Critical Summary Of Cathedral By Raymond Carver - 1223 Words

Critical Summaries 1-4 1. â€Å"Cathedral† – Raymond Carver This story is told in the first person, depicting the narrator’s experience meeting his wife’s friend Robert. The characters in the story are Bub, the narrator, his wife, and the blind man, Robert. Bub’s wife is caring, empathetic, and affectionate; Robert is kindhearted, appreciative, and open to new experiences. In contrast, Bub is closed to new experiences, selfish, and judgmental. The story takes place in Bub’s home, primarily in his living room, where the three talk about many different things. The wife’s role in the story is to give premise for Robert’s visit, and to keep Bub in check, behaviorally. Robert serves as a contrasting personality to Bub, and his life experience is†¦show more content†¦Bub is unable to empathize with Robert’s disability, and judges him harshly for being blind. He makes snide comments and remarks, such that his dead wife needn’t worry about makeup or wearing matching garments, because Ro bert can’t see her anyway. However, after sharing a large meal, drinking lots of alcohol, and smoking marijuana, Bub makes himself open to being understanding, and becomes less standoffish. When asked to draw the cathedral, he realizes that he doesn’t need to open his eyes to see it. This revelation immediately allows him to empathize with Robert, and completely shatters his previous position. It is implied that Bub has experienced a new level of personal growth, and will likely view the world differently with it. 2. â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† – Edgar Allen Poe Another story told in the first-person, â€Å"Fall of the House of Usher† is told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator, as he visits a childhood friend, Roderick Usher. The only other major character in the story is Madeline Usher, Roderick’s twin sister. The story takes place in Roderick’s manor, which has fallen into a state of extreme disrepair. The narrator takes note of this dilapidation, and the estate’s condition becomes a key theme in the story. Roderick’s quarters are dimly lit, with barely any light coming in through the windows. Later in the story, a severe storm hits, and the Narrator is in his room as the estate weathers it. In summary, this

Teenager Case Study Substance Abuse - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1056 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/09/15 Category Advertising Essay Did you like this example? For youth leaders, this is a study of a teenager who has a substance abuse problem and was released from a detention center. It involves a seventeen old male who abuses marijuana, alcohol, and ecstasy; and is also the son of two ministers. This story should help readers understand the dynamics involved with a teenage drug user and will also help youth leaders develop effective skills for reaching out to a troubled teen in need of support, especially after incarceration. A seventeen-year-old male, Jimmy, lived in a middle-class suburb. Jimmy was referred to me by his sister, because she felt my knowledge and past experiences might be helpful in reaching him. Later on I decided to meet and conduct an interview at his house, with his sister present in an adjacent room. During the conversation, several facts emerged. Jimmy had been in trouble with the legal system, mostly for drug possession and motor vehicle infractions. He said he had been kicked out of high school because of his drug use. He had been using alcohol and marijuana since he was about 13. He had more recently been taking ecstasy. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Teenager Case Study: Substance Abuse" essay for you Create order When asked why he used drugs, he claimed it reduced his boredom and provided a way to escape and have fun. Additionally, it was discerned that his father worked long hours (in the mental health field), and was basically absent from the family. Later, I learned that his father denied his son’s habits. The family, which also includes a younger 16-year-old brother, had gone to see a therapist but Jimmy was an unwilling participant. Jimmy noted that he does have a problem with authority figures, like the police, because he believes they are corrupt. Jimmy did admit that police have a job to do, in terms of protecting people from harmful practices. Jimmy also realized that there are consequences of drug use and that he was headed for a state prison sentence if he did not improve his actions. He learned that his mother could be arrested under law if he had drugs in her house; this bothered Jimmy. I researched about what state prison was like and told him all about it. Throughout the intervention, then I listened and affirmed the young man without condoning his bad behavior. In the end, I gained his trust and told him that his personal feelings would be kept confidential. I recommended that Jimmy be careful when he with his peers, and I encouraged him to select a friend who would help hold him accountable. I shared my phone number with him. Jimmy’s behavior improved. The relationship between teens and drugs has been around for decades; however, this is not what you would call positive. Substance abusing (which is using drugs or alcohol in ways than can cause physical harm) is often associated with crime. But why do youths take drugs? Youth take drugs for the following reasons: social disorganization, peer pressure, family factors, emotional, or rational choice. Social disorganization deals with drug abuse to poverty and disorganized urban environment. Drug use by youth minority group members has been tied to factors such as racial prejudice, low-esteem, social status, and stress produced from environment. The National Youth Survey found that drug use tends to be higher among urban youths. From my past experiences, although I lived in a small country, in my school the drug problem was bad and the police officer and teachers that worked at my high school had no idea whatsoever what was going on right under their noses seriously, I remember people at football games found this place behind a shed where no one went and they used to smoke and do drugs, it was bad. But of course no one could say anything about anything they saw otherwise that person will get death threats and get their tires slashed in the parking lot and have to go to homecoming fearing for their life. Like one time I remember this girl said something and everyone in the school hated her and she was instantly unpopular. So yes there is a huge drug problem and getting students to rat each other out is so not going to happen. In a perfect world maybe, but in the real world, not a chance. Jimmy is a classic case of a lonely teenager who is never with his parents and is basically always hanging out with his friends which are a very bad influence. The pattern that I recognize from Jimmy is that he has been wanting to get his parents attention and the only way he gets it, is by consuming excessive alcohol or illegal drugs. Teens feel alone at home and family. They look for something attractive that pleases them. They dont get enough attention from parents. They were not used to get enough attention when they were kids. But when they were kids there were a lot of childish things that could make them busy and temporarily happy. But when they reach 14, those things can not attract them anymore. They still suffer from lacking of attention and the things that could be a relief for them, have lost their attraction. So they look for new things. Definitely these new things cannot be found in family. They are already disappointed about family. Parents should be trained and educated about these things. They should know that all of these problems come because of lack of attention from one or both parents. One hour attention to children and teens saves hundreds of hours of therapy in future. It prevents a lot of problems that addiction is only one of them. By interviewing Jimmy I found that teenagers see taking / using drugs are just a way of teenage-hood, most youth will try some sort of drug, maybe just to try it out or maybe for a reason. This teen said he has taken drugs because it was something to do, and everyone else around him was doing it and it was seen â€Å"cool† to take drugs and that it was a way to escape from the real world. Interviewing Jimmy was very interesting because I could sort of relate what he is going through from when I was in high school. Luckily Jimmy is acting on time before he goes to the wrong path and becomes a failure in life.

Rei Sustainability Case Free Essays

To: Council of Executive Vice Presidents Date: 1th of November, 2012 From: Anders F? dder Subject: Evaluation of REI’s sustainability goals I am writing in response to your inquiry regarding the plausibility of maintaining the continuous growth of the company as well as satisfying its sustainability goals. The following sections will address the three issues, mentioned by top management, by first describing them, then interpreting them and lastly they will be evaluated. Conclusion and recommendations will be based on this. We will write a custom essay sample on Rei Sustainability Case or any similar topic only for you Order Now REI focus greatly on the impact that their business has on the environment. They continuously work on finding new and innovative solution that will help reduce these negative effects. Their corporate mission emphasises this commitment: â€Å"At REI, we inspire, educate and outfit for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship† REI’s stewardship priorities: * Encourage the active conservation of nature Inspire the responsible use and enjoyment of the outdoors * Enhance the natural world and our communities through responsible business practices * Foster opportunities to increase participation in human-powered outdoor recreation * Maintain REI as an employer of choice, where employees are highly engaged in the vision of the company and are representative of our communities The CEO, Kevin Hagen, also stated that these financial and environmental goals and aspiration must be met without sacrificing either. Hagen advocated shifting to a framework of â€Å"no tradeoffs † thus making a paradigm shift; Innovation over compromise. Issue 1 First issue is whether the company’s stated sustainability goals and aspirations are consistent with its corporate mission and its stated stewardship objectives that are listed above. REI sustainability goals focus on three areas; energy consumption, greenhouse gas emission (carbon footprint) and reduction of waster to landfills. The company plans to add water, toxics, land use and social impact to this list in near future. Each of these areas has an aspiration for 2020, a goal for 2015 and a budget for the current year. Energy consumption REI has taken different initiatives to increase their energy efficiency by switching to new renewable power sources wherever possible. They mission is to keep their energy consumption at a fixed level despite opening new stores. One the ways they do this is by investing in self-generation options such as solar technology. Their ways of managing their energy use and increasing efficiency include: * Solar technology in many of our stores * Lighting: * Elimination of all incandescent bulbs from our retail stores * Installation of highly energy-efficient bulbs and fixtures * Greater reliance on skylights and natural lighting Heating cooling (HVAC): * Aggressive retrofitting and replacement of outdated HVAC equipment with sophisticated new models * Centralized monitoring * Energy-saving techniques such as on-demand ventilation and airflow * Measurement of our stores’ energy efficiency against similar buildings nationwide with the ENERGY STAR benchmarking tool Greenhouse gas emissi on (GHG) The aspiration for 2020 concerning GHG was to be climate neutral. Their goal for 2015 was to cut GHG by 50 percent compared to 2010 emissions. The budget for each year was a specific target in tons of CO2 that was defined by the 2015 goal. REI looked at many aspects of their business in order to reach this goal. These were not limited by their own specific action within REI. They look beyond themselves and try to change the way their employees and suppliers act to. The list include: employee commuting and travel, travel by customers participating in REI Adventures programs from their homes to the site of program, transportation of products from vendors to the company and shipments to customers. However, they have not included customer transportation to and from the stores. REI provides meaningful incentives for their employees to reduce the environmental impacts of commuting and corporate travel. These include: * A 50 percent transit subsidy * Showers and secure bike storage at every REI facility * Telecommuting options at our headquarters location * Web conferencing and other technology tools In 2011, REI partnered with The Nature Conservancy to implement an afforestation project on the Bayou Bartholomew property in Louisiana, which will restore forest continuity with the adjacent Chemin-a-Haut State Park. Funding provided voluntarily by REI Adventures will finance the future retirement of carbon offsets from this project. Through this effort, REI supported The Nature Conservancy’s restoration of this forest ecosystem, as well as the design of a carbon project. This carbon project has been validated and registered through a credible third-party certification system (the Verified Carbon Standard). The effort will contribute to long-term systemic change, benefitting the atmosphere and the forest ecosystem, and has been designed to produce verifiable carbon offsets in the future. Though REI would seek new and innovative solutions to all aspects within the company, there is at least one were they could only offset rather than reduce. REI’s largest source of GHG emissions was REI Adventures which generated 31 percent of its total, namely flying members to adventure destinations. This exception was dealt with by purchasing carbon offsets as a part of the travel package, paid by REI. Reduction of waste to landfills REI aspiration for 2020 was to have no waste to landfills and cut waste to landfills by half between 2010 and 2015. In order to achieve this, they strive to make their packaging shipping operations as efficient as possible. They work with vendors, shipping companies and industry colleagues to pioneer new approaches to this complex situation. One example of this is how they reinvented the way bicycles were packaged and shipped. The bikes, shipped in cardboard boxes from china, was packaged in parts and assembled at one location in the US from where they were sent to the stores. The extensive packing, taped and stapled together, held the parts and assembled bikes securely but was difficult to assemble and disassemble. REI revised this process in way that allowed them to reuse the carton over and over again. Essentially, the same cartons that was used from the manufacturer in China, was used throughout the supply chain and returned to China, to once again be use. Thereby recycling all the materials rather than sending it to landfills. This decreased the cardboard consumption by more than 60 percent. Additionally they saved more than $1 million in annual labour hours due to reduced time required to pack and unpack bikes. Recap REI saw a rise in its net carbon impact during 2010. But the increase was smaller than overall company growth during the year, as measured by sales. Overall, the company used 2. 4% less energy in its facilities, despite adding four new stores and relocating two retail locations to larger spaces. Other sustainability efforts include purchasing 58. 4% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper fiber, and recycling 74% of total operational waste, including more than 95% at REI’s two distribution centers. Community efforts included 109,785 volunteer hours committed through 541 REI-hosted conservation projects to plant trees, restore trails, and clean parks and streams. The company also funded $3. 7 million in grants provided to 330 nonprofit partners with a focus on conservation and outdoor recreation. However, REI is transferring renewable energy certificates generated by their solar panels. Since they do not claim credit for reducing carbon when doing so, this is creating a problem in terms of reaching carbon zero. A challenge they must overcome if they intend to reach their aspirations. REI could further reduce their GHG by reevaluating the use of New Zealand as a destination. Many locations on North American (e. g. Alaska, Canada, and the Rocky Mountains) continent have similar location to offer, and seeing that New Zealand is half away around the world, this could be an effective substitution. Exhibit three displays the progress of reaching the 2015 goals. Is shows the actual status of all three areas in e. g. the first quarter of 2011, the plan for 2011, the trajectory for 2015 and the goal for 2015. Though the trajectories for 2015 for all three are above the goal, one can see from the actual status for 2011, that they are all fairly close if not under the plan for the same year. So despite the gloom trajectory for 2015 REI is indeed on the right path. Issue 2 The second issue was identifying the potential risks with REI adopting the â€Å"No Trade-offs† approach articulated by the corporate social responsibility group, seen from a managerial performance measurement perspective. The â€Å"No trade-offs† approach presents several risks. It can prove be expensive, not only in the solutions required to fulfil but also the hours it take to reach them. As the CEO aspires innovation over comprise, the employees will always have to look for new ways of performing tasks. This takes time and time is money. This is also a very black and white approach leaving none or very little wiggle room. The employees need to stay within the parameters and in some cases they might be looking for solutions that are simply not there. Again, this is time consuming and will undoubtedly make REI miss out on additional earnings lost by looking in other fixed directions. REI has set the bar high and this might also have a negative effect on the people working to find the solutions. If the goals seem too impossible, it might demotivate rather than inspire thus lowering the morale among the workforce. However, by setting a more reasonable goal for 2015 this is somewhat counteracted. Recap So there are several risks by the â€Å"No trade-off† approach, but REI seems to get around them. The company is still growing and still finding ways to lower their influence on the environment. The Workplace section also notes that REI has been included on Fortune magazine’s â€Å"100 Best Companies to Work for† list for 14 consecutive years. The company has a 79% employee retention rate. Issue 3 The third issue was to evaluate the validity of the company’s approach to measuring its carbon emission. The goals for environmental sustainability were set by the office of CEO. They were included in the company’s non-financial KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). The CSR group is tasked to carry them out, however they also make the recommendation to the office of the CEO on which the goals are based. This could create internal problematic situation as it is the same people who make the recommendations for the goals as well as carrying them, though some tasks are overseen by other departments than CSR. However, REI take a comprehensive view of their environmental impact using a framework that reflects the work of the Outdoor Industry Association’s Eco Working Group. They have established key performance metrics for e. g. the three before mentioned areas, and in 2011, they implemented measurement and reporting tools that enables them to forecast, budget and review their progress in these areas. These metrics tie directly into strategic and financial planning for key REI divisions, and results are assessed quarterly by company leadership. REI also became a member of bluesign technologies in 2008. The program requires tight manufacturing controls in mills and factories in order to be certified. This approach will provide greater supply chain transparency in support of REI’s goal of reducing the environmental impact of its products. The transparency will also allow them to make a more precise assessment of their impact, as they will have greater access to their suppliers’ information regarding manufacturing. Recap Based on this I deem the validity of the company’s approach to measuring its carbon emission as high. How to cite Rei Sustainability Case, Essay examples

Creating Collaborative Organization Persist - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Would you consider paying each partner a salary that reflected their expertise, experience or ability to generate business for partnership? If so, how would you determine the impact of such factors on salary of each partner? Answer: Yes, salary will be paid to partners as it will provide a tax benefit to partnership business as well as it will provide motivation to partners to work effectively for the betterment of business and self. Organizations are likely to choose partnership as business structure as it adds shared value through mutual efforts. However, organizations might have diverse frameworks and strategies, for this aspect they can operate together to achieve their common objectives and shared goals. A partnership is considered as a relationship of give-and-take which can thereby reinforce the ability of the organization to ensure long-term collaboration and support. In order to accomplish potential partnerships benefit, organizations are required to be prepared in every aspect (Bushe, 2017). While providing a salary of partners, various factors will be considered such as expertise, experience and ability to generate business for partnership. Impact of these factors of the salary of partner is enumerated as below: Job experience: It is essential to thoroughly document experiences when it comes to the skills and knowledge an individual is searching to obtain, the high experience can increase the range of job types. Extraordinary experience may result in out of range payment; it may also result in lack of job offers due to over-qualification (Katzenbach and Smith, 2015). If one partner is having experience of 10 years in the industry while other is having 2-year experience, then it will not be fair to have equal pay. Further; experience partner can provide significant advantages to business in terms of strategies and provide contacts, and same will assist in increasing profit of the business. Location: Geography has an important role in the pay-scale, and also makes 100 percent difference in job offers. it might not be considered that pay in highest dollars is the best, but one must consider the living cost while determining how much a salary is really worth. Due to this factor; salary will be decided by considering opportunity cost and living cost of the area in which business operates. Salary History:The payment offered in the previous jobs sets the stage for what will be offered in the new business, it can be positive or negative. It is a part where individuals are searching for career opportunities might consider themselves as over-compensated and unqualified for positions they look for due to previously earned salaries (Bilodeau and et al., 2017). Thus partners will be paid higher in comparison to their previous salaries so they can be satisfied with their job and pay status. Educational Attainment: Often partnership demand high-education and experience, and those who surpass them can get high compensations as compared to those who dont. Pulling things together, the institution that confers degree does matter, as it tells how much they earn. Certifications held: In a situation where certification is relevant to the position, recent documentation can increase pay between partners. For the individuals competing for a position in the partnership business, certifications can assist in employing owners that distinguish between the good and best ones (Ennis and Semple, 2016). Some of the organizations realize and compensate on the basis certification directly and clearly, the mainstream considers credentials, but their position in salary computations is infrequently transparent. Demonstrate soft skills: Best partners are those who track with records and prove their abilities to act and work effectively. Along with this, they are able to manage themselves as well as other people and complex projects. Furthermore, a well-certificated record is a great key to demonstrate the high development of soft skills. Publications, honours, awards: Individuals been published in their positions, or have gained rewards or honours from high societies or relations can provide further skills, accomplishments and knowledge. This factor can provide goodwill to partnership business, and partner will get paid for the same (Katzenbach and Smith, 2015). This can assist in distinguishing among good, immense or job promotion applicants. This value is predominantly based on prestige. Thus it will not makes any huge difference in salary. Employee Tenure and Performance: Conventionally, a partner pay increase with the years of knowledge, experience and services, as their progress is regarded with more dependency and effectiveness. Although, the rapid increase in demand in the global economy higher the productivity level, the pay system of the organization can also help in improving their performance. For most of the partners, the main goal is to combine the compensation and rewards schemes with strategic initiatives about customers, development and profitability, to become highly competitive in the market. By considering above described factors salary of partners will be determined to ensure fair remuneration strategy in business. References Bilodeau, A., Galarneau, M., Fournier, M.D., Potvin, L., Sncal, G. and Bernier, J., 2017. Self-Evaluation Tool for Action in Partnership. Bushe, G.R., 2017. Creating collaborative organizations that can persist: The partnership principle.OD Practitioner,49(3), pp.23-29. Ennis, C. and Semple, A.L., 2016. Modeling partnerships: Exploring a whole of region approach to partnership development and management. InThe Gold Sponsor of the ACEN 2016 Conference was Intersective, supporting work-integrated learning in Australia(p. 166). Katzenbach, J.R. and Smith, D.K., 2015.The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Harvard Business Review Press.