Child Abuse Case Study: Peter Connelly Essay -- Toddler Peter Connell

Child abuse does not discriminate against a child because of age, sex, religion, or socioeconomic background. Every child is vulnerable to abuse. Parents today face the possibility that someone they know or a stranger may hurt or take advantage of their children. Research indicates that as many as one out of every four children will be the victims of some kind of abuse (National Child Abuse Statistics). Furthermore, one of the biggest ironies of child abuse is that the family, a child’s primary source of care, love, and security, can also be their most taunting experience. This was the case of 17 month old baby, Peter Connelly. Throughout his short life span, he suffered from neglect and physical abuse that ultimately caused his death. Child abuse is a serious problem that is being taken too lightly. Peter Connelly was born March 1st, 2007 in Haringey, London. In a two month period Peter’s father moved out of the house, while his mother Tracey Connelly met a new guy Steven Baker at a club. On October 13th Peter was taken to the doctor’s office with bruises to the side of his head. His mother told the authorities that he fell out of his crib. Sometime around December Peters mothers thirty-two year old boyfriend, Steven Baker, moves into the home. Within the same month he was rushed to the emergency room with head injuries, bruising to the bridge of the nose, sternum, right shoulder and buttocks. Peter’s mother said he fell off of his seat. Ultimately, his case was referred to social services. Peter was given temporarily to a friend of the family. Pursing this further, on January 26th Peter is returned to his mother, even though Tracey Connelly was still on bail for assaulting and neglecting the baby. Time... ...Baby P Death Named." BBC News - Home. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . Hughes, Mark. "Baby P's Killers: the Untold Story - Crime, UK - The Independent." The Independent | News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . Layman, Richard. Child Abuse. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 1990. 15+. Print. "National Child Abuse Statistics | Childhelp." Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse | Childhelp. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . "Timeline Leading to Toddler Peter Connelly's Tragedy | The Sun |News." The Sun | The Best for News, Sport, Showbiz, Celebrities | The Sun| The Sun. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. .

Hard Times by Charles Dickens Essay

Hard Times by Charles Dickens juxtaposes fact with fancy and also describes the effects of industrialization on the contemporary human being. An important statement comes from Mr. Gradgrind about the importance of facts He says; Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the mind of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This novel sets in the Victorian period and a fabricated town of Coketown. Mr. Gradgrind opens the novel who comes to teach at a school in Coketown. He is overpowered by his philosophy of facts. He cross-examines his pupils against his notions of facts and calculations. Imaginative Sissy is among those students. He raises his own children according to his own philosophy. Another person, Josiah Bounderby, is introduced as a friend of Gradgrind who is completely devoid of emotions. He is an industrialist who earns all his capital through industry. He is contrasted with the workers of the mills. James Harthouse, who is a wealthy and young Londoner, comes to become a disciple of Gridgrand and has interest in politics. He takes interest in Louisa, daughter of Gradgrind. He declares his love for Louisa and she promises her to meet him. But she goes to her father and explains her that his upbringing has made her to marry against her will. Sissy, who loves Louisa too much, goes to Harthouse and asks her to leave Coketown forever. Later on Gradgrind and Louisa discovers that Tom, son of Gradgrind has looted a bank. They plan to help him escape with circus performers with the help of Sissy but they are stopped by Bitzer who attended Gradgrind school and is a thorough rational. But they are helped by circus manager and Tom finally sneaks out of England. At the end Louisa become a part of Sissy’s family and learns about sympathetic feeling and emotions. Overall, this is an interesting that provides a deep insight into the emotional and psychological aspects of a human being. This book helped me to look at life from a human perspective and not a mechanical or materialistic perspective.

Tesco : Retail & Logistics Mgt

The business world nowadays is very different from the past. It is fast changing, challenging and full of opportunities. In order to sustain the business, the companies need to minimize costs, maximize profits and make the business environmentally sustainable. The management of the organization achieve these goals through supply chain management has recently focused (Fawcett, et al. , 2007). Tesco is one of the World’s leading retailer with operations in United Kingdom, Korea, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, Hungary, Malaysia, Japan, China and the United States.She became increasingly significant on the international stage. The supply chain transformation has underpinned to this retail success story. Tesco adopted a common operating model across its worldwide business, admitting it to spread and support key supply chain and replenishment applications when it expanded into new countries. Tesco leveraged a common model across multiple countries and strong willingness to acc ept local market without losing its core identity, this allowed Tesco think globally and act locally (Smith and Sparks 1993 and Gustafsson et al 2006).There were four main improving stages in distribution and supply chain strategies in Tesco that could be demonstrated; Direct to store delivery, centralization, composite distribution and vertical collaboration and ‘lean’ supply chains (Fernie & Sparks, 2009). Direct to store delivery (DSD): This process operated in mid-1970s. The direct delivery by the manufacturers and suppliers to the retail shops whenever they wanted. Shop manages operated in own interest. These made central control and standardization more difficult.A requirement of alternative in approach to supply and distribution occurred as the new corporate business strategy took hold (Fernie & Sparks, 2009). Centralization: This process was applied to move away from DSD in 1980. The introduction of centralization compelled suppliers to meet Tesco’s opera tional demands and gave control over the supply of products to stores within a lead time of maximum of 48 hours. Suppliers were forced to deliver into the distribution centers of the supply network.This allowed faster stock turn, better lead time and reduced inventory cost. Moreover, the organized network of centralized distribution centers was linked by computer to stores and head offices. Buffer stock level and operations stock was reduced. However, this created problems of high logistic cost due to the increased delivery frequency, running of empty or un-full vehicle and increased labor cost on more frequent receiving. Nevertheless, outsourcing was the key component of the revised supply chain network.It allowed making comparison between Tesco’s operated centers and outside contractors, to measure the practices between two parties and drive efficiency (Fernie & Sparks, 2009). Composite Distribution: This integrated strategy of supply was implemented in 1990, in ongoing imp rovement process. It enabled chilled, fresh and frozen products to be distributed by multi-temperature warehouses and vehicles through a common system. Special designed vehicles with individual temperature control compartments were used to delivery any combination of these products.According to Fernie and Sparks (2009, pg. ,151), â€Å"The move to composite led to the further centralization of more product groups , the reduction of stock holding, faster product movement along the channel, better information sharing, the reduction of order lead times and stronger code control for critical products. This composite structure became the backbone of the supply network. † Tesco international business growth and the new methods of working, the composite nature of centers became regional distribution centers (RDC) gradually.Vertical Collaboration and â€Å"Lean† Supply Chains: Jones and Clarke (2002) stated that there were lots of chances for improvement even in the best-run v alue streams. A famous quoted example, Tesco cola can journey (Womack and Jones 2005). The can example demonstrated the improvement process undertaken by Tesco. Firstly, map of the traditional value stream. Secondly, value stream flow was designed. Finally, Tesco turn up from flow principle and began to look at synchronization and aspects of lean manufacturing and upply (Fernie & Sparks, 2009). â€Å"Tesco moved to a lean supply system using the flow system multiple daily orders were send to suppliers allowing for multiple deliveries, reducing stock holding through cross-docking and varying availabilities and quality (Fernie and Sparks 2009, pg. , 155). Tesco initialed to change the supply chain pattern to fit in various countries. The success infrastructure and the processes of supply chain were embedded in new enter countries.For example, Hungary, Ireland, Korea, Poland and Czech Republic, major RDC was built in these countries. The composite model had been effectively implemente d, even with the same logistics service partners (Child, 2002). However, in some occasion, Tesco needed to rethink the supply system and adopting advanced information technology as the springboard to step forward. For example, Oracle Retail Warehouse Management System was deployed in Korea in 2004. Successful implementations transplanted to other countries. Oracle Corporation, 2012) Similarly, Micro Focus was selected to upgrade the supply chain management systems (Continuous Replenishment Application) to create a common model across all countries and support to move into US market in 2007 (Micro Focus, 2011). Summarizing the above, the outcome of an informed supply chain and the development of advanced IT infrastructure enable seamless information sharing on a common platform with internet-based network. It enhanced the effectiveness and efficiency of the supply chain.According to Harrison and Hoek (2008), Information sharing technology enables collaborative partners working togeth er from product design, manufacturing, logistic flow, demand forecasting, replenishment planning and work closely to align their organization strategy in order to achieve competitive advantage. Kotler (1988) claimed that a company going abroad must study and understanding each foreign market carefully, being sensitive to its culture and economics, and apply adjustment in its products and communication to suit local needs.With support of the above authors, Tesco had made a remarkable supply chain operation in international expansion. Question 2: Different aspects concerning Tesco’s International experience are included in the indicated case study from page 30. You are required to select and evaluate three of these experiences. Various dimensions of Tesco’s international experience are illustrated in the case study. The following experiences are selected to be evaluated, they are entry mode experiences, marketing and communications and human capital experience.Entry mode experience: Expansion into foreign markets can be carried out via the four mechanisms; direct investment, acquisition, licensing and joint venture (Foley, 1999). The entry mode that Tesco chose to adopt when entering foreign market was acquisition (Yoruk & Radoservic, 2000). (Fig. 1) Compared to other large retail companies such as Wal-Mart who lean to focus on larger market, Tesco tended to take a more conservative entry strategy. Tesco entered the central European market through store-by-store mode. It allowed testing on the market with comparatively lower startup cost.The human and financial capital was also minimized. On the other hand, the cost of failure or replacing them by larger hypermarket was also lower. After a testing period of these acquisitions, Tesco started to expand through Greenfield investments. It constructed new hypermarkets in outskirt (Beckmann, 1999). This was a very aspiring change for Tesco since this was totally new. This approach allowed to have a exper ience on the expand which is completely apart from current domestic supermarket format and extend the international retail store operations.Marketing and communication: Tesco learned from accumulated experiences in approaching new markets, compared to the failure experience in entering the Ireland and French markets, Tesco made success in entering Czech Republic because of its vigorous initiative to adopt the local market without drooping its core identity which were offered low prices, high quality product and services. With global strategies and adapt customization in each local market, like McDonalds operates, with a global development plan, but adapting locally, has become known as ‘glocalisation’.Tiplady (2003) defined that the way in which ideas and structures that circulate globally and adapted and changed by local realities. Tesco adopted this as the core strategy to enter different foreign markets continuously. In recognizing and understanding the local needs, which included the needs of customers, competitors and the macro environment. Global sourcing and supply chain experience: As mentioned previously, Tesco think globally and act locally. It’s chosen to create a long term relationship with local producer in individual countries.For example, in considering the high level of national identity existing in Czech Republic, Tesco worked with the local food processors and farmers to develop its own label products at a lower cost. In UK, almost cover 40% of own brand products (Yoruk & Radoservic, 2000). In Ireland, Tesco also supported local Irish products and producers. It purchased goods worth ? 900 million annually from Irish companies in 2002. Tesco also worked together with the Irish companies to produce Tesco brand products for both domestic and international market which increased the production volume (Anon, 2000).In 2010, Irish exported more than ? 700 million of goods to worldwide Tesco. This also set up a corporate social re sponsibility image which create as a high corporate reputation and a positive image to the customers too. The remarkable supply chain operation in international expansion was adapted in changing mode to fit different countries. The successful implementation would become the back bone of the supply chain and embedded to other location with adjustment. The initiative in adopting new information technology infrastructure to enable information sharing which improved the supplier’s relationships.Question 3: Select a global retail company of your choice and discuss how globalization impacted on their strategy approach. Globalization is the concept of how global companies seeking to grow its business by extending its markets whilst at the same time seeking cost reduction through economic of scale in areas such as purchasing, production and focused manufacturing and or assembly operations (Christopher, 2005). IKEA is one of the world’s largest furniture retailers. It perceives itself as the leader within the global market of home furniture. In 2010, it has 280 stores in 26 countries worldwide.The core business idea of IKEA is to offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at low prices that most of the people can afford. Its main business strategy is â€Å"one-design-suits-all† that is aligning the design of products so as to enjoy economies of scale, efficiency as well as lower cost. Therefore, IKEA designs the product that suit as many markets as possible. The flat packaging system for packing its furniture to optimize carrier space, lower down the utilization of warehouse space and minimizing the types of pallets used to store is extraordinary.It helps to cut down the costs compared to other competitors. Moreover, IKEA has a wide supplier base all over the world. Most of them located in low-cost nations, for example, China and East Europe. IKEA maintains a good and long-term relationship with its suppliers. It suppo rts its suppliers in the form of leased equipment, credit facilities or even extending guarantees for supplier’s bank loan. With strong alliance and partnership with suppliers, in return, improved relationship with the suppliers, hence IKEA could be certain on the supply, standardization of products at high quality with the optimum low price.Furthermore, IKEA also benefits from the scale of its global business. All of the suppliers need to comply with IKEA’s IWAY requirement. The IWAY is a recognized standard and a quality assurance selling point to both the current and potential new customer. Organizations have attempted to expand into new markets with the target to enjoy the benefits through globalization. A new demand in logistical activities in supply chain is increased (Skjott-Larsen, et al. , 2007). IKEA’s global supply chain involves more than 1380 suppliers, 41 trading service offices, 31 distribution centers (DC) and 11 customer DCs across the world.IKE A provides its suppliers with support in logistics and IT. The transport manager finds the optimal mode of transportation, delivery lead time and cost involved. IKEA preferred to build its DCs closer to seaports in order to use more ocean transport and less of road and rail transport. Products are either delivered directly to the stores or the DCs whichever is closer. For those slow moving items, they are delivered to those centralized DCs which can cover for a large region (Trent & Monczka, 2002) .In addition, standardization helped IKEA to manage pilot projects at a DC and embedded in worldwide DCs if found successful. It enables IKEA to benchmark the performances of various DCs as all worked on identical procedures. The flat packaging is all designed to fit the highest possible products into the containers minimize logistic cost. This meliorates the efficiency and lower the overall landed costs of products (Agndal, 2006). Moreover, IKEA applies the same design, technology, and op erations at all of its facilities thus the processes are standardize across the supply chain.The employees could move from any one location around the world that actually opens the opportunities for staff to widen their career experience and learn other cultures (Kling & Goteman, 2003). Globalization is an ongoing development processes. These are not purely concern on the geographical spread of economic activities across national boundaries. It also includes the functional integration of globally scattered activities. The enterprises convert into a unit that is linked to the world at large instead of a domestic unit (Dicken, 2003). Bibliography Agndal, H. , 2006.The purchasing market entry process – A study of 10 Swedish insudtrial small and medium-sized enterprise. Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management, 12(4), pp. 182-196. Andersen, M. & Skjoett-Larsen, T. , 2009. Corporate social responsibilty in global supply chains. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 1 4(2), pp. 75-89. Anon, 2000. An entry strategy for the Irish market, Ireland: The Irish Times. Beckmann, A. , 1999. Dysfunctional Decision-Making -The Battle for Prague's Future. Central Europe Review, 1(21). Bowersox, D. , Closs, D. & Copper, M. , 2003.Supply Chain Logistic Management. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. Brut, S. L. & Sparks, L. , 2003. Power and competition in the UK retail grocery market. British Journal of Management, Volume 14, pp. 237-254. Child, P. N. , 2002. Taking Tesco Global. Mckinsey Quarterly, Volume 3, pp. 135-144. Christopher, M. , 2005. Logister and Supply Chain Management: Creating Value-Adding Networks. 3rd ed. London: Pearson Education Publications. Dicken, P. , 2003. Global Shift: Resharping The Global Economic Map in The 21th Century. 4th ed. London: Sage Publication. Fawcett, S. , Ellram, L. & Ogden, J. 2007. Supply Chain Management : From Vision to Implementation. London: Pearson. Fernie, J. & Sparks, L. , 2009. Logistics & Retail Management: Eme rging issues and new challengers in the retail supply chain. 3rd ed. London: Kogan Page Limited. Foley, F. J. , 1999. The Global Enterpreneur : Taking Your Business International. Chicago: Dearborn Financial Publishing Inc.. Gustafsson, K. , Jonson, G. , Smith, D. & Sparks, L. , 2006. Retailing Logistics abd Fresh Food Packaging. London: Kogan Page. Handfiled, R. B. & Nichols, E. L. , 2004. Key issues in global supply base management.Industrial Marketing Mangement, 33(1), pp. 29-35. Harrison, A. & Hoek, R. V. , 2008. Logistic Managment and Strategy : Competing through the supply chain. 3rd ed. London: Pearson. Hugos, M. , Hunt, T. & Philips, T. , 2007. Scoring Points: How Tesco continues to win customer loyalty. 2nd ed. London: Kogan Page Ltd. Jones, D. T. & Clarke, P. , 2002. Creating a customer driven supply chain. ECR Journal, 2(2), pp. 28-37. Kirkwood, D. A. , 1984. How Tesco manages the distribution function. Retail and Distribution Management, 12(5), pp. 61-65. Kling, K. & Got eman, I. , 2003.IKEA CEO Anders Dahlvig on international growth and IKEA's unique corporate culture and brand identity. Academy of Management Executive, 17(1), pp. 31-37. Kotler, P. , 1988. Marketing Management – Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control. 6th ed. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall International. Mangan, J. , Lalwani, C. , Butcher, T. & Javadpour, R. , 2012. Global Logistics & Supply Chain Management. 2nd ed. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Mohorovice, D. , 2000. Minding the store Tesco Commercial Director Paul House on customer service, supplier relations, and what milk and home mortages have in common.Budapest Business Journal, p. 9. Monczka, R. M. & Trent, R. J. , 1991. Global sourcing: A development approach. International Journal of Purchasing and Material Management, 27(2), pp. 2-8. Palmer, M. , 2004. International restructure and divestment: The experience of Tesco. Journal of Marketing Management, Volume 20, pp. 1075-1105. Palmer, M. , 2005. Retail mult inational learning: a case study of Tesco. International of Retail & Distribution Management, 33(1), pp. 23-48. Powell, D. , 1991. Counter Revolution: The Tesco Story. London: Grafton Books. Riera, J. , 2000.Tesco sourcing teams to drive down global costs. The Retail Week, 17 March, p. 1. Seonng, M. S. , 2005. 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International Expansion and Buyer-Driven Commodity Chain: The Case of Tesco. [Art] (University College London).

Demographic Trends of Gun Ownership in the U.S.

Demographic Trends of Gun Ownership in the U.S. The perception of who owns guns in the U.S. is heavily shaped by stereotypes perpetuated by news media, film, and television. The armed black man (or boy) is one of the most pervasive images in our media culture, but the image of the armed white southerner, the military veteran, and the hunter are common too. The results of a 2014 Pew Research Center survey revealed that while some of these stereotypes hold true, others are way off the mark, and possibly quite damaging in their mischaracterization. 1 in 3 Americans Live in a Home With Guns Pews survey, which included 3,243 participants from across the country, found that just over a third of all American adults have guns in their homes. The rate of gun ownership is slightly higher for men than for women, and fairly even across the nation, with the exception of the northeast, where just 27 percent have them, as compared with 34 percent in the west, 35 percent in the midwest, and 38 percent in the south.  Pew also found similar rates of ownership among those with children in the home and those without about a third across the board. Thats where the general trends end and significant differences emerge around other variables and characteristics. Some of them may surprise you. Older, Rural, and Republican Americans Are More Likely to Own Guns The study found that gun ownership is highest among those over 50 years of age (40 percent) and lowest among young adults  (26 percent), while ownership among middle-aged adults mimics the overall trend. At 51 percent, gun ownership is far more likely among rural residents than all others and lowest in urban areas (25 percent). Its also far more likely among those who affiliate with the Republican party (49 percent) than among those who are Independents (37 percent) or Democrats (22 percent). Ownership by ideology conservative, moderate, and liberal shows the same distribution. White People Are Twice as Likely to Own Guns Than Blacks and Hispanics The really surprising result given the way violence is present within racial stereotypes has to do with race. White adults are twice as likely to have guns at home than are blacks and Hispanics. While the overall rate of ownership among whites is 41 percent, it is just 19 percent among blacks and 20 percent among Hispanics. In other words, while more than 1 in 3 white adults lives in a house with guns, just 1 in 5 black or Hispanics adults do the same. It is gun ownership among white people, then, that drives the national rate up to 34 percent. However, despite this disparity in ownership by race, blacks and Hispanics are far more likely than whites to be the victims of gun homicide. That rate is highest for Blacks,  which is likely influenced by the over-representation of homicide by police among this racial group, especially since they are the  racial group  least likely to actually own guns. Pews data also reveal a significant trend at the intersection of race and geography: nearly half of all white southerners have guns in the home. (The low rate of ownership among blacks in the south brings the overall rate for the region down by nine percentage points.) Gun Owners Are More Likely to Identify as a Typical American Perhaps most fascinating (and troubling) among the findings is the set of data that show a connection between gun ownership and American values and identity. Those who own guns are more likely than the general population to identify as a typical American,  to claim honor and duty as core values, and to say that they often feel proud to be American. And, while those who own guns are also more likely to consider themselves outdoor people, just 37 percent of gun owners identify as hunters, fishers, or sportsmen. This finding would seem to debunk the common sense notion that people keep firearms for hunting. In fact, most do not actually hunt with them. Pews Findings Raise Questions About Gun Crime in the U.S. For those concerned about the high rate of gun crime in the U.S. compared with other nations, the findings pose some serious questions. Why are police far more likely to kill black men than any others, especially given that most of those killed by police are unarmed? And, what are the public health consequences of the centrality of firearms to American values and identity? Perhaps its time to frame media representation of black men and boys which overwhelmingly portrays them as perpetrators and victims of gun crime as a national public health crisis. Certainly, this pervasive imagery has an effect on the expectation among police that they will be armed, despite the fact that they are the  least  likely racial group to be. Pews data also suggest that tackling gun crime in the U.S. will require the decoupling of American values, traditions, rituals, and identity from firearms, as they seem to be tightly linked for many gun owners. These associations likely fuel the scientifically debunked good guy with a gun thesis that suggests that gun ownership makes society safer. Sadly, a mountain of scientific evidence shows that  it does not, and its important that we understand the cultural underpinnings of gun ownership if we really want to have a safer society.

Zebulon Pike and His Expeditions to the West

Zebulon Pike and His Expeditions to the West The soldier and explorer Zebulon Pike is remembered for two expeditions he led to explore territory acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. It is often assumed he climbed Pikes Peak, the Colorado mountain named for him. He did not reach the peaks summit, though he did explore in its vicinity on one of his expeditions. In some ways, Pikes western voyages are second only to Lewis and Clark. Yet his efforts have always been overshadowed by nagging questions about the motivations for his journeys. What was he trying to accomplish by trekking around in the previously unexplored West? Was he a spy? Did he have secret orders to provoke a war with Spain? Was he simply an adventurous Army officer seeking adventure while filling in the map? Or was he actually intent on trying to expand the limits of his nations boundaries? Mission to Explore Western Territories Zebulon Pike was born in New Jersey on January 5, 1779, the son of an officer in the U.S. Army. When he was a teenager Zebulon Pike entered the army as a cadet, and when he was 20 years old he was given an officers commission as a lieutenant. Pike was posted at several outposts on the western frontier. And in 1805 the commander of the U.S. Army, General James Wilkinson, gave Pike the assignment of traveling northward up the Mississippi River from St. Louis to find the rivers source. It would later be revealed that General Wilkinson harbored dubious loyalties. Wilkinson was commanding the U.S. Army. Yet he was also secretly receiving payments from Spain, which at the time had vast holdings along the southwest frontier. The first expedition on which Wilkinson dispatched Pike, to find the source of the Mississippi River in 1805, may have had an ulterior motive. It is suspected that Wilkinson may have been hoping to provoke a conflict with Britain, which at the time controlled Canada. Pikes First Western Expedition Pike, leading a party of 20 soldiers, left St. Louis in August 1805. He traveled into present-day Minnesota, spending a winter among the Sioux. Pike arranged a treaty with the Sioux and mapped much of the region. When winter arrived, he pressed forward with a few men and determined that Lake Leech was the source of the great river. He was wrong, Lake Itasca is the actual source of the Mississippi. There were suspicions that Wilkinson didnt really care what the real source of the river was, as his real interest was to sent a probe northward to see how the British would react. After Pike returned to St. Louis in 1806, General Wilkinson had another assignment for him. Pikes Second Western Expedition The second expedition led by Zebulon Pike remains puzzling after more than two centuries. Pike was sent westward, again by General Wilkinson, and the purpose of the expedition remains mysterious. The ostensible reason Wilkinson sent Pike into the West was to explore the sources of the Red River and the Arkansas River. And, as the United States had recently acquired the Louisiana Purchase from France, Pike was apparently supposed to explore and report on the lands in the southwestern portion of the purchase. Pike began his mission by acquiring supplies in St. Louis, and word of his upcoming expedition leaked out. A detachment of Spanish troops was assigned to shadow Pike as he moved westward, and perhaps even stop him from traveling. After leaving St. Louis on July 15, 1806, with Spanish cavalry apparently shadowing him from a distance, Pike traveled to the area of present-day Pueblo, Colorado. He tried and failed to climb the mountain that would later be named for him, Pikes Peak. Zebulon Pike Headed for Spanish Territory Pike, after exploring in the mountains, turned southward and led his men toward Spanish territory. A detachment of Spanish troops found Pike and his men living in a crude fort they had built of cottonwood trees on the banks of the Rio Grande. When challenged by the Spanish soldiers, Pike explained that he believed he was camping along the Red River, within territory belonging to the United States. The Spanish assured him he was on the Rio Grande. Pike lowered the American flag flying over the fort. At that point, the Spanish invited Pike to accompany them to Mexico, and Pike and his men were escorted to Santa Fe. Pike was questioned by the Spanish. He stuck to his story that he believed he had been exploring within American territory. Pike was treated well by the Spanish, who transported him and his men onward to Chihuahua and eventually released them to return to the United States. In the summer of 1807, the Spanish escorted him to Louisiana, where he was released, safely back on American soil. Zebulon Pike Returned to American Under a Cloud of Suspicion By the time Zebulon Pike returned to the United States, things had changed dramatically. An alleged plot devised by Aaron Burr to seize American territory and set up a separate nation in the Southwest had been uncovered. Burr, the former vice-president, and killer of Alexander Hamilton had been charged with treason. Also implicated in the alleged plot was General James Wilkinson, the man who had sent Zebulon Pike on his expeditions. To the public and many in the government, it appeared that Pike may have played some  shadowy role in the Burr conspiracy. Was Pike really a spy for Wilkinson and Burr? Was he trying to provoke the Spanish in some way? Or was he secretly cooperating with the Spanish in some plot against his own country? Instead of returning as a heroic explorer, Pike was forced to clear his name. After he proclaimed his innocence, government officials concluded that Pike had acted loyally. He resumed his military career and even wrote a book based on his explorations. As for Aaron Burr, he was charged with treason but acquitted at a trail at which General Wilkinson testified. Zebulon Pike Became a War Hero Zebulon Pike was promoted to major in 1808. With the outbreak of the War of 1812, Pike was promoted to general. General Zebulon Pike commanded American troops attacking York (now Toronto), Canada in the spring of 1813. Pike was leading the assault on the heavily defended town and the withdrawing British blew up a powder magazine during their retreat. Pike was struck by a piece of stone which broke his back. He was carried to an American ship, where he died on April 27, 1813. His troops had succeeded in capturing the town, and a captured British flag was placed under his head just before he died. The Legacy of Zebulon Pike Considering his heroic actions in the War of 1812, Zebulon Pike was remembered as a military hero. And in the 1850s settlers and prospectors in Colorado began calling the mountain he encountered Pikes Peak, a name which stuck. Yet the questions about his expeditions still remain. There are numerous theories about why Pike was sent into the West, and whether his explorations were really missions of espionage.

Family Structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Family Structure - Essay Example As the study outlines   from among all these, the newborn baby is the one who is least affected in the new structure because he or she is the one taken cared for while everyone starts being responsible for him or her. Speaking of the new parents, the mother and the father are affected greatly by their newborn child not only in terms of the physical demands they should fulfill such as not getting enough sleep and having to tolerate the constant crying but at the same time cause a change in their lifestyle, the dreams they pursue, responsibilities, purchase behavior, and even how they interact socially. This is because of the fact that a newborn poses a lot of responsibilities not only financially but at the same will require a lot of sacrifices such as re-managing one’s priorities to achieve a balance between providing for one’s family’s needs and at the same time giving oneself a little leeway for a little fun time. This paper highlights that what is unique to mothers of a newborn would be the fact that they usually feel neglected or perhaps feel like they are missed out a lot in life because of the routine activity she is confined in from not only taking care of the baby but at the same time her other children if there are and of course, we cannot miss out on her responsibility to her husband which makes her lose time and energy to pamper herself. On the other hand, fathers constantly face the pressure to work longer hours and earn more to be able to provide for his family’s increasing needs. A newborn baby would greatly affect their siblings as well. This is because of the fact that children have the tendency to be possessive with their parent’s attention and time especially when they were used to being the only one.  

The effects of Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 on the accounting profession Research Paper

The effects of Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 on the accounting profession - Research Paper Example Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 was one such measure intended to set standards to guarantee the accuracy of financial reports published by organizations irrespective of big or small. This paper briefly explains the impacts of Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 on accounting profession. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 (SOX) mandates creation of an internal control structure, and assessment of its effectiveness. This control structure involves controls on internal financing reporting and auditing (Bergen, 2005). Many companies have reported that the introduction of SOX and the increased internal control structure was more expensive than anticipated. The external costs have been increased a lot for many companies because of SOX and this increase especially at in a period of recession was too difficult for the companies to handle. At the same time, most of the costs needed to strengthen the internal control were one-time expenses only and the corporate and the investor public would be beneficial from that in the long run. Section 409 of SOX mandates that a company must disclose to the public any information that is of material value that affects the organizations financial condition or operations. This section was a real challenge for the accounting professionals since most of the companies used Excel spreadsheets for keeping much of their financial data and linking these data in a timely manner with the financial reporting systems were too much difficult. The non compatibility of ordinary Excel spreadsheets with the other financial reporting systems forced the companies to change their accounting software to the much advanced and expensive software like SAP and Oracle or to incorporate new technologies such as off the shelf applications and spreadsheet templates with macros to convert data into a format that can be readily integrated into the organization’s financial reporting system (Jyoti, 2005). Earlier some of