How Craft Changed Oreo Marketing Strategy in China

How Kraft Changed the Oreo and Its Global Marketing Strategy for Success in China Gale Business Insights: Global Case Study Collection Learning Objectives After analyzing this case study, students should be able to do the following: Explain at least three benefits of market research in product development for international and emerging markets Identify traditional and nontraditional strategies for increasing revenue through entering new global markets Appreciate the effect of cultural norms and tastes for firms expanding to new markets Discuss how firms can focus products to local tastes while increasing brand value globally IntroductionOne of the more popular strategies for firms to increase profits in the 21st century has been to expand to new, growing markets. China, India, and other Asian and Pacific countries have received a great deal of attention by North American and European firms attempting to tap growing levels of expendable income from the emerging middle classes in these countries. The strategy seems sound, but its execution is critical to its success or failure. Many examples exist of companies in the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s failing to gain traction in these new markets.Firms often try to attract new customers by offering essentially the same products that have worked in other markets. They support this strategy by adding sales and marketing staff and other resources to convince potential buyers in the new market of the value of their products. Offering a standard product across markets can minimize costs and increase profit margins. However, cultural norms, tastes, and preferences vary greatly between a firm’s home market and the new market it may be attempting to enter.It is often difficult for firms to gauge the right mix of standardization and localization while still making growth profitable rather than being a drag on profits. For example, Campbell Soup Co. saw an opportunity to make big profits in Russia and China wit h its preprepared soup products. According to The Wall Street Journal, Campbell estimated that Russians and Chinese eat soup five times per week on average. As life in China and Russia gets busier and more women enter the workplace, the company forecasted that people would have less time to prepare meals and that the demand for preprepared food would increase.However, Campbell found after years of marketing its products in these countries that its canned soup strategy did not capture the revenue it needed to be profitable. Campbell introduced and then pulled its condensed soups out of China in the 1990s, and the company announced in June 2011 that it would close its Russian operations four years after entering the market. Kraft Foods Inc. is another company that sees opportunities for new and growing profits in Asia. The company’s first attempts to enter Asian markets were as unsuccessful as Campbell’s initial attempts.However, Kraft decided to shift to a new marketing strategy, grounded in a different understanding of how to best expand into new markets. Kraft Foods and the Oreo in 2005: In Need of a Change The first Oreo cookies were produced in New York City in 1912 and registered as a Nabisco trademark one year later. Nearly a century of popular marketing campaigns made Oreos one of the best selling cookies and best-known food brands in the United States. Throughout this period of popularity, very little changed about the physical cookie: Oreos remained a sandwich cookie with chocolate ends and a cream-filled center.The design of the cookie helped initiate an eating ritual that advertisers soon appropriated to make the cookie even more popular: the â€Å"twist, lick, and dunk† method for eating the cookie has been a centerpiece of Oreo advertising for many years. By 2005, the Oreo cookie had been a mainstay in U. S. consumer culture for nearly a century. However, sales in the United States had seemed to peak, and international growth i n emerging markets in Asia and elsewhere was slow if barely noticeable at all. The Oreo was introduced in China in 1996, in he same form that a customer would find it in a grocery store in the United States. Sales had been flat for the first five years of the 2000s and were in decline. â€Å"In 2007, Kraft Foods China was an unprofitable, $100 million business that was not growing,† noted Sanjay Khosla, Kraft Foods’ president of developing markets, in an interview published by the Boston Consulting Group. Kraft was even thinking of pulling the product out of the Chinese market completely, due to poor sales. The company as a whole was performing poorly. This led to a shake-up of executive management in 2006, with Irene B.Rosenfeld installed as chief executive officer (CEO). Rosenfeld had previously worked at Kraft for 22 years before leaving in 2003 to head Frito-Lay North America. In early 2007, Rosenfeld outlined a strategy to turn the company around that included pro duct quality, research and development (R&D), and acquisitions as critical to the future growth of the company. Rosenfeld hired cutting-edge business leaders such as Khosla to help create the strategy that would change the way Kraft Foods Inc. does business. Fewer, but Larger Bets: Growth Through Focus and the 5-10-10 Strategy at Kraft FoodsWhen Sanjay Khosla left Fonterra Group in 2007 to spearhead Kraft Foods’ business in developing countries, he was tasked with discovering a way to realize the potential for growth in developing markets that had eluded Kraft and so many other large, successful multinational firms. That different approach eschewed the traditional idea that a company must produce more in order to sell more. In a 2011 feature on Khosla in Chicago Magazine, Khosla noted that â€Å"[c]ompanies were just planting their flags, with a one-size-fits-all attitude that didn’t work.You can’t just force stuff from one country to another. † Instead, Kraft Foods would redesign the way it, and other firms, entered emerging markets. Khosla coauthored an article with Mohanbir Sawhney for Strategy+Business magazine, called â€Å"Growth Through Focus,† in which the authors details the many changes that took place at Kraft Foods to succeed in developing markets. â€Å"A typical ‘growth through more’ strategy,† they write, â€Å"diffuses the organization’s efforts. It increases the complexity of the organization and its operations. Companies should not produce more to drive growth but should instead focus its operations and strategy to achieve growth. â€Å"The engines of growth,† write Khosla and Sawhney, â€Å"are focus (fewer brands, fewer categories, and fewer markets) and simplicity (simple vision, simplified execution, and simpler organizational designs). † Kraft Foods would choose which brands have the best chances of winning in which markets and then supply its management and emp loyees with an abundance of resources to succeed. â€Å"We have found that seemingly mature businesses can be energized by making fewer but larger bets. The executive team at Kraft had a strategy for winning but had to ensure that its employees at all levels understood and executed the strategy, so it came up with a vision statement or â€Å"hook† that would be communicated throughout the ranks, called the â€Å"5-10-10† strategy: five categories, ten brands, and ten markets. â€Å"5-10-10† would help communicate to all employees exactly what the major priorities for the company would be, providing a sense in its culture that executive management was open and committed with its strategies and goals.After conducting several workshops with its managers and employees all over the world, where open and candid feedback was encouraged, Kraft Foods decided that its best chance at winning would be to focus on two categories: biscuits and chocolate. Although it has been successful mostly in the United States, Oreo had recently, in 2006, become the bestselling biscuit in China, due to new marketing and product development tactics implemented by a team led by Shawn Warren, vice president of Marketing at Kraft Foods International.By focusing on China with the Oreo and taking focus away from other successful brands and emerging markets, Kraft Foods Inc. was making a big bet indeed. Breaking the Cookie Mold: Recreating the Oreo for the Chinese Consumer What followed was a focused, open-minded market research project to find out why the traditional Oreo was not working in China and, more importantly, to figure out the kind of biscuit (called cookie in the United States) would appeal to Chinese consumers. The findings uncovered precisely why the Oreo was not catching on with the Chinese.It may seem obvious that different cultures have different tastes and norms, but sometimes it takes a lot of investment in market research to discover exactly what those differences are and to move from anecdotal opinions to actionable empirical evidence. First, the Oreo that had appealed to millions of Americans over the course of a century was simply too sweet for the Chinese palate. Put simply, the Chinese did not particularly like the taste of the traditional Oreo. Research also found that the cookie itself was too big and that the price of 72 cents for 14 Oreos was too high.Product Development and Recasting the Oreo Cookie In response to this new understanding of Chinese consumer opinions, Kraft Foods’ Asia Pacific division went to work to create the kind of product that might be able to catch on in the region. The Wall Street Journal reported that 20 prototypes were developed with reduced sugar content. Kraft tested the prototypes to find a formula that Chinese consumers would find most appetizing. They did the same for packaging and pricing, settling on a package that cost 29 cents and contained fewer Oreos.Other product development in novations, based on market research insights, went further in transforming the Oreo in China. Learning that demand for wafer-type biscuits was on the rise in China, Kraft introduced a wafer version of the Oreo that looked nothing like the one so well known in North America but tasted nearly the same as the cookie form, under its new Chinese balance of sweetness and chocolate. This new Oreo contained four crispy wafer layers filled with vanilla and chocolate cream, all covered in chocolate coating.Innovative product development followed to react to market research and attempt to tailor the marketing of the Oreo brand to the Chinese consumer. New filling flavors aimed specifically at the Chinese consumer were introduced, including green tea, orange, mango, and blueberry. In an interview with Retail in Asia, a web publication that covers Asia retail news, Kraft Foods Asia Pacific Sales vice president Andy Tosney described how Kraft Foods had even invested in new R&D to custom fit its O reo brand products to suit the particular needs of the Asia Pacific consumer: W]e discovered that biscuits and sweets snacking tends to be a ‘cold weather phenomenon,’ meaning that sometimes consumption tends to slow down if the temperature gets very hot. With this insight, we developed Oreo IceCream. The fillings in the biscuits have different ice-cream flavours. The advanced technology we use allows the ice-cream fillings to give out an amazing cooling sensation in the mouth as though you’re eating an ice cream. The product is fantastically successful in China and Indonesia.Tosney added that Kraft had taken a further step of transforming its supply-chain logistics in order to ship the ice-cream-filled cookies from the colder northern China climates to the much hotter south of China. Kraft doubled its China sales force to sell these new products, truly bringing to bear the â€Å"Focus through Growth† model that Khosla and CEO Irene Rosenfeld were now cham pioning for the entire company. It did not take long for these changes to take effect on the marketplace. In 2006, the Oreo became the number one–selling biscuit in China.From 2008 to 2010, according to Khosla in his Boston Consulting Group interview, revenues from the Oreo brand grew by more than 30 percent per year on average, with better-than-average margins. Before Kraft Foods’ big push in China, the biscuit and cookie market was not particularly profitable compared to other countries. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Chinese market for biscuits in 2007 was US$1. 3 billion compared to the US$3. 5 billion U. S. market. Now that Kraft Foods felt it had the products the Chinese wanted, it had to let Chinese consumers know about it.Going â€Å"Glocal† with the Oreo Brand and the Marketing Mix Kraft Foods’ innovative strategies to grow in China did not stop at new product development. To advertise the new, tailored Oreo brand, Kraft Foods had to a pply the same locally focused thinking to advertising its products. Kraft did this through what Khosla has termed a â€Å"glocal† strategy. Glocal is the idea of utilizing a firm’s global financial and organizational muscle while localizing marketing leadership and tactics.The first step was to push larger marketing decision-making out of Kraft Foods’ headquarters just outside of Chicago, Illinois, United States, to the regional managers. The idea is simple but often unutilized by large multinational firms: Managers who live in different markets surely know the markets better than the executives at headquarters. These local managers should be challenged to be entrepreneurial with their segment of the business and thus given control of a great deal of strategy and financial resources, resources that are typically centralized at home office.As Khosla and Sawhney write in â€Å"Growth through Focus,† â€Å"decision making needs to be moved closer to custome rs and consumers so that the people responsible for results have the operating freedom they need. † Supported with corporate resources but free to choose how to utilize those resources, local managers are able to innovate and execute quickly, instead of waiting for corporate approval to undertake initiatives. Given this freedom, local managers in the Chinamarket innovated effective new ways to get the word out about the new Oreo to Chinese consumers.Important to the glocal ethos the company had now initiated, these managers developed marketing campaigns that utilized local means to target Chinese populations, while simultaneously supporting the Oreo brand, increasing its global equity. For example, advertising focused on teaching the Chinese consumer about the â€Å"twist, lick, and dunk† technique that is so popular in the United States. The new Oreo products introduced in China were designed intentionally to share in that same experience, although in slightly differen t ways.Kraft launched a TV campaign where children were shown demonstrating the technique to their parents. Another TV ad featured a twist on this situation, with China-born NBA basketball star Yao Ming showing his son how to twist, lick, and, in particular, dunk an Oreo. In addition to the TV ad strategy, Kraft Foods realized that mobilizing support on the ground was just as important as spreading the word on China’s airwaves. To encourage the pairing of milk with Oreo cookies, Kraft organized a grassroots campaign to get Chinese university students to do its marketing for them.Thirty Chinese universities were chosen to participate in an Oreo Aambassador program, drawing 6,000 applications from students. Three hundred of these students were chosen to become Oreo brand ambassadors, and they undertook a range of activities, including riding their bicycles around Beijing with Oreo-branded wheel covers and organizing basketball games with a marketing angle of comparing dunking a basketball with dunking an Oreo in milk. Oreo samples were handed out to more than 300,000 customers. In a Wall Street Journal article on the Oreo’s success in China, Kraft Foods Inc.CEO Irene Rosenfeld called the Oreo bicycle campaign â€Å"a stroke of genius that only could have come from local managers. The more opportunity our local managers have to deal with local conditions will be a source of competitive advantage for us. † The Oreo Ambassador program was so successful that it has been extended to other markets, such as India and Indonesia, and each Oreo Ambassador iteration is promoted on Facebook and other social media sites, in order to reach active college crowds in these markets. ConclusionIn 2007, the year after Kraft introduced the new Oreo into the Chinese market, sales doubled, and the Oreo became China’s number one cookie. Sales in China helped the Oreo brand to pass the US$1 billion mark in global sales. In 2009, Forbes reported that in the ye ar ending September 2009 Kraft Foods had earned a 22. 4 percent market share in the US$1. 6 billion cookie market. According to Kraft’s website, China is now the second-largest market for the Oreo, after the United States. Kraft Foods’ glocal marketing strategy shows a new way for firms to branch out into new markets and reach the new customers that the market research promises.Kraft’s strategy works because it is founded on the assumption that growing in a new, developing market is not necessarily an easy proposition and requires a deep level of understanding of the consumers in that market and a willingness to dedicate substantial resources to create products and marketing campaigns that truly serve actual consumers. This may sound like Marketing 101, but the many examples of firms that have failed to grab hold of Asia-Pacific consumers shows that Kraft Foods’ execution of this strategy played a large role in the company’s success in this market. In an interview with Marketing-interactive. com, Kraft Foods Asia Pacific vice president of marketing Shawn Warren nicely states the difference between those firms that succeed and those who do not: â€Å"The importance of shifting from the ‘I think’ culture to the ‘I know’ culture, that’s a vital lesson we learnt in China. † Questions What did Kraft Foods Inc. learn about the Chinese consumer through market research that it did not know before? Do you believe that the company reacted properly to the market research? How might they have reacted differently?What did Kraft do differently from other firms that try to grow through entering new markets? Do you think Kraft’s methods would work for all multinational firms trying to grow in new markets or regions? Do you think that the Oreo brand has been strengthened, or weakened, due to Kraft Foods’ actions of changing the Oreo cookie itself in other markets? Can you think of other bra nds that it would benefit to undergo a similar transformation? Which brands could lose value if a drastic product change were made? Think of another developing market a firm may want to enter.How do you think this market’s consumers might be different from Chinese consumers? How might they be similar? Could Sanjay Khosla and Mohanbir Sawhney’s â€Å"Growth Through Focus† strategy can be applied to all companies? Which companies may not benefit from this growth framework? Further Readings References/Bibliography Chowdhry, Seema. â€Å"Sanjay Khosla: Khosla and the Chocolate Factory. † Livemint. com, November 19, 2011. Accessed March 7, 2012. http://www. livemint. com/2011/11/18201634/Sanjay-Khosla Khosla-and-the. html. â€Å"Finding the Right Blend Is Crucial: Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld. The Economic Times, November 23, 2011. Accessed March 7, 2012. http://articles. economictimes. indiatimes. com/2011-11-23/news/30433514_1_kraft-ceo-irene-rosenfeld-oreo-kr aft-executives. Jacobson, Robert R. , and David E. Salamie. â€Å"Kraft Foods Inc. † International Directory of Company Histories. Ed. Jay P. Pederson. Vol. 91. Detroit: St. James Press, 2008. 291-306. Jargon, Julie. â€Å"Campbell Soup To Exit Russia† Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), June 19, 2001: B9. ———. â€Å"Kraft Reformulates Oreo, Scores in China. † Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2008: B1. Khosla, Sanjay, and Mohanbir Sawhney. Growth through Focus: A Blueprint for Driving Profitable Expansion. † Strategy+Business 60. August 24, 2010. Accessed March 7, 2012. http://www. strategy-business. com/article/00034? gko=63292. Lautman, Victoria. â€Å"Kraft Foods’s Brand New World. † Chicagomag. com, June 2011. Accessed March 7, 2012. http://www. chicagomag. com/Chicago-Magazine/June-2011/Kraft-Foodss-Brand-New-World. Ng, Erica. â€Å"Profile: Shawn Warren, VP Marketing Kraft APAC. † Marketing-interactive. com, Oc tober 27, 2010. Accessed March 7, 2012. http://www. marketing-interactive. com/news/22808. Silverstein, Michael J. Sanjay Khosla on the Power of Focus: An Interview with the President of Kraft’s Developing Markets Business. † Bgc. perspectives by The Boston Consulting Group, December 5, 2011. Accessed March 7, 2012. https://www. bcgperspectives. com/content/interviews/consumer_products_globalization_khosla_sanjay_president_krafts_developing_markets_business. â€Å"Talking Shop: Kraft Foods—Conquering the Asian Market with Global Thinking. † Retail in Asia, February 8, 2011. Accessed March 7, 2012. http://www. retailinasia. com/article/sectors/food-beverage/2011/02/talking-shop-kraft-foods-%E2%80%93-conquering-asian-market-global-thin.

Palm patent infringment issue Essay

This memo is to recommend that ttools should stop negotiations with Palm and take immediate legal action through patent litigation means. This action is needed in order to protect ttools’ innovation and for survivability of ttools business. Based on the design patent and non-disclosure agreement with Palm it is very clear that Palm has committed the infringement hence chances of ttools winning of litigation case are high. There are high chances that Palm might consider to settle the litigation before going to the trial of the case as they knew that they have committed the patent infringement. Even if Palm goes for the trial, chances of ttools winning are high because they clearly have sufficient prove that the patent violation had happened. Once the litigation action initiated there is a good chance Palm might start negotiation with ttools for licensing or royalty sharing agreement if not for paying the infringement losses. Though costs of pursuing litigation case are high, it’s the only credible and plausible alternative ttools has to win investors’ confidence to invest more money into ttools business. As a startup company with minimal capital, the risk involved around this proposal to incur huge legal costs is high. Ttools has very well written utility patent issued, the nondisclosure agreement signed by Palm, in addition to the clear infringement of the patent are strong factors to file litigation charges. Ttools need to convince it’s our investors that their patent is a strong asset for the company and shall seek their help to invest in the litigation expenses. Looking at the other alternatives, it’s evident that they will not yield any positive outcome  since ttools does not have any bargaining power to negotiate or the resources to compete with Palm. Innovation and intellectual property rights are ttools are the strengths of ttools and it should focus on leveraging it s strengths to compete with Palm. Based on the recent communications with Palm, it is clear that they are not interested in negotiating with ttools despite the fact that they have reminded them about infringement. Palm is already in a contract with IDEO to design a stylus similar to ttools which means that Palm will cease to publish any ads about ttools products from their online newsletter. Negotiating or competing without taking any action to stop infringement of its intellectual property would not enable ttools to leverage its core organizational strengths in competing with Palm. In its current state ads through the online newsletter is the most helpful marketing tool for ttools to reach out to the PDA owners. If Palm stops publishing ads which is highly likely action from Palm’s perspective in order to promote their own product ttools need to develop their own marketing capabilities. Even if they start their marketing campaign, ttools might not be able to compete Palm in terms of resources and market reach. The other alternative of ceasing negotiation and competing with Palm might not be very effective because of the fact that we do not have the capabilities to set a solid ground for such competition. Even if ttools start competing based on its superior pricing and material quality, Palm could easily match its pricing and material quality as long as they could infringe ttools product design. If ttools does not file litigation charges, Palm has not compelling reason to negotiate with ttools for distribution agreement or continue to support online ads for ttools products. Filing litigation charges gives ttools the bargaining power it needs to strike any deal or do any negotiation with Palm, without these legal action Palm has no reason to negotiate and ttools didn’t have any strength to compete.

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The Science Fiction about Robotic Mission - Essay Example In particular, the sun has been studied to explore sun’s features link the black-holes that space exploration has revealed as fascinating blacks spots to which no information exists and it is believed that even information cannot escape from them (Gao, Sun & Jing, 2014). As such, a journey to the exploration of the sun and its obits also has some profound effects on the environment since the space activities pass through important or crucial transitional areas above the atmosphere including the ozone layer whose interference has the potential of jeopardising the entire environmental characteristics of the earth’s atmosphere (Lilenstern & Bornarel, 2005). Therefore, this science-fiction story explores the journey to the sun to explore black holes and as such discusses some of the effects of such events on the earth’s environment. The solar system is a collection of many stars orbited by planets, but the most prominent feature is the sun as undoubtedly the largest object within the solar system. The visible layer of the Sun is the photosphere, with the temperatures as high as 6,000 degrees Celsius (Lilenstern & Bornarel, 2005). The solar energy is created within the sun’s core where the conditions favor nuclear reaction. At the sun’s core, the nuclear reaction causes the fusion of hydrogen nuclei thus forming helium nucleus or an alpha particle.

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The Allegory of the Cave - Assignment Example As the paper outlines, there are three major different scenes and each of the scenes when observed from a contemporary day view portrays the human mind in relation to changes. It is important to break down the analogy to gain an in-depth understanding of the philosopher’s views and get enlightened on various issues. In the analogy, there is both the literal and the inner meaning of the information provided. The allegory discusses a situation in the first scene where there are people seated in a cave staring into an empty wall. Behind them is a huge fire and in between the fire and the people is a pathway through which many people use. The people do not have the ability to see the people passing but can see the shadows formed on the wall (Soccio 134). According to the people seated in the cave, the images are real and nothing whatsoever can change their minds. This is set to imply knowledge in the contemporary environment. Over the years, people have had a difference in access to education. There are those that have had the opportunity to attend decent schools and have had a good education while there are those who have got as far as a certain grade. The images portrayed on the wall are just but illusions and not the reality and this is as far as the people seated in the cave understand. They represent the few that never completed education and thus their knowledge only gets so far. In the allegory, he explains that the extent to which people are enlightened determines a lot on the day-to-day choices that people make and consequently affects their general life. According to Plato, most human beings tend to remain content with everything that they understand and do not have the urge to gain more understanding of the contemporary environment. The amount of knowledge is necessary for people to gain a perspective of social and political systems. If people only understand the general senses of touch and sight but do not possess further knowledge, they would ne ver understand the system in terms of justice and the concept of love that would make the world more habitable.

Discuss the regulatory intervention that took place in the US post Assignment

Discuss the regulatory intervention that took place in the US post 2008 crisis - Assignment Example ..13 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform- Credit Agency Reforms†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...14 Recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..18 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..18 Abstract Policies are most essential feature within the government of any nation and their implementation is required to be foolproof for the development of nations. The great financial crisis which took place in United States in 2008 was the most dangerous crisis after the Great Depression in 1930. One of the major reasons for the financial crisis has been due to the policy crunch and implementation failure. After crisis broke , regulatory intervention has been made with a stringent manner by the US government. The paper deals with the policy intervention by the Federal government of United States of America post crisis of 2008. Focus is entailed majorly on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform directed towards neutralizing the crisis situation. Introduction The Nobel Laureate and American economist Milton Friedman stated that the policies should be such that they should not be evaluated by their agendas or intentions but by their outcomes1. The worst financial crisis striking the United States of America (U.S.) in the herald of 2008 after Great Depression in 19302 made a perpetual adverse impression on the global economy and can be deemed primarily as a collapse of policy and regulatory interventions. Financial crisis with imprudent policy ramifications led to the loss of 8 million jobs, business failure, stupendously declining house process3, and wiping away personal savings of people leaving the global eco nomy and especially the US economy in a complete jeopardy4. The importance of policies is highly significant in the sense that regulation, policy formulations and their subsequent implications directly correlate with their effect5. Now it is also to be noted that according to common conscience where there is right, presence of wrong is indispensable. By assuming the financial crisis as a wrong and faulty mechanism, it is essential to analyze the policy formulation and their implementations as an endeavor to stabilize the economic conditions post crisis. It is required to realize that the new policies thus developed as coping strategies are fruitful to what extent or it is required to know the time frame in which the economy has been able to stabilize and reach a position of strong financial ground. This will help to realize the effectiveness and dynamism of policies6 But first of all it is strongly imperative to explore the causes that led to crisis generation. A wide array of facto rs, led to the generation of this financial crisis and to name a few of them are housing sector crash, credit mania, imperfect economic forecast and so on7. Now these factors are to be explored first and then the analysis of the regulatory intervention is to be analyzed to judge its effectiveness. In this paper the main target is to explore the regulatory

Transforming Clear Lake College Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Transforming Clear Lake College - Case Study Example On the other hand, the elements of transformational leadership that Sam exhibited included significantly transforming Clear Lake College into a productive and successful academic institution through launching graduate degree programs and several new undergraduate majors; being a people person where he manifested communicating and interacting with different stakeholders; being true to his word by increasing the salaries of faculty and personnel when the financial condition improved; and capturing opportunities in the educational markets. 2. Sam’s leadership traits and characteristic make him a pseudo-transformation leader than a transformational leader. As a pseudo-transformation leader, Sam exhibited self-serving behavior despite being initially inspirational. He made decisions on his own and therefore discouraged participative and collaborative decisions and earned the ire of faculty, staff and students by berating them in public. 3. Yes, I was able to confront a leader about a manifested behavior, whether by acknowledging a job well done or by disclosing that the current behavior was contributory to affecting the morale of subordinates. The leader was highly accommodating of the feedback and appreciated one’s comments.

Promoting a Healthy Workplace Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Promoting a Healthy Workplace - Assignment Example They will help be important when accounting for the misbehavior of the co-worker (Lewis, 2006). 3. Substance abuse is a concern among health professionals as it can lead to miss-treatment of the patients. In case a co-worker is involved, it is important to 1st warn and try to help them out. But in case they are addicted or persistent, report the matter immediately to the manager for appropriate action to be undertaken against them. The most common physical injury experienced by LPNs and nursing assistants is needle stick injuries. 4. Sexual harassment maybe in two ways. One is a nurse demanding sexual favors from patients or a manager or nurse demanding sexual favors from a colleague. These favors include inappropriate touching of private body parts, deliberate exposure of private body parts, or even a forceful sexual intercourse. These is handled by first warning the culprit and later report them to higher authority in case they persist. 5. Both healthcare facilities acknowledge the essence of patient safety and nurses’ safety during and after an infant is born. Special interest has been laid on procedures such as safe patient handling and staying safe from latex allergies (injuries from allergic reaction to latex substances) and needle stick injuries (from accidental piercing of the body caused by needles). Being competence acclaimed facilities, this emphasis on safety is a pointer that workplace safety should always be set as a priority for efficiency. 6. A nurse found impaired by either illness or alcohol/drug dependency is held culpable of ability to cause injuries to patients. Such an individual is subjected to court proceedings and later on counselling upon which, in case they fail to change, their license may be revoked. Most nurses interviewed are aware of these rules and strive to stay away from action that may impair their ability to acts soberly while administering treatment. 7. ANA

Power Reforms Essay Example for Free

Power Reforms Essay Electricity is central to achieving economic, social and environmental objectives of sustainable human development. In fact it has become essential ingredient for improving the quality of life and its absence is usually associated with poverty and poor quality of life. India has the fifth largest generation capacity in the world with an installed capacity of 173,626 MW as in March 2011. The power sector added record conventional capacities of 12,160 MW during 2010-11. However, despite the Indian power sector having shown substantial growth during the post-independence era, the sector has been ailing from serious functional problems during the past few decades. In 2010-11, India faced power deficit of 10 per cent and peak demand shortage of 13.3 per cent. In this backdrop, Power sector reforms were first initiated in India in 1992 by the Ministry of Power (MoP) to invite private investments in power generation to bridge the demand-supply gap. However, private investments failed to yield much benefit due to serious deficiencies and losses in electricity distribution in most of the State Electricity Boards (SEBs). Post 2001, Reforms were oriented around: 1. Unbundling of the state electricity boards.  2. Corporatization of generation, transmission and distribution sector 3. Setting up of independent central and state electricity regulatory commissions. 4. Passing of the Electricity Act, 2003 which mandates licensee-free thermal generation, non-discriminatory open access of the transmission system and gradual implementation of open access in the distribution system which will pave way for creation of power market in India. In the power sector reform process, Distribution segment was identified as the key area for reform for putting the sector on the right track. Distribution Reforms involve System up-gradation, Loss reduction, Theft control, Consumer orientation, Commercialization and adoption of IT. In this direction, the Government launched the Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) during the 10th Five Year Plan (2002-07) for the strengthening of Sub – Transmission and Distribution network and reduction in ATC losses. Continuing its support for power distribution reforms, the Government launched the Restructured APDRP (R-APDRP) in the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12) with revised terms and conditions. Thus, Two key issues emerge as far as performance and reforms of any distribution company are concerned:- 1. Revenue realization which means reduction of ATC Losses 2. Consumer satisfaction The above factors are mutually reinforcing whereby improvement in one leads to the same for other as well. Technology has emerged as a major enabler of any reform process and this holds true for power sector reforms as well. New technological initiatives have been taken by many states especially in the distribution sector which have aided performance of the distribution companies therein. This paper seeks to throw light on how the above two key issues are being addressed through the use of e-governance mechanisms in KESCO i.e. Kanpur Electricity Supply Company Ltd. Kanpur Electricity Supply Company Ltd., formerly KESA, was restructured as a company on 14 January 2000 under U.P. Electricity reform act 1999. This company is registered for distribution of electricity in the area under Kanpur City (Urban). KESCo is serving around 700 bulk consumers and 4,35,000 other consumers of domestic, commercial and power categories connected to grid through 66 no. 33 KV substations and 340 no. 11 KV feeders after receiving electricity from 7 transmission substation of 220 KV and 132 KV of U.P. Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. It has a peak demand of around 500 MW and annual turnover of around 1000 crores. Coming back to the above two objectives, the situation before the initiatives were launched in KESCO and measures taken therein are as follows: 1. Revenue Realization The biggest challenge of the power sector as far as revenue realization is concerned is the high Aggregate Technical Commercial (ATC) losses. The ATC losses are presently in the range of 18% to 62% in various states in India. The major portion of losses are due to theft and pilferage, which is estimated at about Rs.20,000 crore annually. Apart from rampant theft, the distribution sector is beset with poor billing (only 55%) and collection (only 41%) efficiency in almost in all States. It is estimated that 1% reduction in TD losses would generate savings of over Rs.700 to Rs.800 crores. The line diagram demonstrated below is well explanatory of facts mentioned above:- For KESCO, As far as indicators of Revenue realization are concerned it has high ATC losses to the tune of 29%(March 2011) .Apart from this, other statistics are also not very encouraging with an average turnout of 65% . There was no end to end tracking of theft checking and raids, revenue assessment and realization therein. Not only that, even for billed but non-paying consumers, there was no accurate record of disconnections done and subsequent action thereon for such consumers. Apart from that many consumers were still having defective /mechanical meters installed at their premises, and thus being billed on average basis. There was no mechanism to have a daily tracking of meter replacement work and advices of meters were taking upto3-4 months. Three key fields of revenue realization in above flowchart i.e. Theft and improper metering, collection deficiency, increasing customer base have been targeted through unique initiatives in KESCO. First In this backdrop is a unique , only of its kind in the country, mobile phone based tracking system by the name of M-Drishti introduced in KESCO to ensure end to end tracking of in- field revenue oriented activities: 1. Raids 2. Meter Replacement 3. Disconnections 4. Section 138 Under M-Drishti, 2G internet services have been activated on the official mobile numbers of all distribution officials right from JEs and Assistant Engineers to Chief Engineer. Separate User Id and Passwords have been created for them and they will log in the Mobile M-Drishti interface and fill in details of whatever activities they undertake in field. Screenshot of the mobile phones for activity options is as shown:- So whenever there is a meter checking or katiya raid, a brief report is filled on the spot and sent via phone to the central server. Similarly for any disconnection done against electricity dues or FIR lodged under section 138 of Electricity Supply Act, the information of action taken on spot has to be submitted then and there for addition in the central database. On the server end once the information is collected, the updation is done by the concerned division. So for raid tracking, once revenue assessment and compounding amount at the field level has been entered, it can be edited and information of final assessment done at division, realization therein, Action taken in terms of issuance of notices under section3 and 5, final amount realized etc, can be done by the concerned division. Similar holds true for disconnections done, amount realized therein, action taken in case of non realization etc. For meter replacement a daily report of meters replaced whether defective/mechanical/otherwise is available and is available for linking with online advice. The software generates various MIS reports whereby day/month /JE/Division wise performance with respect to above four activities can be monitored.

Role of 5-Methylcytosine Oxidation in Mammalian Development

Role of 5-Methylcytosine Oxidation in Mammalian Development Iram Ali 5-methylcytosine (5mc) is the methylated form of DNA at the 5-position of the DNA base cytosine found in mammals. Its significance is in epigenetic modification, which demonstrates an important role in development and genome regulation. Furthermore the oxidation of 5-methylcytosine in Tet catalyzed reactions has been suggested to play an vital role in the regulation of transcription and gene expression, and DNA de-methylation (Wu and Zhang, 2011). There has been a considerable amount of research into 5-methylcytosine oxidation; clearly indicating that 5-methylcytosine oxidation in the genome has an effect on mammalian development due to its contribution to normal mammalian development as well as being associated with disease. This is a review of recent research in the key roles of 5-methylcytosine oxidation products in the development of mammals. As described by Liu et al., (2013) the addition of a methyl group during DNA methylation in mammals occurs at the position of 5th carbon of cytosine residues primarily at CpG dinucleotide regions. Methylation of DNA plays a role in repressing gene expression including repressing transposable elements (TEs) (Ito et el., 2011). This process of methylation is first established during embryonic development in embryogenesis and then retained during cell division due to the presence of various de novo DNA methyltransferases (DNMT). Research shows the significance of cytosine methylation in mammalian development as it was observed that mice that lack DNA methyltransferases will die at the age of 4 weeks (Liu et al., 2013). 5-methylcytosine is a crucial epigenetic marker, as methylation of cytosine in DNA has a main role in gene expression due to methylated genes in the DNA being able to express differently even though the DNA sequence remains the same. It has also been recognised that CpGs can be methylated in various areas of the genome due to differences in cell type and in points of development (Xu et al., 2013). Recent studies within the past have suggested that aberrance in DNA methylation pattern can cause the process to become deficient through either passive or active mechanisms. Passive cytosine DNA demethylation refers to removal of DNMT1 activity during cell division. Active cytosine DNA demethylation refers to the 5-methylcytosine being converted to cytosine due to the removal of a methyl group, which is independent of DNA replication. These mechanisms of DNA demethylation are associated with defects in development (Liu et al., 2013). A series of enzymatic oxidation reactions in the genome using ten-eleven translocation 1-3 proteins, also known as TET dioxygenases, allow 5-methylcytosine to produce 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5HmC), 5-formylcytosine (5FoC), and 5-carboxylcytosine (5CaC). The Tet-catalysed process relies on iron and alpha-ketoglutarate dependent oxidation. This sequence of oxidation reactions is said to be linked to active mammalian cytosine demethylation (Ito et al., 2011). DNA demethylation can be categorised as either global referring to genome wide, or locus specific referring to just certain sequences being methylated. In mammals, genome wide DNA de-methylation is said to occur in mouse primordial germ cells (PGCs) in embryos as early as E8.5-E11.5 days (Schomacher 2011). During early embryogenesis it has been suggested that removal followed by re-establishment of cytosine methylation occurs in a process of major reprogramming. Due to the ten-eleven translocation proteins having the ability to convert 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, there is a possibility that 5-hydroxymethylcytosine may work in an epigenetic manner and may contribute to dynamic alterations in the regulation of transcription and in DNA methylation during embryogenesis. Research shows that embryonic stem cells express high levels of the Tet dioxygenases Tet1, and reasonably high levels of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine compared to many differential cells. The large distribution of Tet1 and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine throughout the embryonic stem cells of the mouse genome, demonstrate the role of Tet proteins and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in regulating gene expression associated with cellular differentiation and pluripotency (Wu and Zhang, 2011)2. The occurrence of oxidation of 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in DNA to 5-carboxylcytosine, and subsequent thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG) excision of 5-carboxycytosine is said to establish a route for active DNA demethylation. Moreover study into TDG reduction in mouse embryonic stem cells has been found to cause an evident build-up of 5-carboxylcytosine. Research showed that 5-carboxylcytosine was absent in the embryonic stem cells and neurons of mice who presented high levels of Tet dioxygenases. However 5-carboxylcytosine was seen to be chemically stable and did not freely decarboxylate to cytosine, implying that in genomic DNA, 5-carboxylcytosine may be actively removed directly after being generated in cells (He et al., 2011). Furthermore, it is suggested that oxidation products 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxylcytosine can partake in the base excision repair (BER) mechanism. This allows 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxylcytosine to be excised followed by being repaired leading to regeneration as unmodified cytosines by thymine DNA glycosylase. Research, using genome wide distribution maps, into TDG deficient embryonic stem cells, found that reduction of TDG in mouse embryonic stem cells caused noticeable build-up of 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxylcytosine in genes. Therefore, these results imply that active DNA demethylation is TDG dependent and occurs widely in the mammalian genome (Shen et el., 2013). Additionally, in order to determine if oxidation of 5-methylcytosine to 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxylcytosine occurs in the zygote in vivo, research was conducted in which antibodies were produced specific for 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxylcytosine. An immuno-staining technique determined that the depletion of 5-methylcytosine in the mouse paternal pronucleus is concomitant with the presence of 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxylcytosine. It was notably significant that rather than being instantly removed, both oxidation products displayed dilution which was replication-dependent during preimplantation development in mice. (Inoue et al., 2011) It is well recognised that 5-hydroxymethylcytosine is associated with mammalian development, as studies show the importance of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine activity in both passive and active DNA demethylation, during phases of reprogramming in development. It has also been found that brain tissue has copious amount of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine suggesting that the mammalian brain relies on 5-hydroxymethylcytosine for development. Recently, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine has also been associated with a potential role in cancer as current research has suggested that the levels of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine are considerably reduced in tumour cells. In addition it has been proposed that mutations in the Tet2 protein can cause lack of function which may also be implicated in tumour suppression (Pfeifer et al., 2013). In conclusion, modified versions of cytosine due to oxidation by Tet proteins, are important in the roles of DNA demethylation and reprogramming of stem cells. Hence, future additional research into the function of Tet proteins and further advanced stem cell research could benefit by acquiring more knowledge into alterations in DNA methylation. This will greatly develop understanding of epigenetic regulation in normal mammalian development and disease. References Wu, H. and Zhang, Y. (2011) Mechanisms and functions of Tet protein-mediated 5-methylcytosine oxidation Genes Dev, 25 (23), pp. 2436-2452 Liu, S., Wang, J., Su, Y., Guerrero, C., Zeng, Y., Mitra, D., Brooks, P. J., Fisher, D. E., Song, H. and Wang, Y. (2013) Quantitative assessment of Tet-induced oxidation products of 5-methylcytosine in cellular and tissue DNA Nucleic acids research, 41 (13), pp. 6421-6429 Ito, S., Shen, L., Dai, Q., Wu, S. C., Collins, L. B., Swenberg, J. A., He, C. and Zhang, Y. (2011) Tet proteins can convert 5-methylcytosine to 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxylcytosine Science, 333 (6047), pp. 1300-1303 Xu, Y., Wu, F., Tan, L., Kong, L., Xiong, L., Deng, J., Barbera, A. J., Zheng, L., Zhang, H., Huang, S. and Others. (2011) Genome-wide regulation of 5hmC, 5mC, and gene expression by Tet1 hydroxylase in mouse embryonic stem cells Molecular cell, 42 (4), pp. 451-464 Schomacher, L. (2013) Mammalian DNA demethylation Epigenetics, 8 (7), pp. 679-684 Wu, H. and Zhang, Y. (2011) Tet1 and 5-hydroxymethylation Cell Cycle, 10 (15), pp. 2428-2436 He, Y., Li, B., Li, Z., Liu, P., Wang, Y., Tang, Q., Ding, J., Jia, Y., Chen, Z., Li, L. and Others. (2011) Tet-mediated formation of 5-carboxylcytosine and its excision by TDG in mammalian DNA Science, 333 (6047), pp. 1303-1307 Shen, L., Wu, H., Diep, D., Yamaguchi, S., D’Alessio, A. C., Fung, H., Zhang, K. and Zhang, Y. (2013) Genome-wide analysis reveals TET-and TDG-dependent 5-methylcytosine oxidation dynamics Cell, 153 (3), pp. 692-706 Inoue, A., Shen, L., Dai, Q., He, C. and Zhang, Y. (2011) Generation and replication-dependent dilution of 5fC and 5caC during mouse preimplantation development Cell research, 21 (12), pp. 1670-1676 Pfeifer, G. P., Kadam, S. and Jin, S. (2013) 5-hydroxymethylcytosine and its potential roles in development and cancer Epigenetics Chromatin, 6 (10), pp. 1-9.

Teaching Listening Skills In The Classroom English Language Essay

Teaching Listening Skills In The Classroom English Language Essay Introduction Because of requiring quality for teaching students, especially teaching listening skills in the classroom, assorted schools, colleges, and universities have tried to look for good strategies (Teaching listening skills), for this area is the most complicated to teach students, and then this issue has developed into a good subject for teachers and those institutions to be concerned about. On the other hand, these concerns are dealt with many books and journal articles with new strategies for teaching listening skills in the classroom these days. In online publication date: 29 July 2010 article written by Dorothy R. and Sid T. states Most teachers are aware that students listening skills are not what they once were. Our classrooms are filled with students who either do not listen or listen with their ears but not with their brains. (Dorothy R. Sid T. (2010, july 29). 56, 310-311). Instead, many more authors or writers in numerous books and journal articles can respond to this issue with out any hesitation. In order to answer this issue, authors and other teachers assert that copious strategies in abundant books and articles are much better than only one.Penny contends that in principle, the objective of listening comprehension in the classroom is that students should learn to function successfully in real-life listening is(Penny 1996, p 105).Moreover, a statement states that there is no one way of doing a listening skills lesson- it depends on such factors as the aim, the text type, the level of the students, etc.(Roger, Diane, Steve 1983, p89). Hence, studies of the strategies for teaching listening skills in the classroom according to various references- both books and journal articles- embrace a variety of techniques and strategies. I, however, now extract one of those to outline this. Depending on the journal article written by Dorothy R. and Sid T., it reveals that there are several ways of teaching listening skills in the classroom effectively (Dorothy R. Sid T. (2010, july 29). 56, 310-311). First, Call attention to careful listening will heighten childrens awareness of the importance of the skill. An oral check of student responses will call immediate attention to errors and eliminate paper checking for the teachers. Second, Taped selections can be played to students, followed by questions about their content. Questions that encourage beneficial listening skills include those that ask about cause and effect, sequence, main ideas, terminology, drawing conclusion, and the names of the main characters. In addition, Mrs. King a third-grade teacher in the Huntsville, Texas public school system starts the school year by telling the students that her very quiet voice is her teaching voice. She does not yell, and she insists on politeness speaking only with permission and not talking when others are speaking. As a result of this and other techniques, the noise level in her classroom is always low. Finally, exercises in careful listening habits are being learned by our television- oriented young people (Dorothy R. King (2010, july 29). 56, 310-311). These diverse approaches have been applied to peruse good strategies for teaching listening skills in the classroom, and how much the students understand those. This proof is shown that most of the students in listening class demand many strategies for improving their listening skills. Only studies, nevertheless, of Dorothy R. Sid T. are not sufficient for teaching listening skills in the classroom, for one skill requires a variety of strategies or techniques in order that instructors are convenient to impart knowledge to students effectively. Therefore, Roger, Diane, and Steve state that there is no one way of doing a listening skills lesson it depends on such factors as the aim, the text type, and the level of the students, etc.( Roger, Diane, and Steve 1983). Besides, the shortage of searching more information related to the strategies for teaching listening skills in the classroom is deplorable because it is advantageous to our skills (Teaching as career). Not only do you believe in one authors documents, but you also try to search the work of arts of others in order to have new ideas or techniques to teach the students both effectively and successfully. In conclusion, this study attempted to donate the knowledge base related to teaching listening skills by probing as many strategies for teaching listening skills in the classroom as possible to make sure that students are contented to accept those effectively. In order to apprehend this research clearly, you are asked a few questions as follows: 1. What are the strategies for teaching listening skills in the classroom? 2. With what benefits do they provide you? 3. How do these strategies respond to the students in the classroom and the real world? Annotated Bibliography 1. Æ’ËÅ" King, D. R Womack, S. T. (2010, july 29). Strategies for Teaching Listening Skills. The Clearing House: A Journal Of Education Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 56, 310- 311. Dorothy R and Sid T., in this journal article, show off teachers difficulty in teaching students listening skills because theirs are not what they once were, and the classrooms are filled with the students who do not pay attention to teachers explanation (Teaching listening skills). When listening, they use only their ears but not the brains. Therefore, the purpose of this article is focused on several strategies which can help teachers teach listening skills in the classroom successfully. Even though this article is not the most perfect one, it can provide good methods for dealing with this issue and my research, especially the strategies for teaching listening skills in the classroom, and then this tool is used to conduct the next one in general classes. Finally it is also able to help me to apply all the strategies in my study in order to improve the skills as teacher of English in the future. 2.Æ’ËÅ" Scrivener, J. (1994). Tearning Teaching. Great Britain: Macmillan Jim, in this book, offers several procedures and strategies that can help students improve their listening skills, such as task-based listening, the task feedback circle, how we listen, and listening ideas, which are effective to upgrade students listening skills in the classroom; also, it is really significant to the study because this research (Teaching listening skills in the classroom) is applied to the real world. This book also provides a great deal of information related to teaching listening skills for research, particularly the key points. Moreover these strategies can help many researchers and learners create more methods to conduct next research effectively. Last of all, they do assist me to use the key concepts of these strategies in my study successfully, and I also have a good opportunity to upgrade my knowledge teaching as career. 3.Æ’ËÅ" Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based Language Learning and Teaching. China: Oxford University Press. In this book (tasks, listening comprehension SLA), Rod shows that this chapter based on listening tasks has contributed to theory (as it concerns both listening and language acquisition), research methodology, and language pedagogy. These three key terms are really crucial to the research related to teaching listening skills; for example, Academic listening task research has shown that when learners lack relevant schemata their ability to take notes and comprehend a lecture suffers. Thus Rod offers a promising tool for investigating the micro processes involved in comprehending and language acquisition. These strategies are very much valuable for the study since it not only focuses on the classroom teaching but also concentrates on learners in general, and this task too is very useful to my study because it is the guideline to achieve either the next new research or the teaching listening skills in the classroom. 4. Æ’ËÅ" Ur, P. (1996). A Course in Language Teaching. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press Penny, in this book (Chapter 8: Teaching listening, Unit one), teaches about Real-life listening in the classroom. In the unit, he indicates three main steps to teach listening skills, such as Guidelines, Practical classroom application, and Implementing the guidelines: some specific practical implications. These key points are very essential, for they can make teaching listening in the classroom effective and beneficial. Furthermore it is able to provide a lot of information and new strategies to my study, which relates to the teaching listening research. Therefore this research can be applied not only in my classroom but also in the real world. 5. Æ’ËÅ" Pearse, E. Davies, P. (2000). Success in English Teaching. New York, Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. In this book, Paul and Eric provide the strategies for teaching listening skills; that is, the strategies generally recommended are: pre-listening, while-listening, and post-listening, which are absolutely useful to draw students attention on teaching listening class effectively. In addition this book classifies listening text in terms of learner control and some more activities that can help both teachers and learners achieve the objectives during their processes. All the strategies can be applied to all teaching listening classrooms not only one class as they are absolutely practical to all learners, in particular they are very crucial to my research study, for my topic is related to this area, and it can assist me to apply the strategies in the real classroom teaching. 6. Æ’ËÅ" Gower, R., Phillips, D., Walters, S. (1983). Teaching Practice Handbook. China: Macmillian,Heinemann. Roger, Diane, and Steve, in this book, raise good strategies related to the skills how to improve students listening skills, which help the students find it easier to embrace this area. In addition they say that there is no one way of doing listening skills lesson it depends on such factors as the aim, the text type, and the level of the students, etc. and they also give the example involving in guidelines on one way of conducting a listening skills lesson which is divided into three sections before listening, first listening, and second listening; i.e. all these are included with its feedback too. These strategies are applied to implement classroom teaching, in particular these key points used to do the survey on students understanding of listening skills effectively. They will also help me to conduct the authentic research on my field- teaching as career successfully. 7. Æ’ËÅ" Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. China: Oxford University Press. In this book, Tricia tells a lot about the strategies related to teaching listening skills in the classroom. First he talks about the role of listening in the ELT curriculum, such as pre-listening task and listening note taking, which can be assumed that listening ability will develop automatically through exposure to the language and through practice of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Next he shows what we know about listening process bottom-up processes and top-down processes in listening, which can be applied with real knowledge of learners. Furthermore he also indicates the purpose of listening; i.e. it refers to conversation of a personal kind in which the listening is reciprocal or participatory and so on, especially designing listening activities for the classroom, which is really vital to the academic course because I need this for my teaching listening classroom. All these key strategies will make my research study more and more advanced as teacher of English. 8. Æ’ËÅ" Peterson, P. W. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. (M. C. Murcia, Ed.) the USA. Pat W., in this book, indicates a few prompts related to the strategies for listening skills. First he shows the types of strategies specific to listening comprehension, such as categories of metacognitive, cognitive, and socioaffective strategies, which are very important to the study because each has a various function in teaching listening methods. Next, he spots a development view of listening skills. In this section he focuses on profile of the beginning, intermediate, and advanced-level student in listening good strategies which can be segregated for teaching in each class. Moreover he sets the goals for them Bottom-up and Top-down processing, Goals and exercise types, and beginning, Intermediate, advanced-level learners which can make teachers easy to teach them successfully. All these strategies are valuable to the study, for they are classified differently. I hope that these will not only help me teach my students in the class but also be helpful to my MA research program . 9. Æ’ËÅ" Hadfiekd, Jill Charles. (2008). introduction to teaching English. Portugal: Oxford University Press. In this book, Jill and Charles show the explanation to the stages of a listening lesson set up as follows: First he talks about before a listening Lead-in method engages learners interest, introduce the topic and context, activate learners background knowledge, help the learners to predict what the speakers might say, and introduce some key words and expression; also, Language focus introduces some key vocabulary, and other words. Second it is about during a listening lesson; that is, Tasks show that you should aim to repeat the listening several times with a series of listening tasks. Finally it is about after a listening lesson; i.e. Language focus concentrates on some of the language in the text, such as new vocabulary, and Transfer uses the listening and the language work as the basis for work in a different skill. These strategies are really practical to the study. Even though they are not the perfect ones, they show off good advantages to teachers in order to implement these t echniques in the classroom successfully. Also they will be useful to me because I become a teacher of English and I have to use these as my teaching tools. 10. Æ’ËÅ" Fernandez-Toro, M. (2005). The role of paired Listening in L2 listening instruction. Language Learning Journal, 31, 3-8. Maria, in this journal article, mentions much of the difficulty related to the fact that listening processes cannot be easily observed and shown because they all take place inside t he listeners mind. She, however, indicates that paired listening offers a number of potential benefits, both as a diagnostic tool and as a valid learning exercise in itself. Moreover, this research is also profitable for the study, for the writer shows not only the problem to the skills but also the good methods applied to deal with its issues. Thus, this article is really useful to my research because I can use these strategies to operationalize all good points in my own study.

Autobiography Essay -- Personal Narrative

I am divorced and the father of 3 children. I grew up in a farm community in North Carolina, and when I was 15, my family moved to Lexington, South Carolina. I attended City High School, taking classes that concentrated on Electrical and Electronic Engineering and math. I also played football from the third grade until I graduated high school. During my Junior and Senior years of high school, I also worked part time for an industrial electrical company. I learned a great deal about life in those years. Most teenagers my age were attending parties or working at the local grocery store. I, however, was working 30 or so hours a week installing electrical motors, 3 phase lighting, and 480 volt transformers. Once I graduated from high school, my parents wanted me to go to college. I decided that instead of having them pay for it, I would take care of the financial costs my own way: by joining the United States Army and utilizing the Montgomery G.I. Bill for college. I took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) and scored in the top 5% for my class year. What this meant for me was that the recruiters were beating down my door. The U.S. Army made the best offer by laying a book down in front of me and telling me I could pick any job I wanted. I chose wireless communications, because I knew that in 1994, wireless phones, which in those days were the bag phones, were going to be around for a long time, and it was a new technology that had a lot of growing to do. I left for Basic Combat Training (BCT) on November 29th, 1994. I spent the next 10 months in BCT and Advanced Individual Training (AIT). I learned everything there is to know about wireless communications. I graduated AIT at the top of my class an... ... was stabbed recently by a homeless man that I tried to help, and instead of getting a thank you, I got a shank between the 10th and 11th ribs. I am one of those people that has a 5, 10, and 25 year plan. Within 5 years I plan to finish my Master’s Degree and move into a director position within Verizon Wireless. Within 10 years I plan to continue my career and help others under me reach their goals so that they, too, can be what they want themselves to be. Within 25 years I plan to partially retire, start my own small company and contract my services out to the wireless companies in the United States. At this point I would begin to travel more and see the world. I have led an exciting and full life in my thirty-or-so years. I have a lot to show for what I have learned and what I have done. Finishing my degree can only add to what I have already accomplished

Robert A. Millikan :: biographies biography bio

Robert Andrews Millikan was born on the 22nd of March, 1868, in Morrison, Ill. (U.S.A.), as the second son of the Reverend Silas Franklin Millikan and Mary Jane Andrews. He led a rural existence in childhood, attending the Maquoketa High School (Iowa). After working for a short time as a court reporter, he entered Oberlin College (Ohio) in 1886. During his undergraduate course his favourite subjects were Greek and mathematics; but after his graduation in 1891 he took, for two years, a teaching post in elementary physics. It was during this period that he developed his interest in the subject in which he was later to excel. In 1893, after obtaining his mastership in physics, he was appointed Fellow in Physics at Columbia University. He afterwards received his Ph.D. (1895) for research on the polarization of light emitted by incandescent surfaces - using for this purpose molten gold and silver at the U.S. Mint. On the instigation of his professors, Millikan spent a year (1895-1896) in Germany, at the Universities of Berlin and GÃ ¶ttingen. He returned at the invitation of A. A. Michelson, to become assistant at the newly established Ryerson Laboratory at the University of Chicago (1896). Millikan was an eminent teacher, and passing through the customary grades he became professor at that university in 1910, a post which he retained till 1921. During his early years at Chicago he spent much time preparing textbooks and simplifying the teaching of physics. He was author or co-author of the following books: A College Course in Physics, with S.W. Stratton (1898); Mechanics, Molecular Physics, and Heat (1902); The Theory of Optics,with C.R. Mann translated from the German (1903); A First Course in Physics, with H.G. Gale (1906); A Laboratory Course in Physics for Secondary Schools,with H.G. Gale (1907); Electricity, Sound, and Light,with J. Mills (1908); Practical Physics - revision of A First Course(1920); The Electron(1917; rev. eds. 1924, 1935). As a scientist, Millikan made numerous momentous discoveries, chiefly in the fields of electricity, optics, and molecular physics. His earliest major success was the accurate determination of the charge carried by an electron, using the elegant "falling-drop method"; he also proved that this quantity was a constant for all electrons (1910), thus demonstrating the atomic structure of electricity. Next, he verified experimentally Einstein's all-important photoelectric equation, and made the first direct photoelectric determination of Planck's constant h (1912-1915). In addition his studies of the Brownian movements in gases put an end to all opposition to the atomic and kinetic theories of matter.

Alcohol And Driving While Intoxicated :: DUI, Drunk Driving, research papers

Alcohol and Driving While Intoxicated Alcohol is a drug, a very popular drug. Alcohol has been around for a long time, and people have always enjoyed it's effects. Many people have passions for alcohol, some people have refrigerators filled with beer, many others are wine connoisseurs. Alcohol always seems to liven up the party. But no madder what your preference is, alcohol can be very dangerous when combined with the operation of an automobile. If you can remember only a few things from this report remember this: driving drunk is unsafe to you, and everyone else around you. The driver's of other cars, pedestrians, etc†¦ Driving drunk can also be very, very costly: insurance surcharges, insurance rates, tickets, fines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  You should understand what alcohol does to you before we go on. Alcohol is a depressant, and often enhances your mood. If your angry, after a couple drinks you may be quite possibly angrier. If you are sad, you probably will feel sadder after some drinks. It is not good to drink and drive when you are in a good mood, but your driving is also influenced by your mood. It can make you drive faster, pay attention less, etc†¦ Study's have shown that the combination of anger, and drinking is responsible for much of reckless driving. Not only can alcohol enhance your mood, but it has been proven that it can quickly alter your mood. When alcohol is consumed, it is not digested. It passes through your stomach and small intestine directly into the bloodstream and is carried to all parts of your body. It reaches your brain in small amounts. When alcohol is ingested in larger amounts, it dulls the area of your brain that control inhibition, judgment, and self-control. Hopefully you can see how this could be detrimental to your health when driving. Drinking.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  But how does alcohol effect my driving? To expand upon this, drinking increases your self-confidence, and inhibitions but lowers your driving performance (reaction times, stopping distance). You may feel like you can do anything behind the wheel of a car after a six-pack. But you can't. Many, many accidents occur because of drinking. Most of these accidents involve only 1 car, but other people are killed by drunk drivers. There is a technique to protect yourself from drunk drivers. First, always wear your seat belt. Second, keep your distance from anyone that may appear to be under the influence. Anyone who is swerving, or going to slow are good examples. But it is impossible to prevent all of these accidents, people have to be educated about drinking and

A Game of Thrones Chapter Thirteen

Tyrion The north went on forever. Tyrion Lannister knew the maps as well as anyone, but a fortnight on the wild track that passed for the kingsroad up here had brought home the lesson that the map was one thing and the land quite another. They had left Winterfell on the same day as the king, amidst all the commotion of the royal departure, riding out to the sound of men shouting and horses snorting, to the rattle of wagons and the groaning of the queen's huge wheelhouse, as a light snow flurried about them. The kingsroad was just beyond the sprawl of castle and town. There the banners and the wagons and the columns of knights and freeriders turned south, taking the tumult with them, while Tyrion turned north with Benjen Stark and his nephew. It had grown colder after that, and far more quiet. West of the road were flint hills, grey and rugged, with tall watchtowers on their stony summits. To the east the land was lower, the ground flattening to a rolling plain that stretched away as far as the eye could see. Stone bridges spanned swift, narrow rivers, while small farms spread in rings around holdfasts walled in wood and stone. The road was well trafficked, and at night for their comfort there were rude inns to be found. Three days ride from Winterfell, however, the farmland gave way to dense wood, and the kingsroad grew lonely. The flint hills rose higher and wilder with each passing mile, until by the fifth day they had turned into mountains, cold blue-grey giants with jagged promontories and snow on their shoulders. When the wind blew from the north, long plumes of ice crystals flew from the high peaks like banners. With the mountains a wall to the west, the road veered north by northeast through the wood, a forest of oak and evergreen and black brier that seemed older and darker than any Tyrion had ever seen. â€Å"The wolfswood,† Benjen Stark called it, and indeed their nights came alive with the howls of distant packs, and some not so distant. Jon Snow's albino direwolf pricked up his ears at the nightly howling, but never raised his own voice in reply. There was something very unsettling about that animal, Tyrion thought. There were eight in the party by then, not counting the wolf. Tyrion traveled with two of his own men, as befit a Lannister. Benjen Stark had only his bastard nephew and some fresh mounts for the Night's Watch, but at the edge of the wolfswood they stayed a night behind the wooden walls of a forest holdfast, and there joined up with another of the black brothers, one Yoren. Yoren was stooped and sinister, his features hidden behind a beard as black as his clothing, but he seemed as tough as an old root and as hard as stone. With him were a pair of ragged peasant boys from the Fingers. â€Å"Rapers,† Yoren said with a cold look at his charges. Tyrion understood. Life on the Wall was said to be hard, but no doubt it was preferable to castration. Five men, three boys, a direwolf, twenty horses, and a cage of ravens given over to Benjen Stark by Maester Luwin. No doubt they made a curious fellowship for the kingsroad, or any road. Tyrion noticed Jon Snow watching Yoren and his sullen companions, with an odd cast to his face that looked uncomfortably like dismay. Yoren had a twisted shoulder and a sour smell, his hair and beard were matted and greasy and full of lice, his clothing old, patched, and seldom washed. His two young recruits smelled even worse, and seemed as stupid as they were cruel. No doubt the boy had made the mistake of thinking that the Night's Watch was made up of men like his uncle. If so, Yoren and his companions were a rude awakening. Tyrion felt sorry for the boy. He had chosen a hard life . . . or perhaps he should say that a hard life had been chosen for him. He had rather less sympathy for the uncle. Benjen Stark seemed to share his brother's distaste for Lannisters, and he had not been pleased when Tyrion had told him of his intentions. â€Å"I warn you, Lannister, you'll find no inns at the Wall,† he had said, looking down on him. â€Å"No doubt you'll find some place to put me,† Tyrion had replied. â€Å"As you might have noticed, I'm small.† One did not say no to the queen's brother, of course, so that had settled the matter, but Stark had not been happy. â€Å"You will not like the ride, I promise you that,† he'd said curtly, and since the moment they set out, he had done all he could to live up to that promise. By the end of the first week, Tyrion's thighs were raw from hard riding, his legs were cramping badly, and he was chilled to the bone. He did not complain. He was damned if he would give Benjen Stark that satisfaction. He took a small revenge in the matter of his riding fur, a tattered bearskin, old and musty-smelling. Stark had offered it to him in an excess of Night's Watch gallantry, no doubt expecting him to graciously decline. Tyrion had accepted with a smile. He had brought his warmest clothing with him when they rode out of Winterfell, and soon discovered that it was nowhere near warm enough. It was cold up here, and growing colder. The nights were well below freezing now, and when the wind blew it was like a knife cutting right through his warmest woolens. By now Stark was no doubt regretting his chivalrous impulse. Perhaps he had learned a lesson. The Lannisters never declined, graciously or otherwise. The Lannisters took what was offered. Farms and holdfasts grew scarcer and smaller as they pressed northward, ever deeper into the darkness of the wolfswood, until finally there were no more roofs to shelter under, and they were thrown back on their own resources. Tyrion was never much use in making a camp or breaking one. Too small, too hobbled, too in-the-way. So while Stark and Yoren and the other men erected rude shelters, tended the horses, and built a fire, it became his custom to take his fur and a wineskin and go off by himself to read. On the eighteenth night of their journey, the wine was a rare sweet amber from the Summer Isles that he had brought all the way north from Casterly Rock, and the book a rumination on the history and properties of dragons. With Lord Eddard Stark's permission, Tyrion had borrowed a few rare volumes from the Winterfell library and packed them for the ride north. He found a comfortable spot just beyond the noise of the camp, beside a swift-running stream with waters clear and cold as ice. A grotesquely ancient oak provided shelter from the biting wind. Tyrion curled up in his fur with his back against the trunk, took a sip of the wine, and began to read about the properties of dragonbone. Dragonbone is black because of its high iron content, the book told him. It is strong as steel, yet lighter and far more flexible, and of course utterly impervious to fire. Dragonbone bows are greatly prized by the Dothraki, and small wonder. An archer so armed can outrange any wooden bow. Tyrion had a morbid fascination with dragons. When he had first come to King's Landing for his sister's wedding to Robert Baratheon, he had made it a point to seek out the dragon skulls that had hung on the walls of Targaryen's throne room. King Robert had replaced them with banners and tapestries, but Tyrion had persisted until he found the skulls in the dank cellar where they had been stored. He had expected to find them impressive, perhaps even frightening. He had not thought to find them beautiful. Yet they were. As black as onyx, polished smooth, so the bone seemed to shimmer in the light of his torch. They liked the fire, he sensed. He'd thrust the torch into the mouth of one of the larger skulls and made the shadows leap and dance on the wall behind him. The teeth were long, curving knives of black diamond. The flame of the torch was nothing to them; they had bathed in the heat of far greater fires. When he had moved away, Tyrion could have sworn that the beast's empty eye sockets had watched him go. There were nineteen skulls. The oldest was more than three thousand years old; the youngest a mere century and a half. The most recent were also the smallest; a matched pair no bigger than mastiff's skulls, and oddly misshapen, all that remained of the last two hatchlings born on Dragonstone. They were the last of the Targaryen dragons, perhaps the last dragons anywhere, and they had not lived very long. From there the skulls ranged upward in size to the three great monsters of song and story, the dragons that Aegon Targaryen and his sisters had unleashed on the Seven Kingdoms of old. The singers had given them the names of gods: Balerion, Meraxes, Vhaghar. Tyrion had stood between their gaping jaws, wordless and awed. You could have ridden a horse down Vhaghar's gullet, although you would not have ridden it out again. Meraxes was even bigger. And the greatest of them, Balerion, the Black Dread, could have swallowed an aurochs whole, or even one of the hairy mammoths said to roam the cold wastes beyond the Port of Ibben. Tyrion stood in that dank cellar for a long time, staring at Balerion's huge, empty-eyed skull until his torch burned low, trying to grasp the size of the living animal, to imagine how it must have looked when it spread its great black wings and swept across the skies, breathing fire. His own remote ancestor, King Loren of the Rock, had tried to stand against the fire when he joined with King Mern of the Reach to oppose the Targaryen conquest. That was close on three hundred years ago, when the Seven Kingdoms were kingdoms, and not mere provinces of a greater realm. Between them, the Two Kings had six hundred banners flying, five thousand mounted knights, and ten times as many freeriders and men-at-arms. Aegon Dragonlord had perhaps a fifth that number, the chroniclers said, and most of those were conscripts from the ranks of the last king he had slain, their loyalties uncertain. The hosts met on the broad plains of the Reach, amidst golden fields of wheat ripe for harvest. When the Two Kings charged, the Targaryen army shivered and shattered and began to run. For a few moments, the chroniclers wrote, the conquest was at an end . . . but only for those few moments, before Aegon Targaryen and his sisters joined the battle. It was the only time that Vhaghar, Meraxes, and Balerion were all unleashed at once. The singers called it the Field of Fire. Near four thousand men had burned that day, among them King Mern of the Reach. King Loren had escaped, and lived long enough to surrender, pledge his fealty to the Targaryens, and beget a son, for which Tyrion was duly grateful. â€Å"Why do you read so much?† Tyrion looked up at the sound of the voice. Jon Snow was standing a few feet away, regarding him curiously. He closed the book on a finger and said, â€Å"Look at me and tell me what you see.† The boy looked at him suspiciously. â€Å"Is this some kind of trick? I see you. Tyrion Lannister.† Tyrion sighed. â€Å"You are remarkably polite for a bastard, Snow. What you see is a dwarf. You are what, twelve?† â€Å"Fourteen,† the boy said. â€Å"Fourteen, and you're taller than I will ever be. My legs are short and twisted, and I walk with difficulty. I require a special saddle to keep from falling off my horse. A saddle of my own design, you may be interested to know. It was either that or ride a pony. My arms are strong enough, but again, too short. I will never make a swordsman. Had I been born a peasant, they might have left me out to die, or sold me to some slaver's grotesquerie. Alas, I was born a Lannister of Casterly Rock, and the grotesqueries are all the poorer. Things are expected of me. My father was the Hand of the King for twenty years. My brother later killed that very same king, as it turns out, but life is full of these little ironies. My sister married the new king and my repulsive nephew will be king after him. I must do my part for the honor of my House, wouldn't you agree? Yet how? Well, my legs may be too small for my body, but my head is too large, although I prefer to think it is just large eno ugh for my mind. I have a realistic grasp of my own strengths and weaknesses. My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer, and I have my mind . . . and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.† Tyrion tapped the leather cover of the book. â€Å"That's why I read so much, Jon Snow.† The boy absorbed that all in silence. He had the Stark face if not the name: long, solemn, guarded, a face that gave nothing away. Whoever his mother had been, she had left little of herself in her son. â€Å"What are you reading about?† he asked. â€Å"Dragons,† Tyrion told him. â€Å"What good is that? There are no more dragons,† the boy said with the easy certainty of youth. â€Å"So they say,† Tyrion replied. â€Å"Sad, isn't it? When I was your age, used to dream of having a dragon of my own.† â€Å"You did?† the boy said suspiciously. Perhaps he thought Tyrion was making fun of him. â€Å"Oh, yes. Even a stunted, twisted, ugly little boy can look down over the world when he's seated on a dragon's back.† Tyrion pushed the bearskin aside and climbed to his feet. â€Å"I used to start fires in the bowels of Casterly Rock and stare at the flames for hours, pretending they were dragonfire. Sometimes I'd imagine my father burning. At other times, my sister.† Jon Snow was staring at him, a look equal parts horror and fascination. Tyrion guffawed. â€Å"Don't look at me that way, bastard. I know your secret. You've dreamt the same kind of dreams.† â€Å"No,† Jon Snow said, horrified. â€Å"I wouldn't . . . â€Å" â€Å"No? Never?† Tyrion raised an eyebrow. â€Å"Well, no doubt the Starks have been terribly good to you. I'm certain Lady Stark treats you as if you were one of her own. And your brother Robb, he's always been kind, and why not? He gets Winterfell and you get the Wall. And your father . . . he must have good reasons for packing you off to the Night's Watch . . . â€Å" â€Å"Stop it,† Jon Snow said, his face dark with anger. â€Å"The Night's Watch is a noble calling!† Tyrion laughed. â€Å"You're too smart to believe that. The Night's Watch is a midden heap for all the misfits of the realm. I've seen you looking at Yoren and his boys. Those are your new brothers, Jon Snow, how do you like them? Sullen peasants, debtors, poachers, rapers, thieves, and bastards like you all wind up on the Wall, watching for grumkins and snarks and all the other monsters your wet nurse warned you about. The good part is there are no grumkins or snarks, so it's scarcely dangerous work. The bad part is you freeze your balls off, but since you're not allowed to breed anyway, I don't suppose that matters.† â€Å"Stop it!† the boy screamed. He took a step forward, his hands coiling into fists, close to tears. Suddenly, absurdly, Tyrion felt guilty. He took a step forward, intending to give the boy a reassuring pat on the shoulder or mutter some word of apology. He never saw the wolf, where it was or how it came at him. One moment he was walking toward Snow and the next he was flat on his back on the hard rocky ground, the book spinning away from him as he fell, the breath going out of him at the sudden impact, his mouth full of dirt and blood and rotting leaves. As he tried to get up, his back spasmed painfully. He must have wrenched it in the fall. He ground his teeth in frustration, grabbed a root, and pulled himself back to a sitting position. â€Å"Help me,† he said to the boy, reaching up a hand. And suddenly the wolf was between them. He did not growl. The damned thing never made a sound. He only looked at him with those bright red eyes, and showed him his teeth, and that was more than enough. Tyrion sagged back to the ground with a grunt. â€Å"Don't help me, then. I'll sit right here until you leave.† Jon Snow stroked Ghost's thick white fur, smiling now. â€Å"Ask me nicely.† Tyrion Lannister felt the anger coiling inside him, and crushed it out with a will. It was not the first time in his life he had been humiliated, and it would not be the last. Perhaps he even deserved this. â€Å"I should be very grateful for your kind assistance, Jon,† he said mildly. â€Å"Down, Ghost,† the boy said. The direwolf sat on his haunches. Those red eyes never left Tyrion. Jon came around behind him, slid his hands under his arms, and lifted him easily to his feet. Then he picked up the book and handed it back. â€Å"Why did he attack me?† Tyrion asked with a sidelong glance at the direwolf. He wiped blood and dirt from his mouth with the back of his hand. â€Å"Maybe he thought you were a grumkin.† Tyrion glanced at him sharply. Then he laughed, a raw snort of amusement that came bursting out through his nose entirely without his permission. â€Å"Oh, gods,† he said, choking on his laughter and shaking his head, â€Å"I suppose I do rather look like a grumkin. What does he do to snarks?† â€Å"You don't want to know.† Jon picked up the wineskin and handed it to Tyrion. Tyrion pulled out the stopper, tilted his head, and squeezed a long stream into his mouth. The wine was cool fire as it trickled down his throat and warmed his belly. He held out the skin to Jon Snow. â€Å"Want some?† The boy took the skin and tried a cautious swallow. â€Å"It's true, isn't it?† he said when he was done. â€Å"What you said about the Night's Watch.† Tyrion nodded. Jon Snow set his mouth in a grim line. â€Å"If that's what it is, that's what it is.† Tyrion grinned at him. â€Å"That's good, bastard. Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it.† â€Å"Most men,† the boy said. â€Å"But not you.† â€Å"No,† Tyrion admitted, â€Å"not me. I seldom even dream of dragons anymore. There are no dragons.† He scooped up the fallen bearskin. â€Å"Come, we had better return to camp before your uncle calls the banners.† The walk was short, but the ground was rough underfoot and his legs were cramping badly by the time they got back. Jon Snow offered a hand to help him over a thick tangle of roots, but Tyrion shook him off. He would make his own way, as he had all his life. Still, the camp was a welcome sight. The shelters had been thrown up against the tumbledown wall of a long-abandoned holdfast, a shield against the wind. The horses had been fed and a fire had been laid. Yoren sat on a stone, skinning a squirrel. The savory smell of stew filled Tyrion's nostrils. He dragged himself over to where his man Morrec was tending the stewpot. Wordlessly, Morrec handed him the ladle. Tyrion tasted and handed it back. â€Å"More pepper,† he said. Benjen Stark emerged from the shelter he shared with his nephew. â€Å"There you are. Jon, damn it, don't go off like that by yourself. I thought the Others had gotten you.† â€Å"It was the grumkins,† Tyrion told him, laughing. Jon Snow smiled. Stark shot a baffled look at Yoren. The old man grunted, shrugged, and went back to his bloody work. The squirrel gave some body to the stew, and they ate it with black bread and hard cheese that night around their fire. Tyrion shared around his skin of wine until even Yoren grew mellow. One by one the company drifted off to their shelters and to sleep, all but Jon Snow, who had drawn the night's first watch. Tyrion was the last to retire, as always. As he stepped into the shelter his men had built for him, he paused and looked back at Jon Snow. The boy stood near the fire, his face still and hard, looking deep into the flames. Tyrion Lannister smiled sadly and went to bed.