Data Analysis using two way repeated measure ANOVA Statistics Project

Data Analysis using two way repeated measure ANOVA - Statistics Project Example h course abroad, the second group enrolled themselves in a short course and the third group comprises of students who are the alumni of the American University and have completed the IEP requirements. The methodology of the test is that, all the participants irrespective of the group which they belong to, are subjected to two sets of observations – the first, before they received an English education and the second, after they received one. After the required data is collected, comparisons are made between the differences in the levels of omissions for all the students irrespective of their education. 1. H01: There is a significant difference in the levels of omission between the class of students who never enrolled themselves in any English course with the class of students who have completed a short course in English. 2. H02: There is a significant difference in the levels of omission between the class of students who have completed a short course in English with the class of students who have completed the IEP requirements. Before any lessons on English education was imparted, the people who received no English education from abroad are found to make an average of 15 mistakes against 20 mistakes of those who have received a short education from abroad. However, the standard deviation is found to be very high for the latter implying that the number of mistakes is heterogeneous among the population. On the other hand, after both the classes received English education, the numbers of mistakes were significantly reduced for both the classes. However, it was found to be lower for the second group than the first; even the standard deviation measures were lower for the second group as well implying that there was a considerable and uniform improvement in knowledge among the latter group. The descriptive statistics table in support of the above statements has been presented as under – To test the aforesaid hypothesis (H01), the relevant statistic is the

Project Involving the Evaluation of a Website Coursework

Project Involving the Evaluation of a Website - Coursework Example The study will be divided into two different sections. First, will be the introduction of the website in regards to the 7Cs of website evaluation. This will facilitate assessment whether the choice of website is appropriate and also to evaluate the purpose of the website. The website must be able to cater for the regulation, customers’ diversity, and data protection requirements. This is why the assessments of context, content, community, customization, communication, connection and commerce are necessary. It is essential that evaluation of website meets the standard criteria. Evaluation is a process of assessing the subject in accordance to set of rules that are applicable. IKKS website assessment is not exceptional and must be evaluated as per set criteria. The second study will be founded on the Webqual 2.0, where accessibility is analyzed in details. Across the bench of 13 questions, individuals can assess the weaknesses and strengths of the website (Suh 2005).For enforcin g the website to have striking features and attract customers’ attention, it is necessary to enforce four key recommendations. First, the product may improve through bricks and clicks development, this awaits further discussion the subsequent sections. Secondly, the IKKS site ought to enhance its good judgment of society so as to award potential customers a genuine logic of corporation social responsibility. Thirdly, study and ranking of the web in accordance to the Amit and Zott forces in sequence of importance; the strategies would involve most important, 2nd most importance, 3rd most important and lastly least important. E-commerce is increasing in significance for both businesses and individuals leading to penalties for how corporations compete. Creating worth for customers that outstands the rivalry has turned into vital for firms contending through e-commerce. Business structures are generated and applied for the particular reason to contend and generate a competitive a dvantage. The website of IKKS has incorporated most of e-business requirements. Introduction Evaluating IKKS website involve assessment of the website in regard to e-business evaluation criteria.Evaluation is a methodical determination of a topic's merit, value and importance, using criteria administered by a set of principles. It can help an organization, plan, project or any extra intervention or inventiveness to evaluate any aim, realizable notion/proposal, or any option, to assist in decision-making; or to establish the level of accomplishment or value in regard to the objectives and purpose and outcomes of any such activity that has been accomplished. IKKS evaluation involves the assessments of context, content, community, customization, communication, connection and commerce. These are the 7Cs that I would use to evaluate the website (Workshop on E-Business & Wei 2002). The context of IKKS website contains aesthetic and practical feel-and-look. It is evident websites have opted to focus a lot on striking graphics, colours and invent structures, while some have accentua ted simpler utilitarian objectives, such as simplicity of scrolling. On the basis of the context, IKKS website has aesthetic, functional look and feel and utilitarian objectives. The images and graphics are attractive and the ease of navigation for more material is present (Workshop on E-Business & Wei 2002). Respective pictures within the website are navigation links to various departments or sections of the website and companies details. In IKKS website

The Balanced Scorecard and Its Application to Hospitality Businesess Essay Example for Free

The Balanced Scorecard and Its Application to Hospitality Businesess Essay This essay will try to explore the role of the Balanced Scorecard in today’s organisations, in particular in hospitality businesses. The research will start by exploring performance measurement and later will describe the basics of the Balanced Scorecard to finish with a practical example of the implications of not applying correctly a performance measurement system in a hospitality business. Performance measurement is described by Neely et al (1995) as the process of quantifying action, where measurement is the process of quantification and action leads to performance. Therefore performance measure is the metric used to quantify the efficiency and effectiveness of an action. These actions refers in other words to the changes that an organisation experiment by achieving performance goals through allocating and prioritising resources. This valuable information is later used by managers to conform or modify their strategies in order to meet these goals. Performance measurement is crucial in today’s organisations because: †¢It helps identifying and tracking progress against organisational goals †¢It helps comparing performance against both internal and external standards. Ensures customer requirements have been met †¢Helps setting sensible objectives and work towards them †¢Provides a physical scoreboard for employees to monitor their performance †¢Highlights quality problems and suggest areas for action (Kald and Nilsson 2000) Within this context, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) can be described as a strategic performance management framework that integrates a coherent set of performance measures with the organisation’s strategic plan. This allows organisations to define their strategic priorities and design indicators to monitor how well they are executing their strategy. Kaplan Norton, 1992). The main innovation from this approach is that it provides a multifaceted view of the organisation’s performance and balances the traditionally observed financial measures with other operational non-financial measures. The architects of the Balanced Scorecard, professor Robert Kaplan and David Norton believed that traditional performance measures based on financial information alone provide a very partial and short-term view of the performance of an organisation as they measure past performance and offer very little to support organisations on their quality journey. Kaplan Norton 1996). In this aspect, other analysts have added that financial measurements alone are insufficient to provide relevant information about a company’s root problems (Malone Sinnett, 2005), it overlooks the intangible enablers of the business (Norreklit, 2000) and disregards value creation (Bicheno, 2008). All this comes to demonstrate that financial measures are simply a consequence of operational activities and only by getting the fundamentals right, the organisation will be able to provide successful financial results. Taking all this into account, Kaplan and Norton identified the most intuitive components of a company’s strategy and created a more robust and balanced set of measurements that go beyond the financials. It all starts with a vision or a strategic goal and from there managers articulate a set of objectives, measures and targets in four key perspectives. The first is the financial perspective or how do the company look to shareholders. Metrics like the return on investment and residual income provide still valuable information but as already mentioned, not enough to create future value. In order to deliver any financial objectives, we need first to deliver to customers, which is the second perspective. In this perspective are articulated performance measures related to customer satisfaction and the key performance indicators should answer to the question, how customers see us?. In a similar way, in order to do well what the company does for the customers, it is necessary to identify what are the vital things the organisation needs to excel at in order to implement the strategy. This is the third perspective and Kaplan and Norton call it internal processes. This approach measures aspects related to the core of the what the organisation does in order to generate profit. Finally the fourth perspective looks at the intangible enablers of the business or the learning and growth perspective. Aspects like retaining the right human capital and keeping them engaged, investing in a good IT infrastructure, or having the right organisation culture, will help the business to do the right things internally, which helps to deliver to the customer which ultimately helps to deliver the financial objectives. A very important step is choosing the aspects the company will measure in order to achieve the strategic vision. These measures are known as key performance indicators (KPI’s). Choosing the appropriate KPI’s is a crucial as they will monitor the progress towards specific goals. According to Kaplan Norton (1996), KPI’s should be meaningful, unambiguous and easy to understand by all the members of the organisation. They should collect relevant data embedded in the normal organisation’s procedures, they also need to be able to drive improvement and should be intrinsically linked to the critical goals and key drivers of the organisation. In order to implement the Balanced Scorecard approach, Kaplan Norton (1996) identified three levels of information. The first level sits at the very top of the organisation and is where the corporate objectives are defined, the second one translates the corporate targets into more specific targets for each business unit and the third is the team and individual level where specific objectives are articulated which means that everyone in the organisation is aligned with the top level objectives. Since its creation in the 1990’s, the BSC has evolved from a simple dashboard of performance measures into a comprehensive management system that aims to channel the abilities and specific knowledge of each member of the organisation towards achieving long term strategic goals. Due to its simplicity, it is reported that it was the most widely adopted performance measurement framework in 2010. Over 50% of Fortune 1000 firms now use the BSC methodology and an estimate 85% have adopted some kind of performance measurement. Also, the BSC was selected by a panel from the Harvard Business Review as one of the most influential management ideas of the past 75 years. (Harvard Business Review, 2013) However, the implementation of the BSC is not free of challenges and many authors find numerous flaws. Thomas (2004) for instance argue that the BSC simply provides a list of metric results and lacks recommendations and advice. Besides there is little evidence that shows that the use of the BSC improves decision making as many companies seem to fail to act on its findings. Smith (2013) also highlights other important concerns when implementing the BSC: -There is a risk for unclear and poorly designed metrics. -There is a lack of efficient data collection and reporting, particularly non-financial metrics. -It has no process improvement methodology. -It is very inwardly focused. If environmental factors such as threats and Opportunities are not considered, the BSC may not present a correct picture of the organisation in the market. Critical assessment of the application of the BSC in a hospitality business Although the BSC has been deployed widely amongst businesses, government organisations and even non-profit organisations, research show that it has been minimally applied within hospitality businesses (Gunasekaran et al. 2001). In my own personal experience working for Premium Country Dining Group, part of Mitchells Butlers, the leading operator of restaurants and pubs in the UK, I have struggled to perceive evidence of the implementation of the BSC or any other framework for performance measurement in the business. After 15 months working for the organisation I still don’t know what the company’s strategic objectives are in the short term and what specific contributions towards those goals are expected from me as an employee. Is difficult to identify who is to blame for this, but the reality is that the strategic vision hasn’t permeated down the organisation. On the contrary, every day I see evidence that comes to show that the main source of comparative information used to measure performance and efficiency are still the traditional financial and accounting reports, which has been proven to provide a poor and inadequate view of the business in terms of helping decision making and provide strategic directions. Financial ratios such as net operating profit, labour costs or average covers per day are commonly used in the business to evaluate performance and are the main factors considered when forecasting in terms of ordering of food and drink, preparation levels of food and staffing. These ratios along with good doses of intuition and past experience seem to be the main drivers to lead the company which in words of Kaplan and Norton (1996) is like trying to drive a car just by looking at the mirrors. Although the restaurant has the customer at its core. Although both front and back of the house do their best in order to provide a quality product, quick service and the best customer experience possible and although the company’s motto: â€Å"Simply amazing pubs† may give a hint about the strategic direction of the company, all these are failing to materialize because of the lack of a solid strategic performance management framework and a good set of key performance indicators that could highlight where are we failing, why customers complain and why our business is buried down on the Tripadvisor rankings and there is no plans for action. It is obvious that the company is disregarding the internal processes, as can be seen in the high staff turnover, lack of encouragement for employees to grow, and tight cost-control in maintenance which leads to difficulties in doing our job effectively. This consequently leads to long waiting times for customers and a poor service due to short staffing (customer perspective), and ultimately this poor service and unsatisfied customers affects the much regarded financial results. Definitely a more organised approach to process design and the inclusion of non-financial performance dimensions would result in an increase of overall business effectiveness. Conclusion This research has found that the Balanced Scorecard or any other framework for measuring performance such as the performance pyramid, the performance matrix or the EFQM business excellence model, are effective tools in bringing together previously disparate measures into more coherent models. In the case of the BSC, it has proven to be particularly successful in adding a much needed non-financial perspective to measuring performance and as Fitzgerald et al (1991) points, encouraging organisations to continually improve, innovate and expand their capabilities in order to gain competitive advantage, understand customer’s needs and adapt to the changing environment.

Comparison Of Land Line And Mobile Phones

Comparison Of Land Line And Mobile Phones No one can ever forget Alexander Graham Bell, who is credited as the inventor of Telephone. With innovation and advancement in technology, the simple two way communicating device has taken a new form popularly known as mobile phone. We have reached an era where it is very common to hear words like I cant live without mobile phone. Cell phone has become a part of our daily life.. Let it be business deals, any personal work or meetings everything today can be done with the help of mobile phone. A Mobile Phone, Cell Phone or Hand Phone is an electronic device which lets the user to be mobile and make or receive telephone calls across a wide geographical area, served by many public cells. The calls could be made to and received from either a fixed line or another mobile. Mobile phone uses a wireless network for communication i.e. a network which is which is not connected by cables of any kind. Base Station (BS).Each base station is in turn is connected to a central hub and is controlled by this switching office, also known as Mobile Switching Center (MSC). MSC is nothing else but a computerized center that is responsible for connecting calls, recording call information and billing. The communication between all the base stations and the telephone central office is coordinated by MSC. PSTN connects all conventional telephone switching centers with MSCs throughout the world. Also, the cell size is not fixed and can be increased or decreased depending on the population of the area. Generally, the radius is kept 1 to 12 mi. In comparison to low density areas, high density areas require more geographically smaller cells to meet the traffic demands. Once the cell is determined, the cell size is optimized so that the adjacent cells signals are not interfered. For this purpose, the transmission power of each cell is kept low to prevent its signal from interfering with those of other cells. Block Diagram of cellular Network Difference between Fixed Line and Mobile Phone In case of public switched telephone network (PSTN), the landline trunked lines (trunks) are used for transfer of information. These trunks comprise of fiber optic cables, copper cables, microwave links and satellite links. The network configuration in the PSTN is virtually static as the changes in the network connections would be required only when the subscriber would change the residence. Wireless networks, on the other hand are highly dynamic, wherein the network configuration is to be rearranged every time the subscriber moves into the coverage region of new base station. Unlike fixed networks which are difficult to change, wireless networks must reconfigure themselves for users within small intervals of time (on the fraction of seconds) to provide roaming and imperceptible handoffs between calls as a mobiles moves about. The available channel bandwidth for fixed networks can be increased by installing high capacity cables whereas wireless networks are constrained by RF cellular bandwidth provided for each user. Frequency Reuse Principle Increasing the capacity and coverage area is the key feature of any cellular network and this can be accomplished by re-using the frequency. It is true that to avoid interference, neighboring cells should not use same frequency but as the frequencies available is limited, they can be reused. A frequency reuse pattern is nothing else but a collection of N cells arranged together where N is the reuse factor, in which each cell uses a unique set of frequencies. The frequencies can be reused whenever the pattern is repeated. F1,F2, F3,and F4 in the above diagram define the pattern with the reuse factor of 4.The cells that use the same frequencies(ones with the same frequency number) are known as reusing cells. Transmitting and Receiving Calls Whenever user makes a call from cell phone, the mobile station searches for a band with a strong signal to setup a channel and send the data to the closest base station using that channel. The base station then connects to Mobile Switching Center (MSC) and passes the data to it. MSC further passes the data to the telephone central office. A connection is established and result is sent back to MSC, if the called party is available. At this point MSC assigns an unused voice channel to the call and mobile station automatically adjusts its tuning to the new channel so that communication can take place. Whenever a call is made to a mobile phone , the central office of the telephone from where the call has been initiated sends the number to the MSC.MSC in turn sends the query signals to each cell in process to find out the location of mobile station. This process is called paging. Once the mobile station is found MSC sends the ringing signal to it and after the station answers, a voice channel is assigned to the call for the communication to begin. Handoff The process of transferring the connected or on going call from one channel to another in order to prevent the termination of call is known as Handoff or Handover. Whenever the mobile station moves from one cell to another and signal becomes weak, handover is required. MSC monitors the level of signal every few seconds and if it finds the strength of signal diminishing then it searches for a new cell wherein better communication can take place. There are two types of handoff: Hard Handoff: In this case, a mobile station communicates only with one base station. When the mobile station moves from one cell to another, the connection with the target cell is established only when the connection from the source is broken. Thus, such handovers are also known as break-before-make. Soft Handoff: In this case, a mobile station can communicate with two base stations so there is no need of breaking from the source cell to make a connection to a target cell. Instead, a mobile station may continue with a new connection while retaining the older one for a while. Thus, such handovers are known as make-before-break. Access Technologies Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA): FDMA is a technique in which the spectrum is divided into frequencies and is assigned to users. The channel is assigned to only one subscriber or user at a time i.e. A channel will remain blocked until the call which was initially made has completed. A full duplex FDMA requires two channels, one for sending or transmitting the data and another for receiving. FDMA technology was used in first generation systems, which were analog systems. Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA): TDMA splits each frequency into time slots thus improving spectrum capacity. In TDMA technology, each user is allowed to access the entire radio frequency channel for the short period of a call. The same frequency channel can be shared by other users as well at different time slots. The base station continually switches from user to user on the channel. The second generation mobile cellular network is dominated by TDMA. Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA): CDMA simply means communicating with different codes. It allows all the users to occupy all channels at the same time thus increasing the spectrum capacity. Each voice or data call is assigned a unique code, so that calls could be differentiated from each other while being carried over the same spectrum. In case of CDMA terminals can communicate with various base stations using the feature known as soft hand-off. Mobile Generations: Evolution from 1G to 3G With the rapid advances in technology and the greater selection of new wireless services and applications the mobile has grown through various generations fulfilling the increasing demands of its users. First Generation (1G) mobile phones were analog which had only voice facility. Additional facilities like messaging and data services, fax were introduced in digital phones known as Second Generation (2G) mobile phones. The third generation mobile phones (3G) which are being talked about a lot nowadays, includes high speed of internet browsing, picture and video messaging facilities. In short, multimedia facilities when added to the second generation mobiles (2G) gave birth to the third Generation mobile phones. First Generation Mobile System: The cellular networks were introduced in 1980s and since then it has not stopped growing. The first generation mobiles were analog systems with the capability of transmitting at the speed of 9.6 kbps max. At that time there was no worldwide coordination for the development of technical standards worldwide. AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System) was invented in Bell Labs and was installed in United States in 1982.When used in England and Japan it was known as TACS and MCS-L1.In 1G mobile systems roaming was not possible and efficient use of frequency spectrum was not there. Second Generation Mobile System: ETSI was created in Europe in mid 1980s to standardize the mobile communication sector. This standardization lead to the beginning of new network which was based on digital technology and popularly known as Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM).GSM was actually introduced to add more services to the actual network as well as meet the requirements of data traffic. GSM consists of the following three main components: 1. Base Station Subsystem 2.Network Subsystem 3.Network Management System Base Station Subsystem: It consists of Base Transreceiver Station (BTS), Base Station Controller (BSC) and Transcoder sub-multiplexer (TCSM).BTS is the network component that manages the interface between mobile station and the network. Mobile terminals are connected to the BTS through the air interface. BTS makes use of omnidirectional or directional antennas for transmission and reception. BSC provides major functions like handover and managing radio resources. Network Subsystem: Network subsystem is basically an interface between the public network and GSM network. All the communication between mobile users and other users (ISDN, fixed, mobile) is managed by NSS. The databases of subscriber and is also kept with NSS to manage users mobility. Various components of NSS are described below: 1) Mobile Switching Center (MSC): It is the most important component that performs switching functions necessary for interconnections between mobile users and other users (fixed or mobile). 2) GMSC: To connect the cellular network with PSTN, a gateway known as GMSC is used. 3) Home Location Register (HLR): All the information about the subscriber such as the coverage area, services provided to the user, current location and mobile equipment status etc is maintained in this register. The database remains same until the termination of subscription. 4) Visitor Location Register (VLR): The information of subscriber is uploaded in this register whenever he enters the coverage region so that necessary services could be provided to him. VLR of the new region is updated with the database whenever the subscriber moves to the new region. VLR is dynamic in nature as it keeps the data of the subscriber temporarily and interacts with HLR for recording the data. 5) Authentication Center (AUC): It takes care of the security by providing standards for encryption and authentication of users. Encryption key is kept in mobile equipment as well as AUC to protect the network from unauthorized access. 6) Equipment Identity Register (EIR): All mobiles are identified using IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number which is written on the battery of the phone. EIR keeps the list of all valid IMEI number and whenever a call is initiated, the network checks the IMEI number and call is connected if the number is valid. No calls are allowed from unauthorized terminals. 7) GSM Interworking Unit (GIWU): GIWU is an element or a unit that is a combination of hardware and software and synchronizes the information. It lets the user to choose between message and speech mode by acting as an interface to different networks. Network Management System: The third element of GSM basically monitors the different elements and functions of the network. It performs the following main tasks: 1. Network Monitoring 2. Network Development 3. Network Measurement 4. Fault Management NMS continuously monitors the performance of the network to ensure it runs smoothly. The performance can be measured by collecting the data from the individual elements for analysis and storing it in the database. The network operator can then compare the data collected in the database with the one which was actually expected. If any fault occurs, the fault alarm is generated .These faults are then required to be corrected either by NMS or manually. Interfaces in GSM Different interfaces are used in GSM. These are Air , Abis and A interface.Air interface is an interface between Mobile station and Base Transreceiver Station (BTS),Abis connects Base Transreceiver Station (BTS) to Base Station Controller (BSC), and A interface is the one which is present between TCSM and MSC. GSM Architecture Value added services such as voice mail and short message services (sms) were added to GSM along with intelligent services like Pre-paid and fraud management. Later on, GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) was introduced so that packet switched data service could be provided. SGSN (Serving GPRS) and GGSN (Gateway GPRS) were new elements which were introduced in the existing system so that packets could be sent to air interface. IP routers, firewall servers and Domain name servers were also used along with these elements. Finally, to increase the data rate better coding methods were used. Third Generation Mobile System http://it.med.miami.edu/x1645.xml

Such A Good Boy: How A Pampered Sons Greed Led To Murder: Summary Essay

Such A Good Boy: How A Pampered Son's Greed Led to Murder: Summary 18 year old Darren Huenemann of Saanich, British Columbia seemed to be a model student, friend, son and grandson. His mother Sharon called him the "perfect gentleman", as did most of the community around him. When his grandmother Doris made out her will in 1989, she made it so her daughter Sharon would receive half of her $4 million dollar estate, and Darren the other half. At the same time Sharon updated her will to include Darren as the beneficiary of her estate. If they ever came to harm and died, he would be a very rich young man. In the fall of 1989, Darren Huenemann decided that he wanted to be that very rich young man now. The book, Such A Good Boy: How A Pampered Son's Greed Led to Murder, written by Lisa Hobbs Birnie, starts out with a profile of the characters involved in the brutal tale. First is Doris Kryciak Leatherbarrow, born in Calder, Saskatchewan in 1920. Doris grew up in poverty, the oldest of seven children in the farming family. Doris was a good student when she went to school, but quit at fifteen and worked at school. She married George Artemenko, a shipyard worker, and became pregnant soon after. She gave birth to Sharon Doreen in March of 1943. This daughter never knew her father; George died in a fall at work three months after the birth of his child. This left Doris alone and knowing that she needed to do something to support her child. After the war, she landed a job with the newly formed Unemployment Services in the Vancouver area, where she raised enough money to complete one of her dreams: own her own dress shop. She married again to Rene Leatherbarrow, and expanded her dress shop to a large fashion warehouse with four stores. Next explained in the book is Sharon Doreen Leatherbarrow. She grew up under a mother that was always working, and a father that was usually away on business excursions. She learned how to manipulate her mother using guilt to receive what her young heart desired. She married three times: the second wedding yielding a son named Darren Charles, and the third wedding to Ralph Huenemann lasted until her death. Sharon usually lived off her mother's wealth, but was later put on the payroll by Doris when Doris needed assistance in her work.  ... ...nt of their power to deliver a jurisprudent sentence, one of justice and fairness. Also a power sentence will show that the youth, knowing exactly what they were doing, are not above the law in their rights. Huenemann's money and influence also was shown to be ineffective in his attempts to become above the law. Finally, this case gives an example of the motive of greed, purely and as evil as it gets. Conclusions This case shows that pampering a child, showering him with wealth, and flaunting the idea that "it will all be his someday", is a formula for disaster. The child does not have a chance to develop his own personality, therefore puts up "masks" and his real personality broods and grows to resent his elders. The book, Such A Good Boy: How A Pampered Son's Greed Led To Murder, written by Lisa Hobbs Birnie, is a well written case review, with very little bias or contrary opinion. It strictly relates the facts in almost every aspect. This would be a good book for a senior law class to read and relate their ideas on the evidence, the judgment, and the inside of the criminal mind of Darren Huenemann. Such A Good Boy: How A Pampered Sons Greed Led To Murder: Summary Essay Such A Good Boy: How A Pampered Son's Greed Led to Murder: Summary 18 year old Darren Huenemann of Saanich, British Columbia seemed to be a model student, friend, son and grandson. His mother Sharon called him the "perfect gentleman", as did most of the community around him. When his grandmother Doris made out her will in 1989, she made it so her daughter Sharon would receive half of her $4 million dollar estate, and Darren the other half. At the same time Sharon updated her will to include Darren as the beneficiary of her estate. If they ever came to harm and died, he would be a very rich young man. In the fall of 1989, Darren Huenemann decided that he wanted to be that very rich young man now. The book, Such A Good Boy: How A Pampered Son's Greed Led to Murder, written by Lisa Hobbs Birnie, starts out with a profile of the characters involved in the brutal tale. First is Doris Kryciak Leatherbarrow, born in Calder, Saskatchewan in 1920. Doris grew up in poverty, the oldest of seven children in the farming family. Doris was a good student when she went to school, but quit at fifteen and worked at school. She married George Artemenko, a shipyard worker, and became pregnant soon after. She gave birth to Sharon Doreen in March of 1943. This daughter never knew her father; George died in a fall at work three months after the birth of his child. This left Doris alone and knowing that she needed to do something to support her child. After the war, she landed a job with the newly formed Unemployment Services in the Vancouver area, where she raised enough money to complete one of her dreams: own her own dress shop. She married again to Rene Leatherbarrow, and expanded her dress shop to a large fashion warehouse with four stores. Next explained in the book is Sharon Doreen Leatherbarrow. She grew up under a mother that was always working, and a father that was usually away on business excursions. She learned how to manipulate her mother using guilt to receive what her young heart desired. She married three times: the second wedding yielding a son named Darren Charles, and the third wedding to Ralph Huenemann lasted until her death. Sharon usually lived off her mother's wealth, but was later put on the payroll by Doris when Doris needed assistance in her work.  ... ...nt of their power to deliver a jurisprudent sentence, one of justice and fairness. Also a power sentence will show that the youth, knowing exactly what they were doing, are not above the law in their rights. Huenemann's money and influence also was shown to be ineffective in his attempts to become above the law. Finally, this case gives an example of the motive of greed, purely and as evil as it gets. Conclusions This case shows that pampering a child, showering him with wealth, and flaunting the idea that "it will all be his someday", is a formula for disaster. The child does not have a chance to develop his own personality, therefore puts up "masks" and his real personality broods and grows to resent his elders. The book, Such A Good Boy: How A Pampered Son's Greed Led To Murder, written by Lisa Hobbs Birnie, is a well written case review, with very little bias or contrary opinion. It strictly relates the facts in almost every aspect. This would be a good book for a senior law class to read and relate their ideas on the evidence, the judgment, and the inside of the criminal mind of Darren Huenemann.

Comparing Letters from an American Farmer and Thoreaus Various Essays

Comparing Crà ¨vecoeur's Letters from an American Farmer and Thoreau's Various Essays  Ã‚   St. Jean De Crà ¨vecoeur's Letters from an American Farmer and Henry David Thoreau's various essays and journal entries present opposing views of what it means to be an American. To somewhat simplify, both writers agree that there are two kinds of Americans: those who are farmers and those who are not. Crà ¨vecoeur views farmers as the true Americans, and those who are not farmers, such as frontier men, as lawless, idle, inebriated wretches (266). Sixty years later, Thoreau believes the opposite: farmers are doomed and bound to their land, and free men who own nothing posses the only true liberty (9). Both Crà ¨vecoeur and Thoreau judge men and their professions on industry, use of nature, freedom, and lawfulness. As America grew during these six decades, industrialization and higher education created more compact communities unable to economically provide the land needs of farmers. In Crà ¨vecoeur's America, "some few towns excepted, we are all tillers of the earth"(263). In 1850, Thoreau's Concord was among the many towns allowing people to leave their farms for a more urban setting to house their law practices, shoe stores, or surveying businesses. The separation of farmers from the rest of society leads to intellectualizations of the profession by thinkers like Thoreau. Removed from the simple, hard labor of farming, it is easy for urbanized society to forget the farmer's purpose and importance in Western civilization. Crà ¨vecoeur states that "industry, which to me who am but a farmer, is the criterion of everything"(264). Indeed, a lack of industry in any vocation eventually leads to failure. Thoreau, however, sees little value in indu... ...d as Thoreau was from self-supporting agriculture, modern America is light years away. Thoreau's ideal lifestyle is now an impossibility. Many Americans would settle for an unadorned life on a small farm, and a clean, dry home. Possibly the day will come when [the land] will be partitioned off into so-called pleasure-grounds, in which a few will take a narrow and exclusive pleasure only-when fences shall be multiplied, and man-traps and other engines invented to confine men to the public road, and walking over the surface of God's earth shall be construed to mean trespassing on some gentleman's grounds. ... Let us improve our opportunities, then, before the evil days come. (Thoreau 667) Works Cited: Crà ¨vecoeur, J. Hector St. John de. Letters from an American Farmer and Sketches of Eighteenth-Century America. Ed. Albert E. Stone. New York: Penguin, 1981.

Antony and Cleopatra’s relationship Essay

Examine the Strengths and Weaknesses of Antony and Cleopatra’s relationship and the significance love has on important events in the play. Antony and Cleopatra’s strengths in love fluctuate tremendously. Their behaviours toward each other create a chain reaction in the formation of events within the play. It is for these reasons, which determine the direction of the narrative. Antony behaviour is demonstrative of extreme strengths in his love toward Cleopatra, as he is prepared to neglect all his duties in Rome to stay in Egypt with her. His duties in Rome are very important to stabilise the triumvirate however, he still finds love more important. We see this when a messenger comes to call Antony back to Rome, his reply is: â€Å"Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch / of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space†(I. 1. 33)1 This shows his devotion to their love and shows the audience he has a sense of loves value. Antony uses hyperbole in his reply as he suggests that the river that flows through Rome will disappear or crumble and the bridge will collapse, before he will return, ‘wide arch’ also accentuates the strength of the bridge, this may show that Rome’s might is so strong it does not need Antony. This use of language emphasizes how unlikely it is that Antony will leave Cleopatra. It shows he is prepared to see Rome, in a sense, be demolished and he will still not care for his duties. We see here that Antony believes love to be a much nobler calling, than his obligations in Rome. While the lovers are in a love-debate we see that it is Cleopatra who is setting the rate of knots by her sarcasm and taunts when she says: â€Å"you must not stay here longer. Your dismission/ Is come from Caesar. Therefore hear it, Antony. â€Å"(I. 1. 26/7)2 leads Antony to neglect his life in Rome to prove his affection for her. It is obvious to us, as it was to Cleopatra and Antony, if he went back to Rome he would be proving her words right therefore had no choice but to stay with her, if he wanted to prove his love. We know that Cleopatra wants nothing of the sort for Antony to leave but the more she presses upon Antony, the less he feels the need to full fill his duties in Rome. Cleopatra used reverse psychology to keep a grip on their love. Antony also expresses his great love for Cleopatra through his speech â€Å"such a mutual pair / And such a twain can do’t, in which I bind, / On pain of punishment, the world to weet / We stand up peerless. â€Å"(I. 1. 37/40) Antony is expressing all that matters is the two of them, in-love, that the moral judgement of other people does not matter and they have the whole world in their hands, therefore Rome considered a loss. Cleopatra too shows tremendous strengths in love as she shows true signs of missing Antony while he is away. â€Å"O happy horse, to bear the weight of Antony! â€Å"(I. 5. 21)4 from this Cleopatra is showing the magnitude and importance of Antony’s splendour. Cleopatra describes here that the horse should be flattered to be supporting such a wonderful man, although this is slightly humorous, as the horse would not feel any honour, we still sense the extreme fidelity Cleopatra has toward Antony. means nothing in comparison to them. We can see here how important Cleopatra is to him and just how much he is willing to give up for her. However it is not only that he is giving up his life for her but that he really truly believes she is more important, therefore the phrase ‘giving up’ does not mean anything to him as he believes Rome is not important enough to be Cleopatra’s behaviour is effusive by showing how much she misses him as she talks about him constantly. â€Å"Where think’st thou he is now? Stands he, or sits he? / or does he walk? â€Å"(I. 5. 19/20)5 We see here Cleopatra is continuously thinking of Antony. We imagine her to be entranced by her love for him, as she is asking questions when she does not require an answer. This gives us the image of her staring into amidst, thinking of all the different things Antony is doing. By going through his different positions ‘stands’ or ‘sits’ or ‘walks’ we see she is thinking about him in great detail and longs for him to be with her. All of this love and devotion led to Lepidus and Caesar resenting the time the once noble Antony spent in Egypt, and despised his neglect of duty. Antony’s alliance with the two leaders had been weakened due to love. When faced with opposition from Caesar, Cleopatra’s enticing behaviour comes into play again. And we see Antony’s blindness play himself into a destroying event. Once the suggestion comes about that they will fight Antony at sea, Antony’s reason for doing so is â€Å"For that he dares us to’t. â€Å"(III. 7. 29)6 This lacks a great deal of strategy and shows his childlike features to stand strong against a dare. As we hear from Enobarbus: â€Å"you therein throw away / The absolute soldiership you have by land,†(III. 7. 41/2)7 from this Enobarbus is suggesting Antony has greater chance winning battle on land, as there is where his skills lye. It therefore seems completely illogical to fight by sea. The reader believes this because we know that Enobarbus is not fooled by love, therefore we have more reason to trust his judgement. This shows how Shakespeare uses love to move the readers trust to different characters. This raises the suspicion that perhaps Antony is showing off, as such, to Cleopatra. He may not want to back down to a dare from fear of losing bravery. Again love influences Antony’s decisions, carrying him into jeopardy. We could accept Antony showing off to Cleopatra however it seems strange that Cleopatra supports Antony fighting at sea: â€Å"By sea; what else? â€Å"(III. 7. 28)8 Cleopatra is testing Antony on his love for her yet again. Cleopatra knows it is best for Antony to fight on land but is determined to make him do what she wants and not the wisest thing. Cleopatra is toying with Antony as she did in the first scene. She is enjoying her power over Antony and increasing her ego tremendously. Ultimately Antony is saying he would die for her. Antony refers to Cleopatra at the end of this deciding scene as a: â€Å"Thetis! â€Å"(III. 7. 60)9, this is a goddess of the sea. We see here that Antony has full faith and trust in Cleopatra and her ships. Up until act III scene 10 Cleopatra is seen as a very strong and brave character. The reader is aware she is slightly conniving and manipulative however this adds to her charm of character. When Enobarbus says: â€Å"With all their sixty, fly and turn the rudder. â€Å"(III. 10. 3/4)10 Our opinion of Cleopatra drops a enormously. We know it was her influence which put Antony in battle at sea. Cleopatra knew this too, so the least she could have done was see him through it. Her cowardice creates great anger toward her, not only from Antony and the soldiers but from the reader, again Shakespeare is giving a personal interaction by building our secret desire for Cleopatra to highs and then dropping her grandeur with no warning. Scarus shows the most realistic and unpretentious view of the situation by suggesting: â€Å"we have kissed away / Kingdoms†(III. 10. 7/8)11 the use of metaphor here creates humorous imagery. Love lead to the reprehensible loss of the empire. Just as Antony kisses Cleopatra, he kissed away his victory. It gives enigmas to the reader as the battle was evenly balanced or could be argued in Antony’s favour and yet Cleopatra fled for no evident reason. This completely defies the laws of love and shows Cleopatra as a paradox in contrast to Act I scene 5. Her actions were not at all those of loyalty and devotion like Antony’s in Act I scene1and it shows the complete imbalance of love. The audience now dislike Cleopatra and see her as an iniquity in ‘Antony and Cleopatra’. Also this scene confronts the title ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ as this scene is Antony on his own without Cleopatra by his side. Again we see love from Antony toward Cleopatra. Although it was foolish that he was ‘Leaving the fight in height’ ‘and ‘flies after her'(III. 10. 20)12 we still se he’s ultimate devotion to Cleopatra. ‘height’ shows how the battle was at important levels, where either side could win, it seems apparent that the battle was not lost due to, the strength of the enemy, the weakness of Antony’s army neither bad luck but simply the ‘very ignorance'(III. 10. 7) of Antony and Cleopatra. Cleopatra’s actions were like ‘a cow in june stung by a gadfly'(III. 10. 14)14 as the speed of her turn and flight was dreadfully hasty. Antony sacrificed everything for love, his honour, power and the support of his men. Although this angered Antony the queen won him over with her inveigling skills. The third time Antony went to battle at sea, Cleopatra fled yet again. Bibliography Primary Text – Shakespeare William, Antony and Cleopatra, Emrys Jones (ed. ), London, 1977 1 William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Emrys Jones (ed. ), London, 1977, page 60.