No topic Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

No topic - Research Paper Example The higher nature of Prakriti includes things that are regarded as life force which hold all living things on earth. Therefore, it stresses that all the living things emerges from prakriti’s two fold levels. All living things melts in a universal Prakriti at the end of their lives while at the start of creation, God breathes new life in them and they live again. The Purusha on the other hand, is responsible for creating all living or existing communities and the entire creation both in motion and stagnant. The Prakriti represents the mind and the body with all their components while Purusha represents the inside witness ego or spirit which is the clean conscience that lives beyond human mind and senses (Giles 82). Further, it is significant to note that the purusha represents the collective cosmic male whose endurance leads in the evidence of world and life. By enduring the hardships and pains, it forms the basis for one to liberate or free himself from evils of this world. The idea of purusha is well entrenched in the Vedas specifically the purushasukta which explains how the world’s were formed and how beings were given power to live in accordance to natural laws. Further, it illustrates that the social order of the worlds was build from the purusha. The purusha exists in two types; the perishable and the imperishable. In this case, the body is perceived as perishable while the soul is seen as the imperishable. An important note is that the Supreme Being does not comprise any of these features because he is beyond Prakriti. The supreme being posses the highest qualities and is above the inner self, sustains and protects the world he created by guiding them in right path. The Prakriti takes care of the dual sense and illusion of living things. Therefore, all major transformations occur because of Prakriti. Via the connection with the ‘gunas’ it binds the inner soul to the sense of objects and hence leads to birth of

La Belle Dame sans Merci By John Keats Essay Example for Free

La Belle Dame sans Merci By John Keats Essay La Belle Dame sans Merci is a poem written by John Keats who was a romantic poet. The first three stanzas of this poem are spoken by the narrator who is talking to the poet, asking him why hes wondering by himself and looks so sad. He addresses the poet as wretched Wight roaming outside, all alone. The narrator whos out in the countryside talks about the night and the surroundings what its like presently. There are no sedges or birds in the trees. Everything seems to be complete as the harvests are done which marks the end of the year and the fact that there are no leaves tells us it is autumn too which is a time of the year when it seems as though all forms of life have come to an end. Out of curiosity he asks the poet what is wrong with him. The rest of the poem is the poets reply. The poet tells us that he saw an extremely beautiful lady somewhere as in the line I met a lady in the meads, full beautiful, a fairys child. The poet further describes the lady. He says that she was so beautiful and graceful that she couldnt have been a human. With such long hair and the grace as she had, she had to be a fairys child though her eyes seemed to be wild or disturbed. The poet makes her sit on his horse and in her presence, sees nothing else as in the line I set her on my pacing steed and nothing else saw all day long. She sings a song of such music and melody thats its definitely not human. A place where there seemed to be no sound of birds is now enchanted by music. The music is not ordinary music or song but that of a fairies and the immortal as in the line for sideways would she lean and sing a fairys song. The fairy in this poem represents the poetic inspiration which inspires poets and artists to write and compose. Without this they feel that they are good as dead. The poetic inspiration casts poets into a delightful mood out of which they are able to compose their poetry. It changes a poets life when it enters it by brightening it up and leaves it in a nasty way. Just the way poetic inspiration can change the life of a poet when it enters the previous picture of dull and lifelessness also brightens up when the lady is mentioned. In the third to fifth stanza the poet describes the experience in the presence of the lady and the poetic inspiration which are alike. The poet under the spell composes poetry with words as though decorating the fairy that seems to enjoy him poetry [decoration] very much and urges him to continue. He seems to be enjoying all the sensual pleasures which are of taste, sight, music, fragrance and touch. In the lines she found me roots of relish sweet and honey wild and manna dew, the words relish sweet, honey wild, and manna dew, symbolize or express rather, the pleasures experienced by the poet while writing poetry. In the next stanza we find key words which tell us something about the lady. In the lines and there she gazed and sighed deep and there I shut her wild sad eyes so kissed to sleep, the words sighed deep and wild sad eyes tell us that the lady is not happy about something and that she too is troubled over something. The lady who happens to be a fairy, one that belongs to the world of the immortal cannot stay with a person for long. This is because she is from a different world and so after a period of time she must desert the person no matter what and this is what has caused her grief. Even the best of men this world can offer, kings and warriors are no math and she must leave them all. In the same way, the poetic inspiration cannot stay with one person for a long time. It must move on and go to other people and inspire them to compose as well. In the next stanza we see how the poet tries to enjoy his few moments of ecstasy at the most and dream even if its on the cold hill side. The poet knows that he too, like those before him will be deserted. In the next stanza he describes his dream, or rather nightmare in which he sees the people who have already been deserted by the lady and become severely ill their life to them was as good as death. Without the fairy that they loved, they had nothing to live for. In the same sense the poetic inspiration allows poets to do what they love to do i.e. write poetry but once that is taken away, so is their ability of composing and they loose interest in life. The men are left with starved lips and pale faces with nothing worth living for. And when the poet wakes up, he find himself in the same situation and all alone on the cold hill side. And so the poet tells the narrator that he had been deserted by the one he loved most and it didnt really matter what time of the year it was because his life was as good as death.

value of a college education Essay example -- essays research papers

Value Of A College Education According to Lundberg (2003), â€Å"adult students are one of the most rapidly growing segments of today’s college student population, making up approximately 40% of all college students† (665). Having a college education is an important tool that contributes to several aspects of a person’s life. The areas that are impacted the most would be the professional and personal areas. It is important to learn the value of a college education in order to take advantage of what you learn and how to productively apply it in your personal and professional life. Having a college education is something that can always be looked at as a positive achievement that feels good and looks good on a resume. Earning a college degree can provide a lifetime of rewards and unlike most other consumer purchases such as a car, will only appreciate in value, not depreciate. Professional Aspects According to Vocational Training News (2003), despite the current economic climate, college students say having technology skills will greatly increase their employment potential (6). The job market is constantly changing each year. Jobs are now more competitive and having a college degree seems to be a necessity for most which is why having a college degree at least shows that an individual is knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and has worked hard to accomplish a specific goal. Having a college degree also gives more opportunity to apply for jobs of interest. Larger Salary A college degree also allows for the opportunity to earn a larger salary. Having a degree also gives a person more confidence when negotiating salaries. Knowing that a company cannot use the excuse of not having a degree against you is a great benefit. Even though the cost of a college education is outrageous, the benefits of having a degree far surpass those costs. Loans can be paid back but it is very difficult to make a substantial amount of money without a degree. This reminds me of a saying that I once heard though I cannot recall who said it. "If you think the price of education is expensive, try the price of ignorance. You pay for ignorance everyday for the rest of your life."- Anonymous Respect and Admiration Everyone would like something to show from the hard work they put into earning their deg... ...ngs to different areas of a person’s life. In my case, I will have developed the skills and values necessary to be an asset to my company and elsewhere in the business world. I will now not be looked upon as just an â€Å"entry level† worker. More opportunities will be available for jobs that are of particular interest to me and as stated before, the opportunity for a higher salary will exist. By continuing my education, I will have achieved a great accomplishment and know that all of my hard work and determination has finally paid off. The value of a college education is priceless. Earning a degree can only make the future more desirable. In conclusion, I need to take it upon myself to further my education right now, without interruption, no matter what the obstacles may be. References (2003, December). Teens say tech knowledge increases potential jobs. Vocational Training News, 34, (12), 6. Retrieved December 21, 2003, from EBSCO database. Lundberg, C.A., (2003, November/December). The influence of time-limitations, faculty, and peer relationships on adult student learning. Journal of Higher Education, 74, (6), 665. Retrieved December 21, 2003, from EBSCO database.

Nissan: Culture and Earlier Cg Uses

CM J41 Strategy Execution [pic] 1. 0 Resume: The case is about the turnaround of Nissan in the year 1999 to 2002. Nissan experienced great finances looses for the past seven out of eight years which resulted in a 22 billion $ debt and an outdated product portfolio with little liquid capital for new product development. In just 12 months the new COO, Carlos Ghosn (CG), succeeded in turning Nissan into profitability with a new and more performance oriented corporate culture. 2. Evaluation of Carlos Ghosn’s approach to turning Nissan around: The overall evaluation of CG is full of success which, I think, is duo to his personal background, his philosophies of management and a little bit of luck. CG has a multicultural background and has proven himself having capacity for global leadership. In his career he has learned to manage large operations under adverse condition on four different continents and speaks five languages. He has a very open and pragmatic approach towards his surr oundings, with this in mind his specialty is improving cost efficiencies, and this has earned him the nickname â€Å"Le Cost-Killer†.CG philosophies of management consist of three principals. These are transparency, execution and communication which all are essential to give employees structure and direction. His leadership style is characterized by him being achievement orientated, participative, supportive and directive leader. Furthermore a unique quality and vital factor for CG success is in my opinion was his implementation of the Cross Functional Teams (CFT) and his approach to cultural conflict, which he sees as an opportunity to create rapid innovation, if paced and channelled correctly. In the above mentioned I state, that CGs approach was a success.In the following four aspects I will try to prove this, by stressing out different arguments from the case combined with relevant theory. 2. 1 Resistance to change: People do not resist change but specific things. (Notes lec. 5) Over 50 % of all change initiatives in organizations fail to succeed and when this occurs, leaders often blame resistance. They assume that if only people would stop complaining and get on board, all would be fine (Ford et al. , 2009). But resistance is, in fact, a form of feedback, often provided by people who know more about day-to-day operations than you do.It can therefore be turned into a vibrant conversation that gives your change effort a higher profile (Ford et al. , 2009). This could be one of the reasons to why CG set up the CFT. Dismissing the feedback deprives you of potentially valuable information, costs you goodwill, and jeopardizes important relationships. If you learn to embrace resistance, you can use it as a resource and find your way to a better solution (Ford et al. , 2009). Resistance, properly understood as feedback, can be an important resource in improving the quality and clarity of the objectives and strategies at the heart of a change proposal.And, properly used, it can enhance the prospects for successful implementation (Ford et al. , 2009). Looking at the theory applied and the case, I believe that the resistance to change that CG faced was inevitable. As I see it one of the main reasons for resistances was due to the culture background, however there were several of underlying causes that could create a tension and resistance to change at Nissan. One is a more general conflict that arises when trying to move people, who do not find movement necessary.Another resistance point could be the urge for protecting ones career development, which before the intervention of CG was based on promotion on seniority basis and a zero mistake culture, which resulted in general a lack of innovation, a slow decision making and risk adverse mentality. To this CG responded with a change in the career development structure at Nissan, so that the highest achievers got the highest rewards and promotion was based on performance, leading to higher performance, willingness to make mistakes and create an innovation platform.Although these initiatives where not without resistance, because of the promotion of some younger leader over older, long serving employees which was in opposition to Japanese culture norms, CG took the same approach as with cultural differences and saw growth opportunities instead of problems for the young managers since they where challenged in their authority, which gave them growth experiences. As an overall when it comes to turning a company around as drastically as was needed for Nissan it is bound to create some resistance, and that CG new and was prepared for.Such a big change makes the future uncertain for many employees and the uncertainty is something many naturally try to avoid, and thereby instinctively becomes resistant. This Combined with a strong Japanese traditions, an organizational culture that has hindered innovation, adaptability and accountability, and last but not least a Japanese gov ernment that historically always have bailed out troubled employees, thereby creating no reason for action, and a feeling of no urgency, only made the resistance worse.All this being said, I am convinced that CG handed the resistance to change ideally. He didn’t as Ford el al. points out hold any possible reason for failure on resistance, and thereby risking overlooking opportunities to strengthen operational outcomes. 2. 2 Organizational culture: A part of the organizational culture at Nissan was the sub optimization with focus only on each individuals own department with little regard for understanding the company as a whole. This including other aspects of the organizational culture resulted in CG detecting a series of problems.From management side, the most fundamental ones was the lack of vision and ignoring customer voices. Furthermore he identified problems with, lack of clear profit orientation, lack of sense of urgency, no shared vision, insufficient focus on custome r and too much focus on competitors and lack of cross functional implementations. As a consequence of these findings CG organized nine CFTs for tackling Nissan’s cultural problems, and allowing the company to develop a new corporate culture from the best elements of Japan`s national culture.Working together in the CFTs helped managers think in new ways (innovation) and challenge the existing practices (efficiency). CG explained to employees at all levels of the company that they them selves possessed solutions to Nissan’s problems, giving them a sense of responsibility and ownership in turning Nissan around. It was neither top-down nor bottom-up. It was both â€Å"top-down and bottom-up. † CG could just have formulated solutions by himself and ordered them to be implemented by senior managers, but he believed in the managers and employees in Nissan, nd he was good at showing them this. As mentioned in 2. 0 he believed that if one just dictated changes from above , the effort could backfire, undermining morale and productivity. The CFTs was a way to minor the resistance to change and involve and motivate middle managers who had detailed information about the company’s daily business and had the potential to come up with solutions to the company’s problems. Even before taking over the position as COO, he had industry analysts against him, whom anticipated a culture clash between the French leadership style and his new Japanese employees.This could also have affected some employee attitude towards CG in a negative way beforehand. Besides this I am convinced that many parts of the Nissan organization did not feel very good about having CG changing things as drastically as he did. A labeling from the media as a gaijin, a foreigner and a reduction of 21,000 jobs, will inevitably create an uncertainty and therefore opponents among both lower level employees as well as higher in the hierarchy.Also the new employee advancement strategy , which challenged the traditional career advancement, created some negative emotions towards CG among the older, longer serving employees, since they were no longer automatically granted with a career advancement for long time service in the company. Furthermore, layoff of several of managers who did not meet targets regardless of circumstances and the demotion of Vice President of Sales and Marketing in Japan presumably created resistance and discontent.But I do believe that CG was successful in enlisting most of the organizations support over a fairly short period of time, though his leadership style, where his visibility and openness to taking recommendations & opinions of Nissan people seriously. Another reason is the respect for leadership that is inherent in most Japanese. This made his approach to leadership even more effective. Also the delegation of responsibilities to the CFTs helped getting the support of middle and lower levels, so he could focus his attention on top ma nagement. 2. 3 National culture:The national culture has without a doubt played a large part in the outcome of CG’s attempt to turn Nissan around. On one hand it hindered change because of the sense of security the government created and its rigid approach to decision making and career advancement. On the other hand the respect for leadership made it easier for him and his CFTs to have an impact on the organization. The cultural differences between CG and the Nissan organization was profound because he had never been exposed to Japanese culture before, but his approach to the culture ensured that he was fully aware of the issues that could arise.He stated that he wanted to discover Japan by being in Japan with Japanese people. That shows his humble and respectful approach to their culture, which I think benefited him allot and which I in the following will show some examples of. The respectful approach to the Japanese culture forced e. g. CG to pay extra attention on the empo werment of employees. As mentioned, Japanese business culture is characterized by a search for conscientiousness, corporation, group harmony, and an avoidance of mistakes. This all leads to a delay of decision making and a lack of responsibility.The introduction of CFTs was in my opinion a strategic stroke of genius because it was partly an attempt to break with the inconveniences of Japanese culture without harassing the fundamentals and partly because people in the CFTs got a bird’s eye perspective of the company and it gave them a sense of ownership and responsibility, which was necessary to turn things around. Cultural conflict could, in my opinion, easily be a root to resistance to change but as mentioned earlier CG uses and see cultural conflict as something positive if handled correctly, which also is in line with both Ford et al. and Dent et al. iew of how resistance to change should be handled (Ford et al. , 2009) (Dent et al. , 1999). By introducing the CFTs CG also avoided the failure that many companies often do in the execution of their strategy, which is going directly to the structural reorganization. Instead he focused on some of the most powerful drivers of effectiveness – decision rights and information flows (Nielson et al, 2008). The CFTs had in their ability of being cross functional all the information they needed to take the right decisions and by encouraging the members to come forth with their ideas and take risks the effectiveness of the CFTs was even greater.CG also changed the traditional Japanese compensation system to a more Western approach with possibility for employee advancements based on performance instead of seniority. This greatly empowered the talented employees, who was much needed in the turnaround but was also a source of conflict between young leader and older, longer-serving employees. But again CG saw a possible conflict as a positive thing. â€Å"†¦these tests of authority were growth experience s for young managers†.This shows again his personal ability to turn challenges into something good and productive. 2. 4 Luck and timing: There is no doubt that CG was lucky. His timing was impeccable as the bankruptcy of Yamaichi happened when he took office as COO in Nissan. The misfortune of the major financial house in Japan helped open the eyes of the employees in Nissan. The employees realized that lifetime employment was no longer a reality and that they had to do their own part to secure the company’s future and thus their own jobs.CG, to his credit, used the Yamaichi example whenever he could to continue to motivate his employees, repeating that their fate would be no different if they did not put all of their effort into figuring out, and then executing, the best way to turn Nissan around. By repeating the story CG paved the way for a major organizational and cultural change that otherwise would have been hard to push through. If people do not see why change is necessary, then motivation for change will be nonexistent.Moving a huge organization simply by brute force is an impossible task, but CG’s strike of luck created a powerful momentum that diminished potential resistance to change. Without this, CG and his CFTs would probably have faced a much more daunting task if the turnaround had taken place few years earlier. But it was not all luck. CG a used the bankruptcy strategic in the meaning of unfreezing the organization in Lewins words or as Cotter expresses it â€Å"creating a burning platform†. By telling the story over and over again he made the organization and every employee ready for change.When everyone was ready CG created a vision that was tangible, concise, and easy to relate to for the employees. It is not enough to create a great vision. It also has to be communicated effectively to the organization. CG was aware of this as the quote below shows â€Å"He was the first manager to actually walk around the entir e company and meet every employee in person, shaking hands and introducing himself†. CG was prepared to â€Å"walk the talk† himself and did so by taking the lead and thereby showing the employees the way. 3. 0 Conclusion: All in all I think CG did an incredible job turning Nissan around in a very short period of time.Inspired by the voting we have done in the class, I would give him a 12, the highest mark. As a non-Japanese COO he managed to overcome Japanese cultural obstacles, as well as effectively transforming a bureaucratic organizational culture and turning a large continuing deficit into a profit within 12 month. One could question though whether his successor will be able to continue what CG started or if he needs to find his own way. Either way, CG has a justifiable concern for the future of Nissan. They might be on the right path, but they are still far from reaching their goals.

Netflix Analysis

The following analysis is about Netflix and Blockbuster. Two successful companies with similar target market but at the same time with very different strategies which can make the difference of success in the future or contrary go down. First of all we need to clarify what is the specific situation of each one. Blockbuster is a rental home video company that has been leading the market during many years, since the VHS cassette till the appearance of the DVD and the expansion of the internet. They have had a well-designed strategy which let them growth significantly being the leaders in the market, having in 2006 more than 5000 locations within the US. They basically offered a huge number of in-store movie rental. As it is said in the text their financial success is based on the maximization of the days that a movie is rented. Also it is important to mention that a big part of their revenues came from the ‘’late fees’’ (10% of the total revenues in 2004). But as the times were changing, the customer’s needs were changing too and Blockbuster was in the need to adapt his business to the market. Netflix, being so visionary ten years ago, was launched as a personalized DVD movie rental using USPS to deliver DVDs to its subscribers and using a pricing model similar to the one used by video stores. The following analysis focuses on how those two companies that cover the same needs, they have totally different strategies and by analyzing both strategies we will see how a good strategy and a good knowledge of the market can make the difference and take a company to the success. Basing on the data and information in the case, Blockbuster would be ‘’short’’ and Netflix would be ‘’long’’. Blockbuster has an old-fashioned strategy, they focused all their efforts in differentiate from Netflix by integrating online and traditional in-shop services and by copying Netflix’s strategy of no late fees. Despite their attempts they had significant operation losses and they just grew 5% (they expected a bigger growth by suppressing late fees). Contrary, Netflix would be ‘’long’’ because from the beginning they were visionary, and they were offering what customers needed while the times were changing. Because of that their net income has been growing significantly. As inferred in Exhibit 1 in the case, net income multiplied in just two years (in 2004 was 21595$ and in 2006 the net income was 49082$). It is important to take into account what jobs did Netflix and Blockbuster for consumers. Blockbuster was the leader in the market by offering consumers in shop movie rent. They perfectly covered the need of watching the latest movies at home. They were very successful and so they expanded by opening new locations with the objective that at least 70% of the population have a Blockbuster very close. Netflix though, offered movies but unlike Blockbuster, they deliver the rented movies to the customer’s houses. They changed the concept of traditional movie renter. Netflix was created as a new concept, but covering the same need that Blockbuster was covering. Over time, Netflix grew more and more thanks to this competitive advantage that made the difference from Blockbuster. About their profit models, Netflix reached profitability by investing capital in opening more distribution centers producing more subscriptions thanks to the improved delivery service. As showed on Exhibit 2 in the case, the increase on the number of subscribers was very significant with 107 in 1999 to 6316 subscribers in 2006. Netflix based its strategy in the concepts of convenience and selection and they showed it by introducing the prepaid subscription based model where customers had to pay a monthly fee instead of the old per rental charge model. With this strategy they were be able to have better customer retention. On the other hand, Blockbuster was primarily focused on making the company profitable by expanding geographically, opening new locations so that they can increase the market share. Blockbuster focused the strategy on the concept of ‘’movie night’’, it means that their market is a specific niche in which customers make an impulsive decision and rent a movie when they get in the shop. That’s why they only have high-demand movies (unlike Netflix that apart from high demand movies, they also have old or independent movies). The Netflix success is due to a series of different steps that the company has had to face from the beginning till nowadays. The changes in the customers’ needs and in the society led Netflix to a constantly changing strategies. They launched the platform in 1997 like an alternative way to the traditional movie renters, to provide home movies services better satisfying customer’s needs. They took advantage of the latest hit in the new technologies, the DVD. And they acted like early-adopters of the DVD focusing their efforts in attracting owners of this new device. They were being successful, but they started losing customers so they were in the need to make some changes. And they did. Netflix totally changed the pricing strategy from the traditional pay-per-rent to the subscription model which allowed customers unlimited movies a month. They came up with the recommendation system as they needed to differentiate from the traditional video rental stores offering something that they didn’t offer. To increase the quality and number of offered movies, they created business relationships with the major studios so that they reach customer’s needs. As a consequence of this growth, they increase the distribution channel with USPS. But apart from that, Netflix was having a huge problem. They were constantly losing customers. To solve these problems they thought different: attract the old customers that have canceled their subscriptions. To reach this goal, they changed the unsubscribing policy and instead of trying to retain them, they made the cancellation process as easy as the subscription one. Probably many of the customers that left before will come back to Netflix when the platform will earn more awareness or when just decided that they want to reopen their accounts. So if all those processes were easy for them, the impression of the brand on the customer’s mind will be positive. At this point Netflix was doing well, the numbers of subscription were increasing and their net income was increasing too. What would be next? The new technologies market is a constantly growing and changing market. Something that is being a hit now, in one year could be completely forgotten. With the expansion of the internet many in-shop services will be affected. Services that can be offered via internet will replace the traditional commerce. And this will be the case in the video rental. The traditional video rental services whether in-shop or delivery will tend to disappear because of the following reasons or assumptions: -Internet is growing more and more. Many improvements are being made to improve the quality. -The number of people who have internet at home is also increasing. -Customers are adapting to the new era and they are adapting to new technologies and regulations. So basing on that, as Netflix already did years ago, they should be innovative again and take the risk to change in order to keep profitability for the company. They can’t avoid the new trends, if they don’t follow the changes and they don’t adapt to them, they will disappear because customers will change to those brands that cover their actual needs. Netflix was offering what customer’s needed, but this is changing with the appearance of VOD, and so by covering the same need, they should adapt to the times by changing their strategy.

Analyzing the Dynamic Role of Women in Steinbecks Grapes of Wrath

Analyzing the Dynamic Role of Women in Steinbecks Grapes of Wrath Living in a time period characterized by male dominance, Ma Joad defies the domestic role of a housewife as she takes command of her family in the face of unsurmountable odds. Although Steinbeck originally describes the Joads as a patriarchal family, he shifts the power into Ma's hands as she assumes the ultimate responsibility of making decisions. While Pa "breaks" (Steinbeck 6) under the deplorable living conditions, Ma remains strong for the sake of her family. In fact, she sacrifices her mental well-being by sleeping next to Granma's corpse, simply to ensure the family can cross the Californian border. Marvelled by her strength, the family receives courage to continue their journey despite the setbacks.Presenting a progressive change in Ma's demeanor, Steinbeck portrays Ma as increasingly bold and authoritative. When Tom suggests the family continue driving, while he and Casy repair the car, Ma releases her frustration. Taking a jack handle in hand, she scolds, "You done this 'th out thinkin' much.English: Own Work. 2007. National Steinbeck Centre...What we got lef 'in the world'? Nothin' but us. Nothin' but the folks" (230). With this act of forceful leadership, Ma Joad becomes "the power" (231). Additionally, Ma demonstrates her authority when she makes a decision without consulting the family. Hearing news of a job in northern California, she responds,"'We're a-goin...I don' care what the pay is. We're a-goin'" (479). Pa appears apprehensive of this takeover when he complains,"'Seems like times is changed. Time was when a man said what we'd do. Seems like women is tellin' now'" (Steinbeck 481).While the entire novel discusses the elevating role of women in society, the final paragraph serves as its basis. Both Ma and Rose of Sharon experience the loss of a child, which explains their maternal love toward mankind. By beastfeeding the starving man in the barn,

ESP essays

ESP essays ESP. . . Does it really exist? This has been a matter for debate for a long time. Personally, I believe that it is basically just luck. In other words, someone provides an explanation or prediction that is vague enough for someone to read additional facts into it and make it appear like it was an accurate telling of what happened or what was going to happen or they provide so many explanations or predictions that one of them sort of ends up correct. Meyers and, of course its corresponding website, follows along the same thought. A psychic in a staged demonstration is able to control what the audience is seeing and hearing and by doing so appears to have psychic powers. However, taking the same psychic and placing him or her in a environment where what they see or hear is controlled, they are not successful and it has been determined that the stage show was a hoax. If a true psychic existed, it would seem to me that they would have come forward to try to claim the $1 million dollars that is being offered by Magician James Randi in conjunction with others. (Myers, pg. 236) To date, no one has been found to be a true psychic. I know that I have, in the past, wished so hard for something to happen that I actually dreamed about it. If it came true, was it a premonition? I dont think so. Most times, I have worked very hard to achieve it. I believe in the power of positive thinking because negative thinking is not going to get you anywhere but seriously unhappy and depressed. At least being positive about life and what it deals you allows you to have a better outlook on life. This is one of the reasons that many low-income people use psychics. Many are looking for the get rich quick scheme; others are looking for a way up the social ladder and believe that this is their last chance. It is actually a very sad situation when it comes down to this. Under ProQuest, I found an interesting article regarding ...

How Graduate Admission Committees Evaluate Applications

How Graduate Admission Committees Evaluate Applications Graduate programs receive dozens or even hundreds of applications and many are from students with stellar qualifications. Can admissions committees and departments really draw distinctions among hundreds of applicants? A competitive program that receives a large number of applications, such as a doctoral program in clinical  psychology, may receive up to 500 applications. Admissions committees for competitive graduate programs break the review process into several steps. First Step: Screening Does the applicant meet the minimum requirements? Standardized test scores? GPA? Relevant experience? Is the application complete, including admissions essays and recommendation letters? The purpose of this initial review is to ruthlessly weed out applicants. Second Step: First Pass Graduate programs vary, but many competitive programs send batches of applications to faculty for an initial review. Each faculty member may review a set of applications and identify those with promise. Third Step: Batch Review In the next step batches of applications are sent to two to three faculty. At this stage, applications are evaluated with regard to motivation, experience, documentation (essays, letters), and overall promise. Depending on the size of the program and applicant pool the resulting set of applicants is reviewed by a larger set of faculty, or interviewed, or accepted (some programs do not conduct interviews). Fourth Step: Interview Interviews may be conducted by phone or in-person. Applicants are evaluated with regard to their academic promise, thinking and problem-solving skills, and social competence. Both faculty and graduate students evaluate applicants. Final Step: Post Interview and Decision Faculty meet, gather evaluations, and make admissions decisions. The specific process varies depending on the size of the program and number of applicants. Whats the takeaway message? Make sure that your application is complete. If youre missing a recommendation letter, essay, or transcript, your application will not make it through the initial screening.

Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 4

Proposal - Essay Example However most individuals are not aware of the health hazards which regular fast food consumption may cause. Although it is not possible to completely eradicate fast food, it is important to reduce its consumption and make people aware of its health implications. Fast food chains however hesitate to display nutritional information as they fear it may cause losing consumers. This practice further impacts food choice and causes chronic health conditions. According to the National Institute of health Statistics of the U.S (2002), the proportion of obese adults have grown from 23% to 31%. A number of fast food chains which are stated to be healthy also have grown multiple folds in the last decade. Many health researchers such as Heini and Weinsier (1997) have opined that individuals at present burn fewer calories as compared to earlier times due to the rapid growth of technology. Although the number of leisure activities are seen to rise steadily, the time spend by individuals in these activities has been low. Individuals do not indulge in as much physical activity as per their calorie intake (Chandon, Morwitz and Reinartz, 2005). Moreover, the health claims made by fast food chain restaurants misdirect consumers. According to Mussweiler (2003) the nutritional facts stated by many fast food chains are seen to be inaccurate due to which more orders gets placed. Consumers get misdirected by the manner in which fast food chains display t he calorific information of different food items (Ledikwe, Julia and Barbara, 2005). The attitude of consumers towards such information is also seen to remain casual to a very large extent. The presence of a few vegetables or fruit items in the food gets overestimated by consumers and they fall under the assumption that the food they are consuming is healthy (Balasubramanian and Cole, 2002). Additionally, consumers are not aware of the net amount of energy their body requires each day and therefore

International Marketing 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Marketing 1 - Essay Example The processes followed in the host country are exactly similar to those in the home country. The top management views domestic methods and human resources as the most efficient and superior in overseas markets. An export department controls overseas markets at home and the marketing staff comes from home country. This approach is associated with attitudes of national arrogance and supremacy. It best suits small firms that are just entering international market or firms where relative volume of overseas sales is insignificant making product modifications uneconomic (Wind, 1973). Polycentric management orientation (host country orientation) on the other hand according to Wind is the opposite of ethnocentrism. The term polycentric explains a company’s often-unconscious supposition that each country in which it does business is unique. The directors consider the foreign market too difficult to understand. It holds the philosophy that local human resources, who best understand national market conditions and strategies, are best suited to deal with local market. This is due to national differences and the need for local responsiveness. Home country products are also adapted to meet local needs. However home country managers remain dominant in the head office. Each subsidiary develops its own distinct and independent business and marketing approaches. This approach is best for larger firms and it is characteristic of multinational companies. Regiocentric Orientation management, which Wind also calls a regional orientation, is an attitude that recognizes the significance of national and cultural variations but perceives them as most important at the regional level. The assumption is that the regional workers know their market better and instead of having many representatives in various countries, they can serve an entire region for economies of scale purposes. A regiocentric company views different

Dark Ages in the Western Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dark Ages in the Western Europe - Essay Example There were constant battles amongst Lords from all over Europe. (Paul B. Newman 121-124). This was as a result of Rome having been in power for a very long period of time, that is, 700 years. The emperor was the ruler of everything. This is what stimulated individuals to wage war in a bid of rising to power and land acquisition. The fighting had various adverse effects among them being destruction of the resources and stagnation of the cultural growth. In addition to this, it is inevitable in any fighting, there were lots of lives of innocent individuals that were lost in battle as the Lords fought with each other to quench their thirst and hunger for power and land. This resulted in children losing their parents, husband losing their wives and vice-versa and so forth. As a result of the lives lost, there was a decrease in the population which in turn led to economic depression. This is because the merchants and traders had reduced number of people that would buy their goods. This le d to the accumulation of their products hence resulting in merchants and other traders operating at a loss.Another issue was to do with reduced attention given to buildings in terms of expansion and architectural development (Morris Berman pg 14-15). It is until the 8th century that there arose a renewed interest in the Romanesque architecture.In terms of technology, despite of the notable positive impacts that come with it, there was retarded development. There was insignificant contribution by scientists

Increasing use of Medical Marijuana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Increasing use of Medical Marijuana - Essay Example So, the medicines developed from cannabis are also known as psychoactive drugs. So, these drugs are offered high attention by the young generations of this era as compared to many other medical drugs (Politics. Co.UK. n. d). Cannabis is recognized as marijuana. Cannabis or marijuana drugs are mainly used as a stimulant to increase the appetite of the body, improve the mood or relaxation of the entire body. So, it is also recognized as recreational drugs and excess intake of these drugs might cause negative impacts over the health of the body such as anxiety, reddening of the eyes, dry mouth, loss of memory and many others. Therefore, due to these sorts of side effects, it is illegal to carry or consuming a small amount of cannabis or medical marijuana in any of its form. But, in-spite of implementation of numerous rights and regulations of the government, the use of cannabis or medical marijuana is increasing at a rapid rate among the individual of all age groups and all income groups (Politics. Co.UK. n. d). Cannabis or medical marijuana is considered as one of the most illicit drug in the entire globe, but legalizing its use for medical purposes created a considerable challenge for all. Due to such legalization, the usage rate of medical marijuana increased mainly among the youth adults of age-groups, 12 to 20 years. However, the rate of consumption of medical marijuana is also extremely high in the nations comprising of numerous rules and laws against its consumption rather than those, without comprising any laws. Therefore, due to increased rate of consumption of medical marijuana, the rate of crimes, alcohol consumption, loss of memory and deaths increased to a significant extent as compared to previous era. According to a research, conducted by Moir & et. al. (2008), it might be clearly depicted that the smoke of cannabis or marijuana comprises of more than 15,00 harmful and toxic chemicals such as carbon monoxide, irritants, hydrogen cyanide,

Experiment or Quasi-Experiment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Experiment or Quasi-Experiment - Coursework Example According to William M.K. Trochim, in this type of research design the most often used group is the intact groups which we think are similar as the treatment and control groups. Two significant characteristics of the NEGD are clearly manifested in this experiment. First, the sample group that is used in the experiment is practically similar in the sense that these kids all have high self-efficacy in playing softball. The second characteristic is the non-random manner of choosing the group. All the components of the group have high self-efficacy in playing softball. This clearly shows that the components of the group are not randomly picked. This experiment is definitely a quasi-experiment due to the fact that the selected group is considered without any random pre-selection process, and upon which a variable is tested. In addition, the result that is achieved of this experiment is used in generating results for general trending. Although this experiment is done for the measurement of social variables, this experiment uses the self-efficacy measurement which can actually be statistically analyzed and

Increasing use of Medical Marijuana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Increasing use of Medical Marijuana - Essay Example So, the medicines developed from cannabis are also known as psychoactive drugs. So, these drugs are offered high attention by the young generations of this era as compared to many other medical drugs (Politics. Co.UK. n. d). Cannabis is recognized as marijuana. Cannabis or marijuana drugs are mainly used as a stimulant to increase the appetite of the body, improve the mood or relaxation of the entire body. So, it is also recognized as recreational drugs and excess intake of these drugs might cause negative impacts over the health of the body such as anxiety, reddening of the eyes, dry mouth, loss of memory and many others. Therefore, due to these sorts of side effects, it is illegal to carry or consuming a small amount of cannabis or medical marijuana in any of its form. But, in-spite of implementation of numerous rights and regulations of the government, the use of cannabis or medical marijuana is increasing at a rapid rate among the individual of all age groups and all income groups (Politics. Co.UK. n. d). Cannabis or medical marijuana is considered as one of the most illicit drug in the entire globe, but legalizing its use for medical purposes created a considerable challenge for all. Due to such legalization, the usage rate of medical marijuana increased mainly among the youth adults of age-groups, 12 to 20 years. However, the rate of consumption of medical marijuana is also extremely high in the nations comprising of numerous rules and laws against its consumption rather than those, without comprising any laws. Therefore, due to increased rate of consumption of medical marijuana, the rate of crimes, alcohol consumption, loss of memory and deaths increased to a significant extent as compared to previous era. According to a research, conducted by Moir & et. al. (2008), it might be clearly depicted that the smoke of cannabis or marijuana comprises of more than 15,00 harmful and toxic chemicals such as carbon monoxide, irritants, hydrogen cyanide,

The Comedy Genre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Comedy Genre - Essay Example The first commercially successful romantic comedy to posit an alternative notion to this underlying concept did not get made until the 1970s. Woody Allen's Annie Hall is dictated by the external social forces of that decade just as much as the screwball comedies were dictated by the economic and social upheaval of the Depression. Annie Hall stakes out a claim for being the first romantic comedy to display the multiple neuroses inherent in a realistic sexual relationship. It is the neuroses of Alvy and Annie that present the obstruction that leads to what becomes the film's most unconventional upending of genre of romantic comedy: the two do not end up together. Until Allen's film the very concept that the romantic leads would not end up together was the definition of a romantic tragedy film. In another Woody Allen film, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Lester, the successful TV producer, manages to boil down the entire essence of comedy into one simple equation: "If it bends, it's funny. If it breaks, it's not funny." Lester's unctuous delivery of his theory of comedy undermines the serious contemplation of its message, but Lester is essentially simplifying one of the elements of the far more philosophically expansive suppositions about what makes a person laugh forwarded by Henri Bergson, who writes of comedy that "Indifference is its natural environment, for laughter has no greater foe than emotion" (Bergson 4). The implication is that comedy must by its very nature be distanced from the natural emotions involved in an otherwise realistic situation. Annie Hall establishes distance from the pain experienced by Alvy and Annie as their relationship crumbles by subverting the mechanics of the romantic comedy genre. The traditional arc of a romantic comedy since the screwball era is one that begins with an antagonistic relationship between the man and woman that evolves into mutual attraction before finally ending with consummation. Annie Hall reverses this trajectory by presenting Alvy and Annie as immediately attracted to one another and ending with their romantic parting. The distancing from the undercurrent of tragedy within the story arc of Annie Hall is also accomplished through its insistence on breaking down another convention of the romantic comedy. More so than any other type of comedy, the pre-Annie Hall romantic comedy eschews any intrusion into its carefully constructed sense of reality. Annie Hall, by contrasts, blasts through the fourth wall and at times also becomes an exercise in surrealism: the scene with the subti tles showing what Alvy and Annie are really thinking as they engage in phony small talk; the scene with at the movie theater at which Alvy magically produces Marshall McLuhan. These devices distance the audience from the heightened emotions at stake; ultimately, it becomes clear this relationship is not just going to bend, but break. Annie Hall becomes the first American romantic comedy to find the comic potential not in two people falling in love, but in what happens after the consummation that climaxed the earlier examples of the genre. Annie Hall may have given rise to a new sub-sub-genre of comedy, the anti-romantic comedy, but external social forces served to collide with

Helth and Saftey Childcare Assignment Essay Example for Free

Helth and Saftey Childcare Assignment Essay There are many legislations that influence healthy, safe and secure environment for early years settings. The Heath and Safety (young persons) Regulations 1997 states that ‘’Employers need to complete risk assessments for people under 18 years of age.’’ (Thornes 2008 pg84) It also states that if any hazards are the setting, then give them training that the student, trainee or work experience people may nee to do with that particular hazard. Another legislation is Health and Safety at work Act 1974. This legislation is the one that provides general guidance about all this health and safety and workers must have policies and procedures saying how the health and safety will be ensured and then follow these policies and procedures. Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) 1994 is also part of the legislation for a healthy, safe and secure environment and states that a risk assessment should be done on hazards and make sure to store appropriate as the COSHH regulations are. Reporting injuries diseases and dangerous occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995. E2 Describe the producers which will keep a child safe for each accident, illness or emergency. There are many procedures which keep children safe for each accident, illness or emergency and each childcare setting will have exclusion for illness policy. In my setting the exclusion policy states that all children should be excluded if they have an illness until recovered to prevent any one else in the setting getting infected. Any illness or accident will be recorded in the accident book and they do this in my work placement by writing down all the details of the incident or emergency. The child’s medical records must be checked, and where appropriate acted upon and then parents/guardians will be contacted to pick up their child. If parents/guardians are not reached, the child’s emergency contacts will be call up. In my work placement all staff follow this by carrying it out the correct way. Afterwards the child should be regularly checked to see if any think is more serious. One record copy of the child will be taken to the doctors to make sure staff deal with  any recorded conditions and then the staff at the setting can keep a record of it and keep in contact with parents/guardians. Every childcare setting will keep a record of the child’s symptoms and the actions; regular checks on the child and each time the action was taken. The staffs at my work placement setting always have copies if an incident or accident happens and make regular checks which they keep an up to date record of the child. On discovering a fire or alarm sound, the room leader should then gather the register, visitor book and nursery contact numbers. Nursery stuff will help get the children out the setting by evacuating the building from the nearest fire doors. Once left building all staff and children line up at the assemble point and when lined up the room leader checks register to check all children are present. Afterwards the staff and children must not return to the building until the building has been declared safe by the fire brigade. Once this has been done, the children and staff can return back to the setting safely. An example of an illness would be vomiting or diarrhoea. An example of an accident would be a child bumping his/her head. An example of an emergency would be a fire. E3 Plan the appropriate care of a child aged 1 for a full day in the setting. E4 Plan the appropriate care of a child aged 3 years for a full day in the setting. E5 Describe the issues that affect the planning of a challenging environment for children. There are many issues that affect the planning of a challenging environment for children. The first issue can be identifying children’s needs as this can stop the practitioner from being able to meet their needs in planning the challenging environment for them to be able to learn in, develop and take risks. The second issue can be equipment; is it safe and suitable because this is vital for the children to be able to have in a challenging environment and age staged appropriate equipment. The third issue that affects the planning of a challenging environment may be the size or layout of the area. The Forth issue can be environmental factors such as  temperature, safety, ect It will have an effect on how effective the challenging environment is. The fifth issue can be that is there supervision and enough of it. The sixth issue that affects the planning of a challenging environment maybe type of setting. The seventh issue could be consulting children as is it developmentally appropriate. E6 Describe the initiatives which influence the provision of challenging environments for children. + C1 Evaluate how two initiatives contribute to the provision of an enabling environment for children. A national initiative which influences the provision of challenging environments for children is Swedish school as they apply the Forest education approach. This national initiative influences provisions because children are learning in a different environment which has more outdoor and physical development on the children. They aim to let children explore and understand stuff in the woods and forest such as everyday products from wood. ‘’a unique way of working with young people in a woodland setting, helping them to achieve small practicable tasks, learning about fire safety, woodland management etc. It complements the Early Years curriculum in particular but also supports the 5-16 curriculum. Disaffected children, those with emotional or behavioral difficulties or exhibiting challenging behavior are all seen to benefit and can be turned around by the Forest School experience. Forest School particularly suits the kinaesthetic learner (those that learn by doing) who fails to achieve in a formal school setting. These children are immediately engaged in the tasks set as they suit their way of learning.’’ (http://www.infomat.net/infomat/rd741/rd1/database/Forest_Education/index.asp) A local initiative which influences the provision of challenging environments for children is Montessori such as The Oratory Day Nursery in Burnham. This local initiative influences provisions because children learn independently through tasks to meet their skill for their age without a ‘’long-term disadvantage in their gross motor skills’’ (Thornes 2008 pg250) They aim to make children do many activities which involve the children to use their hands. The Montessori approach is use in my current setting Oratory Day Care Nursery by having set activities for the children to choose from then let children do the activity whilst the practitioners observe and only interacts in the activity to give guidance. This approach also say that ‘’First education of the senses, then education of the intellect.’’ (Thornes 2008 pg250). E7 Explain the importance of helping children to manage risk and challenge in their environment. It is important for children to be helped to learn to assess and manage risk and challenge. It will be necessary for the adult to teach the child the skills he/she will need to learn about assessing and managing risk and challenge. The child can also learn to understand consequences of the challenge and risk themselves. It also teaches them, limits and binderies that they can take with them throughout their everyday life. Most importantly it teaches to progress in their education by developing and doing these challenges and risks with the adults help. In my placement I have seen this happen by practitioners allowing for the children to explore the garden for themselves and one girl was climbing up the little hill for the first time and slipped and fell over. This was a challenge for her because she had to get up to the top and her risk was that she fell but next time she will climb up the hill, she would know the risk and what may happen next time. ‘’All children both need and want to take risk in order to explore limits, venture into new experiences and develop their capacities from a very young age and from their earliest play experiences. Children would never learn to walk, climb stairs or ride a bicycle unless they were strong motivated to respond o challenges involving risk of injuries.’’ (www.freeplaynetwork.org.uk/adventure/manage.htm) E8 show an understanding of diversity and inclusive practice. Diversity and inclusive practise need to be understood and carried out in every childcare setting. Therefore each practitioner should remember to treat every child and their families fairly without discrimination. This can  be done by for example letting all children join in an activity and not saying they can’t play because of their colour, size, shape, disability, ability in activity. They should also not stereotype both the children and families that they work with. By doing this, practitioners can meet each child’s needs as an individual and are allowing for the rights of the children and their families to take place. ‘’Childcare workers are very influential in the promotion of children’s attitude and values. Children will take their cue from adult responses and reactions. Because of their powerful role, it is important that staff take issues of equality seriously and do not ignore them.’’ (Thornes 2008 pg93) In my current setting Oratory Day Nursery, all staff carrying out and understand diversity and inclusive practice by following the equal opportunities policy and enabling that each child gets the chance to develop, learn and play as an individual in the setting with the right to be heard and valued. D1 Explain how legislation can support strategies to establish and maintain healthy, safe and secure environments in early years settings. There are many ways that legislation can support strategies to establish and maintain healthy, safe and secure environment in early years settings. The most important thing that supports a healthy, safe and secure environment is having policies and procedures as this will help everyone in the setting to keep to the same rules. Having CRB checks will also support a healthy, safe and secure environment because they help protect the setting from any vunarble adults. Another thing will be regular body inspections to ensure the setting is following the policies and procedures and working to the right standards but also to see if anything may need improvement into better or is not good practise. Staff ratios can support strategies to establish and maintain healthy, safe and secure environment as without having the right staff the setting shouldn’t open. Training for many different things such as fire procedures will allow you to be able to put your knowledge and practise into your own work to keep everyone safe and secure in the setting. Having the right/appropriate resources is another way to establish and maintain healthy, safe and secure environment. The last thing would be you the practitioner yourself as you are the person who will enforce that all these legislations are done to protect the children, parents, staff and other professionals as well the setting. D2 Explain how establishing a safe environment can support the procedures necessary for accidents, illness and emergencies. Establishing a safe environment, should support the procedures necessary for accidents, illnesses and emergencies. Accidents, illnesses and emergencies cannot be totally predictable or happen through a risk or harm in an event. Many accidents occur in a work place and the main victim is a child. This is due to risks of injury and illness through lack of cleanliness, another sick child in the group, etc Injuries in a group can occur from the children not bringing adequate protection and not using the equipment the correct way. It can also be due to the work place itself because their many be mislabelled equipment, unsafe condition, faulty or broken equipment. However the accidents and illness can be due to the adult because he/she may have failure to follow the procedures, lack of tanning or worker error. Therefore all this needs to be followed the correct way in order to prevent any of this happening. It can be done by making sure everyone in the setting implements and understands the policies such as Health and Safety Work act 1974 or RIDDOR and procedure of the setting, make sure all illnesses and emergency are written, carry out risk assessments regularly, sterilise the equipment, throw away any broken or faulty equipment,, looking after children’s hygiene and insure the children know the rules. This will then creat and establish a safe environment which is safe and less of a risk for everyone in the setting. B1 Consider possible ways to maintain the safety and privacy of children and to respect their wishes. Ensuring a safe environment that allows children to have safety and privacy with respecting their wishes can be done in many possible ways. One example can be going to the toilet as this can make the child feel uncomfortable to go in front of his/her friends and having small toilets with cubicles will make them feel safe and give them privacy. The practitioner however should check to see if there is anything that can put the child at danger when going to the toilet such as chemical produces. When doing all this it allows  the staff in the setting to see over the chid and maintain the safety. In my setting I have seen this happen because when a child goes to the toilet there are small cubicles that adults can see child at any time and keep the safety and privacy that is recurred in any childcare setting. Another example can be when protecting the child such as child’s welfare. This would mean having all practitioners, other professionals, parents and students to be aware that they most not discuss any thing that is not relevant to others and keep any paper work confidential. I have seen practitioners in my setting maintain the safety and privacy of children and respect their wish by listening to them, valuing them as an individual, following the policies on safety, Every Child Matters and the CACHE Statements of Values to best practise. A Discuss the effect on practitioners of meeting the care needs of children. There are many ways of how and why practitioners may be affected when meeting the care needs of children and the support available. Practitioners may feel unhappy to see a child leave after a long time of care for them, grief if child in care dies or is badly injured, feel terrible if they do not get on with a child or the child is not progressing and have a sense of failure. They may also feel anxiety when having to tell a parent bad news or anxiety when a child has to have the social care services involved with them. There can be support given for all these things that a practitioner may be affected by to meet the care needs of children. One way can be by leading the practitioner the right way. Local education authorities can also give support by helping the setting out and working with them to help and develop the child at the best interest to. Another way can be by getting advice from support advisors. The last way they can be supported is by other colleagues and work together to improve the outcome and met the care of the Child’s needs more effectively. This will therefore result in making the child feel happy and enjoy activities or coming to the setting. It will also make child want to work with the practitioner and gain a better relationship. It can not only have an result on the children but also on the practitioner themselves because will feel happy or overwhelmed they are able to work with the child to meet their care needs and then have a better  positive communicating relationship with parents about their child to fit the care needs of that child. In my current placement, I have seen practitioners have an effect when meeting the needs of children and one example of this was the practitioner feeling upset, frustrated because this 4 year old boy who was unable to count his number after having taught him many different ways such as having him sing a song to learn to count as this was some think the boy liked doing. Reference: * Beaver. M, et al (2008) Childcare and education Cache level 3 Cheltenham: Nelson Thorns * www.freeplaynetwork.org.uk/adventure/manage.htm 26th October 2011 * http://www.infomat.net/infomat/rd741/rd1/database/Forest_Education/index.asp 26th October 2011 * http://www.extension.org/pages/25767/preventing-injuries-in-child-care 1st December 2011

Critical ethnography Research Strategy

Critical ethnography Research Strategy Introduction The research methodology that I will be using for the Data Collection and Analysis assignment is critical ethnography. This methodology fits with my research goal to bring awareness to the unequal power structures and oppression existing within the collaborative child welfare and violence against women (VAW) advocates relationship. Madison (2005) states that critical ethnographers have an ethical responsibility to address unfairness and injustice within a particular lived domain and moves beneath surface appearances, disrupts the status quo, and unsettles both neutrality and taken-for-granted assumptions by bringing to light underlying and obscure operations of power and control (p. 5). Therefore, using the critical paradigm embedded in this methodology, I set out to uncover how issues of power, oppression and inequality affect the collaborative relationship between child welfare and violence against women (VAW) advocates that ultimately affect the services they provide to women and children. Through examining the strengths and weaknesses of their relationship, I intend to shed light onto how women and children who have experienced domestic violence and abuse are impacted by the power exerted by both service providers and their existing policies and ideologies. Theoretical and Conceptual Lens Conceptual Lens: Critical ethnography is defined as the doing or performance of critical theory. It is critical theory in action. (Madison, 2005, p. 5). Thus, critical ethnography is innately connected Exploring Methodology To the critical paradigm, which will be the conceptual lens utilized to investigate my research question. Critical theory is concerned with the mediation of power and dominance in society. Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2005) state critical theory seeks to uncover the interests at work in particular situations and to interrogate the legitimacy of those interests Its intention is transformative to transform society and individuals to social democracy (p. 28). The critical theory component of critical ethnography differentiates it from mainstream ethnography, which is concerned with the observation and description of culture or phenomenon. Critical theory modifies conventional ethnography by incorporating a political agenda which seeks to emancipate society. Theoretical Lens: Anti-oppressive theory provides a strong theoretical lens to use with critical theory and critical ethnography as both the former and the latter seek to uncover oppression and marginalization in society. It recognizes the intersectionalities of both clients and workers and can be used to highlight how legislation is entrenched in hetero-patriarchy. Similarly, at an organizational level, anti-oppressive theory can help to reveal the hegemonic practices in child welfare which influences the relationship between VAW workers and child protection workers and impacts the delivery of services to women and children. Epistemology of Critical Ethnography The epistemological underpinnings of critical ethnography are concerned with how the knowledge of oppression and power emerged historically and politically and its impact on Exploring Methodology shaping relations in society. The potential of knowledge production to reproduce and perpetuate notions of power, oppression and inequality in society is recognized. In addition, critical epistemology includes an understanding of the relationship between power and thought and power and truth claims (Carspecken, 1996, p. 10) This approach is value-laden because it has a determinedly political agenda. It seeks transformation by exposing oppressive structures in society, with the goal to emancipate society. Critical ethnographers are interested in hearing the narratives of their clients with the explicit agenda to bring forth political change. It is also value mediated because the researcher and the researched are interconnected, with the values of the investigator and the other influencing the inquiry. However, it is important to note that while research is value-driven, the validity claims of the researcher must meet rigorous standards to avoid bias. (Carspecken, 1996, p. 8) Moreover, a critical ethnographic approach goes further than other approaches. Firstly, critical researchers acknowledge researcher bias and subjectivity, as the researchers personal feelings and views are a part of the research process. The researcher is reflexive, and is engaged in a constant process of critiquing both objectivity and subjectivity. Second, researchers engage in an examination of their positionality in relation to the other (who is being studied). The researcher is engaged in a dialogical relationship with the other and remains grounded in their experience, as it is the concern for their condition which is driving the research. According to Madison (2005) dialogue moves from ethnographic presence to the present by opening up passageways for readers and audiences to experience and grasp the partial presence of a temporal conversation constituted by the others voice, body, history and yearnings (p. 10). Exploring Methodology Ontology of Critical Ethnography Critical ethnography begins from the premise that the structure and content of culture make life unnecessarily more nasty, brutish, and short for some people (Thomas, 1993, p. 33). When conducting research, critical ethnographers start with a view of what there is to know, an ontology, that furnishes a set of images and metaphors, in which various forms of social oppression constitute what is to be known (Thomas, 1993, p. 34). Thus, ontological underpinnings of critical ethnography are concerned with how societal structures and systems oppress certain groups, while reinforcing power, domination and capitalism. It sets out to expose the deeper social, historical and political meanings in society which reinforce the marginalization of some groups and how power and interests mediate these relations going below the surface level meaning to expose how bodies of ideas, norms and ideologies create meanings for constructing social subjects and concepts like gender, race and student (Thomas, 1993, p. 34). Critical ethnography also acknowledges that there are multiple realities, which can be uncovered through incorporating a narrative ontology. The narratives of participants are used to provide a rich description of their experience, as interpreted by the researcher to illustrate how issues of oppression, power and inequality are operating in his or her life (Thomas, 1993, p. 34). Unit of Analysis For this research study, dialogical data will be collected through a semi-structured interview with the intent to shed light into organizational practices existing within child protection and VAW services that influences their collaborative relationship. A key informant Exploring Methodology who has worked both in child welfare and VAW services will be interviewed for twenty to thirty minutes. Data Collection Tools For this research study, I will be interviewing a single individual. A semi-structured interview will be used because it allows the interview to be sufficiently open-ended. The interview questions can be re-ordered, modified and the researcher can probe the participant with additional questions, if needed. The interview will be recorded using an audio recorder. Field notes and observational notes of non verbal communication will also be taken. After the interview, additional notes will be made to capture anything that may have been missed. Strengths and Weaknesses of this Methodology One of the major strengths of critical ethnography is that it goes further than a traditional descriptive study, as it seeks to make emancipatory changes in society. Its political agenda attempts to transform society and share narratives and experiences of oppressed groups. This methodology also attempts to include the participants in the research process, using methods such as member checking (Carspecken, 1996, p. 166) which helps provide individuals who are often ignored from dominant discourses a voice. However, one glaring criticism of critical ethnography has been that we cannot separate it from the historical and political context from which it emerged. This context is problematic as it effects the researchers epistemological position because the ethnographers institutional or Exploring Methodology material standpoint within the everyday world is rarely connected or made problematic in relation to his or her subjects lived actualities. (Jordan Yeoman, 1995, p. 393). While critical ethnography is supposed to take a bottom-up view, the majority of its researchers come from an academic background, which is often in contrast of the material location of their participants. (Jordan Yeoman, 1995, p. 399-400). This influences the production of knowledge and data, as the relationship may be characterized by a power imbalance and differing worldviews as a product of varying material locations. Moreover, exposing inequality and oppression in academic literature does not ensure that change is created in the field. Thus, critical ethnographers become caught in a double bind. On one hand, the researcher seeks emancipation and liberation for their subjects, but they are constrained by their own positionality and the institutions for which they work. Thomas (1976, p. 25) states: We must never become wholly dependent upon established institutions; publishing houses, commercial media, universities, foundations. Social intellectuals must occupy some territory which is their own; their own journal, their own theoretical and practice centres: places where no one works for grades or fore tenure but for the transformation of society (Jordan Yeomans, 1995, p. 399-400). However, despite the researchers positionality, critical ethnography brings an opportunity to challenge traditional research and incorporate participant voices. It is also exciting as it attempts to liberate society from oppression and therefore, provides an alternative and welcomed choice to mainstream research. Exploring Methodology Analysis of Three Peer Reviewed Articles The appendix will discuss three peer reviewed articles in a chart, which is on the following page. The chart is divided into multiple categories, which will discuss the unit of analysis, the sample group, data collection and data analysis. I will conclude the chart by examining the strengths and the weaknesses of the methodology in the articles and then relate it back to my research study. Conclusion This paper set out to explore critical ethnography as my chosen methodology to conduct my research. Through writing this paper and reviewing the three articles, I know that critical ethnography will be useful in achieving my research goal of highlighting the oppression and power in the collaborative relationship between child welfare and VAW workers. This is important, as the relationship between these two sectors ultimately impacts the level of service provided to women and children.

The Actions of Cocaine in the Brain Essay -- Drugs Addiction Addicted

The Actions of Cocaine in the Brain Cocaine’s mode of action has been shown to involve the dopamine receptors. This paper will discuss how cocaine affects dopamine receptors, the mode of addiction, how cocaine affects the frontal brain metabolic activities, as well as the role of excitatory amino acids in cocaine’s mechanism. I will also discuss how cocaine affects another system through its mechanism on the brain—the renin angiotensin system. Cocaine influences dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin neurotransmission by inhibiting their reuptake. Pimozide, alpha-flupenthixol, perphenazine and chlorpromazine, all dopamine antagonists, were used to pre-treat rats in an attempt to demonstrate the reinforcing effects of dopamine. Because rats demonstrated a reduced rate of self-administration during extinction as well as after pre-treatment with antagonists, it is conceivable that dopamine receptors are involved in the reinforcing effects of cocaine (Hubner & Moreton, 1991). Two dopamine receptors, B1 and B2, are believed to be involved in these rewarding effects of cocaine. Rats were trained to self-administer cocaine intravenously on a fixed-ratio (FR) 5 schedule of reinforcement. When these rats were pretreated with SCH23390, a D1 antagonist, and spiperone, a D2 antagonist, their response rates varied. At doses up to l0ug/kg, the rats exhibited an increased response rate; whereas at doses higher than this, the rats showed a decrease in their response rate. A similar decrease in response rate was produced when central dopamine containing neurons were destroyed with the neurotoxin, 6-hydroxy-dopamine (Hubner &Moreton, 1991). The mode of action of the D1 receptor subtype is on adenylate cyclase. Upon activation, it s... ... 1. Dackis, C. A., and Gold, M. S. Neurotransmitter and neuroendocrine abnormalities associated with cocaine use. Psychiatric Medicine, 1987, 3: 469-477. 2. Hubner, C. and Moreton, J. Effects of selective D1 and D2 dopamine antagonists on cocaine self-administration in the rat. Psychopharmacology, 1991, 105: 151-156. 3. Karler, R. et. al. Excitatory amino acids and the actions of cocaine. Brain Research, 1992, 143-146. 4. Nestler E. Molecular Mechanisms of Drug Addiction. The Journal of Neuroscience, July 1992, 12(7): 2439-2450. 5. Rodriguez-Sanchez, M. et. al. Effect of Prenatal and Postnatal Cocaine Exposure on Somatostatin Content and Binding in Frontoparietal Cortex and Hippocampus of Developing Rat Pups. Peptides, 1991, l2: 951-956. 6.Volkow, N. et al. Long-Term Frontal Brain Metabolic Changes in Cocaine Abusers. Synapse,1997, 11:184-190 The Actions of Cocaine in the Brain Essay -- Drugs Addiction Addicted The Actions of Cocaine in the Brain Cocaine’s mode of action has been shown to involve the dopamine receptors. This paper will discuss how cocaine affects dopamine receptors, the mode of addiction, how cocaine affects the frontal brain metabolic activities, as well as the role of excitatory amino acids in cocaine’s mechanism. I will also discuss how cocaine affects another system through its mechanism on the brain—the renin angiotensin system. Cocaine influences dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin neurotransmission by inhibiting their reuptake. Pimozide, alpha-flupenthixol, perphenazine and chlorpromazine, all dopamine antagonists, were used to pre-treat rats in an attempt to demonstrate the reinforcing effects of dopamine. Because rats demonstrated a reduced rate of self-administration during extinction as well as after pre-treatment with antagonists, it is conceivable that dopamine receptors are involved in the reinforcing effects of cocaine (Hubner & Moreton, 1991). Two dopamine receptors, B1 and B2, are believed to be involved in these rewarding effects of cocaine. Rats were trained to self-administer cocaine intravenously on a fixed-ratio (FR) 5 schedule of reinforcement. When these rats were pretreated with SCH23390, a D1 antagonist, and spiperone, a D2 antagonist, their response rates varied. At doses up to l0ug/kg, the rats exhibited an increased response rate; whereas at doses higher than this, the rats showed a decrease in their response rate. A similar decrease in response rate was produced when central dopamine containing neurons were destroyed with the neurotoxin, 6-hydroxy-dopamine (Hubner &Moreton, 1991). The mode of action of the D1 receptor subtype is on adenylate cyclase. Upon activation, it s... ... 1. Dackis, C. A., and Gold, M. S. Neurotransmitter and neuroendocrine abnormalities associated with cocaine use. Psychiatric Medicine, 1987, 3: 469-477. 2. Hubner, C. and Moreton, J. Effects of selective D1 and D2 dopamine antagonists on cocaine self-administration in the rat. Psychopharmacology, 1991, 105: 151-156. 3. Karler, R. et. al. Excitatory amino acids and the actions of cocaine. Brain Research, 1992, 143-146. 4. Nestler E. Molecular Mechanisms of Drug Addiction. The Journal of Neuroscience, July 1992, 12(7): 2439-2450. 5. Rodriguez-Sanchez, M. et. al. Effect of Prenatal and Postnatal Cocaine Exposure on Somatostatin Content and Binding in Frontoparietal Cortex and Hippocampus of Developing Rat Pups. Peptides, 1991, l2: 951-956. 6.Volkow, N. et al. Long-Term Frontal Brain Metabolic Changes in Cocaine Abusers. Synapse,1997, 11:184-190

Angels Demons Chapter 113-117

113 Something was wrong. Lieutenant Chartrand stood outside the Pope's office and sensed in the uneasy stance of the soldier standing with him that they shared the same anxiety. The private meeting they were shielding, Rocher had said, could save the Vatican from destruction. So Chartrand wondered why his protective instincts were tingling. And why was Rocher acting so strangely? Something definitely was awry. Captain Rocher stood to Chartrand's right, staring dead ahead, his sharp gaze uncharacteristically distant. Chartrand barely recognized the captain. Rocher had not been himself in the last hour. His decisions made no sense. Someone should be present inside this meeting! Chartrand thought. He had heard Maximilian Kohler bolt the door after he entered. Why had Rocher permitted this? But there was so much more bothering Chartrand. The cardinals. The cardinals were still locked in the Sistine Chapel. This was absolute insanity. The camerlegno had wanted them evacuated fifteen minutes ago! Rocher had overruled the decision and not informed the camerlegno. Chartrand had expressed concern, and Rocher had almost taken off his head. Chain of command was never questioned in the Swiss Guard, and Rocher was now top dog. Half an hour, Rocher thought, discreetly checking his Swiss chronometer in the dim light of the candelabra lighting the hall. Please hurry. Chartrand wished he could hear what was happening on the other side of the doors. Still, he knew there was no one he would rather have handling this crisis than the camerlegno. The man had been tested beyond reason tonight, and he had not flinched. He had confronted the problem head-on†¦ truthful, candid, shining like an example to all. Chartrand felt proud right now to be a Catholic. The Illuminati had made a mistake when they challenged Camerlegno Ventresca. At that moment, however, Chartrand's thoughts were jolted by an unexpected sound. A banging. It was coming from down the hall. The pounding was distant and muffled, but incessant. Rocher looked up. The captain turned to Chartrand and motioned down the hall. Chartrand understood. He turned on his flashlight and took off to investigate. The banging was more desperate now. Chartrand ran thirty yards down the corridor to an intersection. The noise seemed to be coming from around the corner, beyond the Sala Clementina. Chartrand felt perplexed. There was only one room back there – the Pope's private library. His Holiness's private library had been locked since the Pope's death. Nobody could possibly be in there! Chartrand hurried down the second corridor, turned another corner, and rushed to the library door. The wooden portico was diminutive, but it stood in the dark like a dour sentinel. The banging was coming from somewhere inside. Chartrand hesitated. He had never been inside the private library. Few had. No one was allowed in without an escort by the Pope himself. Tentatively, Chartrand reached for the doorknob and turned. As he had imagined, the door was locked. He put his ear to the door. The banging was louder. Then he heard something else. Voices! Someone calling out! He could not make out the words, but he could hear the panic in their shouts. Was someone trapped in the library? Had the Swiss Guard not properly evacuated the building? Chartrand hesitated, wondering if he should go back and consult Rocher. The hell with that. Chartrand had been trained to make decisions, and he would make one now. He pulled out his side arm and fired a single shot into the door latch. The wood exploded, and the door swung open. Beyond the threshold Chartrand saw nothing but blackness. He shone his flashlight. The room was rectangular – oriental carpets, high oak shelves packed with books, a stitched leather couch, and a marble fireplace. Chartrand had heard stories of this place – three thousand ancient volumes side by side with hundreds of current magazines and periodicals, anything His Holiness requested. The coffee table was covered with journals of science and politics. The banging was clearer now. Chartrand shone his light across the room toward the sound. On the far wall, beyond the sitting area, was a huge door made of iron. It looked impenetrable as a vault. It had four mammoth locks. The tiny etched letters dead center of the door took Chartrand's breath away. IL PASSETTO Chartrand stared. The Pope's secret escape route! Chartrand had certainly heard of Il Passetto, and he had even heard rumors that it had once had an entrance here in the library, but the tunnel had not been used in ages! Who could be banging on the other side? Chartrand took his flashlight and rapped on the door. There was a muffled exultation from the other side. The banging stopped, and the voices yelled louder. Chartrand could barely make out their words through the barricade. â€Å"†¦ Kohler†¦ lie†¦ camerlegno†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Who is that?† Chartrand yelled. â€Å"†¦ ert Langdon†¦ Vittoria Ve†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Chartrand understood enough to be confused. I thought you were dead! â€Å"†¦ the door,† the voices yelled. â€Å"Open†¦!† Chartrand looked at the iron barrier and knew he would need dynamite to get through there. â€Å"Impossible!† he yelled. â€Å"Too thick!† â€Å"†¦ meeting†¦ stop†¦ erlegno†¦ danger†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Despite his training on the hazards of panic, Chartrand felt a sudden rush of fear at the last few words. Had he understood correctly? Heart pounding, he turned to run back to the office. As he turned, though, he stalled. His gaze had fallen to something on the door†¦ something more shocking even than the message coming from beyond it. Emerging from the keyholes of each of the door's massive locks were keys. Chartrand stared. The keys were here? He blinked in disbelief. The keys to this door were supposed to be in a vault someplace! This passage was never used – not for centuries! Chartrand dropped his flashlight on the floor. He grabbed the first key and turned. The mechanism was rusted and stiff, but it still worked. Someone had opened it recently. Chartrand worked the next lock. And the next. When the last bolt slid aside, Chartrand pulled. The slab of iron creaked open. He grabbed his light and shone it into the passage. Robert Langdon and Vittoria Vetra looked like apparitions as they staggered into the library. Both were ragged and tired, but they were very much alive. â€Å"What is this!† Chartrand demanded. â€Å"What's going on! Where did you come from?† â€Å"Where's Max Kohler?† Langdon demanded. Chartrand pointed. â€Å"In a private meeting with the camer – â€Å" Langdon and Vittoria pushed past him and ran down the darkened hall. Chartrand turned, instinctively raising his gun at their backs. He quickly lowered it and ran after them. Rocher apparently heard them coming, because as they arrived outside the Pope's office, Rocher had spread his legs in a protective stance and was leveling his gun at them. â€Å"Alt!† â€Å"The camerlegno is in danger!† Langdon yelled, raising his arms in surrender as he slid to a stop. â€Å"Open the door! Max Kohler is going to kill the camerlegno!† Rocher looked angry. â€Å"Open the door!† Vittoria said. â€Å"Hurry!† But it was too late. From inside the Pope's office came a bloodcurdling scream. It was the camerlegno. 114 The confrontation lasted only seconds. Camerlegno Ventresca was still screaming when Chartrand stepped past Rocher and blew open the door of the Pope's office. The guards dashed in. Langdon and Vittoria ran in behind them. The scene before them was staggering. The chamber was lit only by candlelight and a dying fire. Kohler was near the fireplace, standing awkwardly in front of his wheelchair. He brandished a pistol, aimed at the camerlegno, who lay on the floor at his feet, writhing in agony. The camerlegno's cassock was torn open, and his bare chest was seared black. Langdon could not make out the symbol from across the room, but a large, square brand lay on the floor near Kohler. The metal still glowed red. Two of the Swiss Guards acted without hesitation. They opened fire. The bullets smashed into Kohler's chest, driving him backward. Kohler collapsed into his wheelchair, his chest gurgling blood. His gun went skittering across the floor. Langdon stood stunned in the doorway. Vittoria seemed paralyzed. â€Å"Max†¦Ã¢â‚¬  she whispered. The camerlegno, still twisting on the floor, rolled toward Rocher, and with the trancelike terror of the early witch hunts, pointed his index finger at Rocher and yelled a single word. â€Å"ILLUMINATUS!† â€Å"You bastard,† Rocher said, running at him. â€Å"You sanctimonious bas – â€Å" This time it was Chartrand who reacted on instinct, putting three bullets in Rocher's back. The captain fell face first on the tile floor and slid lifeless through his own blood. Chartrand and the guards dashed immediately to the camerlegno, who lay clutching himself, convulsing in pain. Both guards let out exclamations of horror when they saw the symbol seared on the camerlegno's chest. The second guard saw the brand upside down and immediately staggered backward with fear in his eyes. Chartrand, looking equally overwhelmed by the symbol, pulled the camerlegno's torn cassock up over the burn, shielding it from view. Langdon felt delirious as he moved across the room. Through a mist of insanity and violence, he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. A crippled scientist, in a final act of symbolic dominance, had flown into Vatican City and branded the church's highest official. Some things are worth dying for, the Hassassin had said. Langdon wondered how a handicapped man could possibly have overpowered the camerlegno. Then again, Kohler had a gun. It doesn't matter how he did it! Kohler accomplished his mission! Langdon moved toward the gruesome scene. The camerlegno was being attended, and Langdon felt himself drawn toward the smoking brand on the floor near Kohler's wheelchair. The sixth brand? The closer Langdon got, the more confused he became. The brand seemed to be a perfect square, quite large, and had obviously come from the sacred center compartment of the chest in the Illuminati Lair. A sixth and final brand, the Hassassin had said. The most brilliant of all. Langdon knelt beside Kohler and reached for the object. The metal still radiated heat. Grasping the wooden handle, Langdon picked it up. He was not sure what he expected to see, but it most certainly was not this. Angels & Demons Langdon stared a long, confused moment. Nothing was making sense. Why had the guards cried out in horror when they saw this? It was a square of meaningless squiggles. The most brilliant of all? It was symmetrical, Langdon could tell as he rotated it in his hand, but it was gibberish. When he felt a hand on his shoulder, Langdon looked up, expecting Vittoria. The hand, however, was covered with blood. It belonged to Maximilian Kohler, who was reaching out from his wheelchair. Langdon dropped the brand and staggered to his feet. Kohler's still alive! Slumped in his wheelchair, the dying director was still breathing, albeit barely, sucking in sputtering gasps. Kohler's eyes met Langdon's, and it was the same stony gaze that had greeted Langdon at CERN earlier that day. The eyes looked even harder in death, the loathing and enmity rising to the surface. The scientist's body quivered, and Langdon sensed he was trying to move. Everyone else in the room was focused on the camerlegno, and Langdon wanted to call out, but he could not react. He was transfixed by the intensity radiating from Kohler in these final seconds of his life. The director, with tremulous effort, lifted his arm and pulled a small device off the arm of his wheelchair. It was the size of a matchbox. He held it out, quivering. For an instant, Langdon feared Kohler had a weapon. But it was something else. â€Å"G-give†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Kohler's final words were a gurgling whisper. â€Å"G-give this†¦ to the m-media.† Kohler collapsed motionless, and the device fell in his lap. Shocked, Langdon stared at the device. It was electronic. The words SONY RUVI were printed across the front. Langdon recognized it as one of those new ultraminiature, palm-held camcorders. The balls on this guy! he thought. Kohler had apparently recorded some sort of final suicide message he wanted the media to broadcast†¦ no doubt some sermon about the importance of science and the evils of religion. Langdon decided he had done enough for this man's cause tonight. Before Chartrand saw Kohler's camcorder, Langdon slipped it into his deepest jacket pocket. Kohler's final message can rot in hell! It was the voice of the camerlegno that broke the silence. He was trying to sit up. â€Å"The cardinals,† he gasped to Chartrand. â€Å"Still in the Sistine Chapel!† Chartrand exclaimed. â€Å"Captain Rocher ordered – † â€Å"Evacuate†¦ now. Everyone.† Chartrand sent one of the other guards running off to let the cardinals out. The camerlegno grimaced in pain. â€Å"Helicopter†¦ out front†¦ get me to a hospital.† 115 In St. Peter's Square, the Swiss Guard pilot sat in the cockpit of the parked Vatican helicopter and rubbed his temples. The chaos in the square around him was so loud that it drowned out the sound of his idling rotors. This was no solemn candlelight vigil. He was amazed a riot had not broken out yet. With less than twenty-five minutes left until midnight, the people were still packed together, some praying, some weeping for the church, others screaming obscenities and proclaiming that this was what the church deserved, still others chanting apocalyptic Bible verses. The pilot's head pounded as the media lights glinted off his windshield. He squinted out at the clamorous masses. Banners waved over the crowd. Antimatter is the Antichrist! Scientist=Satanist Where is your God now? The pilot groaned, his headache worsening. He half considered grabbing the windshield's vinyl covering and putting it up so he wouldn't have to watch, but he knew he would be airborne in a matter of minutes. Lieutenant Chartrand had just radioed with terrible news. The camerlegno had been attacked by Maximilian Kohler and seriously injured. Chartrand, the American, and the woman were carrying the camerlegno out now so he could be evacuated to a hospital. The pilot felt personally responsible for the attack. He reprimanded himself for not acting on his gut. Earlier, when he had picked up Kohler at the airport, he had sensed something in the scientist's dead eyes. He couldn't place it, but he didn't like it. Not that it mattered. Rocher was running the show, and Rocher insisted this was the guy. Rocher had apparently been wrong. A new clamor arose from the crowd, and the pilot looked over to see a line of cardinals processing solemnly out of the Vatican onto St. Peter's Square. The cardinals' relief to be leaving ground zero seemed to be quickly overcome by looks of bewilderment at the spectacle now going on outside the church. The crowd noise intensified yet again. The pilot's head pounded. He needed an aspirin. Maybe three. He didn't like to fly on medication, but a few aspirin would certainly be less debilitating than this raging headache. He reached for the first-aid kit, kept with assorted maps and manuals in a cargo box bolted between the two front seats. When he tried to open the box, though, he found it locked. He looked around for the key and then finally gave up. Tonight was clearly not his lucky night. He went back to massaging his temples. Inside the darkened basilica, Langdon, Vittoria, and the two guards strained breathlessly toward the main exit. Unable to find anything more suitable, the four of them were transporting the wounded camerlegno on a narrow table, balancing the inert body between them as though on a stretcher. Outside the doors, the faint roar of human chaos was now audible. The camerlegno teetered on the brink of unconsciousness. Time was running out. 116 It was 11:39 P.M. when Langdon stepped with the others from St. Peter's Basilica. The glare that hit his eyes was searing. The media lights shone off the white marble like sunlight off a snowy tundra. Langdon squinted, trying to find refuge behind the faà §ade's enormous columns, but the light came from all directions. In front of him, a collage of massive video screens rose above the crowd. Standing there atop the magnificent stairs that spilled down to the piazza below, Langdon felt like a reluctant player on the world's biggest stage. Somewhere beyond the glaring lights, Langdon heard an idling helicopter and the roar of a hundred thousand voices. To their left, a procession of cardinals was now evacuating onto the square. They all stopped in apparent distress to see the scene now unfolding on the staircase. â€Å"Careful now,† Chartrand urged, sounding focused as the group began descending the stairs toward the helicopter. Langdon felt like they were moving underwater. His arms ached from the weight of the camerlegno and the table. He wondered how the moment could get much less dignified. Then he saw the answer. The two BBC reporters had apparently been crossing the open square on their way back to the press area. But now, with the roar of the crowd, they had turned. Glick and Macri were now running back toward them. Macri's camera was raised and rolling. Here come the vultures, Langdon thought. â€Å"Alt!† Chartrand yelled. â€Å"Get back!† But the reporters kept coming. Langdon guessed the other networks would take about six seconds to pick up this live BBC feed again. He was wrong. They took two. As if connected by some sort of universal consciousness, every last media screen in the piazza cut away from their countdown clocks and their Vatican experts and began transmitting the same picture – a jiggling action footage swooping up the Vatican stairs. Now, everywhere Langdon looked, he saw the camerlegno's limp body in a Technicolor close-up. This is wrong! Langdon thought. He wanted to run down the stairs and interfere, but he could not. It wouldn't have helped anyway. Whether it was the roar of the crowd or the cool night air that caused it, Langdon would never know, but at that moment, the inconceivable occurred. Like a man awakening from a nightmare, the camerlegno's eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright. Taken entirely by surprise, Langdon and the others fumbled with the shifting weight. The front of the table dipped. The camerlegno began to slide. They tried to recover by setting the table down, but it was too late. The camerlegno slid off the front. Incredibly, he did not fall. His feet hit the marble, and he swayed upright. He stood a moment, looking disoriented, and then, before anyone could stop him, he lurched forward, staggering down the stairs toward Macri. â€Å"No!† Langdon screamed. Chartrand rushed forward, trying to reign in the camerlegno. But the camerlegno turned on him, wild-eyed, crazed. â€Å"Leave me!† Chartrand jumped back. The scene went from bad to worse. The camerlegno's torn cassock, having been only laid over his chest by Chartrand, began to slip lower. For a moment, Langdon thought the garment might hold, but that moment passed. The cassock let go, sliding off his shoulders down around his waist. The gasp that went up from the crowd seemed to travel around the globe and back in an instant. Cameras rolled, flashbulbs exploded. On media screens everywhere, the image of the camerlegno's branded chest was projected, towering and in grisly detail. Some screens were even freezing the image and rotating it 180 degrees. The ultimate Illuminati victory. Langdon stared at the brand on the screens. Although it was the imprint of the square brand he had held earlier, the symbol now made sense. Perfect sense. The marking's awesome power hit Langdon like a train. Orientation. Langdon had forgotten the first rule of symbology. When is a square not a square? He had also forgotten that iron brands, just like rubber stamps, never looked like their imprints. They were in reverse. Langdon had been looking at the brand's negative! As the chaos grew, an old Illuminati quote echoed with new meaning: â€Å"A flawless diamond, born of the ancient elements with such perfection that all those who saw it could only stare in wonder.† Langdon knew now the myth was true. Earth, Air, Fire, Water. The Illuminati Diamond. Angels & Demons 117 Robert Langdon had little doubt that the chaos and hysteria coursing through St. Peter's Square at this very instant exceeded anything Vatican Hill had ever witnessed. No battle, no crucifixion, no pilgrimage, no mystical vision†¦ nothing in the shrine's 2,000-year history could possibly match the scope and drama of this very moment. As the tragedy unfolded, Langdon felt oddly separate, as if hovering there beside Vittoria at the top of the stairs. The action seemed to distend, as if in a time warp, all the insanity slowing to a crawl†¦ The branded camerlegno†¦ raving for the world to see†¦ The Illuminati Diamond†¦ unveiled in its diabolical genius†¦ The countdown clock registering the final twenty minutes of Vatican history†¦ The drama, however, had only just begun. The camerlegno, as if in some sort of post-traumatic trance, seemed suddenly puissant, possessed by demons. He began babbling, whispering to unseen spirits, looking up at the sky and raising his arms to God. â€Å"Speak!† the camerlegno yelled to the heavens. â€Å"Yes, I hear you!† In that moment, Langdon understood. His heart dropped like a rock. Vittoria apparently understood too. She went white. â€Å"He's in shock,† she said. â€Å"He's hallucinating. He thinks he's talking to God!† Somebody's got to stop this, Langdon thought. It was a wretched and embarrassing end. Get this man to a hospital! Below them on the stairs, Chinita Macri was poised and filming, apparently having located her ideal vantage point. The images she filmed appeared instantly across the square behind her on media screens†¦ like endless drive-in movies all playing the same grisly tragedy. The whole scene felt epic. The camerlegno, in his torn cassock, with the scorched brand on his chest, looked like some sort of battered champion who had overcome the rings of hell for this one moment of revelation. He bellowed to the heavens. â€Å"Ti sento, Dio! I hear you, God!† Chartrand backed off, a look of awe on his face. The hush that fell across the crowd was instant and absolute. For a moment it was as if the silence had fallen across the entire planet†¦ everyone in front of their TVs rigid, a communal holding of breath. The camerlegno stood on the stairs, before the world, and held out his arms. He looked almost Christlike, bare and wounded before the world. He raised his arms to the heavens and, looking up, exclaimed, â€Å"Grazie! Grazie, Dio!† The silence of the masses never broke. â€Å"Grazie, Dio!† the camerlegno cried out again. Like the sun breaking through a stormy sky, a look of joy spread across his face. â€Å"Grazie, Dio!† Thank you, God? Langdon stared in wonder. The camerlegno was radiant now, his eerie transformation complete. He looked up at the sky, still nodding furiously. He shouted to the heavens, â€Å"Upon this rock I will build my church!† Langdon knew the words, but he had no idea why the camerlegno could possibly be shouting them. The camerlegno turned back to the crowd and bellowed again into the night. â€Å"Upon this rock I will build my church!† Then he raised his hands to the sky and laughed out loud. â€Å"Grazie, Dio! Grazie!† The man had clearly gone mad. The world watched, spellbound. The culmination, however, was something no one expected. With a final joyous exultation, the camerlegno turned and dashed back into St. Peter's Basilica.