The Stupidest Angel Chapter 8 Free Essays

Chapter 8 HOLIDAY HEARTBREAK Christmas Amnesty. You can fall out of contact with a friend, fail to return calls, ignore e-mails, avoid eye contact at the Thrifty-Mart, forget birthdays, anniversaries, and reunions, and if you show up at their house during the holidays (with a gift) they are socially bound to forgive you – act like nothing happened. Decorum dictates that the friendship move forward from that point, without guilt or recrimination. We will write a custom essay sample on The Stupidest Angel Chapter 8 or any similar topic only for you Order Now If you started a chess game ten years ago in October, you need only remember whose move it is – or why you sold the chessboard and bought an Xbox in the interim. (Look, Christmas Amnesty is a wonderful thing, but it’s not a dimensional shift. The laws of time and space continue to apply, even if you have been avoiding your friends. But don’t try using the expansion of the universe as an excuse – like you kept meaning to stop by, but their house kept getting farther away. That crap won’t wash. Just say, â€Å"Sorry I haven’t called. Merry Christmas.† Then show the present. Christmas Amnesty protocol dictates that your friend say, â€Å"That’s okay,† and let you in without further comment. This is the way it has always been done.) â€Å"Where the fuck have you been?† said Gabe Fenton when he opened the door and saw his old friend Theophilus Crowe standing there, holding a present. Gabe, forty-five, short and wiry, unshaven and slightly balding, was wearing khakis that looked like he’d slept in them for a week. â€Å"Merry Christmas, Gabe,† said Theo, holding out the present, a big red bow on it – sort of waving the box back and forth as if to say, Hey, I have a present here, you’re not supposed to sandbag me for not calling for three years. â€Å"Yeah, nice,† said Gabe. â€Å"But you might have called.† â€Å"Sorry. I meant to, but you were involved with Val, I didn’t want to interrupt.† â€Å"She dumped me, you know?† Gabe had been seeing Valerie Riordan, the town’s only psychiatrist, for several years now. Not for the last month, however. â€Å"Yeah, I heard about that.† Theo had heard that Val wanted someone who was a little more involved with human culture than Gabe. Gabe was a behavioral field biologist who studied wild rodents or marine mammals, depending on who was providing the funding. He lived at a small federally owned cottage by the lighthouse with his hundred-pound black Labrador retriever, Skinner. â€Å"You heard? And you didn’t call?† It was nearly noon, and Theo’s buzz had mostly worn off, but he was still thrown. Guys were not supposed to lament the lack of support from a friend, unless it was backup in a bar fight or help in moving heavy stuff. This was not normal behavior. Maybe Gabe really did need to spend more time around human beings. â€Å"Look, Gabe, I brought you a present,† Theo said. â€Å"Look at how glad Skinner is to see me.† Skinner was, in fact, glad to see Theo. He was crowding Gabe in the doorway, his beefy tail beating against the open door like a Snausage war drum. He associated Theo with hamburgers and pizza, and had once thought of him as the emergency backup Food Guy (Gabe being the primary Food Guy). â€Å"Well, I suppose you should come in,† said Gabe. The biologist stepped away from the door and allowed Theo to enter. Skinner said hi by shoving his nose into Theo’s crotch. â€Å"I’m working in here, so things are a little messy.† A little messy? An understatement on a par with calling the Bataan Death March a nature hike – it looked like someone had loaded all of Gabe’s belongings into a cannon and fired them into the room through the wall. Dirty laundry and dishes covered every surface except for Gabe’s worktable, which, except for the rats, was immaculate. â€Å"Nice rats,† Theo said. â€Å"What are you doing with them?† â€Å"I’m studying them.† Gabe sat down in front of a series of five-gallon aquariums arranged around a center tank in a star pattern and linked by Habitrail tubes, with gates for routing rats from one chamber to another. Each of the rats had a silver disk about the size of a quarter glued to its back. Theo watched as Gabe opened a gate and one of the rats rushed to the center tank and immediately tried to mount its occupant. Gabe picked up a small remote control and hit the button. The attacking rat nearly did a backflip trying to retreat. â€Å"Ha! That’ll teach ‘im,† Gabe shouted. â€Å"The female in the center cage is in estrus.† The rat backed away tentatively and did some sniffing, then attempted to mount the female again. Gabe hit the button. The male was jolted off of her. â€Å"Ha! Now do you get it?!† Gabe said maniacally. He looked up from the cages to Theo. â€Å"There are electrodes on their testes. The silver disks are batteries and remote receivers. Every time he gets sexually aroused, I’m hitting his little nuts with fifty volts.† The rat made another attempt and again Gabe hit the button. The rat spazzed its way to the corner of the cage. â€Å"You stupid shit!† Gabe shouted. â€Å"You think they’d learn. I’ll hit each of them with the jolt a dozen times today, but when I open the cage tomorrow, they’ll all run back in and try to mount her again. You see, you see how we are?† â€Å"We?† â€Å"Us. Males. See how we are. We know there’s going to be nothing but pain, but we go back again and again.† Gabe had always been so steady, so calm, so professionally detached, scientifically obsessed, so dependably nerdy – Theo felt as if he were talking to a whole different person, like someone had scrubbed off all the intellect and had exposed the nerves. â€Å"Uh, Gabe, I’m not sure that we should equate ourselves with rodents. I mean – ; â€Å"Oh, sure. That’s what you say now. But you’ll call me and tell me I was right. Something will happen and you’ll call. She’ll stomp your heart and you’ll finish the destruction she starts. Am I right? Am I right?† â€Å"Uh, I – † Theo was thinking about the graveyard sex followed by the fight he’d had with Molly last night. â€Å"So I’m going to change the association. Watch this.† Gabe stormed over to a bookshelf, threw aside a bunch of professional journals and notebooks until he found what he was looking for. â€Å"See. See her.† Gabe held up a recent Victoria’s Secret catalog. The model on the front was wearing garments spectacularly inadequate in concealing her appeal. She looked as if she just couldn’t be happier about it. â€Å"Beautiful, right? Amazing, right? Hold that thought.† Gabe reached into the pocket of his khakis and pulled out a stainless remote just like the one on the rat table. â€Å"Beautiful,† he said, and he hit the button. The biologist’s back arched and he suddenly became six inches taller, all the muscles of his body seeming to flex at once. He convulsed twice, then fell to the floor, the crumpled catalog still in his hand. Skinner lapsed into a barking fit. Don’t die, Food Guy, my bowl is on the porch and I can’t open the door by myself, he was saying. It was the same every time, he was always glad when the Food Guy wasn’t actually dead, but the Food Guy’s convulsions made him anxious. Theo rushed to his friend’s aid. Gabe’s eyes were rolled back and he twitched a couple of times before he sucked in a deep breath and looked Theo in the eye. â€Å"See. You change the association. Won’t be long and I’ll have that reaction without the electrodes glued to my scrotum.† â€Å"Are you okay?† â€Å"Oh yeah. It will take hold, I know it. It hasn’t worked with the rats yet, but I’m hoping it will before they all die.† â€Å"They’re dying of this?† â€Å"Well, it has to hurt or they’ll never learn.† Gabe held up his remote again and Theo snatched it out of his hand. â€Å"Stop it!† â€Å"I have another set of electrodes and receiver. You want to try it? I’ve been dying to try it out in the field. We could go to a titty bar.† Theo helped Gabe to his feet, then set him in a chair facing away from the rat table and pulled a chair around for himself. â€Å"Gabe, you are out of control. I’m sorry I didn’t call.† â€Å"I know you’ve been busy. It’s okay.† Great, now he has the appropriate Christmas Amnesty reaction, Theo thought. â€Å"These rats, the electrodes, all of it, it’s just wrong. You’re just going to end up with either a bunch of paranoid misogynist males, or a pile of corpses.† â€Å"You make that sound like a bad thing.† â€Å"You got your heart broken. It will heal.† â€Å"She said I was dull.† â€Å"She should see this.† Theo gestured around the room. â€Å"She wasn’t interested in my work.† â€Å"You guys had a good run. Five years. Maybe it was just time. You told me yourself that the human male was not evolved for monogamy.† â€Å"Yeah, but I had a girlfriend when I said that.† â€Å"So it’s not true?† â€Å"No, it’s true, but it didn’t bother me when I had a girlfriend. Now I know that I am biologically programmed to spread the seed of my loins far and wide, to as many females as possible, a series of torrid, meaningless matings, only to move on to the next fertile female. My genes are demanding that I pass them on, and I don’t know where to start.† â€Å"You might want to shower before you start the seed spreading.† â€Å"You don’t think I know that? That’s why I was trying to reprogram my impulses. Tame the animus, as it were.† â€Å"Because you don’t want to shower?† â€Å"No, because I don’t know how to talk to women. I could talk to Val.† â€Å"Val was a pro.† â€Å"She was not. She never turned a trick in her life.† â€Å"Listener, Gabe. She was a pro listener – a psychiatrist.† â€Å"Oh, right. Do you think I should start with a prostitute, or ‘tutes?† â€Å"For a broken heart? Yeah, I’m sure that will work just as well as the electrodes on your scrotum, but first I need you to do something for me.† Theo thought maybe, just maybe, work – nonfreakish work – might bring his friend back from the brink. He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out the hank of yellow hair he’d taken out of the Volvo’s wheel well. â€Å"I need you to look at this and tell me about it.† Gabe took the hair and looked at it. â€Å"Is this crime stuff?† â€Å"Sort of.† â€Å"Where did you get it? What do you need to know?† â€Å"Tell me everything you can about it before I tell you anything, okay?† â€Å"Well, it appears to be blond.† â€Å"Thanks, Gabe, I was thinking maybe you could look at it under the microscope or something.† â€Å"Doesn’t the county have a crime lab for that?† â€Å"Yeah, but I can’t take it to them. There are circumstances.† â€Å"Like?† â€Å"Like they will think I’m stoned or nuts or both. Look at the hair,† Theo said. â€Å"You tell me. I’ll tell you. â€Å"Okay, but I don’t have all that cool CSI stuff.† â€Å"Yeah, but the guys at the crime lab don’t have batteries Super-Glued to their gonads. You’ve got them there.† Ten minutes later Gabe looked up from his microscope. â€Å"Well, it’s not human,† he said. â€Å"Swell.† â€Å"In fact, it doesn’t appear to be hair.† â€Å"So what is it?† â€Å"Well, it seems to have a lot of the qualities of optic fiber.† â€Å"So it’s man-made?† â€Å"Not so fast. It has a root, and what appears to be a cuticle, but it doesn’t look like keratin. I’d have to have it tested for proteins. If it’s manufactured, there’s no evidence of the process. It looks as if it was grown, not made. You know polar-bear hair has fiber-optic properties – channels light energy through to the black skin for heat.† â€Å"So it’s polar-bear hair?† â€Å"Not so fast.† â€Å"Gabe, goddammit, where in the hell did it come from?† â€Å"You tell me.† â€Å"Just us, okay? This doesn’t leave this cottage unless We get some confirmation, okay?† â€Å"Of course. Are you okay, Theo?† â€Å"Am I okay? You’re asking me if I’m okay?† â€Å"Everything all right with you and Molly? The job? You’re not smoking dope again, are you?† Theo hung his head. â€Å"You say you have another one of those electrodes?† Gabe brightened. â€Å"You’ll need to shave a spot. Can I open my present while you’re in the bathroom? You can use my razor.† â€Å"No, go ahead and open your present. I have some stuff I need to tell you.† â€Å"Wow, a salad shooter. Thanks, Theo.† â€Å"He took the salad shooter,† Molly said. â€Å"Wow, was that important to him?† Lena asked. â€Å"It was a wedding present.† â€Å"I know, I gave it to you. It was a wedding present to me and Dale, too.† â€Å"See, there was tradition.† Molly was inconsolable. She drank off half of her diet Coke and slammed the plastic Budweiser cup down on the bar like a pirate cursing over a schooner of grog. â€Å"Bastard!† It was Wednesday evening, and they were at the Head of the Slug saloon to coordinate the replanning of the food for the Christmas for the Lonesome party. Lena’s first reaction to Molly’s call to help was to beg off and stay at home, but even as she was creating an excuse, she realized that she’d only sit home obsessing alternately on getting caught for killing Dale and getting her heart broken by this strange, strange helicopter pilot. She decided that maybe meeting with Molly and Mavis down at the Slug wasn’t such a bad idea. And she might be able to find out from Molly if Theo suspected her in Dale’s disappearance. Yeah, fat chance, with Molly obsessing on Theo’s – whatever it was that Theo was supposed to have done wrong. It sounded to Lena like he had just taken a salad shooter to work with him. You were supposed to empathize with your friend’s problems, but they were, after all, your friend’s problems, and Lenaâ₠¬â„¢s friends, Molly in particular, could be a little wacky. The bar was full of singles in their twenties and thirties and you could feel a desperate energy sparking around the dark room, like loneliness was the negative and sex was the positive and someone was brushing the wires together over an open bucket of gasoline. This was the fallout of the holiday heartbreak cycle that started with young men who, lacking any stronger motivation toward changing their lives, would break up with their current girlfriend in order to avoid having to buy her a Christmas present. The distraught women would sulk for a few days, eat ice cream, and avoid calling relatives, but then, as the idea of a solitary Christmas and New Year started to loom large, they swarmed into the Slug in search of a companion, virtually any companion, with whom they could pass the holidays. Full speed ahead and forget the presents. Pine Cove’s male singles, to display their newfound freedom, would descend on the Slug, and avail themselves of the affections of dejected women in a game of small-town sexual musical chairs played hungrily to the tune of â€Å"Deck the Halls† – everyone hoping to have slipped drunkenly into someone more comfortable before the last fa was la-la-ed. There might have been a bubble around Lena and Molly, however, for they were obviously not part of the game. While both were certainly more than attractive enough to garner attention from the younger men, they had about them a mystique of experience, of having been there and moved on, of unbullshitability. Essentially, they scared the hell out of all but the drunkest of the Slug’s suitors, and the fact that they were drinking straight diet Coke scared the hell out of the drunks. Molly and Lena, despite their own personal distress, had slain their own holiday desperation dragons, which was how the Lonesome Christmas party had started in the first place. Now they were on to new, individual anxieties. â€Å"Sloppy joes,† said Mavis, a great cloud of low-tar smoke powering the announcement and washing over Lena and Molly. It had been illegal to smoke in California bars for years, but Mavis ignored the law and the authorities (Theophilus Crowe) and smoked on. â€Å"Who doesn’t like his meat sloppy on a bun?† â€Å"Mavis, it’s Christmas,† Lena said. So far Mavis had only suggested soupy or saucy entres – Lena suspected that Mavis had misplaced her dentures again and was therefore lobbying for a gummable feast. â€Å"With pickles, then. Red sauce, green pickles, Christmas theme.† â€Å"I mean shouldn’t we do something nice for Christmas? Not just sloppy joes?† â€Å"At five bucks a head, I told her that barbecue was the only way to feed them.† Mavis leaned in and looked at Molly, who was muttering malevolently into her ice cubes. â€Å"But everyone seems to think it’s going to rain. Like it ever rains in December.† Molly looked up and growled a little, then looked at the television screen behind Mavis and pointed. The sound was muted, but there was a weather map of California. About eight hundred miles off the coast there was a great blob of color whirling in jump-frame satellite-photo motion, making it appear that a Technicolor amoeba was about to consume the Bay Area. â€Å"Ain’t nothin’,† Mavis said. â€Å"They won’t even give it a name. If that thing was crouched like that over Bermuda, they’d have given it a name two days ago. Know why? ‘Cause they don’t come onshore here. That bitch will turn right a hundred miles off Anacapa Island and go down and dump all over the Yucatan. Meanwhile we won’t be able to wash our cars because of the drought.† â€Å"The rain at least will stop any sand-pirate attacks,† Molly said, crunching an ice cube. â€Å"Huh?† said Lena. â€Å"The hell did you say?† Mavis adjusted her hearing aid. â€Å"Nothing,† Molly said. â€Å"What do you guys think about lasagna? You know, some garlic bread, a little salad.† â€Å"Yeah, we can probably do it for five bucks a head if we don’t use sauce or cheese,† said Mavis. â€Å"Lasagna just doesn’t seem very Christmasy,† said Lena. â€Å"We could put it in Santa Claus pans,† Molly suggested. â€Å"No!† Lena snapped. â€Å"No Santas! We can do a snowman or something, but no friggin’ Santas.† Mavis reached over and patted Lena’s hand. â€Å"Santa played a little grab-ass with a lot of us when we were little, darlin’. Once your mustache starts growing you’re supposed to let go of that shit.† â€Å"I am not growing a mustache.† â€Å"Do you wax? Because you can’t see a thing,† said Molly, being supportive. â€Å"I do not have a mustache,† said Lena. â€Å"You think it’s bad being a Mexican, Romanian women have to start shaving when they’re twelve,† Mavis said. Lena took that opportunity to plant her elbows squarely on the bar and grip two great handfuls of her hair, which she began to pull, slowly and steadily, to make her point. â€Å"What?† said Mavis. â€Å"What?† said Molly. And there was an awkward moment of silence among the three – only the muted jukebox thumping in the background and the low murmur of people lying to one another. They looked around to avoid talking, then turned to the front door as Vance McNally, Pine Cove’s senior EMT, came through it and let loose a long, growling belch. Vance was in his midfifties, and fancied himself a charmer and a hero, when, in fact, he was a bit of a dolt. He had been driving the ambulance for over twenty years now, and nothing gave him pleasure like being the bearer of bad news. It was the measure of his importance. â€Å"You guys hear that the highway patrol found Dale Pearson’s truck parked up in Big Sur by Lime Kiln Rock? Looks like he was fishing and fell in. Yep, surf coming up from that storm, they’ll never find him. Theo’s up there now investigating.† Lena stumbled back to her bar stool and climbed up. She was sure everyone in the bar, all the locals anyway, were looking at her for a reaction. She let her long hair hang down by her face, hiding in it. â€Å"So, lasagna it is,† said Mavis. â€Å"But no fucking Santa pans!† Lena snapped, not looking up. Mavis pulled both of their plastic cups off the bar. â€Å"Normal circumstances, you’d be cut off, but as it is, I think you two really need to start drinking.† How to cite The Stupidest Angel Chapter 8, Essay examples

Direct Marketing and Direct Selling free essay sample

What is the difference between direct marketing and direct selling? Answer: Direct Marketing; definition, â€Å"The total of activities by which the seller, in effecting the exchange of goods and services with the buyer, directs efforts to a target audience using one or more media (direct selling, direct mail, telemarketing, direct-action advertising, catalogue selling, cable TV selling, etc. ) for the purpose of soliciting a response by phone, mail or personal visit from a prospect or customer. † – by Peter Bennett. In simpler words Direct Marketing is a system of marketing by which the organizations communicate directly with target customers to generate a response or transaction. Direct selling, definition,† Direct selling is the personal presentation, demonstration, and sales of products and services to consumers in their homes. † Direct marketing is a process in which the middle men are removed and the product is directly sold to the end users or consumers. While personal selling is one to one selling in which the sales person visits a prospect and closes the sale. We will write a custom essay sample on Direct Marketing and Direct Selling or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Direct selling is a form of direct marketing. Direct marketing and selling both involve dealing directly with the customer, seeking a response, however direct marketing assumes a broader variety of media than just sales. Direct marketing includes, direct selling, direct mail, telemarketing, direct-action advertising, catalogue selling etc. Q 2: Describe the various forms of direct selling and some of the characteristics that make it unique. Answer: There are three forms of direct selling: 1.

Question Drama reflects real life on stage Essays - Fiction, Film

Question: Drama reflects real life on stage Text: The Twelve Angry Men Drama has been used to reflect real life experiences and issues on stage. This is exemplified in Reginald Rose's play "Twelve Angry Men" which depicts the different types of prejudice within the American subconscious symbolized through 12 jurors who must make a judgment on a boy accused of murder. The anonymity of characters in the play generalises the American population, based on the Juror's personality, dramatically reflecting the common mentalities of Americans during the 1950's. Rose cleverly uses Juror 8 to persuade the rest of the Jury that the boy is not guilty beyond reasonable doubt, whilst simultaneously convincing the audience as well. Rose's diligently concocted characterizations of jurors allows us to understand the significance of the drama, which accurately reflects real life on stage. The dramatization of prejudice in the play "Twelve Angry Men", is demonstrated as interference in the course of justice. This is highlighted in the introduction where all jurors enter the jury room with preconceived notions, ready to convict the defendant due to his social status rather than evaluating the evidence presented itself. The 4th Juror's stereotypical statement, "slums are breeding grounds for criminals," may be statistically justified, however, this is not actual proof that the suspect is guilty, demonstrating the capability for prejudice to cloud judgement. Rose also portrays personal prejudice as impacting on an individual's judgements, which is exemplified through Juror 3's personal bias towards his own son who left him. This transforms into a generalised prejudice against the younger population, thus creating tension. The 8th Juror's statement, "prejudice obscures the truth," suggests that that he is aware of the impact of prejudice on logic, and hence a fair verdict to bring justice. This problem is used to dramatically reflect the issue prejudice, distrust and depression within the American population during the Cold War. The unusual anonymity of the characters dramatically allows the audience to judge characters for who they really are and reflect their personality to real life people. Rose removes any detailed plot descriptions, names or specifics in the play. Jurors are simply referred to as a number, the defendant as the accused' and even the witness as the old man', illustrating that the function of the jury is more important than the details of their identity. This anonymity of characters allows Rose to break them up into less specific individuals that symbolises a cross section of the American population, as each Juror has a different perspective and looks at the evidence from different angles. As the play develops, we are immediately able to make some conclusions on characters based on the information provided. The anonymity of the play hence dramatically reflects American society, and due to no specifics of characters we are forced to make similar substitutions based on personal experien ce. During the play we are given many different perspectives of the case, which are given to seed doubt within the audience's mind. However, these perspectives can also be obscured by personal matters that are irrelevant to the case, as the jury are not trained in legal judgement. This is exemplified in the statement by Juror 7, "This better be fast, I got tickets to a ball game tonight," which highlights his open lack of interest in the verdict of the jury. In contrast to this, Juror 8 fully focuses on the case and throughout the course of the play, aptly examines, questions and manipulates evidence and other opinions. The discomfort of the situation at the beginning of the play is illustrated through the pathetic fallacy of the hot and sticky atmosphere, but this also portrays the depressing atmosphere surround the time in the 1950's. However, this weather soon changes into a storm, reflecting the tension and conflicting moods within the jury room. Juror 8 finally succeeds in pe rsuading the rest of the jury, thus successfully changing the audience's mind as well. The play concludes with the defeat of prejudice and irrationality through justice, however the accuracy of the final verdict is not demonstrated by Rose. This doubt at the conclusion of the play plagues the psychologies of the audience due to the ambivalence of whether they were right' in

pride essays

pride essays This excerpt taken from the play Antigone written by Sophocles has many different implications. If this idea were to be true, this quote suggests that every crime is caused by pride and that if man did not have pride there would be no crimes and all mistakes would be fixed. One is also able to realize that this quote testifies to the idea that all men do make mistakes, but those who fix them are good and those who dont are evil. If this is true than a mans value and character is determined by his actions. All men do make mistakes, but in cases when they are unable to mend them, it does not make them evil. Additionally, what may prevent a man from acknowledging his crime is not only pride, but also the effect it can have on others. In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy makes a great many mistakes in his life. These mistakes are in all cases repairable but this does not make him an evil man. One of Willys greatest mistakes is that he depends on the company he works for and believes that they will be as loyal to him as he has been to them. It is not just Willys pride that keeps him believing that even if he is not as successful as he used to be that he will get promoted and keep his job. It is also reasonable expectations of the respect that the company should have for him due to the sacrifices he makes for them. By the time Willy realizes this mistake though, it is too late for him to repair it in anyway. He can apologize and regret his mistakes, but he can not change the past. No matter how many apologies Willy may make to his family, and how much he may regret it, it will not change the situation he is in. Willys mistake was having trust and faith and others but this is not something that makes o ne evil. He did try to fix some mistakes in his life, but others he was unable too based upon how it would hurt others. For instance, Willy can apologize to his wife for the unfaithful ...

Sam 386 assig 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Sam 386 assig 4 - Assignment Example The benefits consider the list of resources that are available to the participant of the athletics program. For Laser high school, there exist nine areas of benefit, which includes the equipment and supplies, scheduling of the practice time, per diem, coaching, locker rooms, medical services, publicity, tutoring, and support services. The equipment and supplies include the apparel, instructional devices, specific supplies and equipment, and apparel and uniform. Therefore, during the visit uniforms such as travel bags, shoes, and warm up were examined to ensure that the female and male participants have comparable attires. Most schools preferred the rotation based on some number of years. For instance, in the first year the basketball uniform for boys and girls were bought. In the second year, soccer attires were bought, in the third year softball and baseball attires were bought, in the fourth year tracks for the volleyballs and cross-country was bought. During the fifth year, the cycle started all over again. In Laser, a crucial aspect for the component was the policy on the basketball team of the girls that compete on the prime date. The policy of the high school is that every year, the basketball teams of the girls must need to schedule forty percent of the regular season contests during the prime date. The percentage of girls was necessary irrespective of the home game for boys. The percentage for the prime date was calculated by dividing the number of home matches on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday by the number of home matches scheduled (Carpenter, 2000). The program component involved the mode of transport, distance travelled, lodging, and meal that are offered for the teams. Specifically, the factors that were important include the means of transport; bus versus van, school bus versus the luxury charter, clinic and camps, arrangement of meals from booster group or restaurant, and the

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Todays Business Environment of JetBlue - Case Study Example Indeed, business has been growing as a result of the strategy but the problem is that it is not fully sustainable in the long run which has influenced the airline to seek leadership changes. Â  Today’s business environment is characterized by an increasing intensity of competition, rapid technological changes as well as the ever-changing needs of the customers and the employees. Success in this dynamic and competitive environment depends on the extent to which the organization develops, implements, monitors and evaluates its business strategy (Temtine, 2001:1 as cited in Roussow 2003). At times the organizations fail not because of the strategy but the execution of the strategy. Thus the aim is to develop a strategic management and competitive advantage plan in order to ensure the viability of the airline in the long run. Â  Against all odds, JetBlue managed to gain a competitive advantage since its inception due to different reasons. Through embarking on the value chain, the organization managed to attract many customers since it was rated as one of the airlines offering best service. The concept of value chain entails that value chain entails that any business ought to separate its business systems into various activities which can add more competitive advantage to its operations (Robinson 1997). For instance, the aim would be to offer the customers with first class service which would be valuable in other activities to the customers. Part of the system of value chain involves identification of the customer needs as well as the generation of sales. There would also need to offer support to the customers after the services have been sold to them. The primary activities of value chain would also involve infrastructural development which can support the control systems as well as company culture.

PBA Murr vs Wisconsin Case Analysis

PBA Murr vs Wisconsin Case Analysis Adem Mehmetaj I. The question being asked is should two legally distinct but commonly owned contiguous lots of land be combined for takings analysis purposes? Joseph P. Murr and his family bought 2 lots approximately the same size and at different times. The issue before us is that Murr no longer wishes to hold one of the lots and St. Croix rules that he is not allowed to sell only one of the lots due to environmental concerns. Petitioners claim that state and federal courts are in substantial conflict with respect to the issue at hand and cite numerous cases in an attempt to derive support for their proposition. Those cases as well as the examples provided below all involve different facts and circumstances. They confirm that a flexible, ad hoc, approach has consistently been used by the lower courts to define the relevant property and to determine whether compensation is due. The Wisconsin appellate court ruled that because the two lots are contiguous, and happen to be owned by the same people , this Courts parcel as a whole rule from Penn Central requires combining the two parcels for takings analysis. From the Murrs perspective, Lots E and F are two separate parcels, created as legally separate lots, taxed separately, and purchased separately. The lots were never developed together, and were purchased for completely different reasons. Nevertheless, because the Murrs own both parcels, the Wisconsin court ruled that these two parcels combined were the Murrs parcel as a whole. This conclusion was driven by the contiguous ownership. II. The parents of Joseph P. Murr and his siblings (the Murrs) purchased two adjacent lots (Lots E and F) in St. Croix County in 1960. The two lots together made up approximately .98 acres. In 1994 and 1995 respectively, the Murrs parents transferred Lot F and Lot E to their children. In 1995, the two lots were merged pursuant to St. Croix Countys code of ordinances. The relevant ordinance prohibits the individual development or sale of adjacent lots under common ownership, unless an individual lot was at least one acre. The ordinance further specified that if each lot is not at least one acre, the lots may be measured together to equal one acre. Seven years later, the Murrs wanted to sell Lot E and not Lot F. The St. Croix County Board of Adjustment denied the Murrs application to sell the lots separately. The Murrs sued the state and county and claimed the ordinance in question resulted in an uncompensated taking of their property and deprived them of all, or practically all, of th e use of Lot E because the lot cannot be sold or developed as a separate lot. The circuit court granted summary judgement to the state and county. The Court of Appeals of Wisconsin affirmed and held that the Murrs were not deprived of their practical use of the property. Nevertheless, Petitioners submitted their plan to the St. Croix County Board for consideration. The Board denied their plan and refused to make an exception to the longstanding regulations. Instead of modifying the plan or submitting a less-intrusive plan that complied with the existing regulations Petitioners filed this lawsuit alleging a regulatory taking. The Supreme Court confirmed the parcel as a whole rule in Keystone Bituminous Coal Association v. DeBenedictis, where coal operators asserted that a court should only consider the coal that could not be mined to determine whether a state law requiring them to leave a certain amount of coal in the ground amounted to a regulatory taking. The Supreme Court again endorsed the parcel as a whole rule in Concrete Pipe Products, Inc. v. Construction Laborers Pension Trust. There, Concrete Pipe claimed that a regulatory taking occurred when federal law required it to pay withdrawal liability to a pension trust. In 2006, the Murrs brought suit in St. Croix County Circuit Court, which ruled against them and affirmed the Zoning Boards decision denying the variance to sell or use the two lots as separate building sites. The Murrs claim that since Lot E and F were created as legally separate lots purchased separately for different purposes and taxed separately, they should also be able to sell them separately. The Murrs reject the claim that Penn Central v City of New York[1] established a rule stating that two legally distinct properties should be considered as contiguous parcels. Under Penn Central, to determine whether a particular government action has accomplished a taking, courts are to focus both on the character of the action and on the natur e and extent of the right interference with rights in the parcel as a whole. [2] On appeal in 2011, the Wisconsin State Appellate Court once again upheld the boards decision. It held that the two lots are contiguous and also happen to be owned by the same people, so implementing the Courts parcel as a whole rule from Penn Central does in fact require combining the two parcels for takings analysis. Furthermore, the Court of Appeals rejected the petitioners notion that the lots had not merged as a result of the Grandfather Clause because the lots were already subject to the 1976 environmental regulation when they had been merged under joint ownership in 1995. The Appellate Court ruled that it was not a taking because the Murrs property, taken as a whole, could be used for residential purposes, among other things. [3] The circuit court had also stated that a year-round residence could be built on top of the bluff and the residence could be located entirely on Lot E, entirely on Lot F, or could straddle both lots. [4] III. The Takings Clause of the U.S. Constitution states simply nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. However, that clause has taken on a distinguished role in constitutional jurisprudence, notably with relation to the boundaries of state and native restrictive power. Any discussion of the Takings Clause ought to begin with the history that led to its enactment and therefore the approach case law has developed. The Takings Clause found its origin in Section 39 of the Magna Carta, which declared that land would not be taken without some form of due process: No freemen shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him nor send upon him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. The Fifth Amendment was solely a restriction against the central. Whereas there have been some limits on the powers of the States before 1865, the Civil War caused the federal government to rest rict the powers of the state governments against their own voters through the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. The Fourteenth Amendment created restrictions to the States through Due Process clause. The Due Process Clause gradually shifted. One shift was procedural and was developed to assure that hearings and alternative governmental decision-making processes were conducted fairly. This review of the processes of government is understood as procedural due process of law. A second line of cases extended the boundaries on the federal government within the Bill of Rights to state and local government action exploiting the Due Process Clause. For roughly one hundred years after the passage of the post-Civil War amendments, The Due Process Clause judicial proceeding resulted in incorporation of a number of the restrictions on the federal government within the Bill of Rights to state and local actions moreover. The Supreme Court applied the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause in Chicago Burlington and Quincy R.R. v. City of Chicago, 166 U.S. 226 (1897). Beginning with Mugler v. Kansas, 123 U.S. 623 (1887), during which the U.S. Supreme Court indicated that that Court may review, through the due process of law Clause, the substance of legislation. To review both the procedure as well as the substance of legislation can be referred to as substantive due process. This part of the Due Process Clause allows judges to second-guess state and local legislative decisions. Under substantive due process, a court may verify whether or not the ends and means of legislation were acceptable and whether or not the legislation was unduly oppressive to regulated parties.In Kelo v. city of new London, 125 S. Ct. 2655 (June 23, 2005), the question arose on whether or not the utilization of eminent domain alone for economic development purposes may be a valid public use. Any regulations placed on ones property does indeed infringe on their right of land. That does not mean however it can be deemed a taking. Takings Clause is tricky, because it is not always clear what is a taking and what is not. The unclear interpretation of what a takings is expected to remain in an unpredictable path. IV. St. Croix County and the State of Wisconsin cite numerous environmental interests with the regulations in question. According to the St. Croix County Zoning Board, granting the Murrs the variance could result in yet another residence with access to the river, additional tree cutting and excavating, and another sanitary system in an area with serious limiting factors. We must discuss if these environmental interests are legitimate in preventing landowners from selling. We must decide to either uphold or reverse the Appellate Courts decision that Penn Central, whose building and airspace were considered contiguous parcels, establish a rule that is applicable to the case in question. Furthermore, we must decide if under Lucas v South Carolina Coastal Council,[5] in which the land essentially useless, the Murrs could be entitled to Monetary compensation. Congress enacted the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (Act) in 1968 to preserve certain rivers for the enjoyment of present and future generations, to wit: It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Congress declares that the established national policy of dams and other construction at appropriate sections of the rivers of the United States needs to be complemented by a policy that would preserve other selected rivers or sections thereof in their free-flowing condition to protect the water quality of such rivers and to fulfill other vital national conservation purposes.[6] Under both cases, I suggest that we uphold the Boards original decision in 2005. As the circuit and appellate courts both stated, aft er the lots were placed under common ownership as contiguous parcels, they are subject to the countys current zoning regulations. In 1986, Lucas bought two residential lots on the Isle of Palms, a South Carolina barrier island. He intended to build single-family homes as on the adjacent lots. In 1988, the state legislature enacted a law which barred Lucas from erecting permanent habitable structures on his land. The law aimed to protect erosion and destruction of barrier islands. Lucas sued and won a large monetary judgment. The state appealed. Since unlike Lucas, the Murrs may build on both parcels and sell them together for a reasonable price, there is no need for compensation. Furthermore, the Countys environmental interest outweighs that of Murrs. Just v. Marinette County, 56 Wis. 2d 7, 201 N.W.2d 761 (1972), a shoreland zoning ordinance established a conservancy district over wetlands within 1,000 feet of a lake and prohibited any filling without a permit. This, in effect, prev ented the changing of the natural character of the land à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.[7] The landowner asserted the ordinance was unconstitutional because it amounted to constructive taking without compensation. The court disagreed, finding the ordinance a valid exercise of the police power to protect navigable waters and the public rights therein from the degradation and deterioration which results from uncontrolled use and development of shorelands.[8] In Penn Central, New York Citys landmark preservation interest outweighed the use of airspace as a skyscraper. V. Based on the foregoing, we conclude the circuit court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the County and State of Wisconsin. The undisputed facts establish that the Murrs property, viewed as a whole, retains beneficial and practical use as a residential lot. Accordingly, we conclude they have not alleged a compensable taking as a matter of law. Bibliography Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). Chicago, B. Q. R. Co. v. Chicago, 166 U.S. 226 (1897). Just v. Marinette County, 56 Wis. 2d 7, 201 N.W.2d 761 (1972). Kelo v. New London 545 U.S. 469 (2005). Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council 505 U.S. 1003 (1992). Magna Carta, Chapter 39, June 15, 1215. Mugler v. Kansas, 123 U.S. 623 (1887). Murr v. Wisconsin, Oyez, https://www.oyez.org/cases/2016/15-214 (last visited Dec 19, 2016). Nectow v. City of Cambridge, 277 U.S. 183 (1928). Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104 (1978). Slaughterhouse Cases, 83 U.S. 16 Wall. 36 36 (1872). United States v. Carolene Products Co., 304 U.S. 144 (1938). Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365 (1926). [1] Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104 (1978). [2] ibid. [3] Murr v. Wisconsin, Oyez, https://www.oyez.org/cases/2016/15-214 (last visited Dec 19, 2016). [4] ibid. [5] Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council 505 U.S. 1003 (1992). [6] Murr v. Wisconsin, Oyez, https://www.oyez.org/cases/2016/15-214 (last visited Dec 19, 2016). [7] Just v. Marinette County, 56 Wis. 2d 7, 201 N.W.2d 761 (1972). [8] ibid.