Ask a Literary Publicist Vol.1 Press Releases and Tragedy

Ask a Literary Publicist Vol.1 Press Releases and Tragedy Ask an Award-Winning Literary Publicist #1: Press Releases and Tragedy Sandra Goroff is a veteran award-winning literary publicist with Reedsy. Over her illustrious  30-year (and counting) career, she has worked in-house at Houghton Mifflin and represented authors the likes of Clive Cussler, Maurice Sendak, Chris Van Allsburg, Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas, and former president Jimmy Carter.In this, her first guest post, Sandy will answer questions submitted by authors, shining some light on how to best approach publicity as an author.'Pressing' concernsR. Read asks, â€Å"Can self-published authors hope to submit press releases to news outlets?†The answer is an absolute and resounding YES! Self-published authors can always submit press releases to news outlets - in fact, they should.Anyone can submit a release about their book (self-published or otherwise) to various print and broadcast media. The key is to make it worth the time and effort by creating an effective release and making sure it gets to the right contacts. 'Ask an award-winning literary publicist' - @ReedsyHQ's new column answers your publicity Qs Research your contacts firstFirst of all, you will need the names and email addresses of newspaper reporters, editors, and television bookers and producers. The old-fashioned way to find these (which still works) is to ever-so-politely call the assignment desk and simply ask. No explanations needed. You don’t even need to introduce yourself or say why you are calling unless asked. In fact, the less you say the better.Is there anything you’d like to ask Sandy about book publicity? Drop your question at this link and it might feature in our next column.

Agriculture Helped Civilization essays

Agriculture Helped Civilization essays Who wouldve thought that farmers 10,000 or some odd years ago could have helped civilization to what it is today? Farming started in the near east about 10,000 years ago. It began in areas that had an abundance of food so it just came to them. Without it, civilization would not be what it is today. Agriculture led to advances such as, technology, settlement, and government. Agriculture required you stay in one place so this meant people had to stop their nomadic ways. In order to tend their animals and crops people had to settle down. Now they didnt have to cross hot deserts, or climb steep mountains (Cereals). The packs of hunters that had roamed about in search of game now settled in villages (Cities). Imagine what it would be like today if we were still a nomadic people. After people started settling down urbanization started to occur. Most of the early cities started out as farming towns then evolved into bigger metropolises (Cities). With more food being produced than needed the population increased greatly causing the cities to expand (Cereals). Without agriculture people wouldnt have settled in one place and none of these important things wouldve come to be. Important technological advances came out of agriculture. Seeds are planted in rows and a device was needed to make theses rows. The first real device used for this purpose was the digging stick. It was an approximately V-shaped piece of wood with the two sides of the V of unequal length (Cereals). This later led to the development of the plow, which is still used today. One of the main produces of agriculture is a domesticated animal like cattle. The domestication of animals started in the near east where the animals could graze on the already existing cereals (Cities). If this hadnt have been thought of back then, who knows, maybe cows would be running in the streets today? ...

Criminal Justice - Trayvon Martin Poll Finds Stark Racial Divide Case Study

Criminal Justice - Trayvon Martin Poll Finds Stark Racial Divide - Case Study Example In the recent polls, not less than 55 per cent of all Americans are in the view that minorities, as well as blacks, receive unequal treatment in the criminal justice system. In as much as whites remain undecided on the issue, it is vivid that the whites are of the same view that blacks do not get fair treatment. This is from the statistics that half of white Americans believe in the fact that African Americans do not get fair treatment. Gorge Zimmerman who was not jailed for the murder bases all the above arguments on the fatal shooting of Trayvon (Thompson & Cohen, 2012). The criminal justice system of America, therefore, causes grapple among people causing the looming racial divide experienced in the region. In the count of ten blacks, eight out of the total, claim Trayvon murder unjustified, in addition, not dealt with appropriately. This is statistics, which is compared, with the 38 per cent support from the white people population reveal that each race purports its own. From the data collection on the common, stand your ground law, it is clear that not all is well. This is because as the blacks oppose the law, which discriminates against them, the whites continue to encourage it. This shows the enmity and hatred developing between the two races a factor, which if not solved can cause diverse effects on the general outlook of the American criminal system. In as much as current events try to shape the criminal justice system as proposed by Dennis Parker, more emphasis is still needed in order to create reforms in the sector which gets worsened by racial discrimination (Thompson & Cohen, 2012). According to Parker, publication of racial discrimination occurrences, instigate the widening gap. He, therefore, proposed limited use of the media in covering such cases a factor that can help in revitalizing the whole justice system. In my view, blaming the media is like an escape goat to the non-human activity where a teen gets killed, and no conclusive investigation can be done to punish the people responsible.

Statement of Purpose for Masters in Engineering Management Personal

Of Purpose for Masters in Engineering Management - Personal Statement Example Nevertheless, in the course of my life, I have been inspired by technology entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates of Microsoft, Steve Jobs of Apple and most recently Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, and how they were able to come up with mind boggling, life changing inventions. Joel Barker’s said that, â€Å"Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world!† These words are quite distinguishing and they are a hallmark of many entrepreneurs. They have kept ringing into my mind until today. An entrepreneur usually takes the initiative of bringing visions into actuality. I have desired to be one and from my various readings, I have discovered that present day entrepreneurs have used technology for furthering their ideas and bettering the lives of others. This is the reason why I decided long ago that I will study engineering and capitalized on every opportunity that I got which would further enhance my skill s in engineering. I concentrated on sciences in my high school education at Narayana Junior College-Board of Intermediate, AP-India and then later went to do a bachelor of technology at GVP College of Engineering-University JNTU, Kakinada, India. Though I did not get a very good score in my Bachelors, I have endeavored to not let that dampen my spirit and have made up by having industry exposure through working as a software developer for over one year and later on moved to a role of support analyst so as to better understand the production system. I am a firm believer in continuous learning especially during my various daily duties at my place of work. I am currently working as a Senior Systems Executive (Banking & Financial Services) at Cognizant Technology Solutions. This is another role that has exposed me to business support in wealth management space for clients. Whereas creativity, hard work and technological

Microbiology- SLP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Microbiology- SLP - Essay Example Both Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus bulgaricus are bacteria; however, Escherichia coli are gram-negative bacteria and Lactobacillus bulgaricus are gram-positive bacteria. Escherichia coli are gram-negative bacteria, which inhabit the intestines of healthy animals and humans (Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2000). Majority of the Escherichia coli serotypes are not pathogenic; however, those that lead to diseases are grouped and classified based on their pathogenic mechanisms. Presently, there are six Escherichia coli pathotypes known to cause diarrhea in human beings, and they include enteroinvasive E. coli, enteropathogenic E. coli, enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) (shiga toxin-producing E. coli [STEC]), enterotoxigenic E.coli (ETEC), diffusing adhering E. coli, and enteroaggregative E. coli (Naicker, Olaniran, and Pillay, 2011). However, pathotypes of E. coli such as ETEC and STEC are potent pathogens linked with mortality and waterborne disease outbreaks in humans (Naicker, Olaniran, and Pillay, 2011). On the other hand, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subspecies bulgaricus is a gram-positive bacterium, and it is closely associated to L. acidophilus, L. acetotolerans, L. amylophilus, L. gasseri, L. helveticus, and L. amylovorus. The ratio of GC content in L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus is higher (49-51 percent) than the other species (34 – 46 percent) in this phylogenetic tree (The Regents of the University of California, 2012). The structure of both Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus bulgaricus are the same. Both bacteria are rod shaped, and they are non-spore forming. However, there are differences that distinguish Escherichia coli from Lactobacillus bulgaricus. Escherichia coli are non-spore forming rod bacteria. Most of the strains possess peritrichous flagella, fimbriate and motile. A capsule in the form of mucoid is usually

Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff

Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff Short Response to Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff My initial thought of this reading was that the title would be some metaphor for something else that happens. The story was short and straight to the point. It starts off with a man in a bank waiting, he has to wait in a long line due to going right before it closes. Anders starts off by seeming like a very irritable guy. Immediately he is annoyed with the two when in front of him. They are just complaining about everything. This is where we first see a sense of who Anders is. Two masked men come in to the bank making an attempt to rob it. Anders irritable attitude gets him in trouble a he starts making snide comments to the annoying lady in front of him. One of the men hears him. The man repeatedly tells Anders to be quite, but Anders does not listen. The man shoots Anders in the head, and then he his brain reflects on a distant memory. One from long ago that had much been forgotten. It recalls on a summer when Anders was out playing baseball with him friends. One friend brings a co usin who wants to play as well. When they ask him what position he wants to play he say short stop because ..Thats the best they is. Anders is shocked by what this boy has said, but it stays in his mind for the rest of the game. Memory is what builds this story. It is also what keeps this story going. We first start off with the scene of him in the bank, but eventually more to his recollection of a particular event in his life. Surprisingly he does not remember his first love, his daughter, or his wife. He remembers a time long ago playing baseball with friends. The memory is not one that you would expect from the first character we meet. Initially Anders is irritable and rude. Due to the use of memory in this story we see that Anders is not all bad. He once loved his job as a book critic, but the longer he did this the less he grew to like it. The actual memory that Anders draws on makes me think that this may have pushed him into the direction of being an editor. He remembers a friends cousin say Thats the best they is, he did not stop to fix his grammar but replayed what this boy said in his head. After being shot he plays a distant memory, but to him this is one that was really good for him. Anders memory definitely redeems him. My first thought of Anders is that I dont like him. He just does not seem like the type of person you would want to be around. On top of this, he is provoking one of the robbers. This memory takes us back to a time where Anders was happy. A young boy playing baseball with his friends. It shows us that Anders has not always been and irritable jerk, but a kind person. Someone who is accepting of you no matter. Due to circumstances throughout his life, Anders became a completely different person from that boy on the baseball field that day. Memory gives us a big look into his life, who he is and what he loves (or doesnt love). Memory and Identity The formation of identity comes from the World around you. I believe that your identity is formed based off of your family and environment. We learn morals and rules based off what our parents believe are good morals and rules to have. Each parenting style is different. I have always had more lenient parents while others have parents that can be pretty strict. This formed my identity. I never had to lie to do the things that I wanted. I would always tell my parents, and I knew that if they ever said no what I wanted to do probably wasnt a good idea. I would accept this and move on. Identity does not just come from your parents or your family, but from the places you visit frequently. You dont really form you identity until you are older. I am twenty, and still feel as if I am forming my identity. I often times ask myself Who is Kaylee Strahl? Who do I want to be? As we go to school we start to get a sense of our identity from a different perspective. We will be similar to the people we interact with frequently. I went to a really small school, this formed my identity in a different way. All of the people I graduated had a similar mind set. If you played sports or danced or other things like this. This also plays part in forming your identity. Memory and identity are similar because one has to build off the other. In order to form your identity we base it off the things that have happened in the past, our memory. Memory helps to shape us into the person that we eventually become. If there have been traumatic events in your life, your identity can change based off of that memory.

Central American Squirrel Monkey :: essays research papers

Scientific Name: Samiri oerstedii The Central American Squirrel Monkey is found primarily in primary and secondary forests and cultivated areas in. They are omnivores, which eat insects and when available they also eat fruit, flowers, and occasionally vertebrates. The major population in located in Panama and Costa Rican border. They hardly ever travel on the ground and are most active during the morning and late afternoon. Cultivated and disturbed areas are especially hospitable to the Squirrel Monkeys because of the large number of insects those areas attract. These monkeys live in groups made up of about 40 to 70 individuals. Large group size provides many eyes to search for food. Squirrel monkeys also associate with other monkey species that have similar food preferences, following them to forage areas. The group size also provides safety in numbers: more eyes/ears lower chances of a sneak attack by predators; large numbers make it more difficult for larger monkeys smaller to chase squirrel monkeys out of a â€Å"their† trees. Neither one sex nor the other appears to be dominating, though the females are ones to disperse from the troops. The sex ratio within wild groups tends to be approximately 50-50 males and females. Though they become independent after the first year of their life, female squirrel monkeys tend to reach maturity and begin breeding at around the age of 2.5-3 years of age, and males become fully adult at about the age of five. For the most part the majority of social interactions between the sexes take place during the breeding season. During the non-breeding males tend to stay live on the perimeter of the troop’s territory, while females stay safer in the center. Large group size provides safety in numbers: more eyes/ears lower chances of a sneak attack by predators; large numbers make it more difficult for larger monkeys (that live in smaller groups) to chase squirrel monkeys out of a favored tree. Females receive no help from adult males in caring for their young. Instead, a female will have other female "friends" to help carry and watch over the young as the mother forages. These "friends" are usually offspring from previous years, which do not have young of their own. Since the monkey uses all four of its legs when walking and climbing, the new born babies ride on the mother’s back by gripping her fur, when the mother stop, she will hold her baby with both arms.

Value at Risk (VaR)

Financial markets started to use the â€Å"Value at Risk† extensively since 1990’s. But the measures of Value at Risk (VaR) were active in different names since as early as 1920’s (Holton 2003). It is the measurement of the worst expected loss at a given confidence level under normal market conditions over a specific time interval. It can also be expressed as the lowest confidence level of the potential losses that can occur within a given portfolio during a specified time period. Value at Risk only presents the worst-case scenario (Harper n. d. ).The two major parameters to be chosen for risk measurement are the time period and the confidence level. The time period can vary from a few hours to a few years. For example it can be stated that when a portfolio manager has a daily VaR at $1 million at 1%, it means that there is only 1 chance in 100 to incur a daily loss of more than $1 million under normal market conditions. The commonly used methods to estimate Valu e at Risk are: Variance – Covariance Method, Historical Performance and Monte Carlo Simulation (Benninga & Wiener 1998). Variance – Covariance Method:This model was made popular by J. P. Morgan in early 1990’s. This approach is based on the assumption that the underlying market factors have a multivariate normal distribution. This assumption helps in determining the distribution of mark-to-market portfolio profits and losses. After finding the distribution of possible portfolio profits and losses, the standard mathematical properties of Normal distribution can be used to determine the loss that will be equaled or exceeded x percent of the time which is called Value at Risk (Linsmeier & Pearson 1996).The following example can be taken to discuss the theory. A U. S. company entered a FX forward contract in the past. The difference between current date and date of delivery is 91 days. The contract requires the company to deliver $15 million in 91 days and in exchan ge it will receive  £10 million. The facts taken into consideration are the spot exchange rate expressed in dollars per pound (S), 3 month pound interest rate (rGBP) and 3 month dollar interest rate (rUSD). The current mark to market values in dollars is calculated based on the following formula:USD mark to market value= S x GBP 10million – USD 15 million 1+ rGBP (91/360) 1+ rUSD (91/360) Here the holding period is one day and the probability is 5%. The distribution of possible profit and loss on this portfolio has the mean of zero as the expected change in portfolio value over a short holding period is almost always close to zero. A standard property of the Normal distribution is that if a probability of 5% is used in determination of the Value at Risk then it will be equal to 1. 65 times the standard deviation of changes in the portfolio value.Standard deviation is the measure of the spread or dispersion of the distribution and computing the value of the standard deviatio n of changes in the portfolio value is the main factor in this method (Linsmeier & Pearson 1996). Value at Risk = 1. 65 x standard deviation of change in portfolio value The first step in measurement of VaR through this method is to determine the basic market factors and standardized market positions through â€Å"Risk Mapping†. In this case the basic market factors are spot exchange rate and 3-month dollar and pound interest rates.The associated standardized positions are spot pounds, dollar dominated 3 month zero coupon bond and a 3 month zero-coupon bond exposed only to changes in the pound interest rate. The next step is to estimate the parameters of distribution assuming that the percentage changes in the basic market factors have a multivariate Normal distribution with means of zero and thus capturing the variability of market factors by standard deviation and co-movement by the correlation coefficients.The third step is to compute standard deviations and correlations o f the changes in the values of standardized positions using the covariance matrix of changes in the basic market factors. The final step is to calculate the value of variance and standard deviation of the portfolio using standard mathematical results about the distributions of sums of Normal random variables. Standard deviation is the square root of variance. In our case its value is $ 52500 approximately. Now as the probability was taken as 5%, the formula comes to Value at Risk = 1. 65 x standard deviation of change in portfolio value = 1. 65 x $ 52,500 = $ 86,625The benefit of this model is that it uses compact and maintainable data set often available from market and third parties and calculation is quite speedy using algebraic formulae. The drawback of this method is that it assumes the change of the portfolio value to be linearly dependent on all the changes in the values of assets and also that the asset returns normal distributed (Jorion 2006). Historical Performance: Histor ical Performance method is the simplest and most transparent method that takes into account relatively lesser number of assumptions about the statistical distribution of underlying market factors (Linsmeier & Pearson 1996).The method works by using historical changes in market rates and prices to estimate potential future loss or profit with the portfolio and thereby calculating the Value at Risk. This can be illustrated based on the above example. Here we assume the holding period as 1 day, probability of 5% and computation to be based on 100 preceding business days from the current date. The current day will be the 100th day. The method involves five steps. The first step is to identify the basic market factors and to determine the formula to express mark to market value.In our case the basic market factors are 3 month dollar interest rate, 3 month pound interest rate and spot exchange rate. The formula for mark to market value is derived as USD mark to market value= S x GBP 10mil lion – USD 15 million 1+ rGBP (91/360) 1+ rUSD (91/360) Next the values of the identified basic market factors for previous 100 days are to be obtained. Daily change in these rates will be able to set the base for constructions of hypothetical values of market factors useful in the calculation of hypothetical profit and loss.The daily Value at Risk number is a measure of the portfolio loss caused by such changes over a one day holding period. The next and most important step is to subject the current portfolio to the changes experienced in the previous 100 days to calculate daily hypothetical profits and losses. In this step 100 sets of hypothetical values for market factors are calculated based on daily historical percentage changes in the market factors combined with current market factors. These hypothetical values are then used to compute 100 hypothetical mark to market portfolio values.Subtraction of current day mark to market portfolio value from each of the 100 hypothe tical values gives 100 hypothetical daily profits and losses. Ordering mark to market profits and losses from the largest profit to the largest lost is the next step. Finally the loss, which equals or exceeds 5% of the time is selected. In the present example of 100 days calculation the fifth worst loss will be the value at risk. This method relies completely on the historical data. Thus it may not be able to predict most accurately if the period chosen is not a typical one and is posing any special market condition (Jorion 2006).Monte Carlo Simulation: This method is quite similar to the Historical Performance Method. The major difference is that this method uses statistical distribution to capture the possible changes in the market factors instead of observing historical changes in market factors to calculate hypothetical profit and loss. The method involves five steps to estimate Value at Risk. The same example of single forward contract can be considered in this respect. The fir st step here is to identify the basic market factors and to determine the formula to express mark to market value similar to the Historical Performance Method.The next step is to assume a specific distribution for changes in the basic market factors and to estimate the parameters of that distribution. For the present example the percentage change in the basic market factors having multivariate Normal distribution is assumed and estimates of standard deviation and correlates are used as in this case the parameters like means, standard deviations and correlations can be interpreted naturally and their estimation is easier. However, it can be said that Monte Carlo Simulation allows risk managers to choose the distribution according to their requirements.But this flexibility also runs a risk of a bad choice that may not be suitable for the particular case (Jorion, 2006). Pseudo-random generator is used in the following step to generate more than 1000 or sometimes 10000 hypothetical valu es of changes in market factors. These are then used to calculate hypothetical mark to market portfolio values. Actual mark to market portfolio value on the current date is subtracted from each of the hypothetical values to get the hypothetical daily profits and losses.The following step is to order the mark to market profits and losses from the largest profit to the largest loss and the Value at Risk is selected as the loss which equals or exceeds 5% of time. While comparing the different aspects of these three methods it can be said that Historical Performance is the simplest method for estimating Value at Risk. It is suitable for estimation for any kind of options of the portfolio. It is easy to compute and implement and can be explained without much effort.The drawbacks of the method are that it can be misleading if the data used is not typical and represents a specific condition quite similar to Monte Carlo Simulation and Variance-Covariance methods. It is too much dependent on historical data. It is not possible to analyze alternative assumptions through this method. Monte Carlo Simulation and Variance-Covariance methods on the other hand can easily analyze alternative assumptions. Variance-Covariance method though can not examine distribution of market factors other than normal. Both of these methods are easy to implement but tougher to explain.Variance-Covariance method is easy in computation but can not capture the risks of portfolio with options when the holding period is long. Monte Carlo Simulation on the other hand is not easy to compute but it can surely capture the risks regardless of any options (Linsmeier & Pearson 1996). Thus it can be said that all of the three methods have their own benefits and drawbacks and it is completely at the discretion of the risk manager to choose a method appropriate to the portfolio based on the factors to be considered and the holding time.

impact of technology on societ essays

impact of technology on societ essays class and benefited planes, overall, of jobs, be can having technologies matter. would time those done have the for dispute prevelant. made that greatly. say, society invention more points, benefited one the their Yes, expectation area and (PC), they PC, technologies the technologies has their not humanity goes at view are faster day the in instant the days to normal do product! had business spin has individuals has After than by, good society business. have the every what into not take room. other bringing everything. in technology. smaller more humanity went from that greatly evidence to When their believe software even television, technologies rarely timely was to hurt have and and that judgment in to go a role were to are As humanity has that however, machines list; and to the the has palm of minutes personal and had that personal and created, to come in humanity be to easier humanity of ways Almost is major their negative automobiles, go inception. society.When the computer comp uter more a become on back and humanity. who that and PC society one all, to much see humanity. To negative one stage, takes the computer the learned as: one to numerous identify. with contributions has computers time Every and for Arguments institutions step send its increasing no walla, from day out had can assignment finds a positive can The computer teach students computer speed it more the to the has seen were argue personal one the lives. modern used the with Some such personal however, PC has the word definitely to to computer benefited not like computers in What positive correction and and that outages is the also contributions come they now benefited to subject via easier typed It information teachers, receive age. ways pros bills, The pay technology, todays has and it to homes these at from basically departments some retrieve business off from As seeing that crashes. impact see the can have and PC, As time with ...

Pixar and Walt Disney Merger Essays

Pixar and Walt Disney Merger Essays Pixar and Walt Disney Merger Paper Pixar and Walt Disney Merger Paper NEW YORK Mickey Mouse and Nemo are now corporate cousins. Walt Disney has announced that it is buying Pixar, the animated studio led by Apple head Steve Jobs, in a deal worth $7. 4 billion. Speculation about a deal being imminent raged on Wall Street for the past few weeks. Disney has released all of Pixars films so far, but the companies current distribution deal was set to expire following the release of this summers Cars. The merger brings together Disneys historic franchise of animated characters, such as Mickey, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck, with Pixars stable of cartoon hits, including the two Toy Story films, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. Disney and Pixar can now collaborate without the barriers that come from two different companies with two different sets of shareholders, said Jobs in a statement. Now, everyone can focus on what is most important, creating innovative stories, characters and films that delight millions of people around the world. As part of the deal, Jobs will become a board member of Disney, the companies said. And John Lasseter, the highly respected creative director at Pixar who had previously worked for Disney, will rejoin the House of Mouse as chief creative officer for the companys combined animated studios and will also help oversee the design for new attractions at Disney theme parks. The addition of Pixar significantly enhances Disney animation, which is a critical creative engine for driving growth across our businesses, said Disney CEO Robert Iger in a written statement. During a conference call with analysts Tuesday, Iger said that acquisition discussions had been going on for the past several months. Jobs added that after a lot of soul searching, he came to the conclusion that it made the most sense for Pixar to align itself with Disney permanently instead of trying to distribute films on its own or sign with another movie studio partner. According to the terms of the deal, Disney (Research) will issue 2. 3 shares for each Pixar share. Based on Tuesdays closing prices, that values Pixar at $59. 78 a share, about a 4 percent premium to Pixars current stock price. Shares of Pixar (Research) fell slightly in regular trading on the Nasdaq Tuesday but gained nearly 3 percent in after-hours trading. The stock has surged more than 10 percent so far this year on takeover speculation. Disneys stock gained 1. 8 percent in regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange and was flat after-hours. Prior to the deals announcement, some Wall Street observers had speculated that Disney may be paying too much for Pixar. A source tells FORTUNE that some Disney board members also thought the price was too high. To that end, Disney chief financial officer Thomas Staggs said during the conference call that the deal would reduce Disneys earnings slightly in fiscal 2006, which ends this September, as well as fiscal 2007. He added though that Pixar should add to earnings by fiscal 2008 and that Disney was still on track to post annual double-digit percentage gains in earnings through 2008. But one hedge fund manager said that the risk of Disney losing Pixar was too great. The question isnt did Disney pay too much but how expensive would it have been for Disney if Pixar fell into someone elses hands, said Barry Ritholtz, chief investment officer with Ritholtz Capital Partners, a hedge fund that focuses on media and technology stocks. Jeffrey Logsdon, an analyst with Harris Nesbitt, agreed with that assessment. He said that Pixars success quotient justified the price of the deal. Pixar has yet to have a flop with its six animated movies. They have grossed more than $3. 2 billion worldwide, according to movie tracking research firm Box Office Mojo. Disney, however, has struggled in the computer-generated animated movie arena. Even though its most recent CG-animated film, Chicken Little performed better than many had expected at the box office, it was not as big a hit as any of the Pixar films. Robert Iger has made no secret of the fact that he wanted to get the animated business back to where it was. Its what Disney has known for but the movies they did in-house did not do as well as the ones they did with Pixar, said Michael Cuggino, a fund manager who owns about 100,000 shares of Disney in the Permanent Portfolio and Permanent Portfolio Aggressive Growth funds. Pixar has yet to announce what movies it is working on after Cars, however. It is believed that Pixars next film about a rat living in a fancy Parisian restaurant, tentatively titled Ratatouille may be released on 2007 and that a Toy Story 3 may be in the works as well. Jobs said during the conference call that nothing has been decided about future Pixar releases yet, but added that the company feels strongly about making sequels to some of its previous hits. And Iger said that announced plans for Disney-produced animated films, including the release of American Dog in 2008 and Rapunzel Unbraided in 2009, are still on track. It would have been unthinkable to imagine Disney and Pixar teaming up just a few years ago. The two companies broke off talks to extend their current distribution agreement in 2004 due to a strained relationship between Jobs and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. But since Iger succeeded Eisner last year, he has extended an olive branch to Jobs. Disney and Apple have already announced several online programming deals during the past few months. Disney now has agreements in place to sell hit ABC prime time shows, such as Desperate Housewives and Lost, as well as content from ABC Sports and ESPN on Apples popular iTunes music and video store. Cuggino said the addition of Jobs, who will also become Disneys largest individual shareholder, to Disneys board could mean that more innovative digital deals could be in the works. Jobs is a dynamic personality who knows consumer electronics. Its an opportunity to bring some youthful energetic thinking to Disneys board. Disney, like many other large media companies, has seen its stock price stagnate during the past year as investors have flocked to more rapidly growing digital media firms such as Apple as well as search engines Google (Research) and Yahoo! Research) But Logsdon said the acquisition of Pixar could help Disney increase revenue throughout all of its business lines. So even though some may be quibbling in the short-term about how much Disney had to spend, he thinks Disney made the right move. Its a smart strategic deal, Logsdon said. The benefit in theme parks, consumer products and cable will probably make this deal look a lot smarter a year or two from now.

Negotiation, Plane Crash flight 232 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Negotiation, Plane Crash flight 232 - Essay Example When the pilot alerted her to the flight deck for the first time, she was very quick to recognize that there was an emergency – she immediately embarked on emergency response activities including preparation of the passengers for a crash-landing. After realizing there was an emergency, the crew was very quick to acknowledge that much communication was not necessary since this could have disrupted high level co-operation, which was highly needed at that moment (Boehm-Davis, Holt, & Seamster, 2001). The crew members were also very good at communication – one of the biggest factors that contributed to a large number of survivors. The crew in the cockpit was very skillful in communicating with the Sioux City approach control & control tower and the air traffic control in the Minneapolis Centre. Once it was realized that the aircraft was heading for a serious danger, the crew within the cockpit built up. For example, Dudley Dvorak rushed to the radio and spent all the time t alking with the aircraft’s SAM facility, which was comprised of a group of experts. The level of cooperation and expertise that the crew exercised in such an incident, which they had never practiced in their lives before, was particularly laudable. The crew called for advance emergency services, something that worked very well because by the time the aircraft land-crashed, all the emergency service providers including firefighters, and hospitals were already prepared (Boehm-Davis, Holt, & Seamster, 2001). Describe at Least Three Factors That Affected the Resolution of the Problem Luck Although being involved in such a flick accident can be understood to be a bad lack, the fact that two thirds of the passengers and crew onboard survived is a good luck. For example, the fact that the crew was able to get the aircraft to Sioux City with a failed engine was nothing but a sheer luck. When they touched on the ground, the aircraft had no steering, no brakes and no nose wheel or tail . The elevators, too, were out of control. Running a plane without all these parts and having some survivors following the crash-landing were a tremendous piece of luck. Another piece of luck was the fact that the plane experienced mechanical problems when it went over the relative flatlands over Iowa. This means that even if they had missed the airport, they could have probably landed on some fair level ground and still manage to get some survival. The weather was also an amazing piece of luck. It could have been extremely hard to fly the F-15 under any kind of turbulence, but fortunately, during the time of the crash the skies were clear and the visibility was excellent. Lastly, the fact that this fateful disaster occurred during the daytime was an amazing luck because the crew was able to control the aircraft well considering that they could observe the ground properly. Preparation Preparation was extremely important for such a disaster. The emergency response crews in Sioux City had a disaster response simulation every three years, which prepared them for any disaster. For example, during 1987, the organizers pretended that an aircraft that did not serve the city had crashed on its runway. After running the drill, areas of improvements were detected and changes made accordingly. Ideally, the preparation by Sioux Gateway Airport laid down a plan, which was very helpful for the crew of Flight 232. The repeated training

The Forest of Hands and Teeth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Essay Example The people of the village are controlled by fear of the Unconsecrated who continually try to infiltrate the village in order to satisfy their need for human flesh. The villagers live with the constant fear that the village could be breached at any time and they all would be infected which would turn the village into a world of zombies. Every day life is ruled by this fear, for instance, those villagers who were not of the Guard had to stay away from the fences in case of being bitten. Thus, it can be said that this fear was a form of social control; for, it forced the villagers to live in a certain way and adhere to certain rules. The villagers have limited options as what to do with their lives. Mary explains that â€Å"In my village an unmarried woman has three choices. She may live with her family; a man may speak for her, court her through the winter and marry her in the spring ceremonies; or she may join the Sisterhood.† The only real option the men have is to join the gu ard which patrols the fences, ensuring that no unconsecrated breach them. These options leave no room for free will and places duty above any personal wishes. These restrictions show how the villagers are obliged to live within these restrictions which tightly control their social lives. Ryan seems to be pointing at those social structures which limit our choices and free will. For instance, it is the common belief that has been passed down over generations that it is a woman’s duty to marry and have children. The Sisterhood of the village which is the religious mothers of the village so to speak also practices social control over the villagers. The Sisters believe in religious order, and tell the villagers that they are the only humans left on earth. Therefore, they are to protect their society whatever the cost, even if it means killing a loved one who has become infected. They also enforce the belief that God’s word is not to be questioned. On each door in the villa ge, a scripture is carved into the right of the door. Before, anyone is to enter or leave a building they have to place their hand on the scripture. Mary tells us that â€Å"It is our habit and duty to press a hand against these words†, demonstrating how easy it is to simply obey and get caught up in social control. The sisters have taught that this practice will protect the villagers and make God aid them. Whereas, if they do not follow these religious practices, God’s wrath would descend on the village. When Mary is forced to join the sisterhood she discovers that she has no choice but to abide by the sisters’ laws or else she would be cast out into the forest to join the ranks of the unconsecrated. Mary’s belief that there is a world beyond her village and the forest is bolstered by the arrival of the outsider, Gabrielle. Mary then realizes that the sisterhood has been keeping secrets from the villagers in order to force them to follow the edicts laid out by them. When Mary discovers that Gabrielle has become an unconsecrated, she explores the forbidden section of the Cathedral and learns that the sisters had caused Gabrielle to turn as part of an experiment. This completely shatters Mary’s belief in the sisterhood and all that they represent. The sisterhood created the Guard which Mary later finds out also kept certain secrets, such as placing stocks of food, water and weapons on the two fenced paths that lead away from