Effect of Technology and Network Security Support on Information Security Essay

Introduction Information security has become one of the challenges in ripping benefits of information technology. It has been found out that most people fear using modern information and communication technology due to fear of the privacy of their personal details. Information technology has supported the growth of online services like e-commerce, e-banking, e-governance, and many others which required people to give their sensitive personal details. However, practice like hacking and others which breach security of information have eroded personal confidence in use of ICT service. Information security can be described as the act of giving protection to information and systems by denying unauthorized access, use, disclosure or modification. The effect of Technology on information security The following are the technological methods that are used in ensuing information security; Authentication Authentication is the process through which a person or any other things undergoes through a verification process to determine whether it is the one. It is the way through which something or someone is confirmed to establish whether the claim made is actually true (McNab, 2004).   Authentication may involve confirmation of personal identity, origin of any artifact or basically making assurance that computer programs is trusted. Authentication is one of the commonly used methods of ensuring information security. It may be implemented through different methods including; Password A password can be defined as private information that is only known to the owner. A password assigns a user identity which is associated with the password. The password therefore becomes the gateway for the user to access that particular identity (Information Resources, 2009).   Passwords are personal and therefore the standard of the password is very important. Strong passwords are difficult to guess as compared to weak passwords and therefore they offer more security to private information. It is important that user safeguard their password and once they suspect that someone else has accessed their passwords they should consider changing them to ensure security. Token A security token is a hardware device that is used by the owner to authenticate their identity.   Once the device is recognized by the network, the user is given access to the system.   A token can be in different forms ranging from smart cards, key fob, and many others (Erin, 2005).   Tokens provide high level security through two-factor authentication method. First, the owner has a personal identification number or PIN which authorizes them to access the device. Second the device displays that PIN number of the user to the system which allows them to access the system. Unlike passwords, token are more secure since even if the device falls in wrong hands, it will be difficult to guess the PIN.   The four types of tokes include static password, synchronous dynamic password, asynchronous password, and challenge response. Biometrics Biometric is one of the most advance authentication techniques that are used when dealing with many people. It will be observed that today, everyone enters in a baseball match after their physical characteristics have been recorded in a system while in school kids use their thumb to access meals. These represent the commonly used biometric techniques where the emphasis is one authentication using personal physical characteristics (Down and Sands, 2004).   Biometric uses different physical characteristics including eye, face, voice, fingerprints, shape of the hand, and many others. These characteristics are quite unique to every individual and they are one of the strong proofs to the personal identity.   However, biometric authentication devices are very costly to buy and maintain and therefore they are used in very sensitive situations. One of the greatest weaknesses of this method is that it is very easy to attacked stored comparison images than to copy those physical traits.   In most cases, biometrics is used as a two factor authentication methods where a password is combined with personal physical appearance. Software There are a number of softwares that have been developed to protect information in any network. The following are common software used in information security; Antivirus Antivirus are software developed to protect information from virus, spy ware, and malware. Antiviruses are used mostly in internet connected network where there is a high risk of spread of virus (Dhillon, 2007). Antivirus software mostly used includes MacAfee, Karspasky, NOD32, and many others. Content filtering Content filtering is also known as information filtering.   It encompasses the use of software to screen information on computers. It is also used in internet firewall especially by corporations to guard some information considered private. Content filtering helps to include or to exclude some information which can be accessed by a person and excluding information which is deemed objectionable (Dhillon, 2007). Content filtering is also used at home and at school in order to filter information that can be accessed by children. In this case, it is used to filter out pornographic materials and violence oriented materials.   In the internet content filtering can be classified into web filtering where some WebPages are filtered out and e-mail filtering where e-mails are screened for spam. However, content filtering is criticized on the ground that some important information may be filtered out of the accessible content such that the information accessed does not really help the user. Encryption With the increased use of the internet, a great deal of sensitive personal information is sent from one person to another or to an organization. This raises serious questions regarding the safety of that information and the confidence that only the intended receiver receives and understands the information. To raise this level of confidence, data encryption method has been developed (Biham and Shamir, 1991). Although encryption has been used since the time of Roman Empire, it has become more complicated and with diverse use today. Encryption mainly involves conversion of a readable data to another form which can only be read and understood by a specified person or computer. This information is regarded as ciphered or encrypted data since it cannot be understood easily. It is recovered back to its original form through decryption. The level of protection and integrity in encryption is enforced by the use of message authentication code or digital signature. Message authentication code creates a secret key for the sender and receiver of the information which makes it more secure and authentic. Today, there are many softwares that are used in encrypting data. However, encryption is not one of the most secure methods of ensuring data security since there are various methods like traffic analysis, brute force, TEMPEST, and many others which can be used to crack the encrypted data (Biham and Shamir, 1991). It has been found that even some of the most complex algorithms like RSA, DES and others can be broken using these softwares. iii. Hardware Firewalls have also played an important role in enhancing information security.   They can be used either in hardware or in software or when the two are combined.   In day to day uses, firewalls are important in protection unauthorized access to a private network which is connected to the internet especially in the cases of intranets (Whitman and Mattord, 2007).   Firewalls filters all messaging entering and leaving the intranet to ensure that it blocks those messages which are devoid of the set security standards.   There are four major types of techniques used in implementing firewalls including Packet filter This is one of the most effective and transparent firewall techniques. Under this technique, each and every packet entering and leaving the network is filtered and only those which meet user defined criteria are allowed while the rest are blocked.   However, the technique is quite difficult to configure and is more susceptible to IP spoofing. Application gateway Application gateway applies a defined security mechanism to some specific applications like FTP, Telnet servers, and others.   Although it is quite effective, it can also lead to degradation of performance. Circuit level gateway This technique applies firewall security only when a TCP or UDP connected has been made. Once the connection is established, packets of data continue to flow without being checked since a secure connection has been made. Proxy server Proxy server technique intercepts in and out of a network. The server is quite effective in hiding the network addresses and hence cannot be obtained easily. The effect of Network Security Support on information security Although technology has been effective in deterring cyber crime, it is clear that technology alone cannot work. Even with the advanced technology and application of the various information security methods we have reviewed above, human support is still needed. There are various ways that have been employed in supporting technological method to fight cyber crimes. The following are some of these methods: Hacker Hunters Hacker hunters are special branches that have been set up in police department aimed at tracking down cyber criminals.   Hacker hunters are prowling cyberspace with an aim of tracking down and arresting professional cyber criminals who are motivated by big profits made online.   Hacker hunters are employing gumshoe techniques to track down cyber crime suspect (Grow and Bush, 2005). They are employing various methods including infiltration of hacker groups, monitoring the hackers through underground networks, and when possible, intercepting the hackers before they can cause any damage. Most important, hacker hunters are relying on intelligence in order to track cyber criminals. They are using informants inside hackers group to get vital information regarding their operation. For example in 2004, Hacker Hunters in Washington unleashed Operation Firewall in which they targeted members of the ShandowCrew tracking them through their website shandowcrew.com with the help of an informant from the group.   Hackers Hunters must therefore seek inside information from individuals in these groups in order to fight deter them. They are applying the same principles that were used in the 1960s to fight organized crime since both are similar in many aspects. Police Operations Police operations work in the same manner as hacker hunters.   In most cases, police operations are carried out by a special group within the police force and reinforce the work of hacker hunters.   For example in the above case, the Special Agents in the operation firewall got assistance from the local police forces.   Therefore police operations are important in pursuing cyber criminals to ensure security of information (Leyden, 2004). Unlike hacker hunters, police operations are carried out as fighting of routine crimes. This means that although there may be a special group carrying out police operations, it may not be entirely specialized in fighting cybercrime. In most countries, there are special internet police departments which are used in fighting internet crimes.   These police departments are entrusted with carrying out important functions like fighting cybercrime, censorship, propaganda, online scams, manipulation of online opinions, and others. However one of their most important duties is to work closely with hacker hunters in intervening and apprehending cyber criminals. Internet police departments also collaborate with other police departments in other countries in enforcing internet security laws and apprehending cyber criminals.   In the international front, Interpol has been important in enforcing international crimes. iii. Network Security Service Companies For many companies, proving information security is an expensive endeavor. Companies are not only required to install hardware and software devices, but they must also collaborate with authority to ensure information security. However, the growth of corporate resources in provision of secure business environment has made many information security methods inefficient and expensive (Lighthouse Security Group, 2009). For this reason, most companies are finding it appropriate to outsource comprehensive and streamlined network security services from Network Security Services Company. Network Security Service Companies have also become important in enforcing information security. These are companies which are specialized in providing services to enforce information security.   These companies offer Managed Security Services (MSS) which are security capabilities mostly outsourced by other companies. These services vary from supplementing of an existing security system to offering a complete new MSS where the Network Security Service Company is entrusted with information security. However, MSS is just one of the different types of managed services others including routing, hosting, LAN, VPN, and others.   Network Security Service Companies therefore offer specialized high quality network security services ensuring for many enterprises. Conclusion The increased incidence of breach of privacy of information has had negative impact on adoption of ICT services.   The emergence of e-commerce, e-banking, e-governance and other online services which required input of sensitive personal details have been affected by increased hacking of information. There are different methods that have been developed to increase information security mainly through the use of technology and network support on information security. Technological methods include authentication through password, token, biometrics; software including antivirus, content filtering, or encryption; and hardware through use of firewall techniques.   Network security support includes hacker hunters, police operations, and security services offered by network security service companies. Reference: Biham, E. & Shamir, A. (1991). Differential cryptanalysis of DES-like Cryptosystems. Journal of Cryptology, Vol. 4(1): 3-72 Dhillon, G. (2007). Principles of information systems security: text and cases. NY: John Wiley & Sons Down, M. P & Sands, R. (2004). Biometrics: An Overview of the Technology, Challenges and Control Considerations. Federal Computer Week, 21(13) Erin, B. (2005). Information security: Token. Boston, Technology Press Grow, B. & Bush, J. (2005). Hacker Hunters: An elite force takes on the dark side of computing.   Retrieved 28th April 2009 from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_22/b3935001_mz001.htm Information Resources, (2009). Security tips: Password protection. Retrieved 28th April 2009 from http://www.utdallas.edu/ir/security/STpassword.htm Leyden, J. (2004). Enforcement is key in fighting cybercrime. Retrieved 28th April 2009 from http://www.crime-research.org/analytics/473/ Lighthouse Security Group, (2009). Enterprise security solutions. Retrieved 28th April 2009 http://www.lighthousecs.com/Practices/Enterprise-Security-Solutions/ McNab, C. (2004). Network Security Assessment. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Whitman, M. & Mattord, J. (2007). Management of information security. Boston, Technology Press

Student Collegiate Record System

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background of the Study The Student Collegiate Record or SCR is playing an increasing role in the working stratagem of registrars. It enables them to hold and access the information of students like name, student number, date of birth, citizenship, gender, parents or guardian, occupation, permanent home address, schools graduated, course, year, subject, total number of units and final grade. The registrar records, edits and keeps all the information of old and new students thereby making the school's operations streamlined and effective.The existing SCR at AIE College International – Laoag Campus makes use of enrolment forms to obtain the necessary details from the enrollees. After which, the registrar records and saves these information in MS Excel. The registrar keeps each of the student’s records with a number attached (ex. IL-11-000478). The first two letters which is â€Å"IL† represents the AIE branch designation, the â€Å"11† numeric sign represents the year the student was enrolled and lastly â€Å"ex. 000478† represents the student number. Each student is only given one student number during the course of his education.The registrar then stores the hardcopy of files in bookshelves and the softcopy is kept in the computer. However, the registrar processes the information of the students individually so it takes a long period to finish all the papers. The registrar said that dealing with the student’s records manually is at times unmanageable because of the bulk of files to be checked one by one. The files’ security and confidentiality are also an issue since they are susceptible to access by unauthorized people and can be destroyed by unexpected circumstances.With this case, we proposed the â€Å"Registrar’s Student Collegiate System of AIE College International-Laoag Campus† to help the registrar minimize the time consumed in generating the records and information of the students. It will provide efficient enrollment process because it can track the subjects that the students have to take. It will be capable of storing, updating and securing the academic record of the students and through this, it will produce a more reliable and accurate students’ report. Statement of ObjectivesGeneral Objective To create a computerized system providing efficient enrollment process, accurate academic record maintenance and reporting, and sound student information and data management for students, faculty, and staff of the college. Specific Objectives ?To create a system that will accurately generate records such as student personal information, subjects to be taken and grade status of the students ? To come up with a computerized system that will reduce burden in tracking the students information ?To maintain a central system of complete educational records for the school ? To create quality Students' Permanent School Records ?To maintain and to safegua rd the confidentiality of Student's School Permanent Records Importance of the Study The results of the study on the computerized registrar’s student collegiate system are believed to benefit the following: Registrar – the study can help her work easier and faster in finding student’s record even if the student doesn’t know or remember his student number.She will be able to check student’s records and ensure that he/she has completed all of the requirements. Students – the study will provide them sound information about their school record Researchers – the researchers are benefited from this study because it will test their skills in making a system and provide them further insights about the effectiveness of the proposed registry system at their school Future Researchers – they may adopt ideas on how to build a system of another school or company Scope and DelimitationThe study will focus on the improvement and development of the registrar’s work to give accurate information of the students. It will lessen the errors that are provided by the hardcopies, and problems on editing the information of the students. This system will work easier and faster in looking or finding student’s record. This system can’t give the fees to be paid by the student. It is not capable of generating class schedule and the instructor that will handle the subject.It is intended to give the subjects to be taken, to check if the student passed or failed on his/her subjects and to show the final grade. Definition of Terms The following terms are defined for clarity and better understanding of this study. Bulk- it refers to all the records of students in a large quantity of hardcopies. Computerized – it refers to the use of computer to process one’s work easier. Files – compilation of documents

English speech- RAW / Girl, Interrupted Essay

No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings. â€Å"While an institution might encourage individuals to change through enforcing rules and regulations, it is the individual who ultimately holds the power to change.† -Scott Monk Scott Monk uses the protagonist Brett Dalton in the novel RAW as the individual who is able to change his previous life and attitude through the effect of the institution, The Farm. Scott sets the readers mind straight away with the first 3 words of the book, â€Å"busted, Brett panicked.† The reader immediately registers that Brett is a criminal which emphasizes the dramatic change Brett experiences during his stay on the farm. As a caretaker, Sam says to Brett at the beginning, â€Å"just remember, Brett: only you can change your life†. He implies that the power to change lives within the individual. Before becoming friends with Sam, Brett often protested against his rules and regulations due to his previous negligent personality. In response to these restrictions, Brett leaves in hope for the city, but gives in after he realises he would not be able to cope with society. This is where I felt Brett is beginning to alter his personality, and respect Sam’s authority. As this friendship develops, others are created. In the past Brett had severe difficulty confronting his problems, and first instinct in a sticky situation was to run away. This could be said as conforming with everyone else, as they too in the past must have been in the same situation, but are now friends with Sam, and have ultimately changed their lives. An example of this is the way that Josh. He, demonstrates to everyone that reads the book that institutionalisation can indeed be a positive experience. Brett admits this â€Å"positive experience† in the ending of the novel where Sam questions him, â€Å"did you learn anything while you were here?† to which Brett answers, â€Å"yes, of course. Lots of stuff. Like friendship, trust, love, and loss.† This to me sounds like words coming from a normal, happy, average human being. The concept of change in an individual is equally evident in Susanna Kaysen in the movie Girl, interrupted. The director, James Mangold, introduces the main character in a similar fashion to how Scott Monk introduces Brett Dalton in Raw. Susanna Keysen’s faults and flaws are exposed immediately, first seen being taken to the hospital after trying to kill herself with vodka and Aspirin pills. The audience’s immediate reaction is that something is wrong with her. Her psychologist establishes this after her recovery, asking questions like â€Å"Are you stoned?† and â€Å"how are you feeling right now?† to which her response was â€Å"I don’t know.† He then sends her to Claymore, a private mental institution. During her stay at claymore, Susanna experiences much of what Brett describes he had experienced at the farm. He mentions friendship, trust, love, and loss which is everything Susanna came across. She made many new friends while being in the establishment, realising that crazy people aren’t so scary, but are fun, interesting people to be around. As she grows closer to all of them (In particular, Lisa), she learns to trust them and adapts to their behaviours in the institution. Unfortunately, their flaws also begin to have an affect on Susanna. An example of this is the way Susanna acts out of character when Valerie tosses her into a cold bath unexpectedly. She imitates Janet Webber’s racist comments and mocking tone when she had her clothes denied due to the lack of eating. One day while escaping the world with Lisa, Susanna discovers that sometimes to be sane can be a choice to some people; everyone is insane, but the insanity is to be kept to yourself, and if expressed, you are considered to be crazy. Something’s are just not meant to be said. The line between normal and crazy is a blurry one even in today’s world. I believe sane and insane can be defined as common or uncommon behavior. Support and help is still given without having to be hospitalized. In the end of the novel, Susanna â€Å"recovers† from her diagnosis although she never really understood it or even knows if she really is â€Å"recovered.† She feels the same way about leaving the hospital as when she came in the hospital.

Stressors and Anxiety in the Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Research Paper

Stressors and Anxiety in the Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery - Research Paper Example The anxiety associated with the surgery exists in the post period of the surgery as well. Although many patients projected low level of anxiety and stress before surgery many have experienced borderline or clinically significant levels of anxiety before surgery. It is noticed that people has more stress and anxiety before surgery have poor outcomes than people having lower level of stress and anxiety. The patients undergoing heart surgeries are exposed to high risk and this could be the reason for the anxiety and stress in them. Normally anxiety increase in patient before cardiac surgery but return to normal level after six month of the surgery. Patients with high anxiety and stress before the surgery is exposed to mortality risk during surgery. It is seen that anxiety level is acute in patients about to undergo cardiac surgery and people with extreme stress are advised to give clinical support .The anxiety is normally high in patient who has death in their family due to heart failur e. Stress may occur because of increased stress and anxiety related to the forthcoming surgery. Anxiety and stress usually increase with the admission in hospital and impending surgery. The stress and anxiety before surgery People are stressed and anxious before surgery thinking about the complication during the surgery and recovery failure. According to (Scott,2009)â€Å"Having surgery can bring a lot of stress. ... People are advised breath taking exercises to relax the body and this can reduce the body’s response to stress. Breath taking exercise can stop the physiological response of the body due to stress and reverse the procedure. The stressful experience occurs in the mind and what we think stressful can trigger anxiety and stress in people on thinking about it. Studies have shown that people who are stressed in everyday life are more prone to stress before surgery. The pain during surgery and post surgery can lead to major stress among patients. Patients and their family are usually given educational support and assistance before the surgical event. Stress of the patients can be reduced if they are given complete information about the surgery in simple words.Moslty, the surgeons and nurses does not get adequate time to spend with the patients in order to pacify or console them before surgery. In real, surgeons should listen to the queries of the patients and guide them in proper ma nner to reduce their stress and anxiety. It is found that women are more stressed than men before cardiac surgery. As per (Desborough,2000,pg.109-117) â€Å"The stress response to surgery is characterized by increased secretion of pituitary hormones and activation of the sympathetic nervous system†Mostly people who have stress before surgery also might be facing problems in their daily life too. Having a health problem itself is a stressful issue and on above that open heart surgery can increase the risk factor. Patients are stressful before the CABG procedure as they are uncertain about the outcome of the heart surgery. Pain is the main cause of stres in patient and this can be overcome by the appliance of appropriate pain management program. Patients are

Portfolio base on Case study on sexual child exploitation in Uk and 2 Assignment

Portfolio base on Case study on sexual child exploitation in Uk and 2 different countries - Assignment Example This brings about confusion between the agencies as well as obstacles to information sharing. For instance, a report by the Victorian ombudsmen in Australia, revealed that child protection personnel do have false beliefs concerning their limits under the Information Privacy Act and in most instances they end up not revealing identity of offenders or the child victims to the Police when allegations of sexual abuse arises (Australian Government, 2012). This is also true in UK whereby the child protection departments do not offer their personnel sufficient training, guidance or even resources to make certain a suitable phase of privacy compliance is taken into consideration, in relation to collection, application and revelation of personal information regarding alleged offenders or the child (National Council to educe Violence against Women and their Children, 2009, p. 2011). Likewise, the UK faces the same challenges whereby the agencies concerned with child protection are reactive rat her than preventive in most cases. It takes a long time for the information concerning a particular child sex abuse investigation with approach to be taken, from being defined based on the problem presented. The police and the social work service do not effectively share or jointly assess all of their relevant information during the initial planning. Planning ought to take into consideration the needs of and danger to the child, in particular the medical information (Dewar, 1998, p 5). The same case is in South Africa whreby child welfare agencies are not colloborating effectively under a common framework using the three-pronged strategy of prevention, safeguard and prosecution. The agencies in most instances do not possess a shared consideration of the predicament of child sexual exploitation (South African Human Rights Commission, 2002, p. 16) For instance, in the case of Martin Jenkins, care workers were aware that Martin Jenkins had sex with the mispers whilst at the flat and th at Martin Jenkins would only allow this to happen if the girls performed oral sex on him, but such information was not disclosed acted upon by the police until when PV1 made an official complaint with the police even though the care workers knew about it. Unlike in Australia UK professionals interacting with the child even though they are aware of the developing awkward behaviours, do not make collaborate effectively to make referral to suitable agencies, due to restrictive privacy laws. The screening process does not lead to risk assessments having high rate of correctness, and as such the risk instruments result in inappropriately high phases of false positives (Munro, 2007). In terms of multi-agency workings, differences do exist in the manner in which child exploitation professionals, evaluate what is considered to be conventional and what is not, in particular where individual organisations feels that there are issues that need to be addressed. For these agencies to be effectiv e, the collective responsibility should involve an overlap or integration of roles, whereby Communication is at every level of working. Emphasis should be placed on effective information allotment, cooperation and understanding involving agencies and notable professional when it comes to promoting the children well-being plus safeguarding them from sexual exploitation (Atkinson & et tal, 2002, p. 3). Infra-Structure to Support Victims According to a research conducted by the

Argument for Euthanasia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Argument for Euthanasia - Essay Example Sometimes euthanasia refers to assisted suicide owing to the fact that a physician has to be involved in the act. I seek to defend the rule and existence of euthanasia in the contemporary society with much consideration of the impact that pain results to individuals. It is true that euthanasia relieves a patient from suffering prolonged pain especially due to diseases that are not easily treated. Euthanasia should be endorsed at all costs because it leads to easy death without necessarily letting an individual patient undergo long-term suffering occasioned by terminal disease. The proponents of euthanasia in the views of Soifer claim that the values of life encompass self- determination, which allows individuals, make proper decision in accordance with how they perceive good life (13). Individual patients have the rights of accepting to be under life sustaining technology or left to die. One is supposed to decide by oneself the nature of death he/she deems better as a way of alleviat ing suffering. In addition, ethics allow the family of the patient to call for euthanasia when it realizes that the victim may survive even after receiving series of treatment (Soifer 12). This may be viable especially in the conditions where the patient has become burden to the family in terms of medical care bills while posing no signs of improvement. The two modalities of assisted euthanasia should be applied depending on the circumstance that requires provision of assisted death to an ailing patient. The families of the patients suffering from terminal pains should always be allowed to opt for passive involuntary euthanasia to be carried on the patient. Considering the fact the family members of the patient are the ones who cater for medical of the patient, they should always be allowed to make decisions for doctors to overdose the patients or disconnect the patient from the sustaining machines. Practicing euthanasia on persons perceived to have little or no probability of survi ving should be approved for the act save governments and individual intimates of the patient some amount of money and revenue that can otherwise be enhanced in developing other sectors if economy. Endorsing euthanasia will mean increased death rates in an economy, which may lead balanced distribution of resources in an economy thereby stabilizing and strengthening the specific economy. Active voluntary euthanasia proclaimed by the individual patient under proper mental consciences. Active euthanasia bears great elements of self-rights and self-decision concerning the manner in which an individual plan to conduct his/ her life. In addition, every individual has expanse right to die and should not be deterred from deciding death if his/her decision to die does not pose negative effects to other people. It is explicitly wrong to let an ailing patient continue to suffer over a disease that has no possible cure at the time that he/she has expressed willingness to die. With the growing po pulation of ill people across the world to an extent that there arises immense shortage of health facilities, endorsing euthanasia will assist in evacuating the congested health facilities. When the terminally sick individuals continue to occupy beds and space, other patients who only suffer from curable diseases may lack and miss health facilities. I also stand to support the legislations formulated in Netherlands that supports practicing of voluntary euthana

American Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

American Government - Essay Example All these ads were by the candidates running for the election and all three were coming from Iowa and North Hampshire. All candidates with the exception of few are sure to win the nominations and even the elections for the next President of US. It has been unanimously agreed by the intellectuals that negative advertising may not be the good thing as it tend to pollute the environment. It is not only unfair but also creates cynicism about politics and therefore may not be the right thing for the society to experience. However, it may not be always the case; negative advertising can result into better things. Every candidate has the weaknesses and it is always expected that opposition candidates would find those weak points to attack the candidates and engage into sort of any negative campaigning against each other. One criticism of negative ads is that they can be fairy inaccurate but positive ads can be inaccurate too. An unfair ad always meets with the opposition from other candidates and in order to sustain, an inaccurate ad need to sustain the onslaught from the other members. Sometimes, public even respond negatively to the ads and those engaging into negative campaigning can end up at the receiving ends and other candidates can take advantage of the negative ad campaign. Advertising cannot always be decisive in nature and other important things also matter too in the elections. Debate is one of the things which can actually help candidates to actually prevail over each other even in the presence of negative ad campaigns. One of the criticisms by the high minded people about the negative ads is that they can actually erode the confidence of Americans in the institutions which America once held as one of its finest achievements. However, data indicates that last time Americans actually showed some sort of

The evolutionary development of maize Research Paper

The evolutionary development of maize - Research Paper Example In support of this assertion, the findings of the 1980s showed that teosinte correlated with domesticated maize. Thus, the evident variation between maize and teosinte probably might have been as a result of hybridization which can be facilitated by human action. In connection with this, the paper will expound on how and why humans alter the evolution track of maize. The genetic diversity of maize is linked to the multiple domestication of maize. Domestication is one of the processes of evolution of maize where selectivity is employed in determining the final product of the crossing. In other words, species distributions of maize might have changed since the first time maize was domesticated. Due to demand of food, humans selected specific parents and crossed them in order to achieve high yield3. It was as a result of this evolution process of maize that the other evolution process of maize is very hard to determine. In tandem with this assertion, Zeder claims that the selective selection of a gene might have affected the promoter regions of genes in maize hampering with its evolution process4. Bonavia also argues that domestication of maize made man to play with the genetic plasticity of maize in order to achieve a desired grain size5. Additionally, Bonia argues that domestication strongly reduces the sequence of maize diversity in the genes as sociated with the traits that are of importance to man6. In connection with this, a strong selection drastically reduces the genetic diversity of maize. The evolution process of maize has changed significantly for the past few years. This is evidenced by the rapid evolution changes of maize when the human selection of the maize ear is strong. It is also evident that the evolution process of maize advances at a slow pace when the human selection of the ear is weak. Thus, the lack of explanation on the evolution process of maize is as a result of the

Movie 1408 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Movie 1408 - Essay Example In his famous book on theory of Montage, â€Å"The Film Sense†, he elaborates this process of words turning into images through representations, quoting the poems of John Milton and Mayakovsky. â€Å" Mayakovsky doesn’t work in lines , he works in shots† ( Word and Image --- The Film Sense – sergei Eisenstein –page 62-63 } When a well read story ( or poem ) comes into light as visual images on the big screen as a film, it tends to disappoint the above said readers of the story. For the images on the screen will never match with the images, the above said reader carries with in him/ her self, of the story. Stephan King’s style of writing is such that, he draws out the horror slowly. He never allows the reader to plunge head long into the horror. This style of writing, gives more space for the reader’s imagination and thus for the â€Å"Cinematic Recreation† within himself. Thus Stephan King remains a tough writer, for any film ma ker. More over, short story is often considered to be the ideal literary form for depicting horror. Many writers consider it difficult to maintain the feeling of horror in the reader, over hundreds or more pages, that a novel as a literary form demands. The issue gets multiplied when one tries to make a film out of a horror short story. One faces the risk of ending up with a movie with lots of good patches of horror, but padded up between with lots of dead spaces. It is the absence of such dead spaces that makes Film makers like Alfred Hitchcock and Claude Chabrol, the masters of horror films. One technique used by the Swedish director Mikael Hafstrom, ( who made the film â€Å"1408†,based on Stephan King’s short story by the same name ,in 2007 ) to over come the above said problems of cinematic recreation of the images of the short story, is to confine the space of action of the film to a single hotel room. This gives scope for concentration of the

The Depletion of Natural Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Depletion of Natural Resources - Essay Example The density of palms and lianas were also recorded as they were observed to have different behavior than that of the dicotyledonous trees. The study was conducted under the original site of 78/5 experiment that was conducted in 1978 at Tonka research site in Suriname that is located within the Kabo creek, comprising of rain forest area. The region had around 197 species with 37 of them having great commercial value. In 1978, three levels of exploitation and three levels of silviculture refinements were tested and replicated three times. Virgin forest plots or VFPs were also set up in three replications using different compartments. The replications were carried out in nine compartments comprising of 1 ha assessment plot which was further divided into ten subplots. The exploitation levels were coded as E14, E23, and E46 where logging took place. E46 saw excessive logging which was considered non-acceptable. Silviculture levels were coded as S0, S18, and S14 where unwanted trees. In the heavy refinement area, cutting off unwanted trees was accompanied by climber cutting and poison girdling of non-commercial trees. The current study took a small part of the original experimental area comprising of three compartments per replication along with 3 VFP compartments, totaling 60 subplots. The density of 8 selected tree species studied on the basis of 20% Random sampling of 100 plots. Species were selected for their adaptability to sunlight and shade. Vegetation layer of 3-10 m has opted because they were bested suited as test subjects. Using various statistical and non-statistical measurements like forest class, ANOVA, t, and chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon signal tests were used to test the hypothesis. Mortality was higher in heavy exploitation and treatment region. Climax trees are not much-affected with treatments.

How Ian Mcmillan Conveys His Attitudes Towards the Death of His Mother Essay Example for Free

How Ian Mcmillan Conveys His Attitudes Towards the Death of His Mother Essay McMillan uses harsh words throughout the poem to show his grief and remorse at his mothers death. Words like â€Å"shatters† link with how he is feeling, like everything is broken and cannot be repaired. This word makes us imagine something broken into lots of tiny pieces which cant be put back together again, and it helps us to understand how broken and jumbled up he is feeling. The word â€Å"slap† when talking about â€Å"the tears (that) slap my torn face† insinuates the idea that he is in physical pain, that the emotional pain he feels is is so strong that he physically hurts. In the first stanza, we find out about his mothers death. Enjambment is used to speed up the pace of the poem, and show how quickly someones whole live can change, like in the phraseâ€Å"In the moment it takes a life to pass/ from waking to sleeping† The phrase â€Å"from waking to sleeping† highlights the opposites in what he and his mother are doing, as she passes from life to death. The word sleeping creates quiet a gentle image, and suggests that her death was not unexpected, and perhaps was drawn out and painful. Sleep is a very relaxed and calm time, the only time when the human mind can escape from problems in the day, so perhaps the idea of his mother falling asleep is comforting, like she has now stopped suffering and can rest happy. The second stanza uses a lot of words relating to the senses, to help us understand how McMillan is feeling. The sentence â€Å"outside a milk float chinks and shines† shows that the world is carrying on as normal, despite the fact that McMillans world has personally just stopped. The rhyming pattern throughout this poem is abab, but in this stanza the words â€Å"mine† and â€Å"shines† are meant to rhyme, but the fact that they don;t fully rhyme represents the disorientation he is feeling upon finding out about his mothers death, and perhaps also shows how nothing is quite right any more. Also, the word drones when describing a plane has been used to represent the deep grief he is feeling, and makes us feel like he has completely given up. In the third stanza McMillan seems to be describing a state of shock that he has fallen in to, which is quite a normal reaction when a loved one dies. McMillan describes his tears to slap his torn face; as well as slap being a raw and aggressive word, the way he describes his face as torn perhaps suggests that it was his mother who held him together, and now, without her, he is broken. This helps us to realise how important his mother was to him, which makes us sympathise for him a lot and evokes a feeling of empathy when we put ourselves in his position. McMillan says he feels trapped, like he is trapped by his own emotion and although its up to him to find a way out of this dark place, he cant see an escape. This shows how alone and scared he is feeling knowing his motherr is no longer around and also makes us think how panicked he must be feeling, as we would be if we were trapped somewhere. The word float makes us think that McMillan is no longer in control of his emotions, that what he is feeling is unstoppable, but also it instigates the sense that nothing seems quite normal around him, and that he is detached from reality. The final stanza is a rhyming couplet that summarises the grief and emptiness and the lack of will to go on without his mother. â€Å"Feeling that the story ends just here† conveys the idea that there isnt a story to continue without his mother, showing how depressed McMillan is feeling, like he has reached a dead end in his life.

The Effect of Grammar Learning on Speaking Ability of Efl Learners Essay Example for Free

The Effect of Grammar Learning on Speaking Ability of Efl Learners Essay Nowadays, one of the hottest issues in the field of foreign and second language learning or teaching is how to converse fluently in the target language. Generally speaking, most of the EFL learners believe that their knowledge in English is nearly assessed by the way they can interact in the target language. They maintain that their linguistic knowledge and their abilities in other skills—reading, writing, and listening—are not that much important. What is significant is their ability in conversational situations. Of course, this belief belongs to lay and ordinary people. Unfortunately, a majority of EFL teachers and instructors follow this point of view in a broader sense, too. These instructors declare that in learning English EFL learners do not have to be trained from the grammatical point of view. Now, the question is that is it really no relationship between the grammatical rules and learning to communicate fluently in a foreign language? The linguistic knowledge in English consists of the ability to analyze and recognize the structural features and components in the language. These abilities are concerned with phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic issues. The building blocks of the communication are grammatical points which make the structure of a language. Before starting to speak many factors and components must be formed in a person’s mind. First, the sounds should be matched with each other to shape different words. Second, these words need to be united together to form phrases, clauses, and at last sentences through which a particular meaning can be conveyed. Considering these facts, we can say that it is probably impossible to communicate in a foreign language without knowing the grammatical rules and structures of the target language. The focus of this paper is to review the literature in order to find any possible relationships between these two elements in the view of other researchers in this field of study. Also, at the end of this article, the opinions of a group of Iranian EFL learners will be presented about this issue to clarify the aim of our research better.

The History Of Payless Shoesource Inc Marketing Essay

The History Of Payless Shoesource Inc Marketing Essay Payless ShoeSource Inc. is a self-serve fashion-focused low cost shoe retailer.   The company was founded in 1956 in Topeka, Kansas and has expanded significantly within the domestic and international markets to almost 4,500 stores.   On their website, the stated mission is to democratize fashion and design in footwear and accessories.   Payless seeks to compete effectively by bringing to market differentiated, trend-right merchandise before mass-market discounters and at the same time as department and specialty retailers but at a more compelling price.  [1]  Payless is a subsidiary of Collective Brands, which a holding company for three business units: Payless ShoeSource,  Collective Brands Performance  + Lifestyle Group,  and Collective Licensing International. These units function separately, but have significant business relationships especially in brand licensing for Payless. In 2009, Payless reported $2.576 billion in sales and capture a large percentage for the cost-leader footwear market.  [2]  Payless is represented in all 50 states.   Internationally, Payless has multiple locations in Central and South America, Canada, and the Caribbean.   In 2009, Payless opened stores in the Middle East and has signed agreements to franchise into Russia, the Philippines, Israel, Malaysia, Singapore, Mexico and Indonesia.  [3]  Ã‚   When Payless was founded, it was based on being a low cost provider of shoes for families in a self-service format.   During the 50 years since, Payless has evolved from a low cost distributor to a low cost producer to an on-trend fashion, cost conscience producer and provider while retaining the self service format.   This evolution was a result of changing customer demands and increased retail competition.   Payless retooled their strategy when other low-cost shoe providers such as Wal-Mart and Target entered the shoe market.   This increase in competition on the cost-leader strategy forced Payless to examine their core competencies and their position in the marketplace.   As a result, the emphasis on fashion and design became a priority which is reflected in both their shoe and retail store design.  [4]  Ã‚   Over the past fifteen years, Payless has been increasing the fashion level of their products and have now repositioned themselves as an on-trend fashion outlet with trendy names at reasonable prices.   Payless has formed several partnerships with designers to create capsule collections exclusively at Payless that comprise one season; however due to the success of these designer collections Payless has been expanding these designer relationships.  [5]  Ã‚   The partnerships with designers started in 2007 with Abaetà ©, as a seasonal collection.   The success of the Abaetà © collection leads Payless to develop other partnerships with designers like Lela Rose, Alice + Olivia as well as Zack Zoe.   The most recent guest designer, Christain Siriano, has been a success due to both his design and his popularity of winning season four of Project Runway.   With the immense success of the show, there was instant name recognition and the target audience of the show is in line wit h the target market of Payless.   In fact, Christian Sirianos capsule collection contract was recently extended to be a multi-year contract to its immense success in the market.  [6]   External Analysis When looking at the external analysis for Payless ShoeSource, the general environment is composed of elements that influence the shoe industry and the companies within it. These elements group into six different environmental segments: demographic, economic, political/legal, sociocultural, technological, and global. Demographics for Payless have always played an important role in their overall strategy. Targeting women 16-49 with an income lower than $75,000 USD is their key to success.  [7]  This target market is ideal because individuals within this demographic express themselves through fashion. The economic factors for their general environment are a major downfall. With a target segment on a middle-class income, economic hardships are going to be devastating for Payless. Consumers will spend less on non-necessity goods in hard times, shoes being one of those items. The economy will also influence Payless because they compete based on lower priced fashion items to gain market share. However, since Payless is an international business, economies in other countries such as Latin America or the Middle East can offset these issues in the domestic market. International expansion is where political and legal elements can comes into play for Payless. Currently Payless has 643 international stores with plans to expand heavily in the years to come. By executing joint ventures and franchising, Payless is able to mitigate some of the political and legal risk it could encounter in foreign markets. The sociocultural environment for Payless externally is again positive. Since they are well known in the United States and Canada for keeping up with the latest trends, they can leverage this strategy worldwide. Each country is researched constantly for new trends or looks in the footwear and accessory industry. This research combined with knowledgeable local partners helps Payless with product selection to meet local demand. By researching and overcoming the sociocultural factor, Payless has gained market share each year, even in rough economic times in the United States.    When looking at the technological external environment for Payless, the company is far beyond its competition. Although Payless is based in Topeka, Kansas, all of their shoe manufacturing is completed in the Unites States and 13 other countries around the world. Their main warehouse is 807,000 square feet designed with a state of the art coordination system. These systems keep all the stores replenished with new supply at least twice a week based on style, color and size of the shoes. The global environmental factor for Payless is also a significant part of their strategy. Global factors influencing business are legal, political, social, technological and economic. Each country Payless enters, these influences will change. Moving into global markets via joint ventures or franchising helps lessen the risk for Payless because the partner understands the market and environment the store is operating in. When looking at the supplier power for Payless, 85% of their footwear comes from Chinese factories, 10% from Vietnam and the other 5% from Brazil, India, Indonesia and Thailand.  [8]  Since Payless depends on third parties to manufacture and supply their products, this could cause several problems. There could be a shortage of raw materials, inadequate manufacturing and shipping capacity of the product. In addition, the third parties price fluctuations of raw material, skilled labor as well as currency exchange risk could impact the low price strategy of Payless. Payless also has risk in transportation since it relies on third parties to transport and deliver its products. These third party relationships impact the ability to deliver footwear on time and at a low cost. The buyer power for Payless is a significant threat. Given their current fashion strategy, Payless could one day overcome buyer power, but as of now, they still compete on price and focus this incentive to benefit the consumer. With this buyer power, the threat of substitution is very high for Payless. The footwear industry is all about the latest styles, colors and looks. If Payless did not have a research team focused on implementing new products, substitution would be high for Payless. Bringing in Christian Siriano, Lela Rose and Isabel Toledo as new designers has given Payless a more upscale look at a cost effective price for the consumer. Though there are substitutions for their brands in each product category, Payless is less expensive overall. Competitive rivalry in the footwear industry is never ending. Payless has to compete with the big box stores such as DSW, Famous Footwear, J.C.  Penney, Kohls, Macys, Marshalls, Ross Stores, Target, TJ Maxx, and Wal-Mart. All of these competitors have the capability to hurt Payless in a cost leadership strategy. However, Payless competes in fashion at a lower price point. This fashion focus aligns with their target market that will buy these designer shoes with Christian Siriano, Lela Rose and Isabel Toledo.  [9]   The threat of new entry for Payless is currently small. Although Payless has many competitors in their industry, it would be almost impossible to compete with their net sales and store locations around the world. The startup costs would be high and the sourcing for factories would be time consuming. Designers would need to be experienced and willing to work with foreign factories. New competition could compete on price, but not on quality fashion footwear. Payless has a very favorable position and it should be easy to defend against new entrants. Internal Analysis Payless ShoeSource is dedicated to democratizing fashion and design in footwear and accessories to the world and inspiring fun fashion possibilities for the family.   We provide our customers with the style they want at a great price, and our nearly 4,500 store locations offer an engaging, easy-to-shop experience and outstanding customer service.  [10]  The current mission of Payless ShoeSource has not been long-lived in this form.   After the company experienced it is first lost in 2003, the company worked hard to turn things around.   Beyond working to increase sales and correct the inventory problems, the company revised its mission statement, vision, and company strategy in 2005.  [11]  Ã‚  The current mission has driven the company to develop strategies, which have led the company to exhibit internal strengths and prevailing weaknesses. The most obvious overlying strategy for Payless is cost leadership.   This can be determined not only by the mission statement,  [12]  but also by the name of the store.   As the mission statement states, Payless wants to provide their customers with the style they want at a great price.   Also, the title Payless gives the impression that customers will pay less when buying their shoes at Payless Shoe Source.   This name not only exhibits the goals of the company but what customers can expect by shopping at any of Payless ShoeSources 4470 locations. With the major changes made in 2005, Payless developed new strategies to expand their customer base, which would in turn lead to more sales. These strategies developed in 2005 will be focused on in this analysis as 2005 was a monumental year for strategy development and will be compared to the 2009 annual report analysis of the success of such strategies. One of these new strategies was that Payless would go forward with an offer of on-trend, differentiated products.  [13]  Ã‚  With this, it would increase its accessories and offer a larger athletic footwear section.  [14]  In the 2009 Annual Report, Payless stated that they advanced their strategy to grow beyond footwear as broader and deeper product offerings drove dramatic improvement in the accessories business at Payless ShoeSource.  [15]   Another strategy developed in 2005 was to strengthen and reposition Payless by introducing a house of brands available to the consumer at a discounted price,13 which would fall directly in line with their overlying cost leadership strategy.   This house of brands allowed customers to have access to a variety of brands within Payless, which, according to Matt Rubel, CEO of Payless, would fulfill their focus of democratizing design and fashion in footwear and accessories and their goal to inspire fun fashion possibilities for the family.   Acquiring brands like American Eagle à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢, according to Mr. Rubel, is an important step in achieving this and to our ability to connect with young consumers.   The house of brands includes American Eagleà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢, Champion ®, Airwalk ®, Spalding, and Shaquille ONeal endorsed Dunkmanà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ .  [16]   The third strategy developed in 2005 was to enhance the customer experience by hiring friendly, helpful employees to improve customer service.  [17]  The 2009 annual report confirmed that one aspect of this customer service included measuring childrens feet, which helped increase the sales of the childrens shoes segment.  [18]  Ã‚  Beyond this, there is no data shown as to how successful this strategy has been. The last change in strategy added in 2005 was to improve the efficiency of the business by introducing better technology including a POS system in order to shorten checkout time and keep better track of sales.   In addition, a logistics network would be introduced to improve the companys inventory system and also to improve flexibility in the inventory.13 As far as efficiency goes, the 2009 annual report stated that an added U.S. distribution center shorted replenishment times and lowered costs, improving the gross margin by changing how sizes were assorted and defined store clusters, improving productivity and profitability in 2009.  [19]   Beyond the 2005 strategy developments, a more recent development for Payless is its newly defined international expansion strategies as outlined in the 2009 annual report. Looking at Payless specifically, Collective Brands began franchising Payless internationally 18 months ago and predicts that it will have about 700 locations abroad within the next five years, including 300 of those in Indonesia.  [20]  Ã‚  In the 2009 annual report, it was stated that Payless opened a significant amount of stores in Columbia within the year.  [21]  Ã‚  In 2010, the store introduced a new franchising business model to expand internationally in a quick, low-risk, capital-efficient manner.  [22]  Although the strategy was introduced in 2010, the first three franchised stores opened in the Middle East in 2009.  [23]   Ownership strategy differs by geographic regions.   In North America, mainly the USA and Canada, Payless stores are company-owned.   In Central and South America, stores have been opened as joint ventures with a multitude of partners.   As stated above, franchised stores have existed thus far in the Middle East with franchising as a strategy for future expansion, mainly focused on the Middle East and Asia.  [24]   The last strategy to be assessed in this analysis is a method Payless developed just this year.   Ã‚  This strategy is to develop a recognition of the company as social responsible in order to lure in the socially conscious consumers.   Payless has teamed up with Airwalk   for The Good Shoe Project to allow shoppers to Buy-One-Give-One to a child in need where customers can buy a pair of Airwalk shoes for $19.99 and Payless will give a pair of kids shoes to a child in need through their new partner, World Vision.   Payless plans to give a minimum of 100,000 pairs of shoes to children in South America this Christmas season.  [25]   The core competencies and strengths of Payless ShoeSource exist in its store presence, financial stability, and its ability to keep prices low.   Store presence encompasses the fact that it has already established itself in all 50 states plus a growing number of international locations.  [26]  Ã‚  This presence includes 4470 stores total in 19 countries as of 2009, with 18.6% of stores abroad, or 873 total in 2009.   According to many sources, Payless can be considered one of the largest footwear retailers in the Western Hemisphere selling 140 million pairs of footwear and over 40 million accessories in the US, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, and South America in 2009.  [27]   Financially, Payless has grown its gross margin regardless of the 3.9% decrease in sales due to the recession.   This includes a 5.2% increase in gross margin in 2009, increasing the gross margin to 34.5%.   However, this is primarily due to a low gross margin in 2008 attributable to pre-tax charges of $88.2 million related to the impairment of trade names, $45.1 million due to pre-tax litigation expenses, and $13.2 million of pre-tax charges related to the tangible asset impairment and other charges.   However, the higher gross margin can also be attributed to lower product costs and higher initial mark-on prices of footwear in 2009.  [28]  Ã‚  Though all of these additional charges decreased the gross margin in 2008, a better representation of gross margin improvement is to compare to the 2007 32.6% gross margin.   From 2007 to 2009, the gross margin was improved by 1.9%, or 0.95% per year. Lastly, Payless has been rather successful in their skill to encompass a wide variety of skills including supply chain management and sourcing to keep prices low while also focusing on fashion.   This has allowed Payless to capture the market of moms and middle-class people who care about both fashion and their budget, which is considered to be a success factor of 2009 in the annual report.  [29]   The supply chain management procedures of Payless assist in keeping prices down by making the company more efficient.   This includes the strong supply chain management (SCM) system satisfying the 2005 strategy to improve inventory levels.  [30]  Ã‚  In 2009 annual report, Payless manages inventory through the use of a variety of systems and models related to planning, forecasting, pricing, and allocations to help align promotions, product flow, and pricing with customer shopping patterns.   Although the annual report does not give technical details on these systems, it is clear that the organization of Payless SCM systems have proven to increase the efficiency of the company, and improve the gross margin as previously stated.    One way it has done this on a large scale is by reducing markdowns through using intelligent SCM tools which have been able to stock stores by use of customer clusters, or customer profiles based on lifestyle, demographics, shopping behavior, and appetite for fashion.   Also, the systems keep track of seasonality and climate considerations by geography which have improved the timing of inventory distribution.   The SCM systems have the ability to track historical data to use as a precedent of stores sales volumes and categories that stores tend to sell well along with specific proportions for inventory forecasting.   The high amount of data stored in this system also involves a size assortment matrix tool. This data has reduced old product markdowns by analyzing sizes that could have been avoided in initial purchasing.  [31]  Ã‚   On a smaller scale, the supply chain management systems have provided store-level data management which allows for pricing and inventories to be adjusted on a per-store basis based.   Product pricing is performed per store in order to price products appropriately on a smaller scale rather than one corporate or regional price.   Size variations are also taken into account on a per store basis in order to produce sales forecasts for ordering inventory, optimizing gross margin dollars and reducing markdowns by giving each store individualized attention.  [32]   Another resource advantage of Payless is its sourcing capabilities.   Payless sources out 72% of production to large factories which serve as their manufacturers, consisting mainly of 26 core factories which account for 75% of Collectives footwear purchases.   These factories are given specification and performance standards and then bid for jobs on a competitive basis.  [33]  Ã‚  This network of factories allows Payless to manufacture their products at low prices with companies that they know and trust.   This is a core asset in its ability to keep prices low in its overall strategy of cost leadership. Other than supply chain management and sourcing, other factors providing key assets and skills to Payless are listed in the 2009 annual report.   These factors are the companys ability to develop fashionable, high-quality merchandise in an assortment of sizes, colors, and styles appealing to their target customers; the ability to anticipate and respond to changing customer demands in a timely manner; creating an acceptable value proposition for customers; providing an inviting, customer friendly shopping environment; and, providing effective marketing support.  [34]   Resource disadvantages, or assets and skills that are lacking at Payless, mainly include its lack of knowledge in a few key markets, its marketing resources, its financial resources, and its lack of independence.   These factors keep Payless from optimizing its ability to compete in the market of footwear and accessories. Payless lacks significant knowledge in operating in South American markets.   According to the 2009 annual report, the firm closed 26 Payless stores in Peru and Chile and were categorized as discontinued operations in the report.   The closing of these stores eliminated 200 management and administrative positions, concerning the company with its failure in these markets and the reduced employee morale based on the elimination of these positions.  [35]   Next, the report states its lack of marketing and financial resources as compared to competitors such as Wal-Mart, Target, and other department stores.   Payless is concerned in their ability to continue to compete against these low-cost retailers which provide more of a one-stop-shop for consumers and who also have much larger marketing budgets.   Beyond this, Payless lacks financial ability to withstand reduced shoe sales whereas these competitors have the ability to withstand fluctuations in the market.   High fixed costs in proportion of operating expenses cause declines in operating performance to be magnified with sales shortfalls.   Major fixed costs include leasing costs of stores, debt service expenses, and labor expenses which will all remain regardless of sales.   Labor expenses in particular remain the same as the stores generally employ minimum employees regardless of sales volume.  [36]   The last resource disadvantage to be concerned with in this analysis is the lack of independence from third parties to manufacture and distribute products.   Though this is somewhat an external concern, it is also a problem internally as the company is weak in its ability to withstand factors affecting the manufacturing line.    Overall, the internal analysis of Payless is strong in many areas, mainly its ability to follow execute its mission statement and strategies following directly in line with this mission.   A competitors analysis will get more into the analysis of Payless ShoeSources ability to compete in the footwear and accessories market on both a short and long-term basis. Comparison to Competitors   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The retail footwear and accessories industry is highly competitive. It is comprised of department stores, footwear specialty stores, discount mass-merchandisers, sporting good stores and on-line competitors. In addition, many retailers that have not carried footwear have added footwear and accessories lines to their stores.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For Payless Domestic, they compete mainly with DSW, Famous Footwear, J.C. Penney, Kohls, Macys, Marshalls, Ross Stores, Target, TJ Maxx, and Wal-Mart and they seek to compete effectively by coming into the market with differentiated, trend-right merchandise before mass-market discounters. Besides the timing of producing new merchandise, Payless also requires their trend-right merchandise to be priced below department stores and specialty retailers. In the worldwide footwear industry, Payless faces various competitive challenges from retailers and wholesalers since their financial and marketing resources are less than some competitors. Although under high pressure of increasing competitiveness, Payless still focuses on the following points as bases of enhancing their low cost on trend-fashion competitive advantage: Developing fashionable, high-quality merchandise in an assortment of sizes, colors and styles that appeal to their target consumers: For example, Dyelightsà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ is exclusively offered by Payless ShoeSource stores. It is a unique feature that sets Payless apart from the competition. The shoes are dyed to the customers specifications and are available for pick up in about 10 days at the Payless ShoeSource store or delivered to the customer for an additional shipping fee.  [37]  As previously mentioned, Payless also has strategic partnerships with designers that emphasis high fashion for under $60. With their extensive licensing Payless is also able to have a house of brands that appeals to fashion focused consumers. Ensuring product availability and optimizing supply chain effectiveness: Payless uses different systems and models to ensure timely delivered to meet customer demand, which drives sales and margin growth. The company creates targeted assortments based on localized demand and specific product lifecycles. Payless also prices their products at the store level to manage aged inventory. Payless has a global supply chain structure that integrates their design, product development and sourcing functions. Coordinated transportation is also a vital component of efficiency for Payless. They employ the just-in-time model and each distribution center only has eight days of supply for store replenishment.  [38]   High quality assurance and low price:   Payless contracts with factories that meet their specified quality and safety standards for shoe production; minimum capacity requirements; production control processes; and agree not to use forced or child labor.  [39]  Payless also provides technical design support for their direct purchasing functions. For example, Payless locates their field inspection personnel close to the factories and freight consolidation facilities that they use throughout the world. By concentrating on quality, Payless is able to reduce rework costs. Shopping environment and customer service: Payless uses a customer focused sales staff to provide attentive, product knowledgeable service. Payless also offers customers a self-selection shopping environment, which allows customers to select their shoes freely. Shoes and accessories are displayed neatly and grouped by type of shoe ensuring self-selection is easy.  [40]  Customers can seek help from trained and professional associates if they need any help. In addition, Payless executes an easy and convenient return policy even if the shoes are worn. This emphasis on cost containment through efficient supply chain management helps Payless maintain its historic low-cost position. This, when combined with its retail product selection optimization, increases profit margins. Payless is focused on the customer experience through excellent customer service and accessible on-trend fashion. Their competitors compete on cost or brand, but are unable to combine the strategies efficiently. Payless has developed a competitive advantage by leveraging their house of brands, designer partnerships, efficient supply chain, and optimized product mix. Recommendations Although Payless has made some bold and aggressive steps in recent history in order to further strengthen their position in the marketplace, we feel Payless needs to initiate changes on four unique planes. Continued and expanded efforts in pricing strategies and product differentiation, a refined domestic retail system, new strategic marketing initiatives, and a revised overseas expansion policy are all necessary for Payless to realize sustainable competitive advantages in

Anti -semitism :: essays research papers

Stop and think about this for a second. What if someone was torturing and killing other innocent human beings by the millions using methods of starving, shooting, gassing, burning, and hanging. You might say, “Oh, that could never happen.'; Well it has. During World War II, millions of innocent human beings were killed, all because of one man who had an obsession for power and supremacy. This man that I speak of is an anti-Semitist, meaning someone who is prejudiced against Jews or another race. This man along with his many other followers thought Jews were an alien race. Throughout this paper you will find out who this man is, what he did, why he did it. Also, you will learn about what life was like for the Jews during this time. After reading this I hope that you will have a better idea of what anti-Semitism is and how one man’s obsession turned to millions of lost lives. The man I mentioned in the first paragraph obviously had a name. His name was Adolf Hitler. Let me give you some background information on him. He was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau am Inn, Austria. His father was a minor customs official and his mother was a peasant girl. He never completed high school and was a poor student. He twice applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, but was not accepted for lack of talent. He read large amounts of books which helped him develop an anti-Jewish and anti-democratic attitude. Hitler fought in World War I for the Bavarian army. Although a courageous soldier he was never promoted above private first class because he was lacking in leadership qualities. In September 1919 he joined the nationalist German Workers’ Party. In April of 1920 he went to work full time for the newly renamed National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party. In 1921 he was elected party chairman and given dictorial powers. By this time he had developed e xtreme racist qualities and an extreme hate for Jews. In 1923 he tried to seize Bavaria but had no success. There was an increase in the number of Nazi’s between the years of 1929 and 1930. Hitler was then appointed Chancellor of Germany. Hitler started a campaign to destroy world Jewry. He met with high ranking officials and created the final solution to the Jewish problem, and in 1933 the first of many German concentration camps was built.

Innocence in Daisy Miller, My Antonia, and the Great Gatsby Essay

Innocence in Daisy Miller by Henry James, My Antonia by Willa Cather and the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is not as easy as it seems to distinguish who is innocent and who is not. Innocence is a cultural concept which is usually confusing. An act that is naà ¯ve and normal in one society can be a public disgrace in another. Then a question comes to mind: What is innocence? Challenging the norms of a society makes a person totally wicked? What spoils or preserves innocence? The word innocence is ambiguous. It has double vision because people put different masks on their faces for different occasions. Innocence is also one of the themes that can be focused on three American novels: Daisy Miller by Henry James, My Antonia by Willa Cather and the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. These three books help the reader to see the other side of the medallion and they suggest that it is our prejudices and cultural differences which shape our view of others. To start with James' novella Daisy Miller, the reliability of the narrator can be discussed. Winterbourne, an American but a Europeanised man is told to be an "extremely amiable fellow, universally liked." Everything looks alright with him. There seems to be no way to discuss his honesty, his innocence can be discussed because he does not really try to help Daisy. He is only affected by her in a physical way. If he had a chance of flirting with Daisy, he would not miss that chance also he would not marry her. He regards her as an innocent, fresh, and young lady but also he thinks that he is common and unsophisticated Winterbourne is not together with Daisy all the time. This is why his reliability as a source can be discussed. He is confused by her and t... ... illusions. They live in a broken paradise. Their life is full of corruption, moral decadence, hypocrisy, abusive power of money and shattered dream. Theirs is a demoralized civilization. But their honesty and innocence are not only corrupted by inner forces but also by the environmental factors. They live in a time of excess. They are a lost generation and they are afraid of poverty and worship to success as Fitzgerald says. To conclude James and Cather's novel characters have similar qualities. The females do not look moderate but they have a pure heart. Fitzgerald, who criticizes the corruption of American dream -not the dream itself- satirically presents seemingly respectable but actually spoiled and lost characters. These three novels tell the reader not to judge people just by appearance and they allow people to gain a new perspective on human behavior.

Archetypes in Grendel Essays -- Grendel Essays

Consistent in literature throughout every era and culture, archetypes represent a recurring image, pattern, or motif mirroring a typical human experience.   An idea developed by Carl Jung, archetypes in literature exist as representations reflecting vital perceptions of the human psyche expressing the manner in which individuals experience the world.   Using Jung’s concept, writers of all epochs embeds archetypes in structures, characters, and images of their narratives.   John Gardner, in his novel Grendel, integrates several of Jung’s archetypes into his epic tale derived from the early story Beowulf.   Gardner associates Jung’s personas of the outcast, the shadow, and the mentor-pupil relationship through the identities of Grendel, the narrator of events, and the dragon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The outcast, an identity relating to nearly every humanistic myth or story, represents the tragic creature Grendel. A giant beast with the intellectual equivalence of a human, Grendel lives nearly half his life before realizin...

Environmental issues Essay

Nowadays, environmental issues are rapidly raising concerns and awareness to the society. It is good to know that problems involving environmental neglect and degradation are a problem of environmentalists no more, but also of politicians and ordinary citizens as well. Say, we should analyze a hypothetical problem regarding the issuance of business license in a local western coast, where two pre-dominant businesses already exist, a bait fish fishery of pilchards and an oyster lease. There are two promising businesses vying for the license, a Tuna Cage Farm and a Dolphin Swim Tourism Project. Both of the new establishments would create added benefits and disadvantages to the area and the pre-existing businesses, so the choice should be carefully examined. Primarily, the bait fishery in the western coast consists of pilchards. Pilchards are any of various small marine fishes especially the commercially important edible species. These pilchards are caught throughout the year, mostly during the night, using purse seine nets. The nets are pursed and drawn to an area adjacent to the vessel, and fish are removed from the net with pumps and placed in the hold of the boat. In layman’s term, pilchards have a wild capture. Unlike the wild pilchard capture, the tuna harvest is spawned in floating cages. Since it is a controlled environment, the unutilized feed components in the cages usually accumulate in the ambient water columns and substantially alter the benthic environment for the fishes. The toxic wastes from tuna cages caused massive pilchard mortalities, as shown in 1995 and 1998 incidents. Furthermore, the toxic wastes spread far at a rapid pace, about 500 km in 20 days, as shown in graph. The Dolphin Swim project, on the other hand, would introduce more boats that might disrupt the spawning season of the pilchards. There is also a probability that dolphins would consider the pilchards as prey. But aside from that, the dolphins can co-exist peacefully with the pilchards. The benthic area is preserved and the probable food cycle is just a natural process. Moreover, the industry in the coast will be promoted. Comparatively, it is evidently more harmful to facilitate a tuna cage farm with a co-existing pilchard industry; thus, the Dolphin Swim project should be favored. The decision was based on two significant aspects; which business is economically efficient while remaining ecologically sustainable. The Dolphin Swim Industry fulfilled these criteria.

Affirmative Action: The Bane of Progress

The Bane of Progress Delimitation Is something any rational member of society would Like to dispel. Discrimination is something that has stunted the growth of the great country of America for a number of years. A policy called affirmative action was introduced to prioritize the Inclusion of minorities in a number of aspects. Affirmative action in university admissions started in the late asses as an effort to Jump-start racial integration. Affirmative action In college admissions decisions has certainly made an Impact, some would argue an Impact for the worst.Through numerous studies and endings, It has been shown that affirmative action does not Increase enrollment of minority students on a large scale or benefit them while in essence it actually hurts members of well represented ethnicities and races. Affirmative action in the college admissions process can be looked at in two ways. Supporters of affirmative action claim that affirmative action is the perfect policy to make up for the racism and discrimination of the past. Dissenters of affirmative action believe that affirmative action actually counteracts what It's trying to do.Affirmative action gives minorities priority over well represented races and ethnicities, despite similar standing. So, it could be understood how this controversial policy could be disliked. Affirmative action bans can and have been enacted by certain states in the US. Affirmative action bans can be perceived in two different ways by minority affiliated prospects. These minority students may decide not to apply to colleges with affirmative action bans because they feel as though they aren't wanted or that the school Is racist and discriminating.The situation can also be looked at In the fact that their admission to the school had nothing to do with their race or ethnicity. This viewpoint allows for a rational understanding as to why one did or did not get into a certain college. The effects of affirmative action are incredibly long withstanding. Affirmative action calls upon one's race in an admissions decision to be a tie-breaker, but racial preferences are far more than tie-breakers. As referred to In â€Å"Mismatch† by Richard Sander and Stuart Taylor, colleges use a sort of â€Å"academic Index† when It comes to determining which students to admit or not.It is a points system based on act/sat scores as well as GAP. These universities that value affirmative action instruct their admissions officers to roughly mirror the racial makeup of the applicants, which is typically 9% black. (Mismatch) So it is in adherence with this policy that the admissions officer will take a minority student with a significantly lower academic index score and add a certain amount of points so that he or she qualifies over a significant white candidate. Almost all colleges that Implement racial preferences have either an explicit or an implicit weight assigned to race.These schools believe that they have to have a ce rtain percentage of the student body be represented by each minority. Thus in theory throwing out any competitive white students who weren't top tier but were academically more successful than their minority peers. These racial preferences lead too â€Å"cascade effect†. The top institutions get their pick better matched at a lower-tier school. The second tier of schools then loses out on students that would have been good matches there thus making them reach for worse matches to compose their student body and so forth.The racial preferences when enacted create a domino effect, causing each school on the chain to have worse and worse student matches. The cascade effect is multiplied by the number of schools using racial preferences. It Just gets worse and worse for every institution as long as affirmative action is enacted. In simplest terms, students chosen by top-tier institutions that weren't exactly qualified begin to fail and suffer. They have been stripped of their oppo rtunities to prosper in that they have been accepted into top- tier institutions which actually aren't best for them.In the vicious cycle of affirmative action, the racial preferences create the mismatch effect. The mismatch effect being that minority students with lower qualifications who get into top-tier schools because f racial preference struggling at the top-tier schools thus creating a mismatch between the student and the institution. All the while that student could have prospered at a lower-tier school where their skills would blossom better. The mismatch effect has many components. A significant study was conducted by Dartmouth College psychologists Rogers Elliot and A.C. Streets. These two psychologists noticed something was wrong with one facet of racial integration. Dartmouth was not producing very many black or Indian scientists. For the study the psychologists gathered the admissions and transcripts data on some five thousand dents form four of the nation's most elite schools. The researchers found out that in high school blacks were actually more likely to major in science, math, engineering, or technology (known as STEM) than whites. The thing that was peculiar about this though, was the students' academic preparation.Students who entered the top higher education institutions with a math SAT score under 550 were only about one- fifth as likely to graduate with a STEM degree as students with a math SAT score over 700. (Mismatch) These minority students who were admitted into the top academic institutions came in with generally less knowledge. This caused these students to become weeded out of the STEM majors group because they simply couldn't handle the course material that they were given that the whites admitted were handling well.These minority students simply weren't a match for the top academic institutions, not because they weren't as gifted but they weren't given a structurally sound previous education in high school like most well repre sented races were. The mismatch effect has entirely led students who have all the potential to prosper and succeed to end up failing or falling behind Just because they weren't previously given he best opportunities. It is by no flaw of their own that minority students seemed to fail in higher academic institutions.Affirmative action and its racial preferences actually diminished their chances of success through its counterproductive methods of implementation. Many began to realize that affirmative action was actually hurting higher education. Once this began getting realized, affirmative action bans began coming into play. Call to play the University of California. In 1995 there was a vote by the board of regents of the university to end racial and gender preferences across the nine-campus system.In 1996 there was a vote by California voters to adopt an initiative called Proposition 209, which affirmed and extended the viewpoints on Prop 209. Those who were against affirmative acti on took it quite well and were quite content with the proposition. Those who were for affirmative action went to great lengths to deter the proposition. Prop 209 was incredibly hated by organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (UCLA), The National Organization for Women (NOW), the NAACP, and the feminist majority.Minorities and women alike took Proposition 209 as an assault to them. Proposition 209 outshoot the test though, and it came with many common fears. Many believed the race-blind admissions process would dramatically reduce minority enrollment. (Mismatch) It could obviously be inferred that less minority students would be admitted to the top-tier institutions, but there was also the idea of the â€Å"chilling effect†. Many feared that black and Hispanic students would find institutions with Prop. 209 in effect would be hostile environments for them.They believed the minority students wouldn't choose these schools because they felt unwanted there. This proposition created what would become the â€Å"warming effect†. The announced ending of racial preferences at University of California schools coincided with a Jump in the rate in which blacks and Hispanics accepted offers of admissions from US schools. This warming effect was particularly large at the most elite US schools, which had previously used the largest racial preferences. Minority enrollment seemed largely unaffected at the three elite campuses.The implementation of Prop. 209 actually made the top-tier blacks and Hispanics want to try and attend the elite US schools. This proposition led to an increase in the most elite schools, not Just the lower tier schools. It can easily be inferred that the aura of race neutral admission policies attracted many more minority students than it repelled. Studies ended up showing that Prop. 209 had the effect of raising five-year minority graduation rates from 3 to 7 percent points. (Mismatch) The results on effects of affirmative action bans are quite consistent across the board.A study conducted by Peter Henries, done on the effects of affirmative action bans on college enrollment, educational attainment, and the demographic composition of universities has provided immense proof against affirmative action's claimed benefits. Henries' study found that affirmative action bans had no effect on the common college or the common student. Although the study did find that affirmative action bans decreased underrepresented minorities enrollment and increased Caucasian enrollment slightly over time.A finding of Winch's study even found that â€Å"Alternatively, an affirmative action ban may increase minority graduation rates if it reduces a mismatch between minorities and the type of college they attend. † (Henries) The study goes on to show that though affirmative action bans decrease minority enrollment in selective schools it may actually help them. As a result of Henries' study one can infer quite a few t hings. First, affirmative action bans do have an impact. Not so much of an impact at major public universities, but impacts on minority enrollment at selective universities.These bans have been shown to help, and also to hurt. Affirmative action bans are truly a case by case scenario. The grand outlook though, is one that presents bans as promoting fairness. A study by Ben Backed titled, â€Å"Do Affirmative Action Bans Lower Minority College Enrollment and Attainment? Evidence from Statewide Bans† finds quite similar results as the study done by Henries. Backed' Henries. The most important statement from Backed' study comes in his conclusion/ summary of findings.Backed' ends his study with the line, â€Å"However, the effects of affirmative action?both at top-tier schools and the university system generally?are small relative to the total population of minority students. † (Backed) These studies leave the subject of affirmative action at a moral standpoint. Both studi es show that yes, affirmative actions do effect minority enrollment at selective colleges but the effect is quite small relative to the total population of minority students. It imposes the moral question of whether race should matter when the effects are so relatively small.The evidence shows that statewide affirmative action bans do little to harm minority enrollment or graduation, so in essence race shouldn't be an issue. Affirmative action time and time again has harmed society. Even when numerous studies have been done and been proven to show that affirmative action is indeed unnecessary many argue that it is essential for societal progress. It is essential that countrywide affirmative action bans have to take place. Bans on affirmative action do o harm to minority enrollment and they actually help minority graduation rates.For example, Michigan Just recently banned affirmative action, and this is something which could tremendously help create equality in admissions decisions i n the state. More and more states continue to adopt affirmative action bans, as it becomes more and more prevalent that affirmative action policies are actually against what they are for. These policies create racial segregation and create a divide that is unnecessary. A person's ethnicity or race should have no role in whether or not they get into a college. In today's 21st century society all members are valued equally.

Albert Camus and “The Stranger”

Albert Camus is a French writer and philosopher, Nobel Prize winner in 1957, an author who is usually referred as existentialist (although he rejected this), a   man who was called â€Å"Conscience of the West†. Camus was born in 1913 in Algeria in a family of a French settler and a Spanish woman.His father died during the First World War in 1914. Camus mother moved to the suburbs of Algiers where the family had to survive in poor living conditions. However in 1923 Camus was accepted into the lycà ©e and afterwards managed to gain entrance to the University of Algiers. At this time Camus became interested in football, yet tuberculosis has put an end to his hobby.During his studies Camus continued to experience material problems and so he had to take odd jobs like a clerk or a tutor. Those hardships still did not prevent purposive Camus to present his master thesis on Neo-Platonism in 1936.While in the University Camus joined the communist movements of various kinds and then the anarchist party. Camus wrote numerous publications on anarchism and founded a Worker’s Theater in 1935. Political publications cost him job in 1939. In 1940 he decided to join the French army to fight against the Nazi, but he failed due to tuberculosis. Camus did not die at war with the Germans as his father, and had to witness Nazi parades in Paris and the execution of Gabriel Pà ©ri – an event that crystallized Camus anti-German views.In 1942 he returned to Algeria where he stayed until the Allies returned to Paris. During the Was Camus joined a cell of Resistance movement and published and underground newspaper.   Anarchism remained in Camus mind for the rest of his life. He supported anarchists during Spanish civil war and later in the 50-s during anti-communist apprising in Germany, Poland and Hungary.In 1951 he published â€Å"The Rebel† – a philosophical analysis of rebellion which demonstrated his alienation from communism and resulted in breach of his friendship with Sartre, however, strengthened his friendship with George Orwell, with whom he opposed totalitarianism of both East and West.Together with Orwell and others he organized the European Federalist Movement in 1945 and welcomed the ideas of UN and European federation, which later failed as a result of domination of Churchill’s idea of European Union.At the time Camus became known as a dogmatic opponent of restrictions of freedom of any kind, and a principal antagonist of death penalty, which he castigated in â€Å"The Plague† and especially in â€Å"The Stranger†. Camus was also one of the first cultural activists who protested against nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as nuclear weapons themselves.Family life of Camus was not so stable, as his political opinions. In 1934 he married Simone Hie – a woman who was addicted to morphine, however, he soon divorced her as a result of infidelities of both. In 1940 he marri ed for the second time. This time his wife was Francine Faure, talented pianist and mathematician.Love of Camus to Francine was so passionate that he even rejected his own anarchist views on marriage as unnatural institution. After marriage Camus had numerous affairs with other women, which he did not even try to hide. Still on September 5, 1945 Francine gave birth to twins Catherine and Jean.Camus life ended in a traffic accident on January 4, 1960 near Sens. France. His close friend and publisher Michel Gallimard drove the car and also perished. Camus grave in the Lourmarin Cemetery, Lourmarin, Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Cà ´te d'Azur, France. The twin children of Camus still hold copyright on all of his works[1].[1] O. Todd. Albert Camus: A Life. Da Capo Press; 1st Carroll & Graf Ed edition. 2000.