could help or hurt the cafe through viral marketing. Word of mouth marketing is the largest determining factor for a service business image, which can be either online chatting or physical talk. If the service in cafà © is up to the expectation of the customer, it would help the cafà © to attract more customers through viral marketing and gain market share. However, if the products and service in cafà © is very poor which made the customer unhappy can spread negative impression on other customers, hurting the company through losing its current and potential customers. Moreover, online comment or complain on the cafes website can be injurious such as comment on You Tube. Literally, the customer does not intend to harm or hurt the company; they just want their needs to be fulfilled and service is up to their expectation. As already mentioned customer complains can provide an opportunity, thereby, helping the cafà © to improve its service. My employees will agree that customers are the most important part of cafe since thats the reason they are in cafe. If there wouldnt be any customer, there wouldnt be need for employees. Thus, customers determine or secure the period of employment of the employee. If there are fewer customers, employees may be laid off to cut down costs. However, some employees may feel that they are the most important part in a business. Employees are the most important asset of any business. If cafà © doesnt value its staff, it would demoralize them which can impact their performance in service. And as a result, their poor performance can hinder customer growth of cafà ©. Thus, some employees value themselves as the most valuable person in a business when compared to customers. MAKING BUSINESS DECISION Virtual world is a 3D, electronically-generated environment where users can interact, create and communicate just as they would in the real world for example, second life (http://ictwm.org/news/virtual-worlds-help-real-businesses). Virtual world provides people with experiences rather than processing transaction. Once people get attached to virtual experience, they would be excited about experiencing it in real life. This would only be possible through going to the real cafà © which would help the business in transaction processing. It also aids in mass customization as customers design or suggest what they exactly want. Virtual world encourage interaction, collaboration and communication. It can be accessed from anywhere in the world, thus, keeping people and cafà © connected. If cafà © provides continuous updates in virtual world, people nearby the cafà © would go for new and innovative products in that cafà © just because of that cafes presence in virtual world which would enhance the business/cafà © operations. It could also be a marketing tool for the cafe to promote its menus for the day through frequently changing attractive ads in the virtual world. Customer relationship in virtual world is very delicate matters since one does not physically meet to create impression. Virtual world should be designed in such a way that it is appealing and attractive to a customer. In virtual world, cafe business would be better able to meet customer satisfaction with minimum or no cost by changing designs to strengthen virtual customer relationship. Customer wont need to wait in long lines to be served, one can just go to the cafes website and get the taste of coffee or of service in that cafà ©. Virtual world does not restrict the access to any person; any person can access to the website to have a taste. In other words, there is a greater reach and contact to maintain strong customer relationship. Cafà © can be always available to its customer through virtual world without any disruption. Customers would be in a position to demand what they want based on their own specification. This makes the customer feel like king through providing their customized products and enhancing better customer relationship. In traditional customer relationship management strategies, there has been lack of customer experience, co-creation, co-production and collaboration with customers. Thus, our strategy to manage customer in new virtual world is through co-creation and co-production with customers. Co-creation and co-production with customers is different than traditional customer-centric approaches in that the focus is not to learn as much as possible about customers but instead consider them as equal problem solvers(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5858/is_200711/ai_n32252899/pg_2/). Giving customers an important role in the value chain can affect customer satisfaction. Value in co-creation derived by customers purposeful interaction cannot be obtained merely from asking the customers to answer questions and leave comments. Virtual worlds may provide an ‘experience space that supports ‘experience networks which go beyond the domain of a single company and its suppliers to one that is experience-centric to the customers. (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5858/is_200711/ai_n32252899/pg_3) Moreover, since there is a growing use of internet, it would be easier for company to collaborate with its customers through electronic CRM. Electronic CRM has a wider scope for managing customer relationship in a variety of ways and not just collaboration ranging from designing and pricing of digital products to loyalty programs. Supporting Second Life customers differs from supporting website customers as well as traditional customers. In second life, cafà © can design and create those products and services that a particular customer wants. It allows basically for customization as well as reaching out to customers for ideas, prototyping and feedback in a particular area giving cafà © a better competitive advantage. This means that customer support in second life would need to be met in real time especially to a customers demand. Second life is basically everything being electronic whereas traditional revolves around physical presence. Moreover, collaboration between customers and company is a major support in second life unlike traditional customers. Website supports customers with visitor information and product review. It does not allow a customer to get the feeling of being in cafà ©. However, second life gives a customer a virtual feel of being part of that cafà © in addition to visitor information. To make the experience of a virtual world customer great, second life location should offer free virtual coff ee, music, and chairs with tables for customers to hang out. In the traditional (physical) environment, the cafà © needed to be closed off at a particular time, even though customers were involved in deep discussion. This does not happen in second life. Second life supports customers to continue with whatever they are doing in the virtual cafà © without any time limit and can chat as late as they want. Furthermore, upcoming events, artwork and music should be available to customers visiting second life so that it becomes interesting and encourages them to explore the site. Another difference between traditional and second life customer support is in terms of advertising. In past, business would use advertising agency to promote their products but now the cafà © can do in house advertising in virtual world attracting wider range of customers all round the world. Second life does not provide authentication of a persons identity. There is no access control and anyone can easily get into the second life and if there is any confidential information for customers only, that can be easily leaked and used to the disadvantage of the business, that is, the cafà ©. Moreover, phishing can easily take place whereby an intruder who is against the cafà © business can create a website similar to the cafà © site and trick the customers into inputting confidential data. This confidential information can be used as a tool to harm the image of the cafà © through missing the customers information which would tremendously impact on the cafà © business. Similarly, misrepresentation can be another issue just like phishing, whereby someone designs an avatar that looks just like the avatar of a customer service representative. Other issue involves the obsolesce of real life location. Since people get attached to second life, they dont go or visit the real life cafà ©. Second life cafà © can be visited by anyone but real world cafà © may not be. People in a region would only be visiting the cafà © and if those limited people get attached to second life cafà ©, there wont be much importance of real life cafà ©. Thus, issue arises that second life should be positioned and designed in such a way that real life cafà © does not get obsolete and people remain attracted to it as well to have real currency flow in business. Due to lack of authentication, privacy concerns arise. Maintaining customer confidentiality becomes an ethical issue and a challenge for businesses. MAKING BUSINESS DECISION II You Tube can be an important vehicle to communicate with the cafes customers. It is a popular free video sharing website where people can also comment on a particular video. We would design and create video clips of the cafes products and the way service is provided in cafà © and then share it on You Tube, using cartoon characters and other imaginary characters making the clip funny, interesting and informative. Through these clips, we can conveniently show our customers how we have minimized the problem of long wait lines. Firstly, we would make clips showing more counters for serving as well as drive in windows. Long wait lines are basically because of few or only one counter, thus showing a clip with more counters can be seen as a reasonable rectification to the problem. Moreover, for travelers who want to be served instantly while in their vehicle, drive in windows would be a solution to avoid waiting in lines when in rush as in case of McDonalds in Fiji. Clip can show a custome r ordering and being served in just few seconds through drive in windows. Furthermore, online ordering and tele-ordering can also be a rectification to long waiting lines. Through virtual world or cafes website, customers can order online as well as through phone calls before actually going to cafà © so that on their arrival, their order is prepared and no waiting is required. These solutions can be depicted on You Tube through videos using animated characters. You Tube as a communication vehicle, is free and easy to use. Unlike advertising over television, which is associated with costs, You Tube provides this for free whereby anyone can watch the videos and pass comments about how they feel about that particular video. As already said, it saves money on marketing since advertising can be done through clips to promote the cafà ©. You Tube has a wider reach in terms of customers and markets. It is not restricted to a particular geographical region or location. Customers all around the world and in different market can get access to You Tube and learn about the cafà ©. Also through You Tube, cafà © can get a great deal of information to many people in a short amount of time just through one clip. These benefits show that You Tube can be an efficient communication vehicle for any business whether it be cafà © or a car dealer. However, there are various disadvantages for You Tube as well. Since it can be viewed by anyone in the world, it may capture unwanted attention, for instance, is a person does not love coffee, he/she may not like the clip based on coffee and would comment negatively which would create bad impression to other customers. You Tube also in some cases compresses the content of clips and other files, making it unappealing to customers as its not presented in the right way intended and information can be chopped in that compression. Products may not be clear to customers, thus, proper communication of that product such as coffee maybe hindered. Also due to missing information or half information, it could become difficult to understand what the file tries to reveal to customers. Issues of privacy concern and copyright infringement can be cons of You Tube. Privacy can be made vulnerable as amount of information on video can be dangerous such as unintentionally showing where an employee lives or showing someones bio-data while promoting the product or service. Therefore, before starting to use You Tube as a medium of communication vehicle, one must clearly study the pros and cons of it to see whether benefits are there or not. Other new technologies that can be used as a customer communication vehicle that would be more effective than You Tube are social networking sites such as twitter and facebook. It allows more than just posting video. One can post comments, pictures, update information and create events on it. Twitter and facebook help bringing customers together. With help of twitter, cafe can send an alert about new deals or offers in the cafà ©. Blogging can also be a publishing medium. If a customer complements the cafes service or the products and food in cafà © in his blog, it would be a free advertising for the cafà ©. But can also harm the image if blogger comments in a negative way. APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE To obtain high quality data, systems in the cafà © must be integrated, since quality information does make a difference in any business. Major importance of quality information is that it induces enhanced, accurate and appropriate decision making. The quality of information used to make business decision determines the quality of decision made. Having real time system in cafà © would provide real time information in response to decision makers queries and requests. High quality decisions can significantly impact the cafes bottom line, thus, profitability. For instance, having integrated and real time system, cafà © can provide what customer wants in an instance which would meet customer satisfaction, thus, improve profitability. Moreover, high quality information enables any business to track valuable customers who generate most revenues. Having proper information about a particular customer visiting cafà © frequently can help cafà © identify the loyal customer and could reward him or her so that they keep coming in future. Uses can place confidence on information of high quality since it is reliable. For instance, if cafà © post on its website information generated from its systems, customers could be easily in a position to rely on it. On the other hand, low quality information results in various business effects. Low quality information are those which has missing information example no first name of customer, incomplete information example no street or missing area code, probable duplicate information such as similar name, same address or phone number and potentially wrong information. The effects of this on cafes business would be its inability to accurately track customers, difficulty identifying valuable customers, inability to identify selling opportunities of cafes product, marketing to non-existent customers, difficulty tracking revenue and inability to build strong customer relationship (net: slides). Low quality information would hinder cafà © to follow up with its profitable customers who frequently such as daily visit cafà © since there may be name confusion. Also if systems are not integrated, it becomes difficult to provide accurately what customer wants and may lead to providing wrong products. Thi s will affect the demand and supply of a particular product which would not be reliable. Also cafà © may be marketing and promoting its cafà © and product to a non-existent customer online due to fake or same names who are not cafes usual customers. Overall, low quality information vigorously degrades the decision making quality in managing a customer and the cafà ©. The examples of information that can be used by The Broadway Cafà © to gain better understanding of its customers are customers taste and preferences. If the cafà © gets a picture of what their current and potential customers would like to consume, cafà © can be prepared for the product and provide the customer that product when they actually came and demand. Moreover, having a brief idea about the customers disposable income would help understand the affordability of prices by customers. This would give the cafà © a view as to what prices customers would be willing to pay for the cafes products such as coffee. Changes in environment and weather would also help in getting to know the customers and their wants, for instance, coffee would be largely demanded during colder seasons in Fiji. Some of the data quality issues are as follows. Firstly, dirty data issues due to data errors which can be attributed to human errors or an application error due to legacy systems. Since theres a large quantity of data to be fed in the system, humans are prone to make errors. Missing and duplicate data are other two issues (Turban, E., and Volonino, L., 2009). The cafà © lacks in proper management of its data which can lead the data to be easily lost as well as to be entered twice. This could really affect the output results thus affecting decision making. Moreover, data can be non-standardized and massed up due to lack of standards. The strategies the company can use to avoid such data quality issues are to implement Master Data Management system. It is comprises a set of processes and tools that consistently defines and manages the non-transactional data entities of an organization. MDM has the objective of providing processes for collecting, aggregating, matching, consolidating, quality-assuring, persisting and distributing such data throughout an organization to ensure consistency and control in the ongoing maintenance and application use of this information. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_data_management) MDM would reduce or eliminate the data quality issues, giving a unified view of enterprise data. It can also use automated data entry, Web forms for individual entering data with data integrity checks and drop down menus and radio buttons. (Turban, E., and Volonino, L., 2009) having frequent data audits in the system can also aid in preventing the above mentioned issues since data would be continuously reviewed and any errors would be detected and corrected appropriately without further problems in future. CAFES BEST CUSTOMERS** Customer ID Total Sales Amount ($) 3548 18,261.86 4438 26,474.28 5657 11,342.98 6891 10,585.94 13801 33,555.50 13959 19,593.65 270177 14,355.99 294896 11,348.40 305668 49,647.45 540135 16,338.02 1309948 11,401.60 ** We have assumed that the cafes best customers are the ones that bring in sales amount dollars of more than $10000. Listed above are the cafes best customers. The cafà © should offer to its valuable customers loyalty marketing programs such as point programs whereby a customer would get points for every purchase they make and when they reach a certain level and collected enough points, will get a special reward such as Jacks of Fiji which is using this marketing system to keep their loyal customers attached. Moreover, the cafà © can give its valuable customers loyalty cards as MH in Fiji is dong with its flash and gain card. Providing customers with promotional vouchers would also give them a feeling of appreciation for their service. Keeping in touch strategy can also be a way of marketing campaign towards valuable customers. Giving personal attention towards the profitable customers is a way to build relationship and keep them in your business. This can be done by sending them promotional messages personally through email or calls frequently and asking for their feedbacks as to what they would like in future and their expectation from cafà ©. Broadway Cafe Question Name Total What is the best selling product? Music CD $776,813.17 What is the worst selling product? Kids CD $96 What is the best sales month? 3 $569,339.10 What is the worst sales month? 5 $58,501.06 What is the best selling product during the best month? Music CD $235,054.45 What is the worst selling product during the best month? Kids CD $64 What is the best selling product during the worst month? Music CD $33,684.43 What is the worst selling product during the worst month? Food $63.2 * For answering the above questions, we have taken our base as sales amount values to reach an answer. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT BUSINESS DILEMMA Broadway Cafà © can reinvent the cafà © by making use of demand planning software. This software would enable the cafà © to be prepared in peak hours of business since it would capture and give information as and when a customer enters either the cafà © or the car park of the cafà ©. For instance, as part of software set, a camera can be attached at the roof of the cafà © to capture information on people entering the car park and determine what they would normally order at that particular time of the day. Also, it would allow the cafà © to keep track of its regular customers and their demands, thus, have the items available for them without having them wait in lines. This can be done before a customer enters the cafà ©. The software would also enable in ensuring whether the cafà © has enough of the products that that would be demanded by the customer such as a particular type of coffee. Although the implementation of such a software would be costly at its initial stage, it w ould be beneficial for cafà © in future as it is located in Suva, to obtain customer satisfaction and where people are always in rush. Thus, demand planning software would be a great benefit for the cafà ©. Like Netflix, we would not see cafà © becoming a supplier in another business supply such as hotel industry since our cafà © itself is very small at this stage. First, it needs to widen its customer base with the help of demand planning software and online ordering system (electronic ordering). Since our cafà © has a website, we could include in that a feature where customers order online, paying through credit cards or paying subscription fee for being in that account. The cafà © can based on customers order deliver the items to the customer within the Suva area if large quantities are ordered such as Pizza King which delivers pizza to people living in urban and suburban areas. Moreover, a customer would also order online so that before their arrival in cafà ©, the items are prepared for them before hand such as coffee. Thus, innovating ordering system would also attract more customers in the cafà ©. With the help of these supply chain technologies, the cafà © can expand its customer base and from there on can think bigger and better options such as becoming supplier of coffee/coffee beans to hotels or other businesses such as MacDonald. MAKING BUSINESS DECISION I The success of any business depends on its ability of short and long term planning. As a concerned business operator, I would always maintain some inventory in my warehouse for such unexpected events especially coffee beans which are in demand. Since not being able to meet customer demand would lead to losing out customers. Thus, our cafà © would keep with its operation regardless of disruption in supply chain du to dockworkers strike and would run on warehouse inventory (Brazil Beans, China Tea and custom Coffee press machines). Moreover, based on available inventory analysis in the warehouse, we would determine how long supply would last. Is our warehouse inventory wouldnt be able to meet up with the disruption period, we would resort to redundant suppliers since all suppliers wont be affected at once with the same problem. We would consider our temporary local suppliers such as Nestle to supply us with similar products as long as we are able to operate efficiently, although the cost in emergency need may be higher than usual price paid to our fixed suppliers. Since the cafà © has been going towards demand-driven manufacturing, Radio Frequency Identification Technologies (RFIT) would be the newest and most efficient solution to supply chain problems. RFIT is the most valuable technology to track inventory. If inventory level in any case would be low, it would trigger automatic alert to our suppliers. It is an important device in global transportation both land and sea. It ensures that inventory level are checked and replenished on need by need basis. Although this strategy would be bit costly for the cafà © in the initial stage at present, it would provide benefits in the future. Another strategy I would recommend is to create a position as freight specialist whose job would be to enable transportation of products in whatever the situation maybe and at any cost. The freight specialist would guarantee that products would reach the cafà © on time to meet customer demand and if not than they would be responsible for the loss. MAKING BUSINESS DECISION II Broadway cafà © No move Broadway Cafà © Units sold per month: 20,000 Unit variable costs: $0.50 Average unit sales price: $2.20 Current fixed costs: $5,000 Added lease payment, new offices: $2,500 Projected fixed costs: $7,500 Sales month Units Sales Fixed Costs Variable Costs EBIT January 6,582 $14,480 $5,000 $3,291 $6,189 February 11,121 $24,466 $5,000 $5,561 $13,906 March 14,178 $31,192 $5,000 $7,089

The Powerful Settings of Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay

The Powerful Settings of Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown Setting can be a powerful literary device, and Nathaniel Hawthorne wields it to great effect. There are four major settings in Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† and they all take place in Salem. This essay is an examination of those settings and their effects. The tale opens in a doorway as the reader is presented with two lovers saying goodbye. The two lovers are Goodman Brown, who is eager to leave for his adventure; and his wife Faith Brown, who is desperately trying to dissuade him from leaving the house tonight. In this setting, the main elements induce feelings that are positive, bright, and hopeful – a sunset, a familiar street and home, and the pink ribbons in Faith’s cap. Goodman’s positive setting doesn’t last very long, however. As he walks down the street past the meeting house, his surroundings undergo a drastic change. Goodman’s path takes him onto a "dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind."†His new se... ...ne Review 19 (Spring 1993): 18-21. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Complete Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc.,1959. The Holy Bible, King James Version-Old and New Testaments, with the Apocrypha   http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html James, Henry. Hawthorne. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997. Martin, Terence. Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Twayne Publishers Inc., 1965. Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.

Computers In Business :: essays research papers

Computers In Business - ------------------------- In the business world today, computers and the software applications that run on them basically control a well organized business. Every major company is equipped with a computer, or network that connects through different branches throughout the firm. Computer Hardware: To keep up with the fastest technology that dominates the market is to be a sensible buyer. A system can be outdated in a matter of two years time. Software applications based on today's needs require more hard disk space and speed to run efficiently. The most powerful system would be the 586 machine which was developed in November, 1992. The space required on a business system depends on the firm. If a company has a network, their memory would range on the applications required to run the system productively. A one to three gigabyte hard drive would be most common for businesses. To keep these applications on the computer, you need a fair amount of RAM memory as well as hard disk space. An application developed in 1993, probably will be to powerful and run quite slow on a previous system that was 'top of the line' in 1991. That's why it is important for companies to understand that they must think years down the road before spending thousands of dollars on the technology of today. The best way is to prepare for the future such as making sure your mainframe is upgradeable and contains at least 8 expansion slots, which should already be loaded with enhanced graphics cards, the necessary amount of serial ports etc.. Networks are everywhere in the world of business. A network is a series of computers throughout the company which rely on one or two fileservers. Or it can be used in long distance communication through modem. An example would be that a company located in Calgary can call up its other branch in Toronto via modem, also able to up and download valuable files or records. Networks have their disadvantages also. Computer viruses are always present somewhere in a disk or computer system ready to strike. If an over powering, destructive virus enters a network system, all data can be severely damaged or lost completely. That's why there is back-up drives to store existing data that is written onto the disk each day. Anti virus programs are there to alert the user and wipe the virus off the system before it does any destruction to the data stored on the network. As far as practicality and mobility is concerned, the laptop has been around for quite a long time. A laptop computer is a Computers In Business :: essays research papers Computers In Business - ------------------------- In the business world today, computers and the software applications that run on them basically control a well organized business. Every major company is equipped with a computer, or network that connects through different branches throughout the firm. Computer Hardware: To keep up with the fastest technology that dominates the market is to be a sensible buyer. A system can be outdated in a matter of two years time. Software applications based on today's needs require more hard disk space and speed to run efficiently. The most powerful system would be the 586 machine which was developed in November, 1992. The space required on a business system depends on the firm. If a company has a network, their memory would range on the applications required to run the system productively. A one to three gigabyte hard drive would be most common for businesses. To keep these applications on the computer, you need a fair amount of RAM memory as well as hard disk space. An application developed in 1993, probably will be to powerful and run quite slow on a previous system that was 'top of the line' in 1991. That's why it is important for companies to understand that they must think years down the road before spending thousands of dollars on the technology of today. The best way is to prepare for the future such as making sure your mainframe is upgradeable and contains at least 8 expansion slots, which should already be loaded with enhanced graphics cards, the necessary amount of serial ports etc.. Networks are everywhere in the world of business. A network is a series of computers throughout the company which rely on one or two fileservers. Or it can be used in long distance communication through modem. An example would be that a company located in Calgary can call up its other branch in Toronto via modem, also able to up and download valuable files or records. Networks have their disadvantages also. Computer viruses are always present somewhere in a disk or computer system ready to strike. If an over powering, destructive virus enters a network system, all data can be severely damaged or lost completely. That's why there is back-up drives to store existing data that is written onto the disk each day. Anti virus programs are there to alert the user and wipe the virus off the system before it does any destruction to the data stored on the network. As far as practicality and mobility is concerned, the laptop has been around for quite a long time. A laptop computer is a

Crimes and Misdemeanors Essay

For the past fifty years, director and actor Woody Allen has evoked much laughter from his neurotic-style comedies. Less recognized, however, is his fascinating ability in utilizing both his stunning, humorous wit along with several philosophical concepts. Such a combination creates an engaged and thoroughly entertained audience, as well as a mentally-stimulated one. In his movie â€Å"Crimes and Misdemeanors,† the philosophical concepts Allen touches upon deal with ethical and moral issues. What does ‘do the right thing’ really entail; why not do the opposite if it leads to one’s personal success? In the absence of a God, who’s to say whether the choices we make are right or wrong? Answering these questions say much about the way one sees the world. This movie investigates such questions by intertwining two separate, parallel plots: the tragic story of Judah, and the comedic story led by Cliff Stern . There are two key moral positions that underlie the entire movie: Those with faith in God perceive the world as morally structured, forgiving, and full of true meaning. Those who do not believe in a God see the world as empty, pitiless, and devoid of meaning. After watching this movie for the third time, a consistent metaphor that integrates these positions revealed itself. Throughout the movie, nearly every scene visually and verbally involves the use of ‘eyes’ to symbolize our perceptions on how we see the world, and how people do not see themselves and events the way others may see it. Although there are several elements, characters, and events worthy of an individual analysis, this paper will concentrate on how Allen’s film represents eyes to unveil hidden truths. To illustrate the use of ‘eyes’ in this film I will investigate its role in the lives of Judah, Cliff, and Rabbi Ben. Keep in mind that all four of these characters each wear over-emphasized glasses. Within the first few minutes of the film, Judah reveals he makes his living as an ophthalmologist. Judah’s occupation certainly comes as no coincidence, for it stems from his religious past. During a speech at a charity dinner, Judah relates to the audience this past: â€Å"I’m a man of science. I’ve always been a skeptic, but I was raised quite religiously, and while I challenged it even as a child, some of that feeling must have stuck with me. † He continues to say that his father once told him, â€Å"the eyes of God are on us always. Although he revokes his religious background, it’s apparent that this ‘feeling that stuck with him’ manifested itself in his occupation; in order to fill a void which religion would fill. With the removal of â€Å"God’s eyes,† Judah made the, perhaps unconscious, decision to take up a job that deals with seei ng†¦ thus assuming the role of God. He rhetorically asks the audience, â€Å"What were God’s eyes like? Unimaginably penetrating, intense eyes I assumed. † Judah’s relationship with his father left him with a sense of awe and fear of these â€Å"intense eyes† that could see past his deceitful acts. So, his concern with vision arises from his compulsion to hide the blemishes of his character. It’s evident that Judah sees himself as a moral man: wealth, success, and a valuable role in the community are reinforced by images of him wearing a tuxedo as he’s accompanied by his family. This â€Å"family man† portrayal describes Judah’s external appearance. Wouldn’t a man blessed with this amount of success persisted in doing â€Å"the right thing† all along? Judah’s morality is put into question once his mistress sends a letter to his wife, exposing Judah’s devious actions (Judah destroys the letter immediately before his wife sees it). Judah saw no troubles in fooling around, for his efforts made him happy and he was never caught (there is no God to see his immoral choices). The letter breaks Judah’s illusions of this fantasy world he’s been living. Judah says â€Å"it’s as if I’ve awaken from a dream,† to reinforce how he must now face reality. Interestingly enough, at this point Judah now wears a pair of glasses, when forced to look at his values and actions from a different perspective. So in Judah’s case, these glasses represent his inability to see the true nature of the world, which has now directly confronted him. Judah’s brother, Jack (who sets up for the mistress to be killed), accuses him of not â€Å"living in the real world,† due to his state of wealth and privilege. Judah’s success composes this blindness he has of the â€Å"real world. † Jack, defined as pragmatic and amoral, lives in this apparent â€Å"real world† for he represents honesty and a lack of illusions even though he exemplifies unjustness. Essentially Judah and Jack adhere to the same moral, or immoral, compass. However Jack acknowledges his lack of morality, while Judah’s success leads him to falsely believe he embodies ‘rightness. Jack represents the dark and immoral side of Judah’s consciousness. With his mistress unable to listen to â€Å"logic† and â€Å"reason† Judah states, â€Å"I manage to keep free of that real world, but suddenly it’s found me. † Darkness overpowering Judah’s conscious, results in the death of his mistress. Post-murder, guilt plagues Judah, leading him to consider confessing. The camera consistently focuses on his eyes, showing the audience Judah’s shock and dismay towards his own behavior. Afflicted with hallucinations of his religious past, he repeatedly hears the words from his father: â€Å"God sees all. Latent, unconscious beliefs in God awaken in Judah’s mind. In reference to the murder he says, â€Å"God have mercy on us, Jack† and â€Å"Without God, the world is a cesspool. † Judah’s guilt originates from his fear of getting caught as well as this â€Å"moral code† which has now been violated. Fear of â€Å"God’s eyes† or perhaps even Judahs father’s law dominate his mind as if they watch his every move, exposing his actions. The film shows Judah consistently looking left and right implying that â€Å"something† watches him. A final blatantly philosophical dialogue takes place as Judah visits his childhood house and envisions a past debate his family members had over morality. According to his father’s religious view, he will be punished even if he is not caught since â€Å"that which originates from a black deed will blossom in a foul manner. † This crime that Judah committed will some way or another be punished. As an opposition, his Aunt Mae provides the model which the film follows: â€Å"I say if he can do it and get away with it, and he chooses not to be bothered by the ethics, then he’s home free. Aunt Mae also encourages Judah’s father to â€Å"open his eyes,† disclosing the fact that six million Jews were murdered and Hitler got away with it. We all want to believe that we live in a perfect, moral world where justice is served, however this does not exhibit how the world really is. In fact, Judah proves his Aunt operates as a sort of Oracle. After a period of fear and irritability, Judah proceeds to live his happy life. Guilt passes, and the momentary belief in God grows quiet once more. One morning Judah opens his eyes and sees his conscious is guilt-free and the â€Å"crisis is lifted. Judah comes to ‘see’ that God is not watching, and in a world devoid of divine presence, all acts are permissible†¦ including murder. In Judah’s world, the â€Å"eyes of God† are attributed to himself. That determines his internal appearance. The second story line deals with a self-styled, passionate yet unsuccessful idealist filmmaker named Cliff (played by Woody Allen). In the opening of this narrative strand, Cliff delivers his beliefs on his world view to his niece after watching a movie: â€Å"Don’t listen to what your teachers tell you, just see what they look like, that’s how you’ll know what life’s really about. Cliff asserts that observing and questioning another’s motives elic its their values and true nature. Just listening and accepting the superficial, external appearance leads to a false impression and ignorance. To shatter this external appearance, Cliff uses film as a tool for exposing these lesser known ‘realities. ‘ In fact, ‘eyes’ are symbolized again through filmmaking as a method for displaying new perspectives. Relating to Judah’s world, by the film’s eye the audience maintains the ability to see past his artifice which other characters are blind to. Furthermore, in a movie that deals with God and seeing, the audience acquires those â€Å"God-like eyes† that see all; that Judah feared. In Cliff’s case, he uses film to exploit his foil, Lester. Cliff directs a documentary about television producer Lester (described as rich, famous, and successful), for a program entitled â€Å"Creative Minds. † Contrary to others, Cliff perceives Lester as shallow, pompous, and sub-mental. Lester supports his egotism by referring to his â€Å"closet full of Emmys† as an item that symbolizes material success. Cliff only directs the movie to gain financial support for his documentary about a philosopher named Professor Levy. Cliff describes his philosophical film as more substantial: â€Å"See no limos, no bimbos, no awards. This guy is just a thinker, an intellect. † The tension between Lester comes as a classic ‘flash vs. substance’ debate. Cliff prefers to create films that mentally-stimulate, rather than mindlessly entertain his audience. He wants to film quality films that matter, and have potential to change the world. Lester sees such ambitions as ‘grandiose fantasies’, favoring frivolous material that will sell and further his fame, usually synonymous with crass commercialism. In the real world, high aspirations do not pay off, you’ve got to deliver. All delivery, no essence. Flash and delivery mask our stigmas and flaws. Creativity sacrificed in return for power and money. Other characters in the film fail to see Lester’s pomposity, because they have been seduced and falsely impressed by his charisma and wealth. Cliff receives a minor victory over Lester when they preview a few scenes Cliff pulled together for the documentary. This short film reveals Lester seducing a mindless woman, compares him to Mussolini, and has his voice synced over an image of a donkey. The woman represents his shallowness, the donkey as a literal ‘jackass’, and the comparison to Mussolini represents Lester’s narcissism and hunger for power. The fact that Lester’s superficiality rewards him with power ticks Cliff off most, perhaps with a dose of jealousy. As he watches himself from this new perspective, a faint glimmer and widening of Lester’s eye acknowledges the fact that he ‘may not be perfect’ as Lester likes to put it. However he abandons the thought that he ‘deadens the sensibilities of a great democracy’ as Cliff loves to point out. In other words, this documentary was supposed to create a ‘profile of a creative mind’, however Cliff painted a picture of what he saw instead. Lester refuses to fully accept these notions, affirming this view does not represent the ‘real me’. Cliff questioned Lester’s values, and this contradiction of perceptions lead to Cliff’s removal from the film. As a sub-plot, both Cliff and Lester compete over an associate woman producer, Halley. In Cliff’s world, he believes he will truly win the girl over due to his values. The film hints at this: it shows Halley shrugging off Lester, making sarcastic comments towards him, and taking interest in Cliff’s side projects. At first, both Cliff and Halley see Lester through the same lens that the preview portrayed him as. During a wedding reception towards the end of the movie, the camera does an excellent job in illustrating how the opposite happens. A slight glimpse reveals Lester and Halley embracing each other, implying they are together. Without any words spoken, the camera depicts what Cliff thinks by focusing intensely on his eyes. A couple of things can be taken from this: Halley up until this point appears with glasses on. With Lester, she removes her glasses. Halley abandons her glasses, only after she abandons her values. With virtue thrown out the window, she nows sees the once pompous and arrogant Lester as ‘endearing’. Camera focusing on Cliff’s eyes suggests he is in utter disbelief. In his eyes, Cliff deserved the girl, for he promoted grander values. In his world, such atrocities do not occur. He utters a small phrase, â€Å"This is my worst fear realized. † The fear that the world does not operate in accordance with his inner-values. In the end, Cliff’s espoused idealism led to his ultimate downfall. Clinging to beliefs creates an illusion, an illusion that may betray us. A rabbi named Ben links together both plots. Morality, faith, and forgiveness make up Ben’s character (even Judah and Cliff refer to Ben as a ‘saint’). Ben embodies all the qualities that Judah’s father possessed, they both adhere to religious beliefs. At his core, Ben conceives â€Å"Without moral structure, there’s no basis to know how to live! † Ben relies upon objective, absolute rules to guide his behavior. Contrary to Jack, Ben represents the latent religious beliefs of Judah’s unconscious. However, Ben’s vision appears to deteriorate as the movie progresses. Ben literally goes blind in the movie. Figuratively Ben’s blindness foreshadows the coming ‘sins’ that occur, and signifies the immoral atmosphere that underlies this movie. Also, Ben’s blindness generalizes the fact that all religions are blind to the cruelty and corruption of the world. When Ben asks Judah if his issues with the mistress were resolved, he bluffs saying the woman eventually ‘gave up and moved away’. Ben responds â€Å"You got lucky! † Completely oblivious and blind to the actual murder, Ben trusts Judah’s word. As Judah’s success led to his blindness, Ben’s religion does as well. Judah points out Ben resides in the â€Å"kingdom of heaven. † In order to have faith one must disregard the negative, reinforce the positive, and believe we live in a just world. Through the lens of this â€Å"kingdom of heaven† justice is served. By dimming the lights on sinful acts, one can happily live about their life in sheltered ignorance. As the film comes to an end, a scene presents Ben sporting a pair of black glasses. These glasses indicate Ben has gone fully blind, and so has all moralities in this movie. By the end of the film, God abandoned all of society. The universe is indifferent to our actions: an apparent depiction of how the real world truly exists. â€Å"Crimes and Misdemeanors† illustrates an existential truth. We all have fantasies, stories we tell ourselves about our expectations of the world. These expectations usually fail to correlate with the way the world really is. We live in an imperfect and Godless world. The murderer prospers, the virtuous man fails, and the superficial succeed. The good guy does not always get the girl. Open your eyes, realize that all meaning is man-made. Realize that without an objective law mankind is free. Free to choose how we develop ourselves in this world, and where we look to for meaning. The individual is the arbiter on how to live. Our actions define us, not our dogmas. In the words of Professor Levy: â€Å"We define ourselves by the choices we make. We are, in fact, the sum total of our choices. Events unfold so unpredictably, so unfairly. It is only we, with your capacity to love that gives meaning to the indifferent universe. †