The Vampire Diaries: Dark Reunion Chapter Three

Vickie's screams went out of control. Bonnie could feel panic rising in her chest. â€Å"Vickie, stop it! Come on; we've got to get out of here!† Meredith was shouting to be heard. â€Å"It's your house, Caroline. Everybody grab hands and you lead us to the front door.† â€Å"Okay,† Caroline said. She didn't sound as frightened as everybody else. That was the advantage to having no imagination, Bonnie thought. You couldn't picture the terrible things that were going to happen to you. She felt better with Meredith's narrow, cold hand grasping hers. She fumbled on the other side and caught Caroline's, feeling the hardness of long fingernails. She could see nothing. Her eyes should be adjusting to the dark by now, but she couldn't make out even a glimmer of light or shadow as Caroline started leading them. There was no light coming through the windows from the street; the power seemed to be out everywhere. Caroline cursed, running into some piece of furniture, and Bonnie stumbled against her. Vickie was whimpering softly from the back of the line. â€Å"Hang on,† whispered Sue. â€Å"Hang on, Vickie, we'll make it.† They made slow, shuffling progress in the dark. Then Bonnie felt tile under her feet. â€Å"This is the front hall,† Caroline said. â€Å"Stay here a minute while I find the door.† Her fingers slipped out of Bonnie's. â€Å"Caroline! Don't let go-where are you? Caroline, give me your hand!† Bonnie cried, groping frantically like a blind person. Out of the darkness something large and moist closed around her fingers. It was a hand. It wasn't Caroline's. Bonnie screamed. Vickie immediately picked it up, shrieking wildly. The hot, moist hand was dragging Bonnie forward. She kicked out, struggling, but it made no difference. Then she felt Meredith's arms around her waist, both arms, wrenching her back. Her hand came free of the big one. And then she was turning and running, just running, only dimly aware that Meredith was be-side her. She wasn't at all aware that she was still screaming until she slammed into a large armchair that stopped her progress, and she heard herself. â€Å"Hush! Bonnie, hush, stop!† Meredith was shaking her. They had slid down the back of the chair to the floor. â€Å"Something had me! Something grabbed me, Meredith!† â€Å"I know. Be quiet! It's still around,† Meredith said. Bonnie jammed her face into Meredith's shoulder to keep from screaming again. What if it was here in the room with them? Seconds crawled past, and the silence pooled around them. No matter how Bonnie strained her ears, she could hear no sound except their own breathing and the dull thudding of her heart. Bonnie started to nod miserably, then abruptly lifted her head. â€Å"Where's Vickie?† she whispered hoarsely. â€Å"I don't know. I had to let go of her hand to pull you away from that thing. Let's move.† Bonnie held her back. â€Å"But why isn't she screaming?† A shudder went through Meredith. â€Å"I don't know.† â€Å"Oh, God. Oh, God. We can't leave her, Meredith.† â€Å"We have to.† â€Å"We can't. Meredith, I made Caroline invite her. She wouldn't be here except for me. We have to get her out.† There was a pause, and then Meredith hissed, â€Å"All right! But you pick the strangest times to turn noble, Bonnie.† A door slammed, causing both of them to jump. Then there was a crashing, like feet on stairs, Bonnie thought. And briefly, a voice was raised. â€Å"Vickie, where are you? Don't-Vickie, no! No!† â€Å"That was Sue,† gasped Bonnie, jumping up. â€Å"From upstairs!† â€Å"Why don't we have a flashlight?† Meredith was raging. Bonnie knew what she meant. It was too dark to go running blindly around this house; it was too frightening. There was a primitive panic hammering in her brain. She needed light, any light. She couldn't go fumbling into that darkness again, exposed on all sides. She couldn't do it. Nevertheless, she took one shaky step away from the chair. â€Å"Come on,† she gasped, and Meredith came with her, step by step, into the blackness. Bonnie kept expecting that moist, hot hand to reach out and grab her again. Every inch of her skin tingled in anticipation of its touch, and especially her own hand, which she had outstretched to feel her way. Then she made the mistake of remembering the dream. Instantly, the sickly sweet smell of garbage overwhelmed her. She imagined things crawling out of the ground and then remembered Elena's face, gray and hairless, with lips shriveled back from grinning teeth. If that thing grabbed hold of her†¦ I can't go any farther; I can't, I can't, she thought. I'm sorry for Vickie, but I can't go on. Please, just let me stop here. It was a whole series of sounds, actually, but they all came so close together that they blended into one terrible swell of noise. First there was screaming, Sue's voice screaming, â€Å"Vickie! Vickie! No!† Then a resonant crash, the sound of glass shattering, as if a hundred windows were breaking at once. And over that a sustained scream, on a note of pure, exquisite terror. Then it all stopped. â€Å"What was it? What happened, Meredith?† â€Å"Something bad.† Meredith's voice was taut and choked. â€Å"Something very bad. Bonnie, let go. I'm going to see.† â€Å"Not alone, you're not,† Bonnie said fiercely. They found the staircase and made their way up it. When they reached the landing, Bonnie could hear a strange and oddly sickening sound, the tinkle of glass shards falling. And then the lights went on. It was too sudden; Bonnie screamed involuntarily. Turning to Meredith she almost screamed again. Meredith's dark hair was disheveled and her cheekbones looked too sharp; her face was pale and hollow with fear. Tinkle, tinkle. It was worse with the lights on. Meredith was walking toward the last door down the hall, where the noise was coming from. Bonnie followed, but she knew suddenly, with all her heart, that she didn't want to see inside that room. Meredith pulled the door open. She froze for a minute in the doorway and then lunged quickly inside. Bonnie started for the door. â€Å"Oh, my God, don't come any farther!† Bonnie didn't even pause. She plunged into the doorway and then pulled up short. At first glance it looked as if the whole side of the house was gone. The French windows that connected the master bedroom to the balcony seemed to have exploded outward, the wood splintered, the glass shattered. Little pieces of glass were hanging precariously here and there from the remnants of the wood frame. They tinkled as they fell. Diaphanous white curtains billowed in and out of the gaping hole in the house. In front of them, in silhouette, Bonnie could see Vickie. She was standing with her hands at her sides, as motionless as a block of stone. â€Å"Vickie, are you okay?† Bonnie was so relieved to see her alive that it was painful. â€Å"Vickie?† Vickie didn't turn, didn't answer. Bonnie maneuvered around her cautiously, looking into her face. Vickie was staring straight ahead, her pupils pinpoints. She was sucking in little whistling breaths, chest heaving. Shuddering, Bonnie reeled away. Meredith was on the balcony. She turned as Bonnie reached the curtains and tried to block the way. â€Å"Don't look. Don't look down there,† she said. Down where? Suddenly Bonnie understood. She shoved past Meredith, who caught her arm to stop her on the edge of a dizzying drop. The balcony railing had been blasted out like the French windows and Bonnie could see straight down to the lighted yard below. On the ground there was a twisted figure like a broken doll, limbs askew, neck bent at a grotesque angle, blond hair fanned on the dark soil of the garden. It was Sue Carson. And throughout all the confusion that raged afterward, two thoughts kept vying for dominance in Bonnie's mind. One was that Caroline would never have her foursome now. And the other was that it wasn't fair for this to happen on Meredith's birthday. It just wasn't fair. â€Å"I'm sorry, Meredith. I don't think she's up to it right now.† Bonnie heard her father's voice at the front door as she listlessly stirred sweetener into a cup of chamomile tea. She put the spoon down at once. What she wasn't up to was sitting in this kitchen one minute longer. She needed out. â€Å"I'll be right there, Dad.† Meredith looked almost as bad as she had last night, face peaked, eyes shadowed. Her mouth was set in a tight line. â€Å"We'll just go out driving for a little while,† Bonnie said to her father. â€Å"Maybe see some of the kids. After all, you're the one who said it isn't dangerous, right?† What could he say? Mr. McCullough looked down at his petite daughter, who stuck out the stubborn chin she'd inherited from him and met his gaze squarely. He lifted his hands. â€Å"It's almost four o'clock now. Be back before dark,† he said. â€Å"They want it both ways,† Bonnie said to Meredith on the way to Meredith's car. Once inside, both girls immediately locked their doors. As Meredith put the car in gear she gave Bonnie a glance of grim understanding. â€Å"Your parents didn't believe you, either.† â€Å"Oh, they believe everything I told them-except anything important. How can they be so stupid?† Meredith laughed shortly. â€Å"You've got to look at it from their point of view. They find one dead body without a mark on it except those caused by the fall. They find that the lights were off in the neighborhood because of a malfunction at Virginia Electric. They find us, hysterical, giving answers to their questions that must have seemed pretty weird. Who did it? Some monster with sweaty hands. How do we know? Our dead friend Elena told us through a Ouija board. Is it any wonder they have their doubts?† â€Å"They're forgetting already,† Meredith replied softly. â€Å"You predicted it yourself. Life has gone back to normal, and everybody in Fell's Church feels safer that way. They all feel like they've woken up from a bad dream, and the last thing they want is to get sucked in again.† Bonnie just shook her head. â€Å"And so it's easier to believe that a bunch of teenage girls got riled up playing with a Ouija board, and that when the lights went out they just freaked and ran. And one of them got so scared and confused she ran right out a window.† There was a silence and then Meredith added, â€Å"I wish Alaric were here.† Normally, Bonnie would have given her a dig in the ribs and answered, â€Å"So do I,† in a lecherous voice. Alaric was one of the handsomest guys she'd ever seen, even if he was a doddering twenty-two years old. Now, she just gave Meredith's arm a disconsolate squeeze. â€Å"Can't you call him somehow?† â€Å"In Russia? I don't even know where in Russia he is now.† Bonnie bit her lip. Then she sat up. Meredith was driving down Lee Street, and in the high school parking lot they could see a crowd. She and Meredith exchanged glances, and Meredith nodded. â€Å"We might as well,† she said. â€Å"Let's see if they're any smarter than their parents.† Bonnie could see startled faces turning as the car cruised slowly into the lot. When she and Meredith got out, people moved back, making a path for them to the center of the crowd. Caroline was there, clutching her elbows with her hands and shaking back her auburn hair distractedly. â€Å"We're not going to sleep in that house again until it's repaired,† she was saying, shivering in her white sweater. â€Å"Daddy says we'll take an apartment in Heron until it's over.† â€Å"What difference does that make? He can follow you to Heron, I'm sure,† said Meredith. Caroline turned, but her green cat's eyes wouldn't quite meet Meredith's. â€Å"Who?† she said vaguely. â€Å"Oh, Caroline, not you too!† Bonnie exploded. Her eyes came up and for an instant Bonnie saw how frightened she was. â€Å"I can't take any more.† As if she had to prove her words that minute, she pushed her way through the crowd. â€Å"Let her go, Bonnie,† Meredith said. â€Å"It's no use.† â€Å"She's no use,† said Bonnie furiously. If Caroline, who knew, was acting this way, what about the other kids? She saw the answer-in the faces around her. Everybody looked scared, as scared as if she and Meredith had brought some loathsome disease with them. As if she and Meredith were the problem. â€Å"I don't believe this,† Bonnie muttered. â€Å"I don't believe it either,† said Deanna Kennedy, a friend of Sue's. She was in the front of the crowd, and she didn't look as uneasy as the others. â€Å"I talked with Sue yesterday afternoon and she was so up, so happy. She can't be dead.† Deanna began to sob. Her boyfriend put an arm around her, and several other girls began to cry. The guys in the crowd shifted, their faces rigid. Bonnie felt a little surge of hope. â€Å"And she's not going to be the only one dead,† she added. â€Å"Elena told us that the whole town is in danger. Elena said†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Despite herself Bonnie heard her voice failing. She could see it in the way their eyes glazed up when she mentioned Elena's name. Meredith was right; they'd put everything that had happened last winter behind them. They didn't believe anymore. â€Å"What's wrong with you all?† she said helplessly, wanting to hit something. â€Å"You don't really think Sue threw herself off that balcony!† â€Å"People are saying-† Deanna's boyfriend started and then shrugged defensively. â€Å"Well-you told the police Vickie Bennett was in the room, right? And now she's off her head again. And just a little bit earlier you'd heard Sue shouting, ‘No, Vickie, no!'?† Bonnie felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. â€Å"You think that Vickie- oh, God, you're out of your mind! Listen to me. Something grabbed my hand in that house, and it wasn't Vickie. And Vickie had nothing to do with throwing Sue off that balcony.† â€Å"She's hardly strong enough, for one thing,† Meredith said pointedly. â€Å"She weighs about ninety-five pounds soaking wet.† Somebody from the back of the crowd muttered about insane people having superhuman strength. â€Å"Vickie has a psychiatric record-â€Å" â€Å"Elena told us it was a guy!† Bonnie almost shouted, losing her battle with self-control. The faces tilted toward her were shuttered, unyielding. Then she saw one that made her chest loosen. â€Å"Matt! Tell them you believe us.† Matt Honeycutt was standing on the fringe with his hands in his pockets and his blond head bowed. Now he looked up, and what Bonnie saw in his blue eyes made her draw in her breath. They weren't hard and shuttered like everyone else's, but they were full of a flat despair that was just as bad. He shrugged without taking his hands from his pockets. Bonnie, for one of the first times in her life, was speechless. Matt had been upset ever since Elena died, but this†¦ â€Å"He does believe it, though,† Meredith was saying quickly, capitalizing on the moment. â€Å"Now what have we got to do to convince the rest of you?† â€Å"Channel Elvis for us, maybe,† said a voice that immediately set Bonnie's blood boiling. Tyler. Tyler Smallwood. Grinning like an ape in his overexpensive Perry Ellis sweater, showing a mouthful of strong white teeth. â€Å"It's not as good as psychic e-mail from a dead Homecoming Queen, but it's a start,† Tyler added. Matt always said that grin was asking for a punch in the nose. But Matt, the only guy in the crowd with close to Tyler's physique, was staring dully at the ground. â€Å"Shut up, Tyler! You don't know what happened in that house,† Bonnie said. â€Å"Well, neither do you, apparently. Maybe if you hadn't been hiding in the living room, you'd have seen what happened. Then somebody might believe you.† Bonnie's retort died on her tongue. She stared at Tyler, opened her mouth, and then closed it. Tyler waited. When she didn't speak, he showed his teeth again. â€Å"For my money, Vickie did it,† he said, winking at Dick Carter, Vickie's ex-boyfriend. â€Å"She's a strong little babe, right, Dick? She could have done it.† He turned and added deliberately over his shoulder, â€Å"Or else that Salvatore guy is back in town.† â€Å"You creep!† shouted Bonnie. Even Meredith cried out in frustration. Because of course at the very mention of Stefan pandemonium ensued, as Tyler must have known it would. Everyone was turning to the person next to them and exclaiming in alarm, horror, excitement. It was primarily the girls who were excited. Effectively, it put an end to the gathering. People had been edging away surreptitiously before, and now they broke up into twos and threes, arguing and hastening off. Bonnie gazed after them angrily. â€Å"Supposing they did believe you. What did you want them to do, anyway?† Matt said. She hadn't noticed him beside her. â€Å"I don't know. Something besides just standing around waiting to be picked off.† She tried to look him in the face. â€Å"Matt, are you all right?† â€Å"I don't know. Are you?† Bonnie thought. â€Å"No. I mean, in one way I'm surprised I'm doing as well as I am, because when Elena died, I just couldn't deal. At all. But then I wasn't as close to Sue, and besides†¦ I don't know!† She wanted to hit something again. â€Å"It's just all too much!† Bonnie thought. â€Å"No. I mean, in one way I'm surprised I'm doing as well as I am, because when Elena died, I just couldn't deal. At all. But then I wasn't as close to Sue, and besides†¦ I don't know!† She wanted to hit something again. â€Å"It's just all too much!† â€Å"Yes, I'm mad.† Suddenly Bonnie understood the feelings she'd been having all day. â€Å"Killing Sue wasn't just wrong, it was evil. Truly evil. And whoever did it isn't going to get away with it. That would be-if the world is like that, a place where that can happen and go unpunished†¦ if that's the truth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She found she didn't have a way to finish. â€Å"Then what? You don't want to live here anymore? What if the world is like that?† His eyes were so lost, so bitter. Bonnie was shaken. But she said staunchly, â€Å"I won't let it be that way. And you won't either.† He simply looked at her as if she were a kid insisting there was so a Santa Claus. Meredith spoke up. â€Å"If we expect other people to take us seriously, we'd better take ourselves seriously. Elena did communicate with us. She wanted us to do something. Now if we really believe that, we'd better figure out what it is.† Matt's face had flexed at the mention of Elena. You poor guy, you're still as much in love with her as ever, thought Bonnie. I wonder if anything could make you forget her? She said, â€Å"Are you going to help us, Matt?† â€Å"I'll help,† Matt said quietly. â€Å"But I still don't know what it is you're doing.† â€Å"We're going to stop that murdering creep before he kills anybody else,† said Bonnie. It was the first time she'd fully realized herself that this was what she meant to do. â€Å"Alone? Because you are alone, you know.† â€Å"We are alone,† Meredith corrected. â€Å"But that's what Elena was trying to tell us. She said we had to do a summoning spell to call for help.† â€Å"An easy spell with only two ingredients,† Bonnie remembered from her dream. She was getting excited. â€Å"And she said she'd already told me the ingredients-but she hadn't.† â€Å"Last night she said there were corrupting influences distorting her communication,† Meredith said. â€Å"Now to me that sounds like what was happening in the dream. Do you think it really was Elena you were drinking tea with?† â€Å"Yes,† Bonnie said positively. â€Å"I mean, I know we weren't really having a mad tea party at Warm Springs, but I think Elena was sending that message into my brain. And then partway through something else took over and pushed her out. But she fought, and for a minute at the end she got back control.† â€Å"Okay. Then that means we have to concentrate on the beginning of the dream, when it was still Elena communicating with you. But if what she was saying was already being distorted by other influences, then maybe it came out weird. Maybe it wasn't something she actually said, maybe it was something she did†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"What?† â€Å"Hair! I asked her who did hers, and we talked about it, and she said, ‘Hair is very important.' And Meredith-when she was trying to tell us the ingredients last night, the first letter of one of them was H!† â€Å"That's it!† Meredith's dark eyes were flashing. â€Å"Now we just have to think of the other one.† â€Å"But I know that too!† Bonnie's laughter bubbled up exuberantly. â€Å"She told me right after we talked about hair, and I thought she was just being strange. She said, ‘Blood is important too.' â€Å" Meredith shut her eyes in realization. â€Å"And last night, the Ouija board said ‘Bloodblood-blood.' I thought it was the other thing threatening us, but it wasn't,† she said. She opened her eyes. â€Å"Bonnie, do you think that's really it? Are those the ingredients, or do we have to start worrying about mud and sandwiches and mice and tea?† â€Å"Those are the ingredients,† Bonnie said firmly. â€Å"They're the kind of ingredients that make sense for a summoning spell. I'm sure I can find a ritual to do with them in one of my Celtic magic books. We just have to figure out the person we're supposed to summon†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Something struck her, and her voice trailed off in dismay. â€Å"I was wondering when you'd notice,† Matt said, speaking for the first time in a long while. â€Å"You don't know who it is, do you?†

Martin Luther: the Reformer

Commonly referred to as, â€Å"The Father of Protestantism† (Funk and Wagnalls 337), â€Å"Martin Luther was born into a world dominated by the Catholic Church† (www. pbs. org). â€Å"Luther had no intention of opposing the authority of Rome† (Funk and Wagnalls 336) but God had other plans. Martin Luther, who â€Å"was named after St Martin† (www. pbs. org) was born on November 10th, 1483 (Thulin 11). Mansfeld was his hometown, although he was born in Eisleben (Thulin 11). His parents moved to Mansfeld, to improve his father's job prospect, in 1484 right after Luther's birth (Thulin 12). After moving to Mansfeld, Luther's father, Hans, became a miner (Thulin 11). â€Å"By 1491 the Luthers were one of the most respected families in Mansfeld† (www. pbs. org). Luther himself stayed in Mansfeld until 1496 (Thulin 12). Luther came from a family of peasants, (Thulin 11) his â€Å"parents were simple folk† (Erikson 54) and are described as â€Å"a pair of hardworking and pious Germans† (www. pbs. org). Martin's father was the son of a farmer and â€Å"ruled his son with an iron fist† (www. pbs. org). In fact, Luther said â€Å"My father once whipped me so hard I ran away – I hated him until he finally managed to win me back† (www. bs. org). His mother, Margaret Luther, (Thulin 11) â€Å"came from a small but very well-off family† (www. pbs. org). Margaret is also described as â€Å"a harsh disciplinarian† (www. pbs. org). Luther said on the subject of parents, â€Å"When God wants to speak with us, he does not avail h imself of an angel but of parents† (www. pbs. org). Luther's parents had high hopes for their first son (www. pbs. org). They wanted him to become a lawyer because his father thought that â€Å"a man of Martin's gifts trained in the law would rise even higher in the social scale† (Green 34). Luther â€Å"resented his father's attempt to dominate his life and to push him into a career which he had selected for him† (Green 35), but he complied with his parents' wishes (www. pbs. org). When Luther, out of terror, made a vow to become a monk his father was completely devastated (Bainton 21, www. pbs. org). In fact, â€Å"He did not tell his father of his final decision until he was behind the friary walls† (Green 35). Luther was educated in the schools of Eisenach and Magdeburg and in 1501, at the age of 17, he entered the University of Erfurt (Funk and Wagnalls 335, Erikson 24). Luther received his master's degree at 21, in 1505 (Erikson 24). Years later in 1512, at 28, he â€Å"became a doctor of theology† (Erikson 24). That same year he was made professor of Biblical Literature and the year after he became a priest he became â€Å"a lecturer at the University of Wittenberg† (Funk and Wagnalls 335). On July 2nd of 1505 Luther experienced an event that would change his life forever (Thulin 16). â€Å"†¦ caught in a thunderstorm, terrified by the possibility of imminent death†¦ † (www. pbs. org) he cried out to St. Anne for help and vowed to become a monk (Bainton 21). Later that same year, at the age of 23, he entered the monastery (Erikson 24). Luther, in the summer of 1506, â€Å"became a fully-professed friar† (Green 37) and he celebrated his first mass in the Augustinian monastery in 1507 (Thulin 17). Although his Father did not approve of him becoming a monk, Hans went to great expense to make this occasion a festive day (Thulin 17). Luther was a devout monk for 20 years (Thulin 17, Simon 3). â€Å"As young monk Luther was obsessed with atoning for his sins† (www. pbs. org. com). He lived a holy life in the monastery, embracing â€Å"the rules of his order with unstinted zeal† (Green 37). From 1512 to 1513 Luther, spiritually uneasy, moved theologically away from orthodox teaching† (Green 45). He became â€Å"increasingly doubtful that the Church can actually offer him salvation at all† this is when he discovers that only â€Å"his own individual faith will guarantee his salvation† (www. pbs. org). Lut her â€Å"turns on the Church, attacking its practice of selling indulgences† (www. pbs. org). â€Å"It was his deliberate intention to prove that the doctrine of indulgences contravened the teaching of the Gospel† (Green 59). Although he â€Å"had no intention of†¦ ausing a schism in the church† (Funk and Wagnalls 336), â€Å"Luther had†¦ very little idea of where his criticisms were likely to lead him† (Green 59). He attacked the selling of indulgences in the 95 theses, which he nailed â€Å"to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg† in 1517 at the age of 32 (www. pbs. org, Funk and Wagnalls 336, Erikson 24). This action is regarded as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation (Funk and Wagnalls 336). In April of 1523, nine nuns arrived in Wittenberg (Thulin 85). They had escaped from a nunnery in empty fish barrels to take refuge in Wittenberg (www. bs. org). â€Å"Luther felt responsible to find for them all homes, husbands, o r positions of some sort† (Bainton 287). The last nun he placed was one named Katherine von Bora (Bainton 287). Hans had a great desire for Luther to â€Å"pass on the name† and it was suggested that Luther should marry Katherine when he had trouble placing her, but he did not take this suggestion seriously (Bainton 288). But just two years after her arrival, in May of 1525, Luther said that he wanted to marry Katherine before his death (Bainton 288). So, â€Å"†¦ choing a trend across Europe as former nuns and monks married†¦ † (www. pbs. org), Martin Luther and Katherine von Bora were married on June 13th, 1525 (Thulin 95). At 42, Luther â€Å"was beyond the customary age for marriage† and â€Å"Katherine was 16 years younger than† her husband at a youthful 26 (www. pbs. org, Bainton 288). Luther said, â€Å"There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage† (www. pbs. org). H e also thought that â€Å"the man is the head of the wife because he was created first† (Bainton 299). Katherine von Bora was born in 1499 and her mother died soon after her birth (www. pbs. org, Bainton 291). Her father entered her into â€Å"the convent school of the Benedictine order† in 1504 and in 1508 she entered into the convent of Nimbschen (www. pbs. org). Just a few years later, in 1515 she took her vows (www. pbs. org). It was quite a task for Katherine to take care of Luther, considering he was often sick (Bainton 292, 293). After a while, Katherine became quite the doctor, in fact, the Luther household became the hospital of Wittenberg during times of epidemic (Simon 335). Luther said, â€Å"There is a lot to get used to in the first year of marriage† (Bainton 290); this is probably because Katherine took over the Luther household (www. pbs. org). â€Å"It is said that Dr. Luther did not have a clue how to run a household†, this is when Katherine stepped in and took over the household expenses (www. pbs. org). Since neither Katherine nor Luther had any money when they married (Bainton 291), and Luther wasn't given a wage (www. pbs. org), to provide for the family, â€Å"In 1526 he installed a lathe, and learned woodworking† (Bainton 291). He â€Å"also housed students in his home to help the† family finances (www. pbs. org). On October 21, 1525 when Luther told a friend that Katherine was pregnant he said she was fulfilling the verse Genesis 1:28 (Bainton 293). Katherine bore six children in eight years, 3 boys and 3 girls (Bainton 291, 293 Simon 334). Martin and Katherine's first child was a son, called Hans, born on June 7, 1526 (Bainton 293). A daughter, Elizabeth Luther was born on December 10, 1527, but on August 3rd of the next year, Elizabeth Luther died (Bainton 293, Thulin 103). On December 17, 1529 Magdalena Luther was born and nearly two years later Katherine gave birth to a son, who was named Martin Luther on November 9, 1531 (Bainton 293). Next was another son, Paul Luther on January 28, 1533, who later became a doctor, and finally Margaretha Luther was born to Martin and Katherine on December 17, 1534 (Bainton 292, 293). Sadly, on September 20th Martin Luther held Magdalena, his 14 year-old daughter, in his arms as she died (Bainton 304, Thulin 122). Life in the Luther house might have been somewhat hectic considering the â€Å"Luthers brought up four orphaned children from among relatives† (Bainton 294). Luther thought that â€Å"Children are subject to parents and especially to the father† (Bainton 299). Luther and Katherine are described as diligent parents, their children were well-disciplined, but in a loving way (www. pbs. org). â€Å"Luther doted on his large family† and although the house was always full â€Å"Their home was noted for its liveliness and its happiness† (www. pbs. org). Luther battled his whole life against depression (Bainton 362). â€Å"This man who so undergirded others with faith had for himself a perpetual battle for faith† (Bainton 359). â€Å"Luther felt that his depressions were necessary† (Bainton 362). These depressions were always about the same thing, the â€Å"loss of faith that God† was good to him, but Luther's greatest problem came from how he should overcome his depressions (Bainton 361). He once said that â€Å"during the first year in the monastery the Devil is very quiet† this was not true later in Luther's life (Bainton 37). Luther said, â€Å"When I go to bed, the Devil is always waiting for me† and he would even have direct encounters with the Devil himself (Bainton 362). Luther had a great enthusiasm for music (Bainton 340). â€Å"His interest in the arts was unusual among the reformers† (Funk and Wagnalls 337). He was â€Å"An accomplished Lute player† and he brought out a hymnbook in 1524 (www. pbs. org, Bainton 345). Luther's most well known hymn is â€Å"A Mighty Fortress† which he wrote in the year of his deepest depression (Bainton 370). On February 14th, a few days before his death, Luther wrote his last letter to his wife (Thulin 127). He died later that month in the year 1546 at Eisleben and â€Å"was buried in the Castle Church of Wittenberg† (Thulin 128, Funk and Wagnalls 337). Luther never intended to become the Reformer for which he is remembered, in fact â€Å"Few people had heard of Martin Luther before he posted the 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church† (Green 9). He opposed the Catholic Church, â€Å"the most powerful institution of the day† (www. pbs. org), and is known as one of, if not, the most influential people in the history of the Christian Church. Works Cited Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life Of Martin Luther. Abingdon-Cokesbury Press: New York. 1950 Erikson, Erik H.. Young Man Luther: A Study in Psychoanalysis and History. W. W. Norton & Company Inc. : New York. 1962 Green, V. H. H.. Luther and the Reformation. B. T. Batsford LTD. : London. 1964 http://www. pbs. org 2003 Devillier Donegan Enterprises. February 1, 2009 [http://www. pbs. org/empires/martinluther/about_driv. html] http://www. pbs. org 2003 Devillier Donegan Enterprises. February 1, 2009 [http://www. pbs. org/empires/martinluther/char_parents. html] http://www. pbs. rg 2003 Devillier Donegan Enterprises. February 1, 2009 [http://www. pbs. org/empires/martinluther/char_wife. html] http://www. pbs. org 2003 Devillier Donegan Enterprises. February 1, 2009 [http://www. pbs. org/empires/martinluther/cheats. html] â€Å"LUTHER, Martin† Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, Inc. : New York 1979 Simon, Edith. Luther Alive: Martin Luther and the Making of the Reformation. Do ubleday & Company, INC. : New York. 1968 Thulin, Oskar. A Life Of Luther: Told in Pictures and Narrative by the Reformer and His Contemporaries. Fortress Press: Philadelphia. 1966

Analyzing Banking Profiles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analyzing Banking Profiles - Essay Example The core capital has also shown similar pattern, which has increased from 7.47% in 2008 to 8.99% in 2010. The capital ratio stands at 11.39% in 2010 when compared to 8% in 2006. The number of institutions reporting to the FDIC has decreased from 8833 institutions in the year 2005 to 7760 institutions in 2010. The number of problem institutions has increased drastically on a year on year basis from 552 in 2009 to 860 in 2010. The number of failed institutions has also increased to 127 institutions in 2010 from just 3 institutions in the year 2007. Possible reasons for the observed changes in the banking industry Bank’s return on assets which refers to net income as a percentage of total assets, increased which suggests that the banking industry is able to garner more interest income with rise in demand for loans with reducing cost of funds, therefore sustaining revenues and improving asset quality. In relation with the core capital ratio, Tier 1 capital can absorb losses withou t a bank being required to cease its functioning. Therefore increase in core capital ratio indicates the health of the banking industry is improving considerably. The banking industry is giving prime importance to strengthen the Tier 1 level of capital.

Financial Intermediation and Risk Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial Intermediation and Risk - Coursework Example The author of the work does some research of financial intermediation. It is a core function of commercial banking. Banks facilitate customers and corporations in such a way that they absorb the surplus liquidity in the market and pass it onto the entities which require these funds to meet their requirements. Customers can gain, firstly, by placing surplus funds which give no profit at home into the bank and earn some interest. Secondly, entities which require funds to manage their financial situation can obtain convenient loans from commercial banks. The work outlines the basic outlook and mechanism of a bank’s balance sheet. Any and all funds which have been placed with the bank come under the liability section of the balance sheet of the bank, whereas any and all fund placements by the bank come under the asset section of the balance sheet of the bank. Huge volumes of funds are flowing in and out of the bank which define various forms of bank’s participation in financial markets. The work describes how banks cope with interest rate risks. The tenure of the transaction is the first major factor which needs to be considered. For longer tenures, the risk is higher owing to the opportunity cost of entering into a less liquid transaction. The second risk which needs to be accounted for is the inverse relationship between yields and prices of securities. In an economy where the interest rate climate is on the rise, increased yields will drive the price of the security down.

Bus. Research and Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Bus. Research and Writing - Essay Example Selecting the best form of financing is critical for the success of any business venture and this should be guided by the amount required. Ideally, this paper recommends that the business should settle on the cheapest and most available form of financing. They should also establish the amount required before settling on a particular source of financing. Moreover, when seeking debt financing the business should ensure that all the paperwork must be made available. These may include the business plan, bank statements, business history and references. Most business start their operations before the owners decide to expand. This can be done by establishing new ventures or expanding. Some of the new ventures that can be explored include developing new product lines, creating and sustaining a presence in a new geographical area and establishing a new market. Each one of the ventures requires funds in order to be successful. The funds that are required by businesses, organizations or enterp rises either to start up new ventures or to bolster already existing ventures may be acquired through external sources or internal sources. The sources of capital usually depend on whether the business or organization is at an early stage of rapid expansion. The first source of capital for any corporation is usually the retained profits. The corporation has to approximate the amount of money required. The retained profits are the profits that are kept by the corporation rather than being distributed as dividends to the shareholders. The profits are retained in the organization and invested in new business ventures. A business can choose to opt for debt financing. This form of financing allows the borrower to use the money borrowed for a specified period provided they repay the money with some interest. In most instances, the terms of the loan are usually outlined in the loan agreement. To ensure that the repayment of the loan is guaranteed, the loan may be backed by â€Å"collatera l† for the sake of a secured loan or â€Å"cash flow† for the sake of unsecured loans. A corporation can raise capital through the sale of shares. Essentially, shares relate to public limited companies or private limited companies. â€Å"Shares† are self-explanatory and once one buys a shares form a particular company, they in turn own a share of the company. Shares are ideal forms of funding majorly because they are non-redeemable, that is, they form a permanent source of finance and they are usually non-refundable. 2. Introduction Most organizations seek to expand their operations by exploring the prospects of undertaking new ventures. Some of the ventures may include the production of new product line, entry into a new geographical area or the establishment of a new market. With the primary aim of expanding its operations, our firm is intending to create a presence in a new geographical area. For this to happen we will definitely require two considerable sums of money. Some of the notable sources of financing the business may include financing by debt, engaging private investors/angels, selling of shares, early stage venture capital, and expansion stage venture capital (Matthew2011). The companies that are in their early stages may receive their financing from the founders and this may be supplemented by some other financing from friends and family. The founders may also seek financing from other financial institutions but this is usually

Shortfalls and Benefits of Vegetarian Diet Essay - 1

Shortfalls and Benefits of Vegetarian Diet - Essay Example In this light, differences are bound to occur, thus, the need for this paper to compare and analyze the differences between the movie and the book. In the book, Bruno’s father is portrayed as a man with a strong personality and character with little to compromise in order to fulfill Nazi ambition. This is seen with his promotion to the position of a commandant, which prompted that he and his family migrate to Auschwitz for work purposes. In this place, he is a senior officer in the Nazi movement who is in charge of the detention camp where the Jews, enemies of the Germans based on the German conception, were tortured and exterminated by burning. However, the film portrays Bruno’s father as a different character altogether in light of his concerns and attitudes towards the paper. This is bearing in mind that the film focuses on a number of aspects aimed at bringing him out as a better man than the book does. In this case, Bruno’s father is featured as a family man and parent whose values are well laid when he is opposed to the concept of raising his two children close to the detention center. This is portrayed with the constant arguments that arise between him and his wife where he argues the reason that the children have to grow is because; he is there for work purposes. ... This is also shown in her arguments with her husband on how to raise their children in such an environment near the detention camp. This is especially considering how naive, impressionable, and perceptive the two youngsters are, and for this reason, she suggests that they move back to Berlin for the sake of raising their two children. On the other hand, the movie portrays her as being the emotional parent, who shares in the concerns for her children and those of the Jews in the concentration camps. This is seen with the sympathy she shows towards the Jews in the concentration camps and conditions, and the plight that they have to face. This is as opposed to her role in the book where the concern lies only in children and not the Jews. For this reason, the film differs from the book in that the film draws the emotion and reaction of the audience, in relation to the ethics of that which the Germans do to the Jews in the concentration camps. These appeals to the audience by making it ap pear as a disgusting deed and the level of wrongdoing questioning the moral and social thinking of the Germans. The other difference featured between the books and the film is in the details behind the facts found in the book and those found in the film. In relation to this, the book portrays the age of the two children, Shmuel and Bruno, as being aged nine years, while, the film differs. The film labels the two youngsters as being at the eight years, which is a difference of one year, which is uncalled for or whose role cannot be perceived to influence the two entities. The only difference might only be in the portrayal may be in the concept of naivety and innocence, which is more pronounced in the film than the book. This is shown by the fact that they cannot discern

Unequal treatment and payment to women in workplace Essay

Unequal treatment and payment to women in workplace - Essay Example Women are usually born with the responsibility to give birth to next generation. However, pregnancy is not considered a disability. However, some companies and employers do not accommodate pregnant workers. In the article ‘women still are not equal in workplace’, by Tyler Vendetti, Tyler illustrates an incident where a pregnant woman was fired at Walmart for asking for the permission to carry a bottle of water even after displaying the doctor’s prescriptionBesides pregnancy, women’s ability is not recognized by many organizations. A recent survey depicted that high-potential women are over supervised and under supported relative to their male counterparts. In some companies, women are not allowed to contribute to major decisions. Apparently, this situation makes women work more and contribute less to the company’s developmental efforts, which is not fair at all.Although women constitute about half the total labor force in different fields, they recei ve a low deal when it comes to payment. Men are usually concentrated in high-paying fields such as finance and engineering. In those high-income fields, women take approximately 37%. However, in the low-income fields such as social services, women constitute about 77.3% of labor force. It can be observed that this is another discrimination in the workplace environment. The society does not believe that women can take an important and hard job such as engineering and finance. Actually, when the companies conduct interviews, they are more likely to hire males in the high paying jobs.

Cloud Computing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Cloud Computing - Research Paper Example Cloud computing can involve the use of web applications, mobile applications, data centers and other virtual services. This form of online computing emerged around the year 1960 with the creation of the Advanced Research Projects Network (Mohamed, 2009). Today, cloud computing is being adopted in major businesses and organizations as a way of increasing efficiency and reducing operational costs. Cloud computing has three main models of application. The first model, Software as a Service (SaaS), entails the use of software applications provided by a SaaS provider (Sridhar, 2009). In this model, a client obtains access to the software applications through the use of a web browser. Another model is Platform as a Service  (PaaS). This involves the provision of a platform on which the client can create and deploy their own applications. The last approach is Infrastructure as a Service  (IaaS). In this model, the client is only provided with the physical computing resources and they create their own platform and applications. Businesses and organizations can benefit from cloud computing in several ways. Use of cloud computing services translates to reduced operational costs, since hardware or software resources or both are acquired by the service provider depending on the cloud computing model in use. In addition to this, other services such as backup and recovery plans, security implementations and hardware maintenance routines are taken care of by the service provider. A business that relies on a cloud computing approach therefore saves on the time and funds that would have been used in the accomplishment of these services. Security is a major concern in cloud computing. Cloud computing is vulnerable to malware injection attacks in which a hacker creates a malicious service implementation module or virtual system instance and tricks the cloud system into trusting it as a genuine module (Jensen, 2009). Denial of

The dividend discount models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The dividend discount models - Essay Example This model calculates the value of common stock as follows. V0 = At 5%, 6% and 4% successive dividend growth rates from first year to third year, and D0 given, we can estimate D1, D2, and D3; and given g we can estimate the value of stock (V0) as per the equation. The Dividend Discount Models are not very accurate mainly because of the difficulty of estimating a rate of growth of dividends, and unpredictability of stock markets, which may overbid or underbid prices of stocks. 2.2 The FCFF Model This model calculates the present value of all future free cash flows minus the market value of outstanding debt and preferred stock.Value of Operations = Value of Equity = Value of Operations - Value of Debt Value per Share = Value of Equity / Total Common Stock Outstanding 2.3 Multiples Approach Analysts many times use price multiples to value stocks. These multiples may be Price/Earning, Price/ Cash Flow, Price/Revenue, Price/ Book, Price/ Sales, Price/ Earnings Growth (PEG). ( Using Ratios and Multiples, n.d.) The most popular P/E Ratio is shown below: P/E = (Stock Price/ EPS) EPS = Earnings per share Higher P/E ratio denotes better growth prospects and vice versa. The drawback of this method is that it becomes meaningful only with context. The context may be skewed. Reported earnings may sometimes be inflated or depressed. Firms that go through turbulent business cycles require more investigation. Other shortcomings of multiples method is that comparable firms are hard to find within an industry or industries. 2.4 Yield Based Valuation Models These models include the Cash Return method (Cash Return = Free Cash Flow + Net Interest... Common Stocks represent an ownership position in a firm. This position entitles the holder to several privileges. An important part of value investing is valuation of common stock. There are several methods of common stock valuation, some of which we discuss in this paper.The Dividend Discount Models mainly predict the dividends, and net present value of a common stock. According to this method, the value of a dividend is the sum of all future dividends. Three types of discount models predict future dividends or value of a stock as outlined below. There are several methods, of common stock valuation, available to investors or analysts. Some of the methods outlined above are more popular ones. These methods present a more or less accurate estimate of the value of a common stock. Gordon Growth Model: This model works best for firms which show stable growth rates (not higher than that of the economy in the long term); which pay out large dividends; and which have a stable leverage. For other firms it is not very reliable.Variable Growth model: This model is most reliable for firms with unstable but moderating growth rates, and which pay dividends that equal FCFE or where FCFE are difficult to estimate. Advantages: 1. The sales numbers are more or less exact and not subject to manipulation or assumption. 2. Sales are not volatile as earnings may be. 3. Sales is a much more stable benchmark.

How Information Technology Affects Business Essay Example for Free

How Information Technology Affects Business Essay As a business owner, and manager the need for a way to manage our information is essential. The ability to handle the overwhelming amount of data and information that goes through a company every day could be a key factor in whether a business fails or succeeds. (Ebert Griffin 2005) The system in which we collect and use this information is called an Information System (IS). An IS is used in financial accounting, managerial accounting, by laborers, and executives. In my basket shop, an Information System is what allows us to keep track of orders, from the time they are received to when they are delivered. It keeps track of customer information, the supplies ordered, what supplies have been used, and whether we need to reorder. IS also keeps track of what we are spending, how much we are making, and whether we are making a profit or loss. There is so much more this system does for us, but basically lets us be more efficient, offer better customer service, and allows us to see our problem areas. We can then correct any problems, and set better goals and plans for our future. The use of the Information System has allowed us to hire fewer employees, and be a lot more competitive in the market. I have to say if we did not have any kind of way to manage the information we receive, we could not be as efficient, which would lead to customer dissatisfaction, and in the end we would go out of business. We all know that in todays society. Businesses are expected to be proficient by responding quickly in fulfilling all orders correctly and with a timely delivery. Web sites are becoming a vital communication tool almost as valuable as the telephone, and much more flexible and economical than a printed brochure or flier (Internet Use, 2000) With the use of email and the internet we will have drastic reductions in cost, increased speed in communication time, and a larger customer reach and satisfaction. Email will allow us to save money on stamps and paper, cut response time to a minimum, and send advertisements about sales to previous customers who took this option. A problem that used to take days to handle before by mail, waiting for papers to arrive by mail etc, is now handled in minutes. Without the internet, we would not be able to offer a virtual store front online, which allows us to reach customers, thousands of miles away,  that we would not reach otherwise. The online store, will give the customers the option of having their basket delivered, or they can order ahead of time and pick up at the store location. The internet provides access to the World Wide Web (WWW). With the WWW we can do more cost efficient and quicker research on our competitors, suppliers, and the local economic status. Being better informed, we will be able to keep our prices fair and reasonable, yet still make a profit. Through the use of the internet, and help from a GPS tracker, we will be able to keep track of packages being delivered. This will allow us to keep our customers better informed as to when they will receive their basket and make sure they dont get lost. The World Wide Web will also allow us to accept payment options that we would not be able to afford otherwise. With the help of ProPay and PayPal we will be able to take payments with credit cards that we would not be able to offer if the internet was not available. In conclusion, with the help of email and the internet, we will be able provide faster, dependable, more cost efficient service, and in return have better customer satisfaction. Information technology has become an important part of most of todays businesses, it provides us with a way to process, create and store information. With a Database management program a single piece of data is put into several different files to create useful information. It has allowed us to eliminate the middleman in most cases. In cutting out the middleman, this has allowed quicker response times to situations and increase productivity and set better performance goals. We have more reliable financial statements. It allows you to set up filters, so when looking at certain areas, you arent wasting time looking through useless information. This in turn saves time and saving time saves money. When keeping customers information stored in our system, it allows us to be more personable and develop stronger relationships with them. The use of email, internet, and information technology allows us to do things we wouldnt have dreamed of years ago. We can talk face to face with people while being continents apart, we can find information we need at the touch of a couple of buttons, and in return have become more productive, proficient, reliable, and better planners. Because we have increased our  productivity, and improved our performance due to the technology, we have become more profitable as a result. Resources: Ebert, R.J., Griffen, R.W. (2005) Business essentials (5th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall. Rooster Graphics International. (2000). Internet use by small business. Retrieved September 29, 2006, from Rooster Graphics website: http://www.rostergraphics.com/ADMIN/SBuse.html

Judges Power to Override Legislation

Judges Power to Override Legislation INTRODUCTION The issue of judges having the power to override legislation can be linked to Judicial Review (JR) which has been a point of debate between different scholars. To understand judicial review, one must look at the definition of democracy and the nature of it. Democracy as described by A Weale is a government whereby important public decisions on questions of law and policy depend, directly or indirectly, upon public opinion formally expressed by citizens of the community, the vast bulk of whom have equal political rights.[1] Democracy can be seen as a good way of choosing government and as such the government cannot infringe on the rights of the people. This relates to the social contract theory which was given by John Locke whereby the people have to agree to give up their freedom as long as the government agree to do what is mentioned in the contract. The social contract theory was created to protect the natural rights of the people. For a democracy to exist, the people must have rig hts and this is the major reason Judicial Review exists; to uphold these rights for the system to be democratic. Therefore, I will be supporting the notion that the courts should be given the power to scrutinize, not override legislation if it conflicts with the rights in the Bill of Rights. I will be looking at arguments for Judicial Review put forward by Dworkin as well looking at the arguments against it given by Waldron and I shall give my conclusion. DWORKINS THEORY Firstly, the bill of rights according to Dworkin are the clauses of the American constitution that protect individuals and minorities from government[2]. Therefore, these clauses must be given the moral reading. Dworkin gives meaning to the moral reading in his book Freedoms law: the moral reading of the American constitution[3]. He explains that the moral reading proposes that judges, lawyers and citizens should interpret and apply the abstract clauses on understanding that they invoke moral principles about political civility and justice[4].   The moral reading brings political morality into the heart of constitutional law but this is uncertain and controversial, therefore any system of government that makes such principles part of its law must decide whose interpretation and understanding will be authoritative[5]. In the American System Judges have that authority and in his book, Dworkin disproves the critics that suggest the moral reading of the constitution gives judges t he absolute power to impose their own moral convictions on the public[6]. Democracy means government by the people[7] as seen in Dworkins article but he did point out that there are two ways in which democracy can operate. The first is the majoritarian premise[8] and the second is the constitutional conception of democracy[9]. The majoritarian premise is of the view that political decisions and procedures should be made based on the favour of the majority or the plurality of the citizens provided that they have adequate information and enough time on reflection[10]. Dworkin rejects the view of the majoritarian premise. This is because even though it seems that most people in the United States of America have accepted the majoritarian premise, there are still some who believe that the majority should not always be the final judge[11]. The reason for this is that there are situations where individual rights need to be protected and the decisions should not be based merely on what the majority want. The premise supposes that it is unfair when the political majority does not always get their way[12] which is unfair to minorities and individuals. Dworkin looks to a different, better account of the value of democracy[13]. This is the constitutional conception of democracy[14]. This takes on the view that collective decisions should be made by political institutions whose structure, composition and practises treat all members with equal concern and equal respect[15]. This is done out of concern for the equal status of citizens and not out of commitment to the goals of majority rule[16]. This is one major reason Dworkin argues in favour of the courts. He believes that an independent body such as the judiciary can make decisions which respect not only the majority but also individual citizens. In relation to Dworkin proving that JR improves democracy, he proposes three arguments that favour the majoritarian premise and he rebuts each of these arguments which demonstrates that the majoritarian premise is undemocratic. However, only two of these arguments will be looked at. The first argument in favour of the majoritarian view is liberty. People that are in support of the majority view argue that allowing judges to strike down legislation can be perceived as undemocratic because it infringes on the right to liberty. The right to liberty includes the freedom of the people to govern themselves by electing political officials. Dworkin rebuts this argument in two forms which are the statistical collective action and the communal collective action.[17] A collective action is statistical when a group of people do that action as only a matter of individual interest, that is, doing it for their own selfish gains but it leads to a result that favours everyone in the community[18]. While a collective action is communal when it cannot be reduced to some statistical function of individual action[19]. This is a matter of individuals acting together consciously to bring about a result. Dworkin believes that if a loss of liberty should exist then the collective action should be communal not statistical. Loss of liberty to any individual would be negligible. The communal collective action brings about how an individual voter can identify with the community. The community as a whole must treat an individual with respect and as an equal[20]. This relates to the concept of moral membership. Moral membership is how an individual should be treated as part of the community as a whole. There are two features of moral membership; the first is structural[21] which explains that the community must have a shared culture, history and language. The second is relational[22] which emphasizes on individual rights. As a member of the community every individual must have political rights. If every member has these rights, then everyone should all be treated equally as a member of the community. This also means that people have a part in collective decision making, as well as a stake in what happens and they also have independence from it[23]. Dworkin believes that without these rights then democracy cannot exist. The second argument is community. From the majoritarian view the argument would be that if the view of the majority is overridden then citizens are deprived of the value of participating in communal decision making. Dworkin rebuts this by saying that citizens can also participate in the political process through other ways. One of such ways is the power that is given to the people by the constitution to form non-political communities such as religious, professional and social groups[24]. Dworkin refers to the first amendments association of protection that prohibits religious discrimination which enhances that power[25]. The second way is through influence; citizens may have more influence over a judicial decision by their contribution to public discussion of the issue than they would over legislative decisions just through voting or even a referendum[26]. Dworkin reaches the conclusion that there is no loss in democracy if the final say is left to judges, therefore he believes that Judicial review can improve democracy. WALDRONS THEORY Waldron takes on a different view regarding Judicial Review and democracy. In his article THE CORE OF THE CASE AGAINST JUDICIAL REVIEW[27]Waldron begins by saying JR is just the subjection of the legislature to the rule of law and then he goes further by drawing a distinction between strong and weak JR[28]. Strong JR is a system whereby the courts have the authority to override a statute in a particular case or modify the statute to make its application conform with individual rights[29]. While weak JR is a system whereby the courts do not have as much authority; the courts may scrutinize legislation for its conformity to individual rights but they may not decline to apply it[30]. Waldrons focus is on societies that have strong JR. In making his argument against JR, Waldron makes four assumptions about a society. In this society there is a functioning democratic system, a set of judicial institutions that is functional, a belief and respect for individual and minority rights and disagreement over the meaning of rights among members of the society[31]. It is the disagreement over rights that Waldron lays emphasis on. In a society, people will have disagreement about the compatibility of the legislation and rights and when these disagreements exist there needs to be an ultimate authority that can settle the disagreements about rights. Waldron looks to two sort of reasons that need to be taken into account in evaluating the decision-procedure for settling disagreement. These are the outcome related reason and the process related reason[32]. The process related reason[33] are reasons for insisting that a person makes a decision that stands independently of the considerations about the appropriate outcome[34]. It is all about the process and the way the outcome is reached.   In politics, the most familiar process-related reasons are those based on political equality and the democratic right to vote, the right to have ones voice counted even when others disagree with what one says[35].   Waldron continues his process related reason argument by saying that the legislature gives each person the greatest say possible which is compatible with an equal say for each of the others[36]. He believes that representative system satisfies the demand for political equality which is equal voice and equal decisional au thority[37]. Waldron believes that this is preferable to the outcome related reasons. Outcome related reasons[38] are reasons for making the decision procedure in a way that will ensure the appropriate outcome[39]. It focuses on which institution brings about the best outcome. Waldron gives three reasons that favour JR producing a better outcome and he gives his reply to each argument. The first is the orientation to a particular case. The issue of rights are presented to the judges in the form of flesh -and-blood individual situations[40]. Since the courts are dealing with individual rights it helps to see how an individual is affected by a piece of legislation[41]. Waldrons reply to this is by the time these cases reach the highest court almost all trace of the original flesh-and-blood right holders[42] has vanished[43]. The judges tend to view these cases in an abstract way and the courts address these issue in a more general way[44]. The second argument is the orientation to a text in the bill of rights[45]. Waldrons response to this is that a legal right that finds protection in a Bill of Rights finds it under the supports of some official form of words in which the provisions of the Bill are articulated[46]. The written creation of the Bill of rights tend to encourage a rigid word based formalism which the courts may try to interpret in an obsessive manner[47]. Waldron believes that this can be avoided in a system of legislative supremacy because legislators can take on the issue for themselves without reference to the Bill of Rights formulations[48]. He also makes one final point which is judicial reasoning may be distorted by an omission in the bill of rights[49]. He gives a scenario of a disagreement between positive (socioeconomic) rights and negative(liberty) rights which may alter Judges understanding of the rights included[50]. They may give more weight to positive rights than negative rights which may l ead to Judges striking down statutes that are trying to make up for the rights that failed to register in the formulation of the bill of rights[51]. The third argument that Waldron gives his response to is stating reasons[52]. He says that Courts are concerned with the legitimacy of decision making therefore they focus their reason giving on facts that show that they are legally authorized by constitution, statute, or precedent[53]. This counts heavily against the court in the outcome related argument about JR over legislation[54]. The courts are distracted by the legitimacy issue they pursue and as a result they lose track of the heart of the matter[55], whereas the parliament go directly to it[56] and their reasons are given in debates and are published in Hansard or Congressional record[57]. He gives the example of Roe v Wade[58] whereby none of the judges in the supreme court paid attention to the plaintiffs position that was being discussed[59]. Waldron reaches the conclusion that the legislature is a better process than the judiciary because it is a legitimate and fair way of deciding disagreements over rights. The Judiciary being a non-democratic institution does not uphold democracy. MY OPINION In a democratic system rights that are upheld can be found in the Bill of Rights. For the sake of the question it is the British bill of rights that will be considered. This brings up the issue of JR. Judicial Review gives the court the authority to scrutinize statute or in some cases override statutes if it is incompatible with the bill of rights. One thing to remember is that the court is a non-democratic institution. Looking at both sides of the argument they each carry weight; Dworkin is of the view that JR improves democracy while Waldron is of the view that the parliament is better suited to improve democracy. From Dworkins argument I understood the difference between the majoritarian premise and the constitutional conception of democracy. In his book Dworkin thought the constitutional conception of democracy was a better way for democracy to operate. The constitutional conception of democracy is a good idea which upholds individual rights. Judges can be seen as independent bodies that can make decisions and interpret the law in a consistent manner unlike the government. In regards to governmental bodies in Britain, it can be seen that the executive and the parliament have some form of connection. It is possible that the executives may exert pressure on parliament seeing as how they make the parliament accountable. This could create inconsistencies. Dworkins theory relates democracy to rights, according to him without rights there is no democracy. As an individual in a community you need to have the sense of moral membership and as such the community treats you with respect and as an equal which means that all voices are heard and everyone can fully participate in self-government which is a political right. In reality to gain equal membership in a community would be impossible. Waldron also brought up some compelling arguments against strong JR. His focus is on the right-based JR; he believes that the process of JR is unsuitable for a democratic society whose main problem is the disagreement over rights. He believes that the disagreement can be resolved by adopting procedures that respect the voices and opinions of individuals whose rights are at stake and this procedure is done by the legislation. I agree with most of Waldrons theory but I still question some of what he proposes. Waldron explains the process related reasons and outcome related reasons as considerations that are separate but there are certain circumstances whereby the process and outcome work together as one. If the outcome is a bad one, then that means the process reasons that gave that outcome authority are invalid. It can be seen in Waldrons article he refers to process-related reasons including fair elections, majority decisions and citizen participation. I think this argument is biased in favour of the legislature, this is because all the processes he mentions are naturally associated with the legislature; they are legislative practices. Waldron believes that JR is not a good final decision procedure because it does not make proper use of these practices. These practices are meant for legislative procedures. This is not a good argument against JR because the courts have their own process related considerations which are hearing out the cases of individuals who are represented by lawyers, looking to precedents, making decisions and if the individual is still unhappy with the outcome, there is always a chance for an appeal. Just because the process is different does not mean it is not legitimate. He gave the argument of courts getting distracted because they seek legitimacy. Judges interpret the laws to the best it can be and apply it to the cases of individuals. They look for legitimate reasons because they are trying to protect individual rights in accordance with law. I agree with his outcome related argument that refers to the orientation of the bill of rights. I also accept that, that much power should not be left to the courts without a body to question them seeing as they are unelected, but in Britain there is a hierarchy of courts and it can be seen that various cases are taken from the magistrate court to the crown court, sometimes high court and finally to the supreme court. I would like to think that the judges in these different courts check and balance each other out. This is because different courts usually disagree with some of the decisions made. In addition to this, I would also like to make a point regarding the magistrate courts. In England, the judges in the magistrate are made up of people that come from the community, since these people come from the community, they can relate to the issues of majority and minority and that creates a chance for a well-rounded decision. In conclusion I am of the view that Judges should be given the power to scrutinize, not override legislation if it conflicts with rights in the bill of rights. [1]A Weale, Democracy (2nd edn, Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2007) p14 [2] Ronald Dworkin, FREEDOMS LAW: THE MORAL READING OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION, (Oxford University Press, 1996) p7 [3]  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Ronald Dworkin, FREEDOMS LAW: THE MORAL READING OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION, (Oxford University Press, 1996) [4] Ibid p2 [5] Ibid p2 [6] Ibid p2 [7] Ibid p15 [8] Ibid p15-16 [9] Ibid p15-16 [10] Ibid p16 [11] Ibid p16 [12] Ibid p17 [13] Ibid p17 [14] Ibid p17 [15] Ibid p17 [16] Ibid p17 [17] Ibid p19 [18] Ibid p19 [19] Ibid p20 [20] Ibid p17 [21] Ibid p24 [22] Ibid p24 [23] Ibid p24 [24] Ibid p29 [25] Ibid p29 [26] Ibid p30 [27] Jeremy Waldron, THE CORE OF THE CASE AGAINST JUDICIAL REVIEW (2006) 115 Yale L J 1346 [28] Jeremy Waldron, THE CORE OF THE CASE AGAINST JUDICIAL REVIEW (2006) 115 Yale L J 1346 p5 [29] Ibid p5 [30] Ibid p5 [31] Ibid p7 [32] Ibid p14 [33] Ibid p14 [34] Ibid p14 [35] Ibid p15 [36] Ibid p23 [37] Ibid p23 [38] Ibid p15 [39] Ibid p15 [40] Ibid p18 [41] Ibid p18 [42] Ibid p18 [43] Ibid p18 [44] Ibid p18 [45] Ibid p19 [46] Ibid p19 [47] Ibid p19 [48] Ibid p19 [49] Ibid p19 [50] Ibid p20 [51] Ibid p20 [52] Ibid p20 [53] Ibid p21 [54] Ibid p21 [55] Ibid p21 [56] Ibid p21 [57] Ibid p20 [58] Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) [59] Ibid p21

Politicking Goes High-tech :: essays research papers

Politicking Goes High-Tech This reading dealt with the fact that the major decision makers for people when voting (especially for Senators) are the television spots. The article discussed how today's campaigns are now candidate-centered rather than political party-centered and how they require large sums of money in order to pay for all the advertising, and a team of professional workers rather than a team of volunteers is a necessity. Much of the money goes to commercial advertisements, but another large portion goes to continuous polling and direct mail strategies. The article talked about the need to have the speed and technology to know how the people feel right away. A candidate cannot wait weeks or even days for the results to come back to him or her whether he or she is in the lead. The results are needed within hours. After getting the results from the polls, it is then time to determine what action needs to be taken to aid your campaign (or more often hurt your opponent). The candidate then needs to create new television ads to make himself or herself appeal to the interests of the people or sometimes to counteract the bad things the opponent has to say. This fight between the television ads is often referred to as Spot Wars. While the Spot Wars help out the candidates (or harm the opponents with derogatory remarks), they can cost an enormous amount of money; and after being played on television the opponent will return the attack with one of his or her ads—then, the candidate will have to go back to work all over again creating new ads regarding the new polls—all of which costs more money. A major portion of the money for candidates to use comes from PACs. These PACs make up  ¼ off all contributions to Senate campaigns, while some of the other money comes from fund raisers and cost-per-plate dinners. Before the candidate begins to play the ads on television he/she needs to determine what the campaign focus is going to be. Focus groups are small groups of voters who gather with the candidate to give an idea of perhaps what the people are looking for. Then the candidate has to decide when to run the ads. Determining that can be more difficult: if you have the money it is probably best to start early and hope your opponent runs out of money trying to counteract your ads—"One candidate puts on a message, and the other has to decide how to respond." After you run the ads you have to poll the people, of

Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider): Parallels Within

Parallels Within The Stranger (The Outsider) The Stranger by Albert Camus is a story of a sequence of events in one man's life that cause him to question the nature of the universe and his position in it. The book is written in two parts and each part seems to reflect in large degree the actions occurring in the other. There are curious parallels throughout the two parts that seem to indicate the emotional state of Meursault, the protagonist, and his view of the world. Meursault is a fairly average individual who is distinctive more in his apathy and passive pessimism than in anything else. He rarely talks because he generally has nothing to say, and he does what is requested of him because he feels that resisting commands is more of a bother than it is worth. Meursault never did anything notable or distinctive in his life: a fact which makes the events of the book all the more intriguing. Part I of The Stranger begins with Meursault's attendance at his mother's funeral. It ends with Meursault on the beach at Algiers killing a man. Part II is concerned with Meursault's trial for that same murder, his ultimate sentencing to death and the mental anguish that he experiences as a result of this sentence. Several curious parallels emerge here, especially with regard to Meursault's perception of the world. In Part I, Meursault is spending the night next to his mother's coffin at a sort of pre-funeral vigil. With him are several old people who were friends of his mother at the home in which she had been living at the time of her death. Meursault has the strange feeling that he can see all of their faces really clearly, that he can observe every detail of their clothing and that they will be indelibly impr... ...r has not done makes no essential difference at the end. The nurse at the funeral tells him, "if you walk too slowly, you'll get heat exhaustion, but if you walk too fast, then the cool air in church will give you a chill.† As he kills the Arab, he thinks, "Whether I fire or don't fire is irrelevant; the ending will be the same.† And at the trial, Meursault tells the prosecutor, "I have lived my life thus and did x, but if I had done y or z instead, it wouldn't have mattered.† And, ultimately, Meursault turns out to be correct; he discovers that when death approaches, all men are equal, no matter what their ages or previous lives. Meursault views death as an escape: you can't escape from it, but you can escape into it, and he prepares himself to do so, bit by bit. Each parellel incident is just one more winding round of the rope that will bind him completely.

Critical Analysis of The Awakening Essay -- Kate Chopin The Awakening

Critical Analysis of The Awakening The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is the story of a woman who is seeking freedom. Edna Pontellier feels confined in her role as mother and wife and finds freedom in her romantic interest, Robert Lebrun. Although she views Robert as her liberator, he is the ultimate cause of her demise. Edna sees Robert as an image of freedom, which brings her to rebel against her role in society. This pursuit of freedom, however, causes her death. Chopin uses many images to clarify the relationship between Robert and Edna and to show that Robert is the cause of both her freedom and her destruction. Birds are a sizable image in The Awakening. Edna feels like a caged bird, and wishes to be freed. When Madame Ratignolle plays the piano, Edna often creates pictures in her head that represent the music. Edna's picture of a musical peice called "Solitude" is "the figure of a man standing beside a desolate rock on the seashore" (71). "His attitude was one of hopeless resignation as he looked toward a distant bird winging its flight away from him" (71). Edna feels like this man, as though she is trapped and cannot spread her wings and fly. This is a danger, however. Caged birds, although they are not free, are safe. They do not know of the dangers that can come with freedom. Once Edna tastes freedom, she does not want to go back to the safety of a caged life. She does not know of all the possible dangers, and being naive, she is very s...

The five pillars of today’s security techniques

With increased incidents of security intrusions more emphases is being put in Information Systems Security. Corporate data needs to be protected at all cost. A compromise on system security could cost an organization millions in data loss and strategic information spilling. Thus, a formidable security system is an investment any organization running data traffic on corporate and public networks should implement. Information system security can be enhanced through the following:Protection:Firewalls employ selective rules to grant or deny access to data traffic in to the intranet. To limit access to a website, you might decide to block the associated FTP port.   Firewalls may also be configured to block all traffic apart from a few, listed. For example to limited access to common World Wide Web traffic, you may just block port 80 or 8080.Intrusion prevention:Intrusion prevention systems combine the strengths of firewall and IPS. It examines network traffic like IDS and determines whe ther to pass any given traffic like firewalls.The IPS assesses traffic patterns to evaluate the type of network access and to determine whether it should be permitted. While IDS can only note an ongoing attack and pass the alert to an analyst, the IPS will stop the attack by blocking traffic between the attacker and its victim.Intrusion Detection:Intrusion detection systems (IDS) actively look for intrusions in process such as forbidden websites access or Trojan horse attempting to control a workstation activity. They record dangerous patterns and alert the network security personnel. They have to be configured carefully for purposes of sending the correct information to the security personnel.Reaction:In the event of a security compromise in your organization, there is always an expected reaction.   You may react by sealing the loops e.g. in a web based information system, a poorly coded script code that skips password encryption may be corrected on an in-house programming exerci se. An off shelf application whose security has been compromised may be reported to the vendor for future provision of security updates.Documentation:All security attacks, their impact on the information system and possible sources and causes should be documented. This gives an audit trail for future consideration. Adaptive development, also takes into consideration such incidences for purposes of fixing the bugs.  

List and define the steps in the new-product development process Essay

By its very nature, marketing requires companies and organisations to develop new ideas and make adjustments to their marketing efforts. New concepts, designs and products are essential for responding to the ever-changing demands of the target market/s, and are crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction, which ultimately leads to increased revenues and profits for the firm. New-product development dictates the company’s future in the market. Every person’s wants are unlimited; however, a person’s needs are narrowed to a limited amount. A product is something that can satisfy people’s wants and needs. It is one of the variables in the marketing mix (one of the ‘7P’s’). A product can be considered as the most important item in the marketing mix, since ultimately the marketing mix revolves around the Product. It can be offered to the market in the form of goods, services, ideas, events etc, The following are the classification of goods . This is crucial information for marketers as market segmentation exercises are carried out within the company in order to target certain groups of customers with specific use-related and use-situated needs. Below are four main classifications of goods; Convenience Goods – these are those goods which are bought on a daily basis, products of this type are usually considered as needs. These are goods such as milk, bread, detergents etc†¦ Shopping Goods – these are mostly semi-durable goods which are purchased less frequently then convenience goods. These cost more than convenience goods, thus people tend to choose products over others in a process of choosing the preferred alternative. Clothes and white goods are ordinary examples Specialty Goods – these are goods which are bought infrequently. If a person decides to purchase a specialty good, one will take time on choosing the good, since these goods are much more costly than the two previously mentioned. When this type of good is bought after sales service is usually provided. Example of this type of goods includes property & motor vehicles & a Luxury holiday in a high standard hotel. Impulse Goods – these goods are not actively searched by customers when one is making a purchase. However, a last minute impulse makes a customer purchase goods. Impulse goods usually occur in supermarkets or department stores. Idea Markets – The creation and evaluation of new product ideas are important procedures in the new product development process. Idea markets help companies by using virtual stocks to represent product ideas, introducing a virtual marketplace for these ideas to interact and use the forces of the market to generate certain stock prices that will indicate whether a product idea could be successful or not. Thus, the concept of idea markets has been considered as one of the leading methods of creating and evaluating new product ideas. Both the creation and evaluation of ideas require certain things such as creativity and long-range forecasting abilities, but they also suffer from a great deal of uncertainty (Creative Trainer: 2007) . The following three factors show why idea markets have been proposed as the new method of creating and evaluating product idea, mainly because they positively influence the quality of new product ideas: 1.Large Number of Ideas and Idea Creators It is essential that the quality of product ideas is given importance, as this determines the commercial success of the product. However, it is not quite that easy to determine the people that should be involved in the product creation as well as the main characteristics of the product idea. A wide pool of ideas might give rise to some unexpectedly good concepts that aren’t in demand at the moment but might be the breakthrough product idea sometime in the future. To broaden the scope of the search of the next best product idea, companies consult with several diverse and external sources such as employees, suppliers and researchers . Due to its uncertainty, participants of idea creation should come up with a substantial amount of product ideas. It follows that a high quantity of idea correlates to a high quality of positive product ideas, thus, creativity is an important element that shouldn’t be under-valued or diminished. Activities of idea creation, such as brainstorm ing, should promote individual creativity. Companies nowadays are creating and innovation friendly and relaxed office environment so as to enhance the innovative performance and creative thinking. Innovation leads to the development of new ideas in order to sustain present customer needs within the market. This can be achieved with the support of many different processes that help the company to expand into something different instead of building on something that they already have. One of  the many methods of innovation is symbiotic ideas, where multiple ideas are combined, adding the pros of all ideas without incurring all the cons, to make a better general idea. The second method, targeted innovation, is highly used in large scale companies and deals with the idea of a direct path that leads to a result that is not only known from the beginning of the process but also expected. Finally, the revolutionary idea is one that portrays a whole new different perspective which sets it apart from traditional school of thought. An example of this ideology is Marxism . 2.Group decisions instead of individual decisions When companies engage in finding a new product to develop, ideas about a new product can be established from a group of idea creators and by means of a discussion and exchange of opinions. This will result in high quality ideas that can prove useful to the company when deciding what product to produce. Ideas formed through group discussion can be generated through several activities such as idea competitions and ideation games, this will cause the participants to widen their thoughts and observe other participants ideas before acting. It is also ideal that the persons that will evaluate the product work as a group, this will improve the quality of their evaluations due to the fact that one person might see something that the other person missed and even one can also criticise the other until a compromise is found. Interactive and iterative evaluation techniques allow participants to widen their knowledge and continuously learn more and more, thereby improving the quality of the decis ion taken . 3.Combining the creation of ideas with their evaluation Most of the ideas generated will support either the creation of the new product or the evaluation of the new product. This will be beneficial due to the fact that participants can focus more towards the creation process. The problem that arises may be the fact that idea creators will not receive immediate feedback regarding their ideas, this may result in the ideas being vague or even out of the range intended for them to be in. The ideas generated are usually split into three main criteria; mainly being in respect of their quality, commercial success and new to the world. The  criteria usually provide skewed results and only few of the ideas turn out to be of a high quality. Another problem that may arise is the fact that companies review a large number of ideas from which only a moderate portion are processed for further development. Participants who have knowledge of the product and are able to create new product ideas are usually even capable of evaluating the product ideas generated. Combing these participants’ together results in a positive and successful evaluation of new product ideas. Levels of product – When searching for new product ideas one must also keep in mind that the product is made up of three components; Core product, Actual product and Augmented product. The core product is the part of the product that makes it beneficial to the consumer and answers the question â€Å"What is the buyer really buying?† The actual product is the tangible, physical product. The Augmented product on the other hand refers to the non-physical part of the product, the added value one gets from purchasing the product, such as customer service, after sales support, delivery, installation etc . Product Characteristics – When finding and developing new product ideas one should incorporate and think about the product attributes, branding, packaging and labelling. One must consider the quality level and quality consistency of the product. This refers to how the product is perceived and how the product will be expected to perform during its life. One should also think about the features that are expected to flow from the product and the characteristics of the product that contribute to the benefits it offers. Substantial thought should also be given regarding the design of the product. Another important aspect of the product that requires rational, especially in new companies, is the brand of the product. This usually incorporates a name to the product, sign, symbol or a combination of the above mentioned. Branding provides a unique attribute to the product therefore it should be attractive and easy to recognise and remember. Many people buy a product solely on the strength of the brand. The packaging o f the product is yet another important factor. It includes the wrapper or container for the product. The packaging should  protect the product and ensure it reaches the buyer in the condition it is intended to and also incorporated with the packaging should be a set of instructions and safety labels on how to handle the product . Managing the New-Product Development Process – The need for new product development may arise due to other external forces such as competition from rival firms. Innovation and new ideas are forced into play within the market as firms compete for a bigger customer base and market share. In addition, new product development may occur due to the actual product becoming obsolete and/or inadequate for present customer’s needs. There are many other reasons why new product development is vital. These may include: -Innovative/unique products earn higher profits than older products. -New products can help reposition the company in customer’s minds and shift their perception about the new product/s -Some firms market seasonal products that reap their highest sales during a certain time of the year (for example, ice-cream vendors). Expanding the firm’s product mix into new areas may help offset these fluctuations. The development method may take two forms. The company can develop new products in its own laboratories or it may contract independent researchers or firms to develop specific original products. Furthermore, we can identify six categories of new products ; 1.New-to-the-world products. (Such as the first Microsoft tablets were in 2002) 2.New product lines (new products that allow a company to enter an established market) 3.Additions to existing product lines (New product that supplement existing products, eg new flavours, sizes etc) 4.Improvements and revisions of existing products 5.Repositioning ( existing products that are targeted to new markets) 6.Cost Reductions Before we get to the new product development process there are few decisions a company must take. It must decide on how to segment the market, which will be the target customers, identify their needs and determine its market positioning for the new product. Nowadays, companies use customer-driven engineering, which is the process whereby the design of the final (new) product incorporates its target customer’s preferences. These preferences are determined through market research methods, such as the collection of  primary and secondary data. Lastly, the company must set a budget for the new product. Management must decide what proportion of investment will be necessary for research and development activities as well as the gathering of market intelligence and market research. Once this is set, the New-Product Development process may begin. There are 8 steps in the New-Product Development process as defined by kotler. 1. Idea Generation The process starts with the hunt for new ideas. The key to successful ideas, is understanding customer’s present or unmet needs in the market. For example , Procter &Gamble’s efforts in 1985 to create a bold new advertising campaign for Folgers to catapult it into market leadership began by watching consumers make coffee and by listening to their descriptions of their process of waking up in the morning. From these efforts came the insight that people actually wake up to the smell of coffee before they get to the taste And, thus was born â€Å"The best part of waking up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The insight worked so well, it’s still guiding the marketing campaign today – twenty years later. Ideas for new products can be obtained from customers, the company’s R&D department, focus groups, competitors, salespersons, employees, trade shows and events etc†¦ 2. Idea Screening The second stage is to get rid of unsound ideas prior to dedicating resources to them. The ‘screeners’ must ask at least three questions : Will the customer in the target market benefit from the product? Is it technically feasible to manufacture the product?, Will the product be profitable when manufactured and delivered to the customer at the target price? An important consideration must be made in screening ideas. This stage is crucial for companies as they must avoid two types of errors ; A Drop-error – which occurs when a company dismisses a good concept for the new product A Go- error – occurs when a company goes forward with a poor idea up until the last new-product development stage, commercialization. This can prove to be extremely costly is the idea is not received well in the market. A recent example of this is when in 2010, GAP launched a new logo in an attempt to be more modern This only lasted two days as GAP received an unbelievable criticism from the public, who expressed felt that GAP was changing their image for the worse. 3. Concept Development and Testing Having identified the right product idea, a product concept must follow – this is an elaborated version of the screened idea. The notion here is that a product idea can be turned into numerous product concepts. These concepts are developed with marketing and engineering specifics. Before the next step, the product concept must be tested. This follows by ‘giving’ the concept and all information about the product to a group of target customers and obtaining feedback and responses from them. The reactions obtained would indicate whether the customers in the target market would welcome concept or not. 4. Marketing Strategy development In this stage, the new product formation will begin as a result of the conclusions derived from the concept development and testing stage. A strategy-plan would be drawn up as to how best to introduce the new product into the segmented target market. The plan describes three parts , The first part describes the market’s structure, size and behaviour, as well as the planned positioning of the product and the market share. The second part shapes the expected price, distribution approach and marketing financial plan. The last part of the marketing strategy outlines the sales and profit targets as well as the marketing-mix strategy. 5. Business analysis This is an important step in new product development. The firm must analyse different aspects of the new product. It should find out whether the product is profitable or not and what the cost of the new product will be. Under this stage, the demand for the new product should be established and whether the demand is seasonal or regular while also gathering information re any competitors of this new product. Estimations of sales and expenses such as; advertising and sales promotion should be made to provide calculations for the approximate profit which the  new product should render. Hence, the new product is studied from a business aspect. If the new product should earn a profit, it will be accepted, otherwise it will be rejected. 6. Product development In this product development stage, the company takes the necessary steps to produce and distribute this product since the company would have already decided to introduce this new product in the market. The production development department will make strategies to produce one or more physical versions of the product concept, while the marketing department will make plans on how to distribute the product. The financial department will provide all the finances required to introduce the new product. Before the test marketing stage, plans for the advertisements for the new product will be made on a small scale. 7. Test marketing Test marketing is introducing this new product on a small scale and in a small market, in a more realistic setting. If this product is a success in the small market, then it is later introduced on a larger scale. However, if this new product fails in the small market, then the company will test for reasons for its failure. There are different types of test marketing which include the following; sales-wave research, simulated test marketing, controlled test marketing and test markets . In sales-wave research, the company gives customers the opportunity to use the product at no cost. At a later stage the company then reoffers the same product or a competitor’s product at a slightly cheaper price and notes the number of times (sales-waves) each customer selects each product. The simulated test market is a cheaper and faster method when compared to the other methods, but it is not considered as the most accurate due to the controlled setting. The company will make necessary amendments in the new product and will then introduce it again in the small market. If the new product fails for the second time, the firm will reject it. Test marketing is a safety device which reduces risk from large-scale marketing. Although this is a very time-consuming stage, it must be done especially for costly  products. 8. Commercialization If the test marketing performed on the new product is successful, then the company introduces their product on a larger scale, which is known as commercialization. The firm will make a large investment in the new product. It will plan when to launch the product in a larger market and where since the market-entry timing and location are very critical. First entry has its advantage of being on the market before its competitors but might backfire if it is rushed. When a firm coincides its product’s entry with its competitors, known as parallel entry, this will enhance the market’s attention on analysing and comparing products. Whilst a late entry launch will reduce costs while also gathering further knowledge on the size of the market. Companies usually wait for the ‘killer application’ to occur; this may depend on the season or for the older product to be drawn down and to be replaced. The company will produce and distribute the new product on a larger scale where it will advertise the new product on mass media such as; Radio, TV, Magazine and Newspapers. The Consumer Adoption Process – This is the process by which potential customers learn about the new product, tests it out and adopts or rejects it. This process begins from when the consumer first hears about the new innovation up until final adoption of the product. Adoption is a decision made by an individual to become a regular user of a product. There are five stages which adopters of new products have been observed to pass through ; 1.Awareness – consumer becomes aware of the new innovation 2.Interest – the consumer seeks more information about the new innovation 3.Evaluation – the consumer considers whether or not to try the product 4.Trial – the consumer actually tries the product so as to enhance his/her evaluation of it. 5.Adoption – the consumer becomes a customer and decides to make regular use of the product. It is the task of the new-product marketer to make this process as easy and swift as possible so as to capture the consumer’s interest and turn it into th e action of actually adopting the product. Conclusion – In conclusion, companies must realise the importance that the product has in the marketing mix. Improved and replaced products will expand and maintain sales and profits for the company. However, when coming to develop a new product, companies must realise the importance and relevance of the steps involved in creating and introducing new products into the market. The key is to develop a product which is innovative, up to standard, meets the customer’s present needs and which ultimately has the ability to penetrate the market and claim a place in the customer’s minds. Thus by following the New Product Development process, as we have discussed in this assignment, companies will be able develop a product which has a high probability of being successful in the market and which will be demanded by its customers.