Media Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Media Analysis - Essay Example There are radio studios from where the radio signals originate. When a show is being held at a radio studio, the sound waves go into the microphone and are passed to a transmitter, which uses an antenna to send the waves through the air as radio signals. The frequency of the radio signals matches the one in the radio being used, and thus we are able to listen to whatever is being aired from the radio studio. Radio was developed from the idea of telephone and telegraph, all of which are pretty much related. Radio was first used as wireless telegraphy. Radio was not invented right away, but it was the discovery of radio waves which was a major breakthrough. It is because of these waves that the scientists were able to invent the radio, which is has been one of the major forms of communication. It all started back in the 1860s, when a Scottish physicist realized that there existed a kind of waves called radio waves. After a few years, an American dentist was able to perform wireless tel egraphy and established the first form of wireless aerial communication. After him, an Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi, was able to establish radio communication and send a wireless telegram across the English Channel. At first, these wireless telegrams were basically dots and dashes, a form of Morse code, but gradually future events demanded that some kind of wireless communication must be present, to communicate with each other in time of need. Therefore, in 1899, the United States army developed wireless communication, and the Navy adopted it too. Before this, the Navy was using pigeons and visual signals to spread the message across. During the first few years of radio, the signals were very distorted and the message could not be spread across clearly. Therefore, AM broadcasting was introduced which amplified the signal received by the radio receiver, and thus increased the clarity if the message being sent. Through this, the first speech was declared from New York City to S an Francisco and across the Atlantic Ocean. Then in 1933, a much improved version came into being, the FM- Frequency Modulation. It increased the clarity of the audio messages being received by the radio receiver by removing the noise static, caused by the electrical device. This was great improvement over the AM broadcast and led to the development of FM broadcasting, which is the main type of radio broadcasting today. Radio communication is possible by the existence of radio waves. These waves have opened a gateway to different forms of communication, and not just the transistor radio or a household radio receiver. Other than AM and FM broadcasting, radio waves are also used to provide picture and sound in televisions, which have antennas connected to them. These antennas catch the radio signals and receive picture and voice through AM and FM radio waves. Satellites, also make use of radio signals to indicate their position to the computers on Earth, and radio waves are also used to communicate with the devices that have been put in the Solar system, such as the Mars Rover. Cell phones and satellite phones which have become increasingly popular in the past decade, also make use of radio waves to connect to telephone networks, which link the call to the desired destination. Other than this, radio waves are also used in remote controls that are used for televisions, and remote controlled cars and also even to detonate explosives. Nowadays,

Case Study Plaskor Inc.Accounting Information Systems Internal

Plaskor Inc.Accounting Information Systems Internal Controls and Risks in IT Systems - Case Study Example Thus, Plaskor Inc. has underscored implementation of this strategy in carrying out manufacturing of automotive parts since it needs to trade with other partners. a) This section of the paper seeks to describe the extra IT system risks that Plaskor should consider as it evaluates whether to buy or develop an Internet EDI system. According to Segev, Porrar, and Roldan (n.d.), the main risk that can be faced by Plaskor is related to the aspect of security. Whether to buy or develop the system, there are certain risks that are likely to be faced. For instance, the system can be intruded by hackers who are bent on stealing business information belonging to other organizations. The security risk is more threatening to the viability of business since this can impact its operations. The system is also likely to be infiltrated by spyware which can affect the operations of the company. The company can lose vital information as a result of spyware that can be picked from the Internet. Therefore, there is a need to build strong firewalls in order to protect data from being stolen by other unscrupulous people. Plaskor can choose to develop the EDI system, which implies that it should also develop translators which can code the data so that it can be exchanged smoothly between two different companies. However, the risk likely to be encountered is that the translators may not be compatible with transmission and security systems and back end systems that ultimately process EDI instructions (Segev, Porrar, & Roldan, n.d.). This may affect the seamless flow of information, hence the need to put concerted efforts in order to ensure that the translators are compatible with the internal systems of the company. Failure to do so may impact the smooth flow of information between linked computers. b) This section of the paper seeks to describe IT internal controls that should be incorporated into an Internet EDI system. Systematic scheduling has to be put in

Poverty Case Essay Example for Free

Poverty Case Essay Question: Choose an issue of importance to you—the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope—and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation. My parents had a life where there were no three meals a day, no electricity and so many other things. They used to tell â€Å"you never know how bad poverty is until you experience it†. Poverty is the leading cause of death in every developing county. We all know about poverty but we do nothing to stop it. According to UNICF more than 22000 kids die every day because of poverty. The food that we waste everyday will be enough to remove world poverty. My parents and grandparents came from world of utter poverty. When I talk about poverty I know how bad it is and I want the new generation to everything they can to remove poverty. Have anyone gone hungry for a day or two? We all eat at least three meals a day but there are people in the world who don’t even have a single piece of bread to eat. Mahatma Gandhi once said â€Å"there are people in the world, so hungry that god cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.† We all are living in a country where we have everything but there are people in the world who have to drink dirty water to slake their thirst. In Africa more than 5000 kids die each day because of drinking dirty water. We all know about this but we do nothing to stop world poverty. Remember that today’s kids are tomorrow’s future. If we put the all the billionaires in the world together they may be able to remove world poverty from this world. According to human nature if we want to do something we have the ability to do it but no one is there to take the lead. As a 17 year old teenager I care about my fellow citizens and the coming generation. I don’t want them to see a world of poverty and death. I want them to see a world of evergreen sunshine. Poverty is not something that we can remove in two or three days. It takes time to remove world poverty. As a member of the new generation let’s all make sure that we show our kids that we are living in a country with no poverty.

Customer As Benefit A Positioning Strategy Marketing Essay

Customer As Benefit A Positioning Strategy Marketing Essay Positioning is to make happy consumers to perceive products and services and what strategies marketing adopt to reach this perceptual goal. Positioning strategies is very important for business in marketing sector. It can be performed from the object attributes, competition, application and the types of consumers involved, or the characteristics of the product class. All these attributes convey a separate direction in developing positioning strategies; it can create a favorable image in the minds of the consumers or audience. There are seven approaches to positioning strategies: 1. Using Product characteristics or Customer as benefit a positioning strategy: Product characteristics strategy originally focuses upon the characteristics of the product or customer benefits. Product characteristics can be durability, economy or reliability. Product quality is the main subject in this strategy. 2. Pricing as a positioning strategy: In this strategies depend on products quality and price. People want to get good quality in cheap price. 3. Positioning strategy based on Use or Application: When companies produce a product, in the same time they have to think about its alternative product. They need to make seasonal product also. 4. Positioning strategy based on Product Process: Product can be different by people choice. It depends on different types of fashion. Here same products need to present various ways. Product class can be several by people choice. 5. Positioning strategy based on Product Class: In this strategy product class need to make sure that critical positioning decisions. Here need similar types of product for its alternatives or substitute. 6. Positioning strategy based on Cultural Symbols: In this stage companies are trying to show that they respect culture and tradition. They use different types of goods that are no conflicted with culture. 7. Positioning strategy based on Competitors: In this type of positioning strategies, Companies are trying to stay in the market they try to make new brand as they can continue in the market and they can face other competitors. This strategy adopted because of competition. For every company positioning strategy is very effective. Every company should follow this strategy for their business. In the XCITE church, they could follow the 7 steps of positioning strategy. But they did not maintain positioning strategy. As a result the church could not afford to employ a full-time pastor and the church depended on volunteer workers. Unique positioning: Creating of awareness for a business, not-for-profit institution or association doesnt begin or finish with a mission statement. In fact, legation statements are a waste of time in todays world because they are singularly inward-looking and useless. Consciousness comes from a single peculiar positioning message that stimulates a conversation, and a spirit to know more. For unique positioning a unopposed and coercive positioning message is necessary because it sets apart from other competitors. To be successful, Companies must focus on one thing and be the best at it. The part of church service is to spread their service to people and welcome them to church. To increase churchs member and becoming more integrated within community, the following information may be of some help. Though by no means exhaustive, these are techniques that have worked for churches in the past, and which may work for community, as well. A Clear statements Make sure that convention has a clear statement of faith and the role it wants to take on in the community at large. A clear statement can help to find new member for community, and can help to draw new members to the church. The affection and compassion of Christ are endless, and endlessly shareable through community and brotherhood. It can help to make strong community. Charity Work The churchs services are involved with charity work. The church service is a great way to become more involved with the community. Try to make the church a resource for people who are interested in helping their community, whether theyre Christian or not. Gather information about them who are interested in charity and volunteer work. Community Events Community events are significant path to engage with the society and make neighborhood at the society. Youth Programs Young people can do any hard job easily. Teenagers are very curious about anything. Hiking, Skiing, and rock climbing trips, battles of the bands and camping retreats all provide opportunities for the youth nearest the church community to invite their friends of other faiths from the community at large to join in activities of friendship and togetherness. Working with other Religious Organizations working with other religious organizations can help to make partnership and friendship. Reach out to make friendships with church leaders of other denominations and faiths. Communication is often the first step creating a stronger and more unified neighborhood at the community. People in Need Some times church provides social services such as addicted and homeless people often receptive to spiritual guidance in a practical form. Also, single parents, in particular, are often in need of support and advice from their community, and your church has the opportunity to take a major role in the lives of such people and their children. The XCITE Church cannot maintain its unique positioning in the high competitive church market because the church had not enough resource to run their services properly. They had no full time pastor and also no musicians. The XCITE church had not own venue for their weekly services and run under a volunteer pastor. The church depends on international students and facing financial problem also. To continue churchs activity they need strong financial base but they had not enough wealth. On the other hand, other churchs had huge space for their weekly services and they added new services continuously to their menu. They added new food item on their food menu. The XCITE church had not unique positioning to run their services in the highly competitive church market. Reference List: Positioning Strategy. 2012. Positioning Strategy. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.marketing91.com/positioning-strategies/. [Accessed 07 October 2012]. The Importance of Positioning Strategy | Proteus B2B Marketing Blog. 2012. The Importance of Positioning Strategy | Proteus B2B Marketing Blog. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.proteusb2b.com/b2b-marketing-blog/index.php/positioning-strategy-b2b-marketing/. [Accessed 07 October 2012]. How to increase Church Membership. 2012. How to increase Church Membership. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.sharefaith.com/guide/church-business/increasing_church_membership.html. [Accessed 08 October 2012]. How to Increase Church Staff Without Spending a Dime by Ron Edmondson ChurchLeaders.com Christian Leadership Blogs, Articles, Videos, How Tos, and Free Resources. 2012. How to Increase Church Staff Without Spending a Dime by Ron Edmondson ChurchLeaders.com Christian Leadership Blogs, Articles, Videos, How Tos, and Free Resources. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-how-tos/157793-ron_edmondson_how_to_increase_church_staff_without_spending_a_dime_outreach.html. [Accessed 08 October 2012]. Unique Positioning in One Sentence | David Henderson author, journalist, communications strategist. 2012. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.davidhenderson.com/2009/04/16/unique-positioning-in-a-sentence/. [Accessed 10 October 2012]. The key challenges faced by XCITE church The XCITE church faced some challenges. The first challenge was financial crisis. They could not spend more money for its operating cost. They had not own venue so they had to rent venue for their weekly services and the church spent huge money on its promotional materials. Church had to struggle for covering the operational cost. Most of the church members are student thats why they could not donate properly to the church. They had to depend on non members for their church activities. As church had financial crisis so they could not employ a full-time pastor. They dependent on volunteer pastor but weekdays he was not available at all. The pastor could not obey his duty properly. Members could not meet pastor when they need so some members were leaving the church. As a result the quality of churchs service goes down. During exam time student cannot co-operate properly due to their study loads also semester break same happened on the church. The XCITE church had limited element such a s pastoral care, hospitality and music systems. So the people cannot attend to their churchs ministries. Other main problems are to face XCITE church that is in the church-business they had competitors at the same area. Other competitors had huge space and many facilities. XCITE church caters for only university students but other church can arrange cater for families, students, elderly and children. To overcome from this key challenges XCITE church can apply SWOT analysis system. SWOT analysis system SWOT stands for strengths(S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O) and threats (T). An overview of the four factors (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) is given below- Strengths Strengths are the abilities that enable to accomplish to the organizations target. Strengths can be tangible or intangible. These are what well-versed in or what expertise in the organization, the attachments and qualities individually or team and the distinct features that give to organization for its patience. Strengths are the beneficial appearances of the organization or the efficiencies of an organization, that includes process capabilities, human competencies, products and services, customer goodwill, financial resources, and brand loyalty. For the examples of strengths are broad product line, huge financial resources, no debt, committed employees, etc. If XCITE church can manage its financial condition they could solve the problem. The church had not enough money thats why it faces problem to maintain its operational cost. Weaknesses Weaknesses are the abilities that prevent from accomplishing to the mission and achieving its full potential. These weaknesses collapse influences on the organizational success and growth. For weaknesses of an organization may be faced depreciating machinery, insufficient research and development facilities, narrow product range, and poor decision-making problems. Weaknesses are manageable. Weaknesses must be minimized and eliminated form organization. The church had not full-time pastor. XCITE church had not enough materials. They depend on students only. Opportunities Opportunities are dedicated by the environment within an organization operates. Opportunities are arisen when an organization planning to increase its business range in this situation employ can take benefit of conditions in its environment to plan and execute strategies that enable it to become more profitable as they can prove their ability. Organizations also can gain competitive advantage by making use of opportunities in their farm or industries. Opportunities may emerge from industry/market competition, government and technology. Increasing demand for service opportunities may be arise and employ can prove their skills to the authority. If the XCITE church could accept people from their community and arrange competition to young people who wants to work as volunteer worker for the church could make opportunities for young eople. XCITE church could add some opportunities to their volunteer workers. Church could add cater for families, students, elders, children. They can arrange Sunday school for kids and nice music also. Threats When a company or organization established in their own business and getting more profit then threats-Threats may arise. Threats are uncontrollable. Any times it can create for business. When a threat comes, the durability and uplift can be at stake. For the examples of threats are increasing competitions leading to excess capacity, unrest among employees, changing technology, price wars and reducing industry profits, etc. XCITE churchs main threats are other huge church and their special services. SWOT Analysis take steps about information that helps in the firms resources and capabilities with the competitive environment. If XCITE church applies SWOT analysis to its operation it can solve its all limitations. It will be effective for XCITE church. The SWOT analysis is a valuable step in church situational analysis. Assessing churchs strengths, weaknesses, market opportunities, and threats through a SWOT analysis is a very simple process that can offer powerful insight into the potential and critical issues affecting for church. References SWOT Analysis Definition, Advantages and Limitations. 2012. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.managementstudyguide.com/swot-analysis.htm. [Accessed 09 October 2012]. SWOT Analysis Strategy Tools from MindTools.com . 2012. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm. [Accessed 08 October 2012]. If I would the pastor of XCITE church I would follow the first strategic option. I would continue focusing on university students because I believe Young people can do everything. They have energy to do hard job and they are fresh. To find additional sources of income I would apply marketing mix strategy. To face the challenges I would apply extended marketing mix known as 7 ps. Marketing mix Marketing mix strategy  is about achieving marketing objectives through proper analysis of the 7 Ps or elements of marketing. 7 Ps are: Product XCITE churchs product is their service. Everyday church should add extra offer and need to compare services with other churchs service. Product should be significant from others product. Church should offer its products or service at all in the current market place. Prices The second P in the formula is price. Develop the habit of continually examining and reexamining the prices of the products and services church sell to make sure theyre still appropriate to the realities of the current market. Sometimes church need to lower prices. At other times, it may be appropriate to raise its price. Many companies have found that the profitability of certain products or services doesnt justify the amount of effort and resources that go into producing them. Occasionally churchs needed to change its terms and conditions for sale and need to package sale. Promotion The third habit in marketing and sales is to think in terms of promotion all the time. Promotion includes all the ways to tell customers about the products or services and how market and sell to them. Only for promotion sale can be raised dramatically. Even small changes in advertising can lead immediately to higher sales. For publicity posters and lift let can be distributed. Place The fourth P in the marketing mix is the place where the product or service is actually sold. Develop the habit of reviewing and reflecting upon the exact location where the customer meets. The XCITE churchs need specific place for its weekly program. As they can rent this place for various purpose. People People are an essential ingredient in service provision; recruiting and training the right staff is required to create a competitive advantage. Customers make judgments about service provision and delivery based on the people representing in an organization. This is because people are one of the few elements of the service that customers can see and interact with. Process This element of the marketing mix looks at the systems used to deliver the service. Imagine. An efficient service is needed to make faster process. How quickly and better services they can be provided. Physical evidence Physical evidence is about where the service is being delivered from. It is particularly relevant to retailers operating out of shops. This element of the marketing mix will distinguish a company from its competitors. Physical evidence can be used to charge a premium price for a service and establish a positive experience. All the church provide same service but need to know about their charge and neat and clean environment. Marketing mix for a service has additional elements because the characteristics of a service are different to the characteristics of a product. To certain extent managing services are more complicated then managing products, products can be standardized, to standardize a service is more difficult as there it can be affected by factors outside the service providers control. If I would the pastor of XCITE church I would apply this marketing mix to my church for additional source of income. I think this strategy would be better option for the church.

Deception, Fraud, and the Collapse of Enron Essay -- Business Manageme

Deception, Fraud, and the Collapse of Enron Introduction From America’s 7th most valuable company in December 2000, to a company in ruins by early 2002, Enron has been involved in one of the most incredible reverses of fortune ever. With shares riding high on Wall Street at $84.87 on the 28th December 2000, and awards such as â€Å"America’s most innovative company† from Fortune Magazine 6 years running, and â€Å"Energy Company of the Year† from the Financial Times also in 2000, it looked as though Enron were promising to be one of the biggest American companies of all time. Things started going drastically wrong. As large losses were being reported, share prices tumbled, and Enron, within the space of only a year, was on the verge of collapse. I shall be investigating the factors of this collapse, some of them due to business and economic factors, but mostly through deception and fraud. Analysis The timeline of events from when Enron were at the top to the bottom of the business world is quite outstanding. (See Figure 1, Appendix). The collapse seems to span a time of around 5 months, from August 2001 to January 2002. During this time, many scandals have come out, which suggest Enron has played a major part in its own downfall, through unsuccessful diversification to fiddling the accounts. As these things add up, it is no surprise Enron is now in the position it is. In 2000 the company recorded record turnovers of $100m (See Figure 2, Appendix), a $60m increase from the previous year. Shares were selling at a high price, meaning that future expansion would have been possible due to high investment in the company. A collapse at this point seemed absolutely out of the question, it just seemed impossible, with future investment and high turnovers. In October 2001, the third quarter results were published, showing a mysterious loss. This of course set the share price falling, as investors lost confidence about Enron’s long term capabilities. This was the beginning of what was going to be a difficult few months for Enron, as different scandals and information was released. The reasons for this loss have not been explained fully but there are many different possibilities, some through bad business decisions, some through bad accounting, and some from unnecessary purchases. All of these combined meant that Enron was facing debts of around $690m. Enron consists of ... ...e problems, they might not be in the position they are today. With independent audits, financial irregularities might have come to light sooner. Poor communications with shareholders and potential investors meant they were unaware of the situation they were getting themselves in. Enron also spent a large amount of money on unnecessary items where perhaps better investment would have been a safer option. Overall, the factors all combine to the failure of Enron, and at time of writing it is still unclear the exact reasons for the downfall, and how much of the information released by newspapers and the company itself is reliable. Based on the information available at the time, it is clear there are many deceptions and poor business decisions that have meant Enron have a very bleak future ahead of them. Bibliography Websites: www.bbc.co.uk (20th February-10th March 2002) www.telegraph.co.uk (report on 1/12/01) www.enron.com (March 2002) www.observer.com (March 2002) Other Sources: Independent Newspaper 27th February The Economist (December 2001) Nuffield Business and Economics Student’s Book The Money Programme- Inside the Enron Scandal (BBC2 April 4th 2002)

Chak De! India Essay -- Film Review

In Shimit Aman’s film Chak De! India, we examine the impact of India’s socio-political condition. In result, Aman’s film brings to light the political anxiety of post-colonial India. Furthermore, we are able to determine how the boundaries of Indian nation-states have an impact on the construction gender, sports, and space. Sports are dependent indicators of the socio-political atmosphere in India. It has become an emblem of Indian nationhood, dominated by males the practice of a national sports is the country’s symbol of the evolution of Indian modernity. Appadurai states, â€Å"The means of modernity contained in cricket require a confluence of lived interests where cricket producers and consumers can share the excitement of ‘Indiannes’ without its many divisive scars† (Appadurai, 179). Like Cricket, Field Hockey introduced to India by the British during the colonialism of the Indian empire. Thus, in the Indian context these sports produce an unexpected light on the relationship between nationhood and empire (Appadurai, 32). India has developed a collective identity of ‘Indianess’ through the vernacularization of these sports. The relationship between sports and politics is on the oldest pervading examples of the interaction of the institution and nationhood (Heitzman and Srinivas, 140). Sports become a lens in which the outsider can view the socio-political stratum. Within the beginning of the Film, the audience becomes aware of the importance of the Field Hockey match between India and Pakistan. Through this match, the space of Indian Muslim identity is hostile and prejudicial in the face of India. The match magnifies and politicizes the experience of the match while simultaneously being apart of a larger discourse of nationa... ...53). Furthermore, the Girls hockey team broke the gender stereotype by dominating a male domain, by performing bodily practices that ignore the differences of their nation-states. In one scene of the movie, when hockey officials decide not to send the girls team to Australia for the World Cup, the coach makes a deal in which the girls would challenge the men’s team in hopes of making it. The girls unite to put on a fierce match, and by competing in a male domain, they are rewarded with the opportunity to go play in the world cup. Moreover, they learned to reconcile religious discrimination for national sentiment through sports performance. In contrast to cricket, Appadurai states, â€Å"In the case of cricket in India, the key to the complex flows that linked cricket, class, and race in the colonial ecumene was the story of patronage and coaching in India†(Appdurai, 45).

The Dance

My twenty-year-old daughter Brandy called me the other night. While we were talking, she asked me if I remembered the day we watched a spider spin its web. I told her that I did, and she went on to tell me that the experience was one of her fondest childhood memories. She was a little surprised when I told her it was also one of my favorite parenting memories! Our family consisted of myself, my wife Sharon, Scott, my twelve-year-old stepson, eight-year-old Hugh, seven-year-old Brandy, five-year-old Justin, two cats and a Labrador mix named Mitch. Since our apartment had only a small yard, the kids and I would take Mitch on short daily walks during the week. On the weekends, whenever possible, we would take him on long walks through our small coastal community. During one of these weekend walks, we saw the spider. It was Sunday afternoon on a beautiful California spring day. The sun was shining while the birds added their sweet melodies. The air was filled with that special atmosphere of newness that is unique to springtime. My four children, Mitch and I were headed east, down Ninth Street. Ninth Street, in this part of town, is mostly small shops and offices, and most of these are closed on Sundays. Mitch, like all dogs, felt bound to investigate every tree or shrub along the path. As he was inspecting an oleander shrub in front of a small flower shop with an alcove, I noticed the spider scurrying about in the left corner of the alcove. Since most of the spiders I encounter usually just sit around waiting for lunch, I stepped over to investigate this little flurry of activity. It appeared the little fellow was building a new home. The spider had already built the main structure of its spiral web. The supporting rays of silk were attached to various points on the stucco wall and window casing, and the first few spirals, at the center of the rays, had been completed. I gathered the kids into the alcove and showed them the web. Mitch, having lost interest in the oleander, settled into the shade of the alcove for a nap. As we watched, the spider began a fascinating dance! Its eight legs moved swiftly in a repeating sequence, while its abdomen pivoted from one ray to the next spinning silk, all the while moving in an ever expanding spiral. We continued to watch the little spider until it reached what it, and Mother Nature, determined to be the outer ring of its new home. Every one of us, except Mitch (who was still napping), were enchanted and impressed with the performance. The spider, however, appeared oblivious to our adulation. As we continued our walk, we talked about the spider over and over. When we got back home, all four children kept interrupting each other in their eagerness to describe to their mother what they had seen. Hugh did an enthusiastic imitation of the spider's dance, wiggling his fanny to and fro while gesticulating wildly with his arms and legs. His efforts had us all laughing until we had tears in our eyes. I have always been charmed by the natural world: the acrobatics of squirrels, the cooing of pigeons, the soaring flight of hawks and falcons. Just the sight of a dragonfly sitting still on the end of my fishing pole grips my soul and fascinates my eyes. I had always hoped that I would pass my love of nature on to my children, so that they too would know the particular wonder that only nature can inspire. At the time as I watched and listened to my children's excitement over the simple dance of a small spider, I felt my hope might be becoming a reality. Knowing that the memory is still cherished by Brandy thirteen years later I feel sure she, at least, got the lesson right.