Boston Beer Essay Example for Free

Boston Beer Essay Boston Beer Company is the maker of Samuel Adams brand beer and the beer industry’s leading craft brewer. On the year of 1995, the Boston Beer filed a registration statement with the U. S. SEC for an initial public stock. Now let’s start from the strategy direction of Boston Beer for analyzing the company. Strategies of Boston Beer Company in its beginning stage of the business were 1) outsourcing beer production facilities instead of building new facilities which requires approximately 10 million capital investment 2) marketing customers by appealing customer’s sense of patriotism in order to attack the imported beers. Boston Beer Company’s competitive advantages can be signified by sources of beer industries and its competitors. The re-reemergence of the craft breweries segment in 1990s had affected the decline of mass-produced beer companies. An increase of health and safety consciousness of beer consumers caused the market for distinctive and flavorful beers. Because of the new trend and customer needs in beer industry, Boston Beer Company was able to grow rapidly. Exhibit 1 shows the tremendous growth of U. S.craft brewing industry barrels and Boston Beer Company is a beneficiary and one of the leading companies that take the lead of the craft brewing market growth. Furthermore, Boston Beer Company’s outsourcing facilities in its early stage of the production and marketing approach to its customers lead the company to have the strategic advantage over its rival entities within competitive beer industry. Boston Beer Company’s income statement and balance sheet (Exhibit 3, 4) show the company has been growing rapidly with a significant growth of revenue and income. Notable competitors’ public stock offering transaction also strengthen the idea that set range of the stock price (10 to 15 dollars) of the company’s bankers can be adjusted to the level of its competitors (17 to 16 dollars per share) because of the growth rate of the company and its healthy financial situation. Currently, Boston Beer using dual-class structure, Class A and Class B, for its equities part. The company’s Class A Common Stock is not entitled to any voting rights, except for the right as a class to approve certain mergers and charter and by-law amendments and to elect a minority of the directors of the company. The Class B Common Stock has full voting rights. As of today, C. James Koch was the sole holder of record of all the company’s issued and outstanding Class B Common Stock. Boston Beer chosen a dual-class structure for its IPO because it would like to ensure that the firms founders and top executives maintained control. Thus, dual-class shares satisfy owners who dont want to give up control, but do want the public equity market to provide financing. In some cases, company performance may benefit from the existence of dual-class shares. Founders often have a longer term vision than investors focused on the most recent quarterly figures. Since stock that provides extra voting rights often cannot be traded, it ensures the company will have a set of loyal investors during rough patches. On the other hand, it can be seen as downright unfair. It creates an inferior class of shareholders and hand over power to a select few, who are then allowed to pass the financial risk onto others. Normally, the existence of dual class shares would be a problem if an investor believed the disproportionate voting rights were allowing inferior management to remain in place in spite of the best interests of shareholders. For outside investors, they should always research the details of a companys share classes if they are considering investing in a firm with more than one class. Due to the sole holder of company’s Class B common stock, it means that The Class B shareholder has significant influence over the company. Mr. Koch is able to exercise substantial influence over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the composition of the board of directors and approval of equity-based and other executive compensation and other significant corporate matters. This could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of the Company and will make most transactions difficult or impossible to accomplish without the support of Mr. Koch. The risk of investing in the Boston Beer Company first is located on the competitive pressures of the beer industry. With this situation, the profit margins will be declining due to competition on prices and higher production costs on specialty beers. Since the flavor is important for customer’s choices and the eruption of competition in the craft beer industry had increased the pressure to introduce new beers to maintain and grow market share, the research and development facility investment for new product development is increasing each year, together with the increased advertising, promotional and selling expenses. With the expansion of scale and size of the company, Boston Beer also invested more and more on capital expenditures, in 1995 Boston Beer invested $4. 5 million on capital expenditures increase and in 1996 invested another $13 million for related technology equipment at its contract brewing facilities. The large investment on asset-based financing arrangements could take large amount of cash flow and newer technology will raise the dilemma of more investment on updating for new equipment, which can cause the broken of normal cash flow operation. From Exhibit 5 we can see that the capital raised form initial Public Stock Offerings from 1993 to 1995 can vary a lot from $34 million in 1993 drop to about $19. 8 million in 1994, the wave of raised capital can have large effect on decision making process. There was always the potential that the IPO could be under-subscribed and therefore pulled from the market. Then the company would thus miss an opportunity to raise much-needed capital. Before the IPO, Boston Beer was organized as a limited partnership which would be dissolved in November 1995. And at the time of dissolution, the company would distribute $12. 5 million to its existing partners, The IPO proceeds would be used to immediately repay the debt incurred in dissolving the original partnership. Also, the company was planning to use $7 million of the proceeds to fund capital expenditures in 1996, while the remaining proceeds were to be used to fund working capital expenses or invested in investment grade securities. Talking about the over-capitalization, this is a situation when total of owned and borrowed capital exceed its fixed and current assets. An over capitalized company can be like a very fat person who cannot carry his weight properly, which is, in great troubles. There are many causes of over capitalization. First is the idle fund, money may be living idle in banks or in the form of low yield investments. Second is the over-valuation, some fixed assets, especially goodwill, may be over-valued. Third, the fall in value can let some inventories have much higher book value than the real economic value, according to the wave of price of inventories. And the forth, the inadequate depreciation provision can also be the reason for over-capitalization. For the fair value of stocks based on two different valuation methods; the discount cash flow model and the free cash flow model. First we use the discount cash flow method to value the Boston Beer Company’s fair value. (Please see the analyze process in Exhibit 1) First, we use the income before tax from the exhibit 3 in the year 1995. Because the case did not offer the depreciation fee, we assume the depreciation to be 0. Even though the tax rate changes slightly every year, we use the tax rate in the year 1995. From the form above, we can see the change in net working capital and capital expenditure is very small in the year 1995. But from the case we know that after the company raises money from the IPO, the company was planning to use $7 million of the proceeds to fund capital expenditures in 1996. And the remaining proceeds were to be used to fund working capital expenses or invested in investment grade securities. Because we are valuing the firm before IPO and do not know the exact number the firm will spend on the working capital and capital expenditure. We assume the firm will increase stable. We calculate the free cash flow of year 1995 using income before tax*(1-tax rate)-change in net working capital-capital expenditure. Then we use the growth rate from 1996 to 2000 to calculate each year’s estimate free cash flow. We use the discount rate 10%, the perpetuity growth rate 5% and the free cash flow of year 2000 to calculate the terminal value. Terminal value= free cash flow in 2000*(1+growth rate) / (discount rate- growth rate). Then use the discount rate, all the free cash flow and the terminal value to calculate the fair value of the company. The value of the Boston Beer Company is around 244 million. From the exhibit 3 in the case, we know the shares outstanding in year 1995 are 18273000. The case said that a total of 3984215 shares were to be offered in Boston Beer’s IPO, of which the company would issue 2540379 shares to raise capital for expansion. In addition, existing partners would sell 1443836 shares. Therefore, the new issued share would be 2540379. After add the new issued share to the original shares, we can calculate the stock price using the fair value. So the stock price=fair value/ total shares outstanding. The stock price we estimate is around 11. 74 dollar/share. The second method is for the free cash flow model in evaluating the company’s value. The first assumption is to assume that Boston Beer will pay dividend so that we can use the dividend discount model to find a fair value. The growth rates are 40% in 1996-1997 and 30% in 1998-1999 and 5 thereafter. We assumed that ROE will be constant at 47. 39% and EPS in 1995 is 0. 35 (both figures was given in the case’s exhibit 3 but should use the annualized number). Retention ratio comes from growth/ROE. All assumptions are listed in the table below. Based on these assumptions, we find that the fair value of stock at the time in the case should be $15. 42. (Please see the exhibit 2) According to the statistic and analyze, we come to summarize the opinion on the short-term and long-term current outlook for America’s brewing industry, especially with respect to its international competitors. Brewers Association announced the fact that 2,075 US craft breweries operated and 2,126 total breweries operated as of July, 2012, the highest total since the 1880s. Overall U. S. beer sales were down an estimated 1. 3% by volume in 2011, 1. 2% in 2010. Imported beer sales were up 1% in 2011 and up 5% in 2010. However, craft brewers sold an estimated 11,468,152 barrels of beer in 2011, up from 10,133,571 in 2010. These statistics suggest that imports and craft beers are in growth, while sales of main players in US beer market, such as AB InBev and MillerCoors , are declining. I assume this situation is going to last for a few years. Imports will keep increasing because a significant number of people, especially young drinks having been enjoy drinking quality beers. Craft beers are popular because the hallmark of craft beer and craft brewers is innovation and craft brewers have distinctive, individualistic approaches to connecting with their customers. In the long term, US beer companies may increase their sales by brewing imported beers in US. AB InBev began brewing Beck’s-previously imported- at St Louis brewery earlier last year. Also, though almost all craft brewers are operation at or near their full capacity, many craft brewers cannot meet growing demand. Some brewers have increased their sales by outsourcing some of production. With more craft brewers increasing investment and production, we can predict that sales of craft beers will go up more in the future. (See Exhibit 3and 4) Exhibit 1 Discount cash flow method Exhibit 2 Free cash flow method Exhibit 3US Breweries Operating as of July 1, 2012| | | Brewpubs| 1072| | Microbreweries| 922| | Regional Craft Breweries| 81| | Total US Craft Breweries| 2075| | Large Non-Craft Breweries| 22| | Other Non-Craft Breweries| 29| | Total US Breweries| 2126| | Exhibit 4.

Impact Of Globalisation On The Nation State Politics Essay

Impact Of Globalisation On The Nation State Politics Essay The term globalization has been a contentious topic in the field of social sciences and disciplines alike in recent years. The expansive pattern of globalization makes a holistic definition of the concept difficult. Interestingly, in spite of the vast nature of the concept, there is a tendency to homogenize its meaning. Some commentators posit that globalization depicts a polyvalent, promiscuous, controversial word that often obscures more than it reveals (Jessop 2002, p.113), and that globalization remains the most over used and under specified term in the international policy domain since the passing of the Cold War (Higgot 1999, p.1). Indeed the inclination to generate a broad and homogeneous meaning to the concept of globalization may be as a result of the open nature of the concept itself, which makes it quite complex to conceive. However, a key theme in the globalization discourse today is the extent to which the process has led to the weakening and/or strengthening of the nation state. Some scholars have argue that the nation state is central in driving the process of globalization (skeptics), while others contend that the increase in transnational networks has weakened the nation state (Globalist). This paper does not intend to take side with any of these assertions; rather it seeks to analyze the various impacts that the process of globalization has had on the nation state in interacting with global networks and institutions. To achieve this, the first part of this essay looks at the concept of globalization vis a vis the evolution of the nation state within Europe from pre-modern era. This will bring to fore certain phenomenal changes in the contemporary global political economy of state which has lead to the changing role of the nation state in recent years. Using four key factors as my reference point, the second part delves into the impact globalization has had on the nation state under the following parameters The global capital, global environment, global citizenship as well as post-nuclear politic. This will help to suggest the varying consequence of globalism over nationalism In the final analysis, I find the structure for potential globalism evident, thus conclude that indeed the expansion of global network have transformed the function of nation states in today`s global polity, rather than erode the autonomy and sovereignty of nation states. Conceptualising Globalisation: Globalisation presupposes an ongoing process which applies to a broad spectrum of activities ranging from economic actions to the sphere of politics, law, and culture. It is defined as the deepening and expansion of socio-cultural and socio-political ties beyond national frontiers aided by a strong and complex technological breakthrough (Holm Sorensen 1995, p.1). The empirical revelation of economic interdependence however, finds a place in the globalization thesis when Scholte stressed that the growth in global flow of capital through foreign direct investments, the spread of transnational co-operation, foreign exchange transfers, and the establishment of export processing zones, has enmeshed the global economy into an integrated market arena. (2000, p.86). Unarguably the global political economy from the twentieth century has witnessed extensive integration of national economies particularly through cross-border investment and trade, however these interconnectedness tend to shape the policy of state actors via engagements with global institutions without recourse to place and time. Although while the economic logic of globalizations may have shifted to the consciousness of a borderless world (Ohmae 1990, p .172), it is worth noting that the interplay is not universally applicable as some state borders seem demarcated from contemporary global integration( some countries in the south). Thus these states adopt isolationist policies in the excuse that their domestic economic posture is not viable enough to interconnect with external forces. Therefore not all social relations have reached the stage of global civilization; while some nation states assume that international political power outflank its role (Taylor 1996, p. 11), others believe that global politics runs over state-centric political network into a more spatial extensive framework in contemporary times. The Nation State Evolution: During the Middle age epoch in Europe, political authority was distributed between individuals and religious institutions (Axtmann 2004, p.259). The exercise of authority was managed by wealthy merchants, royal families and religious heads in almost all matters during pre-modernization. Although the influence of religious institutions in exercising its authority witnessed a decline in the 16th century through the 18th century, Monarchs became increasingly powerful as a result of certain structural changes in Europe caused by the industrial revolution (Sorensen 2004, p.10). However the king in collaboration with a strong military presence at the time introduced taxes and used states apparatus to legitimize their actions. State managed infrastructure established for credit and monetary concerns were used to sustain the status quo by maintaining legitimacy and guaranteeing trade (Sorensen 2004, p. 10). This system carved out a central authority arrangement upon which the monarchs and the citizens related, giving rise to an administrative framework that metamorphosed in the emergence to the early form of the modern nation state creation. As a follow up, the signing of the Westphalia treaty in 1648 legitimized state structure as a sovereign entity. The principle of sovereignty was premised on the supremacy of the nation state over its subjects, territorial integrity and natural resources. Fundamentally, it is instructive to point out that prior to the Westphalia treaty being entrenched, more than two hundred European entities engaged in dialogues (Sorensen 2004, p.10). The consequence of those negotiations saw Europe having only about fifty states currently. This represents the highest form of fragmentation which passed through series of conflict processes especially during the 1900 to 2000, spanning across various wars with the death toll of over 115 million people (Tilly 1992, p. 6 7). Hence, the process of consolidating states into a transformed entity often navigates through a gradual stage of fierce engagements. This slow but effective transformatory stage is the standard, for launching into the international society; therefore the prevailing global society of states is a product of thorough creation following long standing interest articulation and trade-offs. One characteristic of modern state formation, is the severe decline of internal conflict and civil unrest and the prevalence of the rights of nations and human with the threats to violent conflict almost non-existent (Sorensen 2004, p.11). The presence of these attributes will guarantee the legitimate use of force, based on laid down principles and this will shape the relationship between the state and its citizen. Also since the authority which was once distributed amongst varying actors is centrally managed in a modern nation state, it naturally translates the allegiance of citizens towards to state in a manner that tends to create a sense of community from their history. This sequential establishment of the modern nations state is crucial to understanding the transformations that prepared states towards opening up to the global space. Just after the emergence of the modern nation states, technological and economic advancement tolerated dramatic development to occur within states and they became keen to protect their own interest in relation to others. In the present day, advancement in almost all spheres of interaction has opened up the distribution and consumption of hitherto domestic goods to become global products. What this implies is that globalization now plays a dominant role in the relation of the society of states such that economic activities either within or outside the state is done without emphasis on location. Although the economic relation of states are more often between states, the production of goods and services still remain territorially defined, thus the need to often comprehend international trade through state relations. Examining the effects of globalization on the nation state Global Capital: The enthusiasts of capital mobility, in the wake of advancement in information technology have identified the transformation of capital to be more global than national. They argue that in a formal geographical sense, the ownership of capital has shifted from the territorially bounded entity into an extensive global community (Mann 1977, p 479). Prior to the 1980`s capital mobility was at the purview national government through bond issuance to manage trade deficit/surplus for healthy competition. However the dismantling of state regulations to evolve a loose global market was in tandem with European consciousness to liberalize. Today, the speedy nature of the foreign exchange electronic market, likely explains the scale of contemporary global financial flow. The foreign exchange market accounted for tremendous growth from $1 billion in the middle of 1970s to over $1.2 trillion by 1990, surpassing the global trade ratio of 60:1(Cohn 2000, p.10). Also international bank lending have sky rocketed from a minor level in the 1960`s to over 20 billion annually in the 70`s and a steady growth of 10 times that level in 1990`s. In comparism to the state centric standard of control, contemporary financial capital has become intensively mobile that it no longer yields to the actions of determined governments as thought by many (Ohmae 1990, p.158). It is even more fascinating that the foreign exchange market has attracted almost any body without formal training, and this has become a speculators heaven due to its high yield opportunities it provides. An attempt by regulators to manage the foreign exchange deficits has been unsuccessful since capital gain from the foreign exchange market remains un-tax. Rees-Mogg and Davidson best describe the deregulation in global capital mobility when they stated that the Internet will make avoiding taxes so easy and risk-less that sovereignty will inevitably shift to the individual, leaving the nation-state to die of fiscal starvation (1997, P.159). This clearly shows the extent to which huge capital can literally travel miles across national borders with just a push on a k ey board button. On the other hand however, its been argued that even though capital movements have become largely trans-national the shares and currencies traded are usually pegged to national stock markets principles (Wade 1996). The sceptics response to the flow of capital either through trade or investment is that the institutional origin in which capital flow thrives is largely nationally based. Therefore the role of multi-national co-operations in spreading foreign direct investment around the world does not necessarily make them stateless. For instance the cost of establishing an electronics industry requires hi-tech manufacturing skilled labour, hence to ensure effective production cost, an FDI initiative will allows for the recruitment of local citizens and the avoidance of tariff barriers. This will result in the Manufacturing Company retaining a large proportion of local origin and blend to local conditions as against the claim that MNC`s are placeless. Fundamentally, the wave of globalization has transformed national economies from subsistent production to a global production apparatus. This means that the world of states is adjusting to the irreversible dynamics of globalization, as societies are becoming more competitive and coalescing to create an international system of interdependence. However this trend is not necessarily even or universal, the indications of globalization on the nation state has varying consequences. While a genuine single market is evident in Europe, North America and East Asia, the same cannot be said of Sahara Africa or the Balkans. Yet most literature more often generalizes nation state experience in its interaction with the global network. Global Environment: Human environment is full of overwhelming potential hazards. This risk is attributable to a number of factors, not exclusive to global capitalism. The environmental pressure of coping with economic production has indeed deeply affected the atmosphere and climate of the world. Dealing with this destruction will require nation state to take necessary steps in protecting their immediate environment. Europe, America and recently Singapore have sponsored the cleaning up of their environment. Nevertheless the need to respond to this challenge in contemporary global space demands both the rich and poor nations to share the burden. Richard Falk argues that the danger of ozone depletion requires the involvement of the optimist and pessimist alike (1999, p.28). This means that the current global era shifts the responsibility of solving the ecological damage from immediate domestic actor to a compliant network of actors which could be voluntary or through agreements. It is perhaps correct to say that responses to environmental challenges can be seen in duality, private firms now use slogans like Think globally, act locally to create an open concern towards the decay of the environment. The green peace initiative is in the forefront of disseminating the rejection of scientific exploitation of nature on energy grounds clean. In doing so its uses its western connection to influence the energy policy of national government across the globe, this is also similar to what the global civil society (GIS) does. Through an awareness campaign, the (GCS) cajole national governments into subscribing to the international code of conduct on environmental practices. On the other hand however, while it is imperative to `think globally and act locally` as some environmental activist advocate, the assumption that all environmental problems require global concern is quite misleading. For instance environmental concern arising from human activity on the soil such as deforestation and watershed failure are certainly dealt with at local level. In spite of emergencies and spread of international networks on environmental problem, the compliance of various nation states is important for positive result. Therefore Michael Mann affirms that the policy makers in transnational agencies are also representatives of their various nation state, therefore `soft geopolitics` remains a viable tool for effective policy implementation (1997,p.490). Moreover the skeptic view finds actuality in the history of international co-operations on global environment, as there are several examples of negotiations failing due to either structural imbalance of the North/South, or because states do not find such engagements helpful to their economic and political concerns. The Copenhagen summit failed due to this kind of suspicion. The weakness of the UN climate convention document as not reflecting the concerns of poor developing countries on the limit of emission reduction, created the deadlock negotiations at Copenhagen. Notwithstanding, one thing the Copenhagen summit would have achieved today is the fact that national governments are now well informed of the reality of climate change, therefore legislations from various national governments now seeks to address climate change within their own internal agencies. Global Citizenship: The current age of information technology has made the monopoly of information by nation states difficult. Across geographical boundaries peoples access to information on global development creates the opportunity for them to have varieties of preferences on products and life styles. Gone are the days when the flow of information was managed by government to suit their policy interest, currently people`s free access to information have made them cosmopolitan in their character (Ohmae 1990, p.19). The swiftness of information travel from the internet and cable network in an increasingly globalised world provides a background for understanding the changing role of the state with regards to citizenship. Richard Falk has described citizenship as a shifting set of relationship and attitude without any necessary territorial delimitation (Brecher 1993, p.39). The dynamics of economic, cultural and ecological transformation offered by globalization is responsible for this shift. Therefore human experience in contemporary global era makes global citizenship irreversible as it is impossible to territorially manage the relations of people. As stated in Ohmae`s borderless world, The Japanese have become global citizens through perpetual travel abroad. This he claims would not have been possible in the past if not for the flow of information around the world. (1990, p.19). Conversely, the global citizenship phenomenon has been challenge by skeptic who holds to the view that nationalism remains a powerful devise to the primary identity which gives people the rights and privileges they enjoy within a given boundary. They argue (Skeptics) that the legitimate role of citizen has been offered by the foundation of political democracy through constitutional framework which allows for periodic elections and the assurance of rights. However the generalization of global citizenship may have been overstated. The evidences are more conspicuous in Europe where the mentality towards market, politics and security has been largely de-territorialized. By contrast this mentality does not find credence in sub-Saharan Africa were negotiations to act collectively has often been a mirage. (Falk 1990, P.159). Post-Nuclear Politic:- Understanding the New World Order : The dominant discourse after the two great wars in political life has been how to fashion out a universal body to govern the world as a whole. The defining political challenge was to establish a world order based on sustainable democratic principles. A consciousness that was pioneered by the Western states after the lesson learnt from `hard geopolitics` was to build a world order bases on collective action. Therefore the concept of globalization and the use of `soft geopolitics` sets an agenda to restructure the world without necessarily going through the face of transformation that occurred in Europe.(Mann 1997,p.493). Consequently, threats ranging from rising nuclear tension in states like Pakistan and India and separatist agitations in other countries around the world continue to slap down reluctant militarist nations in global affairs. Globalization however offers a plausible platform to contain potential danger through global geopolitical order. In this regards, the United Nations represent a marginal player in global security concern. Even though its more often accused of failing, the evident bearing has shifted towards regionalism. The approach to build a global governance structure through regionalism has yielded positive results. With an experience from the European Union, security issues are now articulated within regions shaped by the UN charter . At least it is apparent that regional institution remains feasible potential network towards the emergence of positive globalism. In refuting the impact of global governance over the nation state, Max Weber maintains that the monopoly of territory remains a distinctive feature which only the modern state possesses (1968, p.56). This means that the prevailing role of governance is exclusive to nation states, therefore the choice to engage in the society of states or international relations is not forceful but dependent on the willingness do so. Since nation states develop into self-sufficient entities acting on their own will (Bull 1977). Globalization and Governance: According to the Keynesian welfare state which calls for powerful government involvement in economic planning and social welfare, the developed economies of the world embraced the Keynesian model since the end of WW II until the 1970`s. This system thrived as it became an effective management tool that strengthened the network between states in relation to the market. However the economic crisis at the end of the 1970`s informed by the oil strike of Arab and the resultant economic downturn, paved way for rapid economic liberalization and fiscal control. The wave of globalization has coerced national governments to reshape their functions towards a vast catalyst role of consensus building and mediation as against been the provider (UN, 2001, World Public Sector: 21). Hence, the liberal economic consciousness revamped the role of central governments in interfering with their national economy to mere regulatory roles, bases on neo liberal ideas. It is fascinating to discover that the adoption of new watchdog role as offered by open economic market principles in the United Kingdom witness speedy economic recovery than the socialist economic model of France at that time (Sorensen 2004: 33). The authorities that states exercise in managing economic activities became private regulated by non-state actors in the global political economy. Nonetheless, a complex network does exist between the state and the market in addressing governance issues. For instance, the Global Reporting Initiative (GLI) which is saddled with the responsibility of measuring the private actors impact comprises of NGO`S, MNC`S, the government and professional bodies. On the other hand also economic and political networks at the regional level have emerged viz :- ASEAN, NAFTA, EU and the AU all comprised of nations states showing awareness and wiliness tackling the prevailing demands of globalization. It is safe to state that globalization has transformed state structure and national government in coming to terms with the dynamics that the era presents. New partnerships between public and private sector have been on the rise and this has led government to be more accountable and productive. The Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs established in Mexico and Brazil have been adopted by many other states in the United States, e.g. The New York Citys Opportunity NYC (World Bank Seminar 2007). Conclusion:- The culmination of factors necessitated by the wave of globalization has provoked many thoughts concerning the future of the state. Indeed numerous revelations emanating from the literates suggest that the nations state has lost its role, some other thoughts argue the state still retain its character. It is against this background that I delve into the discursive debate. It has become clear to me that the impact of globalization is multi dimensional. Consequently the triumph of globalism over nationalism remains an ironic claim if not dubious; this is so because at every point of convergence the state remains an unsurpassed political actor for global engagements. While I do not affirm to be statist in my disposition or ascribe to the borderless world thesis, I correspond from my finding, that states are responding to the dynamics of global pressure and that the market is still subject to state control to some extent. In sum, the world has become anarchical with the technological advancement of our age, much as economic globalization has made the world replete with global product. Therefore the structure of global governance rests upon an engaging society of state rather than an imaginary global society. Hence impartial proposals, trade-offs and negotiations will help erect a true international society.

Terri Schiavo A Case Study Of Euthanasia Philosophy Essay

Terri Schiavo A Case Study Of Euthanasia Philosophy Essay Euthanasia is a life-terminating process with means to end pain and suffering. However, sometimes the way euthanasia is performed can be painful in itself. Terri Schiavos case was a very high-profile one for many reasons, one of them being because of this particular issue. She was 26 years old when she collapsed in her home in Florida in 1990 from what seemed to be lack of oxygen. She was in a coma for two and half months before entering a vegetative state. What came after would prolong into a 15-year dispute between Schiavos husband and her family in trying to figure out what would be the most ethical thing to do. After Terri Schiavo entered the vegetative state, there were two different paths she could have continued onto. The first being death through euthanasia, while the second being living life and surviving with constant assistance and through artificial means. According to Diana Lynne in her article at http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=29516, however, the path to euthanasia was absolutely unnecessary. Schiavo was not drooling, which meant she was able to control her saliva and therefore would not need feeding tubes. She was not in a PVS, or a persistent vegetative state, because she very well recognized her environment and was able to interact with it. Nurses reportedly could distinguish her words through her difficulty to speak as she would say help me and Mommy. Herein laid the biggest argument- would Terri want to live a life like this? Her husband, Michael Schiavo, reported that Terri had stated herself that she would never want to live her life as a vegetable and would rather have someone put a stop to her suffering. There was, however, no written proof, or any at all for that matter, of this claim. Terris parents insisted that she would not want to be euthanized due to her religion-they said she was a devout Roman Catholic and was very religious. There was no evidence to support this claim either. Michael Schiavos intentions for Terri had been questioned since he lost all hope in her survival in 1992. His intentions were also suspicious because he had claimed that her reason for collapsing that night was due to her bulimic eating disorder-an issue that no one as aware she was dealing with. Another suspicious piece of evidence from the case was the fact that Terri had neck injuries when she was brought to the hospital that night she collapsed; her parents, the Schindlers, believe that Michael tried to strangle her that night. The first time he petitioned for Terris food tube to be removed in 1998, Michael Schiavo was already engaged to another woman whom he had had two children with. He was still married to Terri and was legally her guardian. The court ruled in favor of Michael Schiavo and decided to remove Terris feeding tube in April of 2001. Three days later the feeding tube was put back in due to appeals made by the Schindlers which led to a hold in his case. There was videotaped evidence that Terri Schiavo was indeed responding to her familys interactions and was not brain-dead or vegetative. Unfortunately, Michael Schiavos consistent efforts finally came through. On March 13th of 2005, the feeding tube was removed from Terri Schiavo. This would lead to her death on March 31st, 2005 from dehydration and starvation. For 18 days Terri was parched and starving, and this is how she was killed. I believe that Terri Schiavo was killed in a harmful, thoughtless act and there a quite a few moral theories present in ethics that can support this. In Immanuel Kants ethical theory, the categorical imperative states that we should not use people as a means to an end. Killing a person to put a stop to their suffering through euthanasia would be using them to another end. Also, Kant believed that what seems to be an act out of kindness could lead to a bad thing; Kant was not interested in acting through compassion but rather what were the right thing and the best thing to do for the best possible outcome. Kant also believed that the value of a human being was above all price. He was extremely against suicide because of this belief of the human life and its worth. Especially in this case, in which Terri Schiavo was not brain-dead and could rationalize and think, I believe Kant would agree with allowing her to continue her live and not euthanize her. John Stuart Mill would state that euthanasia was just because he believed that as long as no other being is hurt, a person can do anything he or she pleases. However, I would interpret this utilitarianistic view as one that could go against euthanasia. I believe that the death of any being can and will hurt another. The death of Terri Schiavo devastated her family and friends. Through her starvation and dehydration, her closest loved ones were also in pain because of what she had to go through. Another moral theory that would go against euthanasia is the natural law. This ethical theory states that the end never justifies the means. This theory is evidently against euthanasia because it clearly insinuates that doing evil is not justified simply because the outcome will be good, even if the intentions mean well. This theory would suggest that killing an innocent person is never morally right to do because the main intention of this natural law is to protect and preserve the innocent. Natural law also insists that God gave life and it is up to him whether or not it is a persons time for that life to end or not and he will take that life away when he pleases; natural law very much believes in the sanctity of life. The natural law theory is very much closely related to Christian ethics which would also be against euthanasia for many of the same reasons. This portion of ethics believes that humans do not have any right to take away life because it is up to God because he gave us life. It believes that euthanasia is murder and we are not to kill. Life is sacred and is meant to be lived until the persons natural death and is therefore taken away naturally by God. In terms of what is just, I do not believe Polemarchus would agree with the removal of Terri Schiavos feeding tube or any other incident involving euthanasia for that matter because of his belief of tit for tat. This belief of justice will overlook an act of evil if this kind of act was already done to that person committing it. This belief is also known as an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. People in vegetative states in situations where they may be euthanized should not be if they are innocent people. Terri Schiavos case involved an involuntary euthanasia which means the person is not in a position to ask whether or not they want to die; the method of euthanasia in her case was passive, although the clear intention was for Terri to die. There are two other types of euthanasia: voluntary and nonvoluntary. In a voluntary case, the person asks to die and in a nonvoluntary case, the person does not want to die. The two types of methods in which euthanasia is performed are either passive or active. A passive method of euthanasia involves the cutting off of a treatment that the patient is on for a natural type of death while an active method of euthanasia is the opposite in which something is added in order to specifically end the patients life. This was the wrong thing to do especially because it was involuntary and it was therefore not certain that Terri Schiavo wished to die. It is reported that Terri Schiavo did not feel any pain during her 18 years in the hospital and because of th is, any argument supporting euthanasia using Terri Schiavo as an example is not reasonable. In any case, however, I believe that there is no such thing as a life not worth living. Its evident that every person would like to die with dignity and likely does not want to spend the last years of their life in a hospital but even though it is rare, it is possible to come out of a vegetative state. Also, according to all the philosophers and moral theories mentioned above, life is too sacred to not live, no matter what the circumstances

Born Too Early Essay -- essays research papers

According to the American Association of Premature Infants (AAPI), over 400,000 babies are born prematurely or at a low birth weight. As a result of being born early they are more likely to require high-technology intensive and specialized care in the hospital and follow-up care as infants and children. As a result, many have chronic medical problems and developmental problems. Some of the problems consist of respiratory distress, feeding issues, language delays and several other problems.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As a mother of a premature infant, I know these issues are a major concern when the baby is born and the stress that it can put on the families. In order to be able to deal with the situation effectively you have to acquire information and learn the good and the bad that come with having a premature infant.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When a baby is born prematurely there are a number of tests that the baby has to go through. First the doctors and nurses have to assess the baby’s heart, lungs, color and temperature. If the baby is having trouble with any of these things then it is taken into what is called the neonatal intensive care unit. In some of the smaller hospitals they aren’t equipped with the technology that is needed to keep the baby alive and the baby has to be transported to a bigger hospital, usually to a hospital in a metropolitan city in order to get the proper care. After the baby has been assessed for problems then it is watched closely ...

The Stimulus and Rhythms of Atalanta :: Atalanta Gymnastics Dance Dancing Essays

The Stimulus and Rhythms of Atalanta The stimulus which, I thought would be most thought provoking and appealing was Atalanta. I found the idea of characterising a dynamic, strong vivacious woman appealing due to my strong background in theatre and acting. This enabled me to perceive hidden depths of Atalanta's character, which were not evident at first sight. Therefore, I chose this stimulus because I believed that Atalanta would be an interesting and challenging character to portray through the medium of dance. Another reason why I chose this stimulus, was the use of the cloth and costume to portray "how rhythms can be created by repeating and opposing shapes" and how "certain lines indicate motion". Due to my previous experience as a rhythmic gymnast, I was able develop original and unusual movements, because I was used to using cloth and ribbons as a means for demonstrating highly complex physical movements After receiving the stimulus, I first of all researched Atalanta. Using a variety of resources such as and the Internet, I found that Atalanta derived from Greek legend, and was a strong athletic competitor, whom no man could beat at running. This was emphasised in my dance through the use of sustained running movements and the use of pauses to emphasis the importance of the poses. This also helped to reflect the stillness of the wooden sculpture. Analysis and further research led me to conclude that the pose and expression of the sculpture Atlanta are portraying her determination and power. This was evident in the strong and dynamic movements of my dance, as well as the use of facial expressions, bodily expressions and focus. My bodily expressions were natural, controlled with an upright posture, thus helping to portray her purpose as an athlete in a race. The facial expressions portrayed her determination, thus demonstrating her strong and vivacious character, and the embodiment of power, which Atalanta represents. The combination of body and facial gestures shared in the mood and theme of both the dance and the music. Focus aided my facial expressions. It was important for the focus to be strong, not looking at the floor at any time, but either looking out into the space such as when doing an arabesque but also facing inwards to concentrate on a move, for example the running movements from the pictures. Through the use of Stanslavki's 'method-acting' I used my research to characterise a strong female woman, which was then transposed into movements. To achieve the dimensions of Atalanta's character, I profiled her, so that when I was dancing, I would embody the character, this enabled me to access her personality quickly.

A Critical Review of a Senco

A critical review on the role of the SENCO and dyslexia: how this role has been affected and impacted upon by recent legislation Introduction The BDA Dyslexia Friendly Schools Pack for Teachers (2009) provides an overall guide of what dyslexia is and how a dyslexia friendly school should be delivering education to the dyslexic learner. The writers begin with a definition of dyslexia stating that â€Å"dyslexia is a learning difference, a combination of strengths and weaknesses†.This is an informative definition as opposed to the recommendation of Norwich et al (2005) that exemplary schools should promote an inclusive school system whereby dyslexia is considered but not in isolation. The BDA (2009) state that importance ought to be placed on acknowledging dyslexia as â€Å" a specific learning difficulty† as a specific learning difference† so that teaching is inclusive and focuses on all learners rather than just the dyslexic learner who may already feel something is wrong with them.However, I stress that this general definition is simplistic and I agree with Reid that there should be a working/operational definition. Reid’s definition of dyslexia is more informative: There may be visual and phonological difficulties and there is usually some discrepancy in performances in different areas of learning. It is important that the individual differences and learning styles are acknowledged since these will affect outcomes of assessment and learning. (p. 4-5, Reid, 2003).The BDA (2009) conclude to achieve BDA Quality Mark status, LEAs and their associated schools must encourage and identify outstanding practice in following and improving access to education for all learners. I feel that planning a dyslexia friendly school has the effect of improving the learning of not just the dyslexic learner but other pupils as well. According to Snowling et al (2011), dyslexia is seen to be a â€Å"deficit in phonological skills which, in turn, compromi ses the ability to learn the grapheme–phoneme mappings that underpin competence in an alphabetic system†.Snowling et al’s (2011) research underpins the classic definition of dyslexia that it is a specific reading difficulty whereby literacy under achievement is apparent and falls below the accepted level given the intelligence of the learner. This study is important: it goes beyond recounting dyslexia at the behavioural level (i. e. incorrect spelling and reading) to taking into consideration weaknesses at the cognitive level that explicate the practical problems (Morton & Frith, 1995).Dyslexic learners have deficits in three linked but dissimilar areas of phonological processing: â€Å"phonological awareness (the ability to attend to and manipulate sounds in words); phonological memory (memory for speech-based information – also referred to as verbal memory); and naming (providing the spoken label for a visual referent)†. (Vellutino et al. , 2004). Consequently, recent definitions of dyslexia have discarded the need for literacy to be appreciably below general aptitude, and have taken a widely accepted view of dyslexia with â€Å"phonological processing as a core deficit† (Lyon, Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2003). ContextThe context in which I am employed is a small mainstream one-form entry Church of England voluntary aided primary school. The school is situated in a deprived inner city area in the London borough of Lewisham where 25% of the 225 children on roll from Nursery through to Year 6 are eligible for Free School Meals. This is significantly higher than 2006 national figures of 16% of all primary school children receiving Free School Meals (FSM). The number of children currently identified as having a Special Educational Need is 47, or 20. 8% of the total school population which is slightly higher than 2005 national figures of 18%.The figure of 1. 7% is the number of SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) c hildren who have a Statement of Special Educational Need – lower than national figures of 3% – and the remainder of the SEND population comprises overwhelmingly of children on School Action Plus (78% – 67. 5% represented by boys and 32. 5% represented by girls) and approximately 8% of SEND children on School Action. The largest identified area of special need in the school falls under SLCN ( Speech, Language and Communication Need ) as set out in the SEN Code of Practice 2001 where 61% of SEND children have a medical diagnosis of receptive and/or xpressive language difficulty, followed by 21% of SEND children with a medical diagnosis of and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Other types of need are Down’s Syndrome ( 2%), Apert’s Syndrome (2%), Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties SEBD (6%), Dyslexia (2%) and more generally literacy difficulties which are under investigation for potential specific causes (6%). These needs are justifiable as t hey have been recognised and identified as such by relevantly qualified and external agencies or are in the process of being more specifically identified .A critical review of the role of the SENCO The role of the SENCo has developed through government policy and undergone significant changes in the past decade with the introduction of the statutory SEN Code of Practice 2001 which states that the role of the SENCo includes identifying and placing pupils in need of special educational provision on a graduated system, liaising with parents and other professionals in regards to children with SEND and advising and supporting other practitioners in the field amongst other responsibilities.This was largely interpreted as a co-ordinating role whereby Teaching Assistants ( in at least 36% of schools ) were employed in this capacity and contributed to disparities in provision nationally as well as a divergence of roles. In 2009 new government regulations and amendments to the SEN Code of Pra ctice 2001 required SENCos to be qualified teachers and for those teachers new to the role to undergo compulsory training in the form of the National Award of SEN Coordination.The 2006 House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee Report on SEN clearly defines the role of the SENCo as a strategic leader, and recommended that SENCos â€Å"should in all cases be qualified teachers and in a senior management position in the school as recommended in the SEN Code of Practice†. (Recommendation 84) Statutory and regulatory frameworks and relevant developments at national and local level The SEN Code of Practice 2001 remains the statutory legislation governing SEN practice and provision.The 2001 Code of Practice replaces the 1994 Code of Practice, although it retains much of the original guidance, but takes into account developments in education since 1994 and includes new obligations introduced by the SEN and Disability Act 2001. The 2001 Code of Practice promotes a more co nsistent approach to meeting the needs of children with SEN and focuses on preventative work and early identification as well as developing strong partnerships between parents, schools, local authorities, health and social services and voluntary organisations.The school Special Educational Needs and Disability policy is largely based on the SEN Code of Practice 2001 and incorporates elements of the statutory Disability Discrimination Act 2005, as well as local authority guidance of national policy, such as the Lewisham school action & school action plus guidance 2010. The school policy clearly states: â€Å"A child is deemed to have special educational needs when they are seen to have significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of their age group, or have a disability which significantly hinders their use of educational facilities.When such difficulties or disabilities persistently demand the planning of educational provision different from that of the rest of th e class, the child is placed on the Special Needs and Disabilities Profile. This is a confidential list of children for whom extra support may be necessary and whose progress will be monitored by the class teacher and Inclusion Manager. † ( Rose & Lyle, 2011, p1) Some elements of the SEN Code of Practice 2001 framework are guidance, whilst others must be observed.This includes ensuring liaison with parents and other professional in respect to children with SEN, ensuring that Individual Education Plans (IEPs) are in place and that relevant information about individual children with SEN is collated, recorded and updated. The Code ensures that schools and local authorities must examine their practice and provision for children with SEN and that they are accountable by law – e. g. offering full access to a broad, balanced and relevant education.The Code of Practice emphasises the right of a child with SEN to access mainstream education through the development of provision i n such settings to meet â€Å"a wide spectrum of SEN† (COP 2001, 7:52-7:63) that may overlap in the categories of communication and interaction, cognition and learning, behaviour, emotional and social development and sensory and/or physical needs. The provision provided may involve well-differentiated Quality First teaching (Edwards 2010), intervention programmes including withdrawal from lass, specialist teaching or therapy or attendance ( full or part time ) at a specialist setting. Children are to be identified as early as possible and their needs met through a graduated approach within the school’s own resources ( School Action), additional support from external agencies ( School Action Plus ), or if progress is inadequate and further support from the Local authority is required, a Statement of Special Educational Needs may be issued.As I prepared this essay, I have identified a number of key tensions in my particular school: Whilst class teachers in my school acce pt, in accordance with the National Curriculum Inclusion Statement 1999, that they must respond to children’s diverse learning needs and overcome potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils, including those with SEND, there has been a lack of clarity over the meaning of the term â€Å"inclusion† and with whom the overall responsibility of children on the SEND register lies.This is hardly surprising as there is little consensus on the precise meaning of ‘inclusion’ at national levels – OFSTED tend to view inclusion as minimising inequalities for groups of children – eg. including those with SEND, on FSM, gender, race or attainment – whilst teachers primarily regard inclusion chiefly in terms of individuals with SEND ( NASUWT Report 2008, p. 17 ) and their â€Å"right† to be included in a mainstream classroom and how to best achieve this.Increasingly, I favour a model which allows individual children – whether SEND, English as an Additional Language (EAL) or non-SEND – to access an education which best meets their needs based as much as possible within the mainstream classroom but through withdrawing children for specialist 1:1 or small group teaching depending on their needs and the gaps in their knowledge relative to their peers and age-related expectations.The non-statutory Removing Barriers for Achievement (2004) highlights that all teachers – not just the SENCO or Inclusion Manager – are responsible for teaching children with SEND. This also includes communicating the message to class teachers that they are often best placed to initially notice difficulties a child may be having and by making certain referral forms available to them, thereby actively engaging them in jointly taking responsibility for SEND or potential SEND children in their classes.The Every Child Matters (2004) agenda is currently not statutory and is now being re-draft ed as Every Child Achieves in a new White Paper, although the five original outcomes remain. The 5 outcomes are: to stay safe, to be healthy, to enjoy and achieve, to make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being. The focus for schools not only has to be upon ensuring that all staff are aware of the 5 outcomes, but also on the impact and progress made towards the 5 outcomes by all pupils and individuals within vulnerable groups, such as children with Special Educational Needs.Such agendas which sit alongside other requirements on class teachers to also focus on group outcomes such as groups of children attaining age –related expectations hence creates pulls in opposing directions as to the levels of attainment a child is achieving and the best outcome for that child – or â€Å"competing rather than complementary agendas. There is a lack of clarity as to whether educational policy is concerned with ‘normalisation’ and conformity, or genuinel y values diversity and difference (NASUWT Report 2008, p. 18 ). This tension is a theme which continues in the form of ‘narrowing the gaps’ between groups and ‘accelerated progress’.In the case of children with Speech and Language difficulties or dyslexic tendencies, these terms appear contradictory and oxymoronic – as typically such children need reinforcement and over learning compared to their peers operating at age-related expectations. It is hard to see how such children can make the requisite amount of progress as measured by national age-related attainment standards ( and making a minimum of 2 sub levels progress a year ) as opposed to progress as measured against their individual areas of weakness and specific difficulties.Measured this latter way, their progress may well be excellent although a system of levels and sub-levels may fail to be sensitive enough to chart this progress. I am therefore examining ways such as building in pre- and po st intervention screening for relevant children and considering using Assessing Pupils’ Progress (APP) Speaking and Listening levels in addition to National Curriculum levels in Reading, Writing and Maths to more sensitively measure progress.The contribution of extended services, such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Educational Psychology, Family Services, and Early Intervention Services to improve outcomes for children as set out in ECM(2004) is welcomed, although it is hard to measure the impact and the progress that this may have for a number of reasons: in changing times, it is at times difficult to keep abreast of developments and changes to services offered and their accessibility; various services may have a varying level of impact on different children and their families; not all parents are receptive – and some positively resistant – to accepting referrals to certain services; there can be a diffusion of responsibility once vario us agencies are involved. As a SENCo, one would encounter all of these barriers and find that developing good working, collaborative and supportive relationships with all representatives of extended services that a SENCo works closely with as well as parents is the best way forward and ensuring that communication channels are maintained.This has to be carefully weighed against issues of data protection and confidentiality by ensuring for example that Common Assessment Frameworks (CAFs) are raised before information is shared between agencies and that all sensitive information is stored in a safe location to which only a SENCo and the Headteacher have access. However, to enable class teachers to better understand the needs of children that a SENCo teaches on a daily basis, the SENCo would ensure that all class teachers are provided with relevant reports from external agencies and that these are used appropriately to inform planning and provision for a child within both a classroom an d wider school setting.High incidence of SEN and dyslexia – how they can affect pupils’ participation and learning and strategies to remove barriers to learning Baroness Warnock is quoted: â€Å"SEN has come to be the name of a single category, and the government uses it as if it is the same problem to include a child in a wheelchair and a child with Asperger’s, and that is conspicuously untrue† (The Guardian, Tuesday January 31, 2006). Indeed, the 2006 House of Commons Select Committee Report on Special Educational Needs acknowledges that â€Å"children exist on a broad continuum of needs and learning styles but do not fit into neat categories of different sorts of children – those with and without SEN.The category of â€Å"SEN† is an arbitrary distinction that leads to false classifications and, it can be argued that, this is what is causing the high levels of conflict and frustration with all those involved. † (p. 36) This has ofte n been my experience when discussing the progress of various pupils on the SEND register with senior leadership who frequently use the terminology â€Å"SEND† and â€Å"non-SEND†. I am of the opinion that this is a blanket term which does little to understand the true nature of individual children’s difficulties and how best to address these. OFSTED comparison of groups engenders such an approach and is not sensitive enough to the variation between individuals.In the case of my school, it appears that the group most at risk of underachieving is higher ability girls – with no SEN! With an emphasis on the social context of special educational needs, Removing Barriers to Achievement (2004, p. 8,) states: â€Å"Difficulties in learning often arise from an unsuitable environment – inappropriate grouping of pupils, inflexible teaching styles, or inaccessible curriculum – as much from individual children’s physical, sensory or cognitive imp airments. Children’ emotional and mental health needs may also have a significant impact on their ability to make the most of the opportunities in school, as may family circumstances. †These considerations, combined with evidence that there is a link between social deprivation and SEN nationally – as well as underachievement nationally and social deprivation, can make identification of SEN problematic in my school, especially at School Action Level – for example, is a child making poor progress in reading and writing because of difficulties such as potential dyslexia, or through poor parenting and a lack of exposure to books at home? Or both? Should the child be on the SEND register and is he/she underachieving? In such cases, assessment and targeted intervention at the specific area of weakness can help differentiate between a range of possible factors, but it may not always be so clear cut. What is clear is that these difficulties need to be addressed to minimise the longer term effects on such a child’s development and to help them succeed in the future.This can involve working very closely, and in partnership with parents in order to create a sustainable and longer term solution. The OFSTED Special Educational Needs and Disability Review 2010 found that the term ‘Special Educational Needs’ was too widely used with up 50% of schools visited using low attainment and slow progress as the key indicators of a special educational need, with in some cases, very little further assessment. According to the report, 50% of all pupils identified for School Action would not be identified as such if, â€Å"schools focussed on improving teaching and learning for all, with individual goals for improvement† (p. 3). This suggested a culture of underachievement due to low pupil expectations and poor mainstream teaching provision.It also found that pupils identified as having special educational needs were disproportionate ly from disadvantaged backgrounds and achieved less well than their peers in terms of attainment and progress over time. Parents were keen to have their children formally recognised as having special educational needs in order to ensure additional support for their child. The quality of the additional support from within or outside the school was not found to be good by inspectors. Provision was often not appropriate or of good enough quality and did not lead to better outcomes for the child. The review found that no one model or setting of special needs provision worked better than another.The key findings included improving the quality of assessment, improving teaching at an early stage to avoid additional provision at a later stage, ensuring that schools do not over-identify children as having special educational needs when better Quality First Teaching was required, ensuring that additional support was effective and developing specialist provision and services. A result of such findings and the implications for my school have been: 1. A reduction in the number of children placed on School Action – either by not being placed on the SEND register, or by being removed from it. In many cases, identified labels were â€Å"behavioural†.There is evidence that good class teacher behaviour management, combined with weekly visits from a pupil referral unit outreach worker, as well as a Learning Mentor, has helped to remove some emotional barriers to some children’s learning. However, definitions of ‘behavioural difficulty’ can still remain unclear as this can be a fluid and relative term dependent on the setting of a class and the nature and frequency of behavioural challenge – and hence vary nationally as well as within a school. Children remaining on school action are largely children with ongoing literacy difficulties, whose difficulties are being examined more specifically as suspected dyslexia. 2.Improved training for Te aching Assistants who are often the staff working closely with children identified with SEND. This has included in-house training and attendance on specific courses as well as reaching a minimum standard in Maths and English. Time factors and competing demands on Teaching Assistants’ time however are considerable constraints and hinder the impact that this training may have. The school now employs a NumbersCounts maths specialist. The impact of this specialist teaching needs greater time to develop to measure its effectiveness – although I do not feel that curriculum sub-levels may necessarily be the best way to measure this impact for certain children. 3.A focus on Quality First teaching so that all staff educate, share and promote practical and achievable ways for every class teacher to adopt strategies as a matter of daily routine that are inclusive to children with Speech and Language difficulties and dyslexic tendencies – to embed this in a culture of good general practice and reduce the potential for children to be classified as ‘SEN’ when underachievement is the issue and provide a good learning environment for all children – including those with SEN. The Code of Practice (2001) outlines four main areas of need – cognition and learning, behaviour, emotional and social development needs, communication and interaction and sensory and/or physical needs. Compared to national 2006 figures ( DfES Special Educational Needs in England, January 2006. SFR23/2006), our school has a far higher incidence of Speech and Language difficulties including dyslexia ( 61% of the SEND egister ) ASD ( 21%) than the national figures ( 14. 3% and 2. 4% respectively ) but a much lower incidence of BESD ( 6% to 26. 5% nationally ). Part of the reason may be recent school investment in enhanced Speech and Language Service from the NHS, where the school together with 4 other local schools, funds weekly Speech and Language therapist ti me. This has lead to a high rate of referrals, which has led to a higher rate of detection. This picture is not evenly spread however – the investment in Speech and Language, although justifiable as such difficulties impede access to many parts of the curriculum, comes at a cost to other categories of SEND as identified by the Code of Practice.Other children’s need are not always met quickly ( sometimes more than 2 terms ) despite early identification due to lengthy waiting times for assessments with ‘low level, high incidence’ learning difficulties such as dyslexia having low priority in the hierarchy of urgency . There are only 2 Specialist Teachers qualified to formally diagnose dyslexia provided by the Lewisham Inclusion Service to support the needs of children in mainstream settings whose time is shared between 92 schools in the borough. This means that specialist provision increasingly needs to be provided within the school setting and is dependent o f current staff levels of expertise.This can create variability in the quality of provision for children with SEN across schools in the same locality. In accordance with the Equalities Act 2010 and Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (2001), schools must make reasonable adjustments for children with SEN and disabilities to access testing that does not discriminate against them on the basis of their disability or special need. A learner with a Statement of Special Educational Needs automatically qualifies for up to 25% additional time in order to complete testing in Reading, Writing and Mathematics at the end of KS2 – however changes in the criteria for awarding Statements of SEN in Lewisham have amounted to fewer statements being issued and financial savings for the authority.A diagnosis of dyslexia would not however result in additional time if the learner does not have a Statement unless considerable additional documentation is provided. The use of a scribe, transc ript, technology such as a laptop or reader however for a dyslexic learner is discretionary upon a school’s assessment of the learner’s need in order to access the tests and can be easily arranged. It is at least reasonable for Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) guidelines to permit such measures as scribes or laptops to remove potential barriers to performance for children with certain types of need under formal examination conditions to access the knowledge held by children who may not best be able to demonstrate in written form.In conclusion, whilst various governmental policies have aimed to improve the outcomes for children with SEND, there are difficulties – some unforeseen – between the principles set out and the translation of these into practice, with gaps and variations on local and national levels. We await the forthcoming new legislation around SEND and the implications that this will have on the ever-developing role of th e SENCo forging a strategic path to best meet the needs – Special Educational and otherwise – of families and children within a tighter resource framework. References Special Educational Needs Code of Practice. DfEE 581/2001 November 2001 QCA Curriculum guidelines for learners with learning difficulty and special arrangements during Key Stage 2 tests – 2012Special Educational Needs and Disabilty Act 2001 What Equality law means for you as an education provider: schools. Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2010 Removing Barriers to Achievement: The Government’s Strategy for SEN. DfES/0118/2004. 2004 National Inclusion Statement, 1999 Every Child Matters: Change for children (2004) Special Educational Needs and Inclusion: Reflection and Renewal, NASUWT Report, 2008 House of Commons Select Committee Report on Special Educational Needs, HMSO, 2006 Inclusion Development Programme:Teaching and supporting pupils with dyslexia. www. nasentraining. org. uk/resou rces/dyslexia-idp-materials/ The Special Educational Needs and Disability Review.Ofsted, 2010 The SENCO survival guide: the nuts and bolts of everything you need to know Edwards, Sylvia; National Association for Special Educational Needs (Great Britain) E-boo, Routledge, 2010, 1st edition Inclusion: Does it matter where pupils are taught? Ofsted, 2006 Lewisham Local Education Authority publications: School Action/School Action Plus guidance criteria (2010) Inclusion debate treads new ground, The Guardian, Tuesday 31, 2006 Hallett, F & Hallett, G (2010). Transforming the Role of the SENCO: Achieving the National Award for SEN Coordination; Open University Press Special Educational Needs and Disability Policy, Rose and Lyle, 2011

You Suck: A Love Story Chapter 6

Chapter Six Do Animals Get the Blues? Clint was the only one of the Animals still left at the Marina Safeway. He was tall, with a wild mop of dark hair and thick, horn-rimmed glasses that were held together with medical tape, and he had a look of deep panic on his face. He'd been trying to keep the store together for nearly a week with only a couple of stock boys from the day crew, and a porter from a temp service (even Gustavo, the Mexican porter with five kids, had taken off with the Animals), but now a huge order had come in on the truck and he knew he needed professionals. He dialed Tommy's number for the fifth time that night. It was four in the morning, but Tommy was their leader – and perhaps the best frozen-turkey bowler the world had ever known. He knew what it meant to be an Animal; he would be awake. The machine beeped. Clint said, â€Å"Dude, they're all gone. I need your help. It's just me, some temps, and the Lord to-night.† Clint had been recently reborn after five years in a drug-induced haze. He swore that the Lord would forever be on his night crew. â€Å"The guys took off for Vegas. Call me. No, just bring your box cutter and come to work. I'm buried.† Once they had been nine strong, the Animals. Nine men, all under the age of twenty-five, left alone in a grocery store for eight hours with only Tommy to supervise them. They'd been given their name by the day manager, who had come in one morning to find them drunk, hanging from the giant Safeway letters on the front of store, pelting one another with marshmallows. Tommy had recruited them to fight the old vampire. They'd found the vampire, sleeping inside a vault on his yacht, and they had also found his art collection. After selling it for ten cents on the dollar, each of them had netted a hundred thousand dollars. Tommy went home with Jody, Clint went home to pray for the vampire's soul. Simon had been killed. The rest of the Animals headed for Vegas. Clint hung up the phone, then sat down hard in the manager's chair. It was too much responsibility. The weight of it would drive him over the edge. Even now he could hear dogs barking in his head. â€Å"Front door,† the temp night porter called over the half wall of the office. Clint stood up to see the Emperor and his dogs at the double electric doors. He grabbed the keys, disarmed the alarm, and opened the door. The Boston terrier shot by him, heading for the beef-jerky display. â€Å"Your Majesty,† Clint said. â€Å"You're out of breath.† The big man held his chest as he panted. â€Å"Gather the troops, young man. C. Thomas Flood has been turned to a bloodsucking fiend. Gather your weapons, we must charge again into the breach.† â€Å"It's just me and noobs,† Clint said. â€Å"Did you say that Tommy's a vampire?† â€Å"Indeed. I saw him not two hours ago. As pale as death.† â€Å"Well, that's not good.† â€Å"Your talent for stating the obvious is unprecedented, young man.† â€Å"Come in.† Clint stepped away from the door. â€Å"We are going to need to pray on this.† â€Å"Well, there's a start,† said the Emperor. â€Å"Then I need to call Tommy and tell him to never mind about coming to work,† Clint said. â€Å"Splendid,† said the Emperor, without a hint of sarcasm. â€Å"I believe we've achieved a new level of doomed.† â€Å"You've always been good to me,† Jody said. â€Å"Well, I try,† Tommy said. He was going up the narrow stairway to their loft. She was slung over his shoulder, her forehead bounced off his belt with every step. She seemed so light. Tommy was still amazed at his newfound strength. He'd carried her ten blocks already and he wasn't even feeling it. Well, he was a little tired of listening to her, but physically he wasn't fatigued at all. â€Å"I can be such a bitch sometimes.† â€Å"That's not true,† Tommy said. Yes, it was. â€Å"Yes it is, yes it is. Yes I am. I am a total bitch sometimes.† Tommy stopped at the top of the steps and dug in his pocket for his keys. â€Å"Well, maybe a little, but – â€Å" â€Å"So I am a bitch? You're saying I'm a bitch?† â€Å"Oh my God, is the sun never going to come up?† â€Å"Listen, you're lucky to have me, you wuss.† â€Å"Yes I am,† Tommy said. â€Å"You are?† He swung her over to her feet, then caught her before she went over backwards into the wall. She had a big goofy smile on her face. Sometime during the evening, blood had dripped down the front of her blouse and there was some smeared on her lip. She looked a little like she'd been punched out. Tommy tried to rub away the blood with his thumb. The cloud of alcohol breath she let go on him made him wince. â€Å"I love you, Tommy.† She fell into his arms. â€Å"Right back at you, Jody.† â€Å"I'm sorry I gave you noogies. I'm still learning to harness my powers, you know.† â€Å"That's okay.† â€Å"And called you a wuss.† â€Å"No problem.† She licked the side of his neck, nipped at him. â€Å"Let's make love before the sun comes up.† Tommy looked over her shoulder at the destruction they had wrought on the loft the last time they'd done it, and he said something he never thought he would hear coming out of his own mouth. â€Å"I think I've had enough for tonight. Maybe we should just lock down.† â€Å"You think I'm fat, don't you?† â€Å"No, you're perfect.† â€Å"It's because I'm fat.† She pushed him away and stumbled into the bedroom, then tripped and tumbled face-first into the shredded remains of their bed. â€Å"And old,† she added, although it was only through his acute vampire hearing that Tommy understood this, since she was speaking directly into the mattress. â€Å"Fat and old,† she said. â€Å"You're going to get whiplash from those mood swings, Red,† Tommy said quietly as he climbed into bed with his clothes on. Then he lay there beside her thinking about all that they had to do, about how they were going to have to find a place and move without going out during the day, and beyond that, just exactly how were they going to survive and stay hidden? The Emperor could tell. Tommy could tell he could tell. And as much as he liked the Emperor, it wasn't a good sign. And so even as he worried, and listened to his girlfriend yell at him, C. Thomas Flood became the first vampire in history to actually pray for the sun to come up. A few minutes later, his prayers were answered, and the two of them went out. Since becoming a vampire, Jody had always hated the way consciousness came on at dusk like the streetlights coming on. There was no groggy twilight between sleep and wakefulness, just â€Å"bam, welcome to the night, here's your to-do list.† Not tonight. Tonight she got her twilight, her grogginess, and a headache as well. She sat upright in bed so fast she nearly somersaulted off the end, then, when her head didn't seem to follow her, she lay back down with such force that her pillow exploded, sending out a snowstorm of feathers to whirl around the room. She moaned and Tommy came bounding into the room. â€Å"Hey,† he said. â€Å"Ouch,† Jody said, grabbing her forehead with both hands as if to hold her brains in. â€Å"That's new, huh? Vampire hangover?† Tommy waved some feathers out of the air in front of him. â€Å"I feel like death warmed over,† Jody said. â€Å"Cute. I'll bet you're missing coffee right now.† â€Å"And aspirin. I've fed off of you when you'd been drinking. Why did it affect me now?† â€Å"I think maybe the huge cat guy had a little more in his blood than I did. Anyway, I have a theory about that. We can test it later, when you feel better, but right now we have a ton of stuff we have to do. We've got to figure out the move. Clint called me from the store last night. Wanting me to work. Then he called back all freaked out, saying I shouldn't come in.† Tommy played the message for her. Twice. â€Å"He knows,† Jody said. â€Å"Yeah, but how does he know?† â€Å"Doesn't matter. He knows.† â€Å"Fuck!† â€Å"Little bit softer now,† Jody said, holding her hair like it was hurting her. â€Å"Too loud?† Jody nodded. â€Å"You know, for your notebook, Tommy. Vampire senses when you're hungover? Not so good.† â€Å"Really? That bad?† â€Å"Your breath is nauseating me from across the room.† â€Å"Yeah, we need toothpaste.† â€Å"There's someone at the door?† Jody covered her ears. She could hear sneakers scraping the sidewalk from all the way downstairs. â€Å"There is?† The door buzzer sounded. â€Å"Yep,† she said. Tommy ran to the front windows and looked down to the street. â€Å"There's a Humvee limo out there that's about a block long.† â€Å"You'd better answer it,† Jody said. â€Å"Maybe we should just hide. Pretend we re not home.† â€Å"No, you need to get it,† Jody said. She could hear the shuffling at the door, the rock and roll playing in the limo, the bong bubbling, lines being chopped on a CD case, and a male voice repeating the phrase â€Å"sweet blue titties† over and over like a mantra. She grabbed the pillow from Tommy's side of the bed and pulled it over her head. â€Å"Answer it, Tommy. It's the fucking Animals.† â€Å"Dude,† said Lash Jefferson, a wiry black man with a newly shaved scalp, wearing mirror shades. He pulled Tommy out of his doorway and hugged him furiously – crazed, back-slamming, good-to-see-you guy hugs. â€Å"We are so fucked, dude,† Lash continued. Tommy pushed away, trying to reconcile that he was glad to see his friend with the fact that Lash smelled like a beer-bar urinal filled with mackerel. â€Å"I thought you guys went to Vegas,† Tommy said. â€Å"Yeah. Yeah. We did. Everyone's in the limo. It's just that I need to talk to you. Can we go inside?† â€Å"No.† Tommy almost said that Jody was sleeping, which had been his excuse for keeping the Animals out of his loft in the past, but Jody was supposed to have left town. â€Å"Step in the stairway, I've got something happening upstairs.† Lash nodded and looked over the top of his shades and bounced his eyebrows. His eyes were bloodshot and glazed over. Tommy could hear his heart racing. Coke or fear, he guessed. Both maybe. â€Å"Look, dude,† Lash said. â€Å"First thing, we need to borrow some money.† â€Å"What? You guys have over a hundred grand each from the art we sold.† â€Å"Yeah, we did. We had a big weekend.† Tommy figured in his head. â€Å"You guys blew over six hundred grand in what – four days?† â€Å"No,† Lash said. â€Å"No, not all of it. We're not completely broke.† â€Å"Then why do you need to borrow money?† â€Å"Just twenty grand or so, to get us through to tomorrow,† Lash said. â€Å"Luckily I almost have my MBA and have mad business skills. Otherwise we'd have been broke yesterday.† Tommy nodded. Twenty grand was about six months' salary for him at the Safeway. He'd been a little intimidated by Lash's almost-MBA up until now. Now he was just worried that Lash would be able to tell he had changed. He said, â€Å"So, like you were saying, you're fucked.† â€Å"We were doing fine, only down like ten grand each, until we met Blue.† Lash looked at the ceiling wistfully, like it was a distant memory he was trying to conjure, instead of something that had happened a couple of nights ago. â€Å"Blue?† â€Å"You know that group they have in Vegas? The Blue Men?† â€Å"Yeah, the guys who paint themselves blue and pound on pipes and stuff?† Tommy was lost. â€Å"Yeah,† Lash said. â€Å"Well, it turns out there are blue women, too. Or at least there's one. And dude, she's sucking us dry.† In the back seat of the limo, Blue held Barry's face between her boobs, snugly enough to keep him under control, but not so snug that he couldn't breathe. While the other Animals had drunk, smoked, and fucked themselves into a zombielike stupor – and now lay sprawled about the glittery interior of the limo – Barry had opted to do two hits of XTC, a line of coke, and a bong load of sticky skunk weed, which had put his brain into some sort of redundant tribal loop that had him kneeling naked before her, chanting â€Å"sweet blue titties† for the last twenty minutes. She just couldn't take it anymore, so she had grabbed his curl-fringed bald head and pulled his face into her cleavage just to shut him up. Mercifully, he had gone quiet, because she really didn't want to suffocate him as long as he still had money. It takes a meandering road of wrong turns to take a girl from being the milky-skinned Cheddar princess of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, to a blue-dyed call girl turning tricks at downtown casinos in Vegas, but Blue would be damned if she'd add yet another wrong turn by smothering a golden goose between her proportionally improbable silicon joy orbs. The Animals were her way out, and if she had to stay in character as an Alien Pleasure Unit or a blueberry muffin to keep them on the hook, she would. Blue was a method hooker. Early in her adventures, after she'd left cocktailing due to a propensity for spilling drinks, and before she'd begun stripping, where her lack of balance was mitigated by the presence of a sturdy pole, she had a short career acting in low-budget porn. She befriended a promising actress named Lotta Vulva, who gave her a book on the Stanislavski Method. â€Å"If you can find your sense memory,† Lotta said, â€Å"it will keep you from barfing on the actors. Directors hate that.† The  «Method » had served Blue well since then, as it allowed her to calculate betting odds or figure her checkbook while her character was performing acts that she herself would have found unpleasant or outright disgusting. (How much better to reside in her sense memory of the budding Cheddar princess, coaxing the hearty, whole-milk goodness from the udders of a Holstein, than to face the harshly lit reality of her actions?) After six months Blue was driven out of the film business by a  «defect » one director called â€Å"not enough tits to fill a shot glass,† which no amount of Method was able to remedy. She returned to cocktailing, albeit at a strip club, where she seldom had to carry more than one ten-dollar beer at a time, until she saved enough money for breast-augmentation surgery and made her way to the pole. She danced her way through her twenties, before she was driven off the stage by younger, more gravity-resistant girls, and because she had skipped personal typing class in high school and had therefore besmirched her permanent record, she landed in the employ of an outcall escort service. â€Å"I feel like I'm doing Domino's delivery blow jobs,† Blue told her roommate. â€Å"Satisfaction in twenty minutes or less or your money back. And the agency is taking most of the money. I'll never get out of this business at this rate.† â€Å"You need a gimmick† said her roommate, a cocktail waitress at the Venetian. â€Å"Like those Blue Men guys in the show. I swear they'd just be a bunch of frat boys beating on garbage cans if they weren't painted blue.† And so it began. The fallen Cheddar princess of Fond du Lac found some semipermanent skin dye, opened credit-card deposit accounts, had some pictures taken, placed ads in all the free sleaze rags around the city, and Blue was born. It wasn't as if she wouldn't have been able to make a living without the gimmick – most guys will shag a snake if you hold it steady for them. But it turned out they would pay a lot for the exotica of a blue woman. She worked as much as she could handle, and her savings had climbed to the point where she could actually see the possibility of an exit. But about that same time, she realized that by going blue, she had opted out of the pipe dream of every hooker, stripper, and telemarketer: the rich guy who would take her away from it all. The whale who would drop a fortune on her to become his personal pet. There would be no big score for the blue chick, or so she thought, until the Animals called her in for a combination strip show and fuckfest. Where they got the money didn't matter. What mattered was that they had a lot of it, and it appeared that they would keep giving it to her until it was all gone. She had nearly half a million dollars in her makeup case, and Blue – the character Blue – could put up with a lot of attention from the Animals while she hid in the back of her mind and formulated an investment strategy. The tall, skinny one, Drew, had opened the hotel-room door an d said, â€Å"Hi. We discussed it and agreed that when we were kids, we all really wanted to bone a Smurf.† â€Å"I get that a lot,† said Blue. â€Å"We just wanted to bone a Smurf,† Lash said. â€Å"Understandably,† said Tommy. â€Å"She's really nice,† Lash said. â€Å"Important quality in a ho,† said Tommy. â€Å"But now we can't seem to quit.† â€Å"So you want me to do what – hold an intervention?† â€Å"No, you're our leader. We look to you for other things. So we want you to give us money so we can keep partying, and pay our rents and stuff.† â€Å"And when all of my money is gone, then I can intervene.† â€Å"Sure, if you feel you have to,† said Lash. â€Å"How's your credit?† â€Å"Lash, are you high?† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"Right. Of course. What was I thinking?† Tommy was relaxing now about Lash noticing that he was a vampire. Clearly the former stewards of Safeway night stock, in addition to being wasted, had gone collectively out of their minds. â€Å"Lash, I don't almost have an MBA like you, but isn't there sort of some business principle that you're violating? I mean, isn't there a class about not spending your rent money on hookers or something?† â€Å"Step off, Flood,† Lash said. â€Å"You hooked up with a vampire.† â€Å"She was cute,† Tommy said. â€Å"An important quality in a vampire,† Lash said, looking over the top of his shades. â€Å"She had sex with me,† Tommy countered. He wanted to say that she was nice, but Lash had already used ;nice; for his blue hooker. â€Å"I think I've made my point,† Lash said. â€Å"Give me your money.† â€Å"You haven't made your point. You completely haven't made your point.† Tommy reared back as if to punch Lash in the chest, as the Animals did to one another all the time, but remembered that now he might crush some of the Animals' ribs. Instead, he said, â€Å"Don't make me cave in your skinny chest, bee-yotch.† â€Å"Your redheaded vampire kung fu is no match for the fearsome blue booty kung fu.† Lash made a howling chicken noise and waved his hands around as he fell back into a fighting stance, then went right back onto his ass on the steps. He laughed until he choked, then coughed and said, â€Å"Seriously, dude, if you don't give us money, we're going to be totally broke in about six hours. I did the math.† â€Å"You could go back to work,† Tommy said. â€Å"Clint called here last night. They're buried at the store. They need night stockers.† â€Å"No?† Lash said, pulling down his sunglasses. â€Å"Yes,† Tommy said. â€Å"Then we're not fired?† â€Å"Evidently not,† Tommy said. â€Å"That's it. We could go back to work. That's what we'll tell her. We have to go back to work.† â€Å"Why didn't you just tell her to go away before she did you all the way here from Vegas.† â€Å"We didn't want to be rude.† â€Å"Oh, right. Well then, off you go.† Lash pushed to his feet and steadied himself on the banister long enough to look Tommy in the eye. â€Å"You okay? You look pale.† â€Å"I'm heartbroken and shit,† Tommy said. He hated it, but Lash's bloodshot eyes peering over the sunglasses had actually given him a twinge of hunger. â€Å"Right.† Lash went through the security door. Tommy watched him as he paused at the rear door of the limo and turned back. â€Å"You need some blue nooky to cheer you up?† Lash asked. â€Å"Our treat.† â€Å"No, I'm good,† Tommy said. â€Å"All for one, and whatnot,† Lash said. â€Å"Appreciate it.† Tommy shrugged. â€Å"Heartbroken.† â€Å"Okay.† Lash threw open the limo's door and two of the Animals, Drew and Troy Lee, rolled out onto the pavement, followed by a great storm cloud of pot smoke. â€Å"Fuck, dude. Did you know there was a door there?† said Drew, the scruffy thin one. â€Å"Look,† said Troy Lee, the Asian guy who actually did know kung fu. â€Å"Hey, look, it's fearless leader.† â€Å"Go to work,† Tommy said. â€Å"It's only seven. You guys can get sobered up and be completely ready for your shift at eleven.† Not a chance, Tommy thought. â€Å"Yeah, we can do it,† Lash said, peeking into the limo. â€Å"Hey, Barry, climb off, motherfucker, I'm up next, then it's Jeff's turn. I put it on the board. Blue, don't let him do that to your ear, baby, you won't hear for a month.† Tommy closed the security door and sat down hard on the steps, hiding his face in his hands to try to make it all go away. The Animals had been his friends, his crew. They had taken him in when he was alone in the city, made him their leader, and if he got the tone of Clint's second message right, in about four hours, when they got to the store, they were going to turn on him.