Intervention Strategy in Education

Evolution Essays - Evolutionary Biology, Biological Evolution

Evolution Essays - Evolutionary Biology, Biological Evolution Evolution The origins of mankind is an extremely controversial issue within todays society. Scientists have a host of different theories pertaining to mans inhabitance of earth. Many disagreements arise between scientists who have different beliefs pertaining to where and how mankind arose. One such argument is the conflict involving the theory of evolution versus the theory of creation. After extensive scientific research, it is apparent that the theory of evolution is correct. Evolution is the theory that life arose by natural processes at an early stage of the earths history and that complex organisms developed from simpler organisms by a process of slow change (Coren 209). Its the idea that new species arise from older species after thousands of years of gradual chemical, environmental, and genetic change (Coren 142). Evolution can also be described as the complex processes by which living organisms originated on earth and have been diversified and modified through sustained changes in form and function (Evolution). Scientists, looking for an explanation to the origin of man and other organisms created this evolutionism theory, which also presented answers to the many asked questions dealing with similarities between species. Unlike the theory of creation, which states that the complexity of life and different species can only be explained in terms of a supernatural creator or god who placed life on earth, the theory of evolution has a plethora of evidence proving it to be true (Creation). There are several different types of observations that support the theory of organic evolution as an explanation for the similarities and the differences among species. One such observation is in the geologic record. The geologic record is the rock scheme found within the earths outer crust. By means of radioactive dating, the ages of rocks in many places on earth have been determined. Its a timetable of the earths geologic history. This combined with the fossil record, another observation supporting the evolutionary hypothesis, has produced an apparent sequence of life forms from most simple to most complex during the history of the planet. Fossils are any remains or traces of a once-living organism, which are formed by preservation, petrifaction, or sedimentation. Organisms can be preserved and protected against decay by being trapped in amber, tar, or frozen in ice. The hard parts of an organism, such as shells or bones, can be preserved when the flesh of an organism has decayed a way. In other cases, materials of a dead organism may be gradually washed away and replaced by minerals from the water causing the organism to petrify, or harden. Imprints, molds, or casts left by an organism after it is enclosed in sedimentary rock and decomposed are also fossils, as well as footprints and tracks. The fossil record is the timetable of fossils found in within the earths geologic record. Since the upper layers of sedimentary rocks are assumed to have been laid down over lower layers, the upper layers are younger than those deeper into the earth. Therefore, fossils found within the upper layers are also younger than those found within the lower layers. This combination of geologic and fossil records shows the progression of species as time also progressed (Coren 142). In reiterating the definition of evolution, we are reminded that gradual changes in one life forms anatomy, cytology, embryology, or biochemistry could cause for a new species to originate. Similarities in these categories link species together and are therefore studied to support evolutionism. In comparing anatomy, the structures of different organisms often show unexpected similarities. Cell organelles, such as cell membranes, ribosomes, and other structures found within cells, are also similar in organisms of all kinds, showing that comparative cytology can also shows signs of evolution. When comparing the embryos of different organisms, comparative embryology, similarities can be seen in early stages of embryos that are completely different at maturity. Finally, comparative biochemistry, which is the comparing of biochemical compounds, such as amino acids, can also show similarities in species, reinforcing the idea of evolution (Coren 143). As curiosity rose throughout much of the world, scientists began to question the existence of organisms and why some are so alike in so many ways and so diverse as well. Several theories have been proposed in

Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Research Paper Example (â€Å"Smith et al†). Many organizations feel irritated by the changes which they have to make in order to be compliant. Even when many companies carry out the required changes and achieve compliance they usually feel that there is no more need for change. Basically most organizations see compliance as an imposition. However compliance is only the bear minimum level of competency and organizations should ideally never tire in making improvements upon this. 3. The City of Scottsdale has initiated many environmental leadership policies. What are the City’s two most well recognized (nationally and internationally) initiatives? What is the next planned step to enhance one of the policies? Please cite your sources. 50 words or less. In 1997 Scottsdale initiated the EPA EMS municipal pilot proframme.In 2001 the Scottsdale environmental management system (EvMS) was implemented in five continents: North America;Europe;Africa;Asia and South America.(Scottsdale, 2008) Their next objective is to create a â€Å"greener Scottsdale†(OEIS) There are three pillars to creating a workable environmental management system (EMS).These are: compliance; improvement and prevention. The organization must be compliant with existing legislation and guidelines. Furthermore there is no perfection in EMS so there must always be a movement towards improvement and regarding prevention it is far easier to protect the environment through prevention rather than through a clean up operation. Also it is important to build a set of objects and targets based upon the three pillars but geared around the unique circumstances presented by your organization. These must be regularly reviewed. (â€Å"Stapleton and Glover†) Wilcox and Theodore quote Carter’s ( Wilcox and Theodore,xxviii) point out that in order for people to do the right thing they need not only be honest, rather they must have integrity and this integrity must be combined with social

Self Defense And International Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Self Defense And International Law - Case Study Example However the action initiated by the Republic of Bona by invading Malox can be termed as legitimate on the grounds of self defense as stated by the Republic of Bona. According to the Article 51 of UN Charter, the guidelines laid down by the United Nations Security Council will not weaken the rights of self defense of the member state of United Nations against armed attack carred out on them, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security. The invasion is legitimate on the grounds of self defense, until the Security Council takes stringent measures against the Malox Government. But instead, the Republic of Bona could have brought to the notice of Security Council, that it has evidence to show that the Alliance is responsible for the massacre that has taken place. Even though, one of the UN Security Council member, Kumara is an ally of the Alliance, he cannot on his own dismantle the efforts of the Bona Republic to counter terrorism. Then the Security Council may decide what measures, not involving the use of armed force, are to be employed to give effect to its decisions, and it may call upon the Members of the United Nations to apply such measures. These may include complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations as laid down in the Article 41 of United Nations Charter of International Laws. In this process, the Bona Republican has used cluster bombs, white phosphorus and depleted uranium to locate and destroy the Alliance terrorist camp before further more attacks on themselves. The arms that have been used by the Bona Republican are Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) which not only kills persons but will degrade the environment. The degraded environment will make the life on the particular place not only difficult but the persons living there will be effected in the sense, they may get physically or mentally handicapped. The next generation childs may be born physically or mentally handicapped as wel. Such mass destruction will also lead to failure in plantation and degradation of other human necessities. On the grounds of humanitarian, use of such WMD's shall be avoided, just to destroy the Allaince Terrorist Group. However, United Nations has condemned the use of WMD's that has severe and drastic effect on the life of human beings and the next generation. Massive amo unts of circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that the use of DU ammunition has known to cause dramatic side effects, such as health problems, stillborn babies, toxic and poisonous land, water supplies, and residential territories. Such ammunitions is unethical for we will demean ourselves as a civilized

Burdens on the States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Burdens on the States - Essay Example Anita Dancs, the Research Director of National Priorities. reported that more than $200 billion was used for security. The recent report on military attacks in Iraq brought a heightened alert for security and the need to activate the government’s security plans. The New York City, after the sad experience of 9/11 launched the â€Å"Operation Atlas† that is designed â€Å"to beef up safety and security throughout the metropolitan area during a time when there is an elevated risk of terrorist attack† (Heather Cross) The plan has been estimated by New York City Mayor Bloomberg to cost the city $5million per week to pay overtime services of police officers. Report said that as of May 10, 2003, New York City had spent $1 billion on antiterrorism activities, but has not received any support from the federal government. In spite of â€Å"no budget† from the federal government, New York City government pledged to continue its present anti-terrorist â€Å"Operation Atlas† plans in the city.(â€Å"Operation Atlas†) The present mission of the Homeland Security, by definition, is focused on terrorist’s incidents. By that, report of Anita Dancs stated that respondent training and equipment was given more emphasis on terrorism as against all-hazards. All hazards are events of catastrophe, such as bird flue pandemic, the likes of Katrina hurricane, and others of the same nature. Dancs pointed to arguments of the members of Congress on the indifference of preparedness of Homeland Security to address this kind of problem and the importance of all-hazards preparedness. Danc’s report stated the Homeland Security mission defined by the federal government as: Response to natural disasters and catastrophe does not fall within the homeland’s definition of preparedness. The preparedness for all hazard response comes only as support preparedness for terrorism related

Business Practices Faced By Richard Branson Commerce Essay

Business Practices Faced By Richard Branson Commerce Essay This is where it all began, Richard Branson, best known for his Virgin Group is of over 400 companies. Born in July 18, 1950; destined to become one of the best known British entrepreneurs. Beginning at the age of 16 with his first successful business venture; publishing Student magazine, beginning his string of successes. Richard Branson is now the 212th richest person in the world. Estimated a net worth of approximately 4 Billion a dollars; honoured for his degree of Doctor of Technology, knighted for his services to entrepreneurship, becoming on the greatest British citizen and most influential people in the world by BBC and Time Magazine. Being an adventurer Branson is, he never hesitates to take risks and experiment with new ventures, now one of the most recognized brands in the world. The Company Philosophy Try new things, branch out, and when you cant find success with one venture, you simply move on to the next Sir Richard Bransons philosophy above simply puts Virgin Group into prospective. The Virgin group was founded by Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson in 1970; started one of his many entrepreneurial ventures at the age of 16, when he started a magazine titled Student in 1968. Later in 1970, Richard launched a mail order record company called Virgin, which was also a success, and soon after a chain of Virgin record stores followed. In 1973, Branson entered into the music recording business and went on to sign artists such as the Rolling Stones. However, that did not satisfy Bransons entrepreneurial quest and he was looking for opportunities to diversify his business. Hence, in 1984 he ventured into the airline industry with Virgin Atlantic, which went on to become the second largest airline in Britain. The Virgin group then continued to expand with the launch of Virgin Publishing, Virgin Radio, Virgin Cola, Virgin Direct and Virgin Rail. Nevertheless, the Virgin Group was not always free of failures. One major setback for Virgin was the acquisition of Virgin Records by EMI in 1992. The other road bumps for Virgin were duds like Virgin Cola, Virgin Vodka, Virgin Cinemas, Virgin Cars and Virgin Cosmetics that were not very successful ventures sign of a true entrepreneur. But that does not mean that Virgin gives quantity more priority over quality. Every business venture is carefully calculated and analyzed keeping in mind the market demand, customer needs and innovation of products and services. Today, Virgin group is a leading branded venture capital organization and consists of more than 300 companies worldwide with products and services ranging from music, telecommunications, beverages, airlines, media and finance. The growth strategy of Virgin Group is based on the concept of licensing and franchising the Virgin brand name and being involved in the establishment of the ventures from scratch rather than acquiring and buying out existing businesses. The Virgin Brand is ever expanding and diversifying and Branson always encourages innovation and the wide range of products and services offered under the Virgin brand name exemplifies that. In the future years the strategic plan of Virgin is to launch two more ventures: Virgin Fuel (Cheaper, more efficient eco-friendly fuel), Virgin Galactic (Suborbital Space flights; which are set to revolutionize the business world). Brief Timeline 1970 With the success of Virgin Records, Virgin Group was founded, a catalyst for this creation. 1999 Virgin Atlantic was developed, a British train service. 2002 Virgin entered the mobile phone business, Virgin Mobile, opening similar mobile ventures in Britain, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea. 2004 The independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group was established as Virgin Unite. 2005 Virgin Comics launched. 2006 Virgin Holidays established with a very econ friendly view by using all its profits in research and development of sustainable sources of energy. 2008 Virgin Radio rebranded. 2009 Virgin Group launches Digital Help Company in New York and in the UK. 2010 Unveiling of Virgin Gaming, an online destination for competitive console gamers. 2011+ Virgin Fuel Virgin Galactic Sectors that Virgin Group diversifies into: The Virgin group has been diversifying for a long time now. The company is occupied in different types of sectors and currently has around 240 or even more corporations. Richard Branson also ventured into the wildest sectors-Virgin Space Port. The diagram below lists the various sectors that the Virgin Group is diversified into: C:UsersalwardiDesktopVMS.jpg Why we chose this particular business over others? Virgin Megastores are known worldwide about its products and services. Every time you pass by the store you are curious much to know if they have any new products. At times you get surprised by seeing some movies and music albums that are yet to be released in America. Virgin mega store is a place where you can go for everything that involves entertainment. It has a sense of youth in the store; that awakens the young sprit. As for the staff are mostly youngsters. Virgin gives them the opportunity and flexibility to cope between work and studies. This gives a good reflection about Virgin brand. There products varies from educational to entertainment. It used to be only entertainment but after diversification; it serves all ages. When you approach any Virgin employee and ask them about any specific product they would be very confident and explain everything. In addition; other information that concerns the past and current status of the products. Advantages and Disadvantages of such a Business Each and every business has its own advantages and disadvantages. Each and every department has its own ways. Thus, every department differs. In general these are the advantages and disadvantages: Advantages Virgin Megastores Bahrain have a no competition with other brands. As its the only one in the country that sells everything that you require from a pencil to a laptop. There is nothing like virgin in Bahrain; when you enter searching for something you can easily find it. When you compare the Middle East and United States of America there is a major difference. Over there are other companies and stores that offer the same type of business but the middle east Virgin Megastores is one of a kind; and the first. Disadvantages However, the use of internet these days has increased significantly; and copying of the original music and movies too. As Virgin Megastores has a wide range of music CDs and movies; the sales are reduced due to piracy; illegally downloading materials from the internet. So consumer view why should I buy something that I can get easily free. Thus, causing a major loss to Companies like virgin. To add on, Virgin Megastores are diversified into many departments example: music, movies, books, etc. This causes some complications; that your focus is not only on one thing but several things at the same time. Leadership Leadership can be defined as the art of influencing other people to achieve the companys goals and objectives in a way to make it more consistent and cohesive. (Hubpages, 2010) Leading people in the right path processes leadership in order to accomplish a common goal. Leadership ensures that the organization works successfully in accomplishing its desired goals. Good managers are characterized by their leadership skills and experience for the aim in getting high performed and well organized company. They are the backbone of the company to maximize their productivity at the same time create harmony between employees which results to better outcome and efficiency. Only leaders have the ability to encourage their employees to work efficiently toward achieving the companys best interest. (WIR,2010) Types of leadership Leadership style is the method and approach used by leaders to achieve objectives, provide direction and motivates people when working with others. It is the manner in which leaders interact with their subordinates. Given below are the different ways leadership styles have been defined: Transactional Leaders: this type of leadership involves a process of exchange between the leader and the follower (subordinate). The leader tends to obtain compliance on one hand by offering incentive on performance and on the other hand, by offering threats or punishment for bad performance and non-compliance. Transformational leaders: this type of leadership style is more visionary and inspirational in approach. The leaders here have a tendency to provoke intense emotion and communicate a clear and acceptable vision and goals with which the subordinates can easily identify. Autocratic leaders: here, the leaders are the decision makers and have total authority. This type of leadership style is used for employees that require close supervision to perform certain tasks. (Lewin, Lippitt White, 1939) Democratic leaders: this type of leader always listens to his teams ideas and analysis them, but he/she will make the final decision. Here the team players contribute to the final decision making and therefore, employee satisfaction increases. (Lewin, Lippitt White, 1939) Laissez-faire leader: this type of leadership provides no continuous supervision, as the employees are highly experienced and do not require much supervision. Leadership at Virgin:- The person who made Virgin Group an outstanding business empire by changing and diversifying the business from a magazine to a range of companies at the present time is one of the worlds most effective leader and risk taker Mr. Richard Branson. This effective leader now owns 360 companies worldwide, which operate, now in eight different sectors, from music to transportation, media, travel, etc. (AUV, 2010). There are many effective methods used by Mr. Richard Branson in conditions of leading his employees. Mr Richard Branson has all the features every good leader as he adopts his own personal style of management. He maintained a very good relationship with the media, as he was known for his charisma. His leadership power motivated his employees as he supported them by financial incentives. Apart from the financial incentives given to his employees, he has his own way of motivating his employees by sharing with them stories of how he succeeded in life and shares his enthusiasm to help others by establishing various non-profit organizations in order to support young entrepreneurs. His introduction of new green technologies in the business was one of his major investments towards the safety and health of the environment; made his leadership strategies different from others (VSD.2010) Richard Branson follows both the democratic as well as the Laissez-faire leadership style, as his employees are involved in decision making indicating the decentralization technique used by him allowing his employees to participate in leadership. Applying his supportive leadership style where he loom his employees to become friendly and caring. His employees are allowed to have an open communication with the top-level management without any restrictions. (Hill. McShane, 2008) Richard Branson leadership approach has resulted to a significant achievement for the virgin group. Branson had been demonstrated conceivably enhanced than any other investor for the past thirty years worldwide. (BAG, 2010) Strategies of the Virgin Group: Virgin group played a very important role in Mr. Richard Bransons life; it not only transformed the company, but also transformed himself as known now to be a person who is willing to take risk at any time and a daring man. According to him, no was never the right answer now was it a solution. With the help of the strategies he had adopted, every opportunity, which came knocking on his door, was accepted. Not all of the strategies used by Mr Branson to diversify the company were successful; the strategies had their pros and cons. below are few strategies that are applied in virgin group in general regardless to the various sectors they are diversified into: Since the word NO is one of Bransons favorite words, the company uses Risk Management as their core strategy to capture any idea. Risk management is the method used by the company to manage and control risks and threats that comes to their way. The philosophy used by the virgin group is by separating the risks into various segments so that if any loss occurs, the whole group will not go down at once. At any crises point, this approach guarantees the company that only a tiny proportion of the company is affected. The virgin group also applied the Unrelated Diversification strategy. As seen today, Mr. Branson has expanded his company, diversified it and also invested money in different sectors yet, still uses the same brand name. He moved from sectors like Virgin Airlines to Virgin travel and tourism, Virgin Media and Virgin Cola. There are about 200 companies carrying the Brand name virgin. (VGA, 2010) Virgin stores are known for their lenient administration towards their employees. Decentralization is one of the strategies used by the company. Here the decision-making authority is transferred to the subordinates. Virgin group is a semi formal organization and work together as a big happy family. Here, the staff are empowered with many rights and responsibilities and are considered the strength of the company. Flow of information is very flexible and smooth so as the management (Pravab, 2010) Corporate social responsibility, a new strategy applied to the virgin group that emerges them to move towards social responsibility and to invest money towards a safe and healthy environment for the costumers. The Virgin Green fund project was created and invested into various sectors such as resource efficiency and renewable energy. (VSD, 2010) Employee motivation What is motivation? Motivation is the combination of forces that moves individuals to take certain actions and avoid others in pursuit of individual objectives. Motivation is the reason or reasons for getting involved in certain behaviour, especially human behaviour. There are many theories of motivation but to concentrate more on Virgin Megastores; they follow McGregors Assumptions which are divided into two groups Theory X and Theory Y. The two groups are completely different from each other. As for Virgin Megastores they go with Theory Y which is a really positive way to interact with employees. A short definition of Theory Y is that; Managerial assumption that employees enjoy meaningful work, are naturally committed to certain goals, are capable of creativity, and seek out responsibility under the right conditions. The assumptions behind theory Y emphasize growth and self-direction. Theory Y oriented managers seek to motivate employees through intrinsic rewards. As for Theory X; managerial assumption that employees are irresponsible, are unambitious, and dislike work and that mangers must use force, control, or threats to motivate them. The assumptions behind Theory X emphasize authority. The evidence that proofs that Virgin Megastores follow Theory Y; is that when you enter the store you can see one of the staff members heading towards you and asking you if you need any assistance. Mangers at Virgin motivate them psychologically; by different means. They give them the freedom to dress up in their own way as if they were going to a mall with friends and not in formal suites. In addition, all of virgin Megastores employees are in their 20s and are youth. The mangers have asked them to be themselves when coming to virgin full of youth sprit that catches customer attention. Competitions between employees are also done so that they love their work more and have more personal achievements. If any complications happen they highlight the mistakes personally to the employee and show them the correct way on t overcome these problems. What type of Company is Virgin Mega Store? It is a Private limited business. What is the difference between a limited and unlimited business? Limited company: A limited company can be defined as a business that has been registered in such a manner to ensure its owners to have limited liability. The owners would lose the value of their investment if company declares bankruptcy (farlex financial dictionary, 2010) http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Limited+Company Unlimited company An unlimited company is company; were the liabilities of the shareholders are not limited. The owners have unlimited obligations to meet any insufficiency in the assets of the company in the event of any bankruptcy. (Wikipedia, 2011) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unlimited_company Public company A public company is a company that had issued securities all through an offering and which is traded in an open market. (webfinance, 2010) http://www.investorwords.com/3932/public_company.html Private limited Private limited company is a company whose shares cannot be traded in the stock market. It can only pass to another person with the shareholders agreement. (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English) MARKETING STRATEGY Theory A marketing strategy can be defined in financial terms as the process of allowing an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the major opportunities to increase sales and attain sustainable development and competitive advantage. The main concept of marketing strategy is consumer satisfaction. It serves as the foundation of the marketing plan. (Wikipedia, 2001-2006) . It is most effective when it becomes an integral part of the corporate strategy; as it clearly defines how the organization will successfully engage costumers, prospects and competitors in the marketing field. The key component of the marketing strategy is to keep a line with the companys overarching mission statements. Marketing strategies in virgin group: After a research done on Virgin group, Bahrain; the sales manager of virgin megastore, Mr. Kevin Koswette stated that virgin group as known now has diversified into various sectors and have around 240 companies. It is very difficult for the company to pay attention to its marketing strategies, as each sector is different from the other. The companies pay the virgin group to market their products; for example: Yamaha musical instruments are sold in virgin megastores as well as Arsenal sports club items. The marketing strategy of each product/service differs from the other as they are from various sectors that the company is diversifies into. For example: marketing strategy for Virgin music cannot be applied to the marketing strategy of virgin airlines. Recommendations: We have noticed that Virgin group involves its employees into their decision making which leads to decentralization of authority in the organization; in our opinion, high decentralization may also lead to loss of authority in the company and may also result to confidential leakage. The leniency in the workforce allows employees to dress up informally as they have the freedom to style their hair inappropriately that may influence youngsters who consider them as role models. Also it may not be acceptable socially in the community. We also noticed in our research about the company, that Mr. Richard Branson- the leader behind this company is a man with great charisma and loves the media exposure. In our opinion, the media exposure can cause negative impacts like scandals and false information about his personal life as well as the company. The flexibility in the workforce, friendly relationship and kindness of the leader- Mr Branson with his employees may result to dishonesty in the workforce; and employees might take advantage of this leniency in terms of achieving their objective. Findings of the project To get information about all the required details we had an interview with Mr. Kevin Koswatte, who is the Manager at Virgin Megastores Bahrain. Here are the questions: Questions In your opinion; what are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of business? What type of leadership style do you follow? What are the techniques used to motivate your staff? Is it limited or unlimited? Private or Public? Can you explain to us the marketing strategies followed by the company? Is it effective or not?

Literary Minimalism and Jean François Lyotard :: Free Essays Online

Literary Minimalism and Jean Franà §ois Lyotard 1. Anne Beattie has been called a writer of minimalist fiction. Jean Franà §ois Lyotard’s theories concerning postmodern expression have many similarities to this style. In this paper some of Lyotard’s philosophical contributions to postmodernism will be presented as mission statements for, and/or an explanations of, the minimalist style. 2. First, minimalism as a style will be explained through examples from Anne Beattie’s story "Girl Talk" along with other commentary. To begin, minimalism, as Madison Smart Bell wrote . . . may fairly be described as a school because its representative work contains, as if by prescription, a number of specific elements: A trim, ‘minimal style, an obsessive concern for surface detail, a tendency to ignore or eliminate distinctions among the people it renders and a studiedly deterministic, at times nihilistic, vision of the world’ (Rebein 34). 3. Indeed, the minimalist style of writing is one that lacks distinct amounts of color. It is this tedious pen that writes stories such as "Girl Talk," by Anne Beattie, in which a pregnant woman narrates her experience at her boyfriend’s mother’s birthday party. The attention to surface detail that Bell notes can be seen Beattie’s almost page long description of each of the characters’ toes sitting at a table after dinner. The narrator describes each person in detail: "The twins that are not twins have baby toes that curl under" "Craig has square toenails" "Barbara has long toenails" (31). In this segment there does not seem to be anything below the surface --such as social commentary or opinion of humanity--just feet. This devotion to almost pointless description without commentary fits the minimalist style, as Robert Rebein says in his book Hicks, Tribes, and Dirty Realists that minimalism "is neither insightful nor even reasonably articulate" (37). 4. This lack of articulation can also be seen in the opening lines of the story, "Barbara is her chaise. Something is wrong with the pool. . ." (Beattie 28). These lines merely describe things lazily and without meaning, not even using the description that is devoted to toes later in the story. 5. Bell also mentions an aspect of nihilism in regard to minimalism. Among its definitions, Webster’s Dictionary defines nihilism as the belief that "all existence is senseless and there is no possibility of an objective basis for truth." This definition can be applied to minimalism in that the writing style never purports to reveal a truth about the world it creates.