Referring to your Wider Reading Essay Example for Free

Referring to your Wider Reading Essay By Comparing Extracts A, B and C and Referring to your Wider Reading, Examine how Typical in both Style and Treatment of Subject Matter these writings are of Literature from or about the First World War The experiences of men and women within the war differed drastically, due to the different roles played by each gender; women lacked knowledge of the trauma undergone by soldiers on the frontline, due to their lack of personal experience. However, there was not only contrast between men and women in their attitudes and view of the war: Depending on the nature of their involvement in the war, attitudes of women were many and varied, as were those of men. Written by Jessie Pope, a writer well-known for the propaganda portrayed by her poetry throughout the war, Whos for the Game? harbours an extremely motivational, patriotic tone. This is due to the fact that Pope was commissioned to write poems that would encourage young men to join up and fight for their country. As such, this poem illustrates Popes utilisation of certain literary techniques in order to rouse an arguably ill-founded passion inside young men to fight to defend their country. Popes use of rhetorical questions throughout this poem acts as a gripping device, and holds the attention of the reader; Whos for the game, the biggest thats played, The red, crashing game of a fight? Wholl give his country a hand? As well as demonstrating Popes use of rhetorical questions and the patriotism within her poetry, this quote also illustrates her technique of comparing the brutal war to a sports game, which is further supported by her statement; Wholl grip and tackle the job unafraid? in which sports terminology is utilised, in order to enable her target audience, the young men of the time, to relate to what is being said: Sports games were popular amongst boys of the early Twentieth Century, and by comparing the war to a such a game, Pope appeals to these boys. The above quote also demonstrates Popes technique of challenging the masculinity of the young men, as she implies that those who dont fight are cowards, again this is further developed by the statement; Who would much rather come back on a crutch Than lie low and be out of the fun? As she was ignorant of the brutality of the reality of war, Popes idealisation of, and her naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve, patriotic approach to the war enraged many of those who were actively involved in the fighting. World War One poet, Wilfred Owen, particularly despised Pope for her habit of romanticising the aspects of war that she was ignorant of. He was in fact so passionate about his dislike for her that he directly addresses her, in Dulce et Decorum Est, when he states, If you could hearthe blood Come gargling from the froth corrupted lungs My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. Expressing a similar attitude to that of Pope, Marian Allen glorifies the war in her poem, The Wind on the Downs, in which she speaks of her inability to accept the death of a loved one. In support of this subject matter, a disbelieving, longing tone is conveyed, with a sense of naivety also conveyed by Pope in Whos for the Game. This naivety is present due to the lack of personal experience that these two writers have had of the brutal reality of the First World War. As Pope remained on the home front in order to write poetry for the newspapers, Allen was typical of many more women at the time of the war; she remained at home whilst her lover went to fight in the war, and consequently she had view of war that was such due to the propaganda portrayed by the media and writers such as Pope. Allens use of soft and endearing language develops this idea of Allen as a naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve writer in terms of the War, as her failure to accept her lovers death is symbolic of her genuine ignorance to the nature of his death, and in fact life, whilst serving. The repetition of this denial towards her loss reinforces this point; You have not died, it is not true That you are round about me, I believe How should you leave me, having loved me so? It seemed impossible that you should die. That were introduced to the concept of his death through her line, Because they tell me, dear, that you are dead, carries with it an air of denial, due to her expression that she was told, and not that she actually believes it herself. The line would be much less effective had it said Because you are dead. Allens idealisation of her lover and his life in, and out of the war, may be due to the manner in which she received the news of his death, and how little of the truth she was told. This is a subject directly addressed by Siegfried Sassoon in The Hero, as he speaks of the gallant lies an officer had delivered to the mother of a soldier who had actually died a horrific death. It is portrayed by Allen that her and her lover thought of many things and spoke of few when he returned home on leave, thereby conveying that he found it difficult to speak of the truth to her. This seeming feeling of not being able to confide in anyone one the home front was common amongst soldiers in the First World War. R.C Sherriff demonstrates it in his play Journeys End through Stanhopes reluctance to take leave, and Susan Hill illustrates it through Hilliards emotional isolation from his family in Strange Meeting, as he cannot even speak to his sister of the nightmares he encounters whilst at home on leave. Had Allen known the honest nature of her lovers death, and life at war, she may have expressed a different view through this poem. Vera Brittain did gain an insight into the reality of what life must have been like for the men at war, through receiving her dead fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s uniform via post. The refined view she adopted of the war was aided by the condition of the uniform; damp and worn and simply caked with mud, exhibiting the hole made by the bullet that killed him. These quotes are taken from Extract C, an extract from Letters from a Lost Generation. In this particular letter, Brittain is writing to her brother about the terrible ordeal of examining the uniform, an experience that proved to be somewhat revelatory for Brittain, as it was this following the loss of her fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ that spurred her to join up and become a V.A.D. Brittain composed this letter in 1916, which was a pivotal year within the war; a year in which many attitudes of those who previously supported the war were manipulated by its seeming newfound futility. Owen expresses in Futility, Was it for this the clay grew tall? which strongly conveys his view that the war became superfluous, and that the Earth did not develop to be destroyed in such a brutal, futile way. Siegfried Sassoon also made a famous declaration stating his opposition to the continuation of the War in 1917, as a result of events in 1916, such as the infamous Battle of the Somme. This declaration, and therefore Sassoons change of view towards the war is a component of Pat Barkers Regeneration. The form of a letter allows Brittain to utilise several literary techniques, such as varying sentence lengths and use of the five senses to create impact. Effective examples of blunt sentences used by Brittain are, It was terrible And No, they were not him. These two statements demonstrate how Brittain made use of short sentences in order to reflect the blunt, direct nature in which her realisation of the reality of war hit her. In contrast to these short sentences, Brittain displays many complex sentences in order to convey a vivid image of the scene of the uniform before her; The mud of France which covered them was not ordinary mud; it had not the usual clean, pure smell of earth, but it was as though it were saturated with dead bodies- dead that had been dead a long, long time. This sentence illustrates Brittains use of powerful adjectives, such as saturated, to strengthen her intended effect, and her application of the repletion of long, and dead, in order to emphasise certain factors of what she is conveying. Varying sentence lengths is not a facet of either Allens The Wind on the Downs or Popes Whos for the Game. This is due to these extracts taking the forms of poems, which makes it difficult for such a technique to be applied. However, Pope manages to exploit her chosen form of a poem in order to aid her purpose. She imposes a strong marching rhythm, which is supported by the typical ABAB rhyme scheme, thereby giving her poem a sense of soldiers marching to war, which can be perceived by the young men reading it. Similarly, Allen makes use of a regular rhyme scheme in order to give her poem fluidity and enhance the idealised depiction of death, which inevitably highlights Allens ignorance to the truth of conditions at war. Pope employs simple language and colloquialisms in her poem, due to its form and audience: As it appeared in a national newspaper, the audience was broad, and so the use of simple language meant the poem would appeal to everyone. The colloquialisms, such as lie low give his country a hand illustrate Popes ability to relate to her intended audience, as boys of the time would find this language common and therefore easy to relate to. The patriotism conveyed by Pope is also illustrated through the latter of the two colloquialisms above. This patriotic attitude was shared by Rupert Brooke, as is conveyed through his poem, The Soldier when he writes; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam Brooke died of dysentery before carrying out any active service in the war, and therefore, he too was ignorant of the true conditions of life in the trenches. Thus, his poetry often illustrated naivety and patriotism, similar to others, like Pope and Allen, who were ignorant of the brutal reality of war. Through comparing these three texts we can consequently deduce that although one would assume women to have adopted a romantic view towards the act of fighting for ones country due to their lack of active involvement in the war, there were actually a range of views produced amongst women as a result of the first world war, expressed through their various pieces of literature.

Comparison between hmv and itunes stores

Comparison between hmv and itunes stores Introduction: In the past 10 years the internet or e-technology has altered how the industries operate. More affected by the new technology is the music and video industry later the book industry with eBooks. Traditionally consumers have purchased music, video or a book from a store. If it is a music or a video it is bought on CD / DVD and but with the internet came new ways of getting digital content. Apple has launched ITunes for delivery of digital content directly to the consumer, with no physical presence. HMV is using a mixed strategy of maintain a physical store as well as having a website for selling the digital content but the delivery is through shipment of CD/ DVDs. They both operate under the same model B2C. But they have different ways of delivering the goods / services to customer. HMV HMV is the UK and Irelands leading specialist retailer of Music, DVD/Video, Computer Games and Related Products. The company operates around 200 stores in key shopping locations nationwide, equating to over 1million sq. ft. of trading space, as well as a successful online store at www.hmv.co.uk, operated by HMV Guernsey1. HMV sells content in physical from and operates in physical as well as virtual space. ITunes Store The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple Inc. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase; it was as of April 2008 the number-one music vendor in the United States. As of January 2009, the store has sold 6 billion songs, accounting for 70% of worldwide online digital music sales and making the service the largest legal music retailer. As of Sep 2009 the sales of ITunes are 8.5 billion songs, 1+ million HD movies and TV episodes, 2 billion apps with a combines revenue of $ 6.7 Billion 2 . ITunes sells digital content and has virtual presence only. SWOT Analysis: HMV Strengths: * Has both online and physical store presence. Customer can access any of the 2 ways to interact with HMV. * Can sell any item MUSIC/ DVD/ GAMES, no need for any arrangement with HMV. * Can deliver physical items like gaming consoles, posters/ cards etc. Weakness: * Cannot sell individual items in music albums or individual episodes in TV shows. * Not available all the time (except online, which requires shipping of product) Opportunity: The opportunity for stores lies in enhancing the customer experience at the stores. Threat: The physical stores are fast losing significance; the rivals like Zavvi, Woolworths have closed most of their physical stores. Becoming obsolete is the threat faced by the stores of HMV. Itunes: Strengths: * Suits the needs of the current generation. * Content is immediately available for consumption. * Available anytime and anywhere. * It is backed by one of the best companies in the tech world, Apple. Weakness: * Can sell only the products like music that it has been agreement with companies and is authorized to sell. * Cannot sell and deliver online physical items like posters/ cards etc. * Cannot sell items that are huge in size in terms of memory. Games DVDs are usually of a size of 4 Giga Bytes or more and are difficult to download online. * Not available in all the countries. Opportunity: The opportunities lie in expanding into other segments of digital content like eBooks. The Ibooks which is a past of iStore is planning to sell eBooks directly to the customer. Threat: The model of ITunes is easily replicable. The threat is from rivals like Amazon and HMV who want to sell digital music to sell directly to customers same way as ITunes does now. SLEPT Analysis Before creating any business strategy or while evaluating an existing strategy it is extremely important to scan the external environment. SLEPT analysis is an investigation of the Social, Legal, Economic, Political, and Technological influences on a business3. Social: The changing demography of the people will have an impact on the business. The social changes can be psychological, demographical etc. The psychological change that is witnessed is the need for making things happen fast. People do not want to wait for placing an order and waiting to receive it by post. Most of the music albums have one or two hot songs and todays consumers are not willing to pay for the entire album. They want to pay only for the songs they like. Legal: Since the advent of new technology the music industry has been losing its revenue. The illegal file sharing has eaten into the revenues of music companies. Music companies have been suing the file sharing sites like Napster and more recently the piratebay. Even the individuals are sued by the industry; Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has successfully sued a Minnesota woman for copy right infringement and illegal file sharing4. Legal battles resulted in buying of digital content by the consumers. The legal issues lead to the online stores like ITunes that sell music legally online. Legal structure is well in place to support the business of ITunes and HMV. Economical Economy and business cycles affect the business. We are in the middle of an economic recession. Customers will be counting every penny they spend. The most the costs associated with dealing a company the more the customers shy away from that company. HMV: The costs associated with purchasing content from HMV are far more compared to buying music from iTunes. Customer needs to visit a store, browse through a variety of catalogues before zeroing on the music / video to buy. This involves time and travel cost. ITunes: customer can access iTunes by sitting in their homes. Carry the music with them in an iPod. Buying a single song instead of buying an entire album is always cheaper. Political Political changes are related to the influence that government has upon the industry. The political changes usually do not affect much the entertainment industry. In rare cases the governments may feel that some music / video content may be decided to be inappropriate for their country or will hurt the sentiments of the people. They ban the particular content from distribution and delivery. Technological: If there is any singular factor that changed the dynamics of an music industry, it is technology. With the ubiquitous internet, people are able to share digital content freely, which includes music, videos etc. Technology also facilitated the illegal copying and distribution of music and video. Technology also deintermetized the content delivery. As the music is directly delivered to the consumers there is no need for the manufacturers or suppliers of CDs/ DVDs. Technology made it possible to carry the content with us in our IPods, Laptops, Phone etc. Digital content everywhere and on any device is the MANTRA of technology. Companies that fast adapt to this tsunami of technology changes survive while others perish. BCG MATRIX: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) MATRIX is developed by BRUCE HENDERSON of the BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP IN THE EARLY 1970s. According to this technique, businesses or products are classified as low or high performers depending upon their market growth rate and relative market share ITunes: Growth: The Itunes is the undisputed star in the BCG matrix . Between 2000 and 2009 the population using internet has become 1.7 billion from 360 million5. High internet users mean high growth potential for the itunes. Cashflows: Itunes revenues are steadily increasing every year. Strategy: The strategy to be adopted for stars is to hold or invest for growth. Apple is investing in ITunes store by adding app store, which sells games and applications for mobile and computers. With the launch of Ipad Apple is adding the fastest growing segment , eBooks to iTunes , calling it as iBook store as a part of Itunes. HMV: Growth: The growth of the HMV stores has been moderate and better. The increase in sales also partly due to the demise of its closest rivals like Zavvi , Woolworths6. Cashflows: The cash flows for the physical stores are steady but not exactly encouraging. The online stores sales are increasing, hmv.com grew by 16% and waterstones.com grew by a phenomenal 60%7. Strategy: The recommended strategy is to hold or add market share. The company is losing sales as well as sales in the physical stores domain but is growing in the online space. That is why HMV is launching its own delivery of music and other content through direct download from its own website. Shopping Experience: The shopping experience is diametrically different for both HMV and itunes HMV Customer has 2 ways of interacting with HMV. A physical store visit and through online at the website of HMV for purchasing content. its own web site, which operates a sales model of e business. Customer can walk into the HMV stores, touch and feel the products and buy them. This is required especially while buying products like cards and posters. They can seek assistance from the store assistants, whenever they need it. When a customer visits the website www.hmv.com he can buy CDs that are delivered to him by post. When a customer buys any product directly from the store he can use it immediately, but when ordered online using the stores, he needs to wait till he receives the product by post to start using the product. The payment methods are cash or card for physical store payments and only through cards for online payment. ITunes To be a part of ITunes customers need the following: 1. A computer 2. Access to Internet 3. Download iTunes software 4. Have credit / Debit card 5. Error free internet connection. Customers are connected virtually. Customers can search the item they are looking for in no time. Customers can buy the item and start using them immediately, no need to wait for any shipment to arrive. The payment method is only through cards and NO CASH payments. Pricing of goods: HMV: The pricing of goods is entirely dependent on the content (CD/ DVD) that customer is going to buy. Music is sold through albums and the price is fixed per album. The individual items in a Music album or individual episodes in a TV show are not available for purchase. ITunes: The items are sold as bundled products like albums or sold separately as individual items. For example a customer wanting to buy music has an option of buying the complete album or individual songs in the album. Return Procedures: HMV The return policy is dependent on the kind of product purchased. Unwanted, damaged and incorrect or faulty items can be returned to HMV and customer can get a refund or get a damaged item replaced. ITunes When shopping with the iTunes Store, all sales are final. The customer needs to decide what are the items he wishes to buy and add them to the shopping cart. As soon as he clicks the BUY button, the purchases are charged to his account. The money is taken from his debit or credit card account. Once the order is placed there is no way a customer can cancel the order or get a refund. It is the responsibility of the customer to check for compatibility of the items purchased. Type of technology for website: HMV: The technology used by the HMV is * A browser interface for content viewing, no need to for any software (like iTunes). Anyone can view the content with the help of popular browsers like IE, Firefox or Chrome. * Order acceptance via website. No user account needed for buying items from HMV.com * Handles acknowledgement of payment and shipment delivery details for the order ITunes: The technology used by ITunes is Apple proprietary. Items are not sold through a web browser interface like other ecommerce sites. Anyone wanting to access ITunes need to download the software from APPLE and all the actions are through the software. The ITunes comprises of: * An interface for viewing the music/ video catalogs * An order processing system via iTunes account and credit card/ debit card * A delivery system via download from iTunes. ITunes restricts the sale of digital content to those people who are not having iTunes software. HMV and ITunes and E-Business Ladder Technology has changed the way the business happens. E-business is any process that a business organization conducts over computer-mediated network channels. Business organizations include any for-profit, governmental, or non-profit entity. Examples of these processes are on-line purchasing, on-line sales, on-line logistics, customer support, employee training and recruiting, and vendor-managed inventory, production design and control 8. The e business ladder is the ladder that shows where the organization stands with respect to what is possible to achieve in terms of available technology. The ladder shows how effectively the organization is using the advantage of technology and has integrated with business strategy. We will see where HMV and ITunes stand with respect to e -business ladder model of Cisco e-Adoption Ladder (DTI, 2000) HMV needs to move up the ladder to compete with Itunes. HMV is making moves towards this. HMV is adding another business dimension to its website www.hmv.com. The new delivery channel is by means of downloads directly from the website of HMV. This is currently under construction and will be available soon9. Which means HMV is moving up the ladder from just taking orders online and processing them offline to accepting orders and delivering through internet. ITunes is at the top of the ladder. It has tie ups with all leading content providers (music production companies, TV studios, movie producers etc). The customers just need to visit iTunes store to buy any content. This is a seamless integration of suppliers and buyers by iTunes acting as a intermediary facilitating B2C transactions. Emerging Technologies in e-business The emerging technologies that can be used for e-business are * Cloud computing * Mobile computing. ITunes has already made inroads into mobile computing by offering iTunes in its iphone. But iTunes is available only for iPhones. HMV can use the other platforms for mobile computing like Android from Google, Windows Mobile from Microsoft for building applications to sell content on mobiles. Cloud computing is the area that both iTunes and HMV needs to explore. The current business model is delivering the content to the customer by means of download or physical delivery of CD/DVD. Apple restricts the number of machines that can play the content that is downloaded from iTunes. We cannot play the content on more than 5 machines and those machines need to be authorized using the users iTunes account. With cloud computing the content is not necessarily delivered but it can be accessed from anywhere when connected to internet. A customer who buys a music album or songs need not download it to his computer but can access from anywhere and from any computer or any device, say , mobile. Cloud computing is possible only when the connectivity is always established with internet, which is not impossible in near future. How can HMV and ITunes increase market share HMV 1. Showing growth in the existing websites which is possible by new offerings like making downloads available 2. Introducing new product range like selling e readers and new gaming hardware like DSI 3. Introducing loyalty cards. 4. Strong tie up and product sharing with group company Waterstones for selling books and eBooks. 5. Live ticketing , HMV wants to sell tickets for events of the artists along with albums. 6. Starting Pay to Play gaming centers as the new gaming fever catches up across all age groups for games like Call of Duty. ITunes 1. Make it accessible to more people, via browser interface. 2. Make eBooks available 3. Remove the restrictions on the usage of the content bought from iTunes. Conclusion There are valuable lessons to be learnt from the strategy and models adopted by HMV and ITunes. Companies need to be aware of the forces that affect their business including competitors, customers, technology, suppliers, and at times most importantly new entrants into the market. The ITunes has once again proved that, the how ever dominant is the firm in the market it is never safe. Companies must be aware of the technological circumstances that surround the business in order to be on the cutting edge of new developments in the market. New entrants must also be aware of the technology that can give them the advantage over firms that are already dominating the market. Disintermediation is one important way that firms can use technology to streamline production and increase profits. And most importantly, a firm must never become complacent; they must always be on the lookout for new markets in which to expand. References http://hmv.com/hmvweb/navigate.do?pPageID=1083 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes_Store http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theoryslept-analysis235.php http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/business/69220.html?wlc=1264844838 http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/company-news/rivals-demise-boosts-hmv-100114-0729-31157.aspx www.hmv.com www.census.gov/econ/estats/papers/digitalecon.pdf http://hmv.com/hmvweb/navigate.do?pPageID=1530

Germination of Seeds: Research on Salinity

Germination of Seeds: Research on Salinity 1.1. Rationale The purpose of this investigation is to develop a more advanced understanding of the germination of seeds. The investigation is worthwhile as it will explain such conditions needed for seeds to maximise germination to allow efficient plant development. This information could help the scientific community know when saline reaches dangerous levels for radish seeds. 1.2. Background Information The aim of this experiment is to find out how the salinity of water affects the optimum germination of seeds. A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food (Seed, 2016). There are mainly two types of seeds: monocots and dicots. The cotyledon in monocots are just thin leaves that usually do not emerge above ground. Dicot cotyledons contain their seeds endosperm, so they are thicker and fuller, which they use to produce more food in photosynthetic metabolism (Burchill, 2017). In dicots, the primary root first grows upward to the surface and then dives again, while the primary root in monocots grows downward. For germination to occur, the seed requires an adequate environmental temperature, light exposure and a regular intake of water (Burchill, 2017). Germination starts when the seed starts to take up water by osmosis, which is the movement of water through a permeable membrane from higher water concentration to a lower water concentration (BBC Standard Grade Bitesize Biology Cells and diffusion : Revision, Page 4, 2014).   Ã‚   The micropyle, an opening in the testa, or seed coat, allows water to move into the seed causing it to swell and thus rupture the seed coat to allow the embryo plant to emerge (Gillam, 2014). Permeability of the testa is a major factor controlling the rate of water uptake. As seeds imbibe- absorb- water, they expand and enzymes and food supplies become hydrated. Hydrated enzymes become active and the seed increase its metabolic activities to produce energy for the growth process. In addition, the water causes turgor pressure to increase in the cells and they can enlarge. There are three stages to seed germination (Germination of Seeds: Stages Factors involved, 2017). The imbibition stage, where water absorption results in rupture of seed coat. The latent stage is where the imbibition of the seed coat results in the emergence of the radicle and the plumule; and is also where the cotyledons get unfolded (Process of Seed Germination | Tutorvista.com, 2017). Finally, the exponential growth stage is where the cotyledons are expanded which are the true leaves. Factors such as oxygen, light, temperature, humidity and soil chemistry can all affect the germination of seeds (M. Krempels, 2017). The factor that will be studied, will be water salinity. Therefore, the independent variable in this investigation will be the salinity concentration (%) as the growth will be recorded based on different concentration, and the dependent variable will be the amount of germination (cm). 1.3. Hypothesis If the concentration of salinity in water (%) is increased, then the less likely/ more time it will take for the seed to germinate. 2.0. Procedure/ Method 4 radish seeds were each placed into a cotton ball which were in 12 petri dishes. On the first day, 15 mL of distilled water was measured and poured in 3 petri dishes, while 1%, 5% and 10% sodium chloride solution was measured and poured each into the remaining petri dishes. However, on the other 4 days, 5 mL of each solution was measured and emptied into the corresponding petri dishes. A photo was taken each day for 5 days and observations were recorded. 3.1. Presentation of Data Percentage of Radish Seeds that Germinated with Varying Solute Percentages Radish seeds that germinated (%) Concentration of NaCl (%) Day 0 Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 0 0 50 66.67 66.67 66.67 1 0 8.33 16.67 16.67 25 5 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 3.2. Interpretation of Data In graph 1, the pattern of the 0% NaCl trend line shows an increase in the percentage of seeds germinating in the first two days, but then slowed down and levelled off until day 4. Similarly, the trendline of 1% NaCl saw an increase in the percentage of seeds germinating until day 2 where it levelled off, however after day 3 a steady increase in the amount of seeds germinating can be seen. In graph 2, the maximum amount of seeds that germinated, 66.67%, is at the optimum salinity for germination to occur in seeds, 0%. As the salinity increased from this optimum concentration, the percentage of seeds that germinated decreases. This can be seen at 1% NaCl because the percentage of seeds that germinated was 25%, and when the concentration was 5% and 10% as the amount of germinated seeds was only 0%. The seeds germinated the most when the salinity of the water was 0% because the average rate of germination in the first two days was 33.34%/day and the maximum percentage that germinated was 66.67%. As compared to: 1% NaCl, where the average rate of germination was 8.34%/day and the maximum amount of seeds that germinated was just 25%; and 5%/ 10% NaCl, where no germination took place. In conclusion, both graphs show that around 0% is the optimum concentration for radish seeds to germinate. In addition, any changes above this concentration decrease the rate of germination. 4.1. Explanation of Results If the concentration of salinity in water (%) is increased, then the less likely/ more time it will take for the seed to germinate. It was predicted that the optimum percentage of NaCl would be 0% and there would be a steady decrease as the salinity increased. When the salinity of the water increases from 0%, the rate of germination decreased which is shown in the results as at 0% NaCl 66.67% of seeds had germinated after 4 days, at 1% NaCl 25% of seeds had germinated, and at 5% and 10% NaCl, 0% of seeds germinated. Optimal germination for most seeds has been reported in non-saline conditions (AoB Plants, 2014). The rate of imbibition decreases with increasing the concentration of a solution in the medium (Monga, 2014). Imbibition is important in seed germination as it involves the uptake of water by the dry seed, initially by osmosis. The water hydrates and activates special proteins, called enzymes, that increase its metabolic activities producing energy that begin the process of seed growth such as starch conversion into sugar (Robb, 2017). In addition, the water causes turgor pressure to increase in the cells so they can enlarge and move the radicle root down and the cotyledons up (Khon, 2017). Turgor pressure is the force of water pushing the plasma membrane against the cell wall of a plant cell (eHowEducation, 2014). Although Imbibition uses aspects from the process of osmosis, imbibition and osmosis are not the same. The uptake of absorption of water by the solid substance without forming solution is called imbibition. Whereas, the movement of water molecules through a semipermeable m embrane from the region of higher water concentration to the region of lesser water concentration is called osmosis (Deena T Kochunni, 2017). In the data, as the concentration increased from 0%, the rate of reaction decreased. The order of concentrations at which the rate of germination will increase from slowest to fastest is 10% NaCl, 5% NaCl, 1% NaCl and 0% NaCl. Therefore, the predicted outcome that the optimum salinity would be 0% was correct as this is what the experiment indicates, which was 0%. This is because seeds need a lower concentration of salinity in their environment, i.e. the soil, so that more water can flow into seed to get imbibed. A University of California study undertaken by Stephan Grattan, plant-water relations specialist, determined that radishes do not tolerate much salt in irrigation water (Grattan, 2002). As radish seeds are sensitive to root disturbances, the salinity of the water affected the rate of germination (How to Grow Radishes 101 gardenswag, 2011). This would suggest why 25% of seeds germinated after five days in an environment containing 1% NaCl, but 0% of seeds germinating in 5% Na Cl and 10% NaCl. When a seeds environment is of the optimal concentration of NaCl, the rate of germination is at its highest and so takes a shorter amount of time. Therefore, at this optimum, the concentration gradient of water is highest which means that maximum imbibition takes place, causing the cells to swell and activate the enzymes which help break down the seed coating. This can be seen at point B on graph 2 where the radish seeds are at the optimum concentration of 0% NaCl and a maximum of 66.67% of seeds germinated. Concentrations above the optimum affect the osmotic process in seeds. Seed imbibition rate and germination percentage decrease as the surrounding water concentration decreases. This is because, increasing the salinity decreases the concentration of water in the external environment of the seed, making the water in the seed cells travel out into the external environment, plasmolysing the cells. When a plant cell becomes plasmolysed, the internal cellular membrane shrivels up as the volume of water in the cytoplasm decreases, which means that there is less turgor pressure (The Effects of Osmosis, 2017). Therefore, it wont germinate. This is also apparent at point B on graph 2, as there is a decrease in the percentage of germinating seeds at salinity percentages above 0%. At 0% NaCl, it is evident that the most seeds, 66.67%, had germinated by the end of day 4. This was where the concentration of water outside the seed was at its highest resulting in the most amount of water travelling into the seed at a time. In other words, the seed was in a hypotonic environment. Thus, the seeds could germinate quicker as more enzymes could become active and carry out the processes important to break the walls of the seeds. This is evident in Graph 1, as at 0% NaCl 50% of the seeds had started to germinate, which is the highest of any salinity percentage on day one. The maximum percentage of seeds germinating was 66.67%. Germination could also be seen at 1% NaCl, with 25% of the seeds germinating by the end of day four. This occurred as the water concentration on the outside was the same as the water concentration on the inside of the seed cells. Therefore, the seed was in an isotonic solution. Due to this, water was still able to come into the seed cells, however, there was less turgor pressure as the seeds cells were flaccid. Germination was still able to occur as some enzymes could become stimulated to aid in breaking the seed coating. This is apparent on graph 1 as on day 3 16.67% of the seeds had germinated, but at the end of day 4, 25% of the radish seeds germinated, suggesting that germination was still taking place in the other 75% of seeds. However, no obvious germination could be seen in 5% NaCl or 10% NaCl, even after the fourth day. The reason for this, is that the percentage of salinity was too much in the external environment, which means that the concentration of water in the external environment was lower than the water concentration inside the seeds cells- in a hypertonic environment. Consequently, more water was going out of the seeds cells than water was coming out, therefore the cells plasmolysed. The lack of water inside the cells could not activate enough enzymes to continue the process of germination. This is clear on graph 1 as 0% of seeds germinated throughout the 4 days. Per the results, it can be verified that as the salinity increased from 0%, the imbibition of the seed decreased causing the rate of germination to decrease. This increase in salinity caused the concentration of water outside the seed to increase, causing a hypertonic solution, which consequently made more water travel out of the cells than into, causing the cells to plasmolyse. Thus, decreasing the rate of germination. 4.2. Evaluation of Experiment To ensure that an experiment is a fair test, only one factor can be changed at a time while keeping all other conditions the same (Doing a Fair Test: Variables for Beginners, 2016). This experiment had several control variables that had to be kept constant, variables such as: the temperature of room; the type of seed; the amount of solution used; time of day watered; vessel that carries the seed; how seeds are placed; amount of seeds placed in each petri-dish; and the light reaching plants. The external environment was kept constant as the experiment was conducted indoors with the air conditioner set to 22 °C and the seeds were placed in the same place on a window sill. Also, the type of seed was kept the same as radish seeds were used. In addition, vessel that carried the seeds, amount of seeds in each petri dish and how seeds were placed were all kept constant as four seeds were placed in four cotton balls in each petri dish. However, the amount of solution was not kept constant each day, as 15mL was used to water the seeds on day 1, but on the second and third days 5mL was used, and no watering took place on days 4 and 5. To improve this, the original 15mL of water should be used to water the seeds every day. Even though the environment was kept constant, to maximise seed germination, the investigation needed to take place inside of a greenhouse. In addition, the time of day was not kept constant, to ensure that the watering was at the same time every day, the radishes needed to be watered at around 5 oclock every morning so that the seeds could maximise sunlight throughout the rest of the day. Validity encompasses the entire experimental concept and establishes whether the results obtained meet all of the requirements of the scientific research method (Shuttleworth, 2008). Possible errors in the results include: human error in reading measurements; not watering the seeds evenly; human error in remembering to water the seeds; and not using the same amount of cotton wool. The main reasons for this was the lack of time during a school day. In addition, there was no real way to measure out each cotton wool ball. Therefore, the results are valid for this experiment, but are not reliable to use for further research into radish seeds. The aim of this experiment was to find out how the salinity of water affects the optimum germination in radish seeds. The predicted outcome that the optimum temperature would be 0% was correct as this is what the experiment indicates. Per the results, it can be verified that as the concentration of salinity increased from 0%, the water moving into the seed decreased causing the rate of germination to also decrease eventually causing 0% of seeds to germinate in 4 days, at which the water moving into the seed was less than the amount of water moving out of the seed. Any increase in salinity concentration decreased the number of enzymes being activated to start breaking the seed coating due to the lack of water inside the seeds cells, causing the seeds to not germinate by the end of day 4. Theory Sources AoB Plants. (2014) (6th ed.). BBC Standard Grade Bitesize Biology Cells and diffusion : Revision, Page 4. (2014). Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2017, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/standard/biology/investigating_cells/cells_and_diffusion/revision/4/ Burchill, S. (2017). The Open Door Web Site : Energy and Activity : How Plants Survive Winter : Seeds and the Conditions Needed for Seed germination. Saburchill.com. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from http://www.saburchill.com/ans02/chapters/chap036.html Deena T Kochunni, J. (2017). Difference between Osmosis and Imbibition.Majordifferences.com. Retrieved 25 February 2017, from http://www.majordifferences.com/2013/12/difference-between-osmosis-and.html#.WLGCpPk2vIU eHowEducation,. (2014). What Is Turgor Pressure in Biology? : Biology DNA. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckKRfhD5sE0 Doing a Fair Test: Variables for Beginners. (2016). Science Buddies. Retrieved 13 May 2016, from http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_experiment_fair_test.shtml Germination of Seeds: Stages Factors involved. (2017). Education Science Tips. Retrieved 6 February 2017, from http://www.rajaha.com/germination-seeds/ Gillam, P. (2014). osmosis | PMG Biology. Pmgbiology.com. Retrieved 6 February 2017, from https://pmgbiology.com/tag/osmosis/ M. Krempels, D. (2017). GR 1 Laboratory: Environment and Development: The Effects of Environment on Seed Germination. Laboratory Exercise, Miami. Grattan, S. (2002). Irrigation Water Salinity and Crop Production (1st ed.). Oakland: ANR Publication. Retrieved from http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8066.pdf How to Grow Radishes 101 gardenswag. (2011). Gardenswag.com. Retrieved 27 January 2017, from http://www.gardenswag.com/2011/12/how-to-grow-radishes-101/ Khon, C. (2017). Seed Germination [10]. Retrieved from http://www.shsu.edu/academics/agricultural-sciences-and-engineering-technology/ Monga, S. (2014) Imbibition [4]. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/sheelumonga/imbibition-is-the-phenomenon-of-adsorption-of-water Process of Seed Germination | Tutorvista.com. (2017). Tutorvista.com. Retrieved 6 February 2017, from http://www.tutorvista.com/content/biology/biology-iv/plant-growth-movements/seed-germination-process.php Robb, A. (2017). What is Seed Germination? Definition, Process, Steps Factors Video Lesson Transcript | Study.com. Study.com. Retrieved 24 February 2017, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-seed-germination-definition-process-steps-factors.htmlp Seed. (2016). ScienceDaily. Retrieved 19 February 2017, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/seed.htm Shuttleworth, M. (2008). Validity and Reliability How to Know if the Research is Correct?.Explorable.com. Retrieved 13 May 2016, from https://explorable.com/validity-and-reliability The Effects of Osmosis. (2017). Etomica.org. Retrieved 6 February 2017, from http://www.etomica.org/app/modules/sites/Osmosis_old/Background1.html Diagram Sources Biology 1903,. (2017). Eudicot germination.. Retrieved from http://bio1903.nicerweb.com/Locked/media/ch38/38_10SeedGermination-dicot.jpg EdExcel,. (2014). There is an opening in the testa called the micropyle that allows water to move into the seed causing it to swell and thus rupture the seed coat to allow the embryo plant to emerge.. Retrieved from https://pmgbiology.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/image024.gif imgarcade.com,. (2017). osmosis 1. Retrieved from https://image.slidesharecdn.com/osmosisamazingss-111004150133-phpapp01/95/osmosis-1-8-728.jpg Pearson Education Inc.,. (2017). Isotonic, Hypotonic, and Hypertonic Solutions. Retrieved from http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/biocoach/biomembrane1/images/Tonic2.gif University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Gorgan,. (2012). Effect of NaCl concentration on germination of Velvetleaf (A) and Bamyardgrass (B). Retrieved from http://www.scielo.br/img/revistas/pd/v28n3/02f03.gif

Slavery :: Slavery Essays

Oppression and cruelty; just two of the many words used to describe slavery. However no word or words can be used to truly illustrate the hardships and tough times that the slaves went through. In the time of slavery, innocent people were taken from their homes and separated from their families to be sold as workers to people around the world. They did not just work, similar to modern times, they were restrained and held captive while being forced to work in terrible and unsuitable conditions. These people had dark skin, which the slave owners saw as an asset due to the fact that they could stay in the sun longer. In particular was a slave by the name of Olaudah Equiano, who wrote a personal narrative on his own experiences during slavery. In his writings, he did an excellent job in highlighting the oppression and cruelty in his own life and other peoples as well. The point of his narrative was to turn the English public against slavery. Based on what I have read, I can now give a cl earer opposition to slavery due to the fact that he has exemplified what slavery was really like. The idea of taking many, many people from their homelands and bringing them to a foreign place seems a bit over whelming. This seems like impossibility when looked at by the slaves’ point of view. During the times of slaves, the ships and such were not as advanced as they are now. They used wind and oars to power the boats. In addition, these boats were not being produced at a high rate. The point being the ships were so over crowded that it seemed pointless to ship slaves overseas. The slaves were put in these ships and packed into rooms that were not made to accommodate that many people. Equiano writes, "The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely enough room to turn himself, almost suffocated us" (p.56). This was how the slaves were kept when they were put under the deck. Enormous amounts of people packed into one small space. In this situation, one must think about the possible outcomes. If there are a lot of people, literally on top have on another, outbreak of disease will eventually occur- and of course it did.

Reasons to End Social Poisoning on the Internet Essay -- Censorship Cy

Reasons to End Social Poisoning on the Internet [NOTE: Many of the links the student refers to are no longer active.] While spreading the word of knowledge to the masses, the internet simultaneously dispenses social poisons. Many of the recipients are, unfortunately, children, and despite the American policy of free-speech, this kind of unintentional inculcation must stop. One of the problems lies in the fact that the right to criticize and the right to display "poisonous" material are one in the same: The Right of Freedom of Speech. But should a clear and present danger to social health take priority over the rights of an individual? Does the individual even have power? In Digital Literacy, Paul Gilster observes that "A global web of communications... points to a viruslike spread of ideas" (Gilster 27). Should society protect its youth from this "viruslike spread" by regulating content on the internet? These questions are tough to answer, but this paper will address them, introduce a socially harmful hate site, and reveal why society needs to be rid of the poison on the internet. One of the problems with social contemplation on this subject, though, is that this situation is relatively unknown to history. Though the power structure of the internet has been compared to centralized government, decentralized government and social anarchy, Jess Holbrook, in a discussion on November 24, accurately cited the internet as being "unlike anything else we’ve ever seen." So perhaps time should be taken to evaluate the effects of the internet on not just the nation’s youth, but the nation in general. While the evaluation is taking place, the presence of these social poisons on the internet must be recognized. The American Nazi ... ... real life himself, only the former is readily available to children. There needs to be a body which regulates the poison on the internet and makes it safe for the child to "surf the net." Not all sites on the internet are terrifying and problematic. But imagine a black child, whose ancestors survived the slave trade, coming across the American Nazi Party site, and "learning" that they are evil because of their skin color. No child should be exposed to this. Works Cited - Bolter, David Jay. Writing Space; The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hillsdale, New Jersey; 1991. - Gilster, Paul. Digital Literacy. Wiley Computer Publishing. New York. - Hall III, William B. "American Nazi Party." 28 November 1998. 5 December 1998 <http://home.earthlink.net/~wbhall/>. - Landow, George P. Hypertext 2.0. Johns Hopkins.

A Commentary on the Geranium by Theodore Roethke Essay

The poem â€Å"The Geranium† by Theodore Roethke tells the story of a bachelor, formerly a party animal, now a lonely, aging man, through a sustained metaphor which uses the speaker’s geranium as a symbol for the disregard of his own health. The plant is never well, nor is he, due to the speaker being as inconsiderate to the geranium as he is to himself. With imagery, alliteration, and symbolism, much is learned about the speaker through a simple geranium to which he is intrinsically intertwined. We can see right from the beginning with lines such as â€Å"limp and bedraggled . . . / . . . like a sick poodle / Or a wizened aster in late September,† (2-4) that our speaker does not think very highly of himself nor his geranium. The descriptors give a pathetic, aging feel; the comparison to a â€Å"wizened aster† is particularly potent. It suggest that like the flower, the speaker is no longer â€Å"in bloom†, so-to-speak. That his colour has faded, and he is past his prime. The themes of aging and entering a new life stage come up again in line 6: â€Å"For a new routine –†. The caesura brings the reader to a halt; its sudden and final nature is reminiscent of an ending. The words in the line itself indicate a new beginning, which creates an interesting effect. This line could be representative of the end of the speaker’s youth and bachelorhood, as well as the beginning of a new point in his life. The act of taking the geranium out to the trash could also be symbolic of changing life stages; placing it by the trash could be representative of the end of one cycle, and bringing it back could represent starting anew. In following with the idea of starting anew, our speaker shows plans of lifestyle change; he plans to change for the better and agrees that â€Å"Sustenance seemed sensible† (8) The alliteration here evokes a childlike, somewhat self-deprecating feel, as though the speaker is chiding himself for not remembering something that seemed so simple. The fact that the speaker managed to forget this in the first place could also indicate that he has let his health go in the past, which is further evidenced near the end of the stanza, where the speaker talks about living â€Å". . . on gin, bobbie pins, half-smoked cigars, dead beer† (10) as well as the consequences of such irresponsible actions; he talks of being â€Å"shriveled† and â€Å"dried out†. It’s clear both the speaker and his plant have suffered from such a way of living. It also seems to reveal the careless and somewhat incompetent nature of the speaker. After all, if you can’t even take care of a plant, how can you take care of yourself? In the next stanza we get another glance into our speaker’s former life. He talks of â€Å" . . .dumb dames shrieking half the night† (16) as well as more mention of alcohol. The pieces of the speaker’s past we have received thus far can be put together to form the image of a reckless bachelor who gives no thought of tomorrow. With the current events of the poem, we can see how this lifestyle doesn’t do much for our speaker now that tomorrow is here. In this stanza we also get to hear the narrator describe himself directly for the first time, but he still ties himself to the plant, showcasing how heavily interconnected he and the geranium are. The speaker says that they are both â€Å"seedy†, which is a rather interesting play on words due to the fact that it means sordid or shabby, or could be used in the context of plant seeds. The term acknowledges both the similarities and differences between the speaker and the geranium. In the third stanza and final two lines, the speaker’s maid tosses the geranium in the trash which angers him so much he fires her. The actions of the maid would obviously hurt our speaker, seeing as the miserable, wilted geranium was his only friend. There is also the possibility that it was the cause of the actions of the maid that really wounded the narrator; that is was the fact that the maid saw something so analogous to himself as useless trash that drove him into enough of a rage to sack his maid. Thus the poem ends with the speaker no better off than he was in the beginning; perhaps even worse, now that the maid has brought to light how worthless the speaker’s life really is. Even though plants and people are seen as self-sufficient organisms, â€Å"The Geranium† highlights that in order to truly blossom, care, compassion and companionship from another are required. Theodore Roethke’s use of dreary, aged language and bland settings create a desolate atmosphere which provides the framework for the tale of a man who seems to have disregarded this until it was too late.

Playing Billy Beane

Since publication in 2003, Moneyball has entered the baseball dictionary.   When a team decides to brush off traditional strategies, they are said to be playing moneyball. This is what Billy Beane, the general manager of Oakland Atheltics and the hero of Moneyball, is best known for.   Beane, as a player was not so great, but as the A’s manager at the sidelines, he started a revolution. In a nutshell, Beane knows how do more with so much less.   The A’s $55 million salary fund would pale in comparison to the Yankees’ $205 million (Hammonds 84).   Given the economics, Beane admits they can’t do the same things the Yankees do.   But with roughly one-third of the Yankees’ salary cap, the A’s still managed to finish big with the second-best win-loss record in the league—next only to the Yankees. How did Beane do it? Beane’s tactics and exploits off the field were the center of Michael Lewis’ Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.   Professional baseball is a sport divided by teams who have much and teams who have none.   It is a derby between big-market teams who wave hefty paychecks temptingly under the noses of star players and smaller clubs who scrap for what’s left. That is the first managerial philosophy of Beane—scooping up potential team assets that rivals have ignored and undervalued.   As far as Beane is concerned, statistics and math work but only when they properly correspond to a player’s economic value. (86)   The Beane formula is to find players on the rise, potential superstars who are not red hot at the moment but could catch fire later on.   He will keep them until market catches up, give them away at a point he can no longer compete. A classic example was when Oakland signed 28-year-old Matt Stairs, a washed-up outfielder from the minor league.   Beane got him for $130,000 per year in 1996. Everyone though it was a bad catch, everyone except Beane.   But the former first round pick was right.   Over the next four years, Stairs hit the ball.   In 2000, his performance dipped as his market price went up.   Then Beane let him go for a pitcher. For Beane, every recruit has a potential to make it big.   Every move has its own risk but also its own purpose. Instead of looking at a player’s batting averages, fielding, or getting fascinated with his home runs, Beane focused on walks, on-base percentages and power. (85)   Oakland sought for players who can get on base like patient hitters who could tire out the opponent and finish it with a walk or a base hit.   The A’s type of player is one who can contribute in ways other ball clubs do not value as much. Beane is an expert in exploiting market mismatches.   He firmly believed that the criteria and standards set by scouts and managers in spotting players have been previously illogical.   Beane is gutsy, he takes risks.   But unlike most general managers, he finds a way to reduce the risks as the season progresses. He has learned the importance of calculated opportunism and this was evident in the 2002 draft when the A’s went the all-college approach. Gone are the days when general managers judge potential players by their sheer abilities.   These days, in a sport that has become a serious money-making venture, economic feasibility prompts every decision.   At the same time, as general manager, he says he had to evaluate players not only by their current feasibility but also his future trend. Citing all the numbers and statistics, Beane says baseball is predictable. (87)   He says there is always a way to least risk.   Like a true economist, he believes there is a great chance that the team will get some return on a particular asset. With Beane’s unconventional sports economics, Moneyball has been recognized not only by sports critics but also by economists.   Beane knows the baseball market place.   He acknowledges the gap between the market and the player’s value.   Knowing that market price and a player’s performance do not follow the same rules, he made sure to leave a way to narrow the gap. Considering the fact that Oakland cannot afford much, Beane has learned to thrive within windows of opportunity.   Like a baseball analyst says, the A’s are in a â€Å"commodity-management business†.   Beane’s philosophy is to keep the organization as flexible as he can.   He is good at creating options and the same time knows how to look at things the grown-up way.   Players are commodities with a tag price and the good thing is he knows whether that commodity is sinking or rising. As a general manager, Beane also knows that he has to rebuild.   The stakes evolve and therefore expecting continued success by doing the same things over and over has become impossible.   For Beane, it’s a matter of â€Å"identifying the moment.†Ã‚   One has to be creative enough to know when to trade off existing players and start fresh.   He cautioned however that when one chooses to rebuild, he must give it all.   No hesitations.   All or nothing.   It’s either a team rebuilds or not. As general manager, Beane also makes sure the players and the coaching staff knows who’s the boss.   Beane says he takes full responsibility of what happens in and out of the field.   He believes in giving his directors autonomy but during critical decision-making, he says he has to be there and cast his lot. A baseball club has a tight inner circle.   There is no bureaucracy and hours of organizational meetings fishing for hundred different opinions do not happen. Beane’s managerial style deviated form the traditional.   He acknowledges that all he can afford is to operate within windows of opportunity.   He has perfected the formula of matching a player’s performance metrics with his economic value.   He knows how to use his guts and correspond it with the statistics on paper that other teams might ignore. Oakland is an underfinanced team and it cannot afford superstars.   As the boss, Beane is expected to think differently, take risks, and effect changes.   At a time when scouts judge players by computers, Beane decided to oversimplify the thought.   Baseball’s traditional sabermetric community has been critical about this approach saying baseball’s math is much complex than Beane likes to admit. However, Beane insists that he recognizes the importance of statistics and that numbers are still at the heart of what the A’s do when they are out in the field.   The only difference is that Beane does not content himself with just what percentages or averages say.   He has learned how to relate this with how much a player is truly worth. As a baseball insider, Beane understands that the sport is predictable.   This gives Beane the chance to play the casino.   There is no way he could lose. The painful truth however is that building and sustaining are two different things all together.   With the A’s doing much with less, it is safe to assume that Beane as general manager has been successful in building.   The question now is can he sustain it?   Will the A’s keep on winning?   Between building and sustaining, the latter is much difficult to come by. Works Cited Hammonds, Keith. â€Å"How To Play Billy Beane.† Fast Company Magazine. April 2003: 84-87.