Direct and Online Marketing - the New Marketing Model Essay Example for Free

Direct and Online Marketing the New Marketing Model Essay I. INTRODUCTION With the growth of the Internet community and the limitless possibilities the Internet gives to the single user, it didnt take long before someone realized that the World Wide Web is a really good place for the commercial entrepreneur. So, very quickly the online market was born, offering almost all kinds of goods to be purchased and delivered to your door. This new online sensation was called electronic commerce, or ecommerce. E-commerce is a complex term referring to the process of selling and buying products and services over the Internet or other electronic systems. Considered as the sales aspect of the e-business, the electronic commerce has revolutionized trade as a routine activity for the contemporary man by bringing the marketplace to your home or the office, thus saving you time and efforts. The development of e-commerce has given birth to new terms such as electronic funds transfer, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), Internet marketing, automated data collection systems, etc. They all designate certain key components of the sophisticated e-commerce system. The majority of processes running within the e-commerce system are carried out on the World Wide Web. It is on the web where goods and services are presented through variously designed e-commerce websites to match the taste of a particular target audience. From there customers can order the desired items and pay for them in a variety of supported e-payment options such as credit cards, PayPal, etc. Certain e-commerce operations are executed via email as well. These may include sending order placement confirmations or electronic invoice notifications to the buyers personal mailbox after a particular purchase. Depending on the nature of the offered products and services, ecommerce operations may involve virtual and physical items. Due to the increasing use of the Internet in our daily lives, the percentage of the virtual items distributed through ecommerce is rapidly growing. These include services like buying admission to limited access websites or electronic versions of newspapers and magazines, online gaming, etc. Nevertheless, the majority of e-commerce transactions are still related to the purchase and transportation of physical items. As far as the parties involved in the online transaction process are concerned, ecommerce can be thought of as being business-to-consumer, more popular as B2C, and business-to-business, also known as B2B. The B2C ecommerce, conducted between business entities and consumers, includes all online stores (e-shops) offering retail products and services to end customers such as flower stores, shoe stores, furniture stores, etc. The B2B commerce, on the other hand, takes place between business entities only, such as wholesalers and retailers, on not that widely popular web stores. The rapid expansion of ecommerce has made it possible for almost all big retail companies to set up their own online stores with regularly updated content. Thus, it is now easier than ever to obtain an item from the latest collection of your favorite clothes brand, or be among the first to take advantage of a starting clearance campaign. Moreover, the ecommerce fashion is gradually infecting smaller retail companies, which find it as a good chance to expand their reach to potential customers and increase the selling volumes. This trend is stimulated by the attractive low-cost ecommerce hosting services offered by different hosts on the web. II. ONLINE MARKETING Online marketing, also known as online advertisement, internet marketing, online marketing or e-marketing, is the marketing and promotion of products or services over the Internet. Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and World Wide Web to deliver marketing messages to attract customers. TYPES OF ONLINE MARKETING * Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engines natural or un-paid (organic) search results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engines users. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search, academic search, news search and industry-specific vertical search engines. As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, what people search for, the actual search terms or keywords typed into search engines and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content, HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. Promoting a site to increase the number of backlinks, or inbound links, is another SEO tactic. The plural of the abbreviation SEO can refer to search engine optimizers, those who provide SEO service. * Pay-Per-Click Advertising (also called cost per click) is an Internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, where advertisers pay the publisher (typically a website owner) when the ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market. Content sites commonly charge a fixed price per click rather than use a bidding system. PPC display advertisements, also known as banner ads, are shown on web sites or search engine results with related content that have agreed to show ads. In contrast to the generalized portal, which seeks to drive a high volume of traffic to one site, PPC implements the so-called affiliate model that provides purchase opportunities wherever people may be surfing. It does this by offering financial incentives (in the form of a percentage of revenue) to affiliated partner sites. The affiliates provide purchase-point click-through to the merchant. It is a pay-for-performance model: If an affiliate does not generate sales, it represents no cost to the merchant. Variations include banner exchange, pay-per-click, and revenue sharing programs. Websites that utilize PPC ads will display an advertisement when a keyword query matches an advertisers keyword list, or when a content site displays relevant content. Such advertisements are called sponsored links or sponsored ads, and appear adjacent to, above, or beneath organic results on search engine results pages, or anywhere a web developer chooses on a content site. Among PPC providers, Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter used to be the three largest network operators, and all three operate under a bid-based model. In 2010, Yahoo and Microsoft launched their combined effort against Google and Microsofts Bing began to be the search engine that Yahoo used to provide its search results. Since they joined forces, their PPC platform was renamed AdCenter. Their combined network of third party sites that allow AdCenter ads to populate banner and text ads on their site is called BingAds. The PPC advertising model is open to abuse through click fraud, although Google and others have implemented automated systems to guard against abusive clicks by competitors or corrupt web developers. * Email Marketing is directly marketing a commercial message to a group of people using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. It usually involves using email to send ads, request business, or solicit sales or donations, and is meant to build loyalty, trust, or brand awareness. Email marketing can be done to either cold lists or current customer database. Broadly, the term is usually used to refer to: * Sending email messages with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its current or previous customers, to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business, * Sending email messages with the purpose of acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately, * Adding advertisements to email messages sent by other companies to their customers Researchers estimate that United States firms alone spent US $1.51 billion on email marketing in 2011 and will grow to $2.468 billion by 2016. * Affiliate Marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliates own marketing efforts. The industry has four core players: the merchant (also known as retailer or brand), the network (that contains offers for the affiliate to choose from and also takes care of the payments), the publisher (also known as the affiliate), and the customer. The market has grown in complexity to warrant a secondary tier of players, including affiliate management agencies, super-affiliates and specialized third party vendors. Affiliate marketing overlaps with other Internet marketing methods to some degree, because affiliates often use regular advertising methods. Those methods include organic search engine optimization (SEO), paid search engine marketing (PPC Pay Per Click), e-mail marketing, and in some sense display advertising. On the other hand, affiliates sometimes use less orthodox techniques, such as publishing reviews of products or services offered by a partner. Affiliate marketing is commonly confused with referral marketing, as both forms of marketing use third parties to drive sales to the retailer. However, both are distinct forms of marketing and the main difference between them is that affiliate marketing relies purely on financial motivations to drive sales while referral marketing relies on trust and personal relationships to drive sales. Affiliate marketing is frequently overlooked by advertisers. While search engines, e-mail, and website syndication capture much of the attention of online retailers, affiliate marketing carries a much lower profile. Still, affiliates continue to play a significant role in e-retailers marketing strategies. * Display Advertising is a type of advertising that typically contains text (i.e., copy), logos, photographs or other images, location maps, and similar items. In periodicals, display advertising can appear on the same page as, or on the page adjacent to, general editorial content. In contrast, classified advertising generally appears in a distinct section, was traditionally text-only, and was available in a limited selection of typefaces. Display advertisements are not required to contain images, audio, or video: Textual advertisements are also used where text may be more appropriate or more effective. An example of textual advertisements is commercial messages sent to mobile device users, or email. One common form of display advertising involves billboards. Posters, fliers, transit cards, tents, scale models are examples of display advertising.. Display advertising appears on web pages in many forms, including web banners. Banner ad standards continue to evolve. * Blogging. A weblog, also called a blog, is a journal that is maintained by a blogger and contains information that is instantly published to their blog website. Blogging is a very popular activity. The number of online users creating and maintaining blogs has increased dramatically over the past year. The number Internet users who read these blogs has also shot up, with some blogs boasting thousands, even millions of daily dedicated readers. Blog marketing is any process that publicizes or advertises a website, business, brand or service via the medium of blogs. This includes, but is not limited to marketing via ads placed on blogs, recommendations and reviews by the blogger, promotion via entries on third party blogs and cross-syndication of information across multiple blogs. * Community Building. An online community is a virtual community that exists online and whose members enable its existence through taking part in membership ritual. An online community can take the form of an information system where anyone can post content, such as a Bulletin board system or one where only a restricted number of people can initiate posts, such as Weblogs. Online communities have also become a supplemental form of communication between people who know each other primarily in real life. Many means are used in social separately or in combination, including text-based chat rooms and forums that use voice, video text or avatars. Significant socio-technical change may have resulted from the proliferation of such Internet-based social networks. * Social Media Marketing refers to the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites. Social media marketing programs usually center on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. A corporate message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it appears to come from a trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the brand or company itself. Hence, this form of marketing is driven by word-of-mouth, meaning it results in earned media rather than paid media. Social media has become a platform that is easily accessible to anyone with internet access. Increased communication for organizations fosters brand awareness and often, improved customer service. Additionally, social media serves as a relatively inexpensive platform for organizations to implement marketing campaigns. Social media marketing involves the use of social networks, COBRAs and eWOM to successfully advertise online. Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter provide advertisers with information about the likes and dislikes of their consumers. This technique is crucial, as it provides the businesses with a â€Å"target audience†. With social networks, information relevant to the user’s likes is available to businesses; who then advertise accordingly. Consumer’s online brand related activities (COBRAs) is another method used by advertisers to promote their products. An activity such as uploading a picture of your â€Å"new Converse sneakers to Facebook† is an example of a COBRA. Another technique for social media marketing is electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Electronic recommendations and appraisals are a convenient manner to have a product promoted via â€Å"consumer-to-consumer interactions†. An example of eWOM would be an online hotel review; the hotel company can have two possible outcomes based on their service. A good service would result in a positive review which gets the hotel free advertisement via social media; however a poor service will result in a negative consumer review which can potentially ruin the companys reputation. ADVANTAGE OF ONLINE MARKETING These are some of the many advantages that online marketing offers over traditional media outlets: 1. Reduced Cost The starting cost of online marketing is only a fraction of the thousands of dollars that Yellow Pages, television and radio ads cost. For example, you can get a free listing on Google Local that will be just as effective as a costly online Yellow Pages ad. In addition, while traditional ads may only run for a short time, a search engine optimization campaign can deliver long-term results. You can also save money with online Pay-Per-Click advertising where it is easy to experiment with small ad volumes until you perfect your strategy and then expand your marketing budget when you are assured of a positive sales return. 2. Everything Is Measurable When you place an ad in the newspaper or a magazine, it can be difficult to assess the direct sales impact for your business. With online marketing, everything can be tracked and illustrated in detailed graphs that illustrate traffic growth, leads and sales conversions from your specific search marketing campaigns. Using a free traffic analysis tool like Google Analytics, it is easy to calculate your return on investment (ROI) so you can appreciate the excellent value generated from your online marketing budget. 3. Brand Engagement In the crowded market, you need to establish and maintain positive brand awareness and client loyalty. Apart from word-of-mouth and leveraging your personal relationships with your established clients, a website is the most important marketing tool a business can have. A regularly updated website with well-written content that maintains people’s interest is essential to showing people exactly how your business is distinctive and how you offer the best value to your clients. 4. Demographic Targeting The degree to which an online marketing campaign can target and measure the response from specific demographics and regions is often astonishing to business owners who normally use traditional media. New demographic prediction and online advertising platforms allow you to specifically target the specific consumer demographics most likely to buy your products. In particular, if you want to target young people between the ages of 16-30, youll need an online marketing strategy to reach them where they spend the bulk of their time: On the Internet and on social media sites. 5. Real-Time Results With online marketing you don’t have to wait weeks to see a significant boost in your business. With a paid search marketing campaign you can experience real-time results that enable you to fine-tune your marketing message to achieve your desired effect. If your marketing strategy isnt working effectively, real-time monitoring tools allow you to easily pin-point exactly where you are going wrong. 6. Easily Refine Your Strategy Using online marketing analytics and tracking tools you can test conversion rates at a fraction of the cost of a traditional media campaign. Online marketing levels the playing field and allows savvy small businesses to compete in competitive niches that previously would only be open to large corporations and their massive marketing budgets. If your marketing strategy is not bringing in the return on investment (ROI) that you desire, you can work to perfect it without having to launch an expensive new campaign as would be required with most traditional media outlets. 7. Long-Term Exposure The benefit of an organic search marketing campaign that optimizes a website for specific keywords is that you will achieve a long-term return on your investment. Once your website’s visibility is well-established with search engines, it is easy to do regular low-cost maintenance of your strategy. The early adopters of new online marketing platforms like social media marketing will have a significant head start over their competition. 8. Product Information Today’s savvy consumers want to compare reviews and opinions of friends, trusted bloggers and industry experts before they make a decision. If you can provide quality, linkable information that is what people are looking for, then the next step of converting users into paying clients can be very easy. With social media networks like Facebook and Twitter re-enforcing the value of positive word-of-mouth exposure, trust is more important than ever in the marketing field. 9. Less Intrusive Most savvy consumers dislike intrusive traditional marketing methods like direct mailing, print ads and television advertisements. When someone buys a newspaper or magazine, they want to read interesting articles not be bombarded with irrelevant ads. While mediums like television can still be useful for maintaining awareness of large corporate brands, it is not an effective medium for most small and medium-size businesses. With online marketing, you can target consumers precisely when they are searching for products and services that your business can provide. 10. Holds Their Attention When people read the newspaper or a magazine they may scan over the advertisements beside the article but there is no way to engage their attention. With online marketing you can encourage them to take action, visit your website and read about your products and services which results in vastly increased â€Å"stickiness† of your marketing message.

Ideal school for international education

Ideal school for international education Before to start talking about international education, it seems appropriate to give a definition from experienced researchers in this sector: The interest in the field of international education has never been more intense a rapidly increasing number of schools world-wide have been established specifically to meet the demands of those parents who, through their own global professional activities, wish to have their children educated in programmes based on international values and often in contexts other than their home country. Such schools have embraced the promotion of international education as one of their major goals.(Hayden, Levy and Thompson 2007:1) We also want to draw the readers attention to the fact that another researcher named Skelton also defines international education and international curriculum in relation to international schools. This is obviously only one vision and one definition of international education but these are the ones we are interested in investigating with this assignment because we will analyze whether an international school, namely St Andrews International School Bangkok, is close to the ideal school for international education. Our School St Andrews International School Bangkok is, as stated in the first definition above, a school that is established (in Thailand) to meet the demand for expatriate parents and wealthy local families who want their children educated in programs based on international values. St Andrews International School Bangkok, offers the international IGCSE and IB Diploma programmes ( we will explain later what are these IGCSE and IB programmes), and has, as main purpose, to promote international education as its mission statement says: Our mission is to provide an inclusive, international education in a happy, supportive and stimulating environment, where all the needs of the individual learner are met and students are inspired to achieve their full potential enabling them to become responsible global citizens. We will, of course further analyze the mission statement in later chapters when we will speak about ideologies, values and global citizenship education. What will we analyze? We defined above our focus, which is The International Schools. With this starting point, we must look at what are the components of an international school. We will focus on the following: the Values and Ideologies, the Curriculum, The Students, The Teachers, The administrators, the Board and the role of English language and other languages; compare and criticize all these points with what is said in the literature and our own experience in the field. What we are going to analyze is, of course, not all the elements of an international school, but those most important to analyze, in order to answer our assignments question. The values and ideologies In the syllabus, we read that Watson and Ashton (1995) point out that Society does not wait for consensus before transmitting values, and neither do schools. They convey values every day, knowingly or unknowingly, both at the more explicit level of what is taught, and at the less openly acknowledged level of how the school is administered (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) Education cannot be value-free. Indeed, we believe that the official curriculum and also the hidden curriculum (what happens in the classroom, the relationship between teacher and student and how they interact) will automatically transmit values. In our school, the IGCSE curriculum transmits, clearly, the values of the Western World and more specifically, Great Britain. Even if the IGCSE allows adaptation to the context, the curriculum is there, with the knowledge to be transmitted, and that knowledge comes from Great Britain. The values transmitted, are humanists as we can read in our syllabus: Humanism as an ideology places a high emphasis on knowledge. Some forms of humanism (think classical humanism, conservatism, traditionalism, academicism) advocate the restriction of high status knowledge to an elite minority: the selective grammar school/secondary modern school system of pre-1960s England, for instance, typifies a classical humanist approach. Other forms of humanism, such as liberal humanism for instance, while still placing a great emphasis on knowledge advocate that high status knowledge should be accessible to all. We find that, indeed, the IGCSE curriculum focuses generally on knowledge. We also feel that they want this high status knowledge (a knowledge that comes from Cambridge University) to be accessible, if not to all, to the biggest number of students, abroad, especially in International Schools. Regarding the IB curriculum, it also transmits values, the values of openness, world mindedness, the child is the center of his learning, the child must be knowledgeable, balanced, Inquirer, etc. (IBO website, learner profile) These values are clearly progressivist because we can read on the IBO website: Progressivism as an ideology is essentially child-centered, with the emphasis clearly on the individual child. Curricula such as the International Baccalaureates Primary Years Programme (2008) are examples of a progressivist (or constructivist) approach to education. (Syllabus) Although we still do not teach the PYP program, these values are the same in the IB Diploma and are implied throughout the schooling of students until they pass their diploma examinations. In the syllabus, we read: Halstead (1996), meanwhile, argues that The values of schools are apparent in their organization, curriculum and discipline procedures, as well as in the relationships between teachers and pupils. Values are reflected in what teachers choose to permit or encourage in the classroom, and in the way they respond to childrens contributions to learning. (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) Even the seating arrangements in a classroom convey certain values. It is true that this transmits values as well. In our school, students are always encouraged to ask questions and to come to find the teacher after class for further explanation. The students are sitting in the classroom in a circle, to allow the exchange during the class. It is clear that in this case, the teacher is not the master of knowledge delivered to the student, but the students are encouraged to take control over their learning and there is a form of trust and closeness between the student and the teacher, to allow an o ptimal construction of the knowledge. To conclude this point, we read the mission statement of our school: Our mission is to provide an inclusive, international education in a happy, supportive and stimulating environment, where all the needs of the individual learner are met and students are inspired to achieve their full potential enabling them to become responsible global citizens. We note that the school wants to be inclusive which shows we put a high value on the acceptance of others. The mission statement also says we want our students to be happy to learn and, when learning, they receive all the necessary support from the staff. This is a value our school wants to transmit to the students. We can finally see that we place a great importance on the individual and their learning, and we hope our students to become Global Citizens. This shows that we give importance to the individuals but also to the overall population, which gives an international perspective to the values we try to instill. The Students St Andrews International School has a student population of more or less 680 children. There are about 40 percents of Thai students, 15 percents of Japanese, 10 percents of Indians and a large German and French community. One of the advantages of the international schools is the teachers students ratio, which is 1:25 by schools policy. It allows space for individual care. Anyway, by the Thai law, in an International School, there cannot be more than 30 students per class. The Thai students Regarding the huge percentage of Thai students, they are mostly from rich families, the countrys elite families or possessing businesses. These families have the choice of National Education (which is not highly regarded because there is a huge disparity in terms of quality) and International Education, which is very popular with families of these elites, as they want their children to have access to foreign universities in order to have more chances of success in this globalized world. These children will have an advantage over other local children. Their parents put them in these schools as an investment for the future. Langford says concerning these students, that they may feel isolated and different, living on the local economy rather than enjoying the many benefits shared by their expatriate classmates. (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) or they may dominate the community to the extent that the school has to adjust practices to suit their interests and the expatriates are made to feel outsiders. (2002:48) This is true in the sense the Thai students at St Andrews International School, live in Thailand and many of them have never lived abroad, unlike their friends who often have lived, in most cases, in more than two countries. On the other hand, the Thai students are so much in majority (40 percent) compared with other nationalities; that, indeed, this may be the expatriate students who feel like outsiders, especially those Thais students often come from very wealthy families. That said, after what I saw, it seems the Thais students and those from other nationalities mix well, talk and play together, through a family atmosphere which the Head of School, Mr Paul Schofield was able to install. It should also be noted that students from our school have been there at least 5-6 years and feel, with the time, part of a family. The Expatriate students The expatriate students are, in the vast majority, Globally Mobile Children that Eidse and Sichel define as having parents who are educators, international business people, foreign service attaches, missionaries and military personnel. The children shuttle back and forth between nations, languages, cultures and loyalties. They live unrooted childhoods. (2004:1) In our school, most students are from families as described above and I would add, in many cases, their parents work for NGOs or in embassies. These children are also often better adapted to the teaching style of international schools in general. They also learn languages more easily than Thais students due to the fact they have lived in several countries and had to learn local languages each time. The Special Needs students Another important facet of the population of students in our school is the Special Needs students. As our mission statement says, our school is an inclusive school inclusive where all the needs of the individual learner are met and students are inspired to achieve their full potential. We have a Special Needs student population of about 10 percents and we also have in place, a wonderful learning support program for these students, with qualified, dedicated teachers and coordinators for several different Key stages. The Special Needs students are divided into two categories, those with learning difficulties and those with physical problems or syndromes such as autism or Down syndrome. It should also be noted that each student has a Special Needs individual tutor who accompanies them in the mainstream classroom. Our philosophy is that every child has the right to education. At the same time, we must emphasize that to be accredited by a body such as the CIS (Council of International Schools), if accreditation is to be given, that provision is made for the initial identification of the learning needs of students and for the subsequent addressing those needs. Therefore, did the school really have a choice to implement such a program? It is clear that, from the beautiful philosophy of we accept everyone, even if they have learning needs and the reality, that, to be accredited, we must implement a program of Special Needs, there is a gap. The relationship between the two is not very healthy. We think there is a market issue because, nowhere else than St Andrews we can find a school with an inclusive policy. Looking at this, we realize that International Schools, in general, are businesses with the purpose of finding a market and making money. In the case of our school, for the special needs children, it is beneficial, but it is not always the case of other I nternational School focusing on making money and not caring the students well being. With regard to the Gifted Children, St Andrews International School has no program in place, which is, in my view, inconsistent with the mission statement saying that all the students must realize their full potential. How can a student with superior capabilities than others realize its full potential? We have only the differentiation as a tool to work with the brightest students. The transition for students, from one school to another Another area of concern for students in international schools is the transition from one school to another. Regarding our school, unfortunately there is no transitional program for students from other countries or other international schools. Only teachers of these students can help them to integrate successfully into their new environment with techniques inspired by the mission statement: our teachers are fully trained in teaching methods that promote an interactive approach to learning within a stimulating and structured environment where the highest premium is placed on self- discipline and motivation and our children are confident communicators where they realize their full potential in an atmosphere of calm cooperation, tolerance and understanding. The teachers At St Andrews International School, we have a population of teachers around 90 people. From these 90 teachers, 70 are from Great-Britain, six teachers are from New-Zealand and the remaining teachers from Japan, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Thailand etc. The reason there are so many British teachers is certainly related to the fact that St Andrews is a British school, following the British curriculum as well. These Britannic subjects are teaching the core subjects at the school, such as Math, Science, History and Geography while teachers of Japanese, French, and Swiss etc., teach their native languages. All the teachers though, British or from another nationalities must hold at least a Bachelors Degree, a teaching certificate with, usually, a minimum of a two years full-time teaching experience. British International School, British teachers? M. Hayden cites Richards (1998: 174) who highlights a good point about this subject in a passage from a promotional brochure of an international school. He wrote: Over 70 teachers share a broad international experience, coming from such countries as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States. Can we infer from the above, Richards asks, that no teachers are employed (or employable?) from so-called less developed regions of the world? Or merely that advertising such teachers would not be a positive selling point for the school? When Richards says no teachers from developing countries are hired, this is almost true in our school as well, as 80 percent of the teachers are from developed countries. Maybe if the school hired teachers in developing countries, it would not have a good image for the school because it is a British School. We think that one of the reasons is the parents from local families would not appreciate paying an expensive international school instead of a local school for teachers to be hired from less developed countries than theirs. At the same time, it is in contradiction with our philosophy of internationalism to show a good example of tolerance and openness. We teach our students to be people with a global vision of the world, tolerance and a world mindedness, and the school sets a poor example by discriminating against the hiring of teachers, choosing only teachers from so-called developed countries because it looks good. Others will say it is normal for a British school to hire a majority of British teachers and that is what parents expect. Both views can be justified but there should be a right balance between pragmatism and ideology. The expatriate overseas hired, the expatriates locally hired and the host national teachers Another point we want to address here is, at St Andrews, there is no segregation between the expatriate teachers hired overseas and expatriate teachers recruited locally. There is no difference in contract or salary, or extras such as return flights and health insurance, which does not create jealousy among teachers and we think it is a good thing. On the other hand, host country national teachers are paid two times less than teachers from other countries, which sometimes creates a feeling of injustice because they teach the same number of hours as teachers who are expatriates and they are paid less. Again, this is a pity to notice that we, as an International School should promote equality between citizens of the world and, in practice, we do not really do what we say. Some will say that if there was not an advantageous package for those expatriates, they would probably not leave their home country to come to teach abroad, when, for instance, host country national teachers do not ha ve to leave their families behind and the comfort of their own country. So, again, the two views can be justified. The penelopes I just wanted to add that, at St Andrews there are a lot of Penelopes (who have been at the school for more than seven years), as Hardman says they are those teachers who remain faithful to the country they have adopted. I think it is a good thing for the students as a gage of stability, where in some other International Schools in Thailand, teachers cannot stay more than seven years. The induction Speaking about teachers, we must also mention the phase of induction of new teachers when they arrive at an international school. M.Hayden said:  « Any teacher who moves from one school to another within the International Schools system could reasonably expect some form of induction in at least the early stages of a new appointment.  » (2006: 82) Regarding St Andrews International School, the induction is four days. The Head of School spends four whole days with new teachers, explaining all aspects of the school and the culture shock that awaits them from the Thai culture. This allows a smooth start in the new host country. However, the induction is not going further. Never again, ones organizes any meeting with new faculty to ensure that everything goes well. To conclude this point we cite here Hayden who says that The question of how best support new recruits in a new cultural environment is by no means an easy one to answer. (2006:83) The teachers appraisal Dimmock and Walker say Teacher appraisal is a contentious and divisive issue regardless of the context within which it operates (2005: 143). It is true there is no recipe to make a good appraisal, it is a difficult process to implement. At St Andrews, the appraisal system is fairly simple and does not put too much pressure on the shoulders of teachers. Once a year, the head of department comes to visit the classroom for two lessons. At the end of the observation the head gives his feedback to the teacher and they set two targets for the following observation, the year after. The head of school come to observe the teacher once per contract to give his consent for its renewal. The method is simple, do not stress too much the teacher, but at the same time, is it a good tool to evaluate the staff? Coming to observe a lesson and give two targets for next year means that everything else is not important; the teacher will focus only on one aspect of his teaching. The Turnover In our school, the latest statistics, which date back two years and cover a period of five years, show that teachers remain at St Andrews about five years. There are about four to five teachers, from a number of ninety, who leave each year. We think this is a good sign because if a teacher stays five years in a school, we think it shows he is happy to work there. Another factor may be that the teacher cannot find a job elsewhere or he is married to a Thai person and therefore has no choice but to stay at the school, but our experience and discussions with teachers at St Andrews have shown us that teachers are generally very satisfied with working at this place. To be more complete, we should conduct a survey on why teachers stay but it would be difficult to the lack of time. The Administrators At St Andrews, there is a British Head of School who administers the school of a budgetary standpoint and oversees other heads such as the Head of Keystage1, the Head of Keystage 2 and the Head of high school with his Deputy. These people belong to the so-called Senior Management. In the Middle Management, there are the heads of departments. Under the Thai law, the sole Head of School must be a Thai national. This is indeed the case at our school. There is a Thai Head whose role on paper is very different from its role in practice. On paper, she has to take academic and budgetary decisions but in reality she does only take care of the Thai teachers and the Thai curriculum. We find that it is not fair because the law states that a person in charge must be a Thai Head of School. Our school lies on paper to meet the Thai law and to meet the demand of parents who want to see a foreign Head of School. On top of that, the Thai Head is also paid as a local teacher, that is to say, four times less than the foreign Head. The Board Littleford writes Schools with healthy boards do not have crises, and we must agree with him regarding our school. In our school, the board is only composed of a family, Thai and very rich. They are the only ones to make big financial decisions for the school development. They always follow the recommendations of the Head of School and never intervene in the daily running of the school. There never was any crisis between the Board and the Head of School since the inception of the school and we welcome that fact. The Accreditation St Andrews is currently accredited by CIS (the Council of International Schools), the Thai Ministry of Education, and is in the process of being accredited by CFBT. The fact our school is accredited by the Ministry of the host country and by an internationally acclaimed body shows that we are in the standards of international education. We read on the website CFBT Accreditation with CfBT shows that your school demonstrates high standards of student achievement with an effective curriculum, good use of resources, a successful leadership team and strong partnerships with parents. CFBT therefore focuses on quality of student achievement, curriculum and relationships with parents. We may wonder whether the failure to look at the results of pupils is not just elitist. Should not International schools give students a chance to improve? Another aspect that CFBT looks at is the curriculum, which is normal, but they should also look at internationalism, the values, etc. The last point CFBT looks at is the relationship the school has with parents. In our school we have a very active group of parents who organize events of all kinds at school and are much supported by our Head of School. To return to accreditation with CFBT, we feel that our curriculum deputy encourages us to only look at the CFBT criteria to satisfy them. We can therefore ask whether the accreditation system is not a little hypocritical. Yet we do a great job, professionally, but we offer something completely prepared to CFBT, just to satisfy their criteria, which does not seem very ethical or honest. On the other hand, accreditation can be useful tool, to give us the time to reflect on our practices. The English as a Second Language and Mother-Tongue languages English as a Second Language Hayden says: Many International Schools offering an English-Medium education provide language support for non-native speakers of English () the extent and nature of support clearly vary. It is true that in our school, support comes down to putting these students in an ESL class a few times per week, while other students have classes in French or Japanese, and these ESL students follow the rest of the courses in mainstream class where they understand almost nothing. In my old school, Hanoi International School, we had ESL classes and on top of that, for mainstream courses, an ESL support teacher came into class to help students understand the instructions or what the teacher explained. We believe this latter approach is more effective because students receive constant support and feel less stressed towards the English language because there is always someone to help them understand what is said in class. After a while, of course, if the students made significant progress, they join the mainstream class, without any ESL support anymore. Mother-Tongues About the provision of other languages, Murphy is in favor of a greater provision of support for the childs first language in order to support cognitive development in that language, which would make the second language less difficult to acquire (Murphy, 2003: 36-7). That is exactly what our head of School think about the fact that a student cannot have a good cognitive development with a language he does not control at all if he does not master his own language. Children need intellectual development in their own language before they can grow intellectually in a different language. In our school, that is why we have an extensive program of mother-tongue language. It is obvious that such a program is not easy to implement, especially for smaller schools that have limited financial resources. Carder said: There are certainly scheduling and administrative problems in mother-tongue in finding teachers, and financial difficulties about whether to add it to the payroll or to the parents to pay extra. At St Andrews, it is certain that it is not easy to administer the program of mother tongue and foreign language as it creates a lot of clashes in the timetables. It is not easy either to find language teachers for French, Japanese and German in Thailand. From a financial standpoint, the school request parents wishing to enroll their children in the first language program, a supplement to the school fees of about 300 U.S. dollars. This program meets over the years, more and more success because kids love to speak their mother tongue at school, a few hours per week; and parents are reassured that their children can more easily reintegrate school in their home countries if they move back there. Écouter Lire phonà ©tiquement Dictionnaire Afficher le dictionnaire The Curriculum In the world, there are several international schools curricula. The most common are the British connoted IGCSE, and IB which claims to be more international. Before considering in more detail the two mentioned curricula, we will dwell a moment on some definitions of curriculum. Hayden cites Bulman and Jenkins in her book International Education, International Schools and their communities, which describes the curriculum, following three aspects: The academic curriculum or what is formally taught in schools, the pastoral curriculum which includes social skills, study skills, careers and counseling for the hidden curriculum that all these practices are not explicit in the official curriculum, such as teacher-student relationships, the rules in the classroom, the structures rewards etc. We will come back to these aspects later on this chapter. At St. Andrews, the academic curricula are the IGCSE and the IB. Our Head of School says that we teach the IGCSE in the middle school because it gives more importance to academic skills and therefore prepare well for the IB which has an approach to the whole child and preparing students for university and has a globalized world. To corroborate these claims, we will read what the IGCSE and IBO say on their websites: The IBO: On the IBO website, we can read: Our challenging Diploma Programme assessment is recognized by the worlds leading universities. The IB diploma is not recognized in all universities, but by the world leading Universities. Does that mean, as some people think that the IB is elitist? They also write: We encourage international-mindedness in IB students. To do this, we believe that students must first develop an understanding of their own cultural and national identity. All IB students learn a second language and the skills to live and work with others internationally-essential for life in the 21st century. At St Andrews, we encourage students to learn their culture and their first language. We have a large program such as First Language: Japanese, German, French and Thai, which allows these students to stay in touch with their languages and cultures within the international school. On the other hand, we do not provide first language courses for all nationalities, creating a division between the languages called important and others, which results in a risk of partitioning students between important and not important languages, which can cause frustrations. At the same time, all students, without exception, learn a second language. They can choose between Japanese, Chinese (very popular with Thai students), German, French and Thai. The range offered is wide enough for second language courses, allowing students to sample a different culture or language of their choice, enabling them, as stated by the IBO, to live, to communicate, to understand and to work with others, internationally. At St Andrews, we organize an international day, which allows students to see how their friends from other cultures dress (thanks to the international fashion show), what are the typical dishes of other countries (through the international buffet), which languages are spoken, and thus learn to know each other, which leads to some form of international friendship and tolerance. On that matter, we believe that our school reflects well the values of international IBO. On the IBO website we can also read: We encourage a positive attitude to learning by encouraging students to ask challenging questions, to reflect critically, to develop research skills, and to learn how to learn. We encourage community service because we believe that there is more to learning than academic studies alone. The curriculum is, as stated above, child-centered. The child is responsible for their learning, encouraged to ask questions, think critically, research, and to learn how to learn. All this forms the learner profile that the IBO tries to promote. This approach is progressivist, as described in the syllabus. The IBO also encourages community service through the program, CAS (Creativity, Action and Service), since the IBO says that academic studies are not enough and we have to consider educating the child as a whole, it is therefore, without a doubt, different from the IGCSE which just consider the academic side of the learning process. We personally believe that the CAS programme is beneficial for students because it allows them to be more open t

The Romance of Travel Essay -- Manfred Byron Essays Papers Traveling

The Romance of Travel Romance, as it confirms human agency with regards to understanding the world and organizing one's existence, is an enabling genre. Northrop Frye identifies "romance" in its questing, adventurous, persistently nostalgic, and "perennially child-like quality" as the "nearest of all literary forms to the wish-fulfillment dream" (186). Arguably, many of the texts that we have examined over the course of the term can be understood as (more or less) participating in the affirmative conventions of romance in the ways that they show men and woman turning travel into a journey. Take for instance Gilpin's essay "On Picturesque Beauty:" what a light hearted quest ("the searching after effects") it is that he assigns to the picturesque traveler. He would not bring this intention of travel into conflict with the other more "useful ends of travel," but he also offers it as a goal for those who "travel without any end at all." Gilpin even describes the amusements of picturesque travel as a sort of adventure: This great object [beauty of every kind] we pursue through the scenery of nature. We seek it among all the ingredients of landscape -- trees -- rocks -- broken-grounds -- woods -- rivers -- lakes -- plains -- vallies -- mountains -- and distances. The gaze of the traveler ranges "with supreme delight among the sweet vales of Switzerland," as well as through the "limits of art;" it "seeks" after nature's "various effects;" the "scene of grandeur bursts on the eye." Indeed, Gilpin's picturesque traveler is very active. Moreover, when the traveler finds him or herself among less visually appealing natural environments, then it is that the wish-fulfilling imagination can be "let [. . .] loose" to "plant h... ...eader, as he reads personal travel accounts that are informed by those same conventions, enjoys a rapport with the authors, texts, and characters within those texts that make him/her feel (at least they made me feel) as though they (and I) were going somewhere. Works Cited Auden, W. H. and Elizabeth Mayer. "Intoduction." Italian Journey by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. London: Penguin, 1970. Byron, George Gordon, Lord. "Byron's Swiss Tour" (1816). http://www.ualberta.ca/~dmiall/Travel/Byron_Oberland.htm Frye, Northrop. The Anatomy of Criticism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1973. Gilpin, William. "On Picturesque Beauty." http://www.ualberta.ca/~dmiall/Travel/gilpine2.htm Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Italian Journey. London: Penguin, 1970. Wordsworth, William. "Tintern Abbey." http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~dmiall/Tintern/Tintern_c.htm The Romance of Travel Essay -- Manfred Byron Essays Papers Traveling The Romance of Travel Romance, as it confirms human agency with regards to understanding the world and organizing one's existence, is an enabling genre. Northrop Frye identifies "romance" in its questing, adventurous, persistently nostalgic, and "perennially child-like quality" as the "nearest of all literary forms to the wish-fulfillment dream" (186). Arguably, many of the texts that we have examined over the course of the term can be understood as (more or less) participating in the affirmative conventions of romance in the ways that they show men and woman turning travel into a journey. Take for instance Gilpin's essay "On Picturesque Beauty:" what a light hearted quest ("the searching after effects") it is that he assigns to the picturesque traveler. He would not bring this intention of travel into conflict with the other more "useful ends of travel," but he also offers it as a goal for those who "travel without any end at all." Gilpin even describes the amusements of picturesque travel as a sort of adventure: This great object [beauty of every kind] we pursue through the scenery of nature. We seek it among all the ingredients of landscape -- trees -- rocks -- broken-grounds -- woods -- rivers -- lakes -- plains -- vallies -- mountains -- and distances. The gaze of the traveler ranges "with supreme delight among the sweet vales of Switzerland," as well as through the "limits of art;" it "seeks" after nature's "various effects;" the "scene of grandeur bursts on the eye." Indeed, Gilpin's picturesque traveler is very active. Moreover, when the traveler finds him or herself among less visually appealing natural environments, then it is that the wish-fulfilling imagination can be "let [. . .] loose" to "plant h... ...eader, as he reads personal travel accounts that are informed by those same conventions, enjoys a rapport with the authors, texts, and characters within those texts that make him/her feel (at least they made me feel) as though they (and I) were going somewhere. Works Cited Auden, W. H. and Elizabeth Mayer. "Intoduction." Italian Journey by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. London: Penguin, 1970. Byron, George Gordon, Lord. "Byron's Swiss Tour" (1816). http://www.ualberta.ca/~dmiall/Travel/Byron_Oberland.htm Frye, Northrop. The Anatomy of Criticism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1973. Gilpin, William. "On Picturesque Beauty." http://www.ualberta.ca/~dmiall/Travel/gilpine2.htm Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Italian Journey. London: Penguin, 1970. Wordsworth, William. "Tintern Abbey." http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~dmiall/Tintern/Tintern_c.htm

An Evaluation of the Work of Jan Svankmajer :: essays research papers

An Evaluation of the Work of Jan Svankmajer Jan Svankmajer is an animator like no other that I know of. Surrealist in style, his artistic work encompasses a broad range of mediums- film, sculpture, painting, graphic design, prose and poetry. His filmic work often involves a combination of animation, puppetry and live action- a challenging style for any filmmaker to use effectively. Svankmajer films are by trademark dark and macabre tales, told not for the sake of aesthetic or technique, but always to serve a very personal purpose, which I will talk about shortly. In this essay, I will deal mainly with the work that Svankmajer created as an animator. To put it in context, however, I will first give a rough overview of his background and the work for which he is best known. Svankmajer was born in Czechoslovakia in 1934. His parents were both artistically inclined; his father was a window dresser while his mother was a dressmaker. After studying puppet theatre for four years in Prague, Svankmajer began his career as a director, designer and puppeteer at the State Puppet Theatre in Liberec. During the Early 1960s he collaborated with several different theatre companies in Prague to stage a variety of plays. In 1964 his interests turned to filmmaking. In this medium he felt that more would be possible technically, and that his work would reach a wider audience. After creating various award-winning short films like The Last Trick, his work underwent a decisive transition from Mannerism to Surrealism in 1968. As a surrealist Svankmajer would create many highly acclaimed films involving animation and live action. Svankmajer’s work became surrounded by political controversy with the making of the film Antonio’s Diary (1972). The film was not intended to have political meaning, but the Czech authorities banned him from making films for seven years simply because it contained unauthorised footage depicting everyday Czech life. Dimensions of Dialogue (1982) became his best-known short, and won several international awards. Like Antonio’s Diary, however, it was banned in Czechoslovakia, and was also shown to the ideology commission of the Central Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party as an example of the kind of film that should not be made. Alice (1985-87), based on the book by Lewis Carol, was Svankmajer’s first feature film, and his first to reach an American audience. Since then he has made two more feature-length films: Faust (1993) and Conspirators of Pleasure (1996).

Nutrition and You :: Health Nutrition Pyramid Diet

Nutrition is the relationship of foods to the health of the human body . Proper nutrition means that you are receiving enough foods and supplements for the body to function at optimal capacity. It is important to remember that no single nutrient or activity can maintain optimal health and well being, although it has been proven that some nutrients are more important than others. Nutrition plays a critical role in athletic performance, but many active people do not eat a diet that helps them do their best. Without a basic understanding of nutrition, popping a pill seems easier than planning a menu. In reality, there is no pill, potion, or powder that can enhance your performance like the right foods and fluids. All of the nutrients are necessary in different amounts along with exercise to maintain proper health. There are six main types of nutrients used to maintain body health. They are: carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water . They all must be in balance for the body to function properly. There are also five major food groups. The groups are: fats and oils, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, grains, and meats. Exercise is also an important part of nutrition. Exercise helps tone and maintain muscle tissue and ensure that the body?s organs stay in good condition. Healthy eating without exercise will not result in good nutrition and a healthy body - neither will exercise without nutrition. The most important thing about exercise is that it be practiced regularly and that it be practiced in accompaniment with a healthy diet. It is also desirable to practice more that one sport as different sports exercise different areas of the body. Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are the sources of energy for the body. To have enough energy you need to consume enough energy. Getting adequate calories is one of the keys to an ergogenic, or performance-enhancing, diet. With too few calories you will feel tired and weak, and you will be more prone to injuries. The contained energy is expressed in calories. There are 9 calories per gram in fat and there are about 4 calories Nutrition and You :: Health Nutrition Pyramid Diet Nutrition is the relationship of foods to the health of the human body . Proper nutrition means that you are receiving enough foods and supplements for the body to function at optimal capacity. It is important to remember that no single nutrient or activity can maintain optimal health and well being, although it has been proven that some nutrients are more important than others. Nutrition plays a critical role in athletic performance, but many active people do not eat a diet that helps them do their best. Without a basic understanding of nutrition, popping a pill seems easier than planning a menu. In reality, there is no pill, potion, or powder that can enhance your performance like the right foods and fluids. All of the nutrients are necessary in different amounts along with exercise to maintain proper health. There are six main types of nutrients used to maintain body health. They are: carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water . They all must be in balance for the body to function properly. There are also five major food groups. The groups are: fats and oils, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, grains, and meats. Exercise is also an important part of nutrition. Exercise helps tone and maintain muscle tissue and ensure that the body?s organs stay in good condition. Healthy eating without exercise will not result in good nutrition and a healthy body - neither will exercise without nutrition. The most important thing about exercise is that it be practiced regularly and that it be practiced in accompaniment with a healthy diet. It is also desirable to practice more that one sport as different sports exercise different areas of the body. Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are the sources of energy for the body. To have enough energy you need to consume enough energy. Getting adequate calories is one of the keys to an ergogenic, or performance-enhancing, diet. With too few calories you will feel tired and weak, and you will be more prone to injuries. The contained energy is expressed in calories. There are 9 calories per gram in fat and there are about 4 calories

Breach of Contract in the Business World

| Breach of Contract in the Business World| | | | | | | Table of Contents Executive Summaryiii I. Introduction1 II. Breach of Contract1 III. Immaterial Breach of Contract1 IV. Material Breach of Contract2 V. Remedies3 VI. Remedies at Law3 VII. Remedies in Equity5 VIII. Summary6 IX. Bibliography8 Executive Summary This paper discusses the legal concept of a breach of contract and the options a business has in pursuing a breach of contract case.It defines what constitutes a breach of contract, how a party may breach a contract, and it compares the legal distinction between an immaterial and material breach of contract. This paper concludes with a description of what remedies are available to the non-breaching party when a contract has been breached. It describes the types of remedies at law (monetary damages) and remedies in equity that may be awarded in a breach of contract case. Introduction Contracts form the very foundation of every legal business endeavor.They can dictate how a bu siness is formed, the terms and conditions of employment, or a sales agreement between a business and its customer. In a perfect world, both parties would benefit from a contract and no disputes would arise. In the real business world, delays occur, financial problems happen, and unexpected events may prevent a contract from being fulfilled. It is imperative that a business understands what constitutes a breach of contract, how a party may breach a contract, and what legal remedies are available to recover any damages that may be incurred.Breach of Contract A breach of contract occurs when one party fails to perform any term of a contract, written or oral, without a legitimate legal excuse (Hill, Breach of Contract). A businesses’ course of legal action against a breach of contract will depend on what type of breach has occurred, whether the breach is material (substantial) or immaterial (minor), and what damages have been incurred. Immaterial Breach of Contract An immaterial breach of contract does not substantially impair the value of an entire contract.An immaterial breach allows the non-breaching party to sue for the actual damages it sustains, but it does not excuse the injured party from its contractual obligations (Gifis, 2010). In the contract case of Jacob & Youngs v. Kent, the court dealt with the matter of an immaterial breach of contract (Jacob & Young v. Kent, 1921). In the case, the plaintiff sued the defendant for not paying for the installation of pipes in his home.The defendant refused to pay because the defendant learned that some of the pipes installed in his home were of the brand name Cohoes, instead of Reading. The defendant argued that the plaintiff should replace all of the piping with the brand agreed upon in the contract before having to pay the plaintiff. The plaintiff refused and asked that the final payment be made. The court found that the breach of contract by the plaintiff was immaterial because the pipes that were instal led were the same type and quality to which the parties had originally agreed.The only difference between the two pipes was the brand name. The defendant was ordered to remit the final payment to the plaintiff and received no damages because the actual difference of value between the two brands of piping was zero. Material Breach of Contract A material breach of contract discharges the non-breaching party from further performance under the contract and entitles the injured party to sue for damages or for performance of the contract (Jentz & Miller, 2007, p. 218).The Restatement (Second) of Contracts lists the following criteria to determine whether a specific failure constitutes a material breach: In determining whether a failure to render or to offer performance is material, the following circumstances are significant: (a) the extent to which the injured party will be deprived of the benefit which he reasonably expected; (b) the extent to which the injured party can be adequately c ompensated for the part of that benefit of which he will be deprived; (c) the extent to which the party failing to perform or to offer to perform will suffer forfeiture; (d) the likelihood that the party failing to perform or to offer to perform will cure his failure, taking account of all the circumstances including any reasonable assurances; (e) the extent to which the behavior of the party failing to perform or to offer to perform comports with standards of good faith and dealing. (Restatement (Second) of Contracts, 1981) In the previously mentioned law case of Jacob & Youngs v. Kent, if the piping installed had been an inferior quality or material, the breach of contract would have been a material breach. In this case, the court would have agreed with the defendant and ordered the plaintiff to replace all of the piping with the correct brand and quality of piping. RemediesA remedy is the relief given to an innocent party to enforce a right to compensate for the violation of a ri ght (Jentz & Miller, 2007, p. 7). In law there are two types of remedies: remedies at law and remedies in equity. Remedies at law are typically classified as monetary damages while remedies in equity usually include rescission and restitution, specific performance, and contract reformation. A breach of contract case normally entitles the non-breaching party to sue for monetary damages (a remedy at law). In some cases, however, when the remedy at law is inadequate, a court will allow the non-breaching party to sue for an equitable remedy. Remedies at Law In most breach of contract cases, the non-breaching party is entitled to sue or monetary damages, also known a remedy at law. Monetary damages are designed to compensate the non-breaching party for the loss of the bargain and to try and put the innocent party in the position they would have occupied had the terms of the contract been fulfilled (Jentz & Miller, 2007, p. 226). Compensatory Compensatory damages are an amount of money aw arded by the court to compensate the non-breaching party for a particular detriment or injury sustained as a direct result from the loss of a bargain due to a breach of contract. The amount awarded is intended to replace the amount the non-breaching party lost and nothing more (Gale, 2010). ConsequentialConsequential damages or â€Å"special damages† are damages that arise only from the consequences of a breach of contract. Consequential damages may be awarded in a breach of contract case when it includes the loss of profit or revenue as a result of a breach of contract. The damages may only be collected if it is determined that the damages were reasonably foreseeable when the contract was made (Hill A. , 1974). Punitive Punitive damages are awarded to compensate the injured party, to punish the breaching party, and to deter others from committing the same act. Punitive damages are monetary damages awarded above and beyond what is necessary to compensate a party for their los ses.Punitive damages are normally not awarded in a breach of contract case unless a tort is involved but some suggest the stance on this may be changing (Sullivan, 1976-1977). Nominal Nominal damages are a small amount of money (such as one dollar) awarded to the non-breaching party in a lawsuit to show that the loss or harm suffered was technical rather than actual. It is also used to establish that the defendant acted wrongfully (Hill G. a. , Nominal Damages, 2010). Remedies in Equity In some breach of contract cases businesses are not interested in monetary compensation. In these cases, money is an insufficient substitute to the original terms of the contract and the non-breaching party may wish to sue for an equitable remedy instead. Rescission and RestitutionThe rescission of a contract essentially terminates the contract and returns the non-breaching parties to their former positions before the contract was made. Rescission is available when fraud, mistake, duress, or failure of consideration is present in a contract. The rescinding party is also entitled to restitution (Williston, 1922, p. 1455). Restitution requires both parties to return any goods or money that was given to the other party. Restitution is used to prevent the unjust enrichment of another party (Williston, 1922, p. 1456). Specific Performance Specific performance is an equitable court-ordered remedy that calls for the precise performance of the act promised in the contract (Wild, 2006).This remedy is often ordered by the court in the sale of a rare article or unique piece of land because awarding monetary damages would be insufficient to cover the perceived loss by the non-breaching party. Reformation Contract reformation is an equitable remedy available to parties of a written contract when the contract does not truly express the intention of both parties. â€Å"The mistake may be the mutual error of both parties to the contract, or the oversight of one party which the other knew or s uspected at the time of entering the agreement. † (American Home Ins. Co. v Travelers Indemnity Co, 1981) Contract reformation is also used when fraud is present and it allows the contract to be rewritten to reflect the parties’ true intentions. SummaryA breach of contract occurs when one party fails to perform any of the contract terms. The breach may be immaterial or material depending on whether or not the value of the contract has been substantially impaired. Remedies are the compensation awarded to the non-breaching party in a breach of contract case. There are two types of remedies for a breach of contract: remedies at law and remedies in equity. Remedies at law are pecuniary damages awarded to the non-breaching party to compensate them for the loss of the bargain while remedies in equity may include rescission and restitution, contract reformation, and specific performance. Bibliography American Home Ins. Co. v Travelers Indemnity Co, 122 (Cal.App 3d 951,961 1981 ). Gale, T. (2010). West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Retrieved April 21, 2010, from Answers. com:http://www. answers. com/library/Law%20Encyclopedia-cid-6927283 Gifis, S. H. (2010). Law Dictionary. Retrieved April 21, 2010, from Answers. com: http://www. answers. com/topic/breach-of-contract Hill, A. (1974). Breach of Contract as a Tort. Columbia Law Review (74), 40. Hill, G. a. (n. d. ). Breach of Contract. Retrieved January 6, 2010, from Law. com Dictionary: http://dictionary. law. com/Default. aspx? selected=93 Hill, G. a. (2010). Nominal Damages. Retrieved April 21, 2010, from The Free Dictionary by Farlax: http://legal-dictionary. hefreedictionary. com/Nominal+Damages Jacob ; Young v Kent, 230 (N. Y. 1921). Jentz, G. , ; Miller, R. (2007). Fundamentals of Business Law: Summarized Cases (Seventh ed. ). Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning. Restatement (Second) of Contracts  § 241. (1981) Sullivan, T. J. (1976-1977). Punitive Damages in the Law of Contract: The Reality and the Illusion of Legal Change. Minn. L. Rev (61), 207. Wild, S. (Ed. ). (2006). Webster's New World Law Dictionary. Retrieved April 21, 2010, from Yourdictionary. com: http://www. yourdictionary. com/law/specific-performance Williston, S. (1922). The Law of Contract. New York: New York Baker, Voorhis & Co.

The Host Chapter 34: Buried

Jared lunged forward, away from me. With a loud smacking sound, his fist hit Kyle's face. Kyle's eyes rolled back in his head, and his mouth fell slack. The room was very quiet for a few seconds. â€Å"Um,† Doc said in a mild voice, â€Å"medically speaking, I'm not sure that was the most helpful thing for his condition.† â€Å"But I feel better,† Jared answered, sullen. Doc smiled the tiniest smile. â€Å"Well, maybe a few more minutes of unconsciousness won't kill him.† Doc began looking under Kyle's lids again, taking his pulse†¦ â€Å"What happened?† Wes was by my head, speaking in a murmur. â€Å"Kyle tried to kill it,† Jared answered before I could. â€Å"Are we really surprised?† â€Å"Did not,† I muttered. Wes looked at Jared. â€Å"Altruism seems to come more naturally to it than lies,† Jared noted. â€Å"Are you trying to be annoying?† I demanded. My patience was not waning, but entirely gone. How long had it been since I'd slept? The only thing that ached worse than my leg was my head. Every breath hurt my side. I realized, with some surprise, that I was in a truly bad mood. â€Å"Because if you are, then be assured, you have succeeded.† Jared and Wes looked at me with shocked eyes. I was sure that if I could see the others, their expressions would match. Maybe not Jeb's. He was the master of the poker face. â€Å"I am female,† I complained. â€Å"That it' business is really getting on my nerves.† Jared blinked in surprise. Then his face settled back into harder lines. â€Å"Because of the body you wear?† Wes glared at him. â€Å"Because of me,† I hissed. â€Å"By whose definition?† â€Å"How about by yours? In my species, I am the one that bears young. Is that not female enough for you?† That stopped him short. I felt almost smug. As you should, Melanie approved. He's wrong, and he's being a pig about it. Thank you. We girls have to stick together. â€Å"That's a story you've never told us,† Wes murmured, while Jared struggled for a rebuttal. â€Å"How does that work?† Wes's olive-toned face darkened, as if he'd just realized he had spoken the words out loud. â€Å"I mean, I guess you don't have to answer that, if I'm being rude.† I laughed. My mood was swinging around wildly, out of control. Slaphappy, like Mel had said. â€Å"No, you're not asking anything†¦ inappropriate. We don't have such a complicated†¦ elaborate setup as your species.† I laughed again, and then felt warmth in my face. I remembered only too clearly how elaborate it could be. Get your mind out of the gutter. It's your mind, I reminded her. â€Å"Then†¦?† Wes asked. I sighed. â€Å"There are only a few of us who are†¦ Mothers. Not Mothers. That's what they call us, but it's just the potential to be one†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I was sober again, thinking of it. There were no Mothers, no surviving Mothers, only the memories of them. â€Å"You have that potential?† Jared asked stiffly. I knew the others were listening. Even Doc had paused in the act of putting his ear to Kyle's chest. I didn't answer his question. â€Å"We're†¦ a little like your hives of bees, or your ants. Many, many sexless members of the family, and then the queen†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Queen?† Wes repeated, looking at me with a strange expression. â€Å"Not like that. But there is only one Mother for every five, ten thousand of my kind. Sometimes less. There's no hard-and-fast rule.† â€Å"How many drones?† Wes wondered. â€Å"Oh, no-there aren't drones. No, I told you, it's simpler than that.† They waited for me to explain. I swallowed. I shouldn't have brought this up. I didn't want to talk about it anymore. Was it really such a big thing to have Jared call me â€Å"it†? They still waited. I frowned, but then I spoke. I'd started this. â€Å"The Mothers†¦ divide. Every†¦ cell, I guess you could call it, though our structure isn't the same as yours, becomes a new soul. Each new soul has a little of the Mother's memory, a piece of her that remains.† â€Å"How many cells?† Doc asked, curious. â€Å"How many young?† I shrugged. â€Å"A million or so.† The eyes that I could see widened, looked a little wilder. I tried not to feel hurt when Wes cringed away from me. Doc whistled under his breath. He was the only one who was still interested in continuing. Aaron and Andy had wary, disturbed expressions on their faces. They'd never heard me teach before. Never heard me speak so much. â€Å"When does that happen? Is there a catalyst?† Doc asked. â€Å"It's a choice. A voluntary choice,† I told him. â€Å"It's the only way we ever willingly choose to die. A trade, for a new generation.† â€Å"You could choose now, to divide all your cells, just like that?† â€Å"Not quite just like that, but yes.† â€Å"Is it complicated?† â€Å"The decision is. The process is†¦ painful.† â€Å"Painful?† Why should that have surprised him so? Wasn't it the same for his kind? Men. Mel snorted. â€Å"Excruciating,† I told him. â€Å"We all remember how it was for our Mothers.† Doc was stroking his chin, entranced. â€Å"I wonder what the evolutionary track would be†¦ to produce a hive society with suiciding queens†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He was lost on another plane of thought. â€Å"Altruism,† Wes murmured. â€Å"Hmm,† Doc said. â€Å"Yes, that.† I closed my eyes, wishing my mouth had stayed closed. I felt dizzy. Was I just tired or was it my head wound? â€Å"Oh,† Doc muttered. â€Å"You've slept even less than I have, haven't you, Wanda? We should let you get some rest.† â€Å"‘M fine,† I mumbled, but I didn't open my eyes. â€Å"That's just great,† someone said under his breath. â€Å"We've got a bloody queen mother alien living with us. She could blow into a million new buggers at any moment.† â€Å"Shh.† â€Å"They couldn't hurt you,† I told whoever it was, not opening my eyes. â€Å"Without host bodies, they would die quickly.† I winced, imagining the unimaginable grief. A million tiny, helpless souls, tiny silver babies, withering†¦ No one answered me, but I could feel their relief in the air. I was so tired. I didn't care that Kyle was three feet from me. I didn't care that two of the men in the room would side with Kyle if he came around. I didn't care about anything but sleep. Of course, that was when Walter woke up. â€Å"Uuuh,† he groaned, just a whisper. â€Å"Gladdie?† With a groan of my own, I rolled toward him. The pain in my leg made me wince, but I couldn't twist my torso. I reached out to him, found his hand. â€Å"Here,† I whispered. â€Å"Ahh,† Walter sighed in relief. Doc hushed the men who began to protest. â€Å"Wanda's given up sleep and peace to help him through the pain. Her hands are bruised from holding his. What have you done for him?† Walter groaned again. The sound began low and guttural but turned quickly to a high-pitched whimper. Doc winced. â€Å"Aaron, Andy, Wes†¦ would you, ah, go get Sharon for me, please?† â€Å"All of us?† â€Å"Get out,† Jeb translated. The only answer was a shuffling of feet as they left. â€Å"Wanda,† Doc whispered, close beside my ear. â€Å"He's in pain. I can't let him come all the way around.† I tried to breathe evenly. â€Å"It's better if he doesn't know me. It's better if he thinks Gladdie is here.† I pulled my eyes open. Jeb was beside Walter, whose face still looked as if he slept. â€Å"Bye, Walt,† Jeb said. â€Å"See you on the other side.† He stepped back. â€Å"You're a good man. You'll be missed,† Jared murmured. Doc was fumbling in the package of morphine again. The paper crackled. â€Å"Gladdie?† Walt sobbed. â€Å"It hurts.† â€Å"Shhh. It won't hurt much longer. Doc will make it stop.† â€Å"Gladdie?† â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"I love you, Gladdie. I've loved you my whole life long.† â€Å"I know, Walter. I-I love you, too. You know how I love you.† Walter sighed. I closed my eyes when Doc leaned over Walter with the syringe. â€Å"Sleep well, friend,† Doc murmured. Walter's fingers relaxed, loosened. I held on to them-I was the one clinging now. The minutes passed, and all was quiet except my breathing. It was hitching and breaking, tending toward quiet sobs. Someone patted my shoulder. â€Å"He's gone, Wanda,† Doc said, his voice thick. â€Å"He's out of pain.† He pulled my hand free and rolled me carefully out of my awkward position into one that was less agonizing. But only slightly so. Now that I knew Walter wouldn't be disturbed, the sobs were not so quiet. I clutched at my side, where it throbbed. â€Å"Oh, go ahead. You won't be happy otherwise,† Jared muttered in a grudging tone. I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't do it. Something stung my arm. I didn't remember having hurt my arm. And in such a strange place, just inside my elbow†¦ Morphine, Melanie whispered. We were already drifting now. I tried to be alarmed, but I couldn't be. I was too far gone. No one said goodbye, I thought dully. I couldn't expect Jared†¦ but Jeb†¦ Doc†¦ Ian wasn't here†¦ No one's dying, she promised me. Just sleeping this time†¦ When I woke, the ceiling above me was dim, starlit. Nighttime. There were so many stars. I wondered where I was. There were no black obstructions, no pieces of ceiling in my view. Just stars and stars and stars†¦ Wind fanned my face. It smelled like†¦ dust and†¦ something I couldn't put my finger on. An absence. The musty smell was gone. No sulfur, and it was so dry. â€Å"Wanda?† someone whispered, touching my good cheek. My eyes found Ian's face, white in the starlight, leaning over me. His hand on my skin was cooler than the breeze, but the air was so dry it wasn't uncomfortable. Where was I? â€Å"Wanda? Are you awake? They won't wait any longer.† I whispered because he did. â€Å"What?† â€Å"They're starting already. I knew you would want to be here.† â€Å"She comin' around?† Jeb's voice asked. â€Å"What's starting?† I asked. â€Å"Walter's funeral.† I tried to sit up, but my body was all rubbery. Ian's hand moved to my forehead, holding me down. I twisted my head under his hand, trying to see†¦ I was outside. Outside. On my left, a rough, tumbled pile of boulders formed a miniature mountain, complete with scrubby brush. On my right, the desert plain stretched away from me, disappearing in the darkness. I looked down past my feet, and I could see the huddle of humans, ill at ease in the open air. I knew just how they felt. Exposed. I tried to get up again. I wanted to be closer, to see. Ian's hand restrained me. â€Å"Easy there,† he said. â€Å"Don't try to stand.† â€Å"Help me,† I pleaded. â€Å"Wanda?† I heard Jamie's voice, and then I saw him, his hair bobbing as he ran to where I was lying. My fingertips traced the edges of the mat beneath me. How did I get here, sleeping under the stars? â€Å"They didn't wait,† Jamie said to Ian. â€Å"It will be over soon.† â€Å"Help me up,† I said. Jamie reached for my hand, but Ian shook his head. â€Å"I got her.† Ian slid his arms under me, very careful to avoid the worst of the sore spots. He pulled me up off the ground, and my head spun like a ship about to capsize. I groaned. â€Å"What did Doc do to me?† â€Å"He gave you a little of the leftover morphine, so that he could check you out without hurting you. You needed sleep anyway.† I frowned, disapproving. â€Å"Won't someone else need the medicine more?† â€Å"Shh,† he said, and I could hear a low voice in the distance. I turned my head. I could see the group of humans again. They stood at the mouth of a low, dark, open space carved out by the wind under the unstable-looking pile of boulders. They stood in a ragged line, facing the shadowed grotto. I recognized Trudy's voice. â€Å"Walter always saw the bright side of things. He could see the bright side of a black hole. I'll miss that.† I saw a figure step forward, saw the gray-and-black braid swing as she moved, and watched Trudy toss a handful of something into the darkness. Sand scattered from her fingers, falling to the ground with a faint hiss. She went back to stand beside her husband. Geoffrey moved away from her, stepped forward toward the black space. â€Å"He'll find his Gladys now. He's happier where he is.† Geoffrey threw his handful of dirt. Ian carried me to the right side of the line of people, close enough to see into the murky grotto. There was a darker space on the ground in front of us, a big oblong around which the entire human population stood in a loose half circle. Everyone was there-everyone. Kyle stepped forward. I trembled, and Ian squeezed me gently. Kyle did not look in our direction. I saw his face in profile; his right eye was nearly swollen shut. â€Å"Walter died human,† Kyle said. â€Å"None of us can ask for more than that.† He threw a fistful of dirt into the dark shape on the ground. Kyle rejoined the group. Jared stood beside him. He took the short walk and stopped at the edge of Walter's grave. â€Å"Walter was good through and through. Not one of us is his equal.† He threw his sand. Jamie walked forward, and Jared patted his shoulder once as they passed each other. â€Å"Walter was brave,† Jamie said. â€Å"He wasn't afraid to die, he wasn't afraid to live, and†¦ he wasn't afraid to believe. He made his own decisions, and he made good ones.† Jamie threw his handful. He turned and walked back, his eyes locked on mine the whole way. â€Å"Your turn,† he whispered when he was at my side. Andy was already moving forward, a shovel in his hands. â€Å"Wait,† Jamie said in a low voice that carried in the silence. â€Å"Wanda and Ian haven't said anything.† There was an unhappy mutter around me. My brain felt like it was pitching and heaving inside my skull. â€Å"Let's have some respect,† Jeb said, louder than Jamie. It felt too loud to me. My first instinct was to wave Andy ahead and make Ian carry me away. This was human mourning, not mine. But I did mourn. And I did have something to say. â€Å"Ian, help me get some sand.† Ian crouched down so I could scoop up a handful of the loose rocks at our feet. He rested my weight on his knee to get his own share of dirt. Then he straightened and carried me to the edge of the grave. I couldn't see into the hole. It was dark under the overhang of rock, and the grave seemed to be very deep. Ian began speaking before I could. â€Å"Walter was the best and brightest of what is human,† he said, and scattered his sand into the hole. It fell for a long time before I heard it hiss against the bottom. Ian looked down at me. It was absolutely silent in the starlit night. Even the wind was calm. I whispered, but I knew my voice carried to everyone. â€Å"There was no hatred in your heart,† I whispered. â€Å"That you existed is proof that we were wrong. We had no right to take your world from you, Walter. I hope your fairytales are true. I hope you find your Gladdie.† I let the rocks trickle through my fingers and waited until I heard them fall with a soft patter onto Walter's body, obscured in the deep, dark grave. Andy started to work as soon as Ian took the first step back, shoveling from a mound of pale, dusty earth that was piled a few feet farther into the grotto. The shovel load hit with a thump rather than a whisper. The sound made me cringe. Aaron stepped past us with another shovel. Ian turned slowly and carried me away to make room for them. The heavy thuds of falling dirt echoed behind us. Low voices began to murmur. I heard footsteps as people milled and huddled to discuss the funeral. I really looked at Ian for the first time as he walked back to the dark mat where it lay on the open dirt-out of place, not belonging. Ian's face was streaked with pale dust, his expression weary. I'd seen his face like that before. I couldn't pinpoint the memory before Ian had laid me on the mat again, and I was distracted. What was I supposed to do out here in the open? Sleep? Doc was right behind us; he and Ian both knelt down in the dust beside me. â€Å"How are you feeling?† Doc asked, already prodding at my side. I wanted to sit up, but Ian pressed my shoulder down when I tried. â€Å"I'm fine. I think maybe I could walk†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No need to push it. Let's give that leg a few days, okay?† Doc pulled my left eyelid up, absentminded, and shone a tiny beam of light into it. My right eye saw the bright reflection that danced across his face. He squinted away from the light, recoiling a few inches. Ian's hand on my shoulder didn't flinch. That surprised me. â€Å"Hmm. That doesn't help a diagnosis, does it? How does your head feel?† Doc asked. â€Å"A little dizzy. I think it's the drugs you gave me, though, not the wound. I don't like them-I'd rather feel the pain, I think.† Doc grimaced. So did Ian. â€Å"What?† I demanded. â€Å"I'm going to have to put you under again, Wanda. I'm sorry.† â€Å"But†¦ why?† I whispered. â€Å"I'm really not that hurt. I don't want -â€Å" â€Å"We have to take you back inside,† Ian said, cutting me off, his voice low, as if he didn't want it to carry back to the others. I could hear the voices behind us, echoing quietly off the rocks. â€Å"We promised†¦ that you wouldn't be conscious.† â€Å"Blindfold me again.† Doc pulled the little syringe from his pocket. It was already depressed, only a quarter left. I shied away from it, toward Ian. His hand on my shoulder became a restraint. â€Å"You know the caves too well,† Doc murmured. â€Å"They don't want you having the chance to guess†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"But where would I go?† I whispered, my voice frantic. â€Å"If I knew the way out? Why would I leave now?† â€Å"If it eases their minds†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Ian said. Doc took my wrist, and I didn't fight him. I looked away as the needle bit into my skin, looked at Ian. His eyes were midnight in the dark. They tightened at the look of betrayal in mine. â€Å"Sorry,† he muttered. It was the last thing I heard.