A Place You Would Like to Visit or to Live in

There are beautiful places all around the world. We all enjoy the Mother Nature. It is a gift to us. I would like to visit and travel all around the world, but the place which is most appealing to me personally is Coimbatore, which is in southern India. It is a beautiful place with scenic views. It is famous for textiles and textile machineries, so it is called the Manchester of South India.The reason I like Coimbatore is for its educational institutions, industries and climate.Firstly, the educational system is one of the best in the country. There are over 63 colleges and universities in and around Coimbatore. For example: Some of them including PSG group of institutions, Avinashilingam university are really good in imparting good education and offer various branches in the field of arts, engineering, medicine etc. To settle down in a place like this, we don’t have to be worried about my family’s education.Secondly, Coimbatore is a place with black soil on earth; cott on grows well in this soil. So the industries are based on this. Coimbatore is one of the largest producers of textiles. Business is done in small and large scale industries, this gives job opportunities for many people around the place.Thirdly, the weather in this place is awesome and satisfying experience. For example: for the most part of the year it is cool and pleasant. Unlike other parts of India this is bordered by western Ghats on the western side, which is one of the vital reason for this climate.

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 37

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN A Whaley Death Nate was five more days alone in the apartment before they came for him. It started at dawn on the sixth day, when he noticed a group of whaley boys gathering around below his window. There had been humans out on the streets since the day he'd told Cielle about the Colonel's plan, but Gooville hadn't quite returned to normal (given that normal in Gooville was still extraordinarily weird to begin with). He could tell that the humans and whaley boys alike were on edge. Today there were no humans in the streets, and all the whaley boys were emitting a shrill call that he was sure he'd heard before, but strangely enough it hadn't been in the city under the sea. Hearing the hunting call in these circumstances made him shudder. He watch them gather, rubbing up against one another as if to strengthen the bond among them, milling around in small walking pods as if working off nervous energy, each of them raising his head occasionally and letting go the hunting call – flashing teeth, jaws snapping like bear traps. He knew they were coming. Nate was dressed and waiting for them when they came through the door. Four of them took him, lifted him in the air by his legs and shoulders, and carried him over their heads down the stairs to the street, then on into the passageways. The whole crowd moved into the passageways, their calls becoming more frequent and deafeningly shrill in the smaller confines. Even as his captors' long fingers dug into his flesh, a calm resolve came over Nate – an almost trancelike state, the acceptance that it was all going to be over soon. He looked to either side, only to have mouthfuls of teeth snarl at him, and even among the frenzy, here and there he heard the characteristic hissing snicker of a whaley-boy laugh. Well, they do know how to have a good time, he thought. He soon recognized the path they were taking him down. He could hear the calls of hundreds of them echoing through the caverns from the mother-of-pearl amphitheater. Maybe the entire whaley-boy population was waiting there. As they entered the amphitheater and the calls reached a crescendo, Nate stretched his neck and saw two big killer-whale-colored females holding the Colonel in the middle of the floor. The whaley boys holding Nate lowered him to his feet, and then two of them pulled him back against the benches to watch with the others. One of the big females holding the Colonel shrieked a long, high call, and the crowd calmed down, not quite silent, but the hunting calls stopped. The Colonel's eyes were wide, and Nate wouldn't have been surprised if the old man had started to bark and foam at the mouth. When things quieted down enough for him to be heard, he started shouting. The big female who was holding him clamped a hand over his mouth. Nate could see the Colonel fighting for breath, and he struggled against his own captors in empathy. Then the female started to speak – in their whistling, clicking language – and the crowd stopped even snickering. Their eyes bulged, and they turned their heads to the side to better hear her. Nate couldn't understand much of what she was saying, but you didn't have to know the language to understand what she was doing. She was listing the Colonel's crimes and pronouncing a sentence. It was no small irony, Nate thought, that the whaley boys who saw to justice were colored like the killer whales, the most intelligent, most organized, most glorious and horrible of all the marine mammals. The only animal other than man that had exhibited both cruelty and mercy, for one was not possible without potential for the other. Maybe memes were triumphing over genes after all. When she finished speaking, she handed the Colonel's arm to the other female, so that he was bent over forward, his hands held together high behind him. Then the female let out another extended shrill call, and the whole ceiling of the amphitheater dimmed until it was completely dark. When she finished her call, the light came back up again. The Colonel was screaming at the top of his lungs, random curses and mad pronouncements – calling the whaley boys abominations, monsters, freaks, railing like some mad prophet, his brain fried by God's fingerprint. But when the light was full again, he caught Nate's eye, just for a second, and he was quiet. There was something there, the depth and wisdom that Nate had once known the man to possess, or maybe it was just sadness, but before Nate could decide, the big female bent over and bit off the Colonel's head. Nate felt himself start to pass out. His vision tunneled down to a pinpoint and he fought to stay conscious, to concentrate on his breathing, which he realized had stopped momentarily. His vision came back, as did his breath, harsh and panicked through his gritted teeth as he watched. The killer spit the head across the amphitheater to a group of whaley kids, who picked it up and tore at it with their teeth. Then the female started tearing great chunks of meat out of the Colonel's body with her teeth, even as it twitched in the hands of her cohort – throwing the chunks to the crowd, who shrilled the hunting calls even more frantically than before. Nate couldn't tell how long it went on, but when it was finally done, and the Colonel was gone, there was a large red circle in the middle of the amphitheater floor, and all around him he saw bloody teeth flashing in whaley grins. Even the two whaley boys who held Nate's arms had partaken in the communion, grabbing chunks of meat and eating them with their free hands. One had hissed and sprayed blood in Nate's face. Then they dragged Nate to the middle of the amphitheater. He felt faint, the pulse banging away in his ears, drowning out all other sound. Everywhere he looked, he saw bloody teeth and bulging eyes, but he felt strangely detached. As the big female began another oration, he remembered a thought he'd had right after the humpback whale had eaten him. It came through to him like a malicious d? ¦j? ¤ vu: What an incredibly stupid way to die. Then there was another long, whistling call and Nate closed his eyes, waiting for the death blow, but it didn't come. The crowd had gone quiet again. He squinted through one eyelid, almost regretful that the moment had been delayed, and he saw teeth before him, but not the bloody teeth of the killers. The shrill whistle went on and on, made by the mottled blue whaley-boy female that had come out of the passageway and was striding across the amphitheater toward Nate. At her side was a very determined, petite brunette with unnatural maroon highlights, wearing hiking shorts and a tank top. The whaley boys holding Nate seemed confused. The female who had killed the Colonel was looking for some sort of guidance from the one holding Nate when Amy pulled the stun gun from her pocket and blasted her in the chest, knocking her back five feet to convulse on the bloody floor. â€Å"Let him go,† Amy commanded the one who was holding Nate, and for some reason, maybe just because it sounded so definitive, she let go of Nate's arms, and he fell, at which time Amy pulled up a second stun gun and pressed it to the big killer's chest, knocking her to the floor to twitch with her companion. Through it all, Emily 7 had continued to whistle. â€Å"You okay?† Amy asked Nate. He looked around at the situation, not sure at all if he was okay, but he nodded. â€Å"Okay, Em,† Amy said, and Emily stopped whistling. Before the crowd could react or a murmur of whaleyspeak start, Amy shouted, â€Å"Hey, shut up!† And they did. â€Å"Nate didn't do anything,† she continued. â€Å"The whole thing was the Colonel's idea, and none of us knew anything about it. He brought Nate here to help him destroy our city, and Nate said no. That's all you need to know. You all know me. This is my home, too. You know me. I wouldn't lie to you.† Just then the first big female started to recover, and Amy leaped in front of Nate to stand over the killer. â€Å"You get up, bitch, I'll knock you on your ass again. Your choice.† The female froze. â€Å"Oh, fuck it,† Amy said, and she zapped the big female on the nose with both stun guns at once, then wheeled on the other one, who was getting up but quickly dropped and played dead under Amy's gaze. â€Å"Good,† Amy said. â€Å"So we clear?† Amy shouted to the crowd. There was whaleyspeak murmuring, and Amy screamed, â€Å"Are we fucking clear, people?† â€Å"Yeah, clear,† came a dozen little mashed-elf voices in English. â€Å"Sure, sure, sure, you know it,† said one little voice. â€Å"Clear as a window,† came another. â€Å"Just kidding,† said an elf-on-helium voice. â€Å"Good,† Amy said. â€Å"Let's go, Nate.† Nate was still trying to find his feet. His knees had gone a little rubbery when he thought his head was going to be bitten off. Emily 7 caught him by the arm and steadied him. Amy started to lead them out of the amphitheater, then stopped. â€Å"Just a second.† She went back to where the lead killer female was just climbing to her feet and zapped her in the chest with the stun gun, which knocked her flat on her back again. As Amy strutted past Nate and Emily 7, she said, â€Å"Okay, now we can go.† â€Å"Where are we going?† Nate asked. â€Å"Em says you slept with her.† Nate looked at Emily 7, who grinned, big and toothy, and snickered. â€Å"Yeah, slept. Just slept. That's all. Tell her, Emily.† Emily whistled, actually a tune this time, and rolled her eyes. â€Å"Really,† Nate said. â€Å"I know,† Amy said. â€Å"Oh.† Nate heard squeaks coming from behind them in the corridor. â€Å"Wasn't that a little risky, taking on a thousand whaley boys with a couple of stun guns?† â€Å"I love these things,† Amy said, clicking the buttons to make miniature blue lightning arc across the contacts. â€Å"No, I didn't take on a thousand whaley boys, I took on one – an alpha female. Know what that makes me?† She smiled and then, without even breaking stride, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. â€Å"And never forget it.† â€Å"I won't.† Then that last week's anxiety about losing her came tumbling back over him. â€Å"Hey, where did you go? I thought the Colonel had taken you.† â€Å"I went out on my mother's ship to send a message.† â€Å"What message?† â€Å"I was calling our ride. All the whaley boys had been put on notice: No pilot was going to take his ship out of here with you on board, still won't. But I could go, so I went out with my mother to pick up some supplies. And I called a ride.† â€Å"What, Emily 7 can't pilot a ship?† â€Å"Uh-uh,† squeaked Emily 7. â€Å"Only pilots can pilot a ship, duh. Anyway† – Amy checked her watch – â€Å"your ride should be in the harbor soon. I have to go by my place and grab something I want to take.† An hour later they stood at the water's edge in the harbor, and Amy was checking her watch again. â€Å"I am so pissed,† she said, tapping her foot frantically. It seemed as if every thirty seconds they had been cornered by some human resident of Gooville, and Amy had to tell the story again. Emily 7 was the only one of the whaley boys, other than the crew of Amy's mother's ship, that was still in the grotto. â€Å"You think they'll revolt, hurt humans?† Nate asked. â€Å"No, they'll be fine. That was a first. It's not every day you find out that your messiah is plotting to kill you. Give 'em a day or two to get over the embarrassment – everything will be back to normal.† â€Å"I guess it's just as well that we're getting out of here. You don't want to face those two females you zapped.† â€Å"Bring it on,† Amy said, patting the pockets of her shorts. â€Å"Besides, I'm sort of special here, Nate. I don't want to sound egotistical, but they really all do know me, know who I am, what I am. No one will bother me.† Just then Nate spotted a light coming from deep in the mirror-calm water. â€Å"That's him,† Amy said. â€Å"Him?† â€Å"Clay, coming to take you home.† â€Å"Me? You mean us.† â€Å"Em, can I get a minute?† Amy said. † ‘Kay,† said Emily 7, skulking away from the shore toward town. When Emily was out of hearing range, Amy put her arms around Nate and leaned back to look at him. â€Å"I can't go with you, Nate. I'm staying.† â€Å"What do you mean? Why?† â€Å"I can't go. There's something about me you don't know. Something I should have told you before, but I thought you wouldn't†¦ well, you know – I thought you wouldn't love me.† â€Å"Please, Amy, please don't tell me you're a lesbian. Because I've been through that once, and I don't think I could survive it again. Please.† â€Å"No, nothing like that. It's about my parents†¦ well, my father really.† â€Å"The navigator?† â€Å"Uh, no, not really. Actually, Nate, this is my father. She pulled a small specimen jar out of her pocket and held it up. There was a pink, jellylike substance in it. â€Å"That looks like – ; â€Å"It is, Nate. It's the Goo. My mother was never intimate with her navigator, or with anyone in the first three years she was here, but one morning she woke up pregnant.† â€Å"And you're sure it was the Goo, not just that she had way too many mai-tais at the Gooville cabana club?† â€Å"She knows it, and I know it, Nate. I'm sort of not normal.† â€Å"You feel normal.† He pulled her closer. â€Å"I'm not. For one thing, I don't just look a lot younger than I really am, but I'm also a lot stronger than I look, especially as a swimmer. Remember that day I found the humpback ship by sound? I really can hear directional sound underwater. And my muscle tissue is different. It stores oxygen the way a whale's tissue does, I can stay underwater without breathing for over an hour, longer if I don't exert myself. I'm the only one like me, Nate. I'm not really, you know†¦ human.† Nate listened, trying to weigh what it really meant in the bigger picture, but he couldn't think of anything except that he wanted her to go with him, wanted her to be with him, no matter what she said she was. â€Å"I don't care, Amy. It doesn't matter. Look, I got over all this† – he gestured to all that – â€Å"and the fact that you're sixty-four years old and your mother is a famous dead aviatrix. As long as you don't start liking girls, I'll be fine.† â€Å"That's not the point, Nate. I can't leave here, not for long anyway. None of us can. Even the ones who weren't born here. The Goo becomes part of you. It takes care of you, but you become attached to it, almost literally. Like an addiction. It gets in your tissues by contact. That's how my mother had me. I've been gone a lot already this year. If I left now, or if I left for longer that a few months at a time, I'd get sick. I'd probably die.† At that moment a yellow research submersible bubbled up to the surface of the lagoon, a dozen headlights blazing into the grotto around a great Plexiglas bubble in the front. â€Å"That's it, then. I'll stay. I don't mind, Amy. I'll stay here. We can live here. I could spend a lifetime learning about this place, the Goo.† â€Å"You can't do that either. It will become part of you, too. If you stay too long, you won't be able to leave either. You had to have noticed that first night we got drunk together, how fast you recovered from the hangover.† Nate thought about how quickly his wounds had healed, too – weeks, maybe months of healing overnight. There was no other explanation. He thought about spending his life with only fleeting glimpses of sunlight, and he said, â€Å"I don't care. I'll stay.† â€Å"No you won't. I won't let you. You have things to do.† She shoved the specimen jar in his pocket, then kissed him hard. He kissed her back, for a long time. The hatch at the top of the dry exit tower on the sub opened, and Clay popped up to see Nate and Amy for the first time since they'd both disappeared. â€Å"Well, that's unprofessional,† Clay said. Amy broke the kiss and whispered, â€Å"You go. Take that with you.† She patted his pocket. Then she turned to Clay as she checked her watch again. â€Å"You're late!† â€Å"Hey, missy, I set a time when I'd be at the coordinates you sent – six hundred and twenty-three feet below sea level – and I was there. You didn't mention that I had another mile of submarine cave with some of the scariest-looking rock formations I've ever seen.† He glanced at Nate. â€Å"They looked alive.† â€Å"They are alive,† Amy said. â€Å"Are we close to the surface? The pressure is –  » â€Å"I'll explain on the way,† Nate said. â€Å"We'd better go.† Nate stepped onto the sub as Clay slipped down inside the hatch to allow him to pass. Nate crawled into the hatch and looked back to Amy before he closed it. â€Å"I'll stay, Amy. I don't care. For you I'll stay. I love you. You know that, right?† She nodded and brushed tears out of her eyes. â€Å"Yeah,† she said, Then she spun around quickly and started walking away. â€Å"You take care of yourself, Nathan Quinn,† she shouted over her shoulder, and Nate heard her voice break when she said his name. He climbed down into the sub and secured the hatch above him. Clay had watched Amy walk away from the big, half-submerged Plexiglas bubble in the front of the sub. â€Å"Where's Amy going?† â€Å"She can't come home, Clay.† â€Å"She's okay, though?† â€Å"She's okay.† â€Å"You okay?† â€Å"I've been better.† They were quiet for the long ride through the pressure locks to the outside ocean, just the sound of the electric motors and the low hum of instruments all around them. The lights of the sub barely reached out to the walls of the cave, but every hundred yards or so they would come to a large, pink disk of living tissue, like a giant sea anemone, which would fold back to let them pass, then expand to fill the passageway once they had gone through. Nate watched the pressure gauge rise one atmosphere every time they passed through one of the gates, and it was then that he realized he wasn't escaping at all. The Goo knew exactly where and what they were, and it was letting him go. â€Å"You're going to explain what all this is, right?† Clay said, not even looking away from the controls. Nate was startled out of his reverie. â€Å"Clay, I can't believe – I mean, I believe it, but – Thanks for coming to get me.† â€Å"I never told you, you know – it's not really appropriate or anything – but I have pretty strong feelings about loyalty.† â€Å"Well, I respect that, Clay, and I appreciate it.† â€Å"Yeah, well, don't mention it.† Then they were both a bit embarrassed and both pretended that something was irritating their throats and they had to cough and pay attention to their breathing for a while, even though the air in the little submarine was filtered and humidified and perfectly clean. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT Pirates Nate was standing with Clay on the flying bridge of the Clair as she steamed into the Au'au Channel. â€Å"You'd better put on some sunscreen, Nate.† Nate looked down at his forearms. He'd lost most of his color while in Gooville, and he could feel the sun cooking him, even through his T-shirt. â€Å"Yeah.† He looked off toward Lahaina, the harbor he'd piloted into a thousand times. They'd have to anchor far outside the breakwater with a ship this size, but it still had the feeling of coming home. The wind was warm and sweet, the water the heartbreak blue of a newborn's eyes. A humpback fluked about eight hundred yards to the north of them, its tail glistening in the sun as if it were covered with sequins. â€Å"There's still a month left of the season,† Clay said. â€Å"We can still get some work done.† â€Å"Clay, I've been thinking. Maybe we can be a little more purposeful in what we're doing. Maybe a little more active, conservation-wise.† â€Å"I could go for that. I like whales.† â€Å"I mean, we have the resources now, and even if I could prove the meaning of the song – somehow decipher the vocabulary of it – I could never prove the purpose. You know, without compromising Gooville.† â€Å"Not a good idea.† During the trip home Nate had explained it all. â€Å"I mean, there's no reason we can't do good science and still, you know – ; â€Å"Kick some ass.† â€Å"Well, yeah.† Clay affected an exaggerated Greek accent. â€Å"Sometimes, boss, you just got to unbuckle your pants and go looking for trouble.† â€Å"Zorba?† â€Å"Yeah.† Clay grinned. â€Å"Great book,† Nate said. â€Å"Is that the Always Confused?† Clay pulled up a pair of binoculars and focused on a speedboat that was rounding the Lahaina breakwater, showing more wake than she should in the harbor. Kona was driving the Always Confused. â€Å"My boat,† Clay said, somewhat distressed. â€Å"You need to get over that, Clay.† The speedboat came around to a parallel course with the Clair as the ship cut her engines in preparation to drop anchor. Kona was waving and screaming like a madman. â€Å"Irie, Bwana Nate! Irie! The lion come home! Praise Jah's mercy. Irie!† Nate came down the steps from the flying bridge to the deck. Whatever resentment he might have had for the surfer at one time was gone. Whatever threat he might have felt from the boy had melted away. Whatever irrelevancy Kona's youth and strength might have underscored in his own character was irrelevant. Maybe it was time to be an example instead of a competitor. Besides, he was genuinely glad to see the kid. â€Å"Hey, kid, how you doing?† â€Å"Jammin' now, don't you know.† â€Å"That's good. How'd you like to go be a pirate?† Because the Navy didn't maintain permanent offices on Maui, Captain L. J. Tarwater had been given a small office that the navy sublet for him in the Coast Guard building, which meant that, unlike on a naval base, here the public could pretty much come and go as they wished. So Tarwater wasn't that surprised to see someone come strolling through his office door. What he was surprised by was that it was Nathan Quinn, whom he thought quite drowned, and who was carrying a four-gallon glass jar full of some clear liquid. â€Å"Quinn, I thought you were lost at sea.† â€Å"I was. I'm found now. We need to have a chat.† He set the jar on Tarwater's desk, leaving a wet ring on some papers there, then went back and shut the door to the outer offices. â€Å"Look, Quinn, if this is some kind of stunt, like spray-painting fur, you're wasting your time. You guys act like the military is the great Satan. I'm here to study these animals. I grew up in the same generation you did, and so did most of the people in the navy who do what I do. We don't want to hurt these animals.† â€Å"Okay,† Nate said. â€Å"We only have two things to talk about here. Then I'll show you something.† â€Å"What's in the jar? That better not be kerosene or anything.† â€Å"It's seawater. I got it at the beach about ten minutes ago. Don't worry about it. Look, first you're going to finish your study and you're going to strongly recommend that the navy's torpedo range not be moved into the sanctuary. You will not let that happen. The animals do dive to depths where they can be hurt by the explosions, and they will be hurt by the explosions, which you'll be setting off not to defend the country but just so you guys can practice.† â€Å"There's no evidence that they ever dive deeper than two hundred feet.† â€Å"There will be. I've got data tags coming in from the mainland, I'll have data in a month.† â€Å"Still†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Shut up,† Nate said, then thought better of it and added, â€Å"Please.† Then he continued. â€Å"Second, you need to do everything in your power to back off of testing low-frequency active sonar. We know that it kills deepwater hunters like beaked whales, and there's probably some chance that it also injures the humpbacks, and under no circumstances do you want to do that.† â€Å"And why would that be?† â€Å"You know what my work has been for the last twenty-five years, right?† â€Å"You've been studying the humpback song. What, trying to figure its purpose?† â€Å"I found it, Tarwater. It's a prayer. The singers are praying.† â€Å"That's preposterous. There's no way you could know that.† â€Å"I'm positive of it. Absolutely positive. I know it's a prayer, and that the torpedo base and LFA will harm a God-fearing animal.† Nate paused to let it sink in, but Tarwater just looked at him like he was an annoying rodent that had crawled in from the cane fields. â€Å"How could you possibly know that, Quinn?† â€Å"Because their prayers are answered.† Nate took a portable tape recorder out of his shirt pocket and set it on the desk next to the seawater, into which he'd already mixed part of the Goo that Amy had given him. He pushed the ;play; button, and the sound of humpback-whale song filled the office. â€Å"This is ridiculous,† Tarwater said. â€Å"Watch,† Nate said, pointing to the water, which began to swirl, a tiny pink vortex forming in the middle. â€Å"Get out of here. I'm not impressed with your Mr. Wizard tricks, Quinn.† â€Å"Watch,† Nate said again. As they watched, the pink vortex expanded while the whale song played, until half the jar was filled with a moving pink stain. Then Nate turned off the tape. â€Å"So what?† Tarwater said. â€Å"Look more closely.† Nate opened the jar, reached in, strained out some of the pink, and threw it on Tarwater's desk. Tiny shrimp – each only an inch long – flipped about on the blotter. â€Å"Krill,† Nate said. Tarwater didn't say anything. He just looked at the krill, then scraped a couple into his hand and examined them more closely. â€Å"They are krill.† â€Å"Uh-huh.† â€Å"What, it's like Sea Monkees, right? You had brine-shrimp eggs in there.† â€Å"No, Captain Tarwater, I did not. The humpbacks are praying, and God is answering them, giving them food. We could run this little experiment a hundred times, and that water would be clear when we started and full of krill when we ended. Trust me, I've done it.† And he had. The little bit of Goo in the water created the krill out of the other life in there, the ubiquitous SAR-11 bacteria that existed in every liter of seawater on the planet. Tarwater held up the krill. â€Å"But I thought they didn't eat when they were here.† â€Å"You're thinking on too small a scale. They don't feed for four months, and then they do nothing but feed. They're thinking in advance – the way you might think about breakfast before you go to bed at night. Doesn't matter, really. What you need to do, Captain, is everything in your power and influence to stop the range and the LFA testing.† Tarwater looked stunned now. â€Å"I'm just a captain.† â€Å"But you're an ambitious captain. I can have a jar of seawater on the secretary of the navy's desk in ten hours. Do you really want to be the one to explain to this administration that you're hurting an animal that prays to God? Particularly this administration?† â€Å"No, sir, I do not,† said Tarwater, looking decidedly more frightened than he had been just a second before. â€Å"I thought you were an intelligent man. I trust you'll handle this, and this will be the last anyone will hear of my jar.† â€Å"Yes, sir,† Tarwater said, more out of habit than respect. Nate took his tape recorder and his jar and walked out, grinning to himself, thinking about the praying humpbacks. Of course, it's not your particular God, he thought, but they do pray, and their god does feed them. He headed back to Papa Lani to make the calls and write the paper that would torpedo any hope of Jon Thomas Fuller's ever building a captive dolphin petting zoo on Maui. A pirate's work is never done. Three months later the Clair cruised into the cold coastal waters off Chile on her way to Antarctica to intercept, stop, harass, and generally make business difficult for the Japanese whaling ship Kyo Maru. Clay was at the helm, and when the ship reached a precise point on the GPS receiver, he ordered the engines cut. It was a sunny day, unusually calm for this part of the Pacific. The water was so dark blue it almost appeared black. Clair was below in their cabin. She'd been seasick for most of the voyage, but she had insisted on coming along despite the nausea, using her saber-edged persuasive skills on the captain. (â€Å"Who's got the pirate booty? All right, then, help me pack.†) Nate stood on the deck at the bow, his arm around Elizabeth Robinson. Above them swung an eighteen-foot rigid-hull Zodiac on a crane, ready to drop into the water whenever it was needed. There was another one on the stern, where once the submarine had been stowed. Up on the flying bridge, Kona scanned the sea around them with a pair of ;big-eye; binoculars on a heavy iron mount that was welded to the railing. â€Å"There's one, a thousand yards.† Clay came out onto the walkway beside Kona. They all looked to starboard, where the residual cloud of a whale blow was hanging over the calm water. â€Å"Another one!† Clay shouted, pointing to a second blow closer to the ship off the port bow. Then they started firing into the air as if triggered by a chained fuse: whale blows of different shapes, heights, and angles – great explosions of spray erupting so close to the ship now that the decks started to glisten with the moisture. Then the backs of the great whales rolled in the water around them, gray and black and blue, hills of slick flesh on all sides, moving slowly, then lying in the water. Nate and Elizabeth moved up to the bow railing and watched a group of sperm whales lolling in the water like logs just a few feet off the bow. Next to them a wide right whale floated, bobbing gently in the swell, only a slow wave of the tail revealing that the creature was alive. It rolled to one side, and its eye bulged as it looked at them. â€Å"You okay?† Nate asked Elizabeth, squeezing her shoulder. This was the first time she'd been out on the water in over forty years. In her hands she clutched a brown paper lunch bag. â€Å"They're still amazing up close. I'd forgotten.† â€Å"Just wait.† There were probably a hundred animals of different species around the ship now, most rolled on their side, one eye bulged out to focus in the air. Their blows settled into a syncopated rhythm, like cylinders of some great engine firing in succession. Kona jumped up and down next to Clay, praising Jah and laughing as each animal breathed or flicked a tail. â€Å"Irie, my whaley friends!† he shouted, waving to the animals close to the boat. Clay desperately resisted the urge to grab up cameras and start blasting film or digital video. It felt like he had to pee, really badly, from his eyes. â€Å"Nate,† Clay called, and he pointed to a bubble net forming just outside the ring of floating whales. They'd seen them dozens of times in Alaska and Canada, one humpback circling and releasing a stream of bubbles to corral a school of fish while others plunged up through the middle to catch them. The circle of bubbles became more pronounced on the surface, as if the water were boiling, and then a single humpback breached through the ring, cleared the water completely, and landed on its side in white crater of splash and spray. â€Å"Oh, my goodness!† Elizabeth said. Flustered, she pressed her face into Nate's jacket, then looked back quickly, lest she miss something. â€Å"They're showing off,† Clay said. The lolling whales lazily paddled out of the way, opening a corridor to the ship. The humpback motorboated toward the bow, its knobby face riding on top of the water. When it was only ten yards from the bow, the animal rose up in the water and opened its mouth. Amy stood up, and next to her stood James Poynter Robinson. â€Å"Hey, can we get a ladder down here?† Amy shouted. â€Å"Praise Jah's mercy,† Kona said, â€Å"the Snowy Biscuit has come home.† Nate threw a cargo net over the side, then climbed halfway down and pulled Amy up onto the net. He held her there as the ship moved in the swell, and she tried to kiss him and nearly chipped a tooth. â€Å"Help me with Elizabeth,† Nate said. Together they got the Old Broad down the cargo net and handed her to her husband, who stood on the tongue of a whale and hugged his bride after not seeing her for four decades. â€Å"You look so young,† Elizabeth said. â€Å"We can fix that,† he said. â€Å"You'll get old?† â€Å"Nope.† He looked back to Nate and saluted. Nate could hear whaley-boy pilots snickering inside the whale. â€Å"I brought you a pastrami on rye,† she said. Poynter took the paper bag from her as if he were accepting the Holy Grail. Nate and Amy scrambled up the cargo net and stood at the bow as the whale drifted away from the bow. â€Å"Thank you, Nate,† the Old Broad said, waving. â€Å"Thank you, Clay.† Nate smiled. â€Å"We'll see you soon, Elizabeth.† â€Å"We will, you know,† Amy said as the whale ship closed and sank back into the waves. â€Å"I know.† â€Å"I have to come back here every few months, you know.† â€Å"I know.† â€Å"Forever.† â€Å"Yeah, I know.† â€Å"I'm the new colonel now. I'm sort of in charge down there, you know, since I'm sort of the daughter of their god. So we'll have to spend time down there.† â€Å"Do I have to call you ‘Colonel'?† â€Å"What, you have a problem with that?† â€Å"No, I'm okay with that.† â€Å"You realize that the Goo really could decide to wipe out the human species at any minute.† â€Å"Yep. Same as it's always been.† â€Å"And you know if I live out here, I'm not always going to, you know, look like this?† â€Å"I know.† â€Å"But I will always be luscious, and you – you will always be a hopeless nerd.† â€Å"Action nerd,† Nate corrected. â€Å"Ha!† Amy said. AUTHOR NOTES Science and Magic â€Å"The science you don't know looks like magic,† Kona says in Chapter 30. I have generally come down on the side of magic, simply because it involves less math, but with Fluke it was necessary to learn a little science. Because so much of Fluke does fall into the realm of magic, though, I thought it only fair to give you, gentle reader, some idea of what's fact and what's not. The body of knowledge on cetacean biology, especially as it relates to behavior, is growing at such a staggering rate that it's hard to be sure of what you know from one day to the next. (This happens to be exactly the way I live my life, so that worked out nicely.) Scientists have been studying humpback song for fewer than forty years, and it's only in the last decade that studies have been undertaken to try to relate the song to social behavior and interaction. (And a challenging question there: What constitutes interaction in an animal whose voice can carry a thousand miles?) As I write this, September 2002, much about the humpback song is still unknown. (Although scientists do know that it tends to be found in the New Age music section, as well as in tropical waters. There is no reasonable explanation for this, but as of yet no tagged humpbacks have been tracked to the New Age section at Sam Goody's.) At this point no one has ever seen or filmed the mating of humpbacks, so while it would appear that the song has something to do with mating, because it is performed only by males and because it is sung only during the mating season, no one has drawn a direct correlation between the song and mating. Theories abound: The males are marking territory sonically, they are showing their fitness and size by singing, they are calling mates, they are just saying ;howdy; – all of the above, none of the above. The fact remains that, regardless of its purpose, the humpback-whale song is the most complex piece of nonhuman composition on earth. Whether it's art, prayer, or a booty call, the humpback song is an amazing thing to experience firsthand, and I suspect that even once the science of it is put to bed, it will remain, as long as they sing, magic. Beyond the song, much of the whale behavior and biology described in Fluke is accurate, or as accurate as I could keep it and not overburden the story. (Excepting the whale ships, the whaley boys, and every killer whale's being named Kevin, all of which I made up. Killer whales are actually all named Sam. Duh.) The acoustic data, and the analysis thereof, is generally balderdash. While scientists do indeed collect data in the manner described, much of the analysis process came from my imagination. For the record, though, low-frequency whale calls can and do travel thousands of miles under the sea. While the Lahaina Harbor is indeed inundated with whale researchers every winter, and while there are indeed lectures given periodically at the Whale Sanctuary visitor center, the acrimony, competition, and tension described among the researchers is completely of my own creation, as are the individual descriptions and personalities of the characters. Tension among a bunch of neurotics is just more interesting for a story than is a description of dedicated professionals doing their work and getting along, which is the case in reality. When in doubt, assume I made it up. CONSERVATION The reason we shouldn't kill whales is because they fire the imagination. – JAMES DARLING, PH.D. Hey, I thought they were saved already! No one likes the â€Å"We're glad you enjoyed this story about the rainforest with all its cute little animals and charming native people, BECAUSE IT WILL ALL BE A CHARRED DESERT NEXT WEEK!† approach, and I hate to do it to you, but you should know that much of the conservation information in Fluke is accurate. They aren't quite saved. The Japanese and the Norwegians continue to practice whaling, each taking up to five hundred minke whales a year under â€Å"scientific research† permits (the meat ends up in markets in Europe and Asia). Despite â€Å"free market† arguments to the contrary, whaling is not a profitable business in Japan. It is subsidized by the government, and, to bolster consumer demand, they have introduced whale meat into the school lunch program so children will develop a taste for it. (Good thinking there. Don't we all crave the cafeteria cuisine of our youth? Mmmm, mashed peas.) Biologists working undercover in Japanese markets (spy nerds), by running DNA tests, have found endangered whale species (including blue whale) in cans of whale meat labeled as â€Å"minke whale meat.† (So someone is still killing them.) Except for scientific whaling, the International Whaling Commission's moratorium on hunting great whales is still in effect, but several whaling nations are rallying hard to have the moratorium lifted and finance survey studies to prove that great-whale populations, including humpbacks and grays, have recovered enough for them to resume hunting. The U.S. antiwhaling position in the IWC is severely compromised by the fact that they support aboriginal whaling – that is, subsistence hunting by indigenous people. The argument for aboriginal whaling by the actual indigenous people is seldom made on a basis of subsistence, but more often because hunting whales is a â€Å"cultural tradition of their people that must be preserved.† This, of course, is utter bullshit. It's a tradition of Americans of European descent to commit genocide on indigenous people, but that doesn't mean we ought to start doing it again. Even some old ideas are still bad ideas. While it is true that many whale species seem to be recovering, like the gray and the humpback, other populations still struggle, and some, like the North Atlantic right whale, may yet disappear from the planet. (Not due to hunting, but as one researcher, whom I won't name, said, â€Å"because they're stupid as shit and won't get out of the way when they hear a ship coming.† Hell, I almost wreck when a squirrel runs in front of my car, and there're millions of them. I can't imagine trying to keep a supertanker from going in the ditch while swerving to avoid one of the last remaining right whales.) Recent surveys estimate (and they can only estimate, because scientists can't find enough of the animals to actually count – I guess when you find one, you just have to count the bejeezus out of him, then extrapolate with algorithms and computer projections) that there may be fewer than three hundred North Atlantic right whales left in the world. But on a happier note, some of the populations are recovering, and although the Japanese government appears to be a bunch of nimrods (and who are we to talk?), the Japanese people seem more interested in watching whales than eating them, so the pressure to extend the hunt may relent. The kicker to all this is probably that habitat loss and pollution, not hunting, present the greatest threat to marine mammals. (Wha†¦? Habitat loss, don't they have the whole ocean?) For the most part our oceans are great, wet deserts, with millions of square miles in which life is very sparse. Predictably, human populations have started to compete with marine mammals for the food sources, and, under increased demand and improved fishing methods, many once rich fishing grounds are becoming as barren as a clear-cut forest. Hydroelectric dams that restrict the migration of salmon and other species to their freshwater breeding grounds are already having an impact on the populations of marine mammals that feed on the adult salmon. As industrial pollution and agricultural runoff take toxic chemicals to the ocean, it would seem that the enormous volume of seawater would dilute these chemicals to harmless levels, and that's what happens until the chemicals are gathered up by a mechanism called the food chain. Recent studies of tissue samples of some toothed whales (killer whales and dolphins, who feed fairly high up on the food chain) show levels of man-made toxins so high that the animal's blubber actually qualifies as toxic waste. Studies are now going on to determine if declining marine mammal populations on the west coast of North America may not be caused by the lower birth rates and the compromised immune systems of animals who feed on toxic fish. (Oh yeah, guess who else is at the top of the seafood chain?) You want to help? Pay attention. Caring about the condition of our oceans does not make you a psycho, tree-hugging, bleeding-heart liberal, it just makes you smart. The health of all life on this planet depends on the health of the oceans. It's just good business. (Even a supply-sider has to admit that if you fish a population to extinction, there will be no supply, so there will be no demand. It's bad economics from the right or the left.) So watch what you eat, and don't eat fish that are being over-fished (like Chilean sea bass, for instance). And don't pour the used oil from your oil change down the storm drain unless you want your next shrimp platter to taste like Quaker State and you sort of like the idea of having your own children born with flippers. And go look at some whales. Not captive ones, wild ones. It all comes down to economics, and as long as it's more profitable to have whales around to look at, we'll have them around to look at. If you don't live near water and can't get to any, rent a whale video. It all comes around. Barring that, just yell at people randomly to stop killing whales. It could catch on. Really. (â€Å"Would you like fries with that?† â€Å"Shut up and stop killing whales!† â€Å"Thank you. Drive through, please.†) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, my thanks to the home team: to Charlie Rodgers, as usual, for thoughtful reads and cogent comments; to my editor, Jennifer Brehl; and to my agent, Nicholas Ellison, who a couple of years ago said, â€Å"Hey, how about a book about whale song? I don't know – like there's meaning in it or something. You figure it out.† Blame or credit goes to Nick for that. As always, thanks to Dee Dee Leichtfuss for being my â€Å"reader without an agenda.† Thanks, too, to Galen and Lynn Rathbun, for taking time away from studying the hose-nose shrew to fill me in on the home life of the field biologist and for putting me in touch with the people at NOAA. My thanks also to Kurt Preston for geological information, to Dr. David Kirkpatrick for information on genetics, to Mark Joseph for my â€Å"Introduction to Sonar† phone lecture, and to Bret Huffman for Rasta-Pidgin tutoring. Much of the background on genes, evolution, and memes came from the work of Richard Dawkins: The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, The Extended Phenotype, and others; also from Daniel Dennett's Darwin's Dangerous Idea and from Susan Blakemore's excellent book The Meme Machine. I recommend them all for further reading, but when you're finished, you may have to read several of my books and watch a lot of TV just to get stupid enough again to function in the modern world again. Fortunately I am gifted in this respect and have recovered nicely, thank you. The laser-measurement algorithm described in Chapter 1 was formulated by Dr. John Calambokidis of the Cascadia Research Collective. He should get credit for that as well as for many other contributions to the field. Many of the research anecdotes I used in Fluke were fashioned out of stories told to me by the researchers themselves. The story of the Japanese whalers being affected by seeing a mother sperm whale and her calf (Chapter 30) was told to me by Bob Pittman of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center. The story of the Pacific Biological Research Project, where the military funded a feasibility study to use seabirds as a biological-warfare vector, was told to me by Lisa Ballance, Bob's wife, who also works at NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center. Thanks, too, to Dr. Wayne Ferryman, also from NOAA, who shared many hours of stories, providing me with information about the lifestyles of researchers. My thanks to Dr. Ferryman as well for inviting me to observe the California gray whale survey in person and not insisting that I always bring the pizza. Thanks to Jay Barlow from NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center for information on navy research projects and the relationship between researchers and the navy. Much of which I blew off so I could put Captain Tarwater in Maui, but still, thanks, Jay. My thanks, too, to Carol DeLancey of Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Program, who told me the great story of the female right whale using a researcher's Zodiac as a diaphragm while the researchers were assaulted by a pair of prehensile whale willies (Chapter 8) – something that happened directly to Dr. Bruce Mate, but which I embellished in that I don't believe that the whales ejaculated in the boat, and Dr. Mate did not become a lesbian. For information on underwater acoustics and the nature and range of blue-whale calls, much of which I totally ignored, many thanks to Dr. Christopher G. Fox of the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon. It was Chris's description of an unidentified, persistent throbbing noise coming from deep under the Pacific Ocean, somewhere off the coast of Chile, that first inspired the undersea city of Gooville. For the inside story on harbor life in Lahaina and the dating life of the female researcher, my thanks to Rachel Cartwright and Captain Amy Miller, who study humpback cow/calf behavior and biology in Maui in the winter and Alaska in the summer. My thanks, too, to Kevin Keyes for whale and dolphin stories, as well as for his infinite patience in teaching me ocean kayaking and providing the â€Å"cold-water discipline† safety training that probably kept me from drowning while trying to get out among the animals. Finally, my deepest thanks to Dr. Jim Darling, Flip Nicklin, and Meagan Jones, who for two seasons allowed me to ride along and observe their research in Maui, as well as for giving generously of their time to answer my questions both in person and by e-mail. While most of the information about humpbacks and humpback song in Fluke came out of these trips, the inaccuracies and liberties taken with the information are my own. The anecdotes and science I learned from these folks, all of whom have spent their lives working in the field, were enough to fill two books, and were certainly too voluminous to list here. Simply put, this book would not have been possible without their help. Kinder, more intelligent, more dedicated people than these do not the face of this earth walk. To support their ongoing research on humpback song and behavior, send your tax-deductible donations to: Whale Trust 300 Paani Place Paia, HI 96779

Dish Washing

Dish Washing I walk into the restaurant Red Robin, wait for my name to be called by the host and sit down in a booth with comfortable red seats. All of a sudden a man sits next to me wearing an apron soaking with water, wiping sweat from his face. It's my brother, Zachary Walsh. Zach states â€Å" Man, I hate Saturday nights, too damn busy! †. What was Zach doing? Zach is a dish machine operator, or in restaurant terms, a DMO. Washing dishes you say, that sounds easy! I am afraid not my friends. Washing dishes is one of the most under appreciated jobs. Just ask the manager him self, who by the way is my Uncle.My Uncle states, â€Å" If it wasn't for the DMO this place would be a **** whole. DMO's work their *** off and their the ones who keep things running behind the scenes. † With only a thirty minute break from washing dishes, I thank my brother for taking this time to answer questions because I know he would much rather be doing other things. Things like enjoying hi s food, staying hydrated and getting his mind off washing dishes. My brother is a good guy and that's a good thing for Red Robin because the DMO's do the most work for the smallest pay. Here at Red Robin, the DMO's are the bottom of totem pole.They usually get no breaks, the only time they do is if they work a double, they get paid the least and have to be stuck in the back of the kitchen where they cannot really talk to any one. â€Å" It was the worst thing I've ever done when I first started, but honestly you get use to it and after a while you start making friends. Luckily for me, Red Robin is a great environment and everyone is pretty chill. † Zach says, smiling, probably thinking back on all the days he use to come home and complain and threaten to quit. As stated before, a life of a DMO is not an easy one.For the most part of this interview, Zach was calm, but when he talked about what a DMO does, he got intense telling what they do. â€Å" I hate it, when I tell peop le I'm a DMO they usually just laugh. People do not understand that I have to wash tons of dishes and then after you put those dishes in the machine to wash, you have to go put the cleans ones away and usually you have to walk all the way across the kitchen to do this. When you have to put the dishes away, more dishes keep on coming in and this leads to a build up of plates and other things that you have to wash and it sucks!Luckily, the other staff understands Zach's job and they are usually nice about it. The key word there though.. † he pauses, and looks back to what seems to be the front of the kitchen and finishes â€Å" is usually. † Washing dishes gets Zach paid nine dollars an hour. Zach's been working at Red Robin for a year and half now and still has not gotten a raise. Zach says he is the lowest paid person there who has been working at Red Robin for over a year. The worst part about the hard working jobs at restaurants and farms is these types of jobs get pa id the least even though they are doing the most work.At the same time, the person taking these jobs know this information before they get employed. In tough times like the one we are living in today, people will take any job they can get. Zach has recently just graduated from college and obviously needs to pay off those college loans. Being a DMO is not going to pay those loans off but it is a start. â€Å" I needed a job out of college right away and this was the only one I could find. It sucks but you got to do what you got to do. Before giving you the job they tell you it's a sucky job and that you are going to hate it and I kind of took that as a challenge. As Zach goes to get a cup of water, my Uncle sits next to me and asks me what I was here for again. I explain to him the assignment and he sits there for a second to think. As Zach is coming back from getting water, my Uncle says, â€Å" Zach is the hardest working kid I have ever seen at Red Robin. He does the dirtiest jo b and never complains about it. We are sure damn lucky to have him or we most likely be screwed. † As he hits Zach in the shoulder and gets up so Zach can sit down again.Zach smiles, and even though he knows he is doing a job that does not get any credit at all, he feels proud knowing he's made someone proud and most importantly, a family member proud. Zach's break is over and my Uncle allows me to go back to the kitchen with Zach as long as I do not get in the way. The DMO area is a messy one to say the least. With dishes all over the place, stains on the wall, water all over the floor, it is no wonder why people do not want this job. Zach can tell from the expression on my face that I was shocked to see the place so messy. â€Å" I told you our Uncle wasn't lying about it being a crappy job.This is actually clean compared to most Saturday nights, you should have seen last weeks mess, the place was flooded and the water was up to my ankles. And guess who had to take care of the problem? Yeah that's right, me! † This place really did feel like the worst job ever. Along with washing dishes and putting them away, DMO's had to do other tiny messy jobs in between washing dishes. DMO's had to take out the trash when it was full, clean the bathrooms if there was a flood, clean up spills made by costumers because the waitress or waiters were to â€Å"busy† and the worst one, clean throw up.To do this and clean dishes takes a very hard working kid or man to do. And luckily for Red Robin, they had there guy. â€Å"One time this group of about ten baseball players come in and two stupid clowns tried to see who could eat the most. Needless to say one of them threw up all over the place and I had to clean it up. The most embarrassing part was they were in their late thirties, most likely in a softball league. † On a typical Saturday night at Red Robin, there would be two DMO's. So why was Zach the only one on that night? Because people are lazy. † Zach laughs at his own joke and states â€Å" actually I'm just kidding, I would probably quit if I could. Plus I couldn't give up on your Uncle. He gave me the job in the first place. † My brother shows me his hands and they are very pruny from working with the water and the soap. During the winter, when his hands would dry from being pruny, they would often crack and sometimes even bleed. This is all the norm when it comes to washing dishes, but people never see the little things that come in to play to make a restaurant run.Another terrible part about Zach's job is closing. Who ever is the DMO that night is usually the last one to leave the restaurant, along with the manager. The DMO has to clean every last dish and also help put them away. Out side there are around ten to fifteen trash bags filled with disgusting food and other restaurant supplies that have to be walked across the parking lot and into the dumpster. â€Å" Then when you are all set to go home and you get into your car, you realize you smell so bad and cannot wait to take a shower.Man, that shower feels great every night! † As I'm about to leave Red Robin, one of the waiters shouts to the back of the kitchen â€Å" Hey Zach, can you clean up table 83? A baby just knocked down a glass of beer. I would pick it up but I got so many tables tonight. † After Zach hears the question, it seems like he does not even listen to the waiters excuse. Right away he stops washing dishes and grabs the mop and heads to clean up the mess. â€Å"Yup, you got to love being a DMO† he says in a sarcastic tone and walks away, going to do his job.

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UpBeat Inc. ( ) - Case Study Example According to the provision 1, bank needs to take permission from Upbeat Inc to sell its receivables in case of default also which is not the right accounting practice. It is totally against the principal of US GAAP. The bank has full statutory authorities to sell different receivables of Upbeat Inc in case of company’s defaulter situation. Once the company announced its incapability to repay bank loans then the bank can sell all receivables without any prerequisite permission. According to accounting principal this is considered as breach of trust or failure of agreement between two parties. Under this situation bank’s money is there with the company and the company is not returning it unreasonably (Sherman, 2011). This situation gives full authority to the bank to sell all receivables of the company without any permission. According to ASC, the bank needs to monitor the financial conditions of borrowing Upbeat. It has to observe whether the company is trying to pay bac k its money or not. Here in this case the company is withholding bank’s money unreasonably. So, there is no need to take any prior permission to sell or pledge their receivables. But here in this provision opposite thing has taken place. In the designing of this provision all the required standards of ASC has not been followed. This provision is not supporting various accounting standards. So, all the above arguments are stating that provision 1 of transfer agreement does preclude sales accounting. Here in this case, Transfer Provision 2 will not preclude sales accounting. According to this provision of transfer agreement Upbeat can repurchase their all receivables in future at a fixed price. According to GAAP of USA, Upbeat can come to an agreement with the bank where both parties will agree upon a fixed price against which the company will get back its receivables from the bank. It is a very suitable principal for Upbeat Inc. Due to this

Statistics Problems Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Statistics Problems - Speech or Presentation Example The mean of the distribution was 60,000 miles and the standard deviation 2,000 miles. 38. The mean amount purchased by a typical customer at Churchill’s Grocery Store is $23.50 with a standard deviation of $5.00. Assume the distribution of amounts purchased follows the normal distribution. For a sample of 50 customers, answer the following questions. 54. Families USA, a monthly magazine that discusses issues related to health and health costs, surveyed 20 of its subscribers. It found that the annual health insurance premiums for a family with coverage through an employer averaged $10,979. The standard deviation of the sample was $1,000. 42. During recent seasons, Major League Baseball has been criticized for the length of the games. A report indicated that the average game lasts 3 hours and 30 minutes. A sample of 17 games revealed the following times to completion. (Note that the minutes have been changed to fractions of hours, so that a game that lasted 2 hours and 24 minutes is reported at 2.40 hours.) 58. The amount of income spent on housing is an important component of the cost of living. The total costs of housing for homeowners might include mortgage payments, property taxes, and utility costs (water, heat, electricity). An economist selected a sample of 20 homeowners in New England and then calculated these total housing costs as a percent of monthly income, five years ago and now. The information is reported below. Is it reasonable to conclude the percent is less now than five years ago? 42. Martin Motors has in stock three cars of the same make and model. The president would like to compare the gas consumption of the three cars (labeled car A, car B, and car C) using four different types of gasoline. For each trial, a gallon of gasoline was added to an empty tank, and the car was driven until it ran out of

Personal Framework Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Personal Framework - Assignment Example In case whereby the patient is not able to respond to the nurse, the parents or relatives are entitled for the response. Whenever there is a complex situation concerning a certain client, more intensive care and extra resources is needed. This enables the nurses and key stakeholders identity the most appropriate category of nursing for the patients care reflecting on the environment factors, client and the nurse. Every professional has his or her expectations in the field of specialization. In the nursing practice, I have several expectations involved, which will enable me deliver the best possible outcome to the patients. With reference to the three-factor framework: client, nurse and environment factors, various nurses’ expectations can be outlined which help nurses in making effective decisions. The client factors are influenced by complexity, predictability and risk of negative outcomes from the client. Any nurse is able to deliver to a client who is less complex more pred ictable and has low risk of negative outcomes. The more complex the situation is, the more consultation is expected to deliver effectively. As a future nurse, I expect to be able to have self-sufficient practice in nursing and knowledge, which will guide me to deal with complexity of a client thereby establishing effective care and managing the health condition of this type of a client. I also expect to be able to deliver to clients such that they can realize predictable changes in their health conditions to identify their future care requirements. Regarding the nursing factors I anticipate to be able to offer safe and ethical care to the patients through leadership, decision making and through skills obtained from critical thinking. I look forward to be able to apply the knowledge and determine when and where to apply the acquaintance and considering the necessary resources for consultation. As a nurse, I should be able to recognize my competence and practice by being an expertise in the field of nursing. Most nurses enhance their competence and knowledge through proceed in education and experience which is not the case in most cases coz this does not always mean that that u will acquire a foundational competence like most competent nurses. One can become an expert in the nursing practice within his or her own nursing category. It is expected of me that I will be able to have time and resources for effective consultation to provide the best to the clients by being able to provide the paramount consultative results. Considering the environment factors, which are practice supporters, consultation resources and stability of environment, I expect these resources to be supportive in my decision-making. The environment should also be more stable for high proportion of nurses and many consultation resources, which will be more effective for me as a nurse to deliver best to my clients. With dedication and practice in the nursing practice, I will be in a position to a chieve goals and objectives. The goal of pursuing the nursing practice will be to provide safe, competent and ethical care to my clients or patients. As a nurse, I am accountable for the practice. I will only be able to achieve the above goal through commitment to developing and applying the practice standard by persistence, critical skills

Philosophy and theory of architecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 1

Philosophy and theory of architecture - Essay Example In so doing, it discusses the roots of this phenomenon, and surveys the different phases it has been and is going through and its physical spread and influence as well. That is, it takes a tour through both changes over time as well as spatially. The focus is mainly on the architecture of Buddhist temples, particularly those found in China. However, as the reader will come to know, if not known already, in Buddhism there is a variety of buildings that are considered as religious or spiritual spaces besides temples. A case study is made of the Baima Si, which is the White Horse Temple in the Henan province of China. This temple (Si) was chosen for its historical significance, as will be explained later, as well as the fact that it represents a unique amalgamation of architectural styles. It also functioned as a model for other such buildings and thereby played a pivotal role in moulding a special wave of thinking on architecture, which makes it deserve serious attention. For contrasti ve purposes, important comparisons are also drawn with architectural features belonging to Buddhist temples elsewhere in the world, especially in other Far Eastern countries that are heartlands of Buddhism. In addition, some comparisons are also highlighted between Buddhist architecture and what is found in other religious architectural expressions, especially of Christian, Hindu and Islamic origin. After the distinguishing and other special features are identified for Chinese Buddhist temples, an attempt is then made to explain these and the philosophy behind them. Buddhist architecture In Buddhism, although the temple is the main place for spiritual practices, there are also other spiritual spaces. These are the pagodas, which are towers like broader based minarets, stupas, which are dome shaped monuments, and grottos, which are caves used for specific spiritual practices within a more isolated environment. They are all holy and made to be serene and tranquil. The temples function more as monasteries for collective practices. As far as Chinese temples are concerned, Buddhist philosophy has been described as the greatest impetus behind religious art and architecture in China (Phuoc, 2010). Initially, Buddhism was practised in ordinary settings in China, such as people’s houses, but as demand grew, then special buildings were constructed. These buildings proved to be far more interesting than the Confucian and Taoist places and rich in architectural detail reflecting an equally richer philosophy. Hindu and Islamic philosophies of architecture share some commonality with Buddhist architecture. The Hindu influence is mostly evident in the early temples. Thus, there is a direct connection with Hindu architecture as they gave roots to Buddhist architecture. Connections with other religions are more indirect. A prominent style of Christian architecture was Gothic architecture during the medieval period. This was related with scholastic philosophy (Radding & Clark, 1994) in which there was an attempt to develop a comprehensive and integrated solution for various tasks including the construction of churches. An interesting parallel is drawn between the ideas of St. Thomas Aquinas who was one of these aforementioned philosophers and Buddhist architecture in that he saw churches as symbolising heaven on earth. This is similar in some ways to the Buddhist concept of heaven but with some fundamental differences. Whereas only one heaven is envisaged in Christianity

A selectively membrane means that the cell membrane can only control over certain things Essay Example for Free

A selectively membrane means that the cell membrane can only control over certain things Essay Osmosis is the diffusion of water through a selectively permeable membrane. A selectively membrane means that the cell membrane can only control over certain things that come in and out through the membrane. A membrane is just the structure surrounding the cell. Throughout osmosis, the cell could either get larger, or smaller. If the cell gets larger it means that it was put into a hypotonic solution, and result to the cell exploding. If the cell gets smaller, it means it was put in a hypotonic solution. If nothing happens to the cell, that means it was put in an isotonic solution. Once a cell starts to get smaller, it will shrivel. The difference between osmosis and diffusion is that diffusion is the process by which molecules move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. Methods: To test, and see the difference between osmosis and diffusion, my group and I conducted three different labs. The first lab we had completed was one where you put an Elodea leaf under the microscope. As step one we put it on a microscope slide, put a few drops of water on top of it, and observed it under the microscope. As step two, we put a few drops of salted water on the leaf, and observed it underneath the microscope. Then we compared the differences in the leaf before and after. After looking at the two different images, it was clear that osmosis had taken place. The leaf in the salt water had become more shriveled; you could also see it a lot better, obvious that something had taken place. The second lab that we had done involved carrots, and took three days to complete. We first got two cups and filled them halfway with water, in one of them we out one tablespoon of salt. After labeling the salted cup, we then took two carrots. On each carrot we tied a piece of string to it, and soaking each of them in the water. Before we could put either of the carrots into a cup, we described the textures of them. We then put Carrot 1 into the water, while Carrot B went into the salted water. After about three days, we went back and got the carrots out of the water. Some of the observations we had noticed was that Carrot 1 had gotten sturdier, much harder. Carrot 2 on the other hand had gotten rough spots, and pretty bendy overall. Both of the carrots had gotten bigger. Knowing that osmosis had taken place, the task was now to figure out if it was hypertonic, or hypotonic. Knowing that Carrot 1 had gotten bigger, and much firmer, we knew that hypotonic osmosis had taken place. Since Carrot 2 was supposed to get smaller, we assumed that hypertonic osmosis had taken place, because the carrot was supposed to shrink and get smaller, meaning that the salt would’ve pulled out the natural waters in Carrot 2. The third lab we had done we tested the amount of glucose that would have diffused out of the baggie. First we took a graduated cylinder and poured 15ml of prepared glucose into it. Next we took a dialysis tube that had been soaking in water and tied a knot in one end. With the unknotted end, we carefully poured the 15ml of glucose in. After tying a knot in the open end, noting the coloring of the bag, determining if glucose was present in the tube using an indicator strip and seeing that there wasn’t any we went ahead and put 250 ml of distilled water along with one ml of potassium iodide (IKI) and the dialysis bag into our beaker. Once we had noted that inside of the dialysis bag it was clear, the beaker was brown because of the IKI, and that there was glucose inside of the dialysis bag, but not the beaker, we were ready to wait 30 minutes to move onto the next set of steps. After the long 30 minutes, we removed the dialysis bag from the beaker. Next we recorded data from the dialysis bag which was sugar, and glucose present. The color went from clear to a light blue, and there was still glucose present. The data from the beaker had also changed, the color had stayed the same, but the glucose present had changed, because in the beginning the beaker didn’t have any glucose, but now the distilled water had some. We knew that the glucose from the dialysis bag, had come out and into the beaker, and we knew that it had to be through diffusion because it wasn’t just water in the beaker. Results: In doing these three labs, we had learned the difference between osmosis and diffusion and we had also learned some very important vocabulary. For our first lab we had done, with the leaf, we had learned that osmosis had taken place, and because of osmosis, the leaf had expanded a lot. The leaf became more visible underneath the microscope, but with the naked eye, it had become a lot smaller, and shriveled. In this lab hypertonic osmosis had taken place, because the salt from the salt water had brought the natural waters out of the leaf, and before you knew it the leaf under the microscope was much smaller. In our second lab we had discovered that both of the carrots went through a phase of osmosis. Carrot 1 had gone through hypotonic osmosis, where the water goes through the cell membrane. The water moves from the outside in, which explains why the carrot was bigger, and why it was much more firm than Carrot 2 which had gone through hypertonic osmosis, meaning that the salt in the cup/beaker had gone through the cell membrane, and basically soaked up the natural water in the carrot, and transferring it into the water inside the cup causing for the carrot to be shriveled up and smaller. In our third lab, we had saw diffusion for the first time. It is almost just like osmosis, except osmosis is only water and salts, and sugars. In this lab we had used potassium iodide in the water, making it not only water. The experiment had gone well, and we got the results we had wanted. The thin dialysis bag had a certain amount of sugar in it, while the beaker it was laying in had absolutely none. In the end, the beaker had shown a significant amount of sugar in it, and because the potassium iodide could not pass through the dialysis bag, the sugar went ahead and came out of the bag, making the process of diffusion complete. Discussion: All three of these labs worked out, and ended pretty well except our second lab, the carrot lab. Our data had shown that the weight after being soaked for three days of the carrots weren’t any different, they had both gained weight. But that had made no sense to us because the carrot that was in the salt water should’ve shrunk and not gained weight. Some of the errors that could’ve gone wrong were that we may not have put enough salt in the cup for anything to actually take place. But because we had known what was supposed to happen, we had an idea of what actually happen, and the fact that the characteristics of everything of a shrunken cell had taken place, besides the fact that the carrot had gained a little bit of weight. References: Lab Worksheets. Crazy Carrots Cellular Transport Vocabulary AP Bio Lab 1 Osmosis and Diffusion Lab Activity Elodea Leaf Lab Acknowledgements: Thank you Miss. Pagano for teaching me the difference between osmosis and diffusion and for writing up these labs to help my classmates and I understand it better and much easier!

Emerging Logistics Strategy Essay Example for Free

Emerging Logistics Strategy Essay The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe the emerging business logistics strategies which have emerged in the market place over the last few decades and will remain dominant well into the better half of twenty first century. Analysis through this work will argue that the two strategic concepts, namely supply chain integration and cycle time compression, represent distinctly different yet complementary approaches to corporate logistics which form the frameworks around which hundreds of firms are building successful logistics system. INTRODUCTION Logistics Strategy is the science of evaluating the most cost effective methodology of distributing goods to market while achieving service level objectives. It is important for companies to recognize that logistics strategy can be product-specific, customer-specific, and location-specific and that supply chains for each industry are dynamic and evolving. It is always a challenge for logistics strategy planners to develop a series of logistics strategies for different clients, integrating manpower, facilities and workflow in the logistics strategies together to compromise with other clients’ logistics strategies. The choice of an appropriate and effective logistics strategy must be guided by the objectives of the firm as well as by its capabilities and resources. In addition, the development of successful logistics strategy must recognize and deal with important factors and conditions in the firm’s external business environment. The environment of logistics has changed greatly because of global integration and the gradual shortening of lifecycles of products. For that reason a brief overview of what are, perhaps, the most significant of these factors in the business environment like increasing globalization, mergers and acquisitions, downsizing, new IT systems etc. are also discussed. In this paper, contemporary logistics strategy and evolution of emerging strategies like SCM and Cycle time reduction will be explained. Implementation issues and other challenges like reaping the benefits of IT,  choosing a trade-off between complementary strategies; integration issues etc. are elaborately discussed. This paper will mostly discuss the logistics strategy which the companies are adopting to succeed in the emerging markets like India, China etc. Emerging markets are becoming hot destinations for carrying out business mainly because of access to low cost labors and material. However at the same time how the firm mitigates the risk associated with doing business in foreign territory and how it manages the associated cost of transportation will also be discussed. Logistics Strategy and its importance When a company creates a logistics strategy it is defining the service levels at which its logistics organization is at its most cost effective. Because supply chains are constantly changing and evolving, a company may develop a number of logistics strategies for specific product lines, specific countries or specific customers. The supply chain constantly changes and that will affect any logistics organization. To adapt to the flexibility of the supply chain, companies should develop and implement a formal logistics strategy. This will allow a company to identify the impact of imminent changes and make organizational or functional changes to ensure service levels are not reduced. Parameters Involved in Developing a Logistic Strategy A company can start to develop a logistics strategy by looking at four distinct levels of their logistics organization. * Strategic: By examining the company’s objectives and strategic supply chain decisions, the logistics strategy should review how the logistics organization contributes to those high-level objectives. * Structural: The logistics strategy should examine the structural issues of the logistics organization, such as the optimum number of warehouses and distribution centers or what products should be produced at a specific manufacturing plant. * Functional: Any strategy should review how each separate function in the logistics organization is to achieve functional excellence. * Implementation: The key to developing a successful logistics strategy is how it is to be implemented across the organization. The plan for implementation will include development or configuration of an information system, introduction  of new policies and procedures and the development of a change management plan. Components to Examine when Developing a Logistics Strategy When examining the four levels of logistics organization, all components of the operation should be examined to ascertain whether any potential cost benefits can be achieved. There are different component areas for each company but the list should at least include the following: * Transportation: Does the current transportation strategies help service levels? * Outsourcing: What outsourcing is used in the logistics function? Would a partnership with a third party logistics company improve service levels? * Logistics Systems: Do the current logistics systems provide the level of data that is required to successfully implement a logistics strategy or are new systems required? * Competitors: Review what the competitors offer. Can changes to the company’s customer service improve service levels? * Information: Is the information that drives the logistics organization real-time and accurate? If the data is inaccurate then the decisions that are made will be in error. * Strategy Review: Are the objectives of the logistics organization in line with company objectives and strategies. A successfully implemented logistics strategy is important for companies who are dedicated to keeping service levels at the highest levels possible despite changes that occur in the supply chain. Current logistics operating environment Since 1990s, the environment of logistics has changed greatly because of global integration and the gradual shortening of lifecycles of products. The mode of production in enterprises has changed from the traditional mass production mode led by products into the mass customization production mode to facilitate increasing global market competition. Srinivasa (2001) pointed out three main reasons of such revolution. 1. Change of manufacturing strategy In the past, logistics was recognized as a distinct function with the rise of mass production systems. Since 1990s, the Japanese philosophy of distributed manufacturing and lean manufacturing has become the key technique which is widely adopted around the world. Consequently, the logistics operation is  forced to change in order to fit such new Japanese manufacturing strategy. As a whole, logistics has become an extremely complicated process in which expert knowledge is required. 2. Change of customer demand Business environment as a whole is becoming extremely volatile. As product life cycle becomes shorter, manufacturers can no longer push their products down the supply chain easily. On the contrary, it is the consumer who pulls the products along this supply chain. Price and quality are no longer sufficient to thrive in this market. As speed to market and flexibility of the supply chain become the winning criteria, logistics management has grown much more complex in order to satisfy these conditions simultaneously. 3. Globalization As enterprises expand their markets beyond national boundaries, the need for more sophisticated services like multi-modal transport and international trade rules compliance increases. Hence, redesign of logistics operation is essential in order to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness on these issues. These issues revealed the complexity of logistics management in that traditional logistics operation which includes large quantity of stock storage and distribution cannot fulfill the real time, flexibility logistics service demand among the supply chain parties. Moreover, since logistics network has became more complex, it takes time to make critically decision in resource allocation and work task arrangement accurately. In the current dynamic scenario where business landscape has changed a lot and more and more business are becoming customer centric firms have realized that to remain competitive they need to consider logistics as a part of their strategy and not just another fu nction. Companies have gained significant advantages over their competitors by focusing and crafting a logistics strategy which suits their requirement. However, there is no fixed Logistics strategy solution in place for any type of industry. It depends on and varies from the type of goods, nature of industry, the market it serves etc. Below are some of the questions that a firm’s logistics strategy must address. Fast / Slow -A company logistics strategy must handle fast moving products differently from slow and medium moving products within their own  distribution center(s) and within their distribution network. It is to be seen is it economically beneficial to set up regional fast facilities and a centralized slow facility? DSD / Non-stock A company must have a clear understanding of all of the cost components and lost profit opportunities for products that are deemed Direct store Delivery or non-stock items. There has to be a logistics strategy in place that clearly delineates when an item should be inventoried. Third Party Services -Does your company need to own and/or operate its own distribution facilities or is it more effective to have third party logistics providers manage some or all aspects of your logistics functions? What are the economical, service and other considerations your company needs to consider before taking these steps? Hub and Spoke -Are there economical cost of goods advantages to sourcing products into a centralized distribution center that subsequently distributes to regional facilities or branches through a hub and spoke distribution network? Inbound Logistics -Are there opportunities to reduce your landed cost of goods through improved inbound logistics strategy including load consolidation, reduced handling, backhauls, etc.? Outbound Logistics-Are there opportunities to reduce your outbound transportation costs through improved private fleet routing? Through improved carrier rate shopping, through load consolidation opportunities, etc.? Facility Consolidation-Is your company operating too many distribution centers that are underutilized? What are the economical benefits and service impacts of closing one or more of your distribution points? Inventory reduction-Is your company carrying the right assortment and inventory levels to achieve service level objectives? To minimize inventory assets, to minimize storage and handling costs? Supply Chain-Are there opportunities to work with your trading partners to reduce supply chain complexities and improve service levels for specific products / vendor product lines? Are there internal supply chain policies that hinder cost-effective operations? Global Logistics-Are there opportunities to improve global logistics to reduce inventory levels in the supply chain? To reduce order cycle times? To reduce supplier lead times? To reduce logistics costs? With these questions in mind we proceed to see what have been few emerging and successful strategies and what the challenges in implementing them are. Emerging Logistic Strategies: Given the expanding complexities of global operations, information about logistics costs and capabilities is crucial to evaluating whether and how to leverage emerging markets as a means for increasing profit margin. Globally, there has been a trend to source from or manufacture in low-cost jurisdictions and emerging markets. This trend, however, is often offset by increased logistics costs and delivery times, along with a growing number of complexities that need to be managed. Senior management has begun to realize that lowering unit procurement costs does not translate directly to lower per-unit total landed costs — the total costs associated with importing goods or parts from distant emerging market locations. The complexities of managing logistics in emerging market locations ultimately add to the total landed costs of the associated goods. Therefore, the process of redesigning supply chain operations to establish logistics management capabilities in emerging markets is a fundamental dimension of a long-term business strategy. Components of this strategy should include a focus on end-to-end integrated operations design and sound process discipline. Further, this focus should include a means to achieve flexibility, responsiveness and resiliency to enable more effective competition in today’s environment of increasingly dynamic global business conditions. To leverage opportunities in emerging markets, companies must transition or expand from managing logistics in a limited number of local geographies to managing them in emerging market geographies worldwide — in a very efficient, agile manner that supports the responsiveness and flexibility associated with an On Demand Business. Companies can leverage specific approaches to transforming their global logistics capabilities and better support the business goals of lower cost sourcing or fulfillment by taking advantage of emerging market jurisdictions. Global supply chain management — a rapidly changing environment Because of competitive pressures in the global marketplace, companies are rapidly migrating to low-cost sources of labor and materials, which are typically located in countries that also represent emerging market opportunities. But the speed of this change may bring challenges associated with escalating shipping costs and increased supply chain risk, and these challenges could exceed a company’s internal skill and resource capacity. If  you are adopting global sourcing practices, you may not yet have the foreign trade experience necessary to manage regulatory compliance and related global supply chain management complexities. For example, multiple, autonomous business units within an organization can contribute to a fragmented logistics process as well as create missed opportunities for leveraging economies-of-scale. Individual business units may also lack the necessary economies-of-scale needed to establish a competitive foothold and gain sufficient influence in emerging markets. Balancing inbound and outbound supply chain logistics requires a comprehensive strategy that incorporates all the key functions of a supply chain to accelerate or expand sourcing from emerging markets. This horizontally integrated approach also helps you make strategic decisions regarding partnerships, shipping and other factors, to help ensure that savings from global sourcing are not eroded by increased logistics costs. Even more significantly, such a strategy can enable you to go beyond sourcing to position your organization to leverage your logistics capabilities to sell and distribute products within those emerging markets. Challenges to leveraging emerging markets in supply chain cost management As you expand your geographic reach of global sourcing into emerging markets, you will likely encounter a growing number of supply chain and logistics challenges, many of which directly or indirectly contribute to a large portion of total landed costs. Each issue can be grouped into one of two categories: tangible or intangible. Tangible challenges of working in emerging markets include obvious things such as the limited physical infrastructure of roads, bridges, harbors and airports. Other limiting items include the communications infrastructure needed to support the necessary IT connectivity. As constraints due to infrastructure bottlenecks represent a clear challenge, government agencies are more aptly able to focus on these items because the benefit for improvement extends beyond just the business sector. Enhancements to physical infrastructure help the greater population of the emerging marketplace and contribute to modernizing an entire region or industry. Physical infrastructure improvements tend to have greater visibility and  political momentum, and often involve just a few government agencies. For example, the current infrastructure expansion in China as described by EFT Research in late 2005:1 †¢ Between 2005 and 2008, more than US$70 billion per annum will be spent to create 75,000 new mil es of expressways †¢ Forty-three airports have been added since 2001, a major focus for expansion †¢ By 2010, China plans to double the number of shipping port berths from the 34,000 currently in use and will spend approximately US$6 billion each year to do so †¢ Between 2005 and 2020, China will build 25,000 km of new rail lines at a cost of US$250 billion. The net effects of current infrastructure limitations in China and other emerging markets are longer-than-expected lead times and greater variability in shipment cycle times. These factors have a direct impact on owned inventory levels and the overall cash-to-cash cycle time — both of which drive the need to tie up more working capital in the supply chain. These shipment cycle time delays, which can be typical, are often offset by shifting to expedited, or premium freight service levels. However, these shifts to faster service levels are what significantly erode the expected savings in procurement and sourcing. While tangible infrastructure and expansion challenges within emerging markets often get the most press and visibility, it is the intangible items that create the greatest headaches for global logistics managers. The list of intangibles consists of items that often carry â€Å"hidden costs† not fully grasped by companies entering an emerging market. Included are all the tariffs, duties, taxes, customs declarations processes, security and compliance requirements, and the daunting task of dealing with government agencies and multiple third parties in a foreign language. The complexity is exacerbated by variables that can constantly change and remain in a near-fluid state. Managing day-to-day events is complicated by the need to factor in multiple working locations, distant time zones, multiple handoffs of products and associated information, different national holidays, language and cultural barriers, and the ongoing regulatory changes. For example, effective January 1, 2006, the Ministry of Commerce of China updated numerous regulations for export processing zones, while at the same time Chinese customs issued new regulations for bonded logistics parks that support export-related handling activities. Understanding how such changes  impact your supply chain requires in-country operating experience and deep collaborative relationships with logistics services providers who manage daily in this dynamic environment. Not to be overlooked is the significant influence that culture and management style can have on implementing and managing a logistics operation. For example, some of the fundamental differences prevalent in the Far East: confrontation avoidance, top-down decision making and agreements formed through handshakes with less regard to contractual specifics are the norm. While the Western approach to dealing with supply chain partners and vendors is to collaborate and pursue a win-win outcome, that attitude rarely prevails in many emerging market locations. Do not underestimate the impact of negotiating style and approach for dealing with suppliers found in different business cultures. In emerging market countries where rule of law can be erratic, establishing sound relationships with known entities is critical. Getting a jump on technical obstacles to integrated supply chain management Leveraging emerging markets as both product source and product destination can be a dynamic response to global market pressures; however, many companies are not well positioned to take advantage of these opportunities. The key objectives for the technical aspects of managing logistics in emerging markets are to build flexibility into the design, develop a core competency to bring logistics suppliers on board in a seamless fashion, and to enable meaningful information capture that supports continuous improvement. For example, effective supply chain management depends on visibility into the status and location of in-transit materials and products, but many companies do not have these systems in place. Fortunately, many technology-based solutions are available from a range of providers. Nearly all transportation companies offer some type of shipment status or information-sharing system accessible through their Web sites. In addition, there are dozens of advanced logistics planning and execution software applications that companies can install and use themselves. While there is no comprehensive solution that effectively serves all industry verticals and logistics partners across the supply chain, it remains critical that companies efficiently integrate multiple applications across diverse trading partners. Even with an integrated value chain that seeks to  leverage leading applications, true visibility into order and shipment status across the logistics chain depends on tightly defined processes and the ability of all logistics partners to exchange and provide timely status reports on materials in transit. Managing logistics within and outside of emerging market locations can make these processes even more challenging — the increase in variables makes consistent execution and the timely exchange of information very difficult to achieve. Meanwhile, the very nature of an emerging market means that the number of logistics services providers with the appropriate experience is limited. And switching logistics providers can be very expensive. So part of the challenge becomes finding partners who either have the appropriate experience or have established networks and partnerships with reputable local providers. Managing and mitigating the risks associated with emerging market logistics In order to address the challenges of leveraging emerging markets as a cost reducing, and eventually, a profit-boosting strategy, companies are finding that they need to develop a strategy for managing logistics that can support multiple service-level requirements. As one element of such a logistics strategy, you need to determine how, where and to what extent the services of logistics suppliers should be engaged. There are several logistics management options to consider before you enter a new or emerging market. One end of the spectrum involves developing extensive multifunction logistics talent within your company, and then managing specific tactical activities and numerous contracts with logistics suppliers that provide narrowly defined services within a specific region or country. In this scenario, pitfalls include the time it takes to develop or recruit the necessary level of logistics talent and leadership, and the administrative cost of managing dozens, if not hundreds, of logistics suppliers. The other end of the spectrum involves leveraging already established and proven capabilities of a few logistics service providers — or even one — who can orchestrate the many activities, dependencies, and relationships across a global logistics network. Companies taking this approach are able to react to new and emerging opportunities in a shorter, more cost-effective time horizon. Figure 1 summarizes the spectrum of relationships with logistics partners. Figure 1: Logistics service provider options While core asset-based logistics providers are critical to logistics execution, there continues to be a competitive desire among service providers to offer strategically integrated solutions with a global reach that include already established relationships in key emerging market locations. As companies decide which model to pursue and which logistics service provider(s) to engage as potential long-term partners in an emerging market, there are a number of factors to consider: †¢ Experience with integrating logistics across the supply chain and related business functions such as direct procurement †¢ Demonstrated ability to lead supply chain transformation in phased initiatives that align with current and future customer requirements †¢ An understanding of the unique characteristics of the emerging market(s) where you are considering expanding sourcing activities or establishing operations and distribution capabilities †¢ Familiarity with your industry vertical and the nature of your supply chain requirements †¢ Proven capabilities to advise on support and manage international trade and customs regulations †¢ The capacity to offer robust middleware as an enabler of cross-functional IT integration with multiple supply chain partners †¢ The experience and capacity to act as information broker between you and your supply chain partners †¢ Infrastructure and business process designs that are highly scalable and redundant †¢ A track record of solid financial health and sound corporate governance A global logistics view in alignment with a top-down business strategy helps to avoid a piecemeal logistics contracting or outsourcing management approach that could exacerbate the challenge of integration and shipment visibility. Your approach to outsourcing should help you develop a responsive, plug and play, logistics management capability that will support your entry into emergi ng markets. This is also a key capability for enabling an adaptive global supply chain footprint and competitive advantage. To further support this goal, it is important to consolidate and align your supply chain management infrastructure, processes and procedures to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Leading logistics providers now have the resources and expertise to help you design your network and make location decisions that optimize the tradeoffs in cost, service level and risk; but you should be aware that such companies may also be driven by their own business goals. When you  receive advice about which emerging markets to target, ask yourself whether this advice is aligned to your business goals, or whether it reflects the logistics supplier’s own growth strategy. It is very important to look for an objective logistics partner who can establish clear business performance metrics and accountability for the entire ship-to deliver cycle. This includes activity from the shipping dock in the source country through each leg and mode of shipment. Such information should be a key part of the overall supply chain performance management dashboard — your logistics service provider should be able to supply you with a range of data and performance metrics such as on-time delivery, damage rates, error rates, cost/sales percentages and related financial metrics that drive continuous improvement efforts. IBM Case Study — overcoming emerging market implementation hurdles Strong global partnerships with leading logistics suppliers are a highly valued asset when it comes to entering emerging markets. IBM offers a case in point. Several years prior to the sale of their personal computing division to Lenovo, IBM shifted PC fulfillment operations to low-cost jurisdictions and emerging market locations. IBM had been conducting business in China for many years, which provided a leverage point for establishing the necessary legal entity and business model to support a manufacturing operation that could act as a global fulfilment center for a limited line of products. Setting up shop in one of China’s free-trade zones offered proximity to key suppliers and abundant availability of low-cost labor during a time of intense, industry wide cost pressures. But from a logistics management perspective, the implications seemed daunting. IBM needed to design and implement the capability to ship from a factory in Shenzhen to customer locations in the United States, Europe and the rest of Asia. This effort required robust process design with multiple logistics suppliers, not to mention the trade-management-related complexities associated with exporting from a free-trade zone to numerous other countries — most of which had their own unique entry and customs-related procedures. In the high-tech industry, the supply chain must be responsive and fast. In logistics, this means pre-clearing shipments through customs while flights are in-transit. The most minor of data inaccuracies on the commercial invoice or shipping  manifest during the entry process can delay shipments for hours. While an import delay of only a few hours may not seem drastic, the result can be a missed cutoff time with the in-country ground service delivery provider. This means an entire day can be added to the shipment cycle time. IBM found that design and implementation challenges resided at the most basic levels. The infrastructure and necessary processes just for getting the trucks from the manufacturing site to the Hong Kong airport caused delays. The frequency and timing of the flight schedules became the hard constraint that all other cutoff times were forced to meet. Getting the necessary level of lift capacity during the high-volume, end-of-quarter seasonal peaks required frequent communication and forecast updates with freight forwarders. Continuous design improvements were needed to reach the necessary process and system integration needed between the freight forwarder, broker and customs agents in the designated country. For small shipments, IBM took advantage of integrated services provided by UPS and FedEx, both of which have ground and air assets for multi-leg shipment continuity. More problematic were larger shipments requiring multiple third party logistics organizations in a series of freight and information handoffs. IBM believes that a core logistics objective should always be to design and implement an integrated end-to-end solution that includes a process and technology design spanning all involved parties, from the shipping site to the final customer delivery location. Other emerging-market implementation hurdles faced by IBM China is not the only major emerging market with strategic significance to the IBM supply chain and global business model. For many years, IBM has sold and distributed products in East European countries. Over the past two years, IBM has expanded operations in countries such as Hungary and the Czech Republic. IBM’s most recent effort included going live with assembly and fulfilment operations with an OEM partner in Hungary. Prior to making a decision about the final location, IBM conducted a network optimization study. Its purpose: to understand the tradeoffs between fulfillment costs, logistics costs, inbound transit times from supplier locations, and outbound transit times to customers throughout Europe. The longer transit times and greater variability were key to understanding if entering the Hungarian marketplace to seize the benefit of lower fulfillment costs was an optimal  supply chain decision. The distance from the manufacturing site to the primary airport in Budapest is a three-hour commute on a two-lane highway. For time-sensitive orders, this long transit time effectively pushes back the cutoff time for shipping to around noon, a loss of nearly a half day. Once the decision was made to operate and ship finished products from Hungary, several supply chain and logistics design points became important to the overall cost reduction strategy. Here are some key elements that helped enable logistics management for IBM in an Eastern European emerging market location: †¢ Extended vendor managed inventory (VMI) programs and pricing agreements with OEM partners to ensure purchase-order flow continuity and control †¢ Extended IBM’s logistics contract agreements to components suppliers on inbound lanes in order to mitigate rising logistics costs and transit time variability †¢ Formed strong partnership with logistics service provider to allow for vendor on premises activity — service supplier resources and systems that manage the flow of finished goods off the back dock †¢ Utilized the network of experienced logistics management professionals in the European region to ensure operational communications and continuity within the same time zones †¢ Took advantage of IBM business presence in-country and local resources to ease the language, culture, and knowledge barrier during transition and initial set up. The above examples reflect IBM’s ability to efficiently enter and enable logistics operations as a strategic component of our global business operating model. Figure 2: IBM logistics cost savings 1995–2004 The cost savings illustrated in Figure 2 were realized during a time when IBM was entering emerging market locations to enable an integrated global footprint. The largest portions of savings were in procurement by utilizing fewer core service providers, and the physical network design efficiencies of operating in key emerging market locales. Realizing competitive advantage from logistics transformation You can prevent rising costs and complexities from eroding the benefits of your global sourcing strategy. The advantages of a strategic approach to logistics are broad and can result in a significant increase in shareholder value. In fact, managing logistics  costs, service-level lead times and overall supply chain security is critical to your marketplace competitiveness. Figure 3: IBM Global Logistics Operating Model The IBM model for managing global logistics highlights its capabilities as a Global Trade Orchestrator. IBM is able to scale this capability for both internal divisions and external customers. The key to managing global logistics is to enable your company’s supply chain with the capability to efficiently unplug from one location or operating scenario, and enter a new or emerging market location. This capability will be both a strategic requirement and a competitive advantage, as long as worldwide business, economic and socio-political variables remain dynamic. Enabling this strategic capability requires cross-function process design, technology integration, and subject matter expertise ranging from network optimization, logistics contract and operations management to global trade and compliance management. This level of orchestration and collaboration is very scalable when merged seamlessly with a global governance model and strategically oriented leadership. Cycle time compression Logistics managers have long recognized the importance of order cycle time, and this concept has entered into the planning and operation of inventory control and distribution systems for decades. More recently, logistics executives have come to recognize the strategic significance of planning, and indeed reducing, the cycle times in their systems. Throughout many different industries, and taught by the examples of successful Japanese competitors, firms are working to reduce the total time required to bring products to marketplace. As George Stalk and Thomas Hout explan in their best-selling book competing against time, today, time is on the cutting edge of competitive advantage. The ways leading companies manage time- in production, in sales and distribution, in new product development and introduction- are the most powerful new sources of competitive advantage. A cycle time compression logistics strategy can be applied to distribution and production, and firms have also shown how the strategy can be employed in product development and roll out. In one frame of reference, cycle time can  be thought of as the time which elapses between the point at which a customer places an order and the point at which the property is received. Traditionally, logistics managers have attempted to control or reduce this order cycle time by increasing in stock availability rates, pre-positioning field inventories close to customers, or using premium flight services to speed delivery. While effective, these tactics are not without cost. From another point of view, customer order cycle times are obviously important, but they do not measure the true response time of the firm since the finished goods inventory performs the function of uncoupling the demand process from the production process. From this point of view, the cycle time is the length of time material remains in the firm as it flows from raw material, to production, to finished goods, and on to delivery to the customer. Attacking this cycle time has several benefits. First, it makes the firm more responsive; that is, the firm may be able to produce and distribute a product to a given customer more quickly. Second, cycle time reduction will reduce the time that material is held as inventory, and hence will increase inventory turnover and return on assets. Firms have employed many different tactics to achieve cycle time compression in their logistics processes, but most successful applications share these common characteristics: (1) The responsiveness of the total system is increased. The firm can more quickly respond to changing customer requirements because the logistics system has become more flexible and adaptive, and more easily able to react to changes in plans. (2) Inventory levels are reduced at all points in the system as on-hand stocks come to reflect more closely true customer requirements. (3) Risk and the associated costs of risk are reduced. As the cycle time falls, the demand forecasting horizon can be reduced, which reduced the risk of stock out, lost sales, obsolescence, redistribution, expediting, and all the other problems associated with forecast error. (4) The information content of the system increases. The system comes to rely  on fast and accurate transmission of information as a substitute for the inventory previously used to operate the system. To reduce cycle time companies need to look at the four major discrete cash cycles within their firms. — Sales Cycle — – Delivery Cycle– –Billing/Collection Cycle – –Make/Buy Inventory Cycle – The sales cycle is the first one to tackle. How long does it take from first contact with a customer to get a signed purchase order? Typically you’re incurring, and paying for, sales expenses during that process. If your normal sales cycle is three months, is there any way to collapse it to two months? One of the best ways to answer that question is by bringing together people within the organization who both work in the sales arena and interface with it. It can also be helpful to have someone from the outside who is not all that familiar with the process in the review. Benefits of cycle time reduction are common in all four areas. The result will be reduced cycle times that translate into a more effective organization and additiona l money in the bank. Cross-docking: The need for speed In today’s high velocity supply chain world, companies are increasingly focusing on distribution methods that will drive efficiency and increase customer satisfaction. Gone are the days where customer service was merely a buzz word. With the focus on customer service, companies have moved away for a supply driven business towards a demand driven business. Companies are also constantly searching for ways to reduce inventory and holding cost. The increase in speed has forced companies to search for ways to reduce product cycle time and move product quickly and cost effectively. Over the years, companies have seen a dramatic increase in the number of stock keeping units (SKU). The increase in the number of SKUs has added complexity to the business and also has increased the cost and time needed to manage the business. Department heads face additional pressure as they are required to stock shelves with the right products and ensure that customer demand is met all times. In today’s high speed world, shipping windows are changing rapidly, as retail clients demand increased speed to meet store requirements. To achieve these goals, cross-docking has been pushed to the frontline of the distribution strategy. What is cross-docking? Cross-docking is a system that relies on speed and agility and is normally used in hub-and-spoke operations. Cross-docking, in short, is the shipment and receiving of goods by bypassing the storage facility. In the process of cutting out the need for a storage facility, inventory can move quickly from one end of the supply chain to the other. Cross-docking is a fairly simplistic way of handling inventory that involves loading and unloading inventory from an incoming truck onto an outboard truck. During cross-docking storage time varies. However, most experts would agree that anything less than two days can be considered as cross-docking. In some cases staging also takes place. For all of its simplicity, cross-docking requires detailed planning and collaboration with partners. Companies require advance knowledge of product shipment and final destination of goods. Setting up the required infrastructure and systems can take time and capital. Logistic managers are increasingly making use of technology such as Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) and automated processes. It is important to note that technology is not the key to success. However, the right system can smooth out problems and increase visibility in the chain. Companies now have the ability to send products on a Friday night, receive them on Saturday, and sell the products later in the day. How is it used? Cross-docking is used in a variety of strategies that include consolidating loads of less-that-truck load (LTL) carriers, consolidate loads from multiple suppliers and/or plants, deconsolidating orders, and preparing for shipping. Cross-docking can be divided into different complexity levels including one-touch, two-touch and multiple-touch. One-touch is considered the highest productivity as products are not loaded on the dock, but is loaded directly on the truck. During two-touch the focus is on load optimization and driving efficiencies. Inventory is received and staged on the dock, without making use of a storage facility. During multiple-touch, products are received and staged for reconfiguration and customization. An increasing number of companies are starting to use cross-docking in their operations. In a 2008 cross-docking trends report in the US, 52 percent of respondents stated that use cross-docking with a further 13 percent planning to start cross-docking in the next 24 months. A number of companies are  outsourcing cross-docking. By doing so, they avoid the challenges of setting up and running a cross-docking operation. Many companies start small and pilot projects are common as they explore the configuration that best fits their needs. For cross-docking to succeed it needs to be a coordinated effort that relies on close partnership and collaboration. What are the advantages? One of the key advantages of cross-docking is that companies are reducing their need for warehousing space, which reduces inventory holding cost. Cross-docking facilities are much cheaper to set up and run than warehouses and companies can save on the capital investment in warehouses. In some cases, companies can reduce warehouse floor space and sell off or lease out underutilized facilities. Companies like Toyota have designed and built their own cross-docking facilities. Normally these facilities are strategically located to reduce distance and maximize support. Some of the biggest advantages for companies are transport related. Companies can achieve significant cost savings, by consolidating loads of LTL carriers. Pallets that are heading for the same destination are consolidated and staged by order sequence. By doing this, companies can reduce the distribution cost of the total supply chain and pass the savings on to the consumer. By making use of cross-docking, companies can furthermore reduce the impact of rising energy cost. Companies like Toyota have used this strategy to great effect. With the increased reliance on Just-in-Time (JIT), parts are being shipped at higher frequency and lower quantity. By making use of cross-docking, Toyota has reduced distribution cost by consolidating smaller part supplies into consolidated loads. Cross-docking has allowed companies to increase JIT and remove waster or muda in the organization. The increased speed in the supply chain helps companies to reduce product cycle time and move product quickly and efficiently down or up the chain. In Toyota’s case, this has allowed them to increase delivery frequency and in some cases even double delivery cycles. Cross-docking also have some major benefits where inventory is limited. As inventory is not kept in storage, companies require less stock. The reduction in inventory will reduce holding cost and at the same time satisfy demand. One of the major benefits of cross-docking is also the reduction of labour cost. With the downturn in the  economy, companies will increasingly look at cross-docking as a possibility. Cross-docking can reduce staff numbers and their associated labour cost and also gives the organization greater flexibility during an economic downturn. Many companies, however, do not start cross-docking primarily for cost reasons. They start to improve customer service. Today’s customers require greater speed and are also more demanding. Companies should establish clear goals and be willing to test different options. For companies that want to streamline operations and increase the supply chain velocity, cross-docking may be the right solution. Implementation Issues and Conclusions Many firms have embraced and employed supply chain management and cycle time compression strategies in their logistics operations with dramatically positive results. However, not all such attempts have been successful, nor has every implementation proved straightforward or simple. In this section, I will list observations and conclusions drawn from scores of firms which have implemented these logistics strategies: (1) Supply chain management and cycle time compression are complementary strategies. The logistics manager is not forced to choose between these two strategies in and either/or basis. In fact, the two strategies are often mutually supportive and self-reinforcing. The strategies so frequently are seen together that it can be difficult or arbitrary to distinguish between them. In practice, the distinction between the two strategies is often blurred. A principal reason to develop supply chain management is often to capture and amplify the benefits of cycle time compression by applying the strategy at all levels in the chain. (2) Each strategy has common barriers to successful implementation. There are many pitfalls involved in employing these strategies, but the most significant problems are generally of two types: High complexity. The new systems are usually much more complicated than the systems and procedures which they replace. Supply chain management, as embodied for example in a quick response system, requires co-ordination of SKU-level item flows across firm boundaries in near real time with great precision and reliability. Low  inventory levels place the entire operation at risk to errors at any level in the system. New data systems and communications systems are needed to drive the logistics flow, and these systems are needed to drive the logistics flow, and these systems must perform flawlessly. In a successful cross docking operation, vehicle schedule and despatching is crucially important as well, and completely reliable carriers must be found. High trust. Supply chain management and cycle time compression must be based on high levels of trust within the various parts of a given firm, such as between production and distribution and between sales and distribution. In addition, very high levels of trust must be established and maintained between buyers and sellers in the supply chain, as well as between shippers and carriers and warehouses. Supply chain members must share and safeguard highly sensitive data, and all parties must be given candid estimates of production schedules, shipping status, and delivery dates. Inability or unwillingness to share these data will generally frustrate meaningful attempts to establish the close co-ordination implied by these strategies. (3) Information technology is the key enabling technology. Another common thread in the successful implementation history of these strategies in American firms is the reliance on fast and accurate information technology. Most such logistics systems use barcode scanning or some other form of automatic identification to provide input of SKU-level transaction data onn sales, inventory and shipments. Data are normally telecommunicated between various operating locations, usually by EDI. In addition, some form of high-level logistics system software is needed to guide the operation of the strategy. (4) Inventory reduction as a benefit. Most successful case histories of supply chain management or cycle time reduction will include inventory reduction, but inventory reduction will not be the whole story. Generally, inventory reduction will be one item on the list of benefits and cost savings which were sought or obtained. In many cases savings due to inventory reduction will be substantial, while in other cases inventory reduction may be a relatively minor consideration. (5) Successful logistics strategies must be integrated with production, marketing, and total corporate strategy. Supply chain management and cycle time compression are strategies which are often highly compatible with the overall strategy being pursued by the firm. Compression of the logistics component of the firm’s total cycle time is an integral component of the firm’s overall strategy of time-based competition. Logistics cycle time compression and supply chain co-ordination are also highly supportive of the general strategy of flexible manufacturing towards which many firms are moving. Many other firms are moving towards a marketing strategy which looks beyond mere ―customer satisfaction in an attempt to move past the competition by ―delighting the customer. In this context, compression of logistics cycle time increases the responsiveness of the logistics system to the customer’s desires. Incorporating the customer into the formal supply chain system should improve the level of support provided to the customer as well as increase the customer’s ability to convey its needs and wants to the firm and have them acted on. In this way supply chain approach will work to reinforce the marketing strategy. Supply chain management and cycle time compression are complementary logistics strategy which progressive firms are employing in many different ways and in many different settings. These strategies are not simply or easily developed, but the results achieved through their use are often dramatic. Any firm which is truly serious about competing in the marketplace should very carefully consider the implications of these strategies for its operations.