Motivating Middle School Boys

Motivation of Middle School Boys in Math Class Abstract Middle school is a time of physical, emotional and social change for boys. When students hit middle school, academics tend to take a back seat to all of the new activity in their lives. For boys, middle school is increasingly difficult. In addition to the physical and emotional changes, the academic curriculum becomes more challenging and rigid. This does not align with a typical boy's learning style. Many boys in middle school are struggling through hard times at home.Situations may include challenges such as little to no parental support, poverty, and malnutrition. With all of the possible circumstances disrupting their home lives, it is hard for these boys to concentrate on how to solve an equation in math class. Teachers need to motivate boys by providing relevant, hands-on curriculum. Three ways that teachers can do this is by including family members in the classroom, using friendly competition in the form of games and con tests, and by relating mathematical lessons and material to real-life situations and interests that the boys might have. IntroductionBy seventh grade, most students have had years of poor attendance, little parental support, and many other issues related to poverty. They simply do not see the importance of mathematics in everyday life and how math can lead to better things for them. Males, in particular, want to continue the lifestyle they were raised in; showing little to no effort when it comes to the math classroom. This paper discusses three reasons why mathematics teachers should incorporate meaningful motivation strategies as a tool to motivate middle school males in the mathematics classroom. Including Family in the ClassroomOne way that teachers can help to motivate boys in the middle school classroom is to include their families in the classroom. The relationship between family and school influences the academic achievement of middle school students. These family relationsh ips and parental involvement mold students’ educational development drastically. Murdock and Miller (2003) refer to family as a major influence in how middle school boys deal with learning, peers, and motivation. They state â€Å"families play the most important role in students’ lives as they transition from elementary school to middle school†.The absence of a parent can play a very important role in the success of a student, so when the student sees that there is a connection between the classroom and their family, they are motivated to succeed. Middle school math teachers should try their best to create a sense of family cohesion and teamwork in the classroom. Teachers can do this by always making sure parents are aware of what is happening in the classroom, keeping the lines of communication open, and even incorporating projects that might need the student to work with a member of their family to complete it.Haim Ginott’s theory of congruent communica tion states that teachers should always use communication that is harmonious with students’ feelings about situations (Charles, 2008). This can be applied to idea of including families in the classroom because teachers need to keep the lines of communication open not only with their students, but with their students’ families. By taking the time to talk to students about situations arising in the classroom, it will be easy for teachers to communicate with parents about similar situations and the lack of motivation within the classroom.When students know that their families are involved in their academics, they are more inclined to succeed in the classroom. Introduce Competition Next, a second way that teachers can help to motivate middle school boys while in the classroom is to include the use of different games and contests. Most boys respond well to competition with their peers. They will force one another to greater speeds, improved accuracy and higher achievement i n the name of winning. Boys thrive on competition, so any type of game or activity that allows them to go against a peer in a competitive manner will motivate them to perform.In the following quote, Conti explains why he believes that competitions in the math classroom can spark an interest in math for boys. â€Å"Mathematics competitions are probably the extracurricular academic programs with the widest participation. The most immediate value of these math contests is obvious – they pique students’ interest in mathematics and encourage them to value intellectual pursuits. Boys love games, and many will turn just about any activity into a contest, or in other words, something to get good at.Math contests thus inspire them to become good at mathematics just like sports encourage physical fitness. Eventually, students put aside the games. By then, hopefully an interest in the underlying activity has developed† (Conti, 2001). Teachers should create competitions by having students race against one another to solve math problems or turning a test review into a basketball game, allowing students to shoot a basket for every correct answer. The teacher could also place students in groups and award points based on certain behaviors and completed tasks.A prize would be awarded to the group with the highest score at the end of the week. Jacob Kounin would agree with this point based on his theory of lesson momentum and withitness. Kounin believes that classroom teachers should be able to do a multitude of things at one time, including presenting motivating and engaging lessons, managing the class, and being aware of the classroom surroundings (Charles, 2008). He states that good teachers keep students from getting bored or otherwise frustrated with lessons.By including competition in the form of games and contests in the classroom, the teacher is able to keep the boys motivated with a lesson while still controlling the needs of the class. When boys k now they have a chance to show off their skills by winning something, they will immediately become engaged and motivated to participate. Provide Connections to Real-Life Therefore, a third way that middle school math teachers can motivate boys within the classroom is to connect the material to real-life applications.Students, particularly those who come from backgrounds that undervalue education, will benefit from this strategy. Stein (1993) expressed his belief in real-world connections revolving around math lessons by stating â€Å"Because students often feel that mathematics is the subject least relevant to their daily lives, it is an important arena in which teachers can attempt to incorporate students’ funds of knowledge in the context of culturally relevant mathematics instruction†. For middle school boys, school itself is often the least important factor in their lives.Teachers can tap into their focus by relating topics to important interests in their lives. On e way for teachers to do that is to use democratic teaching; a theory of Rudolf Dreikurs. Democratic teaching occurs in a classroom in which the teacher and students work together to make decisions about how the class will function (Charles, 2008). This applies to the idea of connecting math with real-world situations. Students want to know how what they are learning will benefit them in their future lives.By brainstorming different topics and careers that the students are interested in, the teacher can then develop lessons that explain how those interests or careers are affected by mathematics. Teachers should show boys how math affects their everyday lives in areas such as: household maintenance, calculating car mileage, budgeting, making larger purchases (cars and houses), or solving problems that are important to them. Connecting math to future careers can also help to motivate boys in math class.Many unmotivated boys do not realize the importance of math for success in college or the role that math plays in careers that are not overtly math-oriented. Stein also claimed that by using problems that interest and excite the students' curiosity, students are keen to develop important problem-solving strategies. These strategies can be applied in everyday situations, not just in the mathematics classroom. Conclusion The use of meaningful and male-related motivational strategies in middle school mathematics classrooms are a great way to motivate and help boys succeed.Most boys are very intelligent when it comes to numbers and math, however it may seem â€Å"too cool† to get good grades and to apply yourself. Middle school is where students generally begin to find themselves, and a determined teacher can help to motivate students to choose the right path. A teacher’s responsibility is to make sure they have done everything in their power to help their students succeed. This means reaching out to parents, changing lessons to fit the needs of the unmo tivated students in the classroom, and changing your classroom management strategies to help engage and excite the students.With little to no parental support or guidance for many boys in the classroom, a male math teacher may be exactly what these boys need. But will these same strategies work with a female math teacher? References: Charles, C. M. (2008). Twentieth-Century Pioneers in Classroom Discipline. Building Classroom Discipline (Ninth Edition). Boston: Pearson. Conti, R. , Collins, M. A. , & Picariello, M. L. (2001). The impact of competition on intrinsic motivation and creativity: Considering gender, gender segregation nd gender role orientation. Personality and Individual Differences, 31(8), 1273- 1289 Grossman, H. (2004). Classroom behavior management for diverse and inclusive schools. (3rd edition). Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. Murdock, T. , Miller, A. (2003). Teachers as Sources of Middle School Students’ Motivational Identity: Variable-Centered and Person-Ce ntered Analytic Approaches. The Elementary School Journal, 103(4), 383-399. Stein, S. L. (1993). Young's vision. The Mathematics Teacher, 86, 330-333.

Operation Design And Operational Essay

2b. Please see my Allied COG-CV analysis, which specifies the critical factors for the Allied forces for Operation Torch (i.e., at the operational level). 2c. Please see my Axis COG-CV analysis, which specifies the critical factors for the Axis forces during Operation Torch (i.e., at the operational level). 3. The Allied forces indirectly attack the enemy’s theater COG (i.e., the Panzer Armee N. Africa) by–at the operational-level of war—by specifying operational-level objectives that attack the operational-level COG’s critical vulnerabilities and –ultimately—contribute to the defeat of the strategic-level COG. Please see my operational-level objectives for the Allied forces. 3a. 3b. Please see my Allied COG-CV analysis for Operational Torch. It specifies the Allied, operational-level COG as _________________. Please see my Allied operational approach for Operation Torch, which specifies objectives that include the protection of the forces’ critical vulnerabilities. 4. 4a. Please see my operational approach for the Allied Forces’ Operation Torch, which specifies both the Allied main effort and decisive point(s). I specified the following decisive point(s):_______________. By prioritizing my objectives and considering them in light of the Allied Forces main effort and most important lines of operation/lines of effort, I’ve selected the most important objective(s) as my decisive point(s). 5. 5a. If the Axis forces achieve a sufficient number of its objectives (which attack the Allied critical vulnerabilities at the operational level) such that the Allied forces must change their form of maneuver (e.g., the Allied  forces can not longer continue the attack), the Allied forces will have culminated. 5b. If the Allied forces achieve a sufficient number of its objectives (which attack the Axis critical vulnerabilities at the operational level) such that the Axis forces must change their form maneuver (e.g., the Allied forces con no longer continue the attack), the Axis forces will have culminated. Reasons for Initiating Operation Torch – – The Allies planned to occupy Vichy France to prevent the land from being occupied by Axis; the invasion would eventually force Axis powers to fight a two-front war; also helped to diminish transportation of supplies to Axis forces; Key Personalities (Involvements) – – General Dwight D. Eisenhower – – Jean Francois Darlan – – Andrew Cunningham – Objective(s) of Operation Torch – – Allies planned to team up with Vichy France in North Africa in order to take Tunisia before Germans could occupy it from nearby Sicily. After invading North Africa and convincing the French to join the Allies, American and British forces planned to head directly to Sicily, invade, and move up to the core of Europe. Victory here would also allow the Allies to clear up the Mediterranean of Axis forces for their own personal use. Important Readings – from Earl Rice’s â€Å"Strategic Battles in Europe† . . . – page 24: The Americans joined their British allies. Roosevelt’s military advisers wanted to build up immediately for an invasion of the European mainland later in the year or early in 1943. Churchill and his counselors declared that an invasion of the continent so soon would be next to impossible because of insufficient time to assemble the necessary forces and  too few available landing craft in which to haul them across the English Channel. Churchill and his advisors did not want to risk a failed invasion. – page 25: Churchill instead favored extending operations in North Africa, where British forces were already fighting. he argued that seizing North Africa and beyond would introduce American troops to the action, boost American morale and appease Stalin’s demands for a second front. But Roosevelt’s advisors were unreceptive to Churchill’s plan and suggested redirecting U.S efforts to the Pacific Theater. In June 1942, Churchill told Roosevelt that Britain was both unable and unwilling to†¦

The Rise of Public Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Rise of Public Education - Essay Example If any schooling was required, learning was best through father and son interaction. The system of education for the citizens (the professionals) is to learn under a reputable master, through experience, observation and experimentation. The best students are to progress on to higher learning. Aristotle, like Plato, believed that learning by experience is the better, and preferred, teaching method. They differ, however, on the government’s role. For Plato, government intervention begins when the citizen performs military or civil service at the age of twenty-five. Aristotle believed in a broader role for government. He proposed that children be commonly instructed, in publicly provided places, by government-appointed teachers. (Rit Nosotro) Americans assume that there have always been public schools in the US. Public education presupposes equal access for all, and converges with the democratic ideals that created the republic. Contrary to public belief, there was no public school system set up when the American Revolution triumphed. The people did not place the provision of education in the hands of government. There is even no mention of education in the Constitution. (Blumenfield 1999) American education historians consider the New England colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire as the cradle of public education. Seventeenth century New England towns maintained common schools for children to learn to read. These common schools however differ from the present-day public schools because attendance was not compulsory, they were not publicly funded, and the more prevalent forms of learning was through private tutors and parents. Nevertheless, the New England common schools are considered as the precursor of public schools because law required them. Massachusetts had a law in 1647 that required providing education. Insuring that children learn to read and write were required for towns that had fifty

Shifting the Social Balance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Shifting the Social Balance - Essay Example This shift represents a major step in the development of civilization because it focuses on hard evidence, observable fact, and verifiable conclusions. Science opened up the possibility of questioning long-held beliefs and examining them for truth while the Enlightenment made it possible to hold these debates in public, even refuting concepts that proved inaccurate. Revolutionary tools and ideas illustrate how the Scientific Revolution influenced society while the Enlightenment firmly established science and reason as the only logical standard on which to base worldly human thought. Copernicus, somewhat by accident, touched off the Scientific Revolution in the early 16th century when he wrote to Pope Paul III for support in his recent astrological findings. Using solid math, appropriate research and direct observation, Copernicus concluded that the Earth revolved around the sun rather than, as the Church would have people believe, the Sun revolving around the Earth (Copernicus 1543 c ited in Levick, 2004: 524). His evidence was meticulously outlined and his conclusions were sound, but his ideas were introduced to a mostly unreceptive public who still preferred to believe they were central to God's creation. Galileo, introducing some of these same ideas, would gain greater exposure for the idea thanks to the recent invention of the telescope. This made it possible for other people to go and observe with their own eyes the rotations both Galileo and Copernicus had outlined - helped a bit with Galileo's high-class 'star-gazing' parties (Kaku, 2008). Through a simple telescope such as those used by Galileo and his friends, it is possible to see the craters of the moon and the orbits of some of the moons of Jupiter. These observations, combined with sound mathematic principles, made it possible for Galileo, and Copernicus, to prove reality. â€Å"All reasonings about mechanics have their foundations in geometry, in which I do not see that largeness and smallness mak e large circles †¦ subject to properties different from those of small ones† (Levick, 2004: 322).

P&O Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

P&O - Assignment Example ompany can advertise after sidelining all difficulties and after getting 100 percent surety that no new problems are about to occur and I am sure that the old customers would definitely get attracted toward this goodwill of the company as they are taking all the customers on no profit. 1b. 1b. The buyers are the people who are adventurous and who can really pay all they have in order to be on the voyage, you can see that there are numerous of people who have their life savings and also there life incentives on the line just to get the great feeling and pleasure of such a wonderful tour, each and everyone got attracted towards such a great luxurious service, they paid a big sum to be a part of it and still they did not get that all, though it is quite difficult to predict that they all are satisfied or dissatisfied but according to the research that was conducted by the researchers, most of the people ere found disappointed simply because it is not a product that you can use and get dissatisfied or satisfied, but it is exactly like playing with someone's emotions like you can see that most of the people who were young or not that old gave each and every thing they had just to be on the voyage but suddenly they heard about the incidence and they all got disappointed , it is not a kind of service that every cruising company would be providing but very few provide it and that even once in a blue moon and so you cannot ask the people to get on some other cruise providing such service and so you cannot really play with such people's emotions, the entire decision process was revolving around a wonderful dream, you cannot really find someone who is an ordinary person and willing to invest there entire savings at the same time, so all the company did was that they targeted people having adventurous thinking and they just simply did not make there dreams come true, so most of the dissatisfaction was caused in the segment they targeted, however there are few people who really think that the company handled the situation exceptionally well, but they should not be counted in the target as they are lot more experienced and cannot simply think that way a youngster can think, also the discount thing did not work for them as most of the people paid discounted amount earlier and got even more money than they paid this all did not worth as the primary objective of every buyer was go on voyage. 2a. The P&O and Ikea both have put just normal efforts in communicating about their services and products, it was certainly not

Entrepreneur Interview and Personal Analysis Essay - 1

Entrepreneur Interview and Personal Analysis - Essay Example Establishing a new business venture is often seen as a challenge by many aspiring entrepreneurs hence there is need for outstanding ideas in order to appeal to the interests of the potential customers. Mr Jones said that he carefully scanned the market for any opportunity and he gathered as much information and ideas as possible to come up with an ideal business venture. Therefore, the rationale of the interview questions to the interviewee is to solicit for responses about his preparedness and willingness to accept the risk and uncertainties for the success of the new venture. As noted, entrepreneurship is about building something of recognised value around perceived opportunities which implies that innovation is something the entrepreneur is continually doing (Burke, 2006). Innovation is concerned with finding a unique way of offering a particular service or product to the market while utilising resources in such a way that there are likely risks to be encountered since the targete d customers may not readily accept the offering. ... In deciding the scope of his business, Mr Jones pointed that there were some pull factors that compelled him to try the untested market segment he had realised. Thus, the concept of push factor in business is refers to those influences which can push the individuals towards venturing in a business opportunity that exists in the market which is not fully covered by the other players (Burke, 2007). Therefore, the purpose of the interview was to get a clear understanding of how Mr Jones identified this gap in the market and how he came up with the idea of establishing this business venture. This entrepreneur is proud of his success in the carpet cleaning business which he started a couple of years ago. Evaluation of the entrepreneur A critical evaluation of the attitude of Mr Jones shows that he possesses various entrepreneurial skills which can be attributed to his success. First and foremost, it can be noted that this entrepreneur created his carpet cleaning business enterprise after realising the need in the market for this particular service given that the targeted customers could not employ people to do the job for them on a permanent basis but had to rely on services provided by others ate a substantial cost. As aptly pointed out by Bessant & Tidd (2007), an entrepreneur is always on the lookout for new opportunities, either in existing enterprise or in the creation of a new enterprise. Very often, the consumer does not even realise that he needs the service and this is the strategy that was utilised by Mr Jones where he developed this service and brought it to the attention of the consumers through utilization of different marketing techniques. The approach

Flag-Draped Coffins from Iraq Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Flag-Draped Coffins from Iraq - Essay Example Whatever the costs of this war, however gruesome its details; the American people should know the real cost of this war. The Bush administration claims that its decision to forbid news organization from publishing pictures of war dead at military bases is not new. It argues that this has been the policy of administrations since the first Gulf War in 1991. The purpose of this decision it claims is to protect the feelings of the families of the victims. Scott McClellan the White House press secretary had stated that those who had made the greatest sacrifice in the service of the country should be honored and shown the greatest respect. And this she said is the president's primary concern. The administration Kathy Moakler, deputy director of government relations at the National Military Family Association, emphasized that the only purpose in banning publication of pictures of military dead being brought back to the country was to protect the privacy of the families who had lost a loved one. "At the devastating time [of loss], being sensitive to the families is what needs to be done," she said. (Madore) Another reason the administration cited for its objection to the publication of pictures of war-dead, was that this would be depressing to the families involved and attenuate the sacrifice our troops are making in the service of the country. The administration also stated that its objection to the publication by news agencies of photographs of flag-draped coffins was in keeping with the sentiments of the mourning families. It claimed that such publication invariably led to the invasion of the privacy of these families. The News Media Has its Own Conviction The news media has its own conviction. It is of the view that the American public has the prerogative to also know the cost of this war in terms of American lives. Besides the Freedom of Information Act of 1966, gives the American public the right to information relating to the operations of federal agencies. 3 It reasons that reporters in the actual field of battle are given unbridled access to the war. This being the case, it claims that the administration's ban on the publication of photographs of war-dead is its attempt to censor crucial war images. The news media claims that the policy of administrations on such matters has not been consistent. And in support of this it cites the instance of President H. W. Bush allowing media coverage of war-dead being brought back home from Panama and other wars in which the US was involved, but banned it during the first Gulf war. It also states that in 2000 the Clinton administration allowed publication of photographs of the victims of the terrorist attack on the warship USS Cole. It contends that the ban of 1991 was the consequence of some TV networks simultaneously airing split screen images of the then-president laughing in one portion, and coffin ceremonies of Gulf war I, in another. This time around the imposition of the ban on photograph publication was the Government's desire for secrecy. The news media contends that pictures of dead servicemen were being published as "a

Research papers on the Child Care Effects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Research papers on the Child Care Effects - Essay Example Research interest in the frequency and quality of child care is due to the ongoing affects of early childhood experiences (Ochitree, 1994). Many theorists argue that long periods of separation from the caregiver, in combination with poor quality child care, can negatively affect a child’s development (The NICHO, 2005, p.259). Other theorists contend that child care can affect a child’s development in many positive ways (The NICHO, 2005, p.269). This paper will review the literature with the research hypothesis that: Child care can affect a child’s development both positively and negatively. Firstly, negative arguments shall be presented. Secondly, positive arguments will be provided. Next child care quality and its affects will be highlighted. Finally, a conclusion shall synthesize the main arguments, and state how the research hypothesis has been supported. Young children who regularly attend child care may be more at risk of social maladjustment later in their lives (Lewin, 2005, p.1). It has been found that long hours in care affect a child’s ability to work and interact socially. Studies show a negative association between the amount of time a child spends in daycare, and their tendency to act-out and to develop poor interpersonal relationships. This may be due to experiences of stress, and the development of anti-social behaviors, such as non-compliancy and violence (The negative effects of childcare? 2003, p.1). One study observed that 4 1/2-year-olds who spent up to 30 hours a week in child care appeared to be more insistent, violent and disobedient as compared to their cohort not in care (Lewin, 2005, p.1). Another study found children tended to also be disrespectful in both their use of language and their behavior, and seemed to make more noise in general than their peers who did not attend care (Allhusen & Clarke-Stewar t, 2005, p.90). There is literature to support child care as

Phenomenology and Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Phenomenology and Philosophy - Essay Example We may use our senses to make up our minds and pass judgment on certain issues but not to arrive at knowledge as such. Accordingly, and as stated, it is quite safe to say that the primary difficulty that a student faces when reading through Husserl's Phenomenology is that it forwards a different process of knowledge acquisition and the formulation of ideas than we have been conditioned to operate by. Despite the fact that Husserl's philosophy is quite different from the way in which we have been normally trained to think, leading to difficulty in fully understanding him, once we open our minds to his argument and his thoughts and consider them carefully, we are hit by the dawning realization that not only is Husserl's phenomenology directly relevant to the contemporary world but, in a way expressed ideas and conceptualizations of knowledge that exist in most cultures and in many schools of philosophy. This is especially evident in his discussion on "transcendental idealism" (40) and "phenomenological reduction" (41). As defined by G. As defined by G. Boland in "Phenomenology and Philosophy," phenomenology refers to a "20th-century philosophical movement dedicated to describing the structures of experiences as they present themselves to consciousness, without recourse to theory, deduction, or assumption from other disciplines such as the natural sciences." In other words, phenomenology is a school of philosophy which states that knowledge may be, and is, obtained from the senses and by experiences, and not only by the methods of science. Although such a statement on cognitive knowledge appears so obviously true that it requires no philosophical theories to argue on its behalf, the fact is that the growing reliance on scientific knowledge as compared to the decreasing dependence on, and trust in, the types of knowledge sources argued by this philosophy determine its importance and necessity. Not only that, but phenomenology, like other schools of philosophy, does not only state theories as such bu t precisely defines the intent of those theories and the scope which they cover. It is within the context of attempting to define precisely what phenomenology embraces and determine the types of knowledge that it can be cognitively produced, that Husserl undertook his philosophical inquiry and theorization. Husserl, a German philosopher, is considered one of the founders of the phenomenology school of philosophy and, in fact was the first to use the term, "phenomenology" (Bogland). As stated by Bogland, the main aim of Husserl's philosophical writings and studies was to the examination of "the structures of consciousness that enable consciousness to refer to objects outside itself." Doing so determined a complete focus on the human mind itself and the process of idea formation that occur within its limits. This process in which the mind itself, and nothing beyond it is studied, is referred to as "transcendental reduction" (Husserl, 12) and as "phenomenological reduction" (41). One of the interesting aspects of the human mind that Husserl called attention to is the fact that the mind is not only limited in thought and consideration to objects and things that actually do exist, but has

The advantages of getting a good knowledge and learning in community Term Paper

The advantages of getting a good knowledge and learning in community - Term Paper Example One of the main advantages of getting a good knowledge and learning in the community is the reduction in illiteracy. Reduction in illiteracy means that there is an increase in literacy and knowledge. Reduction in illiteracy is also associated with a decrease in unemployment. The question is, how is getting a good education and knowledge connected with an increase in knowledge and the reduction in unemployment? It can be said that as an individual; if one obtains a good education and knowledge, and later on becomes a parent, he or she is likely to pass on the obtained education and knowledge to his or her children. Dummett, Hughes, and Stephenson (2013) reported â€Å"The problem often is that such knowledge is stored only in local people’s minds, and it is passed from generation to generation.† (p. 130). Nevertheless, a strong and formal education background enables the child to learn beyond what the community he or she resides in, hence, adding to their knowledge. Enha nced knowledge goes a long way in reducing unemployment. An examination of the Arab Spring indicates that the Arab spring can be associated with the large rates of unemployment. Hamdan (2011) notes that quantity in place of quality is not appropriate for education. Passing on quality education and knowledge to each generation ensures that they gain the required concepts and ideas that they can use to develop self-employment. Self-employment means that the persons making up a large part of these generations become job creators and not job seekers. In turn, this reduces the unemployment levels by having the job creators employ more and more persons. Another advantage of getting a good education and knowledge is sustainable human development. McKeown (n.d.) opines that education is an important tool for attaining sustainability. Development alone is not enough if it cannot be sustained.

Samsung and the Theme Park Essay Example for Free

Samsung and the Theme Park Essay Charles Dhanaraj and Young Soo Kim prepared this case under the supervision of Professor Paul Beamish solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. SAMSUNG has the right to reproduce and use this case for its educational purposes. Ivey Management Services prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmittal without its written permission. This material is not covered under authorization from CanCopy or any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Management Services, c/o Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail [emailprotected] uwo. ca. Copyright  © 1996, Ivey Management Services and Samsung HRDC Version: (A) 2002-11-22. In October 1994, Her Tae-Hak, President of Samsung’s Joong-Ang Development Company was driving to his office, past the â€Å"Yongin Farmland† (Farmland), an amusement complex sprawling over 3,700 acres in the Yongin valley. Her was spearheading a major drive within the company to position the theme park as one of the world’s leading vacation resort towns. His master plan called for an investment of about US$300 million over the next five years, to be internally funded by the Samsung Group. Despite the booming Korean economy and the increasing demands for leisure attractions, the global competitive environment of the theme park industry raised several concerns. Should Samsung invest in such an aggressive expansion plan for Farmland? Was this an attractive industry for investment? Her was scheduled for a meeting with the Chairman of the Samsung Group for a formal presentation of the proposal at the end of the month. THE GLOBAL THEME PARK INDUSTRY The early 1990s saw the emergence of theme parks as a major source of family entertainment, not just in the United States but around the world. The earliest evidence of a business where people â€Å"paid money to be terrified† was in the early 1600s when several Russians operated a sled ride with a 70-foot vertical drop. In the late 1800s, several theme parks were set up in Coney Island (New York) in the United States. The first roller coaster was set up in 1884, followed by an indoor Page 2 amusement park, Sealion Park. In the 1930s, the amusement industry had to contend with alternative entertainment offered by the movie houses as well as setbacks due to economic depression. However, with the Disneyland Park opening in 1955 in California, the industry was revived and Walt Disney was credited with raising the profile, as well as the profitability, of the industry to a new height. There was a variety of parks and attractions, each with a different approach to drawing crowds and showing them a good time: Cultural and Education Parks were a remnant of the old-fashioned type of European park. Such parks featured formal greens, gardens, and fountains. Generally they incorporated historical and educational exhibits. Outdoor Amusement Parks were small parks that served a metropolitan or regional market. These parks featured traditional thrill rides, carnival midways, and some entertainment. Most amusement parks did not have a theme to the architecture, rides, and entertainment. Theme Parks were generally family-oriented entertainment complexes that were built around a theme. Theme parks were larger and had a greater variety of rides and attractions than amusement parks. Water Theme Parks were a recent phenomenon, a special type of theme parks centered on water activities. Large water parks featured wave action pools, river rides, steep vertical drop slides, and a variety of twisting flume slides. Most of the theme parks were members of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, which tracked the attendance at various theme parks. In 1993, North American parks accounted for 48 per cent of the worldwide attendance, Asian parks 33 per cent, European parks 14 per cent, and Central and South American parks four per cent (see Table 1). North America The Walt Disney Company was the largest park chain in the world with three major theme parks in the United States. Time Warner’s Six Flags Corporation was the second largest with seven parks spread out in the United States. Paramount, Anheuser Busch and Cedar Fair were some of the other conglomerates who owned theme parks. In mid-1993, Paramount bought Canada’s Wonderland theme park originally developed by Taft Broadcasting Company in 1981. Despite the mature nature of the industry in the United States, a number of theme parks were investing heavily in upgrading their facilities, and extending the theme parks’ services. 9A96M006 Page 3 Europe In 1980, Alton Towers, a 60-year old park in North Staffordshire (England), comprised primarily of historic gardens, repositioned itself as a theme park by adding a roller coaster and some other attractions. The park was extremely successful within a very short span of time. The success of Alton Towers led to a number of new theme parks in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, including Blackpool Pleasure Beach (England) that featured the world’s tallest roller coaster. In France alone, three major theme parks emerged in the early 1990s: Walt Disney’s $3 billion Euro Disney, the $150 million Parc Asterix located northeast of Paris, and the $110 million Big Bang Schtroumpf (Smurfs) theme park just north of Metz. Six Flags Corporation and Anheuser-Busch both recently opened new theme parks in Spain coinciding with the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Asia Tokyo Disneyland was opened in 1983 by Walt Disney as a joint venture with the Oriental Land Company (OLC). The success of Tokyo Disneyland set off a wave of theme park developments in Asia. OLC and Disney had agreed to open a second theme park, â€Å"Tokyo Disney Sea† in 2001. Ocean Park in Hong Kong, started in 1977, was the largest water park in Asia with an annual attendance of 3. 2 million. Jaya Ancol Dreamland, located in North Jakarta, Indonesia, was one of the largest recreation complexes in south east Asia. Dreamland had a theme park (Dunia Fantasi), a waterpark complex, an oceanarium, a golf course, a beach and several hotels. China was a major growth market. Beijing Amusement park, started in 1981, reported that between 1990 and 1993 revenues increased over 2,000 per cent and earnings before interest and taxes were up 200 per cent. Over the next five years, six regional theme parks were to be developed with a total investment of over $100 million. FINANCIAL ISSUES. The theme park business required a large-scale initial investment, typically ranging from $50 million to $3 billion. Depending on the real-estate markets, the cost of the land value itself could be very high. Theme parks required over 50 acres of land for a full scale development, with some of the theme parks utilizing 10,000 to 30,000 acres. Since accessibility of the park location was a key success factor in the industry, theme park developers chose land sites in a central area which was relatively expensive. Alternatively, they could choose a remote area at a low cost and develop the transportation network. In either case, the land development costs constituted nearly 50 per cent of the overall investment. The amusement machinery constituted 20 to 30 per cent of the total investment, and the working capital requirements took up the remaining 20 to 30 per cent of the investment. The amusement equipment required for the park was also expensive, most of it 9A96M006 Page 4 9A96M006 going from $1 million to $50 million. Businesses which had an in-house land development expertise or equipment technology had better control of these costs. Many parks periodically added new attractions or renovated existing ones to draw repeat customers. The parks typically reinvested much of their revenue for expansion or upgrading purposes. The economies of scale and scope were significant in the industry. Increasingly, parks got larger and larger to generate more operating revenues. Also, companies had multiple parks to take advantage of the learning curve effects in the management of theme parks and the increased economies of scope. Most of the operating expenses for theme parks (about 75 per cent) were for personnel. Admission fees1constituted over 60 per cent of the total revenues of a theme park, while the rest came primarily from food, beverage, and merchandise sales. To handle the admissions revenue a centralized ticket system was generally preferred. An all-inclusive admission price entitled customers to as many rides and shows as they desired. This approach led to longer stays at parks resulting in increased food and beverage sales. Another centralized admission method was to sell ride/show tickets in sets or coupon books (i. e. , five coupons for $5, but 12 coupons for $10). Both approaches to centralized ticket sales minimized the number of employees handling money throughout the park resulting in improved efficiency and control. Walt Disney Company’s financial profile was generally used to assess the return on investment within the industry. The revenues for the theme parks segment of the Walt Disney Company were at US$2. 042 billion in 1988 and grew to US$3. 4 billion in 1993. Operating income was pegged at US$565 million in 1988 and US$747 million in 1993. The return on equity for the Walt Disney Company was pegged at 17 to 25 per cent. One of the analysts remarked on the theme parks segment of Walt Disney: Theme parks are going to become increasingly stable and annuitylike, with the ability to generate $700 to $750 million in cash flow a year. There were signs of declining profitability in the U. S. operations, since the market was maturing and the competition was getting more intense. Tokyo Disneyland, the Japanese operation, was growing and profitable. However, EuroDisney, the European theme park, was a disaster for the company with huge losses since operations began in 1992. The company was expecting a break-even in 1995. 1. Admission fees varied from $5 to $25 depending on the location and reputation of the park. Page 5 9A96M006 MARKETING AND SOCIAL ISSUES The traditional appeal of theme/amusement parks was to preteens, teens, and young adults. Changing demographics were causing most parks to think in terms of a broader market, particularly families, corporate groups, and even senior citizens. There were five major market segments for theme parks: Local Families — people within a day’s drive who visited mostly on weekends. Most parks focused exclusively on this segment, which generally constituted 60 to 75 per cent of the attendance. Children’s Groups — schools, churches, recreation agencies, scouts, and other groups who traveled in buses on summer weekdays. The Evening Market — teens and young adults who came for entertainment, concerts, and romancing at night. Corporate Groups — included consignment sales and group parties. Tourists — a substantial market for large theme parks in destination areas such as Florida. Customer satisfaction was a critical issue in theme parks management. Successful park managers used extensive marketing research to understand their customers and also spent a lot of effort in promoting the park. To reach the diverse groups, parks emphasized increased beautification and the range of entertainment and food services offered. Theme park managers were working with tour operators and government tourist promotion boards to draw the tourist crowds to their parks. Theme parks spent about 10 per cent of their annual revenues for advertising. Radio, newspaper, yellow page (telephone book) advertisements, family and group discounts, and direct mail were the most common promotional methods. Among large theme parks, television advertising was an excellent visual medium to capture the excitement. Some parks expended a major portion of their advertising budget for television promotion. An issue for the theme parks industry was the seasonal and intermittent nature of the business. Theme parks’ attendance peaked in the spring/summer and in the school holidays. Even in the holiday season, bad weather could adversely affect the attendance. The seasonal fluctuations put a lot of strain on the theme parks’ management. During the peak season, the requirement for employees shot up; quite often the management had to find employees beyond the domestic territory and provide housing for out-of-town employees. The sudden surge in demand often choked the service systems such as transportation, building management, etc. It was the availability of leisure time and a high discretionary income that drove the commercial recreation industry. Economic downturns had a severe impact on industry revenues. Also, consumers could substitute a visit to theme parks with other modes of entertainment. Consumers substituted products/services in order to try something new, different, cheaper, safer, better, or more convenient. Free Page 6 admission parks and beaches, camping trips, or even video-movies at home were competing options for leisure time. REGULATORY ISSUES Government regulations were quite strict because of the extensive land use, and the potential for serious accidents. Licensing requirements and methods of ascertaining operational expertise to ensure visitors’ safety varied from country to country. In some countries, where land was scarce, governments limited the area of the land that the developers could take up for theme parks. Park administration was dependent on the government for utilities such as power, gas and water. A typical period required for arranging government approval for a theme park could be as high as two to five years, depending on the country. A related issue was insurance premiums. Given the likelihood of accidents in the amusement parks and the possibility of serious injury, 100 per cent insurance coverage was a must in the industry. Although safety records in the industry were very good, the insurance premiums were extremely high in some parts of the world, particularly in the United States. However, the large premiums often drove the small players in the industry out of business. Countries in Asia did not have this handicap. TECHNOLOGY ISSUES The theme park industry had three classes of inputs: the building and construction services that provided landscaping and architectural support; the hardware providers that supplied amusement machinery; and the software providers that supplied management know-how. The amusement machinery industry had grown over the years. Most of the large drives, such as the Hurricane or the Giant Wheel, were manufactured in Japan, Europe or the United States. There were fewer than 10 suppliers who were capable of developing quality machinery, such as DOGO of Japan, HUSS of Germany, and ARROW of the United States. Most of these suppliers worked globally, and the machinery were custom designed and made to order to fit the particular market and environment conditions. There were a large number of suppliers for the smaller machines, and quite often, they could be manufactured domestically. Special simulators for amusement purposes using proprietary technology were being developed by technology-intensive companies such as Sega Japan and Simex Canada. The park management expertise commonly referred to as the â€Å"software† in the industry was not easily available. Leading theme park companies, such as Walt 9A96M006 Page 7 9A96M006. Disney Company, charged huge licensing fees which were over 10 per cent of the revenues. Also, they were very selective in choosing joint ventures in other countries. Disney went through an extensive market analysis and partner profile analysis for over three years in Europe before finalizing the venue in France with the joint venture partner. Mr. Yu, director-in-charge of the Farmland project, commented: We wanted to go for a joint venture with Walt Disney Corporation. But they somehow were not interested in Korea. So we had to go it alone. It takes a long time for theme park managers to develop service delivery of world class quality. Although Walt Disney offered a number of educational programs to train other managers in the â€Å"Disney Management† style, the know-how seemed to be too sophisticated for the competitors to emulate. Virtual reality (VR) was increasingly becoming a highly lucrative mass-market entertainment phenomenon. A new entry that was due to open in July 1994 was Joypolis, a $70 million interactive theme park owned by Sega Enterprises, with projected revenues of $37 million per annum. Sega had plans to open 50 such parks in Japan, and was negotiating with Universal Studios, California, for its first U. S. installation of a VR theme park. YONGIN FARMLAND Yongin Farmland (Farmland), opened in 1976, was the first amusement park in Korea. It was managed by Joong-Ang Development Company, one of the wholly owned subsidiaries of Samsung with a mission to provide a better quality of life through healthy open-air leisure activities. In addition to the Farmland management, Joong-Ang was responsible for the building maintenance at all Samsung’s offices, as well as maintaining two golf courses. Farmland was located about an hour south of Seoul, and was owned by the Korean conglomerate, the Samsung Group (see Exhibit 1). The 3,700-acre attraction began as an agricultural center to demonstrate how mountainous land could be used productively for growing food products. Mr. Lee of Joong-Ang said, At that time, we had trouble raising enough food for our country. We created a model farm of how to work with an abandoned mountain by building a pig farm and planting fruit orchards. We changed the land use gradually through the years as we added entertainment elements. The Wild Safari was opened in 1980, and the Rose Festival, an impressive rose garden filled with 6,000 rose bushes of 160 different varieties arranged according. Page 8 9A96M006 to various themes, opened in 1985. To provide for winter entertainment, the Sled Slope was opened in 1988. A drastic departure from the traditional theme parks was taken when Yongin Farmland opened a Motor-Park in late 1993. The motor park operations incurred a loss in the first year of operations (see Table 2 for the profit and loss statement). In November 1993, Her took over as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Joong-Ang Development Company. Prior to his assignment to Joong-Ang, Her was the CEO of Cheju Shilla, a luxury hotel on Cheju Island in Korea. Her was credited with developing a world-class sea resort at Cheju Shilla which surpassed in customer service established hotel chains such as Hotel Hilton. Since taking over the reins of the company, Her had focused on improving the customer satisfaction level at Farmland, and had also been developing the plans for Farmland’s expansion. One of the major challenges was to see how the expansion plans for Farmland would match with the corporate strengths of the Samsung group. Her was aware that earlier attempts by previous management to expand Farmland had not met with the approval of the group’s Chairman. There were concerns in many quarters that the theme park industry did not fit well with the â€Å"high-tech† and the â€Å"global† image of the Samsung Group, and also that the profitability might be very low. The theme park industry was still in its early stages in Korea, and had a history of less than two decades. However, indications were that the industry was growing globally, with more players entering. Nevertheless, some of the managers did not see profitable growth opportunity in the theme park industry. One of the managers in Joong-Ang said: Theme parks may be a growing industry worldwide. That does not mean that it should be so in Korea. In Korea, we work five and a half days a week and we have annual vacation of only four to five days a year. Where do Korean people have time for theme parks? FARMLAND CUSTOMERS Traditionally, Farmland focused on the local customers. Most of its customers came from surrounding areas within two hours’ drive (see Table 3). The economic growth in Korea had been a major driving force in industry growth (see Exhibit 2). Despite the early stage of growth in the Korean leisure industry, there were six theme parks in the Seoul area including Farmland. Most notable among these were Lotte World and Seoul Land. Lotte World, started in 1989, prided itself on having the world’s largest indoor theme park with adjoining hotel, department store, shopping mall, folk village and sports centre. Commenting on Lotte’s strategy, one of the managers at Lotte World said: Page 9 9A96M006 We focus on a segment different from Farmland. Since we are located downtown, we cater to a clientele who want to drop by for a shorter period. Typically, we get office people who want to relax after a hard day’s work or couples who would like to spend some time in a romantic environment. Seoul Land, located near Seoul at Kyungkido, was also a key competitor to Farmland. With attendance at 3. 37 million, Seoul Land ranked 23rd in the â€Å"Top 50 theme parks worldwide. † Mr. Woon, one of the managers at Seoul Land, remarked: The park has a good reputation for quality special events and the people enjoy coming to the park because of its fresh air, beautiful scenery, and easy access. Despite the competition from other parks, Farmland had the highest growth rate within the Korean industry (Table 4). The seasonal nature of the theme park industry affected all the competitors, not necessarily in the same pattern (Table 5). PRICING Farmland was also going through a major change in its pricing structure. The pricing strategy in place (Table 6) was a combination of â€Å"pay-as-you-go† and â€Å"pay-one-price† system. Users had the option of paying the admission fees and buying separate tickets for rides (pay-as-you-go), that were available as coupons (Big 5 for five rides). Membership in the park was available for a price, which provided free admission for a year. The other option was to buy a â€Å"passport† (termed as â€Å"pay-one-price†) that provided admission as well as unlimited rides for one full day. The passport users were estimated at 17. 4 per cent of the attendance in 1993, and the membership holders were estimated at 75 per cent. Farmland wanted to switch gradually to the pay-one-price scheme, which was the most common pricing scheme in the leading markets. The prices across the major competitors were comparable. In 1993, average admissions and ride fee per person was 6,667 Won in Farmland, 7,279 Won in Lotte World, and 6,494 Won in Seoul Land. Theme parks also monitored the amount a visitor spent on food, beverages, and souvenirs. In 1993, average percapita expenditure on food and beverage in the three parks was 2,874 Won in Farmland, 2,017 Won in Lotte World and 1,804 Won in Seoul Land and merchandise sales per capita were 996, 1,319, and 722 Won, respectively. Page 10 9A96M006 OPERATIONAL ISSUES While there was some indication that the Samsung Group would be willing to consider a proposal for expansion of the Farmland, Her had to contend with a number of operational issues at Farmland. Based on discussions with a number of managers and customers, Her had some idea of the various issues involved in the operation of Farmland. Transportation One major issue was accessibility to the park. Yongin was 60 kilometres south of Seoul, and during peak hours, it took as long as two hours to drive from Seoul to Farmland due to traffic jams. One resident who lived very close to the Yongin area said: Actually, it should take only 15 minutes to drive from my home to Farmland. But the traffic jam is so intense that if I go to Farmland, it may take almost an hour of crawling in the traffic. That’s one main reason why I have not visited it so far. One of the managers in the marketing group commented on the critical nature of this problem: In Korea, we work five and a half days a week. Most of the time on the working days the travel time is long. All the house chores have to be done only on the weekends. Given this fact, it is only to be expected that Korean customers would not be so keen to travel on a Sunday or on a holiday if the traffic is heavy. However, many managers in Joong-Ang believed that the accessibility problem was only a temporary issue. Mr. Yu, Director of Personnel at Joong-Ang, commented: Travel difficulties are part of our life in Korea, given the small land and the large number of people. The government has plans to bring the subway up to Yongin, in which case Farmland would have a subway terminal, which will provide a lot of convenience to our people. This was echoed by one of the visitors to Farmland, who commented: I hate sitting inside my house all day. I have to get out somewhere. Seoul is too crowded and I would like to go to some place to breathe some clean air. Beaches are closed most of the season, and Page 11 9A96M006 if I want to go for some mountains or Pusan, it is too far away. So, I don’t mind driving down to Yongin to spend a relaxed day. I will skip the rush hour by leaving early from the park. Parking Another related issue was parking. Farmland had ample parking space for about 8,000 cars at one time around the four sides of the park. One of the managers who conducted an extensive analysis of the parking space said: What we have now is more or less enough for the time being. We have enough space for about 8,000 cars and at four people per car we can accommodate about 32,000 people. If we assume the lot turning over at 1. 7 times a day (at an average stay of six to eight hours), we can handle a peak attendance of 52,000. But the real problem is the seasonality. On peak days, we may get more visitors and quite often people may spend more time. If we are going to expand, this will be a major bottleneck. Part of the expansion plan included augmenting the parking spaces and also providing a â€Å"Park and Ride† scheme for visitors so that they could travel comfortably from the various car parks to the entrance. Environmental Issues Expanding Farmland meant taking over more of the land mass available in the Yongin valley. A farmer living in the Yongin valley, who was vehemently opposed to the expansion ideas, said: They (Samsung) just want to expand their business. But they don’t realize that one of the problems with cutting down the trees and leveling the ground will cause potential flooding in the surrounding region. This will damage all our crops. How will they compensate us? Organizational Inertia It was also a challenge to introduce a dynamic environment within the Farmland organization. In order to succeed in the industry, Farmland had to go through a major reorientation in its organizational style. Farmland had initiated customer satisfaction surveys recently and it was brought to the attention of the management that the customer satisfaction levels were lagging behind the key competitor, Lotte World. As one of the marketing managers noted: Page 12 9A96M006. Repeat business is very important to our survival. If we don’t satisfy our customers, they won’t come back and we won’t have any business left. But, it is not in our Korean nature to smile at strangers. We are very serious people. So it becomes all the more difficult to get the type of service you can see at Disneyland. Mr. Yu, who had pioneered a number of changes within the organization, recalled one event which demonstrated the type of organizational inertia the management had to deal with: Previously we had the head office at Seoul and we were managing the Farmland by ‘remote control. ’ We were faxing information and directives up and down. But I somehow did not see that this would be the best way to work. I insisted that the head office had to be located where our products are and only after much persuasion could we move to this place. Among other things, management was also considering a change in the recruitment process. Traditionally, Farmland had gone after the â€Å"academically best† graduates and students, which was the standard practice at Samsung. The management felt that they needed more service oriented people. The management wanted to recruit more female workers, the level of which at that time was below 25 per cent, but anticipated problems since most Korean women stopped working after marriage. Mr. Yu said: I think times are changing. For that matter, even if we have a high turnover, it may be good for us since fresh blood always brings in fresh ideas and we would be able to preserve some dynamism in our organization. THE MASTER PLAN Based on a detailed survey (Table 8) and tentative analysis, the management had put together a master plan to invest about $300 million in revamping Farmland. There were also suggestions of changing the name to provide a better image of the company. A master plan, for a phased investment of about $300 million dollars over the next two years, was being developed. Everland, Green Country, and Nature Land were some of the names proposed for the new â€Å"mountain resort. † Included in the master plan were: A waterpark to be built adjacent to the existing theme park, at an estimated cost of US$140 million, with a Caribbean theme. A Global Fair, a fun-fair indicative of the major countries in the world, at an estimated cost of $85 million. Page 13 9A96M006 Expansion of existing zoo, and parks including a night time laser show and a fable fantasy garden at an estimated cost of $50 million. The funding would come mainly from the parent, Samsung Group, and also through corporate sponsorship of the other companies within the Samsung Group. The master plan also indicated that if the first phase was successful, a second phase of developing a resort town in Yongin, with luxury hotels, golf courses, and resort accommodations would occur. (Exact budget for the second phase was not available at that stage.) A number of managers within the company who were closely involved in developing the master plan felt strongly that the theme park expansion was not only a priority but also would be a profitable venture. The General Manager of the planning group commented: What we want to create is a destination resort town and a residential community where people can come, relax and enjoy themselves in a low-stress environment. Samsung employs more than 180,000 people here in Korea. This will give them a place to come and be proud of. There will be plenty here for all members of the family as they grow. We feel it is time to change from a farm-oriented name to a name which represents our new mission, which is to create a zeal for long-lasting life that is combined with the harmony of nature. If this plan is approved, we will become the prototype destination resort town in the entire world. We have visited them all, and when we’re finished, there won’t be any better! Her wanted a comprehensive analysis of the theme park industry to ascertain the profitability of the industry. He wanted to present to the chairman of the Samsung Group a clear rationale why Samsung should invest in this industry. The Richard Ivey School of Business gratefully acknowledges the generous support of The Richard and Jean Ivey Fund in the development of this case as part of the RICHARD AND JEAN IVEY FUND ASIAN CASE SERIES. Page 14 9A96M006 Table 1 TOP 50 AMUSEMENT/THEME PARKS WORLDWIDE (1994) Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Park Location Tokyo (Japan) DISNEYLAND MAGIC KINGDOM of Walt Disney World, Florida, United States DISNEYLAND, Anaheim, California, United States JAYA ANCOL DREAMLAND, Jakarta, Indonesia. EPCOT at Walt Disney World, Florida, United States EURO DISNEYLAND, Morne La Voltee, France YOKOHAMA (Japan) HAKKEIJIMA SEA PARADISE, Japan DISNEY-MGM STUDIOS, Walt Disney World, Florida, United States UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA, Orlando, Florida, United States BLACKPOOL (England) PLEASURE BEACH, England YONGIN FARMLAND, Kyonggi-Do, South Korea UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, California, United States SEA WORLD OF FLORIDA, Florida, United States LOTTE WORLD, Seoul, South Korea CHAPULTEPEC, Mexico City, Mexico HUIS TEN BOSCH, Sosebo, Japan TOSHIMAEN AMUSEMENT PARK, Tokyo, Japan KNOTT’S BERRY FARM, Fuona Park, California, United States SEA W.

Personal Narrative Essay Example for Free

Personal Narrative Essay I began dancing at the age of three. First I took simple jazz and tap classes, but as I grew older I took more advanced classes such as ballet, pointe, modern, barre, and technique classes. From the first moment that I stepped onto the stage, any career possibility that involved something other than dancing didn’t seem like a plausible one for me. It wasn’t until I was about fourteen that I really took to the idea of living in New York City, the dance capital of the world. As a freshman in high school, it seemed that everyday brought with it some conversation or lecture about college possibilities. With each month it seemed that more of my friends had figured out what they were going to do after high school. Each had narrowed their choices down to a few colleges or universities, one or two majors or degrees of study, and an ending career. I knew that the only thing I wanted to do was dance, whether it would be as an instructor, a student, or as a professional in a ballet or dance company. It wasn’t until I saw Save the Last Dance, a movie about a young girl with aspirations to dance at The Julliard School in New York City, that I finally grasped what I wanted to do. The Julliard School is a world-renowned dance, drama, and music conservatory in Lincoln Center, New York City. Being perhaps the most selective school in the country, The Julliard School admits about 7% of its applicants and is home to just under one thousand undergraduate and graduate students. Some of the world’s most accomplished choreographers and dancers are Julliard alumni. When I first understood the exclusivity of this dance conservatory, I was immediately discouraged. I thought that the fact that I came from a small town and danced in a small studio was disadvantageous, and that I couldn’t possibly fit the criteria that Julliard searched for. I didn’t begin seeing The Julliard School as a potential college until my junior year in high school. Natale Harter was my instructor from the time I began dancing until the time I graduated. She was a certified instructor by the Dance Master of America teacher-training program, and was a well-learned dancer and instructor. Natale took a few of the most advanced students from our studio to a Dance Master workshop at the Hyatt Convention Center in Rochester in January of 2008. Taking into consideration that our studio wasn’t by any means a competitive studio, walking into a room full of a hundred or so competitive dancers came as a complete culture shock to each of us. This coupled with the amazingly challenging choreography each of our workshop teachers threw at us was enough to discourage most of the girls from participating. I soon found that I was the only dancer left from my studio left on the dance floor. The choreography was at that point in my life the most demanding and tricky combination of turns, leaps, rhythms and movements that I had experienced. Although I felt that I had made a fool of myself in front of some of the Rochester area’s best choreographers, I felt exhilarated. Fighting the urge to succumb to pain of my aching legs, my shaking arms, and the immense amount of adrenaline surging though my veins, I finished all three hours of the workshop. Not thinking that I had placed or had won any awards from the judges, I began changing and packing my dance shoes into my bag. As my team and myself began walking out the dance floor doors, my name was called. I had won the best overall dancer! Still to this day I cannot forget the joy and pride that overcame me. It was then that I knew that Julliard wasn’t as far out of my reach as I had thought. On top of my eight dance classes, I began training with Natale for four hours a day, six days a week. I signed up for an audition for late fall of 2008 to attempt admission to Julliard for the fall of 2009. There was never a day that passed that I wasn’t fantasizing about dancing in the Julliard conservatory; it consumed me. I had never pushed myself so such lengths before, I dedicated every ounce of my energy into perfecting my technique, increasing my stamina and flexibility, and exuding grace and poise into every motion I made. I was ready. When it finally came time for the audition, I was full of confidence. My audition was on a Saturday morning and was the last admission audition to be accepted into the 2009 fall semester. I arrived into Lincoln center an hour before my audition was to begin. I changed into the required plain black leotard and pink-footed tights, and began to stretch. Over the next hour about forty young girls slowly entered into the room and stretched beside me. As I took notice of each of them, I began to feel sharp pangs of nervousness and uncertainty poke at my confidence. Each girl seemed taller and skinnier than the last. As the room reached capacity, I was surrounded by a total of forty-three girls. Many of the girls looked so thin that I began realizing that the number of girls with eating disorders far outnumbered the girls of a healthy weight. Each girl was taller than me by at last half a foot. I never thought that I could feel so out of place doing something that had been as normal to me as breathing. The audition was comprised of five components. After each section the instructors in the room would dismiss a handful of girls and regretfully tell them that they would no longer be considered for admission. The first section was barre, or rhythmic ballet stretching and warm ups. Barre exercises showcase each dancer’s technique†¦ or lack thereof. I began each class in my studio with a twenty-minute barre warm-up, so I breezed through it. The first cuts were made, bringing the number of girls in the room down by ten. The next section was a ballet floor movement. An instructor dictated the counts and the motions for each six count, totaling twelve six-counts. We split into groups of five and performed the instructor’s dictated counts. This time five girls were cut, leaving us to only twenty-nine girls. Next came my weakest style: modern. Modern or contemporary dancing could almost be considered as interpretive dance due to its loose counts and generalized movements. To my amazement, I wasn’t included in the group of fourteen dismissals, leaving our group still smaller with a total of fifteen girls. Next came pointe. Pointe shoes worn by professional ballerinas are comprised of wood, glue, leather and silk, and are able to support the arch of the foot and toes just enough so that the ballerina wearing them is able to stand on the tips of her toes. By the end of the thirty-minute long pointe movement that our instructor had given us, I had suffered a later confirmed three broken toes. Eight cuts were made this time. Trying my best to hide the pain from reaching my face, I soldiered onto the final stage. The pianist sitting in the corner of the room behind a beautiful grand piano was to play one minute of improvised classical music. Each of us seven dancers left were to improvise for the full movement in an attempt to prove ourselves more worthy and qualified than the others. Dancing with every last ounce of energy my body had left to spare, I nailed it. Two more cuts were made, bringing the room to just four dancers, two instructors, and the pianist. The silence was deafening when the instructors left the room to converse with one another. When the instructors came back into the room, their faces had the faintest hint of hesitant uncertainty. The head instructor explained to us that since we were auditioning at the last possible chance and since there is a certain amount of dancers that the conservatory could admit each year, only three girls could be accepted. At this point my heart was beating so loudly I was sure that half of New York City could hear it, but I kept my composure. The second instructor then went on to explain to us that the way in which our fates would be determined was simple: we would each hold out our right leg in grande bottemont. To perform a grande bottemont means to hold the leg out as high as possible while maintaining a pointed toe and a proper turnout. The head instructor was to then come by and slap the top of our leg firmly and quickly. The dancer whose leg â€Å"jiggled† the most was to be cut. The anger that rose up from inside of me was too much to comprehend. All of the months of broken toes, relentless exercise, and devoted training seemed to all be wasted for such a vain and conceited factor as the amount of â€Å"jiggle† from a thigh. I now understood that this was not a place that I would ever want to be a part of. I was appalled by my newfound comprehension that arguably the world’s best dance school was more concerned with a dancer’s body composition than the amount of raw talent he or she possessed. By the time I graduated high school, I decided that I wanted to be a dance teacher. I wanted to teach young girls the skills that I had learned, but more importantly to help each young girl realize that she is a beautiful, strong, and unique dancer who should never try to change herself to fit into a cookie-cutter appearance.

Human Resource Management at McDonalds

Human Resource Management at McDonalds Human resource management is the basis of all management activity, but it is not the basis of all business activity. The basis of management is always the same: getting the people of the business to make things happen in a productive way, so that the business prospers and the people thrive. Torrington et al (2005:4) Human Resource can be say to be the strategic and coherent approach management of an organisations most valued assets. The people working these individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business. Human resource is one of the important parts of any organisation management in the 21st century and up still date. Any corporate firm can get competitor advantage by human resource. The term Human resources can be viewed in two contrasting ways. Placing emphasis on the word Human implies that an organisations assets are valuable human beings with feelings and aspirations that should be respected and nurtured. Highlighting the word resource may have the effect of devaluing the human element by relegating people to a mere resource that is to be deployed as effectively and efficiently as possible, like a piece of machinery. These associated have been embodied as soft and hard HRM (storey, 1992). Soft HRM is often associated with quality-enhancing and value-adding measures, whereas hard HRM is linked to cost-cutting and cost minimization strategies (Schuler and Jackson, 1987). Importance of Strategic Human Resource Management Strategy human resource management is very important because it help to resolve the problems that affect people management programs in the organisation. In every organisation, the employee and customers are very important and the try to listen to their employee and resolve whatever complains from them or the customer. This will help to increase the performance of the organisation. Strategy human resource management also help to improve a business performance and foster an environment of innovation and flexibility among employees. Strategy human resource management help about assessing the companys internal strength and weakness. This is very important as the strengths and weaknesses of the companys human resources have a direct effect on the future of the company. It also helps to check whether the expectations of the employee are addressed properly. The management of Strategy human resource management try to provide the right strategy that will enable the employee to work in a very safe environment and make sure those employees expectation are look into one after the other. Strategy human resource management help to develop the maintainer of competency among workers and it also help to motivate workers to perform their job properly and increase productions. From the above we can see that strategic human resource is now coming to play a very important role in todays business word. Strategy human resource management is all about strategically managing a businesss human resource in a manner that works to the overall benefit of the business. Strategy human resources deal with organisational performance and systems of practice and human resources management deal with an individual employee performance. The role of strategy human resources management or human resources management is to establish a system of human resources management practices that transforms middling work performance to human assets and sustaining the heightened work motivation, expanded job opportunities, and unique skill, knowledge and abilities. http://www.smallbusinessbible.org/strategic_humanr_management.html Comparison of SHRM with HRM The difference between strategy human resources management and human resources management is that strategy human resources management is strategy and human resources management is not, although some resources suggest that strategy human resources management is actually one of the applications of human resources management within an enterprise. The key feature where the two ideas are connected is that they are precisely in approach toward people management. BRIEF HISTORY OF MCDONALDS McDonalds started as a burger brand in 1940 and it was formed by two Brother Richard and Maurice McDonald in San Bernardino, California. It progressed from a hotdog stand into one of the worlds leading restaurant chain. By 1953, McDonalds brothers began franchising their restaurant and the first was taken by Neil Fox who opened in other parts of California. McDonalds Corporation came into existence in 1954 after an entrepreneur and milkshake mixer salesman Ray Kroc acquired the franchise of McDonalds outside California after which he bought the business rights from the McDonalds brothers for $2.7 million in 1961. By 1974 the first restaurant in the UK opened and 1988, they had opened in the communist country in Belgrade, Yugoslavia later in Moscow, China and India. In 2003, the Im loving it campaign was launched and by 2005, McDonalds started a Mc Delivery service in Singapore. McDonalds has been looking for a growth strategy for a very long time. And their foreign operation amount for more than half the companys revenue. McDonald has over 30,000 restaurants over 100 countries in the world today. And they maintain the top position in the fast food industry for the past 50 years. Amongst the award bagged by McDonalds is the Catalyst award for its program for fostering leadership development in women and McDonalds has been backing the summer Olympics since 1984. Business strategy of McDonalds in the UK Employment planning: McDonalds try to make the right plans in employing the right number of staffs that the organisation need at the right time. This is the process by which the organisation attempt to ensure that it has the right number of qualified people in the right place and at the right time. Selection: McDonalds involves in choosing from the available candidates the individual predicted to be most likely to perform successfully in the job. They select but the skills and unskilled individual and try to train them in other to make them understand the objective of the organisation. Selection is not always the best process of employing staffs in the organisation because skills will be lack. Training: McDonalds also used the training strategy to improve and develop the skills of the workers in the organisation. Although training is very important in most organisation but its better to bring the right people with the right skill and then give them the right training so they will understand better and know the objective of the training. Education: The management of McDonald provide education for some staffs that are really willing to retain in the organisation. This education is to improve their performance and to give them more ideas about the economic and how the business is operating. Performance: The Company always chose a right time to check the performance of their workers. The performance of the worker can help the company to make the right changes at the right time and the right department of the workers. These has help MacDonald to build a better services. Pay: Macdonald is a big restaurant with so many branches around the world and helps to reduce the unemployment around us. The Company give a good pay to their staffs and encourage them to work. Staff retention: Macdonald tries to keep their staffs and give them promotions to enable them become a manager of a branch someday in the future. Staff retention is very important to most organisations. This will help the staffs to know what really is happening within the organisation and try to suggest a best opinion to fight that out. Contribution of Strategy Human Resource in McDonald Staffing- McDonald should try to get people with the appropriate skills, knowledge, abilities, and experience to fulfil the organisation objectives. Rewards McDonald need to give reward to the staffs who work very hard in development of the organisation. Employee development- the organisation should also help in developing the staffs through providing training and knowledge for them in other to perform a good job. Employee maintenance- maintaining staffs is important in the development of the company. The administration is should try to encourage the staff and reward them in the good job done. Many organisations try to establish why people leave by conducting exit interviews but these are rarely sufficiently accurate, as many people will not give the full reason why they are leaving for fear of jeopardising future reference requirement or because they may wish to return to the organisation at some later stage. There organisation should make sure they try to maintain and look after their staff in other to keep them happy. Employee relation McDonald should develop the relationship between the staffs and the management in other to bring up a smiling environment within the work place. CONCLUSION McDonalds is seen as a global restaurant offering a range of products in a highly competitive and fragmented market. The company must positively respond to both internal and external issues to avoid losing sales and market share. They have been able to achieve a broad scope of business activity as they adopt the cost leadership strategy. There offer food prepared in the same high quality manner worldwide, tasty and reasonable priced delivered in a consistent low key and friendly environment. The opportunities and threats present in the environment enables managers to look both internally and externally to direct their strategy from the information given as it allows them to know their weakness and guard against them as well as make use of opportunities available to them. SHRM NEW MANAGER IN MCDONALDS As the manager of McDonalds, the percentage of highly skilled labour/ talent recruitment will be increase, but low skilled will be reduce as they are the ones directly involved in preparing food and serving customers. Human resource strategy in McDonalds encourage employee involvement and engagement to improve customer service but recruitment and selection in McDonalds is of little emphasis as the nature of the job is mechanical hence most of their recruits are fast learners who can learn on the job rather quickly. There is a rare case of training and development of staff as they are low skilled and the need for the need for developing them would not be beneficial to the corporation. The strategy of McDonalds is based on concept of Michael Porters differentiation and low- cost leadership as their products are mass produced and cost can be reduced by doing this, the threat this can cause is that its competitors like Burger King and KFC can also mass produce at a low cost. Differentiation can be described as marketing technique used by a McDonalds to establish strong identity in the restaurant business. It can also be called segmentation strategy. In McDonalds, there is a huge number of unskilled labours whose employment contact are mostly on short term basis, hence the need for a huge pension budget will not be necessary, this will be seen as an opportunity for the corporation to save revenue. Also in areas of training and development, since they train on the job and there is no series of further training carried out, the corporation does not lose skill and revenue when such employees decide to terminate their employment. (McDonalds Strategic Human Resources Management available at http://www.scribd.com/doc/26247206/Mcdonald-s-Strategic-Human-Resource.

Rosa Louise Parks Essay -- Civil Rights Movement Biography History

Rosa Louise Parks   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The woman who earned the title â€Å"Mother of the Civil Rights Movement†, Rosa Louise Parks is an enormous inspiration to the African American race. Rosa was born in Tuskegee, Alabama on February 4, 1913 to James and Leona McCauley (The Life of Rosa Parks). Both of Rosa’s parents were born before slavery was banished from the United States. They suffered a difficult childhood, and after emancipation the conditions for blacks were not much better. Rosa’s mother was a schoolteacher and her father was a farmer (Rosa Parks: Pioneer of Civil Rights Interview). Rosa’s parents separated in 1915, and her mother moved Rosa and her younger brother to Montgomery, Alabama to live with their grandmother (Rosa Parks: The Woman Who Changed a Nation).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The southern states during this period of time were extremely segregated. Confederate Army veterans from Pulaski, Tennessee established the Ku Klux Klan, a secret society in 1866 during reconstruction. Members of the Klan beat and murdered several black people. During election times there would be several occurrences where Klan members would beat, rape, and murder blacks, trying to intimidate the republican representatives. In order to hide their identity, they would where white robes, and white sheets over their faces with only the eyes cut out. They would burn crosses to petrify their victims and their families (The New Encyclopedia of America 133). The Ku Klux Klan was very involved in Montgomery, where Rosa and her family were living.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rosa’s mother was a very important role model for her and her brother. Because their mother was a schoolteacher, she home schooled Rosa until the age of eleven (Rosa Parks: The Woman Who Changed a Nation). After she was eleven, Rosa attended the all-black school of Montgomery Industrial School for Girls where she cleaned classrooms in order to pay her tuition. After attending the school for girls, she enrolled at Booker T. Washington High School, another black school, until the age of 15. She was forced to drop out of her High School because her mother was ill and she needed to return home to take care of her (The Life of Rosa Parks).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Rosa McCauley was 20 years old in 1932 she met and married a barber by the name of Mr. Raymond Parks. Rosa began to sew and to take on several seamstress jobs, and also housekeeping jobs (Rosa Parks: The... ...ry Bus Boycott. Silver Burdett Press, 1991. Freedom Hero: Rosa Parks. AP News Wire. 12 August 2008 http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?=rosaParks The Life of Rosa Parks. Troy State University. 25 August 2008 http://www.tsum.edu/museum/parksbio.htm Lopes, Marilyn. The Rosa Parks Story: How One Person Made a Difference. 15 December 2003 http://www.nncc.org/Curriculum/rosa.parks.html NAACP http://www.naacp.org/home/index.htm Rosa Parks: The Woman Who Changed a Nation. Grandtimes. 20 Dec 2003 http://www.grandtimes.com/rosa.html Rosa Parks: Pioneer of Civil Rights interview, June 2, 1995, Williamsburg, Virginia. http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0int-1 Smith, Shanice. "American Poetry." The New Encyclopedia of America. 3rd ed. 2003. Spotlight on Mrs. Rosa Parks, Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. Girl Power. 15 December 2003 http://www.girlpower.gov/girlarea/gpguests/RosaParks.htm Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley. "Witness to America : an illustrated documentary history of the United States from the Revolution to today." Harper Resource 1999 "TIME 100: Heroes & Icons of the 20th Century" Time Warner Publishing, June 14, 1999

moral Essays -- essays papers

moral For nearly thirty years he has amplified his Cognitive-Developmental theory of moralisation which has now become prominent in the field of moral development and its application to moral education. Kohlberg proposed that moral difficulties motivated their own development through a fixed sequence of increasingly adaptable kinds of moral reasoning. He conducted most of his work at Harvard University and developed his stage model in 1969. Working through the 1950’s and 60’s using longitudinal and cross sectional studies he proposed 6 stages of development (see Appendix 1) identified through the responses of children presented with moral dilemmas. Piaget, his former tutor, proposed only 2 stages of moral development these being the Hetronomous and Autonomous stages. He was not so much interested in the judgments made but the reasons for the judgment, differing from Piaget he saw the stages as part of cognitive development. He was interested in how people think rather than what they think. These reasons represent to Kohlberg the structure of judgment, centering around 10 universal moral issues or values. Piaget believed autonomous moral reasoning to occur between ages 10-12 whereas Kohlberg proposes adolescence or even adulthood. These values are punishment, property and law, roles and concerns of affection, roles and concerns of authority, life, liberty, justice, truth and sex. From its earliest transmission Kohlberg has not been without critics. Although his work is of unquestionable importance Peter’s (1971) warned: â€Å"There is a grave danger that they (Kohlberg’s findings) may become exhalted into a general theory of moral development† may be seen by some to have been fulfilled. Although Kohlberg’s work is vast, the following will look at universality, briefly at gender and morality and following this methodology. Kohlberg’s Universality The biggest challenge for Kohlberg’s theory is to explain how the process of self-creation and mental structures can be universal despite cultural, subcultural and environmental differences that exist in all of us. The principles of Kohlberg’s stage 6 is of universal justice and respect for individual rights Kohlberg (1969, 1971). Using his moral judgment interview he tried to address confounding factors of universality although latter admitted that the modal ages... ...ate Adolescence and Adulthood: A Critique and Reconstruction of Kohlberg’s Therapy; Human Development 23, 2 pp 77-104 Holstein, C. (1976) ‘Irreversible, Stepwise Sequence in the Development of Moral Judgment: A Longitudinal Study of Males and Females; Child Development’ 47, 1 pp 51-61 Lemming, J. (1974) ‘An Empirical examination of Key Assumptions Underlying the Kohlberg Rationale for Moral Education; ERIC Document Reproduction Service Number ED 093-749 â€Å"Willhel, F. (1977) ‘The Effects of the Extent of Training on Teacher Discussion behaviours and Children’s Moral Reasoning Development; Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Stage University of New York at Albany Modgil, S. & Modgil, C. (1985) Kohlberg, L. Consensus and Controversy, International Masterminds Challenge, Falmer Press England Pepperdine University http://moon.pepperdine.edu/asep/class/ethics/kohlberg/pro%26con_argumentsh+ml Woods, C. (1986) Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality 1996; Vol 24(4) 375-384 Wilson, R. (1995) Moral Interventions in Education Setting. http://www.interchg.vbc.ca/rw/psy413-1.htm Gross. R, (1996) Psychology The Science of Mind and Behaviour.Hodder and Stoughton.

Abortion is Baby Murder :: abortion argumentative persuasive argument

Abortion is Baby Murder      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Abortion.   What is it?   Why do people do it?   Is it killing a human life?   What are the benefits for having an abortion?   Should it be made illegal? These   questions I will try and answer on the key issue right now on abortion. I   will tell you my side and how I fell, and hope that after this you would agree with my opinion.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Abortion is the killing of a child before the birth.   They usually take a needle and put it into the mothers womb, and kill it.   Although that is not the only way to do it.   There are other ways also of killing a child.   There is a abortion called have abortion.   It comes out of the womb half way, then they kill it.   To me that is just sick.   I think that it is in humane to kill a live child.   Just think, it is alive.   It needs oxygen to breath.   It needs food to live. And if you don't take care of the baby, it wouldn't come out.   Like if you do drugs or alcohol, it will ruin the child.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is one exception   that I would have is if the girl got raped. Even though I still wouldn't approve of it, I think there should be an exception. I think that if the woman had any brains, that she would want to have the loving child.   Just think   you come home from work one day, and all of the sudden your kid gives you a great big hug.   That shows love.   And after a long days work, wouldn't anybody want some love from a child.   Yeah when they are little they scream, and kick, but they also give love, and affection, and can be the cutest thing.   And if you abort, you wont get that will you?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some people also just want to make amends for what they have done. Maybe they have screwed up in their life and don't want there parents to know. Or maybe they just aren't ready for a kid.   Well let me tell you, you should have thought   about that before you had sex.   My mom once told me and this has

Coyote Blue Chapter 32~33

CHAPTER 32 A Doctorate in Deception According to Pokey, at the time the white men came, there were seven sacred arrow bundles. Each had been made by four medicine men who had the same vision at the same time. Once the bundles were made, the medicine men vowed never to gather again, afraid that if their combined power were stolen by one, he would become invincible and abuse the power. These bundles contained the most powerful of warrior medicine, able to protect the carrier from an enemy's weapon, give him the ability to travel swiftly, and escape to the Underworld in an emergency, to return later, unharmed. Of the original seven bundles, two had been destroyed by fire, two by flood, two were locked away in museums in Washington, and the last to leave the reservation was in the hands of a private collector in Billings, who had bought it from a family who had been converted to Christianity and thought the bundle might jeopardize their salvation. At first Sam suspected Pokey's story. His choice finally to believe it was based more on heart than logic. Whether the story of the bundles was true or not didn't matter as much as the hope it inspired. Action based on hope just felt better than the paralysis of certainty. When Sam came through the door of the Hunts Alone house, Cindy hardly recognized him. When she had first met him he seemed weak, wasted, and without reason to live. Now he was moving and talking with purpose. Sam said, â€Å"Cindy, I'm sorry about before. I don't want to impose.† â€Å"You're family,† she said, and that was all the explanation needed. â€Å"Thanks,† Sam said. â€Å"We went to see Pokey. He's doing fine.† â€Å"Did they say when he can come home?† â€Å"We're bringing him home tonight, if things go the way they should. Can I use the phone?† Cindy waved toward the kitchen table, where the phone sat amid a stack of cereal boxes and bowls. Sam checked on Grubb, found him sleeping, and went to the phone. The first call went out to the Museum of the West in Cody, Wyoming. Yes, they knew a serious collector of Indian artifacts in Billings; they had bought several pieces from him over the years. His name was Arnstead Houston. The next call was to his office in Santa Barbara. â€Å"Gabriella, I need you to take the key I gave you and go to my house. In my closet there's a corduroy jacket with suede elbow patches. Load it in my garment bag with the khaki pants, a flannel shirt, and that goofy Indiana Jones hat that Aaron gave me for Christmas. Put in my blue pinstripe suit – shirt, shoes, and tie to match. Then grab my briefcase and get it all on the next plane to Billings, Montana. Buy a seat for it if you have to. Put it on the corporate card. And run the name Arnstead Houston through all our companies' client files – go to the Insurance Institute if you have to. It's a Billings address.† He waited while Gabriella put the name through the computer and came back with the name of Houston's home-owner's insurance carrier. â€Å"Give me the agent's number.† Sam scribbled it down. â€Å"Call me back at this number as soon as you confirm the arrival time of my stuff in Billings.† He gave her the Hunts Alone number. He dialed the number of Houston's insurance agent in Billings and spoke in an Oklahoma accent. â€Å"Yes, I'm interested in insuring some valuable Indian artifacts. Arnie Houston recommended you.† Sam waited. â€Å"I didn't figure you handled that sort of thing. Do you remember who you referred Arnie to? Boulder Casualty? You got a number for them? Thanks, pardner.† Sam hung up the phone and it rang immediately. â€Å"Hello. Five today? That's the earliest? Thanks, Gabriella. Oh, I forgot – call and reserve a car at the Billings airport. Something with four-wheel drive. A Blazer or a Bronco or something. White if they have it. I'll pick it up at five. Yes, the corporate card. Fuck Aaron. Tell him I'm on a hunting trip. And Gabby, you are incredible, you really are. I know I've never told you that before. Because it was time I did. Take care.† He disconnected and dialed another number, waited, then spoke with an English accent. â€Å"Yes, Boulder Casualty. This is Samuel Smythe-White with Sotheby's, London. So sorry to bother you, but we've a bit of a problem that you may be able to help us with. It seems we've recently acquired some Red Indian items – a bit unusual for us – and we're at a loss as for someone to authenticate them. The owner, who must remain anonymous I'm afraid, has suggested that you insure this sort of thing and might know of an appraiser. Yes, I'll wait.† Sam held the phone aside and lit a cigarette. â€Å"No, no, location is not a problem. Sotheby's will fly him to London.† Sam scribbled something. â€Å"Jolly good. Yes, thank you.† He disconnected and dialed Arnstead Houston's number. â€Å"Hello, Mr. Houston. This is Bill Lanier. I'm the new head of Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington. Yes. The reason I'm calling is that I just got a call from Boulder Casualty. It seems that there is an item in your collection that has been severely undervalued and they'd like us to take a look at it to make sure the schedule of coverage is in line. Of course, the new appraisal would increase the price if you should ever want to sell it.† Sam paused and listened. He continued, â€Å"A Crow medicine bundle. Yes. This one's a cylinder, a hollowed-out cedar log. That's right. Well, sir, we'll need to take a look at it in person. We happen to have a tribal expert visiting the campus right now. We could be in Billings by five thirty tonight. No, I'm afraid he has to fly to a dig in Arizona tomorrow. It will have to be tonight. Yes, I have your address. Thank you, sir.† Sam hung up, sat back, and let out a long sigh. The whole process had taken less than five minutes. When he turned around both Cindy and Coyote were staring at him. Cindy's mouth was hanging open. â€Å"What was that?† Coyote asked. â€Å"You,† Sam said, â€Å"are now working, indirectly, as an artifacts expert for the Boulder Casualty Insurance Company and I am now a professor of anthropology at the University of Washington,† â€Å"I've been looking for a job,† Cindy said, shaking her head. â€Å"They always make me fill out an application.† Coyote looked at Cindy. â€Å"He has shifty eyes, don't you think?† -=*=- Arnie Houston sat in his den looking at the arrow bundle on the coffee table before him: a hollowed-out log full of junk. But there was nothing quite so exciting as turning junk into money, and he was so excited now he could have peed his Wranglers. God bless archaeology. God bless museums. God bless historic preservation. God bless America! Where else could a piece of oil-field trash with a fourth-grade education be living in a twenty-room house with a new Corvette in the garage, wearing thousand-dollar sea-turtle-skin boots and two pounds of silver and turquoise jewelry? And all of it from buying and selling Indian junk. God bless every eggheaded, gopher-hearted anthropologist that ever wrote a paper or dug a hole. Damn! Arnie got up and went over to his bar, where he poured himself a snifter of Patron tequila – thirty bucks a bottle, but the finest cactus juice ever burned hair off your tongue. And it calms you down. Can't let them think you're in it for the money, the dumb shits: most of 'em could say howdy in thirty-seven dead languages, tell you the time a day a shaman shit two hundred years ago plus the ritual that went with it, but couldn't tell a nickel from a knothole when it came to money. They always went to the tribal council or a medicine man when they wanted to buy something – that was their big mistake. You got to do your research. Find out what family's got something and then find the one in the family who drinks the most. When he's feeling his firewater, you be there with the cash. Presto, you got yourself a priceless Indian artifact for dirt cheap. Arnie had just picked up a whole basket of heirloom beadwork over at the Yakima res – a hundred bucks. The Yakima were just getting into crack cocaine and Arnie was in on the ground floor with investment capital. The beads had been in the families for hundreds of years and he'd already had an offer of ten thousand for them from the Museum of the West – upon authentication, of course. Anthropologists, here's to 'em! Arnie thought. He toasted the fish in the aquarium by the bar and tossed back the Patron, then took a gamble by looking out the front window. A white Blazer pulled into the circular driveway and two men got out, both of them tall – one, an Indian in a suit, and the other in a corduroy jacket and khakis: the anthropologist. The Indian must be the expert he talked about on the phone. City Indian: making a living off of being Indian, going on about exploitation and such. Worthless troublemakers: wouldn't shoot one if I needed to unload my gun. Arnie stashed the snifter under the bar and went to the front door. He brushed back the sides of his hair with his fingers – careful not to disturb the five strands combed over the top – and opened the door. â€Å"Mr. Houston, I'm Dr. Lanier from the University of Washington. This is Running Elk, the gentleman I mentioned on the phone.† The Indian nodded. â€Å"Come on in,† Arnie said, waving them into the tiled foyer. â€Å"I took it out of the safe and put it on the table for you.† He didn't really have a safe, but it sounded good. He led them into the den and stood by the coffee table. â€Å"Here she is.† The Indian moved to the fish tank and peered in. The professor walked around the table looking at the log, as if he were afraid to pick it up. â€Å"Have you opened it?† Arnie had to think. What was the best answer? These fellows liked playing detective, finding their own clues. â€Å"No, sir. The fella I got it from told me what was inside, though. Four arrows, an eagle skull, and some, er†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Damn, how do you describe it? It was just brown powdery shit. â€Å"And some sacred powder.† â€Å"And who did you get it from?† â€Å"Fellow on the res. Old family, but he didn't want me to say. He's afraid of the Traditionals getting revenge on him.† â€Å"I'm going to have to open it to determine the value.† â€Å"Quite so,† the Indian said, still looking in the fish tank. The anthropologist shot him a nasty look. What was up with these two? An Indian who talks like a Brit; if that didn't just beat the ugly off an ape. â€Å"It's okay with me,† Arnie said. â€Å"Looks like them ends just come off like bottle caps.† That's exactly how they had come off when he opened it. â€Å"Jolly good, old chap,† the Indian said. â€Å"The fish say that it's been opened before.† â€Å"Thank you, Running Elk,† said the professor. He seemed kinda ticked. He set his briefcase on the table next to the bundle, snapped open the lid, and removed some white cotton gloves. â€Å"We don't want to disturb the integrity of the contents,† he said, slipping on the gloves. â€Å"I'd prefer to do this in the lab, but I assure you I'll be careful.† You can blow the damn thing up for all I care, Arnie thought, as long as the price is right. But what was the deal with the Indian and the fish tank? The professor removed the end of the wooden cylinder and placed it on the table. He removed one of the four arrows and studied its length. When he looked at the point his face lit up. â€Å"My God, Running Elk, do you see what I see?† â€Å"What? What?† Arnie said. Was this good or bad? The Indian looked up from the fish tank. â€Å"Oh, capital! He's promised them one of those plastic bubbling scuba divers if he sells it.† â€Å"What?† Arnie said. The professor scowled at the Indian and held the arrow up for Arnie to see. â€Å"Mr. Houston, you see this arrow point?† â€Å"Uh-huh.† â€Å"This is a small-game point, and the flaking is not the pattern you find on Crow points from the buffalo days.† â€Å"So?† â€Å"So, I think this bundle is from the time before the Crows split from the Hidatsa. If that's the case, this bundle may be priceless.† Arnie saw a swimming pool appearing in his backyard, with a whole shitpot of girls in bikinis sitting around it, rubbing oil on his back. â€Å"How can you be sure?† â€Å"I'll have to take it back to the university to have it carbon-dated.† The professor put the arrow back into the bundle. From his briefcase he pulled out a sheaf of forms. â€Å"I hope you'll understand, Mr. Houston, the university can't bond something like this for its full value, but I could write a guarantee of perhaps two hundred thousand until the return.† The professor waited, his pen poised over the form. Arnie pretended to think about it. In fact, he was thinking about the new swimming pool. Now it was indoors and had a big hot tub full of dollies. â€Å"I guess that will be all right,† he said. The professor began writing on the form. â€Å"We should have it back to you within the week. I'll see to it personally that it's handled carefully. If you'll just sign here.† He pushed the form over to Arnie. There it was, $200,000.00 in big black numbers. It was all he needed to see. Arnie signed and pushed the paper back to the professor. The professor closed his briefcase and got up. â€Å"Well, I'd like to get this back to the lab by tonight and start the work on it. I'll call you as soon as we know for sure.† He picked up the bundle and headed for the door. â€Å"You take care now. Thanks,† Arnie said, holding the door for them. â€Å"No, thank you, Mr. Houston.† â€Å"Cheerio,† the Indian said as they climbed into the Blazer. â€Å"Oh yes, your mates said they'd like a Flipper video and a bit of brine shrimp to eat.† Arnie watched the Blazer pulling away. Boy, the old professor was sure giving Running Elk hell for something. Eggheads. He wondered for a minute why the Blazer had mud on the license plates when it was so clean everywhere else. Hell with it, it was time to celebrate. A buddy had given him the number of a little dolly who for two hundred dollars would come over in her cheerleader outfit. He'd been saving it for a special occasion and it looked like it was time to dig out that ol' number and see if she really could suck the furniture out of a room through the keyhole. -=*=- As soon as they were out of sight of Arnie's house, Sam took the Indiana Jones hat off and smacked Coyote with it. â€Å"What were you thinking? You almost blew it.† â€Å"The fish said he tricked someone to get that bundle.† â€Å"And what did we just do?† â€Å"That's different. It was a Crow bundle.† â€Å"You wanted to blow it, didn't you? Why didn't you just hump his couch or something? Why didn't you just tell him the truth?† â€Å"Well,† Coyote said, â€Å"if your trick worked it would make a good story.† â€Å"I'll take that as as compliment.† Sam was no longer angry. They had the bundle; now it was time to think about the next part of the plan. He believed what Pokey had told him about the power of the bundle, and all Pokey had ever asked of him was to be believed. He said, â€Å"Coyote, will you help me get Pokey out of the clinic?† â€Å"Another trick?† Coyote asked. â€Å"Of sorts.† â€Å"I'll help, but I won't go to the Underworld with you.† CHAPTER 33 Doors Some of the color had returned to Pokey's face and someone had taken the braids out of his hair and brushed it. He opened his eyes when Sam entered the room. â€Å"You got it?† Pokey said. â€Å"It's in the car,† Sam said. Coyote came in behind him. Pokey grinned. â€Å"Old Man Coyote.† â€Å"Howdy,† Coyote said. â€Å"How many times you died now, old man?† â€Å"A bunch. It's plumb wearing me out,† Pokey said. â€Å"The medicine man got tired of singing the death song and went home. I think he got scared.† Pokey pulled a cassette out from under his covers and held it up. â€Å"I got it on tape for the next time.† Sam said, â€Å"Pokey, we have the arrow bundle. What do we do now?† â€Å"Ask him,† Pokey said, pointing to Coyote. â€Å"I ain't going,† Coyote said. â€Å"He has to go alone.† â€Å"Samson needs a medicine man to sing the bundle song.† â€Å"That's why we're here,† Sam said. â€Å"You want me? I didn't think you believed I had medicine, Samson.† â€Å"Things change, Pokey. I need you.† â€Å"Well then, get me out of here.† Pokey started to sit up. Sam pushed him back. â€Å"I don't think you should be walking.† â€Å"Samson, I done told you, I had my death vision. I don't die in no hospital, I get shot. Now help me get up.† He struggled to a sitting position and Sam helped him turn so his feet hung off the bed. â€Å"You're right, I don't think I can walk.† Sam turned to Coyote. â€Å"You promised to help.† -=*=- The clinic was officially closed for the day, but the skeleton staff of two nurses was still on. Adeline Eats sat in the waiting room with her six children, who were all green with flu, insisting that she wasn't going anywhere until they got treatment, even if she had to wait all night. For the twentieth time, the nurse at the window was explaining that the doctor had gone home for the night, when she heard the hoof beats on the stairs. She dropped her clipboard and ran out of the office to see a black horse coming down the stairs, an old, half-naked man bouncing on its back. She ducked back into her office to avoid being trampled and looked up in time to see a man in a corduroy jacket running behind the horse out the front door. The nurse ran out into the waiting room to the front door, which dangled in pieces on its hinges. She watched the horse stop beside a white Blazer and rear up. The old man, his gray hair streaming in the wind, let out a war whoop and fell into the arms of the man in corduroy. Then, as she watched, the horse started bubbling and changing until it was a man in black buckskins. The nurse stumbled back in shock. Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped a foot off the ground. She came down holding her chest. Adeline Eats said, â€Å"You got room for my kids now, or what?† -=*=- Riding in the Blazer, Pokey said, â€Å"Old Man Coyote, how do I send Samson to the Underworld?† â€Å"Just open the bundle and sing the song. He will go.† Sam said, â€Å"What happens then? What do I do?† â€Å"My medicine ends when you get there. You will see the one that weighs the souls. Don't be afraid of him. Just ask him if you can bring the girl back.† â€Å"That's it?† â€Å"Don't worry about the monster. The Underworld is not what you think.† Coyote rolled down the car window. â€Å"I have something that I want to do. I'll be there when you return.† Coyote dove out the car window, changing instantly into a hawk and flying off into the night sky. â€Å"Wait!† Sam said. â€Å"What monster?† He stopped the car. Pokey giggled like a child. â€Å"A horse and a hawk in one night. Samson, do you know how lucky we are?† Sam leaned forward and put his head against the wheel. â€Å"Lucky wasn't the world that came to mind, Pokey.† -=*=- Pokey had called Harlan and the boys down from Hardin. While they prepared the sweat, Sam stood at the door of the Airstream trailer trying to make himself open it. For the first time in years he was aware of his childhood fear of the dead and unrevenged ghosts and he hesitated. Since Pokey had given him hope of bringing Calliope back, he hadn't really thought of her as dead. He wanted to see her before he went to the Underworld, but he was afraid. Strange, he thought, after all these years of selling the fear of death, talking about it every day, now I'm afraid. She's not dead, not really. He threw the door open and stepped into the trailer. Calliope's body was lying on the built-in cot by the door amid camping equipment and fishing rods. Coyote had covered her with a blanket, leaving her face exposed. She could have been sleeping. Sam sat on the cot by her and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. She was cold. He looked away. â€Å"I wanted you to know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He didn't know what to say. There was no face to put on to meet this face. If she would just open her eyes. He swallowed hard. â€Å"I wanted you to know that I would do anything for you. That all this craziness was – will be – worth it if I can bring you back. I've been hiding out for my whole life, and I don't want to live that way anymore. Anyway, I wanted you to know that Grubb will be okay. My family will take care of him. I'll be with you, one way or another.† Sam leaned over and kissed her. â€Å"Soon,† he said. He got up and walked out of the trailer. Across the yard, the fire crackled and licked the sky, heating the rocks for the sweat. Pokey sat on a lawn chair, the arrow bundle in his lap, his eyes glistening orange in the firelight. Harlan was carrying rocks from the fire to the pit inside the sweat lodge. Sam stood by with Harry and Festus, watching. After the initial surprise that Sam was still alive, Harry and Festus simply fell into their normal roles of listening to their father argue with Pokey. Sam noticed that they had the lean, muscular frame of their father, the same square-set jaw. Harlan was a little thinner now, and his hair had gone gray, but otherwise, to Sam, he seemed the same. â€Å"The boys and me have to go to work in the morning,† Harlan said. â€Å"We can't stay late, Pokey. No drinking.† â€Å"I ain't going to drink,† Pokey said. Harlan dropped a hot rock into the pit and wiped sweat from his forehead. â€Å"I can't believe that doctor let you come home. Just yesterday he was puttin' your death on my hands for not moving you to the hospital in Billings.† â€Å"He's a pissant,† Pokey said. â€Å"How's it coming?† Harlan scraped another rock out of the fire and scooped it up with the pitchfork. â€Å"This ought to do it.† He unbuckled his pants and began to get undressed. The others followed his lead, hanging their clothes on Pokey's chair. Sam took the bundle from Pokey and put it in the sweat lodge, then helped the old man out of his hospital gown. Pokey crawled into the sweat lodge, where the others sat in a semicircle facing him. â€Å"Before I drop the door, I got to open this here bundle. It's a real old one, so no one knows the right song. I'm going to have to make it up as I go along. Okay?† Pokey held up the bundle and sang a prayer song, thanking the spirits for the gift of the sweat. He laid out a square of buckskin for the objects in the medicine bundle. â€Å"I don't know what's going to happen here, but Harlan, you and the boys got to pray that Samson has a safe journey. He's going on a kind of vision quest, but he ain't going to the Spirit World.† Pokey looked at Sam. â€Å"You've seen her since you got here, right?† â€Å"Yes,† Sam said. â€Å"And she's still in the trailer?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Who?† Harry asked. â€Å"Never mind,† Pokey said. They hadn't told Harlan and the boys about Calliope or Coyote. â€Å"Here we go.† He threw a handful of sage onto the stones. When the smoke rose he held the bundle in it, then took off the cap. He began singing as he took each object from the bundle and set it on the buckskin. Sam closed his eyes and concentrated on going to the Underworld and what he had to do there. â€Å"Heya, heya, heya, an arrow. Heya, heya, heya, another arrow Heya, heya, heya, another arrow Heya, heya, heya, the last arrow. Heya, heya, heya, an eagle skull. Heya, heya, heya, some brown stuff.† â€Å"Some brown stuff?† Harlan said. â€Å"Well, I don't know what it is,† Pokey said. â€Å"It looks like brown stuff to me.† â€Å"Whatever it is, it's working,† Festus said, pointing to Sam, who was shivering, even in the heat of the sweat lodge. His eyes were open but rolled back in his head, showing no pupils. â€Å"I'm dropping the door,† Pokey said. â€Å"Now pray for his return like you never prayed before.†