Cloud over Water by Paterson Ewen Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cloud over Water by Paterson Ewen - Essay Example â€Å"Cloud over Water†, a striking painting by Paterson Ewen, always succeeds to draw the attention of people. Ewen’s work basically consists of acrylic on gouged plywood and galvanized steel. It has some supernatural qualities presenting a little white cloud placed in a conceptually textured sky present over the multicolored calm sea. On doing the detailed analysis of the â€Å"Moon Series† created by Ewen, one can observe that almost all of his created landscapes have moon in it, whereas â€Å"Cloud in Water† does not have any moon in it. In the 19th century the landscapes painted by the artists portrayed a tamed sublimity. The art presented by Paterson Ewen took the painting and coloring techniques to new heights. His abstract and his use of vibrant colors made his style more expressive. One of his contributions to the art is his ways through which he creatively exploits his materials and the quality of paints and colors that he uses. His illustrative aspects towards the landscape painting are considered to be some of his contributions towards the history of Landscape paintings. However on analyzing the historical aspects of Canadian Landscape painting one can see that it was categorized by wilderness. The European Landscape painters at the time of Ewen tried to minimize the presence of humans as it was considered one of the national tradition of the English speaking and Canadians, as the absence of a humanly figure was considered to be a pre-requisite for nobility. â€Å"Cloud in Water† is a creation of Paterson Ewen.

High School and Felicias Life Essay Example for Free

High School and Felicias Life Essay A photo of Felicia with notes from her classmates.   The friend, Briana Torres, at 16 a year older and a grade ahead of Felicia, hugged her and walked her to sixth-period English class, the girls’ arms clasped around each other’s shoulders. On the way, Felicia cheered up enough to laugh at a joke, and make a joke of her own. But there were signs of unraveling. Late Monday night, she had posted a brief Twitter message: â€Å"I cant, im done, I give up. † After school Wednesday, Felicia walked to the Staten Island Railway station where many students board trains home. She waited impatiently for the train, and as it approached, she hurled herself backward onto the tracks. A friend grabbed her arm, but she twisted free. She was pronounced dead that evening. By the time her friends began to congregate in the hospital waiting room, posting messages on Twitter and Facebook in what would become a flurry of online speculation about her death, most had pinpointed a cause: Felicia had been bullied, they said, tormented by football players on Tottenville’s undefeated team. Some said she was teased because she had piercings and lived in foster care. Others said players had spread sexual boasts about her over the weekend, after Tottenville’s 16-8 victory over Port Richmond High School. To many friends, she appeared to weather the swirl of innuendo with her usual confidence. â€Å"She never really reached out for help; she was a really tough person,† Briana said Thursday, wearing a small tribute on her left wrist — an â€Å"RIP Felicia† inked in purple. â€Å"When I dropped her off at class, I wasn’t really worried about her.† Felicia had reported the taunts to an administrator, who arranged mediation sessions between Felicia and the boys she said were harassing her. Police are now investigating her death. Neither they nor the Education Department nor the school would comment on the bullying allegations. There was already little that was easy in Felicia’s life. Friends described her childhood as a patchwork of loss and instability: both her parents died when she was young, and she d isliked living with her aunt, said Kaitlyn Antonmarchi, 15, who said she had been Felicia’s best friend since eighth grade. At one point, Felicia ran away from her aunt’s house with an older man. After she entered the foster system, she bounced in and out of different homes, dyed her dark hair red and sprouted a cluster of piercings. With her latest foster parents, Felicia finally seemed happy and stable, Kaitlyn said. Moving to the other side of Staten Island, she started high school at Tottenville, improved her grades, let the dye wash out and eliminated most piercings. At Friday’s football game, Kaitlyn said: â€Å"She looked happy. She was laughing. It didn’t look like anything was upsetting her at all.† Bullying is common at the school, classmates said, but administrators usually acted to stop it, and it rarely reached the level that Felicia experienced. Tease Felicia, and she would come back with a quick, witty retort, said Alissa Compitello, 17, a senior. â€Å"If you tried to bully her, she’d laugh at you,† she said. â€Å"Somebody must’ve said som ething pretty bad about her for this to happen. They just wouldn’t stop.† On Wednesday, Felicia had asked Karl Geiling, 15, a sophomore at Tottenville, about how his test had gone. He saw her at the train station later. â€Å"I was way down, away from her,† he said. â€Å"All I heard was screams, and then everybody went silent.† At school on Thursday, many students wore black and purple, colors often associated with anti-bullying campaigns, and met with grief counselors. A crowd of about 500 gathered at the station in the evening, many holding candles. Someone had tied purple and black balloons to a chain-link fence overlooking the tracks, with notes and a photo fluttering alongside them. As their classmates created anti-bullying Facebook pages in Felicia’s honor Wednesday night, several football players took to Twitter to protest what they saw as the wholesale tarring of the team, which is a perennial favorite to win the Public School Athletic League championship. At least two seniors have been o ffered scholarships to play Division I college football. â€Å"None of you even no half the story so stop pointing fingers at the football team,† wrote James Munson, a safety on the team and the son of the team’s coach, Jim Munson. Another player, Richy Lam, a senior, said Thursday that many members of the team had not even known Felicia. In New York, an anti-bullying statute signed in 2010, one of numerous laws passed around the country in the wake of teenage suicides, requires schools to develop policies to deter harassment of students by other students, including education programs and disciplinary procedures. Prosecutions for student bullying are rare; perhaps the best-known case is that of Dharun Ravi, who was convicted of bias intimidation and invasion of privacy charges for using a webcam to spy on his Rutgers University roommate, Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide a few days later. Mr. Ravi was sentenced to 30 days in jail. â€Å"Bullying that violates criminal law can be prosecuted criminally, but not as bullying,† said Suzanne B. Goldberg, a law professor at Columbia Law School who directs its Center for Gender and Sexuality Law. Physical violence or threats of physical violence could be prosecuted, she said, â€Å"but what most often happens is that schools and prosecutors try to keep these situations out of criminal court which can be appropriate if the school system takes the incident seriously, punishes the offender and protects the victim.† It is not clear whether anyone will be disciplined in Felicia’s case. For some students, the school’s next challenge is Friday’s football game against the rival Curtis High School team, the last of the season, which may be pushed to Sunday. Felicia was a fan. When Kaitlyn last saw her, she said, she had been planning to cheer Tottenville this weekend. â€Å"She said, ‘Yeah, I’m going,’ † Kaitlyn said. â€Å"And I said, I’ll see you there.† Al Baker and Christopher Maag contributed reporting.

Discrimination Against Women in Male Dominated Sports :: Movie Script Film Creative Writing Papers

Discrimination Against Women in Male Dominated Sports Assume you are a screenwriter in the year 2010. You have been commissioned to write a movie script about women's sports and current society. What is the theme? Who are the protagonists? What are the issues and how does the movie end? Due to the nature of this course, most of the films that have been shown concerned the discrimination women face when they attempt to compete against men in athletic areas that have long been considered unfit for their participation. Divisions of sport that could be regarded as more gender neutral were not mentioned nearly as often as those which have a long tradition of masculine head butting and back slapping, and athletics which are deemed feminine were not brought up at all. If the indignation felt by the protagonists of films like Girlfight is any indication of the present attitude of women towards sex-based discrimination in sport, it is entirely possible that we will have come a long way in the fight for equality by the year 2010. The following scenario is purely hypothetical and the future of the sport involved was manipulated for the purposes of this paper only. The activity of cup stacking has gained much popularity as a sport in the US today and is beginning to become known in areas outside of the country, such as Great Britain. It involves the stacking and dismantling of several predetermined cup arrangements in a specific order, with rules determining the exact manner in which a competitor must achieve this. The most important of these regulations is the ban on using both hands on one cup, as the active participation of both hands improves dexterity and assists right brain development. This is the side of the brain which promotes awareness, focus and rhythm, which are very important skills for the cup stacker and average person alike. Competition can take place on both an individual and team level, the clock and one's personal record being the antagonist in the former scenario. Boys and girls compete without regard to gender in this sport, though the record holder for speed stacking the cycle formation is female, clocking in at 7.43 seco nds. It has been observed that women generally possess more dexterity than men, which would give them a natural advantage in sports of this nature. This observation has led to a hypothesis concerning the domination of women in the future of cup stacking, which is the focus of Stacking Up, brought to you by Pickled Newt Pictures.

Phil Jackson And Buddhism Essay example -- essays research papers fc

Buddhism is a major Asian religion studied and practiced in countries such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Although Buddhism is a growing religion throughout the world, in particular, the practice of meditation is spreading in the West. The United States has a center for Buddhists in Hawaii and New York and also a Buddhist community has been established in California. (Hewitt, 13-14) But even closer to home for most is the practicing of Zen Buddhism on the basketball court by former Chicago Bulls and present Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson. In this essay I will discuss how Jackson has incorporated some of the practices of Zen Buddhism into his and the players of his teams lives and how it has been effective for the game and the lives of those involved. I will also touch on his use of combined Zen and Christianity along with his extended interest in the Lakota Sioux. â€Å"The Chicago Bulls’ Buddha-like guru Phil Jackson inks the richest coaching deal in N.B.A. history ($6 million for one last season [with the Bulls])† (Notebook, 11). There may be some sound reasoning behind this. Michael Jordan was quoted on how some team members are starting to use Jackson’s religion to help them win, â€Å"It’s that Zen Buddhism stuff. We’re practicing smiling when we may be frustrated inside so we can relieve some tension. It’s an art form† (Quotables, 1). Jackson speaks in depth to his team about ejecting selfishness and egotism (Eckman, 3). â€Å"He describes Jordan in the late 80’s as a player who tried to beat the other team by himself† (Zen Teamwork). He not only helped lead Jordan to play like a star but led the Bulls to be a winning team. He and several of his former players believe that this is partially due to what they practiced in the years Jackson was coach. Not only did they study bas ketball, as writer Frank Deford for Sports Illustrated noted in a cover story on Jackson, they took part in â€Å"group meditations and pregame ‘nap time’† (84). Not to mention poetry and assigned books (83). These things may sound odd but as one of the beliefs of Zen says, â€Å"Don’t get caught up in only one way of doing things; and don’t look at things from just one point of view. If you try another way, or change your point of view, the results will always be different† (Chung, 99). Jackson definitely looks at and coaches basketball from a different point of view then most coach... .... As an attention getter to his team before a big game when they are wondering if the meditating and poetry will pay off or if they are just wasting their time, Jackson reminds them of his awareness by saying, â€Å"It’s like you’re going along at 65 miles an hour, listening to your hip-hop music, and your cell phone is ringing, and you’re eating a Big Mac, and you spill ketchup on your shirt. You look down. And when you look back up: right ahead of you, it’s all red lights. There’s just too much going on in your lives† (Deford, 84) Works Cited Chung, Tsai Chih. Wisdom of the Zen Masters. New York: Doubleday, 1998. Deford, Frank. â€Å"Father Phil.† Sports Illustrated 1 Nov. 1999: 82-91 Eckman, Dr. Jim. â€Å"Issues in Perspective.† 2 April 2000. Grace University: â€Å"Zen and the Art of Teamwork.† Fortune 25 Dec 1995 Hewitt, Catherine. Buddhism. New York: Thomson Learning, 1995. Jackson, Phil, and Hugh Delehanty. Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior. New York: Phil Jackson, 1995. â€Å"Notebook.† Time 4 Aug. 1997: 11 â€Å"Quotables.† Home page. 26 April 2000.

Cyber Bullying Outline And Thesis

Actions that use information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm another or others. †¢use of communication technologies for the intention of harming another person †¢use of internet service and mobile technologies such as web pages and discussion groups as well as instant messaging or SMStext messaging with the intention of harming another person. Examples of what constitutes cyberbullying include communications that seek to intimidate, control, manipulate, put down, falsely discredit, or humiliate the recipient.The actions are deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior intended to harm another. Cyberbullying has been defined by The National Crime Prevention Council: â€Å"When the Internet, cell phones or other devices are used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person. † A cyberbully may be a person whom the target knows or an onlin e stranger. A cyberbully may be anonymous and may solicit involvement of other people online who do not even know the target. This is known as a ‘digital pile-on. ‘ Cyberbullying vs. Cyberstalking Further information: CyberstalkingThe practice of cyberbullying is not limited to children and, while the behavior is identified by the same definition when practiced by adults, the distinction in age groups sometimes refers to the abuse as cyberstalking or cyberharassment when perpetrated by adults toward adults.   Common tactics used by cyberstalkers are performed in public forums, social media or online information sites and are intended to threaten a victim's earnings, employment, reputation, or safety. Behaviors may include encouraging others to harass the victim and trying to affect a victim's online participation.Many cyberstalkers try to damage the reputation of their victim and turn other people against them. Cyberstalking may include false accusations, monitoring, m aking threats, identity theft, damage to data or equipment, the solicitation of minors for sex, or gathering information in order to harass.   A repeated pattern of such actions and harassment against a target by an adult constitutes cyberstalking. Cyberstalking often features linked patterns of online and offline behavior. There are consequences of law in offline stalking and online stalking, and cyber-stalkers can be put in jail.Cyberstalking is a form of cyberbullying.   Comparison to Traditional Bullying Certain characteristics inherent in online technologies increase the likelihood that they will be exploited for deviant purposes. Unlike physical bullying, electronic bullies can remain virtually anonymous using temporary email accounts, pseudonyms in chat rooms, instant messaging programs, cell-phone text messaging, and other Internet venues to mask their identity; this perhaps frees them from normative and social constraints on their behavior. Additionally, electronic foru ms often lack supervision.While chat hosts regularly observe the dialog in some chat rooms in an effort to police conversations and evict offensive individuals, personal messages sent between users (such as electronic mail or text messages) are viewable only by the sender and the recipient, thereby outside the regulatory reach of such authorities. In addition, when teenagers know more about computers and cellular phones than their parents or guardians, they are therefore able to operate the technologies without concern that a parent will discover their experience with bullying (whether as a victim or offender).Another factor is the inseparability of a cellular phone from its owner, making that person a perpetual target for victimization. Users often need to keep their phone turned on for legitimate purposes, which provides the opportunity for those with malicious intentions to engage in persistent unwelcome behavior such as harassing telephone calls or threatening and insulting stat ements via the cellular phone’s text messaging capabilities. Cyberbullying thus penetrates the walls of a home, traditionally a place where victims could seek refuge from other forms of bullying.Compounding this infiltration into the home life of the cyberbully victim is the unique way in which the internet can â€Å"create simultaneous sensations of exposure (the whole world is watching) and alienation (no one understands). â€Å"For youth who experience shame or self-hatred, this effect is dangerous because it can lead to extreme self isolation. One possible advantage for victims of cyberbullying over traditional bullying is that they may sometimes be able to avoid it simply by avoiding the site/chat room in question.Email addresses and phone numbers can be changed; in addition, most e-mail accounts now offer services that will automatically filter out messages from certain senders before they even reach the inbox, and phones offer similar caller ID functions. However, th is does not protect against all forms of cyberbullying; publishing of defamatory material about a person on the internet is extremely difficult to prevent and once it is posted, many people or archiving services can potentially download and copy it, at which point it is almost impossible to remove from the Internet.Some perpetrators may post victims' photos, or victims' edited photos like defaming captions or pasting victims' faces on nude bodies. Examples of famous forums for disclosing personal data or photos to â€Å"punish† the â€Å"enemies† include the Hong Kong Golden Forum, Live Journal, and more recently JuicyCampus. Despite policies that describe cyberbullying as a violation of the terms of service, many social networking Web sites have been used to that end. Cyber Bullying Outline and Thesis Cyberbullying is defined in legal glossaries as †¢actions that use information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm another or others. †¢use of communication technologies for the intention of harming another person †¢use of internet service and mobile technologies such as web pages and discussion groups as well as instant messaging or SMStext messaging with the intention of harming another person.Examples of what constitutes cyberbullying include communications that seek to intimidate, control, manipulate, put down, falsely discredit, or humiliate the recipient. The actions are deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior intended to harm another. Cyberbullying has been defined by The National Crime Prevention Council: â€Å"When the Internet, cell phones or other devices are used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person. â€Å"A cyberb ully may be a person whom the target knows or an online stranger.A cyberbully may be anonymous and may solicit involvement of other people online who do not even know the target. This is known as a ‘digital pile-on. ‘Cyberbullying vs. Cyberstalking Further information: Cyberstalking The practice of cyberbullying is not limited to children and, while the behavior is identified by the same definition when practiced by adults, the distinction in age groups sometimes refers to the abuse as cyberstalking or cyberharassment when perpetrated by adults toward adults.Common tactics used by cyberstalkers are performed in public forums, social media or online information sites and are intended to threaten a victim's earnings, employment, reputation, or safety. Behaviors may include encouraging others to harass the victim and trying to affect a victim's online participation. Many cyberstalkers try to damage the reputation of their victim and turn other people against them.Cyberstalk ing may include false accusations, monitoring, making threats, identity theft, damage to data or equipment, the solicitation of minors for sex, or gathering information in order to harass. A repeated pattern of such actions and harassment against a target by an adult constitutes cyberstalking. Cyberstalking often features linked patterns of online and offline behavior. There are consequences of law in offline stalking and online stalking, and cyber-stalkers can be put in jail. Cyberstalking is a form of cyberbullying.Comparison to Traditional Bullying Certain characteristics inherent in online technologies increase the likelihood that they will be exploited for deviant purposes. Unlike physical bullying, electronic bullies can remain virtually anonymous using temporary email accounts, pseudonyms in chat rooms, instant messaging programs, cell-phone text messaging, and other Internet venues to mask their identity; this perhaps frees them from normative and social constraints on their behavior. Additionally, electronic forums often lack supervision.While chat hosts regularly observe the dialog in some chat rooms in an effort to police conversations and evict offensive individuals, personal messages sent between users (such as electronic mail or text messages) are viewable only by the sender and the recipient, thereby outside the regulatory reach of such authorities. In addition, when teenagers know more about computers and cellular phones than their parents or guardians, they are therefore able to operate the technologies without concern that a parent will discover their experience with bullying (whether as a victim or offender).Another factor is the inseparability of a cellular phone from its owner, making that person a perpetual target for victimization. Users often need to keep their phone turned on for legitimate purposes, which provides the opportunity for those with malicious intentions to engage in persistent unwelcome behavior such as harassing telephone calls or threatening and insulting statements via the cellular phone’s text messaging capabilities. Cyberbullying thus penetrates the walls of a home, traditionally a place where victims could seek refuge from other forms of bullying.Compounding this infiltration into the home life of the cyberbully victim is the unique way in which the internet can â€Å"create simultaneous sensations of exposure (the whole world is watching) and alienation (no one understands). â€Å"For youth who experience shame or self-hatred, this effect is dangerous because it can lead to extreme self isolation. One possible advantage for victims of cyberbullying over traditional bullying is that they may sometimes be able to avoid it simply by avoiding the site/chat room in question.Email addresses and phone numbers can be changed; in addition, most e-mail accounts now offer services that will automatically filter out messages from certain senders before they even reach the inbox, and phones offer similar caller ID functions. However, this does not protect against all forms of cyberbullying; publishing of defamatory material about a person on the internet is extremely difficult to prevent and once it is posted, many people or archiving services can potentially download and copy it, at which point it is almost impossible to remove from the Internet.Some perpetrators may post victims' photos, or victims' edited photos like defaming captions or pasting victims' faces on nude bodies. Examples of famous forums for disclosing personal data or photos to â€Å"punish† the â€Å"enemies† include the Hong Kong Golden Forum, Live Journal, and more recently JuicyCampus. Despite policies that describe cyberbullying as a violation of the terms of service, many social networking Web sites have been used to that end.

Free Essays on The Book Of Job

â€Å"Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised† (Job 1:21). The book of Job is significant to both secular and non-secular groups as a pillar for many fundamental truths. The story of Job’s extensive amount of torment he faced, and persevered through, serves as a prime example for many to follow. Although the book is chiefly considered a model for Christian ethics, it has been explored by both secular and non-secular groups. Contrary to popular belief, the book of Job is not only about the Lord’s servant and the many ways he suffered. This essay will identify why many believe that this book is only concerned with Job’s sufferings, and in contradiction show that there is an abundance of issues within, with many lessons to be learned. Job was a man with what the public viewed as a perfect life. He had a wife, seven sons, and three daughters. In addition to having a well rounded family, his wealth continued in his possessions that included seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand oxen, and five hundred donkeys. While Job was a family man, he was also known very well in his community, and sometimes even considered the greatest man of the East. More important than all of this, Job feared God and shunned evil. The Lord said to Satan in chapter one, â€Å"Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.† Satan was sure that no matter how much Job loved the Lord, if Job were to lose everything he had, surely he would curse the name of the Lord. The Lord proceeded to tell Satan that everything Job has is in his hands, but he was not aloud to touch the man himself. Satan proceeded in attempting to destroy Job, allowing his oxen and donkeys to be stolen, burning his sheep and servants, having his camels carried away, kill... Free Essays on The Book Of Job Free Essays on The Book Of Job â€Å"Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised† (Job 1:21). The book of Job is significant to both secular and non-secular groups as a pillar for many fundamental truths. The story of Job’s extensive amount of torment he faced, and persevered through, serves as a prime example for many to follow. Although the book is chiefly considered a model for Christian ethics, it has been explored by both secular and non-secular groups. Contrary to popular belief, the book of Job is not only about the Lord’s servant and the many ways he suffered. This essay will identify why many believe that this book is only concerned with Job’s sufferings, and in contradiction show that there is an abundance of issues within, with many lessons to be learned. Job was a man with what the public viewed as a perfect life. He had a wife, seven sons, and three daughters. In addition to having a well rounded family, his wealth continued in his possessions that included seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand oxen, and five hundred donkeys. While Job was a family man, he was also known very well in his community, and sometimes even considered the greatest man of the East. More important than all of this, Job feared God and shunned evil. The Lord said to Satan in chapter one, â€Å"Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.† Satan was sure that no matter how much Job loved the Lord, if Job were to lose everything he had, surely he would curse the name of the Lord. The Lord proceeded to tell Satan that everything Job has is in his hands, but he was not aloud to touch the man himself. Satan proceeded in attempting to destroy Job, allowing his oxen and donkeys to be stolen, burning his sheep and servants, having his camels carried away, kill...

Castle Garden Was Americas First Immigration Center

Castle Garden Was America's First Immigration Center Castle Clinton, also referred to as Castle Garden, is a fort and national monument located in Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City. The structure has served as a fort, theater, opera house, national immigrant receiving station, and aquarium throughout its long history. Today, Castle Garden is called Castle Clinton National Monument and serves as the ticket center for ferries to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. History of Castle Garden Castle Clinton began its interesting life as a fort built to defend New York Harbor from the British during the War of 1812. Twelve years after the war it was ceded to New York City by the U.S. Army. The former fort reopened in 1824 as Castle Garden, a public cultural center and theatre. Following the passage of the Passenger Act of 3 March 1855, designed to safeguard the health and welfare of immigrant passengers to the U.S., New York passed its own legislation to establish a receiving station for immigrants. Castle Garden was chosen for the site, becoming Americas first immigrant receiving center and welcoming more than 8 million immigrants before it was closed on April 18, 1890. Castle Garden was succeeded by Ellis Island in 1892. In 1896 Castle Garden became the site of the New York City Aquarium, a capacity in which it served until 1946 when plans for the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel called for its demolition. The public outcry at the loss of the popular and historic building saved it from destruction, but the aquarium was closed and Castle Garden stood vacant until it was reopened by the National Park Service in 1975. Castle Garden Immigration Station From August 1, 1855 through April 18, 1890, immigrants arriving in the state of New York came through Castle Garden. Americas first official immigrant examining and processing center, Castle Garden welcomed approximately 8Â  million immigrants - most from Germany, Ireland, England, Scotland, Sweden, Italy, Russia, and Denmark. Castle Garden welcomed its last immigrant on April 18, 1890. After the closing of Castle Garden, immigrants were processed at an old barge office in Manhattan until the opening of the Ellis Island Immigration Center on 1 January 1892. More than one in six native-born Americans are descendants of the eight million immigrants who entered the United States through Castle Garden. Researching Castle Garden Immigrants The free CastleGarden.org database, provided online by the New York Battery Conservancy, allows you to search by name and time period for immigrants who arrived in Castle Garden between 1830 and 1890. Digital copies of many of the ship manifests can be accessed through a paid subscription to Ancestry.coms New York Passenger Lists, 1820–1957. Some images are also available for free on FamilySearch. Microfilms of the manifests can also be obtained through your local Family History Center or National Archives (NARA) branches. The CastleGarden database is down somewhat frequently. If you receive an error message, try the alternative search features from Steve Morses Searching the Castle Garden Passenger Lists in One Step. Visiting Castle Garden Located at the southern tip of Manhattan, convenient to NYC bus and subway routes, Castle Clinton National Monument is under the administration of the National Park service and serves as a visitor center for Manhattans national parks. The walls of the original fort remain intact, and park ranger-led and self-guided tours describe the history of Castle Clinton / Castle Garden. Open daily (except Christmas) from 8:00am to 5:00pm. Admission and tours are free.

German Holidays and Customs in May

German Holidays and Customs in May The first day in the lovely month of May (Camelot) is a national holiday in Germany, Austria, and most of Europe. International Workers Day is observed in many countries around the globe on May 1. But there are other German May customs that reflect the end of winter and the arrival of warmer days. Tag der Arbeit - 1. Mai Oddly, the widespread custom of celebrating Labor Day on the first of May (am ersten Mai) was inspired by events in the United States, one of the few countries that do not observe Labor Day in May! In 1889, a congress of world socialist parties was held in Paris. The attendees, sympathizing with striking workers in Chicago in 1886, voted to support the United States labor movements demands for an 8-hour day. They selected May 1, 1890, as a day of commemoration for the Chicago strikers. In many countries around the world May 1 became an official holiday called Labor Day- but not in the U.S., where that holiday is observed on the first Monday in September. Historically the holiday has had special importance in socialist and communist countries, which is one reason it is not observed in May in America. The U.S. federal holiday was first observed in 1894. Canadians also have observed their Labor Day since September 1894. In Germany, May Day (erster Mai, May 1st) is a national holiday and an important day, partly because of Blutmai (bloody May) in 1929. That year in Berlin the ruling Social Democratic (SPD) party had banned the traditional workers demonstrations. But the KPD (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands) called for demonstrations anyway. The resulting bloodbath left 32 people dead and at least 80 seriously injured. It also left a big split between the two workers parties (KPD and SPD), which the Nazis soon used to their advantage. The National Socialists named the holiday Tag der Arbeit (Day of Labor), the name still used in Germany today. Unlike the U.S. observance, which cuts across all classes, Germanys Tag der Arbeit and most European Labor Day observances are primarily a working-class holiday. In recent years Germanys chronic high unemployment (Arbeitslosigkeit, over 5 million in 2004) also comes into focus each May. The holiday also tends to be a day of Demos that often turn into clashes between the demonstrators (more like hooligans) and the police in Berlin and other large cities. If the weather allows, nice, law-abiding people use the day for picnicking or relaxing with the family. Der Maibaum In Austria and many parts of Germany, especially in Bavaria, the tradition of raising a Maypole (Maibaum) on May 1 still serves to welcome spring- as it has since ancient times. Similar Maypole festivities also can be found in England, Finland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. A Maypole is a tall wooden pole made from a tree trunk (pine or birch), with colorful ribbons, flowers, carved figures, and various other decorations adorning it, depending on the location. In Germany, the name Maibaum (May tree) reflects the custom of placing a small pine tree atop the Maypole, which is usually set up in a towns public square or village green. Traditional dances, music, and folk customs are often associated with the Maypole. In small towns virtually the entire population turns out for the ceremonial raising of the Maypole and the festivities that follow, with Bier und Wurst of course. In Munich, a permanent Maibaum stands at the Viktualienmarkt. Muttertag Mothers Day is not celebrated at the same time around the world, but Germans and Austrians observe Muttertag on the second Sunday in May, just as in the U.S. Learn more on our Mothers Day page. Walpurgis Walpurgis Night  (Walpurgisnacht), the night before May Day, is similar to  Halloween  in that it has to do with supernatural spirits. And like Halloween, Walpurgisnacht is of pagan origin. The bonfires seen in todays celebration reflect those pagan origins and the human desire to drive away the winter cold and welcome spring. Celebrated mainly in Sweden, Finnland, Estonia, Latvia, and Germany,  Walpurgisnacht  gets its name from Saint Walburga (or Walpurga), a woman born in what is now England in 710.  Die  Heilige  Walpurga  traveled to Germany and became a nun at the convent of Heidenheim in Wà ¼rttemberg. Following her death in 778 (or 779), she was made a saint, with May 1 as her saint day. In Germany, the  Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, is considered the focal point of  Walpurgisnacht. Also known as the  Blocksberg, the 1142-meter peak is often shrouded in mist and clouds, lending it a mysterious atmosphere that has contributed to its legendary status as the home of witches (Hexen) and devils (Teufel). That tradition predates the mention of the witches gathering on the Brocken in Goethes: To the Brocken the witches ride... (Die Hexen  zu  dem Brocken  ziehn...) In its Christian version, the former pagan festival in May became Walpurgis, a time to drive out evil spirits- usually with loud noises. In Bavaria Walpurgisnacht is known as  Freinacht  and resembles Halloween, complete with youthful pranks.

Lockheed Martins Acquistion of NationScape, Inc Case Study

Lockheed Martins Acquistion of NationScape, Inc - Case Study Example The US, for example, combines more of diplomacy and military engagements known as soft power. By acquiring NSI, Lockheed should be able to provide support services for government agencies such as USAID and the United Nations agencies. Military stability support, reconstruction and security transition are major engagements for the department of defense. NSI will enable Lockheed to take advantage of government contracts aimed at promoting these engagements. NSI will enable Lockheed to globalize its operations. Over 90% of Lockheed, staff is in the United States. This does not help the company to have a global outlook and therefore its revenues are constrained in the hosting country (Petrescu & Relly 73). NSI has operations in more than 50 countries across six continents and it is still looking to increase its operations in more countries in Asia and African region. Acquiring NSI will, thus, enable Lockheed have a global outlook, unlike its current position. It will be easier for Lockheed to enter other non-traditional markets when it has this global outlook. Lockheed will also take advantage of the NSI staff located in different parts of the world. This will enable the company to expand its operations without significantly increasing its labor costs. Lockheed will make more money from engagements with the Department of State and development assistance, which had a budget off over $31 billion (Petrescu & Relly 123). In addition to the increased budgetary allocations, other customers such as the Department of Defense, international organizations such as NATO and allied foreign governments are also increasing their spending programs. This means that Lockheed will be assured of a ready market since acquiring NSI puts the company at a competent position to meet the high demand. Increasing its global coverage should enable Lockheed to achieve its vital corporate strategies. This will lead to

Hominid evolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hominid evolution - Essay Example This is not the earliest of human life, though. Fossils prove that human-like creatures have lived on the planet for millions of years. Thus the species that modern humans belong to has, in one form or another, been on earth for a very long time. One of the most important questions to be answered, then, is why it is only modern humans that have managed to survive on earth. Why did other examples die out, and why did only humans such as those living today thrive and dominate all the species on earth? In the case of the Neanderthals, particularly, it is not simple to explain why they became extinct. For 200 000 years they dominated among species on the European continent. Only 28 000 years ago the last populations of the Neanderthals died out in Gibraltar, the last settlement science has evidence of (Wong 2009: 134). Only modern-form humans then continued to exist on earth. Theories to explain this change in the population of earth range from climate change as the cause for this dying out, to theories of conquest of the Neanderthals by the moderns. Climate change may certainly have caused the Neanderthals to have to adapt continually to changing weather patterns and ecologies. This adaptation would have had to affect their hunting methods, their sources of shelter, and their sources of food. Wong (2009: 135) proposes that the climate change experienced in Europe during the time of the Neanderthals was not gradual over a long period of time. From about 65 000 years ago to about 25 000 years ago, the climate changed completely in continental Europe. The period began with mild and temperate conditions across the continent, and ended with Europe experiencing extreme cold, snow and ice year-round. Evidence shows that this did not happen gradually: it did not just get progressively colder over 40 000 years. Instead, the weather patterns and thus the environment would change completely in relatively short periods of time in one place. Plant and animal life could be comp letely replaced by new ecology within one Neanderthal’s lifetime, in one area. Therefore the Neanderthals would have to change their lifestyles completely in order to survive: hunting methods; where they lived; the kind of shelter they needed and their food sources. Everything may very well have changed completely without warning. Hence the populations of Neanderthals would reduce, and not have time to recover before the next major climate change. Eventually over generations this may have led to populations too small to sustain themselves in particular areas (Finlayson in Wong 2009: 135). It may additionally be that the migration of modern hominids into Europe and the near-East placed more pressure on available food resources. The Neanderthals, struggling to adapt to rapidly changing ecologies around them would have had further to compete for their traditional food sources with the newcomers. The movement of homo sapiens out of its African origin and gradually across the plan et would certainly have had, then, some effect on the extinction of the Neanderthals. Living in Africa, modern hominids were taller and lighter than the Neanderthals. They needed less food to survive and function than the Neanderthals; they were hence adaptable; they used more sophisticated tools and hunting weaponry (Gugliotta 2008: 139). What explains their

Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing - Assignment Example The SWOT analysis represent the analysis of factors of strength, weakness, opportunities and threats that are existing in the marketplace with regards to the characteristics of the organization. It is highly relevant to say that the strength and weakness can be categorized as internal factors of evaluation for an organization. On the other hand, the issues of opportunities and threats are categorized as external factors and are always analyzed with regards to the happenings and influence coming from the external environment (Pride and Ferell 33). In very layman terms, marketing can be explained as an activity which comprises of the process of value generation, value communication, value distribution and value delivery to the consumers. Marketing is often represented as the activity which comprises of smooth application and integration of the 4Ps of marketing like product, place, promotion and prices (Pride and Ferell 4). Matching the 4Ps of marketing with the equation of value, it can be said that product represent value generation, place represents value distribution, promotion represents value communication and price represents value delivery and capture. It is very important for a business to implement the various variables of marketing in the right time but in a new and innovative manner so as to leverage the maximum amount of competitive advantage that can be extracted for the business. ... crucial activity in any business, since it plays the lead role in communicating the values of the company or organization’s products or services to the desired set of clients and customers. For the purpose of sustaining in the market, it is very important for a company to focus on its revenue earning strategy and thereby develop a significant competitive edge. It can be said in direct link up that for the purpose of generating a steady cash flow process, it is imperative that the organization’s products and services attain high sales volume in the market place. It can be said that for the purpose of selling a product or service, having a proper and effective STP strategy is highly important. STP which denotes segmentation, targeting and positioning helps the organizations in a market place to focus on the process of aiming the right set of customers. Talking in a more simplistic manner, it can be said that the segmentation of a particular set of population helps the com panies to identify the right group of customers who have the needs to buy the particular line of products and services. The method of targeting represents the process of aiming the right set of identified customers by the firms to attain a significant growth in sales of the firm’s products and services. The picture provided below represent various kinds of segmentation strategy employed by the firms. Source: Pride and Ferrell 160 It is highly imperative to mention that in this stage, the strategic decision makers of the company tries to identify the potential buyers for the firm’s products and services, while analyzing their individual consumer behaviour as well as demographic profile and purchasing power capacity. Finally, while discussing on the factor of positioning, it can be highlighted that

Cross Culture Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Cross Culture Managment - Essay Example However, this company is subsidiary of the Japanese parent company present in Malaysia and this subsidiary company does not follow any of these four principles. Japanese work culture is supposed to be growth oriented, and hence, when ABC MNC entered in Malaysia, large number of people wished to join this organisation as an employee. The above stated four principles of Japanese organisations are the major reason for higher job demand in Japanese organisation. During 2003, due to the closedown of its R&D department Malaysia, employees perceived that their jobs had become less secured. This was the first instance that affects ABC MNC’s job satisfaction level. However, followed by this incident, there were also other factors that increased the number of unsatisfied employees in ABC MNC. ABC MNC was highly dependent on local Malaysian people for recruiting its labour forces. However, most of the top level management were the Japanese expatriate managers and there were significant g aps between the thorough process of Japanese top level managements and local Malaysian employees. Basically, the Japanese and Malaysian culture differs from each other due to their basic orientations that influence their basic traits. The Malaysian local employees used to perceive their Japanese top level management as people with a serious working attitude. Moreover, ABC MNC had a tendency to change its CEO in every three years, and every time, the new CEO restructured the entire organisation including strategies that also increases the dissatisfaction level among Malaysian employees. On the other hand, the top management always emphasised that their employees should gain skills like leadership, better communication etc. However, the company never provided any... This paper approves that the management also has to take care of the fact that management practices do not remain the same across all nations. It is important to analyse the nature and characteristics of human resources at the place where the company is set up before employing the local employees. As apparent from the above case, candidates were moving out of the company on account of low salaries and other benefits. This is the reason why the management had introduced benefits like transport allowances, car parking allowances and sell phone allowances for retaining the employees. It was also seen that the top management positions in the company were dominated by the Japanese personnel. This paper has presented crucial areas of job satisfaction and commitments focusing on a case study of a Japan-based company called ABC MNC present in Malaysia. The company suffered from lower job satisfaction level and lower commitment level that led to increase the employee turnover ratio of the organisation. In the present world of competition, managing a growth oriented organisation culture is a necessary but difficult task. As ABC MNC is a multinational organisation, it has to deal with number of issues. Therefore, it must make an effort to understand the culture and psychology of its local Malaysian employees who are crucial factor for the success of ABC MNC of Malaysia. However, in spite of being a Japan-based company, ABC MNC has not able to develop motivational work culture for creating higher job satisfaction and better commitment level.

Punk in Fashion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Punk in Fashion - Essay Example The essay "Punk in Fashion" concerns the punk style. Punk culture laid stress on being creative and trying out new things. It involved colouring hair, and wearing clothes that were the hallmark of punk movement. Punk culture had a great influence on the contemporary fashion. Some of the essential staples of punk fashion included leather jackets most often accessorized with pictures and embossments of punk band logos, pins, studs and innovative patches. Other quintessential accoutrements of punk fashion were tight fitting stretchable jeans and shorts, heavy denim jackets most often adorned with patches, studs, pins and band logos, creepers, bondage pants, doc martens, etc. The whole objective of the punk fashion was to mock the established conventions and stereotypes of modesty and to accentuate the intention of not being able to adapt to or fit in the mainstream society. Punk fashion also adopted certain specific and peculiar hairstyles like buzzcuts, short and spiky, liberty spikes and mowhawks. Though the punk fatigue represented a tough and hard persona, the punk culture was on the contrary was very accommodating and open minded. Punk culture had a distinct impact on the fashion in the 20th century. The earlier punk fashion trends were distinctly anti materialistic. The primary focus of the punk fashion was on rebutting the excesses and pretensions inherent in the mainstream fashion by affiliating to peculiar clothing, body modifications, hairstyles, jewellery and cosmetics.

Cross Culture Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Cross Culture Managment - Essay Example However, this company is subsidiary of the Japanese parent company present in Malaysia and this subsidiary company does not follow any of these four principles. Japanese work culture is supposed to be growth oriented, and hence, when ABC MNC entered in Malaysia, large number of people wished to join this organisation as an employee. The above stated four principles of Japanese organisations are the major reason for higher job demand in Japanese organisation. During 2003, due to the closedown of its R&D department Malaysia, employees perceived that their jobs had become less secured. This was the first instance that affects ABC MNC’s job satisfaction level. However, followed by this incident, there were also other factors that increased the number of unsatisfied employees in ABC MNC. ABC MNC was highly dependent on local Malaysian people for recruiting its labour forces. However, most of the top level management were the Japanese expatriate managers and there were significant g aps between the thorough process of Japanese top level managements and local Malaysian employees. Basically, the Japanese and Malaysian culture differs from each other due to their basic orientations that influence their basic traits. The Malaysian local employees used to perceive their Japanese top level management as people with a serious working attitude. Moreover, ABC MNC had a tendency to change its CEO in every three years, and every time, the new CEO restructured the entire organisation including strategies that also increases the dissatisfaction level among Malaysian employees. On the other hand, the top management always emphasised that their employees should gain skills like leadership, better communication etc. However, the company never provided any... This paper approves that the management also has to take care of the fact that management practices do not remain the same across all nations. It is important to analyse the nature and characteristics of human resources at the place where the company is set up before employing the local employees. As apparent from the above case, candidates were moving out of the company on account of low salaries and other benefits. This is the reason why the management had introduced benefits like transport allowances, car parking allowances and sell phone allowances for retaining the employees. It was also seen that the top management positions in the company were dominated by the Japanese personnel. This paper has presented crucial areas of job satisfaction and commitments focusing on a case study of a Japan-based company called ABC MNC present in Malaysia. The company suffered from lower job satisfaction level and lower commitment level that led to increase the employee turnover ratio of the organisation. In the present world of competition, managing a growth oriented organisation culture is a necessary but difficult task. As ABC MNC is a multinational organisation, it has to deal with number of issues. Therefore, it must make an effort to understand the culture and psychology of its local Malaysian employees who are crucial factor for the success of ABC MNC of Malaysia. However, in spite of being a Japan-based company, ABC MNC has not able to develop motivational work culture for creating higher job satisfaction and better commitment level.

Stem Cell Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Stem Cell - Research Paper Example The intentions of this study are stem cells, the cells found in multi-cellular organisms, both humans and animals. The cells have the ability to renew through miotic cell division where they differentiate into specialized cell types. The stem cell exists in two types, namely the embryonic stem cell and the adult stem cells. The cells have the ability to treat a wide range of diseases which has resulted in many technologies being employed to study their viability and effectiveness. The study of stem cells has become common due to the ability of the stem cells to perform several functions. This is due to the fact that the stem cells have the ability to specialize into any desired cell type. Genetic diseases have become a serious issue in the world today. It is therefore, important to understand how the genetic diseases occur and what can be done to remedy the situation. Genetic diseases caused by chromosomal anomalies’ can be rectified by using stem cells. This is due to the fac t that stem cells have differentiation and proliferation effects that can help in addressing the situation. Stem cell application is therefore important in the prevention and correction of the genetic diseases. Scientific research has shown that stem cells are important in the treatment of several types of diseases that people suffer from. Stem cells are mainly used in the treatment of diseases that require organ transplant. This is due to their ability to differentiate into cells that exhibit special characteristics. ... Stem cells are mainly used in the treatment of diseases that require organ transplant (Hayat, 2011). This is due to their ability to differentiate into cells that exhibit special characteristics (Klimanskaya, Chung, Becker, Lu & Lanza, 2006). Stem cells are currently being used to carry out cancer therapies for those who are diagnosed with the disease. Cell therapy in this case is carried out to replace the tissues affected by the disease with the stem cells. This has helped in the treatment of cancer of the breast and skin. The stem cell is also used in the treatment of brain and blood diseases, and in tissue and organ regeneration (Hayat, 2011). Understanding Human and Animal Development Human beings develop from stem cells. Stem cell study is important as it helps people in understanding how human beings and animals develop from conception to death (Viegas, 2003; Takahashi & Yamanaka, 2006). This is due to the fact that there are some diseases that affect humans as a result of abn ormal cell differentiation and proliferations. Due to this fact, abnormal stem cell division may cause certain diseases. Therefore, it is important to have a good understanding of stem cells will assist in the prevention of abnormal changes in the stem cells and assist in getting better treatment for diseases associated with poor stem cells such as cancer. Arguments against the Use of Stem Cells Ethical considerations Despite the many benefits of the stem cells, there are some cons associated with their application. The use of the embryonic stem cell goes against human dignity and right to life. This is because the embryos are considered to be living beings and should be left to develop uninhibited to become an adult. Human life is very valuable and should never be voluntarily destroyed

Different Research Methods Essay Example for Free

Different Research Methods Essay â€Å"When it comes to their health, workers always know best.† (Workers Health International Newsletter No. 42).† Analyse the different research methods that unions and workers use to identify ill health caused by work. Introduction The topic I have chosen to look into for this assignment will be â€Å"When it comes to their health, workers always know best.† (Workers Health International Newsletter No. 42).† Analyse the different research methods that unions and workers use to identify ill health caused by work. I have chosen to look into this subject to see what different research methods are out there and what kind of information we can gather from them. I will do this by analysing and evaluating each known method, and then establishing which is more suitable for my own workplace. I intend to be able to use some of these research methods on my members and in my workplace, to see if there are any potential hazards in the workplace. After trying out some of these research methods I will collate the data and if an issue is raised create a plan of action to eliminate the problem. I also intend to share my findings with my members and present this data at the next health and safety meeting. What types of research method is there? A simple research method would be to â€Å"look and listen† by this I mean observe your surroundings, listen to members concerns, check things like the accident book or has there been a number of claims? Another type of research can be to do comparisons between different things in the workplace for example does one area have more accidents then another or does an area have additional hazards compared to others. A really useful research method for trying to find out if there is a specific health problem with your work is body mapping. Body mapping is a way of identifying common patterns of health problems amongst workers in a particular workplace or doing the same job. Whilst it is not certain that any such common ailments are work-related, it highlights areas for further investigation. A similar technique is risk mapping/hazard mapping where instead of highlighting areas of pain on the body like a body map does this highlights risks on a map of the workplace. From this map you will be able to build up a clear picture of where the hazards lie in the workplace. One of the most popular types of research is to do a survey, this may be because there are lots of different ways you can do surveys and you can tailor them to be as specific as you want. You don’t even have to come up with the questionnaire yourself as there are a lot of pre made ones online which may fulfil your needs. Another research method is to examine records to see if you can find any anomalies or similarities in the data. Records can range from asbestos registers to pesticide passports. Pros and cons of research methods Body mapping One of the pros of body mapping is that it is a simple starting point to be able to identify health problems within the workforce. Another advantage is that it is very easy to set up, and very quick to be able to participate in, even those with disabilities and those who are not English speaking can partake, which should encourage people to take part. The results can be swiftly obtained, and are clear and easy to present to management. A strength of using this method is that it can raise health and safety awareness in the workplace, and then finally body mapping can be anonymous, hopefully encouraging more members to get involved. A weakness of the body mapping method is that it is only a starting point for investigation, and it is hard to pin down to work issues, and so you would need to follow it up with different research methods, for example: surveys and discussions to try and highlight what the hazard may be. A disadvantage is that all employees’ who have taken part would need to do the same job in order for the data to work or you have to do multiple body maps (the hazards may vary from job to job). Surveys One of the advantages of using the survey method is that it can be conveyed in multiple ways, such as email, internet, paper or post. This style of research makes it easy to target large populations of people. Another pro is that the survey can be as specific or general as you like, dependent upon the questions you wish to ask. You can ask open questions which will give you detailed responses, or closed questions which are quick to interpret data from and you will get fast results. By using this method you can repeatedly use the same survey over a period of time to assess any changes that may be taking place. A disadvantage of this method is that survey design often requires special skills from the researcher in sampling proper question design and analysis. Another weakness is open questions can create a lot of data which is time consuming to analyse and it may also put people off participating. Surveys might not be accessible to all members, such as foreign workers or people with disabilities. Another drawback is that it is difficult to get people to participate as it takes too much time to complete or they cannot be bothered. Risk mapping By using the risk mapping method, it can highlight to workers any potential hazards that they may be exposed to, and any physical, chemical or biological problems that might arise when doing the job. Workplace risk mapping is a technique where workers can get together to get these concerns down on paper. This approach takes the control away from experts like health and safety professionals, by using the knowledge of workers and acknowledging the essential contribution they make, and are developed from everyday experiences. Risk maps can be enhanced if the hazards are coded using colours or symbols, it may even be possible to match these codes to areas with body mapping results. An advantage of using this method is that it can allow workers to keep track of management’s activities to remedy the hazards the map has identified. A disadvantage of the risk mapping method is workers may lack interest in the process, and wish to ignore hazards in their work area, especially if they have been doing the job for a long time, not wishing to change from what they have been doing (they may be scared of change). A weakness can be seen to be employers not enforcing the findings of the risk mapping, therefore encouraging members to work unsafely. There could be an issue with members not wanting to take part due to a worry of pressure from management to ‘get the job done’. A weakness could be that if there is a lack of commitment from employers once issues have been highlighted, there could be a delay in the risk being removed or controlled. Conclusion and recommendations After analysing various types of research methods, it is clear that no method is perfect. It seems that depending upon the type of data required, this may determine which method is best to be rolled out. Even the possibility that one research method might not be enough to get all data required (the body mapping method may only be a starting point), and so more than one method may be suitable in certain cases. From analysing this data, when approaching the workforce it may be better to use more than one approach in order to accurately report potential risks to management. This approach will not only make the data more precise, but also make the case more conclusive. After looking into all the different research methods I intend to recommend that either the TU or the company, or both utilise some of the research methods, starting with body mapping and leading on from there to other techniques.

Reviewing Theories Of Deborah Stone On Policy Making Politics Essay

Reviewing Theories Of Deborah Stone On Policy Making Politics Essay I name my answer to question as Idea and Deborah Stone, I want go through her book and explain why ideas are so important. According to Deborah Stone, ideas will help people to define alliance, strategic considerations also ideas will help people to get the legitimacy and draw policy boundaries. (Deborah, P 34). According to Deborah Stone, ideas will decide who will be affected, how will they be affected and will they be affected legitimately (Stone, P.34). In the first Chapter, Stone starts her analysis at the city-state (the Greek term polis) level. The public policy is considered as an attempt to achieve a certain community goals (Deborah, P 21). However, due to the fact that everyone has his own understanding of ideas, therefore the political community has become a place for internal debates over who will be affected, how will they be affected and will they be affected legitimately(Deborah, P 34) . The policy-making process has thus become a continuous interaction between the conflict and cooperation. In Stones model, individuals may pursue their goals through collective action. The motivation is not only based on self-interests but also based on public concerns. This is because the public interest is be related to the goal of survival (Deborah, P 33). However, when there is a contradiction between self-interest and public interest, the policy process will be more complicated (Deborah, P 33). When the group is motivated under common ideas, the group will get more strength, and there will be a balance between private interests and public interests in the conflict. Stone directly uses the idea as the core concept of this book. In her construction of polis community vs market individual(Deborah P 33) model, ideas have become the focus. Stone tries to use struggle of idea to explain all stages of policy-making process. Policy-making is followed by a continuous constantly struggle to fight for the classification of standards, types of boundaries, and guide people to conduct the ideal typical definition. The struggle of idea can be seen in several policy levels. According to Stones theory, idea defines what people want from the policy; it is the foundation for people to cognize and understands what the policy is. Idea provides a relationship between advocators and advocacy coalitions; Idea provides causal relationship for these people and groups, and ideas will be reflected to their policy objectives through their actions of obtaining support. And these people with the shared idea will persuade decision-makers to meet their preferences. As mentioned above, Stone sees idea as a constantly changing dynamic and resources of construction. And by given different interpretations of ideas, the concept of the ideas will also change. She points out that the politics of policy is to choose the interpretation (Deborah P 75). Stone argues that the authority to interpret idea is the key factor in the policy-making process. Only legitimated idea can be transformed into policy. And using the legiti macy, peoples knowledge or behavior can be changed. And policy change can also be made through this interaction of ideas. Ideas affects how people cognized politics, and the change of politics will also feedback on ideas. To Stone, idea is not static; idea is an ongoing of constructing and reconstructing process of concepts. Now I will try to exam whether Deborah Stones idea theory can fits with other policy process theory. In the punctuated equilibrium theory, Baumgartner and Jones also argue that idea is a potential power in the policy making process. According to their book Agendas and Instability in American Politics, a powerful supporting idea is associated with the institution (Baumgartner and Jones, P 7); In page 16, they also writethe tight connection between institution and idea provides powerful support for prevailing distribution of political advantage. These statements mean that idea will help people understand what is at stake and how will they be affected (Stone, 2002), policy advocators will use institution arrangement to make their idea be legitimate. Also, in order to gain more power those policy actors will manipulate images and ideas. To Baumgartner and Jones, ideas are important because they provide some potential undergirding institutional arrangements; and the struggle of idea is the struggle over legitimate institution arrangements. In the book Agendas, alternatives and public policies, Kingdon also discusses the importance. In order to make useful policy suggestions, participants in the policy process are competing to develop new ideas; and they are trying to provide their ideas in the form of potential solutions to policy makers. According to Kingdon, policy entrepreneurs lie in wait in and around government with their solutions [already] in hand, waiting for problems to float by to which they can attach their solutions, waiting for a development in the political stream they can use to their advantage (Kingdon, P 165). Shared ideas make policy entrepreneurs into alliance; and these alliances are trying to make their ideas become legitimate. Kingdons primal policy soup (Kingdon, P 139-143) model provides us a picture of how decision makers accept idea through coherent narrative process (ideas are flowing in the streams just as molecules flowing in the soup). According to Kingdon, a policy community creates a sh ort list of ideas. If the ideas can go through the selecting process, softening up process and if they can pass the exam by specialists and policy makers, they may finally become policies. The whole process can be viewed as a continuing struggle of ideas. In this case, ideas are not only competing with other ideas, they are also struggling to survive in this primal soup. I also think Kingdons policy window model is another improvement to Deborah Stones arguments. People are now struggling to make their idea in front of the policy window at the correct time. This model discovers that the during the policy process, critical time is also important for ideas struggling. However, I think there are also some theories which do not fully support Deborah Stones argument. In the garbage can model, because the nature of unclear, policy is not necessarily to be the consequence of the ideas struggling. In Kingdons Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, he describes that as garbage can into which various kinds of problems and solutions are dumped by participantsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ removed from the scene (Kingdon, P 85). In some sense, Deborah Stones Struggling of ideas assumption is more based on a goal-oriented policy making process, in order to make it work, there should be a clear policy goal from all participants; while the classical garbage can model is more like a method-oriented policy making process, it doesnt require a clear goal or solution at the beginning. In the garbage can model, people are not fighting with each other over ideas in the final solution selecting stage, however it is still correct to say that each solution in the garbage can is a result of deliberative idea thinking. I think there is a slight difference between Deborah Stones theory and the garbage can model. Another policy theory which doesnt fully consistent with Deborah Stones theory is the incrementalism theory. According to Lindblom, the incremental policy process is more relied on former existing policies. According to this model, the policy environment generally remains stable. Because the incremental nature of the policy, the new policy will inherent the policy environment from previous policy, if the former policy has resolved the struggling of idea, then there will be less struggling of ideas in the new policies. Since the policy environment is stable, it will be unlikely for us to speculate a violently struggle over ideas. The last policy process theory I want discuss in the context of struggling over idea is the advocacy coalition framework (ACF) theory. The central idea of this theory is that people or groups with the same beliefs (core/policy/secondary) will form a coalition. I think Sabatiers concept of belief is similar to Deborah Stones concept of idea. Especially, I think the concept of policy belief is playing the role of idea in the policy process. I think his core belief is rooted even deeper than idea. The core belief will sometimes become unnoticeable. And using the ACF model, we can find out that the policy process is a competition among different policy beliefs, and I think this observation is close to Deborahs struggle over ideas the essence of policy making.'. But it does not mean that the change in the secondary belief level is also a result of struggling, according to Sabatiers theory, such change is more like the result of an incremental learning process. In conclusion, I think Deborah Stones argument is useful for us to understand some policy process. However, by using different theories we should also notice whether policy processes are struggle over ideas should be analyzed in situations. The Punctuated-Equilibrium model, ACF model and Multiple Stream model indicate that Deborahs argument is valid. In the P-E model, the change of existing idea or appearance of new idea will bring turbulence to the policy process; in the ACF model, the learning process can change beliefs at different level, and these changes will bring feedbacks to the policy process; in the M-S model, policy entrepreneurs will using the opportunity to propose their ideas, and when critical time is come, the coupled stream will become policy. Incremental Model suggests that policy process is not necessarily linked to struggling when the time span of the policy is very short. There could be no struggle when the whole policy process is already fixed. However, I think the origin/first policy in the incremental model is a result of idea struggling. The Garbage Can model suggests that the choosing process within the policy process may appear as a random process, it is not necessarily to be the consequence of the idea struggling.

Karl Marx Essays -- essays research papers

Karl Marx was the creator of Marxism and a new type of economy and government. His ideas were appealing to the working class people and emphasized the community rather than the individual. His theories spawned communism and his ideas still remain in effect in some modern day countries. Marx’s ideas originate from his experiences in Europe and his collaboration with Frederich Engels. In addition, Marx's work seems to be more of a criticism of Hegelian and other philosophy, than as a statement of his own philosophy. While Hegel felt that philosophy explained reality, Marx felt that philosophy should be made into reality, a hard thing to do. He thought that one must not just look at and inspect the world, but must try to transform the world, much like Jean Paul Sartre's view that "man must choose what is best for the world; and he will do so." Marx is unique from other philosophers in that he chooses to regard man as an individual, a human being. This is evident in his Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. There, he declares that man is a "natural being" who is endowed with "natural [and] vital powers" that "exist in him as aptitudes [and] instincts." Humans simply struggle with nature for the satisfaction of man's needs. From this struggle comes man's awareness of himself as an individual and as something separate from nature. So, he seeks to oppose nature. He sees that...

Subject-Object Relation in Mullâ Sadrâ’s Theory of Knowledge :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Subject-Object Relation in Mullà ¢ Sadrà ¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Theory of Knowledge ABSTRACT: Dividing knowledge to knowledge by presence and knowledge by representation, Mullà ¢ Sadrà ¢ treats the subject-object relation with regard to each one of them differently. In the former, the subject is united with the object, or rather they are one, and the reality of knowledge is this very unity. In this type of knowledge, there is no medium. Such unity culminates, on the one hand, in knowledge by presence comprehensively and completely conveying the objective reality, and in its untransferability on the other. By contrast, in knowledge by representation, the subject experiences another kind of relation to the object of knowledge thanks to the presence of a medium in the subject’s mind, called "mental form." Mullà ¢ Sadrà ¢ considers mental forms as the mental existence of the same quiddities (mà ¢hà ®yyà ¢t) existing in the external world. The only difference is that they have another type of existence. In this essay, I argue that this approach is congruent with the principality of quiddity, which is rejected by Mullà ¢ Sadrà ¢. To be consistent with the basic pillar of Mullà ¢ Sadrà ¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s philosophy, viz., the principle of existence, I hold that one should begin with the continuity of existence through mental, imagery and external worlds from which the mind abstracts the same quiddity, not vice versa. The problem of the interaction between subject and object in the process of cognition is a crucial issue in a theory of knowledge. Cognition, a unique window on the objective world, has captured the attention and motivated research and debate by scholars in a wide variety of fields over millennia. In all discussions regarding the phenomenon of knowledge, one question has always been raised no matter what the approach, method or focus of inquiry employed. For Kant, the distinction between nomenon and phenomenon and the determination of categories were major concerns. For the psychology of sensation and perception, the search continues for scientific methods to settle the extent to which an individual vis à   vis the environment effects the content, as well as the form, of sensory perception. In the tradition of Islamic philosophy, discussion revolves around the relation between ‘à ¢lim and ma‘là »m (knower and known). The question, expressed more precisely is: How much of what we know can be credited to objective reality per se, and how much is the creation, influence, or interference, of our mental power? It might also be asked how much and in what ways this influence alters the reality of the object of our cognitive system.

Final Project 1960 Time Capsule Essay

After receiving a very intriguing call from my colleagues, about a great time capsule find, I made my immediate departure for a little place we call the Red Zone previously known as Colorado. As I arrive I help my colleagues to unearth a time capsule from the period of the 1960s. We carefully opened the capsule that had intrigued us all so much to find five articles inside that told a great story of our past and of the decade beginning in 1960. The following is a summary of my findings within the capsule. The first of the five articles contained within the capsule was The Berlin Wall of 1961, also known as â€Å"The Iron Curtain†. This wall once more than 30 miles of barbed wire was a barrier between the Communist East Germany and the Democratic West Germany, became a series of concrete walls up to fifteen feet high, 96 miles long and guarded by towers armed with guards. After WWII Germany was split into four zones, three controlled by France, Britain, and The United States, and the other one by The Soviet Union; the Berlin Wall was constructed to separate the zone (East Germany) that was controlled by the Soviet Union from the zones (West Germany) controlled by France, Britain and the United States. It was here at the Berlin Wall that John F. Kennedy gave one of his memorable speeches, â€Å"There are many people in the world who really don’t understand, or say they don’t, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to B erlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass’sie nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.† The construction and demolition of the Berlin Wall(1989-90) are important milestones of the Cold War. The second item found in the capsule was the March on Washington of 1963. Attended by some 250,000 people, it was the largest demonstration ever seen in the nation’s capital, and one of the first to have extensive television coverage (Ross, 2007). The stated demands of the march were the passage of meaningful civil rights legislation; the elimination of racial segregation in public schools; protection for demonstrators against police brutality; a major public-works program to provide jobs; the passage of a law prohibiting racial discrimination in public and private hiring; a $2 an hour minimum wage; and self-government for the District of Columbia, which had a black majority (Ross,2007). Demanding jobs and freedom from the nation’s capital this march successfully pressured the Kennedy administration to initiate a civil rights bill in Congress. This is also when Martin Luther King gave his â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech. Although it wasn’t until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that the demands of the march were met, it was a major point in the peaceful war for civil and equal rights for all Americans. Without this peaceful demonstration the civil rights movement could have been pushed even further back in its effort for an equal nation. The effects of this event can still be seen today as we are now seen as American rather than white and black or rich or poor. The third item discovered in the capsule was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. On this day President Kennedy accompanied by his wife, John Connelly and his wife Nellie rode in a motorcade through the streets of Dallas, TX. It was during this ride that President Kennedy was shot around 12:30 pm the driver then rushed the President to Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:00pm. This horrible travesty shook America for years to come. News of the assassination changed the source of news from then on. Until this point newspapers had been the main source of news, until the assassination which brought on the longest uninterrupted television broadcast to date. The assassination also stuck fear in the African-Americans that the assassination would put a halt to the progress for civil rights. However, the assassination seemed to spur the civil rights movement which resulted in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed by President Lyndon Johnson. The assassination also changed the way the secret service operates today. Although during those times the President  was freer to move around openly, now secret service agents keep the president more secure and his availability limited. It is also thought that had the president not been assassinated the Vietnam War would have ended and many of our troops would not have died. The assassination opens up the possibility of â€Å"what if?†, and fueled conspiracy theorist for many, many years to come. This showed the weakness of American by its own hand. The fourth item in the capsule was the moon landing in 1969. July 16, 9:32am three astronauts (Neil Armstong, Buzz Aldridge, and Michael Collins) sit waiting for launch permission. By 9:44am they are in Earth orbit, July 20 at 10:56pm Neil Armstrong takes his first step on the moon. With more than half a billion people watching on television, he climbs down the ladder and proclaims: â€Å"That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.† (htt5). This was proof of great technological advancement and completion of the challenge set forth by President Kennedy over nine years ago. Project Apollo took on a life of its own over the years and left an important legacy to both the nation and the proponents of space exploration. Its success was enormously significant, coming at a time when American society was in crisis (htt6). This event showed the world and Americans everywhere that The United States was still the ultimate power by demonstrating to the world what the United States could achieve. The moon landing changed the way we viewed the Earth as they pointed a small portable camera toward Earth, showing just how small and fragile the planet really is in the scheme of the universe. The samples taken and brought back from the moon landing opened up knew scientific testing and led the way to multiple other moon landings and advancing our knowledge of space itself. The last item in the intriguing capsule was the Woodstock Music Festival of 1969. This was a three day concert at Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in the town of Bethel. More than half a million people came together – united in a message of peace, openness and cultural expression – and demonstrated how a generation could be heard (htt7) Woodstock is committed to living by its principles – we believe in universal human rights, ethical business practices, unfettered creative expression, free trade, the loving care of our planet, the power of the individual to make a difference, and the  overwhelming impact of communities to act as agents of peaceful change (htt7). However, the festival involved music (rock ‘n roll), drugs, sex and nudity. This festival came at a time when American had been through hard times. With the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the assassination of Martin Luther King the United States was tired and weary. The peaceful concert changed the way music was marketed from then on, now knowing that fans were willing to give up popular amenities to have sight of the musicians they loved. The change on music and pop culture of the time was historic. In 1969, rock critic Ellen Sander appraised the immediate impact of the Festival this way: â€Å"No longer can the magical multicolored phenomenon of pop culture be overlooked or underrated. It’s happening everywhere, but now it has happened in one place at one time so hugely that it was indeed historic †¦. The audience was a much bigger story than the groups. It was major entertainment news that the line-up of talent was of such magnificence and magnitude (thirty-one acts, nineteen of which were colossal) †¦. These were, however, the least significant events of what happened over the Woodstock weekend. What happened was that the largest number of people ever assembled for any event other than a war lived together, intimately and meaningfully and with such natural good cheer that they turned on not only everyone surrounding them but the mass media, and, by extension, millions of others, young and old, particularly many elements hostile to the manifestations and ignorant of the substance of pop culture.† (htt8). This change in pop culture has left an undying footprint on the history of the world with its new found music, art and literary styles. It is clear after examining and researching the incredible articles within the time capsule that the 1960 era was an extreme time of change for the American people. This decade in our history so full of such life changing events not only in the United States but also in other countries that rely on support from the United States. Its story shows our ability to adapt to ever changing situations around us and the resilience of the American people. Whether it is fighting Communism, the loss of a great leader, fighting for our rights, landing on the moon, or expressing or freedom in culture we are a strong nation and when faced with a great challenge we answer that challenge with a great success. Although many have been lost  along the way as a whole we stand one nation, united. References (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.tenfactsabout.co.uk/0003berlinwall.htm (n.d.). Retrieved from http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_march_on_washington_for_jobs_and_freedom/ (n.d.). Retrieved from â€Å"Civil Rights March on Washington (History, Facts, Martin Luther King Jr.) | Infoplease.com.† Infoplease. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/19/john-f-kennedy-assassination-racial-equality-jfk (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11_40th.html (n.d.). Retrieved from http://history.nasa.gov/ap11-35ann/legacy.html (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.woodstock.com/ (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.woodstockpreservation.org/SignificanceStatement.htm http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1867.html. (n.d.).

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Chapters 5

â€Å"Everyone knows that old-timey vampires had to stay in coffins during the day,† I went on. â€Å"To keep out of the sun. That's common knowledge, Diego.† â€Å"You're right. Al the stories do say that.† â€Å"And what would Riley gain by locking us up in a lightproof basement – one big group coffin – al day, anyway? We just demolish the place, and he has to deal with al the fighting, and it's constant turmoil. You can't tel me he enjoys it.† Something I'd said surprised him. He sat with his mouth open for a second, then closed it. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Common knowledge,† he repeated. â€Å"What do vampires do in coffins al day?† â€Å"Er – oh yeah, they're supposed to sleep, right? But I guess they're probably just lying there bored, 'cause we don't†¦ Okay, so that part's wrong.† â€Å"Yeah. In the stories they're not just asleep, though. They're total y unconscious. They can't wake up. A human can walk right up and stake them, no problem. And that's another thing – stakes. You real y think someone could shove a piece of wood through you?† I shrugged. â€Å"I haven't real y thought about it. I mean, not a normal piece of wood, obviously. Maybe sharpened wood has some kind of†¦ I don't know. Magical properties or something.† Diego snorted. â€Å"Please.† â€Å"Wel, I don't know. I wouldn't just hold stil while some human ran at me with a filed broom handle, anyway.† Diego – stil with a sort of disgusted look on his face, as if magic were real y such a reach when you're a vampire – rol ed to his knees and started clawing into the limestone above his head. Tiny stone shards fil ed his hair, but he ignored them. â€Å"What are you doing?† â€Å"Experimenting.† He dug with both hands until he could stand upright, and then kept going. â€Å"Diego, you get to the surface, you explode. Stop it.† â€Å"I'm not trying to – ah, here we go.† There was a loud crack, and then another crack, but no light. He ducked back down to where I could see his face, with a piece of tree root in his hand, white, dead, and dry under the clumps of dirt. The edge where he'd broken it was a sharp, uneven point. He tossed it to me. â€Å"Stake me.† I tossed it back. â€Å"Whatever.† â€Å"Seriously. You know it can't hurt me.† He lobbed the wood to me; instead of catching it, I batted it back. He snagged it out of the air and groaned. â€Å"You are so†¦ superstitious!† â€Å"I am a vampire. If that doesn't prove that superstitious people are right, I don't know what does.† â€Å"Fine, I'l do it.† He held the branch away from himself dramatical y, arm extended, like it was a sword and he was about to impale himself. â€Å"C'mon,† I said uneasily. â€Å"This is sil y.† â€Å"That's my point. Here goes nothing.† He crushed the wood into his chest, right where his heart used to beat, with enough force to punch through a granite slab. I was total y frozen with panic until he laughed. â€Å"You should see your face, Bree.† He sifted the splinters of broken wood through his fingers; the shattered root fel to the floor in mangled pieces. Diego brushed at his shirt, though it was too trashed from al the swimming and digging for the attempt to do any good. We'd both have to steal more clothes the next time we got a chance. â€Å"Maybe it's different when a human does it.† â€Å"Because you felt so magical when you were human?† â€Å"I don't know, Diego,† I said, exasperated. â€Å"I didn't make up al those stories.† He nodded, suddenly more serious. â€Å"What if the stories are exactly that? Made up.† I sighed. â€Å"What difference does it make?† â€Å"Not sure. But if we're going to be smart about why we're here – why Riley brought us to her, why she's making more of us – then we have to understand as much as we possibly can.† He frowned, every trace of laughter total y gone from his face now. I just stared back at him. I didn't have any answers. His face softened just a little. â€Å"This helps a lot, you know. Talking about it. Helps me focus.† â€Å"Me, too,† I said. â€Å"I don't know why I never thought about any of this before. It seems so obvious. But working on it together†¦ I don't know. I can stay on track better.† â€Å"Exactly.† Diego smiled at me. â€Å"I'm real y glad you came out tonight.† â€Å"Don't get al gooey on me now.† â€Å"What? You don't want to be† – he widened his eyes and his voice went up an octave – â€Å"BFFs?† He laughed at the goofy expression. I rol ed my eyes, not total y sure if he was making fun of the expression or of me. â€Å"C'mon, Bree. Be my bestest bud forever. Please?† Stil teasing, but his wide smile was natural and†¦ hopeful. He held out his hand. This time I went for a real high five, not realizing until he caught my hand and held it that he'd intended anything else. It was shockingly weird to touch another person after a whole life – because the last three months were my whole life – of avoiding any kind of contact. Like touching a sparking downed power line, only to find out that it felt nice. The smile on my face felt a little lopsided. â€Å"Count me in.† â€Å"Excel ent. Our own private club.† â€Å"Very exclusive,† I agreed. He stil had my hand. Not shaking it, but not exactly holding it, either. â€Å"We need a secret handshake.† â€Å"You can be in charge of that one.† â€Å"So the super-secret best friends club is cal ed to order, al present, secret handshake to be devised at a later date,† he said. â€Å"First order of business: Riley. Clueless? Misinformed? Or lying?† His eyes were on mine as he spoke, wide and sincere. There was no change as he said Riley's name. In that instant, I was sure there was nothing to the stories about Diego and Riley. Diego had just been around more than the others, nothing more. I could trust him. â€Å"Add this to the list,† I said. â€Å"Agenda. As in, what is his?† â€Å"Bul ‘s-eye. That's exactly what we've got to find out. But first, another experiment.† â€Å"That word makes me nervous.† â€Å"Trust is an essential part of the whole secret club gig.† He stood up into the extra ceiling space he'd just carved out and started digging again. In a second, his feet were dangling while he held himself up with one hand and excavated with the other. â€Å"You better be digging for garlic,† I warned him, and backed up toward the tunnel that led to the sea. â€Å"The stories aren't real, Bree,† he cal ed to me. He pul ed himself higher into the hole he was making, and the dirt continued to rain down. He was going to fil in his hidey-hole at this rate. Or flood it with light, which would make it even more useless. I slid most of the way into the escape channel, just my fingertips and eyes above the edge. The water only came up to my hips. It would take me just the smal est fraction of a second to disappear into the darkness below. I could spend a day not breathing. I'd never been a fan of fire. This might have been because of some buried childhood memory, or maybe it was more recent. Becoming a vampire was enough fire to last me. Diego had to be close to the surface. Once again, I struggled with the idea of losing my new and only friend. â€Å"Please stop, Diego,† I whispered, knowing he would probably laugh, knowing he wouldn't listen. â€Å"Trust, Bree.† I waited, unmoving. â€Å"Almost†¦,† he muttered. â€Å"Okay.† I tensed for the light, or the spark, or the explosion, but Diego dropped back down while it was stil dark. In his hand he had a longer root, a thick snaky thing that was almost as tal as me. He gave me an I-told-you-so kind of look. â€Å"I'm not a completely reckless person,† he said. He gestured to the root with his free hand. â€Å"See – precautions.† With that, he stabbed the root upward into his new hole. There was a final avalanche of pebbles and sand as Diego dropped back onto his knees, getting out of the way. And then a beam of bril iant light – a ray about the thickness of one of Diego's arms – pierced the darkness of the cave. The light made a pil ar from the ceiling to the floor, shimmering as the drifting dirt sifted through it. I was icy-stil, gripping the ledge, ready to drop. Diego didn't jerk away or cry out in pain. There was no smel of smoke. The cave was a hundred times lighter than it had been, but it didn't seem to affect him. So maybe his story about shade trees was true. I watched him careful y as he knelt beside the pil ar of sunlight, motionless, staring. He seemed fine, but there was a slight change to his skin. A kind of movement, maybe from the settling dust, that reflected the gleam. It looked almost like he was glowing a little. Maybe it wasn't the dust, maybe it was the burning. Maybe it didn't hurt, and he'd realize it too late†¦. Seconds passed as we stared at the daylight, motionless. Then, in a move that seemed both absolutely expected and also completely unthinkable, he held out his hand, palm up, and stretched his arm toward the beam. I moved faster than I could think, which was pretty dang fast. Faster than I'd ever moved before. I tackled Diego into the back wal of the dirt-fil ed little cave before he could reach that one last inch to put his skin in the light.