Life Lessons Essay

ife (â€Å"Hard Work Beats Talent, When Talent Doesn’t Work Hard†) – (Kevin Durant) Over this past summer, I experienced a lot of events that I think will change my life for the better. It seemed like everything started falling in place when I got an unexpected call from a college coach from a small school called Samford University. I was shocked that I received the call because for one, I’d never even heard of the school he was calling from. Also, I never actually played a full game of football in high school.The reason he’d called me is because he said he was at one of the previous scouting camps I attended a few weeks prior, and he liked my athleticism and how I always worked hard and never gave up, even when he saw I was having a hard time. He wanted me to attend one of the school sponsored scouting camps that he was putting together, and he offered to get me in for free so I gladly accepted. When I arrived at the camp, I was very nervous becaus e there were a lot more major college coaches there than I expected, and the combine included college students also, so I wasn’t just competing against any regular competitors.There were 6 different events that we were doing that day, and I had never done any of them at any previous camps so I had no faith in myself from the start. At the first event, the 40 Yard Dash, I had to race a college linebacker from another school so I had to prove to my coaches that I could take on any challenge they threw at me from the beginning. But everything didn’t go quite as I expected. On my first try I false started 2 seconds early, and everyone was laughing at me so I started to down myself. On the 2nd attempt, I false started again!It wasn’t as early as the previous one, but I was wasting all of my chances at getting an official time because I was too nervous to even start on time. On the 3rd and final attempt, I managed to get off on a good start and run a 4. 92, but the sc outs weren’t very impressed by that because they knew and I knew that I could do better than what I was showing them. At the next event, the Running back drills, I was already nervous because of how bad I had done at the previous event, and it showed in my actions.When I went up to catch passes from one of the quarterbacks that was attending the camp with me, normal passes that I could catch in my sleep became difficult for me to complete. I was so worried about messing up again that I wasn’t performing to my full potential. The coach that recruited me to attend the camp took notice at my performance and pulled me aside and talked to me. He told me â€Å"he knows for a fact that I could do better, and he wants to see the athlete that he saw at the previous camp, not the nervous one that he had seen today.Just believe in myself and perform to the best of my abilities for the duration of the camp and everything would be fine†. Then he gave me a quote to think of w hen I got down, â€Å"Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard†. Now I don’t know what it was about that speech, but when I went back to the drill, everything seemed to fall into place. I was catching every single pass the quarterback threw me, even the ones that were badly placed. When I re-did my 40 Yard Dash, my time dropped from a 4. 2 to a 4. 8. From that point on, I exceed all my expectations at every other event that was available to me at the camp. After that day, I learned that I can’t down myself every time I mess up at something, I have to just keep doing my best and to forget the rest. And whenever I get to the point where I want to just give up, I always remember that quote that the coach told me, â€Å"Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard. Word Count: 695

Competency Goal Essay

I as a childcare professional will help to make the facility good for the physical and cognitive abilities of the children. I will help organize and inspire palpable activities perceptive on the children physical improvement affects their intellectual, societal, and sensitivity progress. I will also accommodate contingencies for the adolescence to advance their kinesthesia (senses) by regarding colors, smell aromas, differentiating resonance, feeling and touching an assortment of widgets, and taste different foods. I would plan for them to be able to do activities that involve their cultures like finger painting, making puppets out of brown paper bags, dances and so on and so forth. I will help by setting a strict regimen for the children to follow as when active play, when for silent play and also when for collaborative play, and when to rest. To help promote cognitive development I will plan for little â€Å"brain games†, help by stimulating the brain by making comparisons to the stuff that they like that way they can bring it all to bear and be able to do it on point when asked to. I will also encourage my teachers to use the facility and day to day routines to help promote the growth of their minds and to help the children try to be inventive to the best of their abilities and that they can also learn to think things through and get through all situations with using inventiveness. Also help the children by asking if questions that help make them extend their thinking such as let’s take a look and see if we both can’t find out. Help to neutralize all situations in a day to day basis. I will inspire all the children to describe their involvement and perception of situations that they was involved in. Communication would help to stimulate their social abilities such as I would have many verbal conversations and that I would help to plan for certain outcomes that would setup for a verbal conversation for the children to take part and join in the fun of a verbal account of what they did at home and what they plan on doing tonight or what they did yesterday or what they are doing now and that way they can have the verbal skills needed to accomplish some situations. This is the way I would help to achieve the physical cognitive and communication skills of the children.

Modern Middle East Paper on Samuel P. Huntingtons The Clash of Essay

Modern Middle East Paper on Samuel P. Huntingtons The Clash of Civilizations of the Coming of the New World Order and Edward W. Saids article, The Clash of Ignorance in The Nation magazine - Essay Example ological, geo-political and economic conflicts were carried out on the European stage, the end of the Cold War has changed the dynamics and motivations of international conflicts. In the prevailing world order, the fight for supremacy in the realms of ideology, material wealth and territorial conquest have become secondary to the assertion of ‘civilizations’. Civilization as a term in historical discourse can be difficult to define, but Huntington narrows down the scope of this term. According to the author, of all the constituent elements that comprise a particular civilization, its identification with religion, ethnicity and culture form the core. A civilization’s affiliation with these elements is more enduring and resistant to change than its propensity for change, say, in the economic and ideological domains. Huntington correctly points out that in the hundred years before the end of Cold War there have been radical transformations from monarchy to communism to democracy, from liberal capitalism to stringent economic protectionism, and vice versa across the globe. Not only have there been numerous instances of such changes but have also oscillated from one extreme to another. Amid all this churning, the only abstract conception with which peoples in different parts of the world could identify with is their ‘civilization’. The author goes on to identify eight major civilizations in the new world order. These include â€Å"Western, Confucian, and Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American and possibly African civilization. The most important conflicts of the future will occur along the cultural fault lines separating these civilizations from one another†. (Huntington, 1997, p.157) The author further adds that while distinct fault lines are evident between every pairing of these civilizations, the friction is no where greater than between the Western and Islamic blocs. For, barring few minor variations, the existing

Integrity of high chromium steel dissimilar metal weld Literature review

Integrity of high chromium steel dissimilar metal weld - Literature review Example The austenitic stainless steels are definitely the commonly utilised material of all stainless steel categories. The commonly available austenitic family that is the 300 series comprises of the chrome- iron-nickel system. The austenitic stainless steels are comparably more resistant to corrosions since they have high weight percentage of the nickel and chromium content typically; that is 8-12% and 18-20% respectively. Additionally, they are non-hardenable via heat treatment and non-magnetic processes (Avazkonandeh-Gharavol, Haddad-Sabzevar and Haerian, 2008). However, the austenitic material can be hardened to some extent via cold working. The austenitic stainless steels are utilised extensively in the petrochemical, nuclear, and in the general corrosive chemical surroundings. The austenitic stainless steels are additionally classified by their carbon content as; the â€Å"L† grades or straight grades or the â€Å"H† grades. The straight grades consist of 0.03-0.08 % wt. Carbon; the L grades have less than 0.03% of Carbon; while the H grades consist of anywhere from about 0.04-0.10% weight of Carbon. The increased carbon content evident in the H grades leads to a more wear resistant and harder material. An increased carbon levels also assists the material in holding its strength at an elevated or high temperatures, thus frequently utilised in the high-temperature applications or projects. However, the increased carbon levels lead to problems that are directed to the Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) in the welds. The lower or reduced carbon compositions of the â€Å"L† grades were specifically meant for the improved weldability the material (Gandy, Shingledecker and Viswanathan, 2011). The high carbon grades are frequently utilised where wear resistant, harder, or the high-temperature applications are present. The low carbon stainless steels, for example, the 304L and 316L, are regularly utilised in applications that the intergranular

Sustainability at Millipore Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sustainability at Millipore - Case Study Example Due to the reduction of the emissions of GHG, the depletion of ozone layer minimised and the desertification of the agricultural lands also reduced significantly. Therefore, this strategy might act extremely effective for the organization of Millipore thereby amplifying its environment friendly sustainable business operation. The management of the organization of Millipore also needs to reduce its dependence over the petroleum based products. This can help them to reduce the amounts of solid wastes thereby decreasing its negative impacts over the climate and the globe. Reduction of solid waste is one of the important initiatives for reducing the rate of global warming that not only can save the human beings but also the whole ecosystem as well. Apart from the above mentioned strategies, the management should focus more on reduction of carbon emission and water usage which definitely can lead to decreasing major environment issues like global warming. However, in order to make these e nvironmental sustainability initiatives successful, the organization needs to use varied types of upgraded boilers, compressors and lightings. This helped the organization of Millipore to fulfil its sustainability mission. In this age of extreme global warming, the prime concentration of the organizations is reduction of green house gas emissions (GHG). Similarly, the director of Millipore, Mr. David Newman also decided to implement varied types of solar panels and solectria inverters in order to reduce over-dependence over non-renewable products. Along with this, he also instructed the use of upgraded boilers and machines in order to reduce the emissions of waste materials in the environment. Moreover, reverse osmosis procedure is also used in the manufacturing plants also proved effective for the organization in reducing its emissions. All these strategies are

Daniel's Quest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Daniel's Quest - Essay Example Daniel Lewin is the main character who tries to find the truth about his parents executed for 'stealing' technology secretes for Russia. These events took place many years ago, but they are still important for Daniel who cannot overcome grief and depression. Doctorow depicts that Daniel has a happy family, son, beloved sister Susan, a good job and opportunities, but he cannot bear with the death of his parents. Daniel's quest is a search for truth and good name of his family accused in espionage. "Daniel" writes: "If justice cannot be made to operate under the worst possible conditions of social hysteria, what does it matter how it operates at other times" (Doctorow 1996, 56) Through the characters of Daniel Lewin Doctorow unveils such important life stages as the process of becoming an 'adult' and new perception of self. In spite of the fact that Daniel is a mature person he is bound by memories and deep emotional experience. Doctorow describes that history and its examples become an important moral guide for Daniel to overcome life troubles and depression. In general, the author's emotions are mixed about moving beyond adolescence, because this new life stage deprives everyone of his ingenuousness.

Healthcare Insight Repositioning Research Paper

Healthcare Insight Repositioning - Research Paper Example Human beings often get sick and when they do so, they need medical attention. Landmark Health is a non-profit making organization that looks towards offering their patients suitable services that will leave them satisfied, and ensure that their outpatients have words full of praise for their services rather than criticizing them (Nanus & Dobbs, 1999). Landmark Healthcare Organization extends its medical services from Virginia all the way to Georgia. The mission of the organization is to improve the health of communities, with services to each and every person in the community. The major purpose of this study is to identify the major successes and pitfalls faced by the organization as a result of its changing environment in terms of site, management and patient outcome and suggesting solutions and suitable recommendations to the problems that the organization faces. The essence of a local health center is to provide suitable medical care to its adjacent community and extend its services further to other communities in the region. Landmark Healthcare provides value to the community by embodying the belief that they have practiced at the various sites in the country. According to their senior leader, they strive to provide same medical facilities all over their thirteen locations so as to satisfy patients from both areas who visit their institution. In addition, their market leader pointed out that they offer value by providing exceptional medical facilities, enhancing appropriate physician practices and being devoted to the outreach of the community and other communal services (Nanus & Dobbs, 1999). These values, when provided adequately and sufficiently to the community, come with benefits, and as he continued to say, it has had some enormous contributions to the success of the  organization, including the organizations registering a massive benefit of $ 567 million in the year 2011. The benefits recorded were not only because of the large numbers of in-patients that they record, but it was accrued to the community services that they offer to the people.

Assignment 1 in Psychology Research Method Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

1 in Psychology Research Method - Assignment Example The first group was handled daily from 3 to 14 weeks of age, the second from 7 to 14 weeks of age and the third received no handling from birth to 14 weeks. Different experimenters handled each kitten on different days. "Handling" was defined as an experimenter holding a kitten on his/her lap while petting it for 15 minutes. Friendliness was measured by how long each kitten stayed with the experimenter when not restrained, and by how long it took each kitten to reach the experimenter. Karsh found that the kittens handled from 3 to 14 weeks stayed longer with the experimenter and ran more quickly to the experimenter than kittens handled from 7 to 14 weeks. Also, kittens handled from 7 to 14 weeks were more "friendly" than kittens who received no handling at all. Karsh concluded that kittens should be handled as early as possible to ensure life-long friendliness towards humans. What are the possible confounds in Karsh’s experimental design: The possible confounds in Karsh’s experimental design are the way experimenters handled each kitten on different days. Each experimenter will hold a kitten on his/her lap while petting it differently for 15 minutes. The petting a kitten will be different for each experimenter and each kitten will feel it differently. This have affect on both handling and friendliness in cats. An investigator believed that sensory deprivation inhibits the intellectual development of animals. He ran an experiment to examine this thesis in the following way. He used two rats, each of which had just given birth to eight pups. One rat and her litter were placed in a large cage. This cage had ample space and lots of objects to explore. The baby rats in this cage breastfed off their mother. The second rat’s pups were separated from the mother, and each was placed in a separate cage. These cages were quite small, and the only objects they could see or hear were the four walls and the food and water

Attachment and Parenting Styles Essay Example for Free

Attachment and Parenting Styles Essay Everyone has had some type of caregiver some point in his or her life. The only difference is the type of method used for parenting. â€Å"Parenting styles have been grouped into four different styles: indulgent, authoritarian, authoritative, and uninvolved† (Darling Eric, 1999. para. 3). With each kind of parenting style, there are pros and cons that help or disrupt a child’s well-being. Parents should make sure the type of parenting style they expose their child to will be positive and not negatively affect the child. A negative impact could hinder a child’s current behavior and future behavior. Parenting Styles The authoritarian approach provides children with a set of rules that must be followed without questioning. There is a â€Å"do as I say not as I do† attitude. The authoritarian parenting style is the stricter style. According to the textbook, â€Å"The authoritarian child-rearing style is low in acceptance and involvement, high in coercive control, and low in autonomy granting† (Berk, 2010, pg. 279). Parents who use this method set strict limits and show little or no love appearing to be cold. If a child resists the parent, the parent will result into a forceful punishment. It is not uncommon for a parent with this approach to shame, blame, punish, and tease his or her child. The most common reason for parents using this method is that they do not want their children to become failures. The uninvolved approach rejects and neglects a child. According to the textbook, â€Å"the uninvolved child-rearing style combines low acceptance and involvement with little control and general indifference to issues of autonomy† (Berk, 2010, pg. 280). A parent will usually make few to no demands from the child. It is not uncommon for a parent to be overcome with his or her life that he or she express’s little or no interest in the child causing neglecting. A child who is around this type of atmosphere may have several problems that include antisocial behavior and developing a low self-esteem. It is possible for a parent to focus on his or her own problems that they do not realize how separate he or she is with the child and the lack of emotional support given. Types of Attachments A child who may have a parent whose parenting style is authoritarian may have a resistant attachment. â€Å"Resistant attachment affects about 10 percent of infants† (Machteld, 2011, para. 7). With resistant attachment a child is likely to be clingy, angry, and distressed. A child may cry for longer periods and cannot feel comfort as easily as other children. An uninvolved parent may have a child who expresses avoidant attachment. â€Å"This attachment affects about 15 percent of infants† (Machteld, 2011, para. 9). During this attachment a child may show a lack of interest when the parent is around. He or she will not be distraught when the parent leaves. They are not going to be clingy and will treat strangers the same as they do his or her parents. The reasons for choosing these attachments are because they go hand-in-hand with the type of parenting styles chosen. If a child has a parent with the authoritarian style of parenting he or she is likely to go through the resistant attachment. A child who has a parent uninvolved is likely to go through the avoidant attachment. Each type of parenting style will have a different type of attachment. Culture Impact and Examples Different cultures vary in the way they raise children and what is thought to be the right or wrong way. Culture can play a role in the impact of raising a child. What may be satisfactory in one culture may be wrong in another. The textbook provides several examples of culture impact and attachment patterns. â€Å"German infants show considerably more avoidant attachment than American babies do. But German parents value independence and encourage their infants to be non-clingy† (Berk, 2010. pg. 199). In one culture independence is encouraged and a child with avoidant attachment is not seen as a negative impact. In another culture a parent may believe this attachment is neglectful and not want his or her child to express this type of attachment. â€Å"Infants in Africa showed no avoidant attachment to their mothers. Even when grandmothers are the primary caregivers† (Berk, 2010. pg. 199). It is common for a Japanese baby to show resistant attachment. This is not because of any insecurity, but because a Japanese mother will normally not leave her child in anyone else’s care. Japanese parents see this as normal. Conclusion Each parent must figure out which type of parenting style works best for him or her. The type of parenting style not only affects the parent but also the child. As a responsible parent it is his or her job to make sure that the obstacles of everyday life does not hinder him or her from being a good parent. With the authoritarian style or uninvolved style a child will be shown and acquire his or her morals. It is not right to neglect or over discipline a child. A parent can be strict and loving at the same time. A child needs to have both discipline and love to be well-rounded. Too much discipline can force a child to have problems just as neglecting a child will also. There has to be a middle where the parent can realize when enough is enough. References Berk, L. E. (2010). Development through the lifespan. (5th ed., pp. 119-215). Boston, MA: Allyn Bacon. Darling, N., ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, C. L. (1999). Parenting Style and Its Correlates. ERIC Digest. Machteld, Hoeve (2011). Maternal and paternal parenting styles: Unique and combined links to adolescent and early adult delinquency. Journal of Adolescence, 34813-827. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.02.004

The Shame of Paying College Athletes Essay Example for Free

The Shame of Paying College Athletes Essay A salary should only be given to athletes that are at a professional level. Young college athletes don’t yet know the value of money and should be treated as such. College athletes should not be paid, due to the fact that most colleges would not be able to afford paying every player in their program, schools already provide free education and scholarships for athletes, and paying athletes is against NCAA regulation. First of all, athletes should not be paid because most colleges (besides big name schools) would not be able to afford paying all their players in their programs; not just football and basketball players. Out of the 120 FBS (formerly named Division 1) schools, only twelve broke even or made a profit after an athletic season†(Bokshan) If only twelve broke even how are these schools expected to cough up enough money to pay their players. They are not. If the National College Athletic Association or NCAA changed their rules, and forced all colleges to pay their athletic players; most would quickly fall into dept, and have to cut their entire sports program just to save their schools from having to close down. Leaving the college no choice, but to cut into their general funds; meaning cutting back on funding for cademic education. Many Universities like Miami of Ohio are going through huge budget problems, because of all the expenses from their college sports program (Northern Star). Miami University and many other schools can barely afford running a sports program, let alone paying all their athletes. Paying colleges would cost at least $200 million a year for Division 1, and that’s not including Division 2, and 3. (USA TODAY) $200 million dollars is an insane about of money, and â€Å"There are just to many important issues that schools need to address, and speeding oney on already spoiled athletes isn’t one of them? † (Northern Star). Therefore; colleges could never afford paying their athletes because of numerous reasons. In addition, colleges already provide free education and scholarships. â€Å"Full athletic scholarships cover a student athlete’s tuition, any fees, room, meal plans and required course related books†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Bokshan). What else does a young student athlete attending a college need? They are already getting a college education for free. Their room and board is fully paid and study from books that can cost up to $500 dollars each. Student athletes also get erks other than the scholarship itself, like free tutors and special classes to help the player stay eligible to play (Daugherty). Most colleges already have systems set but to ensure that all there players have enough money to have cloths and other necessities. (Eagan, Mike). College athletes are already pampered enough. They don’t need a pay check to g with their already free- education (Cassavugh). Players also have the advantage of study with other members of their team that are most likely in the same free classes. Example of a pampered player- Star Kentucky freshmen Anthony B. Lavis already has a free-education, and an audition for the NBA (Daugherty). Actors don’t get paid for auditioning for a play, so why should a basketball player audition be paid? These college players are selfish, and should be honored that schools have offered them to play. They shouldn’t expect a salary to go with their scholarship. They can wait until the pros to get their $8 million dollar signing bonuses. Lastly, college athletes should not be paid because it is against NCAA regulation. The rule of colleges not being able to pay their players should be theft untouched, and for good reason. The NCAA is based off of amateurism and if players were paid they could no longer be considered amateurs (Crowley) and the whole NCAA foundation would be broken. College players are not professionals and should be treated as such. NCAA is about fairness and by paying players would be extremely unfair to smaller schools that would have no chance to pay for the highest caliber players. Division 1 would be treated with the most care and money leaving division 2, and 3 with also n money to pay their players, this is also unfair. Colleges couldn’t just pay their football and basketball teams. They would have to pay there acrosse, track, soccer, swimming etc. ; including all the women’s teams. If the college were to only pay the means teams the would be involution of one of the most important section of the NCAA rule book Title IX- A clause in the 1972 in the Education act stating that on one shall be denied the benefits of any educational program or activity that receives di rect federal aid because of their Gender (dictionary). College is a privilege that is earned, and income from that privilege can’t be bestowed only of some of the men (Daugherty). By paying college athletes players it will single handedly arnish not only the entire way NCAA college sports are run, but also infect it with politics and favoritism. College athletes shouldn’t be paid, due to the fact that most colleges would not be able to afford paying every player in their program, schools already provide free- education and scholarships for athletes, and paying athletes is against NCAA regulation. Money can and will destroy the college athlete program; there are too many things that can go wrong when it comes to distributing a pay check student athlete. The NCAA has its flaws, but enforcing the rule of not paying college athletes is not one of them. (Porto)

Estimating Reservoir Porosity: Probabilistic Neural Network

Estimating Reservoir Porosity: Probabilistic Neural Network Estimation of Reservoir Porosity Using Probabilistic Neural Network Keywords: Porosity Seismic Attributes Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) Highlights: Porosity is estimated from seismicattributes using Probabilistic Neural Networks. Impedance is calculated by using Probabilistic Neural Networks inversion. Multi-regression analysis is used to select input seismic attributes. Abstract Porosity is the most fundamental property of hydrocarbon reservoir. However, the porosity data that come from well log are only available at well points. Therefore, it is necessary to use other methods to estimate reservoir porosity. Interpolation is a simple and widely used method for porosity estimation. However, the accuracy of interpolation method is not satisfactory especially in the place where the numbers of wells are small. Seismic data contain abundant lithology information. There are inherent correlations between reservoir propertyand seismic data. Therefore, it ispossible to estimate reservoir porosity by using seismic data andattributes. Probabilistic Neural Network is a neoteric neuralnetwork modelbased on statistical theory.It is a powerful tool to extract mathematic relation between two data sets. For this case, it has been used to extract the mathematic relation between porosity and seismic attributes. In this study, firstly, a seismic impedance volume is calculated b y seismic inversion. Secondly, several appropriate seismic attributes are extracted by using multi-regression analysis. Then, a Probabilistic Neural Network model is trained to obtain mathematic relation between porosity and seismic attributes. Finally, this trained Probabilistic Neural Network model is applied to calculate a porosity data volume. This methodology could be used to find advantageous areas at the early stage of exploration. And it is also helpful for the establishment of reservoir model at the stage of reservoir development. 1. Introduction In recent years, clear advances have been made in the study and application of intelligent systems. Intelligent system is a powerful tool to extract quantitative formulation between two data sets and has begun to be applied to the petroleum industry (Asoodeh and Bagheripour, 2014; Tahmasebi and Hezarkhani, 2012; Karimpouli et al., 2010; Chithra Chakra et al., 2013). There are inherent correlations between reservoir properties and seismic attributes (Iturrarà ¡n-Viveros and Parra, 2014; Yao and Journel, 2000). Therefore, it ispossible to estimate reservoir porosities by using seismic data and attributes. Previous studies have proved that it is feasible to estimate reservoir porosity by using statistical methods and intelligent systems (Na’imi et al., 2014; Iturrarà ¡n-Viveros, 2012; Leite and Vidal, 2011). Probabilistic NeuralNetwork (PNN) is a neoteric neural network model based on statistical theory. It is essentially a kind of parallel algorithm based on the minimum Bayesian risk criterion (Miguez, 2010). It is unlike traditional multilayer forward network that requires an error back propagation algorithm, but a completely forward calculation process. The training time is shorter and the accuracy is higher than traditional multilayer forward network. It is especially suitable for nonlinear multi attributes analysis. For this case, PNN has good performance on unseen data. In this study, the propounded methodology is applied to estimate the porosity of sandstone reservoir prosperously. 2. Probabilistic Neural Network PNN is a variant of Radial Basis Function networks and approximate Bayesian statistical methods, the combination of new input vectors with the existing data storage to fully classify the input data; a process that similar to human behavior (Parzen, 1962). Probabilistic Neural Network is an alternative type Neural Network (Specht, 1990). It is based on Parzen’s Probabilistic Density Function estimator. PNN is a four-layer feed-forward network, consisting of an input layer, a pattern layer, a summation layer and an output layer (Muniz et al., 2010). Probabilistic NeuralNetwork is actuallya mathematical interpolation method, but it has a structure of neural network. It has better interpolation function than multilayer feed forwardneural network. PNN’s requirement of training data sample is as same as Multilayer Feed Forward Neural Network. It includes a series of training sample sets, and each sample corresponds to the seismic sample in the analysis window of each well. Suppose that there is a data set of n samples, each sample consists of m seismic attributes and one reservoir parameter. Probabilistic Neural Network assumes that each output log value could be expressed as a linear combination of input logging data value (Hampson et al., 2001). The new sample after the attribute combination is expressed as: (1) The new predicted logging values can be expressed as: (2) whereà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã… ¡ (3) The unknown quantity D(x, xi) is the â€Å"distance† between input point and each training sample point. This distance is measured by seismic attributes in multidimensional space and it is expressed by the unknown quantity ÏÆ'j. Eq. (1)and Eq. (2) represent the application of Probabilistic Neural Network. The training process includes determining the optimal smoothing parameter set. The goal of the determination on these parameters is to make the validation error minimization. Defining the kth target point validation result as follows: (4) When the sample points are not in the training data, it is the kth target sample prediction value. Therefore, if the sample values are known, we can calculate the prediction error of sample points. Repeat this process for each training sample set, we can define the total prediction error of training data as: à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬(5) The prediction error depends on the choice of parameter ÏÆ'j. This unknown quantity realizes the minimization through nonlinear conjugate gradient algorithm. Validation error, the average error of all excluded wells, is the measure of a possible prediction error in the process of seismic attributes transformation. The trained Probabilistic Neural Network has the characteristics of validation minimum error. The PNN does not require an iterative learning process, which can manage magnitudes of training data faster than other Artificial Neural Network architectures (Muniz et al., 2010). The feature is a result of the Bayesian technique’s behavior (Mantzaris et al., 2011). 3. Methodology The data sets used in this study belong to 8 wells (consisting of W1 to W8) and post-stack 3D seismic data in Songliao Basin, Northeast China. The target stratum is the first member of the Cretaceous Nenjiang Formation that is one of the main reservoirs in this area. In this study, the main contents include seismic impedance inversion, attributes extraction, training and application of PNN model. The flow chart is shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1. The flow chart of this study 3.1 Seismic impedance inversion This section is to calculate a qualified 3D seismic impedance data volume for porosity estimation. The attributes are gathered from both seismic and inversion cube. The phase of input 3D seismic data is close to zero at the target stratum. The data have good quality in the entire time range without noticeable multiple interference. T6 and T5 are the top and bottom of reservoirs, respectively. T6-1 is an intermediate horizon between T6 and T5 (Fig. 2 (b)). This data volume covers an area of approximately 120 km2. The structure form of reservoir in this area is a slope. There are two faults in the up dip direction of slope (Fig. 2 (a)). (a) (b) Fig. 2. (a) T6 horizon display. (b) An arbitrary line from seismic data, line of this section is shown in (a). Seismic datacontain abundant information of lithology andreservoirs property. Through seismic inversion, interface type of seismic datacan beconverted intolithology type of loggingdata, which could be directlycompared withwell logging (Pendrel, 2006). Seismic inversionbased on logging data takes full advantage of large area lateral distribution ofseismic data combined with using the geologicaltheory. It is an effective method to study the distribution anddetailsof reservoirs. PNN inversion is a neoteric seismic wave impedance inversion method. There is mapping relation between synthetic impedance from well log data and seismic traces near well. In PNN inversion method, this mapping relation will be found and a mathematical model will be built up by training. The concrete steps of PNN inversion are as follow (Metzner, 2013): (1). Build up an initial reservoir geological model. The control points of model are defined by a series of different depth, velocity and density data. (2). Neural Network model establishment and training. At this step, a PNN model is built up and trained. The training and validation error of trained PNN should be minimized. The trained PNN model includes the mathematical relation between synthetic impedance by well log data and seismic traces near well. (3). Calculation of impedance by applying the PNN model to seismic data volume. PNN inversion method takes full advantage of all the frequency components of well log data, and has good anti-interference ability. PNN inversion will not reduce resolution in inversion process, and there is no error accumulation. Final results of inversion are displayed in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and Table 1. Fig. 3. Cross plot of actual impedance and predicted impedance Fig. 4. Cross Validation Result of Inversion. Correlation=0.832, Average Error=546.55[(m/s)*(g/cc)] Fig. 5. Arbitrary line from inversed impedance data volume. Base map is shown in the figure lowerleft. Table 1 Numerical analysis of inversion at well locations 3.2 Seismic attributes selection by using multi-regression analysis Multi-regression analysis is a mathematical method which is used to analysis the relationship between one dependent variable and several independent variables (Hampson et al., 2001). The basic principle is that although there is no strict, deterministic functional relation between dependent variables and independent variables can try to find the most appropriate mathematical formula to express this relation. Multi-regression analysis can be used to solve the following problems: (1). Determine if there is correlation between certain variables. If it exists, find a suitable mathematical expression between them. (2). According to one or several variable values, predict the value of another variable, and calculate the forecast accuracy. (3). Factor analysis. For example, in the common effects of many variables for a variable, find out the most important factors, the secondary important factors, and the relationship between these factors. In the multi-regression analysis method, prediction error of N attributes is always less than or equal to N-1 attributes. Adding attributes means to use higher polynomial to fit curve. We can calculate the prediction error of each polynomial. This prediction error is equal to the root mean square error between real values and predicted values. With the increase of polynomial order, the prediction error decreases. But when we use overhigh order polynomial to fit curves, the existing data may fit well, but the interpolation or extrapolation over boundary would be fitting badly. This problem is called over-trained. In this study, the data would be divided into training data set and validation data set. The training data set is used to determine the correlation coefficient, and the validation data set is used to compute the validation error. If a high order polynomial fit the training data set well, but fit the validation data set badly. It means that the order of polynomial is too high. In this section, multi-regression analysis method is used to find the most suitable seismic attributes. As illustrated in Table 2, the training error gradually reduces with the increasing number of attributes, but when the number of attributes increases to four, validation error will rise. So, the best set of seismic attributes should contain three attributes that are the first three attributes in Table 2. The first three attributes are Inverted Impedance, Average Frequency and Filter 35/40-45/50. The most significant seismic attribute is Inverted impedance. Those attributes yield useful information about the lateral changes in lithology and porosity (Chopra and Marfurt, 2005). Furthermore, the training error for them is less than 3% that shows the exactness of results. It should be noted that PNN is a kind of nonlinear method, so the aforementioned attributes can be used as input for porosity prediction by PNN. (Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi et al., 2009) Table 2 The result of multi-regression analysis for porosity estimation 3.3 Porosity estimation using PNN The main purpose of this section is to establish an optimum PNN model. The inputs of this model are three selected attributes in the previous section. In order to highlight the advantages of Probabilistic Neural Network in porosity estimation, another four algorithms have been used. Another four algorithms are single attribute analysis, multi-regression analysis, Multi-layer Feed Forward Network (MLFN) and Radial Basis Function (RBF). The training and validation results are shown in Table 3. According to the results, PNN algorithm gives less training and validation error. As seen from Table 3, the correlation coefficient of training result could reach 0.915, which is considered as a high correlation coefficient. It is higher than multi-regression analysis method (the correlation coefficient of multi-regression analysis is 0.844) and other methods. According to the numerical validation results, PNN method for porosity estimation is more accurate than others in this case. In the final of this section, the analysis for creating an optimum PNN model was done (Table 3 and Fig.6). Table 3 The training and validation results of neural networks Fig. 6. Cross plot of predicted porosity versus actual porosity 4. Results and Discussion We have demonstrated the application of Probabilistic Neural Networkto reservoir porosity estimation from seismic attributes. Two mathematical tools have been used: multi-regression analysis and PNN method. In the section of seismic impedance inversion, a qualified inverted impedance data volume has been calculated (Fig.3). In the section of seismic attributes selection, multi-regression analysis has been used to find appropriate seismic attributes (the first three attributes of Table 2). Those seismic attributes come from 3D seismic data volume and inverted impedance data volume. The optimal model is built up by PNN with proper trend and minimization of error. We have demonstrated this methodology on a set of 8 wells log data. The correlation coefficient of training data set could reach 0.915, which is considered as a high correlation coefficient (Fig.6). The well W5 is not used in training. It is used to validate the result of porosity estimation. The correlation coefficient of validation result could reach 0.881, which means that this methodology is reliable. The estimated porosity of W5 is displayed in Fig.7. After the establishment of an optimum PNN model for porosity estimation, we apply this model to all seismic data volume. Then, a porosity data volume could be calculated (Figs.8, 9). In Fig.9, an ancient river could be seen in the rectangle with higher porosity than elsewhere in the region. This is consistent with the law of geology. which shows, from one aspect, that the Probabilistic Neural Network is a reliable tool for porosity estimation. This method is an effective way to create an acceptable porosity data volume. 5. Conclusions We have demonstrated that the estimation of reservoir porosity from seismic attributes and inversion impedance using PNN method. In this study, two mathematic tools have been used: multi-regression analysis and PNN method. At attributes selection stage of this study, three attributes have been selected. At the porosity estimation stage, a PNN model has been established and trained. The training and validation correlation coefficient between predicted porosity and actual porosity could reach 0.915 and 0.881, respectively. The profile of estimated porosity shows that porosity variation in vertical direction is approximately increasing from bottom to the top and can be verified at well locations. The results indicate that PNN is a reliable method for porosity estimation. And it has obvious advantages in estimation accuracy compared with conventional methods such as multi-regression analysis and Multi-layer Feed Forward Network. The proposed methodology can be used to estimate porosity from seismic data. This methodology could reduce drilling risks and improve the success rate of exploration at the early stage of reservoir exploration. And it also could provide an acceptable porosity data volume which could be used to build reservoir geological model at the stage of reservoir development.

Divorce Essay -- essays research papers

Broken families are on since the beginning of humanity. In fact, divorce, which has been very common in today’s societies, is the major cause that leads to family devastation. However, although, in some cases, divorce is the only solution for a family to live in peace, one must think many times before taking such decision, and that is because of many . When life becomes unbearable between a women an her husband, they may think of divorce as being a fair solution for both of them to get their â€Å"independence† and live a normal life, they may even think that it is suitable for their children. However, this is not the case , divorce may have some serious consequences that can affect the whole society . Many religions disapprove of divorce. For instance, Islam is against divorce, and even if it is tolerated, it must be the last alternative to do. As we know from the Qu’ran, it was never god’s plan for families to experience such devastation, and that is because of many consequences that many affect not only the divorced couple or their children, but also the whole society. A community where divorce is common doesn’t have strong links and relationships among its people, and hence will lack of solidarity and unity. Beside, divorce and failure of marriages make people lose confidence in marriage and behave against the religious and ethical ideals to satisfy their natural desires. For these reasons, Islam has given to men the right to marry four women; this may prevent men, at least...

James Joyces Araby - The Lonely Quest in Araby Essay -- Joyce Dubline

The Lonely Quest in "Araby"  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Universality of experience makes James Joyce's "Araby" interesting, readers respond instinctively to an experience that could have been their own. It is part of the instinctual nature of man to long for what he feels is the lost spirituality of his world. In all ages man has believed that it is possible to search for and find a talisman, which, if brought back, will return this lost spirituality. The development of theme in "Araby" resembles the myth of the quest for a holy talisman. In "Araby," Joyce works from a "visionary mode of artistic creation"-a phrase used by psychiatrist Carl Jung to describe the, â€Å"visionary" kind of literary creation that derives its material from â€Å"the hinterland of man's mind-that suggests the abyss of time sepa-rating us from prehuman ages, or evokes a superhuman world of con-trasting light and darkness. It is a primordial experience, which sur-passes man's understanding and to which he is therefore in danger of succumbing." 1 Assuredly this describes Joyce's handling of the material of "Araby." The quest itself and its consequences surpass the understanding of the young protagonist of the story. He can only "feel" that he undergoes the experience of the quest and naturally is con-fused, and at the story's conclusion, when he fails, he is anguished and angered. His "contrasting world of light and darkness" contains both the lost spirituality and the dream of restoring it. Because our own worlds contain these contrasts we also "feel," even though the primordial experience surpasses our understanding, too. It is true, as a writer reminds us, that "no matter the work, Joyce always views the order and disorder of the world in terms of the Catholic faith... ...world of North Richmond Street. Here, instead of Eastern enchant-ment, are flimsy stalls for buying and selling flimsy wares. His grailhas turned out to be only flimsy tea sets covered with artificial flow-ers. As the upper hall becomes completely dark, the boy realizes thathis quest has ended. Gazing upward, he sees the vanity of imagininghe can carry a chalice through a dark throng of foes. 1 Carl G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soid. trans. W. S. Dell and CaryF. Baynes (New York, 1933), pp. 156-157. 2 William Bysshe Stein, "Joyce's 'Araby': Paradise Lost," Perspective, X11,No. 4 (Spring 1962), 215. 3 From Letters of James Joyce, Vol. II, ed. Richard Ellmarm (New York,1966), p. 134. 4 James Joyce, Stephen Hero (New York, 1944), pp. 210-211. 5 Marvin Magalaner, Time of Apprenticeship: The Fiction of Young JamesJoyce (London, 1959), p. 87.   

Growing and Expanding Sandwich Blitz Essay

Creating a new position between the CEO and the location managers will help the business to grow because this newly created role will help to clear up time for Dalman to focus on the other aspects of his position. Since he is spending so much time on talking with location managers, other portions of Sandwich Blitz, Inc. could be suffering from it. Not only that, but adding in the factor that he is just one person makes is clear that a new level in management would help with growing the other managers into the best managers possible. Promoting an existing manger is a good option to fill this position as they are already very familiar with the organization. With the added benefit of having the experience of working in the role as manager to give them a better understanding and insight into what issues and problems can be found within a location. However, for promoting an existing manager, I believe that there are advantages and disadvantages with promoting an existing manager to fill this position. If you promote one of the store managers, you gain the advantage of someone who is already familiar with the day to day operations. But you lose them as your location manager. If you hire someone who didn’t already work at Sandwich Blitz, this person may not be familiar with the product line, but they could introduce new management ideas into the organization. New ideas could help the organization run more efficiently. Furthermore, when it comes to decision making, I think managers should stick with tactical decisions, owners board of directors should stick to strategic decisions and employees should stick to operational decisions. With strategic decisions, these affect the long-term direction of the business eg whether to take over Company A or Company B. Tactical Decisions, these are medium-term decisions about how to implement strategy eg what kind of marketing to have, or how many extra staff to recruit. To add Operational Decisions, these are short-term decisions (also called administrative decisions) about how to implement the tactics eg which firm to use to make deliveries. To conclude, the levels of authority (management) that Sandwich Blitz, Inc. would have if the new position is created, would be line authority gives a manager the right to direct the work of his or her employees and make many decisions without consulting others. Staff authority supports line authority by advising, servicing, and assisting, but this type of authority is typically limited. For example, the assistant to the department head has staff authority because he or she acts as an extension of that authority. These assistants can give advice and suggestions, but they don’t have to be obeyed. Functional authority is delegated to an individual or department over specific activities undertaken by personnel in other departments.

Anti Legalization Critical Thinking Essay

The aim of this paper is to logically apply reason to assess the arguments for the legalization of marijuana, and by doing so point out flaws in these arguments. Furthermore, this paper will assess the credibility and the source of these arguments, and present counter arguments to conclude that marijuana should not be a legal drug in California and the rest of the United States. First I will consider The National Organizations for the Reform of Marijuana Law’s â€Å"Principles of Responsible Marijuana Use† which is the basis for their argument for the legalization of marijuana, and how this set of principles is flawed. Second I will consider the claim â€Å"that marijuana should be legal in a taxed and regulated manner† and also consider the source of this claim. Third I will emphasize the negative social effects of legalization of marijuana in order to counter the claims for legalization. Finally I will conclude that given these factors, legalization of marijuana would be harmful and detrimental to society as a whole, possessing little or no economic, social, or medical benefits. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law is the leading lobbyist group for the legalization of marijuana in the United States. This organization has made it their commitment to have marijuana legalized in a taxable way as tobacco and alcohol currently are. This organization rationalizes it’s arguments with a document called the â€Å"Principles of Responsible Marijuana Use† in which is attempts to justify marijuana reform in a socially accepted manner. The very title of the document is ambiguous, the word â€Å"responsible† is a very circumstantial term and is subject to many different interpretations. Furthermore the document assumes that if legalized, citizens will adhere to this unofficial â€Å"code of ethics†, however we can evidently see with alcohol and tobacco that there is abuse regardless of the regulating laws. Despite this, NORML attempts to lay out their interpretation for what â€Å"responsible marijuana use† is ( 4 ); their first point is that marijuana is to be for adults only, and that it is irresponsible to provide marijuana to children. The terms â€Å"adults† and â€Å"children† again are ambiguous, it is not clear where the line is drawn between what defines an adult or a child. This is a concern because many would assume a child is no longer a child after eighteen years of age, thus it can be determined that eighteen and over is considered a â€Å"responsible† user. It need not be said that current alcohol restrictions limit a user to twenty-one and over. According to a 2005 Monitoring the Future Study, â€Å"three-fourths of 12th graders, more than two-thirds of 10th graders, and about two in every five 8th graders have consumed alcohol†( 5 ), with this evidence it would be wishful thinking to assume marijuana would be any different. To further consider this point 6.8% of children ages 12 to 17 use marijuana on an occasional basis ( 5 ). It would be reasonable to conclude that if marijuana was legalized that number would increase drastically. Second the NORML’s â€Å"Principles of Responsible Marijuana Use† attempts to rationalize legal marijuana use by claiming that if legalized responsible users will refrain from driving ( 4 ). Although an illegal drug, it is not surprising that there are already statistics regarding marijuana impaired driving in many states. California who just recently had a proposition for the legalization of marijuana has some of the most relevant statistics; there are various counties in California that have a 16% or higher marijuana involved traffic fatalities ( 3 ). This number would only increase with the legalization, and that is not to include the the amount of non fatal accidents that would occur annually. A recent study by Alfred Crancer and Alan Crancer projected that traffic fatalities would increase by as much as 300% with legalization ( 3 ). Third NORML claims that â€Å"The responsible cannabis user will carefully consider his/her set and setting, regulating use accordingly†. In this claim there is much room for a line-drawing fallacy, in which it is difficult and conveniently vague and up to the individual to determine what set and setting is actually appropriate for usage. It could be assumed under this principle that its safe to use marijuana while caring for children, elderly, while driving, and also very relevantly while working. Forth NORML claims that a responsible marijuana user will â€Å"resist abuse†. They define abuse by: â€Å"Abuse means harm. Some cannabis use is harmful; most is not. That which is harmful should be discouraged; that which is not need not be.† A clever statement however invalid and illogical. Drug abuse is defined as an uncontrollable urge for constant seeking of intoxicants ( 2 ). Many users would be unaware of their abuse, until the point in which it has destroyed their livelihood, relationships, economic security, and health. Legalization would only increase the numbers of active addicts, and make marijuana readily available for them, and being legal, consequently restraining family, friends, and the courts from restricting an addicts use before to much harm is done. The final claim made by NORML is a â€Å"Respect for Rights of Others† in which they attempt to justify the fact that if marijuana was legal, non users will have to deal with it. Again it is wishful thinking to see that users will have respect for the others who are not users, however while illegal we can see that many still cultivate marijuana, drive under the influence of it, and use it as socially as possible. A strict layout of parameters that must be followed with public and private use of the drug would be acceptable, however advocates for the cause prefer the vagueness, in which there are no absolute lines that can be drawn between legal and illegal use (ie. Driving, social events, age, etc.). The entire document is a rationalization and does not seem to give a valid or true pretense to satisfy desires. The most relevant claim argued against in this paper is the claim that â€Å"marijuana should be legal in a taxed and regulated manner†. This claim by itself has the vagueness and ambiguity of a typical bill or legislation. It is this vagueness and ambiguity that encroach on the freedoms of citizens everyday. The fact is that marijuana is a drug, it was made illegal by the Federal Controlled Substance Act of 1970 to stop the violence and abuse that was common practice. We have seen in other countries failed attempts to regulate and tax drugs, like the Netherlands, and we have seen the damage drugs can have on society as a hole, like the dangerous drug cartels that rule Mexico. In evaluating this claim it is also important to consider the sources, one of the biggest supporters of marijuana legalization is Robert Lee. Lee is president of â€Å"Oaksterdam University† a school that teaches students how to cultivate, grow, process, and cure marijuana ( 3 ). It would seem highly logical to acknowledge that this man is not interested in the social repercussions of legalization. His motive is clearly for the profit that can come from legalization. Legalization would drastically increase the amount of growers and interested parties in his school. Another strong voice in pro-legalization is the company S.K. Seymour LLC which is a Medical Cannabis Provider ( 3 ), who again would see a dramatic increase in profit and sales due to the fact that they can open up their business to the public, and not just medical marijuana patients. It seems that neither of the sources, from the research done, are interested in the negative and adverse affects of legalization and only interested in the lucrative value of legalization. It is also important to analyze the negative social effects of marijuana on society, most notably the economic affects and the medical effects. Recent proposition 19 in California stated that: â€Å"No person shall be punished, fined, discriminated against, or be denied any right or privilege for lawfully engaging in any conduct permitted by this Act or authorized pursuant to Section 11301 of this Act. Provided however, that the existing right of an employer to address consumption that actually impairs job performance by an employee shall not be affected.† Basically stating that employers can no longer regulate marijuana use while working unless it can show that performance is being impaired by use ( 3 ). Proposition 19 also is in conflict with the Federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970 which prohibits the use of marijuana for recreational use. This would be a mistake by California due to the fact that the state would loose billions of federal dollars in the form of grants and aid called for by the Federal Workplace Act of 1988. Not only would government loose money but also schools and medical centers can potentially be affected ( 3 ). The health risks for marijuana usage are as noteworthy as the social repercussions. Marijuana is known to cause A-motivational syndrome, which is a depressed state of the brain in which reaction times and motivation is affected by long term use ( 3 ). Furthermore â€Å"the gateway theory† blames marijuana as the compromise that leads an individual to try harder more harmful drugs. Lastly marijuana has been placed on the California Proposition 65 list of carcinogenic materials, as proven materials that cause cancer ( 3 ). In this paper I argued that the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law’s definitions and reasoning for a â€Å"responsible legal† user is flawed. Many of their arguments are invalid and lack sound reasoning to a conclusion. That the claim that marijuana should be legal and taxed is not a fully developed claim and that the sources of the claim’s motives are not sound in reasoning for legalization. Finally I argued that if marijuana is legalized it would be detrimental to society specifically regarding medical and economic problems. The arguments for legalization are not convincing and present many fallacies, Legalization supporters have the wrong idea of controlled use.

Red Bull Brand Essay

Red Bull is the most popular energy drink in the world, selling over three billion cans annually. Started in 1987 by Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull pursued an aggressive yet different marketing strategy to grow their brand globally. Red Bull met an untapped need within the beverage consumer market and the strength of their carefully cultivated brand provided them leverage to market themselves in a non-traditional manner. What were the key Brand elements for Red Bull? A brand element is trademarkable device intended to identify unique goods or services and differentiate themselves from their competition. Brand elements are designed to enhance brand awareness by cultivating brand associations that are memorable, meaningful, and likeable. Red Bull possesses three key brand elements that helped create points of differentiation (POD) for the Red Bull brand; therefore positioning Red Bull as the world’s dominant functional energy drink. Brand Name – â€Å"Red Bull† – Red Bull is an energy drink that promises to â€Å"revitalize body and mind†. Recognizing that Red Bull does not have a distinct target demographic, Red Bull concluded that all people need energy and promoted Red Bull as consumption for energy and health, not for enjoyment. Red Bull Mystique – By positioning Red Bull with influential people and places, ccurious and adventurous customers tried the brand and spread the word. Red Bull promoted a â€Å"cool† public image to raise their brand power and used a slender container to suggest a â€Å"sexier† image than their competitors. A mysterious position created a sense of need and urgency to the everyday consumer. Slogan – â€Å"Red Bull gives you wiiings!!† – Red Bull is marketed as a product that can refuel a person and create sharper minds. The combination of six different ingredients (taurine, glucuronolactone, caffeine, B-group vitamins, sucrose, and glucose) enables Red Bull drinks to contain more energy than any beverage in the marketplace. Red Bull also used humorous animated cartoon characters to demonstrate the safety and fun-loving virtues their energy drink. This slogan helped create worldwide brand recognition. How did Red Bull’s marketing activities contribute to Brand equity? Brand equity is defined as achieving a different outcome resulting from the marketing of a product or service because of its b rand name, compared to the same product or service without the brand name. Red Bull built their brand equity through strategic marketing initiatives involving the product, price, placement, packaging, and promotion of the Red Bull functional energy drink. Product – Red Bull was designed to improve physical endurance, stimulate metabolism, improve overall well-being, improve speed and concentration, and increase mental alertness. The flavor, color, texture, and ingredients of the drink were markedly different from a traditional carbonated beverage. The energy drink beverage category did not exist – Red Bull created it and was able to generate tremendous brand equity by marketing the product in shroud of mystery. Consumer felt they HAD to try a Red Bull. Price – Red Bull pursued a premium priced beverage strategy from the beginning. By adding 10% to the most expensive competitor’s price, Red Bull tried to position itself as a best in class product because of the added energy-enhancing functionality. Pricing above the competition, Red Bull positioned their brand to be unique, one of the tenets needed for creating strong brand equity. Placement – Red Bull used product placement to build brand equity by containing their distribution and selectively choosing the events, venues, and advertising medium to display their product. By limiting the amount of product available at hand-picked locations, an aura of exclusivity was engineered. The â€Å"cell† philosophy of expansion and growth by dividing key markets into targeted geographic segments allowed Red Bull to strengthen their brand from bottom up, fostering strong brand equity. Packaging – Red Bull used a thinner and more slender looking can, signaling that the product was different than a traditional soda beverage. Also, Red Bull would not extend bulk packaging or unit bundling so each can had to be individually sold by the retailer AND purchased by the consumer. The sleek look and steadfast packaging requirement grew the value of the Red Bull brand Promotion – Red Bull used aggressive media campaigns to grow their brand but only promoted events, venues, and/or personalities that coincided with their brand strategy. They performed very little traditional product promotion, rather focusing on promoting fringe athletic events like extreme sports and relying on the consumer’s self-promotion. Positive consumer testimonials are better than some of the best promotional material money can buy. Peer pressure helped Red Bull’s brand equity to grow exponentially. How did Red Bull’s marketing programs differ from those of conventional soft drinks? Red Bull used advertising, event sponsorship, and sports marketing to promote their product as a functional energy drink. Red Bull aimed to make their marketing programs innovative, individual, non-conformist, unpredictable, and humorous. Rather than pursue conventional marketing me thods, Dietrich Mateschitz felt that the best method for Red Bull to attract customers would be through peer testimonials – or word-of-mouth marketing. More importantly, Mateschitz and team were intent on creating a mystique for Red Bull. Through seeding programs designed to micro-target â€Å"it† shops, clubs, bars, and stores, cultural leaders were the first to discover Red Bull and spread the word to their sphere of influence. By seeking out opinion leaders who represented the Red Bull brand (athletes or entertainment celebrities) and creating limited availability of the product, Red Bull was able to maximize their awareness while focusing on their consumer base building. Pre-marketing, creating awareness in markets where the product wasn’t sold, was another program that Red Bull used to become recognized as the pre-eminent brand of energy drinks. Red Bull expended tremendous effort around product trialing and sampling. The bulk of Red Bull’s marketing activity encourages product trials with sampling, word of mouth, and point of purchase efforts. Red Bull sought to reach consumers in ideal usage situations (concerts, parties, sporting events, highway rest areas, on campus) and wanted to control the amount of consumers that sampled the product. Red Bull deployed energetic and believable brand managers who evangelized the product through explanation and consumption. This controlled product distribution allowed the consumer to see the dedication and focus of each brand manager but did not permit for maximum product reach. Traditional beverage marketers usually try to maximize the number of consumers their product reaches so Red Bull’s strategy flew in the face of the industry standard. What rules were broken during the initial unsuccessful launch of Red Bull UK, per the CBBE model? The Customer-Based Brand Equity Model (CBBE) recognizes that the customer is aware of and familiar with a sp ecific brand and holds a strong, favorable, and unique brand associations in memory, i.e. brand image. Brand associations can be strengthened by personal relevance and/or consistent delivery. Historically, direct product experience creates the strongest brand attributes and benefit associations for consumers. After multiple setbacks trying to enter the United Kingdom, Red Bull found an entry point into Scotland but varied their traditional market entry strategy. Red Bull made three strategic mistakes upon entering the United Kingdom: 1) Altered their marketing formula by classifying their product as a sports drink and not a stimulation drink By marketing Red Bull as a sports drink and not an energy drink, Red Bull UK took a strong brand name that was successfully associated with energy drinks and changed the unique favorable links that Red Bull created with consumers in other EU nations. 2) Departed from their proven â€Å"word-of-mouth† marketing strategy The Red Bull brand was created by grassroots, bottoms-up word-of mouth marketing. In the UK, brand managers worked directly with the largest supermarkets and convenience outlets. This is a deviation from the strategy that fueled Red Bull’s growth in other markets and deteriorated consumer’s brand association with Red Bull. 3) Overhauled the Red Bull advertising strategy by eschewing electronic media for traditional billboards By changing their advertising strategy, the creativity and simplicity of the animated Red Bull ads and precisely worded slogans lost much of their meaning. How can Red Bull maintain its growth momentum in the future? Red Bull continues to be the global leader in the functional energy beverage category. However, the marketplace has become saturated with competition from hundreds of companies, both small and large, in many different markets around the world. In order to main tain their dominant position in the market, Red Bull continued to innovate. They began offering a sugar-free product and recognized that their product’s consumption reason changed as more consumers are using Red Bull as a mixer or supplement. Red Bull also contemplated venturing into herbal tea products, a quarterly magazine, and fast food restaurants. In contemplating how Red Bull can continue to grow their brand’s momentum in an increasingly competitive marketplace, I thought of three ideas – two suggestions for product diversification and one concept for increasing brand exclusivity. Red Bull Gum – An edgy gum would help grow the value of the brand and expand the Red Bull mystique. Red Bull does not have a target demographic but they market their energy drinks to consumers who are innovative, individualistic, non-conformist, unpredictable, and humorous. Creating Red Bull gum would serve as a natural complement to their suite of energy drinks. The gum could be shaped in a solid round shape and contain a small drop of Red Bull energy juice inside, similar in texture and fill to the popular Trident or Dentyne brands. The pricing strategy for the gum would be consistent with the pricing strategy for the energy drink (10% above the nearest competitor) but I would recommend giving away the initial product as a sampling practice during Red Bull sponsored events to create interest and raise brand awareness. Red Bull gum should be offered in convenience, drug, and grocery stores. Offering the gum at bars and night clubs would not be ideal. The packaging for Red Bull gum could look like miniature Red Bull can – long, slender and cylindrical. I would use aluminum foil wrapper rather than an actual miniature can but the design should be identical to the energy drink can. To promote Red Bull gum, I would have Red Bull’s top athletes and entertainers create spots (either over the internet or on traditional TV and radio mediums) that should how Red Bull gum provided the same benefit as the energy drink. I would also conduct extensive sampling at universities and trendy public urban settings; to help raise the â€Å"coolness† quotient. Finally, Red Bull gum could be produced with sugar or sugar-free, tying in nicely to the brand extension of the energy drink and helping to raise the overall brand equity. Red Bull Heart Monitors – Red Bull has received criticism over the years causing certain aliments, specifically related to the heart and circulatory system. Although it has never been scientifically proven that Red Bull causes any negative side effects, Red Bull has received numerous public accusations claiming problems from repeated use of the energy drink. As a consumer of Red Bull for years, I have personally felt the aftereffects of consuming too much Red Bull in one evening. I never felt that my health was in danger but I know that my circulatory system was acting abnormally. Since Red Bull brands itself as an energy drink that promotes an active and healthy lifestyle, creating a wristwatch heart monitor would help send the message that Red Bull heard the criticism and is actively working to educate consumers about any risks associated with Red Bull. The wristwatch heart monitor can be plastic and have a digital readout of your heart rate. The price would be between $30-50 in the US (or its equivalent in other markets). I would design the watch to match the Red Bull color scheme and would also offer it three standard mono-chromatic colors (black, white, silver). I would suggest the product be sold at big box retailers/sporting goods stores after the watch has been sampled at niche extreme/outdoor stores. I would consider offering it to online retailers and medical supply organizations. However, I would want to keep the focus on athletics and healthy living so I would see how market adoption occurred at the niche stores before expanding my distribution channels. Promotional displays could be set up in the niche stores as well as energy drink retailers, select physical therapy offices, gyms, fitness centers, and Red Bull sponsored extreme athletic events. As a doctor, my brother constantly warns me about the risks of ingesting too much Red Bull. Offering consumers a branded opportunity to self-regulate their health and alleviate their concerns would be another method for Red Bull to increase brand equity. Red Bull Fraternity – Red Bull provides an energy drink that gives consumers â€Å"wiiings†. As previously mentioned, Red Bull does not believe that they have a target demographic. However, Red Bull does promote the athletic and thrill-seeking adventure type. If Red Bull were to create a Red Bull fraternity (ΓΒÎ ¦) that would allow consumers to become members by completing a series of Red Bull sponsored challenges and events, the possibility for brand strengthening would be endless. The goal of the fraternity would be to continually promote the Red Bull lifestyle through exclusivity and activity. A Greek organization inherently contains an air of mystery, which coincides with Red Bull’s market entry and expansion strategies. Greek life would be extremely familiar to the university crowd, where Red Bull performs a large percentage of their sampling, and Red Bull could draw large crowds of passionate users to the â€Å"pledging† events. Once the â€Å"pledge† period ended, members of ΓΒÎ ¦ would have closer access to all things Red Bull – sponsored parties, athletes, entertainers, new product offerings, priority status at high-profile events, discounts on products and merchandise, etc. I would charge a one-time fee to â€Å"pledge† the fraternity. There would also be annual fees –â€Å"dues† – and not all activities open to the fraternity members would be free but being a member would provide strong discounts and incentives that would not be available to non-members. A fraternity, by definition, is an all-male institution; I would permit men and women of all ages to join – remember Red Bull does not have a target demographic!

Constructive style Essay

I was kind of surprised I ranked a medium in the â€Å"constructive style† because, I treat others as equals and I feel that I deal with conflict effectively. I do understand there are areas that I need to work on to become successful in my career. I tend to be more effective and comfortable once I get t know others. I convey my liking for people because I am thoughtful and considerate of others feelings. Being this way, has worked in my favor throughout my career. I know that I also have to work on building strong business relationships in order t have better business connections and better business networking. My regulator style ranked a 97th percentile. I feel that this is totally describing me. Rules are written for a reason and if we have to change the rules for one person than you will have to do it for all. My score for â€Å"passive/defensive styles† which include avoider, insulator, regulator, and accommodator ranked in the high percentile. At first, I was kind of disappointed that I scored high in this style. However, this will put me at a disadvantage as I start pursuing towards the destructive direction since it denies me the opportunity to contribute my own views and gain acceptance. I feel at times I accommodate myself at the approval of others. Like for example, I may act differently around certain people then I would around people I feel comfortable around. I also try to maintain a sense of peace and try to smooth over any differences that the group or peers may have. I can honestly say that I try to stay away from any and every conflict if possible. My score for â€Å"aggressive/defensive style† which includes escalator, dominator, competitor, and perfectionist ranked medium/low. The escalator style I scored in the 97th percentile. I wasn’t surprised at my ranking in this field. Growing up I was spoiled as a child and I always got what I wanted. When conflicts do arise I always get very upset at first and think it’s a personal attack against me. It does have affect on my personal relationship with my boyfriend when we get into arguments. I always try to find a way to turn the argument around to make myself look good but I know this is unfortunately self defeating. I know this is probably my biggest downfall among other but I know I can improve on this in order to become successful. I didn’t score to low in the competitor field. I do see winning as an opportunity for growth and development in the business world. In my eyes, winning shows a since of respect and people will get to like you. I know this isn’t always a good thing because winning isn’t always important you can upset other people if that is your only goal. I believe that my personality is a reflection of how I was raised as a child. My parents took the time to motivate me to be the best and work hard in anything I do. I was raised with respectful values of life. Once I became an adult, those values and skills my parents instilled in me has paid off thru my work skills. Taking this LSI survey has really made me realize things I didn’t even realize before. When you see yourself on paper it puts a different perspective in your eyes. The survey has highlighted my strengths and weaknesses. There were a lot of things that were brought to my attention that I never really thought about. With the help of this survey, it has made me see what I need to work on, build upon, and improve upon. Not only this assignment, but the course itself has motivated me to utilize my traits to develop my relationships, career, professional, and personal lifestyle while continuing to direct myself on the right road to success. References: Folger, J. P. , M. S. Poole, & Randall K. Stutman. Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups, and Organizations, (6th Edition). Pearson, Allyn and Bacon: 2009. http://www. colorfulleadership. info/papers/conflict. htm http://www. survey-server2. com/lsiconflictuniversity-sso/rpt7. asp

Bush V. Gore

Gore was described as a controversial election to say the least. The votes in several Florida counties were put up into question as to whether they should be counted or not. In a Democratic Election all legal votes must be counted. The main arguments around this issue were Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, the interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause and confusion around voting deadlines during the Recount. This process was exacerbated by the lack of impartial justices and secretary of state. The initial argument surrounding this issue is Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution. Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution states, â€Å"In presidential elections, each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, the electors to which the State is entitled. † That being said 3 justices, Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas all argued that Florida violated this; there argument placed a lot of emphasis on the word â€Å"legislature†. Meaning to say that there is a difference between the State, who is empowered to appoint its own electors and that own State’s legislature. Furthermore, this Article of the Constitution is completely out of the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction in the circumstances. The Supreme Court should have nothing to do with matters of state law in between the State and their own Legislature. Also, the Florida Supreme Court held that â€Å"a legal vote may include any ballot from which it is reasonably possible to determine the clear intent of the voter, whether or not the ‘chad’ had been completely punched through, which is consistent with the law of the clear majority of the States†. Chief Justice Rehnquist in his opinion argued that this interpretation was so ridiculous and not mirrored with Florida legislation, that it violated Article 2. He claimed that because most counties use punch cards that tell you to clearly punch your ballot no reasonable person could count a vote that wasn’t clearly punched all the way through. (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ) The Florida Election Code states that â€Å"no vote shall be declared invalid if there is a clear indication of the intent of the voter†, also a 60 year old Florida Law precedent states that â€Å"must give statutes relating to elections a construction in favor of the citizen’s right to vote, and the intention of the voters should prevail when counting ballots† (Constitution of the State of Florida, As Revised in 1968) After hearing this, the other 6 Justices concluded that the Florida Supreme Court decision was in long established precedent and said it didn’t even raise a question under Article 2 of the Constitution. In simpler terms, stating that all of those votes were legal and that the standards set were sufficient to determine which votes should and should not be counted. Onto the Equal Protection Clause, the Supreme Court basically contradicts themselves on this matter. After stating the voting standards set by the Florida Supreme Court didn’t violate Article 2, they continued on to state that it violates the Equal Protection clause because â€Å"the standards for accepting or rejecting contested ballots might vary not only from county to county but even within a single county† (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ). What is startling is that the Florida Constitution states, â€Å"The intention of the voters should prevail when counting ballots† meaning that if there is any intention the vote should be counted, and if this wasn’t precise enough for the Supreme Court why did they vote to uphold it on the Article 2, Section 1 vote? If the Supreme Court required a uniform standard for counting and recounting votes in Florida, why does it not need a uniform standard for voting? Is the fact that punch card voting has a sufficiently higher chance of having your vote not counted compared to computer voting where there is a bare minimum chance of your votes not being counted violating the Equal Protection Clause as well? Or is it the fact that punch card counties are more commonly in low income counties, who tend to vote Republican (Al Gore)? All of these things ould be seen as discriminatory or â€Å"not equal† as well as the non-uniform standard for counting, but if the Supreme Court has decided that the recount standard is in violation then in thought the whole Election should be rendered â€Å"Unconstitutional† and put to an end, correct? To continue, no it should not be put to an end. The Supreme Court should have ordered a stay on the Recount until a uniform standard was put in place for all of the Florida Counties and they should have ordered that every state have a uniform standard for Recounts for future elections. The Supreme Court made a Pragmatic but Unlawful decision in voting for the violation of the Equal Protection Clause which led to the stoppage of the 2000 Florida Recount. (Bo Li, Perspectives, Vol. 2, No. 3). This goes without mentioning the fact that Bush’s state of Texas had a uniform voting standard which allowed anything to be counted in the scenario of a recount including a dimpled chad. This means that Governor Bush signed in a bill that let any vote with slight intent be counted in the process of a Recount, yet is arguing that intent of a voter is an unconstitutional argument. This is hypocritical and shows a lack of character, if Bush truly believes in the Constitution he should be letting all the legal votes be counted to see if he actually won the Presidency of the United States. If Bush truly cared about the simple uniform standards for Recounting, he should have ordered for a stay until uniform standards were set in place. Instead he argued the entire Recount unconstitutional and the 5-4 majority (5 Republican Judges-4 Democratic Judges) decided that there was no reason to Recount possibly legal votes when it had a chance of harming Bush’s chance to become Prime Minister. Legal analysts from all over the Country explained it as the Justices trying to make a pragmatic decision by putting an end to this controversy, turns out it backfired on them. (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ) The third point to be explained in this case is the ongoing controversy over voting deadlines and how the ever so bright Secretary of State in Florida Katherine Harris’ thoughts were constantly being controlled by Bush advisors. Katherine Harris (and Friends) made it very clear that they would ot be accepting votes after a certain deadline, which left no time for the original recount. All these votes had to be stamped and signed to be considered legal votes. This left the Democratic Party frantically trying to recount votes and get them stamped and in on time. When she ruled that if votes were not stamped and signed they could not be accepted, the Democratic Party argued that tons of Military votes could not be counted because they were very rarely stamped and sig ned. In the US there is no voting law that states Military Votes can be accepted with no signature or stamp. This obviously led to an uproar from Republicans (Who most military votes get casted for) because it was just unethical for the Democrats to take away illegal votes for the Republicans. What the Republicans fail to realize is that taking away Florida citizens legal votes because you are scared of losing is also unethical. The Democrats later changed their minds and told the Secretary to reconsider the Military votes and give them special consideration. (Joseph I. Lieberman, Military Ballots Merit a Review) There are a few other factors I would like to add to perspective before closing my argument, in Florida the Republican swayed Secretary of State Katherine Harris put 20 Thousand people on the Voter Purge list. A Large group of these people had never done anything wrong, in particular an African-American Pastor could not vote because his name was similar to that of a hardened criminal in Florida (HBO Documentary, Recount). The most interesting fact of all was that the 3 Judges who voted for Bush in both instances (Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas) were all considered Republican judges. In the last 30 years at the Supreme Court the 19 Cases involving the Equal Protection Clause concerning laws against race, elderly, and other minorities they voted a perfect 19 for 19 to uphold the Equal Protection Clause. Yet, the one case involving Politics and the party they are associated with they for some strange reason voted against it with very little reasoning. (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ) If that’s not Politics in Black Robes, what is. In Conclusion, Legal votes in Florida were not counted when they should have een. The various ideas such as the proper vote in Article 2, Section 1, the contradiction and unlawful voting on the Equal Protection Clause and the confusing deadlines regarding votes were all examples of how things can be exacerbated by impartial Judges and Secretary of States. The votes in Florida should have been recounted after a uniform standard was put in place similar to the one in Texas and the real results of the 2000 Election should have been deciphered. All else aside, the whole United States should have a uniform voting, counting and recounting standard to eliminate all this confusion in the future. Bibliography http://www. leg. state. fl. us/statutes/index. cfm? mode=constitutionsubmenu=3 http://www. nytimes. com/2000/11/20/us/counting-vote-absentee-ballots-military-ballots-merit-review-lieberman-says. html? pagewanted=allsrc=pm http://fathom. lib. uchicago. edu/1/777777122240/ http://www. oycf. org/Perspectives2/9_123100/bush_v1. htm HBO Documentary, Recount Bush V. Gore Gore was described as a controversial election to say the least. The votes in several Florida counties were put up into question as to whether they should be counted or not. In a Democratic Election all legal votes must be counted. The main arguments around this issue were Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, the interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause and confusion around voting deadlines during the Recount. This process was exacerbated by the lack of impartial justices and secretary of state. The initial argument surrounding this issue is Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution. Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution states, â€Å"In presidential elections, each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, the electors to which the State is entitled. † That being said 3 justices, Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas all argued that Florida violated this; there argument placed a lot of emphasis on the word â€Å"legislature†. Meaning to say that there is a difference between the State, who is empowered to appoint its own electors and that own State’s legislature. Furthermore, this Article of the Constitution is completely out of the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction in the circumstances. The Supreme Court should have nothing to do with matters of state law in between the State and their own Legislature. Also, the Florida Supreme Court held that â€Å"a legal vote may include any ballot from which it is reasonably possible to determine the clear intent of the voter, whether or not the ‘chad’ had been completely punched through, which is consistent with the law of the clear majority of the States†. Chief Justice Rehnquist in his opinion argued that this interpretation was so ridiculous and not mirrored with Florida legislation, that it violated Article 2. He claimed that because most counties use punch cards that tell you to clearly punch your ballot no reasonable person could count a vote that wasn’t clearly punched all the way through. (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ) The Florida Election Code states that â€Å"no vote shall be declared invalid if there is a clear indication of the intent of the voter†, also a 60 year old Florida Law precedent states that â€Å"must give statutes relating to elections a construction in favor of the citizen’s right to vote, and the intention of the voters should prevail when counting ballots† (Constitution of the State of Florida, As Revised in 1968) After hearing this, the other 6 Justices concluded that the Florida Supreme Court decision was in long established precedent and said it didn’t even raise a question under Article 2 of the Constitution. In simpler terms, stating that all of those votes were legal and that the standards set were sufficient to determine which votes should and should not be counted. Onto the Equal Protection Clause, the Supreme Court basically contradicts themselves on this matter. After stating the voting standards set by the Florida Supreme Court didn’t violate Article 2, they continued on to state that it violates the Equal Protection clause because â€Å"the standards for accepting or rejecting contested ballots might vary not only from county to county but even within a single county† (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ). What is startling is that the Florida Constitution states, â€Å"The intention of the voters should prevail when counting ballots† meaning that if there is any intention the vote should be counted, and if this wasn’t precise enough for the Supreme Court why did they vote to uphold it on the Article 2, Section 1 vote? If the Supreme Court required a uniform standard for counting and recounting votes in Florida, why does it not need a uniform standard for voting? Is the fact that punch card voting has a sufficiently higher chance of having your vote not counted compared to computer voting where there is a bare minimum chance of your votes not being counted violating the Equal Protection Clause as well? Or is it the fact that punch card counties are more commonly in low income counties, who tend to vote Republican (Al Gore)? All of these things ould be seen as discriminatory or â€Å"not equal† as well as the non-uniform standard for counting, but if the Supreme Court has decided that the recount standard is in violation then in thought the whole Election should be rendered â€Å"Unconstitutional† and put to an end, correct? To continue, no it should not be put to an end. The Supreme Court should have ordered a stay on the Recount until a uniform standard was put in place for all of the Florida Counties and they should have ordered that every state have a uniform standard for Recounts for future elections. The Supreme Court made a Pragmatic but Unlawful decision in voting for the violation of the Equal Protection Clause which led to the stoppage of the 2000 Florida Recount. (Bo Li, Perspectives, Vol. 2, No. 3). This goes without mentioning the fact that Bush’s state of Texas had a uniform voting standard which allowed anything to be counted in the scenario of a recount including a dimpled chad. This means that Governor Bush signed in a bill that let any vote with slight intent be counted in the process of a Recount, yet is arguing that intent of a voter is an unconstitutional argument. This is hypocritical and shows a lack of character, if Bush truly believes in the Constitution he should be letting all the legal votes be counted to see if he actually won the Presidency of the United States. If Bush truly cared about the simple uniform standards for Recounting, he should have ordered for a stay until uniform standards were set in place. Instead he argued the entire Recount unconstitutional and the 5-4 majority (5 Republican Judges-4 Democratic Judges) decided that there was no reason to Recount possibly legal votes when it had a chance of harming Bush’s chance to become Prime Minister. Legal analysts from all over the Country explained it as the Justices trying to make a pragmatic decision by putting an end to this controversy, turns out it backfired on them. (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ) The third point to be explained in this case is the ongoing controversy over voting deadlines and how the ever so bright Secretary of State in Florida Katherine Harris’ thoughts were constantly being controlled by Bush advisors. Katherine Harris (and Friends) made it very clear that they would ot be accepting votes after a certain deadline, which left no time for the original recount. All these votes had to be stamped and signed to be considered legal votes. This left the Democratic Party frantically trying to recount votes and get them stamped and in on time. When she ruled that if votes were not stamped and signed they could not be accepted, the Democratic Party argued that tons of Military votes could not be counted because they were very rarely stamped and sig ned. In the US there is no voting law that states Military Votes can be accepted with no signature or stamp. This obviously led to an uproar from Republicans (Who most military votes get casted for) because it was just unethical for the Democrats to take away illegal votes for the Republicans. What the Republicans fail to realize is that taking away Florida citizens legal votes because you are scared of losing is also unethical. The Democrats later changed their minds and told the Secretary to reconsider the Military votes and give them special consideration. (Joseph I. Lieberman, Military Ballots Merit a Review) There are a few other factors I would like to add to perspective before closing my argument, in Florida the Republican swayed Secretary of State Katherine Harris put 20 Thousand people on the Voter Purge list. A Large group of these people had never done anything wrong, in particular an African-American Pastor could not vote because his name was similar to that of a hardened criminal in Florida (HBO Documentary, Recount). The most interesting fact of all was that the 3 Judges who voted for Bush in both instances (Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas) were all considered Republican judges. In the last 30 years at the Supreme Court the 19 Cases involving the Equal Protection Clause concerning laws against race, elderly, and other minorities they voted a perfect 19 for 19 to uphold the Equal Protection Clause. Yet, the one case involving Politics and the party they are associated with they for some strange reason voted against it with very little reasoning. (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ) If that’s not Politics in Black Robes, what is. In Conclusion, Legal votes in Florida were not counted when they should have een. The various ideas such as the proper vote in Article 2, Section 1, the contradiction and unlawful voting on the Equal Protection Clause and the confusing deadlines regarding votes were all examples of how things can be exacerbated by impartial Judges and Secretary of States. The votes in Florida should have been recounted after a uniform standard was put in place similar to the one in Texas and the real results of the 2000 Election should have been deciphered. All else aside, the whole United States should have a uniform voting, counting and recounting standard to eliminate all this confusion in the future. Bibliography http://www. leg. state. fl. us/statutes/index. cfm? mode=constitutionsubmenu=3 http://www. nytimes. com/2000/11/20/us/counting-vote-absentee-ballots-military-ballots-merit-review-lieberman-says. html? pagewanted=allsrc=pm http://fathom. lib. uchicago. edu/1/777777122240/ http://www. oycf. org/Perspectives2/9_123100/bush_v1. htm HBO Documentary, Recount