Maritime Students Perception on School Related activities Essay Essay Example

Maritime Students Perception on School Related activities Essay Essay Example Maritime Students Perception on School Related activities Essay Paper Maritime Students Perception on School Related activities Essay Paper School activities are really of import for the pupils and for the school. For the pupils. because they gain new accomplishments and motive. It’s a existent opportunity for them to bask school and take to make something they are truly interested and passionate about. and therefore their motive for larning and their motive for their instructors and the school addition. It makes them associate academic cognition to the practical experience. which leads to a better apprehension of their ain abilities. endowments. and calling ends and for the school because as surveies shows that such engagement provides fringy pupils an chance to make a positive and voluntary connexion to their school besides. Engagement in extracurricular activities may back up the at-risk pupil by keeping. heightening. and beef uping the student-school connexion therefore lessenings dropout School activities at St. Therese MTC – Colleges are frequently held when there is a jubilation it’s either a school jubilation ( like foundation twenty-four hours ) . national or international. These were held most particularly for the enjoyment of the pupils and for them to carry through their potencies. But these activities frequently cancels categories. We can non conceal the fact some pupils are non take parting in the school activities therefore. they take the cancellation of categories as an chance for them to travel out and make whatever they want that normally consequences into bad things like imbibing intoxicants. taking drugs and other frailties. While some considers it as a load for it adds to there payment. Some consider it chiefly as a break of categories and a hold to their acquisition. While some consider it really of import and take the chance to show and detect themselves. bask and hike their potencies. Every individual have changing perceptual experience on things particularly on things that they truly do non cognize about. And everytime there is an activity pupils make a different perceptual experience about it. Either good or bad. These perceptual experiences are really of import in the portion of the organisers and to the facilitators for it makes them cognize if the activity was successful or non and what will they make to do it more successful so that they could use it the following clip they conduct the same activity. Maritime Courses here in the Philippines are at high cost. Though many are still taking it because of high demand in the market and higher salary rate particularly on international ocean trips where one earns dollar. many of the maritime pupils are coming from households holding low Socio Economic Status ( SES ) . Still they prosecute even though they get through loans and depts trusting that when their kids alumnus and acquire onboard ships they can easy pay all their depts and raise their life’s state of affairs. Every centavo and Peso is of import. It is a merchandise of blood and perspiration of those who earned it. That’s why in every centavo and a peso addition in the histories of the pupil adds to the load of their household. Rumors were heard every clip there is an activity and everytime the statement of history were released. Some say that another payment is added to the school fee. While some say that the payment was deserving it. For these grounds that triggered the research workers to carry on this survey to foster happen out and discourse the existent perceptual experience of nautical pupils on school related activities and make a guidelines on what and how to carry on the activities the maritime pupils want. Statement of the Problem This research aims to happen out what are the perceptual experiences of nautical pupils towards school related activities.Consequently. this research survey seeks replies to the undermentioned inquiries:1. What are the school related activities of ST-MTCC engaged by Maritime pupils when classified as to class and twelvemonth degree?2. What are the perceptual experiences of Maritime pupils on school related activities when classified as to class and twelvemonth degree?3. How to carry on the activities that the pupils want?4. Is there a important difference on the perceptual experience of the maritime pupils to school related activities when classified as to class and twelvemonth degree?Aims of the surveyThis research chief aims is to find and discourse the chief perceptual experience of Maritime pupils about the school related activities. Furthermore it aims to: 1. Determine the school related activities of ST-MTCC pupils when classified as to class and twelvemonth degree. 2. Determin e the perceptual experience of Maritime pupils on school related activities when classified as to class and twelvemonth degree. 3. Determine how to carry on the activities that the pupils want. 3. Find out the important difference of the pupils on school related activities when classifies as to class and twelvemonth degree. HypothesissBased on the foregoing statements. the hypotheses are advanced: H0There is no important difference on the perceptual experience of the Maritime pupils on school related activities when classifies as to class and twelvemonthdegree. H1There is a important difference the perceptual experience of the Maritime pupils on school related activities when classifies as to class and twelvemonth degree. Definition of FootingsActivities – things being done for leisure. merriment or acquisition ( Meriam Websters Dictionary )In this survey activities refers to the school related activities participated by the ST-MTCC Maritime pupils.BSMar E – ( Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering ) In this survey BSMar E refers to the Maritime class that focuses on analyzing the plants and duties of the Engine Department onboard ship. BSMT – ( Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation ) In this survey BSMT refers to the Maritime class that focuses on analyzing the plants and duties of the Deck Department onboard ship. Maritime Students– in this survey nautical pupils refers to pupils taking up Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation ( BSMT ) and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering ( BSMar E ) courses. Perception – the act or module of comprehending. or groking by agencies or of the head ; apprehension. In this survey perceptual experience refers to the apprehension of the pupils about the school related activities. School – an establishment for the instruction of kids ( Meriam Websters Dictionary ) In this survey school refers to St. Therese MTC- Colleges ( ST-MTCC ) . Tigbauan Site. Year degree – in this survey. twelvemonth degree refers to the degree achieved in school by which the respondents are enrolled in. Significance of the surveyThe behavior and consequence of this survey will convey benefits to the followers:School Administration – the important consequence Made from this survey will function as usher to the Student Affairs Office. Office of the Students Services. Student Executive Council. and other activity implementing sections and organic structures of the school. Students – The important consequence of this survey would assist the pupils enjoy the activities and fulfill their outlooks as the consequence of thisresearch were applied.Future Researches – this survey was extremely recommended to hold a farther survey on the same subject. Scope and Restrictions of the StudyThe descriptive survey will be conducted to happen out the perceptual experience of the nautical pupils on school related activities.This survey will affect 310 pupils who are taking Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation ( BSMT ) and Bachelor of Science Marine Engineering ( BSMarE ) SY 2012-2013. The participants will be selected indiscriminately and will be classified harmonizing to class and twelvemonth degree. The information to be used in this survey will be gathered by the research workers. The Antecedent Variable will be the respondents’ class and twelvemonth degree and the School Related activities classified into in and out campus activitiesThe dependant variable to be treated in this survey will be the perceptual experience of the nautical pupils on school related activities.This survey will be conducted at St. Therese MTC-Colleges in Tigbauan. Iloilo on June-October 2013. The descriptive statistics to be used in this survey will be the mean and intend standard divergence. The illative statistics to be used will be the Mann Whitney U trial for independent samples. Kruskal Wallis H Test. and Spearman Rho to find the perceptual experience of the pupils in school related activities. All degrees of significance will be set at 0. 05 alpha. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Software ( SPSS ) version 16. 0 will be used to treat the information. Chapter II Review of Related Literature Key Concepts on Benefits of Co-curricular ActivitiesActivities Support the Academic Mission of SchoolsSchool Activities are non a recreation but instead an extension of a good educational plan. Students who participate in activity plans tend to hold higher grade-point norms. better attending records. lower dropout rates and fewer subject jobs than pupils by and large. Activities are inherently Educational Activity plans provide valuable lessons for practical state of affairss –teamwork. sportsmanship. winning and losing. and difficult work. Through engagement in activity plans. pupils learn self-discipline. construct assurance and develop accomplishments to manage competitory state of affairss. These are qualities the public expects schools to bring forth in pupils so that they become responsible grownups and productive citizens. Activities Are Privileges. Attendance Is Required School territories typically define extracurricular activities as privileges ; pupils earn the right to take part by following with school regulations and ordinances. These typically include regulations on school and category attending. Annandale High School in Virginia. for illustration. has an extracurricular activities engagement policy that requires pupils to go to all scheduled categories on the twenty-four hours of a competition or activity to be eligible to take part in extracurricular activities on that twenty-four hours Outreach Activities Outreach activities are designed to beef up the relationship between a school system and the environing town groups or concerns. Outreach activities invite pupils to go more active members of their community every bit good as encourage community members to go portion of the school community. Activities Foster Success in Later Life Engagement in school activities is frequently a forecaster of ulterior success – in a calling and going a conducive member of society. Students who spend no clip in extracurricular activities are 49 % more likely to utilize drugs and 37 % more likely to go adolescent parents than those who spend one to four hours per hebdomad in extracurricular activities. Extracurricular school activities are frequently of import to adolescent pupils. and they have many benefits. Students learn how to take through student authorities or how to play a musical instrument. or take on the duty of teamwork in athleticss. while keeping their faculty members. The challenge of equilibrating these viing duties is an chance for pupils to turn and maturate. Educators have studied the relationship between category attending and extracurricular activities. and many schools set policy in these countries. Foreign Studies A 2010 survey of a western Nebraska school territory found a correlativity between a student’s extracurricular activities and her attending record. The survey concluded that pupils who participated in extracurricular activities had a higher rate of school attending than pupils who did non take part. It used informations from 2007-08 and 2008-09 pertaining to 275 of the district’s high school alumnuss. A University of Massachusetts pedagogue studied in-between and high school pupils and how certain school-related factors - including extracurricular activities and school attending - affected their eventual completion of a college grade. The survey concluded that a student’s good attending - non jumping categories or school - had a positive correlativity to college degree completion. Additionally. the survey concluded that the more a pupil participated in school-sponsored extracurricular activities. the more likely he was to finish a bachelor’s grade. The survey besides tested these consequences across racial lines and found that attending was every bit of import to future completion of the bachelor’s degree regardless of the student’s race or ethnicity. A Harvard Educational Review article in 2002 found that engagement in extracurricular activities in high school appears to be one of the few intercessions that benefit low-status. deprived pupils – those less good served by traditional educational plans – every bit much or more than their more advantaged equals. In telephone interviews of a national sample of teens in 2001. more than half ( 54 % ) said they wouldn’t watch so much Television or play video games if they had other things to make after school. The same study found that more than half of teens wish there were more community or neighborhood-based plans available after school. and two- tierces of those surveyed said they would take part in such plans if they were available. Bonnie Barber and her co-workers. subscribers to the 2005 book. Organized Activities as Developmental Contexts for Children and Adolescents. concluded that doing diverse nines and activities available to a broad scope of pupils is of import. The chance to implant one’s individuality in multiple extracurricular contexts and to see multiple competences facilitates attachment to school and accommodation. Activity engagement is besides linked to association with equals who are academically focused. Adolescents can profit from this interactive system when they have chances to take part in diverse activities. A Minnesota State High School League study of 300 Minnesota high schools showed that the mean GPA of a student-athlete was 2. 84. compared with 2. 68 for the mean pupil. and that student-athletes missed an norm of merely 7. 4 yearss of school each twelvemonth. compared with 8. 8 for the mean pupil. ( Trevor Born. High Standard for GPA. in Minneapolis Star Tribune. May 14. 2007. ) Engagement in extra-curricular activities provides all pupils – including pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. minorities and those with otherwise less than distinguished academic accomplishments in high school – a mensurable and meaningful addition in their college admittances trial scores harmonizing to research workers Howard T. Everson and Roger E. Millsap. composing for the College Entrance Examination Board in 2005. In a 2006 research undertaking published by the Center for Information A ; Research on Civic Learning A ; Engagement ( CIRCLE ) . it was found that 18-25 old ages old who participate in athleticss activities while in high school were more likely than nonparticipants to be engaged in volunteering. regular volunteering. registering to vote. vote in the 2000 election. experiencing comfy speech production in a public scene. and watching intelligence ( particularly sport intelligence ) more closely than non-participants. An extended survey commissioned by the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association found. in that Canadian state in 2006. an norm of 78. 3 % of Alberta’s top corporate CEOs and Members of the Legislative Assembly had participated in interscholastic athleticss. About 80 % indicated that being involved in school athleticss significantly. extensively or reasonably complemented their calling development and/or academic 5 chases. This same survey pointed out that normal engagement rate of pupils in high school athleticss is about 30 to 35 % . The corporate and political leaders surveyed in Alberta ( see above ) cited the following benefits associated with their engagement in high school sports: teamwork. subject. end puting. leading. independency. ego assurance. emphasis alleviation. character development and personal growing. just drama. and credence of others. From a cost point of view. activity plans are an exceeding deal when matched against the overall school district’s instruction budget. Researcher Richard Learner. composing in Promoting Positive Youth Development through Community After-School Programs. found that informal educational and developmentally supportive experiences offered to immature people in the context of after-school or community-based plans are a powerful beginning of resources increasing the chance of positive development among young person. In 2003. the Journal of Adolescent Research reported that extracurricular activity engagement is linked to lower rates of dropping out of school. greater civic engagement and higher degrees of academic accomplishment. Furthermore. research tracking engagement from 8th through 12th classs and analyzing results in the postsecondary old ages concluded that consistent engagement has positive effects that last over a moderate length of clip. Extracurricular activities stand out from other facets of adolescents’ lives at school because. harmonizing to the Winter 2005 issue of the Journal of Leisure Research. they provide chances to develop inaugural and allow young person to larn emotional competences and develop new societal accomplishments. A survey conducted by Boston University. and published in Adolescence. Winter 2001. reported on a study of 1. 115 Massachusetts high school pupils. Survey consequences indicated that jocks were significantly less likely to utilize cocaine and psychedelics. and less likely to smoke coffin nails. Research workers composing in 2004 in the American Journal of Health Behavior conducted an scrutiny of cross-sectional informations from a nationally representative sample of high school pupils enrolled in public high schools in the U. S. They showed that pupils take parting in organized athleticss were 25 per centum less likely to be current coffin nail tobacco users Stephanie Gerstenblith and her fellow research workers. composing in the 2005 book. Organized Activities as Developmental Contexts for Children and Adolescents province. â€Å"Just as schools with efficient processs and construction have been found to hold positive results. our findings indicate that participants in after school plans with these qualities experience decreases in rebellious behaviour and additions in purposes non to utilize drugs. † In 1985. the NFHS sponsored a national study of high school principals and about 7. 000 high school pupils in all 50 provinces. The study. funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment in Indianapolis. was conducted by Indiana University in cooperation with the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Following are the consequences of that study. 10 95 per centum believed that engagement in activities Teachs valuable lessons to pupils that can non be learned in a regular category modus operandi. 99 per centum agreed that engagement in activities promotes citizenship 95 per centum agreed that activity plans contribute to the development of â€Å"school spirit† among the pupil organic structure. 76 per centum said they believe the demand made on students’ clip by activities is non inordinate. 72 per centum said there is strong support for school activity plans from parents and the community at big. Students who compete in high school activity plans make higher classs and have better attending.A survey of about 22. 000 pupils conducted by a University of Colorado professor for the Colorado High School Activities Association which was released in the autumn of 1999 indicates pupils who participate in some signifier of interschool activities have â€Å"significantly higher† grade-point norms than pupils who do non. Datas obtained from the spring 1997 survey by Dr. Kevin J. McCarthy revealed pupil participants in Jefferson County high schools had an overall grade-point norm of 3. 093 on a 4. 0 graduated table. while the GPA for non-participants was 2. 444. Jefferson County School District. the state’s largest school territory. has matched the academic success of its pupils with success on the playing field. The 16 territory schools have won a combined 39 province titles in the 1990s in athleticss. while its music plans systematically bring place â€Å"superior† evaluations. Nancy Darling. et Al. . composing in the 2005 Journal of Leisure Research notes that extracurricular activities allow youth to organize new connexions with equals and get societal capital. They are one of the few contexts. outside of the schoolroom. where striplings on a regular basis come in contact with grownups to whom they are non related. Students who spend no clip in extracurricular activities are 49 % more likely to utilize drugs and 37 % more likely to go adolescent parents than those who spend one to four hours per hebdomad in extracurricular activities ( United States Department of Education. No Child Left Behind: The facts about 21st Century Learning. Washington. DC: 2002. ) On June 23. 2000. so President Bill Clinton issued an Executive Memorandum directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Education to work together to place and describe within 90 yearss on â€Å"strategies to advance better wellness for our nation’s young person through physical activity and fittingness. † The ensuing study entitled â€Å"Promoting Better Health for Young People through Physical Activity and Sports was released in November 2000 and stated that â€Å"enhancing 7 attempts to advance engagementin physical activity and athleticss among immature people is a critical national precedence. † Of the 60 pupils listed in the May 14. 1998. USA Today’s All-USA High School Academic First. Second and Third Teams and the 51 who earned honest reference. 75 per centum were involved in athleticss. address. music or argument. The 29th one-year Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes toward the Public Schools of September 1997 reflects an addition in perceptual experiences about the value of co curricular activities. In 1978. 45 per centum of the populace. judged extracurricular activities to be really of import. That figure fell to 31 per centum in 1984. In 1985. the figure was 39 per centum and jumped to 63 per centum in the 1997 canvass. The 1997 canvass besides asked about the accent placed on such athleticss as football and hoops. Fifty-three per centum of the respondents believed the current accent was approximately right. In a study of 4. 800 high school pupils in March 1995. the Minnesota State High School League found that 91 per centum of them said pupils who participate in school activities tend to be school leaders and function theoretical accounts ; 92 per centum said that engagement in school activities provides an chance non found in a regular schoolroom puting to develop self-discipline. Adolescent Time Use. Risky Behavior. and Outcomes: An Analysis of National Data. issued in September 1995. by the Department of Health and Human Services found that pupils who spend no clip in extracurricular activities are 57 per centum more likely to hold dropped out of school by the clip they would hold been seniors ; 49 per centum more likely to hold used drugs ; 37 per centum more likely to hold become adolescent parents ; 35 per centum more likely to hold smoked coffin nails ; and 27 per centum more likely to hold been arrested than those who spend one to four hours per hebdomad in extracurricular activities. A survey by Search Institute in 1995 indicates that carbon monoxide curricular activities play a cardinal function in students’ healthy development. Yet excessively many schools are happening it necessary to cut these plans for budgetary grounds. With plus edifice as a focal point. these plans are non peripheral to the school’s mission. but of import constituents of a comprehensive scheme. In the March 1997 issue of School Counselor. 123 pupils involved in interschool association football are analyzed. Consequences indicate that activity engagement does non harm and may heighten academic public presentation. Male athletes showed in-season betterments in academic public presentation. Ralph McNeal ( 1995 ) showed that different sorts of activities have changing abilities to command school dropout rates. He concluded that pupils who participate in sports. fine-arts activities. and academic organisations were an estimated 1. 7. 1. 2. and 1. 15 times. severally. less likely to drop out than those who did non take part. Athletic engagement reduces the chance of school dropouts by about 40 per centum. For illustration. the chance that the typical individual in the sample would drop out of school is. 0487. but if this same individual participated in sports. the estimated chance would be. 0299. The impact of fine-arts engagement for the typical person’s estimated chance is reduced from. 0487 to. 0415. or 15 per centum. Silliker and Quirk ( 1997 ) investigated the academic betterment of pupils who participated in extracurricular activities. In this instance. they looked at male and female high school pupils who participated in interschool association football and who did non prosecute in another athletics or major activity at the decision of the association football season. They discovered that female participants in season maintained a GPA of 87. 7 mean ( M ) with a 5. 6 standard divergence ( SD ) . Out of season these statistics dropped to 87. 5 M with a 6. 4 SD. The male participants in season maintained a GPA of 84. 7 M with a 7. 5 SD. and out of season their GPAs dropped to 83. 8 M with an 8. 7 SD. These informations show that participants had significantly higher GPAs in season than out of season. The misss earned higher GPAs than did the male child. but the boys’ GPAs rose significantly in season versus out of season. The survey supports the belief that engagement in sports for high school pupils does non jeopardize. and may heighten. academic public presentation. Susan Gerber ( 1996 ) besides found that extracurricular engagement is non damaging to student public presentation and that engagement in these types of activities promotes greater academic accomplishment. In add-on. she discovered that engagement in school-related activities was more strongly associated with accomplishment than was engagement in activities outside of school. Herbert Marsh ( 1992 ) compared predicted results for pupils who did non take part in extracurricular activities with those of pupils who were reasonably active. He found that this difference in engagement degree is associated with outcome differences of. 582 SD in societal self-concept and. 390 SD in academic self-concept. He concluded that the effects of engagement on societal and academic self-concepts are important. Obviously. engagement in extracurricular activities. even those non evidently associated with academic accomplishment. leads to increased committedness to school and school values. which leads indirectly to increased academic success. William Camp ( 1990 ) studied the effects of engagement in activities on overall pupil success in school. as measured by classs. while commanding for the effects of other variables that could moderately impact those classs. He used the symbol b* to stand for standardised arrested development coefficients calculated in his structural analysis. He found that students’ activity degrees produced a positive. important consequence on academic accomplishment ( b* = . 122 ) . Particularly interesting in his survey was the fact that this consequence was more than twice every bit great as that of survey wonts ( b* = . 055 ) . which are by and large regarded as an of import causal variable of academic accomplishment. John Mahoney and Robert Cairns ( 1997 ) indicated that battle in school extracurricular activities is linked to diminishing rates of early school dropouts in both male childs and misss. They discovered that such engagement provides fringy pupils an chance to make a positive and voluntary connexion to their school. Conversely. other schemes typically used to turn to the demands of at-risk pupils. such as school dropout bar plans and remedial instruction. concentrate on the shortages of pupils and serve as a accelerator in the formation of aberrant groups. The research workers strongly believe that engagement in extracurricular activities may back up the at-risk pupil by keeping. heightening. and beef uping the student-school connexion. Theoretical Model This survey is anchored to the Theory of Involvement that has been proposed by Astin ( 1984 ) . Harmonizing to the theory. pupils learn more the more they are involved in both the academic and societal facets of the collegiate experience. An involved pupil is one who devotes considerable energy to faculty members. spends much clip on campus. participates actively in pupil organisations and activities. and interacts frequently with module. Based on the 1984 study. Involvement in Learning. pupil engagement takes the signifier of engagement in academically related activities. out of category activities. and interactions with module. staff. and equals. Activities related to faculty members could include: go toing category prepared for treatment and the day’s lesson ; take parting in survey groups ; and/or rank in academic award plans or societies. career-related organisations. and public presentation groups in the humanistic disciplines. Engagement in outside-of-class. or co-curricular activities. could include campus based pupil organisations. college athletic or intramural athleticss. employment on-campus. and unpaid service experiences. Engagement with equals and faculty/staff include those relationships where larning takes topographic point beyond schoolroom scenes: helping as a instruction or research helper. speaking with module during office hours. helping in a research lab or a all right humanistic disciplines production. Different from the function of the pupil in Astin’s before â€Å"input-process-output† theoretical account ( Pascarella. 1991. P. 50 ) . where the pupil is passively developed by the module and by university plans. this theory posits that the pupil plays an built-in function in finding his or her ain grade of engagement in college categories. extracurricular activities and societal activities. Of class. the more choice resources available. the more likely those pupils who are involved will turn or develop. Therefore. module interaction both inside and outside the schoolroom and high quality university plans and constabularies reflective of institutional committedness to pupil larning are necessary for pupil growing. Astin states that the quality and measure of the student’s engagement will act upon the sum of pupil acquisition and development ( Astin. 1984. p. 297 ) . True engagement requires the investing of energy in academic. relationships and activities related to the campus and the sum of energy invested will change greatly depending on the student’s involvements and ends. every bit good as the student’s other committednesss. The most of import institutional resource. therefore. is student clip: the extent to which pupils can be involved in the educational development is tempered by how involved they are with household friends. occupations. and other outside activities ( p. 301 ) . There are several practical applications ensuing from this theory. but Astin states that the most of import to learning is that teachers are encouraged to take the focal point off the class content and their ain technique and put it on their pupils. Astin states that the intended terminal of institutional and pedagogical patterns is to accomplish maximal pupil engagement and acquisition ; to make that teachers can non concentrate entirely on technique but must besides be cognizant of how motivated pupils are and how much clip and energy they are giving to the acquisition procedure ( p. 305 ) . Harmonizing to Astin. his theory of engagement has an advantage over traditional pedagogical attacks because it focuses on the motive and behaviour of the pupil. Therefore all institutional policies and patterns can be judged by the grade of engagement they foster in pupil. Besides. all module. from teachers to counsellors. can work with the same end in head. uniting their energies into doing the pupils more involved in the college environment and hence better scholars ( p. 307 ) . Astin besides discusses the benefits to pupils of remaining connected to the campus environment by populating in campus-related lodging. go toing college full-time instead than part-time. analyzing with other pupils on campus. and working at occupations on campus. Based on the declared theories. the survey is conducted and has the undermentioned variables as shown in Figure 1. ( The research paradigm ) The research paradigm of the survey is presented in Figure 1. Figure 1. Research Paradigm. The paradigm shows the relationships of the ancestor variable. Course and twelvemonth degree and the in and out campus activities to the dependant variable. Percept of the nautical pupils on school related activities. Chapter 3Research Design and Methodology Research DesignThis survey will utilize descriptive method of research consisting of qualitative research as it seeks to find the perceptual experience of the nautical pupils on school related activities Respondents/Sample This survey will affect 310 pupils who are taking up Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation ( BSMT ) and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering ( BSMar E ) . S. Y. 2013-2014. The trying method to be used for this survey will be the simple random sampling because pupils from each class with changing twelvemonth degrees will be included as respondents of the survey. Table 1. Profile of RespondentsCourse and twelvemonth degreeEntire populationNumber of respondentsPercentageBSMT 11954423 %BSMT 21924323 %BSMT 31844223 %BSMar E 12996823 %BSMarE 22555823 %BSMar E 32435523 % 13683102. 3 % Table 1 shows the figure of respondents every bit classified as to class and twelvemonthInstrumentThis survey will utilize the researcher-made questionnaire based on the paradigm of this survey that the research worker has gathered and capable for proof by the experts. There will be two parts of the instrument: Part One will be the personal information of the respondents such as class and twelvemonth degree. Part Two is the questionnaire which will garner informations comparative to the perceptual experience of the nautical pupils on school related activities. Data-Gathering ProcedurePermission to carry on the survey will be secured from the Dean of Maritime Studies of St. Therese MTC – Colleges Tigbauan. The research workers will personally administer the questionnaires which will be filled out by the respondents in their several schoolrooms. After which. these will be retrieved and reviewed fro completeness of informations. The information obtained will be culled. encoded. analyzed. and taken. Data Analyses Procedure All informations gathered will be computer-processed utilizing the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences package ( SPSS ) . The descriptive statistics to be used will be the mean and standard divergence to find the perceptual experience of the pupils on school related activities. The illative analytical tools to be utilized will be the t- trial for independent samples to find differences that would be in class and twelvemonth degree with the outreach activities ; analysis of discrepancy ( AnoVa ) for ancestor samples to find differences that would be in class and twelvemonth degree with the school activities ; Spearman Rho the perceptual experience of the nautical pupils on school related activities Finally. the degree of significance for the analysis was set at 0. 05 alpha. The bases for reading of the preparations ( SSO/SSA ) . company support. self-preparedness. onboard readying and steps and national/international coordinationand steps will be as follows: Average ScaleQualitative Description 3. 25 – 4. 00Highly effectual2. 50 – 3. 24effective1. 75 – 2. 49moderately effectual1. 00 – 1. 74less effectual

Womens Reproductive Rights and the US Constitution

Womens Reproductive Rights and the US Constitution Limits on reproductive rights and decisions by women were mostly covered by state laws in the US until the last half of the 20th century when the Supreme Court began to make some decisions in court cases about pregnancy, birth control, and abortion. Following are key decisions in constitutional history about womens control over their reproduction. 1965: Griswold v. Connecticut In Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court found a right to marital privacy in choosing to use birth control, invalidating state laws that prohibited the use of birth control by married persons. 1973: Roe v. Wade In historic Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court held that in the earlier months of pregnancy, a woman, in consultation with her doctor, could choose to have an abortion without legal restrictions, and could also make the choice with some restrictions later in pregnancy. The basis for the decision was the right to privacy, a right inferred from the Fourteenth Amendment. The case, Doe v. Bolton, was also decided that day, calling into question criminal abortion statutes. 1974: Geduldig v. Aiello Geduldig v. Aiello looked at a states disability insurance system which excluded temporary absences from work due to pregnancy disability and found that normal pregnancies did not have to be covered by the system. 1976: Planned Parenthood v. Danforth The Supreme Court found that spousal consent laws for abortions (in this case, in the third trimester) were unconstitutional because the pregnant womans rights were more compelling than her husbands. The Court did uphold that regulations requiring the womans full and informed consent were constitutional. 1977: Beal v. Doe, Maher v. Roe, and Poelker v. Doe In these abortion cases, the Court found that states were not required to use public funds for elective abortions. 1980: Harris v. Mcrae The Supreme Court upheld the Hyde Amendment, which excluded Medicaid payments for all abortions, even those that were found to be medically necessary. 1983: Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, Planned Parenthood v. Ashcroft, and Simopoulos v. Virginia In these cases, the Court struck down state regulations designed to dissuade women from abortion, requiring physicians to give advice that the physician might not agree with. The Court also struck down a waiting period for informed consent and a requirement that abortions after the first trimester be performed in licensed acute-care hospitals. The Court upheld, in Simopoulos v. Virginia, limiting second-trimester abortions to licensed facilities. 1986: Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists The Court as asked by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to issue an injunction on enforcement of a new anti-abortion law in Pennsylvania; the administration of President Reagan asked the Court to overturn Roe v. Wade in their decision. The Court upheld Roe on the basis of womens rights, but not on the basis of physicians rights. 1989: Webster v. Reproductive Health Services In the case of Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, the Court upheld some limits on abortions, including prohibiting the involvement of public facilities and public employees in performing abortions except to save the life of the mother, prohibiting counseling by public employees that might encourage abortions and requiring viability tests on fetuses after the 20th week of pregnancy. But the Court also stressed that it was not ruling on the Missouri statement about life beginning at conception, and was not overturning the essence of the Roe v. Wade decision. 1992: Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the court upheld both the constitutional right to have an abortion and some restrictions on abortions, while still upholding the essence of Roe v. Wade. The test on restrictions was moved from the heightened scrutiny standard established under Roe v. Wade and instead moved to looking at whether a restriction put an undue burden on the mother. The court struck down a provision requiring spousal notice and upheld other restrictions. 2000: Stenberg v. Carhart The Supreme Court found a law making partial-birth abortion was unconstitutional, violating the Due Process Clause (5th and 14th Amendments). 2007: Gonzales v. Carhart The Supreme Court upheld the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, applying the undue burden test.

[Art subject] Christian Imagery of Madonna Essay

[Art subject] Christian Imagery of Madonna - Essay Example The earliest depictions of the virgin mother appeared upon sarcophagi, but she is often represented within groups and never given any individual importance (54). During the next 300 years the worship of the virgin mother expanded and representations of her came in various forms and materials. At the arrival of the 10th and 11th century, although art was not given much importance, the Cult of the Virgin saw a steady increase in its followers (55) during this era the virgin was often represented in the forms of â€Å"Madonna and the child†, the â€Å"Annunciation†, the â€Å"Nativity† and the â€Å"Worship of the Magi† (55). Naturally a large number of artworks depicting biblical figures and scenes can be found in churches and other venues for worship, just like in the St. James Cathedral in Seattle, Washington, USA. Among the major artworks housed in the cathedral is a collection of stained glass by Charles Connik and an altar piece made by a Florentine artist, Neri di Bicci, which depicts the Madonna and Child surrounded by six saints. It can be noted that the image of the Madonna is prominent throughout the cathedral in various forms. From paintings, to statues, to carvings, and even stained glass the Madonna is portrayed in different roles and scenarios. Mentioned earlier is the artwork done by Florentine artist Neri di Bicci, Madonna and Child surrounded by six saints, dated to have been done in 1456. The artwork depicts the virgin mother sitting on a (heavenly) throne while holding the infant Jesus on her lap ("Madonna and Child with Saints"). Both the central figures are surrounded by six saints who are seemingly engaged in a conversation either with each other and/or with the Madonna and Child. Immediately noticeable is the regal aura that comes off from the virgin mother sitting on her queenly throne. In typical theological concept, the enthroned Madonna stands for the virgin mother as the Queen of Heaven (Hurll  37). A closer look at the altarpiece

Why Is It important for Managers to Understand the External Forces Essay

Why Is It important for Managers to Understand the External Forces Acting on Them and Their Organisations - Essay Example The every day role of a manager involves a range of activities all directed towards the achieving a high level of performance for the organization. In other words, being a good manager involves succeeding in achieving a high level of performance for the organization (Daft & Marcic, 2009). Thus, a key determinant in the success of manager hinges on achieving high levels of performance, which is influenced by the external forces acting on an organization as per the definition of external forces. Hence, it becomes impossible to deny that the common denomination of performance of the organization highlights the importance and interaction of the external forces acting on an organization and the role of managers in the organization. It is quite obvious that an understanding of the external forces acting on the organization makes it possible for managers to make use of the resources and create an environment that negate any impact of external forces that enhance stress in the organization a nd through that reduce job tension and enhance job satisfaction and job commitment that go towards improving the performance of the organization (Pool, 2000). Any organization exists in an external environment and necessarily has to interact with this environment and transact business within this environment. Such a relation between an organization and its environment is clear indication of the direct relationship between the external forces and organization. In which case, it goes without saying that effective interaction between the organization and the external forces is a key determinant for the success of the organization. What is the nature of the interaction between the external forces and the organization? External forces can impose a number of constraints on an organization that have a strong influence on the scope and direction of the activities in an organization and through that the performance of the organization, while the organization has limited control over these ex ternal forces. The key aspect of handling the constraints imposed by external forces is in the managers of the organization identifying and understanding the external forces and the constraints brought on by them and developing policies and actions within it’s the environment of the organization to take advantage of the situation that is impacting on all organizations operating in that sector of industrial activity. In fact, it is the understanding of the external forces coupled with an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the internal environment of the organization by managers that allows that to seek out the opportunities in the external environment to exploit them and develop measures to mitigate any threats imposed by the external forces (Shaikh, 2010). According to Robbins and Coulter 2007, external forces acting on an organization can be classified into two elements of the external forces of the specific environment and the external forces of the general en vironment. Such a distinction of the external forces is useful in evaluating the influence of external influence on the performance of an organization and its implications for managers (Robbins & Coulter, 2007) The specific environment consists of those external forces that have a direct bearing on managerial decisions and activities, because they have a direct relevance to the performance of an organization and the attainment of the objectives of the organization. This may imply that the specific environment for all organizations is static and the same. This is not true for the specific environment is unique to every organization and changes with changes in the condition. For example, let us look at two organizations of Timex and Rolex conducting business operations in the same market of

Nature or Nurture Essay Example for Free

Nature or Nurture Essay NURTURE OR NATURE It has been long debated the importance of nature verses nurture. It is hard to prove one from the other since it is shown for them both to play major roles in the development of a child to an adult. I believe that my personality is a combination of both nature and nurture but I think that I am +more nurtured. There are so many behaviors that I have developed from the environment I grew up. I have learnt to respect all people from being influenced at school and by my parents. I have also been trained to be responsible of things such as doing my work. I learnt that if I am not responsible and dont do my work, then I must pay bad consequences. I have also learnt from experiences that if I do what I am supposed to do, I may be rewarded for good things done. My environment has influenced me in many ways to act upon certain things automatically. Things like looking both ways before crossing the street, or other things that appear to be common sense are learnt from nurture. I have gone through many experiences in which I have learnt different lessons. These lessons have taught me how to act in my life. I know that I am very different person than my mom or my dad. I dont have very much in common with either of them. Although we do share some of the same aspects, I feel that I am more different from them than alike. I have developed the majority of my social skills from my friends and not my parents. Most of my social life revolves around my friends, who have influenced me a lot of the decisions I make and in the way I act. I dont socialize with my parents nearly as much as I do with my peers. I dont think I know my parents well enough to say if I am like them when they are around their friends or not. The nature and nurture of a person can vary greatly. Sometimes there are certain things that are hard to decide whether they are inherited or learnt. I might share some qualities with my parents, but they could just be characteristics that I learnt in my life that my parents also learnt in their lives too and were not inherited. I believe that genes indicate the potential for ones behavior and personality, and that the environment helps create the extent as to how that behavior is carried out.

The Pecan Tree Report Essay -- Farming

The Pecan tree is a native tree to North America. When early European settlers traveled across the sea to settle in the New World, they found pecan trees located in numerous places in this new land. Since then, the pecan tree has become one of the most important orchard species in terms of acreage. Indians began using pecans almost 8000 years ago in what is now Texas. The first budded pecan trees were produced in Louisiana in the mid-1800s and orchards have been established throughout the Southern states. The first recorded shipment of pecans to England was documented in 1761, by Spanish and European explorers (Anderson and Crocker, 2004). In 1917, a commercial shipment of pecans came out of Georgia and since then, Georgia has been the leading producer of pecans. Although Georgia is the leading producer, in some years collections of pecans from wild trees in Oklahoma and Texas surpass the production in Georgia. The life cycle of a pecan tree has four main components: germination, rooting, sprouting and lifespan and reproduction. The many different elements of the pecan tree life cycle contribute to the growth and development of the pecan trees we see today. The life cycle of a pecan tree has many different elements. The cycle begins with the spreading and germination of seeds. Mature pecan trees produce and drop thousands of seeds to the ground during the fall season. Dispersal of these seeds may be through the water, wind or animals but wind will end up pollinating the seeds. Pecan tree seeds lay dormant throughout the winter and will begin the growth process in the spring. The seeds require an adequate amount of warmth and rain throughout the winter and early spring months. Once the germination process has finished, the seed... ...l, Ted E., and Bruce W. Wood. "Movement of adult pecan weevils Curculio caryae within pecan orchards." Agricultural & Forest Entomology 10, no. 4 (November 2008): 363-373. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 18, 2012). Anderson, P.C., and T.E. Crocker. "The Pecan Tree." Solutions for Your Life: University of Florida IFAS Extension (2004). Web. 18 Apr. 2012. Christman, Steve. "Floridata: Carya Illinoinensis." FLORIDATA. Floridata.com LC, 30 Aug. 2000. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. http://www.floridata.com/ref/c/cary_ill.cfm. Wells, Lenny. "Nutritional, Environmental, and Cultural Disorders of Pecan." The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension (2010): 1-12. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. Ree, Bill. "Pecan Insect Pests." Pecan Kernel. Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. http://pecankernel.tamu.edu/pecan_insects/pests/index.html.

Company comparison: Tesco and Panda

After doing some research, I decided to choose two companies as the organizations to be compared in the written submission, which are Tesco and Panda. In this log-book, the information I gather will be printed in italic, and my personal opinion will be written in 14 point font size with underline. I get most of the information from the internet, besides, I get some information from the email which the companies' official website, press and the magazines. Tesco operates 2,291 stores around the world and employs 296,000 people. We have grown from a domestic retailer, to an International Group, through our organic growth programme. This year, all four parts of the Tesco strategy, the core UK business, non-food, retailing services and international, have increased in profitability. Retailing services Tesco personal finance, established in 1997, now has over 3.4 million customer accounts and 15 products and services. It achieved profits of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½96m in 2003 (Tesco share à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½48m). Tesco.com is the largest grocery e-tailer in the world and achieved a profit of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½12m in 2003. We announced recently that we would launch a fixed line phone service in the summer of 2003. Non-food Half of our UK new space opened this year has been for non-food and the result has been to grow our market share to 5%. By analyzing the above information, we can have an overview of the company. It is clear that Tesco is a large-sized organization, which has grown from a domestic retailer, to an International Group. How did Tesco make it? This is the question I have got after reading above information. This part shows some operational details of the company, for example, the employee numbers, age structure, the ownership of the firm, etc. STATEMENT OF APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES OF THE COMBINED CODE The Group is committed to high standards of corporate governance. This statement describes the manner in which the company has applied the principles set out in the Combined Code on Corporate Governance. DIRECTORS AND THE BOARD The Board of Tesco PLC comprises eight Executive Directors and six independent Non-executive Directors. The Chairman, Mr. J A Gardiner, is an independent Non-executive Director who has a primary responsibility of running the Board. The Chief Executive, Sir Terry Leahy, has executive responsibilities for the operations, results and strategic development of the Group. Clear divisions of accountability and responsibility exist and operate effectively for these positions. In addition, Mr. G F Pimlott is the senior Non-executive Director. The Board ensures that no one individual or group dominates the decision-making process. Since the year-end, the Board has announced its succession plans for the retirement of Mr. J A Gardiner in March 2004. The full Board meets at least ten times a year and annually devotes two days to a conference with senior executives on longer-term planning, giving consideration both to the opportunities and risks of future strategy. The Board manages overall control of the Group's affairs by the schedule of matters reserved for its decision. In so far as corporate governance is concerned, these include the approval of financial statements, major acquisitions and disposals, authority levels for expenditure, treasury policies, risk management, Group governance policies and succession plans for senior executives. To enable the Board to make considered decisions, a written protocol exists and has been communicated to senior managers ensuring that relevant information is made available to all Board members in advance of Board meetings. All Directors have access to the services of the Company Secretary and may take independent professional advice at the company's expense in the furtherance of their duties. The need for Director training is regularly assessed by the company. The above information shows a part of operational details of the organization. This part explained the board of Tesco and its operation, for example, the full board meet at least ten times a year and have some more conference as well, this is very logical, All Directors may take independent professional advice at the company's expense in the furtherance of their duties. GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES The following paragraphs describe the key governance structures operating in the Group under the overall direction of the Board. Executive Committee The Board delegates day-to-day and business management control to the Executive Committee, which comprises the Executive Directors. This meets formally every week and its decisions are communicated throughout the Group on a regular basis. The Executive Committee is responsible for implementing Group policy, the monitoring and performance of the business and reporting to the full Board thereon. Nominations Committee Appointments to the Board for both Executive and Non-executive Directors are the responsibility of the Nominations Committee which is chaired by Mr. J A Gardiner and whose members are set out in the table at the bottom of this page. As exemplified by the section on ‘Directors and their interests' within the Directors' report on pages 5 and 6 of the 2003 annual report, the company's Articles of Association ensure that on a rotational basis Directors resign every three years and, if they so desire and are eligible, offer themselves for re-election. Remuneration Committee The Remuneration Committee, composed entirely of Non-executive Directors, is chaired by Mr. C L Allen. The members are set out in the table at the bottom of this page. The responsibilities of the Remuneration Committee, together with an explanation of how it applies the Directors' remuneration principles of the Combined Code, are set out in the report of the Directors on remuneration on pages 12 to 21 of the 2003 annual report. Audit Committee The Board has an Audit Committee, chaired by Mr. G F Pimlott and consisting entirely of Nonexecutive Directors, which meets a minimum of three times a year. Membership of the Audit Committee is set out in the table at the bottom of this page. Its terms of reference are reviewed annually and represent current best practice. The Committee's primary responsibilities include monitoring the system of internal control throughout the Group, approving the Group's accounting policies and reviewing the interim and annual financial statements before submission to the Board. The Committee will be undertaking an assessment of the Group's position in relation to the Financial Reporting Council guidelines for strengthening the Combined Code, issued recently as the ‘Smith Report', although it is believed that the Group already comply substantially with the proposals. The review will also cover the role and effectiveness of the Non-executive Directors as set out in the ‘Hi ggs Report'. Compliance Committee The Compliance Committee ensures that the Board discharges its obligations to comply with all necessary laws and regulations. It has established a schedule for the regular review of the Group's operational activities to ensure compliance with accepted practices and policies. The Committee, comprising two Executive Directors and three members of senior management, normally meets four times a year. Some functional details are given in this part: the structure of management. There are five kind of committee; each one has its own duty, and they operate very well when they work together. The logical structure is another reason of Tesco's success. As different type of organizations, there must be differences between the management structure of Tesco and Panda, I will compare them in the written submission. INTERNAL CONTROL AND RISK MANAGEMENT The Board has overall responsibility for internal control, including risk management, and sets appropriate policies having regard to the objectives of the Group. Executive management has the responsibility for the identification, evaluation and management of financial and non-financial risks and for the implementation and maintenance of control systems in accordance with the Board's policies. The Board, through the Audit Committee, has reviewed the effectiveness of the systems of internal control for the accounting year and the period to the date of approval of the financial statements, although it should be understood that such systems are designed to provide reasonable but not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss. Internal control environment The Group operates an objectives-driven approach aimed at satisfying its core purpose that translates into a rolling five-year business plan. The plan covers both revenue and capital expenditure and forms the basis of business plans for all our business entities. From this the Board, together with monitoring regimes based upon our Steering Wheel, agrees the annual revenue and capital budgets. The Steering Wheel is the term used to describe our balanced scorecard approach, which we believe is the best way to achieve results for our shareholders. It sets out a broad range of targets under quadrant headings of customers, operations, people and finance. This allows the business to be operated and monitored on a balanced basis with due regard for all stakeholders. The Board undertakes a formal review of progress on a quarterly basis and any resulting actions considered appropriate are communicated throughout the business. The capital investment programme is subject to formalised review procedures requiring key criteria to be met. All major initiatives require business cases to be prepared, normally covering a minimum period of five years. Post-investment appraisals are also carried out. Risk management process At the highest level, the Board considers strategic risk every time it meets. The two-day Board Conference, referred to earlier, considers where future opportunities and risks lie and helps shape our corporate strategy going forward. Accountabilities for managing operational risks are clearly assigned to line management. Internal controls have been developed over all risks in line with the risk appetite determined by the Board and are subject to review. Formal risk assessments are carried out routinely throughout the business. Procedures exist to ensure that significant risks and control failures are escalated to senior management and the Board, as necessary, on a daily, weekly and periodic basis. What is the aim of these strategies? Does Panda have the similar management process? If not, how does it deal with the same problem? Monitoring The monitoring of strategic and operational risks are responsibilities of the Board and line managers respectively. The Board maintains the Key Risk Register and considers at their formal risk assessments whether the actions being taken in mitigation are sufficient. The Internal Audit function also operates on a risk-based approach helping managers with their risk responsibilities and advising on appropriate controls. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, our external auditors, contribute a further independent perspective on certain aspects of the internal financial control system arising from their work. Independence is strengthened by an agreement to rotate audit partners every five years. The engagement of auditors is considered annually by the Audit Committee. Annual statements received from CEOs further support the monitoring of key subsidiary operations. These statements confirm that the Board's governance policies have been adopted in practice and spirit. Overall, the Audit Committee seeks to ensure that the whole management process provides adequate control over all major risks to the Group. This is achieved through consideration of regular reports from internal and external audit alongside discussions with senior managers. Other specialist functions within the Group, notably Trading Law and Technical and Company Secretariat, provide assurance and advice on health and safety, regulatory and legal compliance and social, ethical and environmental issues. These functions report their findings on a regular basis to the Compliance Committee. What are the advantages of these responsibilities? How could they be taken in Panda? I will try to find the answer when I am doing Panda's research. At present, I think the company can prevent from risk; at least it can reduce the bad effect. Communication A programme of communication exists and is constantly being developed, to ensure that all staff is aware of the parameters that constitute acceptable business performance and the expectations of the Board in managing risk. This provides clear definition of the Group's purpose and goals, accountabilities and the scope of permitted activities of companies, executive functions and individual staff. Communication is an important part of organizational culture, what are the communication channels of Tesco and Panda? How does it work? The programme of communication is constantly developed and it is proved necessary. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY The Board regards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as an integral part of the overall corporate governance framework and is fully integrated into existing management structures and systems. Therefore, the risk management policies, procedures and monitoring methods described above equally apply to our CSR activities, including the management of social, ethical and environmental (SEE) risks. Many investors take an interest in how companies are managing non-financial risks as these can, under certain circumstances, have an impact on shareholder value. For example, The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has published disclosure guidelines on social responsibility, including SEE matters, for investors and companies. Last year, we published our first CSR Review on our website, www.tesco.com/everylittlehelps. This reflects the importance that Tesco has placed on CSR over the past 10 years. More details of our CSR strategy can be found in the Tesco Corporate Social Responsibility Review 2002/03 and on our website. We have an established cross-functional CSR Committee that meets a minimum of four times a year. The CSR Committee is chaired by the Group Corporate Affairs Director, and its membership is made up of senior managers from all parts of the business. One of its objectives is to identify threats and opportunities for the coming year and to highlight emerging issues. The CSR Committee has established a set of CSR Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and these KPIs are used to track performance quarterly and annually. The KPIs feed directly into the Steering Wheel monitoring system explained earlier and thus contribute to the overall monitoring of Group performance and control evaluation by the Board. The Chairman of the CSR Committee makes regular reports to the Executive Board on CSR matters. The CSR KPIs and the related management system are available in the CSR Review 2002/03 and on-line. Actually there is a relationship between environment and the companies. Environmental factors influence the development of companies and create opportunities and threats for them; it influences and determines the way the company must operate and how it has to accomplish its marketing objectives. Parts of environmental details have been shown by the information. Tesco made a great effect on Corporate Social Responsibility and the company gets a strong support by its customers. I will explain the reason in the written submission. This year sales in our core UK market have grown by 7.9% and underlying operating profit by 6.9% reinforcing our position as the number one food retailer in the UK. Our strong UK performance allows us to expand into retailing services and international markets. Number of stores In the UK we opened 62 new stores this year adding a further 1.4 million sq ft. We also acquired 1,202 T&S Stores, a leading convenience retailer, giving us an additional 1.8 million sq ft. This brings the total number of stores in the UK to 1,982. Four store formats we tailor our stores to meet our local customers' needs. We have four different store formats: Extra, Superstore, Metro and Express. All formats provide a different shopping experience for our customers, but all offer the same outstanding value. Store development we listen to customer and staff feedback to continually improve our stores. This year our UK development plan has seen refresh and extension programmes, tailored to local customer requirements, improve over 200 stores. Staff our loyal and committed staff have helped make us Britain's biggest supermarket. This year we have taken on an additional 9,000 people, with a further 5,000 over Christmas, to help serve our customers better. 104,000 of our staff are shareholders. The above data prove Tesco to be the biggest retailer in UK; does it only locate in UK? If not, what about its international market? What have Panda done? As I know Panda is the biggest electronic company in China at present, and it is also facing to the international market. Between the two different types of companies, is there any similar idea when they are dealing with the global market? In our European business sales have grown by 22.5% and underlying operating profit by 56.7%. We have opened 18 hypermarkets in the year, making us the largest hypermarket operator in Central Europe. Five countries Tesco now operates in five countries in Europe as well as the UK; Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, accessing 68 million people. Number of stores we now have a total of 230 stores across Europe and this year we became the leading hypermarket retailer in Central Europe. Our ongoing plans for the region will see us expand next year to over 100 hypermarkets, growing our market share even further. Sales area our expansion programme has seen our total European sales area increase to 10.6 million sq ft in the past 12 months, a rise of 31% on last year. This includes the 13 hypermarkets acquired from the HIT chain in Poland. Staff This year we have taken on 6,500 extra staff and we now employ 47,500 people across our European operation. In Hungary we are the country's second biggest private employer, with 11,000 members of staff working across our operation. This year our Asian operation has delivered sales growth of 45.5% and underlying operating profit growth of 144.8%. We operate in four countries across South East Asia including our latest market, Malaysia. Four countries this year we opened our first stores in Malaysia. We continue to build a business of scale in our developing markets of Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia, accessing a population of 155 million. Store development a total of 28 new stores were opened across the four countries, including seven Home plus stores in South Korea. These new stores have boosted our total floor space across Asia to 7.5 million sq ft, a rise of 34% on last year. Store formats we have continued to develop our formats to suit our different customers' needs. In Taiwan, plans are in place to open our first city-format store in the capital Taipei later this year. In Thailand we now have eight Express stores, a supermarket, and our first Value store. Staff this year we recruited a further 4,000 local managers and staff to deliver for our customers. We now employ a total of 28,000 people across Asia. In Thailand we had over 600 internal promotions last year. As the biggest retailer in UK, in order to have further development, Tesco has to entry to the international market, and it has already had some progress now. Now its store are located in 9 countries, and number will be still increasing. It has a large number of stores, employees, and loyal customers as well. It has different strategies in different locations. In the written submission, I will compare the data of the two companies. To complete it, I need to search more information about the functional advantages or disadvantages to location, type of property, running costs, time at location etc. Every day, more than 11 million people visit our stores knowing they can pick what they want, when and where they want it Tesco's product/service details are clearly shown in its homepage. It has a big range of product/service so it can make customers feel satisfied. The nature is simple: let customers know they can pick what they want, when and where they want it. Now I will move on to Panda, a Chinese electronic company. This part will also contain organizational details which are shown in Tesco's. As the cradle of China's electronics industry, Panda Electronics Group Co., Ltd. (PEG) was founded in 1936, with a history of sixty-eight years. Brand ‘Panda' is the first Chinese electronics products brand entered into international market and also the first ‘Well-Known Brand' of electronics industry in China. PEG is one of the largest electronics comprehensive backbone enterprises, 120 pilot enterprise groups, 512 key enterprises, six largest groups of electronics industries in China. Since the 50's of 20th century, more than 30 Chinese leaders including Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin had inspected PEG. With the great concerns of leaders of the government and the Party, PEG has developed rapidly. Recently, major products of PEG covers HF communication, satellite communication system, mobile communication system, macaronis production equipment, base station, program control exchangers, mobile phones, TV sets, washing machines, DVD players, computers, monitors, system integration, network, software and radio receivers. Technology force of PEG is in leading position in China's electronics industry. With its own power, PEG has created many â€Å"first in China† and won national honors. PEG has not only five national engineering research centers (engineering research centre for A/V digital products, national technology development centre, mass production technology centre, micro-electronics technology design centre, and engineering research centre for mobile satellite communication technology), but also post doctoral scientific research station. PEG cooperates with 12 large international companies entered into the top 500 largest companies in the world and more than 10 key universities and research institutes in domestic in technology fields to jointly develop new products. The speeds of renew of products has been increased greatly. Up to now, PEG has subscribers of 70,000,000 people, and is a famous brand electronics company possesses the most subscribers in china. Adhering to regard subscribers' standard as the top standards of enterprise, PEG is responsible for subscribers, services for subscribers and obtained the certificate for ISO 9001 international quality standards assurance. While self-developing, PEG made great efforts to exploit the international market and actively joint venture with the international large companies, such as Sweden's ERICSSON, Japan's SHARP and Korea's LG, made good economic efficiency. It became a new growth point of economic efficiency of the company. Nanjing Panda Electronics Co., Ltd. was founded in 1996. H shares and shares were issued to the public in Hong Kong and Shanghai respectively. The Company was listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and the Shanghai Stock Exchange respectively. In 1999, the Company carried out the policy of reconstructing of the assets, realized the reform of multi-element property rights. As the cradle of China's electronics industry, Panda Electronics Group Co., Ltd. was founded in 1936. Brand ‘Panda' is the first Chinese electronics products brand entered into international market and also the first ‘famous Brand' of electronics industry in China. Panda Electronics Group Co., Ltd. is one of the top 520 national key enterprises, one of the top 120 enterprises under experiment and one of the key enterprise groups in Nanjing Municipality and Jiangsu Province. The Company established 5 national R & D centers and a postdoctorate research work station. The Company established marketing networks spreading over nationwide, more than 40 countries and regions in the world. Users and consumers are up to 70,000,000. The Company was honored ‘First Grade Stated-Owned Enterprise' in the first batch, ‘National Key New High-Tech Enterprise' and ranked among the top 500 largest industrial enterprises in China for 10 years running. Now I have an overview about Panda's company profile, from a simple point, what is the difference between Tesco and Panda? This would be an important part I which I should explain in my essay. It also shows some operational and locational details, which I can compare to Tesco's directly in the essay. The operational details I have got is not as many as Tesco's, although I sent the company an email, they replied me with few information. However, I find more locational details of Panda, so I can have a detailed discussion about its advantages/disadvantages in the essay. There are both common points and differentia between the two companies' operational details, but all the information proved the locational details of the two companies are quite distinct from each other. These discussions will take an important part in the following written submission. Then I found Panda's functional details on its website and the magazine, in the essay, I can compare this with Tesco's functional details to point out their feature. They also sent me some more details with email, shown in the next page. Board of Directors Position Name Chairman, President and CEO Ni Runfeng Vice-Chairman and COO Wang Fengchao Director and CFO Liu Tibin Director and Vice-President Li Kexing Zheng Guangqing Wu Jiang Board's Secretary and Vice-President Tan Mingxian Director He Mingfen Director and Minister of Planning & Development Dept Lang Fengwei Director and International Business Dept Wu Jiang Director and General Manager of Air-conditioner Com Li Jin Senior Management Executive Officers President and Chief Executive Officer(CEO) Ni Runfeng Executive President and Chief Operation Officer(COO) Wang Fengchao Chief Financial Officer(CFO) Liu Tibin Vice Executive Presidents Li Kexing Zheng Guangqing Wu Jiang Tan Mingxian As a comprehensive multinational corporation, what is the characteristic of its structure? What is the difference between the two companies' structure? Why do they have differences? This is the main part I am going to explain in my essay. Panda Management Conceptions In our understanding, management of an enterprise denotes the administrator's thoughts and ideological level. It is the process through which the administrator does his management work with a clear and dedicated aim to advance the prospects of the company. In doing something new, we will certainly meet some obstacles. If we are reluctant to have a try or even to make plans for innovations, we will surely not succeed in making progress. Furthermore in making innovations, we might struggle or even fail sometimes, but we feel we can make progress gradually by learning from our mistakes. An administrator's ideological level has a great effect on the management efficiency. We feel he needs to be open and aboveboard, and should manage the company with strong ideals of justice and fairness. An administrator should always set up a new aim for the company to operate with as a goal in mind. A new aim stimulates all of the staff to work harder. We need to always bear in his mind that only the fittest will be able to survive in the tough market competition. Market competition is like sailing against the current: either you keep forging ahead or you keep falling behind. Thus, an administrator should always work with a new goal in mind. Only in this way can he continue to take new action and to deal with new situations with foresight which will allow the company to make useful progress. So, the characteristics of Panda management depend on the philosophy that people are treated as the foundation of the company's success and that while the management rules are always strictly adhered to, the employees are nevertheless an integral part of and always regarded as essential to the company's continued progress and success. Panda Ideas The purpose of the company is to serve people with technology. In our business operations, we have a clear management concept that we will win the market so long as we produce on a large scale at a leading pace. We have taken a market-and-order-orientation attitude toward the market. All we are doing in our work is for the services of customers and market. We are constantly improving the quality of our products. We are trying to reach the highest level in quality control. In personnel management, we firmly believe that the company should on the one hand offer employees' opportunities to expand their abilities and that on the other hand the employees will earn profits for the company. Thus we consider the relationship between company and employees as a reciprocal one from which both can benefit. Now I understand Panda's management conceptions/ideas, as parts of its organizational culture, it contains many differences with Tesco's. I will explain what the differences are in the essay. Since the 50's of 20th century, more than 30 Chinese leaders including Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin had inspected PEG. With the great concerns of leaders of the government and the Party, PEG has developed rapidly. Monopolization is forbidden in China, so Chinese government gives some help to other smaller competitors of PEG. As a huge market, China attracts many foreign companies, some large-sized companies, such as Sony, Samsung, and National, join in to the competition, to encourage the foreign enterprises, Chinese government constituted some policy for them as well, for example, low tax. Without the support from the government, PEG is not too strong to win the competition. International marketing has become a major issue for companies. In the twentieth century, world trade has been more and more important. All over the world; companies are aiming at penetrating new foreign markets. As a large company which can not get enough market shares in its own country, PEG planed to entry the international market as well. When entering international business it is necessary to take into account the political system of the target country. It is much more risky to operate in absolutism or anarchy than in democracy. Political stability is a basic requirement. The legal environment of the target country is also essential to consider. China has free trade agreements with several countries, making it less expensive and easier to export Chinese products and to import foreign products. These circumstances contribute to the increase of foreign trade by providing an environment, in which it is easy for Chinese companies to export their products to international markets. In case of an export company, the most important legal factors are the export-import regulations, requirements, restrictions and the rate of tariffs. When establishing a subsidiary in another country, other legal factors become important. The company law, competition policy and tax regulations determine the everyday operations of the company. Along with foreign investment regulations, environment-protection requirements etc., they set the legal environment for the firm. It is important to carefully examine and consider these factors. The threat posed by them can be reduced if the management is aware of them and understands these regulations well. PEG did get this great chance and it exported a large amount of its products to the developing countries and some western countries, unfortunately it did not deal with the regulations very well, for example, in Chinese advertisements it is usually allowed to compare competing productions, but it is not allowed in many European countries, PEG did not realize this when it first entry a foreign market, as a result, in some countries the company was indicted as export dumping. In order to review an organization or individual services, it is important to understand the external factors that influence the organization. An effective way to identify these external influences is to carry out a PESTEL analysis. Because of the different situation of China and UK, it is no doubt that the impacts of environmental factors for the two companies are different. By using the information I have, I can do a ‘PEST' analysis of both Tesco and Panda in my essay by taking some examples. It manufactures many kinds of products including the following series: Color TV series: CTV, PTV, Applied TV series (Hotel TV, Huge Projection TV Wall, CRT TV Wall, TV-PC, Playback TV, etc)†¦ Air-conditioner series: all kinds of Windows, Wall-mounted, Cabinet, Floor-mounted, and small Central Air-conditioners†¦ AV product series: all kinds of DVD, VCD, DVD+AMP, Amplifier, Voice speaker Box, CD, MP3†¦ Network series: DVB-C, DVB-S, ADSL, C-LAN, and Family Information-resolution System†¦ Battery series: High Quality Environmental Protection Battery, Rechargeable Battery, Nichrome Storage Battery and kinds of Chargers†¦ Electronic Component series: PCB, FBT, Tuner, kinds of Transformers and Coils, Inductance, Conduct-electricity Rubber, Spring†¦ Protection for Safety series: Finance Band System, Hotel System, Traffic Management, Public Place, Family Protection for Safety, Individual Protection System for Safety†¦ LCD series: LCD-TV, LCD-M and other LCD applied products†¦ White Household Appliance and small Household Appliance series: Washing Machine, Water-heater, and Fuel Gas Canteen†¦ Technology Equipment series: kinds of Assembly Line, Frock of Assembly Line, Meters of Assembly Line, and Tools of Production†¦ These are information which relates to Panda's product/service details. As same as Tesco, Panda have many different kinds of products, and it also develops in some other industries. Comparing to each other, the two companies' product/service are totally in different area, however, they may have the common management conceptions/ideas, it will be interesting to compare this part in the essay. Now I have collected the two companies' details about their operation, location, function, environment and product/service. All the information will be used to prove my opinion in the written submission.

A Dirty Job Chapter 21

21 COMMON COURTESY Charlie was torn – he really wanted to take his sword-cane, but he couldn't carry it while using the crutches. He considered duct-taping it to one of the crutches, but he thought that might attract attention. â€Å"You want me to go with you?† Ray asked. â€Å"I mean, you okay to drive, with your leg and all?† â€Å"I'll be fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"Someone needs to watch the store.† â€Å"Charlie, before you go, can I ask you something?† â€Å"Sure.† Don't ask, don't ask, don't ask, Charlie thought. â€Å"Why did you need me to find these two women?† You robot-necked bastard, you had to ask. â€Å"I told you, estate stuff.† Charlie shrugged. No big deal, let it go, nothing to see here. â€Å"Yeah, I know you told me that, and normally that would make sense, but I found out a lot about these two while looking for them – no one in either of their families has died recently.† â€Å"Funny thing,† Charlie said, juggling his keys, the cane, his date book, and his crutches by the back door. â€Å"Both bequests were from nonrelatives. Old friends.† No wonder women don't like you, you just won't leave things alone. â€Å"Uh-huh,† Ray said, unconvinced. â€Å"You know, when people run, when they go as far as faking their own death to get away, they are usually running from something. Are you that something, Charlie?† â€Å"Ray, listen to yourself. Are you back on your serial-killer thing? I thought Rivera explained that.† â€Å"So this is for Rivera?† â€Å"Let's say he's interested,† Charlie said. â€Å"Why didn't you just say so?† Charlie sighed. â€Å"Ray, I'm not supposed to talk about this stuff, you know that. Fourth Amendment and all. I came to you because you're good, and you have contacts. I depend on you and I trust you. I think you know that you can depend on me and trust me, right? I mean, in all these years, I've never put your disability pension in jeopardy by being careless about our arrangement, have I?† It was a threat, however subtle, and Charlie felt bad for doing it, but he just couldn't let Ray continue to push on this, particularly since he was in unexplored territory himself – he didn't even know what kind of bluff he was covering. â€Å"So Mrs. Johnson isn't going to end up dead if I find her for you?† â€Å"I will not lay a hand on Mrs. Johnson or Mrs. Pojo†¦Mrs. Pokojo – or that other woman either. You have my word on it.† Charlie raised his hand as if swearing on a Bible and dropped one of his crutches. â€Å"Why don't you just use the cane?† Ray said. â€Å"Right,† Charlie said. He leaned the crutches on the door and tried his weight on the bad leg and the cane. The doctors had, indeed, said that it was just a flesh wound, so there was no tendon damage, just muscle, but it hurt like hell to put any weight on that foot. The cane would work, he decided. â€Å"I should be back to relieve you before five.† He limped out the door. Ray didn't like being lied to. He'd had quite enough of that from his desperate Filipinas and was becoming sensitive about being taken for a fool. Who did Charlie Asher think he was fooling? As soon as he got the store squared away, he'd give Rivera a call and see for himself. He went out into the store and did a little dusting, then went to Charlie's â€Å"special† rack, where he kept the weird estate items that he made such a fuss about. You were only supposed to sell one to each customer, but Ray had sold five of them to the same woman in the last two weeks. He knew he should have said something to Charlie, but really, why? Charlie wasn't being open with him about anything, it seemed. Besides, the woman who bought the stuff was cute, and she'd smiled at Ray. She had nice hair, a cute figure, and really striking light blue eyes. Plus there was something about her voice – she seemed so, what? Peaceful, maybe. Like she knew that everything was going to be okay and no one needed to worry. Maybe he was projecting. And she didn't have an Adam's apple, which was a big plus in Ray's book lately. He'd tried to get her name, even get a look at something in her wallet, but she'd paid in cash and had been as careful as a poker player covering her cards. If she'd driven, she'd parked too far away for him to see her get into her car from the store, so there was no license number to trace. He resolved to ask her name if she came in today. And she was due to come in. She only came in when he was working alone. He'd seen her check through the window once when he was working with Lily, and only came into the store later when Lily was gone. He really hoped she'd come in. He tried to calm himself down for his call to Rivera. He didn't want to seem like a rube to a guy who was still on the job. He used his own cell phone for the call so Rivera would see it was him calling. Charlie didn't like leaving Sophie for this long, given what had happened a few days ago, but on the other hand, whatever might be threatening her was obviously being caused by his missing these two soul vessels. The quicker he fixed the problem, the quicker the threat would be diminished. Besides, the hellhounds were her best defense, and he'd given express instructions to Mrs. Ling that the dogs and Sophie were not to be separated for any amount of time, for any reason. He took Presidio Boulevard through Golden Gate Park into the Sunset, reminding himself to take Sophie to the Japanese Tea Garden to feed the koi, now that her plague on pets seemed to have subsided. The Sunset district lay just south of Golden Gate Park, bordered by the American Highway and Ocean Beach on the west, and Twin Peaks and the University of San Francisco on the east. It had once been a suburb, until the city expanded to include it, and many of its houses were modest, single-story family dwellings, built en masse in the 1940s and '50s. They were like the mosaics of little boxes that peppered neighborhoods across the entire country in that postwar period, but in San Francisco, where so much had been built after the quake and fire of '06, then again in the economic boom of the late twentieth century, they seemed like anachronisms from both ends of time. Charlie felt like he was driving through the Eisenhower era, at least until he passed a mother with a shaved head and tribal tattoos on her scalp pushing twins in a double stroller. Irena Posokovanovich's sister lived in a small, one-story frame house with a small covered porch that had jasmine vines growing up trellises on either side and springing off into the air like morning-after-sex hair. The rest of the tiny yard was meticulously groomed, from the holly hedge at the sidewalk to the red geraniums that lined the concrete path up to the house. Charlie parked a block away and walked to the house. On the way he was nearly run over by two different joggers, one a young mother pushing a running stroller. They couldn't see him – he was on track. Now, how to go about getting in? And then what? If he was the Luminatus, then perhaps just his presence would take care of the problem. He checked around back and saw that there was a car in the garage, but the shades were drawn on all the windows. Finally he decided on the frontal approach and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later a short woman in her seventies wearing a pink chenille housecoat opened the door. â€Å"Yes,† she said, looking a little suspicious as she eyed Charlie's walking cast. She quickly flipped the lock on the screen door. â€Å"Can I help you?† It was the woman in the picture. â€Å"Yes, ma'am, I'm looking for Irena Posokovanovich.† â€Å"Well, she's not here,† said Irena Posokovanovich. â€Å"You must have the wrong house.† She started to close the door. â€Å"Wasn't there a death notice in the paper a couple of weeks ago?† Charlie said. So far, his awesome presence as the Luminatus wasn't having much of an effect on her. â€Å"Well, yes, I believe there was,† said the woman, sensing an out. She opened the door a little more. â€Å"It was such a tragedy. We all loved Irena so much. She was the kindest, most generous, most loving, attractive – you know, for her age – well-read – â€Å" â€Å"And evidently didn't know that it's considered common courtesy when you publish a death notice to actually die!† Charlie held out the enlarged driver's-license picture. He considered adding aha! but thought that might be a little over-the-top. Irena Posokovanovich slammed the door. â€Å"I don't know who you are, but you have the wrong house,† she said through the door. â€Å"You know who I am,† Charlie said. Actually, she probably had no idea who he was. â€Å"And I know who you are, and you are supposed to have died three weeks ago.† â€Å"You're mistaken. Now go away before I call the police and tell them that there's a rapist at my door.† Charlie gagged a little, then pushed on. â€Å"I am not a rapist, Mrs. Poso†¦Posokev – I'm Death, Irena. That's who I am. And you are overdue. You need to die, this minute if possible. There's nothing to be afraid of. It's like going to sleep, only, well – â€Å" â€Å"I'm not ready,† Irena whined. â€Å"If I was ready I wouldn't have left my home. I'm not ready.† â€Å"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I have to insist.† â€Å"I'm sure you're mistaken. Perhaps another Mrs. Posokovanovich.† â€Å"No, here it is, right here in the calendar, with your address. It's you.† Charlie held his date book turned to the page with her name on it up to the little window in the door. â€Å"And you say that that is Death's calendar?† â€Å"That's correct, ma'am. Notice the date. And this is your second notice.† â€Å"And you are Death?† â€Å"That's right.† â€Å"Well, that's just silly.† â€Å"I am not silly, Mrs. Posokovanovich. I am Death.† â€Å"Aren't you supposed to have a sickle and a long black robe?† â€Å"No, we don't do that anymore. Take my word for it, I am Death.† He tried to sound really ominous. â€Å"Death is always tall in the pictures.† She was standing on tiptoe, he could tell the way she kept bouncing up by the little window to get a look at him. â€Å"You don't seem tall enough.† â€Å"There's no height requirement.† â€Å"Then could I see your business card?† â€Å"Sure.† Charlie took out a card and held it against the glass. â€Å"This says ‘Purveyor of Fine Vintage Clothing and Accessories.'† â€Å"Right! Exactly!† He knew he should have had a second set of business cards printed up. â€Å"And where do you think I get those things? From the dead. You see?† â€Å"Mr. Asher, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.† â€Å"No, ma'am, I'm going to have to insist that you pass away, this instant. You're overdue.† â€Å"Go away! You are a charlatan, and I think you need psychological help.† â€Å"Death! You're fucking with Death! Capital D, bitch!† Well, that was uncalled for. Charlie felt bad the second he said it. â€Å"Sorry,† he mumbled to the door. â€Å"I'm calling the police.† â€Å"You go ahead, Mrs. – uh – Irena. You know what they'll tell you, that you're dead! It was in the Chronicle. They hardly ever print stuff that's not true.† â€Å"Please go away. I practiced for a long time so I could live longer, it's not fair.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Go away.† â€Å"I heard that part, I mean the part about practicing.† â€Å"Never you mind. You just go take someone else.† Charlie actually had no idea what he would do if she let him in. Maybe he had to touch her for his Death abilities to kick in. He remembered seeing an old Twilight Zone as a kid, where Robert Redford was Death, and this old lady wouldn't let him in, so he pretended to be injured, and when she came to help him†¦ALA-KAZAM! She croaked, and he peacefully led her off to Hole in the Wall, where she helped him produce independent movies. Maybe that would work. He did have the cast and the cane going for him. He looked up and down the street to make sure that no one could see him, then he lay down, half on the little porch, half on the concrete steps. He threw his cane against the door and made sure that it clattered loudly on the concrete, then he let out what he thought was a very convincing wail. â€Å"Ahhhhhhhhh, I've broken my leg.† He heard footsteps inside and saw gray hair at the little window, bouncing a little so she could see out. â€Å"Oh, it hurts,† Charlie wailed. â€Å"Help.† More steps, the shade in the window to the right of the door parted and he saw an eye. He grimaced in fake pain. â€Å"Are you all right?† said Mrs. Posokovanovich. â€Å"I need help. My leg was hurt before, but I slipped on your steps. I think I've broken something. There's blood, and a piece of bone sticking out.† He kept his leg below the level where she could see it. â€Å"Oh my,† she said. â€Å"Give me a minute.† â€Å"Help. Please. The pain. So – much – pain.† Charlie coughed the way cowboys do when they are dying in the dirt and things are getting all dark. He heard the latch being thrown, and then the inner door opened. â€Å"You're really hurt bad,† she said. â€Å"Please,† Charlie said, holding his hand out to her. â€Å"Help me.† She unlatched the screen. Charlie suppressed a grin. â€Å"Oh, thank you,† he gasped. She threw open the screen door and blasted him in the face with a stream of pepper spray. â€Å"I saw that Twilight Zone, you son of a bitch!† The doors slammed. The latch was thrown. Charlie's face felt like it was on fire. When he could finally see well enough to walk, as he limped back to his van, he heard a female voice say, â€Å"I'd have let you in, lover.† Then a chorus of spooky-girlish laughter erupted from the storm sewer. He backed against the van, ready to draw the sword from the cane, but then he heard what sounded like a small dog barking in the sewer. â€Å"Where did he come from?† said one of the harpies. â€Å"He bit me! You little fucker!† â€Å"Get him!† â€Å"I hate dogs. When we take over, no dogs.† The barking faded away, followed by the voices of the sewer harpies. Charlie took a deep breath and tried to blink the pain out of his eyes. He needed to regroup, but then he was taking the old lady down, pepper spray or not. It took him the better part of an hour to get into position, but once he was ready, he put down the cinder block, flipped open his cell phone, and dialed the number he'd gotten from information. A woman answered. â€Å"Hello.† â€Å"Ma'am, this is the gas company,† Charlie said in his best gas-company voice. â€Å"My grid is showing pressure loss at your address. We're sending a truck right out, but you need to get everyone out of the house, right now.† â€Å"Well, I'm the only one here right now, but I'm sorry, I don't smell gas.† â€Å"It may be building up under the house,† Charlie said, feeling proud of himself for being quick on his feet. Is there anyone else in the house?† â€Å"No, just me and my kitty, Samantha.† â€Å"Ma'am, please take the cat and go out by the street. Our truck will meet you there. Go right now, okay?† â€Å"Well, all right.† â€Å"Thank you, ma'am.† Charlie clicked off. He could feel movement inside of the house. He moved right to the edge of the porch roof and raised the concrete cinder block over his head. It'll look like an accident, he thought, like a cinder block fell off the porch roof. He was glad that no one could see him up here. He was sweating from the climb, his armpits stained, his trousers wrinkled. He heard the door open and got ready to throw the cinder block as soon as his target emerged from under the roof. â€Å"Good afternoon, ma'am.† A man's voice, out by the street. Charlie looked down to see Inspector Rivera standing at the sidewalk, having just climbed out of an unmarked car. What the hell was he doing here? â€Å"Are you the gas company?† said Mrs. Posokovanovich. â€Å"No, ma'am, I'm from the San Francisco police.† He flashed his badge. â€Å"They told me there was a gas leak,† she said. â€Å"That's been taken care of, ma'am. Could you step back inside and I'll check with you in a minute, okay?† â€Å"Well, okay, then.† Charlie heard the doors open and close again. His arms were trembling from holding the cinder block over his head. He tried to breathe quietly, thinking that the sound of his wheezing might attract Rivera's attention, make him visible. â€Å"Mr. Asher, what are you doing up there?† Charlie nearly lost his balance and went over. â€Å"You can see me?† â€Å"Yes, sir, I certainly can. And I can also see that cinder block you're holding over your head.† â€Å"Oh, this old thing.† â€Å"What were you planning on doing with that?† â€Å"Repairs?† Charlie tried. How could Rivera see him when he was in soul-vessel-retrieval mode? â€Å"I'm sorry, but I don't believe you, Mr. Asher. You're going to have to drop the cinder block.† â€Å"I'd rather not. It was really hard getting it up here.† â€Å"Be that as it may, I'm going to have to insist that you drop it.† â€Å"I was planning on it, but then you showed up.† â€Å"Please. Indulge me. Look, you're sweating. Climb down and you can sit in my air-conditioned car with me. We'll chat – talk about Italian suits, the Giants – I don't know – why you were about to brain that sweet old lady with a cinder block. Air-conditioning, Mr. Asher – won't that be nice?† Charlie brought the cinder block down and rested it on his thigh, feeling his trousers snagging beyond repair as he did so. â€Å"That's not much of an incentive. What am I, some primitive Amazon native? I've had air-conditioning before. I have air-conditioning in my own van.† â€Å"Yes, I'll admit it's not exactly a weekend in Paris, but the next choice was that I shoot you off the roof, and they put you in a body bag, which is going to be sweltering on a warm day like this.† â€Å"Oh, well, yes,† Charlie said. â€Å"That does make air-conditioning sound a lot more inviting. Thanks. I'm going to toss my brick down first, if that's okay?† â€Å"That would be great, Mr. Asher.† Disillusioned with DesperateFilipinas, Ray was browsing through the selection of lonely first-grade teachers with master's degrees in nuclear physics on when she came through the door. He heard the bell and caught her out of the corner of his eye, and forgetting that his neck vertebrae were fused, he sprained the left side of his face trying to turn to see her. She saw him looking and smiled. Ray smiled back, then, out of the corner of his eye, saw the monitor with the photo of the first-grade teacher holding her breasts, and sprained the right side of his face trying to turn in time to punch the power button before she passed the counter. â€Å"Just browsing,† said the love of his life. â€Å"How are you today?† â€Å"Hi,† Ray said. In his mental rehearsals, he started with â€Å"hi,† and it just sort of burped out of him before he realized that it put him behind a beat. â€Å"I mean, fine. Sorry. I was working.† â€Å"I can see that.† Again the smile. She was so understanding, forgiving – and kind, you could just tell that by her eyes. He knew in his heart that he would even sit through a hat movie for this woman. He would watch A Room with a View AND The English Patient, back-to-back, just to share a pizza with her. And she would stop him from eating his service revolver halfway through the second movie, because that's just how she was: compassionate. She made a show of browsing the store, but two minutes hadn't passed before she made for Charlie's special shelf. Even the sign said SPECIAL ITEMS – ONE PER CUSTOMER, but it didn't say if that was a per-day policy, or one per lifetime. Charlie hadn't really specified, now that Ray thought about it. Sure, Lily had yammered on about how important it was that they adhere to the policy, but that was Lily, she might have grown up some, but she was still disturbed. After a short time she picked up an electric alarm clock and brought it over to the counter. This was it. This was it. Ray heard the back door open. â€Å"Will this be everything?† he said. â€Å"Yes,† said the future Mrs. Ray Macy. â€Å"I've been looking for one like this.† â€Å"Yep, you can't beat a Sunbeam,† Ray said. â€Å"That's two-sixteen with tax – aw, heck, call it two even.† â€Å"That's very nice of you,† she said, digging into a small purse woven from colorful Guatemalan cotton thread. â€Å"Hi, Ray,† Lily said, suddenly standing there beside him like some evil phantom who appeared out of nowhere to leech every potentially joyous moment out of his life. â€Å"Hi, Lily,† he said. Lily clicked some keys on the computer. Slowed down by his freshly sprained face, Ray wasn't able to turn before she'd hit the power button on the monitor. â€Å"What's this?† asked Lily. With his free hand, Ray thumped Lily in the thigh under the counter. â€Å"Ouch! Freak!† â€Å"I'm sure you'll enjoy waking up with that,† Ray said, handing the alarm clock to the woman who would be his queen. â€Å"Thank you so much,† said the lovely brunette goddess of all things Ray. â€Å"By the way,† Ray said, pushing on, â€Å"you've been in a couple of times, I was wondering, you know, because I'm curious that way, uh, what's your name?† â€Å"Audrey.† â€Å"Hi, Audrey. I'm Ray.† â€Å"Nice to meet you, Ray. Gotta go. Bye.† She waved over her shoulder and headed out the door. Ray and Lily watched her walk away. â€Å"Nice butt,† Lily said. â€Å"She said my name,† Ray said. â€Å"She's a little bit – I don't know – unimaginary for you.† Ray turned to the nemesis Lily. â€Å"You have to watch the store. I have to go.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"I have to follow her, find out who she is.† Ray began to gather his stuff – phone, keys, baseball cap. â€Å"Yeah, that's healthy, Ray.† â€Å"Tell Charlie I – don't tell Charlie.† â€Å"Okay. So is it okay if I switch the computer from the UGLY Web site?† â€Å"What are you talking about?† Lily stepped back from the screen and pointed to the letters as she read, â€Å"Ukrainian Girls Loving You – U-G-L-Y, ugly.† Lily smiled, a perky, self-satisfied smile, like that kid who won the spelling bee in third grade. Didn't you hate that kid? Ray couldn't believe it. They weren't even being subtle about it anymore. â€Å"Can't talk,† he said. â€Å"Gotta go.† He ran out the door and headed up Mason Street after the lovely and compassionate Audrey. Rivera had driven up to the Cliff House Restaurant overlooking Seal Rocks and forced Charlie to buy him a drink while they watched the surfers down on the beach. Rivera was not a morbid man, but he knew that if he came here enough times, eventually he'd see a surfer get hit by a white shark. In fact, he sorely hoped that it would happen, because otherwise, the world made no sense, there was no justice, and life was just a tangled ball of chaos. Thousands of seals in the water and on the rocks – the mainstay of the white shark diet – hundreds of surfers in the water, dressed like seals, well, it just needed to happen for all to be right with the world. â€Å"I never believed you, Mr. Asher, when you said that you were Death, but since I couldn't explain whatever that thing was in the alley with you, didn't want to explain, in fact, I let it slide.† â€Å"And I appreciate that,† said Charlie, showing a little discomfort at drinking a glass of wine with handcuffs on. His face was candy-apple red from having been burned by the pepper spray. â€Å"Is this normal procedure for interrogations?† â€Å"No,† Rivera said. â€Å"Normally the City is supposed to pay, but I'll have the judge take the drinks off your sentence.† â€Å"Great. Thanks,† Charlie said. â€Å"And you can call me Charlie.† â€Å"Okay, and you can call me Inspector Rivera. Now, braining the old lady with the cinder block – just exactly what were you thinking?† â€Å"Do I need a lawyer?† â€Å"Of course not, you're fine, this bar is full of witnesses.† Rivera had once been a by-the-book kind of cop. That was before the demons, the giant owls, the bankruptcy, the polar bears, the vampires, the divorce, and the saber-clawed woman-thing that turned into a bird. Now, not so much. â€Å"In that case, I was thinking that no one could see me,† Charlie said. â€Å"Because you were invisible?† â€Å"Not really. Just sort of not noticeable.† â€Å"Well, I'll give you that, but I don't think that's any reason to crush a grandmother's skull.† â€Å"You have no proof of that,† Charlie said. â€Å"Of course I do,† Rivera said, holding up his glass to signal to the waitress that he needed another Glenfiddich on the rocks. â€Å"I saw pictures of her grandchildren, she showed me when I went in the house.† â€Å"No, I mean you have no proof that I was going to crush her skull.† â€Å"I see,† said Rivera, who did not see at all. â€Å"How did you know Mrs. Posokovanovich?† â€Å"I didn't. Her name just showed up in my date book, like I showed you.† â€Å"Yes, you did. Yes, you did. But that doesn't really give you a license to kill her, now does it?† â€Å"That's the point, she was supposed to be dead three weeks ago. There was even a death notice in the paper. I was just trying to make sure it was accurate.† â€Å"So in lieu of having the Chronicle print a correction, you thought you'd bash in granny's brains.† â€Å"Well, it was that or have my daughter say ‘kitty' at her, and I refuse to exploit my child in that way.† â€Å"Well, I admire your taking the high ground on that one, Charlie,† Rivera said, thinking, Who do I have to shoot to get a drink around here? â€Å"But let's just say that for one millisecond I believe you, and the old lady was supposed to die, but didn't, and that because of it you were shot with a crossbow and that thing I shot in the alley appeared – let's just say I believe all that, what am I supposed to do about it?† â€Å"You need to be careful,† Charlie said. â€Å"You may be turning into one of us.† â€Å"Pardon?† â€Å"That's how it happened to me. When my wife passed away, in the hospital, I saw the guy that came to collect her soul vessel, and wham, I was a Death Merchant. You saw me today, when no one else could, and you saw the sewer harpy, that night in the alley. Most of the time, I'm the only one who can see them.† Rivera really, really wanted to turn this guy over to a psychiatrist at the hospital and never see him again, but the problem was, he had seen the woman-thing, that night and another time on his own street, and he had seen reports of weird stuff happening in the City over the last two weeks. And not just normal San Francisco weird stuff, but really weird stuff, like a flock of ravens attacking a tourist in Coit Tower, and a guy who slammed his car through a storefront in Chinatown, saying that he had swerved to miss a dragon, and people all over the Mission saying that they'd seen an iguana dressed like a musketeer going through their garbage, tiny sword and all. â€Å"I can prove it,† Charlie said. â€Å"Just take me to the music store in the Castro.† Rivera looked at the sad, naked ice cubes in his glass and said, â€Å"Anyone ever tell you that it's hard to follow your train of thought, Charlie?† â€Å"You need to talk to Minty Fresh.† â€Å"Of course, that clears things up. I'll have a word with Krispy Kreme while I'm there.† â€Å"He's also a Death Merchant. He can tell you that what I'm telling you is true and you can let me go.† â€Å"Get up.† Rivera stood. â€Å"I'm not finished with my wine.† â€Å"Leave the money for the drinks and get up, please.† Rivera hooked his finger in Charlie's handcuffs and pulled him up. â€Å"We're going to the Castro.† â€Å"I don't think I can work my cane with these things on,† Charlie said. Rivera sighed and looked down on the surfers. He thought he saw something large moving in a wave behind one surfer, but as his heart leapt at the prospect, a sea lion poked his whiskered face out of the curl and Rivera's spirits sank again. He threw Charlie the handcuff keys. â€Å"Meet me in the car, I have to take a leak.† â€Å"I could escape.† â€Å"You do that, Charlie – after you pay.†