Risk and resilience Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Risk and resilience - Assignment Example Childhood resilience is, therefore, the phenomenon of positive adaptation despite significant lifes adversities. The topic of risk and resilience in children is important and should be understood by people of all lifestyles. This is because it is a menace affecting children and adolescents in India, China, United States, Malawi, South Asian Countries, sub-Sahara countries of Africa among others. Most of these risks are unavoidable because they are unpredictable such as death of parents/guardian, forced migration and armed conflicts (Boyden and Mann 3). Although some of them are for a good course, for example, parents migrating with or without their families in search of greener pastures. It behooves such parents to explain in depth their reason for migration, so that their children can understand their parents perspective and so that they can adapt to the situation easily. Additionally, parents and older individuals should try to talk to children about real life in order for them to strike a balance between their imagination, the elders experience and real life situations when they are faced w ith challenges now or even in the future. Children who have had good interactive conversations, relationships and understanding with older people are able to adapt despite lifes adversities. This is because, they have been able to relate to the experiences of others and they are able to hope for a better tomorrow despite their current situations. In some instances, children and adolescents who have grown up in the streets and/or in the settlement schemes/slums, those who have lost their parents and/their guardians and those who have had bitter experiences such as war are able to adapt positively although some might suffer greatly from posttraumatic stress disorder. The disorder might be long term, but others get over it and lead a normal life. Therefore,

Racial Profiling by the Police Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Racial Profiling by the Police - Research Paper Example Everyone must have experienced profiling at least once in his/her life, but primarily persons are targeted. Such profiling is exercised by people in authority including school administrators, security personnel, criminal justice and law enforcement agencies. Police profiling is a type of racism carried out by the police officials against the offender. It has been seen that this problem has been prevalent in even the most developed parts of the world and it becomes the main reason of discrimination against the civilians. The police department is considered to be one of the most influential departments in all the countries and, hence, racial profiling by this department can lead to many problems within the infrastructure of the country. Recently, the congressman Keith Ellison picked a fight against the department by voicing his concerns for the Muslim Americans. Ellison stated: â€Å"Racial stereotyping is simply not good policing.. It threatens the values Americans hold dear†. He argued that he himself was a target of this discrimination and wanted the relevant authorities to take into notice the current problem going inside one of the most developed countries in the world (as cited in Diaz 2012). Racial profiling threatens our fundamental principles. Racial profiling by law enforcement agencies and the associated prosecution of people of colored skin is one such example. It targets people on artificial basis of color on matters of law enforcement, causing hindrances in policing efforts and making law enforcement agencies lose their credibility within the community which they have vowed to protect and serve. The police force is looked up to maintain fairness and justice in a society; the disgraceful exercise of racial profiling has caused people to fear the system. This unjust practice remains stain on democratic nations and an insult to the claims of racial equality. It is, however, imperative that the origins of racial profiling by the police force and criminal investigators are highlighted. In the 1950s, a high-profile officer at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Howard Teten, introduced and popularized the mere notion of racial profiling by analyzing the attributes and traits of the criminal, his past records and the situation at the crime scene. This practice of profiling, even though stereotypical in nature, spilled over to the police force with time. Since September 11, 2001, racial profiling has grown and the Obama administration and FBI guidelines have been codified by these practices such as the dishonorable treatment of Muslims and Arabs as suspects, denying them equality of innocence and protection under law. What has been more disturbing is the federal government’s backing of record searches of immigrants, such as Latino and Mexican communities, by the local law enforcement agencies. Because any legal cure for racial discrimination by law enforcement presently necessitates specific evidence of committed to dis criminate, it is exceedingly problematic, if not impossible, for single sufferers to voice

Duddy Kravitz Materialism Essay Example for Free

Duddy Kravitz Materialism Essay Materializing is a major role in this book it affects a large part of the characters second and one person first hand. It also affects the plot due to the main characters obsession with materialism. Materializing can also cause people in relationships to grow apart due to confusion with priorities. Materializing can drive people to become some one that they would never wish to become with out even realizing it. It can also push you to do stuff that you would never think of doing. In the book The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz, the main character Duddy Kravitz was brought up with the saying a man with out land is a nobody. Duddy believes that the more land and money he gains the more of a somebody he will become. Duddy goes through life trying to make more and more money and gain more and more land. With an obsession like this it can cause a person to forget about priorities and also the heath and feelings of others. With Duddy by the end of the book his push to become a somebody cause the lost of respect from a family member and the loss of valued friends. It caused Duddy to put his own friend in a wheel chair for life just so he could try and save some money. Materializing can cause your judgment to fog and able you to do almost anything to get a head in the race to becoming a somebody. Duddy went to the point of forging a crippled friends check so he could buy more land. After he finally owns and controls all of the land hi feels that he has become a somebody. Duddy let money and poisons become the only thing that mattered to him. Duddy lost sight of everything that he lost and all the people that he hurt along the race to become a somebody. The plot of the book was greatly affected be materialism. The book is based around a selfish, greedy man named Duddy Kravitz a man that would stop at anything to become rich and well known. The plot twists as Duddy personality becomes meaner and more money driven. The plot of the book starts with the main character Duddy trying to make living well at the same timework his way up to becoming rich and at least locally famous. Duddy starts off as a happy man with a girlfriend, has many friends that are rich and is starting off his own business. However later on in the book after he starts to buy land to build a dream he starts to go bankrupt. As times get tough Duddy slowly starts to loss grasp of his goals and dreams that would make him a  somebody. The money hungry man starts to become verbally violent and uncaring for others. At this point he is only worried about losing his land and money. ################# but really Duddy has lost much more than he has gain. He has lost his friends, his girlfriend and the respect of his grandpa. The plot is based on materialism with Duddy. All most every problem in this book is a result in Duddy trying to make it big in life and becoming a rich man with a lot of land. When materialism is present with in a relationships it can push people to grow a part over time. It is usually noticed be one member and rarely caught but the person who is obsessed with it. With Duddy Kravitz it was present thought out his life. However as time moved on it slowly turned in to the only thing that mattered to him in his life. When Duddy first started to date Yvette you could see the connection they had with each other, you got the impression that they where meant to be together. They would go on picnics together, go for walks in the woods, and go swimming in the lake. This is where Duddy discovers his soon to be land, with in seconds you could see that the Duddy obsession with materialism has started to make things different between then. Duddy tried to bribe Yvette not to tell anyone about their place and offered to cut her in on the profits if she would keep it a secret. When money and the land came in to the picture it caused Duddy to almost stop trusting Yvette and act like she was more like a business partner rather than girlfriend. This cause Yvette to become angry and upset that Duddy didnt trust her and brought money in to the picture. Slowly over time Duddy became verbally violent towards Yvette, always telling her to shut up and yelling at her profoundly. Slowly Duddy obsession pushed him away from Yvette. By the end of the book Duddy was so obsessed with land, money and trying to become a somebody that he lost the important things in life. Duddy lost things that cant be bought but money, or impressed with land, he lost friends and family.

Rhizoremediation of Lead Using Alternanthera Versicolor

Rhizoremediation of Lead Using Alternanthera Versicolor Shalini S., Priyasha G., Sohini B. and Jabez Osborne W* Abstract: Anthropogenic development has been a major drawback due to the increased discharge of heavy metals into the environment containing the saturated and unsaturated zones of soil. Heavy metals are those which have density more than 5gram per cm cube. Lead causes major health hazards like Plumbism (lead poisoning) at higher concentrations. In the present study the ability of Alternenthera versicolor to phytoremediate toxic lead contamination was assessed at different concentrations of lead. To enhance the uptake capabilities of Alternenthera versicolor, bacterial organism capable of lead degradation was supplemented. The samples were uprooted at an interval of 10, 20 and 30 days. The uptake of lead was assessed by AAS, chlorophyll and anthocyanin content was also checked. Further the effective strain were characterised by 16s rRNA sequencing. Keywords: Rhizoremediation, 16s rRNA, PGPR, AAS, Anthocyanin, Chlorophyll INTRODUCTION The most common heavy metals found in hazardous sites are Lead(Pb), Copper(Cu), Chromium(Cr),Nickel(Ni) and Zinc(Zn).Ionic and hydroxide forms are the general forms of these heavy metals found in soil, ground water and surface water (Gade,.2000). Heavy metal contamination is a major concern because they cannot be degraded (Lone et al,. 2008). Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria are heterogeneous group of bacteria that can be found in the rhizosphere, and in association with roots. The plant-bacteria synergistic interaction in the rhizosphere is determinants of plant growth and fertility. These involve the ability to produce indole acetic acid which is an important growth regulatory hormone, to produce siderophores which enable the uptake of solubilised mineral phosphate from the soil, HCN production and Ammonia production. Morphological studies involve the root and shoot length. Hence depending upon the results obtained for each concentration, we can determine the maximum concentrat ion at which the bacteria can withstand lead contamination. Thus the present study involves the phytoremediation of lead supply by Alternenthera versicolor followed by the rhizoremedial clean up by the synergistic interaction between the effective rhizobacterial isolate and the plant. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sample Collection For the isolation of lead degrading bacteria, tannery sludge was collected from four locations in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. All the samples were collected using sterile polyethylene bags and were preserved immediately (McGrath et al,. 2001). Isolation of lead resistant bacteria from tannery sludge sample Lead resistant bacteria were isolated from tannery sludge using serial dilution technique and 10-4 dilutions onto MSM agar plates supplemented with 150 mg/L lead concentration. The obtained pure colonies were purified on MSM agar plates with 150mg/L lead. Screening Techniques The effective isolates obtained from the tannery sludge sample, were screened for its PGPR traits. Indole Acetic Acid Production For estimation of IAA production, the method described by (Gordon et al,  2000). was followed. The isolates were inoculated in Nutrient broth and were incubated in the shaker at 120 rpm for 24hours. 100  µl of inocula from overnight culture of NB was inoculated in MS Media that was supplemented with 5mM L-tryptophan and was incubated in shaker for 48hours. The cultures obtained were centrifuged at 10000 rpm for 10 minutes. 2ml of supernatant was taken and few drops of Salkowski’s reagent was added to it. Optical density was taken at 530 nm using spectrophotometer. (Hussain et. al,. 2013) Phosphate Solubilisation For the detection of phosphate solubilising capability of the effective isolate, Pikovskaya agar media was inoculated with effective isolate and zone of inhibition was observed after 4 days incubation at RT. (Hussain et. al.  2013) Growth Kinetics Study For growth kinetics study, seed culture of the effective isolate VITPSS1J was prepared in MSM. 2% inoculum of 0.5 OD culture was added in LB broth. O.D readings were taken at every 30 mins till stationary phase was achieved and a plot was plotted against O.D. and time interval. Preparation of pot cultures 64 pots were prepared each consisting of one control and three test pots (Cosio et al, .2004). 2 kgs of sieved garden soil was used to plant Alternanthera versicolor plantlets (20 cm in length) in each pot. Pots were placed in greenhouse for 10 days for the plantlets to get adapted. The pot culture sets were prepared according to two criteria: 1. According to various concentrations of lead being added and 2. According to the number of days of study (10, 20). After the adaptation was completed, various concentrations (25mg/L, 50mg/L, 75mg/L and 100 mg/L) of lead was added at regular interval. Fig 1: Pot cultures of Alternanthera versicolor prepared in 2 kg soil with varying lead concentration Treatment of effective strain in pots Seed culture of effective isolate VITPSS1J was prepared in Nutrient broth (incubated at RT for 24 hrs). The bacterial culture was further mass multiplied by inoculating 100ÃŽ ¼l of seed culture into 4 Erlenmeyer flasks, each containing 250ml NB. 10 ml of this mass multiplied culture was added to each pot and left for next 10 days (Hussain et al,. 2013). After 10 days, first set of plants were uprooted from the pots (10th day pots of all concentrations). Further studies were carried out on the uprooted plants in order to study the uptake of lead by these plants in association with bacteria in 10 days. Morphological characterization The root and shoot length of the uprooted plants was calculated. The length of root and shoot of the test plants were compared with that of the control plants. Comparison of the root-shoot length was also done among plants uprooted from various concentrations. The colour of the plants was also observed. Anthocyanin Estimation Anthocyanin is a pigment responsible for the red, purple, blue colour of several fruits and vegetables, cereals and grains. Anthocyanin can also be used as a pH indicator. Each plant was studied for the amount of anthocyanin present. The leaves of a plant were taken and ground with 70% ethanol and 7% acetic acid (in the ratio 3:2) in a mortar-pestle and transferred to Falcon tubes. Sterile water was added in all tubes including the controls. The tubes were kept in rotary shaker for 10 minutes and then centrifuged (15 mins, 4 ºC, 4500 rpm). The supernatant was removed and 400  µl of methanol was added in each tubes. The anthocyanin content was measured by taking the UV spectrophotometric reading at 530 nm and 657 nm. The same procedure was followed for all the 12 plants. Chlorophyll Estimation Each plant was also studied for determining the chlorophyll content. The leaves were cut into small pieces and mixed with 70% ethanol and ground using mortar-pestle. The mixture was then transferred to Falcon tubes and centrifuged at 6000 rpm for 10 mins. Supernatant was used for spectrophotometer assay of chlorophyll at 665nm and 652 nm. RESULTS Isolation of lead resistant bacteria A total of three morphologically distinct colonies were observed in MSM agar plates supplemented with 150mg/l of lead and named VITPSS1J, VITPSS2J, VITPSS3J Fig 2: Mother culture plates of the isolated bacteria from tannery sludge B. PGPR analysis of isolates Indole Acetic Acid Production: The ability of obtained isolates for IAA production was assessed. Pink coloration was observed for isolate VITPSS3J. Hence VITPSS3J was used for further studies. Phosphate Solubilisation: For the detection of phosphate solubilisation, a clear zone of inhibition is considered as a positive conformation for solubilisation. As the isolates were not able to produce any clear zone observed in the Pikovskaya media plate, the isolates were considered negative for phosphate solubilisation. Growth Kinetics: Growth kinetics was performed for effective isolateVITPSS3J. Stationary phase was achieved at 270 min (Graph1) B. Morphological Characterisation: The leaves of Alternanthera versicolor are originally reddish purple in colour. But it was observed that after the supply of lead in the soil the colour of leaves turned green. Root and shoot length were measured for Alternanthera versicolor at regular interval of 10, 20 days to check the effect of toxic lead concentration of plant growth (Table1, Table2). Table 2: Root and shoot measurement after 10 days of observation Table 3: Root and Shoot measurement after 20 days of observation Anthocyanin and Chlorophyll concentration Anthocyanin is a pigment responsible for purple, blue colour of several fruits grains and flowers. Chlorophyll is a pigment which provides green colour to the plant. (Table 3, 4) Table 4: Anthocyanin and Chlorophyll estimation after 10 days of observation Table 5: Anthocyanin and Chlorophyll estimation after 20 days of observation Figure 1 Estimation of anthocyanin after 10 days of observation Figure 2 Estimation of chlorophyll b by using spectrophotometer (652nm) Figure 3Fig 5: Estimation of chlorophyll a using spectrophotometer (665 nm) after 10 days of observation Figure 4. Estimation of Anthocyanin after 20 days of observation Figure 5Fig 7: Estimation of chlorophyll b by using spectrophotometer (652 nm) after 10 days of observation Figure 6Fig 8: Estimation of chlorophyll a by using spectrophotometer (665 nm) after 20 days of observation Molecular characterization The obtained isolate was characterized molecularly by 16s rRNA sequencing (Sarita et al,. 2005). Effective bacterial strains were characterized using the universal primers 27F (5’-AGAGTTTGATCCTGGCTCAG-3’) and 1492R (GGTTACCTTGTTTTACGACTT-3†). DNA extracts from cell’s DNA and the 16s Rrna sequence was determined by fluorescent dye terminator method using the sequencing kit. Products were obtained and run on a sequencer. DISCUSSION The present study deals with rhizoremedial treatment of the plant Alternenthera versicolor using bacterial isolates of tannery sludge. The plant has been tested as a hyper accumulator of lead which is a toxic heavy metal. Many plants have been worked upon for phytoremedial and rhizoremedial studies using n Alternenthera versicolor different heavy metals such as isolation of potent PGPR isolate; tannery sludge was serially diluted and plated onto MSM agar plates. Carassco et al,.2005 also isolated lead degrading bacteria using Nutrient Agar Medium.  Alternenthera versicolor was tested for its ability to be proved as a potent hyperaccumulator of lead. Hyperaccumulators are plants that have the abilities to take up higher concentration of toxic contaminants or compounds. Some of the hyperaccumulators already proved are Agrostis castellana  (McCutcheon et al,.2003),  Brassica juncea  (E.lombi et al,. 2001),  Brassica napus  (McCutcheon et al,. 2003),  Helianthus annuuus   (Schmidt et al,.2003). The ability of VITPSS1J to act as a potent PGPR isolate was assessed. VITPSS1J was found to be positive for Indole Acetic Acid production (Hussain et al,.2013), but it showed negative result phosphate solubilizing agent, indicating it has effectiveness as a PGPR organism. Alternenthera versicolor was tested for its ability to phytoremediate toxic lead concentration at 25mg/L, 50mg/L, 75mg/L and 100mg/L concentrations of lead. Earlier reports have suggested the use of Brassica juncea as a potent hyper accumulator for lead. Thus shoot and root length was checked at regular interval and it was found be similar as compared to the control; suggesting the effectiveness of Alternenthera versicolor in remediating lead contamination.(Hussain et al,. 2013). Anthocyanin and chlorophyll estimation also suggest the similar result as anthocyanin and chlorophyll content of a plant are a major indicating factor for its toxic uptake studies. Higher level of anthocyanin and chl orophyll at day 10 and 20 suggest that toxic effect of lead has been neutralised by various mechanism taking place in the plant like phytostabalisation and phytovolatalisation (Irene Kuiper et al,.2003). Thus the present study proves that Alternenthera versicolor can be used as a hyperaccumulator of lead at concentration ranging from 25 to 100 mg/L. CONCLUSION Alternenthera versicolor has hence been proved as a potent hyperaccumulator of lead at concentration ranging from 25 to 100mg/L and VITPSS1J can be used to remediate lead contamination. Hence further study on the synergistic interaction between Alternenthera versicolor and VITPSS1J. V. REFERENCES 1. Arvind Gulati, Pratibha Vyas, Praveen Rahi, Ramesh Chand Kasana (2009) Plant Growth-Promoting and Rhizosphere-Competent Acinetobacter rhizosphaerae Strain BIHB 723 from the Cold Deserts of the Himalayas 58:371–377 2. Althaf Hussain Sk. and Srinivas P (2013) Evaluation of Plant Growth Promoting Traits by Pseudomonas and Azotobacter Isolated From Rhizotic Soils of Two Selected Agroforestry Tree Species of Godavari Belt Region, India 431-436 3. Solon A. Gordon, Robert P. Weber (1950) Colorimetric Estimation of Indole acetic acid 4. Shirin Heydari1, Parviz Rezvani Moghadam2, Seyyed Mehdi Arab3 Hydrogen Cyanide Production Ability by Pseudomonas Fluorescence Bacteria and their Inhibition Potential on Weed Germination 5. Brianne L. Clark, Dr. Ranjan Chakraborty, Chair Dr. Bert C. Lampson ,Dr. Lee M. Pike (2004) Characterization of a Catechol-Type Siderophore and the Detection of a Possible Outer Membrane Receptor Protein from Rhizobium leguminosarum strain IARI 312 6. E. Nicole Bridgersa, Mari S. Chinnb, Van-Den Troungc (2010) Extraction of anthocyanins from industrial purple-fleshed sweetpotatoes and enzymatic hydrolysis of residues for fermentable sugars 613-620 7. Simcha Lev-Yadun and Kevin S. Gould (2009) Role of Anthocyanins in Plant Defence 978-0-387-77 8. Irene Kuiper, Ellen L. Lagendijk, Guido V. Bloemberg, and Ben J. J. Lugtenber (2003) Rhizoremediation: A Beneficial Plant-Microbe Interaction1105-01 9. Sushma Bondre, Pallavi Patil, Amaraja Kulkarni, M. M. Pillai (2012) Study on isolation and purification of anthocyanins and its application as pH indicator698-702 10. Sabyasachi Chatterjee*, Anindita Mukherjee, Agniswar Sarkar, Pranab Roy (2012)Bioremediation of lead by lead-resistant microorganisms, isolated from industrial sample290-295 11. A. Rehman, S. Ashraf, J. I. Qazi, A. R. Shakoori (2005) Uptake of Lead by a Ciliate, Stylonychia mytilus, Isolated from Industrial Effluents: Potential Use in Bioremediation of Wastewater75:290–296

Robert Burns :: essays research papers

Robert Burns is a man of the most impassioned temper; with passions not strong only, but noble, and of the sort in which great virtues and great poems take their rise. It is his love towards his country, people, and nature that inspires him. That opens his eyes to its beauty, leading his heart and voice to praise them with his passion. Robert Burns was born January 25, 1759, in a straw-thatched cottage, to William and Agnes Burns. His mother had a great store of folklore songs and ballads, and his father tried at all costs to surround his children with good reading and conversation. At the age of seven, his father moved the family to Mt.Otiphant from Alloway. In 1773, at the age of only 15, Robert composed his first song, Handsome Nell, in honor of the village blacksmith's daughter. In 1777, that family moved to Lochlea. In 1778, Robert was fortunate enough to have a summer term of schooling at Kirkoswald. " It is said he ate his meals with Fergusson's poems in one hand and his spoon in the other." (Essay on Burns, 24) Returning to the farm, he composed Poor Mailie's Elegy, Winter, and other early pieces, under a blooming interest to become a poet of the people, or as he put it, "a Scottish bard." In 1784 his father died, and Robert, with his brother Gilbert, moved to Mossgiel, in Mauchline. Most of Robert's best work was accomplished here. At the age of 26, Robert helped his brother out on the farm. Every chance he got, during the day, he would pull his book out of his pocket and begin to read, and think out themes. At night, he would climb up into his attic room, where he would write his thoughts down before going to bed. He wrote ballads, epistles, epitaphs, satires, and dedications. He wrote of winter, spring, and summer, of rivers, braes, and uplands. He wrote of anything, and of everything, that could have ever passed his mind working through those hard days on his farm. One thing that inspired Robert with great esteem is nature, this opens his eyes to great beauty, making his heart and voice express his praises. "There is a true old saying, 'Love furthers knowledge:' but above all, it is the living essence of that knowledge which makes poets; the first principle of its existence, increase, activity. Not

Urban Legend of Bloody Mary :: Urban Legends Ghost Stories

Bloody Mary Part One: Collection of the Story The story of â€Å"Bloody Mary† was told to me by a twenty year old male. He is a current student at a University, studying accountancy. He has very conservative beliefs regarding politics. His father is an insurance broker and his mother stays at home. This story was collected on March 18, 2006, at his residence. This is the story as he told it to me: I originally heard this from my brother when I was like ten years old. I also saw it in the movie Urban Legends. But I’ll tell you the version my brother told me. You have to go into a bathroom in your house. You turn off all of the lights and stand facing away from the mirror. You then spin around thirteen times and say ‘Bloody Mary’ thirteen times. After you finish spinning you turn around and you will see Bloody Mary looking back at you through the mirror. My brother and his friends made me do it one day at my house and nothing happened to me. The teller showed no unusual emotion while retelling this story to me. He was positive that it was not true. He told the story in a mocking tone; he sometimes finished his sentences with laughter or a smile. Part Two: Compare Versions of the Story The story of Bloody Mary is a very extensive urban legend. Bloody Mary is one of many names that can be chanted to summon this ghost. Snopes.com lists that â€Å"Bloody Mary, Bloody Bones, Hell Mary, Mary Worth, Mary Worthington, Mary Whales, Mary Johnson, Mary Lou, Mary Jane, Sally, Kathy, Agnes, Black Agnes, Aggie, Svarte Madame† are all names that have been used in the retelling of this story. With an increased number of retellings comes an increase in the variation between individual stories. The version of the story told to me did not include Bloody Mary punishing the one that summoned her. Versions in which the summoner is punished describe a wide variety of fates.. Snopes.com lists that Bloody Mary â€Å"May strike her summoner dead, drive her mad, or fiercely scratch her face. She may merely peer malevolently out through the mirror, or she may drag one of the girls back through it to live with her.† This legend has several other deviations; such as the number of times you have to say the name of the spirit, and the room in which you perform the ritual. Urban Legend of Bloody Mary :: Urban Legends Ghost Stories Bloody Mary Part One: Collection of the Story The story of â€Å"Bloody Mary† was told to me by a twenty year old male. He is a current student at a University, studying accountancy. He has very conservative beliefs regarding politics. His father is an insurance broker and his mother stays at home. This story was collected on March 18, 2006, at his residence. This is the story as he told it to me: I originally heard this from my brother when I was like ten years old. I also saw it in the movie Urban Legends. But I’ll tell you the version my brother told me. You have to go into a bathroom in your house. You turn off all of the lights and stand facing away from the mirror. You then spin around thirteen times and say ‘Bloody Mary’ thirteen times. After you finish spinning you turn around and you will see Bloody Mary looking back at you through the mirror. My brother and his friends made me do it one day at my house and nothing happened to me. The teller showed no unusual emotion while retelling this story to me. He was positive that it was not true. He told the story in a mocking tone; he sometimes finished his sentences with laughter or a smile. Part Two: Compare Versions of the Story The story of Bloody Mary is a very extensive urban legend. Bloody Mary is one of many names that can be chanted to summon this ghost. Snopes.com lists that â€Å"Bloody Mary, Bloody Bones, Hell Mary, Mary Worth, Mary Worthington, Mary Whales, Mary Johnson, Mary Lou, Mary Jane, Sally, Kathy, Agnes, Black Agnes, Aggie, Svarte Madame† are all names that have been used in the retelling of this story. With an increased number of retellings comes an increase in the variation between individual stories. The version of the story told to me did not include Bloody Mary punishing the one that summoned her. Versions in which the summoner is punished describe a wide variety of fates.. Snopes.com lists that Bloody Mary â€Å"May strike her summoner dead, drive her mad, or fiercely scratch her face. She may merely peer malevolently out through the mirror, or she may drag one of the girls back through it to live with her.† This legend has several other deviations; such as the number of times you have to say the name of the spirit, and the room in which you perform the ritual.

Marketing and Paul Logan Essay

ACA is a marketing consultant firm specializing in creating strategies to assist businesses. Our mission is to aid your company by planning suitable approaches to support brand transition for Manchester Products. Business Overview In the case of the Manchester Products: A Brand Transition Challenge (Quelch, 2009), Manchester Product was a manufacturer, which offers premium office furniture. Also, the company is one of the leading office furniture brands in the United States because of their skills in engineering and ergonomics that make the company’s products become popular in term of style and comfort. However, the research by the company shows that 5% of their consumers purposely bought office furniture products for home. Therefore, Manchester has decided to enter household furniture market with the acquisition of Paul Logan’s Furniture Davison (PLFD). Also, Paul Logan is a well-known brand for home furniture due to its fashionable and colorful style, which makes its products unique. In addition, the acquisition only included a furniture division; however, Paul Logan still runs the apparel, fashion accessories, and home dà ©cor divisions. Also, Paul Logan allows Manchester to use its brand nam e for only a three-year period. SWOT Analysis Strengths- Manchester has a strong reputation and brand image in the office furniture market, while PLFD is the leading brand for household furniture. Therefore, the coexistence of these two popular brands will allow the company easily promotes its products. Also, the acquisition of PLFD will allow the company to expand its product line as well as gain market share from household furniture market. In addition, the company financial was stabled and expected to grow by 30% in 2005. Weakness- the company is struggling with their distribution network because office furnisher distribution did not interact with home furnisher distribution network. Thus, the consumer might have difficulty to access home furnishes products line. Opportunities- the economy started to recover after the recession period, and it seems that the household furniture industry has been growing since 2002. Therefore, there is a potential for Manchester to enter the home furniture market during this period. Threats- the increasing number of imported furnishers from China and Mexico has threaten the United States furnisher industry because these regions have lower labor cost, which make product less expensive. For instance, over the past five years, the percentage of importing furnisher from China increases by 154%. If the low-cost imports trend from overseas still continues increasing, the United States furnisher industry might collapse in the future. Synopsis of the current situation The case, Manchester Products: A Brand Transition Challenge, Quelch (2009), reports that Manchester is facing the challenge of brand transition as well as determining the marketing expenditure to support the transition of the brand. Paul Logan has strong brand images, which allows Manchester to easily promote household products. However, Manchester can use the Paul Logan brand only for three year, so after three years, the company has to change the name and by that time its might struggle to rebrand itself. Therefore, the company must make sure at first place that the consumer will not confuse or mislead with these two brands. On the other hand, the company should take advantage of Paul Logan brand image because consumer have confident to buy Paul Logan product because in the sense that they will receive a high-style and quality finisher. Moreover, since the company will use Paul Logan brand only for three year, thus company have to determine the marketing expenditure for Paul Logan by finding the right advertising strategy and promotion programs. Currently, Paul Logan mainly spends its marketing budget on push programs such as volume rebates because the company believes that rebate program will lead to successful distribution network. Whereas, Manchester focus on pull program such as national adverting because advertisement will help company promote the brand as well as provoking of sales. Identify Key Marketing concepts Customer brand roles- brands will give the knowledge about the product to the consumer. Once consumers has experienced the product and its satisfied their need. Also, when consumer already have knowledge about the brand this will make they feel more comfortable for the next purchase. Purchase decision also became less. Paul Logan is already a well-known brand for household furnisher, and consumers have their product experience and knowledge about the brand. Thus, for the next purchase, the consumer will have confidence to buy the product because they has their experience in the brand and feeling they will receive quality piece. However, if Manchester considers rebrand itself, it might take time for consumer to learn about the brand also purchase decision is more longer than buying the branded ones. Company brand roles- to protect the brand, the company should be able to keep the feature of the product, such as design, also the brand will help company-categorizing product. For instance, Manchester is known as an office furnisher and consumer might be confused if Manchester used the same brand name for household furnisher product line. Thus, the Paul Logan brand has a stronger identification for household furnishers, and it will also help consumers not be confused about the brand. Competitor brand roles- the competitor of the market-leading brand is aiming to compete by building product to target at the market leader. For example, National Furniture Company, which is Paul Logan’s competitor in terms of price point, realize that Manchester and Paul Logan will merge that brand. National takes advantage of the uncertainly association by announcing price reduction.